Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab chaired a meeting on Tuesday of the inter-ministerial committee on the rationalization of subsidies of goods, the National News Agency reported.

Lebanon on Tuesday has allocated an initial of 50 billion Lebanese Pounds in compensation to the thousands of homes and businesses devastated by the Beirut port explosion nearly six months on.

Speaker Nabih Berri’s recent statement, and a recent phone call between French President Emmanuel Macron and his Lebanese counterpart Michel Aoun gave “positive” signals on the government formation process, al-Akhbar daily reported on Tuesday.

The Speaker has not made any position or stance since the designation of PM-designate Saad Hariri in October 2020.

A document presented by the International Crisis Group to US President Joe Biden reportedly gave “encouraging American signals” towards crisis-hit Lebanon, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday.

Speaker Nabih Berri escalated his stance regarding the formation of the new government after President Michel Aoun and Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil rejected an initiative he made last week, a media report said on Monday.

The Presidency on Monday denied that President Michel Aoun is seeking a one-third share in the new cabinet.

Ten Lebanese citizens released by the UAE will arrive in Lebanon on Tuesday, General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim said on Monday.

One was released and flown home on Sunday, while "the ten others should arrive tomorrow," Ibrahim told AFP.  

The UK’s donation of 100 British army armored patrol vehicles arrived at the port of Beirut on Sunday, the British embassy said in a statement released Monday.

Hizbullah said on Monday it downed an Israeli drone that breached Lebanese airspace after it flew over the U.N.-demarcated Blue Line border, while Israel acknowledged an unmanned aircraft had crashed.

The Military Media of the Islamic Resistance issued a statement on Monday saying it “downed an Israeli drone that breached the Lebanese airspace over the outskirts of the town of Blida in south Lebanon.”

Speaker Nabih Berri issued a statement on Monday affirming continued efforts to help ease the government deadlock, and stressed that veto powers must not be given to any political party.