The General Prosecution charged on Wednesday a number of National Social Security Fund (NSSF) employees with the embezzlement of funds, reported the National News Agency.

Employees tasked with operations at the Fund and others from its inspection bureau were charged by deputy General Prosecutor Judge Ali Ibrahim.

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr on Wednesday ordered convicting 21 people in the case of the double blast that targeted two mosques in the northern city of Tripoli last summer.

Among the convicted were Arab Democratic Party leader Ali Eid and the head of the pro-Syria Islamic Tawhid Movement-Command Council, Sheikh Hashem Minkara.

An 11-year-old boy was killed on Wednesday afternoon as intense sniper activity was recorded in the northern city of Tripoli.

The clashes renewed after a resident from the Jabal Mohsen neighborhood was killed when unknown assailants opened fire at him near al-Ridani bakery in the northern city, according to the state-run National News Agency.

Telecommunications Minister Butros Harb lamented on Wednesday that the ministry had not been abiding by legal procedures before he took his post, promising to implement a law on the liberalization of the telecom sector.

During a press conference he held to announce his program during the short term of Premier Tammam Salam's cabinet, Harb said he was surprised that law 431, which had been adopted in 2002, was “placed in the drawers” of the ministry.

Education Minister Elias Bou Saab condemned on Wednesday the school beating incident that was reported on Tuesday, saying that such actions are forbidden at schools.

He said during a press conference: “We will take the harshest punishments against anyone beating a student.”

Speaker Nabih Berri called on Wednesday for a three-day parliamentary session next week to tackle a jammed agenda.

The three-day session will also address the new wage scale “if the joint parliamentary committees wrapped up its discussions on the matter ahead of the general assembly meeting.

Arab leaders lauded on Wednesday the role of the Lebanese armed forces, stressing the importance to consolidate their capabilities to reach stability in the country.

The closing statement of the two-day Arab League summit held in Kuwait also vowed full support to the Lebanese state and called for the necessary political and economic support to preserve its security and stability and sovereignty on all its territories.

The Israeli army staged at dawn on Wednesday military drills in the occupied Shebaa Farms and boosted security along the border with Lebanon.

According to the state-run National News Agency, Israeli drones flew over the Shebaa farms during the military exercises.

The regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad informed its allies in Lebanon the need to prevent any attempts to stage the presidential elections in the country, the Saudi Okaz newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The newspaper quoted sources close to the regime as saying that “carrying out the presidential elections in Lebanon should be linked to the run for presidency in the neighboring country.”

A three-member committee formed by Speaker Nabih Berri is scheduled to meet on Wednesday to come up with a roadmap for its talks with political parties on the presidential polls, two MPs from his parliamentary bloc said.

MP Ali Osseiran, who is a member of the committee made up from Development and Liberation bloc lawmakers, said: “We will meet today to specify the roadmap for our tour on political parties to guarantee a quorum for a parliamentary session” to elect a new president.