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Sonia Beiruti Dies Aged 89

Sonia Beiruti.
Sonia Beiruti.
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Sonia Beiruti Dies Aged 89

Sonia Beiruti.
Sonia Beiruti.

Lebanese media figure Sonia Beiruti passed away quietly on January 16 at the age of 89, after she spent her last days with her eldest son, Antoine, who embraced her with his wife and children, offering her a last refuge.

She gave up on hosting many years ago, and rarely answered phone calls. She never liked social media and refused to own a cellphone, or use WhatsApp and other electronic services.

Beiruti worked in several newspapers and magazines, and served as an advisor for many media personalities and esteemed organizations. She started her journey at Dar Assayad, then worked in several institutions including Annahar newspaper and Al-Hasnaa magazine.

Later, she met late director Simon Asmar in the elevator at Annahar building, where he made her an offer: “I have a new artistic program. Are you interested in such an experience?” When she said that she never worked in art-related journalism, he replied: “you are a journalist with a thirst for knowledge and curiosity, you will find a way to explore stars”.

At that moment, Sonia started her life of fame. She was a petite woman known for her short hair, attractive voice, smart questions, and elegant appearance.

In a previous interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, she said: “After my participation in this program which marked a turning point on Lebanese TV, I walked on the street like I was flying in the sky. People recognized me all the time, they stopped me to ask questions and I answered nicely. A beautiful connection was built between me and the audience thanks to this popular, super successful program.”

Many Lebanese generations knew Sonia Beiruti, but she rarely appeared as a guest in TV programs although many TV hosts raced to interview her to learn from her experience.

Beiruti wrote several books including The Mills of Sectarianism, which highlights the writer’s experiences during the Lebanese civil war; she also wrote The Cords of Air which features the stories of 24 women who escape to beauty, youth, dream, fragility, and motherhood, and then discover that it was an illusion.

Sonia adored Beirut and always said: “I am Beiruti and I love Lebanon from head to toe.” She also liked swimming in Beirut’s sea even during the winter.

“I adore Beirut, its streets, neighborhoods, and houses, especially the alleys of Achrafieh where I was raised. Its sea has always been my closest friend in the summer and winter,” she said. “I remember when Samira Khashoggi offered to take me with her to Egypt, to escape the war and run Asharqiya magazine. I accepted on one condition, I wanted to visit Lebanon every 10 days,” she added.

The late media figure was passionate about her work in journalism. When she spoke about it, she said: “I wasn’t one of the journalists who use their instinct to judge a star, or a politician in a certain situation. Research, observation, and questions were my only way to investigate incidents and people. During my career, I was surprised with the potential of many people I met by coincidence, like Majida El Roumi, the little lady that entered the studio and shocked us with her powerful voice and turned the place upside down. We were all proud of her.”

About the media and television of today, Sonia believed that they have completely changed. “My advice to those working in today’s media is never to be afraid of telling the truth because it is the only way to build a country. I feel bored while watching TV today, only the political subjects interest me,” she said.

“He had remarkable humor. Once, we were talking, then he jumped to his library and grabbed a newspaper to confirm what he was saying. He changed the conversation repeatedly in a funny way that never bores you,” she said about Raymond Eddé, the funniest personality she hosted during her career.

About politics in Lebanon, she said: “Even the understanding of politics has changed today. everyone wants his share of the country like if it was an inheritance. Lebanon needs saviors to rescue it from its fall.”

The Lebanese bid a sad farewell to Sonia Beiruti on Tuesday in a funeral held in a church in Haret Sakhr. She was a media icon that reminded them of the golden days of television; she wasn’t a regular journalist, she established her own media school.

Once, Beiruti said “A human could not get enough of his love for life but one day, they have to respect its limits. Time is a school that we should not skip any of its lessons.”

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California’s Largest Wildfire Explodes in Size as Fires Rage across US West

A column of flame burns on a hillside during the Park Fire near Lomo, Calif., Friday, July 26, 2024. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
A column of flame burns on a hillside during the Park Fire near Lomo, Calif., Friday, July 26, 2024. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
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California’s Largest Wildfire Explodes in Size as Fires Rage across US West

A column of flame burns on a hillside during the Park Fire near Lomo, Calif., Friday, July 26, 2024. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
A column of flame burns on a hillside during the Park Fire near Lomo, Calif., Friday, July 26, 2024. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

California's largest active fire exploded in size on Friday evening, growing rapidly amid bone-dry fuel and threatening thousands of homes as firefighters scrambled to meet the danger.

The Park Fire's intensity and dramatic spread led fire officials to make unwelcome comparisons to the monstrous Camp Fire, which burned out of control in nearby Paradise in 2018, killing 85 people and torching 11,000 homes.

More than 130 structures have been destroyed by this fire so far, and thousands more are threatened as evacuations were ordered in four counties — Butte, Plumas, Tehama and Shasta. It stood at 374 square miles (967 square kilometers) on Friday night and was moving quickly north and east after igniting Wednesday when authorities said a man pushed a burning car into a gully in Chico and then calmly blended in with others fleeing the scene.

"There’s a tremendous amount of fuel out there and it’s going to continue with this rapid pace," Cal Fire incident commander Billy See said at a briefing. He said the fire was advancing up to 8 square miles (21 square kilometers) an hour on Friday afternoon.

Officials at Lassen Volcanic National Park evacuated staff from Mineral, a community of about 120 people where the park headquarters are located, as the fire moved north toward Highway 36 and east toward the park.

Communities elsewhere in the US West and Canada were under siege Friday, from a fast-moving blaze sparked by lightning sent people fleeing on fire-ringed roads in rural Idaho to a new blaze that was causing evacuations in eastern Washington.

In eastern Oregon, a pilot was found dead in a small air tanker plane that crashed while fighting one of the many wildfires spreading across several Western states.

More than 110 active fires covering 2,800 square miles (7,250 square kilometers) were burning in the US on Friday, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Some were caused by the weather, with climate change increasing the frequency of lightning strikes as the region endures record heat and bone-dry conditions.

The fire in eastern Washington was threatening homes, the railroad, Interstate 90 and the community of Tyler, which was evacuated Friday. The Columbia Basin fire in Spokane County closed part of Highway 904 between the interstate and Cheney. Multiple planes, helicopters and fire personnel were working hard to contain the fire, according to the Washington State Patrol.

In Chico, California, Carli Parker is one of hundreds who fled their homes as the Park Fire pushed close. Parker decided to leave her Forest Ranch residence with her family when the fire began burning across the street. She has previously been forced out of two homes by fire, and she said she had little hope that her residence would remain unscathed.

"I think I felt like I was in danger because the police had come to our house because we had signed up for early evacuation warnings, and they were running to their vehicle after telling us that we need to self-evacuate and they wouldn’t come back," said Parker, a mother of five.

Ronnie Dean Stout, 42, of Chico, was arrested early Thursday in connection with the blaze and held without bail pending a Monday arraignment, officials said. There was no reply to an email to the district attorney asking whether the suspect had legal representation or someone who could comment on his behalf.

Fire crews were making progress on another complex of fires burning in the Plumas National Forest near the California-Nevada line, said Forest Service spokesperson Adrienne Freeman. Most of the 1,000 residents evacuated by the lightning-sparked Gold Complex fires were returning home Friday. Some crews were peeling off to help battle the Park Fire.

"As evidenced by the (Park) fire to the West, some of these fires are just absolutely exploding and burning at rates of spread that it is just hard to even imagine," Tim Hike, Forest Service incident commander of the Gold Complex fire about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Reno, said Friday. "The fire does not look that bad right up until it does. And then that just might be too late."

Forest Ranch evacuee Sherry Alpers, fled with her 12 small dogs and made the decision to stay in her car outside a Red Cross shelter in Chico after learning that animals would not be allowed inside. She ruled out traveling to another shelter after learning the dogs would be kept in cages, since her dogs have always roamed free at her home.

Alpers said she doesn’t know whether the fire spared her home or not, but she said that as long as her dogs are safe, she doesn't care about the material things.

"I’m kind of worried, but not that much," she said. "If it’s gone, it’s gone."

Brian Bowles was also staying in his car outside the shelter with his dog Diamon. He said he doesn't know if his mobile home is still standing.

Bowles said he only has a $100 gift card he received from United Way, which handed them out to evacuees.

"Now the question is, do I get a motel room and comfortable for one night? Or do I put gas in the car and sleep in here?" he said. "Tough choice."

In Oregon, a Grant County Search and Rescue team on Friday morning located a small single-engine air tanker that had disappeared while fighting the 219-square-mile (567 square kilometers) Falls Fire burning near the town of Seneca and the Malheur National Forest. The pilot died, said Bureau of Land Management information officer Lisa Clark. No one else was aboard the bureau-contracted aircraft when it went down in steep, forested terrain.

The most damage so far has been to the Canadian Rockies’ Jasper National Park, where a fast-moving wildfire forced 25,000 people to flee and devastated the park’s namesake town, a World Heritage site.

In Idaho, lightning strikes sparked fast-moving wildfires and the evacuation of multiple communities. The fires were burning on about 31 square miles (80 square kilometers) Friday afternoon.

Videos posted to social media include a man who said he heard explosions as he fled Juliaetta, about 27 miles (43 kilometers) southeast of the University of Idaho’s campus in Moscow. The town of just over 600 residents was evacuated Thursday just ahead of roaring fires, as were several other communities near the Clearwater River and the Nez Perce Tribal Hatchery Complex, which breeds salmon.

There’s no estimate yet on the number of buildings burned in Idaho, nor is there information about damage to urban communities, officials said Friday morning.

Oregon still has the biggest active blaze in the United States, the Durkee Fire, which combined with the Cow Fire to burn nearly 630 square miles (1,630 square kilometers). It remains unpredictable and was only 20% contained Friday, according to the government website InciWeb.

The National Interagency Fire Center said more than 27,000 fires have burned more than 5,800 square miles (15,000 square kilometers) in the US this year, and in Canada, more than 8,000 square miles (22,800 square kilometers) have burned in more than 3,700 fires so far, according to its National Wildland Fire Situation Report issued Wednesday.