Fan Changlong (L), Vice Chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, shakes hands with Lebanese President Michel Aoun during their meeting in Beirut, capital of Lebanon 2016. (Xinhua/Li Xiaowei) BEIRUT (Xinhua) — China is keen to develop all-round ties with Lebanon and expand military exchanges between the two armies, said Fan Changlong, Vice Chairman of China’s […]

By  Joseph Haboush from Daily Star Lebanon

By globalyoungvoices.com

Editor’s note: This article is
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challenges of youth startups founded by millennial entrepreneurs from
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If
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By Dennis Sadowski
Catholic News Service

BALTIMORE (CNS) — Maronite Bishop Gregory J. Mansour called on the
bishops of the United States to bring wider attention to the persecution
of Christians in the Middle East to their parishes and political
leaders. Addressing the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops Nov. 15, the Maronite leader said he hoped that the new
four-year strategic plan adopted by the conference earlier in the day
would incorporate a robust advocacy for religious freedom in the rest of
the world.

“People do look to America and religious freedom is our greatest
freedom and we ought to be able to export it …The more we export it
throughout the world, the happier our world will be,” said Bishop
Mansour, who heads the Eparchy of St. Maron in Brooklyn, New York. While referring to the acts of kidnapping, torture and killings by
the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, Bishop Mansour said that
attention must be given to attacks on the religious freedom of
Christians throughout the Middle East.

He encouraged the bishops to take several steps to “increase our
communion with our brothers and sisters there” including raising funds
for the humanitarian work of organizations such as Catholic Relief
Services, Aid to the Church in Need, the Catholic Near East Welfare
Association and the Knights of Columbus. He also said the U.S. church could play a major role in developing a
plan with Catholic bishops around the world to rebuild churches and
restore the livelihoods of Christians in the region.

A third suggestion revolved around the possibility of organizing a
program in which U.S. parishes match up with parishes to create bonds of
unity and solidarity. Such an effort, he said, could be extended to
Orthodox, Protestant and other Christian congregations. Bishop Mansour also called for advocacy with the U.S. Department of
State to boost aid for refugees and displaced people who do not find
their way to established camps but are taken in by individual families,
hospitals and churches.

By AFP

Lebanon’s powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah today denied quotes in a Lebanese newspaper attributed to its second-in-command Sheikh Naim Qassem saying it had become “an army”.
 “Hezbollah’s press bureau wishes to clarify that what was published Wednesday in the As-Safir newspaper did not appear in the text delivered by the deputy secretary-general of Hezbollah,” the group said in a statement.

The denial came after the newspaper quoted Qassem as saying in an address: “We now have a trained army and the Resistance (Hezbollah) does not need to rely on guerrilla tactics.” As-Safir’s article came after images shared widely on social media showed Hezbollah conducting a military parade in Syria, where it is fighting to bolster President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

The photos of Hezbollah’s military parade allegedly featuring US-made
armored vehicles in the Syrian city of Qusayr published by media close
to the organization raised questions the US State Department had to
confront during a daily press briefing on Tuesday.

The US equipment on the photos appear to be the M113 armored personnel carriers that have been in service since 1960 and “are extremely common in the region,” Trudeau noted. The State Department spokeswoman also noted that “the
Lebanese military has publicly stated that the M113s depicted online in
the Hezbollah military parade were never part of their equipment
roster.”

The images provoked controversy in Lebanon, where the Shiite movement is a divisive force, as well as concern from Washington, which deems Hezbollah a “terrorist” group. The group said its denial also invalidated a previous “clarification” in which its press office told AFP that Qassem’s quote was in fact: “We have become more than a guerrilla movement but less than an army.”

By Asia News agency

BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros
al-Rahi has called for an “inclusive government” to represent all of the
country’s groups when it takes office, hopefully before Lebanon’s
Independence Day on 22 November.

In the appeal he made yesterday in his homily at Sunday Mass, the
cardinal also asked the country’s parliament and political leaders to
make a further effort so that President Michel Aoun can reach a
compromise in setting up the new government.

“The Lebanese want the anticipated new government to be an inclusive,
consensual and effective government,” al-Rahi told the faithful in his
Sunday Mass sermon. For the prelate, the new cabinet should be a “government that unites
rather than divides, a government that shares responsibilities with the
spirit of the National Pact and the constitution, not with the mentality
of the distribution of shares or clinging to a certain ministerial
portfolio”.

The Lebanese also “hope it will be formed before Independence Day so that their joy would be complete,” al-Rahi added. Aoun’s election as president and Saad Hariri’s selection as the new prime minister have renewed hope in the country’s future. However, Lebanon’s new leaders face many challenges, from a stagnant economy to a million Syrian refugees who arrived in recent.

These are serious and difficult problems to tackle for an often
waning political class whose members are focused on personal interests
and have been unable so far to deal with the country’s crises
adequately.