Introduction to the evening news 19-10-2011

Tomorrow, when the official gazette will be published, the Lebanese will see for themselves whether the Labor Minister finished drafting the wage adjustment decree or if the government decided to postpone its release until the concerned legal committee looks into it. Consequently, has the Shura council consulted with the economic bodies to make a final decision?

 This missed due-date coincides with an escalation in the tone used by economic bodies that will hold for the first time, an open meeting on Thursday afternoon. This meeting is expected to recall the motives behind their rejection of the wage raise as suggested by the cabinet, given its negative repercussions on the national economy.  

Meanwhile, conflicting points of view within and between syndicates caused a commotion that surrounded the teachers’ strike today. Some institutions opened their doors while others shut down as the crisis has reached a dead-end. No one is interested in the destiny of thousands of LU students who are suffering from the professors’ strike and indifference towards the demands, the students’ academic future and the national university.

On the political level, the first official visit of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc to Moscow has perfectly reflected international involvement in regional and local crises. Until now, Russia, Hezbollah and Iran are all playing the role of the Syrian regime’s defense attorneys. The delegation, including MPs Mohammad Raad, Hassan Fadlallah and Nawar Assahili met with the Head of the Russian Duma.

On the Syrian front, the Syrian gazette, Al Thawra (the revolution), retaliated, as expected, against the decision taken by the Arab League, accusing it of favoring international interests over those of the Arab people. It is noteworthy, that Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem met with an Indian academic and press delegation without addressing the Arab initiative.

Not far from the northern Syrian border, an ambush set by the PKK in Turkey inflamed the already agitated Kurdish-Turkish front. In fact, the PKK claimed responsibility for the death of 26 Turkish soldiers today, threatening to deal a “lethal” blow against Turkish troops if they attempt to set foot in northrn Iraq.   

Turkey’s reply was through a military counter-attack and a political verbal assault launched by Recep Tayyib Erdogan, days after consultations with the Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari with Turkish officials took place in Anqara. The consultations addressed the Kurdish issues controlled by Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq.

We will start with the Lebanese-Syrian border in the Bekaa region that is witnessing frequent Syrian incidents.