State Prosecutor Jamal al-Hajjar has lifted the travel ban imposed on Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar to allow him to travel to Bulgaria to question Igor Grechushkin -- the Russian-Cypriot owner of the ship that brought the ammonium nitrates that eventually exploded at the port, MTV said.

Speaker Nabih Berri said Thursday that the Lebanese Army has implemented 90 percent of the cessation of hostilities agreement in the South Litani area and will completely finalize what’s left by year’s end.

“This is what UNIFIL, the Mechanism and Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal have confirmed,” Berri added, in a meeting with a delegation from the Press Syndicate.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri met Thursday with U.S. Ambassador Michel Issa in Ain el-Tineh, for the second day in a row.

On Wednesday, Berri met with Issa and a delegation of the American Task Force for Lebanon.

Tripoli's historic 12th century "Citadel Raymond De Saint Gilles" was officially inaugurated following months of restoration efforts carried out by the Lebanese army and youth from marginalized communities, through UK funding to the NGO MARCH.

Wednesday's inauguration ceremony was attended by Deputy Head of Mission Victoria Dunne with the Director General of Antiquities at the Ministry of Culture (representing Minister Ghassan Salameh) Sarkis Al Khoury, Tripoli's Mayor Dr. Abdel Hamid Kareemeh, senior Lebanese Army officers, Head of MARCH Lea Baroudi and local youth from the city.

An Aegean Airlines flight from Cyprus’ Larnaca to Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport was unexpectedly diverted through Lebanese airspace on Wednesday morning due to severe winter weather, Israel’s Channel 12 reported.

“The passengers were not informed in real time that the aircraft had crossed into the territory of a country officially at war with Israel,” the channel noted.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa said Wednesday that Israel differentiates between the Lebanese government and Hezbollah.

"The negotiations with the Lebanese government and the war on Hezbollah are two separate things to Israel," Issa told reporters in a press conference after a meeting with Speaker Nabih Berri and the American Task Force for Lebanon.

Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji told Wednesday his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi that he can only meet him in a neutral country but not in Iran, after the latter invited him to visit Tehran.

Rajji said, in a letter to Araghchi, that his refusal to visit Iran is because of the circumstances which are not currently favorable and not because he doesn't want to hold talks with Iran.

French Special Envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian met Wednesday with Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel as he visits Lebanon to prepare for a conference to support the Lebanese Army.

Le Drian arrived Monday in Beirut and met with President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Foreign Minister Joseph Rajji, Army chief Rodolphe Haykal, former PSP leader Walid Jumblat, and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.

Israeli forces entered overnight into Tuesday the southern border towns of al-Khiam, Odaisseh, and Aita al-Shaab.

Local media reports said the soldiers detonated several buildings in Wadi al-Asafir in al-Khiam and a house in Odaisseh.

Supporters of Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa staged motorbike and car rallies across Lebanon overnight to mark the first anniversary of the ouster of Bashar al-Assad at the hands of an Islamist-led uprising.

The rallies sparked tensions and led to clashes in some areas, prompting an intervention by the Lebanese Army.