A tilt in the US - Iran axis

An article in Lebanon’s As-Safir, translated today by Mideastwire.com, hits on some of the main dynamics in regional thinking, one that now seems – like it or not – anchored on an impending US-Iran agreement.

For those of us who have been arguing for such a course for many years, it is – to use a hackneyed phrase – bittersweet in terms of all the lost time and ruined/destroyed lives spent in a conflict (and its subsidiary conflicts) that could and should have been mitigated or ended far earlier – not least after 17 Saudi hijackers attacked our country on 9/11, after Iranian-US cooperation in Afghanistan and Iraq, after the Cedar revolution in Lebanon etc etc.

The movie Killing Jesus is all set to make its premiere on March 29, Palm Sunday on the National Geographic Channel, according to author Bill O’Reilly.

“Killing Jesus” is based on the best-selling book by television host Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, and also stars Kelsey Grammer as King Herod and Stephen Moyer as Pontius Pilate. “Exodus: Gods and Kings” director Ridley Scott is one of the executive producers.

Who isn’t proud to see the names of our “local” fashion designers dressing the A-lister international celebrities? We all read, like and even share the articles and photos showing that. And no matter how proud we are, we all wonder how they got to this level, coming from a country like Lebanon that doesn’t even appear on big maps.

According to magazines like SHAPE and Vanity Fair, the pay-to-wear celeb trend isn’t new or surprising (the worst-kept secret of the fashion industry might be that top-tier stars are often paid to sit in the front row at Fashion Week), but it goes even further: Celebrities are sometimes paid to wear those gorgeous gowns and sparkling jewels we see on the red carpet.