The army detained six Syrians in the eastern border town of Arsal over suspicious links to armed groups, the state-run National News Agency reported on Thursday.

NNA said that four of the suspects were apprehended on the Wadi Ain Ata army checkpoint, while the remaining two were arrested on Ain al-Shaaeb post.

An armed takfiri group has started training to carry out abductions of civilians in villages in northern Lebanon in exchange for the release of Roumieh Prison inmates, reported al-Akhbar newspaper on Thursday.

Intelligence reports from major European countries told Lebanese security agencies that the takfiris are preparing to attack one of the villages, kidnap a number of civilians, and then carry out negotiations with the Lebanese government to release Islamists held in Roumieh.

Efforts are underway in order to show solidarity among the Lebanese media towards the Christians in the Iraqi city of Mosul in light of their persecution by the jihadist Islamic State, reported al-Mustaqbal daily on Thursday.

General Manager of Future television Ramzi Jubaili told the daily that invitations have been distributed to hold a meeting at 3:00 p.m. on Monday to discuss ideas over how to “demonstrate our rejection of the extremism in Mosul.”

The ongoing debate over the controversial pay hike for public employees is the center of a heated debate among political parties as the Progressive Socialist Party called for a balanced new wage scale.

“Consultations are ongoing between the concerned parties to agree on a balanced pay hike,” PSP chief Walid Jumblat told As Safir newspaper on Thursday.

The government general secretariat has started preparing the agenda for the upcoming cabinet session, scheduled for next week, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Thursday.

Sources of Premier Tammam Salam told the daily that the cabinet is likely to resume holding weekly sessions to restore its previous work rate and in order to tackle a number of affairs that have been pending for a long time.

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Thursday that he didn't tackle the extension of the parliament's term with any political party, pointing out that the priority is for staging the presidential elections.

“Contacts with political powers are focusing on the election of a new head of state and not the parliamentary polls,” Berri said in comments published in As Safir newspaper.

Israeli troops handed a Lebanese shepherd over to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon a day after kidnapping him, the National News Agency reported on Thursday.

NNA reported that UNIFIL handed over Lebanese shepherd Ismail Khalil Nabaa, who was abducted by the Israeli army, over to the Lebanese security forces through the Naqoura crossing.

Two rockets landed near the Bekaa town of Hermel on Wednesday after being fired from the Eastern Mountain Range on the Lebanese-Syrian border, where clashes are still ongoing between Syrian rebels and Hizbullah fighters.

“Two rockets fell in the vicinity of the town of Hermel after they were launched from the Eastern Mountain Range,” state-run National News Agency reported.

A Lebanese delegation currently present in Mali to follow up on the doomed Air Algerie passenger plane's case is trying to transfer the bodies of the Lebanese victims who were on board despite the “difficulty” of the process.

A statement released by the media office of Higher Defense Council chief General Mohammed Kheir said on Wednesday that investigation is ongoing to reveal the details surrounding flight AH5017's crash, elaborating on the work of the Lebanese delegation in Mali.

Influential British band Massive Attack dedicated their only Middle East gig to the children of Gaza, openly condemning Israel's "massacre" of the Palestinians.

As the band played in Byblos, in Lebanon, just a few hundred kilometers north of Gaza, swaying music-lovers on Tuesday night held up Palestinian flags as Massive Attack issued a rare, explicit condemnation of Israel's offensive.