NNA : Interior Minister supports STL funding

Lebanese Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said on Sunday that he supports the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which is probing the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

“Not to fund the STL means abolishing it, which we cannot do because that would bring harm to Lebanon on the economic and social levels, (more…)

Saudi King says women will be members in next Shoura Council

Saudi Arabia will allow women to become full members of the Shoura Council and be candidates for the first time in future municipal elections, King Abdullah said today.

“We refuse to marginalize the role of women in Saudi society in every field of work,” Abdullah said on state television as he inaugurated a new session of the council. (more…)

Putin plots his return to Russia’s presidency , Q/A

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has announced he wants to return to the presidency in an election in March.
Following are some details of his strategy and what the outcomes might be:

What is Putin’s plan? (more…)

MP Nicolas: Sectarian-based voting divides the Lebanese

Free Patriotic Movement MP Nabil Nicolas rejected on Saturday evening during an interview with New TV an . electoral law proposal which will limit the voters to vote for their own candidates of their sects calling such a proposal “very dangerous because it divides the Lebanese people along sectarian lines and increases intolerance.” (more…)

NNA: 2 Injured Syrian protesters hospitalized in Lebanon

Two Red Cross ambulances transported two Syrians at around 7:00 p.m. Saturday to the Lady of Peace Hospital in the Lebanese town of Qobayyat, National News agency (NNA) reported on Saturday (more…)

At least 18 killed by Syrian security forces on Saturday

Syrian security forces have killed at least 18 civilians on Saturday, nearly all in the central region of Homs, the Syrian Revolution General Commission, a coalition of dozens opposition groups-reported.

Observatory for Human Rights earlier reported that 12 civilians were killed in (more…)

Christians must not support brutal regimes, Geagea

Middle East Christians must be “leaders of the Arab liberation movement” not “defenders of backward and brutal regimes,” a Christian Lebanese leader critical of the Syrian regime said Saturday. (more…)

Time ticking for Assad in Syria, says Turkey’s PM Erdogan

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will be ousted “sooner or later” by his own people as the time of dictatorial rule fades around the world, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said.

Erdogan, in an interview on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria (more…)

SANA: Senior army officer died of heart attack

The Syrian army’s deputy chief of staff has died of a heart attack, the official SANA news agency said on Saturday as anti-regime protests continue to sweep the country. (more…)

Lebanon should pay its share of STL funding, MP Abi Nasr says

Change and Reform bloc MP Neematallah Abi Nasr told LBC television on Saturday that he supports the agreement which stipulates that the Lebanese government should pay its annual share of funding to the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). (more…)