Following are summaries of some of the main stories in a selection of Lebanese newspapers Thursday. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.
 
Al-Anwar
Cabinet votes against Aoun’s bloc, approves wage increase
Labor Union rejects Cabinet decision, prepares for strike, demonstration
 
Cabinet’s decision on pay raise adjustment, which was put to a vote Wednesday evening, angered ministers affiliated with Gen. Michel Aoun who are likely to boycott the next Cabinet sessions.
 
The General Labor Confederation rejected the agreement and its leader, Ghassan Ghosn, described the decision as “humiliating” and said it underestimated employees and their hard work.
 
Ghosn threatened that the GLC would relaunch strike action.
 
An-Nahar
Pay raise turns against [Aoun’s] bloc and the government
Baabda refrains from setting a date for Feltman
 
The issue of wage increases has once again become a priority at the political scene following a rare public appearance Tuesday by Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah on the occasion of Ashura and a visit Wednesday by U.S. official Jeffery Feltman to Beirut.
 
The issue of workers’ salaries was back on Cabinet’s agenda. But the collapse of Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas’ salary increase project was a paradox as a proposal made by Prime Minister Najib Mikati won the majority of votes in Cabinet, including those of Hezbollah and Amal Movement ministers.
 
As the government’s move frustrated ministers affiliated with Gen. Michel Aoun, the General Labor Confederation as well as trade unions rushed to reject the new Cabinet decision.
 
Nehmeh Mahfoud, the president of the Teachers’ Union, also rejected the deal, telling An-Nahar on behalf of the coordinating body that the union would go on strike Tuesday.
 
Meanwhile, although U.S. official Jeffrey Feltman requested an appointment to meet with President Michel Sleiman, Baabda Palace sources told An-Nahar that no date has been set, citing the confusion that accompanied Sleiman’s September visit to New York as no meetings took place between him and any U.S. official on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting.
 
Al-Joumhouria
Change and Reform bloc leaders did not go along with Aoun on boycott
 
While Syria awaits the emergence of “white smoke” from the Arab League in response to its proposals on the Arab protocol, a television interview with President Bashar Assad in which the Syrian leader distanced himself from any responsibility for bloodshed in his country has drawn reactions.
 
Meanwhile, Turkey said Wednesday it would not let its territory be used to launch attacks against Syria, but it adopted a series of new sanctions on Syria, including a 30-percent tax on Syrian goods.
 
On the Lebanese scene, the government was able to treat some of the damage recently inflicted on it during a Cabinet meeting Wednesday. The meeting saw the return of Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi. Ministers from the Change and Reform bloc, who had threatened to boycott the session, also attended the session.
 
The decision to participate in the Cabinet session came during a meeting of the bloc’s leaders: MP Michel Aoun, MP Suleiman Franjieh, Tashnaq leader Hovik Makhtarian and head of the Democratic Party MP Talal Arslan.
 
Al-Joumhouria has learned that Franjieh had urged Aoun to end his boycott of Cabinet meetings, stressing that there was no interest in paralyzing the government’s work.
 
Al-Mustaqbal
Feltman welcomes [STL] funding ... Maronite bishops support peoples’ right to determine their fate
Hezbollah turns against Aoun’s rightful demands
 
Gen. Michel Aoun received a double blow in Cabinet Wednesday: Aoun was persuaded and gave up on boycotting Cabinet sessions and Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas’ proposal for wage increases collapsed when the majority of ministers voted against his plan.
 
On another front, eyes were turned Wednesday to a visit by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman to Beirut during which the U.S. official met with Prime Minister Najib Mikati, former Minister Nasib Lahoud, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and a number of March 14 leaders.
 
Feltman handed Mikati a letter from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The contents of the letter were not disclosed. But Feltman said the U.S. welcomed Lebanon’s decision to fund the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
 
Meanwhile, the Council of Maronite Bishops said it supported the “peoples’ right to determine their fate and choose the form of rule that suits them.”