Army helicopters and teams from the ministry of agriculture will start battling swarms of desert locusts that appeared in the outskirts of the northeastern town of Arsal and in neighboring areas, media reports said on Friday.

Mount Lebanon Public Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun requested a probe into Hizbullah’s al-Qard Al-Hasan financial institution, and the import of Iranian medicines to Lebanon contradicting the WHO standards, Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Friday.

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri held talks Thursday evening in Rome with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, his press office said.

The meeting, at the Italian government’s headquarters, tackled the latest developments and general situations in Lebanon and the region and the bilateral ties between the two countries, especially the role played by the Italian UNIFIL contingent operating in south Lebanon, the press office said in a statement.

Hizbullah’s Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc on Thursday called on Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri to consult with President Michel Aoun in order to speed up the formation of the new government.

“The PM-designate’s consultation and agreement with the president for the issuance of the government’s decrees are not a luxury but rather the natural and constitutional path for Cabinet’s formation,” said the bloc in a statement issued after a periodic meeting.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Thursday lashed out at the Free Patriotic Movement and its supporters in connection with the latest controversy sparked by the actions of Mount Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun.

“The FPM has introduced new concepts to the dictionary of politics in Lebanon, with the protection of the rights of Christian lying in attacking and vandalizing private companies in Awkar, and the fight against corruption being in concealing the culprits as to electricity, telecommunications, customs, illegal border crossings and clientelism in state administrations,” Geagea said in a written statement.

President Michel Aoun on Thursday convened the country’s Higher Defense Council over yesterday’s incidents at the Mecattaf money exchange firm in Awkar.

The area outside the company witnessed scuffles between security forces and supporters of Aoun and his Free Patriotic Movement during a new raid by controversial Judge Ghada Aoun on the firm’s offices.

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri said after meeting Pope Francis at the Vatican on Thursday, that the Pope is willing to visit Lebanon but after Lebanese leaders form a government, noting that parties obstructing the formation “are known to the Vatican.”

“The Pope wants to visit Lebanon but after a government is formed. This is an important message for us to speed the government formation. The Pope perceives Lebanon as a message of mederation,” said Hariri in remarks to reporters after his meeting with the Pope.

Head of the British Embassy Martin Longden signed a MOU with Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces leadership, and affirmed continuity of UK cooperation that anchors trust and strengthens the resilience of the ISF.

Pope Francis met Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican where talks highlighted the role that the Vatican can play to help Lebanon, the press office of Hariri said in a statement on Thursday.

Discussions highlighted “Lebanon’s historic relations with the Holy See, and the role that the Vatican can play to help Lebanon face its crises,” added the statement.

Caretaker Minister of Agriculture Abbas Mortada gave directives to specialized teams at the ministry on Thursday to be prepared for possible swarms of locusts seen in neighboring Syria.