Hasan Awada, the municipal chief of the southern town of Yaroun, was wounded on Monday when a blast ripped through his car as he was driving it in the Tyre area of al-Housh, state-run National News Agency reported.

Security forces immediately cordoned off the area and launched an investigation into the incident, NNA said.

The Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch arrested two people on suspicion of their involvement in the kidnapping of a Lebanese businessman in early February, security sources said Thursday.

The sources told al-Liwaa newspaper that Ali Aa, 52, and his cousin, were arrested in the area of Tyre in southern Lebanon on the suspicion of abducting Najib Youssef on Feb. 5.

A wealthy businessman kidnapped on Tuesday in the Tyre region was released on Sunday evening, a media report said.

“Abductee Najib Youssef has been released and handed over to the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau in Beirut,” al-Jadeed television reported.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly visited Tyre yesterday to promote the protection of cultural property and visit project sites under the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation, the U.S. embassy said on Wednesday.

During her visit, she met with the Mayor of Tyre, Hasan Dbouq, the head of the Union of Tyre Region Municipalities, Abdul Mohsen al-Husseini, Dr. Ali Khalil Badawi, Director of Antiquities for South Lebanon with the Ministry of Culture, and members of the Tyre Municipal Council.

Kidnappers are demanding a 3-million-dollar ransom in return for freeing a Lebanese businessman abducted in the southern city of Tyre, the National News Agency and Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) reported on Wednesday.

NNA said that Najib Youssef, 66, was heading on Tuesday afternoon from his house in Bourj al-Shamali in his four-wheel Cadillac to a land he owns in Abou Aswad when several gunmen took him away.

An explosion targeted on Thursday a liquor store in the southern town of Sarafand, causing only material damage, media reports said.

According to LBCI, the store belongs to Hassan Assaili.

The storm that has been hitting Lebanon since Saturday has caused millions of dollars in damages throughout Lebanon.

The Beirut southern suburb of Hay al-Sellom has been described as a “disaster area.” Flood waters from al-Ghadir River invaded homes and shops, turning the streets into ponds and wreaking havoc in the impoverished area.

Several investors in the southern city of Tyre have reportedly become victims of embezzlement, radio Voice of Lebanon said on Thursday.

"Saleh Basma and Chawqy Arab pretended to be businessmen and cheated their victims into depositing $8 million,” VDL explained, adding that the depositors thought their money will be invested.

Thousands of Hizbullah supporters protested Wednesday in the southern city of Tyre against a U.S.-made film mocking Islam and cartoons of Prophet Mohammed.

"America, America, you are the great satan!" and "Israel is the enemy of the Muslims!" chanted protesters as they poured onto the streets of Tyre.

A restaurant in the southern city of Tyre was fined for violating the anti-tobacco law, the first such move since the regulation came into force on Monday, Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) reported.

VDL said Wednesday that a Ministry of Economy staff member fined the SUNSET restaurant that lies on the southern corniche on Tuesday night after he saw several customers smoking water pipes indoor.