Top news: Lebanese troops fanned out across Beirut on Monday in response to deadly sectarian clashes following the assassination of a top intelligence official, Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan, in a car bomb in the capital on Friday. Hassan, a Sunni Muslim, was a vocal critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a member of the Shiite-based Alawite sect. Some opposition figures in Lebanon have blamed the attack on the Syrian government.    

The violence and political instability in the country has renewed concerns about the civil war in Syria spilling over into Lebanon. In a statement on Monday, the Lebanese army promised to "take decisive measures, especially in areas with rising religious and sectarian tensions, to prevent Lebanon [from] being transformed again into a place for regional settling of scores." 

Meanwhile, in Damascus, a car bomb killed 13 people on Sunday according to Syrian state media, as U.N. and Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the capital. Brahimi is trying to establish a ceasefire in the country during the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.   

Iran: On Saturday, the New York Times, citing anonymous Obama administration officials, reported that Iran and the United States had "agreed in principle for the first time to one-on-one negotiations over Iran's nuclear program" and that Iranian officials are demanding that the talks take place after the U.S. presidential election. The White House denied that a final deal had been struck but said it was open to a bilateral meeting, while the Iranian Foreign Ministry dismissed the report.