Efforts have been resumed to secure the release of the nine Lebanese troops who are being held hostage by the extremist Islamic State group, media reports said on Wednesday.

The Office of the Secretary of Defense’s (OSD) Policy Director for CENTCOM Counternarcotics, Bob Vierkant, visited Lebanon from July 31 to August 3 to observe ongoing counternarcotics training for Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) units conducted by the United States, the U.S. Embassy said on Wednesday.

The Council of Maronite Bishops warned Wednesday of a “terrible collapse” of the country should the protracting political vacuum continue, while reiterating its call for Lebanese politicians to abide by the Constitution.

The UK will continue to support Lebanon’s “stability and economic security while being at the forefront of managing the repercussions of the Syria crisis,” British Secretary of State for International Development Priti Patel said Wednesday at the end of a two-day visit to the country.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday downplayed the ongoing national dialogue sessions as a “big tragedy” and a “small distraction.”

The national dialogue session on Wednesday -- the second of three scheduled meetings -- focused on the issues of creating a senate and implementing administrative decentralization, state-run National News Agency reported.

The session convened at Ain el-Tineh following a meeting a day earlier that media reports described as “positive,” although the outcome did not record a major breakthrough.

Contract workers of Electricite du Liban in Hermel and North Bekaa kicked off a strike on Wednesday pressing a demand for their full-time employment, the National News Agency reported.

The employees closed the EDL offices to take part in a sit-in planned at 10:00 am in the area of Douros at the entrance of Baalbek, NNA added.

The visit of Chairman of Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi to Lebanon was not a coincidence, but more to cover informal meetings that had been planned beforehand with Hizbullah to coordinate on several topics, An Nahar daily reported on Wednesday.

Ministerial sources highlighted Boroujerdi's comments after his meeting with PM Tammam Salam that lashed at Saudi Arabia. They said that he deliberately criticized the kingdom at the gate of the Grand Serail to merely embarrass Salam, added the daily.

Speaker Nabih Berri said on Wednesday that he had received “positive feedback” from the interlocutors at the dialogue session a day earlier in Ain el-Tineh, mainly their adherence to the Taef accord, An Nahar daily reported.

A lifeguard and a summer camp's supervisor were on Tuesday ordered held by the attorney general of the North district in connection with the drowning death of the child Kevin Metlej, media reports said.