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5-nation group threatens 'measures' against presidential vote obstructors

The five-nation group on Lebanon has threatened “measures” against the Lebanese parties who are “blocking progress” in the stalled presidential election file, in a statement issued after a meeting in Doha.

"Today, representatives from Egypt, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United States met to discuss the urgent need for Lebanon's leadership to expedite presidential elections and implement imperative economic reforms in order to fulfill their responsibilities to their citizens. Rescuing the economy and securing a more prosperous future for the Lebanese people rests on their actions," the five nations said in a joint statement.

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Kanaan says MPs have every right to look at forensic audit report

Free Patriotic Movement MP Ibrahim Kanaan asked Tuesday caretaker Finance Minister Youssef al-Khalil for a copy of the Alvarez & Marsal forensic audit report.

The Finance Ministry had last month denied accusations that it has “hidden” the report, claiming that the report is just a draft, that it belongs to the Lebanese government and not the Finance Ministry and that it is confidential.

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Judge Abu Samra resumes Salameh's interrogation

Central Bank governor Riad Salameh showed up Tuesday for an interrogation session at the Justice Palace before Judge Charbel Abu Samra.

Last week, Abu Samra questioned Salameh and adjourned the interrogation until this week.

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Lebanon judge seizes central bank chief's properties

A Lebanese judge has ordered the seizure of embattled central bank governor Riad Salameh's properties pending a local investigation into his wealth, a judicial official told AFP.

Salameh has been the subject of a series of judicial probes both in crisis-hit Lebanon and abroad into the fortune he has amassed during some three decades in the post.

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Cabinet to hold successive sessions on state budget

The caretaker Cabinet will hold successive sessions to discuss the draft state budget, the National News Agency reported on Monday.

The first session will be held next Monday, NNA said.

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Ministerial delegation to visit Syria over refugee repatriation

Minister of Social Affairs Hector Hajjar and Minister of the Displaced Issam Sharafeddine will soon visit Damascus to meet with their Syrian counterparts over the repatriation of the Syrian refugees, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported Monday.

It added that Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, who had said he would not head the ministerial delegation to Syria, has called his Syrian counterpart, Faisal al-Miqdad, and agreed with him to meet soon.

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Finance committee to approve oil sovereign fund before August drilling

The Finance and Budget Parliamentary Committee held a session Monday to discuss the issue of the creation of an oil and gas sovereign fund.

“We discussed the report of the sovereign fund subcommittee and endorsed its content in terms of the commitment to the independence of its management and the transparency of its accounts and foreign investments,” Committee chief MP Ibrahim Kanaan said after the meeting.

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Five-nation group on Lebanon holds 'positive' talks in Doha

Representatives of KSA, Qatar, Egypt, France and the U.S. met Monday in Doha to try to find a solution to the Lebanese presidential impasse, before French Envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian's return to Lebanon.

Media reports said the talks were "positive" and "serious in seeking solutions" and that the attendees supported Le Drian's proposal for a dialogue to break the presidential impasse.

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Chahine says vice governors won't quit, promises transparent exchange platform

Central Bank Third Vice Governor Salim Chahine has confirmed that there will be no “mass resignation” of the bank’s four vice governors.

In remarks to Annahar newspaper published Monday, Chahine also said that the vice governors will not accept to “keep using depositors’ funds to cover the expenses of the state and the Sayrafa platform.”

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Ibrahim confirms meeting Shea, says he proposed border tensions solution

Former General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim has confirmed that U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea had visited him days ago and that the discussions “tackled the situations in the South and the issue of the tents” erected by Hezbollah inside and near the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms.

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