Interior Minister Marwan Charbel announced on Wednesday that several municipal councils in the districts of Akkar, Besharri, the Western Bekaa and Jezzine won uncontested.

A statement released by Charbel’s press office said the councils won after the deadline for announcing candidacies expired at midnight Monday.

Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali hailed on Wednesday the Lebanese navy’s interception of weapons aboard the Sierra Leone-flagged Lutfallah II ship.

“The arms containers were destined to the Syrian opposition and their accomplices… especially when the political and security leadership in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other countries are behind the incidents in Syria, Lebanon and the region,” Ali told reporters after meeting with Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman held talks on Wednesday with Speaker Nabih Berri, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, Maronite Archbishop of Beirut Boulos Matar and a number of officials, a day after arriving in Beirut on a two-day visit.

He expressed during his talks “the United States’ steadfast support for pluralistic and democratic governments in the region that protect the rights of all citizens, including ethnic and religious minorities,” announced the U.S. Embassy in a statement.

Gasoline prices dropped on Wednesday for the second week in a row after a sharp rise in fuel prices in the past weeks.

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil signed the weekly fuel price updates that witnessed a LL700 drop after another LL200 decline last week following a record-breaking LL40,000 for the 98-octane graded fuel.

The government’s ability to allow Lebanese expatriates to vote in the 2013 parliamentary elections is being questioned despite approving a mechanism proposed by Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour.

A ministerial source told the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper that the cabinet is not ready to accomplish the necessary steps that would allow the expats to vote.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon denied on Wednesday media reports that the mission is mulling to move units and equipment to Syria to help the U.N. observer team there.

“Media reports that UNIFIL is studying the possibility of transferring some units from Lebanon to Syria and mainly tanks are not true,” UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat.

Zahi Zeidan vows he won't back down as he stands in his bomb-shattered restaurant and oversees workers carrying debris out of dining rooms where on a good night patrons are usually drinking and dancing.

"They targeted us because we serve alcohol," said Zeidan. "Selling alcohol is my right. This is my country and I will not accept that people dictate to me what I work."

Hizbullah on Tuesday condemned the two bombings that rocked the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib on Monday, saying they were “part of a destructive, subversive plot aimed at eradicating any chance to reach a solution that would rescue Syria from the current crisis.”

“These bombings that sowed death and destruction in a peaceful Syrian city seeking security and stability cannot be the work of a political opposition that wants the welfare of the country and its citizens, but rather criminal bombings aimed at undermining stability and raising tensions in the framework of implementing the conspiracy that is targeting Syria and the region,” the party said in a statement.

The head of the General Labor Confederation Ghassan Ghosn confirmed on Tuesday the general strike scheduled for May 3 in protest against the government policies regarding living conditions in Lebanon.

He announced on the occasion of Labor Day: “We will no longer remain silent over a government that is seeking to impoverish its people.”

The Internal Security Forces intelligence bureau detained on Tuesday a four-member gang on charges of providing people with fake visas to European countries from Lebanon.

The ISF launched a probe to expose all those who are involved in the case in order to refer them to the competent judiciary.