The following are summaries of today's major stories published in the Arabic press. LBCI does not edit press digest articles for content, giving English-language readers insight into the various views expressed in newspapers across the Arab world.
Al-Akhbar daily reported that the investigations conducted by the Lebanese army under the supervision of the concerned authorities with the members of a terrorist network, identified as Elie al-Warraq, Qassem Talja, Bassam al-Nabouch, Abdel Qader al-Fattah and others, revealed that the detainees had been planning attacks against "Christian facilities."
The daily added that the cell was planning bomb attacks against Casino du Liban in Jounieh and Le Royal Hotel in Dbayeh.
In this regard, security sources said that these terrorists said that the booby-trapped cars were being prepared in the mountainous regions of the northeastern town of Arsal and al-Qalamoun region, before smuggling them into the Lebanese territories.
Head of the health parliamentary committee Atef Majdalani said that the food safety draft law approved on Thursday by the joint committees has been added to the agenda of the first legislative session.
In a statement to an-Nahar newspaper, Majdalani explained that no complication will obstruct the passing of the law, since the prerogatives of the committee tasked with implementing the law and the prerogatives of the ministries have been balanced.
In this context, Majdalani added that the formation of the committee will not be subject to political quotas, revealing that there is a scale annexed to the draft law defining the conditions according to which the members of the committee will be appointed, including a certain level of scientific and academic education.
An-Nahar daily revealed that Health Minister Wael Abou Faour is set to unveil a new scandal related to the corruption in the food sector.
The newspaper added that the new scandal is a new episode of the sugar file, which has begun in Tripoli port, noting that a large amount of unsafe sugar that amounts to almost 14 tons was found in another undisclosed location.
Al-Anbaa al-Kuwaitia daily quoted a Lebanese source as saying that an ambassador of a western state revealed Israeli threats concerning a possible response by Hezbollah to the attack in al-Quneitra region, which killed several Hezbollah members.
According to the source, Israel said that “its response to any Hezbollah retaliation will be destructive, whether the strike came from inside Lebanon or elsewhere.”