Latest Beirut News

Longtime AP international journalist Earleen Fisher, whose career spanned five decades, dies at 78
Earleen Fisher, an editor and writer whose career across five decades with The Associated Press gave her a front-row seat to some of the late 20th century's most chaotic and challenging news stories, has died. She was 78 and counted Yasser Arafat and the Dalai Lama among her interviews. ...

US Air Force looks to upgrade Cyprus airbase as humanitarian staging post for the Middle East
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Experts from the U.S. Air Force are looking at ways to upgrade Cyprus’ premier air base for use as a humanitarian staging post in future operations in the Middle East, a Cypriot official told The Associated Press Thursday. Cyprus, which is only 184...

Middle East latest: Released Israeli hostage says she has 'returned to life'
One of the Israeli hostages freed on the first day of the Gaza ceasefire said Monday in her first comments since being released that she has “returned to life.” Emily Damari, 28, was one of three hostages freed Sunday after spending 471 days in captivity. Officials at a hospital...

Middle East latest: Gaza ceasefire talks press on in Qatar
Israel and Hamas appear to be inching closer to a phased ceasefire agreement, officials said Monday. However, a deal hasn't been reached yet and there are a number of obstacles that could still scupper the talks in Qatar. Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, when...

Lebanese whose homes were destroyed in the war want to rebuild. Many face a long wait
BEIRUT (AP) — Six weeks into a ceasefire that halted the war between Israel and Hezbollah, many displaced Lebanese whose homes were destroyed in the fighting want to rebuild — but reconstruction and compensation are slow in coming. Large swaths of southern and eastern Lebanon, as...

Hezbollah leader Nasrallah was killed last year inside the war operations room, aide says
BEIRUT (AP) — Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike last year while inside the militant group's war operations room, according to new details Sunday disclosed by a senior Hezbollah official. A series of Israeli airstrikes flattened several buildings...

A new year dawns on a Middle East torn by conflict and change
DAMASCUS (AP) — In Damascus, the streets were buzzing with excitement Tuesday as Syrians welcomed in a new year that seemed to many to bring a promise of a brighter future after the unexpected fall of Bashar Assad’s government weeks earlier. While Syrians in the capital looked...

Who was in ousted Syrian President Assad's inner circle and where are they now?
BEIRUT (AP) — After insurgents toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad this month, many senior officials and members of his dreaded intelligence and security services appear to have melted away. Activists say some of them have managed to flee the country while others went to hide in their...

US hostage envoy in Beirut to seek information on missing journalist Austin Tice
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government's top hostage negotiator is in Beirut in hopes of collecting information on the whereabouts of Austin Tice, an American journalist missing in Syria for 12 years, the State Department said Monday. Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy...
Syrian state TV airs video saying President Bashar Assad has been overthrown and all jail detainees freed
