SAT-7 calls for prayers as massive explosion rocks Beirut Port, Lebanon
August 20205 August 2020 A massive explosion in the Lebanese capital Beirut early Tuesday evening, 4 August 2020, has left an estimated 4,000 wounded, at least 100 dead, and caused extensive damage to the heart of the city. SAT-7 has its largest television production studio in Beirut – around 10km from the blast site – with around 70 employees and freelance […]
Domestic Abuse Cases Rise: SAT-7 Responds
July 2020Tragically, it was inevitable. As more and more governments issued “stay at home” orders during the coronavirus pandemic, cases of domestic violence against women rose across the MENA. Nations worldwide have reported a rise in cases, but in large parts of the MENA the numbers were telling a dark story long before coronavirus. In 2018, a study by the National […]
A Sense of Security for Suffering Children
Full of trust, free of worries, innocent and happy. This is a child at their best. But many children in the MENA are not in an environment that allows anything like that. It may be the actions of their parents, the struggles of their community, or the fear in their heart that robs them of an enjoyable childhood. Whatever the […]
Challenges Mount for Vulnerable Groups
Like a house built on sand that barely survives a storm, those lacking stability have been most badly shaken by 2020’s global pandemic. Refugees, people with mental health problems, domestic violence victims, and millions of daily-wage workers are among those worst affected. Several SAT-7 programmes have been raising the profile of these groups and trying to assist them where possible. […]
“STOP THESE MURDERS!” SAT-7 PRESENTER URGES ACTION AFTER LATEST FEMICIDE IN TURKEY
July 2020A SAT-7 women’s show host has made an impassioned call to Turkish authorities to protect women amid widespread outrage over the murder of a 27-year-old student. The discovery on 21 July of the body of Pinar Gültekin and gruesome details of how her alleged killer tried to dispose of it have provoked fury in a country that, since 2017, has […]
JULY MIDDLE EAST BRIEFING: Lifelines under threat
July 2020The vulnerability of many of the essential ingredients for peace and security – freedom from conflict, basic utilities, health and food security, and freedom of belief– were exposed once again in another challenging month in the region. In Turkey, President Erdogan has ordered that Hagia Sophia, Istanbul’s fifth century basilica and a World Heritage Site, should become a mosque again. The structure […]
Following in the footsteps of an Iranian martyr
July 2020Rashin Soodmand was just 13 when she heard the horrifying news that her pastor father had been executed. Hossein Soodmand, a former Muslim, was the last person to be hanged in Iran for apostasy after he steadfastly refused to cease his Christian activities. Thirty years later, his daughter has also found her life calling in serving the Iranian church. Rashin’s […]
Breakthrough at the eleventh hour
With war coming ever closer to their home in Syria, Revd Wael Haddad and his wife, Maram Nafe Tahhan, turned to God for guidance and began seeking to migrate to the Gulf. But every door they tried suddenly closed, until God intervened at the eleventh hour. Wael and Maram told their story on a special edition of the SAT-7 […]