President Michel Aoun chaired a security meeting at Baabda Palace to address several issues including a recent trend of Lebanese taking dangerous attempts, some deadly, fleeing the crisis-hit country in fishing boats.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s initiative has made progress in resolving the cabinet formation deadlock, with reports expecting a lineup in the "next two days," the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat reported on Thursday.

Hariri had proposed in a statement earlier to help PM-designate Mustafa Adib name a Shiite finance minister (in a move aimed at appeasing the Shiite duo) after the insistence of Amal Movement and Hizbullah to retain the portfolio.

Standing in the gutted ruins of her bar destroyed by Beirut's massive port blast, Lebanese entrepreneur Gizelle Hassoun said she hopes crowdfunding can help save her business from the rubble.

In the face of an economic meltdown and other crises, President Michel Aoun on Wednesday asked for the world's help to rebuild the capital's main port and neighborhoods that were blown away in last month's catastrophic explosion.

Aoun made the plea in a prerecorded speech to the U.N. General Assembly's virtual summit, telling world leaders that Lebanon's many challenges are posing an unprecedented threat to its very existence.

President Michel Aoun on Wednesday told the 75th meeting of the U.N. General Assembly that Lebanon is “committed to administrative, financial and economic reforms.”

“Lebanon stresses its full rights to its maritime resources,” Aoun added, addressing the Assembly via videoconference.

Lebanon's largest prison has more than 350 cases of Covid-19, according to new figures released Wednesday by the Internal Security Forces.

The ISF issued a statement noting that testing on 956 inmates at Roumieh prison had returned 352 positive results.

France on Wednesday urged the international community to apply strong and unified pressure on Lebanon to form a new government, as frustration grows with the pace of reform in the wake of the giant Beirut port explosion.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat on Wednesday called on the political parties to meet ex-PM Saad Hariri’s initiative in a positive manner.

“It is time to seize the opportunity provided by yesterday’s paper and capitalize on it in order to facilitate the government’s formation away from narrow calculations,” Jumblat tweeted.

Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz on Wednesday blasted what he called Hizbullah’s “hegemony” over Lebanon and said the Iran-backed party should be “disarmed.”

Speaking to the U.N. General Assembly, the monarch stressed the kingdom’s support for the Lebanese people following the humanitarian tragedy resulting from the catastrophic August 4 blast at Beirut port.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday reportedly revealed that positive developments will take place in the coming hours regarding the formation of the new government.