The European Parliament has said that the European Union must impose sanctions on Lebanese politicians who impede the new government’s work, days after EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said there was no need for sanctions after a new government was formed in Lebanon on September 10.

The parliament "deeply urges Lebanese leaders to keep their promises and be a functional government," the European Parliament said in a non-binding resolution.

Cabinet on Thursday unanimously approved the ministerial statement of Najib Miqati’s third government, after a ministerial committee held three meetings to finalize it.

The Presidency said the statement was passed with some “minor amendments,” noting that the new government has been called the “together for rescue” government.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has refused during a TV interview to delve into the possibility of him running for presidency when President Michel Aoun’s term ends.

“As long as President Aoun is in Baabda, I will not discuss this issue, and in the face of people’s pain the presidential elections become a small detail,” Bassil told Alaraby TV.

The lead investigative judge into the Beirut port blast, Tarek Bitar, on Thursday issued an arrest warrant in absentia for former public works and transport minister Youssef Fenianos.

The agency said the warrant was issued after Fenianos failed to show up at an interrogation session scheduled for the same day.

The ministerial committee drafting the new government’s policy statement completed its work on Wednesday after a third meeting and Cabinet will convene Thursday to approve it, the information minister said.

“The draft statement will be discussed and approved in a Cabinet session that will be held at 4:00 pm Thursday at the Baabda Palace, and we hope the new government will appear before parliament at the beginning of next week to request confidence from MPs based on this ministerial statement,” the minister, George Kordahi, told reporters.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Ahmed Al Mandhari will visit Beirut from 16-17 September, the WHO said.

“During the visit, the delegation will meet with high level officials, including the President, Prime Minister, Speaker of Parliament and Minister of Public Health, U.N. and NGO partners, and international partners. They will also visit several health facilities to review the response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” a WHO statement said.

The Foreign Ministry building witnessed pandemonium on Monday after the Ministry’s secretary general, Hani Chemaitelly, tried to bar the outgoing deputy PM and defense and foreign minister, Zeina Akar, from entering a department containing the telegrams that come from abroad.

Sources close to Akar told local newspapers that the outgoing minister “wanted to bid farewell to the employees there and to thank them.”

Outgoing Defense Minister Zeina Akar on Tuesday thanked the army officers who worked alongside her at the Ministry, noting that the army "maintained its high readiness and preserved security" in the country during her tenure.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Tuesday presided over a meeting for the ministerial committee tasked with drafting the new government's policy statement.

The National News Agency said the committee discussed ministers' remarks over the draft and it was decided to hold a third meeting on Wednesday.

The Appeals Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) has scheduled an appeals hearing to take place from 4 to 8 October 2021 in the case of Prosecutor v. Merhi and Oneissi, the STL said on Monday.

The case relates to the 14 February 2005 attack in Beirut that killed 22 people including former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and injured 226 others.