BEIRUT: ISIS militants in areas north of Arsal’s outskirts carried out an attack on Hezbollah positions Tuesday, but did not achieve any strategic victories according to the Lebanese group’s media channel. According to Hezbollah-run Al-Manar TV, ISIS attacked Hezbollah fighters in the outskirts of al-Qaa and Ras Baalbek, two northeastern Lebanese border towns. The […]

  As evening approaches in downtown Beirut, a deafening clangor sets in during the winter months as church bells chime over the Muslim call to prayer, a cacophony that silences the chatter at sidewalk cafes for several minutes. The source of the discord is a street corner that joins St. George Cathedral and the Grand Mosque, […]

  It’s Saturday afternoon in Beirut and the streets are unusually crowded. A street art event has invited people to one of the city’s old stairways, and a girl at the bottom of the stairs is giving directions over the phone: “You know that small corner shop with the sleeping dog outside? That’s it, I’m […]

    The Free Patriotic Movement and Lebanese Forces handed over to Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi a copy of the so-called declaration of intent between the two parties for his review. FPM lawmaker Ibrahim Kanaan and LF official Melhem Riachi stressed after talks with al-Rahi in Bkirki that the declaration isn’t targeting any side but merely […]

Gareth Harris

Tony Salamé, the Lebanese founder of the Aïshti fashion chain, hopes to put Lebanon on the contemporary art map with a new museum due to open in Jal el Dib, a coastal site in Beirut, in October. The Aïshti Foundation building, designed by the British architect David Adjaye, is costing $100m. The opening show will be organised by Massimiliano Gioni, artistic director of the New Museum in New York. The building will form part of a commercial centre with a sculpture terrace on the waterfront, to be overseen by Cecilia Alemani, director of High Line Art in New York.

Salamé began buying art in 2003, initially acquiring Arte Povera works by Lucio Fontana, Alberto Burri, Giuseppe Penone and Michelangelo Pistoletto. His 2,000-strong collection now includes pieces by artists such as Christopher Wool, Gerhard Richter, Franz West, Richard Prince, Wade Guyton, Danh Vō and Carol Bove.

“We faced many delays due to the instabilities in the regions, but now we’re almost done,” says Salamé, adding that “the art gallery spaces measure around 3,000 sq metres”.

QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA AND SAMEER N. YACOUB , Associated Press

BAGHDAD (AP) — Tariq Aziz, the debonair Iraqi diplomat who made his name by staunchly defending Saddam Hussein to the world during three wars and was later sentenced to death as part of the regime that killed hundreds of thousands of its own people, has died in a hospital in southern Iraq, officials said. He was 79.

Aziz died Friday afternoon after he was taken to the al-Hussein hospital in the city of Nasiriyah, about 320 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Baghdad, according to the provincial governor, Yahya al-Nassiri. Aziz had been in custody in a prison in the south, awaiting execution.

Aziz, the highest-ranking Christian in Saddam’s regime, was its international face for years. He was sentenced in 2010 to hang for persecuting members of the Shiite Muslim religious parties that now dominate Iraq.

His wife, Violet, had visited him in prison Thursday, their daughter Zeinab told The Associated Press in the Jordanian capital, Amman, where most of the family lives.

  The seat of the Maronite church announced on Wednesday that Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi will not hold talks with Syrian officials during his visit to Damascus next week. Bkirki’s press officer Walid Ghayyad said the June 8 trip is “pastoral and will not include any political meetings.” Al-Rahi’s visit to the Syrian capital has three […]

  BEIRUT: Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri postponed a presidential election vote Wednesday to June 24 due to lack of quorum. Lawmakers have failed in 24 consecutive sessions to elect a successor to former President Michel Sleiman since his term ended May 25, 2014, amid a feud between the country’s rival factions on a consensus candidate. […]

  BEIRUT: Education Minister Elias Bou Saab Wednesday denied rumors circulated on social media that this year’s official exams would be more difficult than in previous years since last year’s tests were cancelled. "Exam questions must match the curriculum,” Bou Saab said during a news conference concerning the 2015 official Brevet and Baccalaureate exams set […]

  BEIRUT: The Cabinet Monday discussed the thorny issue of security and military appointments amid warnings that failure to resolve the dispute over the border town of Arsal could spark a new civil war. Statements made by a number of ministers showed that the Cabinet’s main parties were entirely in disagreement on how to deal […]