Aoun, Jumblatt ministers boycott cabinet session

Minister of Information Walid al-Daouq said the cabinet session that was scheduled for Friday at the Baabda Presidential Palace was postponed on account of the quorum not being reached.

Daouq told reporters that a number of ministers did not attend the session “either because they are [abroad], or have health [issues], or for various other reasons.” (more…)

Baath official attacks STL and Mikati

Secretary of the General Commission of the Baath party in Lebanon ( the same party of the Syrian regime headed by president Bashar al Assad ) , Mohammad Shaker al-Qawas, attacked in a press release on Friday the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) calling it “illegitimate” . (more…)

Reports of child torture in Syria, UN

A U.N. human rights panel expressed alarm at reports it received of security forces in Syria torturing children.

The Geneva-based Committee Against Torture says it has received “numerous, consistent and substantiated reports” of widespread abuse in the country. (more…)

US Urges Americans to Leave Syria as its Aircraft Carrier Approaches

As the violent crackdown against Syrian dissidents continues, the US government is warning all American citizens in the country to leave immediately, according to CBS. Turkish citizens are also being warned to stay out of the country. The US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, was pulled from that country last month. (more…)

Arab league to consider sanctions after Syria misses deadline

Syria missed an Arab League deadline Friday to allow hundreds of observers into the country, prompting the bloc to consider economic sanctions against Damascus for its eight-month crackdown on dissent, a senior diplomat said. (more…)

Lebanese PM to quit if gov’t fails to fund STL

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Thursday that he would resign if his government fails to secure funding for a UN-backed court set up to probe the February 14, 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. (more…)

Iran arrests 12 CIA agents, report

An official Iranian news agency quoted an Iranian legislator Thursday as saying that Iran’s intelligence ministry had arrested 12 CIA “spies.”

The report could not be independently confirmed.

Parliamentarian Parviz Sorouri said the alleged spies were trying to cripple Iran in the nuclear, military and security areas, Iran’s official Islamic (more…)

Egypt army appoints ex-PM to form new govt, report

Egypt’s ruling military council asked former prime minister Kamal Ganzouri to form a new government on Thursday after protesters demanded the army sack the previous cabinet, Al Jazeera television reported, citing unspecified reports. (more…)

Arab League gives Syria new ultimatum, calls for UN support

The Arab League on Thursday served a new ultimatum on Damascus, giving it less than 24 hours to allow monitors into the country or face sanctions, while for the first time calling on the United Nations to help resolve the crisis.

The ultimatum, issued at the end of a crisis meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, came amid an explosion of violence in Syria in which 32 people died, including 11 security force members and seven military pilots. (more…)

PSP ministers to quit if cabinet refuses to fund STL, report

Lebanese National Struggle Front parliamentary bloc ministers will resign from the cabinet should the government refuse to fund the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) , Al Nahar newspaper quoted minister Wael Abu Faour from the bloc which is headed by Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader MP Walid Jumblatt as saying .
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