Al Hayat was first published in Lebanon in 1946, and then re-launched internationally from London in 1988. It is the most widely quoted independent Arabic newspaper on Middle Eastern Affairs. The newspaper's European base allows it the freedom to communicate the ideas and concerns that support a broad spectrum of views within the mainstream of Arab thinking. Al Hayat is simultaneously printed in London, Frankfurt, New York, Riyadh, Jeddah, Bahrain, Dubai, Beirut & Cairo. The distribution system is geared to ensure morning sale on issue date in 33 markets around the world. It is using new technologies in order to deliver the paper digitally and make it available globally via a "print-on-demand" network.