British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Thursday stressed to Prime Minister Najib Miqati his country’s support for Lebanon and inquired about the efforts that are being made by the Lebanese government to aid the Syrian refugees, the premier’s office said.

Miqati is in London to attend the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games. He is accompanied by Youth and Sports Minister Faisal Karami.

Members of the Internal Security Forces beat an Agence France Presse photographer on Thursday while he covered a clash that erupted during a sit-in organized by Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir on Sidon’s seaside road.

"When the protesters cut off Sidon's main road, a skirmish broke out between those participating in the sit-in and passers-by," said the photographer, Mahmoud Zayat.

MP Butros Harb on Thursday revealed that President Michel Suleiman has informed him that the relevant authorities “have decided to hand over the complete telecom data” to the security agencies probing the recent failed attempt on his life.

“A formula has been reached for that,” Harb said, adding that such a move would represent “a serious step towards unveiling the circumstances of the attempt on my life.”

Prime Minister Najib Miqati headed on Thursday to London to join the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games as 10 Lebanese athletes will participate in various games.

According to An Nahar newspaper, the premier will be accompanied by Youth and Sports Minister Faisal Karami.

Ties between Speaker Nabih Berri and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun that deteriorated over the Electricite du Liban’s contract workers row are slowly getting back on track, a ministerial source said Thursday.

The source said a positive sign emerged on Wednesday when MP Simon Abi Ramia, who is a member of Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc, attended the meeting of the parliament’s secretariat and the head of legislative committees headed by Berri.

Head of Association of Public Secondary School Education Teachers Hanna Gharib criticized on Thursday Prime Minister Najib Miqati, revealing that the premier advised the Syndicate Coordination Committee to suspend the correction of the official exams if their demands were not carried out.

During one of the negotiation meetings with Miqati “he advised us to suspend the correction of the official exams if there was any delay in carrying out our demands,” Gharib told As Safir newspaper.

Free Patriotic Movement supporters on Thursday staged a march from Ashrafiyeh’s Sassine square to an area near the Electricite du Liban headquarters in Mar Mikhael to protest what they called the “occupation of state buildings.”

An FPM official had told An Nahar and As Safir dailies that the protestors “will hold flash lights in their peaceful march as a civilized message of rejection of the occupation of government buildings in Ashrafiyeh.”

President Michel Suleiman on Wednesday announced that he will resume contacts aimed at relaunching national dialogue, noting that the parties that choose to boycott the upcoming session would be held responsible for the consequences of their decision.

“I will resume my contacts and efforts starting this evening in a bid to relaunch national dialogue on August 16 and I will hold all parties responsible” for failing to participate in dialogue, Suleiman said in a speech he delivered during the annual iftar banquet at the presidential palace in Baabda.

Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali handed on Wednesday the Lebanese Foreign Ministry a letter of complaint over “Lebanese violations of the Syrian border,” reported LBCI television.

He told the station: “This is not the first time that the Lebanese authorities were handed similar complaints.”

Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday appointed Maronite Archbishop of Beirut Boulos Matar to a Vatican department aimed at countering growing secularization.

The Vatican said Matar and the Archbishop of Jos in central Nigeria, Ignatius Ayau Kaigama, would be joining the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization.