Minister of Education Marwan Hamadeh said on Saturday he was considering resigning from his post but decided otherwise upon the wishes of MP Walid Jumblat and his colleagues at the Democratic Gathering bloc.

Hamadeh explained that mulling resignation stemmed from the “heavy toll that partisan and sectarian pressure took on ministerial work,” adding that he is disappointed by the new term's (of President Michel Aoun) failure to act upon reforms.

Education Minister Marwan Hamadeh has expressed optimism over the outcome of President Michel Aoun's visit to Saudi Arabia, noting that Lebanon “is now practicing a more independent foreign policy.”

The 34th session to elect a president has been postponed on Thursday due to the lack of quorum at parliament.

Speaker Nabih Berri scheduled a new electoral session for February 8.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Norman Farrell has said that the court has been investigating the attacks on MP Marwan Hamadeh, the former head of the communist party, George Hawi, and ex-Defense Minister Elias Murr.

Farrell told As Safir daily published on Tuesday that in addition to ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's murder, the STL is “working on” the assassination attempt against Hamadeh in October 2004, the killing of Hawi in June 2005 and the attempted murder of Murr in July the same year.

The March 14 alliance elected on Sunday former MP Samir Franjieh as president of its national council during a meeting at BIEL.

284 members participated in the voting process where Franjieh garnered 237 votes and Dr. Fawzi Ferri earned 32 votes.

The March 14 alliance's national council is scheduled to elect its president during a meeting on Sunday, reported al-Liwaa newspaper on Saturday.

It said that former MP Samir Franjieh is the favorite in the race even though he has not formally announced his candidacy.

Parliament failed once again on Wednesday to elect a president after quorum was not met during the 25th elections session.

Speaker Nabih Berri postponed the polls to July 15.

Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat recounted on Wednesday how the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad used its allies in Lebanon to limit the powers of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and his supporters.

“Hariri was working on expanding the opposition on the unconstitutional extension” of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud's term in 2004, Jumblat told the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on the third day of his testimony.

Speaker Nabih Berri is exerting efforts to convince the rival parliamentary blocs to attend an upcoming parliamentary session that mainly Christian lawmakers oppose amid the absence of a head of state.

The agenda of the session was distributed to lawmakers, An Nahar newspaper reported on Thursday.

The public gallery at a court in the Netherlands was as deserted as the defendant's dock on a recent day at the trial of five Hizbullah suspects in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, one of the most prominent Sunni politicians in the Middle East.

The massive explosion that tore through his convoy on the Beirut seaside 10 years ago sent a tremor across the region and unleashed a popular uprising that briefly united the Lebanese and ejected Syrian troops from the country. But a decade later, and despite millions of dollars spent, justice remains elusive in a case that has been overshadowed by more recent turmoil.