Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc leader MP Walid Jumblat voiced calls on Wednesday to form a cabinet of 30 ministers in order to represent all political factions in the new government.

“The best way to get a ministry is to return to the the old formula with a balanced share for the Marada Movement and the Lebanese Forces,” said Jumblat in a tweet.

Speaker Nabih Berri declared that there are no justifiable reasons to delay the formation of the cabinet any further now that all political parties have taken their share in the new cabinet, al-Joumhouria daily reported Wednesday.

A number of young men blocked the main highway Tuesday in the al-Abdeh area at Akkar's southern entrance “in solidarity with Aleppo's people” and to “condemn the world's silence,” state-run National News Agency reported.

The Change and Reform parliamentary bloc announced Tuesday that Speaker Nabih Berri “has the right” to give up his demand to get the public works ministerial portfolio in favor of his ally MP Suleiman Franjieh while noting that “there cannot be a final line-up” before the approval of President Michel Aoun and Premier-designate Saad Hariri.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Anne Patterson on Tuesday relayed a message to President Michel Aoun from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, in which she expressed Washington's readiness to maintain its support for Lebanon to enable it to face the expected challenges, Lebanon's National News Agency reported.

President Michel Aoun announced Tuesday that “progress” has been made in the cabinet formation process while noting that all political parties can have a role during his presidential tenure except for those who exclude themselves.

As part of an initiative by the UN Information Centre in Beirut (UNIC Beirut), Lebanese TV stations marked Human Rights Day on 10 December by highlighting several rights that, according to them, are still missing in Lebanon.

The initiative, which was under the Human Rights Day slogan for this year, “Stand Up for Someone’s Rights Today”, also entailed a symbolic action by school students who stood up in solidarity with a number of human rights mentioned in the Declaration.

As part of an initiative launched by the Change and Reform bloc to separate the cabinet formation process from an agreement on a new electoral law, a delegation of the bloc visited the Kataeb party on Tuesday and talks focused on devising a law for the upcoming parliamentary elections, the National News Agency reported.

The Change and Reform bloc, comprising MPs Neemtallah Abi Nasr and Ibrahim Kanaan met with Kataeb party leader MP Sami Gemayel, in presence of lawmakers Nadim Gemayel and Samer Saade.

A new born baby was found on Tuesday in a garbage sorting plant in the southern city of Sidon, the National News Agency reported.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim deemed the election of President Michel Aoun as an essential milestone to restore the regularity of the constitutional institutions in Lebanon, stressing the World Bank Group's constant commitment towards the Lebanese state, the National News Agency reported.

Kim also expressed aspirations to support Aoun in building a resilient and flexible economy which would lead to the revival of Lebanon and its development.