Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab confirmed Friday that Lebanon will on Monday ease a strict coronavirus lockdown that has been in place since January 14.

The EU Delegation to Lebanon and the diplomatic missions of the EU Member States on Friday called on Lebanese authorities to act swiftly in the wake of the assassination of the renowned activist and researcher Lokman Slim.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has condemned the “heinous assassination” of prominent Lebanese activist Lokman Slim in southern Lebanon.  

Hizbullah on Thursday condemned the assassination of rival activist and researcher Lokman Slim.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea said Thursday that Lokman Slim’s “barbaric assassination” is “an attack on Lebanon itself,” urging an “expeditious investigation of this and other recent killings.”

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on Thursday described slain anti-Hizbullah activist and researcher Lokman Slim as “a new martyr on the path of Lebanon’s freedom and democracy.”

The Amal Movement on Thursday condemned “the crime of the assassination of political activist and researched Lokman Slim.”

Najat Rochdi, the U.N. Deputy Special Coordinator, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, on Thursday expressed her shock and sadness over the assassination of Lebanese anti-Hizbullah activist and publicist Lokman Slim.

Rochdi extended her deep condolences to Slim’s family and friends and voiced solidarity with the Lebanese people and society as a whole.

President Michel Aoun on Thursday asked State Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat to carry out the necessary investigations to unveil the circumstances of the assassination of anti-Hizbullah Shiite activist Lokman Salim in the southern town of al-Addousiyeh.

European Union Ambassador to Lebanon Ralph Tarraf on Thursday said the EU stands in solidarity with the people of Lebanon, emphasizing that the truth must be revealed behind the August 4 explosion.