There should be a distinction between the weapons of the Resistance and the weapons of Hezbollah, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said while on a state visit in Argentina. “The weapons that would be used in internal conflicts are forbidden and should be confiscated, whether they belong to Hezbollah or the Salafists or any other […]

  Romney sought to capitalize on the violence in Libya and Egypt that has made Obama vulnerable in the national security realm long seen as his strength. The Republican nominee vowed to “change course in the Middle East,” including by taking a hard line on Iran and arming Syrian rebels. Romney said he knows “the president […]

  BEIRUT: Gunfire from the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon struck a former General Security facility in the area Monday, security sources told The Daily Star. No causalities were reported. The center is located on the outskirts of the northern border village of Abboudiyeh and was a target of heavy gunfire from machine guns, […]

Ever since the attack on our embassy in Benghazi, Libya and the murder of four Americans on September 11, the news has been flooded with pictures of mobs burning American flags and effigies of President Obama throughout the Muslim world in protest of a video, which we are told hurts the feelings of the Muslim people.

Days after the "Love the Prophet Day" demonstrations in Pakistan, where the largest, most violent, week-long demonstrations occurred, I read a headline article in Asia News that says, "The wave of anti-Christian violence has not stopped in Pakistan. Abuses continue to be perpetrated in the name of the blasphemy law and acts of sexual violence are carried out against underage girls from religious minorities. . . ." Allah Rakhi is 10 years old. She is from a poor Christian family in Yousafabad, Madina Town, Faisalabad in Pakistan. In late August she went to a store to sell some things. It was there she met Muhammad Nazir. He lured the trusting 10 year old to his house under the pretense that he was interested in buying her things, but the money was at his house. When Allah’s father found her, she was unconscious on the floor, naked and bleeding. A porno movie was playing on the television.  The vicar general of the Diocese of Faisalabad, Father Khalid Rashid Asi, said, "The lack of justice in Pakistan means that the rich and powerful think that they can commit such acts and get away with it." If a Muslim girl had been raped, he went on to say, "It is likely that all the Christian homes in the area would have been torched."

According to another Asia News article, about 11:00 A.M. on September 20, 16-year-old Shumaila Masih was walking through the streets of Faisalabad when the Christian girl encountered three young Muslim men: Iftikhar Hussain, Shahid Munir and Muhammad Imran. They tried to get her to go with them but she refused, so they forced her. She cried for help as they dragged her through the streets, but no one helped her. Once they got her to Hussain’s house, they took turns raping her until her father and cousins found her hours later and rescued her.

  RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — For months, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been funneling money and small arms to Syria’s rebels but have refused to provide heavier weapons, like shoulder-fired missiles, that could allow opposition fighters to bring down government aircraft, take out armored vehicles and turn the war’s tide. While they have publicly called for […]

  If there were any doubts as to how futile the debate over a new election law has become, they were dispelled when the parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, declared that he supported the formation of a parliamentary subcommittee to discuss such legislation. That’s because the body will only push the discussion into a labyrinth of […]

  President Michel Suleiman has stressed that Lebanon will not be a “mailbox” anymore or “a place to protect any regime or state.” “Lebanon paid dearly for its freedom and democracy and from now on it will not allow anyone to turn it into a launchpad for sending messages to anyone or into a place to […]