Hundreds of anti-government protesters gathered outside the central bank in Hamra on Thursday evening and then marched in a procession through Beirut to the parliament building in the city’s center, where they called for an independent and immediate government.

The protesters then joined others who had blocked the Ring flyover, one of the main highways in Beirut.

The U.S. Congress opened the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on Thursday, with House Democrats reading the formal charges from the well of the U.S. Senate ahead of the swearing in of all 100 senators as jurors for only the third impeachment trial in U.S. history.

"Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye!" said the Senate's sergeant at arms, calling the proceedings to order.

Lebanese protesters Thursday decried security forces' use of violence during rallies over the past two days, including attacks on journalists and the detention of over 100 people.

In a dramatic procession across the U.S. Capitol, House Democrats carried the formal articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate, setting the stage for only the third trial to remove a president in American history.

Trump complained anew Wednesday that it was all a "hoax," even as fresh details emerged about his efforts in Ukraine.

Security forces arrested 59 people, the police said Wednesday, following clashes overnight outside the central bank as angry protesters vented their fury against the country's ruling elite and the worsening financial crisis.

The House is set to vote to send the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate for a landmark trial on whether the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress are grounds for removal.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the next steps Tuesday after meeting privately with House Democrats at the Capitol, ending her blockade a month after they voted to impeach Trump. After the midday Wednesday vote, House managers named to prosecute the case will walk the articles across the Capitol in a dramatic procession that evening.

Iran's top diplomat acknowledged Wednesday that Iranians "were lied to" for days following the Islamic Republic accidentally shooting down a Ukrainian jetliner, killing 176 people, as the country's president warned that European soldiers in the Mideast "could be in danger" after three nations challenged Tehran over breaking limits of its nuclear deal.

The comments by Mohammad Javad Zarif in New Delhi represent the first time an Iranian official referred to the earlier story that a technical malfunction downed the Ukraine International Airlines flight as a lie.

The UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon on Wednesday denounced acts of vandalism by protesters targeting the country's banks a day earlier. But the senior diplomat reserved his harshest words for Lebanese politicians, saying they had only themselves to blame for the chaos.

The strongly worded statement by Jan Kubis, the top U.N. official, came as violent confrontations between protesters and police continued for a second consecutive day. On Wednesday night, police fired tear gas and beat up protesters who hit back with fire crackers, water bottles and stones in a Beirut neighborhood. At least 35 were injured, mostly from gas inhalation or rock throwing, according to the Red Cross. Ten were treated on the spot.

An airliner with engine trouble dumped jet fuel that fell as a smelly mist on dozens of schoolchildren while the plane made an emergency return to Los Angeles International Airport, officials said.

The fuel, described by fire officials as a vapor, caused minor skin and lung irritation to 56 children and adults but nobody was taken to the hospital and the only decontamination required was soap and water, officials said.

Clashes erupted Tuesday evening between protesters and security forces outside the central bank on Beirut’s Hamra Street.

The National News Agency said the confrontation started after some protesters tried to bring down a security barrier protecting the bank’s premises.