Sunday
10:10 If Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas makes good on his declaration that he won't run in the upcoming Palestinian presidential election, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and his entire cabinet would resign
10:00 pm The US House narrowly passed landmark health care legislation Saturday night to expand coverage to tens of millions who lack it and place tough new restrictions on the insurance industry.
9:48pm Minister Aoun told "new TV": General Aoun is the only one who has the names of ministers and will submit to Hariri tomorrow. I will not be a minister in the next government
9:00 pm MP George Adwan: It will be very difficult for us to give up Ministry of Justice and ispecilly because we have give up the Maronite seat . We support the Phalange claim for the Ministry of Education
8:30 pm LBC ; MP Okab Sakr said he expects Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri to announce the new government on Tuesday, says lineup “fair” to March 14 Christians
8:25 pm Lebanese Forces bloc MP Georges Adwan told MTV on Sunday there was no dispute over the distribution of cabinet portfolios between the LF and the Kataeb parties.
8:20pm NTV: PM-designate Hariri met with Mikati, Jumblat, and Gemayel and is expected to meet with Geagea later on tonight. Center house will be open the whole night till an agreement is reached.
8:00pm Minister Ibrahim Najjar confirmed to OTV that he will be holding onto the Ministry of Justice.
7:50pm al-Manar TV: Sources close to Michel Aoun said a meeting could take place on Monday between FPM Leader and PM-designate Hariri to deliver the names of the bloc ministers.
7:20pm Caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud left for Qatari capital Doha heading an official Lebanese delegation participating in the Conference of States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) since joining last October in 2008.
7:18pm Change and Reform bloc will get Tourism, Industry, Energy and Telecommunications portfolios. Bassil will get the Energy Ministry.
7:16pm NBN: Next Tuesday PM-designate will have a macro meeting with March 14 forces.
6:45 pm BBC: The Iraqi parliament has approved a crucial election law ahead of national polls due in January 2010. The UN had warned that it could not guarantee to endorse the election if the bill had not been approved.
6: 30 pm The US Army released an official list of the 13 people fatally shot at Fort Hood and said 16 victims were still being treated in hospitals, 9 of them in intensive care units.
6:12pm caretaker PM Fouad Siniora received calls from the Moussa and Attiyah and he called president Abbas
6: 00 General George Casey, US Army chief of staff, on Sunday became the latest US military official to advocate sending more troops to Afghanistan as President Barack Obama nears a decision on a new strategy.
5:20 pm "Voice of Lebanon": PM designate Saad Hariri is doing a final review of the names before the formation of the government, especially with regard to the share of the Kataeb , Lebanese Forces and Boutros Harb who may accept a portfolio other than Justice ministry
5:15 pm President Suleiman during a visit to Human Sciences Faculty in Amsheet: Government formation is very very soon. The table for national dialogue at Baabda Palace will take place immediately after the Cabinet formation.
3:30 pm MP Sami Gemayel: We demand the Education ministry to re-write a history book mentioning the sacrifices of all parties. We refuse legislating Hizbullah arms granting them the only right to decide on war or peace.
3:30 pm Hariri sources to al-Manar TV denied a meeting tomorrow between PM-designate Saad Hariri and Christian majority.
3:20 pm Former Minister Jihad Azour to MTV: The next phase is going to be difficult because we have already wasted 4 months on undemocratic matters. The personal aspect shadows the public benefit in the Cabinet formation.
3:00 pm March 14 list won in Tripoli’s lawyers syndicate election.
2:30 pm A cluster bomb exploded in south Lebanon injuring a 44 year old. Another one was found in a school in Habboush, Nabatieh.
2:00 pm Phalange Party to al-Manar TV: We refuse the Ministry of Labor and insist on Education as it is an old request.
1:45 pm Proposals from world powers to supply nuclear fuel for a research reactor in Iran are still on the table, a leading Iranian MP said on Sunday, a day after suggesting that Tehran could reject the deal.
"Our first option is to buy fuel of 20 percent (enrichment)," ISNA and Mehr news agencies quoted Alaeddin Borujerdi, the head of parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, as saying. "But if we cannot buy it we could make a limited exchange on condition that first we get fuel of 20 percent," he added.
On Saturday Borujerdi said that Iran has decided to reject proposals from major powers for the supply of nuclear fuel, in a serious setback for UN-brokered efforts to allay Western concerns about its atomic ambitions. On Sunday he was quoted as saying that Iran's Supreme National Security Council was tasked with making decisions that serve the country's interests. A spokesperson for the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Saturday that it was "still waiting for the formal response" from Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh.
11:37 am Cabinet Minister Mohammed Fneish: A Cabinet lineup is a victory for all.
11:17 am Cabinet Minister Ghazi Aridi during a tour of northern Bekaa and Hermel: A Cabinet lineup will come out within a few hours.
11:08 am Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel after meeting Sfeir: We are mulling names with Hariri that would represent the Phalange party in the new government. After meeting with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir in Bkirki on Sunday, Gemayel said that his party is in continuous contact with Hariri to reach an agreement on the final cabinet lineup.
“The Kataeb is one of the main actors of the Cedar Revolution and has a popular following… it wants to play an integral role in this crucial period in Lebanon,” he said. Gemayel said the Kataeb Party will discuss their candidates for the cabinet with Hariri only.
10:40 am Cabinet Minister Antoine Karam to VDL: The Cabinet policy statement will most probably be similar to that of the previous one. Otherwise, we may face a new dispute.
Sami Gemayel: The minority showed it was willing to go beyond the limits in order to achieve what it wants.
10:16 am Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar told Voice of Lebanon on Sunday that MP Boutros Harb is a friend and central figure in March 14, but “I understand that I am keeping the Justice Ministry,” he said - in reference to Harb’s candidacy for his current job. Najjar said the Lebanese Forces want to keep the Justice Ministry, but called for waiting until the final cabinet formation - which he expects to happen on Monday - for a decisive result.
He also said that nearly all of the issues obstructing the cabinet formation have been resolved, adding that there are still two or three names under discussion for ministerial positions. He also stressed the unity of March 14.
“Everybody contributed to the formation of the cabinet but Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri was the one who made the biggest efforts,” he said.
Najjar said last week’s Iranian-Qatari meeting and recent contact between Syria and France helped resolve lineup talks, but the cabinet is formed in Lebanon, Najjar affirmed.
10:09 am MP Sami Gemayel to LBC: Hariri made concessions and compromises at the expense of March 14. We don’t blame him for that, but we blame the weapons that are being used as means to impose what they want on the Lebanese.
9:32 am Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir presides over a celebratory mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Lebanon Church in Harissa.
9:00 am Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar to VDL: Cabinet formation decree is likely to be signed Monday. The Lebanese Forces expressed its desire to maintain the justice ministry.
Saturday
8:05 pm LBCI: Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri will meet with majority leaders in upcoming hours, prior to declaring cabinet formation
7:50 pm Security forces recover sea-mine near Byblos port
7:30 pm Hajj Hussein Khalil says national unity cabinet “practically formed,” no disagreement on Ministerial Statement
6:16 pm Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt meets with UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams