As-Safir (Lebanon): Bloody clashes hit heart of Beirut, block airport – Unprecedented political and security developments dramatically quickened yesterday as people in the Lebanese capital and nearby suburbs awoke to scenes reminiscent of the dark days they lived for more than 15 years. A demonstration and labor union strike translated into painful events as a result of the latest government decisions that clearly politically confronted the resistance [Hezbollah], by trying to remove its national character and regarding it as an outlawed militia.
Al-Riyadh (Saudi Arabia): Lebanon slips into armed chaos – A labor union strike paralyzed Beirut yesterday, as some of its neighborhoods became a stage for armed clashes between supporters of the opposition and ruling majority, which accused the other side of using the labor action to improve its standing. Automatic gunfire and mortar fire were used between the two sides, while the army positioned itself between the warring groups to end their clashes.
Ash-Sharq al-Awsat (London; Saudi Arabia): Erdogan speaks to Assad after foreign minister visits Israel – Syrian President Bashar Assad yesterday held a telephone conversation with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan about peace in the Middle East. Their talks followed a visit by Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan to Israel last week to brief the Israeli government on Erdogan's earlier visit to Damascus, during which he delivered a message from Israel to Assad.
Al-Wafd (Egypt): Egypt in pain – Government decisions to raise prices on fuel and other commodities, and to impose taxes on educational institutions, have triggered fierce resentment from across the Egyptian society, which describes the moves as unjust and harmful to social stability. Egyptians have called on President Hosni Mubarak to intervene to end these price hikes immediately, insisting that they mostly affect the low-income groups.
Al-Watan (Oman): New era in Russia: Presidency to Medvedev, government for Putin – Russian politics entered a new era in which Dmitry Medvedev assumed the presidency, while his boss and predecessor Vladimir Putin slightly leaves the limelight to become prime minister. Just after Medvedev was sworn in as Russia's third president, he immediately nominated Putin to head the government in an unprecedented move that raised questions over who would really be holding the reins of power in administering Russia's nuclear power and $1.3 trillion economy.