A family of five was seriously wounded on Friday in a blaze that erupted at its residence in Beirut Haret Hreik neighborhood, the National News Agency said.

It said that Ali Adnan Matar and the rest of his family suffered severe burns in the incident.

The Committee of Muslim Scholars lashed out on Friday at Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel after he signed last month the civil marriage certificate of Kholoud Succariyeh and Nidal Darwish.

The scholars considered in a statement inking the certificate a “clear violation of the constitution, the laws of personal affairs and all the laws that are linked to the matter.”

Security at Rafik Hariri International Airport thwarted on Thursday night a drugs smuggling attempt to Kuwait, reported the National News Agency Friday.

It said that five kilograms of narcotic pills were found concealed in the baggage of two travelers.

The Constitutional Council continues to look into the appeal filed by MP Walid Jumblat's National Struggle Front bloc against the suspension of the nominations' deadlines for the parliamentary elections with total media blackout, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Friday.

“Discussions are conducted under utmost secrecy,” said Head of the Constitutional Council Issam Suleiman, “there is nothing to disclose now until the decision is issued. And that can't be later than May 26, one month since the appeal was filed,” he told the daily.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi stressed that the Lebanese are people of “peace and not war,” saying that they are holding onto coexistence, reiterating calls for the release of two bishops who were kidnapped in Syria last month.

Al-Rahi during his visit to Sao Paolo, Brazil as part of his ongoing tour of South America, said that Lebanese are molded together as they are holding onto coexistence and living together in their country.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stated that the political powers “without exception” can reach an agreement over the hybrid parliamentary electoral law, while voicing his disappointment with Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's latest speech, reported As Safir newspaper Friday.

He told the daily: “The hybrid law can help ease the political and religious monopolization of power.”

Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam is committed to the formation of a political 24-minister government capable of staging the parliamentary elections and which none of the political powers would enjoy a blocking minority, reported the daily al-Joumhouria Friday.

It said that the new cabinet would distribute portfolios equally between the March 8 and 14 camps, with centrists also enjoying the same number of ministers, whereby each of the camps would obtain eight ministers.

Christian leaders are expected to hold talks in Bkirki under the auspices of Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi to coordinate their stance over the electoral law dispute.

According to An Nahar newspaper published on Friday, the meeting will be held ahead of a parliamentary session set on May 15 to vote on the Orthodox Gathering proposal that was approved by the joint parliamentary committees.

The controversial issue of the new wage scale resurfaced on Friday a day after the Syndicate Coordination Committee threatened to resume its strike if the draft-law, which was approved by the cabinet in March, wasn't referred to the parliament.

Sources close to Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati said in comments to As Safir newspaper that the “delay isn't intentional.”

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel announced on Thursday that extending the parliament's term has become “inevitable,” hinting that there is a possibility to give up the support for the Orthodox Gathering's draft electoral law.

“We will not call for a revolution on the constitutional institutions and we will go with any law adopted at the parliament,” Gemayel stated in an interview on LBCI television, revealing that he is most concerned about the possibility of not holding the elections.