Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri’s press office on Saturday described as “fabricated” a report published in al-Akhbar daily claiming that the PM was behind the posopnemnet of caretaker PM Hassan Diab’s trip to Iraq.

The Presidency of the Council of Ministers announced late on Friday that the visit of caretaker PM Hassan Diab to Iraq was postponed at the request of Baghdad.

The Lebanese Armed Forces announced on Saturday the arrest of several suspects in Baalbek and Central Bekaa saying the suspects possessed drugs, weapons and smuggled goods.

Lebanon has provided an auditing firm with "updated" information for a stalled forensic audit of the central bank demanded by the international community, the finance ministry said Friday.

Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League, Hussam Zaki, emphasized on Friday that the Arab League backs the calls of Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Beshara el-Rahi for the neutralization of Lebanon.

Lebanon’s money transfers abroad, its purchases of goods, and access to foreign exchange are all at risk to stop after correspondent banks abroad began to cut their financial relations with the Central Bank of Lebanon, al-Akhbar daily reported on Friday.

France and the European Union are reportedly preparing proposals that could result in an asset freeze and a travel ban on Lebanese politicians to push them to agree on a government to save the country from economic collapse, media reports said on Friday.

Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab is scheduled to lead a delegation of Lebanese officials to visit Iraq on April 17,18, media reports said on Friday.

The Association of Banks in Lebanon on Thursday denounced what it called a “campaign against the banking sector” by “most politicians,” a day after President Michel Aoun criticized the country’s banks.

“Most politicians resort to this campaign when the crisis toughens” in a bid to conceal “the reasons behind what happened and is still happening to the country,” ABL said in a statement.

A Covid-19 vaccination campaign for army personnel kicked off Thursday morning at 21 centers belonging to the Military Healthcare across Lebanon.

The vaccination process will take place according to “the schedule of priorities that has been devised by the committee overseeing the anti-virus vaccination campaign,” an army statement said.