Eleven men including Lebanese nationals have been indicted in the case of the deaths of 71 migrants who suffocated in the back of a refrigerated truck in 2015, Hungarian authorities said Thursday.

Four people have been arrested on Beirut's Hamra Street on charges of receiving money transfers on behalf of “one of the most notorious drug kingpins in the Bekaa region,” the army said on Thursday.

The government on Thursday decided during a cabinet session to reactivate the ministerial panel that is tasked with devising a new electoral law, as Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced that Lebanon is “on the verge of a comprehensive and major solution.”

President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri inked on Thursday the first law allowing expatriates to regain the Lebanese nationality.

The two men signed the law during the 4th Lebanese Diaspora Energy conference held at BIEL.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq stressed on Thursday that vacuum at Lebanon's legislative authority is “forbidden by a regional and international decision,” al-Akhbar daily reported on Thursday.

“An international and regional decision forbids vacuum at the legislative authority,” the daily quoted the Minister as saying.

The Kataeb party deplored the political parties' failure to agree on a new electoral law, saying the hurdles obstructing the process are a result of conflicts between authority partners on the size of their sects' representation in the new parliament, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday.

“The party refuses any attempt to change the nature of the current problem in Lebanon," Kataeb sources told the daily.

The Lebanese Forces hailed Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's position after he back-pedaled from adherence to a proportional representation system which the LF described as a “positive” step, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday.

“Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah reconsidered his adherence to full proportional representation system which paves way for an agreement on a new electoral law,” LF sources told the daily on condition of anonymity.

United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag and European Union Ambassador to Lebanon Christina Lassen visited the Regional Mine Action Center (RMAC) in Nabatieh on May 3, a UN statement said.

The visit included a briefing by Brig. Gen. Ziad Nasr, Director of the Lebanon Mine Action Center, on progress made in the implementation of Lebanon’s National Mine Action Strategy, including in the clearing of mines, cluster munitions, unexploded ordnances and all explosive remnants of war.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat emphasized that he strongly rejects a cabinet vote on an electoral law and the “sectarian” qualification law format, asserting that Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was right when he said that the country is on the verge of an abyss, ad-Diyar daily reported on Thursday.

Asked about a cabinet vote on an electoral law, Jumblat told the daily in an interview: “We have foiled an option on voting through an intercepting plan. Sayyed Nasrallah has asserted that the election law is very sensitive and can only be solved through consensus.

Speaker Nabih Berri reiterated on Wednesday that an extension of the parliament's term is “absolutely impossible.”

Addressing lawmakers during his Wednesday meeting with deputies in Ain el-Tineh, he said: “Rest assured, I speak on behalf of the council. A parliament mandate extension is absolutely inconceivable.