ARSAL, Lebanon, May 23 (UNHCR) – It's test day at the Arsal Public Second Shift Middle School and the students in the 8th Grade maths class are engrossed in their exam. They factor numbers, write a series of equations in the form of a single power – all in French, a language they have come to learn only since starting school here in north-east Lebanon two months ago.

"These children come to school with a deep desire for learning," says Ali Hujeiri, 55, the school principal. "They know what they've missed and now they appreciate the value of their education."

Tiny hopes for Syria

By Alma Hassoun

DAMASCUS, 19 May 2013– Five- day old Yamen takes a long stretch inside an incubator at a charity hospital in Damascus, while his mother and sister are admiring him happily through the glass door of the unit.

Yamen has in many ways become one of Syria’s smallest hopes amid vicious fighting that has damaged hospitals and taken tens of thousands of lives. His mother remains nearby, ready to breastfeed her youngest child to ensure he gets the best nutritional start to life.

05/23/2013 17:36 GMT

TRIPOLI (Liban), 23 mai 2013 (AFP) - Au moins neuf personnes ont été tuées jeudi à Tripoli, au Liban-nord, lors de violents combats entre partisans et opposants du régime syrien, a affirmé jeudi à l'AFP une source au sein des services de sécurité libanais.

"De très violents combats se sont déroulés la nuit dernière jusqu'à 05H00 (02H00 GMT), qui ont fait six morts et 40 blessés. Les accrochages et les obus ont atteint plusieurs quartiers de la ville, y compris au centre", a souligné cette source.

Inside:

• Tiny hopes for Syria
• As summer approaches, water and sanitation pose new challenges
• Schools across Jordan offer Sanctuary for Syrian child refugees
• Lighting up candles for children in the middle of darkness
• Update on Refugees by numbers
• Syrian children with disabilities resilient amid conflict
• Briefs from the field

1. Executive Summary

This report is the result of 4 weeks’ field work from April 22 to May 17 carried out in the two districts of Zgharta and Minieh-Dennieh by SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL’s (SI) outreach workers. During the assessment, the outreach team visited 21 villages and interviewing 575 of the approximately 6,300 households registered by UNHCR. It must be noted, however, that this sample may not be representative of the whole refugee population in the two districts, as the outreach teams were

05/22/2013 14:38 GMT

GENEVA, May 22, 2013 (AFP) - Urgent action is needed to protect countries bordering Syria from spillover from the spiralling civil war there, the EU's aid chief said Wednesday.

"We cannot turn the clock back on Syria, on the tragedy that has happened there, but we still might be able to protect against the flares going into the neighbourhood," humanitarian aid commissioner Kristalina Georgieva told reporters in Geneva.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Population movement – refugee numbers in the region continue to increase. Since May 1, there were more than 76,000 new refugees; at least 75% of those registered are women and children.

• Operational – Jordanian Ministry of Health and Interior Ministries agreed to relocation of new arrivals registration to Raba Sahan; health screening including immunization will occur here thus enhancing vaccination activities for new arrivals. In Lebanon, coordination skills training sessions was organized by UNHCR and OCHA on May 9.

05/22/2013 11:31 GMT

BEYROUTH, 22 mai 2013 (AFP) - Onze personnes, dont deux soldats, ont été tuées et plus de 100 autres blessées en trois jours de combats à Tripoli, dans le nord du Liban, lors de heurts entre des partisans et opposants au régime syrien, a indiqué mercredi à l'AFP une source de sécurité.