Netanyahu demands oil embargo on Iran without UN support

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Monday for an immediate embargo on Iran’s energy sector, saying the United Nations Security Council should be sidestepped if it cannot agree on the move.

Netanyahu told foreign Jewish leaders, “This is what is required now. It may not do the job, but nothing else will, and at least we will have known that it was tried. And if this cannot pass in the Security Council, then it should be done outside the Security Council, but immediately.”

Iran’s uranium enrichment, in defiance of several rounds of Security Council sanctions, has spurred world powers to consider tougher diplomatic measures, against the backdrop of threatened military action by Israel as a last resort.

Iran, the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter, says its uranium enrichment is for peaceful energy needs. But the fierce anti-Israel rhetoric from Tehran and threats of Israeli military action have stirred fears of a regional war. (Haaretz)

Chirine Njeim represents Lebanon at the 2010 Winter Olympics

Chirine Njeim is competing in her third Olympics for Lebanon, finishing 37th among 53 contestants in Saturday’s super-G event. To her credit, she successfully completed the race on a highly complex, very difficult track, and was able to keep the run alive after skiing far outside on an early turn. The former University of Utah skier is also scheduled to participate in Slalom and Giant Slalom. Fellow alumnus Australian snowboarder Torah Bright won the Women’s half-pipe competition.

Njeim is always the subject of some fascination in these Games. When she told another coach where she was from, he replied, “And you’re skiing?” Lebanon does have six ski hills, and is not, as she said, just “desert and camels and sand.” (The Salt Lake Tribune)

Be beautiful and vote

A Lebanese activist holds a banner during a demonstration asking to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 near the Lebanese Parliament in Beirut February 22, 2010. Lebanese MPs voted against a proposal to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 during a parliamentary session held on Monday. The banner reads, “Be beautiful and vote. I am 18 years old, can i vote?” REUTERS/ Cynthia Karam

Parliament votes against lowering voting age to 18

The Lebanese parliament failed to adopt a draft law on lowering voting age from 21 to 18. While many MP’s vocalized support for the amendment, 66 abstained from voting. MP Marwan Hamadeh told the Voice of Lebanon radio station on Monday that he supports linking the draft law to lower the legal voting age to granting Lebanese living abroad the right to vote from their countries of residence. He added that the granting Lebanese emigrants the right to vote is as important as allowing Lebanese youth to cast their ballots.

“Abstaining from voting [on the draft law pertaining to lowering the legal voting age] is not to drop the proposal, rather it is to maintain the voting rights of Lebanese youth and emigrants,” Hamadeh said.

Youth activists held a sit-in in Riad Solh square to call for lowering voting age.

Speaker Berri adjourned the parliamentary session until 6:00 p.m. 15 other draft laws were adopted.

Nato airstrike kills 27 civilians in Afghanistan

Nato forces in southern Afghanistan bombed a civilian convoy, killing 27 people including women and children and injuring many more, Afghan officials said. The airstrike in a remote part of Oruzgan province yesterday capped a bloody week for Afghan civilians that has seen some 60 innocent people killed by Nato weapons.

Afghanistan’s cabinet called the attack “unjustifiable” and condemned the raid “in the strongest terms possible”.

The cars were travelling between Kandahar and Daikundi, in Afghanistan’s central highlands, when Nato and Afghan forces mistook them for insurgents. The local governor and the interior minister said all of the victims were civilians. (The Times)

Ahmadinejad to visit Syria on Thursday

An anonymous diplomatic source told Syrian newspaper Al-Watan in an interview published on Monday that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will head to Damascus on Thursday on a one-day visit to meet with his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad.

The source added that the visit confirms the continuous coordination between the Syrian and Iranian leaderships.

Another unnamed source told the daily that the trip is in line with Ahmadinejad’s statements issued last week during which he reiterated Tehran’s support for Syria and Lebanon, as well as for all resistance movements fighting Israel. (Now Lebanon)

Planetary Boundaries

By Ghassan Karam
It is not very often that we get credible ecological news that is not full of negative news and dark projections. Well I am glad to say that the following

Voting age issue unites the Maronites in Lebanon

The move to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 has united the Maronite Christians in Lebanon. For the first time rival Maronite leaders Michel Aoun , Amin Gemayel and Samir Geagea are united in their opposition to lowering the voting age .
It is all about numbers… Analysts estimate that lowering the voting age would add about 50,000 Christians to the electorate, mainly Maronites, and about 175,000 Muslims, roughly equally split between Shiites and Sunnis.
“Christians fear the numbers,” Paul Salem, who heads the Beirut-based Carnegie Middle East Centre, told AFP.
“Mainly it is a fear that lowering the voting age might be the first step in rethinking the entire political structure.”
The issue will be put to the test at a parliament session on Monday, almost one year after MPs approved draft legislation to cut the age from 21 to 18.
“With the realization that their community in Lebanon is shrinking, many Christians are considering whether, in a few generations, Muslims will start questioning why they should continue to give Christians half when they are a minority ( based on Taef accord).”
The Christians want to link lowering the voting age to allowing Lebanese expatriates to vote. Lebanon’s diaspora is estimated to number at least double its population and at least a third are Christians.

Amal will not back from abolishing political sectarianism, says MP

Amal Movement MP Ali Khreiss reiterated on Sunday that his party which is headed by Speaker Nabih Berri will not back down on its proposal to set up a committee to abolish political sectarianism.
He stressed that AMAL Movement believes that sectarianism is an “illness and a disease.”
Khreiss also slammed Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora for his remarks over the Arab summit in Libya.

“Siniora still considers himself prime minister and acts on this basis,” Khreiss said.

With the exception of Hezbollah and Amal the rest of the Lebanese parties are opposed to abolishing political sectarianism as long as Hezbollah holds to its arms.

Amal Movement is opposed to Lebanon’s participation in the Arab summit that will be held towards the end of march in Libya and blames Libya’s strongman Moammar Gaddafi for the disappearance of Amal founder Imam Moussa al Sadr

FPM MP slams Chamoun over Deir al Qamar incident

Free Patriotic Movement MP Abbas Hashem slammed during an an interview with Al-Manar television the National Liberal Party supporters for refusing to to let his leader MP Michel Aoun to visit the Chamoun Family Burial Ground in Deir al-Qamar on Saturday and said this proves the group is “politically dead.”
Aoun wanted to visit the graves of former President Camille Chamoun and his son Dany on his way to MP Walid Jumblatt in Mukhtara.
National Liberal Party leader Dory Chamoun ( son of former president Camille Chamoun) told reporters on Sunday he refused Aoun’s request, and that is why the FPM leader’s scheduled visit to Chamoun Family Burial Ground was canceled.