Cabinet sessions that have been scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday have been postponed due to the absence of Minister of the Displaced Alaeddine Terro and the boycott of the Change and Reform bloc ministers.

President Michel Suleiman adjourned Tuesday’s session, which was scheduled to be held at the Baabda Palace, due to the absence of 11 ministers.

Pope Benedict XVI will bring a message of peace for the Middle East on a three-day trip to Lebanon in September, the Vatican said Tuesday, amid rising tensions due to the conflict in neighboring Syria.

The 85-year-old German pontiff will meet with a variety of religious leaders during his visit to multi-faith Lebanon, which will be his 24th foreign trip since he was elected pope in 2005 and is one of his most sensitive missions.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday slammed parliament’s approval of EDL contract workers’ full-employment as “disrespectful to parliamentary conduct,” describing the decision as an “arbitrary plan.”

“Until now, we don't understand the reason behind the crisis of EDL contract workers,” said Aoun after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc in Rabiyeh.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea voiced on Tuesday his rejection of the current conduct at parliament, saying that he “supports and opposes” granting Electricite du Liban contract workers full-time employment.

He said during a press conference at his Maarab residence: “Granting such a large number of workers full-time employment is not possible because it will lead to the bankruptcy of the state.”

Hizbullah and Iran will fight alongside the Syrian regime if it is attacked by foreign forces, the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command Ahmed Jibril said on Tuesday.

In the event of "a foreign attack, we discussed with our brothers (in the Syrian regime), with Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and our brothers in Iran, we will be part of this battle,” he revealed.

Beirut Examining Magistrate Judge Ghassan Oueidat decided on Tuesday to put Wissam Alaeddine, who participated in the attack on al-Jadeed television, under judicial supervision, the National News Agency reported.

According to the news agency the judge's decision after questioning Alaeddine in the presence of his lawyer Mohammed Mantash.

Two clients were injured when gunmen robbed the Societe Generale de Banque au Liban (SGBL) branch in Kfarshima on Tuesday, SGBL sources told Naharnet.

The sources said the two men were wounded from broken glass when two assailants on a motorcycle opened fire in the air upon entering the bank.

Speaker Nabih Berri received on Tuesday a cable from French President Francois Hollande, confirming to him his country’s support for Lebanon.

He said: “Maintaining stability, peace, and democracy in Lebanon will be one of my top priorities.”

Syrian ambassador Ali Abdul Karim Ali hoped on Tuesday that Lebanese authorities would exert further efforts in controlling the border with Syria after blaming Syrian troops’ arrest of two Lebanese General Security members on a rocket attack from Lebanon on Syrian territories.

Following talks with Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, Ali said: “When border guards are targeted or Syrian territories are targeted by fire from the Lebanese side, then the solution should come through coordination between the two countries” to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

The Foreign Ministry established a hotline for Lebanese expatriates across the world in an attempt to enable them to contact the Lebanese authorities in case of emergencies.

The ministry issued a memorandum urging all Lebanese missions to follow up the complaints of the expats and resolving them.