@markmackinnon
Senior International Correspondent for The Globe and Mail, Canada's national newspaper. Now based in London, after stops in Moscow, Beijing and the Middle East. Author of The New Cold War (the book, not the thing). Add me to your top-secret group chats!
“For Khamenei, being assassinated in this way, in the middle of Ramadan, it actually has given him…a bigger position as a symbol within the Shia faith than what he could have done by staying alive,” said Maryam al-Khawaja, an exiled Bahraini human-rights activist…“They have given him the best gift.”
In the eyes of many Shia Muslims, the US-Israeli war on Iran feels a lot like a war on their religion.
"When they killed Khamenei, it’s like they killed our pope."
My report from Beirut
www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...
In Lebanon, Hezbollah is facing unprecedented criticism - even from its own Shia supporters - over its decision to take the country into another devastating war with Israel.
“Everyone is asking why Hezbollah did this.”
My report from Beirut
Loud explosion audible in central Beirut just now.
Modern warfare - calls warning people to leave the Dahiya are coming from a presumably spoofed Danish number.
Families who got similar calls in Sidon on Tuesday were called from a phony Kazakhstan number...
Current scene looking over the Dahiya after Israel ordered an evacuation of the entire southern suburbs of Beirut. Note the epic traffic jam trying to get out, and people gathering on foot in the parking lot of the soccer stadium.
Gunfire is Hezbollah fighters warning people to keep moving…
Mass panic around me at an IDP centre as people who fled here from the southern suburbs get ready to flee again…
“I don’t know what’s going on – we have nothing to do with any of this.”
Fear and anger spread in Lebanon as Israel begins targeting areas outside traditional Hezbollah strongholds.
My report from Sidon
A huge fire was seen in Tyre in southern Lebanon after Israeli strikes targeted the city. Local media said the attack came without prior warning
The Iran war comes to Europe. "‘We never imagined this’: the Cypriot village on edge after RAF Akrotiri drone strike" www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...
The Masnaa border crossing between Lebanon and Syria was evacuated after an Israeli warning that it would be targeted.
People across Beirut - well beyond the Hezbollah-dominated Dahiya - today receiving calls with recorded messages telling them to leave their homes because they are near a Hezbollah target.
Unclear whether these are real warnings, or an attempt to spread panic (and maybe anti-Hezbollah sentiment)….
Dear Spain: The Turbot War (look it up, it was A Thing) is forgiven. Somehow, we’re in this together.
Signed,
Canada.
Diplomacy, early 2026
I can’t decide what’s more baffling - the fact that the IMF paid someone to deliver this very obvious conclusion, or the fact that the NYT thought it worthy of a news alert…
The Israeli military just announced it has "launched a forward defense operation for northern towns."
Read as: Israeli troops have crossed into southern Lebanon.
Given that he said he’d end the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours, this is more than a little worrying…
Worse, there’s no air défense here at all…
What a time to be alive...
“I hate the word ‘Hezbollah'" - Lebanon reels as the Iranian-backed militia drags it into another regional war.
My report from Beirut
www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...
'[One expert] predicted that Hezbollah would refrain from starting another war it couldn’t win.
'However, [another] said the “brazenness” of the Khamenei assassination would force Hezbollah’s leadership to consider if war was coming to them whether they chose it or not.'
Canada’s message to citizens trapped in the spreading Middle East conflict: “Prepare contingency plans that don’t rely on the Government of Canada’s assistance for departure.”
www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...
Four more loud explosions just now - make that six. Sounds like target is again the southern suburbs of the city (where Hezbollah is headquartered)...
Pres Trump told me tonight the US had identified possible candidates to take over Iran, but they were killed in the initial attack. "The attack was so successful it knocked out most of the candidates," Trump told me. "It's not going to be anybody that we were thinking of because they are all dead. Second or third place is dead."
complete insanity
Another loud explosion heard in central Beirut just now. One or more (presumably) Israeli warplanes audible overheard.
As the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran continues to spread around the Middle East, the Lebanese front might prove the most volatile of all.
My updated report from Beirut
I am indeed.
Good morning from Beirut where a (presumably) Israeli surveillance drone buzzes loudly overhead…
Arabic spokesman for the Israeli military, Avichay Adraee, issues a statement warning the residents of more than 40 villages across southern Lebanon and in the Bekaa valley to evacuate for their own safety. (First strikes in Beirut suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, came without warning.)
