Several names have been floated ahead of the countdown to the presidential election, but seasoned political observers say rival factions are unlikely to reach a consensus before President Michel Sleiman’s mandate expires on May 25.

In honor of International Human Rights Day, dozens of activists gathered outside the Justice Ministry Tuesday morning to show solidarity with women incarcerated in Lebanon and to propose gendered reforms to the nation’s prison system.

Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora denounced Tuesday the abduction of a group of nuns earlier this month in Syria and called for their immediate release.

Twenty-six inmates at Roumieh, 12 guards, a doctor and an officer were charged Tuesday for allegedly forming and operating a drug trafficking ring at Lebanon’s largest prison, judicial sources said.