On a recent school day, the Rene Mouawad High School in Beirut was empty, its classrooms dark, just like all of Lebanon's public schools have been for most of the past three months. Its striking teachers were protesting in front of the Education Ministry, not far away.

About a hundred teachers joined the demonstration outside the ministry, blocking traffic and holding placards demanding pay raises. "We are done with charity," said Nisreen Chahine, the head of the union for contractor teachers. "We are not negotiating anymore. They should either rightfully pay us or go home."

France 24 has said it would no longer work with one of its Lebanon-based correspondents following accusations of anti-Semitic messages on social media.

In a statement, the news channel said it planned to file a complaint against Joelle Maroun, who worked for its Arabic service through an external production company, for damaging the company's reputation.

Central bank chief Riad Salameh on Thursday attended a questioning session in the Justice Palace after failing Wednesday to show up before a European legal team visiting Beirut in a money-laundering probe linked to him.

Salameh later left the Justice Palace after a lengthy interrogation session that lasted several hours.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday hoped that parliament will be able to carry out the presidential election soon, urging all parties to realize that “no one has the luxury of wasting time amid the deterioration of the financial, economic and social situations.”

The Israeli army said Wednesday that soldiers killed an armed man suspected of entering northern Israel from Lebanon and blowing up a car, raising the risk of renewed tensions with Hezbollah.

"We are examining a possibility of the Hezbollah terrorist organization of being involved" with the suspected attacker who was shot dead on Monday, the army said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday stressed that the Lebanese are in “dire need of the election of a real and not pretended president for the country.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat met Wednesday in Kuwait with its Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmed Nawaf al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, in the presence of Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Salem Abdullah al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday arrived in the Vatican on an official visit during which he will meet with Pope Francis, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported.

The Gulf states are not in a hurry for finding solutions for Lebanon, Egyptian-Saudi sources told al-Akhbar newspaper, in remarks published Wednesday.

Diplomatic sources told the daily that a unified stance between the Christians who are opposing the election of Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh is a key factor that would support the Saudi Veto. The sources claimed that the position of Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea concerning this matter would become clearer in the coming days.

Head of the lawsuit department at the Justice Ministry Judge Helena Iskandar filed Wednesday a complaint against Central Bank chief Riad Salameh, his brother Raja, and his assistant Marianne Hoayek.

Iskandar had met earlier in the morning with a European legal team visiting Lebanon to probe Salameh's wealth. The judge is representing the Lebanese state at the questioning in the European probe.