An Internal Security Forces investigation uncovered on Wednesday the circumstances surrounding the death of a Syrian national in al-Saadiyat region, as a body of a female was found hanging in the northern Zgharta district.

“Howaida Hussein Salloum was found hanging with a cord on the balcony of her house in the Zgharta town of Meryata,” the state-run National News Agency said.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale praised on Wednesday the government for the implementation of the security plan in the northern city of Tripoli and the eastern Bekaa region.

He said: “The United States welcomes the government’s success with the plan and Washington stands with the government, the security forces, and the people as they work towards peace.”

Syrian warplanes staged two raids on al-Maslaha village on the outskirts of the eastern border town of Arsal, the state-run National News Agency reported on Wednesday.

Al-Mayadeen Network reported that the area was bombarded with several rockets.

President Michel Suleiman on Wednesday called on all parties to guarantee the appropriate atmosphere to avoid vacuum as parliament is expected to convene next week to elect a new head of state.

During a cabinet session held at Baabda Palace, Suleiman said: “Vacuum is unacceptable. Laws haven't been put in place so that we fall in vacuum.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea announced on Wednesday his presidential program that focused on restoring the authority of the state against the proliferation of weapons during a time of regional unrest.

He declared: “No country in the world would accept that its authority be subject to armed groups that exist outside of the state.”

Speaker Nabih Berri called on Wednesday for a parliamentary session to elect a new president on April 23.

The session is scheduled to be held at 12:00 pm.

The Syndicate Coordination Committee held on Wednesday a protest near the education ministry in Beirut's UNESCO area to pressure MPs into approving the pay hike, as Minister of Education Elias Bou Saab warned that the academic year is “in danger.”

“Official exams are at risk and the academic year is at risk,” Bou Saab said after meeting with a SCC delegation in the afternoon.

Firefighters battled on Wednesday a fire that erupted in a depot at the Master Chips Factory in the Bekaa town of Ferzol.

Seven Civil Defense vehicles accompanied by an ambulance rushed to the scene to extinguish the fire.

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr charged on Wednesday Syrian national Mohammed Abdul Hamid Qassem with belonging to a terrorist organization.

State-run National News Agency reported that Qassem and several others were charged with belonging to the Syrian al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaida-linked rebel movement, carrying out terrorist attacks, the possession of arms, and booby-trapping vehicles.

Palestinian officials have warned that the refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh could witness assassinations to avenge the murder of the head of the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects.

A political official was quoted by al-Akhbar daily as saying on Wednesday that “the situation in Ain el-Hilweh is tense.”