Introduction to the evening news 06-08-2012

The Syrian regime’s morale went down with the defection of Prime Minister Riyad Hijab. Even though Hijab is not considered to be a pillar of the Syrian regime, his defection is believed to be the most supreme political defection since the beginning of the Syrian revolution.         

Hijab’s defection news was accompanied by rumors that were spread on Twitter claiming that President Bachar Assad was injured. Accordingly, the Russian Ministry of Interior had to issue a statement on the same website, in which it denied the claims.         

Meanwhile, Syrian opposition militants announced that 3 of the 48 Iranian detainees were killed and threatened to kill the rest of them if the army does not stop its shelling.          

Turning to Egypt, and in the wake of the Sinai attack that killed 16 border guards, President Mohammad Morsi followed his predecessor Husni Moubarak’s example and declared the re-closure of Rafah crossing border until further notice. These new measures turned the whole Gaza strip into a hostage.         

In Lebanon, the EDL contract workers’ agreement did not see the light when the workers did not receive their due payments. While the cabinet pursued the discussion of the electoral draft law, no solution was reached for the Bekaa farmers whose cannabis harvests were destroyed. The only thing the cabinet could offer was forming a committee to consider their situation.   

As for the issue of refugees and displaced people, Lebanon failed again. The Sudanese refugees who demonstrated for 55 days outside the UN High Commissioner for Refugees offices were jailed.


For the full LBCI report, watch the video above.