News : Regional News
Israel 'planning strike on Hezbollah sites in Syria' - Aug 29, 2010 - 6:31:10 AM

Israel is planning to strike Hezbollah weapons storage and production facilities in Syria, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported Saturday.
The report in the daily Alrai quoted unnamed Western sources as saying that Israel has bolstered its troop presence in the Golan Heights and the Galilee panhandle. It also quoted European sources who said Israel had sent unmanned aerial vehicles over Syria and Lebanon, which they called a sign that Israel is planning a military operation in one or both of its northern neighbors.

News : Regional News
Iran '12 months from nuclear weapon' US warns as Bushehr reactor started - Aug 21, 2010 - 6:46:00 AM

Iranian television showed live pictures of Iran's nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi and his Russian counterpart watching a fuel rod assembly being prepared for insertion into the reactor at Bushehr. "Despite all the pressures, sanctions and hardships imposed by Western nations, we are now witnessing the start-up of the largest symbol of Iran's peaceful nuclear activities," Mr Salehi told a news conference afterwards. He described the plant as "a symbol of Iranian resistance and patience".

News : International News
Israel and Lebanon willing to speed up process of visibly marking Blue Line – UN - Aug 19, 2010 - 5:07:58 AM

Lebanon and Israel have voiced interest in accelerating the process of marking the so-called Blue Line separating the two countries, the military head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the region reported today.
Major-General Alberto Asarta Cuevas, the Force Commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), held a tripartite meeting tonight with senior Israeli and Lebanese military representatives at the UN position at the Ras Al Naqoura crossing.

News : Regional News
Palestinian 'threatens to kill Jews as he takes hostages at Turkish embassy' - Aug 17, 2010 - 2:38:37 PM

Nadim Injaz pictured outside the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv Photo: AP

An armed Palestinian man held two hostages at the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, threatening to "kill any Jews" and demanding political asylum before he was shot by security guards. Nadim Injaz, a resident of the West Bank city of Ramallah, threatened to blow up the building if he was not allowed to leave Israel, according to a recording played on Israeli radio. 

News : Regional News
Maronites conduct ‘historic’ church service - Jul 18, 2010 - 6:54:35 AM

Maronite Monastery of Prophet Elias

For the first time after 36 years a holy mass was held on Saturday at Ayia Marina church in the village of Ayia Marina Skyllouras, occupied since the Turkish invasion of 1974.
More than 500 people visited the Maronite church to attend the mass, held by Youssef Soueif, the Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus.
Pilgrims had to go through a long procedure before entering the church. The Turkish regime registered their personal data and controlled their personal bags.
The church of Ayia Marina, which was built two years before the Turkish invasion, is situated in the centre of the village and in the center of a military camp of the Turkish occupation troops.