Lebanon: In a day of dramatic developments Wednesday, the Lebanese Army enjoyed a major breakthrough in its battle against national terror, arresting a leading figure of an Al-Qaeda-linked group, dismantling two explosive-laden cars and raiding a major arms cache.   But despite a successful day for the Lebanese security services, sources warned that the […]

  Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi called on Tuesday for the formation of a government that does not lead to a crisis in Lebanon and for holding the presidential elections on time.   “The government should not cause a crisis if it was formed according to everyone’s wishes in Lebanon,” al-Rahi told reporters at Rafik Hariri […]

  Cela dit, ils avaient l’air assez graveleux, les photographes. Un peu pépères vicieux, la bave aux lèvres. Visqueux. À la limite, on les comprend. Elle n’était pas seulement belle, très belle, Jackie Chamoun, en se faisant shooter (à demi)-nue, comme beaucoup d’athlètes internationaux prestigieux, pour un calendrier autrichien : elle avait cette simplicité, ce […]

  LEBANON’S violent political culture is about to be put under an international spotlight in the trial of four men accused of assassinating former prime minister Rafik Hariri.   The Special Tribunal for Lebanon in The Hague is about to begin examining links between Lebanon’s militant group Hezbollah and the regime of Bashar al-Assad in […]

  Lebanese leaders adapt quickly… and they’ve done so yet again. After decades of manipulating political divisions and communal distrust, the Lords of Lebanon—your favorite Arsonist Firemen—have now co-opted a popular social media campaign aimed at undermining the logic of martyrdom that has come to pervade the public discussion on everything from assassinations to the […]

  French President Francois Hollande on Friday promised President Michel Suleiman to start equipping the Lebanese Army with weapons “as soon as possible.” Hollande also reiterated “Paris’ commitment to supporting Lebanon” during a meeting with Suleiman in Tunisia, where they took part alongside world leaders in a ceremony celebrating the adoption of the country’s new constitution. […]

HERMEL, Lebanon — Snow-covered fields and welcoming smiles give the town of Hermel a pleasant vibe. There was a time when archaeological caves and rafting adventures attracted tourists to this otherwise remote northern corner of Lebanon. Not anymore.

These days it’s suicide bombers and missiles seeking out Hermel.

Militants have fired 190 ground-to-ground missiles on Hermel in the past six months alone, according to local authorities. And in the past three weeks, two suicide bombers have rocked the population of just 40,000.

“Daily life has changed completely. Everyone is afraid,” said pharmacist Ali Shaheen, 41, as he worked to repair his damaged store. It was badly hit in a suicide bombing on Jan. 16. “I worry what is going to happen to my children. I am scared to stock the pharmacy like I did before. No one knows what is going to happen here. Now we all just buy what we need day by day.”

To date, the strikes and suicide bombings have killed 10 civilians, not including the two suicide bombers. About 75 more have been injured, meaning more than one in every 500 Hermel citizens has been a casualty. Countless more have endured property damage and, much worse, the loss of friends and family members. Some only discovered their loss after searching through hospital beds and rows of corpses.

It’s hard to understand just how high those numbers are when viewed in isolation. So to put those odds into perspective: During the same time period, three suicide bombings hit Lebanon’s capital, claiming at least nine lives and injuring about 120. That’s roughly one in every 15,500 Beirutians. In Baghdad, which had its deadliest month since 2008, those killed or injured amounted to about one in every 9,000 citizens, according to UN figures.

And the rate is almost impossible to compare to the United States, where in 2012, for example, seven people died in terrorist attacks in a nation of well over 300 million, accordingto a report publicized by CNN. That’s about one American in 45 million killed in 2012 (a year when worldwide terrorist attacks and fatalities hit a record high).

Even expanding those numbers to Americans killed either at home or abroad, the comparison is stark: according to research documented by Reason magazine, in the five-year period between 2006 and 2011, the chances of a US citizen dying in a terrorist attack either domestic or foreign, both within the United States and abroad, was one in 20 million. The majority of those included in this calculation died while on duty in Iraq or Afghanistan.

    You can find herebelow a letter sent to Prince Cosme III, Grand Duc of Toscane. In this letter, The Maronite nation shows gratitude and appreciation for the support, hospitality and solidarity of the Medicis family towards Prince Emir Fakreddine, as well as Cheikh Abou Nader el Khazen and his son Abou Naufel, who […]

  "I am alive."   Those words can mean a lot when you are a resident of Lebanon, where bombings are a frequent reality. So Sandra Hassan, a Lebanese-born graduate student studying public health in Paris, developed an app that lets users get the message out quickly. With one click, they can instantly tweet the […]

  A woman died in a Beirut hospital early Wednesday due to injuries she suffered when her husband allegedly beat her repeatedly with a pressure cooker, a security source told The Daily Star.   Mohammad al-Nhaily reportedly used the kitchen appliance to strike Manal al-Assi, a teacher, after a quarrel turned violent. The incident took […]