Editor’s note: Ahead of the 2014 presidential election, this is the seventh in a series of articles examining the circumstances and conditions that shaped the elections of Lebanon’s 12 presidents since 1943. BEIRUT: Elected in 1982, while most of Lebanon was under Israeli occupation, controversial leader Bachir Gemayel is the only Lebanese presidential […]

  Pope Francis on Friday evening was leading a service at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican to mark Good Friday, the most solemn day in the Christian calendar. Later Friday, he will take part in a nighttime ceremony marking the Stations of the Cross, also known as the Way of the Cross or Via Crucis, […]

  Lebanese officials will attend the ceremonies that would canonize two of the 20th century’s most influential popes together.   According to al-Liwaa newspaper published on Thursday, Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi will head to the Vatican on April 24 to participate in declaring Popes John Paul II and John XXIII saints. The patriarch will be followed […]

By Brooke Anderson – WSJ

TRIPOLI, Lebanon–Three months ago, when masked men torched a priest’s bookshop in Tripoli, charring thousands of works, the likely aim was to instill fear and ignite hatred in an impoverished city already contending with religious tension.

Instead, the fire sparked an outrage that went beyond the small Christian community of Lebanon’s northern capital. Within hours, Muslims and Christians were working together to clean the ashes from the shelves and floors.

And within days, financial and book donations began pouring in from around the country and the world. This week, around $36,000 – raised through a community crowdfunding campaign – will be released for the restoration of the bookshop.

Now, Father Ibrahim Sarrouj, a Greek Orthodox priest and a lifelong lover of books, is setting his sights beyond restoring his shop, looking to open a public library to pay tribute to those who helped recover from the disaster and also as a venue for learning to fight the ignorance that led to the hate crime.

  BEIRUT: Three crew members of Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV station were killed Monday after they came under fire in the Syrian town of Maaloula, as politicians offered condolences and praised those killed as “martyrs.”   Al-Manar identified the men as reporter Hamzah Hajj Hasan, 29, technician Halim Allaw and cameraman Mohammad Mantash. Several other crew […]

  RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia’s king has appointed a new intelligence chief, Youssef al-Idrisi, replacing Bandar bin Sultan in the key post, which oversees the kingdom’s support for Syrian rebels. The Saudi Press Agency carried the royal decree Tuesday saying Bandar had requested to be relieved of the post. Al-Idrisi was Bandar’s deputy. [Link]

  In his Palm Sunday Homily, the pope spoke entirely off-the-cuff, ignoring his prepared homily and calling on people to look into their own hearts to see how they’re living their lives. Later, he posed for selfies with some young people   Pope Francis proved Sunday that the selfie craze is here to stay when […]

  Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi hoped on Sunday that parliament would take into consideration the people’s rights as it studies the new wage scale during a session on Tuesday.   He said: “We hope parliament will take into consideration the people’s rights and the state’s capabilities when studying the scale.” He made his remarks during a […]

  BEIRUT: Ali Wehbe, better known as the Lebanese Desert Runner for running in the harshest conditions across the globe, began his latest challenge last week: to run 12 marathons in 12 days.   “Every year, I choose a cause and I run for it,” Wehbe told The Daily Star, citing his mother’s death from […]

  Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi stressed on Friday the need to stage the presidential elections on time, saying that he does not have the right to interfere in the elections. He said upon his return to Lebanon from a trip to Geneva: “I have not rejected the nomination of any March 8 or 14 camp presidential […]