Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. No recent population census has been conducted, but 2007 estimates ranged from more than 1 million to 2.2 million as part of Greater Beirut, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region and the fifteenth-largest in the Arab world. Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coast, Beirut is an important regional seaport, it is one of the oldest cities in the world. The first historical mention of Beirut is found in the Amarna letters from the New Kingdom of Egypt, which date to the 15th century BC. Beirut is Lebanon's seat of government and plays a central role in the Lebanese economy, with most banks and corporations based in its Central District, Rue Verdun, Ryad el Soloh street, Achrafieh. Following the destructive Lebanese Civil War, Beirut's cultural landscape underwent major reconstruction. Identified and graded for accountancy, banking and law, Beirut is ranked as a Beta World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.

The English name Beirut is an early transcription of the Arabic name Bayrūt. The same name's transcription into French is Beyrouth, sometimes used during Lebanon's French occupation; the Arabic name derives from Phoenician Birut. This was a modification of the Canaanite and Phoenician word be'rot, meaning "the wells", in reference to the site's accessible water table; the etymology is shared by the biblical Beeroth which was, however, a different settlement somewhere near Jerusalem. The name is first attested in the 15th century BC, when it was mentioned in three Akkadian cuneiform tablets of the Amarna letters, letters sent by King Ammunira of Biruta to Amenhotep III or Amenhotep IV of Egypt. Biruta was mentioned in the Amarna letters from King Rib-Hadda of Byblos; the Greeks hellenised the name as Bērytós. When it attained the status of a Roman colony, it was notionally refounded and its official name was emended to Colonia Iulia Augusta Felix Berytus to include its imperial sponsors. Before, under the Seleucid Empire, the city had been founded and known as Laodicea in honour of the mother of Seleucus the Great.

It was distinguished from several other places named in her honour by the longer names Laodicea in Phoenicia or Laodicea in Canaan. Beirut was settled more than 5,000 years ago and the area had been inhabited for far longer. Several prehistoric archaeological sites have been discovered within the urban area of Beirut, revealing flint tools of sequential periods dating from the Middle Palaeolithic and Upper Paleolithic through the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. Beirut I was listed as "the town of Beirut" by Louis Burkhalter and said to be on the beach near the Orient and Bassoul hotels on the Avenue des Français in central Beirut; the site was discovered by Lortet in 1894 and discussed by Godefroy Zumoffen in 1900. The flint industry from the site was described as Mousterian and is held by the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon. Beirut II was suggested by Burkhalter to have been south of Tarik el Jedideh, where P. E. Gigues discovered a Copper Age flint industry at around 100 metres above sea level; the site had been built on and destroyed by 1948.

Beirut III, listed as Plateau Tabet, was suggested to have been located on the left bank of the Beirut River. Burkhalter suggested that it was west of the Damascus road, although this determination has been criticised by Lorraine Copeland. P. E. Gigues discovered a series of Neolithic flint tools on the surface along with the remains of a structure suggested to be a hut circle. Auguste Bergy discussed polished axes that were found at this site, which has now disappeared as a result of construction and urbanisation of the area. Beirut IV was on the left bank of the river and on either side of the road leading eastwards from the Furn esh Shebbak police station towards the river that marked the city limits; the area was covered in red sand. The site was found by Jesuit Father Dillenseger and published by fellow Jesuits Godefroy Zumoffen, Raoul Describes and Auguste Bergy. Collections from the site were made by Bergy and another Jesuit, Paul Bovier-Lapierre. A large number of Middle Paleolithic flint tools were found on the surface and in side gullies that drain into the river.

They included around 50 varied bifaces accredited to the Acheulean period, some with a lustrous sheen, now held at the Museum of Lebanese Prehistory. Henri Fleisch found an Emireh point amongst material from the site, which has now disappeared beneath buildings. Beirut V was discovered by Dillenseger and said to be in an orchard of mulberry trees on the left bank of the river, near the river mouth, to be close to the railway station and bridge to Tripoli. Levallois flints and bones and similar surface material were found amongst brecciated deposits; the area has now been built on. Beirut VI was a site discovered while building on the property of the Lebanese Evangelical School for Girls in the Patriarchate area of Beirut, it was notable for the discovery of a finely styled Canaanean blade javelin suggested to date to the early or middle Neolithic periods of Byblos and, held in the school library. Beirut VII, the Rivoli Cinema and Byblos Cinema sites near the Bourj in the Rue

John Cassimar Treanor was a first-class cricketer who played for New South Wales between 1954 and 1957. A leg-spin bowler, Treanor made his first-class debut in the Sheffield Shield against Queensland in 1954-55, taking 5 for 146 and 3 for 69 in the drawn match. In his next match he took 3 for 64 and 4 for 96 against the touring MCC, in his third match he took 5 for 97 and 3 for 41 against Victoria; the English journalist Alan Ross thought Treanor was the best spin bowler in Australia at the time, should have been chosen for the tour to England in 1956, but Treanor played only two matches in the 1955-56 season. He took 28 wickets at an average of 30.25 in 1956-57, took his best figures of 5 for 36 in the tied match against Victoria, but, his last season of first-class cricket. He was a successful bowler in Sydney grade cricket. In the 1970s he coached the cricket team at the University of Wollongong. In the Second World War Treanor served as a sapper with 2/4 Field Company, he married Norma Dorrington in 1947.

List of New South Wales representative cricketers Jack Treanor at CricketArchive Jack Treanor at ESPNcricinfo

This article deals with the activities of the U. S. Central Intelligence Agency in Angola; the list of activities may be incomplete due to the clandestine nature of the subject matter. As background to the reports of Cuban action, " Castro decided to send troops to Angola on November 4, 1975, in response to the South African invasion of that country, rather than vice versa as the Ford administration persistently claimed; the United States knew about South Africa's covert invasion plans, collaborated militarily with its troops, contrary to what Secretary of State Henry Kissinger testified before Congress and wrote in his memoirs. Cuba made the decision to send troops without informing the Soviet Union and deployed them, contrary to what has been alleged, without any Soviet assistance for the first two months."In a meeting including President Ford, Secretary of State Kissinger, Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger, CIA Director William Colby among others, U. S. intervention in Angola's civil war is discussed.

In response to evidence of Soviet aid to the MPLA, Secretary Schlesinger says, "we might wish to encourage the disintegration of Angola.” Kissinger describes two meetings of the 40 Committee oversight group for clandestine operations in which covert operations were authorized: “The first meeting involved only money, but the second included some arms package." Beginning in 1975, the CIA participated in the Angolan Civil War and training American, British and Portuguese private military contractors, as well as training National Union for the Total Independence of Angola rebels under Jonas Savimbi, to fight against the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola led by Agostinho Neto. John Stockwell commanded the CIA's Angola effort in 1975 to 1976. In a meeting including President Richard Nixon and Chinese Vice-Premier Deng Xiaoping, Teng referred to an early conversation between Nixon and Mao Zedong regarding Angola. "We hope. The complex problem is the involvement of South Africa, and I believe you are aware of the feelings of the black Africans toward South Africa."

No CIA personnel were present, but this is mentioned in the context of setting US policy toward Angola, where CIA did have covert operations. United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger replied, "We are prepared to push South Africa as soon as an alternative military force can be created." Nixon added "We hope your Ambassador in Zaire can keep us informed. It would be helpful." Deng said "We have a good relationship with Zaire but what we can help them with is only some light weapons." To this, Kissinger replied, "We can give them weapons, but what they need is training in guerrilla warfare. If you can give them light weapons it would help. Our specialty is not in guerrilla warfare?" Deng mentioned that at various times, China had trained all the factions in Angola. Savimbi was supported by the conservative Heritage Foundation. Heritage foreign policy analyst Michael Johns and other conservatives visited with Savimbi in his clandestine camps in Jamba and provided the rebel leader with ongoing political and military guidance in his war against the Angolan government.

During a visit to Washington, D. C. in 1986, Reagan invited Savimbi to meet with him at the White House. Following the meeting, Reagan spoke of UNITA winning "a victory that electrifies the world." Savimbi met with Reagan's successor, George H. W. Bush, who promised Savimbi "all appropriate and effective assistance."The killing of Savimbi in February 2002 by the Angolan military led to the decline of UNITA's influence. Savimbi was succeeded by Paulo Lukamba. Six weeks after Savimbi's death, UNITA agreed to a ceasefire with the MPLA, but today Angola remains divided politically between MPLA and UNITA supporters. Parliamentary elections in September 2008 resulted in an overwhelming majority for the MPLA, but their legitimacy was questioned by international observers; the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II uses CIA activities in Angola as part of the game context and setting