Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham has said the U.S. must spend money to help Lebanon confront the Syrian refugee crisis as the U.S. Senate appropriators advanced a $48.3 billion budget for foreign aid and State Department work.

The Appropriations foreign operations subcommittee adopted the budget by consensus Tuesday. The full committee examines it Thursday.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday said he is waiting for al-Mustaqbal movement to nominate him or endorse a “new candidate” for the presidency, revealing that he had told Mustaqbal leader Saad Hariri that he would guarantee his “political security” if he returns to Lebanon.

“Mustaqbal Movement officials contacted me and we had the intent to meet in the summer of 2013 but the circumstances did not allow us to do so. We then scheduled a meeting in Rome and we agreed not to publicize it so that they (political rivals) don't force its failure before it even happens,” Aoun said in an interview on OTV.

Ten Hizbullah fighters have died in recent days while taking part in the ongoing Syrian war, most of whom were killed in an attack by the oppositions' fighters in the town of Rankous in Reef Damascus.

These reports were confirmed on websites affiliated with the Syrian opposition and with Hizbullah, which also revealed the fighters' identity and noted that while some of them were buried on Friday, others were laid to rest on Saturday.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat assured that he is going forward with the nomination of Democratic Gathering MP Henri Helou for presidency, stating that he will not withdraw it “for the sake of a military man or the Central Bank chief.”

"I don't oppose (Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel) Aoun but I do not nominate him or vote for him. I also won't vote for (Lebanese Forces chief) Samir (Geagea),” Jumblat said in an interview on Tele Liban which aired on Wednesday evening.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday presented three “solutions” to end the presidential impasse, 15 days after former President Michel Suleiman left office with no successor to take his place in the coming six years.

Among his suggested “solutions,” Geagea proposed selecting two nominees from the March 14 and the March 8 coalitions other than himself and Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, and voting for one of them at the parliament.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has stressed that he will not pull out MP Henri Helou of the presidential race even if an agreement was reached between al-Mustaqbal movement leader MP Saad Hariri and Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun.

“I'm not one of those who wait for external factors. I won't pull out Henri Helou even if Hariri reaches an agreement with Aoun,” Jumblat said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday called for “domestic efforts” and dialogue to elect a new president instead of awaiting the outcome of any Saudi-Iranian talks, stressing that Hizbullah has never raised the issue of tripartite power-sharing between Christians, Sunnis and Shiites.

“We extremely regret recent remarks accusing our camp, especially the Shiite duo, of seeking tripartite power-sharing, and someone is trying to say that we want a presidential void because we want to reach tripartite power-sharing,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech commemorating late scholar Sheikh Mustafa Qassir al-Ameli.

China offered $16 million in humanitarian assistance Thursday for Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan as part of Beijing's growing engagement with the Arab world.

The assistance will go to displaced Syrians sheltering in neighboring countries, including Jordan and Lebanon, President Xi Jinping was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called on Wednesday Russia, Iran, and Hizbullah to help end the war in Syria, saying that Lebanon has felt the impact of the crisis more than any other country.

He said: “Iran, Russia, and Hizbullah must engage in a legitimate effort to bring this war to an end.”

Prime Minister Tammam Salam on Monday stressed that the Constitution is “clear” and “indisputable” regarding the powers of the government during a presidential vacuum, noting that “the PM is the one who asks cabinet to convene and prepares the session agenda.”

“I will not cease my efforts to secure the election of a new president,” Salam said during an interview with MTV.