Banque du Liban Governor Karim Souaid just activated a rule that's been sitting on a shelf since 2009—directing all Lebanese banks to let mothers independently open and manage bank accounts for their minor children, no father required.

• Banking Circular No. 979, dated May⁠ 22, 2026, instructs banks to enforce a long-ignored 2009 Banking Association circular giving mothers full, independent control of trust accounts for their children until age 18.
• A critical protection is built in: if the mother passes away or loses legal capacity, the father cannot access the account without a court order.
• The National Commission for Lebanese Women confirmed the circular came directly in response to their lobbying of BDL, calling it "a positive step toward strengthening the rights of women and mothers."
• It's a temporary fix — a broader law already approved by the Parliamentary Women and Children Committee back in 2020 is still waiting to be officially enacted.

Why it matters: A central bank circular just did what parliament hasn't — turned a 17-year-old right for Lebanese mothers into an enforceable reality, even if only on an interim basis.

Since Israel's incursions into southern Lebanon, Lebanese civilians and others have been seized and held in Israeli detention — and the families demanding answers say both the Lebanese state and international bodies have largely left them to fend for themselves.

• At least 29 Lebanese are believed held in Israeli prisons, taken during incursions over the past two years — during the war and the ceasefires that followed — with the latest reported abduction on May⁠ 19 near the Kfarhamam–Kfarshouba road.
• Abductions have crossed sectarian lines: targets have included a Sunni farmer, a former Sunni mayor, a Lebanese navy captain seized from Batroun, and a former General Security officer lured by a Mossad collaborator.
• The ICRC says it has had no access to Israeli detention facilities since Oct⁠ober 7, 2023, despite repeated requests — leaving families with almost no information on their relatives' whereabouts or condition.
• Families met with President Aoun on Dec⁠ember 12 and Prime Minister Salam on Jan⁠uary 29 and left with assurances; they say no concrete action followed either meeting.

Zooming out: The Lebanese Association for Prisoners and Detainees has navigated this terrain before — it was founded in 1982 during Israel's 18-year occupation — and families say the current silence from Beirut echoes the worst of those years.

On May⁠ 23, 1926, Lebanon's constitution was proclaimed — a document that borrowed its bones from French and Belgian models but immediately embedded sectarian representation as a "temporary" measure, a word that has now lasted a full century.

• The 1926 constitution drew from France's Third Republic constitution of 1875 and Belgium's 1831 constitution, establishing a parliamentary republican system — while also enshrining sectarian representation under Article 95 as a transitional arrangement.
• The Taif Agreement of 1989 and the constitutional amendments of 1990 formally declared the "abolition of political sectarianism" a "fundamental national goal" — and mandated a gradual transition away from sectarian balance.
• More than three decades after Taif, Lebanon remains officially in that "transitional phase," with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam himself having identified ten constitutional provisions requiring clarification in his book.

The bigger picture: A constitution that turns 100 to⁠day still contains the same unresolved tension it was born with — a state that defines itself in principles while continuously renegotiating what those principles mean in practice.

Nearly three months into the US-Iran war, a Pakistani-mediated draft agreement is reportedly close to announcement — yet uranium enrichment, Strait of Hormuz tolls, and sanctions relief remain unresolved sticking points on both sides.

• Al-Arabiya cited sources saying the final draft includes an immediate comprehensive ceasefire on all fronts, a gradual lifting of US sanctions, and negotiations on outstanding issues to begin within seven days of the agreement taking effect.
• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there were "some good signs" but warned there could be no deal if Tehran pursues a tolling system in the Strait of Hormuz, which ordinarily carries a fifth of global oil and LNG.
• Iran floated plans to charge around $2 million per tanker post-war; a senior Iranian source told Reuters that Supreme Leader Khamenei directed that enriched uranium must not be sent abroad.
• Trump said the US will "eventually" recover Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, adding: "We'll probably destroy it after we get it."

What to watch: Whether the Pakistani-mediated draft can bridge the uranium and Strait disputes — the two issues both sides have publicly described as the last major obstacles to any agreement.

Gaza's war has created what UNICEF calls the largest orphan crisis in modern history — and for tens of thousands of surviving children, the hardest battle isn't hunger or displacement, it's a legal system that won't let their mothers collect aid on their behalf.

• Data from Gaza's Ministry of Social Development in Apr⁠il counted 64,616 orphaned children, including 55,157 who lost their fathers during the conflict — a figure that points to a deepening humanitarian crisis, with the toll still growing.
• Palestinian personal status law grants guardianship primarily to the paternal grandfather, not the mother — meaning widowed mothers often cannot register for food, cash assistance, or sponsorship programs without his signed cooperation.
• Courts, archives, and legal infrastructure have been destroyed across the Strip; lawyers say thousands of cases cannot be resolved because witnesses are dead and documents are lost or displaced.

The bigger picture: The legal guardianship crisis layered onto Gaza's humanitarian collapse means that even aid that arrives and is earmarked for children can remain out of reach for the families caring for them.

Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, the UK's largest public sector pension pool managing nearly £120 billion in assets, sold off $29.2 million in Israeli government bonds last⁠ year after sustained activist pressure — then said nothing publicly about it.

• The bonds were purchased in two tranches in 2024 and early 2025 through US asset manager Pimco on Border to Coast's behalf, making it the largest buyer of Israeli bonds among UK public institutions in that period.
• A 7,500-signature petition from South Yorkshire pension members, a unanimous Sheffield City Council motion, and months of pressure on Pimco all preceded the quiet divestment in late Sep⁠tember.
• The UK government told pension funds that divestment decisions going beyond official sanctions policy were not appropriate — while leaving a carve-out for changes "required to meet fiduciary duties."

Zooming out: Border to Coast's near-silent divestment follows similar moves by Norway's Government Pension Fund, the Central Bank of Ireland, and a Danish academics' pension fund — a pattern suggesting ESG pressure is reshaping institutional investment even where governments have not acted.