June 2006 – Page 2

Picutres from satirical political program “Bassmat Watan”

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Lebanese Hizbollah supporters burn tyres during a protest in Beirut June 1, 2006, over a local comedy television programme (‘Basmat Watan’) broadcast on Thursday in which a comedian mocked the character of Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah . REUTERS/Ali Lamaa (LEBANON) Pls click READ MORE to view all pictures of this unfortunate event

Reuters – Jun 01 3:40 PM,

Three hurt in Lebanon protests over TV Hizbullah

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Nayla Razzouk, AFP, June 2, 2006 BEIRUT — Three people were wounded during street protests overnight on Friday by followers of the Shia militant group Hizbullah after its chief Hassan Nasrallah was caricatured in a television satirical show. Dozens of young men briefly cut off the Beirut airport road by burning tires to block a highway located near Beirut’s southern suburbs – a stronghold of the Lebanese militant group, police said.

"God, Nasrallah and all of the southern suburbs," chanted the men, waving yellow Hizbullah flags. After the program ended late on Thursday, Hizbullah followers also staged nighttime protests in various parts of the capital, in several towns in southern Lebanon, and in the Bekaa Valley near the border with Syria. The protests only ended after Nasrallah personally made a plea for calm on television during the night in order "to protect the country’s security and stability".

He also called for the need to find ways to protect "political and moral values". "Three of us spent the night in hospital for treatment after we were beaten" by protestors in Beirut’s Christian neighborhood of Ashrafiyeh, said Sami Gemayel, son of former president and the supreme chief of the Christian party Kataeb, Amin Gemayel. Gemayel said that he suffered bruising to his back, and university students Gilbert Rizk and Bassam Samarani underwent surgery on their faces and noses. "We were awaiting the army to stop the protestors from entering Ashrafiyeh, and we did not want them to enter Monot street," which is lined with restaurants and nightclubs, he said.

Samir Kassir

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Reporters Without Borders today paid tribute to murdered Franco-Lebanese journalist Samir Kassir when 50 of its activists unfurled a giant Lebanese flag (150 sq. metres) bearing his portrait at Human Rights Plaza in Paris.

The worldwide press freedom organisation

Northeastern appoints Aoun as president

adminJune 1, 2006UncategorisedComments are off for this post

June 1, 2006, BOSTON —Northeastern University on Thursday appointed Joseph Aoun, a dean at the University of Southern California, as its seventh president.Aoun, dean of USC’s College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, takes over Aug. 15 for Richard Freeland, who announced last summer that he would step down at the end of this academic year after 10 years as president.

Aoun, a native of Lebanon, earned his doctorate from the department of linguistics and philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1981. He said he’s looking forward to working with faculty, administration, students and alumni."As president, my first priority will be working with all of these constituencies to build on the momentum the university has created to propel it to even greater levels of excellence," Aoun said in a statement.