When Kholoud Sukkariyah and Nidal Darwish married in defiance of Lebanon's ban on civil unions, they had no idea their initiative would attract so much support from fellow citizens -- and even the president.

The entire process took nearly a year and was done in secret to sidestep political obstacles.

Around 50 protesters from Kfardebian briefly blocked the main road of the mountain town on Thursday to protest a visit to a ski resort by controversial Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir.

Kfardebian municipal chief Jean Aqiqi told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) that the road was blocked “out of fears of the consequences that Sheikh al-Asir and his group could have on the tourism season.”

A huge fire broke out on Thursday at a grocery and liquor store in the southern town of Jadra, reported the National News Agency.

It said that despite the efforts of the Civil Defense teams, the contents of the entire store were damaged by the fire, whose causes remain unknown.

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil lauded Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea's stance in balancing fair representation in the next parliamentary elections with the problematic issue of disarmament, describing Geagea's position as “historic.”

“We might have doubted the stances of the Lebanese Forces before, but not anymore,” said Bassil, a member of the March 8 Free Patriotic Movement, in an interview to the al-Akhbar daily Thursday.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat on Thursday expressed understanding of Christian fears from demographic changes but reiterated his warning from an electoral draft-law that causes further sectarian divisions among the Lebanese.

In remarks to As Safir daily, Jumblat said: “We understand the Christian worries from the demographic change but it is unacceptable to confront the minimum level of consensus” reached among different factions in return “for a law that would further cause national divide.”

One person was injured on Wednesday when a cement truck fell off the bridge near the Nahr al-Mot highway, north of Beirut, Lebanese Red Cross Operations Director George Kettaneh said.

The driver of the truck was wounded when he lost control of his vehicle and fell on a taxi parked underneath the bridge, he said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has reportedly stressed that “nothing could separate” him from his al-Mustaqbal movement ally in the March 14 opposition alliance.

“Nothing and no one can separate us and we are keen on our ties with al-Mustaqbal movement as much as we have keenness on the best representation (guaranteed by) an electoral draft-law,” Geagea's visitors quoted him as saying.

Army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji is scheduled to visit Paris this weekend to appeal for military aid and discuss ways to improve cooperation between the two countries, al-Joumhouria reported on Thursday.

The newspaper said that Qahwaji's official visit at the head of a delegation will include talks with top French military officials on measures to provide aid to the Lebanese army.

Lebanon will ask for 270 million dollars during a donor conference in Kuwait on January 30 to meet the demands of refugees escaping the violence in Syria, a ministerial source said Thursday.

The source told An Nahar newspaper that only 60 million dollars have been so far donated by some European countries.

The Free Syrian Army denied on Wednesday the death of the abductor of the 11 Lebanese pilgrims in Syria.

"Abu Ibrahim is still alive and he is being treated from a minor injury in a Turkish hospital,” FSA's Political and Media Coordinator Louay Meqdad told Future television.