Lebanon was ranked in 136th place in a survey carried out by graft watchdog Transparency International, dropping one point to a score of 27, a sign of a small rise in corruption compared to the past years.

Transparency International ranks 175 countries on a scale of 0-100, where zero means very corrupt and 100 signifies very clean. This year the average score was 43, and 84 percent of countries, including Lebanon, were below 50.

The Army Intelligence has reportedly detained a wife of Islamic State chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and the family members of an al-Nusra Front official who has links to the August abduction of several Lebanese troops and policemen from the town of Arsal.

According to As Safir newspaper published on Tuesday, the Army Intelligence in cooperation with foreign intelligence agencies detained one of al-Baghdadi's wives at a border crossing.

Lebanese poet and writer Said Akl passed away at the age of 102, the National News Agency reported on Friday.

The funeral processions will be held on Tuesday at 11:30 am at the Saint George Cathedral in Downtown Beirut.

Famed Lebanese singer and actress Sabah whose seven-decade career made her one of the Arab world's best-known entertainers passed away at dawn on Wednesday aged 87.

Born Jeanette Gergis al-Feghali, known as Sabah, the diva was famous across the Arab world for her powerful voice, musical talent and joyful brazenness and is considered among the last of the "giants" — a crop of celebrated Lebanese singers that represent a golden age, including Fayrouz, Wadih el-Safi, Nasri Shamseddine and others.

Lebanon's government has decided to cancel Independence Day celebrations for the first time since the 1975-1990 civil war because of the country's presidential vacuum, the information minister said Friday.

The failure of parliament to elect a new president reflects a profound political crisis linked to the war in neighboring Syria.

Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel on Thursday rejected a proposal by Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun on limiting the presidential battle to himself and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, describing it as a “war of elimination” against democracy.

“General Aoun's proposal is a 'war of elimination' that is aimed at getting rid of everyone,” Gemayel said during an interview on LBCI television.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Wednesday announced his willingness to attend a parliamentary session aimed at electing a new president if political forces pledge to limit the voting process to him and his political rival Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.

“I'm willing to go to parliament if I receive pledges that the electoral battle will be limited to me and Geagea,” said Aoun during an interview on MTV.

Speaker Nabih Berri is still exerting efforts to launch dialogue between al-Mustaqbal movement and Hizbullah, amid “good intentions” from the two parties and support from centrist leader MP Walid Jumblat.

Berri will maintain “his coordination with MP Walid Jumblat for launching dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal movement, because that would reflect positively on the general situations,” MPs quoted the speaker as saying after the weekly Wednesday meeting in Ain al-Tineh.

Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah held talks Tuesday with Defense Minister Samir Moqbel.

Nasrallah met Moqbel in the presence of Wafiq Safa, head of the party's Liaison and Coordination Unit, according to a Hizbullah statement.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced a technological innovation plan to ensure America's military superiority in the 21st century, expressing concern over technologies and arms obtained by Hizbullah.

“Technologies and weapons that were once the exclusive province of advanced nations have become available to a broad range of militaries and non-state actors, from dangerously provocative North Korea to terrorist organizations like Hizbullah,” Hagel said at a national defense conference at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation in Simi Valley, California.