Some 2,200 years ago, Carthaginian military commander Hannibal – who some maintain is of Phoenician descent – set out to defeat the Romans by attacking from the north, through the chilly and hostile Alps. During this journey, on which he was followed by 60,000 troops, horses and three-dozen war elephants, Hannibal, as legend has […]

    The summer of violence in Gaza and Israel on Tuesday entered its fifth week after rockets, fired from inside Gaza, broke the latest ceasefire. After the attack, Israel recalled its negotiators from peace talks in Cairo, and Israeli forces launched new airstrikes.   Since the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) launched Operation Protective Edge […]

  A copper awl is the oldest metal object unearthed to date in the Middle East. The discovery reveals that metals were exchanged across hundreds of miles in this region more than 6,000 years ago, centuries earlier than previously thought, researchers say.   The artifact was unearthed in Tel Tsaf, an archaeological site in Israel […]

    BEIRUT: Nusra Front released a video of captured soldiers and members of the Internal Security Forces asking Hezbollah to withdraw from Syria or else their kidnappers would kill them. "This apostate group is killing our Sunni families in Syria while it has no business in doing so. I call on my people in Taraya […]

  I like to listen to Jazz music while I do household chores. Like ironing my shirts. And that is precisely what I did on August 6, 2014, when I first listened to Lisan al Tarab, pianist Tarek Yamani’s new album. The conflicts in the Middle East had occupied my mind and my writing for quite […]

  The Lebanese army has arrested an Arab-Israeli civilian who cut through barbed wire to cross the border into Lebanon, a security official said on Thursday.   "Ibrahim Zaydat entered Lebanon on Wednesday afternoon after cutting through a small section of barbed wire at the southeastern border, and was arrested by the army," the official […]

  Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sitta appears ill at ease as he stares at the cup of coffee sitting on the table in front of him. “My mind is elsewhere … I’m overwhelmed with a sense of sadness,” he says. It’s been a little bit more than a week since Abu-Sitta, chief plastic surgeon at the American […]

  A series of events signaling the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Tripoli have raised concerns among the city’s Christian community. The burning of the al-Saeh library earlier this year and the attacks on Makiya Café during the month of Ramadan, followed by a series of decisions including a ban on alcohol advertising have reinforced […]

  BEIRUT: Visiting the Kurdish capital Irbil, Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai called Wednesday on the international community to help Iraq’s minorities, asking the country’s Christians to stick to their roots and not leave the country. “Those who want to help the Christian people in the region can come help them in their own land by […]

  The patriarchs of the Orient on Wednesday called for international protection for Christians, considering that the idea of establishing a province for this religious minority “has become acceptable.” "What we care about is safeguarding the presence of our (Christian) brothers and providing protection for them,” Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi said after a visit to […]