Aoun’s attacks on Suleiman driven by Hezbollah’s campaign to control the presidency

Lebanon First bloc MP Atef Majdalani said on Thursday that Hezbollah wants to make President Michel Suleiman its subject through the cabinet demands of Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun.

“The goal [of the March 8 coalition] is not to control the cabinet, but also the presidency. Hezbollah wants Suleiman to become [its subject] through the attack being launched by Aoun[on the president],” Majdalani told the Voice of Lebanon (100.5) radio station. (more…)

Report: March 14 to officially boycott Mikati government

The March 14 opposition will reportedly announce their official stance not to participate in the new government in the next 48 hours, paving the way for Premier-designate Najib Miqati to form a one-sided cabinet.

“We are heading towards announcing (our decision) in the next 48 hours. It is probably a negative response,” Caretaker Labor Minister Butros Harb told An Nahar. (more…)

No retreat in Bahrain, as protesters march on

Bahrain protesters are showing no sign of retreating as an anti-government uprising enters its 11th day and opposition groups say the state has not yet met their pre-conditions for dialogue.

In a sign they had no intention of leaving Manama’s Pearl Square, demonstrators overnight on Wednesday renamed it “Martyrs’ Roundabout”, hoisting Bahrain’s red-and-white flag bearing the new name to honour the seven victims of deadly police raids on the protests. (more…)

Gaddafi to speak as revolutionaries surround Tripoli

Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi is soon to make a public address in Zawiyah city west of Tripoli, state television said Thursday, two days after he broke cover to urge his supporters to crush an insurrection.

The Libyan capital was a ghost town Thursday morning, with witnesses telling BBC that the city was heavily guarded by pro-Gaddafi forces, with tanks deployed in the suburbs. (more…)

Amid Middle Eastern turmoil, Saudi King offers cash to citizens

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah yesterday unveiled a series of benefits for citizens estimated to be worth about 140 billion riyals (S$47.6 billion), as the oil-rich nation warily watches the unrest spreading around the Middle East. Abdullah is offering financial assistance for Saudi Arabia, where unemployment is said to be as high as 40 percent among people ages 15 to 24. (more…)

New Zealand earthquake damage in excess of $12 billion

Christchurch has always concealed a deadly secret under its quaint English-style gardens and historic center of stone buildings and Tuesday’s killer earthquake will leave it permanently altered.

Mayor Bob Parker, a popular former television presenter with close-cropped white hair, said still-stunned locals would not abandon New Zealand’s second-largest city, but it may be a dramatically different Christchurch that emerges from a reconstruction tipped to cost upwards of $12 billion. (more…)

Eastern Libya celebrates liberation from Gaddafi

Libyans celebrated the liberation of the east of the country from the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, who has vowed to crush the revolt and on Wednesday was trying to assert his grip on the capital Tripoli, in the west. The opposition vowed to “liberate” Tripoli, where the four-decade Libyan leader is holed up with a force of militiamen roaming the streets and tanks guarding the outskirts. (more…)

Saint Maroun statue placed at Vatican

The statue of Saint Maroun was unveiled at Saint Peter’s square at the Vatican on Wednesday during a ceremony attended by President Michel Suleiman, Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir and Pope Benedict XVI. The statue of St. Maroun is the 12th and last statue.

A large number of Lebanese MPs, officials and former lawmakers also attended the event which was followed by a mass held by Sfeir. (more…)

Arab Designers Showcased at the Grammys

By Marriam Mossalli
It’s official! Saudi Arabian talent has made its first appearance on the red carpet! Thanks to the talented Mohammed Ashi of Ashi Studio, Saudi Arabia has now joined the fashionable ranks of Lebanon — the Middle East Couturier to the West.

Gaddafi personally ordered the Lockerbie bombing in new report

Embattled Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi has personally ordered the Lockerbie bombing, the Swedish tabloid Expressen has reported.

“I possess evidence that Gaddafi ordered Lockerbie,” Libya’s former Judicial Minister Mustafa Mohamed Abud Al Jeleil has said in his interview for Expressen. (more…)