It's been an almost endless summer in Lebanon, with beach weather and relative political harmony continuing well into November. The only thing marring what could have been a perfect year for a country more accustomed to serving as a battleground in regional power struggles was the fact that Lebanon has had no government since parliamentary elections in June. That was until Monday, when the majority U.S.-backed political bloc and its rivals in the Syria- and Iran-backed minority coalition finally ...

Airline pilots and cabin crew across Europe are holding demonstrations Monday to protest over rules governing their flying hours which they say are putting the lives of passengers at risk. LONDON, England (CNN) -- Airline pilots and cabin crew across Europe are holding demonstrations Monday to protest over rules governing their flying hours which they say are putting the lives of passengers at risk. Organized by the European Cockpit Association (ECA), and the European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF), ...

With the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall being commemorated on Nov. 9, Germany is in a celebratory mood. The once divided city of Berlin and the former East German cities of Leipzig and Dresden, among others, are staging events to mark their key roles in the peaceful revolution that swept away the old Deutsche Demokratische Republik, or D.D.R. Celebrations begin a month early in Leipzig, where Oct. 9 is the resonant date. On that night ...

Iran's hardline regime sharply escalated the post-election confrontation on August 8 by putting two foreign embassy staffers and a French teacher on trial alongside dozens of political dissidents. The stepped-up campaign to characterize the widespread unrest since the June 12 presidential election as a foreign-led attempted "soft overthrow" appears to be an effort by the ruling faction to rally the increasingly-splintered conservative base against a popular — and old — enemy: the West. Following on the heels of ...

On the morning of the inauguration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to his second term, the regime knew it had the upper hand. Baharestan Square, next to the Majlis, the Iranian parliament, is not a good place to hold a protest rally. The space is small and the streets around it are large, easily filled with cops who can then see everyone and everything that tries to approach. One witness said there were three soldiers in full riot gear for every ...

John William Yettaw, the American facing charges in Myanmar for visiting the compound of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, has been admitted to hospital after suffering convulsions. Yettaw, 53, was admitted Monday night to Yangon General Hospital, according to staff. Myanmar's ruling junta accused Yettaw of trespassing and violating immigration laws after a May 3 incident in which he allegedly swam across a lake and stayed at Suu Kyi's home for two days, violating the terms of her house ...

An opposition candidate in Iran's disputed presidential election blasted what he called the "thoughtless and clear lies" of the country's security forces Sunday, while students mounted new demonstrations at a university in Shiraz. Former parliament speaker Mehdi Karrubi, who ran last in the June 12 election, compared government claims that it had not attacked his supporters to the statements that came out of the Iranian monarchy in the days before the 1979 revolution that established the Islamic republic, according to ...

An Iranian family learned of their 19-year-old son's death nearly a month after he was shot during a demonstration over the Islamic republic's disputed election results, an international human rights group said Sunday. Sohrab Aarabi was apparently shot dead June 15 during one of the bloody protests that followed the June 12 presidential elections, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. At least 20 protesters were killed in the chaos and more than 1,000 were ...

What would you ask the cast of "Harry Potter" if you had the chance? In an interview with the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Maj. Gen. Esmaeel Ahmadi Moghadam said authorities would confront protesters and that no demonstration permit had been issued for Thursday, the 10th anniversary of a 1999 student uprising that, at the time, posed the biggest threat to the Islamic regime since its inception in 1979. Tehran's governor Morteza Tamaddon issued a similar warning as the ...

The commander of Iran's security forces warned that police would "strongly confront" anyone planning to protest Thursday, a day that marks the anniversary of a pivotal point in Iran's reformist movement. In an interview with the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Maj. Gen. Esmaeel Ahmadi Moghadam said authorities would confront protesters and that no demonstration permit had been issued for Thursday, the 10th anniversary of a 1999 student uprising that, at the time, posed the biggest threat to the ...