Lebanon grapples with a massive political crisis, the rise of Al Qaeda-style militancy and a seemingly endless stream of bombings and assassinations.
He passed all his school exams, helped out in his father's sandwich bar, ran a bicycle shop and still found time to train with local Hezbollah guerrillas in this village on Lebanon's border with Israel.
Human rights activist Rima Merhi spent a day at the Beddawi Palestinian refugee camp and nearby government schools in north Lebanon recently. This sign thanks people for visiting.
The Second Lebanon War broke out exactly one year ago tomorrow. While the results in the battlefield were harsh, as far as the financial markets were concerned, the war succeeded in proving that Israel has a strong, resilient economy.
The BBC's Martin Asser returns to Lebanon to examine how the nation is faring a year after the Hezbollah-Israeli war.
More than 100 intellectuals, political figures and academics met on Tuesday at the Bristol Hotel to launch an initiative aimed at spearheading political change and abolishing confessionalism in Lebanon. The new program, known as the "Civil Center for National Initiative," calls for the formation of an "intellectual and practical initiative".
The Lebanon city council approved the 2007-08 budget last week, but it took some lively discussion on employee pay to arrive at their decision.
An overseas Filipino worker in Lebanon committed suicide by jumping from the fifth of her aparment building last week, ABS-CBN Middle East News Bureau reported Tuesday.
Washington's unconditional and unflinching support for Israel during its 34-day bombing of Lebanon last year dealt a key blow to US influence in the Middle East, already eroded by the Iraq war.
Officials involved with a test program aimed at improving Lebanon's eco-tourism sector said that the program would increase Lebanon's tourism profile and improve the experience of eco-tourists in the country, although some people involved with the tourism industry also complained about the program's implementation.