Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud and Environment Minister Tony Karam met with Keserwan quarry owners on Thursday to discuss the owner's legal status. Speaking after the meeting, Karam rejected what he called "administrative deadlines," saying the quarry industry should work on

The Lebanese Armed Forces released a statement on Thursday, saying that at 10:05 a.m. on Thursday, two Israeli fighter jets violated the Lebanese airspace above the southern village of Kfarkila, and then headed north, flying over different parts of Lebanon.

Israel accused Iran and Syria Thursday of sending weapons to Lebanon's Hizbullah in violation of a UN cease-fire after one of the group's arms warehouses in south Lebanon blew up. The Lebanese Shiite group, which is both a popular political

Syria's support for Hizbullah remains a point of contention with the US as the two countries inch toward warmer relations after more than three years of political stand-off, a senior US official said on Thursday. US Assistant Secretary of State

A Lebanon devoted to independence, equality and democracy has a strong friend in the United States, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday during a highly anticipated address at the Council on Foreign Relations. Clinton who visited Beirut earlier this

The process of forming Premier-designate Saad Hariri’s new cabinet has entered the end of its third week since Hariri was nominated for the post at the end of June. The effort has yet to yield tangible results, but has been

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and Mideast envoy Alexander Sultanov said on Thursday his country would not interfere in the cabinet formation process in Lebanon, adding that Russia opposed the politicization of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). Prior to Sultanov's

Pressure mounted on Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso on Thursday after ruling party lawmakers called for a meeting to debate the party’s ailing fortunes at which his harshest critics are expected to seek his resignation. Aso’s plan for an election

Chechnya’s Kremlin-installed leader vowed to personally oversee the probe into the brazen murder of a top Russian human-rights activist even though the victim’s colleagues accuse his own security forces of being involved in the slaying.Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov made the

The United States has welcomed the international "consensus" on the implementation of UN sanctions on North Korea, even if the targeted entities have still not been identified. "We had intensive discussions with all of the countries in the region and

Space shuttle Endeavour rocketed toward the international space station Thursday as engineers on Earth pored over launch pictures that showed debris breaking off the fuel tank and striking the craft. Mission Control told the astronauts late Wednesday that the damage

The party of a lawyer chosen to be the first female mayor of Marrakesh said Wednesday it had called a strike to protest a recent court decision that would make her unable to take up the post. Fatima Zahra Mansouri’s

Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, Iran’s atomic chief who has spearheaded the Islamic Republic’s controversial nuclear program for more than a decade, has resigned, the ISNA news agency said Thursday. It said that Aghazadeh had also quit as the country’s vice president,

Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi plans to attend Friday prayers this week in his first official public appearance since disputed polls that provoked protests by his supporters last month. A statement on his website confirmed reports Mousavi would be present

Mauritania goes to the polls on Saturday in an election meant to end the political crisis that has brought international criticism since a military junta seized power last August. General Mohammad Ould Abdel-Aziz overthrew the northwest African country’s first freely

A year after the arrest of a son of Moammar Gadhafi in a luxury Geneva hotel, attempts by the Swiss government to patch things up with Tripoli have faltered as the Libyan leader has hardened his stance. Gadhafi even went

Top US trade and energy officials met with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao on Thursday as the world’s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases sought to step up cooperation on climate change. US Trade Secretary Gary Locke and Energy Secretary Steven

A shortage of helicopters is hurting British operations in Afghanistan, a report by a parliamentary committee said on Thursday, adding to pressure on the government to increase resources in the war zone. In a report whose publication was timed to

A Somali Islamist group has handed over one of two French hostages to Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab militants to avoid clashes between the two insurgent bands, rebels and officials said on Thursday. Gunmen from an Islamist faction within President Sheikh Sharif Ahmad’s

Eighteen people were injured on Thursday in an explosion that targeted a minibus transporting Shiite pilgrims to a holy shrine to commemorate the death of a revered imam. The roadside bomb wounded 18 men from Najaf in southern Iraq and