Ordinary Lives," the new book by Lebanese photographer Rania Matar, is an intelligently titled work. The photos within depict people whose everyday lives have been disrupted by terrible circumstances. The moments she captures are ordinary, though their setting renders the

Don't exaggerate the fear of the H1N1 virus but don't neglect precautionary measures either, Education Minister Bahia Hariri advised physicians responsible for monitoring health at schools.During a meeting in Majdelyoun near Sidon, Hariri said that school physicians were a particularly

A top lawmaker and minister have urged the implementation of statute to increase government accountability through the creation of an official watchdog, or ombudsman.Implementing the Ombudsman Law of 2005 would put Lebanon on the level of developed countries, said Justice

The village of Sarafand laid to rest on Saturday a 40-year-old native of the village who was murdered last week at his restaurant in Belgium. Mohammad Younes, the sound of the village's mukhtar, Kazem Younes, was remembered as an upstanding

Internal Security Forces (ISF) personnel have been instructed to crackdown on traffic violations, it was announced this weekend. The head of the ISF, General Ashraf Rifi, issued a directive instructing the ISF to maintain the use of radar devices to

The Lebanese Army announced that it was planning to detonate two mines, one of which was a seaborne Israeli-made device that was spotted off the coast of Jbeil the previous day. Security sources told The Daily Star information was being

When the British ambassador to Lebanon first visited the country's south, she found something nasty lurking in a fruit orchard."I first came [to south Lebanon] in November 2006 and we visited an orange grove," said Frances Guy. "There were still

Investigators on Friday searched for the motive behind a mass shooting at a sprawling US Army base in Texas, in which an army psychiatrist trained to treat war wounded is suspected of killing 13 people.A spokesman at the base said

Turkey is ready to oversee a new stage of secret peace talks between Israel and Syria, resuming a role it had played until last year, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said here Friday.Historically Israel's only friend in the Middle East, Ankara

Israel on Friday rejected a UN General Assembly resolution urging an investigation into a report saying that war crimes were committed in Gaza, and condemned the world body vote as "completely detached from realities."In a statement, the Israeli Foreign Ministry

Younger Palestinian leaders were in no rush on Friday to step into the shoes of President Mahmoud Abbas after he said he did not want to run for re-election in January.Making clear Abbas' Fatah movement is, so far, unwilling to

Saudi Arabia, deeply worried by instability in Yemen, has hit back hard at Yemeni insurgents who breached the kingdom's border, but will try to avoid getting sucked deeper into the conflict in its chaotic neighbor.The world's biggest oil exporter has

France voiced concern Friday over the fate of a Tunisian journalist and vocal critic of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who was arrested last week for allegedly assaulting a woman and faces trial.Taoufik Ben Brik was detained on October

Southern Sudan is facing a "serious outbreak" of the deadly kala azar tropical disease, the aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) warned on Friday.Outbreaks have been recorded in several locations across the remote states of Jonglei and Upper Nile, with

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, wanted by a UN court for war crimes, is to travel to Turkey over the weekend, but will not be arrested, a Turkish government official said Friday.Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on

Yemen's Shiite rebels said they had captured some Saudi soldiers on Friday, after Riyadh said it would press on with its offensive until it had cleared them from its territory.A Saudi official said on Thursday that Riyadh had launched air

Norwegian prosecutors announced on Friday they would not pursue war crimes charges against Israeli officials, including former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, over the Gaza Strip offensive.Six Norwegian lawyers brought a case against Olmert and nine others in April for alleged

Hamas said Friday it is allowing Muslims to leave the Gaza Strip on the annual pilgrimage to Mecca after blocking them last year because of a Palestinian political dispute."The first wave of around 1,000 hajj pilgrims from the Gaza Strip

The UN nuclear watchdog has asked Iran to explain evidence suggesting the Islamic Republic's scientists have experimented with an advanced nuclear warhead design, while Iran said it is preparing to give more details on its response to international proposals for