by middleeastmonitor.com — Lebanese, some wearing protective masks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, shop at a market in the Sabra neighbourhood of Beirut . Lebanese people lined up outside supermarkets and grocery stores in the capital Beirut and other cities to stock up on food as the government announced a tightening of its lockdown yesterday, […]

Vatican City, Courtney Mares — (CNA) — Pope Francis issued a motu proprio Monday changing canon law to allow women to serve as lectors and acolytes. In the motu proprio “Spiritus Domini,” issued on Jan. 11, the pope changed canon 230 § 1 of the Code of Canon Law to read: “Lay people who have the age and skills determined by decree of the Episcopal Conference, they can be permanently assumed, through the established liturgical rite, to the ministries of lectors and of acolytes; however this contribution does not give them the right to support or to remuneration by the Church.” Prior to this change, the law formerly said that “lay men who possess the age and qualifications established by decree of the conference of bishops can be admitted on a stable basis through the prescribed liturgical rite to the ministries of lector and acolyte.”

The roles of lector and acolyte are publicly recognized ministries instituted by the Church. The roles were once considered “minor orders” in the tradition of the Church and were changed to ministries by Pope Paul VI. According to Church law, “before anyone is promoted to the permanent or transitional diaconate, he is required to have received the ministries of lector and acolyte.” Pope Francis wrote a letter to Cardinal Luis Ladaria, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, explaining his decision to admit women to the ministries of lector and acolyte. In this letter, the pope highlighted the distinction between “‘established’ (or ‘lay’) ministries and ‘ordained’ ministries,” and expressed hope that opening these lay ministries to women might “better manifest the common baptismal dignity of the members of the People of God.” He said: “The Apostle Paul distinguishes between gifts of grace-charisms (‘charismata’) and services (‘diakoniai’ – ‘ministry [cf. Rom 12, 4ff and 1 Cor 12, 12ff]). According to the tradition of the Church, the various forms that charisms take when they are publicly recognized and are made available to the community and its mission in a stable form are called ministries,” the pope wrote in the letter published Jan. 11. “In some cases the ministry has its origin in a specific sacrament, Holy Orders: these are the ‘ordained’ ministries, the bishop, the presbyter, the deacon. In other cases the ministry is entrusted, with a liturgical act of the bishop, to a person who has received Baptism and Confirmation and in whom specific charisms are recognized, after an adequate journey of preparation: we then speak of ‘instituted’ ministries.”

by FRANCES MARTEL — After decades on the list — since 1982 — President Barack Obama removed Cuba from the official State Department list of State Sponsors of Terrorism in 2015, claiming the evidence did not support a place for the regime on that list. At the time, Cuba shared the list with Iran, Syria, North Korea and Sudan; the administration of President Donald Trump removed Sudan from the list in 2020. Since Obama’s decision to remove Cuba, reports have repeatedly indicated that Cuba has direct ties to the Shiite jihadist organization Hezbollah, including reports linking Cuban funding to the creation of Venezuelan passport machines that ultimately created fraudulent documentation for Hezbollah members from the Middle East. The Castro regime has also never hidden its support for the FARC, a Marxist terrorist organization, including allowing prominent FARC leaders to march in its parades after Obama removed it from the state sponsors of terrorism list.

In announcing the designation Monday, Pompeo said in a statement that the move was necessary in light of the Communist Party of Cuba “repeatedly providing support for acts of international terrorism in granting safe harbor to terrorists.” “The Trump Administration has been focused from the start on denying the Castro regime the resources it uses to oppress its people at home, and countering its malign interference in Venezuela and the rest of the Western Hemisphere,” Pompeo noted. Countries on the list of state sponsors of terrorism are subject to “restrictions on U.S. foreign assistance; a ban on defense exports and sales; certain controls over exports of dual use items; and miscellaneous financial and other restrictions,” according to the State Department.

by AP — BEIRUT: Lebanon’s highest court said Monday the prosecutor investigating last year’s massive explosion at the Beirut port that killed dozens and injured thousands can resume his work after a three-week pause following legal challenges to his authority. The Court of Cassation’s decision gives the green light to Judge Fadi Sawwan to question officials and civil servants over the Aug. 4 explosion of nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive material used mostly as a fertilizer. The blast killed more than 200 people, injured over 6,000 and damaged entire neighborhoods in the capital. The court’s decision, reported by the official state news agency, is likely to ease concerns by members of the public who feared the investigation might end given Lebanon’s decades-long culture of impunity.

Nearly 30 people, most of them port and customs officials, have been arrested since the blast. Last month, Sawwan filed charges against caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab and three former ministers, accusing them of negligence leading to the deaths of hundreds of people. Diab and the three former ministers did not show up for questioning following the charges. The summoning sparked concerted criticism from most of Lebanon’s top politicians and the militant Hezbollah group, which urged Sawwan to reconsider his decision, describing it as politically motivated. Sawwan paused his investigation to allow him to respond to accusations that he violated legal and constitutional procedures by summoning for questioning Diab and the three former ministers.

By SARAH EL DEEB and FADI TAWIL Associated Press- BEIRUT — Lebanese authorities tightened a nationwide lockdown Monday, including an 11-day, 24-hour curfew, amid a dramatic surge in coronavirus infections and growing criticism of uncoordinated policies many blame for the spread of the virus. News of the restrictions to be implemented starting Thursday morning sparked panicked grocery buying as people lined up outside of supermarkets to stock up, raising fears the crowds could further spread the virus. Lebanon had only just announced a nationwide lockdown last week. But many, including the health minister and officials on a government committee, considered it to be too lenient because it exempted many sectors, such as florists, plant nurseries and factories. Hospitals, meanwhile, were running out of beds amid rapidly multiplying COVID-19 cases.

Critics have said uncoordinated and hesitant policies wavering between relaxing restrictions and shutting down were behind the failure to contain the virus. For instance, despite a rise in infections, the government relaxed restrictions ahead of Christmas and New Year’s celebrations, hoping to boost a crumbling local economy as thousands of Lebanese expats arrived in the country. Bars and nightclubs, which had been ordered shut for months, were allowed to open. Daily infection rates have since hovered above 3,000, hitting an all-time high of over 5,000 last week. Doctors and experts say the extent of the spread has yet to be felt, predicting numbers will skyrocket in the coming days, overwhelming health facilities in the country of nearly 6 million. Despite the nationwide lockdown announced last week, a soccer match was allowed to take place in the northern Tripoli province on Sunday with an audience and was aired on TV.

by ALICIA BULLER – arabnews.com — BEIRUT: Lebanese women have long fought against gender discrimination in the system. While activists have made great strides this year in terms of political and social awareness, national legal protections from domestic violence and sexual assault remain inadequate. The country also has a weak framework for basic women’s rights, especially in matters such as divorce, property rights and responsibility for children after divorce. Rawan Yaghi, a former teacher based in Lebanon’s northeastern region of Baalbek, set up social enterprise USPEaK in 2009 with the aim of giving the country’s citizens a voice, particularly its women. The organization’s main objective is to create a democratic community that engages citizens through education. “In my earlier career as a teacher, I was very active in social activism,” said Yaghi. “I was invited to International Women’s Day in Washington. I saw women being celebrated and honored for the enterprises they had started and thought, ‘oh, I can do that.’”

Yaghi registered USPEaK as an NGO in 2015. Since then, 2,600 women have been taught English and 1,200 have been taught about entrepreneurship. She has also overseen the education of about 10,000 Lebanese 7th and 8th grade students, who are taught a set curriculum based on themes such as citizenship and democracy. One of the main areas that USPEaK focuses on is teaching English. Yaghi believes the English language is one of the most important tools Lebanese women can have when seeking employment. “It’s like a passport. When they learn English, they’re able to access information that they are not usually exposed to,” she said. “They can know more about the media and the social work of others and they can get inspired by different ideas.”

Our sinceres condolences to the family of the Hero Massoud Achkar. You will be missed! 

by lorientlejour.com — Tilda ABOU RIZK — Depuis ce lundi matin, Achrafieh pleure Massoud Achkar, affectueusement surnommé Poussy depuis le début de la guerre en 1975. Un des premiers et plus proches compagnons du fondateur des Forces libanaises et ancien président assassiné, Bachir Gemayel, Massoud Achkar est décédé à 64 ans des suites de complications dues au coronavirus, douze jours après avoir été admis aux soins intensifs du centre universitaire LAU-hôpital Rizk, suite à la détérioration de son état de santé. C’était le jeudi 31 décembre. Deux jours plus tard, samedi, une marche aux flambeaux a été organisée à son intention Place Sassine, suivie d’une veillée de prière devant le centre hospitalier. Le chef d’Etat Michel Aoun a rendu hommage au disparu. “J’ai perdu aujourd’hui un ami, uni à lui par l’amour de la patrie depuis de longues années”, a-t-il regretté. “Le Liban a besoin aujourd’hui d’hommes comme lui, un combattant, un patriote, un homme d’honneur qui n’a pas fait de compromis sur la dignité, l’unité et la stabilité du Liban”, a estimé le président, souhaitant “que Dieu ait son âme et console sa famille”.

Avec la disparition de Massoud Achkar, Achrafieh perd un de ses principaux soutiens, une figure charismatique qui, quarante-six ans durant, a défendu inlassablement les mêmes principes souverainistes et maintenu le même discours politique en faveur d’un Liban souverain, indépendant et libre pour lequel il aura plaidé jusqu’au dernier souffle. Ce sont ces mêmes principes qui l’ont poussé à porter les armes alors qu’il était tout juste âgé de 19 ans, au début de la guerre. Avec Bachir Gemayel et plusieurs autres camarades dont nombreux sont tombés en cours de chemin sur les champs de bataille entre 1975 et la fin des années quatre-vingt, ils se sont engagés à protéger les quartiers chrétiens d’Achrafieh, Saïfi, Rmeil et Médawar face d’abord à l’alliance dite palestino-progressiste, puis à l’armée syrienne et enfin aux milices dominant la partie ouest, à majorité musulmane, de la capitale. Poussy Achkar était au cœur de la Résistance libanaise fondée par Bachir Gemayel qu’il a accompagné tout au long de son parcours : dans les rangs du parti Kataëb, puis avec la fondation des Forces libanaises, jusqu’à l’assassinat de Bachir en septembre 1982.

by businessinsider.com — Joshua Zitser — In the wake of Wednesday’s attempted coup, Forbes — the American business magazine — has issued a warning to companies hoping to hire former officials from President Donald Trump’s administration. Businesses that choose to hire Trump administration alumni will, the editor said, be held to account. “Forbes will assume that everything your company or firm talks about is a lie,” the magazine’s editor Randall Lane wrote. “We’re going to scrutinize, double-check, investigate with the same skepticism we’d approach a Trump tweet,” Lane added. In the article titled ‘A Truth Reckoning: Why We’re Holding Those Who Lied For Trump Accountable,’ Lane reflected on the lies that spurred rioters to ransack the US Capitol building.

The easiest way for American democracy to recover from the insurrection, he wrote, is to “create repercussions for those who don’t follow the civic norms.” In the Forbes article, Lane name-called Trump’s press secretaries and a former senior counselor to the president — Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephanie Grisham, Kayleigh McEnany, and Kellyanne Conway — and referred to the group as “Trump’s fellow fabulists.” This ultimatum follows the news that some White House staff are worried about securing their next job, according to Politico. Administration officials told the media outlet that they fear Wednesday’s events will damage their reputations, finances, and future careers. Lower-level Trump staffers are also “trying to save face for future employment,” a source told Politico.

Beirut (AP) — Israeli military jets carried out several low flying flights over Beirut as reconnaissance drones also buzzed overhead Sunday in what has become a daily occurrence. Israel regularly violates Lebanon airspace, often to carry out strikes in neighboring Syria. On Christmas Eve, Israeli jets flew low late into the night, terrorizing Beirut residents who are no strangers to such flights. They were followed by reported Israeli strikes in Syria. The frequency of low flying warplanes over the capital has intensified in the last two weeks, making residents jittery as tensions run high in the region on the final days of President Donald Trump’s administration. “When the drone leaves, the warplanes come. When the warplanes leave, the drones return. They have seen us in our PJs, filmed us in our PJs and surveilled us in our PJs. Now what,” quipped Twitter user Areej_AAH. “Of all types of panic I experienced in life in Beirut, the panic that accompanies the Israeli warplanes flying this low in Beirut is very special,” Tweeted Rudeynah Baalbaky, who said it brought back memories of the 2006 war with Israel. Israel rarely comments on these reports.

by Charlie McCarthy — newsmax.com — Suggestions the U.S. has become a banana republic are way off base, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday. Using his personal Twitter account, Pompeo criticized politicians and journalists who have compared the U.S. to countries where “mob violence determines the exercise of power,” according to Pompeo per The Hill. Pompeo’s remarks were posted one day after demonstrators protesting the presidential election results attacked the Capitol. As of Friday afternoon, five people had died as a result of the insurrection. “In the wake of [Wednesday’s] reprehensible attack on the U.S. Capitol, many prominent people — including journalists and politicians — have likened the United States to a banana republic,” Pompeo wrote. “The slander reveals a faulty understanding of banana republics and of democracy in America. “In a banana republic, mob violence determines the exercise of power. In the United States, law enforcement officials quash mob violence so that the people’s representatives can exercise power in accordance with the rule of law and constitutional government.”