The Lebanese Forces said Tuesday that they will not participate in a parliamentary dialogue that Speaker Nabih Berri might call for.

Berri had announced last week that he would turn Thursday’s presidential election session into a parliamentary dialogue if the blocs agree to such a move.

The Joint Parliamentary Committees have agreed to “put the capital control law aside after approving it pending the adoption of the rest of the laws that are related to the recovery plan,” Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab announced on Monday.

“We passed Article 4 of the capital control law and the discussions are now limited to exemptions,” Bou Saad said after a parliamentary committees session.

TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné said Monday that the French energy giant has mobilized the teams in charge of drilling operations in Lebanon's Block 9, as he met with caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayyad.

TotalEnergies said that it has launched a call for tenders to select a vendor for a new drilling rig in the first quarter of 2023.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati met Monday with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi over a controversial cabinet session that had infuriated the Free Patriotic Movement.

The caretaker cabinet had convened last Monday to discuss "urgent" matters in a session boycotted by the FPM. FPM chief Jebran Bassil later blasted Hezbollah, Mikati and other parties over the session.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil announced Sunday that his latest criticism of ally Hezbollah was not targeted at its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, as he warned that the 2006 memorandum of understanding with the party is at risk.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday reiterated his call for “heading to the U.N. and world powers to rescue Lebanon before it’s too late.”

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh following "a request from French President Emmanuel Macron," LBCI TV reported overnight.

Several MPs and political parties on Sunday condemned the overnight incidents at Ashrafieh's Sassine Square that followed Morroco's World Cup win.

A clash erupted overnight at Ashrafieh’s Sassine Square after dozens of individuals arrived in the area on motorbikes carrying “flags of Morocco, Palestine and Syria,” media reports said.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has held talks in Riyadh with Chinese President Xi Jinping.