Economy Minister Alain Hakim revealed on Tuesday that he will close several labneh factories for violating food safety regulations similarly to Health Minister Wael Abou Faour who recently kicked off a campaign against violating restaurants and institutions.

“These factories committed serious, first degree violations that directly affect the health of citizens as shown by tests and analyses,” Hakim said in comments published in As Safir newspaper.

The Kataeb Party hoped on Monday the parliamentary by-elections would be held in Jezzine, while revealing that efforts are underway to devise a new electoral law.

It said after its weekly politburo meeting that a panel of specialists from the party is studying new proposals on the electoral law.

Former president Michel Suleiman on Monday called on the Maronite political parties to put aside “personal interests” and put an end to the drawn-out presidential vacuum.

“I reiterate my call for all Maronite parties to put aside personal interests and elect a new president immediately,” Suleiman said during a ceremony at the Vatican, where he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Pius IX.

Russian deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov is scheduled to pay a visit to Lebanon in December, announced the National News Agency on Monday.

It said that the Russian official will travel to Lebanon on December 5 where he will hold talks with various officials.

A female Syrian refugee was killed and several were injured in clashes that erupted on Monday between two groups linked to Fatah movement at Burj al-Barajneh refugee camp in Beirut's southern suburbs.

The state-run National News Agency reported that the clashes broke out after the supporters of Mohammed Ghdeiyeh set on fire a motorcycle that belongs to Hekmat Akar, the leader of the second group.

The Change and Reform bloc held on Monday onto its proposal to allow the people to choose their "true" representatives, calling on the implementation of the constitution to preserve coexistence.

“The bloc made more than one initiative” to end the presidential deadlock and “return to the Lebanese in general and the Christians in particular their right to choose a president and have a good representation,” said MP Ibrahim Kanaan.

Culture Minister Rony Araiji has said the Lebanese delegation at the Francophonie Summit, which will be held in Dakar this weekend, is planning to urge participants to reject terrorism in the closing statement.

In remarks to An Nahar daily, Araiji said he and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil will discuss with the representatives of the participating states the threat of terrorism.

The Palestinian leadership at the southern Ain el-Hilweh refugee camp pledged to investigate the presence of Islamist fugitive Shadi al-Mawlawi and singer turned fugitive Islamist Fadel Shaker, fearing the occurrence of a war similar to Nahr al-Bared.

As Safir newspaper reported on Monday that contacts are ongoing between the Army intelligence and the Higher Palestinian leadership at Ain el-Hilweh over Shaker's recent statements and Mawlawi's reported presence in the camp.

Adyan Foundation and the Lebanese American University will organize an international conference this week to discuss the role of religion in combating terrorism.

The two-day conference on “Religious and Political Values” will kick off at the Hilton Beirut Habtoor Grand Hotel on Wednesday and will continue at the LAU campus in Jbeil.

Negotiations over the release of Lebanese soldiers and policemen abducted by jihadists, who briefly overran the northeastern border town of Arsal in August, reached a breakthrough, al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Monday.

According to the daily, the mediation carried out by the Qatari-appointed negotiator, Syrian Ahmed al-Khatib, succeeded in easing several complications.