PARIS (Reuters) – France and the United States worked together to oust Syria from Lebanon and, despite tactical differences due to divergent agendas in the region, they agree who is to blame for the current crisis — Hizbollah.

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil slipped below $74 a barrel on Monday due to diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict in the Middle East, a region that pumps almost a third of the world’s oil.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon will need billions of dollars in aid to recover from Israel’s war with Hizbollah, which has ruined many civil installations, hit tourism, forced businesses to close and forced hundreds of thousands to flee.