Lebanon

June 10, 2016

Household recycling was virtually unknown in Lebanon until Beirut's trash crisis began last year. That's when the region's only landfill shut down, people started dumping trash wherever they could, and one activist saw an opportunity for people to think differently about their waste.

Migrant domestic workers are unionizing and taking on their bosses in Lebanon

June 02, 2016

Migrant domestic workers in Lebanon were dying of unnatural causes at a rate of one per week, according to one report. Most of the deaths were attributed to suicide — many of the victims falling from buildings apparently trying to escape their employers.

Lifestyle & Belief

It took this man 10 years to realize he was living in a synagogue

June 01, 2016

In 1990, Jihad Al-Mohammed moved to Sidon in southern Lebanon looking for work and a place to live. He didn't notice that the abandoned building he moved into had Hebrew letters on the wall.

Politics

A quiet revolution begins in Beirut

May 17, 2016

The Lebanese capital's "rivers of trash" are finally beginning to have an impact on the political order: An upstart movement just made a significant dent in the mainstream parties' support.

Who killed Hezbollah's top commander in Syria?

May 13, 2016

Updated

05/14/2016 - 2:15pm

Hezbollah’s most senior military official is dead. A lawmaker is blaming a usual target: Israel.

You can still take the bus into Syria, even to ISIS-held areas

April 19, 2016

Despite civil war in Syria, and airstrikes by US, Russian and Syrian jets, bus service continues to towns and cities across the country, including to ISIS-held areas.

It's not unusual to transport 'dummy' Hellfire missiles on civilian flights

March 15, 2016

The Hellfire missile that showed up on an Air Serbia plane and launched an international incident was insert. Turns out, it's not at all uncommon for these inert, test missiles to be transported on civilian flights.

It's not unusual to transport 'dummy' Hellfire missiles on civilian flights

March 14, 2016

This is the story of one such trip, and the unfortunate panic it caused.

For these Syrian women, their 20s have been defined by war

March 14, 2016

When the war in Syria started five years ago, Lebanon was a relatively welcoming place. But not so much anymore. Three Syrian women who arrived in Lebanon over the five years of the war tell their stories.

Sports

Lebanon's hoop stars just wanna play the game — but they can't escape the sectarianism

June 12, 2014

Violence in sports is nothing new, but Lebanon takes it in a whole different direction. On-court violence is fueled by politics, religion and a patronage system that has made sectarianism endemic to almost all Lebanese sports, from basketball to ping pong.

Politics

Lebanon finally elected a president — a Christian ally of Hezbollah

November 01, 2016

It took more than two years for Lebanon to secure a head of state. Michel Aoun, 81, is a Maronite Christian politician, a former army chief, and an ally of Hezbollah.

A daily hustle to survive: This is the life of a Syrian refugee

September 24, 2015

The often unbearable existence of a Syrian refugee drives some to unthinkable acts.

This Syrian woman never had a paying job at home. Now she's started a business in Lebanon.

January 20, 2016

The war back home in Syria forced women into new roles outside of Syria. Some of them are creating opportunities for themselves.

Arts, Culture & Media

This celebrated clarinetist worries Trump’s border rules could bar him from going home to New York

February 01, 2017

Updated

02/03/2017 - 9:45am

Update: Syrian clarinet player Kinan Azmeh said on Thursday that he made it back to New York.

Politics

Trump fans in Lebanon want to 'make the Middle East great again'

February 10, 2017

There's a Facebook page for Donald Trump fans in Lebanon and it's getting thousands of likes.