Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday called on all parties to “stop their pressures on the PM-designate” to allow him to quickly form a new government.

In his fiercest verbal attack at officials, Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi snapped at them on Saturday urging them to “step down,” saying Lebanon's “political authority has murdered its people.”

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri is likely to visit Baabda presidential palace “either Saturday or Sunday” to hand the President a draft of the cabinet line-up, al-Anbaa daily reported.

The political efforts to form a new government are ongoing in Lebanon, amid alleged obstacles arising related to the ministerial representation of the Druze community, the Saudi Asharq el-Awsat reported on Saturday.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday said his group will facilitate the government formation process as much as possible, as he criticized France over its stance on the Prophet Mohammed cartoons.

Lebanon recorded 1,751 new coronavirus cases and 15 deaths in 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Friday.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s Trial Chamber has issued an order scheduling a public hearing on 10 November 2020 at 10.00 AM (C.E.T.) to hear oral submissions from the Prosecutor, Defence Counsel representing the interests of Salim Jamil Ayyash and the Legal Representatives of Victims (LRV), the STL said on Friday.

A large quantity of dangerously stored diesel was confiscated Friday in Beirut’s Tariq al-Jedideh district, in a continued crackdown that began after a fuel tank blast killed several people and caused extensive damage.

The Free Patriotic Movement-led Strong Lebanon bloc on Friday submitted a draft law aimed at setting deadlines for the president of the republic to call for binding parliamentary consultations to name a new PM and for the PM-designate to form a government.

Protesters staged a rally near the French embassy in Beirut on Friday in protest against the French president's defense of the right to publish cartoons seen as offensive to Islam.