Lebanon’s Cabinet convened Tuesday at the Presidential Palace in Baabda in a session dedicated to discuss the 2019 state budget draft, amid plans to implement strict austerity measures to reduce a ballooning budget deficit and massive national debt.

Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil on Tuesday denied reports that the new state budget will target the military and security personnel.

Defense Minister Elias Bou Saab on Tuesday made an inspection visit to an Army site on the northeastern border between Lebanon and Syria, throwing support behind the retired military’s refusals to cut their pays as part of austerity measures planned by the government.

Retired military and security personnel on Tuesday staged sit-ins around different regions in Lebanon protesting government's possible cut to their end-of-service benefits, as the government braces for a meeting to discuss “austere” budget measures to cut the state deficit.

On the U.S. sanctions on Iran, the French President has reportedly “advised” his U.S. counterpart to take the situation in Lebanon into account when imposing sanctions on Iran (and it’s Lebanese ally Hizullah) warning it may have undesirable consequences, Asharq al-Awsat reported on Monday.

Lebanon has been “officially” informed that French President Emmanuel Macron has included an official visit to Lebanon on his schedule at the invitation of President Michel Aoun, Asharq al-Awsat daily reported on Monday.

Progressive Socialist Party chief ex-MP Walid Jumblat has announced that the maps of the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms had been "manipulated," amid a war of words in Lebanon over the identity of the territory.

A Lebanese man and his Venezuelan wife and young son of less than 5 years old were all killed in Venezuela by a theft gang, the National News Agency reported on Saturday.

Energy Minister Nada al-Bustani launched a campaign on Saturday to remove infringements on the crumbling electricity grid as part of fixing the electricity sector that has cost state coffers about $2 billion annually.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned in a report on the implementation of resolution 1559, of Hizbullah’s retention of "large and sophisticated military capabilities," and called on the Lebanon to take measures to transform it into a “civilian party,” Asharq al-Awsat daily said on Saturday.