The Syndicate of Property Owners called on Tuesday for a sit-in to reject attempts by inhabitants to block the approval of the new rent law, which was endorsed by the parliament.

A statement issued by the Syndicate stressed that the “sit-in is aimed at refuting fabrications by the tenants , who are staging suspicious demonstrations.”

Anti-drug agents in the Dominican Republic said they have dismantled a synthetic drug laboratory and arrested five people, including a Lebanese suspect.

Abel Rojas, a spokesman for the Caribbean country's National Drug Control Directorate, said the clandestine drug lab in the northern town of Villa Gonzalez made ecstasy, or MDMA.

The head of the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects succumbed on Tuesday to his injuries after being shot last week in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh.

Sheikh Orsan Suleiman died at Hammoud hospital, the state-run National News Agency said.

Lebanon will host at the end of April a conference for around 40 Lebanese diplomatic missions in a first-of-its-kind meeting, in an attempt to unify the speech of all Lebanese diplomatic corps.

According to As Safir newspaper, published on Tuesday, the meeting is expected to be held between April 30 and May 3.

Kataeb leader Amin Gemayel and the head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc Fouad Saniora agreed on the importance of coordination between the March 14 alliance's members before backing any presidential candidate, sources said Tuesday.

Saniora visited Gemayel on Monday after talks with al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri in Riyadh.

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc noted Monday that the draft wage scale in its current form represents “a blatant violation of the constitution,” stressing that the pay raise must not have a “negative impact” on the financial situation in the country.

“Article 84 of the constitution allows the parliament and its committees to demand a decrease and not an increase in expenditure, as any increase requires a clear authorization from the government,” the bloc said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

The Syndicate Coordination Committee on Monday called for a strike in state administration and in public educational institutions on Tuesday to protest the content of the new wage scale.

"We have decided to suspend work in all public institutions, including ministries, administrations, and municipalities on Tuesday,” the SCC said in a statement after a meeting on Monday evening.

Two Internal Security Forces members were hurt Monday in a raid that involved the arrest of Hussein Ismail, a top leader of a car theft gang in the Bekaa, while another fugitive was killed in the town of Hourtaala.

The ISF, which announced Ismail's arrest via Twitter, said two of its members were wounded in the shootout that accompanied the operation that took place at al-Taybeh region in the Bekaa.

Speaker Nabih Berri sought to appease on Monday Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat, who has expressed fears over the state's failure to fund a new wage scale deliberated by lawmakers.

In remarks carried by local dailies on Monday, Berri said: “When Mr. Walid checks the chart, he will be reassured and find the reform articles that have been introduced (to the draft-law) to prevent squandering of funds and corruption.”

An al-Manar television crew came under gunfire Monday during its coverage of the Syrian army's recapture of the Christian town of Maalula from rebel hands, which resulted in the death of the reporter Hamza al-Hajj Hassan along with a cameraman and a technician.

Al-Manar said 27-year-old Hajj Hassan and his two colleagues -- cameraman Mohammed Mantash and technician Halim Allaw -- were killed when "armed groups" opened fire at their convoy in Maalula.