Supporters of the governments of Egypt and Turkey have become adept at telling the world that under presidents Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Recep Tayyip Erdogan respectively, these countries are making progress toward more open and just political systems. In reality, they are nothing more than tin-pot dictatorships.

Over the weekend, Egyptian authorities detained, questioned, and deported Carnegie Endowment for International Peace scholar Michele Dunne as she sought to enter Egypt at the invitation of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs. Michele, who is the most well-respected Egypt analyst in Washington, has not been shy in her criticism of the Egyptian government.

Not to be outdone, yesterday the Turks arrested 27 people including journalists, TV producers, and police commanders on terrorism charges. All of the detainees are either members or suspected members of the Gulen movement.

  The families of captive servicemen burned tires on Monday near the Grand Serail in Beirut’s Riad Solh Square after receiving threats from Islamist gunmen. The relatives of the soldiers and policemen, who were taken hostage by al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State group, said that they received a phone call from the abductors […]

  BEIRUT: Lebanon holds several strong cards it could use in negotiations with the captors of 25 Lebanese servicemen, but greater consensus must be achieved before these cards are used, General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim said Monday. “We hold many strong cards and we need greater consensus over them [before] launching work,” Ibrahim […]

  The army announced on Monday the arrest of two suspects linked to unrest in the northern region of Bhannine and city of Tripoli in October. It said that Lebanese Ibrahim Mohammed al-Saghir was detained in the North for belonging to a terrorist group. He is suspected of taking part in the Bhannine clashes against […]

by Zach Johnson

Barbara Walters named Amal Clooney the most fascinating person of 2014 on Sunday night during her special ‘The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2014.’

Born into a "prominent Lebanese family," Amal moved to a London suburb with her family as a child. She went to the University of Oxford, received a law degree at New York University, and while in New York, clerked for then-federal judge Sonia Sotomayor. When she returned to London, Amal became a respected human rights lawyer with clients such as Kofi Annan, Julian Assange and Yulia Tymoshenko. Barbara noted that she did all this "while looking gorgeous." Amal met George during a charity dinner in Italy, and according to Barbara, it was a "perfect match." How so? "He is perfectly handsome and suave. No one wears a suit better or his fame more lightly," she explained. "[Amal] also wears a suit incredibly well and is even more perfect when she speaks. Their wedding, of course, was also perfect, from the transportation to the post-wedding brunch outfit to the wedding dress made by the late-great Oscar de la Renta to her custom-made hat. Amazingly, Amal has been the subject of very little snark or envy, maybe because we, like George Clooney, find it impossible to resist perfection, or maybe because it is heartening to think that no matter how long it may take, a perfect someone is out there for everyone."

Better luck next year, Taylor Swift .

The "Blank Space" singer, 25, was deemed the second most fascinating person of 2014. Instead of giving the singer-songwriter top honors, Barbara Walters gave Amal Clooney (née Alamuddin) the No. 1 spot. "How do I introduce her?" the host asked. "I guess the question is, ‘What does it take to fascinate one of the most fascinating men in the world?’ She is known primarily through her spouse, and while we know little about her, we know a great deal about him. And he has fascinated many women—especially me."

Barbara noted that Amal, 36, is now "in that stratosphere that we reserve for the Jackie Os, Princess Dis and Kate Middletons," meaning that "everything she does, says or wears is officially fascinating." The journalist said the Clooneys had "the wedding of the year" and joked that Amal was responsible for one of the "greatest achievements in human history"—locking down Hollywood’s most legendary bachelor.

"Everyone said that no one would get George Clooney to the altar. In fact, George Clooney—who had been married briefly in his 20s—said it himself, to me, in 1995," Barbara said before showing archival footage. When she interviewed the actor again in 2006, the two laughed over the interview’s resonance.

By : Jeremy Bender BI 

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi met Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan

ISIS’s blitz across Iraq left many stunned this past summer, especially after the jihadist group captured Mosul, the country’s second-largest city in June. 

The group’s meteoric rise was unexpected and the organization continued to shock the world as the jihadists turned on fellow militants in Syria, executed western captives, and tried to wipe out Iraq’s Yazidi religious minority.

To make sense of the organization, the Brookings Institution has released a short video documenting the history of the terrorist group. 

As the video recounts, the predecessor organization of ISIS was founded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who had previously fought alongside Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. Zarqawi, with support from bin Laden, traveled to Iraq to set up the al Qaeda in Iraq franchise.

By John Newton

Beirut, Lebanon, Dec 14, 2014 / 06:06 am (Aid to the Church in Need).- The leader of the Syriac Catholic Church has lashed out at Western governments, charging that they ignore the plight of displaced Christians in Iraq because they represent no economic stakes.

In an interview in the French capital with international charity Aid to the Church in Need, Patriarch Joseph III Younan of Antioch and All the East said the Western world had been largely silent about the situation facing Christians in northern Iraq. The international policy-makers, when it comes to minorities, have no policies to help those who have neither the numbers, nor the riches to make them attractive. And we have no oil – that is to say, we do not offer any economic advantages,” he said.

The prelate said he had come to “France and Europe to bring the voice of these communities who were persecuted, forced into exile and deprived of everything because of their Christian faith.” “Unfortunately the supposedly ‘civilized’ Western world is rather silent,” he added. Discussing the situation of displaced Christian families in Kurdistan, the Patriarch said their “morale has fallen very low. For months refugees have been living in this humanly unbearable situation – they have absolutely nothing. Winter has begun, and they don’t have help from humanitarian agencies, and sometimes they feel humiliated.”

By Elise Harris, Vatican City, Dec 13, 2014 / 04:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis addressed the increasing challenges caused by violence in the Middle East with members of the Syriac Catholic Church, urging them to work alongside other churches to find solutions. “Many have fled to seek shelter from an inhumanity that throws entire populations out into the streets, leaving them without any means of survival,” the Pope observed in his Dec. 12 address. Together with other churches, he said, “seek to coordinate your efforts to respond to the humanitarian needs, whether of those who remain in their homelands or of those who have sought refuge in other countries.”

Pope Francis gave his speech to His Beatitude Ignace Youssif III Younan, Patriarch of the Syro-Catholic Church, as well as the other syro-catholic bishops gathered in Rome for their Dec. 8-10 annual synod. In the meeting, which took place in the Clementine Hall of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, the Pope greeted the entire Syro-Catholic community, and offered his particular support for those coming from Syria and Iraq. These communities, the Pope noted, “are living moments of great suffering and fear in the face of violence. And I accompany these sentiments of solidarity and compassion with remembrance and prayer.”

He commended the bishops and patriarch for their ongoing efforts to reform their Divine Liturgy, which he said requires an “intense appreciation” for tradition, as well as a great amount of thoughtful discernment.

  The signing of the final contracts for equipping the Lebanese army with French weapons might take place “next week in Beirut, not in France,” a media report said Friday, as Prime Minister Tammam Salam met French President Francois Hollande at the Élysée Palace. “After the contracts are signed, the file will be sent to […]

  BEIRUT: Disputes within the Internal Security Forces have prevented the agency from spending a portion of its budget for the past two months, Al-Akhbar reported Saturday.  The local paper said that the head of the ISF’s central management, Brig. Gen. Asaad Tufaili, protested that a portion of the budget, classified as secret spending, only […]