Women and girls will be at the heart of the UK's international work as the British Foreign Secretary launches a new strategy to tackle gender inequality around the world, a statement said.

There is no political communication between the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces, FPM MP Ibrahim Kanaan said Wednesday.

"The coordination is limited to some specific files in parliament," Kanaan said.

The Free Patriotic Movement does not intend to boycott presidential vote sessions “until the moment,” MP Salim Aoun of the FPM said on Wednesday.

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari has openly told Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi that KSA refuses the nomination of Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh for presidency, al-Akhbar newspaper reported Wednesday.

Al-Rahi and Bukhari had met Tuesday in Bkerki over the Lebanese presidential file. Bkerki’s spokesperson told the media after the meeting that the qualifications that al-Rahi wants in a president are not too far from those of Bukhari, adding that when there are qualifications, there will definitely be a Saudi veto on those who don’t have these qualifications.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday chaired a ministerial-security meeting at the Grand Serail.

The National News Agency said the meeting demonstrated "the situations of the military institution and the relation between the Defense Ministry and the Army Command."

The British Embassy Beirut launched the Ambassador for a Day Lebanon competition in January this year. The competition was open to 15-18 year old girls across Lebanon and over 500 girls submitted entries on the International Women’s Day 2023 theme “Embrace Equity”. The creativity, passion and potential in their applications was inspiring.

Army Commander General Joseph Aoun has fiercely lashed out at unnamed parties whom he accused of “fabricating rumors and files” against the military institution.

The presidential nomination of Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh is not aimed at “experimenting,” MP Tony Franjieh said, hours after Hezbollah openly endorsed his father’s candidacy.

Opposition MP Waddah al-Sadek has announced that the “solution” for the presidential crisis might be “closer than we imagine,” shortly after Hezbollah officially endorsed Suleiman Franjieh’s nomination.

French oil giant TotalEnergies will begin drilling for potential gas reserves in Lebanon’s offshore Block 9 in late September, a company official said.