Egyptian troops deployed around Cairo and the whereabouts of President Mohamed Morsy were uncertain late Wednesday as his supporters said a military coup was under way.  The state-run Middle East News Agency reported Wednesday night that leaders of the country’s Muslim and Christian communities would join military leaders and opposition figures to lay out […]

  Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun held talks Wednesday with President Michel Sleiman at Baabda Palace. The meeting came on the sidelines of a dinner hosted by Sleiman in honor of visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Similar to the rest of his March 8 allies, ties between Aoun and Sleiman have been strained over the […]

  As this country teeters on the edge of a sectarianist abyss, there is one small area that has managed to immunise itself against any potential internal explosion – despite seemingly having all the necessary ingredients to ignite.   Shebaa, a largely Sunni town of 25,000 people on the south-eastern tip of Lebanon, is perched […]

  President Michel Sleiman met Tuesday with Cardinal Beshara Rai for talks on the latest national developments, a statement from the president’s office said. Rai also offered the president his condolences over the soldiers who passed away in recent clashes with supporters of Salafist Sheikh Ahmad Assir in Abra, south Lebanon. [DailyStar]  

VATICAN CITY (Catholic Online) – The Vatican is confirming the death by beheading of Franciscan Father, Francois Murad, who was martyred by Syrian jihadists on June 23.  Below is the news release from the Vatican, via news.va.

On Sunday, June 23 the Syrian priest François Murad was killed in Gassanieh, in northern Syria, in the convent of the Custody of the Holy Land where he had taken refuge. This is confirmed by a statement of the Custos of the Holy Land sent to Fides Agency. The circumstances of the death are not fully understood. According to local sources, the monastery where Fr. Murad was staying was attacked by militants linked to the jihadi group Jabhat al-Nusra.
Father François, 49, had taken the first steps in the religious life with the Franciscan Friars of the Custody of the Holy Land, and with them he continued to share close bonds of spiritual friendship. After being ordained a priest he had started the construction of a coenobitic monastery dedicated to St. Simon Stylites in the village of Gassanieh.After the start of the Civil War, the monastery of St. Simon had been bombed and Fr. Murad had moved to the convent of the Custody for safety reasons and to give support to the remaining few, along with another religious and nuns of the Rosary.

"Let us pray," writes the Custos of the Holy Land Pierbattista Pizzaballa OFM " so that this absurd and shameful war ends soon and that the people of Syria can go back to living a normal life." Archbishop Jacques Behnan Hindo, titular of the Syrian Catholic archeparchy in Hassaké-Nisibis reports to Fides: "The whole story of Christians in the Middle East is marked and made fruitful by the blood of the martyrs of many persecutions. Lately, father Murad sent me some messages that clearly showed how conscious he was of living in a dangerous situation, and offered his life for peace in Syria and around the world. "

  The famed Baalbek International Festival, normally held in the town’s spectacular Roman ruins, will be held this year in the Northern Metn district of Jdeideh near the capital Beirut, the festival’s organizing committee said on Monday. La Magnanerie, a former silk factory that dates back to the nineteenth century, will be this year’s venue, the […]

  "When you have an industrial economy like in the past where people … do a lot of physical work and people live less years, it’s OK to retire at 65," Slim told CNBC. "When you have a society of knowledge and experience and information, at this age is where you are at your best. […]

  The Chief of the Egyptian military has given Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi 48 hours to meet the demands of the people, according to a statement posted on their Facebook page. Military chief Abdul Fattah al Sisi said that the army will then intervene to seek a political transition (though it will not itself be […]