Introduction to the evening news 11-11-2011

An hour from now, the results of the voting will be announced to see if Jeita Grotto reached the threshold to be considered one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature or if it will simply remain one of the World Wonders without being ranked.        

After less than 24 hours, the results of the Arab League ministerial committee’s meetings on the Syrian crisis will be revealed from Cairo, amid continuing violence in Syria and ongoing Western pressure the country. In a remarkable development this evening, Saudi foreign minister joined the committee’s meeting.        

In a different context, today was the STL day par excellence: it started in The Hague and ended in Beirut southern suburbs (Dahiya). In The Hague, a hearing was held to look into the possibility of holding trials in absentia for the suspects in Hariri’s assassination, while in Dahiya, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah declared: We do not recognize the STL, let the Arab League and the neighboring countries fund it.         

Nasrallah’s speech came 48 hours after PM Mikati announced, from London, that he was fully committed to international resolutions including the one pertaining to the STL funding.               

Meanwhile, the cabinet convened on shaky grounds as Minister of Public Works Ghazi Aridi decided to boycott this session, and the sessions to come, due to the obstacles that are impeding the work of the Ministry of Public Works especially the funding and credits required by the Ministry before winter sets in. This step kept the door open with the cabinet especially that Minister Wael Abou Faour did not boycott the meeting, meaning MP Walid Jumblatt wanted to send a semi-warning to the government.         

Before going into details, we must mention Lebanon’s athletic achievement as the Lebanese National Football team defeated Kuwait in a World Cup Qualifying match.