March 14 MP: Iran’s influence behind Assad’s statement over STL

March 14 MP Atef Majdalani said on Tuesday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s alleged statement in which he called for for rejecting the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s (STL) upcoming indictment , was a result of the visit by Iranian Deputy Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Bagheri to Damascus over the weekend.

“The STL is the only hope for achieving justice], ” Majdalani stressed (more…)

Suleiman: Citizens want a fair, capable and strong state

President Michel Suleiman visited south Lebanon and inspected the offices of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and UNIFIL troops in the South on Tuesday.

The president was accompanied by LAF Commander General Jean Kahwajid other high ranking officers (more…)

Amal MP: Hariri’s meeting with Saudi king will help in easing tension

Amal Movement MP Ali Hassan Khalil told NBN TV on Tuesday that Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s visit to New York and his meeting with Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz will help in finalizing the settlement over the STL indictment which should result in easing the tension in Lebanon. (more…)

Lebanese banks attract largest share of ME deposits

A report by the Central Bank has revealed that Lebanese banks attracted the largest share in bank deposits in the Middle East in 2010…over 30 percent of total deposits.

Lebanese banks reportedly attracted $8 billion of the total $25 billion which was deposited in banks across the region… this resulted in increasing the total bank capital to $105 billion as of October of this year. (more…)

Geagea: Gone are the days of threats over STL indictment

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea praised the way president handled the vote on the so called “false witnesses” during the last cabinet meeting :

Following his Tuesday meeting with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir in Bkirki he told the media : (more…)

Iran executes alleged Mossad spy

An Iranian convicted of spying for the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad was hanged in Tehran Tuesday, Iranian officials said.

Ali Akbar Siadat was accused of sending classified information to Tel Aviv (more…)

Aoun escalates attack against president Suleiman

Yesterday Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) MP Nabil Nicolas launched an attack against president Michel Suleiman and accused him of violating Article 65 of the constitution.

“I did not understand what he meant when he said that ‘no one specifies for me when to vote and when not to vote in the cabinet’. The president does not have the right to vote in the cabinet even if he is presiding it,” Nicolas told MTV on Monday. (more…)

OTV received threating calls, report

OTV channel announced that it had received an anonymous call from a person with Egyptian accent , who claims to belong to a fundamentalist organization , accusing the leader of Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun of persecuting the Sunni Muslims . He threatened that his group would kill General Aoun, (more…)

Israeli Minister: We should seek peace with Lebanon, Syria

Israeli Minister of Minorities Avishay Braverman told Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai during an interview that will be published on Tuesday that Israel should seek peace with Lebanon and Syria .

Braverman said “the greatest danger is represented by Iran , (more…)

Moscow judge found Khodorkovsky guilty of oil theft

A Moscow judge found Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the jailed former head of Yukos Oil Co., guilty of embezzling crude, adding to a 2005 conviction, in a trial that has raised European concerns about the rule of law in Russia.

Khodorkovsky and his former business partner Platon Lebedev, (more…)