Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has welcomed a meeting held between Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea and caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil on the electoral law.

Al-Rahi, who is currently visiting Brazil, told a delegation from Lebanese Christian parties in Sao Paulo that “Bkirki is at an equal distance from everyone” and that he is “in daily contact with the Christian parties.”

Al-Mustaqbal lawmakers rejected on Tuesday to provide legitimacy to a parliamentary session set for May 15 if the rival parties failed to reach consensus on a new electoral law.

In remarks to the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa daily, MP Ahmed Fatfat said al-Mustaqbal “will not give legitimacy to the session” set by Speaker Nabih Berri if the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal was put on its agenda.

Israel's weekend strikes on Syria may have sent regional tensions soaring, but life in Haifa was carrying on as normal on Monday, with locals adamant they are ready for any counterattack from Lebanon.

On the streets of this northern port city, where Israel on Sunday deployed a battery of its vaunted Iron Dome anti-missile system, the effect of the bombings was far from palpable, with people sipping cool drinks in outdoor cafes.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Monday called on “the nations supporting the armed groups in Syria” to seek the “immediate release” of two Christian bishops kidnapped near Aleppo on April 22.

In an open letter he addressed out of his “belief in the need to break the silence in the case of the two kidnapped bishops of Aleppo,” Aoun said “the situation in Syria has reached the most horrible level.”

A man was arrested on Monday for killing his mother, 14 years after he was convicted with murdering his sister-in-law, the state-run National News Agency reported.

"The suspect hit his mother on the head with an agricultural mattock inside the family's home in (the Chouf town of) Wadi Bnehlay,” the NNA detailed.

Caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abu Faour on Monday announced that a progress has been made in the cabinet formation process, revealing that an preliminary agreement has been reached on the “general formula” of the new government.

“As usual, the meeting with Speaker Berri was part of the continuous consultations and coordination between Speaker Berri and National Struggle Front head Walid Jumblat over two issues: the electoral law and the cabinet,” Abu Faour said after talks in Ain al-Tineh.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday held talks at his headquarters in Maarab with caretaker Energy and Water Minister Jebran Bassil and former deputy speaker Elie al-Ferzli.

LF MPs George Adwan and Elie Kairouz also attended the meeting, according to the National News Agency.

Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat condemned on Monday the Israeli attack against Syria, saying it further complicates the conflict in the neighboring country.

“The attack offers the Syrian regime an excuse to accuse the opposition of collaborating with Israeli,” Jumblat told al-Anbaa.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati saluted on Monday Lebanon's martyrs on the occasion of the country's Martyrs' Day, saying that they died for a “nation that they believed in.”

He said in a statement: “We are in need on this occasion for national unity so that their sacrifices have not been in vain.”

Thieves robbed on Sunday night a van loaded with candies and sweets in the town of Zouk Halba in the northern region of Akkar, reported the National News Agency Monday.

It said that the van was loaded with almost 15,000 dollars worth of sweets upon the robbery.