Hizbullah's al-Manar TV blasted French President Emmanuel Macron in its main news editorial Monday night, telling him that Hizbullah "is and will remain an army facing Israel and will keep supporting Syria and its people against extremists."

It added that Hizbullah and its allies are not to blame for PM-designate Mustafa Adib's failure in forming a Cabinet, saying that Macron's threats of possible sanctions in the future against politicians are "unjustified and unacceptable."

The European Union expressed "disappointment and concern" Monday about the resignation of Lebanon's prime minister-designate over the weekend and urged the country's leaders to do their best to form a Cabinet that meets the demands of the people.

Mustafa Adib's resignation during a political impasse came amid Lebanon's worst economic and financial crisis in decades -- made worse by a massive explosion in Beirut in early August that killed and wounded many and caused widespread damage.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has tested positive for coronavirus, his office said Sunday.

The statement from his office said Bassil will isolate until he recovers, adding that the infection level is still "low and acceptable."

Israel will hold rare talks with Lebanon next month in an effort to resolve a longstanding maritime border dispute, an Israeli official said.

The official said Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz will lead the Israeli delegation in talks mediated by the United States. Representatives from the three countries are likely to speak by video conference because of the coronavirus pandemic, the official said.

Gunmen opened fire on an army post in the northern area of Araman at dawn Sunday, triggering a shootout in which two soldiers and one gunman were killed, the army said.

Another gunman fled to an unknown destination, according to an army statement.

President Donald Trump again declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the Nov. 3 presidential election.

"We're going to have to see what happens," Trump said Wednesday at a news conference, responding to a question about whether he'd commit to a peaceful transfer of power. "You know that I've been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster."

If the United Nations was created from the ashes of World War II, what will be born from the global crisis of COVID-19?

Many world leaders at this week's virtual U.N. summit hope it will be a vaccine made available and affordable to all countries, rich and poor. But with the U.S., China and Russia opting out of a collaborative effort to develop and distribute a vaccine, and some rich nations striking deals with pharmaceutical companies to secure millions of potential doses, the U.N. pleas are plentiful but likely in vain.

Amnesty International said Thursday that thousands of Europe-bound migrants who were intercepted and returned to Libyan shores this year were forcefully disappeared after being taken out of unofficial detention centers run by militias allied with the U.N.-supported government in the capital, Tripoli.

In its latest report, the group also said that rival authorities in eastern Libya forcibly expelled several thousand migrants "without due process or the opportunity to challenge their deportation."

In the face of an economic meltdown and other crises, President Michel Aoun on Wednesday asked for the world's help to rebuild the capital's main port and neighborhoods that were blown away in last month's catastrophic explosion.

Aoun made the plea in a prerecorded speech to the U.N. General Assembly's virtual summit, telling world leaders that Lebanon's many challenges are posing an unprecedented threat to its very existence.

A teenage singer from Lebanon this week became the latest to join a global pop band formed by Simon Fuller, the man behind the Spice Girls and "American Idol," which aims to transform young unknowns into internet superstars.

That may seem a grandiose ambition during a global pandemic. But Now United, with over a dozen teenagers drawn from across the world, is plowing ahead, recording and filming new music in the skyscraper-studded city of Dubai this week.