Former American professional cyclist Lance Armstrong led a bike tour around Beirut on Sunday to raise awareness and funds for organizations helping residents affected by a massive explosion that struck the Lebanese capital in August.

Dozens of cyclists took part in the "Bike for Beirut" tour as Lebanon marked two months since the blast at Beirut's port, where some 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrates were stored for six years before exploding on Aug. 4. It was one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded.

Relatives of the Beirut port blast victims on Sunday staged a sit-in to mark two months since the deadly disaster.

After blocking the Charles Helou Highway for some time, demanding that officials communicate with them and unveil the latest developments in the ongoing probe, the relatives released white balloons carrying the victims’ names into the air.

French President Emmanuel Macron has awarded the head of the Parliamentary Women and Children Committee MP Enaya Ezzeddine the French Legion of Honor of the rank of Knight in recognition of her roles in Lebanon’s public life, her press office said.

The Legion of Honor is the highest French order of merit for military and civil merits, established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte and retained by all later French governments and régimes.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday welcomed the announcement of a framework agreement for the demarcation of disputed land and sea borders with Israel.

“We received the announcement with hope,” said al-Rahi in his Sunday Mass sermon.

The new Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmed Al-Sabah met Sunday morning with ex-PM Saad Hariri, who offered condolences for the death of the late Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed Al-Sabah.

Hariri was accompanied by his advisers ex-minister Ghattas Khoury and Fadi Fawaz, his press office said.

Former central bank vice governor Mohammed Baassiri announced Sunday that he is “not aware” that his name has been proposed for the PM post but noted that he would accept to be “in any position that would serve Lebanon.”

“I’m not nominated for any governmental position and I’m not seeking to become premier,” Baassiri added in an interview with al-Jadeed TV.

The current deliberations over the new government are taking ex-PM Najib Miqati’s initiative into consideration but it seems that Hizbullah and the Amal Movement do not want the government to be formed immediately, media reports said.

“Until the completion of the elements of the Iranian-American agreements, which can be sensed through the current flexibility in the Lebanese developments, it seems that the Shiite duo does not want a government at the moment, because it prefers to keep the caretaker cabinet led by Hassan Diab until after the crystallization of the outcome of the U.S. presidential election,” a source told Kuwait’s al-Anba newspaper in remarks published Sunday.

After a coronavirus-related delay, Israel's navy is preparing for the long-awaited arrival of its next generation of missile boats — giving it a powerful new tool to defend its strategic natural gas industry from the threat of Hizbullah.

Lebanon put 111 villages and towns nationwide on lockdown for a week after a series of record novel coronavirus daily infection rates, the interior ministry said Friday.

Independent political party, Sabaa, emphasized on Saturday the Lebanese’s right to see a written publication of a historic US-brokered border demarcation agreement between Lebanon and Israel.