The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Wednesday designated as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) three Lebanon-based individuals and 12 Lebanon-based entities allegedly linked to Hizbullah’s Martyrs Foundation.

“Specifically, OFAC designated Atlas Holding for being owned or controlled by the Martyrs Foundation, as well as senior Atlas official Kassem Mohamad Ali Bazzi, and ten Atlas-affiliated companies. Jawad Nur-al-Din and Sheikh Yusuf Aasi were also designated, pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended, for being leaders or officials of the Lebanon-based Martyrs Foundation, which was designated for supporting terrorism in July 2007. Mirath S.A.L., which is owned or controlled by Jawad Nur-al-Din, was also designated today,” the Treasury said in a statement.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Elizabeth Richard said in her farewell remarks on Wednesday after meeting President Michel Aoun that Lebanon is at a “turning point and is capable of making a change.”

The Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), Norman Farrell, concluded on Wednesday a working visit to Lebanon, during which he held meetings with the Minister of Justice, State Prosecutor General and the Prosecutor’s staff in the Beirut Office, STL said in a press release.

Lebanese protesters on Wednesday rallied outside the health ministry premises demanding a halt to flights from countries infected with the deadly coronavirus that caused 28,000 deaths globally according to WHO.

Hizbullah deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem said his party rejects allowing the International Monetary Fund to manage the financial crisis in Lebanon, indicating rejection of any IMF loan that would impose harsh conditions on heavily indebted country.

A new list of US sanctions against Hizbullah may also target a former Lebanese minister and ally of Hizbullah, Nidaa al-Watan daily reported on Wednesday.

The Cabinet on Tuesday decided to restrict travel to countries witnessing major coronavirus outbreaks and to order a halt to pilgrimage trips, Information Minister Manal Abdul Samad said.

Asked why flights to badly hit nations have not been completely suspended, Abdul Samad told reporters after a Cabinet session that the “the Health Ministry is keen on implementing the recommendations of the World Health Organization.”

Lebanon on Tuesday took another step to try and deal with a massive debt that stands at more than $87 billion or more than 150% of the GDP.

Manal Abdul Samad, the information minister, said the government has agreed to appoint Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP as a legal adviser on the country's Eurobond debt.

The Rafik Hariri University Hospital announced Tuesday that 32 people underwent examinations for the novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours and that seven of them were quarantined at the hospital while the others were asked to isolate themselves at their homes.

“Lab tests were conducted for 18 cases and they tested negative,” the hospital added in its daily statement.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Tuesday lashed out at a French journalist who has published a report claiming that he has cancer, describing the allegations as “totally baseless.”

“Last week, I appeared at least three times through the media and I had an interview with more than 30 journalists, so how can the report about my treatment in France for three days be true?” Geagea said at a press conference dedicated to refuting the claims of the journalist, Richard Labévière.