The International Support Group for Lebanon voiced concern on Wednesday over the aggravating social and economic crisis in the country, lamenting a lack of progress in forming a government capable of enacting urgent reforms to confront the growing concerns of the Lebanese, media reports said.

A document reportedly issued by a government group in the Emirates revealed that UAE authorities have temporarily suspended issuing visas to citizens of 13 countries, most of which are Muslim-majority countries, including Lebanon, Iran and Syria, Sputnik news agency said Wednesday.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara el-Rahi is set to visit Baabda Palace on Wednesday after a fiery sermon he made on Sunday, Nidaa al-Watan reported.

A Lebanese prosecutor filed charges Tuesday against current and former customs officials over the massive blast at Beirut's port in August, including a former customs chief who was reportedly the point man for Hizbullah at the facility.

State prosecutor Ghassan Khoury charged senior customs official Hani Haj Shehadeh and former customs chief in Beirut, Moussa Hazimeh, on Tuesday, according to state-run National News Agency. The report didn't reveal the charges or give additional details.

The Strong Lebanon parliamentary bloc, which is led by the Free Patriotic Movement, on Tuesday warned against “using the dire economic situation as an excuse to tamper with national balances and unity” in the formation of the new government.

In a statement issued after a weekly e-meeting chaired by FPM chief MP Jebran Bassil, the bloc also deplored “the protracted slowness in the cabinet formation process,” noting that the reasons behind the delay have become known to the public opinion.

Lebanon is scheduled to receive the coronavirus vaccines it purchased from U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer in the first quarter of 2021, caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan said Tuesday.

“The agreement with Pfizer stipulates receiving the vaccine in the first quarter of next year, which means by the end of March at the latest. But it is expected to receive the vaccine in mid-February with the possibility of bringing this date back or forward by two weeks,” Hassan said after a meeting for the national panel that he has formed to manage the Covid-19 vaccines file.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has launched its newest assistance activity in Lebanon, the Agriculture and Rural Empowerment (ARE) activity during a virtual event.

The event was held in the presence of U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea and USAID/Lebanon Mission Director Mary Eileen Devitt, and attended by representatives from agricultural and agri-food industries, small- and medium-sized enterprises, governmental organizations, universities, local and international development groups, and other donors.

British Ambassador to Lebanon Chris Rampling and U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea met Army Commander General Joseph Aoun on Tuesday to discuss progress on the security of the Lebanese-Syrian border, during the High Level Steering Committee (HLSC). They were joined by the Canadian Ambassador to Lebanon Chantal Chastenay.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Tuesday extended condolences to the residents of the northern town of Bsharri, his hometown and political bastion, over the killing of the young man Joseph Tawk at the hands of a Syrian worker.

Calling on authorities to carry out the investigations as soon as possible, Geagea called on the state to “conduct a comprehensive survey of those in the region in search of any illegal arms,” while stressing that the Bsharri region is “under the law.”

President Michel Aoun on Tuesday addressed a letter to parliament through Speaker Nabih Berri.