Sunday

6:00 pm Lebanon's Central Bank governor Riad Salameh stated that the economy of Lebanon will witness in 2009 a 7% growth rate and an additional 6% in the following year. On the other hand, inflation is expected to reach 3% in 2009 and 2010 on a par.

5:30 pm MP Nadim Gemayel after meeting with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir offered his support and that of his party alleging that the adopted stances serve Lebanon’s best interests.

3:30 pm Lebanese Judge Joyce Tabet officially took over the role of Public Prosecutor’s Deputy of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Tabet is assigned to coordinate between the Office of the Prosecutor General and the Lebanese authorities in matters related to the Special Tribunal. Special Tribunal Prosecutor General Daniel Bellemare said that Tabet will offer “valuable assistance” to his mission, and praised her for accepting the appointment.

1:15 pm Iraqi police reported on Sunday that seven people were killed and more than 40 wounded during a spate of bombings across Iraq, including two suicide attacks and a bicycle bomb. In the deadliest attack, five people were killed and 37 wounded when a bomb hidden in a cooler on the back of a bicycle ripped through a market in the Shiite city of Mussayib at around 9:30 a.m. The two-wheeler had been parked at the market in Mussayib, 60 kilometres south of Baghdad and in Babil province, police said. The western Iraqi city of Ramadi, capital of the predominantly Sunni province of Al-Anbar, was hit by two suicide bombings, police said. One of the attackers detonated a car bomb at the city's western entrance, killing two people and wounding four others, according to police Colonel Jabbar Ajaj. Ajaj added that another suicide attacker blew himself up near a police station outside Ramadi, 100 kilometres west of Baghdad, but killed only himself. No one was wounded. The attacks come a week after twin suicide bombings in central Baghdad killed 153 people and wounded 500, the deadliest day of violence in Iraq in more than two years.

12:15 pm Lebanon First bloc MP Nohad al-Mashnouq told LBCI television on Sunday that Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement are “imposing new laws to form governments in Lebanon,” which he said is in an attempt to alter the country’s political system.

“[Prime Minister-designate Saad] Hariri is working on forming a national-agreement cabinet, however, negotiations are now being held with a May 7 mentality,” Mashnouq said, a reference to the opposition and to the events that took place in 2008. He stressed that such events will not occur again, since they will not result in any political gain, adding, “The Doha agreement helped a portion of the Lebanese and resulted in civil peace, however, the agreement does not constitute a base to any political system.”

He commented on Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt’s position, saying that “Jumblatt openly supports Hariri and, as such, does not have the ability to play a mediating role.”

On the occasion of late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s birthday, Mashnouq stated, “I am reminded of Saad Hariri, the several misfortunes he confronted over the last five years and the success he has achieved in spite of difficult circumstances.”

According to Mashnouq, “Syria is trying to restore its strategic balance on the regional and international levels.” He warned that “there is a new regional clash that Syria and Iran want to expose through negotiations with Israel, through dealing with the Iraqi situation and through other issues.”

12:00 pm FPM leader MP Michel Aoun arrives in Zahle for commemoration mass of late Minister Joseph Skaff.

11:40 am A boy was killed and a relative was wounded in a non-politically motivated mishap in the Bekaa Valley. The boy was identified as Majd al-Fouani.

11:00 am Iran’s state media reported on Sunday that a rescue operation Sunday airlifted 37 crew members from an Iranian-registered cargo ship that ran aground in heavy weather at the mouth of China's Yangtze river.

Helicopters dispatched by China's Transport Ministry succeeded in pulling the multi-national crew of Iranians, Bangladeshis and Malaysians off the distressed ship, China Central Television reported.

Earlier, state Xinhua news agency reported that a crew of 36 were onboard the Iranian-registered vessel that was identified as the Zoorik and was on the brink of capsizing.

10:45 am Syrian Al-Watan newspaper reported on Sunday that the Lebanese cabinet is unlikely to be formed soon due to many factors, namely the negative influence on Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri from some parties within the majority, as well as the parties’ expectations with regard to the Iranian nuclear program, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and several other issues.

Al-Watan quoted an opposition source as saying that there are no domestic obstacles preventing the formation of the new government, adding it will be formed once Hariri makes his final decision. He added, however, “The prime minister-designate has yet to have made up his mind, precisely because of these influences and expectations.”

The source described the cabinet formation as a “game of yo-yo,” wavering between progress and set-backs lacking in any justification or explanation.

“Hariri is prisoner to such a game,” said the source, adding that his allies prevent him from making a final decision.

The source described Hariri’s statement, that his deliberations are not restricted to discussing cabinet portfolios but include issues related to national dialogue, as “inaccurate,” and stressed that his discussions over the past four months had been solely restricted to ministerial portfolios.

10:30 am On the occasion of late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s birthday, his wife Nazek Hariri addressed the Lebanese on Sunday, saying that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s first guarantee “is unity, solidarity, support of the state and institutions as well as our sacrifice of personal interests.”

She said that if Hariri were still alive, he would have been the first to defend national consensus and reconciliation.

10:05 am Iran’s state media reported on Sunday that an Iranian-registered cargo ship with 36 crew members aboard ran aground in the mouth of China's Yangtze river and was at risk of capsizing.

A helicopter dispatched by China's transport ministry had rescued 13 crew members aboard the ship about three hours after the incident early Sunday morning, Xinhua news agency said.

A second helicopter and a rescue ship were later dispatched to the scene in hopes of rescuing the other crew members.

The distressed vessel was identified as the Zoorik, but there were no other details on the crew and cargo.

A Chinese maritime official said the vessel was at risk of capsizing due to strong winds and heavy seas, Xinhua said.

9:52 am During his Sunday mass in Bkirki, Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir warned against current “worrying incidents” and the divergent points of view between Lebanese parties.

“This harms Lebanon’s present and future,” Sfeir said, urging all parties to unite and resolve the country’s political impasse.

9:48 am Opposition candidate Abdullah Abdullah announced on Sunday that he was pulling out of next weekend's run-off presidential election in Afghanistan.

"I will not participate in the election," Abdullah told supporters in Kabul.

9:45 am MP Nuhad Mashnouq to LBC: Hizbullah’s linkage of stance to FPM leader Gen. Michel Aoun is indication that Hizbullah has no intention to form a government.

9:40 am Lebanon First bloc MP Khoder Habib told NOW Lebanon that foreign actors play an influencing role on the country’s cabinet formation, even though he commended the positive role of the Saudi-Syrian summit, and called for parties to make more concessions in light of the summit’s favorable results.

Habib said that Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri is making all efforts to form a national-unity cabinet based on the 15-10-5 formula, adding, “If Hariri wanted to form a majority cabinet, it would not have taken all this time.”

He urged all parties to facilitate the prime minister-designate’s mission, given that “he is working on meeting the demands of both the majority and the opposition.”

“Hariri is confronting and trying to overcome all obstacles,” Habib added, voicing hope that the government would be formed by the end of next week.

9:30 am Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir: Events that we are passing through are worrying and it is time for integrating the views on Lebanon

7:55 am Russian news agency Ria-Novosti reported on Sunday that a Russian interior ministry transport plane crashed in the far-eastern Yakutia region, killing all 11 people on board.

The Ilyushin crashed at 8:40 a.m. shortly after take-off from Mirny, a local official from the emergency situations ministry told the news agency.

"The bodies of all 11 crew members have been found," he said, adding that the plane was not carrying any cargo. A panel is probing the cause of the accident.

Saturday

9:20 pm US State Secretary Clinton meets with Israeli FM Lieberman ahead of meetings with Defense Minister Barak and PM Netanyahu, Haaretz reports

After meeting with Clinton in Jerusalem on Saturday night, Lieberman told the US official that the demands of the Palestinian Authority “are aimed at scuppering the peace process.”

Clinton met with Lieberman ahead of meetings with Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Haaretz reported.

7:07 pm Clinton arrives in Israel amid troubled peace process

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