An early goal by Lebanon defender Ali Al Saadi proved decisive as the hosts, despite a good showing, went down.

India fell behind as early as the fourth minute when Ali Al Saadi found the net, his free-kick from just outside the penalty area going past a five-man wall and beating goalkeeper Subrata Paul.

Stunned by the reverse, the hosts, despite failing to hold possession, gradually settled down and got into a nice rhythm by the half-way mark and threatened the Lebanon defense repeatedly.

Surkumar Singh, Baichung Bhutia and Steven Dias worked tirelessly upfront but were unable to splinter through the tight Lebanon defense.

Five minutes before the breather, India came by their first clear chance thus far but N P Pradeep's header off a Dias free-kick went just inches off the post.

India maintained the pressure and two minutes later, Sushil Singh broke free, beat a defender and volleyed, only to find Lebanon keeper Nehanna put his dipping right-footer over the crossbar.

Sunil Chettri, who was included in the squad at the eleventh hour despite having not fully recovered from an ankle injury, was introduced in the second half in place of Sushil Kumar and his presence lent more thrust to the Indian attack. But despite the ascendancy after the change of ends the equalizer failed to materialize.

Chhetri was well set-up by Surkumar in the 57th minute but his header went just over the bar.

In the 66th minute, India were denied what looked like a legitimate penalty when Bhutia was brought down inside the box but to the surprise of the goodly crowd the captain was shown the yellow card for diving to the ground.

Elie Marouni, Lebanon's tourism minister, is a man with a plan. He has recently launched a 10 year programme he calls "a vision" for the tourism industry in Lebanon.
He insists he has reason to be optimistic.

His ministry estimates that two million tourists, which amounts to half of the country's actual population, are expected to visit Lebanon before the end of this summer.
"The numbers have doubled, and I am not surprised. Lebanon has it all: the environment, weather, nature, nightlife, ruins and history - and we are still the cheapest country to visit in the Middle East," says Mr. Marouni. Many Lebanese like to describe their country as the place where one can ski in the morning and swim in the Mediterranean in the evening.

It's not just the beaches, mountains, culture and food that make Lebanon a unique tourist destination.

In this largely conservative region, Lebanon is a place where the glitzy nightlife is a thing of national pride, where alcohol flows freely, and where less is more as far as bikini fashion is concerned.

These laid back beachwear rules apply to the resorts across the country, including the south where the radical Shia group Hezbollah is in control.

Full resorts

But this summer's unprecedented influx of tourists has little to do with the country's natural beauty or the relaxed attitudes of its residents.

The reason for the tourism boom is rather unnatural for Lebanon - political stability.
Mr Marouni admits that it's because of the relative political calm that hundreds of thousands of visitors have descended on Lebanon, paralyzing the traffic, filling the seaside resorts and bringing the much needed cash to the economy.

The richest among the tourists come from the neighboring countries of the Arab Gulf, while most visitors from Europe and North America seem to be the members of Lebanon's 12 million strong diaspora.

Jasmine Khoury, 32, fled the Lebanese civil war in the 1980s and grew up in the UK. She says political stability for Lebanon is what sun is for London.

"In London, the second that the sun comes out people begin to pour out. Here, the minute there is some sort of political stability, we all come back to enjoy our country while we can.

"After all Lebanon's stability is as reliable as the English weather," Jasmine adds with a smile.

Funding shortage

The same day that Elie Marouni spoke to me about his 10 year plan to build more hotels, remove army checkpoints on the roads that lead to tourist sites and renovate the battered ski lifts, the Lebanese army arrested 10 men on charges of plotting terrorist attacks against United Nations workers in the South. The army said the men were part of a larger network lined to al-Qaeda.

"It shows that we are fighting to stop terrorist in Lebanon and to make sure that only the army has the weapons," Mr Marouni insists. But he admits that the Lebanese government does not have a full control over what goes on in the country, and that security is a real issue that turns many potential visitors away.

There are major financial issues too. Mr Marouni's says he needs around US $100m a year to implement his plan, but at the moment he only has around US $8m a year at his disposal.

The Ministry, housed in a run down building in Beirut's Harma district, cannot afford to place advertisements on major international TV networks.

"Good marketing and improving Lebanon's image could play a huge role in attracting tourists," says Stephen Orr, the general director of the US government sponsored project, which tries to link private businesses to the global markets.

He works with dozens of companies in the tourism industry that have mushroomed here over the years.

Tenacious

The tourism boom shows that while the government drags itself through endless political crises and stalemates, Lebanon's famously creative entrepreneurs are grabbing every chance to develop and grow.

"I am very impressed with Lebanon's private sector. Lebanese companies are extremely tenacious. They all have very good contingency plans, they are all able to function under extremely challenging circumstances," says Stephen Orr.

The level of the development of the private sector, and Lebanon's natural beauty, is the reason Mr Orr believes the country could easily rival Turkey and Greece as a Mediterranean tourist destination.

But he says the country needs at least five years of stability to get to that level. And few in Lebanon believe that stability can last that long.

Back in his office, even Mr Marouni admits that there is an element of wishful thinking in his 10 year plan.

"In this country something might happen any minute, and any minute we could be thrown 10 years back in time," he says.

Top picture : A Lebanese beach , just north of Beirut . Lebanon expects two million tourists this year, about half of the country's population

One of the attractions is the relaxed attitudes in a conservative region

Source: BBC

The Amazon rain forest, the Dead Sea, Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa and Ecuador's Galapagos islands are also among the finalists, according to the organization New 7 Wonders led by Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber.

People can vote by Internet or phone. The winners will be announced in 2011 and share in the glory already enjoyed by the seven man-made wonders chosen two years ago.

Over 1 billion people are expected to join in the voting, said Weber.

"This campaign should contribute to the appreciation — to the knowledge — of our environment and not just the one in our country but worldwide," he told The Associated Press. "If we or our children want to save anything, we should first appreciate it."

A panel of experts chose the finalists among the 77 nominees that gained the most votes in an early round of polling. People had suggested 261 landmarks in countries all over the world.

The panel chaired by Federico Mayor, former chief of UNESCO, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, picked the finalists depending on geographical balance, diversity and the importance to human life, Weber said.

He said he was happy to see that the nominees include places that lie in more than one country, such as the Dead Sea or the Amazon rain forest, which makes people work together across borders.

"Already from the nomination phase, we see the enthusiasm of big countries," Weber said, adding that particular high numbers of votes have come in from Indonesia.

High voter participation has come from other Asian countries, including India, Bangladesh and Vietnam, as well as from Latin America, he said.

Weber declined to give any numbers of votes so far. But the organization plans to release detail about voter profiles later, he added. Registration on the Web site aims to prevent people from voting twice.

"U.S. voters' participation is always quite high up," he said.

Africa, where most people vote by mobile phones, has had the biggest increase in votes over the last few weeks, Weber said.

The finalists also include Azerbaijan's Mud Volcanoes, , Ireland's Moher Cliffs and Germany's Black Forest.

Around 100 million people voted in the selection of the seven man-made wonders in 2007. The winners were the Colosseum, Italy; the Great Wall of China; the Taj Mahal, India; Petra, Jordan; Christ the Redeemer Statue, Brazil; Machu Picchu, Peru; and the Pyramid at Chichen Itza, Mexico.

Choosing world wonders has been a continuing fascination over the centuries. UNESCO keeps updating its list of World Heritage Sites, which now totals 890 places.

The New 7 Wonders campaign aims to promote cultural diversity by supporting, preserving and restoring monuments and natural sites. It relies on private donations and revenue from selling broadcasting rights.

The Jeita grotto is huge 12 km ( 7.5 miles) and consists of an upper and a lower limestone gallery. Through the lower gallery runs a little river, the main source of the Nahr Al Halb ( The Dog River) . You can walk(only 2 km) 1.25 miles and go by boot in this wonderful cave, which is enlightening , and you can admire world’s longest stalactite, hanging 8 meters from the ceiling.

Here are 3 more pics of the Jeita grotto:

VOTING FOR JEITA GROTTO CAN ONLY BE DONE VIA

www.new7wonders.com

ANY OTHER VOTING METHOD MAY RESULT IN THE PERMANENT REMOVAL OF THIS NOMINEE FROM THE COMPETITION.

Voting was on hold but resumes on 21 July 2009 voting . The New 7 Wonders of Nature, will be revealed in 2011.

WHY VOTE FOR JEITA GROTTO ?

Jeita Grotto is a compound of crystallized caves in Lebanon located 20 km north of Beirut in the Valley of Nahr al-Kalb (Dog River). This grotto is made up of TWO LIMESTONE CAVES , upper galleries and a lower cave through which a 6230 m long river runs. Geologically, the caves provide a tunnel or escape route for the underground river.

In this cave and galleries, the action of water in the limestone has created cathedral-like vaults full of various sizes, colors and shapes of stalactites and stalagmites, majestic curtains and fantastic rock formations.

The cave has one of the BIGGEST STALACTITES IN THE WORLD hanging 8,20 m ( about 27 feet)

The grotto accommodates a HUGE HALL with a distance of 108 m from the ceiling till the water level.

Jeita Grotto is truly a masterpiece

Over the weekend, Tohme, a native of Lebanon who claims to have helped Jackson rescue Neverland Valley Ranch from foreclosure last year, broke his silence about the death of his friend for the first time and spoke to The Associated Press, describing his relationship with the late singer and how he briefly entered the star's orbit.

Tohme, described by the news service as "a financier with a murky past," said he was contacted last year by Jackson's brother Jermaine, who asked if Tohme could help rescue Neverland from falling into foreclosure. The pair traveled to Las Vegas, where Jackson was living at the time, and Tohme said they instantly bonded. For the next year, Tohme would server as Jackson's final business manager and spokesperson.

"For the last year and a half, I was the closest person to Michael Jackson," said Tohme, who added that he was inspired to help because he saw that Jackson was a "wonderful human being" and a fine father to his three children. Tohme said he helped negotiate a deal with his close friend, the chairman of Colony Capital, who was hesitant to get involved until he was persuaded to go visit Jackson in person. Impressed by Jackson's "intelligence and focus," Colony agreed to buy the mortgage on the home and keep it out of foreclosure.

That deal brought Tohme, believed to be in his late 50s, and Jackson, 50, together in a partnership that included the contract for what was scheduled to be Jackson's triumphant return to the top of his game: a 50-show run at the O2 arena in London that was to begin next Monday.

He said Jackson was excited about the concerts because they would be a chance for his three young children to see him perform.

Though he's often described as being mysterious, Tohme — his double name is not uncommon in the Middle East — said he hates being referred to that way. "I'm a private man," he said, reportedly ignoring a barrage of cell phone calls during the interview, though taking one from the Reverend Jesse Jackson. "A lot of people like the media, and I don't. I respect the privacy of other people, but lately nobody respects mine."

Tohme would not reveal any information about his life or career other than to confirm that he is a U.S. citizen, a "self-made man" who works in the world of finance and was raised in Los Angeles. MTV News was unable to contact Dr. Tohme for comment for this story.

Denying he is affiliated with the Nation of Islam, Tohme said he actually fired some representatives of the religious sect who had taken over handling affairs for Jackson, who was raised as a Jehovah's Witness. The AP report described him as being on the verge of tears several times while discussing Jackson's death and said he was breaking his silence now because it is what Jackson wanted.

"He always said to me, 'I want people to really know who I am after I'm gone,' " Tohme said, noting that he dropped everything else he was doing and took no salary while working with Jackson and that he helped to begin turning Jackson's finances around after years of poor management.

Among the deals he said he negotiated were ones for a "Thriller" Broadway show — the subject of a lawsuit from the director of the song's iconic video, John Landis — as well as one for an animated series based on "Thriller," a clothing line that was to include "moonwalk shoes" and other deals. He also said he was working to renegotiate the terms of some of Jackson's main assets, including the singer's share of the very lucrative Sony-ATV Music Publishing Catalog — which includes music by the Beatles, Lady Gaga and the Jonas Brothers — against which Jackson had taken out massive loans to support his expensive lifestyle.

One of the first things Tohme, an avowed music business neophyte, said he did when he took over was to fire many members of Jackson's staff, including security guards, in order to build a fence around the singer and protect him from nameless others who wanted to control the pop star's finances. He also claimed to have twice fired, on Jackson's orders, the longtime nanny of the singers' children, Grace Rawaramba.

Though he apparently uses the title "Dr." and has a medical degree, there is no record of Tohme practicing medicine in the U.S. He said he thought the singer was in perfect health the last time he saw Jackson, two days before his death, and that as far as he could tell, Jackson didn't use drugs and kept himself on a strict, healthy diet that included no red meat or alcohol.

It does not appear that Jackson will be buried at Neverland, but Tohme claimed that in the singer's final months, the two talked about the star's wish to create a special place "10 times bigger than Graceland" — referring to Elvis Presley's home/memorial — where fans could come to view Jackson's memorabilia and awards.

MTV

She was found clinging to debris some two hours after the crash.

The plane, going to the Comoros Islands from Yemen's capital Sanaa, came down in bad weather with 153 on board.

Many of the passengers were traveling to the Comoros Islands but had begun their journey in Paris or Marseille on another jet operated by Yemenia, the national airline of Yemen, before boarding flight IY626 in Sanaa.

The EU and France have both said they highlighted safety concerns over Yemenia planes and said the jet that crashed had not flown into EU airspace since 2007.

But no official cause for the crash has yet been found. Earlier on Wednesday a French government minister in the Comoros capital, Moroni, said that a detected signal thought to be from one of the plane's "black box" flight recorders was in fact a distress beacon.

'True miracle'

Ms Bakari, who lives in Paris with her family, was treated in hospital in Moroni for injuries, said to include a fractured collarbone and burns.

On Wednesday evening, she was reported to be flying back to Paris in a French government aircraft.

French officials earlier said that she was 12 years old, contradicting earlier reports she was 14.

Speaking from Paris, her father Kassim Bakari said she was thrown from the plane as it hit the water. He said she clearly recalled the chaos of her time in the water.

"She said: 'Papa, we saw the plane going down in the water. I was in the dark, I couldn't see a thing.

"'[And] on top of that daddy, I can't swim well and I held on to something, but don't really know what'.

"She's a very timid girl, I never thought she would escape like that," he said, adding that she was "fragile" and barely able to swim.

Mr Bakari recalled how he said goodbye to his wife and daughter at the airport as they headed to the Comoros.

"I kissed them both, then my wife turned around, she looked at me and she waved, and my daughter she didn't do anything, and that was the last time I saw my wife alive, because my daughter... I will see her again I hope, but for my wife it was the last time."

French officials in Moroni praised the girl's courage. International Co-operation Minister Alain Joyandet described her rescue as a "true miracle".

"She is a courageous young girl. She really showed an absolutely incredible physical and moral strength."

An uncle, Ali Abdou, who visited the girl in hospital in Moroni, told the BBC she did not yet know that her mother had died.

She was scheduled to be transferred back to Paris for treatment later on Wednesday, he added.

"She is conscious, speaking well, [she] is ok. She was joking, she was chatting, we laughed together.

"It's a miracle. It was God's will."

'No black box'

Earlier, a French government minister reversed earlier claims that one of the plane's black box recorders had been found.

Mr Joyandet, the French minister in Moroni, said signals picked up by rescuers came from a distress beacon. Most aircraft have a flight data recorder and a cockpit voice recorder.

"The Transall (military plane) that picked up an acoustic signal did not, despite what was said this morning, detect the beacons of the flight recorders, but rather what appear to be its distress beacons," Mr Joyandet said in Moroni, the Comoros capital, AFP news agency reported.

There were 66 French nationals among the passengers. Most of the rest were Comorans, and most had flown on a different Yemenia aircraft from Paris or Marseille before boarding flight IY626 in Sanaa.

A French vessel has been sent to the site to start recovery operations, she added, and French rescue teams are involved in the search for survivors.

However, no-one from the plane has been confirmed alive apart from Baya Bakari, and rescuers say chances of finding more survivors are slim.

Angry protest

The French transport ministry said on Tuesday that the Airbus 310 plane which crashed had been banned from France because of "irregularities".

But Yemenia responded by criticising "false information and speculation about technical problems" on the plane.

Several Comoran expatriates angry with what they see as the poor state of the company's aircraft tried to stop passengers from checking in for another Yemenia flight leaving Paris Charles de Gaulle airport for Sanaa.

About 60 people failed to check in, reports said, but it was not clear how many did so as a result of the protest.

The crash was the second involving an Airbus aircraft in recent weeks. On 1 June an Air France Airbus 330 travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris plunged into the Atlantic, killing all 228 people on board.

HOW THE BLACK BOX WORKS

* Flight data recorders, or "black boxes", are in fact orange or red.
* Commercial aircraft carry two. One logs performance and condition of aircraft in flight, another records conversations of crew and their contact with Air Traffic controllers during the flight.
* The Crash Survivable Memory Unit (CSMU) contains a memory board surrounded by thermal insulation and steel armour that can withstand a crash impact thousands of times the force of gravity and survive in the sea at depths of 20,000ft (6,096m).
* The CSMU is insulated to sustain temperatures up to 1,100C for up to an hour or "low" temperature fires of around 260C for 10 hours.
* An underwater locator beacon fitted on recorders emits continuous ultrasonic "ping" when they come into contact with water. The signal can reach the surface from depths of 14,000ft.

Source: BBC NEWS

US Administration officials did say they expect many more cases of the flu to be discovered in the coming days, which ensures that the focus on this crisis will only grow as the week progresses.

U.S. stocks fell on Monday as traders worried that the outbreak of swine flu could worsen the global economic outlook... Even crude-oil futures fell by nearly $3 to slide under $49 a barrel on Monday

Swine flu has killed more than 100 people in Mexico and officials worldwide are taking measures to counteract the spread of the strain. Travel stocks, including airline and cruise-ship operators, declined, and shares of drug makers climbed.

In Lebanon the Ministry of Health declared Lebanon free of Swine flu, but officials are not taking any chances , specially since the summer tourism season is around the corner and some of the tourists could bring this flu with them

This article is to educate our readers about this deadly virus

TQ: What is swine flu?

A: It is an influenza virus, like the strains that cause such misery to people during the winter months. Flu viruses also infect many other species of mammals, as well as birds, and this strain causes a respiratory disease in pigs. It is related to human viruses, but influenza tends to stay in its own "host" species.

How does it pass from pigs to people?

The most common method is through farming, with humans handling infected pigs. The flu can then move on to other people through coughing, sneezing, or touching infected people or surfaces and then touching your mouth or nose.

Such infections are rare because swine flu viruses do not easily attach to human cells of the throat and lungs. However, recent studies have shown human infections may be more common than once believed.

Can you catch swine flu by eating pork from an infected animal?

The Mexican government and the World Health Organization have ruled out any risk of infection from eating pork.

What are the symptoms?

The Mexican government reports seeing these symptoms:

* General fatigue.

Those sound like seasonal flu symptoms. How is this flu different?

Swine flu may cause more severe vomiting and diarrhea. In rare cases, flu virus attacks the lungs, a complication that can be fatal. This strain also differs because it is so new. As a result, no one has natural immunity to it, unlike with seasonal flu.

The numbers of infected people are rising quickly. Is this a very infectious disease?

The CDC says it does not yet know. Occasionally a swine flu virus in a person mutates in a way that makes it more easily transmitted from person to person.

People are usually contagious for as long as they are symptomatic -- typically four to five days for adults and longer for children.

I got a flu shot last fall. Will that protect me?

CDC officials say they are "very pessimistic." Tests of last fall's seasonal vaccine and the new virus show no cross-reaction, suggesting that people who got the shot have no added protection against this flu strain.

How should I protect myself and my family?

If you have no symptoms, be preventive: Wash your hands often with soap and water. Cover your mouth and nose when you cough and sneeze, and discard used tissues immediately. Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

If you feel sick, stay home from work and school. Go to the hospital if you experience severe symptoms, such as difficulty breathing.

If you know you have been exposed to swine flu, get lots of rest, and talk to your doctor about the antiviral drugs oseltamivir (trade name Tamiflu) or zanamivir (Relenza). These drugs may make the illness milder and work best if started within two days of getting sick.

I see people in Mexico wearing masks. Should I get one?

Mexico's government is recommending surgical masks for its citizens, but the CDC says the general U.S. public does not need them.

Update for Lebanon: Ban on Pork imports

Lebanon imposed today a ban on pork imports and urged pig farmers across the country to be vigilant in light of an escalating swine flu crisis.

"The import of pigs or fresh pork products from any country is banned effective today," the agriculture ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said preventive measures in line with recommendations by the World Health Organization are also being implemented and farmers nationwide have been advised to report any incident of animals showing signs of the disease.

The number of swine Flu cases under observation in Mexico has reached 1,614, according to the minister. Other cases are being reported in US, canada, Europe, the Middle East and Far East

The Lebanese ban does not affect canned pork imports

Washington Post

President Michel Suleiman received a call via satellite telephone from Shaaya, while the latter was resting in his tent after his dangerous 55-day journey.

Suleiman told Shaaya, “You embody the spirit of challenge and adventure. Lebanon needs youth who have your spirit. We are proud of you and we know that you have faced many difficulties, strong winds and freezing temperatures, but you overcame all this.”

“Next week you arrive in Lebanon, and the Lebanese people and myself are waiting for you,” he said.

After reaching the North Pole Shayaa said". ( Picture shows Shaaya with his friends on their way to the North Pole)

Today at 9:22 AM Central Standard Time we reached the North Pole. SUCCESS!!!"

"We are very, very excited, relieved, satisfied and ready to rest. I can’t wait to sit in a chair and get dressed standing up.

"We can’t say enough about how hard we worked to achieve this goal...Our current and last position: 90N"

In June 2006 Shaaya made the Lebanese and the Arabs proud when he became the first Arab to climb Mount Everest and planted the Lebanese flag on it. Shayaa said back then that he considered that his accomplishment proves that the Lebanese youth are full of capacities and capabilities that they could use for their country.

United Airlines on Wednesday began barring overweight fliers flying out of Chicago who:
- Can't fit into a single seat in the ticketed cabin.
- Can't buckle their seatbelt - even using the seatbelt extender.
- Can't put the armrests down when seated.

Overweight passengers will have to purchase the extra seat or upgrade to a cabin with larger seating (i.e. first class). If no extra seat is available, they'll have to take a later flight. And if they have connecting flights, they'll need an extra seat or upgrade on every leg of their trip.

If it's any consolation, United said paying for the extra seat would entitle the person to extra carry-on luggage.

The airline said it is enacting the policy for the "comfort and well-being of all customers aboard United flights."

Last year, a Forbes article showed that overweight passengers cost the airlines an extra $538 million a year in fuel. But some have speculated that charging extra for heavier passengers could end in the carrier getting sued for discrimination.

Other airlines reserve the right to charge heavy passengers for an extra seat, but enforcement varies, CBS2 reported. An American Airlines spokeswoman said she doesn't remember ever having to impose an extra charge, but Southwest Airlines started enforcing its policy in 2002.

Foreign tourists have been flocking back to the Mideast country's pine-covered mountains, fancy Mediterranean beach clubs and buzzing night life. About 1.3 million visited last year, up 30% from 2007, government officials said.

Damage from the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas has been largely repaired, and in any case was concentrated in south Beirut and southern Lebanon, areas that most foreign tourists avoid. Tensions among Lebanon's mix of Shiites, Sunnis, Christians and Druze have cooled considerably.

Beirut's restored downtown, an apocalyptic minefield during the country's long civil war, has been turned into a gleaming shopping district, with Four Seasons and Hilton hotels expected to open soon. The city center's heart remains an ancient Roman bathhouse and St. George's Greek Orthodox Church.

Restaurants and outdoor cafes abound. At night, visitors mingle with perfumed and buffed-up young men and women partying until the wee hours in the bars and nightclubs of the trendy Gemmayze district.

Two hours' drive from Beirut are magnificent Roman ruins at the ancient temple complex in Baalbek, in the Bekaa Valley. The well-preserved monuments are minutes away from the nation's wine country, including the natural underground caves at Chateau Ksara, open daily.

The Crusader fortress in the seaport of Byblos offers a look at Lebanon's ancient history and a chance to dine at the legendary waterfront Pepe Abed fish restaurant.

For tourist information, visit www.destinationlebanon.gov.lb.

Photo : The Royal Residence, shown here, has six floors and private swimming pools. Guiness World Records declared it -- at just under 44,500 square feet -- the largest hotel suite in the world. It was finished last year.
(Grand Hills Hotel and Spa)

Lebanon1

">Lebanon 2

The Los Angeles Times

The A1GP World Cup of Motorsport will visit the Algarve for the sixth round of racing, with the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve hosting the series for the first time

However, yet again bad luck struck the team when a persistent engine misfire halted the team’s participation in the qualifying session.

The team stayed on the pace in the further practice session this morning, with Morad finishing third quickest, however the engine developed a misfire in the last few moments. In the break between the final practice and qualifying sessions the team checked and even replaced virtually all relevant components, systems and software in an attempts to remedy the problem and were working closely with Ferrari. Even after the qualifying sessions the problem had not been resolved leaving the team to work through the night to resolve the mysterious faults before Sunday’s race.

Morad said of the team’s misfortunes, “I’m totally gutted. I just don’t know what to say. We were expecting to go into qualifying with a great shot at the first two rows, and possibly a pole. I can only hope that we’ve had the back luck now and that we’ll have better luck for tomorrow and the next few races. The Sprint race won’t give us much opportunity for points, but it will be frustrating for us tomorrow in the Feature race. We have shown to have a top running pace and we’ll be behind much slower cars at the start. We’ll have to work our way forwards, but on this track it won’t be easy. The corners are high speed, so it won’t be easy for passing. All we can do is try our best and score points, as that’s what we really need to do.”

Luke Craft, Team Principal, added, “We’ve had more than our fair share of bad luck this season and we’re all very disappointed that an engine misfire put paid to our chances of securing very strong qualifying positions for tomorrow’s races. It’s very tough on Daniel who hasn’t put a foot wrong all weekend, yet ends up at the back of the grid. He has the grit and determination to race for the best finish possible, but we’ll need our luck to change if we’re going to score points.”

A1 Team Lebanon and 19 other nations will be racing tomorrow at the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, South Africa at the historic Kyalami circuit. The Sprint race is a 30 minutes race with one pitstop in the morning and the Feature race later in the afternoon is 70 minutes of hard racing and includes two pitstops.

Dozens of soldiers with machine guns guarded every entrance.

As the Lebanese and Syrian footballers listened to their anthems they raised their heads high and focused their eyes on rows of empty white chairs.

The only spectators at this Asia Cup qualifier were a handful of journalists and a few officials from the football federation.

"Football is political here and security has to be tight," one of the federation officials explained.

It is because of politics that Syria and Lebanon have not played each other at home in years.

Previous matches took place elsewhere in the Middle East.

The fact that this game happened was, observers say, a sign that the relationship between the two neighbors is improving.

But there were also plenty of reminders of how far things still have to go.

No-one failed to notice the irony of the choice of venue - the Rafik Hariri stadium - named after Lebanon's former prime minister who was killed in a car bomb in 2005.

While Syria denied any involvement in the assassination, tens of thousands took to the streets of Beirut and blamed Damascus for the killing.

The combination of public protest and international pressure forced Syria to end its 30-year military and political occupation of Lebanon.

Three years on, the two sides have finally agreed to create diplomatic relations.

This week Damascus approved the first ever Lebanese ambassador to Syria, embassies are about to open, and as the footballers met on the pitch, Lebanon's Defense Minister Elias Murr held talks in Damascus.

Only recently Mr Murr's visit to Syria would have been impossible to imagine.

In 2005 Mr Murr escaped an assassination attempt, which he blamed on Syrian intelligence agents.

But Wednesday's football game showed once again just how difficult it will be to rebuild trust.

After winning the match 2-0, one of the Syrian football officials went on Lebanese television to complain about the hosts.

Poisoning claim

"We were treated with intentional carelessness by our hosts.

"There is no excuse for it, and brotherly countries should not be dealt in that way," Bahaa al-Omary later told the BBC.

Mr Omary said that on the eve of the game eight Syrian footballers got food poisoning and were taken to hospital.

The Syrian team doctor found the poisoning "highly suspicious".

Lebanese officials were quick to promise an investigation, but whether in politics or football, the essence of the Syrian-Lebanese relations still lies in a deep and all-pervasive lack of trust.

Top photo: Lebanon's Abbas Atwy (L) fights for the ball with Syria's Jihad al-Hussein (R) during their Asian Cup qualifying soccer match in Sidon stadium in South Lebanon January 28,2009 ( Reuters)

Syria's Feras al-Khatib (C) reacts after losing the ball as Lebanon's Hussein Amin (L) and Ramiz Dayoub (R) looks on during their Asian Cup qualifying soccer match in Sidon stadium in South Lebanon January 28,2009 ( Reuters)

As you sit in crowded airports waiting for your long-delayed flights, cursing yourself for traveling over the holidays, remember: It could be worse. You could be me. My ordeal begins before the plane touches down in the United States, some time between the moment when the flight attendant begins handing out blank immigration and customs forms and when I hear the wheels disengaging in the belly of the plane. Will I sail through immigration and customs, I wonder, or will this be the time that they get me? Might I even be whisked off to Guantanamo?

The crazy thing is that I have done nothing wrong. I am a U.S. citizen and have no criminal record. I pay my taxes (well, except for those few years when, right out of grad school, I was convinced that taxes did not apply to me). I don't litter. The problem is that I happen to share a name with at least one shady character on the Terrorist Screening Center's watch list. At least, that's the list that I believe I am on, although no official will tell me for sure.

My name is common in Latin America, the Spanish equivalent of John Smith. It also seems to be particularly popular among law-breakers. I once sneaked a peek at an immigration officer's computer and saw an entire screen full of my doppelgangers. Who knows how many of them were bad guys and how many were law-abiding saps like me?

It doesn't help that my travel habits are similar to those of people who actually belong on a watch list. I grew up in Medellín, Colombia, during the height of the Pablo Escobar drug wars and have worked for the better part of the past decade in some of the most dangerous places in the world. In countries such as Afghanistan and Colombia, I help farmers find legal, profitable and sustainable alternatives to growing coca and poppies, the raw material for cocaine and heroin. So I guess it's understandable that my passport -- packed with added pages and stamps marking my entry into and exit from countries such as Cambodia, Bolivia and Haiti -- raises eyebrows.

It seems to me, though, that airport security should know enough to tell me from the terrorists. I'm not easily offended, but being treated like a dangerous criminal every time I enter the country is getting a little old.

The airport routine is always the same, whether I'm in Miami, Washington, Atlanta or any other city. I step off the plane after sitting in coach for hours, my knees bruised from hitting the seat in front of me, and watching films that I swore I'd never pay to see. I'm always cautious as I wait in the immigration and customs line. On the Transportation Security Administration's Web site is a running total of the number of people arrested each week for suspicious behavior or fraudulent travel documents. (For the week ending Dec. 21, 15 people were arrested due to suspicious behavior or fraudulent travel documents and 19 guns were found at checkpoints.) I would hate to be hauled in for scratching my nose or for tying my shoe while in line. So I do my best to act relaxed, as if I were just coming home -- which is exactly what I'm doing.

The real terror begins when my toes touch the yellow line, where I wait to be called forward. Approaching the immigration officer before being summoned could make me appear too eager (and often earns me a stern reprimand). On the other hand, any hesitation could be interpreted as a sign that I'm afraid of facing the law. So I walk up to the officer and nonchalantly hand over my bright blue passport. Seconds feel like hours as he starts hitting the "page down" key on his computer, scanning screen after screen, periodically glancing at me and my passport. This is when I break out in a cold sweat, which makes the officer even more dubious. When he reaches for a yellow highlighter and marks my customs slip, I know I'm headed to the little room.

I'm so familiar with airport-security personnel that I often recognize the officers who escort me. In Miami, I cringe to see the large female officer who once screamed across the room that her advice, if I wanted to spare my family some trouble, was not to name my son Juan. Of course, not all officers are like that. I occasionally run into a young woman who stopped me once a few years ago. New to the job and eager to help, she took down my information and assured me that I would never be stopped again. But she was wrong; upon my next entry into the country, I was held for longer than ever before.

The little room in Miami is my favorite, partly because it has vending machines and partly because it is always full of people who, like me, seem familiar with the routine of being waylaid by airport security. Most of us are cleared within minutes or hours, though the process continues to be intimidating and cold. Others are taken into still smaller rooms, where I can only imagine what happens. Maybe I should stop watching all those bad in-flight action movies.

The room at Dulles is particularly intimidating. I recently landed there before dawn, after an overnight flight, and found myself alone except for two young guys in plastic handcuffs. While they seemed nice enough, I couldn't help but wonder about the company I was keeping.

Time and time again, I've been cleared for entry into the United States. So why does my name remain on the list? Will I have to go through this for the rest of my life? In desperation, I always ask airport-security officers how my name can be removed. I've heard it all, from writing to my congressman (as if that would do any good) to filling out a form (never mind that no one has been able to produce the document or tell me where I can find it). The most honest answer came from a young, Afghan American officer at Dulles a couple of weeks ago: "There's absolutely nothing you can do."

It's not the countless missed connections that bother me or the fact that I have to politely decline offers from well-meaning travel companions to wait for me, because they don't know that they might be waiting for hours. It's the powerlessness of being unable to clear my name and of having to go through this humiliation over and over.

I heard rumors that the Terrorist Screening Center watch list would hit 1 million people by the end of 2008, but the TSA Web site states that the real number is actually closer to 400,000 and that there are fewer than 16,000 people on the "selectee" and "no-fly" lists used by the TSA. The site also asks, "Got Feedback?" Well, I have plenty of feedback, but I'm a little scared of the consequences of saying what I really feel.

* The writer is a director in the Afghanistan and Pakistan region for Chemonics, a Washington-based international development consulting firm. The article describes the exact feelings of people from the Middle East and the Islamic countries whenever they travel to or from the United States

The Washington Post

The pan-Arab daily Al Hayat on Monday said Shibani - during a visit to the prime minister over the weekend -- renewed his invitation for Siniora to visit Tehran.

Al Hayat, however, said the renewal does not mean the trip is going to take place anytime soon, pending a visit by an Iranian delegation to Beirut to draw up the agreement of bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

Sources told Al Hayat that Siniora had no objection to visiting Iran. "A positive atmosphere of success, however, has got to be provided for such a visit."

Siniora on Saturday discussed with Shibani the outcome of President Michel Suleiman's recent visit to Tehran.

Shibani told reporters after the talks that the discussion covered "the best practical methods … to implement what has been agreed on by the Iranian and Lebanese presidents."

"We also discussed political developments in the region and the ordeal of the Palestinian people in Gaza due to the Israeli siege," he added.

Arab tourists accounted for 54 percent of visitors , the ministry said.

Last month Minister of Tourism Elie Marouni said Lebanon should expect more than 200 thousand Chinese tourists next summer

Hotels are mostly booked in Beirut and some villages for Christmas holidays and New Years Eve.

In 2004 , during the Syrian occupation the Syrian president Bashar al Assad forced the Lebanese parliament to renew the term of former president Emile Lahoud for 3 more years. Many politicians opposed the move, but Lahoud's term was renewed. One of the parliament members that strongly opposed the renewal was Marwan Hamaded who miraculously survived an assassination attempt. Syria was accused of being behind his attempted assassination

In 2005 former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri's was assassinated and this resulted in a major drop in the number of tourists. Hariri's murder was followed by a string of political assassinations targeting anti-Syrian politicians and journalists

In 2006, Israel and Hezbollah a Shiite militia fought for 34 days, between July and August , which is peak period for the tourism season in Lebanon . 2 million tourists were expected that year but those who showed up had to flee the war devastation

In 2007 the Lebanese army battled the Fatah al Islam terrorists for 106 days ..again this took place during the tourism season between May and September

Early this year The Iranian and Syrian backed Hezbollah led opposition tried to occupy Beirut and the mountains of Lebanon . This prompted the settlement in Qatar known as the Doha Accord, which brought stability to the country

Lebanon has always been known for being a unique destination for tourists. Strategically located with a coast line of 225km along the Mediterranean Sea... it is the link between Asia, Africa and Europe. Its archeological sites range from Stone age ruins to Roman Temples ... from Crusaders Castles to Mumluk mosques. In addition, it is blessed with an ideal climate with 4 distinct seasons . With a mountain range that stretches from the north to the south and running parallel to the sea tourists during several months of the year can ski and swim within one hour. Some mountain tops are as high as 3080 meters ( over 10000 ft) above sea level. Add to this the fact that the Lebanese are well educated , speak several languages and are tourist friendly.

While the real estate market is suffering globally , in Lebanon prices of real estate are at all time high . The demand has skyrocketed since the Doha accord . Prices in certain districts of Beirut have tripled within one year and the prices are still rising . Real estate expert are of the opinion that the prices of real estate in Lebanon could double again next summer due to the high demand by Arab nationals and Lebanese expatriates