Elizabeth Dias@elizabethjdias Pope Francis: ‘One Cannot Make Fun of Faith’ But “To kill in the name of God is an aberration” For Pope Francis, there are limits to free speech. The Holy Father spoke to journalists in a broad interview on the papal flight to the Philippines about the Charlie Hebdo massacre and the controversy about […]

By : Hilary White Follow Hilary

  BINT JBEIL: A blanket of snow has covered signs on roads in south Lebanon that warn of minefields and unexploded ordnance left behind by the Israeli army, creating a dangerous situation for residents. After last week’s storm left much of the south covered in snow, southerners have ventured out to enjoy the frosty scene […]

  The army on Tuesday arrested a Lebanese man in the northern city of Tripoli on suspicion that he was plotting to carry out a suicide bombing, while two other people were captured in Bekaa’s Arsal after trying to cross into its outskirts. The army said in an official statement that its forces arrested “in […]

  BEIRUT: Fears of terror attacks swept the country Tuesday, a day after security forces dealt a heavy blow to Islamist militants by dismantling their operations room at the notorious Roumieh Prison. Such fears were corroborated by the Lebanese Army’s arrest in Tripoli of a Lebanese man suspected of plotting a suicide attack, days after […]

  The Lebanese army has reportedly received weapons under two grants by Saudi Arabia that are below the standards. According to An Nahar newspaper published on Wednesday, countries that signed a deal with Lebanon to deliver arms to its military to better equip it have handed over arms shipments that are substandard. The army, so […]

khazen.org  offers its deepest condolences to the family of Yves Nawfal. We demand justice to be served immediately and deliver the criminals to justice . The el Khazen family is at the service of Yves Nawfal family and the Lebanese Justice. Khazen.org will provide all of our efforts to help bring the criminals to justice […]

By David Kenner

David Kenner is the Middle East editor for Foreign Policy

BEIRUT On Saturday night, Taha al-Khayal and Bilal al-Mariyan approached the Omran Café in the Lebanese city of Tripoli’s Jabal Mohsen district and blew themselves up. Khayal detonated his explosives inside the café. Mariyan arrived a few minutes later, apparently planning to target the crowd gathering around the site of the attack. Issa Khaddour, a resident of the neighborhood and father of seven, saw Mariyan approaching and tackled him, saving the lives of many but losing his own.

 The twin suicide bombings were overshadowed by the fallout from the Charlie Hebdo killings, but their nine victims were no less innocent than the slain citizens in Paris. While the al Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, Lebanese Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk said that initial information suggested that it was the work of the Islamic State. Whatever the case, the attack marked the worst violence in Lebanon since the army clashed with Islamist militants in Tripoli in October, and renewed fears that the Syrian conflict was spilling over into the country.

By Molly Hennessy-Fiske

I‘s well after 1 a.m. at Walkman, a new 1980s-themed bar off busy Hamra Street, and the liquor is still flowing, dance floor lights still flashing, girls in tight jeans and leopard-print tops still jumping to the remixed chorus of a far more contemporary song by the Swedish DJ Avicii, "Wake me up when it’s all over."

"We want to escape from society and politics," said Mike Kaspian, 22, who works at a fabric store and was practically pulsing with energy. "So we are having fun!"

Kaspian sports a shaved head, wide grin and blue V-neck T-shirt that exposes the tribal tattoo ringing his right bicep. Tonight, he and his friends were not worrying about the ongoing unrest in neighboring Iraq and Syria, embattled Lebanese cities to the north or the spate of car bombs in town last year.

They had been doing shots of ouzo. And tequila. Maybe later they would peruse the drinks menu displayed in 1980s VHS cases — "Police Academy II," "Rambo III," "Pumping Iron" — and try some of the house specials: the Dirty Harry, Chuck Norris and Ghostbusters.

In recent weeks, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has started referring to the Islamic State terrorist organisation by a name they reportedly despise, Daesh.

Australia’s allies in the Middle East have suggested the Western world not use monikers such as ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) or IS (Islamic State) as they legitimise the group’s aspirations.

“Daesh hates being referred to by this term, and what they don’t like has an instinctive ­appeal to me,” Abbott said.

“I absolutely refuse to refer to it by the title that it claims for itself (Islamic State), because I think this is a perversion of religion and a travesty of governance.”