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Eyes circled in black, pure, stormy, contrasting. Beautiful enough to drown in. Dominic Harrison, alias Yungblud, rushes onto the stage and screams his fauvism at the top of his lungs. A life of rage, grandeur, and self-confidence acquired and now alchemizing. Each of his gestures is a flash; each of his movements, a fire. He doesn't just perform his songs. He lets them explode with fire. The pit ignites as soon as he appears. The bass rumbles like thunder. My daughter and her friend are a little further away, I'm in the back. Every vibration in the air passes through us. Then he emerges. Body sculpted under the spotlights, animal presence, blue eyes made up like a storm. Yungblud bursts onto the stage, he is a wild fire. A cigarette between his fingers, which he will light later, and already the heat is unbearable.

Were things normal between America and Israel on one side, and Iran's "Islamic Republic" on the other, there would have been no need for all this time and all these frictions to reach an agreement between the three parties — which are, in reality, only two. In the end, America and Israel cannot be separated when it comes to the essential questions: the chain of demands made of Iran, whether regarding its nuclear file, its ballistic missiles and launch platforms, or the proxy arms controlled by the Revolutionary Guard beyond Iranian soil. Were things normal, Iran would have acted as Germany and Japan did at the end of the Second World War, when they surrendered to the Americans and their European allies. That is how Germany saved itself — and Japan likewise. Japan required a second atomic bomb, dropped on Nagasaki after the first on Hiroshima, to grasp the meaning of America's resolve to inflict a crushing defeat upon it. Military defeat freed both countries from despotic regimes that had made each of them a threat to their surroundings, and indeed to the entire world. It enabled Germany to catch its breath and reclaim its standing in Europe and the world, while Japan's economy became one of the most significant on earth — once Japan was convinced that military confrontation with the United States served no purpose.

The war in Ukraine, triggered by the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, is entering its fifth year. Moscow's offensive initially aimed to overthrow the Ukrainian state in a few days, but it met fierce Ukrainian resistance and massive mobilization by Westerners to help them. The worst conflict on European soil since World War II has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries, while millions of Ukrainian refugees have fled into exile. On the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the conflict's outbreak, Levant Time interviewed Constantin Sigov, philosopher, director of the Centre for European Studies at Mohyla University in Kyiv and of the Dukh i Litera (Spirit and Letter) publishing house.

Naim Qassem has delivered many speeches over the years. His latest, marking the anniversary of Hezbollah’s “martyr commanders,” was not particularly original—but it was revealing. It was part elegy, part sermon, part warning, and entirely predictable. The martyrs were invoked, the faith was affirmed, Israel was denounced, Iran was praised, and the Lebanese government was gently informed that it is both responsible for everything and entitled to decide very little. It is a remarkable formula: Hezbollah demands that the state defend sovereignty—provided the state does not insist on owning it. Qassem’s central argument is simple. Lebanon respected the November 2024 ceasefire; Israel did not. Therefore, the Lebanese government must confront Israeli violations. So far, so reasonable. But then comes the sleight of hand: while the government is urged to act like a sovereign authority vis-à-vis Israel, it is simultaneously warned not to act like a sovereign authority vis-à-vis Hezbollah’s weapons. Apparently, sovereignty is indivisible—except when it reaches Dahiyeh.

In a first article examining the situation of Middle Eastern Christians, we outlined the demographic and social reality facing Syria’s Christian communities – one that was bleak in every respect. This second installment explores the spiritual, cultural, and historical stakes involved. Commenting on a report by L’Œuvre d’Orient on Syria’s Christian communities, completed in the summer of 2025 (see previous article), Bishop Hugues de Woillemont, the organization’s director, underscored the vital role Christian associative and charitable institutions continue to play across Syrian society, notably in the fields of reconciliation, women's empowerment, and education.

The Iran-U.S. confrontation recalls a quote by the Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu (4 th – 5 th century BC): "The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting". President Donald Trump seems to adopt a strategy based on this quote, and he deliberately maintains ambiguity to keep his strategic objectives and military thinking secret. Strikes, large-scale war, sustained threats (from both sides) that risk escalating at any moment… Speculation is rife. The concentration of American war assets in the Middle East is enormous and leaves no doubt as to the vast damage these assets can inflict on Iran. In this regard, and speaking of his warships, President Trump told reporters last week: "They have to sail somewhere. They might as well sail near Iran".