One of Beirut’s most well-established bookshops, Librairie El Bourj, is to host the official launch of UAE-based writer, author and communicator Alexander McNabb’s Olives – A Violent Romance from 5pm on Thursday 29th March 2012 with a talk by the author followed by a reading and book signing.

The novel is set in Jordan, where British journalist Paul Stokes moves to live and work on a contract to produce a magazine for the Ministry of Natural Resources. The Israelis are competing for dwindling water resources as Jordan and Palestine face drought. Daoud Dajani has the solution to Jordan’s water problems and is bidding against the British for the privatisation of Jordan’s water network. When Paul befriends Dajani’s sister, Aisha, British intelligence agent Gerald Lynch realises Paul offers access to the man threatening to drain Israel’s water supply and snatch the bid from the British. Blackmailed by Lynch into spying on Dajani, his movements seemingly linked to a series of bombings, Paul is pitched into a terrifying fight for survival that forces him to betray everyone around him. Even the woman he comes to love.

The standoff over the issue of electricity continued on Monday, despite a meeting between Prime Minister Najib Miqati and Energy and Water Minister Jebran Bassil and phone talks between the premier and Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi.

Bassil said he discussed “several issues with the prime minister,” noting that he did not tackle the issue of electricity with him.

The general-secretariat of the opposition March 14 coalition on Monday lauded the political document issued on Sunday by Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood, describing it as “historic in terms of its timing and content” and saying it represents “an essential and landmark addition to the promises of the Arab Spring.”

The Brotherhood vowed on Sunday to share power and respect democracy if President Bashar al-Assad is toppled.

The Phalange Party on Monday condemned a recent incident at the Antonine University, where 37 students performed Muslim prayer outside the administration’s offices in protest at its refusal to provide them with a private prayer room.

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting the party’s politburo condemned “what happened on the campus of the Antonine University, when a number of students of well-known affiliation violated the institution’s bylaws,” warning against “repeating this approach in universities affiliated with Christian religious foundations, especially after the surfacing of attempts to perform similar steps in other universities.”

Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi announced on Monday that he will present an initiative to resolve the dispute over the appointments in the Higher Judicial Council, hoping that the government would reach an agreement over the appointment of the head of the council.

He announced in a press conference that he will present a decree in May on the appointment of five members of the council.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat praised on Monday the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood’s statement on the developments in their country, saying that it reflected the Sunni population’s openness to regional changes.

He said: “The Muslim Brotherhood demonstrated moderation, diversity, and equality.”

Syria's Muslim Brotherhood will share power and respect democracy if President Bashar al-Assad is toppled, its leader said on Sunday.

"The regime is trying to show that the Muslim brotherhood are trying to control Syria alone," Mohammad Riad al-Shaqfa told a news conference in Istanbul in remarks translated into English.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour on Friday denied that the Syrian army had on Wednesday shelled Lebanese border areas, noting that it might have been “pursuing armed men.”

“There are no Syrian violations against Lebanese sovereignty, but rather military operations, and I don’t believe that the Syrian army is shelling Lebanese areas and the (Lebanese) army has not recorded any such incident,” Mansour told MTV.

Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh on Friday noted that Lebanon’s banking sector is being targeted by “suspicious campaigns,” stressing that David Cohen, U.S. Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, had not addressed any “ultimatums or warnings” to the sector during his recent visit to Lebanon.

“Some are displeased over the success of Lebanese banks in the region, but the sector is robust and enjoys confidence despite being subjected to suspicious campaigns,” Salameh said in an interview on Al-Manar television.

At least 22 civilians, three regime troops and a rebel were killed on Friday in Syria as government forces bombed towns and clashed with rebels in several areas of Syria and tens of thousands of people took part in "Damascus, here we come" demonstrations, monitors and activists said.

Security forces killed 11 people in Homs, four in Daraa, three in Idlib, a person in Latakia, one in Deir al-Zour, one in Aleppo and another in al-Raqq, the Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said.