Chatter: What we're hearing

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Need to know: Lebanon has finally formed a government five months after a general election. Lebanese President Michel Suleiman announced the formation of the 30-member national-unity cabinet — comprised of five ministers chosen by Suleiman, 15 from PM-designate Saad Hariri's Western-backed coalition and the remaining 10 from the opposition, including two members of Hezbollah.

The possible collapse of the Palestinian Authority, Israel’s negotiating partner, loomed Monday, as several aides to its president, Mahmoud Abbas, said he intended to resign and forecasted that others would follow. Abbas is said to be at an  impasse at negotiations with Israel. He could be bluffing, as he has been in the past, but many feel this time might be different.

Want to know: Three young American hikers have been charged with espionage in Iran, after allegedly entering the country illegally. The trio are thought to have crossed a poorly marked border by mistake while hiking in Iraq's Kurdish region. Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he hopes the hikers can persuade Iran’s judiciary they are innocent. “Whether they are spies or not must be determined by the courts,” he said.

Dull but important: Hear what Gorbachev has to say to The Nation magazine about the historic anniversary of the Berlin Wall and the real end of the Cold War. "Without perestroika, the Cold War simply would not have ended. But the world could not continue developing as it had, with the stark menace of nuclear war ever present."

Just because: Among Kim Jong Il's idiosyncracies is his distaste for air travel, which, of course, means he travels on trains that happen to be equipped with armor, conference rooms, reception halls, bedrooms and wall-mounted TVs. The trains are accommodated by the North Korean dictator's 19 private train stations. Important to note is a recent U.N. report that estimates at least 8 million people are facing dire food shortages in North Korea.

Wacky: A wanted man in Britain sent in his own photo to a local paper in South Wales because he disliked the one they were using for his mugshot. The 23-year-old is on the run, wanted by police who are investigating a burglary, but sent the newspaper a replacement photo of himself standing in front of a police van. They obligingly printed it on the front page.

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