Introduction to the evening news 8-12-2011

Today has been a series of paradoxes, inside and out: In Lebanon, the new wage adjustment plan gives workers and employees less than the previous proposal requested. Despite this, the GCL may accept it as status quo while the coordinating body refuses it outright. And the labor minister whose project was torpedoed by the cabinet will submit the new decree to the Shura Council. Will the result be a new appeal, and thus, goodbye to a wage increase until further notice?          

Even in politics and diplomacy we find a paradox: The visiting ambassador Jeffrey Feltman, did not get the chance meet with president Sleiman, who was visiting Armenia, as the head of the Lebanese state is still insulted by the snubbing he received from the American administration during his visit to the U.S. in September.        

However, Feltman visited Patriarch Rai this evening at Bkerke despite the U.S. administration clearing all of the Patriarch’s appointments with political figures due to his statements made in France on Syria and Hezbollah.        

In the paradoxes of the Syrian crisis, the Arab League that rushed the measures called today on Iraq to mediate with Damascus, And 48 hours before the ministerial committee’s meeting in Doha to assess Syria’s response from Walid Mouallem, Arab League chief Nabil el-Araby promised to put an end to economic sanctions if Syria signs the protocol.         
The Syrian National Council voiced its pessimism in front of the European Parliament as to the possibility of finding a quick solution to the Syrian crisis. The delegation warned that a humanitarian crisis would emerge in the absence of foreign military intervention.          

Meanwhile, President Assad received a large delegation of Druze leaders from Lebanon days after MP Walid Jumblatt called on the Druze to disassociate themselves from what he called “practices against the Syrian people”.          

In international paradoxes, the Europe that unified itself politically to gain power and influence is now threatened by the currency that binds it. In fact, prior to the Euro rescue summit, president Sarkozy warned of the dismantlement of the European Union, and the French Minister of European Affairs described the situation as “dangerous” and warned that “the Euro may explode”.          

All this comes at a time when the Syrian faceoff with the West is escalating as President Putin accused Washington of encouraging protest movements in Russia. Also, NATO and Russia failed to discharge tension on the missile defense shield.            

This evening, President Obama ensured that the United States is considering all options on Iran and would work with allies, including Israel, to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.