All the Beirut news.

President Michel Suleiman travels to Canada on Thursday to take part in the 12th Francophone summit...

The US presidential candidates clash over the economy and negative campaigning in a testy final pre-election debate.

Asian stock markets plunge on fears of a global recession with Tokyo's Nikkei average down by about 10%.

Up North, Hothouse of Tension in Lebanon
New York Times, United States - 35 minutes ago
By ROBERT F. WORTH TRIPOLI, Lebanon — The crumbling streets of this ancient northern city are starting to resemble a battleground. A string of bombings over ...

The UK's last remaining survivor of the Titanic plans to sell mementoes from the ship to pay her nursing home fees.

Polio could be wiped out in Nigeria - one of the last blackspots of the disease - thanks to improved vaccine, research suggests.

Wall Street suffers its biggest drop in 21 years amid fears of a global recession, sending shares tumbling in early trading in Japan.

Security forces hunting for members of the militant group believed to be behind a series of deadly explosions in and around Tripoli have made 20 more arrests, informed sources told

Lebanon and Syria announced the establishment of formal diplomatic ties Wednesday in a joint statement signed by both countries' foreign ministers in Damascus. The announcement came a day after Syrian President Bashar Assad issued a presidential decree ordering the establishment of bilateral ties and the opening of an embassy in Beirut.

The opening of diplomatic ties between Syria and Lebanon on Wednesday needs to be followed up by concrete steps proving Damascus recognizes the independence of its smaller neighbor, analysts say. "I don't expect a building with a Syrian flag on it to solve everything," said Osama Safa, head of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies.

The Union for Lebanon described Wednesday the establishment of diplomatic ties between Lebanon and Syria, as a "positive step." "However, such a step remains a deficient one, unless the issue of the Lebanese detainees and missing in Syrian prisons is once and for all solved," the union said following its weekly meeting headed by Massoud al-Ashkar.

A Hizbullah media official told Ash-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper in comments Wednesday that the group was "unaware" of information published by Iranian newspaper Khoursid last week, which reported that the Hizbullah's leadership had selected Hachem Safieddine as a successor to secretary general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon spokeswoman Yasmina Bouzianne confirmed in comments published Wednesday that UNIFIL's commander, General Claudio Graziano, presented a proposal last month to facilitate the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from the part of the village of Ghajar that lies north of the Blue Line.

Parliament's Administration and Justice Committee adopted Wednesday a draft proposal on the Constitutional Council submitted by Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar after introducing amendments. Chairman MP Robert Ghanem said that the committee would refer the proposal to Speaker Nabih Berri "in the next few days."

Speaker Nabih Berri said Wednesday the establishment of diplomatic ties between Lebanon and Syria was a natural step toward normal relations between sisterly states. Berri was speaking following a visit to President Michel Sleiman, after the latter's return from Saudi Arabia.

After non-governmentl organizations (NGOs) like the Civil Campaign for Electoral Reform (CCER) and the Youth Coalition for Electoral Reform announced that they will keep up pressure on Parliament to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 before the 2009 elections, Hizbullah has announced that it will join these efforts.

A review is under way after a report by an NHS watchdog suggested many GPs were missing their waiting time target.

Almost two-thirds of people in 26 countries say higher food and energy prices have affected them "a great deal", a BBC report finds.

All 27 EU states broadly support their bank rescue plan and the holding of a world finance summit, France's president says.

Generals from Cambodia and Thailand are set to hold talks to resolve a dispute after fighting breaks out on their border.