General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim held talks Wednesday with Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari, following a visit to Kuwait to explore the possibility of economic assistance.

Lebanon on Wednesday recorded a new surge in the number of its confirmed coronavirus cases.

In its daily statement, the Health Ministry said 68 residents and 23 expats had tested positive for coronavirus over the past 24 hours.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Wednesday met President Michel Aoun in Baabda, following resounding calls that the spiritual leader voiced in recent days for turning Lebanon into a “neutral” country.

“Neutrality brings stability and growth and it would pull us out of the state that we are in today and of poverty and hunger,” al-Rahi told reporters after the talks.

Defence officials in Armenia and Azerbaijan said there had been no new fighting on their border overnight Wednesday, after several days of deadly clashes raised fears of a major flare-up.

‎Political circles in Lebanon await to see whether the term of UNIFIL forces operating in southern Lebanon will be renewed in implementation of international resolution 1701, amid international and regional conflicts threatening heightened tension between the U.S. and Iran and its “strategic ally Hizbullah,” Asharq el-Awsat reported on Wednesday.

The UNIFIL extension coincides with the expected ruling on July 22 of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005.

Facing a worsening economic crisis and with little chance of Western or oil-rich Arab countries providing assistance without substantial reforms, Lebanon's cash-strapped government is looking east, hoping to secure investments from China that could bring relief.

But help from Beijing risks alienating the United States, which has suggested such a move could come at the cost of Lebanese-U.S. ties.

The Gulf’s stance towards Lebanon’s economic crisis is “not clear yet” after recent meetings held by General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim in Kuwait and Qatar, but it was reportedly affirmed that none of the Gulf countries plan to deposit funds at Lebanese banks, al-Akhbar daily reported on Wednesday.

Zakaria al-Omar was walking through Beirut when a stranger robbed him at knifepoint, a desperate crime of a kind that has become increasingly common in crisis-torn Lebanon. 

MP Hasan Fadlallah of Hizbullah’s Loyalty to Resistance bloc lashed out Tuesday at Justice Minister Marie-Claude Najem, accusing her of doing nothing after receiving 10 files documenting suspected corruption.

“Two months ago, the Justice Minister received 10 corruption files along with their documents and papers, which we had previously lodged with the Parliamentary Administration and Justice Committee,” said Fadlallah in a statement.

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday said it is “awaiting along with the Lebanese” the verdict that will be issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on August 7 in the case of the 2005 assassination of ex-PM Rafik Hariri.

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the bloc stressed its “respect for what the Tribunal will issue” and its “keenness on knowing the full truth ahead ahead of bringing the accused to justice so that they can get their punishment.”