Michal Kranz is a freelance journalist based in New York City. He covers politics, society, and culture in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the United States, and has previously reported from Beirut, Lebanon and Warsaw, Poland.
In-depth: Amid past grievances, residents of the Assyrian Christian-majority town of Ankawa in Iraqi Kurdistan are cautiously optimistic about their new autonomous status.
Beirut, a welcoming cosmopolitan city loved by all those who call it home, lies in ruins. Michal Kranz, a journalist until recently based in Beirut, offers a message of solidarity
Comment: Unless the US takes serious steps to repair the relationship, there will be few incentives left for the Lebanese to keep the alliance alive, writes Michal Kranz.
Lebanon's General Security Directorate is actively and explicitly enforcing restrictive employment laws against Syrian refugees in southern parts of the country, writes Michal Kranz.
The opening of the Jordan-Syrian border was hailed by traders, but the movement of goods across the border has not fully resumed due to security threats and high tariffs.