What’s the Story of Aleppo?

Broadcasters from The Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland, Spain and Slovenia are all boycotting May’s Eurovision Song Contest because Israel is participating. Sources within Israel’s broadcaster say calls for it to be banned are unjustified, and organisers of the contest insist it mus ...  Show more

For the second time in 12 years Glasgow is preparing to host the Commonwealth Games after Australia’s Victoria state pulled out because of increased costs. Victoria’s withdrawal raised questions about whether the 2026 games would go ahead before Glasgow agreed to step in. Staging ...  Show more

The battle of Stalingrad was arguably the most important strategic battle of the Second World War. The Germans and their allies were eventually defeated by Russian forces after a long, brutal conflict and siege of the city. Aleppo has been described as Syria’s Stalingrad – the co ...  Show more

We're with Jwanah Qudsi for Episode 139 of The Beirut Banyan. Click to watch: https://youtu.be/k6nqDg9gWjA Jwanah is the founder of Aleppo Heritage Fund - an NGO dedicated to preserving the old city of Aleppo - and an urban planner / urbanist. We discuss Aleppo’s current reconstr ...  Show more

A fuzzy team photo from the 1980s sends Tim Whewell on a journey to track down football players from a small town in northern Syria who were once the champions of Aleppo province. In the last four years of war their hometown, Mare'a, has become a war zone – bombed by the Assad re ...  Show more

Over the last several weeks an estimated 140,000 people have been displaced by escalating fighting in Idlib, Syria.