Introduction to the evening news 14-07-2012

After 11 hours, the ballot boxes will be opened for Koura residents to vote in an early political battle preceding the general parliamentary elections by a year. It is the Koura sub-elections, where the attention will shift toward the transitions in the Christian votes since 2009, and to the final result of the first electoral event in Lebanon since the beginning of the Syrian.         

The Syrian Social Nationalist Party defends its historical presence in Koura and its “castle” in Amioun, having by its side the FPM, Marada and the rest of March 8 alliance.                 

As for the Lebanese Forces, it is trying to maintain its seat left vacant by the death of MP Farid Habib.                        

On the Syrian level, the shock of the Tremseh massacre is still overshadowing. Accordingly, a delegation of international observers arrived in the town, after holding the Syrian Air Force responsible for the massacre. In case the estimations of the Syrian opposition were true, claiming the death of around 220 people, then the Tremseh massacre would be the worst since the beginning of the Syrian crisis.               

While Iran expressed its willingness to play its role in mediating between the government and the opposition, Iranian authorities threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz if Iran’s security was endangered.