President Michel Aoun said Wednesday that “the arrangements for the Spring parliamentary elections are ongoing,” stressing that “any attempt to interfere in the elections will be strongly confronted.”

Energy Minister Walid Fayyad affirmed, after meeting President Michel Aoun Wednesday, that he will visit France to discuss issues related to electricity and gas exploration.

“I am invited to an official visit to France to discuss gas exploration with (French multinational oil and gas company) Total (Energies) and other firms,” Fayyad said in a press conference.

The head of the Unions and Syndicates of the Land Transport Sector, Bassam Tlais, on Wednesday announced the program of the strike and protests that the sector will stage Thursday across Lebanon.

“The previous suspension of the strike was based on promises from the prime minister and ministers to support the land transport sector,” Tlais said.

All steps made to restore ties between Lebanon and KSA “won’t be implemented in practice before the Gulf Cooperation Council Summit,” al-Joumhouria newspaper said Wednesday.

The newspaper learned that the arrangements to normalize the relations between the two countries, based on French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Riyadh, won’t be applied until Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman finishes his Gulf tour.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati is continuing his contacts on several fronts to pave the way for “restoring ties with Saudi Arabia and resuming Cabinet sessions,” a media report said.

Miqati is seeking to “resolve the political and judicial obstacles that have paralyzed these sessions,” al-Joumhouria newspaper reported.

Lebanese authorities should release a U.S. journalist detained "arbitrarily" on unclear charges, rights groups said Wednesday, condemning what they said were increasingly frequent attacks on press freedom.

Nada Homsi, a freelance journalist currently working with National Public Radio (NPR), was arrested by General Security on November 16 following a raid on her apartment that took place without a judicial order, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said in a joint statement.

Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday strongly condemned an Israeli strike on Syria’s Latakia port that reportedly destroyed an Iranian weapons shipment.

In a statement, the Ministry said “Lebanon’s government and people will always stand by the Syrian Arab Republic in what preserves its security, stability and the safety of its citizens.”

French Ambassador to Lebanon Anne Grillo on Tuesday met with President Michel Aoun and briefed him on the outcome of the tour that French President Emmanuel Macron made in the Gulf region, especially his visit to Saudi Arabia where the kingdom expressed its readiness to assist Lebanon.

During the meeting that was held at the request of the French presidency, Grillo noted that her country “made the first step in this regard,” adding that Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries are also ready to take steps. The ambassador, however, stressed that Lebanon must “do its part and prove its credibility in committing to the reforms.”

President Michel Aoun on Tuesday told an International Monetary Fund delegation that Lebanon is “committed to devising a feasible reformist plan” and to “cooperating with IMF to approve it quickly.”

Aoun also said that “the priority should be given to the social and health issues, and to confronting poverty and moving forward in repairing infrastructure in the country, such as electricity, telecommunications and the Beirut port.”

President Michel Aoun on Tuesday lamented that “the judiciary in Lebanon is not doing well,” as he called on all parties to “protect” the judiciary and “prevent pressures on judges.”

Aoun voiced his remarks in a meeting with the newly-elected Beirut Bar Association chief Nader Kasbar and the members of the Association.