A deadly rainstorm brought traffic chaos to major Lebanese cities, including the capital Beirut and its suburbs, as students returned to schools following the Christmas and New Year holidays, and workers and employees struggled to head to work.

The torrential downpours that started on Saturday and are expected to last till Wednesday left a toddler dead in the area of Iqlim al-Kharroub after rainwater flooded the camps of Bedouins.

The Christian four-party committee on the electoral law on Sunday agreed to endorse the electoral system proposed by the so-called Orthodox Gathering, under which each sect would elect its own lawmakers, LBCI television reported.

The committee took its decision during a meeting held in Bkirki. The four-party panel comprises representatives from the Free Patriotic Movement, the Lebanese Forces, the Phalange Party and the Marada Movement.

Speaker Nabih Berri on Sunday held talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati in Ain al-Tineh, state-run National News Agency reported.

Talks between the two officials tackled the current situations and developments and a number of issues, NNA said.

A spat erupted on Sunday between a patrol for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and residents in the southern town of Aita al-Shaab, state-run National News Agency reported.

“As a patrol belonging to the Italian contingent working within UNIFIL entered one of the neighborhoods in the town of Aita al-Shaab in Bint Jbeil District, a number of residents intercepted it, prevented it from advancing forward and encircled it,” NNA reported.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour was informed on Sunday of the Arab League's agreement to hold a meeting on the case of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

The emergency meeting, made at Lebanon's request, will be held on January 13 and will include Arab foreign ministers.

The families of the Lebanese fighters killed in the Tall Kalakh ambush renewed on Sunday their demand for the expulsion of Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali, reported the National News Agency.

Spokesman for the families Sheikh Mohammed Ibrahim said: “We will close the border against your thugs and we will turn to you to expel you from our country.”

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi highlighted on Sunday the importance of dialogue, noting that the Lebanese people are “bound” by it.

He wondered during his Sunday sermon at Bkirki: “Is it possible that officials have rejected dialogue that was aimed at tackling fateful affairs?”

Syrian opposition activists and bloggers slammed Energy Minister Jebran Bassil's recent statements on Syrian refugees in Lebanon, reported the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on Sunday.

Sources from the Free Syrian Army told the daily: “Bassil, along with his masters in Tehran, Damascus, and Beirut, he will be put on trial for all that they have done against the Lebanese and Syrian people over the past 40 years.”

Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour stated that the recent proposal to establish a joint Lebanese-Syrian committee to deal with the conditions of the Syrian refugees “has raised fears in Lebanon,” reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

He told the daily: “We refuse the formation of a committee that may lead to handing over of Syrian opposition members to the Syrian regime.”

Lebanese Forces MP Georges Adwan revealed that a meeting was recently held between the LF, Mustaqbal Movement, and Phalange Party to coordinate their stances ahead of the meeting of the electoral subcommittee on Tuesday, reported An Nahar daily on Sunday.

He said: “The three parties will propose an electoral draft law based on 50 districts, but they will openly discuss all draft laws.”