The Phalange Party on Monday slammed Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s government over the issue of administrative appointments, accusing it of “nepotism.”

“It has become clear and evident that the dominant approach is the approach of nepotism, at the expense of the national interest,” the party’s political bureau said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

UNIFIL’s newly appointed Force Commander Major-General Paolo Serra on Monday lauded the cooperation between the Lebanese army and the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, saying it has “brought substantial improvement in the security environment in the South.”

“I am intent on taking this strategic partnership forward.” Serra said following talks with President Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Miqati.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Monday described the rare double veto used by Russia and China to block a resolution condemning Syria as a “slap in the face of the Syrian people,” urging the Lebanese state to “aid the Syrian refugees” instead of staging “airborne military parades in the northern border areas.”

In his weekly column in al-Anbaa newspaper, his party’s mouthpiece, Jumblat said the vetos “destroyed what’s left of the Arab League’s initiative which tried to find a political solution to the crisis in Syria.”

Speaker Nabih Berri held talks on Monday with Prime Minister Najib Miqati as part of efforts to resolve the government crisis, reported the National News Agency.

Miqati said after the half-hour meeting: “If we are certain that cabinet will be productive, then we will resume cabinet sessions."

An Energa-type rifle-launched grenade was fired on Sunday at an area located between the rival Tripoli neighborhoods of Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh, state-run National News Agency reported.

Only minutes later unidentified assailants tossed a hand grenade at the stream of the nearby Abu Ali River, NNA said.

Turkey on Sunday criticized the Lebanese government, saying it has not voiced “a single word” to condemn the Syrian regime’s deadly crackdown on dissent.

“Has Lebanon voiced a single word to express its solidarity with our Muslim brothers who are being slaughtered? No, only Turkey has raised its voice,” Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday voiced regret over “the coma the Lebanese politicians are going through and the political practices that lead to destruction and poverty.”

In a sermon he delivered at a mass held in the Northern Metn town of Beit Mery, the patriarch noted that “the political authority is entrusted with the public money.”

Russia and China on Saturday vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the Syrian government's murderous crackdown on protests for the second time.

Western governments reacted with fury to the new block on U.N. action over President Bashar Assad's 10 month-old assault on demonstrators which followed weeks of acrimonious negotiations over the text.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi urged on Saturday the Christians to hold onto their land no matter how small the properties are.

“The Christians should hold onto their land in Lebanon,” al-Rahi said in his pastoral visit to Beirut.

Syrian forces bombarded the protest city of Homs Saturday, killing more than 200 civilians in a "horrific massacre," activists said, as the army opened fire on funeral processions near Damascus, killing 12 people.

The Damascus government denied involvement in the pre-dawn assault, blaming groups trying to incite unrest ahead of a possible Security Council vote, as television images showed bodies and buildings destroyed in the city.