by Florence Massena – Al Monitor – With long-awaited parliamentary elections scheduled for May 2018, the Lebanese government provided an online platform Nov. 3-20 so non-resident Lebanese could register to vote. More than 90,000 eligible voters took advantage of the opportunity, the first time such an option had been offered. Elections Law no. 25, adopted in 2008, stipulated that out-of-country voting begin with the 2013 parliamentary elections — previously, […]

by voanews.com BEIRUT — Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said in remarks published Thursday that he fears Hezbollah’s military role in regional conflicts will end up costing his country dearly. But Hariri also stressed he was optimistic that a way to end the political paralysis gripping Lebanon following his Nov. 4 resignation is being worked out. […]

BY TOM O’CONNOR  – NEWSWEEK – The U.S. had planned to resettle Palestinians from war-torn Lebanon into Egypt in the 1980s, but the North African state’s former leader demanded the West first find a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, according to secret British documents seen by BBC News. The documents were reportedly obtained via the U.K.’s Freedom […]

by Tom DiChristopher | @tdichristopher – by cnbc.com – The bold anti-corruption campaign by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and his aggressive foreign policy threaten to undermine his effort to promote a more moderate form of Islam, warns Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and best-selling author Thomas Friedman. The New York Times columnist, who began his career covering the Middle East and Israel, recently […]

BEIRUT, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) — The Lebanese-Chinese cultural relations are developing “from the Silk Road into the Silk Highway,” said Lebanon’s Minister of Education Marwan Hamadeh Tuesday. Hamadeh hailed the rapid expansion of cultural ties between the two countries, mentioning 30 scholarships for Lebanese and Arab students to continue studies in the Chinese city of […]

by By MARK PERRY theamericanconservative.com – Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has accomplished the impossible: he’s actually united Lebanon, though perhaps only briefly.   The tale of how the 32-year-old bin Salman (or MbS, as he’s called), accomplished this is a tad complex, but it’s worth the telling. Earlier this month, on November 2, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, […]

Peter Jesserer Smith  ncregister.com  BEIRUT — Twenty years ago, when St. John Paul II arrived in Lebanon he proclaimed the country’s important “historical mission” was to show the world how “different faiths can live together in peace, brotherhood and cooperation.” The Holy Father declared that “Lebanon is more than a country — it is a […]

by Sonam Sheth Business Insider– President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, has considered the possibility of pushing senior adviser Jared Kushner and special assistant Ivanka Trump out of the West Wing by the end of the year, The New York Times reported on Saturday. Kelly joined the White House in […]

by catholicherald.co.uk – Pope John Paul II had a prophetic vision of an “Islamist invasion” of Europe, a former confidant has claimed. Mgr Mauro Longhi, who often accompanied the former Pope on hiking trips while still a student, said St John Paul was a mystic who “dialogued” with Our Lady and had prophetic visions. He […]

by reuters – BEIRUT, Nov 25 — Top Lebanese Druze politician Walid Jumblatt today called on Saudi Arabia to enter dialogue with Iran and said that the Kingdom’s modernisation plans could not work while Riyadh was engaged in a war in Yemen. Lebanon was thrust back onto the frontline of a regional power tussle this […]