Speaker Nabih Berri refused on Wednesday the continuation of the government spending dispute in Lebanon.

He therefore called on the government to end the dispute, “which is crippling the state.”

Prime Minister Najib Miqati held talks on Wednesday with visiting Iranian Vice President Mohammed Reza Rahimi on cooperation between Lebanon and Iran.

The meeting at the Grand Serail also focused on improving the agreements and Memorandums of Understandings signed between the two countries.

The Photojournalist Syndicate announced on Wednesday that one of their colleagues, Mohammed Aazair, was assaulted on Tuesday by one of the U.S. Embassy guards.

It said in a statement that the assault took place while U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman was visiting Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat at his Clemenceau residence in Beirut.

U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman hoped on Wednesday that the conflict in Syria would not reach Lebanon and criticized the region’s countries for “not doing enough” to support the Syrian opposition.

Following talks with Premier Najib Miqati at the Grand Serail at the end of his visit, Lieberman also praised the Lebanese government for its assistance to Syrian refugees who have fled the violence in their country.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel announced on Wednesday that several municipal councils in the districts of Akkar, Besharri, the Western Bekaa and Jezzine won uncontested.

A statement released by Charbel’s press office said the councils won after the deadline for announcing candidacies expired at midnight Monday.

Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali hailed on Wednesday the Lebanese navy’s interception of weapons aboard the Sierra Leone-flagged Lutfallah II ship.

“The arms containers were destined to the Syrian opposition and their accomplices… especially when the political and security leadership in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other countries are behind the incidents in Syria, Lebanon and the region,” Ali told reporters after meeting with Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman held talks on Wednesday with Speaker Nabih Berri, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, Maronite Archbishop of Beirut Boulos Matar and a number of officials, a day after arriving in Beirut on a two-day visit.

He expressed during his talks “the United States’ steadfast support for pluralistic and democratic governments in the region that protect the rights of all citizens, including ethnic and religious minorities,” announced the U.S. Embassy in a statement.

Gasoline prices dropped on Wednesday for the second week in a row after a sharp rise in fuel prices in the past weeks.

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil signed the weekly fuel price updates that witnessed a LL700 drop after another LL200 decline last week following a record-breaking LL40,000 for the 98-octane graded fuel.

The government’s ability to allow Lebanese expatriates to vote in the 2013 parliamentary elections is being questioned despite approving a mechanism proposed by Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour.

A ministerial source told the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper that the cabinet is not ready to accomplish the necessary steps that would allow the expats to vote.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon denied on Wednesday media reports that the mission is mulling to move units and equipment to Syria to help the U.N. observer team there.

“Media reports that UNIFIL is studying the possibility of transferring some units from Lebanon to Syria and mainly tanks are not true,” UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat.