Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday called on the Free Patriotic Movement to seek its allies' approval of the electoral law proposed by the Orthodox Gathering -- under which each sect would elect its representatives -- or else endorse the electoral law proposed by March 14's Christians, which is based on 50 small electorates.

“We were among those who suggested amending the electoral law because the current law does not ensure proper representation and this is what several parties are saying,” Geagea said at a press conference he held in Maarab.

As Lebanon continues to overlook the potential to turn its cannabis cultivation problem into a profitable project that can improve the living conditions of farmers in the Bekaa region, many farms in Israel are challenging the illegality of marijuana in the state to test and promote its medical advantages.

“Situated in the Galilee hills in northern Israel is a government-approved medical marijuana farm that among its strain of growing plants there is one that is believed to have the strongest psychoactive effect of any cannabis in the world. Another, rich in anti-inflammatory properties, will not get you high at all,” the New York Times reported.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun said on Thursday that the Bkirki meetings that were held between Christian leaders to reach an agreement over a new parliamentary electoral law found that the Orthodox Gathering law offers the best representation, followed by the law based on proportional representation.

He said: “I am ready to accept any electoral law on condition that the president's privileges be restored to what they were before the Taif Accord.”

The Lebanese Band Association for the promotion of Music organized during the past weekend a Christmas musical concert in cooperation with the Lebanese Order of Physicians (OML) and the Lebanon Lions Club at the headquarters of the OML in Furn al-Chebback.

Tens of children of the national orchestra for boys and girls, the Honor Band, performed during the concert, presenting musical pieces by Anderson, King, Smith and others.

Syrian rebels attacked a key army base in the northwest province of Idlib on Friday, the last regime bastion in the region, and regime warplanes launched air raids in Damascus province, a watchdog said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said several rebel groups pounded Wadi Deif amid violent clashes on the ground while regime warplanes launched air strikes around the army base.

Syrian Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar, who was wounded in a bombing and was brought to Beirut for treatment a week ago, flew home after Lebanese authorities received information that international arrest warrants could be issued against him, a top security official said.

Al-Shaar left to Damascus on a private jet, officials at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport said Tuesday.

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on Wednesday hailed an Islamist-backed charter he pushed through despite fierce opposition protests as "a new dawn" for his country, and said he would now tackle a teetering economy.

In a televised national address, Morsi said he would reshuffle his government and renewed an offer of dialogue with the largely secular opposition.

More than 60 civilians were killed on Sunday in a strike by Syrian regime warplanes on people queuing outside a bakery in the rebel-held town of Halfaya in the central province of Hama, a watchdog said, as regime warplanes pounded the capital's suburbs and the northern province of Aleppo.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which had earlier reported "dozens" killed, said the death toll could rise as at least 50 people had also been critically wounded.

U.N.-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi arrived in Syria on Sunday for talks on the country's crisis, Agence France Presse reported.

Brahimi entered Syria via a land border crossing with Lebanon after arriving earlier in the day at the Rafik Hariri International Airport from Cairo.

While doomsayers hunkered down to await the coming apocalypse, others took a more lighthearted view Friday of a Mayan prophecy of the world's end and marked the event with stunts and parties.

Interpretations of the Mayan "Long Count" calendar point to an era of more than 5,000 years coming to a halt on December 21, although in Sydney it was business as usual.