The waste contractor for Greater Beirut, Sukleen and Sukomi stressed that the increase in the “value of their contracts” came as the result of the expansion in size and geographical scope of their work in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, slamming media reports questioning their integrity in handling the waste management file.

“The expansion in the size and geographical area of our work in the capital Beirut and Mount Lebanon was the main reason behind the increase in the contract work,” a statement by Sukleen said on Thursday.

The General Security Department said on Thursday that it has arrested a Lebanese man who has admitted to belonging to a terrorist group for the purpose of carrying out terrorist operations.

A communique issued by the agency said the man, whom it identified by his initials as Kh.F., admitted to investigators that he belongs to a terrorist organization and that he has actively participated with two other suspects in bomb-making.

Kuwait authorities have started to prepare lists of Hizbullah supporters to prevent their arrival in the country and others in anticipation of their deportation, reported the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper on Thursday.

Security sources from Kuwait's state security general directorate revealed that the names include Lebanese, Syrians and supporters from other nationalities.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has told his Russian counterpart that the Jewish State would not allow Iran and Hizbullah to establish a foothold on the Syrian side of the occupied Golan Heights, Israeli media reported on Thursday.

The meeting between Rivlin and President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday night came days after the Russian leader announced he would withdraw Russia's forces from Syria.

The Kataeb Party’s three representatives in the cabinet in addition to Minister Michel Pharaon have warned that they would take action if the government fails to resolve the “marginalization” of the general-directorate of state security.

Minister Alain Hakim and Pharaon said they would storm out of the session that is was chaired by Prime Minister Tammam Salam on Thursday.

Labor Minister Sejaan Qazzi said on Thursday that he boycotted a ministerial committee meeting to protest a decision by some donor countries to assist Lebanon by finding job opportunities for Syrian refugees.

“I won’t make compromises in that regard,” Qazzi, who represents the Kataeb Party in the cabinet, told An Nahar newspaper.

Lebanon has ranked 93rd in a list of more than 150 countries in the 2016 World Happiness Report.

Denmark, closely followed by Switzerland, is again the happiest country in the world while crisis-torn Syria and Burundi are the most miserable, said the United Nations, which published the first such study in 2012.

Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel stressed Wednesday that his party's parliamentary bloc will not vote for Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh or Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun in the presidency elections.

“What would we do if Aoun becomes president? We do not have the right to send the citizens to the unknown, seeing as we have a problem with his political principles and his vision of Lebanon as part of an axis,” said Gemayel during an interview on Future TV.

Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal movement agreed Wednesday on the need to activate state institutions and preserve stability in the country.

“The conferees agreed to activate the work of institutions, follow up on the measures that can boost domestic stability, and support the efforts of the military and security institutions as they seek to protect the country and its citizens,” the two parties said in a joint statement issued after their 26th dialogue session in Ain al-Tineh.

A dispute between vegetable sellers descended into violence on Wednesday evening in an area on Beirut's southern peripheries, state-run National News Agency reported.

“Sharp objects were used in the fistfight that erupted in the Abou Sahl area near Beirut's Sports City,” NNA said.