Lebanese president accepts PM resignation

Lebanon Prime Minister Najib Mikati says the government has resigned. Source: AAP

LEBANESE President Michel Suleiman has formally accepted the resignation of the prime minister, who stepped down blaming government infighting during a time of rising sectarian tensions.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati submitted his written resignation to the president after announcing he was stepping down the day before, taking the country by surprise.

Suleiman asked that his government assume a caretaking role while a new government is being formed.

Mikati's unexpected resignation throws the country into uncertainty at a critical time and threatens to leave a void in the state's highest ranks amid sporadic violence inflamed by the conflict in neighbouring Syria.

It opens the way for what is expected to be prolonged political jockeying as parliamentary blocs try to build a majority coalition to choose a new prime minister.

"I hope that this resignation will provide an opening in the existing deadlock and pave the way for a (political) solution," he said, following his meeting with Suleiman on Saturday.

Mikati has been prime minister since June 2011, heading a government dominated by the Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah and its allies.

Their main rivals are a coalition headed by former Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, son of Rafik Hariri, who was also prime minister and was killed in a truck bombing in 2005.

A Harvard-educated billionaire, Mikati was chosen to lead the government after Hezbollah forced the collapse of Lebanon's previous government over fears a UN-backed tribunal investigating the killing of the elder Hariri would indict Hezbollah members.

Mikati stepped down on Friday to protest the parliament's inability to agree on a law to govern elections set for later this year, as well as the refusal by Hezbollah and its allies in the cabinet to extend the tenure of the country's police chief, Major General Ashraf Rifi, who at 58 is about to hit the mandatory retirement age for his rank.

Rifi, like Mikati, is a Sunni Muslim who is considered a foe by Hezbollah.

In his speech on Friday, Mikati said that if Rifi is not allowed to stay on, his departure would send the police department into "a vacuum".

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Pope tells Benedict 'we're brothers'

POPE Francis has travelled to Castel Gandolfo to have lunch with his predecessor Benedict XVI in a historic melding of the papacies that has never before confronted the Catholic Church.

The Vatican said the two popes embraced on the helipad.

In the chapel where they prayed together, Benedict offered Francis the traditional kneeler used by the pope.

Francis refused to take it alone, saying "We're brothers," and the two prayed together on the same one.

Outside the villa, the main piazza of Castel Gandolfo was packed on Saturday with well-wishers hoping to catch a glimpse of history - two popes breaking bread together and presumably discussing the future of the Catholic Church.

They chanted "Francesco! Francesco!".

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said he understands Benedict offered his pledge of obedience to the new pope, while Francis thanked Benedict for his ministry.

He said they both wore white, though Benedict was in a simple cassock without the traditional sash and cape worn by Francis.

Benedict has been living at the papal summer villa since he resigned on February 28, the first pope to step down in 600 years.

He has said he plans to live out his final years in prayer and remain "hidden from the world".

Benedict's dramatic departure that day - flying by helicopter from the helipad in the Vatican gardens with his weeping secretary by his side and circling St Peter's Square in a final goodbye - is one of the most evocative images of this remarkable papal transition.

The Vatican is downplaying the luncheon in keeping with Benedict's desire to remain in private and not interfere with his successor's papacy.

There was to be no live coverage of the private meeting by Vatican television, only a few still photos from the official Vatican photographer and perhaps a video released after the fact.

The Vatican said Benedict was at the helipad in the villa gardens to welcome Francis, and that the two were meeting in Benedict's library and having lunch together.

Francis will then return to his makeshift home at the Vatican hotel at an unspecified time later in the day.

The Vatican spokesman promised a general comment about the meeting, but no detailed statement.

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Imran Khan rallies thousands in Pakistan

PAKISTANI cricket star-turned politician Imran Khan has rallied around 100,000 supporters in the eastern city of Lahore ahead of general elections.

Khan is shaping up to be the biggest wildcard in the May 11 parliamentary election - the first transition between democratically elected governments in a country that has experienced three military coups.

Casting himself as an anti-corruption crusader, the 60-year-old is seen as a threat to the two long-dominant parties as evidenced by the huge crowds that turned out on Saturday to support him.

Khan polls as the country's most popular politician by a wide margin.

But it's uncertain how effective he will be in converting his personal appeal into votes for his party.

Much of Khan's support has come from young, middle class Pakistanis in the country's major cities, a potentially influential group.

Almost half of Pakistan's more than 80 million registered voters are under the age of 35, but the key question is whether Khan can get his young supporters to show up at the polling booth on election day.

"This is going to swing the election," Khan said in an interview before the rally.

"The youth is standing with us and change."

Khan, one of the few Pakistani politicians with a squeaky-clean image, broke into the political mainstream in the last 18 months with a message that capitalises on widespread discontent with the country's traditional politicians.

They are seen as more interested in lining their pockets than dealing with pressing problems facing Pakistan, such as stuttering economic growth, pervasive energy shortages and deadly attacks by Islamist militants.

On foreign policy, he has also struck a chord by criticising Pakistan's unpopular alliance with the United States and controversial drone attacks targeting militants in the country's tribal region that borders Afghanistan.

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China asks France to protect its tourists

BEIJING has urged French authorities to better protect Chinese tourists known for their big spending habits, citing "concern" over recent attacks on visitors to Paris.

The country's National Tourism Administration - which reports directly to the government - made the call after 23 Chinese tourists travelling in a group were robbed soon after they arrived at Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport outside Paris.

"Their passports, plane tickets and cash were stolen and the group leader sustained an injury to the face," the organisation said in a statement published by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

It called on French authorities to bring to justice those who assaulted the tourists on Wednesday, and to ensure an "effective protection" of Chinese visitors in France.

France has long been considered a dream destination in China, where it is often lovingly portrayed as the country of "romance".

But that dream has recently turned into a nightmare for some Chinese tourists, who have been victims of violent robberies and other aggressions.

Chinese media has in recent weeks reported on several such incidents.

More than one million Chinese tourists visit France every year, according to the Chinese tourism administration.

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