A man and woman in Mali were arrested on Tuesday and charged with “human trafficking” mainly of young women, police sources in Mali told Agence France Presse.

The trafficking was occurring between Lebanon and Mali, the source added.

The Mustaqbal bloc stressed on Tuesday that the executive authority and government in Lebanon are obligated to fund the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “This issue is not open for discussion.”

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun voiced on Tuesday his objection to the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, criticizing Premier Najib Miqati for pledging to fund it.

He said after the Change and Reform bloc’s weekly meeting: “No one, not even Miqati, has the right to vow to anyone that Lebanon will commit to funding the tribunal.”

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah held talks on Tuesday with Energy Minister Jebran Bassil on the latest developments in Lebanon, announced the party’s media department in a statement.

The meeting addressed the latest local and regional political developments, as well as issues expected to be addressed by cabinet.

Military Examining Magistrate Fadi Sawan issued an arrest warrant on Tuesday against a Hizb ut-Tahrir member for distributing leaflets slandering the Lebanese army and Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

Hundreds of leaflets have been found with the suspect, the National News Agency reported.

Speaker Nabih Berri criticized on Tuesday the international community’s “double standards” in dealing with Israel, accusing it of having hidden agendas in the Middle East.

He said before the Armenian parliament: “International decision-makers are placing all Arab regimes in the position of the accused in order to subject them to their will.”

Premier Najib Miqati held talks on Tuesday with a delegation from the General Labor Confederation which has stressed that it holds onto its demand to raise wages by at least 50 percent to reach LL750,000.

If a solution with the authorities is not reached by Oct. 12, the GLC will go ahead with its plan to hold a nation-wide strike that will bring the country’s economic sector to a standstill.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati denied on Tuesday that he visited Damascus earlier in Sept. ahead of his visit to Paris to join the "Friends of Libya" conference.

Miqati’s press office said in a statement that this report is false, noting that all the PM’s visits are official and declared “according to principles.”

Former Defense Minister Elias Murr said on Tuesday that publishing the WikiLeaks cables were behind the rift with President Michel Suleiman, but things are back to normal.

“Things are back on track and better than before,” Murr told An Nahar newspaper.

A Lebanese man has been jailed for life more than 11 years after he killed a Canadian-Moroccan woman whose body was found in a suitcase at London’s Heathrow Airport.

In August, the former Kuwait Airways flight attendant, Youssef Wahid, 42, was convicted of murdering Fatima Kama by slitting her throat and stabbing her repeatedly. On Monday, he was jailed for life.