Lebanon at risk of complete blackout by end of the month
September 23rd, 20210 BEIRUT — Lebanon's state electricity company said on Thursday it risked a total blackout across the country by the end of September as its fuel oil reserves dwindle. Lebanon, in the throes of one of the worst economic meltdowns of modern history, has been plagued by worsening fuel shortages for the past few months with most...
House passes Democrat-introduced bill for $1 billion for Israel’s Iron Dome
September 23rd, 20211 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved $1 billion for Israel’s Iron Dome "missile defense system" on Thursday. The vote came days after some Democrats successfully managed to get it removed from a stopgap spending bill, but then was introduced as stand-alone bill by another Democrat. The...
Netanyahu suggests on Facebook that Biden fell asleep meeting new Israeli PM
September 20th, 20210 ISRAEL — Israel's former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested in a Facebook video posted on Sunday that President Biden had fallen asleep when meeting the new Israeli leader, Naftali Bennett, last month. A Reuters fact check previously debunked the idea that Biden dozed off, after social media users shared a video clip of...
Outrage, frustration from community after student Abdulmalek Alsanabani tortured and killed in Yemen
September 16th, 20210 DEARBORN — The tragic kidnapping, torture and murder in Yemen of Abdulmalek Alsanabani, a Yemeni student who resided in California, sparked outrage and protests in the U.S. and Yemen this week. Alsanabani was a 25-year-old living in Fresno, California and had decided to take an often dangerous journey across the south of Yemen to...
How to update Apple devices to correct flaw targeted by Israeli spyware company
September 16th, 20210 Apple users were alerted this week of a serious security flaw that was being exploited by an Israeli spyware company. The flaw allowed Apple devices to be hacked using technology developed by the Israeli spyware company, which infect phones by sending an image without needing the user to actually click on anything, making it particularly...
Hezbollah brings Iranian fuel into Lebanon, checks U.S. sanctions with cheers from locals
September 16th, 20210 Hezbollah began bringing Iranian fuel into Lebanon via Syria on Thursday, a move the group says should ease a crippling energy crisis but which opponents say risks provoking U.S. sanctions. Dozens of trucks carrying Iranian fuel oil entered northeastern Lebanon near the village of al-Ain, where Hezbollah's yellow flag fluttered from...
Yemeni woman gives her time and wages to treat children malnourished by war
September 15th, 20210 HAJJAH — In the poor village of Jarb in northern Yemen, Ashwaq Mahmoud gives her time and spare cash to provide basic health services that people there could not otherwise reach or afford. The 23-year-old Mahmoud was trained by the U.N.'s children's agency UNICEF as a community health worker after a village elder noticed her...
Israeli prime minister visits Egypt in first official trip in a decade
September 13th, 20210 CAIRO — Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday for talks on Israeli-Palestinian relations and bilateral issues, Egypt's presidency said, in the first official trip by an Israeli head of government to Egypt in a decade. Bennett, the head of a far-right party who took office...
Lebanon agrees new government to tackle economic collapse
September 10th, 20210 BEIRUT - Lebanese leaders agreed a new government led by Sunni Muslim tycoon Najib Mikati on Friday after a year of feuding over cabinet seats that has exacerbated a devastating economic collapse, opening the way to a resumption of talks with the IMF. The breakthrough followed a flurry of contacts with France, which has led efforts to...
Inflationary pressures force Lebanese to make tough choices
September 9th, 20210 BEIRUT — Ibrahim Jaber was laid off when the fast food restaurant where he worked as a chef in Beirut shut down. Unable to find another job, he had to take his daughter out of school to put food on the table at home. He is one of many Lebanese who have found themselves facing staggering inflation just as their employers, also hit...
All-female Afghan robotics team evacuated to Qatar, receives scholarships to continue education
September 8th, 20210 DOHA — Amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, an all-female Afghan robotics team were evacuated to Qatar and will continue their education uninterrupted. The girls’ education will be supported through scholarships from the Qatar Foundation (QF) and Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD). The team will study at the Qatar...
On propaganda and failed narratives: New understanding of Afghanistan is a must
September 6th, 20210 For 20 years, two dominant narratives have shaped our view of the illegal U.S. invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, and neither one of these narratives would readily accept the use of such terms as “illegal”, “invasion” and “occupation.” The framing of the U.S. “military intervention” in Afghanistan, starting on...
Ending U.S. support for Israeli racism
September 4th, 20210 Israel and its Zionist supporters do not hesitate to peddle propaganda claiming that it is “the Middle East’s sole democracy.” According to them, Israel is a unique sanctuary of democracy, freedom and pluralism that protects its citizens’ rights. But this is an outright lie. Democracy in Israel only applies to Jewish Israelis,...
Lebanese state’s permission not sought for Iranian fuel, minister says
September 1st, 20210 BEIRUT — The Lebanese government has received no request for fuel to be imported from Iran, the caretaker energy minister said on Wednesday, appearing to confirm that the Shi'a group Hezbollah has bypassed the state with a move to import Iranian fuel. Hezbollah, a heavily armed group founded by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982,...
Yemen gets first batch of J&J COVID-19 vaccines
August 30th, 20210 ADEN — Yemen received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines made by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) on Sunday, roughly 151,000 doses, the health ministry said. The desperately poor country, where the health infrastructure has been devastated by six years of war, received 360,000 doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine in March through......
War-hawking talking heads: Why do we keep hearing from the bums who got us into this mess in the first place?
August 27th, 20210 — This article by Abdul El-Sayed originally appeared in the newsletter The Incision. It has been edited for style. Subscribe to The Incision here: incision.substack.com Back in June, well before any of us knew the sordid 20-year American adventure in Afghanistan would come to a crashing end just a few months later, I was asked to...
Emirates allows travelers to Beirut from U.S. and some other countries to bring extra luggage through September
August 26th, 20210 DUBAI – Starting Thursday, Aug. 26 through Sept. 30, Emirates airline's economy class passengers traveling to Beirut from the U.S. and some other countries via Dubai will be eligible to carry an additional piece of luggage totaling 50 lbs. The additional baggage allowance will help customers pack extra items to support family and......
Dozens killed in deadly blasts at Kabul airport as U.S. seals gates, leaving thousands of Afghans
August 26th, 20210 Suicide bombings claimed by ISIS killed dozens at the crowded Kabul airport gates on Thursday, causing havoc and chaos during the final days of the Western airlift of its allies. Kabul health officials were quoted as saying 60 civilians were killed, including children. Earlier reports said at least 52 were wounded, while witnesses...
Israel’s new leader to present Iran plan in delayed White House visit
August 25th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Overshadowed by events in Afghanistan, the first White House meeting between President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was postponed until Friday. The Israeli leader is expected to push Biden to harden his approach to Iran, with few prospects their talks will lead to renewed movement on peace talks...
The quiet rebellion: Why U.S. Jews turning against Israel is good for Palestinians
August 20th, 20210 A unique but critical conversation on Israel and Palestine is taking place outside the traditional discourse of Israeli colonialism and the Palestinian quest for liberation. It is an awkward and difficult — but overdue — discussion concerning American Jews’ relation to Israel and their commitment to its Zionist ideology. For...
Taliban urges Afghan unity as protests spread to Kabul
August 20th, 20210 The Taliban called on Afghanistan's imams to urge unity when they hold their first Friday prayers since the Islamist group seized control of the country, as protests against the takeover spread to more cities on Thursday, including the capital Kabul. Several people were killed when Taliban militants fired on a crowd in the eastern......
“U.S.-Lebanon Friendship” congressional caucus calls for action on deteriorating situation
August 19th, 20210 A group of lawmakers wrote to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and USAID Administrator Samantha Power, calling on U.S. support towards Lebanon’s deteriorating economic and political situation. U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn), Charlie Crist (D-FL), Darrell Issa (R-CA), and Darin LaHood (R-IL), co-chairs of the...
Afghanistan: Contours of a catastrophe
August 17th, 20210 — This article by Abdul El-Sayed originally appeared in the newsletter The Incision. It has been edited for style. Subscribe to The Incision here: incision.substack.com On Sunday, our wayward 20-year war effort in Afghanistan suffered its final death blow. The Taliban rode the U.S.-manufactured Humvees captured from Afghan......
Rush on Kabul airport as Afghans flee Taliban takeover
August 16th, 20210 KABUL — Afghans rushed onto the tarmac of the capital’s airport on Monday as thousands tried to flee the country after the Taliban seized power with stunning speed. Some clung to the side of a U.S. military transport plane before takeoff, in a widely shared video that captured the sense of desperation as America’s 20-year war...
CIA director Burns holds talks in Israel, with focus on Iran
August 12th, 20210 JERUSALEM — U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns held talks in Israel on Wednesday with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, with Iran high on their agenda, an Israeli statement said. Regional tensions have risen over an attack on July 29 on an Israeli-managed tanker off the coast of Oman that Israel, the U.S. and......
