Lebanese singer and actress Najah Sallam dies at age 92

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese singer and actress Najah Sallam, who surged to fame in the mid-20th century for her songs promoting pan-Arabism, has died. She was 92. Her family did not disclose the cause of her death on Thursday. Sallam was born on March 13, 1931. Her songs supporting Arab unity were especially popular in Egypt where President Gamal Abdel Nasser later granted her Egyptian citizenship. In 2018, then-Lebanese President Michel Aoun honored Sallam and other iconic artists in a celebration marking the 80th anniversary of Radio Lebanon, one of the region’s oldest radio stations. Sallam was also a renowned actress and was involved in about a dozen Arabic films in the 1950s and 1960s.