The Lebanese army denied on Wednesday that Milan anti-tank missiles delivered by France to the Lebanese army under a Saudi grant two months ago are dysfunctional.

The military said in a communique that army experts had thoroughly inspected the missiles during delivery.

Lebanon is expected to face an environmental crisis next month when a landfill which lies in the town of Naameh south of Beirut is scheduled to be closed in accordance with a government decision, An Nahar daily reported on Wednesday.

The July 17 deadline for the closure of the Naameh landfill also coincides with the expiry of the contract with Sukleen, which is responsible for collecting and transporting the garbage in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, said the newspaper.

Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas has called for joint Lebanese-Jordanian action to establish safe areas in Syria to help the refugees return to their country.

“There is a need for joint Lebanese-Jordanian work to ask for safe areas in Syria,” Derbas told An Nahar daily published on Tuesday.

A Lebanese man has been arrested in the airport of the Nigerian city of Lagos for trying to smuggle drugs to Lebanon in his boxer shorts, the head of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said Wednesday.

Yves Awad, 23, was apprehended by officials of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) with about 260 grams of cocaine at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport.

Firefighters were able to control on Monday an intense blaze that has been raging for the past few days at a warehouse in Beirut's southern suburbs neighborhood of Hadath.

Head of the Municipalities Union in Dahiyeh Mohammed Dergham told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) that firefighters contained the fire at the upper storey at Qarout Mall.

The Civil Defense and firefighters from Beirut are working on dousing a fire that broke out at a warehouse in the capital's Hadath neighborhood, reported Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) on Sunday.

The fire erupted at Qarout Mall and its warehouse on Friday and teams have been struggling to extinguish it.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale announced on Wednesday plans to build a new embassy, which he said will give the mission more space to deepen ties between the two countries.

The new facilities, which will be located next door to the current embassy in the town of Awkar, “is just one more example of the enduring partnership that exists between the United States and Lebanon,” said Hale following talks with Ambassador Charbel Wehbe at the Foreign Ministry.

Al-Mustaqbal bloc described on Friday alleged threats by Hizbullah MP Mohammed Raad against the movement's officials as an “aggression on civil peace,” saying they were a reflection of “terrorism” proliferating in the Middle East because of the party's main backer Iran.

Raad's threat to al-Mustaqbal Secretary General Ahmed Hariri and Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi, “which is assault on civil peace, is the other face of the extremist and terrorist movements that are proliferating in the region because of the way Iran behaves and orders its followers,” the bloc said in a statement.

A Lebanese man was arrested on Wednesday at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport for trying to smuggle drugs to Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported.

NNA said 22-year-old M.A. was apprehended for carrying with him 3.2 kilograms of cocaine.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has discussed with the adviser of Iran's supreme leader the latest security and political developments, Hizbullah announced on Tuesday.

Nasrallah likely met on Monday with Ali Akbar Velayati, who was in Beirut on a one-day official visit.