Prime Minister Saad Hariri met with Acting US Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield for a second time on the visit who made no comments to the press after his meeting with the Premier.

President Michel Aoun on Tuesday reassured that the Lebanese lira is “not in danger.”

An international delegation of fifteen senior military officers from the British Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) led by Air Vice Marshall Garry Tunnicliffe visited Lebanon for one week to learn about the political, economic, security, and social challenges facing Lebanon and how these relate to regional and international stability.  

Pope Francis has hailed late former Maronite patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir as a craftsman of peace and “ardent defender of the sovereignty and independence of his country.”

“I address my warm condolences to you, as well as to his family and to all the faithful of the Patriarchal Church of Antioch of the Maronites, whom he governed for many years with as much gentleness as determination,” Pope Francis wrote in a May 14 cable to Sfeir’s successor, Beshara al-Rahi.

Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil on Tuesday called for abolishing “unproductive public administrations” and raising taxes on banks, as part of suggestions he made in Cabinet to further reduce public spending.

Speaking after the weekly meeting of the Strong Lebanon bloc, Bassil said he raised five suggestions in Cabinet related to “the state's size, funds waste and tax evasion, debt interests and trade balance.”

U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Satterfield arrived Tuesday in Beirut for talks with Lebanese officials.

Satterfield began his visit by offering condolences in Bkirki over the death of ex-Maronite patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir.

Foreign diplomats, Lebanese officials, religious and security figures flocked to Bkirki for the second on Tuesday to offer their condolences to Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi over the passing of former Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir.

The Cabinet held another budget session on Tuesday amid reports that Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil plans to present an “initiative” that will help in slashing the state’s budget deficit.

The Lebanese Foreign Ministry condemned in a statement the sabotage attacks on four commercial civilian ships in the UAE's territorial waters.

The Ministry voiced calls on the United Nations and the international community to seek to maintain the security, safety and freedom of global maritime navigation.

In the framework of regular visits organized by the Association of Banks in Lebanon to financial capitals, a delegation from the Board of Directors of the Association of Banks last week visited New York and Washington, media reports said on Tuesday.