by yourmiddleeast.com -- Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai stepped up criticism of the Iran-backed radical Shia group Hezbollah and its political allies without directly naming them, on Sunday, saying Lebanese rejected the maneuvres by a “parliamentary majority” that is isolating the country and driving it “from prosperity to decline”.

For the second sermon in a row, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai stressed the importance of Lebanon’s neutrality, implicit criticism of the heavily armed Hezbollah over its support for Iran in conflicts with Sunni-led Gulf Arab states. His last two sermons have been seen to mark a shift to a more openly critical stance against the policies of both Hezbollah and its ally President Michel Aoun. Both back the government of Prime Minister Hassan Diab. “The intervention was seen as a shift in his politics away from supporting the president and more into criticizing the political position of the country, regionally and internationally,” Mohanad Hage Ali of the Carnegie Middle East Center said. Rai, in a copy of the sermon sent by email, said Lebanese “rejected any ... parliamentary majority messing with the constitution ... and Lebanon’s model of civilization, and that it isolate it from its brothers and friends ... and that it move it from abundance to want and from prosperity to decline”.

عظة البطريرك الكردينال مار بشاره بطرس الرّاعي الأحد السَّابع من زمن العنصرة: إرسال التَّلاميذ الإثنين والسَّبعين الدّيمان، الأحد 12 تموز 2020 "إِختَارَ يَسُوعُ إثْنَينِ وَسَبْعِينَ آخَرِين وَأَرْسَلَهُم" (لو 1:10) 1. الكنيسة، برُعاتِها ومؤمنيها ومؤسَّسَاتها، مرسَلَةٌ إلى العالم. أرسلَهَا المسيح الرَّبُّ، ويُرسِلُها كلَّ يوم حتَّى نهاية العالم، حاملةً سلامَه الخلاصيَّ لجميع الشُّعُوب. إنطَلَقَت مع الرُّسُل الإثنَي عشَر، وَهُم أعمدةُ الحقِّ فيها، وأساقفتُها السَّاهرون عليها كالمسيح الرَّاعي الصَّالح، بالتَّعاون مع الإثنين والسَّبعين كأوَّل جماعةٍ مؤمنةٍ بالمسيح، راح عددُها ينمو ويكثُر وينتشِر بقوَّة الكلمة وعمَلِ الرُّوح القدس، كما يُروي كتاب أعمال الرُّسُل، حتَّى وصلوا إلى أنطاكية، حيثُ أسَّسَ بطرس الرَّسُول كرسيَّه الأوَّل قبل الانتقال إلى رومية. وفي انطاكية سُمِّي لأوَّل مرَّةٍ المؤمنون بالمسيح "مسيحيّين" (اعمال 11:26). 2. يُسعِدُنا أن نحتفِلَ معًا بهذه اللِّيتورجيَّا الالهيَّة، فأُرحِّب بكم أيُّها الحاضرون، وأُحيِّي كلَّ المؤمنين والمؤمنات الذين يُشاركون معنا روحيًّا عبر تيلي لوميار – نورسات والفيسبوك وسواها، لعدم إمكانية المشاركة الفعليَّة والحسِّيَّة بذبيحة المسيح لفدائنا، وبوليمة جسده ودمه لحياتنا، في الكنائس الرعائية بسبب المرض أو الشَّيخوخة أو وباء كورونا. وأوجّه تحيَّةً خاصَّة لعائلة المرحومة نهى سلامه سلامه: لابنَيها وابنتَيها وسائر أنسبائها، وفي مقدِّمتهم نجلها الأكبر عزيزنا المحامي ميشال، رئيس بلدية فاريَّا العزيزة، الذي اعتنى مع شقيقه عزيزنا ايلي برفع أكبر تمثال للقدِّيس شربل على جبل صليب فاريَّا، فضلًا عن الانشاءات والمشاريع الانمائيَّة والسياحية التي يحققها مع المجلس البلدي. لقد ودَّعْنا معهم والدتَهم المرحومة نهى منذ حوالي أربعة أسابيع. نصلّي في هذه الذبيحة المقدسة لراحة نفسها، ولعزاء اسرتها.

BEIRUT (Reuters)  by Tom Perry - Former Nissan Motor chairman Carlos Ghosn is helping everyone who stood by him, he said in an interview broadcast on Saturday, though he declined to comment on cases of people accused of helping him flee to Lebanon from Japan. Ghosn, the ex-chairman of an automaking alliance of Renault SA , Nissan Motor Co and Mitsubishi Motors Corp was arrested in Japan in late 2018 on charges of underreporting his salary and using company funds for personal purpose - charges he denies. In late December, he made a dramatic escape from house arrest in Japan, where he was awaiting trial, and fled to Beirut, his childhood home.

Japan has asked the United States to extradite U.S. Army Special Forces veteran Michael Taylor and his son Peter Taylor, who are accused of helping Ghosn flee and were arrested in May. Asked in an interview with Al Arabiya TV if he was trying to help the Taylors and others involved in his escape, Ghosn said: "You are talking about specific people, and I will not comment on those people who you are singling out. "What I'm saying is that I am helping everyone who helped me; I'm helping them with my means, with my thinking, and in any way I can," he said. "I am not talking about those people you mentioned specifically," he said, adding that he was talking about people who helped him "in general". Ghosn has refused to discuss details of his escape from Japan, saying it would put in danger those who helped him.

by catholicherald.co.uk -- Hannah Brockhaus/CNA -- A Turkish court has paved the way for the former Byzantine cathedral of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul to be turned back into a mosque. Turkey’s highest administrative court ruled July 2 to revoke the 80-year-old decree that declared the sixth-century building a museum. The ruling was announced July 10. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is expected to make the final decision on whether Hagia Sophia will revert to a mosque — a cause he has loudly championed. Christian leaders in the Middle East and U.S. have spoken out in favor of maintaining the status quo at the historic site.

Eastern Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople said Turkish people have the responsibility “to make the universality of this wonderful monument shine,” given that as a museum it is “the symbolic place of encounter, dialogue, solidarity and mutual understanding between Christianity and Islam.” Patriarch Bartholomew addressed the place of Hagia Sophia in his homily during Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Holy Apostles in Istanbul June 30, Fides news agency reports. Hagia Sophia belongs “belongs not only to those who own it at the moment, but to all humanity,” he said. The Eastern Orthodox Christian leader warned that converting it to a mosque “will push millions of Christians around the world against Islam.” “A threat against Hagia Sophia is a threat to all of Christian civilization, meaning our spirituality and history,” Patriarch Kirill of Moscow said on July 6. He said the former basilica of Constantinople is “one of the biggest monuments of Christian civilization” “What could happen to Hagia Sophia will cause deep pain among the Russian people,” said the Russian Orthodox patriarch.

By Emma Graham -- CNBC.com -- Lebanon is in the throes of multiple crises, as Prime Minister Hassan Diab approaches five months in office. The small Mediterranean country of nearly 7 million people is in the midst of an economic meltdown, with fuel shortages and power cuts adding to the hardship faced by many nationwide. The country’s unemployment rate stood above 30% at the end of May, while annual food inflation has skyrocketed to around 190%. “The only card that is remaining is the street,” Henri Chaoul, former advisor to Lebanon’s minister of finance told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble on Thursday.

Speaking to CNBC about recent street protests, Chaoul said he does not know what the trigger is going to be, adding that the political setup in Lebanon cannot evolve. “It needs a revolution, not an evolution, to move to the next stage in our political discourse.” Power cuts across the capital city of Beirut have exceeded 20 hours a day in some areas. The darkness, extreme even for Lebanon, is caused by fuel shortages and lawmakers have warned they could last another two weeks. Lebanon’s electricity shortage has caused the main hospital in Beirut to shut down operating rooms and delay surgeries. “Clouds are gathering and we might be heading into a storm,” Firass Abiad, director general of the Rafic Hariri University Hospital, said via Twitter on Friday.