Lebanon’s rival parties, their nation in political deadlock and facing violence on its northern and southern flanks, are meeting outside Paris today for unusual, long-awaited talks.

The United Nations Security Council has approved a resolution to unilaterally establish an international tribunal to prosecute suspects over the assassination of Lebanon’s former prime minister Rafik Hariri.

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah warned Lebanon not to storm a besieged Palestinian refugee camp, calling instead for a negotiated solution.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, today vowed to continue the opposition campaign led by his militant group to force Prime Minister Fuad Saniora to share power or step down.

Lebanese prime minister Fuad Saniora today denounced what he called Israel’s violation of the Lebanese border, an act that provoked the first exchange of fire between the two countries’ forces since just after last year’s war between Hezbollah and Israel.

Government and opposition supporters clashed at a Beirut university campus today, battering each other with sticks, stones and even pieces of furniture in new violence spilling over from Lebanon’s political crisis.

International donors today pledged $7.6bn (€5.9bn) in aid and loans for Lebanon’s US-backed prime minister and his economic reform programme for the war-scarred country.

International donors today gathered in Paris to drum up new funding for Lebanon’s embattled government, but there were concerns that recent violence there might dent nations’ willingness to donate.

Life was returning to normal in the Lebanese capital and around the country today, a day after violent confrontation between government supporters and opponents killed three people and wounded dozens in the worst escalation of the Hezbollah-led opposition’s campaign to topple Prime Minister Fuad Saniora’s Western-backed Cabinet.

Hezbollah-led protesters burned tyres and cars and clashed with government supporters, paralysing Beirut and areas across Lebanon in the worst violence yet in the pro-Iranian group’s campaign to topple US-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.

Hezbollah-led opposition protesters paralysed Lebanon today by burning tyres and cars in and around the capital, sparking clashes with government supporters amid a general strike aimed at toppling US-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.

Thousands of opposition protesters blocked roads with burning tyres, debris and blazing cars around the Lebanese capital of Beirut and outlying regions of Lebanon today in a bid to enforce a general strike aimed at toppling Prime Minister Fuad Saniora’s government.

The Hezbollah-led Lebanese opposition today vowed to step up its protest campaign aimed at bringing down the government with daily marches.

Russian President Vladimir Putin today welcomed Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad for talks focusing on for talks focusing on Middle East peace efforts, tensions among Palestinians and the situation in Lebanon – part of Moscow’s attempt to strengthen its role in the region.

Thousands of Hezbollah supporters are entrenched in the heart of Beirut today, starting an open-ended sit-in with a carnival atmosphere intended to pressure the US-backed government of Fuad Saniora into resigning.

It is reported that up to one million flag-waving protesters from Hezbollah and its pro-Syrian allies descended on downtown Beirut today in a peaceful but noisy protest to force the resignation of Western-backed Lebanese prime minister Fuad Saniora, who was holed up in his office ringed by hundreds of police and combat troops.

Sixteen armoured carriers, several hundred combat troops and armed police today ringed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora’s office in unprecedented security measures ahead of a massive protest by Hezbollah and its pro-Syrian allies aimed at ousting the Western-backed leader.

With Independence Day celebrations cancelled, Lebanon was engulfed in fear and gloom today as it prepared to bury Christian leader and Cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel, whose assassination threatened to push a country in political crisis over the brink.

Hezbollah’s leader has urged his followers to prepare for mass demonstrations to topple the government if it ignored the militant group’s demand to form a national unity coalition.

Syria opposes the deployment of an international force along its border to prevent arms shipments to Hezbollah, and Israel is calling the situation in Lebanon “explosive”.

The Lebanese prime minister rejected a UN ceasefire plan backed by President George Bush, demanding that Israel immediately pull out from southern Lebanon even before a peacekeeping force arrives to act as a buffer between Hezbollah and the Jewish state.

An Arab delegation will address the United Nations today after Lebanon’s government rejected a ceasefire plan backed by US president George Bush.

Israeli warplanes intensified airstrikes and launched a new commando raid in south Lebanon today, killing at least 28 people in one of the heaviest tolls in days.

Israeli warplanes intensified airstrikes and launched a new commando raid in south Lebanon today, killing at least 23 people in one of the heaviest tolls in days.

Lebanese President Emile Lahoud appointed the anti-Syrian coalition’s candidate Fuad Saniora as prime minister today to head the first Cabinet in 30 years to be free of Syrian interference.