Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi emphasized on Monday that the State’s destiny must not be conditional upon the interests of individuals or parties.

Demonstrations against the ruling class in Lebanon pursue for the 26th day on Monday as demonstrators slept in tents in front of the state-run Electricte Du Liban headquarters in Corniche al-Nahr area demanding 24-hr electricity.

Protesters rallied Sunday in downtown Beirut and across the country to press for their demands, as Lebanon’s unprecedented popular uprising entered its 25th day.
In the morning, protesters had organized a “Lebanese breakfast” at the privately-run Zaitunay Bay promenade to stress that the area is public and not private property and to call for an end to seaside property violations.

The head of Hizbullah’s parliamentary bloc MP Mohammed Raad on Sunday stressed that his party “cannot be strong-armed” and that “fabricated battles” linked to the ongoing popular uprising in the country will not deviate Hizbullah’s attention from its main objectives.
“We cannot be strong-armed and neither partial concerns nor fabricated battles imposed by others every now and then can derail us from the course of fulfilling martyrs’ goals,” Raad said at a ceremony marking Hizbullah’s ‘Martyr Day’ in Nabatiyeh.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Jebran Bassil on Sunday warned against approving an amnesty law that would “consolidate the strength of crime.”
“As if we haven’t learned from the amnesty laws that were approved after the war, which eliminated the principle of accountability and opened the doors wide to corruption,” Bassil tweeted.

Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh is scheduled to hold a press conference Monday at 12:30 pm, the National News Agency said.
The press conference at the central bank will tackle “the central bank’s stance on the issues pertaining to banking services ahead of the normal resumption of banking operations on Tuesday,” NNA said.

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri is inclined to agree to proposals to form a 22-member techno-political government led by him and the binding parliamentary consultations will likely be held Wednesday, media reports said.
The reports follow a meeting at the Center House between Hariri, Speaker Nabih Berri’s aide Ali Hassan Khalil and Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s assistant Hussein Khalil.

A rationing of dollars by banks in protest-hit Lebanon has sparked growing alarm as some petrol pumps ran dry and grocery stores hiked prices.

Grand Mufti of the Republic Sheikh Abdullatif Deryan on Saturday urged the political authority in Lebanon to listen to the “people's demands,” amid nationwide protests against the political class.

The smells of grilled cheese and cooked corn waft over the protesters in the Lebanese capital -- with daily crowds filling the the capital's main squares, the movement has been a boon for street vendors.
