Beirut - US Deputy Assistant the Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Hale warned Wednesday against the continuous rearming of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah by Syria and Iran.

"The rearmament of Hezbollah through Syria and Iran may re-incite confrontation with Israel, which could destroy Lebanon once again," Hale told reporters in Beirut.

Hale, who arrived in Beirut Wednesday for talks with Lebanese officials, affirmed that United States' goal remained "to work for a free, sovereign, and independent Lebanon."

Beirut - United Nations forces operating in Lebanon have received warnings of a possible attack by al-Qaeda terrorists, Lebanese newspapers reported Wednesday.

The daily al-Akhbar, a pro-Syrian newspaper, said the United States had warned United Nations Interim Forces in southern Lebanon on December 10 of an imminent terrorist attack.

The report quoted an unnamed European diplomatic source as saying the United States provided UNIFIL with information that al-Qaeda would probably launch a "suicide attack" against UNIFIL convoys, which led to a state of alert by the peacekeepers, the Lebanese Army and security agencies.

Beirut - The year 2008 saw Lebanon battling threats on two fronts: On one side the threat of civil war; on the other the rise of Sunni militancy destabilizing an already unsteady country.

Since the assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri in early 2005 the Lebanese have been plunged into a new era of partisanship, marked by deep political divisions among the pro and anti-Syrian camps.

A long-running political stand-off, which first erupted in November 2006 when six pro-Syrian ministers quit the cabinet, left the country without a president for months, after pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud stepped down in November 2007.

Beirut, Dec 16 : Najaam Sethi, Editor-in-Chief of Friday Times and Daily Times in Pakistan, has been awarded the 2009 Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom prize of the World Association of Newspapers.

Sethi, whose newspapers advocate liberal and secular ideas in Pakistan, too-often torn by religious extremism, was honoured for his outstanding defence and promotion of press freedom under difficult circumstances and constant personal danger, the Daily Times reported.

Beirut, 15th Dec. 2008 -- The Emirates Initiative for Support and Construction of Lebanon has commenced installation of equipment at the Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed hospital in Lebanon.

The hospital is being built under instructions of UAE President H. H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

''Construction and fitting of the hospital, located at Arqoub area, are progressed as schedule .......... specialised medical and technical teams have already started commissioning of equipment and fittings,'' said Abdullah Al Gafli, Deputy Director of the Initiative.

Beirut - The United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) have taken extra precautionary measures after receiving threats against UN peacekeepers, a local Lebanese radio said Thursday.

Extraordinary security measures have been carried out in southern Lebanon after a bomb was discovered in the Wassani area on December 7, according to Voice of Lebanon radio.

Lebanese security sources were quoted as saying that UNIFIL has warned its patrols against passing near the southern Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh when crossing the costal highway from Sidon to Beirut.