Beirut

Coordinates: 33°53′13″N 35°30′47″E / 33.88694°N 35.51306°E / 33.88694; 35.51306

Beirut (Arabic: بيروت‎ Bayrūt; Biblical Hebrew: בְּאֵרוֹת Be'erot; Hebrew: ביירות Beirut; Latin: Berytus; French: Beyrouth; Turkish: Beyrut; Armenian: Պէյրութ Beyrut) is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. No recent population census has been done but in 2007 estimates ranged from slightly more than 1 million to slightly less than 2 million as part of Greater Beirut. Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coast, Beirut is the country's largest and main seaport.

The first mention of this metropolis is found in the ancient Egyptian Tell el Amarna letters dating from the 15th century BC. The city has been inhabited continuously since then. The Beirut River runs south to north on the eastern edge of the city.

Beirut is Lebanon's seat of government and plays a central role in the Lebanese economy, with many banks and corporations based in its Central District, Hamra Street, Rue Verdun and Ashrafieh. Following the destructive Lebanese Civil War, Beirut's cultural landscape underwent major reconstruction. Identified and graded for accountancy, advertising, banking/finance and law, Beirut is ranked as a Beta World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.

Middle East

The Middle East (also called the Mid East) is a transcontinental region centered on Western Asia and Egypt. The corresponding adjective is Middle-Eastern and the derived noun is Middle-Easterner. Formerly, the Eurocentric synonym Near East (as opposed to Far East) was commonly used. Arabs, Azeris, Kurds, Persians, and Turks constitute the largest ethnic groups in the region by population, while Armenians, Assyrians, Circassians, Copts, Druze, Jews, Maronites, Somalis, and other ethnic and ethno-religious groups form significant minorities.

The History of the Middle East dates back to ancient times, with the (geo-political) importance of the region being recognized for millennia. Several major religions have their origins in the Middle East, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; the Baha'i faith, Mandaeism, Unitarian Druze, and numerous other belief systems were also established within the region. The Middle East generally has a hot, arid climate, with several major rivers providing irrigation to support agriculture in limited areas such as the Nile Delta in Egypt, the Tigris and Euphrates watersheds of Mesopotamia, and most of what is known as the Fertile Crescent. Most of the countries that border the Persian Gulf have vast reserves of crude oil, with the dictatorships of the Arabian Peninsula in particular benefiting from petroleum exports. In modern times the Middle East remains a strategically, economically, politically, culturally and religiously sensitive region.

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera (Arabic: الجزيرة‎ al-ǧazīrah IPA: [æl dʒæˈziːrɐ], literally "The Peninsula", referring to the Arabian Peninsula), also known as JSC (Jazeera Satellite Channel), is a Doha-based state-funded broadcaster owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network, which is partly funded by the House of Thani, the ruling family of Qatar. Initially launched as an Arabic news and current affairs satellite TV channel, Al Jazeera has since expanded into a network with several outlets, including the Internet and specialty TV channels in multiple languages.

Al Jazeera is among the largest news organizations with 80 bureaus around the world. Al Jazeera is owned by the government of Qatar. While Al Jazeera officials have stated that they are editorially independent from the government of Qatar, this assertion has been disputed.

The original Al Jazeera channel's willingness to broadcast dissenting views, for example on call-in shows, created controversies in the Arab States of the Persian Gulf. The station gained worldwide attention following the outbreak of war in Afghanistan, when it was the only channel to cover the war live, from its office there.

The Arab

The Arab may refer to:

Arab Street

Coordinates: 1°18′8.1″N 103°51′29.6″E / 1.302250°N 103.858222°E / 1.302250; 103.858222

Arab Street (Chinese: 阿拉伯街) is the name of a road and neighbourhood in Singapore. There are two explanations behind the name. The first one is that the area was owned by an Arab merchant, Syed Ali bin Mohamed Al Junied and that it was the site of an Arab kampong, hence the name Arab Street. The Chinese referred the street as jiau a koi Javanese, in the view of the Javanese who used to be the majority inhabitants of the area. Spices, textiles, basketry items and songkoks are sold along this row of shophouses with five-foot way at Arab Street. In Tamil, Arab Street is known as pukadai sadkku (flower shops street), because of shops selling homegrown flowers, lime and other goods sold by Javanese women. In 1889, a huge fire occurred.

It is also tied to the preexisting situation at the time of the nation's founding by Sir Stamford Raffles. When Raffles was planning the outline of areas to be allocated for the government, as opposed to commercial and residential use, a community of Bugis seamen and merchants were already near the Sultan's palace. He therefore allocated the area to them, near where their boats were sheltered in the river, bringing their annual cargo to a barter basis. That is how the name Bugis Street came about. The Arabs and other Muslim traders (Chulias) were also allocated to areas near Kampong Glam.