President Aoun says he is intervening in stalled effort to form government

Lebanese President Aoun said on Tuesday he was intervening in stalled efforts to form a new national unity government, warning the country faced "catastrophe" if this failed.

"We are launching an initiative ... and it has to succeed, because if it doesn't ... there is a catastrophe, we want to say it with all frankness, and this is the reason for my intervention," Aoun said in a televised news conference.