3 August 2021
Writing in the dark without electricity, Bissan Fakih recounts the blast that devastated Lebanon's capital one year ago, and charts the country's dizzying collapse into utter dysfunction and despair ever since.
Economy
As the dust settles after Beirut’s port massacre, a profound sense of disorientation and uncertainty about the future envelops the city.
So powerful are Washington’s new sanctions on Syria that even some opponents of Assad are unsure about them. Our own Syrian reporters have a range of views, two of which are presented head-to-head in this article.
Damascus resident Karam Mansour writes a first-hand account of life in the now-empty Syrian capital, where militiamen patrol the streets, shops do business in secret, and the homeless have abruptly disappeared.
Notes on life without cash in Lebanon.
A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.
As the costs of Assad’s Pyrrhic “victory” become clearer, even die-hard loyalists are increasingly speaking out about economic and other woes. The regime’s response makes clear it will not tolerate even this highly watered-down form of dissent.