Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc announced Tuesday that it intends to debrief the energy minister in parliament over the latest power outages, as it warned that the unprecedented garbage crisis has started to threaten the country's “unity” and “social and economic security.”

“The bloc considers that the solution to the disastrous garbage crisis must fall on the shoulders of the entire country and must be accompanied with a clear, instant, decisive and firm stance by the government,” said Mustaqbal in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

The Change and Reform bloc led by MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday hoped “consensus” will return to the council of ministers, as it stressed that administrative and military appointments are “at the core of the government's responsibilities,” even amid the absence of a president.

“It seems that the atmosphere of consensus has returned and the first test will be during tomorrow's session,” former minister Salim Jreissati said after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform bloc in Rabieh.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Norman Farrell has said that the court has been investigating the attacks on MP Marwan Hamadeh, the former head of the communist party, George Hawi, and ex-Defense Minister Elias Murr.

Farrell told As Safir daily published on Tuesday that in addition to ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's murder, the STL is “working on” the assassination attempt against Hamadeh in October 2004, the killing of Hawi in June 2005 and the attempted murder of Murr in July the same year.

Diplomats have said that Paris was able to clinch the Lebanese authorities' approval to appoint Emmanuel Bonne as ambassador to Beirut despite the failure of several missions to receive a positive feedback from the Lebanese authorities.

The diplomats, who were not identified, told An Nahar daily published on Tuesday that “only France has so far been able to receive an official approval (from Beirut) to appoint Bonne.”

A member of an extremist group has disappeared in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh after pledges made by Palestinian Armed Struggle chief Brig. Gen. Mahmoud Issa to kill him, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The daily said that Bilal Badr, who was accused of assassinating Fatah official Col. Talal al-Ordoni last month, is nowhere to be found.

Residents of the Iqlim al-Kharroub town of Chhim blocked a vital road on Monday to protest the accumulation of garbage on the streets, as the entire country continued to reel from an unprecedented waste management crisis.

“A large group of residents blocked the main market's road at 8:00 pm with the accumulating trash, in protest at the municipality's failure to collect the garbage,” state-run National News Agency reported.

A Lebanese man has been robbed and killed in Ivory Coast, Lebanon's National News Agency reported on Monday.

“40-year-old Mahmoud Atef Ghazal was shot dead at the hands of unknown gunmen in Abidjan,” NNA said.

Kataeb Party leader MP Sami Gemayel said Monday that parties trying to prevent the cabinet from convening are “committing a crime against all Lebanese” amid the country's growing political and social crises.

“The postponement of sessions is shameful and the premier must 'strike with an iron fist,'” said Gemayel at a press conference.

Health Minister Wael Abou Faour highlighted on Monday the threats posed by the ongoing waste disposal problem in Lebanon, saying that the temporary dumps for Beirut's garbage are nearing their capacity.

He urged during a press conference the government to “take the fastest solution to resolve the problem because time is not on our side.”

Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil warned on Monday that the government may be unable to pay the salaries of the government employees and civil servants by the end of September in light of the cabinet paralysis.

“Paying the wages of the public sector is starting to become a pressure card on the Finance Ministry. One of the ministries has started experiencing this pressure and may be unable to pay starting today,” warned Khalil in an interview to the As Safir daily.