The Syrian National Council, which is trying to unite opponents to the regime of President Bashar Assad, was holding negotiations behind closed doors in Istanbul on Saturday.

Several opposition movements are trying to reach an alliance, a member of the SNC Halit Hoca told Agence France Presse.

Twenty-seven people have been killed on Friday at the hands of Syrian security forces during anti-regime demonstrations that took place in various Syrian cities, according to activists.

The Syrian Revolution General Commission said that 27 people were killed and tens were wounded in the crackdown against protestors.

Syrian forces killed fourteen civilians and unidentified attackers assassinated the nuclear engineer Aws Abdel Karim Khalil in the Syrian city of Homs, 160 kilometers north of Damascus on Wednesday.

The “2011 Syrian Revolution against Bashar Assad” Facebook page disclosed 12 of the civilians’ names. The names are: Al-Mounjid Bachir Mansour, a person from Al Rozz, Lieutenant Ahmad Khalaf, the recruit Mohammad Hasyan, Abdul Menhem Bahbuh, Moussa al-Zuluk, Zuheir Traboulsi, Jamal Sifo, Mahmud Hilal, Moussa Abdul Hadi al-Danaf, Sharif Moussa, and Fayez Salam.

Hizbullah is preparing for a meeting between its Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, reported MTV on Tuesday.

It said that the visit would be aimed at repaying the patriarch for his recent stands and tour of southern Lebanon.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi revealed on Tuesday that he had requested from France that the excuses for Hizbullah to maintain its possession of arms be eliminated.

He said during the Dar al-Fatwa spiritual summit: “We requested French assistance in eliminating its excuses to keep its weapons and help in strengthening the Lebanese army because only then can we say that the party no longer needs its arms.”

The United States considers the ongoing popular protests in Syria and a number of Arab countries as “a reflection of the ambitions of these countries’ peoples, their aspiration for freedom and democracy, and their adherence to all of their political and civil rights,” a western diplomatic source stressed.

In an interview with Naharnet, the source noted that “the U.S. administration believes it is Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi’s right to express the concerns and aspirations of his community during this period.

T-Group Productions is set to release the Lebanese movie, ‘My last valentine in Beirut’, the first feature film to be produced in 3D in the Arab region ever, with one of the highest production costs and biggest production team.

The movie will have a world wide release with professionally crafted plans of marketing mixes and distribution.

A Group of 3 Lebanese men launched on August 22 an iOS game called Birdy Nam Nam on iTunes App Store, clocking over 400,000 downloads in less than a week.

The team was determined to give the game a distinctly Arabic flavor. The iOS game, available in Arabic, English and French, is set in the Middle East, where the region is coming under attack from mutant chickens attempting to dominate the world.

The Internal Security Forces killed two accomplices of the alleged mastermind behind the kidnapping of seven Estonians during clashes in the area of al-Bireh in Rashaya at midnight, media reports said Tuesday.

The National News Agency said the two men were killed at around 12:30 am after the ISF put iron barricades on a road between al-Bireh and Izza to stop their four-wheeler. But their vehicle veered off its course and hit a wall.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday warned against "any foreign intervention that threatens to fragment states in the region and increase the risk of extremism in them," in talks with a Russian delegation on a mission to help end the government crackdown on anti-regime protests.

Assad also welcomed the "balanced and constructive Russian position toward the security and stability of Syria," the state-run SANA news agency reported.