Lebanon defeated South Korea 2-1 in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, sparking a wave of celebrations across Lebanon.

Held at the Cite Sportive stadium in Beirut and attended by President Michel Suleiman, Lebanon’s Ali al-Saadi scored an early goal in the fourth minute after a free kick.

The six Gulf Cooperation Council states said on Tuesday that they oppose a Syrian request for an emergency Arab summit on the bloody crisis in the country.

The GCC "sees that the request to hold an Arab summit at this time is useless," knowing that Arab foreign ministers will meet in Rabat on Wednesday, GCC Secretary General Abdul Latif al-Zayani said.

A heated debate between Baath Party leader Fayez Shukur and Mustaqbal Movement official ex-MP Mustafa Alloush erupted into a verbal clash and a fistfight during a live talk show on MTV on Monday.

As the two were arguing over the Syrian crisis, Shukur repeatedly asked Alloush to refrain from describing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as a “tyrant”, “criminal” and “liar”.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said on Saturday that he is ashamed of the Lebanese government position at the Arab League meeting, noting that the decision taken by the Arab foreign ministers will not affect Lebanon’s security.

“I am ashamed as a Lebanese of the government’s position in the Arab league and I ask the Syrian people not to consider this as the will of the Lebanese,” Hariri said on Twitter fielding questions from his supporters.

Lebanon voted on Saturday against a decision taken by the Arab foreign ministers to suspend Syria’s membership in the Arab League.

18 countries agreed to the decision, while Lebanon, Yemen and Syria voted against it and Iraq abstained.

Leidschendam, Naharnet Exclusive:

The arguments of the representative of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor, lawyer Lain Morley, during a hearing on Friday unveiled that the prosecution’s strategy at this stage lies on delaying in absentia trials in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination case for a period of three months for several reasons.

Naharnet Exclusive Report – Leidschendam:

The arguments of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s Defense Office, voiced on Friday by office chief Francois Roux and his deputy, lawyer Alia Aoun, intersected with the information published Thursday by Naharnet about the presence of disputes among the defense counsels on how to deal with the STL.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon Victims’ Participation Unit stressed on Friday that the trial of the suspects in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri should not start without the participation of the victims who were affected in the crime.

A representative of the unit said during an STL court hearing in The Hague that the trials cannot begin without the victims, saying that there are several victims who are waiting for the tribunal to extend its hands and help them.

The head of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Defense Office Francois Roux demanded on Friday that the arrest warrants against the four accused in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri be eliminated.

He said during a hearing at the STL headquarters in The Hague: “The issuance of arrest warrants has led to the accused being unable or unwilling to appear freely here in accordance with the provisions of the STL’s Rules of Evidence and Procedure.”

Naharnet Exclusive Report – Leidschendam:

A high-ranking official from the office of the Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon said Judge Daniel Bellemare and his team have made up their mind to totally reject any plans to immediately begin in absentia trials of the four Hizbullah suspects in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s Feb. 2005 assassination.