Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri reiterated Friday that the boycott of presidential electoral sessions is not a "constitutional right" for the blocs that are not showing up at parliament.

A ministerial committee tasked with resolving the country's seven-month-long waste crisis has agreed on the establishment of several landfills, ministerial sources have said.
Discussions are now focusing to secure consensus on the Kojok landfill in Iqlim al-Kharroub, the sources told several local dailies published on Friday.

The U.S. State Department has downplayed a possible conflict in Lebanon over a decision taken by Gulf states earlier this week to designate Hizbullah a terrorist organization.
“Nobody wants new conflict, obviously. But I would let these states speak for themselves and to their decision to so designate,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said Thursday in his press briefing.

A string of major drug busts in Syria and Lebanon has drawn new attention to the trade in captagon, an illegal substance that has flourished in the chaos of Syria's war.
Security forces in both countries have clamped down in recent months on exports of the psychostimulant, produced in swathes of Syrian and Lebanese territory where government oversight is lax or non-existent.

Head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri condemned on Thursday the ongoing vacuum in the presidency, indirectly accusing Iran of using Hizbullah to prevent the polls.
He said in an interview with CNN television: “Iran had elections a few days ago, so why can’t we have elections, like normal people?”

U.S. Chargé d’Affaires ad interim Ambassador Richard Jones toured on Thursday the Blue Line area that marks the border between Lebanon and Israel, announced the U.S. embassy in a statement.
He met with United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Commander Major General Luciano Portolano for a briefing at the U.N. Headquarters in Naqoura in the South.

Two members of Tunisia's Nobel Peace Prize winning quartet on Thursday condemned the decision of Arab states in the Gulf to blacklist of Hizbullah as a "terrorist" organization.
The Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), in a statement, said the Iranian-backed group Hizbullah was a "symbol of the (Lebanese) national struggle" against Israel.

Hizbullah's Loyalty to the Resistance bloc condemned on Thursday the Gulf Cooperation Council's labeling of the party as “terrorist,” holding Saudi Arabia accountable for the decision.
The bloc said after its weekly meeting: “The GCC's decision is reckless aggression and we hold the Saudi regime responsible for it and its consequences.”

Prime Minister Tammam Salam warned cabinet ministers on Thursday that he would not call for a cabinet session next week if the country’s seven-month-long waste problem is not resolved soon.
Salam denied that he would suspend cabinet sessions, telling ministers the situation is “much worse than that,” Information Minister Ramzi Jreij said in his press briefing.

Head of the Marada Movement MP Suleiman Franjieh lamented on Thursday the labeling of Hizbullah as a terrorist organization by Arab countries.
He said via Twitter: “Hizbullah as a resistance movement makes Lebanon and the Arabs proud.”
