Anti-government protesters and a grouping of journalists rallied Thursday outside the central bank in Hamra in solidarity with prominent economic journalist Mohammed Zbeeb, who was beaten up overnight at the hands of three unknown attackers.

“Officials today are preoccupying people with lies and myths about the issue of paying Lebanon’s due debt,” a defiant Zbeeb said at the rally, noting that “every dollar paid as debt service or to pay the Eurobonds will come at the expense of our children’s milk.”

Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Thursday described the 2005 assassination of ex-PM Rafik Hariri as a “crime against Lebanon’s future.”

“The 15th anniversary of the martyrdom of ex-PM Rafik Hariri and his companions comes this year as Lebanon passes through a sensitive period and faces dangerous financial, economic and social challenges,” Diab said in a statement marking the occasion.

President Michel Aoun on Thursday called on ministers to “work in a rapid pace amid all the extraordinary economic, financial, monetary and banking circumstances that we are going through.”

Speaking at the beginning of the first session of the new Cabinet, Aoun said the ministers should “begin implementing the content of the Policy Statement in terms of devising the emergency plan and the plans of the first and second phases, as mentioned in the Policy Statement.”

In light of a crippling economic crisis and confusion whether Lebanon should pay or restructure its international dues, a “financial and economic” meeting convened at Baabda Presidential Palace to discuss the situation, the National News Agency reported on Thursday.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement of will not invite President Michel Aoun or any figures of the Free Patriotic Movement to the commemoration ceremony of late PM Rafik Hariri, the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat reported on Thursday.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement of ex-PM Saad Hariri that moved to the opposition after the resignation of its chief, seeks to bring the opposition parties and figures of the popular movement in a “united front,” al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday.

A day after receiving a vote of confidence from parliament, the government on Wednesday afternoon asked the International Monetary Fund to provide advice on its economic plan, a fund spokesman said.

The Lebanese Army on Wednesday opened fire at an Israeli drone over the southern border town of Mays al-Jabal, the National News Agency said.

The drone, which was not hit, was flying over the Kroum al-Sharraqi area, NNA said.

Seven people have been injured in a clash between Baouchriyeh residents and members of the Zoaiter family who live in the area, MTV reported on Wednesday.

The TV network said the tensions erupted Tuesday following a confrontation between a bus driver from the Zoaiter family and Baouchriyeh residents.

Prime Minister Hassan Diab held separate talks Wednesday with a World Bank delegation and Lebanon’s Association of Banks chief Salim Sfeir.

Diab’s meeting with the World Bank team was held away from reporters’ eyes according to TV networks.