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    Raya Jalabi

    Middle East correspondent

    Raya Jalabi is the FT's Middle East correspondent, covering Iraq, Syria and Lebanon from her base in Beirut. Before joining the FT in 2022, she covered Saudi Arabia and Iraq for Reuters, and was a news editor and reporter at The Guardian in New York.
    Email Raya Jalabi @rayajalabi  on Twitter (link opens in a new browser window)

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    • Monday, 5 June, 2023
      News in-depthLebanon
      Foot-dragging over central bank chief underscores Lebanon dysfunction

      Country was grappling with a leadership vacuum and an economic collapse even before the arrest warrants for Riad Salameh

    • Friday, 19 May, 2023
      Middle Eastern politics & society
      Syria’s president al-Assad welcomed back into fold at Arab League summit

      Countries to discuss initiative with leader to encourage millions of refugees to return

    • Tuesday, 16 May, 2023
      Lebanon
      France issues arrest warrant for Lebanon central bank chief

      Riad Salameh failed to appear before Paris investigators over corruption and money-laundering

    • Monday, 15 May, 2023
      COP28
      Syrian leader Assad invited to COP 28 climate summit in Dubai

      Move likely to cause disquiet among those expressing disdain for the pace of reconciliation with Damascus

    • Sunday, 14 May, 2023
      Oil & Gas industry
      How Iran will profit from Shell’s Iraqi gas project

      Tehran-based company receives most of the revenues from the power plant used by UK group’s joint venture in Iraq

    • Thursday, 4 May, 2023
      Lebanon
      Judge investigating Lebanon’s central bank chief is ousted

      Ghada Aoun dismissed amid multiple corruption probes against country’s political and financial elite

    • Monday, 1 May, 2023
      News in-depthMiddle Eastern politics & society
      Arab world weighs price for Assad’s rehabilitation

      Diplomats say Syria’s pariah leader will be expected to make concessions to enable his return to Arab League

    • Monday, 1 May, 2023
      Middle Eastern politics & society
      Erdoğan says Isis leader killed in operation by Turkish forces

      US has not confirmed Ankara’s strike on Islamist leader Abu Hussein al-Qurayshi

    • Wednesday, 12 April, 2023
      Middle Eastern politics & society
      Saudi Arabia hosts Syrian foreign minister for first time since civil war

      Visit is the latest sign that Arab countries who once opposed regime are moving closer to embracing Damascus

    • Monday, 10 April, 2023
      FT News Briefing podcast10 min listen
      The rising influence of Mrs Assad

      China corruption probes are going after financial executives for 'hedonism'

    • Sunday, 9 April, 2023
      Israeli-Palestinian conflict
      Israeli strikes on Syria targets cap week of tensions

      Attacks come after 48 hours of tit-for-tat violence ignited by police raid at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque

    • Saturday, 8 April, 2023
      Iraq
      Iraq demands Turkey apologise for drone strike on Syrian Kurdish leader

      Mazloum Abdi, a US ally against Isis, escaped the attack on an airport in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region

    • Friday, 7 April, 2023
      Israeli-Palestinian conflict
      Israel strikes Hamas targets in Gaza and Lebanon

      Weapons manufacturing sites and tunnels hit, says Israeli military

    • Friday, 7 April, 2023
      Israeli-Palestinian conflict
      Israel hits targets in Lebanon and Gaza as tensions mount

      Netanyahu says response will ‘exact heavy price’ after rockets are fired at Israel amid clashes at al-Aqsa mosque

    • Wednesday, 5 April, 2023
      TotalEnergies
      TotalEnergies strikes deal with Iraq to revive $27bn energy projects

      Gas, oil and solar initiatives had become bogged down in political negotiations

    • Tuesday, 4 April, 2023
      Syria
      Two people killed in Israeli air strikes on Damascus suburb

      Attacks come days after Israel downed what it said was an Iranian drone that crossed into its territory from Syria

    • Sunday, 2 April, 2023
      Iraq
      Iraqi authorities reach preliminary deal to resume oil exports to Turkey

      Final agreement expected ‘within days’ to restart flow of crude halted by tribunal decision

    • Sunday, 2 April, 2023
      The Big Read
      Syria’s state capture: the rising influence of Mrs Assad

      The first lady now has a leading role in a regime that is plundering the wealth of its people

    • Tuesday, 28 March, 2023
      Bashar al-Assad
      Assad cousins hit with sanctions over amphetamine trade that funds regime

      Captagon is estimated to be worth $57bn annually to the Syrian government

    • Tuesday, 28 March, 2023
      OutlookLebanon
      Lebanon fails the test of time

      The decision to delay daylight savings plunged the country into a crisis of conflicting time zones

    • Monday, 27 March, 2023
      News in-depthIraq
      Crippling dollar shortage underscores vulnerability of Iraq’s oil-based economy

      Attempts to control a monetary crisis have had unintended consequences for a country struggling to get back on its feet

    • Saturday, 25 March, 2023
      Oil
      Iraq wins landmark case against Turkey over Kurdish oil exports

      Nine-year dispute over region’s energy sales settled by international court

    • Thursday, 16 March, 2023
      Money laundering
      Lebanon’s central bank chief in court to face money-laundering allegations

      Riad Salameh for the first time appears in front of European investigators probing the accusations

    • Tuesday, 14 March, 2023
      Lebanon
      Lebanon’s banks begin strike action over ‘arbitrary’ judicial decisions

      Closures are the latest blow for the country’s depositors who are already struggling to access their own money

    • Wednesday, 8 March, 2023
      News in-depthTurkey-Syria earthquake
      Spy chief’s daughter highlights UN’s tangled relations with Syrian regime

      Sanctioned figure’s daughter works for UN agency as quake exposes compromises in aid provision benefiting regime

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