Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun announced Tuesday that he has proposed an initiative to address the security, economic and political disputes, pointing out that there is no need for the government to stay “if it is impotent.”
After the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform bloc in Rabiyeh, Aoun said: “Of course there are certain ways to address the security, economic and political issues, and we have launched an initiative that is being studied by the parties concerned, and I believe it will yield results.”

Breaking 100,000 video views per month, Cinemoz launched a new layout and look this week that is designed to make navigating their diverse content list even easier than before. From the home page to specific content pages, users will find a more visually appealing and user-friendly display of information and films.
Since the launch of the online Arabic entertainment provider last December, the company has continually strived to improve the usability and appeal of the site. Their latest effort is a site-wide redesign that not only improves the site’s look and feel, but also the ease with which users can navigate their massive content portal.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Monday noted that his government is “preserving stability,” stressing that through “unity and awareness” the Lebanese can prevent a spillover of the Syrian crisis into their country.
Briefing reporters after talks with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki, Miqati said: “We are not with or against the call for (the government’s) resignation, but we must rather stress that the government is preserving stability … We respect (Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel) Aoun’s viewpoint and we take his opinion into consideration.”

President Michel Suleiman applauded Monday the security measures taken in the northern city of Tripoli to control the situation following clashes that erupted between northern neighborhoods.

Syrian authorities on Sunday released two Lebanese citizens abducted by Syrian forces on Wednesday from the northern border town of al-Abboudiyeh.
The abduction led to an uproar in the region and prompted residents to block the international highway.

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel on Sunday said his party has agreed to take part in national dialogue to underline that “we will not tolerate the continued presence of illegal arms outside state control.”
“We in the Phalange Party have supported the president’s call for dialogue, despite our awareness of the current negativities in the country and the other camp’s intentions, in order to create a national environment that allows the state to address people’s concerns away from the major political conflicts,” Gemayel said in a speech during the inauguration of a party office in the Batroun town of Kfar Abida.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday called on the abductors of the Lebanese pilgrims in Syria to “put the issue of the innocents aside” and solve their problem with Hizbullah, stressing that the Lebanese state must be in charge of security in all areas and calling for a “constituent assembly” that would “put Lebanon on the right track.”
“We have said that the abductees are Lebanese citizens and that therefore the state is responsible for their dignity and for freeing them and we are helping the state as political parties. The state and the top officials are exerting serious efforts to reach a happy ending,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech during a rally organized by Hizbullah to commemorate the 23rd death anniversary of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Abu Abdullah al-Halabi, the official spokesman for the Syrian Revolutionary Council for Aleppo and its Countryside, on Friday stressed that his council had nothing to do with a previously unknown armed group which on Thursday claimed responsibility for the May 22 abduction of 11 Lebanese Shiite pilgrims.
Halabi said a statement sent by the alleged abductors to Al-Jazeera television was not received by his council which learned about it from a “common mediator.”

U.N.-Arab League Special Envoy for Syria Kofi Annan on Friday said Lebanese authorities were doing everything possible to prevent arms smuggling across the border with Syria.
“We should deter arms smuggling and the Lebanese government informed me clearly that it prevents smuggling,” Annan said in a press conference at the Grand Serail following talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati.

Parts of the Hawd al-Wilaya Bridge in al-Basta al-Tahta area in Beirut collapsed on Thursday, prompting the Internal Security Forces to close it to traffic.
The ISF said in a statement that the collapse took place at around 3:30 p.m. and it has since closed off the bridge and diverted traffic around it.
