Emmanuel Macron visits Beirut to reshape Lebanon

GIVE HIM credit for the pageantry, at least. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, arrived in Lebanon on August 31st for a two-day visit, his second since the massive explosion at Beirut’s port four weeks earlier. Even his timing was symbolic, 100 years to the day since his predecessors carved Lebanon out of the French mandate in Syria. His first formal meeting was not with his counterpart, Michel Aoun, but with Fairouz, the beloved whose haunting voice is a rare source of national unity. Only then did he make the rounds of Lebanon’s long-serving and much-loathed politicians.The caretaker prime minister, Hassan Diab, resigned six days after the explosion, which killed almost 200 people and caused billions of dollars in damage. It had taken three months to form Mr Diab’s government (which lasted barely six) and many Lebanese expected a similar delay in finding a replacement. For weeks Mr Aoun declined to hold parliamentary consultations about a new prime minister. But with the French president packing his overnight bag, Mr Aoun abruptly summoned MPs to meet on the morning of August 31st. Wags likened him to a student scrambling to finish his before papa returned.