Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Sunday said that the FPM will launch a "complete" political initiative within two weeks.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday lamented that “arrogance is preventing politicians from coming together and holding dialogue to exit the presidential election crisis.”

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Saturday lamented that “all political indications confirm the presence of a plot against Lebanon aimed at causing presidential vacuum accompanied by a constitutional vacuum, which is more and more complicating the election of a president.”

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil met Friday evening with Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat, following political clashes and a lengthy break in ties between the two parties.

Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tajani on Friday met in Beirut with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

In his talks with Mikati, Tajani demonstrated the relations between Lebanon and Italy on the various levels, the situation in Lebanon, and the ongoing failure to elect a new president, state-run National News Agency said.

Lebanon for more than three years has been mired in a deep financial, economic and social crisis, aggravated by a political deadlock.

Here is a recap since turmoil broke out in October 2019.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has decried what he described as “political blackmail” and “presidential blackmail” in the current controversy related to the army’s Military Council.

“The Defense Minister is making an excuse that extending the term of the incumbent Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Amin al-Orm would not be legal, although the term of former Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Walid Salman had been extended,” Jumblat said in an interview with Annahar newspaper.

Following a lengthy break in ties and a political clash between the Free Patriotic Movement and the Progressive Socialist Party, a mediator has managed to set up a meeting between FPM chief Jebran Bassil and PSP leader Walid Jumblat, al-Jadeed TV has reported.

The meeting will be held Friday over a lunch banquet attended by MP Taymour Jumblat, the TV network added.

Lebanese investigators have identified suspects in the fatal shooting of an Irish United Nations peacekeeper whose vehicle came under fire earlier this month, a judicial official told AFP on Thursday.

Private Sean Rooney, 23, was killed and three others injured on December 14 when their UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) vehicle was attacked near the village of Al-Aqbiya in Lebanon's south.

Youssef Safouri wandered through a noisy jam-packed Beirut Christmas market, where the hundreds of families who flocked to stands selling gifts by Lebanese designers belied a severe economic crisis that has sapped the savings of millions.

Safouri is among thousands of Lebanese who left the country when its economy started to tumble in late 2019. They have now become a lifeline for families back home who receive remittances from abroad and cash brought in suitcases during holiday visits. Three-quarters of the population is now plunged into poverty.