Lebanon mourns former Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir
May 17th, 20190 BEIRUT — Political leaders and thousands of Lebanese gathered on Thursday for the funeral of the former Maronite patriarch, Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir. Ten black-clad priests with purple scarves bore his wooden coffin, marked with a cross, out of a chapel and along a purple carpet through crowds of mourners as incense wafted...
Local self-proclaimed cleric Mohammad Hajj Hassan embroiled in scandal, condemned by High Islamic Council
May 3rd, 20190 DEARBORN — The Dearborn-based Shia cleric Mohammad Hajj Hassan, who is the so called leader of the Free Shia Movement, has been the center of controversy following the release of pictures on social media that show him naked and allegedly indulging in adulterous sexual activity. The pictures were circulated widely over Facebook,...
Dr. Mohamad Hakim of Beaumont Dearborn dies at 59, shocks community
May 3rd, 20190 DEARBORN - One of Dearborn's beloved surgeons, Dr. Mohamad Hakim, M.D., P.C., passed away on April 24 following a massive heart attack. Hakim, 59, was a physician/surgeon who was recently elected as the chief of staff at Beaumont Hospital of Dearborn. Hakim practiced medicine for 27 years after graduating from Wayne State...
From Peddling to Prophecy: Arab American journalism history told in a photo exhibition
April 26th, 20190 DETROIT – On Friday, April 12, the Lebanese Consulate in Detroit hosted an exhibition featuring journalists' works entitled "From Peddling to Prophecy.” It was organized by U.N. journalist Samar Nader in collaboration with the two universities in Lebanon — The Holy Spirit and the Lady of Luiza. The exhibition was held at the...
State Dept. warns Americans of kidnapping risk: Lebanon among other Arab states on the list
April 11th, 20190 WASHINGTON, DC - Due to the increased risk of American citizen abductions, the U.S. State Department has updated its travel advisories for 35 countries, with a new indicator to highlight the risk of kidnapping and hostage taking. Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen and Libya are the Arab states on the list. The...
Lebanese illustrator challenges views of Arab women through art
March 9th, 20190 BEIRUT — Lebanese artist Christina Atik has produced a series of digital pictures to illustrate sentences commonly used in Arab countries to criticize women with the aim of empowering Arab women. The project tackles issues of female freedom, beauty and sexuality in societies traditionally dominated by men. Atik, 27, said she...
Nasrallah: Hezbollah could enter Israel now and before tunnels were found
January 26th, 20190 BEIRUT — Hezbollah has “for years” been able to enter Israel, the Lebanese group’s leader said on Saturday, responding for the first time to Israel’s discovery of tunnels dug into Israeli territory from Lebanon. Israel’s unveiling of what it called Hezbollah “attack tunnels” last month, and Lebanon’s accusation that...
Israel claims it sealed off cross-border tunnels from Lebanon
December 21st, 20180 TEL AVIV — The Israeli military claimed it sealed off four tunnels on Thursday that it said had been dug by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah under the border from Lebanon. The work was being carried out on the Israeli side of the frontier demarcation, known as the “Blue Line”, according to an Israeli military...
Lebanese man fined $50 million, sent to prison for helping Hezbollah
December 7th, 20180 WASHINGTON — A Lebanese businessman sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for being an important financial supporter of Hezbollah pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges associated with evading U.S. sanctions imposed on him, the U.S. Justice Department said. Kassim Tajideen, 63, pleaded guilty to conspiring with at least five...
Israel asks Lebanon to destroy tunnel allegedly dug by Hezbollah across border
December 7th, 20180 Israel asked Lebanon’s army and U.N. peacekeepers on Thursday to destroy a tunnel it said had been dug by the Hezbollah group across the border into what it called its territory. Israel’s occupation forces said this week it had identified a number of passages and sent diggers and troops close the front line with Lebanon to block...
Nasrallah: Hezbollah has precision rockets despite Israeli efforts in Syria
September 21st, 20180 BEIRUT — The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Thursday, Sept. 20, that his group had obtained precision rockets despite Israeli strikes in recent years aimed at cutting the supply route through Syria. “No matter what you do to cut the route, the matter is over and the resistance possesses precision and non-precision rockets...
Sayyed Nasrallah says Hezbollah stronger than ever
August 17th, 20180 BEIRUT — The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah Party, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said on Tuesday his group was stronger than ever and would “very soon” celebrate victory in Syria, where it has been fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad government. Nasrallah was speaking on live television to mark the anniversary of a 2006 war...
Lebanon working for return of thousands of Syrian refugees
June 5th, 20180 BEIRUT — Lebanon is working with Damascus for the return of thousands of refugees who want to go back to Syria, a Lebanese official said on Thursday. As the Syrian army, backed by Iran and Russia, has recovered territory, Lebanon’s president and other politicians have called for refugees to go back to “secure areas” before a...
Young Arab American on track to becoming a professional author
May 25th, 20180 By Sarah Kominek DEARBORN - Maya Audi, a 15-year-old sophomore at Dearborn High School, has her eyes set on becoming an author. In April 2016, Audi and her mother entered her story “The Raven Gem” in the National Endowment for the Arts’ (NEA) Big Read Dearborn, hosted by the Dearborn Public Library. In partnership with...
Hezbollah allies gain seats in Lebanon parliamentary elections
May 7th, 20180 BEIRUT - Hezbollah and its political allies won just over half the seats in Lebanon’s parliamentary elections, unofficial results showed, boosting an Iranian-backed movement fiercely opposed to Israel and underlining Tehran’s growing regional clout. Hezbollah’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, called it a “political and moral......
Protests erupt in response to Bassil’s slur of Berri, Aoun urges forgiveness and stability
January 30th, 20180 BEIRUT - President Michel Aoun on Tuesday called for forgiveness and stability in Lebanon after a political row involving his son-in-law triggered street protests and deepened a rift with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. Gebran Bassil called Nabih Berri “a thug” in a video that went viral on social media in Lebanon. Berri...
Lebanese foreign minister Gebran Bassil criticized over Israel comments, claims TV distorted his interview
December 28th, 20170 BEIRUT - Lebanese politicians on Thursday criticized Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil over a television interview in which he was shown saying that Lebanon did not have an ideological problem with Israel and was not against it having security. The comments, made to al-Mayadin satellite channel during a long interview on Tuesday, had......
Hariri back in Lebanon on the eve of Independence Day
November 21st, 20170 BEIRUT - Saad al-Hariri returned to Beirut on Tuesday for the first time since he resigned as Lebanon’s prime minister in a broadcast from Saudi Arabia and plunged his country into political crisis. Hariri’s sudden resignation on Nov. 4 thrust Lebanon to the forefront of regional tussle between Saudi Arabia and Iran, whose...
Lebanese president accuses Saudi Arabia of holding Hariri hostage
November 15th, 20170 BEIRUT - France said on Wednesday that Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, who Lebanon’s president says is being held hostage by Saudi Arabia, will visit France with his family in coming days. Hariri travelled to Riyadh on Nov. 3 before abruptly resigning in a televised statement a day later. He has stayed in Riyadh and top...
Lebanese president won’t accept or reject Hariri’s resignation until he returns home
November 6th, 20170 BEIRUT - Lebanon’s president appealed for national unity on Monday after Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri quit in a broadcast from Saudi Arabia, plunging the coalition government and country into political crisis. After Hariri’s shock announcement, political uncertainty deepened further when Lebanon’s parliamentary speaker said it...
Lebanese PM resigns, saying his life in danger
November 4th, 20170 RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Lebanon's prime minister Saad al-Hariri resigned on Saturday, citing an assassination plot against him and accusing Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of sowing strife in the Arab world. His resignation thrusts Lebanon back into the frontline of Saudi-Iranian regional rivalry and seems likely to exacerbate......
Lebanese army gets two light-attack aircraft from U.S.
November 3rd, 20170 HAMAT, Lebanon ― The United States delivered two A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft to Lebanon’s army on Tuesday, a sign of continued U.S. support despite Israeli accusations that the Lebanese military is controlled by Hezbollah. The planes will be used as armed observation aircraft, a security source in Lebanon said, and...
Lebanese court issues death sentence over 1982 Gemayel assassination
October 22nd, 20170 BEIRUT ― Lebanon’s top court on Friday sentenced Habib Shartouni to death for the 1982 assassination of president-elect Bashir Gemayel, an event that was a turning point in Lebanon’s 15-year civil war. Shartouni, a member of the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party (SSNP), admitted his part in the bombing in the 1980s and was tried......
Lebanon president: Syrian refugees should return to homeland’s calmer areas
October 16th, 20170 BEIRUT ― Lebanon can no longer handle vast numbers of Syrian refugees, its president said on Monday, urging world powers to help them return to the calmer parts of their war-torn homeland. More than six years into the Syrian war, 1.5 million refugees who fled the violence now account for a quarter of Lebanon’s population. Lebanese...
Woman’s murder prompts mass eviction of Syrians from Lebanese town
October 5th, 20170 MIZIARA, Lebanon ― Abu Khaled had lived in the Lebanese town of Miziara for almost 20 years until a woman’s suspected murder by a Syrian refugee led to his expulsion alongside several hundred other Syrians. “They gave us notice to evict at 2 a.m.,” said Abu Khaled, standing outside a bare building in a nearby village with some......
