Lebanon
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Shia "axis of resistance"
Khamenei's Final Solution provocation to mark Quds Day
The anti-Israeli Quds Day did not take place this year – a first both for Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah. While Hezbollah leader Nasrallah sees his organisation in a state of siege, revolutionary leader Khamenei resorted to blatant provocation. By Ali Sadrzadeh
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Social unrest in Lebanon
Beirut – currency chaos, exploding prices and burning banks
In Lebanon, the local currency has slumped to a record low, people are losing their jobs and the price of food is skyrocketing. Despite the threat posed by the coronavirus, hundreds are taking to the streets in protest. Julia Neumann reports from Beirut
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Syrian refugees in Lebanon
More scared of starving than of coronavirus
With social distancing impossible in tents, a coronavirus outbreak in one of Lebanon's Syrian refugee camps would quickly turn catastrophic. Yet, many Syrians have more existential fears than those posed by the virus. Diana Hodali reports
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Hezbollah, Lebanon's Iran-backed paramilitary organisation
Hezbollah, or Party of God, was conceived by Muslim clerics in the 1980s in response to the Israeli invasion of South Lebanon in 1982. The Shia group has a political and military wing.
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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 comeback
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Women's rights in the Islamic world
Arab Christian women take a stand against church paternalism
Churches in the Middle East – Coptic, Eastern Orthodox, Maronite – typically share the conservative values of their Islamic surroundings. Yet the resistance of Arab Christian women to church paternalism is growing. Claudia Mende reports
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COVID-19 pandemic
Coronavirus takes no account of Ramadan
According to the latest Reuters tally, more than 2.54 million people are now reported to have been infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 177,004 have died. As Muslims prepare for a very different Ramadan this year, here are the latest developments from across the region
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Politics, inequality and a lack of transparency
Coronavirus and the Middle East's ongoing state of emergency
Plagued by troubled state-citizen relationships on the one hand and conflict on the other, states in the Middle East could discover new uses for COVID-19 lockdown measures. By Abdalhadi Alijla
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COVID-19 in the Middle East
Women talk under coronavirus lockdown: "I want my life back"
How are people in the Middle East and North Africa dealing with the new coronavirus pandemic? Women from countries across the region, some of them war zones, share their worries – and hopes. By Diana Hodali
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Coronavirus pandemic in the Islamic world
Doubling down on containment efforts
Around the Islamic world, lockdowns and curfews are being extended and religious ceremonies are being cancelled outright in the hope of slowing the spread of COVID-19. Here’s the latest from across the region
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Pandemic update
Corona across the Islamic world – the toll of COVID-19
While some are beginning to protest the lockdown, others are unable to bury their loved ones in accordance with Islam. Here’s the latest from across the region
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Pandemic update
COVID-19 across the Islamic world – Fighting shy of coronavirus
Coronavirus continues unabated. Iran remains a hub of infection, war-torn Syria has recorded its first case and Yemen is bracing itself for the worst. Here’s the latest from across the region