It ends with a whimper

 And so Lebanon's 'Day of Rage' yesterday wound up with a few hundred clearly sectarian supporters pitching up for a bit of chanting in Martyrs' square. And a disturbing rendition of the national anthem (below). A good account of the whole sorry state of affairs can be found here, courtesy of Dana Moukhallati. The New York Times has a nice picture round-up, here.

A Lebanese Valentines day

Five years ago on February 14 a bloody great bomb tossed chunks of Lebanon's then Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri, all over downtown Beirut. Now each year a (steadily dwindling) sea of flags waving mark his passing, al la the 'Cedar Revolution' of March 14, which booted the Syrians out of Lebanon.
Sadly not everyone could enjoy the day happily and a few sorry souls were escorted home courtesy of the Red Cross, after finding themselves on the wrong end of a rapidly descending flag staff. Given the close confines and the surprise circa 30º temperatures perhaps a few scuffles were inevitable.