Prime Minister Saad Hariri started his electoral Bekaa tour by visiting al-Azhar of Bekaa in Majdel Anjar, where he was received by Mufti of Zahle and Bekaa Sheikh Khalil al-Mais, Mufti of Baalbek Sheikh Khaled Solh, dignitaries and students from Azhar, Hariri’s media office said Saturday.

The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it could “re-evaluate the work of the UNHCR” after the latter’s Friday statement questioning the voluntary return of about 500 Syrian refugees back to Syria, the pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat reported on Saturday.

Human Rights Watch has also accused Lebanese municipalities of “forcing hundreds of Syrian refugees in Lebanon to leave their places of residence, and expelling them from a number of Lebanese cities and towns.”

Two weeks before Lebanon kicks off its general elections, the electoral supervisory committee tasked with monitoring Lebanon’s May 6 elections, received a “slap in the face” when one of its members resigned citing “limiting the committee's powers,” al-Joumhouria daily reported Saturday.

President Michel Aoun met on Friday with Gen. Joseph Votel, head of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), at Baabda palace, the National News Agency reported.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi said Friday from Qatar that Lebanon needs politicians who respect the country’s Constitution and law, and fight hard to combat corruption, the National News Agency reported.

Lebanon’s failure to find a solution for its chronic electricity crisis was attributed to “pressures exerted by owners of generators who control 50 percent of the Lebanese market and represent a pressure group within the parliament,” the pan-Arab al-Hayat reported on Friday.

AMAL Movement Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement, traded new jibes on Thursday, but this time against the backdrop of a conference regarding expatriates voting.

The Internal Security Forces arrested a fake medical practitioner in Beirut’s neighborhood of Minet el-Hosn, after tricking hospital patients and stealing their belongings, the National News Agency reported on Thursday.

General Security chief Maj.Gen. Abbas Ibrahim said Thursday that many more displaced Syrians will be returning back to Syria in the future, now that the “situation has stabilized in several Syrian regions,” al-Joumhouria daily reported.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday sent his “best wishes” to Israelis and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel marked 70 years since its creation.

“Best wishes to Prime Minister @Netanyahu and all of the people of Israel on the 70th Anniversary of your Great Independence. We have no better friends anywhere,” Trump tweeted.