Articles

From the kickoff, on February 28, of the Israeli-American offensive against the Iranian mullahs' regime, marked by the assassination of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic Ali Khamenei, until the flare-up of the South Lebanon front, at dawn on the 1 st March, including Iranian strikes on all Arab Gulf countries, the first week of the new Middle East war is undoubtedly historic in more ways than one. There are years that can be summarized in a few words, and weeks that seem like years. The days from January 28 to March 8, 2026, have been so full of twists and turns that they could be described as a transition from one era to another.

The unified position of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members regarding the Iranian attacks against the six member states suggests a form of renaissance for this bloc, at least in appearance. It must be acknowledged that the Council has experienced deep internal turmoil since late 2025, following Saudi-Emirati disagreements in Yemen, disputes that had already come to light in Sudan. Some believe that the initial spark was in Libya. These disagreements have paralyzed the Council, even leading to an unprecedented internal crisis in the 45-year history of this regional bloc. The Iranian threat was precisely the raison d'être of the Gulf Cooperation Council. The name given to this six-member council was carefully chosen. The apparent objective was to avoid provoking Iran by refraining from using the phrase «Arabic Gulf», considered taboo in Iran. The Gulf States, under the impetus of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan, strove to contain the threat posed by the slogan of «exporting the revolution», launched by Ayatollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic, in 1979, after the fall of the Shah's regime.

Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Lebanon is not an ordinary event, it is a historic moment with exceptional meaning. In this land of message, and across the region and the world, major confrontations converge: peace in the face of war, dialogue in the face of violence, moderation in the face of fanaticism, diversity in the face of uniformity, humanization in the face of populism, the constitution in the face of martial rule, the law in the face of chaos, citizenship in the face of Minoritism and Majoritism, the state in the face of non-statehood, governance in the face of corruption. Lebanon and the free world are experiencing these struggles at a time when the country holds a rare opportunity to prove its ability to rise again.

At the heart of the City of Light, amidst archives, sculptures, bolts of fabric and thimbles, there vibrates a house where the fragrance of May roses seizes the olfactory memory of its visitors. A house where past and present hold dialogue. Since the fertile shadow cast by John Galliano and the arrival of Jonathan Anderson, a new reading of the Dior legacy seems to be emerging: more conceptual, more artistic, yet profoundly faithful to the spirit of the house founded in 1946. A Study in Form It was at the Musée Rodin, that marvel of Auguste's sculptures, that this new chapter revealed itself. Following the haute couture show during the last week of January 2026, the installation Grammaire des Formes opened to the public beneath the ephemeral marquee where the collection had first been presented to the world. Fifteen silhouettes by Anderson held conversation there with nine historic creations by Monsieur Dior and several ceramics by Kenyan sculptor Magdalene Odundo.

Nothing new in the phrase. But this time its weight is different — the speed of its rhythm tears through me. We all call each other to make sure. The replies come in like a daily ritual: We're fine, you? Fine! As if the word were a spell we shelter behind. My mother. Fine. My older brother and his family. Fine. My younger brother, at his Gulf posting. Fine. My sister and her family, here. Fine. Those my heart holds and those I love. Fine. Fine! We write it, we repeat it until it goes numb. My relatives who came from France to spend a week in the land of Cedars — among them some we were meeting for the first time, the children especially — are going back in a few hours.

The night of Friday, March 6 to Saturday, March 7, was marked by an Israeli helicopter-borne intrusion into a village in the Beqaa Valley, the apparent objective of which was to search for the remains of Ron Arad, an Israeli airman who disappeared in 1986 after his plane was shot down. The inhabitants of several Lebanese regions, notably Mount Lebanon, heard the incessant noise of Israeli low-altitude aviation throughout the night from Friday to Saturday. The operation itself took place in a village in Baalbeck in the northern Beqaa, Nabi Chit, which was the scene of a commando unit's operation.