Parliament will convene next week to elect a president, amid high tensions between supporters of Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh and former minister Jihad Azour.

The opposition and the Free Patriotic Movement said they have agreed on voting for Azour but media reports said Tuesday that at least six FPM MPs will not vote for Azour, even after FPM chief Jebran Bassil met with them and tried to convinced them of voting for the former minister of finance.

The Higher Judicial Council has appointed Judge Habib Rizkallah to look into the judicial standoff between State Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat and Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar.

Bitar had on February 6 postponed questioning of officials over the dispute with Oueidat.

Presidential candidate Jihad Azour has lamented “the false information that is being circulated about him through media outlets and social networking websites,” a media report said.

“I’m facing a broad disinformation campaign aimed at tarnishing my image and credibility, which is taking advantage of the restraints stipulated by my job” at the International Monetary Fund, Azour told those whom he recently met, according to Al-Arabiya TV.

Hezbollah and Amal are holding ongoing talks to decide on what to do during an upcoming presidential election session on June 14, al-Akhbar newspaper reported Tuesday.

One of the ideas that supporters of Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh are discussing is whether to attend the session, the daily said.

The Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon and the Samir Kassir Foundation have announced the results of the 18th edition of the Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press, in a ceremony held at the Sursock Palace Gardens, in Beirut.

This Award, established and funded by the European Union, is widely recognized internationally as a flagship prize for press freedom and the most prestigious journalism award in the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf region. Since 2006, the Award ceremony has been held annually to commemorate the anniversary of Lebanese journalist Samir Kassir’s assassination, on 2 June 2005 in Beirut, and celebrate his life, his values, and his memory.

Only eleven lawmakers from the Free Patriotic Movement will vote for Jihad Azour in a presidential election session, a media report said on Monday.

Six others will cast blank ballots after they had demanded that one of the FPM legislators be nominated for the presidency, the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported.

French authorities will on Monday ask Lebanon to lift the immunity of Beirut's ambassador to Paris after an investigation was opened into alleged rape and intentional violence by the envoy, a source said.

The parties of the five-nation gathering on Lebanon might “change their stances” on the Lebanese presidential file and Jihad Azour’s supporters are saying that the U.S. stance will be in their favor, a media report said on Monday.

“Washington will find a way to convince Riyadh to intervene in his (Azour’s) favor and (Speaker Nabih) Berri has expressed concerns over that in his meetings with his visitors,” informed sources told al-Akhbar newspaper.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has started to talk to all parties regarding the presidential file.

On Saturday, bishop Paul Abdel Sater, on behalf of al-Rahi, met with Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. The bishop urged for consensus instead of confrontation, and Nasrallah reiterated his support for Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh, al-Akhbar newspaper said Monday.

MP Hadi Abou al-Hosn of the Progressive Socialist Party noted that the agreement between the opposition and the Free Patriotic Movement over Jihad Azour’s nomination is “positive” although it came “late.”

“Ex-MP Walid Jumblat had proposed ex-minister Jihad Azour as one of three presidential candidates five months ago, without finding sufficient dynamism from some parties to endorse this nomination,” Abou al-Hosn said in a radio interview.