catholicHerald.co.uk

On Tuesday morning, a motorcade of limousines crossed St Peter’s Square. Sitting inside one of them was President Hassan Rouhani of Iran, on his way to a strictly private meeting with Pope Francis. We don’t know precisely what was said, but the Vatican announced that the two men had discussed “common spiritual values”, the recent nuclear deal and “the spread of terrorism”.

It was the first time a pope had sat down with an Iranian head of government since 1999. That is hardly surprising, given some of the activities of the Islamic Republic in the intervening years.

But did you know that Iran has more diplomats accredited to the Holy See than any other nation except the Dominican Republic? That certainly is surprising, and it raises an obvious question: why?

Beirut (AFP) - The head of Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah on Friday said he backs Christian ally Michel Aoun for president, a key post that has been vacant for 18 months.

"We remain committed to General Aoun as long as he remains the candidate," Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised address. "This commitment is based on mutual trust."

Nasrallah added however that Hezbollah would not force other political allies to back Aoun, 82.

"We don't impose our decision on anyone," Nasrallah said.

Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014, when the mandate of Michel Sleiman expired.

By Nadim Ladki

The U.S. presidential election has long ceased to be just a local American story, and with the campaigns approaching the final stretch as the primaries begin, international interest in the race to the White House is set to intensify.

It's testimony to the fact that the United States remains the true global power that people and the media in most countries will follow the race closer than they follow even some local stories. This is particularly so in the war-ravaged Middle East.

While the social and economic agendas of candidates inevitably top the focus of the American public and media, the main interest in the Middle East is the foreign policy of the pretenders to the position of most powerful person in the world.

by AFP

 A vulture captured in Lebanon has been returned home with the help of the United Nations, Israeli authorities said Friday.

“In a discreet operation with the Lebanese and with the great help of UN forces and the UN liaison unit, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority was able to return the vulture that was caught a few days ago by villagers of Bint Jbeil, Lebanon,” the authority said in a statement.

The UN acted as a go-between in negotiations between the Lebanese and the Gamla Nature Reserve where the bird lived before it flew across the border, it added.

“The attempts were successful and yesterday evening at a meeting at the border at Rosh Hanikra the vulture was returned in reasonable health by UN officers,” the statement said, referring to an area in the north of the country.