The army confiscated on Monday at least 400 kilograms of drugs in the eastern Bekaa region as part of raids against wanted suspects.

It said in a statement that 70 kgs of processed and 400 kgs of unprocessed cannabis were seized during raids on the Dar al-Wasia area in Baalbek.

Kataeb Party MP Sami Gemayel welcomed on Monday the dialogue between the Free Patriotic Movement and Lebanese Forces and the dialogue between the Mustaqbal Movement and Hizbullah, hoping that they would address the deadlock over the presidential elections.

He said: “We hope that these talks would set the elections as a priority.”

Syrian refugees make up the majority of children living and working on the streets of Lebanon, with many of them illiterate and surviving by begging, a study released Monday said.

The survey of 18 areas in Lebanon identified more than 1,500 children living and working on the street, although its authors said the real number nationwide could be three times higher.

Adviser to the Justice Minister Judge Mohammed Saab stressed on Monday that the judiciary will show no leniency in the food-safety file and that punishment against violators could reach up to “15 years imprisonment or hard labor.”

“The judiciary is following up closely on the food-safety campaign launched by Health Minister Wael Abou Faour, and it will not show leniency in imposing punishment on violators who are threatening the citizens' safety and lives,” said Saab in an interview with An Nahar.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam has said the region's conditions compel the Lebanese to elect a centrist president and stressed that the cabinet sessions would remain suspended pending an agreement on a productive work mechanism

Salam told two local dailies in interviews published on Monday that the international community had given up on its mission to resolve Lebanon's president crisis.

The term of Maj. Gen. Mohamed Khair, the secretary general of the Higher Defense Council has been extended as he reaches the retirement age, media reports said on Monday.

Defense Minister Samir Moqbel has signed a decree to extend the term of Khair, who reaches the retirement age by the end of February, according to al-Joumhouria daily.

Greek Orthodox leader Youhanna X Yazigi has hoped that talks among the country's rivals would lead to stability, stressing that only dialogue is in Lebanon's favor.

In remarks to As Safir daily published on Monday, Yazigi, who is the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, encouraged dialogue among all of Lebanon's factions.

Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat has said it was important for Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal movement to stick to their dialogue to resolve several issues.

“What's important is for the dialogue between al-Mustaqbal and Hizbullah to continue,” said Jumblat in remarks published in As Safir daily on Monday.

Police have thwarted a plot to kill former pro-Syrian Information Minister Michel Samaha who has been indicted in a series of terrorist plots, security sources said Monday.

The sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper that the military prosecutor had recently granted Samaha the right to be transferred to hospital for medical reasons.

Inspectors from the health department of the Tripoli municipality raided on Sunday a meat shop in the northern city where it seized a quantity of product that does not meet health standards, reported the National News Agency.

It said that the department patrol ordered the owner of the shop to adhere to health standards and rehabilitate his store within 15 days.