![Ramlet el-Bayda, Beirut's last public beach, is surrounded by residential towers and resorts [Kareem Chehayeb/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/6d585bde2a544465912a9154b43c3687_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
After losing a large chunk of seafront to a five-star resort, activists fear further encroachment at Ramlet el-Bayda.
![Syrian refugee children outside their family tents at a camp in the town of Bar Elias in Lebanon [File: Bilal Hussein/AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/91b173b8797042dc8ab38137747e54b0_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Settlements destroyed in Arsal village after expiry of July 1 ultimatum as aid groups protest and fear more demolitions.
![Samar Badawi was arrested last July [File: Anders Wiklund/EPA-EFE]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/3edea1168c7b47bb836b3b1e6ead0f6f_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Prominent activist Samar Badawi among those to face charges linked to their human rights efforts in the kingdom.
![Nizar Zakka, an information technology expert, disappeared in Tehran in 2015 [Mohamed Azakir/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1a6a91c9fb25468c8bd127413d1bad5c_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Lebanese businessman and US resident Nizar Zakka, who was held for years in Iran, says he was subject to ‘kidnapping’.
![Increasing reports of torture in prisons come as Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman prepares to rule the kingdom [File: Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout/via Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2ad0594eca4440f8a47cb25c4ec23ad1_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Three Saudi clerics reportedly on death row and dozens of activists are believed to have endured brutal treatment.
![Saad Hariri, the leader of the Future Movement, has endorsed his political opponent, former general Michel Aoun, for president [Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/db412483180d40bf8d6a45ed19344cb9_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Many Lebanese remain sceptical that the new government will confront the country’s major security and economic issues.