Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday lashed out at a speech given by Israeli Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations General Assembly, Saying it was filled with “contempt” and “grudge.”

“Hizbullah doesn’t preside over the U.N. Security Council nor do President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister (Najib Miqati), but Lebanon does the state that was slaughtered (by Israel) in 1996,” Berri said in a statement.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon encouraged on Thursday Lebanon to invest in its natural resources that are located in areas that are not under dispute, reported As Safir newspaper on Saturday.

It revealed that Ban “surprised” the Lebanese delegation in New York by bringing up the issue of U.N. Security Council resolution 1559, especially regarding the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon.

The Palestinians' attempt to get the U.N. Security Council to recognize their statehood is headed towards a "dead end", France's Foreign Minister Alain Juppe warned Friday in a television interview.

Separately, Juppe's spokesman said France's suggestion that Palestine be given an intermediate status as a United Nations observer nation remained on the table, despite what he said were "Israeli reservations".

U.S. Military Commander Brig. Gen. Kenneth Tovo discussed with Lebanese army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji military cooperation between the two countries as well as Lebanon’s initiatives to implement its obligations under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701.

Tovo held a meeting with Qahwaji in the presence of U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly in Yarze, An Nahar newspaper reported on Friday.

The UNIFIL held a festival of Lebanese homemade traditional food and handicrafts at its headquarters in Naqoura on Wednesday to mark the 30th International Day of Peace.

Local authorities, religious leaders, representatives of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the international community were present at the ceremony were

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday that he isn’t after a “confrontation” with the United States or any other country over a bid for U.N. membership of a Palestinian state.

“The Palestinian people have the right to have a recognized state in the international community. This is our right,” Abbas told An Nahar.

Jordan's King Abdullah II has warned that Israel's stance in peace talks with the Palestinian is fuelling instability in the Middle East, in remarks published Tuesday in The Wall Street Journal.

"If we can't get the Israelis and Palestinians together in this next couple of days, then what signal is that for the future process?" King Abdullah asked in a WSJ interview in New York ahead of the U.N. General Assembly.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday urged Russia to support a "strong statement" at the U.N. Security Council over Syria's crackdown on protests, senior U.S. officials said Monday.

In her talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Clinton expressed "our interest in seeing the Security Council go on record with a strong statement on Syria," a senior administration official said on condition of anonymity.

Members of the Palestinian parliament in exile met in Ramallah on Monday to show support for the campaign to seek full membership in the United Nations, a senior official said.

Some 50 members of the Palestinian National Council, which has 669 seats and represents Palestinians worldwide, met at al-Amari refugee camp.

President Michel Suleiman is expected to hold talks next week with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy during his trip to New York, revealed western diplomatic sources to the daily al-Mustaqbal Sunday.

They said that the talks will tackle Lebanon’s obligation to fund the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.