Bodyguard of Lebanon Fatah leader assasssinated

Unknown gunmen assassinated in the Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp one of the bodyguards of Palestinian Fatah chief Mahmoud Eassa, who is also known as ” al-Lino,according to local reports .

The slain bodyguard was identified as Ashraf al-Qaderi. (more…)

STL’s Bellemare decides not to seek a second term

The Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for the Lebanon (STL) , Daniel Bellemare, has informed the Secretary-General of the United Nations that, for health reasons, he does not intend to seek reappointment for a second term as Prosecutor at the end of February 2012, according to STL website.
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Oil falls on OPEC uncertainty, economy worry

Oil fell $3 on Wednesday after OPEC agreed a high output target without a clear mechanism to reduce production to defend prices, already under pressure from the deepening euro zone debt crisis. (more…)

Russian parliament speaker quits after election protests

Longtime Russian parliament speaker Boris Gryzlov, the day-to-day head of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s ruling United Russia party, said on Wednesday he would not take his seat in the State Duma lower house elected last week.
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Syrian army rebels ambush troops in Hama

Thirteen people were killed in Syria’s Hama province on Wednesday when troops fired on a car and provoked a reprisal ambush, activists said, the latest bloodshed in a nine-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. (more…)

Hezbollah, Phalange MPs clash in Parliament over “illegal network”

A verbal clash erupted inside the parliament on Wednesday in Beirut between Phalange party MP Sami Gemayel and Hezbollah MP Nawwaf Moussawi when the issue of the Shiite party’s attempt to expand its telecommunications network was discussed during a Question and Answer session . (more…)

OPEC Said to Leave oil Production Unchanged

Oil traded near a one-week high in New York on signs the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may set an output ceiling similar to current levels at its meeting in Vienna today. (more…)

French UNIFIL troops received threats in Lebanon, report

Al Hayat newspaper was told by security sources that the the French battalion operating within UNIFIL received an email message from an unknown party in which it threatened to launch a missile attack from the town of Deirkayfa in south Lebanon against the French peacemakers (more…)

For Syrian Medics, a Deadly Bid to Save Lives

Early Saturday morning, Mohammad Mourey set off from Turkey, carrying a tall black backpack filled with some 50 pounds of blood, antibiotics, sutures and other medical supplies bound for Syria.

Hours later he would return to Turkey, his mission thwarted and overtaken by the death of a friend. (more…)

Syrian defectors hit back

Army defectors ambushed a Syrian security patrol Tuesday, killing seven in revenge for a raid that cost 11 civilian lives, activists said, as the UN estimated more than 5 000 have died in the crackdown. (more…)