Lebanon ? Lebanon and Syria formally established diplomatic relations Wednesday for the first time since they won their independence in the 1940s, a historic move that was overshadowed by a bombing in the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli in which 18 people were killed.

The morning rush-hour attack on a commuter bus came as a reminder of the threat of instability still hanging over Lebanon even as a series of peace initiatives in the country and the region appear to be unwinding tensions on multiple fronts. One of those initiatives is the diplomatic rapprochement between Lebanon and Syria, aimed at defusing longstanding friction between the two countries.