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Protesters seeking recognition of civil marriages took to the streets in Beruit Sunday to make their voices heard.

Lebanon is divided between Christianity and Islam, making inter-religious couples decide whether they will marry in a church or a mosque. The protest sought to gain civil marriages, ridding the country of religious tugs-of-war.

The "divisive sectarian system," as BBC reports, has been the status quo since the 15-year-long civil war in Lebanon, starting in 1975.

More than 2,000 protesters joined in on the march.

Al-Jazeera reports that social networking sites were utilized to organize the event.

Said Shaito, one of the march's organizers said, "We are for citizenship, which is being Lebanese, not Muslim or Christian. We want people to talk about it, to create a public debate in Lebanon."

Over sixty-three thousand flights have been canceled in the past four days, according to BBC News. The cancellations come after a volcano in Iceland erupted last week, spreading ash through most of Europe's airways.

Millions of travelers were left stranded while waiting out the ash.

Over twenty countries in northern Europe was put under a no-fly zone over the weekend, but the Spanish Minister for Europe Diego Lopez Garrido said half the flights could resume Sunday.

However, Eurocontrol told BBC that despite half the landmass in Europe had cleared, flights were still not advised to go through those areas.

Test flights have since been sent out to check out the visibility.

"We observed no irregularities either during the flight or during the initial inspection on the ground," KLM's Peter Hartman told Al-Jazeera. "We hope to receive permission as soon as possible after that to start up our operation and to transport our passengers to their destinations."

Wind patterns later this week are expected to help blow away the ash, allowing for flights to continue as regularly scheduled.

Nine Italians were arrested in Afghanistan Sunday for an alleged plot to kill Gulab Mangal, the governor of the province Helmand.

Three of the nine arrested are medical workers who worked at a Milan-based charity hospital in Lashkar Gah. They were wearing suicide bomb vests and had weapons at the hospital. The other six arrestees worked at the hospital as security guards, clerks and translators.

It is alleged that Emergency staff received $500,000 to kill Gulab Mangal.

The charity hospital, Emergency, says its employees are innocent.

Emergency said this in a statement:

Emergency spokeswoman claims the group arrested has no ties with the Taliban.

"It sounds quite ridiculous that they would be involved in any plot. They have spent the last few years in Afghanistan, helping and treating people for free," Cecilia Strada told Al-Jazeera.

A group of men dressed in Iraqi army uniforms shot and killed at least 25 people in a village south of Baghdad. According to Iraqi officials, the killers stormed 5 homes and opened fire.

The shooting was in Albusaifi, Iraq, which is dubbed a "Sunni enclave" by Al-Jazeera.

According to Iraqi police the victims, five of which were women, were handcuffed and shot in the head leaving them brutalized "beyond recognition."

A Baghdad security spokesman told Al-Jazeera a few of the victims were members of the Sons of Iraq, U.S.-allied Sunnis who fight al-Qaeda.

Saad al-Muyalibi, an Iraqi government official, said the killings could be political but not linked to the recent election.

24 people have been arrested after the shooting with links to al-Qaeda.

President Barack Obama made a trip to the Afghanistan capital Kabul to thank U.S. troops.

"My main job here today is to say thank you on behalf of the entire American people," Obama said in his speech at Bagram air base.

In December, Obama called for a surge of 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan of which only a few thousand have made it to the country.

In the past 14 months Obama has been in office he has nearly doubled the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan. This visit marks Obama's first since taking oath.

President Obama also met with Afghan president Hamid Karzai Sunday, praising him for the progress Afghanistan has made.

"The American people are encouraged by the progress that has been made," Obama said. He urged Karzai to "continue to make progress" in the fight against corruption in the country.

The White House said they want Karzai to take more control since Obama has taken most control over the war in Afghanistan.

"The White House feels that that [Obama taking "ownership" of the war in Afghanistan] has not really happened as far as President Karzai is concerned and they want to stress that he take more of a commander-in-chief role in the future."

A bogus TV news report showing Russia invading Georgia sent the country into panic Sunday.

The report, aired on Imedi, showed Russian tanks invading Georgia's capitol. The report also stated Georgia's president was dead.

The report displayed a cautionary "simulation" tag as a forewarning of what could happen but according to Al-Jazeera, the report itself appeared to be genuine.

Georgy Arveladze, head of Georgia Media Production Holding, which owns Imedi, told Reuters that the aim of the report was to show the "real threat" of what could happen in Georgia. Imedi is recognized as a pro-government media channel in Georgia.

The news report has been interpreted as criticism of Georgian president Saakashvili's opponents who called for Georgia and Russia to mend their bridges after meeting with Vladimir Putin recently.

Imedi has since apologized for running the false news report after demonstrations against the channel Sunday.

Iran's defense minister General Ahmad Vahid announced Sunday that a line of new ground-to-air missiles called the Nasr 1 has been produced.

The new missile is able to "destroy 3,000 ton targets," Vahid said. The missiles will soon be able to be launched from helicopters and submarines, thus strengthening Iran's naval power, he said.

Vahid opened two new missile production plants in February, Qaem and Toofan 5, which make ground-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles respectively.

Iran continues to deny seeking nuclear weapons despite its missiles that can target Israel.

An 8.8-magnitude earthquake hit Chile Saturday, in what the Chilean government calls one of the worst hits the country's ever faced.

Chilean president Michelle Bachelet said the death toll from the earthquake reached 708 and is expected to rise, placing the country in a "state of catastrophe."

Concepción, one of the hardest hit cities during the earthquake, is said to be running low on food. Looters in Concepción are facing military force for attempting to steal from supermarkets, according to Al-Jazeera.

Curfews are being enforced in Concepcíon and Maule, beginning at 2100 local time, according to BBC's report.

It is also reported that more than 60 aftershocks went through Chile after the initial hit.

US and British officials sent out aid despite Chile not requesting help with the immediate relief efforts.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has plenty on her agenda for a three-day trip to Qatar to garner support for the West's propositions of implementing sanctions for Iran's nuclear program.

Clinton had to delay her trip one day as her husband Bill underwent a medical procedure at a New York hospital, BBC says.

US President Barack Obama visited Egypt last June, calling for a "fresh start in relations with the Muslim world," Al-Jazeera reports. Clinton's speech is expected to be a follow-up on the same theme, focusing on Israeli-Palestinian peace agreements.

Clinton is expected to meet with Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jasim al-Thani, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah and foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.

A big piece of her agenda for her first ever trip to Saudi Arabia is to assure the Chinese that sanctions against Iran would not impose any loss of revenue, said BBC reporter Kim Ghattas.

Clinton will speak Sunday at the US-Islamic World Forum, which is held by the Qatari government and the Brookings Institution from Washington.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered the Atomic Energy Organization to start "enriching uranium."

"I [ask] Dr Salehi to start work on the production of 20 per cent fuel using centrifuges," Ahmadinejad said on Iran television Sunday.

Ahmadinejad also said he will "hand over an official letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency tomorrow, informing the agency that we will start making 20 per cent enriched fuel from Tuesday."

Robert Gates, US defense secretary said, "If the international community will stand together and bring pressure to bear on the Iranian government, I believe there is still time for sanctions and [diplomatic] pressure to work," in a statement Sunday.

According to BBC news reports, Ahmadinejad's move comes after an offer from Western world powers to have Iran trade their uranium for nuclear fuel out of fear that Iran will muscle out nuclear weapons with their uranium. Iran maintains a peaceful stance on nuclear fuel issues, however.

The P5+1 (a coalition of UN Security Council members, including the U.S.) made a proposal with the IAEA to Iran back in March 2009 in regards to fears surrounding nuclear ammunition being used in Iran's military. Iran declined the terms of the proposal.

Some analysts say Iran lacks the knowledge to construct nuclear fuel rods but the news coming from Iran about uranium enrichment could bump Iran to manufacture "weapons-grade material."

Finally, the Los Angeles Times reports the Coordinating Council of Reform Front, will have supporters hit the streets this Thursday to "call for a return to ideals and principles instead of jail, violence and confrontation with the nation" during Ahmadinejad's upcoming speech in Tehran's Azadi Square.