SRIFA, Southern Lebanon, 27 April (IPS) - Close to a million unexploded bombs are estimated to litter southern Lebanon, according to UN forces engaged in the hazardous task of removing them. The United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) was created by the Security Council in 1978 to confirm an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and restore international peace and security. After the war last year it has a new job on its hands. Read more about One Unexploded Bomb Per Person 

BEIRUT, 24 April 2007 (IRIN) - Lebanese activists are calling on the United Nations and the Lebanese government to increase pressure on Damascus to release final details of the whereabouts and fate of more than 600 Lebanese missing in Syrian jails since the 1970s. As a sit-in protest in front of UN House in Beirut by the families of the missing detainees enters its third year, activists are calling on the UN to consider the missing prisoner cases as part of the implementation of a series of Security Council resolutions. Read more about Families of missing detainees in Syrian prisons demand action 

BEIRUT, Apr 25 (IPS) - Lebanon is caught in political gridlock in the face of sustained opposition to the U.S.-backed government. The government is refusing to give in to opposition demands for more representation. The government says it is there to stay; so do the protestors. Their opposition is very visible. Scores of tents, many with solar powered television sets, wooden walls and doors, and cooking facilities fill several huge parking lots at the foot of the heavily barricaded headquarters of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s government. Read more about This Protest Won't Go Away 

In a time of political upheaval and economic crisis following the July-August 2006 Israeli war on Lebanon, we constantly think of the young Lebanese who have lost hope in their mother country, resorting to what they believe is their only solution: deserting Lebanon. It would be foolish to pretend we cannot understand, as we also feel disheartened and find ourselves temporarily drawn to the thesis of a chaotic Lebanon struck by brain drain. Read more about The emigration of Lebanese youth: National hemorrhage or national treasure? 

Estimates for the number of Iraqis who have fled to Lebanon ever since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 vary. While the Beirut office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that approximately 40,000 Iraqis are currently in Lebanon, security officials the Lebanese Ministry of Internal Affairs say they believe the number is actually closer to 100,000. Lebanon not being a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, many Iraqis do not register with UNHCR and live in fear of detention and deportation back to Iraq. Read more about Invisible lives: Iraqis in Lebanon 

This week U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi concluded her visit to the Middle East in Damascus, Syria, to which President George W. Bush’s response was that her visit “sends mixed messages.” While Pelosi’s delegation to the region should be met with applause for refusing to participate in isolating Syria, her visit to Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria should be met with a great deal of caution. Twice in the last month Pelosi delivered a speech — of more or less the same message — before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) annual policy conference and before the Israeli Knesset. Read more about Pelosi's Misguided Middle East Visit 

BEIRUT, 29 March 2007 (IRIN) - Electoral reform would combat the sectarianism that blights Lebanon and provide an exit from its political crisis, NGO’s say. Three civil society groups have stepped up a campaign for the adoption of a draft electoral law they say would create a stable democracy that is less prone to shocks. A four-month stand-off between the Sunni-dominated government and its opponents, led by Shia political party Hezbollah, has raised fears of civil war. Read more about Campaigners push electoral reform to end sectarian politics