The United States has welcomed the Latvian government’s recent announcement that it considers Hizbullah in its entirety as a “terrorist organization.” 

“Latvia supports U.S. implementation of sanctions related to Hizbullah and has expressed a readiness to place national travel bans on individuals associated with Hizbullah,” Cale Brown, the U.S. State Dept.’s principal deputy spokesperson, said.

President Michel Aoun on Tuesday told a delegation from the U.N., the EU and the World Bank that the planned forensic audit of the public sector will “prove the state’s credibility towards the international community, especially donor countries.”

“This audit will make it possible to know how every dollar was or will be spent in Lebanon,” Aoun told EU Ambassador to Lebanon Ralph Tarraf, U.N. Deputy Special Coordinator for Lebanon Najat Rochdi and World Bank regional director Saroj Kumar Jha.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement is “optimistic that an agreement will be reached” on am 18-seat cabinet line-up that PM-designate Saad Hariri will present to President Michel Aoun in the coming hours, the movement’s deputy chief said on Monday.

“So far, the possible damage resulting from (Hariri’s) stepping down surpasses the positivities from such a move and accordingly stepping down is out of the question at the moment,” Mustafa Alloush added in remarks to al-Jadeed TV.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday held separate talks with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea, U.N. Deputy Special Coordinator for Lebanon Najat Rochdi and Lebanon’s caretaker Deputy PM and Defense Minister Zeina Akar.

The meetings come after the postponement of this week’s round of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon over their disputed maritime borders, which are being held under the auspices of the U.S. and the U.N.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Monday denied setting conditions or demands regarding the new cabinet, stressing that the FPM is only asking for “unified standards.”

In a statement issued by his press office, Bassil described a report published in the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper as “lies and fabrications.”

The Presidency on Monday referred to the Premiership a recent Parliament resolution calling for a sweeping financial audit of all state institutions.

In a statement, the Presidency said it has asked the Premiership to “take the legal and executive measures in the issue of the concentrated financial auditing of the accounts of the central bank and the related authorities in line with Cabinet’s resolution number 3, dated March 26, 2020.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday condemned the killing of prominent Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, and expressed heartfelt condolences to the Iranian government and people.

In its statement, the Foreign Ministry called all sides for utmost self-restraint to avoid dragging the region into "the worst scenario."

The press office of President Michel Aoun described as “fabricated” some media reports claiming that the son-in-law of the President, MP Jebran Bassil, is playing a role or interfering in the cabinet formation process.

In a statement, the press office of the Presidency said: “Al-Liwaa and Nidaa al-Watan newspapers, along with other media websites, have published false information about the government formation process, by referring to a role of head of the Strong Lebanon parliamentary bloc, MP Jebran Bassil, in this process.

The next round of indirect demarcation border talks between Lebanon and Israel has been postponed, a Lebanese military source said Monday.

News of the postponement of a session scheduled to take place on Wednesday came after Israel accused Lebanon of changing its stance in the negotiations one too many times.

After months of paused efforts to return the Syrian refugees back home, the committee tasked with addressing the file is expected to reactivate the plan’s mechanism this week, the Saudi Asharq el-Awsat newspaper reported on Monday.