by catholicnewsagency.com — Andrea Gagliarducci – The decision of Pope Francis to approve the new constitution of the Order of Malta, abolish positions, appoint a transitional government, and convene a general chapter to support the reform came quickly, but not suddenly. For some time, it had become evident that the pope wanted to bypass all resistance and carry out the reform of the order outlined by the men he called to that office — and to do so against any contrary opinion. At the same time, Pope Francis’ decree of Sept. 3 cannot be simply described as a “victory” of the religious side over the secular side, the latter chiefly represented by German protagonists. That would be a reductive view of the situation.

The reform of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta is a reform in a more spiritual sense, at least in terms of its intentions. At the same time, the reform had to be careful not to jeopardize the sovereignty of the Order of Malta while recognizing its complex reality and sometimes turbulent history. The Order of Malta’s structure includes priories, sub-priories, and 48 affiliated associations. The organization also employs some 45,000 staff, assisted by almost 100,000 volunteers. The order’s humanitarian projects budget is said to amount to $2.3 billion. At the same time, the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta — that is the full official name — has three classes of knights.

By AP — Dozens of Lebanese and Syrian migrants stranded for days on a sinking fishing boat in the Mediterranean Sea are urging European coast guards to save them, saying that two children have died. The roughly 60 migrants told relatives and volunteer groups via satellite phone that the group has been without food, water and baby formula for the past three days. On board the boat are Syrian refugees and Lebanese from the country’s severely impoverished northern provinces trying to reach Italy for job opportunities. They left the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli about 10 days ago. “They’re trying to remove water leaking into the boat with buckets, that’s all they have,” the brother of one of the Syrian passengers told the Associated Press. He asked for their names not to be disclosed for security reasons and because some of the migrants did not want to disclose the news to their families back home. “This fishing boat is meant for five people, not 60.”

Lebanon has a population of six million, including one million Syrian refugees, and has been in the grip of a severe economic meltdown since late 2019 that has pulled more than three quarters of the population into poverty. The migrants are reportedly stranded near the coasts of Malta and Italy. Authorities have not yet sent rescuers, families and activists in touch with the migrants said. Lebanese parliamentarian Ashraf Rifi urged the Italian government as well as the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Lebanese embassy in Rome to take action. Both family members and Alarm Phone, an activist network that helps bring rescuers to distressed migrants at sea, Malta has not yet authorised a rescue operation and has not given permission to a commercial cargo ship to pick up the stranded migrants.

Meanwhile, families fear the leaking boat could sink at any time. “Whenever I call, you can hear the children screaming and crying in the background,” the relative said. “I don’t know why no governments have taken action to rescue them — is it because they’re poor people trying to make ends meet for their families?”

By Najia Houssari – arabnews.com — Lebanese Forces leader describes Aoun as ‘weakest president in Lebanon’s history’ BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Ministry of Telecommunications requested a treasury advance from the Ministry of Finance to avoid the repercussions of its employees’ strike that began last week. The strike has resulted in interruptions to landlines, mobile phones and internet services for millions of Lebanese citizens. Key services at hospitals, security and military facilities were also disrupted.

Caretaker Communications Minister Johnny Korm has signed for a treasury advance of around 200 billion Lebanese pounds ($7.14 million) from the 2022 budget reserves. The process awaits the signature of the minister of finance and the prime minister. The fund request aims to meet the demands of the employees of the state-owned telecom company Ogero. According to Elie Zeitouni, head of Ogero’s union, the employees are asking for an increase in transportation allowance and social assistance. “We are on the people’s side and do not intend to harm them,” Zeitouni said. “However, we will not suspend the strike until we receive a response from the communications minister on Thursday about the legality of meeting our demand for an increase in wages.”

by lbcgroup.tv — Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai stressed on Sunday that putting forward a presidential vacancy is fundamentally unacceptable, stressing that the election of a new president within the constitutional deadline is the only requirement. Rai’s comments were made during his Sunday mass sermon, whereby he indicated that speaking of presidential vacuum is constitutionally limited […]

by thenationalnews.com — Lebanese boats protesting against Israeli plans to drill for gas in a disputed area of sea were met by patrol vessels from Israel as they neared its waters on Sunday. Patrol boats from Lebanon were also seen in the area, AP reported. The protest comes before a new round of talks between Lebanese and Israeli delegations, mediated by the UN and, recently, the US. In June, the Israeli navy escorted a drilling rig operated by British company Energean to the Karish gas field, which is claimed by both countries and lies in an area of 860 square kilometres of disputed sea.

Maritime boundary dispute

Lebanon says its maritime border stretches further south than Israel’s claimed area of territorial waters. Israel says its maritime border lies further north of what Lebanon accepts. The US has released several optimistic statements hoping that the two countries can strike a compromise on the disputed energy resources. “We welcome the consultative and open spirit of the parties to reach a final decision with the potential to yield greater stability, security and prosperity for Lebanon as well as Israel,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in August. But Lebanese politicians have said the Israeli actions represent a violation of the country’s sovereignty.

By WILLIAM MULLALLY — arabnews.com — DUBAI: Ever since she was a little girl, Salma Hayek — actress, producer, philanthropist, and all-around global superstar — has felt a strong connection to her Arab roots. Though she grew up in Mexico, far from the small village of Baabdat, Lebanon, which her family left years earlier, her father and grandparents never let her forget where they came from, and the values that entails. “I was raised and I was educated, like all Lebanese people are educated, to give back to Lebanon, to be a brotherhood. We are raised so that when we encounter a Lebanese person in life, we immediately come together,” says Hayek. In her house growing up, she was raised on Arabic food, handed the writings of Khalil Gibran by her grandfather, and taught about what her Arab identity meant. “I probably had Kibbeh before I had tacos,” she jokes.

Her background was diverse, and she embraced the richness of what that meant, both in her Latin roots and her Middle Eastern ones, even as she moved to the US from Mexico to pursue a career in entertainment, eventually becoming a naturalized citizen. As much as the richness of her heritage made her who she was, that identity led her down a hard road in a town such as Hollywood, a town in which the faces that were most easily embraced were the ones that conformed to a different standard. “You have to understand, I am Mexican-Arab in America. It’s a tough one. I’m not British. I’m not Spanish. I’m Mexican-Arab,” she tells Arab News. In her house growing up, she was raised on Arabic food, handed the writings of Khalil Gibran by her grandfather, and taught about what her Arab identity meant. (Supplied) She has persevered, however, and made a significant contribution to a wider acceptance not only of ethnic diversity, but of women in roles traditionally held by men in the industry. Take her 2015 passion project “The Prophet,” an animation based on the famous work by Gibran that Hayek produced (as well as voicing one of the characters).

by cruxnow.com — Doreen Abi Raad — BEIRUT — Pope Francis’ representative to Lebanon, who is preparing to go to a new assignment as nuncio to Mexico, said he would cherish the four years he has spent in the land of the cedars. “It has been a very beautiful moment in my life, notwithstanding all the difficulties Lebanon is facing,” said Maltese Archbishop Joseph Spiteri, nuncio to Lebanon. But he said what he would miss most “is the meetings with the Lebanese. Their originality, their resilience, their welcoming nature. I consider myself a friend of Lebanon.” In a wide-ranging interview with Catholic News Service, Archbishop Spiteri spoke of the challenges the nation faced during his four years, including a stifling socio-economic crisis and the 2020 Beirut port explosions. He described the delicate navigation through Lebanon’s mosaic of 18 religious sects — Muslim, Christian and Druze — inherent with varied intricacies, and he spoke of his hopes for the future of the country. He said he hoped the country “can have a fresh start as soon as possible.” “The real treasure that Lebanon can share with the world is the resilience of its citizens, the great possibility that the Lebanese have of how to live together,” Spiteri said.

The archbishop described Lebanese helping each other after the port explosion, one of the largest nonnuclear blasts in history. It destroyed the immediate area and damaged more than half the city, leaving more than 200 people dead, 7,000 wounded and displacing at least 300,000 people. Yet, amid all the devastation, Spiteri said he was struck by the solidarity among thousands of people, mostly youth, who came from all over the country, “working together, with brooms and buckets in their hands, to clean up the debris. And seeing the stalls of Caritas distributing warm meals, the makeshift clinics still trying to help the wounded.” “That was an immediate ray of hope given by the Lebanese themselves,” the nuncio said. “It was incredible. What surprises me always is the great resilience of the Lebanese people and their solidarity.”

By Nader Durgham – Washington Post — BEIRUT — Shopping for grapes at Beirut’s wholesale market to resell from her produce cart, an exhausted Rawaa Ghosn described how another layer of her increasingly tenuous life was peeled away after she had to give up the use of her mobile phone in the face of skyrocketing rates. “I am worried something might happen to me in the street,” the 66-year-old said, adding that she suffers from cancer, heart disease and diabetes. “I would usually call my children or anyone. Now, I cannot recharge my phone account.” It’s just one more symptom of Lebanon’s unfolding economic crisis that the United Nations said last year had plunged 82 percent of the country into poverty. Amid some of the worst inflation in the world, the value of the Lebanese pound has plummeted by 90 percent. A man took hostages at a bank in Lebanon. People came to support him.

When the Ministry of Telecommunications decided on July 1 to bring fees in line with the rising cost of operations, the price of mobile phone service quintupled while internet broadband fees more than doubled. The caretaker minister of telecommunications, Johnny Corm, defended the spike, saying it is necessary to keep the sector afloat amid the country’s economic collapse. But it also meant that the rest of the population, whose real wages have nosedived with the currency, can’t afford their phones, which are used for a variety of essential tasks, including accessing the internet, checking when electricity is available and ordering from the pharmacy or grocery store. Of course, phone use also depends on whether there is even service. Last week, employees at the country’s two mobile phone companies, Touch and Alfa, went on strike over wages. On Wednesday, they were joined by employees of the main telecommunications provider, Ogero. The result has been disruptions in internet and cellular communications across the country, even completely shutting it down in some places.

سجعان قزي

@AzziSejean

العِراقُ يناجي لبنانَ ويَدعوه إِلى اقتفاءِ أثَرِه. لكنَّ العراقَ لم يَتوحدّ بإكليلِ غارٍ ولم يَتقسَّم بغصنِ زيتون. مرَّت عليه العقائدُ كخيلٍ تَعدو في الباديةِ تُخلّفُ غُبارًا ولا تَحسُم المعارك. لكنَّ لبنانَ ينتظرُ ما سيؤول صراعُ بغداد مع طهران ليَستَشرفَ تطوراتِه الآتيةَ في الأشهرِ القليلةِ الآتية. إيرانُ التي ظنَّت أنّها على مشارفِ انتصارِ ڤيينا، تفاجأت بمعركةِ بغداد. وإيرانيّو لبنان الّذين ظنّوا أنّهم على مشارفِ انتصارِ انتخاباتِ رئاسةِ الجُمهورية وانتصارٍ في مفاوضاتِ الطاقةِ مع إسرائيل، تفاجأوا أيضًا بتسويفٍ إسرائيلي قد يؤدي إلى امتحانٍ عسكريٍّ ما. الشرقُ والغربُ على أبوابِ بلدينا بالواسطة. ورئيسُ الجمهوريّةِ اللبنانيّةِ ستَنتخِبُه أحداثُ العراق أو لن يُنتخَب.

بين لبنان والعراق علاقةٌ سببيّةٌ منذ عقود. تَتشابه حينًا وتَتناقضُ أحيانًا. واللبنانيّون يُصبحون أمامَ حتميّةِ المواجهةِ، بل المقاومةِ، إذا حاولت إيران تنصيبَ رئيسٍ من مِحورِها. آنئذٍ، يَفقِدُ الحوارُ، الذي نؤمن به، جدواه. فما قيمةُ حوارٍ مع جماعةٍ أو دولةٍ مُصمِّمةٍ على قتالِك واحتلالِك من جهةٍ، وتَحتقِرُ ذكاءَك وتُوهمُكَ بشَغفِها بالحواِر لتُطْبِقَ خِلسةً عليك من جهةِ أخرى. إنَ انتخابَ رئيسٍ من خارجِ هُويّةِ لبنانَ السياديّةِ هو فعلٌ باطِلٌ يَستكملُ الانقلابَ الجاري ويُساوي الفراغَ الوطنيّ. والمسيحيّون ليسوا مستعدّين لتوزيعِ رئاسةِ الجُمهوريّة إعاشةً كلَّ ستِّ سنواتٍ على هذا أو ذاك. ألم تَنصَّ مُقدِّمةُ دستورِ الطائف على أنْ “لا شرعيّةَ لأيِّ سلطةٍ تُناقض ميثاقَ العيشِ المشترَك؟” فأيُّ شرعيّةٍ بدون رئيسٍ؟ وأيُّ عيشٍ مشترَكٍ بدون الطائفةِ التي أسّسَت العيشَ المشترَك؟

By Michael Young — thenationalnews.com — On Thursday, Lebanon will enter the two-month constitutional period during which parliament must elect a successor to President Michel Aoun. Revealingly, Hezbollah has adopted a different attitude than the one six years ago, when it had provoked a debilitating two-year presidential vacuum as leverage to bring Mr Aoun to office. As a number of observers have remarked, Hezbollah cannot look back on its support for an Aoun presidency as a success. While this did allow the party to reinforce its alliance with a major Christian partner, strengthening Hezbollah’s leverage in the political system, it also exposed the party to the repercussions of Mr Aoun’s falling popularity. Rightly or wrongly, many Lebanese associate the economic collapse that began in 2019 with the President, even if there is plenty of blame to spread around the country’s corrupt political class.

With economic pain reaching deep into the Shiite community, Hezbollah appears to be more careful in its presidential calculations today. To an extent, conditions have also imposed this. The outcome of the parliamentary election in May led to a legislature in which none of the country’s major political alignments has a majority, making for what is often a hung parliament. Only on rare occasions can Hezbollah impose a majority, as when it compelled its reluctant Aounist allies to help ensure the re-election of Nabih Berri as Speaker. Rather than naming a presidential candidate, Hezbollah appears to be waiting and seeing if a consensus emerges around a given figure. The problem is that two of its Maronite Christian allies are competing for the presidency – Gebran Bassil, the son-in-law of Mr Aoun and head of the Free Patriotic Movement, and Suleiman Franjieh, the grandson of a former president. However, both men face major problems – Mr Bassil is under US sanctions, while Mr Franjieh provokes little enthusiasm outside a small portion of his own community. Hezbollah has faced challenges that showed antagonism towards it was growing in potentially dangerous ways