LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) – Meeting with reporters in his adopted homeland of Lebanon, the father asked that he and his families real names not be used.   He recalled how his wife and their teenage son, were in their living room while their two other children were asleep late one evening. They then heard an explosion-like crash. Four militants then burst into their house, guns aimed at the heads of father and son. 

"Give us your gold and valuables," he said they demanded. Filled with fear, his wife tried to calmly gather all jewelry she had. One of the militants, noticing his son’s cross, ripped off the chain and started to beat the boy, accusing the family of withholding their gold.  "What’s for sure is they (the terrorists) are not all Iraqis. The ones with the beards are not Iraqis," he said. The terrorists then warned they would return to the family in 48 hours. At that time, the family must convert to Islam, pay the Islamic jizya tax — or be killed.  "We were happy, our life was good," he said, collapsing in tears. "All the work of my father and myself and my brothers, all the years . gone in just a few seconds," he said of the trading company he had to abandon.  "I went to the cemetery and said good-bye to my father, and I went to Mass in my church to receive the Eucharist," the father said, recounting his actions of the following day. "I think it was the last Mass celebrated in my village. And I thought, if I’m meant to die at this time, at least I’m in God’s house."

Fleeing to Irbil the night after the attack, they boarded a flight to Beirut. The militants had told Joseph’s neighbors — an 85-year-old woman, partially paralyzed by a stroke, and her 60-year-old daughter — they had six hours to leave their home. Leaving on foot, with the daughter assisting her disabled mother along the road, the father hopes that they were able to find a ride.  Finding a furnished apartment in Beirut, the rent is rather steep at $850 a month. He’s now searching for cheaper accommodations, but jobs in tiny, economically strapped Lebanon are hard to find. New refugees have to compete with other refugees for work.

  Is America behind the creation of the Islamic State? The BBC’s Suzanne Kianpour, in Beirut, looks at the latest conspiracy theory doing the rounds in Lebanon. "In the Middle East, conspiracy theories are in our blood," one former Lebanese official said over lunch in a restaurant in central Beirut. He was referring to the latest talk […]

  Known for his preternatural performance agility, lightning-fast impressions and malleable voice, Robin Williams was a versatile actor beloved by several generations.   Fun-loving as he seemed, he also was a deeply disciplined actor ever in search of challenge and complicated roles.   Those fans and the Hollywood community were in mourning Monday after the […]

  The government of Liberia says that sample doses of the experimental Ebola drug ZMapp will be sent there to treat doctors who have contracted the deadly virus. The White House and Food and Drug Administration approved the Liberian request for the drug to be made available to them. Liberia identified itself as the recipient […]

  An American who tweeted his allegiance to the leader of Islamic State jihadists was arrested at New York’s JFK airport last week, officials said Monday. Donald Ray Morgan was taken into custody on August 2 upon his arrival from Frankfurt, according to documents filed in a federal court in Brooklyn. Morgan had spent eight months in […]

  Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi urged on Sunday the Syndicate Coordination Committee to stop taking the future of students hostage. Al-Rahi called on teachers during Sunday’s sermon in his summer seat of Diman to assume their responsibilities and cooperate with Education Minister Elias Bou Saab and kick off the correction of official exams on Tuesday.   […]

Congratulation from the khazen Family to the new Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian

BEIRUT: Consensus among Sunni leaders led Sunday to the election of Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian as Lebanon’s new grand mufti, while former Prime Minister Saad Hariri praised the move and called on Derian to safeguard Muslim unity and fight extremism. “What happened today is an expression of the strong will of all Muslims in Lebanon, to face the problems and reiterate the role of Dar al-Fatwa,” Derian said in his speech after the results were announced.

Of the 93 votes cast in the election, the new mufti, whose term will officially begin Sept. 15, received 74 votes, with nine for Sheikh Ahmad Kurdi, eight blank ballots and two eliminated. After the election, former Prime Minister Hariri invited the electoral crowd to a lunch in the new mufti’s honor at his Downtown residence in Beirut. [Link]

  Une députée irakienne, Vianne Dakhil, a évoqué mardi, le sort de la communauté yazidite et des autres minorités en Irak. En sanglots elle relate le triste sort des femmes vendues en esclaves dans les régions occupées par l’Etat islamique. « Elles sont conduites comme un troupeau de bétail au souk de Mossoul et vendues à […]

by Joe Concha | 5:55 pm, August 9th, 2014

It’s safe to say that President Obama’s sixth year in office has easily been his most forgettable, especially on the international stage.

The president who figured the world outside the U.S. would simply behave to allow him to transform the country without distraction clearly didn’t anticipate the chaos increasingly unfolding overseas and at the border. Ukraine, Gaza, Syria, Libya, Iraq. It’s all falling apart, or as uber-liberal Daily Beast columnist Michael Tomasky put it in the title of a recent column: “Is It Just Me or Is the World Exploding? So Why Isn’t Obama Doing More?”

The reason? Legacy, of course. In no particular order, Mr. Obama likely wants to be remembered for three things: bringing the country back from the great recession while creating a level playing field (redistribution of wealth) in the process, providing universal health care, and bringing all troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan, no matter the consequence or cost we’re now witnessing.

The results on all three are mixed at best. The country’s economy is treading water. Negative GDP growth one quarter, a four-percent rise the next. Jobs are being created, but many more people are leaving the workforce altogether as wages actually fall, while those who are employed are working more hours just to make ends meet. Meanwhile (and ironically), the gap between the rich and poor has never been wider. As a result, Americans give the president a 39.7 percent approval rating on the economy while 55.4 disapprove (Real Clear Politics average is applied to avoid accusations of cherry-picking of polls, which is all-too-common in opinion media today).

  Vice part II documentary Business Insider: Vice gained incredible access to the group formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS or ISIL), which threatened to raise its flag over the White House in part one of the five part series. In part two, it’s clear that IS doing more than […]