The five-nation group on Lebanon met in Doha on Monday to “discuss a single matter: moving to the choice of the third candidate – Army Commander General Joseph Aoun,” informed sources said.

The group discussed “means to convince the Shiite Duo, specifically Hezbollah, with this nomination, studying a list of pressures that can be exerted in the coming period to achieve this objective, which included a lot of ideas, among them barring tourists from visiting Lebanon to undermine the touristic season,” the sources told al-Akhbar newspaper in remarks published Friday.

Protesters took to the streets across Lebanon Friday to denounce Sweden's permission for a protest that desecrated the Quran.

In the southern suburbs of Beirut, thousands gathered at the protest, brandishing copies of the holy book and chanting “with our blood, we protect the Quran.” Some burned Swedish flags.

Hezbollah is relieved over the resumption of dialogue with Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil without having to give up its nomination of Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency, a Shiite Duo source said.

“The reason behind Bassil’s return (to dialogue) might be the partial flexibility that the Duo has shown towards Army chief General Joseph Aoun,” the source told MTV.

A verbal clash between ex-minister Wiam Wahhab and the journalist Simon Abou Fadel escalated into a fistfight during an on-air episode of MTV’s popular talk show Sar el-Wa2et (It’s About Time).

The fistfight immediately turned into a mass brawl and chaos on the show’s set, with supporters of Wahhab seen beating up Abou Fadel and MTV security scrambling to contain the situation.

The Central Bank’s four vice governors – Wassim Mansouri, Bashir Yakzan, Salim Chahine and Alexander Mouradian – might resign, a central Bank vice governor said.

The vice governor told al-Akhbar newspaper, in remarks published Friday, that the vice governors' meeting with the Parliament's Administration and Justice Committee was not "encouraging."

Hezbollah has called for a demonstration Friday afternoon after Swedish police permitted a protest Thursday in which an Iraqi Christian living in Stockholm kicked and stood on a Quran, outside of the Iraqi Embassy. Hours before that, demonstrators in Baghdad broke into the Swedish Embassy and lit a fire to show their anger at his threats to burn the book.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in a video address Thursday night called on Muslims to demand their governments expel Sweden's ambassadors.

United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka and United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix have briefed the Security Council on the latest report of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006). The report covers the period from 21 February to 20 June 2023.

Discussions at the Security Council covered the recent tensions along the Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel and the need for both parties to prevent and avoid any actions that have the potential for rapid escalation. Special Coordinator Wronecka echoed the appeals of the Secretary-General “to all parties to fully implement resolution 1701, to cease (the) violations, and to respect the cessation of hostilities.”

The Central Bank vice governors sent Thursday a preliminary comprehensive plan to the Parliament's Administration and Justice Committee.

The plan "enables the correction of the monetary policy, and starts the recovery process. Its major objective is to float the exchange rate in a managed manner on an internationally recognized exchange platform, so that it reflects the real value of the Lebanese Pound," Wassim Manssouri, Bachir Yakzan, Salim Chahine, and Alexander Mouradian said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has lauded the statement issued Monday by the five-nation group on Lebanon, saying it was “based on the Lebanese constitution, the international and Arab League resolutions, and the sovereign and reformist priority for any president and political authority.”

“Accordingly, this statement has permanently thwarted the attempt by some parties inside the country, especially the Axis of Defiance, to bet on the stance of Lebanon’s friends to either elect the Defiance candidate or to clench illegitimate gains in return for ending their obstruction of the presidential vote,” Geagea added.

Hezbollah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has stressed that his party “accepts the Taif Accord.”

“We believe that it would achieve a lot of objectives when implemented in a better manner,” Qassem added.