Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun criticized on Tuesday the opposition’s attack on the new government, labeling it as “rude” because a new cabinet should be granted a 100-day grace period.

He said after the movement’s weekly meeting: “They didn’t appreciate our ‘one way ticket’ joke. A new ward is being prepared for them in Roumieh prison and they will be granted a ‘one way in’ ticket for it.”

Pakistani war planes pounded a militant stronghold in a tribal district on the Afghan border in an operation that left 25 insurgents dead, the military said Sunday.

Pakistan army, paramilitary troops and the air force launched a joint operation "to evict terrorists' stronghold of Walidad" in the northwest district of Mohmand on Saturday, it said.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday urged a transition to democracy in Syria, saying in a commentary in the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat that the regime crackdown would not quell the momentum for change.

In an English translation provided by the State Department, Clinton wrote under the headline "There Is No Going Back in Syria" that it was "increasingly clear" the crackdown was an irreversible shift in the country's push towards reform.

Microsoft on Thursday began letting software developers imbue computers with voice and motion-sensing technology from its Kinect controller for the Xbox 360 videogame console.

A free Kinect for Windows Software Development Kit opens doors for computer programs enhanced with depth-perception, voice recognition, or gesture controls using the popular console accessory.

A high-ranking Lebanese army delegation headed by Maj. Gen. Abdel Rahman Shehaitly is holding talks with top U.S. officials during a routine visit to Washington, An Nahar daily reported Friday.

The newspaper said that the delegation met on Wednesday with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Jacob Walles, and Colin Kahl, who is the deputy assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East.

U.S. Congressman Howard Berman has introduced the Hizbullah Anti-Terrorism Act (HATA) that sets rigorous requirements for the provision of foreign assistance to Lebanon during periods when the Shiite party is part of the majority governing coalition.

The cosponsors of HATA include three Congressmen of Lebanese origin -Darrell Issa, Charles Boustany, and Nick Rahall.

The United States on Thursday condemned Syria's "outrageous use of violence" in response to a popular uprising, saying it must come to an immediate end.

"The international community has been shocked by the horrific reports of torture and arbitrary arrests, and widespread use of violence against peaceful protesters," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said after nearly 1,300 civilians have been reportedly killed in the regime's bloody crackdown.

A high-ranking U.S. official said that Premier Najib Miqati’s cabinet is “disappointing” warning that it would face “consequences” if it does not abide by Lebanon’s international commitments.

The official said in remarks published in several dailies on Thursday that the consequences “won’t be limited to U.S.-Lebanese ties but (would involve) Lebanon’s international relations particularly (issues) linked to the operation of the international tribunal.”

Pakistan's top military spy agency has arrested five Pakistani informants who assisted the CIA ahead of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

The arrests of the men, including a Pakistani Army major said to have copied the license plate of cars that drove up to bin Laden's compound deep in Pakistan, comes amid strained ties between Washington and Islamabad in the wake of the U.S. Navy SEALs raid last month.

Hizbullah began shifting the long- and medium-range rockets it had allegedly stored in northern Lebanon to locations in the center of the country, the Israeli Debkafile website reported.

Western military sources told the website that “Hizbullah was taking the precaution of keeping its arsenal safe from a spillover of violence from Syria.”