U.S. President Barack Obama said that he had underestimated the Islamic State. He also said that the United States had overestimated the capabilities of the Iraqi army as well. Obama was interviewed on CBS’ "60 Minutes" where he expressed his views about the present U.S. mission in the Middle East.While the interview is going […]

  By: Robert Fisk He’s offered to do a deal with Isis. No, not David Cameron. Not Obama, of course. I’m talking about Walid Jumblatt, the Lebanese Druze leader. He’s demanding that the Lebanese government swap Islamist prisoners for 21 soldiers and policemen held by Isis and Jabhat al-Nusra. In case you had forgotten – […]

  VENICE: U.S. actor George Clooney and Lebanese-born human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin formalized their marriage in a civil ceremony in Venice on Monday, capping star-studded weekend nuptials. The two, who married at a lavish party on Saturday night, spent about 10 minutes inside the lagoon city’s 14th century city hall for a civil service […]

A group of youths stormed on Sunday evening al-Jazeera television office in Beirut protesting against what was issued by it about the army. The youths declared protesting in the television’s building until an apology is presented by al-Jazeera. LBCI stated: “A group of youths under the title Omega Team protested in al-Jazeera television office in […]

  Events in Afghanistan and the Middle East have awakened the Western world to the existence of an existential threat. We are not confronting a specific grievance that could be remedied by negotiation.  We are not faced simply with rogue regimes and insurgent groups that can be dealt with through sanctions and reciprocal menaces. The […]

  It was a day he vowed would never happen but on Saturday 27 September, George Clooney left his bachelor days behind him.  And the 53-year-old heartthrob was still celebrating on Sunday as he and his British human rights lawyer bride Amal Alamuddin, 36, hosted a brunch for family and friends at Hotel Cipriani in […]

  A group of youth stormed on Sunday evening al-Jazeera television office in Beirut protesting against what was issued by it about the army.The youth declared protesting in the television’s building until an apology is presented by al-Jazeera. LBCI stated: “A group of youth under the title Omega Team protested in al-Jazeera television office in […]

by James Zogby, While the world’s attention has been focused on the combined efforts of Arab and U.S. forces attacking "Islamic State" (IS) positions in Iraq and Syria, there is unfolding in Lebanon, a third front in the war against this violent extremist group. This third front has received scant attention. Because Lebanon has been so overwhelmed by the fallout from Syria’s civil war, aggravating the country’s fragile sectarian balance, the threat of IS poses an existential challenge that must not be ignored.

Despite being the smallest of Syria’s neighbors, Lebanon is currently hosting 40 percent of Syria’s refugees. With a population of just under 4 million citizens, the presence of 1.2 million displaced Syrians means that nearly one in every four persons currently residing in Lebanon is a Syrian. This is causing severe stress on Lebanon’s resources and its social order. While the refugees are dispersed across the country in over 1,600 locations, some Lebanese towns have been completely overwhelmed by Syrians with the impact being felt in severe shortages in housing, medical services, water and electricity. Classrooms are overcrowded. And with the refugees willing to work for less pay, many Lebanese are now finding themselves priced out of the job market.

The international community has been generous in providing support to the refugee population — though far short of the needs that exist. But the host communities have not received adequate support to provide for Lebanese who have been negatively impacted by the surge of refugees. All of this has caused enormous stress country-wide.

  Rick Santorum is very concerned about ISIS, and unlike President Obama, he believes they are Islamic. After all, as he told The Daily Beast, “You don’t have any Baptist ministers going on jihad.” Santorum opened up an interview about how he believes, aside from the physical threat ISIS poses to Westerners, the current battle […]

Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Thursday criticized comments in US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) made earlier this month in a speech that critics have said was unnecessarily confrontational toward a Middle Eastern Christian group.

"We have a responsibility to stand by people who are being persecuted," Santorum told Business Insider in a wide-ranging interview in New York. "This shouldn’t be an ideological test — well, you have to agree with us on all of these things, or else we won’t be with you. No, we’re going to be with you if you are a religious minority that’s being persecuted by a radical Muslim majority. Period."