Gemayel tells ministers: ‘You can not discriminate amongst the Lebanese’

Phalange MP Sami Gemayel commented on the security incident in the Al-Fanar yesterday, by saying: “After what happened in the al Fanar area known as al Zuayteriah , I can only sound the alarm to my friends the Minister of Defense Elias Murr and Interior Minister Ziad Baroud and tell them: “You can not discriminate against the Lebanese ” (more…)

Gates agrees with Obama’s decision on McChrystal

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that he agrees with President Obama’s decision to replace Gen. Stanley McChrystal with Gen. David Petraeus as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.

Comments by McChrystal and his staff in a Rolling Stone profile were “unacceptable” and “inconsistent” with the “high standards” expected of military officials, Gates said. (more…)

Saudi Prince Alwalid Bin Talal invests $1.5b in Lebanon

Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), Saudi Prince Alwalid Bin Talal pledged to support the Lebanese economy during the coming years and said that his total investments in Lebanon will amount to $1.5 billion.

“My investments in the tourism sector in Lebanon amount to $0.5 billion in addition to other investments in the media and banking sectors,” (more…)

The Great Obama-Medvedev Escape: Burgers

President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev took a break from bilateral meetings at the White House on Thursday to make a burger run.

Traveling by motorcade, the two presidents ventured to Ray’s Hell Burger in Arlington, Va., a popular hamburger joint just outside the nation’s capital. Obama ate there last year with Vice President Joe Biden.

A cheer went up from customers when the presidents walked in. (more…)

Building collapses near Beirut, 2 workers missing- update

A six floor aluminum factory collapsed on Thursday in a northern suburb of Beirut, trapping three people under the rubble, two of whom remain missing, a civil defense official said (more…)

Petraeus backs July 2011 Afghan withdrawal deadline

Gen. David Petraeus told CNN on Thursday that he supports President Barack Obama’s July 2011 deadline to start withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan, a key point of contention between the president and many of his Republican critics in Congress.

Petraeus — tapped to replace Gen. Stanley McChrystal as the U.S. commander in Afghanistan (more…)

Report: Secret arms from Balkan region to Hezbollah

Serbian and Albanian media have published reports about alleged illegal arms trafficking and smuggling originating from the Balkan region toward several countries, including Iraq and Lebanon.

The reports accused officials in both Lebanon and Iraq as well as Hezbollah of involvement. (more…)

Gemayel, Sakr defend Sfeir

Following his meeting with Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir in Bkirki on Thursday, Phalange Party MP Nadim Gemayel lashed out at Sfeir’s critics.

Those who criticize the patriarch’s stances are against any person who supports Lebanon’s sovereignty, freedom and independence, Gemayel said. (more…)

12 killed in Spain while crossing train tracks

Twelve people died and 14 others were injured when a passenger train slammed into a group of young revellers crossing a railway track instead of using an underground passageway in Spain, officials said. (more…)

Lebanon prosecutor charges 2 with belonging to Al-Qaeda

Lebanon’s military prosecutor on Thursday charged two people with belonging to Islamist group Al-Qaeda and plotting attacks on the Lebanese army, a judicial source said.

“Judge Saqr Saqr charged two Lebanese with belonging to Al-Qaeda and planning to carry out a terrorist attack on an army convoy in Anjar,” in eastern Lebanon, the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

If convicted, they could face the death penalty.

The source said Saqr added the two names to a case opened last December, in which he charged 15 people with plotting attacks on soldiers, including planting a bomb in a military convoy which failed to detonate.

The charge sheet also accused the 15 of having ties to a Fatah al-Islam ring based in the Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp, near the southern coastal town of Sidon. AFP