The reputable Lebanese newspaper Annahar, issued a surprising blank edition of its paper on Thursday in a move described by its Editor-in-chief Nayla Tueini as a protest against the "deteriorating conditions in the country at all levels."

Tueini who held a televised press conference to explain the move, said that Lebanon “is facing one of the most dangerous stages of all times. The white pages of the daily is an expression towards the country's disastrous situation," she said.

State Prosecutor Judge Samir Hammoud has ordered investigations to look into who leaked the names of the delegation accompanying President Michel Aoun to Armenia where he is set to partake in the Francophonie Summit in Yerevan, the State-run National News Agency reported on Thursday.

The Free Patriotic Movement rejected accusations blaming its chief Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil of obstructing the formation of Lebanon’s government, saying his latest remarks have proven that “he wants to facilitate the formation process,” al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday.

“Anyone who looks well into Bassil’s latest remarks will know that they were meant to facilitate the formation,” FPM sources told the daily on condition of anonymity.

President Michel Aoun departed on Wednesday leading an official delegation to Armenia to partake in the 17th Summit of the International Organisation of la Francophonie (IOF) in Yerevan on October 11-12, the National News Agency reported on Wednesday.

The delegation included caretaker Minister of Culture Ghattas Khoury, caretaker Tourism Minister Avedis Kedanian and several other officials, NNA said.

As Lebanon continues to invite Arab leaders to the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit it hosts in January, Hizbullah party has reportedly been “pressuring President Michel Aoun into inviting Syria” to the summit, the Kuwaiti Asseyasah daily reported on Wednesday.

The Internal Security Forces Information Branch arrested a suspect in the northern region of Akkar over links to the Islamic State terror organization, ISF said in a statement on Wednesday.

The detainee admitted during investigations that he had joined the IS ranks eight months ago through groups that encouraged him to carry out terror attacks in Lebanon instead of Syria, said the statement.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat emphasized on Wednesday that his offer to make a settlement to ease the government formation process must not be taken as a relinquishment of the party’s principles.

The Kataeb party on Tuesday urged President Michel Aoun and Premier-designate Saad Hariri to form a government of specialists and end wrangling between political parties over shares and portfolios.

Speaking during the party’s politburo weekly meeting, Kataeb chief Sami Gemayel sounded the alarm over “unprecedented conflict over shares and quotas, and the destructive logic that has prevailed," between political parties.

Although there is no major breakthrough in Lebanon’s government formation, but Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri is determined to form one in the next few days now that the ten-day deadline he set after his “positive” meeting with President Michel Aoun last week has ended, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday.

France is worried that a further delay in lining up Lebanon’s government could affect implementation of the CEDRE conference, although French diplomats affirm “commitment” to its resolutions that garnered billions of dollars for the Mediterranean country.

Al-Joumhouria daily said on Tuesday that “the French interest in Lebanon is focused on the government formation process, the country’s economy and the crisis of Syrian refugees.”