Introduction to the evening news 12-03-2012

Next Thursday, March 15th marks the first anniversary of the events in Syria. Three days ahead of the anniversary, a close race seems to be taking place between military escalation seeking a solution and a diplomatic step at the UNSC.        

The military situation on the ground, especially in Homs and Idlib, marks an unprecedented escalation. In Homs, the opposition mentioned massacres committed by the regime that is accusing the opposition of being behind these acts to draw international sympathy. As for Idlib, it is under artillery fire in a possible attempt to turn it into another Homs.         

In Lebanon, the preliminary investigations in the file of expired meat and fish revealed, by the numbers, what is far more than just media hype: 190 restaurants, supermarkets, butchers and hotels have been identified as distributors of food past its expiry date. These names are now at the disposal of the concerned authorities and the entire file has landed on the desk of none other than the prime minister himself. PM Mikati called for an emergency meeting on Wednesday to draft a strict law to rein in the sale of expired products. The premiere said that the state must move forward on the issue with great care to avoid falling into the trap of defamation.        

Herein lies the question, does avoiding defamation mean to abstain from “naming and shaming” those found selling rotten goods to the public? How will citizens know which restaurants, hotels and supermarkets have little regard for their health?