United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday announced the appointment of Major General Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz of Spain as Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Sáenz succeeds Major General Stefano Del Col of Italy, who will shortly complete his assignment. "The Secretary-General is grateful to Major General Del Col for his exemplary service and leadership," the U.N. said in a statement.

The members of the U.N. Security Council "took note positively of the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Lebanon on 24 January," the U.N. said in a statement.

"As the Lebanese population is facing dire needs and has expressed legitimate aspirations for reforms, elections and justice, the members of the Security Council urged expeditious and effective decisions by the government to initiate measures, including the swift adoption of an appropriate budget for 2022 that would enable the quick conclusion of an agreement with the IMF," the U.N. added.

A meeting held at the request of Prime Minister Najib Miqati and attended by Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan and ex-PMs Fouad Saniora and Tammam Salam has failed to devise a “roadmap for filling the vacuum” created by ex-PM Saad Hariri’s withdrawal from politics, a media report said on Friday.

Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh has said that his conscience is clear despite the flurry of accusations against him.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati held talks Friday at the Baabda Palace with President Michel Aoun.

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka and U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Najat Rochdi have posted tweets commemorating slain Lebanese activist and researcher Lokman Slim, on the first anniversary of his assassination.

Two weeks before he was supposed to get married, Bakr Seif told his mother he was going out to see his fiancee and would be back for lunch. When he did not show up by nighttime, his mother called the fiancee, who said he had not been to visit her.

That day, Dec. 8, was the last time Seif's mother saw him. Last week, he was among nine people killed in an Iraqi army airstrike targeting suspected militants in eastern Iraq. At least four of them were Lebanese, all from this small, impoverished village near the northern city of Tripoli.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has said the fund would only support a "comprehensive program" for Lebanon that would tackle all the country's ills, including corruption.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea has delivered a speech marking the one-year anniversary of the assassination of prominent Lebanese activist and researcher Lokman Slim.

Below is the full text of the ambassador's speech as delivered during a ceremony commemorating the slain activist:

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Thursday that what unites Saudi Arabia and Iran is "much greater than what separates them."

Berri, in a meeting with the Press Syndicate, added that Arabs can only reunite when Syria returns to the Arab League and when Arabs return to Syria.