WILL Jerusalem’s bustling Old City be turned into a ghost town when Pope Francis comes to the Holy Land on May 25th? That is what worries some of his officials. While the Palestinians are opening up the streets of Bethlehem and providing the pope with an open car when he visits their side of […]

  A Lebanese man was kidnapped outside a hotel in Cairo over the weekend and held for ransom, a local news website reported Tuesday. Salah Munir Hassan, 70, was snatched in the Egyptian capital Sunday as he made his way out of the Sheraton Hotel, according to Elnashra news website. The kidnappers are demanding a ransom of […]

  President Michel Sleiman said Tuesday that he was happily waiting for his term to end, adding that he was not actively looking to extend his mandate. “For me, May 25 is a different day, one I haven’t seen for 47 years. I am waiting for this day to come with joy and I have nothing […]

  Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai warned Sunday a presidential vacuum would run contrary to the 1943 National Pact and eliminate the role of Christians in the country’s power-sharing system.   Rai’s stern warning comes as Parliament is scheduled to meet again in a fourth attempt in less than a month to elect a president amid […]

  A few years ago, I wrote an article under the same title. I was surprised by the overwhelming media presence of these two small countries that do not directly affect political action. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iran may be absent from media circles for a certain period, but Kuwait and Lebanon are always present […]

  With security holding and travel bans lifting, many Lebanese are hoping this summer could see a revival of the country’s vital tourism sector, which just received another small boost from an unlikely source: The Huffington Post.   The popular U.S.-based website recently published a list of “9 Places You Absolutely, Positively Must See Before […]

  President Michel Suleiman said Friday he has asked Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil to seek clarifications from Iran regarding remarks by one of its top military officials about southern Lebanon, as the cabinet approved 15 top tier administrative appointments.   “During the national dialogue session (on Monday), a statement attributed to Iranian Revolutionary Guard officials […]

  ROME – Italy’s top criminal court has upheld the conviction of a longtime aide to ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi for Mafia association.   The Court of Cassation in Rome Friday night let stand the conviction and seven-year prison term handed down by a Palermo court in 2010 to Marcello Dell’Utri, who had served as an […]

  President Michel Suleiman has told Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi that it was preferable for him not to visit the Holy Land later this month over local controversy on the planned trip, As Safir daily reported on Friday.   The newspaper said that Suleiman preferred during the talks held on Thursday at Baabda Palace that […]

  A response training exercise aimed at dealing with a tsunami inflicting heavy casualties and structural damage was performed Thursday in the coastal city of Byblos, north of Beirut. The simulation was coordinated by the Byblos municipality, the Lebanese Army, Internal Security Forces, Civil Defense, Lebanese Red cross, the Byblos qada disasters management cell and the […]