Speaker Nabih Berri said the first round of the presidential elections was a “rehearsal,” adding that the parliamentary session next week would be aimed at electing the new head of state.

In remarks to As Safir daily published on Friday, Berri said: “The real session next week won't be a session (aimed at knowing) the candidates.”

Al-Jadeed TV's Karma al-Khayat and al-Akhbar daily's Ibrahim al-Amin might be sentenced to seven years in jail and/or fined 100,000 Euros if the Special Tribunal for Lebanon finds them to be in contempt of the court, STL spokesperson Marten Youssef told Naharnet on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the STL said the two have been summoned to appear before it on charges of “contempt and obstruction of justice.”

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seeking the public’s assistance to identify possible victims of a suspected child predator who taught in Lebanon in the 1970s, the U.S. Embassy in Beirut said in a statement on Thursday.

“Beginning in 1972, William James Vahey taught at schools in a variety of countries, including Lebanon. Last month, his employer at a high school in Nicaragua found a thumb drive that contained sexually graphic images of at least 90 victims,” the embassy said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stressed Thursday that he will stay in the presidential race “until the end” regardless of the candidacy of Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun.

“I will carry on with my nomination until the end and this has nothing to do with General Aoun's candidacy,” Geagea told LBCI television, during a weekly show dedicated to interviewing the major presidential hopefuls.

The Judicial Police has arrested a Nigerian member of a so-called “black dollar scam” gang that has fraudulently obtained money from a number of Lebanese victims.

“Following intensive investigations in the Bir al-Abed area, the Dahieh Judicial Police department managed to arrest on Tuesday night a member of a Nigerian gang operating outside Lebanon,” the Internal Security Forces said in a statement issued on Thursday.

The army arrested Thursday in Arsal ten Syrian nationals who were trying to enter into Lebanon with fake identification papers, amid a strict security plan that troops have been implementing in the region since more than two weeks.

“The Lebanese Army apprehended on the Wadi Hmayyed checkpoint in the Arsal region 10 Syrians who were trying to enter the country with fake IDs,” state-run National News Agency reported.

Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji stated on Thursday that the military institution's security plan in the northern city of Tripoli will carry on until the whole mission is accomplished, the state-run National News Agency reported.

During a tour to inspect the military troops in Tripoli, Qahwaji said “the security plan implemented in the city in assistance with the security apparatus, enhanced the people's confidence in the state and nation,” he said, assuring that the “army will continue to implement the plan until its completion.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that his country will support the Lebanese army's efforts to confront terrorism, considering that the presidential elections in Lebanon will unify the country.

“Russia will fortify its military cooperation with Lebanon and will beef up the defense capabilities of Lebanese Armed Forces,” Lavrov said in a joint press conference with his visiting Lebanese counterpart Jebran Bassil.

The Lebanese Forces bloc thanked on Thursday lawmakers for placing their trust in LF chief Samir Geagea during the first round of the presidential elections a day earlier.

The bloc said in a short statement that the “precious trust … was an essential motive for him to stay in the battle for the presidency.”

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi said on Thursday that lawmakers had a “moral duty” to guarantee the needed two-thirds quorum for the election of a new president who should garner the support of all parties.

In remarks following talks with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh, al-Rahi said: “The MPs have a moral duty to attend the parliamentary sessions because they have been elected by the people.”