FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) – The bankruptcy administrator of German construction company Walter Bau AG said Monday he has had a Lebanese passenger …

BEIRUT, 13 October (IRIN) - People who know they are HIV positive in Lebanon keep very quiet about the matter to avoid becoming social outcasts. AIDS is taboo. Anyone suspected of having the disease risks total rejection by their friends, family and colleagues at work. Sara, a 40-year-old office worker in Beirut, knows all about that.

She has been living with AIDS for the past 15 years and manages to keep going with the help of life-prolonging anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs. But the only person she has told about her condition is her sister. "One has to be very selective," said Sara, who spoke to IRIN on condition that we did not use her real name. One has to constantly wear a mask," she added. "We have no legal protection. "If anyone knew about my sickness I would be fired the next day. When I take my pills I usually say it is for my stomach."

Sara, who is single, contracted the HIV virus from having unprotected sex with a partner. Now she feels guilty. "We are just paying for our sins," she said, even though she knows her male partner was at fault for infecting her in the first place.

انتقل الى رحمته تعالى المأسوف عليه الشيخ سرحال توفيق الخازن شقيقته الشيخة نوميس ارملة فريد الخوري وابنتها ماري دانيال زوجة الدكتور حكمت …

Oct 12 (Reuters) - Syrian Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan, said by Syria's state news agency to have committed suicide on Wednesday, long served as the top enforcer of his country's policies in Lebanon. Kanaan was interviewed last month by a U.N. team probing the Feb. 14 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis is expected to submit his report to Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Oct. 21.

Here is a chronology of events in Lebanon since Hariri's death. Feb. 14, 2005 - Hariri is killed by truck bomb in Beirut. Feb. 16 - At least 150,000 Lebanese turn Hariri's funeral into outpouring of anger against Syria.Feb. 28 - Pro-Syrian Prime Minister Omar Karami resigns. March 5 - President Bashar al-Assad tells Syrian parliament that his troops will start phased pullout from Lebanon. March 8 - Lebanese flood central Beirut for pro-Syrian rally organised by Hizbollah guerrilla group. Syrian troops begin redeploying. March 10 - Karami reappointed to form government.  March 14 - Anti-Syrian protesters stage biggest demonstration since Hariri's killing.March 19 - Bomb in Christian suburb of Beirut wounds 11. March 23 - Bomb kills three people in Christian town of Kaslik north of Beirut. April 7 - U.N. Security Council orders international investigation into Hariri's assassination. April 13 - Karami resigns after failing to form cabinet. April 15 - President Emile Lahoud appoints moderate Syrian ally Najib Mikati as prime minister. April 19 - Mikati forms government. April 25 - Pro-Syrian Lebanese security chief Jamil al-Sayyed resigns.