Lebanon for more than three years has been mired in a deep financial, economic and social crisis, aggravated by a political deadlock.

Here is a recap since turmoil broke out in October 2019.

Even before an epic final won by Lionel Messi and Argentina, FIFA president Gianni Infantino was calling it "the best World Cup ever" in Qatar.

From leaping from his seat in the VIP box to consoling crestfallen players on the pitch, French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a wide-ranging performance at the World Cup final that was not to everyone's taste. 

The 44-year-old was an unmissable presence at the game at the Lusail stadium in Qatar on Sunday, even making an appearance in the team's changing room to deliver an emotional post-game pep talk.

France and Morocco have a relatively relaxed post-colonial relationship but ties are still not without tensions that risk being exposed when their national football sides clash in a World Cup semi final in Qatar.

The relationship France has with Morocco is not nearly as traumatic as with neighboring Algeria, which fought Paris in a bloody seven-year War of Independence that scars both nations to this day.

Having launched a new bid for the White House, Donald Trump has not been met with the energy he had been hoping for.

Lebanon has been without a president for over a month, its legislators unable to agree on a new head of state.

The impasse is holding up a range of initiatives, from putting into place structural reforms for an International Monetary Fund program to allowing the country's state-owned television channel to broadcast the World Cup.

This was the year war returned to Europe, and few facets of life were left untouched.

Russia's invasion of its neighbor Ukraine unleashed misery on millions of Ukrainians, shattered Europe's sense of security, ripped up the geopolitical map and rocked the global economy. The shockwaves made life more expensive in homes across Europe, worsened a global migrant crisis and complicated the world's response to climate change.

Lebanon has arrested 185 people suspected of collaborating with enemy state Israel since its economic collapse three years ago left many Lebanese desperate for cash, two security sources told AFP Wednesday.

That number has jumped significantly from a previous average of four or five arrests a year, one of the sources said.

Throughout the Muslim and Arab worlds, either government neglect or outright hostility toward LGBTQ people, said Rasha Younes, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch who investigates anti-LGBTQ abuses in the Middle East and North Africa.

In some countries, apparent advances for LGBTQ people have been followed by pushbacks. Lebanon is an example. Over recent years, its LGBTQ community was widely seen as the most vibrant and visible in the Arab world, with advocacy for greater rights by some groups, and gay bars hosting events such as drag shows.

Two months after Yemen's truce expired, fighting largely remains on hold but a series of attacks by Huthi rebels could have serious repercussions for a country crippled by war.