The World Bank and Islamic Development Bank have signed agreements worth hundreds of millions of dollars to help Lebanon cope with the large number of Syrian refugees who were displaced by their country's civil war.

The announcement was made after a Thursday meeting between Prime Minister Tammam Salam and visiting U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and Islamic Development Bank President Ahmad Mohamed Ali al-Madani.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon praised on Thursday Lebanon's army on its ongoing fight against terrorism, while urging political powers to end the presidential vacuum.

He said after meeting with Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the Grand Serail: “We are worried about the political situation in Lebanon that does not serve stability.”

Customs agents at the port of the northern city of Tripoli succeeded on Thursday in thwarting an attempt to smuggle a large quantity of captagon narcotic pills to Jordan, reported the National News Agency.

The shipment was being transported from a truck to a ship ahead of sailing to Jordan.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Thursday where he was received by UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Luciano Portolano, announced the international force in a statement.

Speaking during his visit to the headquarters of UNIFIL, on the first day of his two-day tour of the country, the secretary general noted that southern Lebanon has seen one of the quietest periods in nearly four decades since the adoption of the U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 in 2006.

A Lebanese solder was killed on Thursday in a roadside bombing that targeted a military patrol on the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal, the state-run National News Agency reported.

NNA said the attack, which also left three soldiers injured, took place in the area of Wadi Atta.

MP Walid Jumblat criticized on Thursday the government’s performance and said that it is unlikely for political leaders to care for the citizens' safety and security.

“From London, a minister (Interior Nouhad al-Mashnouq) stated that there are security shortcomings at the Beirut airport and has vowed to address them. How can we believe that in light of the chaos and negligence spread everywhere, most notably the latest issue of the internet,” said Jumblat via Twitter.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi washed and kissed the feet of 12 inmates in the country's largest prison in Roumieh on Holy Thursday.

“Whether you have committed a small or big crime, Jesus is with you,” he said in his sermon.

Electricity du Liban contract workers on Thursday burned tires at the state-run firm's entrance in Beirut's Mar Mikhael area to press for their demands.

One of the workers told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) that they want to remind the authorities about their right to become full-time employees.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon arrived in Beirut on Thursday on a two-day official visit that is expected to focus on the issue of Syrian refugees, the third such trip since he came to office in 2006.

He was welcomed at Rafik Hariri International Airport by director-general of the Foreign Ministry Wafiq Rahimi.

Head of the Parliamentary Media Committee MP Hassan Fadalallah stated that the illegal internet network file is growing like a snowball, but assured that the committee's efforts will continue until the perpetrators behind this scandal are revealed, As Safir daily reported on Thursday.

“We will continue what we have started at the committee on March 8 when we discovered the tip of the iceberg in the internet scandal, and we will continue the efforts until we uncover all the hidden details,” Fadlallah told the daily.