PARIS: Iranian authorities released a young French academic who was accused of spying on bail, the French presidency announced, after she spent six weeks in Tehran's notorious Evin jail. University teaching assistant Clotilde Reiss, 24, was arrested in Tehran on July 1 after taking part in post-election street protests.She will now have to stay at the French embassy in Tehran while she awaits the verdict in her trial, which was heard on August 8. Her father Remi Reiss said the young academic was "very happy" after being freed and seemed well.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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