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KFAR FALLOUS, Lebanon: Two Palestinians incurred moderate injuries Tuesday after their motorcycle collided into a car on a main road in Jezzine, south Lebanon. Lebanese Red Cross ambulances rushed Mahmoud Mohammad al-Abbasi, 21, and Khaled Mohammad al-Asadi, 22, to a hospital in the southern coastal city of Sidon for treatment after the motorcycle they were on collided into a car …

LONDON: An official says already tight restrictions on private jets and microlights flying over London will be expanded during the Olympics. Paul Haskins runs the London terminal controls of the National Air Traffic Services. He said Sunday that the zone surrounding London from which private planes, hot air balloons and microlights are banned will increase by up to 30 miles …

LONDON: Watch out, Eiffel Tower. Lights are coming to London’s Orbit. London’s Legacy Development Corporation says the AcelorMittal Orbit tower, which looks like a squashed roller coaster next to Olympic Stadium – will be decked out in 250 color spotlights that will make it a “beacon of east London.” The lights will be wound through the 114.5 meter (375-foot) ruby red tower and become …

DAMASCUS: Syrian forces pounded the city of Rastan with shells on Sunday after routing rebel fighters from nearby Homs, monitors said, as the Red Cross awaited the go-ahead to evacuate wounded from the battered region. The assault on mainly rebel-held Rastan came as China urged all parties in Syria to “unconditionally” end the violence and a monitoring group said 44 …

JERUSALEM: Israel’s foreign minister says the international community’s failure to stop the violence in Syria shows it cannot keep Israel safe. Avigdor Lieberman says the inability of international leaders and aid workers to alleviate “systematic murder of innocent civilians” in Syria “challenges all the promises of the international community that they are responsible for our security.” Lieberman spoke Sunday on Israel Radio. His comments come as the United States tries to convince Israel to rely …

TEHRAN: Iran is stepping up its military and intelligence support for Syrian government troops in their crackdown against opposition strongholds, The Washington Post reported late Saturday. Citing three unnamed US officials with access to intelligence reports from the region, the newspaper said Tehran had increased supplies of arms and other aid for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad as he is trying crush resistance in the key city of Homs. “The aid from Iran is increasing, and is increasingly …

TEHRAN: Under intense Western pressure over its disputed nuclear program, declared an initial turnout of 65 percent in a parliamentary election shunned by most reformists as a sham. Iran’s Islamic clerical leadership is eager to restore the damage to its legitimacy caused by the violent crushing of eight months of street protests after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election in a 2009 …

BEIRUT: Education minister Hassan Diab was admitted to the American University Hospital (AUH) early Saturday morning and is undergoing treatment, according to a statement issued by his press office. The statement, which did not specify the reasons for his admittance, added that he appears to be in stable condition.