At least 22 civilians, five regime troops and an army deserter were killed in fresh violence across Syria on Monday, activists and a rights group said, also reporting a string of clashes between deserters and the army.

The Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said security forces killed 23 people -- "including two children, a rebel soldier and two who died under torture."

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare is expected to hold a series of talks with Lebanese officials during a two-day farewell visit to Beirut on Thursday.

An Nahar daily said Monday that Bellemare will discuss with Interior Minister Marwan Charbel the results of the investigations carried out by the Lebanese security agencies on issues linked to the court’s work.

Speaker Nabih Berri urged Energy Minister Jebran Bassil to come up with a clear plan to resolve the electricity crisis, saying parliament has done its part in endorsing a draft law.

Several newspapers on Monday quoted Berri as telling his visitors that he rejected claims by Bassil about deterioration in the electricity situation in the future.

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil has warned the government that it should assume its responsibilities in resolving the electricity crisis gripping Lebanon or else it would be doomed.

“There are obstacles from several sides,” Bassil told As Safir daily published Monday, reiterating claims that certain parties were hindering the implementation of power projects.

Two Lebanese fishermen and the body of a third were handed over to the Lebanese army through the Abboudiyeh crossing at dawn Sunday after they were seized by Syria off the coast of the town of Arida the day before.

Sixteen-year-old Maher Hamad was killed and his uncles Fadi and Khaled, were seized and taken to the coastal city of Tartus in Syria after the Syrian navy opened fire on their boat.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour assured on Saturday that the Lebanese community in Nigeria is safe, noting that they were not harmed by the security incidents in that country.

According to the National News Agency, Mansour telephoned Lebanese ambassador to Nigeria Iman Younis inquiring about the situation.

Syrian authorities confirmed on Saturday that forces detained a Lebanese boat smuggling boxes from northern Lebanon into the territorial waters off the Syrian village of Kherabh.

According to SANA, Lebanese gunmen opened fire at the boat while Syrian authorities were allegedly trying to inquire the members about the cargo on the boat.

The committee tasked by the Bkirki Maronite Summit to follow up on the issue of drafting a new electoral law stressed Friday during talks with President Michel Suleiman its “keenness on real national partnership among the country’s components.”

It also emphasized its “adherence to coexistence, pluralism and equal power-sharing,” according to a statement it issued after the meeting at the Baabda Palace.

Obesity among children andadults has almost doubled over the past 15 years, something which could alsoincrease the prevalence of chronic diseases in the next generations, warnedresearchers at the American University of Beirut.

During a special half-dayseminar held at AUB on January 20, 2012, the latest results of a three-yearcollaborative study on undernutrition and obesity were disseminated.

Following the success of their first CD ''Daw L Baladiyyi'', released

in summer 2011, Lebanese pop/folk band ADONIS will be premiering the