Beirut is Lebanon's seat of government and plays a central role in the Lebanese economy, with many banks and corporations based in the city. Beirut is an important seaport for the country and region, and rated a Beta- World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. [6]

In 1888, Beirut was made capital of a vilayet (governorate) in Syria, [99] including the sanjaks (prefectures) Latakia, Tripoli, Beirut, Acre and Bekaa. [100] By this time, Beirut had grown into a cosmopolitan city and had close links with Europe and the United States.

3 days ago · In a photograph released by Syrian state media, Syria’s interim president, Ahmad al-Shara, right, and Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, sign a ...

1 day ago · The Syrian Network for Human Rights said armed groups and foreign fighters aligned with the government but not integrated into it were largely responsible for the sectarian violence.

2 days ago · Euan Ward reported from Beirut, Lebanon. March 11, 2025. Hundreds of civilians have sought refuge at a Russian air base on Syria’s coast, ... Syria’s interim president, Mr. al-Shara, said on ...

Mar 5, 2025 · Beirut, capital, chief port, and largest city of Lebanon. It is located on the Mediterranean coast at the foot of the Lebanon Mountains. It served as an economic, social, intellectual, and cultural hub of the Arab Middle East until 1975, when the city was ravaged by the country’s 15-year civil war.

Dec 31, 2024 · While Syrians in the capital looked forward to a new beginning after the ousting of Assad, the mood was more somber along Beirut’s Mediterranean promenade, where residents shared cautious hopes for the new year, reflecting on …

Feb 24, 2025 · Beirut - Mediterranean, Capital, Reconstruction: Beirut was occupied by the Allies at the end of World War I, and the city was established by the French mandatory authorities in 1920 as the capital of the State of Greater Lebanon, …

4 days ago · An ambush on a Syrian security patrol by gunmen loyal to ousted leader Bashar Assad escalated into clashes that a war monitor estimates have killed more than 1,000 people over four days.. The attack Thursday near the port city of Latakia reopened the wounds of the country’s 13-year civil war and sparked the worst violence Syria has seen since December, when insurgents led by the Islamist ...

Oct 4, 2024 · Israel hits Beirut’s southern suburbs with its largest attack yet and cuts off a vital escape route into Syria.

Following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 (whose objective was to dislodge Yasser Arafat's PLO from its Lebanese strongholds) and the siege of Beirut that led to Arafat and the PLO evacuation to Tunis, newly elected President Bachir Gemayel was assassinated in a bomb explosion by the Syrian-affiliated member of the Syrian Social ...

Oct 2, 2024 · At least 130,000 people are estimated to have crossed into Syria since 23 September, about 60 per cent of them Syrians and the rest Lebanese and other nationalities. Wahiba left the home in southern Beirut she shares with her son, daughter-in-law and grandson when the attacks intensified.

Jan 16, 2025 · The High Commissioner also called for a resumption of the independent investigation into the Beirut port explosion in August 2020, which killed over 218 people and rendered hundreds of thousands...

5 days ago · The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said that 428 Alawites have been killed in revenge attacks in addition to 120 pro-Assad fighters and 89 from security forces.

3 days ago · Syria’s Druze minority is trying to navigate a new, uncertain Syria. Members of the small religious sect find themselves caught between two forces that many of them distrust: the new, Islamist-led government in Damascus and Syria’s hostile neighbor, Israel, which has used the plight of the Druze as

6 days ago · Since Syria’s new Islamist rulers swept to power, many Alawites have grown unnerved. ... Euan Ward is a reporter contributing to The Times from Beirut. More about Euan Ward.

Feb 8, 2025 · Beirut, along with the rest of Syria, passed under Ottoman rule in 1516, shortly after the Portuguese had rounded the African continent (1498) to divert the spice trade of the East away from Syria and Egypt. The commercial importance of Beirut declined as a consequence.

Beirut was the economic, social, intellectual, and cultural hub of the Arab Middle East from 1952 until 1975. The city was banking center for Arab wealth, and the port was a leading entrepôt for the region. Beirut had a busy tourist industry, and numerous uncensored newspapers kept the Arab world informed.

Oct 13, 2023 · Lebanon is landlocked between Syria and Israel. Beyond those neighbours, the nearest country is Cyprus, which impoverished Syrian and Lebanese nationals have tried to reach by crossing the sea.

Oct 5, 2024 · BEIRUT (AP) — Israel carried out another series of punishing airstrikes Friday, hitting suburban Beirut and cutting off the main border crossing between Lebanon and Syria for tens of thousands...