A spare parts and car accessories store in Tayyouneh, in Beirut's southern suburbs, on Jan. 2, 2025, and its owner, who wishes for safety in the year 2025. (Credit: Yara Sarkis/L'Orient-Le Jour)
"Read more, limit alcohol consumption, speak fluent Italian, be less addicted to screens..." In a cafe in Beirut's Badaro neighborhood, Cristina*, 26, lists her 2025 resolutions, joking that she hopes to achieve "at least half" of them. It's a lengthy list, one that reflects a desire to return, or at least a yearning for, a semblance of normalcy after the devastating war between Hezbollah and Israel that shook the country just over a month ago. Read more Beirut celebrates Christmas with a heavy heart However, the people interviewed by L'Orient-Le Jour across several neighborhoods of the Lebanese capital shared wishes for Lebanon rather than personal resolutions, deeming it "absurd" to set individual goals given the country’s fragile economic situation. Instead, they opted for wishes like "a happy new year," the avoidance of "the...
"Read more, limit alcohol consumption, speak fluent Italian, be less addicted to screens..." In a cafe in Beirut's Badaro neighborhood, Cristina*, 26, lists her 2025 resolutions, joking that she hopes to achieve "at least half" of them. It's a lengthy list, one that reflects a desire to return, or at least a yearning for, a semblance of normalcy after the devastating war between Hezbollah and Israel that shook the country just over a month ago. Read more Beirut celebrates Christmas with a heavy heart However, the people interviewed by L'Orient-Le Jour across several neighborhoods of the Lebanese capital shared wishes for Lebanon rather than personal resolutions, deeming it "absurd" to set individual goals given the country’s fragile economic situation. Instead, they opted for wishes like "a happy new year," the avoidance of "the...