Spotlight
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati expressed regret on Monday on the sharp rift between Lebanese foes over the new electoral law, pointing out that there are only two options either political vacuum or extending the mandate of the parliament.
“Officials didn't act responsibly,” Miqati said in comments published in An Nahar newspaper.
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March 8-backed candidate Antoine al-Bustani was elected as the head of the Order of Physicians in Beirut as March 8-backed candidate Elie Habib was elected as head of Tripoli's Order, the National News Agency reported.
Meanwhile, March 14 and March 8 won an equal number of seats on the council of the Order of Physicians in Beirut.
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At least one person was killed and 22 others were wounded on Sunday in armed clashes between the rival Tripoli neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, state-run National News Agency reported.
MTV said "the shooting started in Bab al-Tabbaneh over reports that 12 of Sheikh Salem al-Rafehi's supporters were killed while fighting alongside the Syrian opposition in Qusayr."
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President Michel Suleiman on Sunday condemned the rocket attack from Syrian territory on the Bekaa area of Hermel and denounced the Israeli mock raids over southern Lebanon.
In a press release, Suleiman stressed the need for “all warring parties in Syria to respect Lebanon's sovereignty and avoid military acts against Lebanese border areas that are targeting peaceful citizens.”
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Several rockets landed in and around Lebanon’s northeastern town of Hermel from Syria as Syrian troops backed by Hizbullah fighters launched an assault on the rebel-held central town of Qusayr.
The state-run National News Agency said around eight Grad rockets hit different areas of Hermel.
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Israel is "acting" to prevent Syrian weapons reaching Hizbullah and will continue to do so, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.
His remarks came two weeks after Israel carried out air strikes near Damascus, which a senior Israeli source said were aimed at preventing the transfer of sophisticated Iranian arms to Hizbullah.
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Advanced S-300 Russian air defense weapons, which Moscow has pledged to deliver to Syria, could reach Hizbullah and beyond, a senior Israeli defense official has warned.
Amos Gilad, head of the diplomatic-security branch of Israel's defense ministry, told Channel 2 that such a transfer is a threat to the Jewish state, to the U.S. and to the Persian Gulf.
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Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel reiterated on Sunday that he would ask the government to convene to approve the necessary funding to hold the elections and establish the committee that would supervise the polls.
In remarks to al-Mustaqbal newspaper, Charbel said: “I will hold the elections based on the valid law and let everyone assume his responsibility.”
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MP Nicolas Fattoush has submitted a proposal on a two-year extension of parliament's mandate without coordinating with any side, the caretaker minister said Sunday, a day before an expected deal on running in the elections under the 1960 law.
“I made my proposal without coordinating with any party,” Fattoush told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) without confirming a report in An Nahar daily if his proposal was aimed at making a two-year extension.
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A cautious calm prevailed in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh on Sunday after a man was killed and two others were injured in clashes between rival militants.
The gunbattles erupted between Fatah and Bilal Badr brigade that is linked to Fatah al-Islam in al-Sefsaf area after midnight and lasted till dawn Sunday.
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