Lawmaker from Allawi’s Iraqiya list killed in Iraq

Iraqi officials say a newly elected lawmaker from the Sunni-backed Iraqiya list that won the March 7 elections has been killed in a drive-by shooting in northern Iraq. (more…)

Hariri meets Ray LaHoud in Washington

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri started Monday his official visit to Washington by a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Transport Ray LaHoud at his residence at the Four Seasons hotel in the nation’s capital. (more…)

Hariri: A Changed Leader in Challenging Times

There is a new rule, probably the only visible Lebanon policy under President Barack Obama’s administration: every US official visiting Damascus must pass by Beirut.

Williams: Lebanon’s Voice to be Heard at U.N.

U.N. Special envoy for Lebanon Michael Williams urged all parties to refrain from provocative statements that could lead to regional tension and said PM Saad Hariri’s speech in New York on Wednesday would help the international community hear Lebanon’s voice.

“I am reassured by the fact, which the General shares with me, that all parties are still committed to the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 and to the cessation of hostilities,” Williams said Monday following talks with Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun in Rabiyeh. (more…)

Hariri Obama meeting at 2:30 PM on Monday

US President Barack Obama is scheduled to meet Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri At 2:30 p.m. ET (9:30 pm Beirut time) at the White House.

Assad: US lost its influence in the ME peace process

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview published Monday by the Italian daily La Repubblica that the United States has lost its influence in the Middle East peace process despite the hopes raised by US President Barack Obama. (more…)

Iran submits fuel swap offer to IAEA

Seeking to evade new U.N. sanctions, Iran on Monday formally submitted its plan to swap some of its enriched uranium for reactor fuel and said the onus was on world powers to defuse tensions by accepting the deal.

The development was unlikely to deter the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France — the five permanent U.N. Security Council members — which last week agreed on a draft outlining the fourth set of sanctions against Tehran for refusing to give up uranium enrichment. (more…)

Lebanon PM meets today President Obama

Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri is in Washington for a meeting with President Obama. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs called it “a symbol of the close and historic relationship between Lebanon and the United States.”

STL spokesperson resigns

Radiya Ashouri, Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) spokesperson said in a statement that she has resigned from her post at the tribunal.

“The time has come after one year of work with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to say goodbye in my capacity as the spokesperson for the STL’s general prosecutor,” Ashouri said in the statement. (more…)

Lebanon inflation rose to 4.7 % in April

Lebanon’s inflation rate rose to 4.7 percent year-on-year in April largely due to increases in the costs of transportation and utilities, figures from the government statistics department showed. (more…)