BEIRUT: Lebanese banks are confident that a proposed United States law tightening financial sanctions on Hezbollah won’t affect the local banking sector, bankers said Wednesday. “A delegation from the Association of Banks in Lebanon met recently with U.S. officials and congressional leaders in Washington, and we discussed the bill targeting Hezbollah’s finances. We made […]

  BEIRUT, Lebanon — When Iman Hasbani first arrived in Beirut last November to do a month-long artist residency, she didn’t know if she had any art left in her.  Ms. Hasbani, a Damascus-based installation and performance artist, had not done any personal work for the past two years, instead focusing on using art therapy […]

Bkirki is engaged in a battle to elect a new head of state only and rejects to interfere in details that impede the poll as the Maronite Patriarch is holding onto his decision that all matters should be postponed until the parliament selects a president. A source close to Bkirki refused to comment on Free […]

  IO DE JANEIRO: Pouring Kaslik-pressed olive oil atop pots of fresh hummus as a faint sea-breeze blew past, guests sitting on the sidewalk tables of Amir Restaurante relished what could have been a fine Mediterranean afternoon. Lebanese, Brazilian and hyphenated iterations of the two have enjoyed authentic Levantine fare at the eatery, located just […]

    Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has said that the efforts exerted to resolve the presidential deadlock reached a “dead end” after he held the parliamentary blocs boycotting legislative sessions responsible for the vacuum at Baabda Palace. Al-Rahi lamented to his visitors that the meetings he held with officials involved in the crisis failed to lead […]

  A court hearing on Monday against Tele Liban over broadcasting World Cup 2014 matches without authorization was adjourned to later this week. Judge Zalfa al-Hassan postponed the hearing to Friday to study the claims made by TL and beIN Sports, which filed the lawsuit over airing the World Cup matches. TL started broadcasting the first match […]

Green: Mainstreem Syrian rebels; Red: Assad regime; Pink: Iraqi government; Yellow: Kurds, Grey: ISIS

BusinessInsider: Michael Kelley; The Arab Spring has become the Jihadi Spring  as Libya devolved into lawlessness, Egypt reverted to military dictatorship, and the uprising in Syria turned into a sectarian civil war that’s engulfing Iraq.

On Sunday, the extremist ISIS militants who are leading the Sunni insurgency in Iraq announced the creation of the Islamic State (IS), or "Caliphate," with its chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi "the Caliph" and "leader for Muslims everywhere." IS is well-funded (largely from extrotion and selling oil  and has become attractive for extremists across the globe who want to join global jihad. The group is also savage, crucifying rival Syrian rebels and chopping off the hands of thieves. Researcher Charles Lister told Reuters that the establishment of the Caliphate "is likely the most significant development in international jihadism since 9/11." The announcement is seen as a direct challenge to al-Qaeda as the world’s premier jihadist organization.

Sheikh Ali Hatem al-Suleimani, the head of the powerful Dulaimi tribe that has been in open revolt against the Shia-dominated government of Nouri al-Maliki since last year, told the Globe and Mail that the IS "terrorists" make up no more than 10% of the insurgency and that their role in the uprising had been exaggerated by “social media, Facebook and Twitter.”  “We are postponing our fight with [IS] until later. After Maliki is gone, [IS] will not be a big problem for us,” al-Suleimani told reporters. “Now is not the time to fight [IS], it’s the time to fight Maliki.”

  Some 10,000 people fled this week from predominantly Christian communities in Qaraqosh, Iraq, a neighboring city to Mosul where members of the militant group, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have reportedly overrun and are now viciously attacking Christians who fail to pay a poll tax.   "Community leaders say the residents of […]

  He was a calm man,” Ghada Sadek Abela recalled of her father, “not that talkative.”   Many Lebanese consider Pierre Sadek (1938-2013) a pioneer of caricature and cartooning in this country. His drawings have long been a staple in such newspapers as Al-Nahr, Al-Amal and Al-Diyar, and frequently have made appearances on several local […]