U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly visited on Tuesday the northern area of Akkar where he met displaced Syrian families and held meetings with Lebanese army representatives.

In a statement he delivered during his visit, Plumbly said the impact of the Syrian crisis is probably most acute in northern Lebanon because of the proximity to the Syrian border and because of the displacement of Syrians.

Lebanese wine industry is going through a rebirth. Whereas there were only 5 wineries in the early 90s, there are over forty operating today. In order to make sense of this exciting and diverse landscape, Le Commerce du Levant has decided to partner up with Tamyras to publish the first bilingual (English/French) guide to Lebanese wine.

The Zawaq Guide presents every single Lebanese winery, region by region. For each region, the guide lays out the main tourist attractions, as well as tips on accommodation and restaurants in the area, so that the reader can blend the pleasures of wine with an appreciation of Lebanon’s rich cultural heritage. The Zawaq Guide tells the story of forty wineries, from the big brands to the smallest “garage wines’, detailing the characteristics of their terroir. The guide also looks at the wineries in the making and those around the world that are run by members of the Lebanese Diaspora.

March 14 opposition lawmakers launched a strong attack on Premier Najib Miqati’s government on Tuesday, describing it as an “expired” cabinet that took the country to the era of tutelage.

Deputy speaker Farid Makari was the first to address the parliament at the start of a three-day parliamentary session aimed at assessing the performance of the executive authority.

Two members of the same family were killed and another man was injured in the eastern city of Baalbek at dawn Tuesday when a former convict opened fire on them over an old dispute.

Voice of Lebanon radio station (93.3) said that Mohammed Shuqair, who was released from prison 48 hours ago, shot at Internal Security Forces Sergeant Mohammed Aqid Solh and Mohammed Baqbouq Solh from his Nissan Sunny, killing them instantly.

A vote of confidence against Premier Najib Miqati’s government is “out of the question,” Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat said Tuesday.

“We don’t have anything to do with it,” Jumblat, who is a centrist, told As Safir daily about threats by several March 14 opposition lawmakers that they would seek a vote of confidence against the government and mainly Energy Minister Jebran Bassil and Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui.

Premier Najib Miqati told parliament on Tuesday that the government made several achievements and promised to implement other plans despite the disputes among its members.

Miqati stressed at the start of the three-day parliamentary session that he exerted strong efforts to preserve stability by visiting the South and funding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Speaker Nabih Berri has launched an initiative for the adoption of a draft-law on the parliamentary elections that would consider Lebanon a single electoral district to appease both ex-PM Saad Hariri and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat who have rejected proportionality.

Berri’s initiative lies in carrying out the polls in 2013 on the basis of a single electoral district through a proportional representation to form a parliament that would preserve the rights of sects and shares while limiting the high-level of sectarianism, As Safir daily reported Tuesday.

A group calling itself ‘Raise Your Voice’ hacked on Tuesday around 15 Lebanese government websites to ask for an improvement in living standards, the day the parliament launches a three-day session to assess the cabinet’s performance.

“We are RYV, short for Raise Your Voice, and we are simply a group of people who could not bear sitting in silence, watching all the crimes and injustice going on in Lebanon,” the group said.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has embarked on an initiative aimed at finding a settlement in the row over governmental spending, MTV reported on Monday.

“PSP's sources did not deny the presence of an initiative by Jumblat to resolve the financial dispute, but things have just started and they need further efforts,” the TV network reported.

A delegation from Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's movement on Monday visited a suspected Hizbullah member being held in a Baghdad jail, the movement said.

"A delegation made up of three of Moqtada al-Sadr's advisers met today in a Baghdad prison with Ali Moussa Daqdouq," an official of the Sadr movement told Agence France Presse in the Shiite holy city of Najaf.