Introduction to the evening news 22-12-2011

Syria, the Arab League and the Syrian opposition are put before a test, the first of its kind, as monitors arrived in Damascus amid continuing violence and tonight’s UNSC discussion of the Russian draft law. Awaiting the new Syrian scene to reveal itself, its echoes are still affecting Lebanon; an involved minister stressed that more than 5,000 Syrians were displaced to the North, despite the fact that both the Lebanese and the Syrian armies are locking all crossings and ports. According to semi-official information, the European Union is determined to call for the deployment of international monitors along the Lebanon-Syria border.          

Meanwhile, the Iraqi event is taking a security dimension, along with the country’s political crisis of a sectarian nature. After a wave of bombings killed 65 people and injured another 300 this morning, a blast hit the center of Baghdad this evening, killing 5 people and injuring many, according to preliminary information. PM Nuri al-Maliki linked the blasts to the crisis, saying that the timing and places of these crimes confirm once again the purposes of the perpetrators.         

In Lebanon, after two consecutive failures to adjust wages, it seems that the third attempt will endure great hardship before getting to safe harbor. The political duel led to a governmental schism over the project while employers are refusing the implementation and threatening to escalate strikes.          

Herein lies the question: How will the Shura Council deal with the new decree? If it accepts it, how will the cabinet impose implementation when half of the ministers disapprove of it and show no enthusiasm?