Introduction to the evening news 05-12-2011

Will the Arab League accept Syria’s approval of the Arab plan?           

Syria announced, through the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that it responded positively to the plan “in the framework of the Syrian understanding of this cooperation”. The Arab League has not yet commented on the Syrian response, but an Arab source told Reuters, “The Arab League will release a final stance after consulting with the different Arab states on the Syrian response”.            

Therefore, in light of this response, the path of the Syrian crisis will be drawn.         

Meanwhile today, Damascus fired off a message with no specific target, even if observers believe the intended recipient was Turkey. In fact, Syria announced that it test-fired missiles to assess capabilities and readiness of missile systems to respond to any possible aggression.     

In Lebanon, a dilemma, syndical escalation and a negative financial indicator:          

The dilemma: How was the Zahrani case solved? How did the crisis erupt in the first place? These questions come amid the absence of healing answers, despite Gibran Bassil’s detailed press conference.             

As for the syndical escalation: the Trade Unions' Coordinating Body hinted at another strike if the cabinet does not ratify the wage adjustment during Wednesday’s session.           

And finally, the negative indicator was reflected by Moody’s international ratings agency downgrading the outlook on Lebanon's banking sector to “negative” from “stable”.