owned pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat were attacked by protestors on Friday evening. The protesters claimed they were doing so in response to a critical cartoon which appeared in Friday's newspaper. The cartoon shows an image of the Lebanese flag with a caption that says: "The Lebanese state... April fools" Earlier today, the Dubai-based Al Arabiya News Channel announced it was closing its Beirut office, citing security reasons. — Al Arabiya