Moody's International rating agency has maintained its negative outlook on Lebanon's banking system, reflecting the rating agency's expectation of a continued weak operating environment that will slow credit expansion and raise asset quality pressures for banks, as well as their high and growing exposure to sovereign debt.

The outlook expresses Moody's expectation of how bank creditworthiness will evolve in Lebanon over the next 12-18 months.

Environment Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq announced that the World Bank has approved a $55 million loan to fight pollution in the Qaraoun Lake in Western Bekaa Valley and the Litani River in south Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported on Friday.

Mashnouq added that the loan will also cover the completion of the sewage networks in Zahle and the surrounding villages, Anjar and al-Marj, NNA added.

The French Foreign Ministry said on Friday that there were no Lebanese nationals among the victims of the Nice attack, the National News Agency reported.

“The search operations and the verification of the identity of the victims continue. Until this moment no Lebanese individuals were injured in the aggression,” NNA quoted the French Ministry.

Interior Minister Nouhad Mashnouq warned on Friday the law enforcement agents against abusing Syrian refugees after pictures showing some being mistreated by municipal police were posted online.

Mashnouq said in a letter to heads of municipalities that officers would face "disciplinary measures" if they abuse their power when dealing with citizens and Syrian refugees.

Residents from the town of Amchit blocked the vital highway that links Mt. Lebanon to the North on Thursday to protest the arrest of five municipal policemen accused of mistreating a number of Syrian refugees.

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr on Thursday charged three suspects, including a detainee, with involvement in the unprecedented multiple suicide bombings that rocked the Christian border town of al-Qaa in late June, state-run National News Agency reported.

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed Thursday that “there is no alternative” to the 1989 Taef Accord that ended the civil war while ruling out the possibility of holding a so-called constituent assembly in the foreseeable future.

Contacts between Speaker Nabih Berri and al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri have managed to contain the latest dispute between Mustaqbal bloc chief ex-PM Fouad Saniora and Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, who is also Berri's political aide, a media report said on Thursday.

Palestinian factions and the residents of the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp have reportedly received warnings from Lebanese sides that some militants are seeking to enable jihadist groups to seize control of the camp, which is the largest in Lebanon.

The army fired heavy artillery Wednesday at the posts of the militant groups in the outskirts of the Bekaa border town of Arsal after detecting suspicious movements near their positions, state-run National News Agency reported.