Material about part of the Middle East (8)

I believe the answer is:

relevant

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'material' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)

'part of the middle east' is the wordplay.
'part of' becomes 'area' (I've seen this before).
'the middle' indicates the central letters.
'east' becomes 'levant' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
The middle of 'area' is 're'.
're'+'levant'='RELEVANT'

'about' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for relevant that I've seen before include "Related to the matter in hand" , "Significant" , "To the point" , "Applicable" , "Germane, apropos" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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