Author: Zeina Karam

KABUL, Afghanistan • It was early evening and Zahra, her mother and three sisters were on their way to dinner at another sister’s home when they saw people running and heard gunshots on the street. “The Taliban are here!” people screamed. In just a few minutes, everything changed for the 26-year-old resident of Herat, Afghanistan’s…

BEIRUT • Outraged protesters returned to the streets of Lebanon’s capital Tuesday, blocking roads with burning tires and garbage containers as the currency continued to plummet to all-time lows and the country’s financial crisis intensified. The protests resumed — although in smaller numbers — following several days of relative calm as the Lebanese pound continued…

BEIRUT • Facing an economic meltdown and other crises, Lebanon’s president on Wednesday asked for the world’s help to rebuild the capital’s main port and neighborhoods that were blown away in last month’s catastrophic explosion. President Michel Aoun made the plea in a prerecorded speech to the U.N. General Assembly’s virtual summit, telling world leaders…

BEIRUT • The shattered city of Beirut on Tuesday marked a week since the catastrophic explosion that killed at least 171 people, injured thousands and plunged Lebanon into a deeper political crisis. Thousands of people marched near the devastated port, remembering those who died in the most destructive single blast to hit the country. They…

BEIRUT • Investigators began searching through the wreckage of Beirut’s port Wednesday for clues to the cause of the massive explosion that ripped across the Lebanese capital, and the government ordered port officials put under house arrest amid speculation that negligence was to blame. The investigation is focusing on how 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate,…

BEIRUT • Lebanon’s new government made of appointees nominated by the Shiite group Hezbollah and its allies got down to business Wednesday, a day after it was formed. Questions arose immediately about its ability to halt spiraling violence and economic and financial collapse. As the government headed by Hassan Diab held its first meeting, protesters…

BAGHDAD • The United States killed Iran’s top general and the architect of Tehran’s proxy wars in the Middle East in an airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport Friday, an attack that threatens to dramatically ratchet up tensions in the region. The targeted killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, could…

BEIRUT • The United States’ Kurdish allies had been gearing up for a new fight for weeks, digging trenches and defense tunnels in northeastern Syria in preparation for an offensive Turkey’s president warned was imminent. On the ground, U.S. troops were bringing in reinforcements through the border with Iraq, beefing up patrols and observation points…