by AFP — BEIRUT: Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Monday admitted that the state had lost the people´s confidence after months …

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon has exclusive jurisdiction over Lebanese in the country, its president said on Monday, appearing to rebuff a visiting Japanese minister who said it was "obvious and natural" that ousted ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn should stand trial in Japan. Ghosn fled Japan to Lebanon, his childhood home, in December as he awaited trial on charges of under-reporting earnings, breach of trust and misappropriation of company funds, all of which he denies. "We believe it is obvious and natural for Ghosn to stand trial in Japan and this view has been communicated to the Lebanese government," Japan's deputy justice minister Hiroyuki Yoshiie said in Beirut after meetings with Lebanese leaders. "And we agreed to cooperate on that," he told reporters, declining to give details of how Lebanon had agreed to cooperate.

A Lebanese presidency statement noted Yoshiie's request for cooperation over Ghosn but did not say how Lebanon had responded. Lebanese President Michel Aoun noted "that the Lebanese judiciary is sovereign and has exclusive jurisdiction over Lebanese nationals residing on Lebanese soil, without that meaning the exclusive right to prosecution", the statement said. Aoun told Yoshiie that Lebanon and Japan had no judicial cooperation or extradition treaty, and that Ghosn had entered Lebanon legally through Beirut airport.

By Chris Matyszczyk Owner, Howard Raucous LLC -- inc -- Absurdly Driven looks at the world of business with a skeptical eye and a firmly rooted tongue in cheek. I've met quite a few Harvard graduates over the years. I've heard it said they can be a touch self-regarding. My own impression is that some, at least, can instinctively regard others with a casual disdain. No, of course I'm not specifically referring to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg here. He didn't graduate. A recent conversation with a Harvard graduate, however, drew me to a story about Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

Bezos went to lowly Princeton. In 1997, however, he gave a little talk to some Harvard graduate business students about his online store known as Amazon. As Brad Stone's book The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon relates, the large-brained students began to chat among themselves as if Bezos wasn't there. Then, one of the fine Harvardians told Bezos: You seem like a really nice guy, so don't take this the wrong way, but you really need to sell to Barnes and Noble and get out now. Naturally, many will chuckle at the realization that Amazon's position is a touch more secure than Barnes and Noble's these days. But there's one profound lesson here and one that's truly glorious. When you have a business based on a vision of the future, rather than the present, understand that the majority of your critics will likely be looking from the perspective of the present. They see now and they have a certain belief how now will influence the future.

by Naharnet Newsdesk — Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday called on Lebanese authorities to adopt a “more serious approach” in its …