Health Minister Wael Abou Faour annulled on Wednesday the contracts of six health centers throughout Lebanon for failing to meet the requirements of the primary care program, reported the National News Agency.

The centers were ordered to improve their conditions and the contracts may be restored if they meet the needed requirements.

Speaker Nabih Berri voiced optimism that dialogue between the Mustaqbal Movement and Hizbullah will continue despite the tensions between the two sides and their respective allies Saudi Arabia and Iran, reported As Safir newspaper on Wednesday.

His visitors on Tuesday quoted him as expressing his confidence that “both sides of the dialogue are committed to the talks despite some calls to halt it.”

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri emphasized his right to defend his country in the wake of the criticism against it over its military operation against Huthi rebels, especially by Hizbullah, reported As Safir newspaper on Wednesday.

He told the daily: “I have the right to respond to issues that concern my country and leadership, especially when these remarks exceed reason.”

The Free Patriotic Movement warned on Wednesday of the ongoing clamping down on the activities of the party, threatening to boycott its political activity or resign from the cabinet.

“If they want to rule without the (Change and Reform) bloc then they have the green light,” sources close to the FPM said in comments published in al-Akhbar newspaper.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi will reportedly meet on Thursday the ambassadors to Lebanon of western powers, Gabriele Caccia, the papal ambassador to Lebanon and U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag to urge them to facilitate the election of a new head of state.

According to al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Wednesday, Bkirki's move comes in light of its continued efforts to resolve the presidential deadlock.

The army intelligence reportedly detained a police sergeant at the municipality of the northern city of Tripoli on charges of aiding Sheikh Khaled Hoblos and renting an apartment for him.

According to As Safir newspaper published on Wednesday, Sergeant Mohammed Seifeddine Qader, who is related to Hoblos, had rented two apartments for the sheikh, one in the area of Dahr al-Ain in Koura and another in Tripoli's al-Qobbeh.

Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal movement held their tenth dialogue session on Tuesday and discussed “the continuation of the security measures” in all regions, as the verbal escalation continued between the two parties over the Saudi-led operation in Yemen.

“The conferees tackled the continuation of the security measures in all regions in order to immunize the domestic situation, in addition to other issues that are of concern to the Lebanese,” the two parties said in a joint statement after the talks in Ain al-Tineh.

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc announced Tuesday that al-Mustaqbal movement's dialogue with Hizbullah will continue despite “lack of progress” on several topics, as it condemned the burial of a Huthi spiritual leader in Beirut's southern suburbs.

“The ongoing dialogue with Hizbullah represents a necessity amid these circumstances, despite the major discrepancy between the ambitions and the situation on the ground, and the fact this dialogue has reached a state of stalling and lack of progress on several issues,” said the bloc in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

Prominent Lebanese playwright Raymond Jebara passed away on Tuesday at the age of 80, following a battle with illness.

Jebara died at the Bhanness Medical Center in Metn.

The Change and Reform parliamentary bloc on Tuesday called for an immediate halt to “unlawful” military appointments, condemning what it described as attempts to “isolate” the bloc in these designations.

“Their extensions are selective, dangerous and in violation of the defense law and the law regulating the Internal Security Forces,” said the bloc in a statement recited by ex-minister Salim Jreissati after its weekly meeting in Rabieh.