An Iranian official announced Wednesday after talks with Speaker Nabih Berri that Lebanon “must steer clear of all crises in the region.”

“We held a round of good and constructive talks with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Mr. Nabih Berri and we came here today to reiterate anew that Iran strongly backs the sons of the Lebanese people and the army, resistance and government,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the international affairs aide of Iran’s parliament speaker, said after meeting Berri in Beirut.

The Intelligence Branch of the Internal Security Forces has arrested four out of nine inmates who had escaped from the jail of the Zouk Mosbeh police station at dawn yesterday, the National News Agency reported on Wednesday.

Media reports said the Lebanese and Syrian inmates managed to escape after breaking open the jail’s door with a saw that was smuggled by a delivery worker in a dinner meal.

The Parliament convened for the second day in a row on Wednesday to discuss the 2019 state budget that aims to avert a financial crisis in the heavily indebted country by raising taxes and cutting public spending.

The discussions were being held amid limited protests against proposed austerity measures.

A meeting was held at the Environment Ministry to address the problematic waste crisis that emerged in some northern districts following the closure of a local dump in Dinnieh earlier this year, LBCI TV station said on Wednesday.

Palestinian refugees continue their protest for a second day in a row in the Sidon refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh by closing the entrances into the camp and imposing a ban on entry of food protesting against Lebanon's labour ministry cracking down on businesses employing foreign workers without a permit.

The National News Agency said the move continued overnight in Sidon as cars roamed the streets of the city in a show of solidarity with Palestinians, as a number of youth blocked some roads with burning tires.

MP Ali Bazzi of the Development and Liberation bloc on Tuesday described the recent U.S. sanctions on two Hizbullah MPs as a “threat to democracy.”

Bazzi voiced his remarks in Washington where he is leading a parliamentary delegation at an invitation from the U.S. Congress. He is representing Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

An armed clash broke out on Tuesday in the Khalde area, leaving one person wounded.

The National News Agency said guards of Lebanese Democratic Party leader MP Talal Arslan exchanged fire with members of Khalde’s Arab tribes, which resulted in the injury of Sheikh Omar Ghosn.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri lashed out Tuesday at the Lebanese Forces during parliament’s debate of the 2019 draft state budget, following remarks by LF deputy chief MP George Adwan.

“Attack the government as much as you want and launch fierce attacks on me personally, but when you talk about financial and monetary stability, you must talk responsibly. The situation is difficult but it is not disastrous,” Hariri said.

Security forces on Tuesday prevented Palestinian protesters from Marching from the capital’s Cola area towards parliament building in central Beirut.

The protest was organized by the ‘Coalition of Palestinian Refugees Right to Work’ and other institutions and associations operating in Lebanon in protest at “arbitrary measures against Palestinian workers and merchants in Lebanon and their right to live in dignity.”

An altercation broke out Tuesday between the members of Tripoli Municipality during a stormy session that saw confidence withheld from the municipal chief and his deputy.

Thirteen members voted in favor of withholding confidence from the mayor, Ahmed Qamareddine, as five granted him their confidence and another five cast blank votes.