Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir criticized Monday the Lebanese system of governance that merges both the majority and opposition in a cabinet, saying it "paralyzes the nation." "In other states, the majority rules and the minority practices opposition, but in

Local leaders, members of the security forces and residents of the Tawaara neighborhood in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp met Sunday to discuss the fragile security situation in the camp after a series of explosions and heavy fighting erupted last

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt added his voice to the debate over the summit for the proposed Mediterranean Union during a wide-ranging interview with his party's newspaper Al-Anbaa Monday. "We must find a way for this path to

Efforts to assemble a national unity government continued to move forward on Monday after a weekend that saw opposing factions agree upon a general formula for the division of portfolios some six weeks after the Doha accord called for the

A 20-year-old woman in Saudi Arabia, where women are banned from driving, died when the car she was driving overturned in Riyadh, a newspaper reported on Monday. The Saudi woman was driving at high speed when the accident occurred late

An Iranian US-made F-5 fighter jet has crashed in southwestern Khuzestan Province, the official Islamic Republic News Aency said Monday. The accident took place at the Omideh Air Base. No details were given on casualties or the circumstances of the

Syria's ruling National Progressive Front (NPF) on Monday hailed a visit by President Bashar al-Assad to Paris later this month during which he is to hold talks with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy. "Meeting under the chairmanship of its vice

A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into the Indian Embassy in Kabul Monday, killing 41 people and wounding nearly 150 others in the deadliest attack here since the 2001 overthrow of the Taliban, officials said. The blast in the

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Monday he is negotiating a deal with Washington that will for the first time set a timetable for a withdrawal of foreign forces as part of a framework for a US troop presence

The prisoners who staged a revolt in a Syrian jail fear that the government's security forces will mount a deadly assault, a human rights group said on Monday. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is considered close to

Beirut / Sydney - - Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir criticized the Lebanese system of governance that merges both the majority and opposition in a unity cabinet, saying it paralyzes the nation.

Beirut- Lebanese Forces leader Dr. Samir Geagea said Monday contacts were underway between forces of the March 14 majority alliance to distribute the remaining cabinet seats among themselves, noting that five days more would be less than five weeks needed

The PDP has all the time stressed that the semblance of peace and normalcy it has brought in the valley must not be taken for granted. There is no substitute for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute. The problem is

After the debacle of Tashan and Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic, Yash Raj Films is pinning hopes on its next venture, Bachna Ae Haseeno, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Minisha Lamba and Bipasha Basu.

Beirut - The focus will again be the formation of the government . The birth of the government is expected to be announced by Prime Minister -Designate Fouad Siniora around Wednesday . So far the portfolios of the opposition have

Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir said Saturday Lebanon was threatened by "greed from far and near similar to any small nation." Sfeir made his remark in Sydney shortly after embarking on a visit to Australia. He criticized the divisions among

Israel has informed Hizbullah that it will require ten days to complete the prisoner exchange from the time the agreement is signed, Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Sunday. The newspaper reported that the swap is expected to begin on or

Lebanon's rival political parties were in the final stages of agreeing on the makeup of a new unity government on Sunday, with a cabinet lineup expected to be announced within the next 48 hours. Significant progress was reportedly made between

The Turkish government submitted Wednesday a motion to Parliament asking it to extend the mandate of Turkish troops under the banner of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for an additional year. The motion, signed by Premier Recep