North Korea shuts down universities for 10 months

Pyongyang has told the North Korean people that the nation will have achieved its aim of becoming “a great, prosperous and powerful nation” in 2012, which marks the 100th anniversary of the founder of the reclusive state, Kim Il-sung. (more…)

Iran secretly tested ‘nuclear-capable ballistic missiles’

Iran has carried out secret tests of ballistic missiles capable of delivering a nuclear payload in breach of UN resolutions, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Wednesday.

Hague’s comments came a day after Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards said they had fired 14 missiles in an exercise, (more…)

Saudi prince warns: We will build nukes if Iran gets them

A senior Saudi Arabian diplomat and member of the ruling royal family has raised the spectre of nuclear conflict in the Middle East if Iran comes close to developing a nuclear weapon.

Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former Saudi intelligence chief (more…)

Lebanon needs more tourists

The mild weather is not the only reason one would be forgiven for thinking it is still spring in downtown Beirut. (more…)

11 civilians killed by security forces in northern Syrian town

11 civilians were killed Wednesday in the northern town of Jabal Zawiya along the Syrian-Turkish border — one of the first towns to participate in the months-long uprising against the 11-year rule of Bashar Assad — also was the scene of nighttime security crackdowns.as security forces stormed two northern towns in the larger governorate of Idlib, human rights activist stated . (more…)

Syria pulls armed forces back from some areas

Beirut, Lebanon — The Syrian military and the government’s security forces have largely withdrawn from one of the country’s largest cities as well as other areas across the country, residents and activists said Thursday, leaving territory to protesters whose demonstrations have grown larger and whose chants have taunted a leadership that once inspired the deepest fear there. (more…)

US Treasury sanctions Syrian,Iranian police over human rights abuses

The US Treasury Department on Wednesday sanctioned Iran’s national police and Syrian security forces for alleged human rights abuses inside Syria, Dow Jones reported.

The sanctions come in response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown on dissenters that has killed 1,400 people in three months. (more…)

Siniora: No one knows exactly when STL will release the Indictment

Former Lebanese PM and current leader of the Future Movement parliamentary bloc, said on Wednesday that “no one can assert with certainty the actual date of the announcement of the indictment by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the case of the 2005 (more…)

Deal reached over STL clause , report

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV reported on Wednesday that the ministerial committee charged with formulating the ministerial policy statement has completed its task , adding that a copy of the proposed draft has been distributed to the cabinet members.

Al-Manar also said that there are some indications that tonight’s meeting of the commission tasked to draft the ministerial statement might be the last. (more…)

Analysis: Syrian opposition divided over how to achieve change

Syria’s opposition, weakened by half a century of oppression under the Baath party, is united in demanding change but divided over how to achieve it.