Naharnet
Latest stories
Feltman in Beirut on Wednesday, Says U.S. Has Evidence that Hizbullah Helping Assad

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman has said Washington has evidence that Tehran and its Lebanese ally Hizbullah are bolstering Syria’s Assad regime.

Speaking in Amman, Feltman told reporters that Syrian President Bashar Assad is pegging his ruling Alawite minority against other sects and implementing his "own prophesy, which is moving Syria into more chaos and a civil war."

W140 Full Story
Western Galilee Attacked from Southern Lebanon, Israel Retaliates and Warns

One rocket was fired from southern Lebanon into northern Israel overnight, prompting the Jewish state’s army to warn Beirut early Tuesday to work to prevent similar attacks in the future.

The Lebanese army released a statement saying that one rocket was fired from southern Lebanon from the area between the town of Haneen and Rmaish into Israel.

W140 Full Story
MEA Promises On-Time Flights as Pilots Union Calls 48-Hr Strike

Pilots at Lebanon's national carrier, Middle East Airlines (MEA), on Monday overwhelmingly voted in favor of a 48-hour strike in protest at the dismissal of a colleague undergoing cancer treatment.

The pilots' union said in a statement that the employee was fired while he was on sick leave and therefore his sacking “violates the labor law.”

W140 Full Story
Tens of Thousands Rally in Tripoli for 'Arms Fall, Independence Spring'

Tens of thousands of supporters of the opposition gathered Sunday in the northern city of Tripoli to denounce the Syrian regime and its Lebanese ally Hizbullah, under the slogan “The Fall of Weapons, The Spring of Independence.”

The rally organized by the Mustaqbal Movement, the main opposition party headed by ex-premier Saad Hariri, came amid mounting tension over the financing of the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the revolt in neighboring Syria.

W140 Full Story
Paris Denies French Agents Dispatched to Lebanon, Turkey Borders

French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero on Thursday denied a media report claiming that French intelligence operatives had arrived to the borders of Lebanon and Turkey to train members of the rebel Free Syrian Army, dismissing the report as “baseless.”

“You know that the (French) magazine Le Canard enchainé, (which published the report Wednesday), is a satirical weekly. This report is inaccurate and baseless,” Valero said in an interview with Lebanon’s OTV.

W140 Full Story
U.S. Helps Lebanese Food Industries Enter International Markets

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on Wednesday held a workshop under the Lebanon Business Linkages Initiative (LBLI) with the Syndicate of Lebanese Food Industries (SLFI) to increase knowledge about accessing international food markets.

Farmers, food industrialists, governmental officials, and academics attended this workshop. The project supports SLFI in developing a strategy to access the U.S. specialty food market.

W140 Full Story
Egypt Military Ruler Suggests Referendum on Immediate Power Transfer

Egypt's military ruler said on Tuesday that presidential elections will be held by end of June 2012, and that a referendum on the immediate transfer of power would be organized if necessary.

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who took power when Hosni Mubarak was ousted, said in a televised address that he had accepted the cabinet's resignation, a week before crucial legislative polls which he said would be held on schedule.

W140 Full Story
Lebanon’s Rida Antar Chosen Best Player by Goal.com

Lebanon’s midfielder Rida Antar who inspired the country’s historic victory against South Korea during the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers was chosen as Goal.com’s player of the week.

The website recognized the player for his role in the victory, a first by Lebanon against the Asian nation.

W140 Full Story
Suleiman on Independence Eve: For Adhering to Int'l Legitimacy, STL

President Michel Suleiman on Monday called for “adhering to international legitimacy” and honoring Lebanon’s commitments towards the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

In a televised address to the nation on the 68th anniversary of Lebanon’s independence, Suleiman said “there is a duty to adhere to international legitimacy, including to the STL, for the sake of justice rather than out of fear of sanctions.”

W140 Full Story
Syria Forces Kill 20, Including 4 Children, in Friday Protests

Syrian security forces on Friday shot dead 20 civilians, including four children, in the regions of Hama, Daraa, Homs and Reef Damascus, the Local Coordination Committees said, on the eve of an Arab League deadline for Syria to stop its lethal crackdown on protesters and as Turkey warned of the risk of civil war.

The latest bloodletting came as thousands of protesters took to the streets in defiance of massive security deployments to urge nations to expel Syrian ambassadors, activists said.

W140 Full Story