U.S. President Barack Obama granted Lebanon a waiver to allow the continuation of U.S. assistance to Lebanon, which was at risk of being blocked due to Lebanon’s Tier Three ranking in the 2011 Trafficking in Persons Report, said the U.S. Embassy in a statement on Tuesday.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly informed Prime Minister Najib Miqati of Obama’s decision on October 4.

The military court sentenced on Tuesday ten Lebanese and Palestinians to several years of hard labor for planning to target the Lebanese army and United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

They were also accused of belonging to a terrorism group, attacking civil and military institutions, and possessing arms and explosives that they used to terrorize people and attack UNIFIL.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has described Lebanon’s pluralism as a “treasure” but warned against what he called “the illness of loyalties” to other countries both in the East and West.

At a ceremony held in his honor in the city of Cleveland in the U.S. state of Ohio on Monday, al-Rahi said: “Pluralism is a big treasure for Lebanon and what distinguishes Lebanon is its plurality.”

A prominent Lebanese-American businessman, who says he spent two years as an "economic hostage" in Qatar, has left the Persian Gulf nation and expects to return this week to his family in the United States.

Forty-seven-year-old Nasser Beydoun joined a Qatari investment group in 2007 to become chief executive officer of the Wataniya Restaurants chain.

The house of a Lebanese villager in the northern town of Hnaider was hit by two rockets that came from the Syrian side of the border in the area of Wadi Khaled, Voice of Lebanon radio station (93.3) reported Tuesday.

VDL said that the rockets hit the home of Khaled al-Assaad on Monday night but did not cause any casualties.

The replacement of Judge Antonio Cassese as president of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri triggered wide reactions locally amid controversy on the payment of Lebanon’s share from the tribunal’s budget.

“Judge Baragwanath has been appointed by the STL since March 2009, and has attended all the Appeal Chambers’ meeting,” tribunal spokesman Marten Youssef told An Nahar on Tuesday.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri is holding on to the March 14 coalition and to equality in distributing of powers between Muslims and Christians, An Nahar newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Former MP Bassem al-Sabaa told al-Mustaqbal leadership during a meeting led by head of the party’s parliamentary bloc Fouad Saniora that Hariri voices his support to the Taef accord.

Former Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir on Monday said that if he made a trip to Syria, it could have interpreted that he is following its policies, whereas he only adheres to the Lebanese path.

In an interview to Future News, Sfeir expressed his belief that the Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi's positions match those of the Vatican.

Syria's Grand Mufti Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun, the country's highest religious authority, has warned Europe, the United States and Israel of suicide bombings if they attack his country.

"From the first round fired, the sons of Syria and Lebanon will become fighters who will carry out suicide attacks on the land of Europe and Palestine," the mufti said in a speech viewed on the Internet video-sharing website YouTube.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat condemned on Monday the riots that have taken place in Egypt over the weekend, voicing his confidence in the Egyptian security forces’ ability in restoring stability.

He warned in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “It’s necessary to prevent the unrest from developing into sectarian strife.”