Rafah reopening tests new Gaza cease-fire
In May 2024, as the Israeli army escalated its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, it reached the Rafah border crossing — the territory’s only gateway to Egypt and its last link to the outside...
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South Lebanon: 2 injured, building demolished in Israeli strike
The Israeli army once again violated the cease-fire in place since last November with Hezbollah, according to information from our correspondent in southern Lebanon. In the late afternoon, a drone...
L'Orient Today staff, 15 October 2025
Bulgarian prosecutor extends detention of Igor Grechushkin
The prosecutor general of Bulgaria decided Wednesday to extend the detention of Igor Grechushkin at the expiration of the 40-day detention period, a Lebanese judicial source told L’Orient-Le Jour...
15 October 2025
Animals Lebanon sends two abused lion cubs to South African sanctuary
BEIRUT — Two lion cubs, rescued a few months ago from mistreatment at a Lebanese zoo, were transferred by Animals Lebanon on Wednesday from Beirut to the Drakenstein sanctuary in South Africa, the...
L'Orient Today staff, 15 October 2025
Jaber: Lebanon is not asking for charity, but for partnership
Finance Minister Yassin Jaber said Tuesday that "what Lebanon is requesting from the international community is not charity, but a genuine partnership," according to a statement released...
L'Orient Today staff, 15 October 2025
UN humanitarian chief says Israel should immediately open Gaza crossings to aid
U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher urged Israel on Wednesday to immediately open all crossings into Gaza for humanitarian aid, as called for in a U.S.-backed cease-fire plan. "It should...
15 October 2025
Lebanon’s ambassador to Washington denies rumors of tension between her and Rajji
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s ambassador to Washington, Nada Hamadeh Mouawad, denied on Wednesday rumors of tension between her and Foreign Affairs Minister Joe Rajji. "I have seen some posts suggesting...
15 October 2025
Sharaa tells Putin he wants to 'redefine' Moscow-Damascus relations
Interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa said Wednesday in Russia he wants to "redefine" the Damascus-Moscow relationship, during his first meeting with Vladimir Putin since the ouster of...
L'Orient Today staff, 15 October 2025
Economy Ministry inspects brokers operating near Dekwaneh vehicle registration center
The Insurance Control Commission, a body affiliated with the Economy and Trade Ministry, announced Wednesday that it had conducted field visits in the area around the vehicle registration center in...
15 October 2025
Bechara al-Rai: Pope Leo will carry 'peace' message to Lebanon
Pope Leo XIV will carry a message of peace to Lebanon and the Christians of the Middle East when he visits next month, Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai told AFP on Wednesday. The Vatican...
L'Orient Today staff, 15 October 2025
Jordan ready to supply Lebanon with electricity once 'other relevant parties are fully prepared'
BEIRUT — During a meeting between Energy Minister Joe Saddi and his Jordanian counterpart Saleh al-Kharabsheh in Amman on Wednesday, the latter noted, in the context of the 2021 plan to provide...
15 October 2025
Telecommunications minister launches 3-year project to roll out 5G service
BEIRUT — Telecommunications Minister Charles al-Hajj announced on Tuesday the launch of a three-year project to upgrade networks and roll out 5G service nationwide. "The 5G era has begun in...
15 October 2025
Pollution and a stagnant economy in Arsal after its Syrian refugees cross back over the border
All that remains of the 180 Syrian refugee camps in the Baalbeck district village of Arsal are empty alleys, abandoned concrete structures, garbage and rubble.The village is about 20 kilometers...
Zeina ANTONIOS, 15 October 2025
In Gulbenkian Theater, Italian begins to speak Arabic
Under the direction of Angelo Gioè, the Italian Cultural Institute presented for the first time in the Arab world the “New Italian Stage in the World” at the Gulbenkian Theater on Oct. 14....
Nanette Ziadé-Ritter, 15 October 2025
Israel returns 45 Palestinian bodies to Gaza
Israel returned the bodies of 45 Palestinians on Wednesday, bringing the total number handed over to 90, Gaza's Health Ministry said. Under a cease-fire deal brokered by U.S. President Donald...
15 October 2025
Tracking the $16.5 billion claimed by BDL from the Lebanese
It is one of those “mysterious figures” that resurface from time to time in public debate, leaving most people unsure of what lies behind them. It is one of those local disputes that project an...
Mounir YOUNES, 15 October 2025
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a symbol of Israeli horror, quietly packs up
We invite you to revisit this article published on Oct. 15, 2025, as GHF announced on Nov. 25 that it is ending its operations in the enclave.As humanitarian aid convoys resumed their routes into...
Dany MOUDALLAL, 15 October 2025
Legislative elections 2026: The risk of a diaspora-less election grows
Following Gebran Bassil’s initiative, MPs affiliated with Joumblatt are making their move. A few days after the Free Patriotic Movement leader made a proposition to break the deadlock over diaspora...
Yara ABI AKL, 15 October 2025
Aid trucks roll in as dispute over hostage bodies is paused
Aid trucks rolled into Gaza on Wednesday and Israel resumed preparations to open the main Rafah crossing after a dispute over the return of the bodies of dead hostages that had threatened to derail...
Reuters, 15 October 2025
Between Sports City and Sharm al-Sheikh, a new face of Hezbollah?
The images from Saturday in Beirut and Monday in Sharm al-Sheikh sum up the contradictions of the situation in the region. In Lebanon, from the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Hezbollah...
Scarlett HADDAD, 15 October 2025
HRW says new Iraqi personal status code makes women 'second class citizens'
Human Rights Watch on Wednesday criticised Iraq's amendment of the personal status law, saying it restricts women's rights and makes them "second class citizens". In January, the...
AFP, 15 October 2025
Palestinians touring Europe to boost state recognition
Palestinian Authority representatives are touring Europe to try to convince countries that have not yet recognised a Palestinian state to get onboard, a presidential envoy said during a visit to...
AFP, 15 October 2025
UNIFIL warns of ‘negative effects’ following 25% cut in peacekeepers
BEIRUT — Following the announcement of a 25 percent reduction in U.N. peacekeeper forces, Kandice Ardiel, spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), warned in an...
L'Orient Today staff, 15 October 2025
Sharaa arrives in Moscow to discuss Russian bases and request Moscow to hand over Assad
Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa will formally request that Russia hand over former ruler Bashar al-Assad to face trial for alleged war crimes, during his first official visit to Moscow on...
AFP/REUTERS, 15 October 2025
Sit-in at the Hermel Serail in demand of 'a general amnesty for wanted persons'
BEKAA — Protesters held a peaceful sit-in Wednesday morning in front of the Hermel Serail to demand "a general amnesty for wanted persons and the opening of a new chapter where justice and...
L'Orient Today staff, 15 October 2025
Fifth convoy for the 'voluntary return' of Syrian refugees and migrants leaves Sports City
BEIRUT — A fifth convoy for the "voluntary return" of Syrian refugees and migrants, as part of a plan implemented by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), departed...
L'Orient Today staff, 15 October 2025
Foreign Ministry proposes repeal of articles 112 and 122 of the electoral law
BEIRUT — The Lebanese Foreign Ministry has proposed a bill to repeal articles 112 and 122 of the electoral law, which pertain to expatriate voting, the Bustros Palace announced. This text, marked...
L'Orient Today staff, 15 October 2025
'The right to know the truth is sacred,' says Aoun before the National Commission for the Disappeared
BEIRUT — President Joseph Aoun affirmed Wednesday, before the National Commission for the Disappeared in Lebanon, that "the right to know the truth is sacred for all families of the...
L'Orient Today staff, 15 October 2025
Paul Rondin: The French language is plural, and people will evolve it in their own way
Inaugurated on Oct. 30, 2023, the International City of the French Language (the Cité), managed by the Center of National Monuments, will be present in Lebanon for the first time as part of the...
Nanette Ziadé-Ritter, 15 October 2025
CAS says Lebanon GDP saw slight growth in 2022 and 2023
BEIRUT — With a delay of several years, which has now become customary, Cabinet's Central Administration of Statistics (CAS) announced it had finally published the official figures regarding...
Fouad GEMAYEL, 15 October 2025
Israel says one body returned by Hamas not Israeli hostage
The Israeli military said Wednesday that one of the bodies handed over by Hamas as part of an exchange for Palestinian prisoners was not a former hostage. After overnight forensic tests on four...
AFP, 15 October 2025
Army recovers two young Lebanese kidnapped at border with Syria
BEKAA — Two young Lebanese men kidnapped near the Syrian border Tuesday night have been released, according to security sources. The pair were abducted while inside Lebanese territory in the...
L'Orient Today staff, 15 October 2025
The only man’oushe in Chamonix at Joanna Kassem’s, the ‘Lebanese of Haute-Savoie'
She was called "crazy," reckless, impulsive. It did entail a fair deal of courage to take the plunge and leap into the unknown. Joanna Kassem followed her instincts and her infinite love...
Carla HENOUD, 15 October 2025
Hamas launches crackdown as Trump vows to disarm group
Hamas tightened its grip on Gaza's ruined cities Tuesday, launching a crackdown and executing alleged collaborators, even as U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to disarm the group. The Israeli...
AFP, 15 October 2025
Parliamentary candidate killed north of Baghdad
An Iraqi parliamentary candidate was killed and three of his bodyguards wounded when a bomb exploded near his car north of Baghdad, a security source said. The incident is the first killing of a...
AFP, 15 October 2025
Families of three hostages announce return of remains
Three of the four bodies of Israeli hostages in Gaza returned by Hamas late Tuesday have been identified, their families said on Wednesday following forensic confirmation of their identities....
AFP, 15 October 2025
Israel will allow Rafah crossing to open, ramp up aid, broadcaster Kan reports
Israel will allow Gaza's Rafah border crossing with Egypt to open on Wednesday and increase the amount of humanitarian aid coming into the enclave, public broadcaster Kan reported, after Hamas...
Reuters, 15 October 2025
Hamas says handed over all hostage remains it has access to; Israeli army says Red Cross has received two coffins | LIVE
23:12 Beirut Time We are now closing our LIVE coverage of events in the region for tonight. We will be back tomorrow morning with more news updates. 23:12 Beirut Time...
Renee Davis, Muntasser Abdallah, Sarah ABDALLAH, 15 October 2025
Israel blocks humanitarian aid to Gaza amid rising death toll despite cease-fire plan: Everything you need to know this Wednesday
Want to get the Morning Brief by email? Click here to sign up.Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025.Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz.Follow L’Orient Today’s WhatsApp channel to stay up to date with the latest...
Abbas Mahfouz, 15 October 2025
First 'positive' and 'frank' day for Lebanon at IMF and World Bank annual meetings
The Lebanese delegation participating in the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, scheduled from October 13 to 18, arrived over the weekend in Washington....
