by reuters -- Lebanon’s foreign ministry said on Thursday it “regrets” an incident of reported violence against the Finnish battalion that is part of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and is awaiting results of an inquiry into the matter. “The ministry affirms that any form of assault on the UNIFIL forces is unacceptable,” the ministry said in a statement.

Following the incident on Wednesday, UNIFIL said that "depriving UNIFIL of freedom of movement and attacking those who serve the cause of peace is unacceptable" and violated a peacekeeping agreement between Lebanon and the UN. It urged Lebanese authorities to hold those responsible accountable. The peacekeepers, now numbering around 10,000, have been stationed in southern Lebanon since 1978, when they arrived following an Israeli invasion during the 1975-1990 civil war. While Palestinian rebel groups were active there at the time, Iran-backed Hezbollah now operates in the area. The group fought a brutal 34-day war with Israel in 2006 that left around 1,200 Lebanese - most of them civilians - and more than 150 Israelis - mostly soldiers - dead.

by thenationalnews.com — The Lebanese judge leading investigations into last year’s Beirut port blast was forced to stop work on Thursday over …

By Hugh Grant -- techbullion.com -- Marwan Kheireddine has brought an immeasurable amount of wealth and growth to Lebanon. In 2001, he opened a Virgin Megastore in Lebanon and received some priceless advice from a fellow billionaire, Sir Richard Branson. “I saw how Richard runs his business. He runs a multibillion-dollar corporation, but he knows everything about every company every day because it’s a flat structure,” Marwan Kheireddine said. “So when I met him for the first time in his office, I was very surprised that he was in a large office with no windows, no walls — it was completely open.” Kheireddine found it intriguing that anyone could walk up to him and talk to him. “His assistant would sit next to him, and there were no walls, and no red tape,” Marwan Kheireddine said. “And I did exactly that. If you come to my office today, unfortunately, we have walls because that’s the way it is in banking. However, when I don’t have people in my office, my door is open. Anyone can come in from the lowest level analyst to the highest C-suite executive. They can come in. It’s an open-door policy.”

Marwan Kheireddine had a life-changing meeting with Richard Branson

When Marwan Kheireddine met with Branson at his London offices in 2000, he assured the British business tycoon the launch would have to unfold grandly. “I said, ‘Richard, if you want to launch Virgin in the Middle East, it cannot be done in a shy way,’” Marwan Kheireddine advised. “It needs to be done very professionally and with a huge impact.” The Virgin Megastore opened in Lebanon in 2001, and it quickly became a cultural hub in the heart of Beirut. Branson attended the opening perched on a black couch that had been loaded onto a red bulldozer’s forklift bearing Virgin’s iconic logo. An elaborate fireworks display followed. Lebanon’s late Prime Minister Rafic Hariri described the store as a testimony of Beirut’s revival, according to albawaba.com. And then, a Virgin Megastore opened in Saudi Arabia in 2008. “Again, Richard went there, and we launched Virgin in the Middle East, but we didn’t stop at Virgin Megastores,” Marwan Kheireddine said. “Virgin Megastores then had a radio station, and Virgin Radio opened up in Lebanon.”

من شِدّةِ محبّةِ المسؤولين اللبنانيّين شعبَهم، لم يَقبَلوا على أنفسِهم إلا أن يَرفعوا حياتَه إلى مستوى يسوعَ المسيح: جَعلوا شعبَ لبنان يَلجأُ إلى مغارةٍ، يُولدُ في مِذْودٍ، ينامُ على التِّبنِ، يَتدفّأ بـلُهاثِ الغنمِ والبقر، يَستنيرُ بالنجومِ والبرْقِ، يُحاكِمُه أعداؤه، ويَحكُمون عليه بالجَلدِ والصَلْب. لكنَّ المسؤولين عَكسوا المسارَ فجَلدوا الشعبَ وصَلبوه أوّلًا. وإذا يسوعُ اقتبَل هذا القَدَرَ فداءَ البَشر، فمن نَفتدي نحن بعَذاباتِنا؟ الفاسدين، الفاشلين، العُملاءَ، الخَونة، المنهزِمين، المساوِمين، الضالّين، المنحرِفين؟ أنَفتدي يَهوَذا وهِيرَوْدوس وبيلاطُس وقَيافا؟ أنَفتدي من أفْقرونا وجَوَّعونا وأذَلّونا وهَجَّرونا ودَنَّسوا سُمعتَنا وأنْكروا لبنانَ قبلَ صِياحِ الديكِ وأثناءَه وبعدَه؟

لن نَفتديَ أحدًا من هؤلاءِ، ولن نخافَ هِيرَوْدس مهما كانت أسماؤه الجديدةُ. وشعبُنا لن يأخذَ الصبيَّ ويَرحَلَ به إلى مِصرَ خَشيةَ أن يَقتلَه هِيرَوْدس. لسنا رُحَّلًا ولا شعبَ الرحيل، بل شعبُ الثباتِ والصمود. أطفالُنا شَبُّوا مقاوِمين ويُواجهون في سبيلِ لبنانَ الذي سيَنتصِرُ كما انتصرَ المسيح. لا نريدُ أن نَنتصرَ على أحدٍ في الوطنِ، فلسنا نرى في أحدٍ عدوًّا. لكنّنا نريدُ أن ننتصرَ من أجلِ الكرامةِ والإنسان، ولتَبقَ سائدةً كلمةُ يسوع: "أحِبّوا بعضكَم بعضًا كما أنا أحْببتُكم".

نَبطُلُ، نحن المسيحيّين، أن نكونَ أتباعَ يسوع، إذا حَقَدْنا وكَرِهْنا واسْتعدَينا. ونَبْطُلُ كذلك أن نَكون أتباعَ من قال "لا تخافوا أنا معكم" إذا جَـبُـنّا ولم نُدافع عن وجودِنا وهويّتِنا وحضارتِنا وكِيانِنا. ومشروعُ "لبنان الكبير" هو أصلًا مشروعُ محبّةٍ في عمقِه وبُعدِه وتَعدُّديّتِه وحدودِه لأنّه احْتضَن الجميعَ رغمَ أنَّ الجميعَ لم يَحتَضِنوه. ولـمّا تراءى لهم أنّهم احتَضَنوه خَنقُوه، وأنّهم أحَبّوه خانوه، وأنّهم حكمُوه احْتكروه، وأنّهم والَوه اسْتَولَوا عليه، وأنّهم حَرّروه اخْتَطفوه. عانى لبنانُ من فائضَين: فائضِ الإيمانِ به وفائضِ التشكيكِ به. وقاسى من نَقصين: نقصٍ في حُسنِ الحوكمةِ ونَقصٍ في المواطنيّة. وتَكبَّدَ تُخمتَين: تُخمةَ فشلِ المنظومةِ السياسيّةِ وتُخمةَ فسادٍ متنوِّعٍ وطنيٍّ وأخلاقيٍّ وماليّ. وذاقَ حَرْقتَين: حَرْقةِ الّذين استُشهدوا في سبيلِه وحَرْقةِ الّذين هاجروا بسببِ أزَماتِه.