RUSSIAN PRESIDENT PUTIN MEETS WITH SYRIAN PRESIDENT BASHAR ASSAD

UPI Almanac for Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Syria has long claimed that it is tied to Lebanon in more ways than one. Over the last two weeks this statement has proven to be far more on the money than Syria ever would have imagined -- or hoped for -- as the wave of terrorist attacks that reared its ugly head in Lebanon has now exported itself to Syria.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- If Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni succeeds in forming a new Cabinet within the 40-day deadline accorded to her by Israeli law, she will become the next prime minister of Israel. And if she becomes prime minister, current indications are that Livni will opt to move forward in negotiating a peaceful solution between the state of Israel and the Palestinians.

DAMASCUS, Syria, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- The newly appointed Syrian ambassador to Iraq was sworn in Tuesday before President Bashar Assad, the first Syrian diplomatic post to Baghdad since 1982.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Russia is stepping up its rhetoric about redeploying its Black Sea Fleet to the Mediterranean if Ukraine pushes ahead with plans to evict it from its home port base of Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula.

MOSCOW, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Three events have come together independently. But they produced an intrigue that has hooked both politicians and media in the Middle East.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Iran seems to be gaining ground and influence in the Levant, much to the detriment of the United States, its European allies and pro-democracy movements in the region.

DAMASCUS, Syria, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Syria's foreign minister Friday said Israel's withdrawal in 1967 drew a border line which remains the basis for any peace talks between the two countries.

DAMASCUS, Syria, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Syrian leaders have proposed further indirect talks with Israel that would include U.S. representatives.

Some of the causes of violence in Iraq were due to the sectarian policies that Saddam Hussein applied in the past. The former Baath Party government advocated divisive mottoes as part of its operations against other sects and ethnic groups.