President Michel Aoun on Friday hoped the new year will witness “the beginning of Lebanon’s rise from the successive crises it has gone through.”

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has lamented the presence of “procrastination” in the Beirut port blast probe, stressing the importance of the issuance of an indictment by Judge Tarek Bitar.

President Michel Aoun said Thursday he hopes some nations won't use the Lebanese arena to "settle their regional disputes" nor to "back certain groups at the expense of others."

In a meeting with diplomatic corps at the Baabda Palace, Aoun affirmed his keenness on maintaining the best relations with all nations, including Gulf states.

OGERO has secured an amount of diesel sufficient until next June, Telecommunications Minister Johnny Korm has announced.

Internet services were disrupted in half of Beirut on Sunday because of diesel shortages.

Protesters and activists on Wednesday staged a sit-in outside the Justice Palace in Beirut in solidarity with a jailed man who took hostages Tuesday at a Bekaa bank and forced employees to give him $50,000 in cash from his own account.

The International Support Group for Lebanon (ISG) said Wednesday that it has taken note of steps to reconvene the Council of Ministers, urging the resumption of its meetings as soon as possible.

The EU Delegation and the EU Member States on Wednesday urged Lebanon to resume Cabinet sessions, prepare for elections, reach a deal with the International Monetary Fund and ensure justice in the port probe.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Tuesday designated three “Hizbullah-linked financial facilitators and their Lebanon-based travel company,” the Treasury said in a statement.

Specifically, OFAC designated Adel Diab, Ali Mohamad Daoun, Jihad Salem Alame, and their company, Dar Al Salam for Travel & Tourism.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati held talks Tuesday at the Baabda Palace with President Michel Aoun.

Mount Lebanon Attorney General Judge Ghada Aoun on Tuesday issued a no disposal note for all real state properties and vehicles belonging to Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh.