TheRepublic.com - Lebanon News

Syria regime unleashes artillery barrage on Qusair

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:43:20 -0400

BEIRUT - Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad unleashed on Saturday their heaviest artillery and rocket barrage yet in a week-long battle to dislodge rebels from a strategic western town, activists said.

Kerry: US, allies ready to step up aid to rebels

Wed, 22 May 2013 18:04:42 -0400

AMMAN, Jordan - The U.S. and several key allies looked again Wednesday for a strategy to end Syria's civil war, their united efforts unable at the moment to stem the Assad regime's military gains and Washington still unwilling to join those providing the rebels with lethal military aid.

EU bid to label Hezbollah wing terror group

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:44:55 -0400

BRUSSELS - The European Union is reassessing whether to declare the Lebanese party Hezbollah's military wing a terrorist organization, a move it has long shied from despite pressure from the U.S., officials said Wednesday.

Germany backs terror label for Hezbollah militants

Wed, 22 May 2013 06:44:50 -0400

BERLIN - Germany says it supports adding the military wing of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah to the European Union's list of terrorist groups.

Cyprus drops limits on 8 more foreign banks

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:15:07 -0400

NICOSIA, Cyprus - Cyprus on Friday got rid of limits on money transfers and withdrawals for international clients of another eight foreign banks doing business in the debt-laden country.

Rights groups: Syria holds thousands incommunicado

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:46:44 -0400

BEIRUT - About 30 security agents showed up just after midnight, breaking down the door to an apartment in the town of Daraya near the Syrian capital of Damascus. They grabbed a 24-year-old university student and drove off.

Syria ex-minister leads rebuilding plan

Fri, 17 May 2013 02:20:37 -0400

BEIRUT - A six-member U.N. team led by a former Syrian planning minister is drawing up a comprehensive postwar reconstruction plan even as the country's civil war rages on with no apparent end in sight.

Grads: Time to 'unlearn' some interview techniques

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:52:38 -0400

By TERESA F. LINDEMAN - Tis the season of advice, at least for college graduates.

Attacks against Lebanese Alawites deepen fears

Tue, 14 May 2013 16:06:06 -0400

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - Lebanese members of the Syrian leader's Alawite sect fear their tiny community will be a casualty of the civil war raging in the neighboring country.

Canada deports convicted terrorist after 26 years

Mon, 13 May 2013 14:29:22 -0400

TORONTO - A Palestinian man convicted of hijacking an airliner in Greece in 1968 has been deported from Canada 26 years after entering the country using an alias, the immigration minister said Monday.

Politics commandeer stage in Mideast TV contest

Sun, 12 May 2013 14:33:04 -0400

BEIRUT - TV singing contests around the world tend to serve up light, glitzy entertainment with a dash of emotional drama. But in the Middle East's version of "American Idol," it's the region's troubles that often take center stage.

Detroit-area man sues, says feds won't let him fly

Wed, 08 May 2013 17:55:28 -0400

DEARBORN, Michigan - A Detroit-area concert promoter who wants to travel to Lebanon is suing the U.S. government to get removed from a no-fly list.

Analysis: Syria has limited response options

Tue, 07 May 2013 17:21:41 -0400

BEIRUT - The Syrian regime on Tuesday dispatched an obscure proxy, a Damascus-based Palestinian militant group, to threaten retaliation for two Israeli airstrikes over the weekend.

A look at reasons for Israeli airstrikes in Syria

Sun, 05 May 2013 15:22:41 -0400

BEIRUT - A look at the reasons for and possible implications of the escalation of Israel's involvement in Syria's civil war.

A look at the missile reportedly targeted in Syria

Sun, 05 May 2013 10:53:14 -0400

Israel has carried out airstrikes against Syria twice in the past three days, targeting what officials say are shipments of highly accurate, Iranian-made guided missiles known as Fateh-110s believed to be on their way to Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group. Here are some details about the missile:

Syrian air defenses pose formidable challenge

Thu, 02 May 2013 15:10:44 -0400

BEIRUT - International military action against Syria's government over its alleged use of chemical weapons would run up against one of the Middle East's most formidable air defenses, a system bolstered in recent years by top-of-the-line Russian hardware.

Lebanon: Main suspect in 2011 kidnapping arrested

Thu, 02 May 2013 14:17:51 -0400

BEIRUT - Security forces have arrested the main suspect in the 2011 kidnapping of seven Estonian tourists and the more recent abduction of a Lebanese citizen that led to a wave of tit-for-tat kidnappings in areas near the Syrian border, police officials said Thursday.

Syrian president showing renewed confidence

Wed, 01 May 2013 18:12:21 -0400

BEIRUT - Syrian President Bashar Assad and his allies are showing renewed confidence that the momentum in the civil war is shifting in their favor, due in part to the rapid rise of al-Qaida-linked extremists among the rebels and the world's reluctance to take forceful action to intervene in the fighting.

Syrian prime minister escapes bombing in Damascus

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:10:45 -0400

DAMASCUS, Syria - Syria's prime minister narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in the heart of the heavily defended capital Monday, state media said, laying bare the vulnerability of President Bashar Assad's regime.

Pattern seen in alleged chemical arms use in Syria

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 15:17:47 -0400

BEIRUT - The instances in which chemical weapons are alleged to have been used in Syria were purportedly small in scale: nothing along the lines of Saddam Hussein's 1988 attack in Kurdish Iraq that killed thousands.