Prime Minister Fuad Saniora sought to calm the Lebanese today - the country's first day without a president - assuring them that the military, which has vowed to stay out of politics, is on the streets to prevent violence while deadlocked factions work to resolve the crisis.

Lebanon awoke a republic without a president today amid mounting worries over a power vacuum that has intensified the nation’s year-long political turmoil.

Lebanon’s parliament failed to elect a successor to President Emile Lahoud just hours before he was due to leave office today, putting the country in a potentially explosive political vacuum.

Lebanese leaders today pledged to press ahead with a divisive election for president, to be held in Parliament in the coming days, despite the car bombing assassination of an anti-Syrian MP.

A powerful bomb killed a pro-government parliament member and four others today in a Christian suburb east of the Lebanese capital Beirut, security officials said.

Lebanese prime minister Fuad Saniora today declared victory over terrorism after the army seized the last Islamic militant stronghold in a northern Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon.

An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut’s seafront today, killing an anti-Syrian MP and nine others, security officials said.

Lebanon’s prime minister vowed to wipe out an Islamic militant group barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp, raising the prospect that the army will either storm the camp or dig in for a long siege to force its surrender.

Lebanon's prime minister today vowed to wipe out an Islamic militant group barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp.

France’s new foreign minister today condemned a deadly bomb attack near a busy Beirut shopping centre, and reaffirmed the importance to France of Lebanon’s sovereignty and stability.

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.

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.

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.

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.

LEBANON’S government yesterday approved a UN plan for an international tribunal for the suspected killers of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri — despite the objections of the president and the resignation of six ministers.

Lebanon's government has been thrown into deep crisis after the prime minister rejected the resignation of Cabinet ministers from Hezbollah and the allied Amal party.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said “serious negotiations” were under way over the fate of two Israeli soldiers whose July 12 capture by the militant group sparked a month of brutal fighting in Lebanon.

Lebanese prime minister Fuad Saniora today rejected his Israeli counterpart Ehud Olmert’s call for direct peace talks between the two countries.

Italian prime minister Romano Prodi visited his country’s peacekeepers in south Lebanon today, becoming the first head of government to visit the region since the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Lebanon’s prime minister, caught in a vice of conflicting demands by Israel and Syria, side-stepped Israeli insistence that international forces be deployed on the Syrian border and said today that Lebanese troops already there posed no threat to its prickly Arab neighbour.

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”.

Israeli helicopters airlifted hundreds of troops into the Hezbollah heartland and warplanes launched wide-ranging airstrikes today as officials raced to enforce a UN ceasefire and end fierce fighting still raging across southern Lebanon.

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 air strikes and launched a new commando raid in south Lebanon yesterday, killing at least 33 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 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.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II voiced his strongest criticism of his Israeli peace partner today as the strike on Qana sparked an outcry of anger across the Arab world.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today welcomed the Lebanese Cabinet’s new proposal to end the fighting with Israel.

US, EUROPEAN and Arab officials holding crisis talks on Lebanon have failed to agree on an immediate plan to halt the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Israeli forces kept up their offensive in Lebanon today, with troops battling Hezbollah for control of a southern town as their jets flattened a house in an unrelated strike and killed seven civilians.

In a surprise visit to Beirut today, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised the beleaguered prime minister of Lebanon for his courage in struggling to contain the fighting between the Hezbollah militia and Israel.

Warplanes resumed strikes on targets across Lebanon today as Israel warned hundreds of thousands of people to flee the south “immediately”, preparing for a likely ground invasion to set up a deep buffer zone in southern Lebanon.

SINCE the fighting started with the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah on July 12, at least 306 people have been killed in Lebanon and 29 people in Israel, according to official reports.

Israeli troops met fierce resistance from Hezbollah guerrillas today as they crossed into Lebanon to seek tunnels and weapons for a second consecutive day as Israel refused to rule out a full-scale invasion.

Diplomatic efforts to end Israeli-Hezbollah fighting gained traction today, with Israeli officials saying the country would agree to halt fighting if its two captured soldiers were returned and Islamic guerrillas withdrew from the border.

Lebanon’s Cabinet today issued a statement saying the country faced “real annihilation” by Israel.

Israel tightened its seal on Lebanon today, blasting air and road links and bringing its offensive to the capital for the first time.

Heavy cross-border rocket and artillery exchanges erupted along the Lebanese-Israeli frontier yesterday, and Israeli warplanes struck deep inside Lebanon, blasting Palestinian guerrilla bases near Beirut and Syria’s border.

Israel is to hand over the corpses of three Hezbollah guerrillas killed in this week’s border clashes to Lebanon.

Lebanon is demanding that Israel return the corpses of three Hezbollah guerrillas killed in this week’s border clashes, saying such a move was vital to restore calm to the area.