Ziad Rahbani, the Lebanese composer and musician who built a distinct Lebanese sound from Western and Arabic musical roots, and whose sardonic critique of the country's sectarian politics rang true to Lebanese across the divides, has died.
Lebanese musician and composer Ziad Rahbani, Reuters/Jamal Saidi
Ziad Rahbani, the Lebanese composer and musician who built a distinct Lebanese sound from Western and Arabic musical roots, and whose sardonic critique of the country's sectarian politics rang true to Lebanese across the divides, has died.
He was 69.
Rahbani was much-loved across Lebanon and his words remained relevant across generations, from those who grew up with him during the 1975-90 Civil War, to the post-war generation who have struggled to shake the war's legacy.
He passed away at a hospital in Beirut on Saturday morning after a long illness, the hospital said.
By Timour Azhari and Laila Bassam
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday that Hezbollah was seeking to rearm and that Israel would exercise its right to self-defence under last year's ceasefire accord if Lebanon failed to disarm the militant group.
Major Saudi Arabian firms are planning billion-dollar investments in Syria as part of the kingdom's business-forward approach to the country's recovery, but U.S. sanctions and a fractured Syrian state apparatus pose formidable obstacles.
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, more than 550,000 Syrian refugees have returned from Turkey to Syria, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on Saturday.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.