USA

Israel’s Power Vacuum Dilemma

On December 2 Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israel Defense Forces soldiers wounded in recent fighting in southern Syria. Their injuries followed a November 26 IDF raid on the village of Beit Jinn in southern Syria, an operation that left several Syrians dead and wounded a number of Israeli soldiers. Netanyahu had a ...

US Ambassador: Israel Differentiates Between Lebanon Talks and Hezbollah Conflict

Israel makes a clear distinction between its negotiations with the Lebanese government and its ongoing conflict with Hezbollah, U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa said following a meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday. The meeting was also attended by Edward Gabriel, chairman of the American Task Force for Lebanon ...

Israel, Qatar and US Hold Trilateral Meeting in New York

The United States, Israel, and Qatar held a trilateral meeting in New York Sunday, a senior White House official told AFP, months after Israeli jets conducted an airstrike in Doha, targeting Hamas leadership. The White House official confirmed that the meeting had taken place but did not provide any further details. Two sources told US news ...

“Hope:” The Last Lifeline

“Young people of Lebanon, grow strong like the cedars and let the world blossom with hope!” With these words, Pope Leon XIV concluded his address to the 15,000 Lebanese youths gathered around him on December 1 at the patriarchal siege in Bkerke. “Hope”, a word charged with meaning and symbolism, invites us to revisit both its spiritual ...

Iran Guards Warn US Vessels During Drill in Gulf

Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps on Thursday kicked off naval wargames in the Gulf, issuing warnings to US warships in the area, more than five months after the 12-day war with Israel that briefly drew in American forces. State TV said the drill showcases the "sacrifice and spirit of resistance" of the IRGC's naval forces ...

14th Meeting of Mechanism: Civilian Participants Added to Enhance Stability and Success

Senior officials convened for the 14th iteration of the Pentalateral on December 3 in Naqoura to assess ongoing efforts to reach an enduring cessation of hostilities arrangement in Lebanon, reported the US Embassy in Beirut in a statement.  To support a durable peace and shared prosperity of both sides, former Ambassador Simon Karam of Lebanon ...

Pope Leo XIV Urges the Christians of the Levant to Embrace Courage and Peace

Under a clear blue sky and before nearly 150,000 worshippers gathered along Beirut’s seafront, Pope Leo XIV celebrated the public Mass, closing his three-day apostolic visit to Lebanon on Tuesday, December 2. From early morning, faithful from across the country streamed to the waterfront, while the nation’s top officials joined the assembly, ...

Faith and Hope at Sisters of the Cross Hospital

At Sisters of the Cross Hospital, students, parents, and teachers express their hopes ahead of Pope Leo XIV’s visit. “This visit will bless us and fill us with hope. The Pope keeps us in his prayers,” they say. A moving display of faith, underscoring the symbolic importance of the visit.

Iran Condemns US 'Bullying Approach' Towards Venezuela

Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, slammed what he called the United States' "bullying approach" towards Venezuela, a statement said Wednesday, as President Donald Trump ramps up pressure on Venezuela. The United States has deployed the world's largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean, accompanied by a flotilla of warships, officially for ...

ALS: A Protein Signature that Could Change the Game

In the field of neurodegenerative diseases, scientists have spent decades chasing the same goal: finding an early and reliable biomarker that can reveal what the body has not yet shown. For ALS, that search has long seemed out of reach. The disease arrives quietly, progresses unnoticed, and only becomes visible once the first motor neurons are ...

Tech Firms Lead Stock Rout as AI Bubble Fears Linger

Tech firms led stock losses on Friday as investors struggled to shake off fears about an AI bubble, and after a sell-off on Wall Street sparked by job data dealt a further blow to hopes for a US interest rate cut. A blockbuster earnings report from chip bellwether Nvidia on Wednesday seemed to settle nerves that vast investments in the artificial ...

I Didn’t Choose to Love Fayrouz

I didn’t choose my name, and I didn’t choose to love Fayrouz. In our home, loving Fayrouz was a heritage, a love passed down like a family secret. My name, borrowed from one of her songs—as my father proudly reminded me—bound me to her in a way I couldn’t escape. And I knew it from the very start, from the moment I could speak: “I am ...