US Envoy: It is up to the Syrians to find alternatives to Assad

US ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly, said in an interview with LBC television , that all efforts must be exerted to convince Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down adding “It is not up to the US to impose alternatives on Syria; only the Syrian people are authorized to do so.” (more…)

North Korea wants food, agrees to suspend nuclear activities

The United States said Wednesday North Korea has agreed to suspend nuclear activities and accept a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests, in a breakthrough in negotiations with the secretive communist nation.

The announcement comes little more than two months after the death of longtime ruler Kim Jong Il, (more…)

Proposed history textbook omits the Cedar revolution

Phalange Party MP Sami Gemayel warned the government against approving the proposed history textbook that will be used in the Public School Curriculum because it failed to acknowledge the Cedar Revolution and other political phenomena in recent Lebanese history. (more…)

Syria prevented terrorists from entering via Lebanon, SANA

The Syrian National News Agency (SANA) on Tuesday quoted the Syrian authorities as saying that they “prevented an armed terrorist group from entering Syria through the Oyoun al-Shara-Halat crossing in Tall Kalakh along the Lebanese-Syrian border.”

According to SANA’s report three members of the (more…)

Lebanon president wants Syria back in Arab League

Lebanon will demand that Syria be allowed back into the Arab League when the pan-Arab grouping holds its summit next month, President Michel Suleiman said on Tuesday.

“Lebanon is standing by its position that no Arab nation should be left out of this organization, (more…)

Tunisia Ready to Offer Asylum to Assad, report

Tunisia’s president has told a local paper he is ready to offer asylum to Syria’s leader Bashar Assad as part of a negotiated solution to end the Syrian conflict, the paper’s website announced said Tuesday. (more…)

UN: Syria civilian death toll “well over 7,500″

Beirut Lebanon – Syrian forces have killed more than 7,500 civilians since a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad began, a U.N. official said on Tuesday, and Hilary Clinton, the top U.S. diplomat, suggested the Syrian leader may be a war criminal. (more…)

Massacre in Homs as Constitution approved

Beirut, Lebanon – Syria pounded the besieged city of Homs for a 26th day Tuesday as the bodies of 64 men found dumped outside the city awaited identification, activists said.

The men, taken to the Homs National Hospital, were believed to have been with an undetermined number of women and children who are missing, the opposition Local Coordination Committees said. (more…)

Israel will keep U.S. in the dark before Iran strike, report

Israeli officials say they won’t warn the U.S. if they decide to launch a pre-emptive strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, according to one U.S. intelligence official familiar with the discussions. The pronouncement, delivered in a series of private, top-level conversations, sets a tense tone ahead of meetings in the coming days at the White House and Capitol Hill. (more…)

Paul Conroy smuggled to Lebanon from Syria, report

Paul Conroy, a British photographer who was trapped in Homs for five days after being wounded in a Syrian army bombardment, has managed to escape into neighbouring Lebanon, according to both his wife and father.

Mr Conroy, a British photographer working for the Sunday Times, was reported to have travelled safely out of Syria overnight and to have been in Lebanon on Tuesday morning. (more…)