L'Orient Today

L'Orient Today Lebanon's independent, critical news service. A sister publication of L'Orient-Le Jour

L’Orient Today is the English-language sister publication of L’Orient-Le Jour. It is an independent news platform that aims to examine the failure of the Lebanese system and to hold political and economic powerbrokers accountable through comprehensive, in-depth reporting.

12/01/2026

The Portuguese DJ priest drew a multigenerational crowd in Beirut for a night of electronic music and dancing, despite controversial calls to ban the event stemming from religious dogma.⁠
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Yasser Shamoun, a member of the municipal council in the village of Khiam (Marjayoun), paints a rather positive picture ...
12/01/2026

Yasser Shamoun, a member of the municipal council in the village of Khiam (Marjayoun), paints a rather positive picture of developments related to the clearing of debris left from over a year of Israeli strikes.

Speaking to L’Orient Today, he says that “all neighborhoods have been cleared except for one, for it is too close to an Israeli position,” and therefore too dangerous to reach.

🔗 Read Suzanne Baaklini's article through the link below
olj.me/1491185
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📸 Mohammed Yassin/ L'Orient Today

We have entered a decisive moment — one in which the Iranian uprising will either finally force the regime to yield or, ...
12/01/2026

We have entered a decisive moment — one in which the Iranian uprising will either finally force the regime to yield or, conversely, break once again against the wall of propaganda and repression.

Predicting whether the regime will fall is a perilous and ultimately futile exercise, for the simple reason that we know nothing — or very little — about what truly matters. What are the inside dynamics ? Who makes the decisions beyond Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ? What calculations are being made by the Revolutionary Guards and the army ?

We can — and indeed must — analyze and anticipate the various scenarios based on what we know, while simultaneously acknowledging that our knowledge is too limited to be fully reliable.

🔗 Read Anthony Samrani's editorial through the link below
olj.me/1491169
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📸 Protesters gather as vehicles burn, amid evolving anti-government unrest, in Tehran, Iran, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video released on January 9, 2026. Social Media/via REUTERS/File Photo

The night of Jan. 8 marked a turning point in protest movement currently shaking Iran. Cities that had seen little or no...
12/01/2026

The night of Jan. 8 marked a turning point in protest movement currently shaking Iran. Cities that had seen little or no mobilization up until that point — like Tehran, Tabriz and Mashhad — became the scenes of demonstrations on a scale that surpassed any of the first eleven days of protest.

While the near-total internet blackout prevents the outside world from knowing more about the consequences of this unprecedented night of protests — unmatched since the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in 2022 — here’s what we do know about this latest popular uprising.

🔗 Read Leone Laali's explainer through the link below
olj.me/1490933
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📸 Reuters

12/01/2026

Trump said on Sunday that Iran had called to negotiate its nuclear program. Baghaei said that "contradictory messages" had been sent that caused ambiguity and that Iran remained committed to diplomacy.

Israel attacked a residential building in Kfar Hatta (Saida) on Sunday evening, within an hour of announcing on social m...
12/01/2026

Israel attacked a residential building in Kfar Hatta (Saida) on Sunday evening, within an hour of announcing on social media it would do so, despite its inspection by the Lebanese Army and U.N. peacekeepers (UNIFIL) who disproved Israel's claims that it was being used by Hezbollah. The attack came after it had launched over 25 strikes on the South, within just 30 minutes.

🔗 Tap on the link below to know more
olj.me/1491118

Iranian authorities arrested “100 armed rioters” in Baherestan, near Tehran, Reuters reports, citing the semi-official I...
10/01/2026

Iranian authorities arrested “100 armed rioters” in Baherestan, near Tehran, Reuters reports, citing the semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim.

🔗 Follow our live blog for updates
Olj.me/1490972

📸 AFP via Getty Images

10/01/2026

In the southern suburbs of Beirut, regularly hit by Israeli bombing, Diana has been running a cat shelter for nearly twelve years. Marked since childhood by the death of her cat, she has never stopped helping abandoned animals, despite the economic crisis, war and a total lack of institutional support. ⁠
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When Israel intensified bombings on the Lebanese capital, Diana refused to flee without her cats and transported all of them to a shelter in the mountains. Every day, neighbours still knock on her door to report injured cats, often victims of falls or violence. ⁠
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Today, she limits the number of animals she takes in and encourages responsible adoption. Despite everything, she remains. For her, it is obvious: either she lives with her cats, or they die together.⁠
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09/01/2026

The cease-fire announced by the defense ministry overnight demanded the withdrawal of Kurdish forces to the Kurdish-held northeast.

Kurdish groups in Aleppo vowed to defend their neighborhoods from government forces on Friday, rejecting cease-fire terms declared by Damascus.

Padre Guilherme, a Catholic priest and DJ, has drawn wide attention in Lebanon in recent days ahead of his scheduled app...
09/01/2026

Padre Guilherme, a Catholic priest and DJ, has drawn wide attention in Lebanon in recent days ahead of his scheduled appearance in Beirut.

His program includes a Mass on Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) and a concert at Beirut’s AHM club at 10:30 p.m.

On Jan. 4, a group of 18 people, including religious figures, filed a petition with Beirut’s summary judge seeking to ban the concert. They argued that it “violates morals and Church teachings and distorts the image of the Christian religion and its rites,” according to the filing.

🔗 Tap on the link below to know more
olj.me/1490870

The Lebanese Army’s efforts to have a monopoly on weapons are “a good start,” but they “are not enough,” according to Is...
09/01/2026

The Lebanese Army’s efforts to have a monopoly on weapons are “a good start,” but they “are not enough,” according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who responded on Thursday to an army statement.

The military announced the completion of the first phase of the weapons monopoly plan, which applies to the area south of the Litani River.

🔗 Read Mounir Rabih's article through the link below
olj.me/1490849
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📸 AFP

With Iran's anti-government unrest evolving rapidly and foreign pressure mounting, the clerical establishment appears un...
09/01/2026

With Iran's anti-government unrest evolving rapidly and foreign pressure mounting, the clerical establishment appears unable, for now, to tackle what has become a crisis of legitimacy at the heart of the Islamic Republic.

The demonstrations, which began in Tehran last month with shopkeepers in the Grand Bazaar angered by a sharp slide in the rial currency, have spread to all of Iran's 31 provinces but have yet to reach the scale of the 2022-3 unrest sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini while in detention for allegedly violating Islamic dress codes.

🔗 Tap on the link below to know more
olj.me/1490837

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