There are more than 500 dogs and 150 cats at the rescue centre in Beirut

While Israeli jets
pounded Lebanon in the summer of 2006 in its brief war against
Hezbollah, John Barrett was breaking into abandoned pet shops to rescue
starving animals in cages. “It was an emotional time,” he says.
“Often we would ask Lebanese people in the bombed south to also take
their dogs off their hands… and they would agree only on the condition
that we took a child as well”.

Then, as a warden of the British
embassy in Beirut, he appeared to have found his vocation – finding new
homes for over 300 dogs and cats left behind by fleeing British expats. Remarkably,
he managed to find the funding to charter a 747 airliner to get them to
America, where they were taken in by new owners. That act was the
start of what would eventually become a voluntary organisation called
Beta (Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).

But now, 10 years later, the organisation he founded is facing its own abyss – struggling to house 500 dogs and over 150 cats.

Natasha Bertrand

An attempted military coup by a faction within the Turkish armed
forces
calling itself the “Peace at Home
Council” was stifled in less than 24 hours after
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on his supporters
to take to the streets and repel the uprising.

Earlier Friday night, the
soldiers
 stormed Turkey’s state-run broadcaster
and said they had seized power, taken over the
government, and declared martial law. They
deployed forces onto the streets of Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey’s
largest city and capital, respectively, and closed two
major bridges leading into Istanbul.

At least
256
 people
were killed in the clashes, according to Turkey’s prime minister.
But the 

uprising itself was
repelled rather quickly. Many soldiers were either
arrested, had been brutally beaten by protesters, or surrendered
by early Saturday morning, allowing
the Turkish government to regain almost
complete control within 24 hours.

By TIM ARANGO and CEYLAN YEGINSU

ISTANBUL — Military factions in Turkey
tried to seize control of the country Friday night, setting off a
furious scramble for power and plunging a crucial NATO member and
American ally into chaos in what was already one of the world’s most
unstable regions.

Early on Saturday morning, however, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
whose whereabouts was unclear through a long night of turmoil, flew to
Istanbul Ataturk Airport, a strong signal that the coup was failing.

“A
minority within the armed forces has unfortunately been unable to
stomach Turkey’s unity,” Mr. Erdogan said at the airport, after the
private NTV network showed him greeting supporters. Blaming political
enemies, Mr. Erdogan said “what is being perpetrated is a rebellion and a
treason. They will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey.”

There
were indications that coup leaders, at a minimum, did not have a tight
grip on many parts of the country. Supporters of Mr. Erdogan took to the
streets of Istanbul to oppose the coup plotters, and there were
scattered reports some of its leaders had been arrested.

Barbara Tasch

The French police have named Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel as the suspect in the attack in Nice, France, on Thursday night, Le Monde reports. The attacker reportedly shot at a crowd of Bastille Day revelers from
a truck and accelerated the vehicle into them, leaving at least 84
people dead and hundreds more injured. Al Jazeera News on Friday afternoon released a purported photo of the alleged attacker. Police officers shot the attacker dead. Authorities found identity papers in the truck.

The Nice-Matin newspaper reported that people close to Bouhlel were being questioned by the police. Bouhlel’s neighbors described him as a solitary and quiet person in
interviews with AFP. Most people in his apartment building said they
never talked to him. Bouhlel was born in 1985 and was of Tunisian origin, from the town of Msaken, The Telegraph reports, citing Tunisian security sources. The newspaper reported that Bouhlel was a father of three who
had become depressed since a divorce, citing neighbors who said he also
had financial problems.

His ex-wife has been taken into custody according to Nice-Matin.

by Pamela Engel

Another
attack has hit France, and early indications seem to point to
terrorism.

At least 70 people were reportedly killed in the southern French
city of Nice when a truck ran into a crowd celebrating the
Bastille Day national holiday on Thursday night.

If a terrorist group is responsible, then this would be the
second major terrorist attack to his France in a year — and the
third since January 2015.

John Schindler, the national-security columnist for The New York
Observer, tweeted after
the November attacks in Paris that killed 130 people:
“Jihadists with Balkan small arms were shooting up France in 1995
… got no idea why anybody is surprised.” Attackers used guns and bombs at several sites across Paris in
that attack, including the Stade de France and the Bataclan
theater, leading to an examination of why France has become a
prime target for terrorist groups.

ISIS — aka the Islamic State, Daesh, or ISIL — called Paris “the
capital of prostitution and vice” in a statement claiming
responsibility for the Paris attacks last year. The terrorist
group also stated that France and “all nations following in its
path” are “at the top of the target list for the Islamic State.” Under President Francois Hollande, France
launched its first airstrikes against ISIS targets in
Syria last September. The country is also a closer and
more opportunistic target for extremist groups.

Witnesses at the Bataclan said that the gunmen shouted in French,
“This is because of all the harm done by Hollande to Muslims all
over the world,”
according to The New York Times. Another witness confirmed
this to CNN, telling the news network that the attacker who
shouted that statement sounded like a native French speaker.

by Pamela Engel

It’s not clear yet who is responsible for the truck attack that
killed dozens at a Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France. But
terrorist groups have long been calling for supporters to attack
“infidels” with cars. At least 70 people were killed in the southern French city of Nice when a truck ran into a crowd celebrating the country’s national holiday on Thursday night.

The earliest information from the attack does point to terrorist
involvement. US President Barack Obama said that it appears to be a
“horrific terrorist attack.” The truck was reportedly loaded with firearms and grenades, and US officials told The Daily Beast that the terrorist group ISIS — aka the Islamic State, ISIL, or Daesh — is a top suspect in the attacks.

ISIS and Al Qaeda have publicly called for supporters to use vehicles as weapons. The Institute for the Study of War noted in a 2014 report that ISIS spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani instructed supporters in a speech in September of that year.

He said:

By Brooke Anderson | Catholic News Service

AL-QAA, Lebanon — Boulos al-Ahmar had just driven the ambulance to
the scene of the explosion when more bombs detonated, killing him. When
Majed Wehbe heard the first explosions near his home, he ran to the
scene to help, only to arrive in time for the next set of explosions.

These men died as heroes, unafraid to run toward disaster to help
others, and their Christian village wants to honor their memory by
shunning the fear these explosions were designed to instill. The Lebanese frontier village is mourning the loss of five residents
to a series of explosions in late June. But within two weeks, the people
were showing their determination to bring back life.

“We will continue to have culture, activities and late-night
celebrations. We’re not just going to survive. We’re going to live our
lives,” said Bashir Mattar, the mayor of al-Qaa, a village of about
15,000, predominantly Melkite Catholic, with some Maronite Catholic and
Orthodox. They share the village with nearly 30,000 Syrian refugees who
have fled war in their country, about three miles away.

By

RFI

French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault
told Lebanon’s rival politicians to come to an agreement on a new
president after two years of stalemate. On a two-day visit to the
country he promised that France would maintain its troops in the UN
peacekeeping force on the border with Israel.

By Michel Abu-Najm: english.aawsat.com

Paris- French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault is scheduled to
visit Beirut next Monday to compel Lebanese officials into ending the
country’s political crisis by electing a new president.

The minister, who is set to make a two-day official visit to Beirut,
“does not carry new ideas,” foreign ministry sources said. However, he
has the ability “to talk to everyone” inside Lebanon and abroad.

Paris believes that “complications” in Lebanon should not be a reason
for an end to French diplomatic action towards the presidential crisis. On the contrary, French authorities believe there is an urgent need to “mobilize their efforts” to end Lebanon’s deadlock. Yet, they have admitted that France “does not have the magic wand” to resolve Lebanon’s political crisis.

French diplomatic sources said that Ayrault, who has lately discussed
the Lebanese file with his Iranian counterpart Mohammed Javad Zarif and
Saudi Deputy Crown Mohammed bin Salman, in separate meetings held in
Paris, has come out with the impression that the two sides do not object
to a political settlement in Lebanon.