The committee tasked by the Bkirki Maronite Summit to follow up on the issue of drafting a new electoral law stressed Friday during talks with President Michel Suleiman its “keenness on real national partnership among the country’s components.”

It also emphasized its “adherence to coexistence, pluralism and equal power-sharing,” according to a statement it issued after the meeting at the Baabda Palace.

Obesity among children andadults has almost doubled over the past 15 years, something which could alsoincrease the prevalence of chronic diseases in the next generations, warnedresearchers at the American University of Beirut.

During a special half-dayseminar held at AUB on January 20, 2012, the latest results of a three-yearcollaborative study on undernutrition and obesity were disseminated.

Following the success of their first CD ''Daw L Baladiyyi'', released

in summer 2011, Lebanese pop/folk band ADONIS will be premiering the

The Israeli army has changed its operational assessment “regarding the threat from Lebanon and is currently working under the assumption that Hizbullah has obtained sophisticated long-range surface-to-air missile systems from Syria,” the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post reported Thursday.

“According to Western intelligence assessments, Hizbullah is believed to have taken advantage of the ongoing upheaval in Syria to obtain advanced weapons systems, such as additional long-range rockets as well as Russian-made air-defense systems,” TJP said.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Thursday held talks in Doha with Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani on the latest developments in the region.

During his visit to Qatar, Jumblat told the Doha-based satellite broadcaster Al-Jazeera that “violence will only breed violence in Syria,” reiterating his warning that the revolt-hit country might descend into a “civil war.”

Protests erupted on Thursday at Roumieh prison's ward B after security forces arrested a lady who was trying to smuggle mobile phones into the prison.

“Prisoners have reportedly took a number of guards hostage seeking to swap them for the held lady,” Voice of Lebanon radio station (93.3) reported.

The cabinet on Wednesday voted against the wage hike plan proposed by Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas, adopted instead a “legalized” version of the agreement reached at the Baabda Palace between the General Labor Confederation and the Economic Committees under Premier Najib Miqati’s sponsorship.

According to the approved plan, the minimum wage would become LL675,000 -- a sum that excludes transportation benefits -- while 100% increase would be added on the first bracket of salaries (LL400,000) and 9% on the second bracket.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon announced via Twitter on Wednesday that United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon will decide on how long its mandate will be extended after consulting with the Lebanese government and Security Council.

It said: “The agreement between the U.N. and Lebanon states that our mandate will be renewed if our work is not finished. Our work is not finished yet.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday accused Hizbullah and its main regional ally Iran of supporting the Syrian regime's violent crackdown on the country's uprising.

Cameron told lawmakers in the House of Commons that both were offering backing to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Hizbullah denied on Wednesday accusations that it had shelled the Syrian area of al-Zabadani with Katyusha rockets, deeming such claims as “silly and laughable.”

It said in a statement: “These accusations are part of a campaign to incite the public against the party.”