U.S.: Syria is violating Lebanon’s sovereignty

The US is worried about Syria’s support of Hezbollah and its attempts to intimidate the Lebanese government, US State Department spokesperson Philip Crowley said Friday , the Kuwaiti News Agency (KONA) reported. (more…)

Lebanon’s budget deficit shrinks

Lebanon’s budget deficit narrowed to 3 trillion Lebanese pounds ($2 billion) in the first nine months as the government spent less on subsidizing its main electricity generating company. (more…)

North, South Korea exchange border fire

North Korean troops have opened fire at a South Korean army post across the heavily-fortified border. (more…)

Death toll from Indonesian disasters nears 430

In a hospital on a remote Indonesian island ravaged by this week’s tsunami, a 2-month-old boy orphaned by the big wave and found in a storm drain lay in a humidified crib, his lungs filled with fluid and cuts on his face. (more…)

Israeli Arab activist convicted of spying for Hezbollah

An Israeli court has convicted Amir Makhoul, a leading Israeli Arab activist of spying for Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group.

Makhoul, 52, admitted to the charges in a plea bargain that will see him jailed for seven to 10 years.

Under the deal, prosecutors dropped the most serious charge – assisting an enemy in a time of war – (more…)

STL condemns Hezbollah’s call for boycott

Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) condemned Hezbollah’s call for boycott calling it a “deliberate attempt to obstruct justice”.

This comes after Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah attacked Special Tribunal for Lebanon ( STL) and called on all the Lebanese to end all cooperation with its investigators. (more…)

Nasrallah attacks STL over Dhahiya incident

During a televised speech on Thursday Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah called on all Lebanese to boycott Special Tribunal for Lebanon ( STL) and to end all cooperation with its investigators. (more…)

Finland grants asylum to former Iranian diplomat

A former senior diplomat at Iran’s embassy in Helsinki, who resigned and joined the opposition, said Thursday he had been granted political asylum by Finland only weeks after applying for it.

Hossein Alizadeh, deputy head of mission at the Iranian embassy until early last month, was at least the third Iranian diplomat this year to seek political asylum in Europe, (more…)

U.N. worried about Lebanon’s security, report

Lebanon is in a tense state in part because of Hezbollah’s weapons and Israel’s failure to meet its international obligations, the U.N. secretary-general said.

“Lebanon is currently experiencing a domestic climate of uncertainty and fragility,” wrote U.S. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his latest assessment of the situation in Lebanon. (more…)

U.S.: Syria, Iran ,Hezbollah endangering Lebanon stability

Syria, Iran and the militant group Hezbollah are undermining Lebanon’s independence and are endangering its stability, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said Thursday.

Susan Rice ( R) spoke a day after three employees of the U.N.-backed court set up to try suspects in the 2005 murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri were attacked in Beirut. (more…)