Riot police from Beirut and Baghdad to Hong Kong and Minsk often use so-called "non-lethal" weapons for crowd control -- so why do protesters keep dying and being maimed?

The Beirut eastern suburb of Nabaa, the coastal Khalde area south of Beirut and the Bekaa town of Saadnayel have witnessed tensions following separate incidents over the past hours.

The tensions in Nabaa erupted after the torching of a banner related to the Shiite religious occasion of Ashoura and a picture of Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, reports said.

Lebanon on Thursday received Iraqi, Omani and Ukrainian aid as part of the relief efforts aimed at addressing the repercussions of the devastating Beirut port blast.

The Lebanese Army said a Ukrainian plane carrying medical aid landed at Beirut airport as 31 tankers carrying diesel and dispatched by Iraq entered the country via the al-Masnaa border crossing.

Consultations to form a new government have kicked off based on a “French paper” and another prepared by ex-PM Saad Hariri, TV networks said on Thursday.

“The talks over the government are based on a French paper that was delivered to a number of Lebanese leaders,” the reports said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Thursday welcomed the verdict issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the 2005 assassination of ex-PM Rafik Hariri while describing it as incomplete.

“The LF supported the STL from the very first moment and that’s why we will accept the verdict issued by it as it is, with all due openness and satisfaction,” Geagea said at a press conference that followed a meeting for the LF-led Strong Republic bloc.

The case against former Nissan executive Carlos Ghosn may have taken another turn as Japanese media report allegations that the automaker declared as expenses 1.15 billion yen ($10.8 million) in his taxable personal income.

Japan's National Tax Agency said Thursday it was aware of the reports but declined comment on an individual case.

The head of the U.N. refugee agency says it's time for the international community to show solidarity with the Lebanese people by offering assistance to a country that has hosted hundreds of thousands of refugees for decades.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi also said the UNHCR is making its capacity and expertise as a humanitarian agency available to the Lebanese people and is ready to assist the country as part of a broader international response.

President Michel Aoun said in a tweet on Thursday that he seeks to include in the new government “competent” figures representing anti-government protesters of the October 17 uprising.

The French Embassy in Lebanon issued a statement by the French Foreign Ministry, welcoming the final ruling of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the murder case of ex-PM Rafic Hariri, the National News Agency reported on Thursday.

The UK Government has sent essential medical Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to Beirut to help overstretched hospitals across Lebanon deal with coronavirus, the UK embassy reported in a press release on Thursday.