Speaker Nabih Berri stressed that he would never agree on the extension of the parliament's term, but might agree on staging the election based on the 1960 electoral law if the deadline approaches, An Nahar daily reported on Monday.

“I can support the 1960 law sixty times and not once do I support the parliament's term extension. I don't have to repeat how must I reject and hate this law,” Berri told the daily.

Protesting Israel's recurrent violation against Lebanon's southern territories, residents of the border town of Mays al-Jabal staged a sit-in in the presence of MP Qassem Hashem and a number of journalists, the state-run National News Agency reported on Saturday.

NNA said that Israeli troops had fired tear gas bombs in the direction of the campaigners to disperse them which led to several cases of suffocation.

Hizbullah has been able to obtain strategic naval capabilities that could threaten Israel during any upcoming war, Israeli reports have said.

In light of the controversy between political parties over devising a new electoral law for the parliamentary elections, approving a state budget and the long-stalled wage scale, Prime Minister Saad Hariri emerged to appease the people and assured them that the government is keen on restoring the people's confidence.

“As government, we are keen on restoring the people's confidence in the State. Part of this confidence lies in providing services for the benefit of the citizens,” said Hariri from the Grand Serail, during the launch of a tender for the modernization and development of fixed landlines in Lebanon on Friday.

Murky atmospheres between Lebanon and Gulf countries seem to surface again following the latest statements made by President Michel Aoun over the Resistance's arms, and Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's escalating rhetoric against Saudi Arabia, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Saturday.

The President has defended the Resistance's arms saying they complete the Army's weapons, while Nasrallah waged a verbal attack against Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met at Ain el-Tineh with Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday, where he hailed Lebanon's stance as for the Palestinian cause stressing that its sacrifices will never be forgotten.

“Lebanon is a dear country to our hearts. It has endured and sacrificed a lot for the sake of the Palestinian cause. We shall never forget those sacrifices,” said Abbas in a joint conference with Berri after the meeting.

The Kuwaiti al-Anbaa daily said on Friday that Falak institution that operates Iranian-run, Arabic news channel al-Alam in Beirut has decided to close down the network's offices in Lebanon discharging around 25 to 60 full-time and contractual employees.

Media reports said financial difficulties have compelled the network’s closure, adding that the same difficulty has compelled Hizbullah's al-Manar TV to cut down the number of its staff.

The Lebanese Army arrested on Friday three suspects in the outskirts of al-Hermel wanted on charges of arms trafficking, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Lebanese Army Airborne Regiment and Army Intelligence agents raided early on Friday several houses in al-Shawagir neighborhood in the outskirts of Hermel, NNA said.

Head of the Finance and Budget Parliamentary Committee MP Ibrahim Kanaan said on Friday that the cabinet has recorded “serious and positive” progress as for introducing reforms to the draft state budget, pointing out that revenues to fund the wage scale will be incorporated in the budget.

“Serious and positive progress was recorded at the level of introducing needed reforms to the budget, which was the focus of a lengthy debate in the finance committee,” Kanaan told VDL (100.5) radio.

A new three-party panel has emerged after a previous four-party committee failed to find a new electoral law for the upcoming parliamentary elections, amid reports circulating that Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil is preparing a fresh format which he plans to suggest when all endeavors in that regard collapse, al-Akhbar daily reported on Friday.

The new panel is comprised of Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil and Prime Minister Saad Hariri or director of the premier's office Nader Hariri, said the daily.