President Michel Aoun on Monday stressed the need for a quick formation of a government capable of dealing with the difficult economic and living conditions burdening the Lebanese for the last year and a half, the National News Agency reported.

The President also said the government should be formed according to specific criteria that respect the principles of equal distribution, while enabling those with powers to exercise their powers, without adopting the principle of “monopoly in the government formation process”.

Samir Merhi returned to Lebanon in 2009, hoping the fortune he made abroad would let him retire comfortably at home, but the country's economic crisis has upended his dreams and forced him to leave again.

Speaker Nabih Berri said on Monday that a government must be formed in Lebanon within “two months” otherwise the whole country will drown like the Titanic.

The US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea joined Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) General Ziad Haikal at Hamat Air Base for a ribbon cutting ceremony for four large munitions storage facilities, which were funded by U.S. government contributions, the embassy said in a press release.

A legislative session convened at the UNESCO Palace on Monday and approved credit line for Lebanon’s electricity sector and a law proposal related to recovering stolen public funds.

A new crisis has been added to Lebanon’s multiple crises, with the country shutting down the Zahrani power plant in southern Lebanon after running out of diesel fuel to operate it, media reports said on Monday.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumbat on Sunday commented on the protracted delay in the government formation process.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday hoped President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri will “realize that they are governed by consultations and agreement, according to the rule that has been in place since the 1990 constitutional amendments.”

Amer Fakhoury's four daughters, who started a foundation in the name of their late father, are reaching out to help the families of U.S. hostages and were invited to share their story in Washington.

Fakhoury was an ex-member of the pro-Israel South Lebanon Army militia who was jailed for several months in Lebanon over decades-old murder and torture charges that he and his family always denied. His release in 2020 and his eventual travel to the U.S. in mysterious circumstances sparked controversy in Lebanon.

The Free Patriotic Movement, the largest Christian bloc in Lebanon's parliament, warned Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on Saturday against “marginalizing” President Michel Aoun and other parliamentary blocs in talks on forming a government.