A young woman and her three-month infant were found dead on the side of the road in the town of Bfarweh in the Nabatieh district, the National News Agency reported on Friday.

Speaker Nabih Berri said on Friday that proposals to introduce amendments to the new electoral law after its approval could impact the elections, and revealed he had proof of attempts to foil the long-awaited parliamentary elections, al-Akhbar daily reported on Friday.

The daily said the Speaker insists on having the elections staged on time, noting “discussions to introduce any amendments or reforms to the law could foil the whole elections. I have info that some, internally and abroad, do not want the elections be held,” the daily quoted Berri as saying without giving further details.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, called for Lebanon to be distanced from the Iranian-Saudi conflict and hailed Hizbullah for de-escalating political rhetoric and propaganda against Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.

Dispatched by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Culture Minister Ghattas Khoury held talks Thursday in Maarab with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea as part of ongoing efforts to heal the rift between al-Mustaqbal Movement and the LF.

The meeting was held in the presence of Information Minister Melhem Riachi of the LF.

The Cabinet on Thursday approved a plan to manage the household solid waste crisis, which involves the expansion of the Costa Brava landfill near Beirut.

The plan was proposed by the Ministry of Environment.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Thursday said that ongoing disagreements over suggested reforms of the new electoral law are consuming time, expressing support to any reform that promotes transparency and integrity in the upcoming legislative elections.

Head of Hizbullah's Executive Council Sheikh Hashem Safieddine said the party will wage the upcoming parliamentary elections in alliance with the AMAL Movement, the National News Agency said on Thursday.

“This is nonnegotiable and settled. Hizbullah and AMAL will be in a close, strong alliance in the coming elections. We will wage the polls in unified electoral lists,” said Safieddine at a ceremony organized by Hizbullah in the South.

The Internal Security Forces clamped down on a gang of drug dealers in the Mount Lebanon town of Shanay, the ISF announced on Thursday.

ISF said in a statement it obtained information about a group of people suspected of drug dealing in Mount Lebanon governorate.

In light of lingering conflict between President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri over the seniority decree, Hizbullah said it will not engage in mediation between the two men but believes that Prime Minister Saad Hariri is the man for the job, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday.

“We are not in the right place to play a mediator role,” an unnamed Hizbullah official told the daily.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Wednesday described a disputed decree issued by President Michel Aoun as unnecessary, throwing his support behind Speaker Nabih Berri in the ongoing spat.

“The disputed decree was unnecessary, but now that the decree has been issued, there is no need to isolate Speaker (Nabih) Berri and consequently a major sect,” Jumblat said in an interview on Future TV.