by Khalil Fleyhan, BEIRUT (AFP) – Syria on Thursday officially invited Lebanon to the Arab summit, a move seen as a bid to ease tensions with Arab countries who had hinted they might boycott the meeting should Beirut be excluded. The Syrian invitation was addressed to Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, but there were doubts on whether he would accept.
Some cabinet ministers criticized Damascus for not following standard protocol in extending the invitation and said Lebanon should boycott the meet because of Syria’s role in the country’s protracted presidential crisis. The invititation was submitted by Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmed Arnous to Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh. "I have received an invitation from Syrian premier Mohammad Naji Otri’s envoy for Prime Minister Fuad Siniora to attend the 20th Arab summit," said Salloukh, one of six opposition ministers who resigned from the government in November 2006 but who has nonetheless still been fulfilling some of his official duties. "My ministry will submit the invitation to the prime minister when he returns from the Organisation of the Islamic Conference summit being held in Dakar " he added. The Syrian foreign ministry issued a statement quoting Arnous as saying that it would be up to Lebanon to determine at what level it will be represented at the summit.
"Due to the presidential void, Lebanon will choose the person who will represent it at the summit and Syria will receive them cordially," the statement quote Arnous as saying.The Arab summit is scheduled for March 29-30 in Damascus. It has been mired in controversy over Lebanon’s participation and the presidential crisis it is facing because of a standoff between the opposition, backed by Syria and Iran, and the majority backed by the West and many Arab states.
By Mike Sergeant, Their faces are covered in dirt. Their hands are tough and grimy. Their eyes have been hardened by years of adult labour. Lebanon’s child workers lost their playfulness a long time ago. According to some estimates, up to 100,000 children – some as young as eight years old – work in Lebanon. The problem is getting worse because of the long-running political crisis in the country, and growing economic uncertainty here. Stroll down some of the inner city streets in Tripoli and you can see young boys sawing, painting, hammering and welding. During what should be school time, there are children hard at work in almost every workshop, garage and cafe. 
by Rana Moussaoui, BEIRUT (AFP) – Lebanese women may be known as the Arab world’s most liberal but they are by no means the region’s most liberated considering antiquated laws that reduce them to second-class citizens. "The law in this country still considers a woman as being inferior," complained sociologist Rafif Sidaoui. From domestic violence to rape to adultery, the rights of women often fall by the wayside in this multi-confessional sectarian society, nonetheless deemed avant-garde in the mostly conservative Middle East. "One of the absurd laws on the books allows a rapist to be exempt from prison if he marries his victim," said Ezzat Mroue, vice-president of the Women’s Rights Committee (WRC). "A few years ago, there was a major scandal when a young man, who was after his cousin, kidnapped her from her university," she added. "He raped her and then brought her before a sheikh who married them. "The result was that he was not guilty in the eyes of the law," Mroue said.
March 2008 (IRIN) , 
BEIRUT: The Association of Lebanese Industrialists (ALI) plans to file a lawsuit against the government for failing to protect local industry against unfair foreign competition, the head of the group said on Monday. "We have had enough. The government must understand that local industry can no longer stay in business if the free trade agreements are not respected by Arab countries," Fadi Abboud told The Daily Star.Lebanese industrialists argue that most Arab states that have signed free trade agreements with Lebanon subsidize the cost of energy, which is essential for the manufacturing sector.
CAIRO (AFP)–U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended the deployment of a U.S. warship off the coast of Lebanon, saying it was designed to show Washington’s readiness to defend its allies’ interests."As to the American military presence, the U.S. exercise a military presence in the region and it has for a very long time," Rice told reporters in Cairo at a news conference with her Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul Gheit. "It is simply to make very clear that the U.S. is capable and willing of defending its interests and the interests of its allies. That is really all that is happening there," she said.
الـى أيـن يأخذنـا السياسيـون ؟ سؤالٌ يتردد على لسان كل مواطن يشعر أن أوضاع البلاد تتردَّى يوماً بعد يوم سياسياً واقتصادِياً ومَعيشياً ، كما يشعر أن الأمنَ مهدَّدٌ بالخطب الناريَّة والشَّحنِ الطائفيّ والمذهبيّ ، وأنه مهددٌ بالإرهابِ الذي يَضربُ بين الحينِ والآخر فيَنجوَ منه الناس بالصدفة على بركة الله . 
