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.

By The Daily Star BEIRUT: Police announced Tuesday the arrest of a woman in a southern Beirut suburb for forcing her two daughters, including a minor, into prostitution. A local NGO had told the police that a 53-year-old Lebanese woman identified by her initials A.Gh. in Burj al-Barajneh was pushing her daughters to seduce men […]

By Michael Karam

This article represent the opinion of the author

I presume the Lebanese company Demco Properties meant well
when it decided to make “Lebanon is calling”, a 40-second ad apparently
aimed at wooing back expatriate talent. I guess it’s just unfortunate
that it came across as a bit weird and somewhat insulting.

For
those who haven’t seen it – I caught it on CNN twice in one hour last
week during the coverage of the US presidential elections – the ad is
set in a swish office, towering over what looks like New York. A
well-groomed but thoroughly bored Arab businessman stares out across the
city. The phone rings. “Lebanon” is on the other end.

Our man is surprised. He asks “Lebanon” where “he” – Lebanon is a man
and sounds, as one friend pointed out, like the murderer from Scream –
has been “all this time”. With unfault­able logic, the scary voice
replies: “I’m here, I never moved. It’s you who left”.

Stung by
the reproach, our hero argues that he had no choice, that “things
haven’t been easy”. But Lebanon counters: “It’s even harder for me”. Our
man is on the back foot.

“I’ve always wanted to come back,” he adds, as the camera pans to a
selection of framed family photos behind his desk. Lebanon plays his
ace. “Well, I’ve been working hard day and night and now things have
changed. I’m back on my feet again.”

“So why do you need me?” the
businessman asks in desperation (it is at this point that I couldn’t
help thinking the poor chap didn’t really want to go back.) “I want you
to walk with me,” Lebanon replies. “Home is waiting.”

By Fr. Richard G. Cipolla The furor over Donald Trump’s election has many facets.  One is the reaction of students in elite colleges on the East and West coasts who are so emotionally distraught that they cannot take exams or who need counseling.  This reaction, while not mitigating Trump’s foolish and vulgar comments, bares the […]