Author: Maha Yahya

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Journalist and outspoken critic of Hezbollah, Shia activist Lokman Slim (photo: Getty Images/AFP/Colin Bertier)

Lebanon slips further into the abyss

The assassination of Lokman Slim – silencing no lamb

Lokman’s killing underlines that the space for dissent is closing fast in Lebanon. Over the past year or so, the political leadership’s tolerance for criticism has been decreasing, with an increasing number of journalists and critics taken into custody. Maha Yahya reflectsMore

Lebanon: from amnesty to amnesia: Lacking a culture of remembranceAftermath of the Beirut explosion: Lebanon, a state in freefall thanks to corrupt governanceLebanon′s education system: The problem with political IslamShia "axis of resistance": Khamenei's Final Solution provocation to mark Quds Day
An anti-government protester shouts slogans in front of the riot police during a protest against the deepening financial crisis in Beirut, Lebanon, 28 April 2020 (photo: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Malla)

Beirut on the brink

Regardless of corona, Lebanon is at economic breaking point

Lebanon's economy is imploding and with it social stability. While the country’s politicians understand the depth of the crisis, they have used the coronavirus lockdown, argues Maha Yahya, as an chance to settle old scores and – following months of popular rejection – stage a comebackMore

A toxic combination of sectarianism and rentierism: Lebanon's perfect stormInterview with Lebanese director Rabih Mroué: "First, they all have to go. And all means all"Middle East: Lebanon's protesters are here to stayInterview with Lebanese activist Nizar Hassan: Beirut's ruling elite may be down, but they are not yet out
Houthi rebels in the Yemeni capital Sanaa (photo: Reuters/K. Abdullah)

After the upheaval in the Arab world

Escalating wars

The violence unleashed in Arab countries in the last four years may turn out to be just a first taste of what is to come. Escalating brutality and the actions of governments have put Arab citizens under immense pressure. Without a change of course, the outcome could easily be further conflict and a new wave of uprisings – this time not peaceful. By Maha YahyaMore

The Assad regime and the civil war in Syria: Clash of barbarismsCivil war in Libya: A stateless society Battles in Yemen: Opening Pandora's Box in YemenQantara.de dossier: Arab Spring

In brief

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Most Recent Photo Essay

Banished from paradise: in Biblical times, paradise was where Adam and Eve lived, supposedly the area between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers – until God banished them from the Garden of Eden because they nibbled on the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. There are still lush oases on the banks of the river, but people's lives there today are anything but paradisiacal.

Pope Francis' visit to Iraq's biblical sites

Abraham was born in Iraq and this is where the whale swallowed Jonah, according to the Bible. Pope Francis' is travelling to an area steeped in biblical history.