Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stated that any improvement in political developments in Lebanon is linked to a regional agreement, most notably between Saudi Arabia and Iran, reported al-Akhbar newspaper on Wednesday.

He told the daily: “Iran is not in a hurry to resolve Lebanon's presidential deadlock. Once the West's sanctions against Tehran are lifted, then we can talk.”

The navy thwarted on Wednesday an attempt to illegally smuggle a number of migrants from Lebanon, announced the army in a statement.

It said that 53 people were arrested off the coast of the northern city of Tripoli as they attempted to illegally depart the country in a Lebanese boat that can support no more than 15 people.

A fugitive was killed Tuesday in an exchange of gunfire with the army in the Baalbek area of al-Taybeh, the military said in a statement.

It said troops opened fire at the plateless SUV of the fugitive, Hussein Ali Sawwan, after he failed to stop at a checkpoint and tried to run over one of the soldiers.

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday described Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq's latest remarks as a “warning bell,” while stressing that it has the final say on the issue of staying in or leaving the government and the dialogue sessions.

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the bloc said Mashnouq's statement “reflected the dismay of the Lebanese over the current situations in the country and the state of its constitutional institutions.”

The Change and Reform bloc led by MP Michel Aoun announced Tuesday that it supports the so-called legislation of necessity amid the presidential void, but stressed that the topics must be agreed on before heading to parliament.

“We reiterate our stance on the legislation of necessity, which was raised due to the presidential vacuum and the extensions,” bloc secretary MP Ibrahim Kanaan announced after the weekly meeting in Rabieh.

The trial of detained Salafist cleric Ahmed al-Asir was postponed on Tuesday to 2016.

The new session, held at the Military Tribunal, will be held on January 5, 2016.

Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat criticized on Tuesday the prolonged presidential vacuum, while hailing the efforts of Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb in resolving the garbage disposal crisis.

He said via Twitter: “I wonder at how the presidential race now has to pass through the garbage dumps instead of ballot boxes.”

Three children were allegedly kidnapped from in front of their school in Beirut's Bir Hassan neighborhood on Monday.

The Internal Security Forces said that the children, aged 8, 5, and 4 and who also hold Canadian citizenship, were taken after school hours from the car that normally transports them home.

The army has bolstered its security measures on the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal in light of the shelling on Monday that saw the death of eight extremists, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Tuesday.

A high-ranking military source confirmed to the daily that the army's shelling had targeted members of the al-Qaida-affiliated al-Nusra Front.

A new location to establish a landfill to address Lebanon's mounting garbage crisis will be assessed on Tuesday, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper.

It said that the landfill is located on the outskirts of Kfar Zabad in the eastern Bekaa region.