The American University of Beirut (AUB) commemorated its 158th Founders Day on December 2, 2024, with a formal ceremony in the university’s historic Assembly Hall.

AUB Trustee Emerita Carol Bellamy, a globally recognized advocate for education, and a distinguished leader in public service, delivered the keynote address, while the winners of the annual student essay contest presented their perspectives on how AUB can help preserve, protect, and improve pre-university education in Lebanon and the region.

The reopening of Notre Dame this coming weekend is going to be a high-security affair, with a repeat of some of the same measures used during the Paris Olympics and the sealing off to tourists of the cathedral's island location in the heart of the French capital.

After more than 5 years of reconstruction following the fire that devastated Notre Dame in 2019, invite-only ceremonies Saturday and Sunday will usher in its rebirth.

Pope Francis called on Lebanese politicians on Sunday to urgently elect a new president, with a view of restoring normal government functions in the country.

"I address an urgent invitation to all Lebanese politicians to elect the president of the republic immediately," the pontiff said at Saint Peter’s Square at the end of Sunday Angelus prayer.

Five years after a catastrophic fire reduced Notre Dame Cathedral to a smoldering shell, The Associated Press entered the Gothic masterpiece for a first glimpse of its fully restored interiors during a visit with French President Emmanuel Macron that was broadcast to the public. The transformation is nothing short of breathtaking: light dances across brilliant stone, gilded accents gleam anew, and the Gothic icon's majesty is reborn. From Dec. 8, visitors will once again marvel at the cathedral's blend of history and craftsmanship.

Here's a reporter's-eye view:

Lubnan Baalbaki, the conductor of the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra, watched on his phone screen as an aerial camera pointed to a village in southern Lebanon. In seconds, multiple houses erupted into rubble, smoke filling the air. The camera panned right, revealing widespread devastation.

He zoomed in to confirm his fears: His family's house in the border village of Odaisseh, where his parents are buried, was now in ruins.

Legendary Arab singer Fairouz, whose ballads have told of love, her native Lebanon and the Palestinian cause, turned 90 on Thursday as her conflict-weary country is wracked by the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Dozens of heritage sites in Lebanon were granted "provisional enhanced protection" by UNESCO Monday, the U.N. cultural body said, offering a higher level of legal shielding as Israel heavily bombed Lebanon.

The 34 cultural sites affected "now benefit from the highest level of immunity against attack and use for military purposes," UNESCO said in a statement, adding that "non-compliance with these clauses would constitute 'serious violations' of the 1954 Hague Convention and... potential grounds for prosecution".

The news came by video. Law professor Ali Mourad discovered that Israel had dynamited his family's south Lebanon home only after footage of the operation was sent to his phone.

"A friend from the village sent me the video, telling me to make sure my dad doesn't see it," Mourad, 43, told AFP.

The U.N.'s special coordinator for Lebanon on Friday said the country's cultural heritage was being endangered by Israeli strikes on the ancient Lebanese cities of Tyre and Baalbek, home to UNESCO-designated Roman ruins.

Inside what was once one of Beirut's oldest and best-known cinemas, dozens of Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrians displaced by the Israel-Hezbollah war spend their time following the news on their phones, cooking, chatting and walking around to pass the time.

Outside on Hamra Street, once a thriving economic hub, sidewalks are filled with displaced people, and hotels and apartments are crammed with those seeking shelter. Cafes and restaurants are overflowing.