The Saga of el Khazen Original Author: Eliane Gebara   Introduction The Khazen family is among the largest and most prestigious Lebanese families. They were Maronites ever since the start and never drifted from the Maronite Church for political gains.  Instead, they strengthened their positions in the Maronite community and gained further privileges, most […]

  BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman reiterated Friday night his call on Lebanese expatriates to refrain from voting in the event MPs adopted the controversial Orthodox Gathering electoral proposal, which he described as a sectarian voting system.   “I hope in the event a sectarian law is [passed], expatriates will never vote or choose to vote […]

  The Internet exploded with traffic on Wednesday afternoon as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected as pontiff. Social media sites such as Facebook (FB) lit up, and Twitter said it peaked at 130,000 tweets per minute. That’s nearly as much traffic as the 150,000 tweet-per-minute peak of this year’s Super Bowl and double […]

  A divisive debate over Lebanon’s electoral law may delay parliamentary elections scheduled for June 9, stoking fears of instability in a country already rattled by the conflict in neighboring Syria. Nominations opened on Monday but no candidate has yet been registered. Meanwhile, rival political groups have quibbled over how legislative power should be shared out […]