A Lebanese couple have held a civil marriage ceremony in Beirut, despite the latest controversy over the legalization of this type of unions.

MTV said Abdullah Salam and Marie-Joe Abi Nassif tied the knot at the Sursock Palace in the capital, in a ceremony presided over by Joseph Beshara, the head of the Public Notaries Council of Lebanon.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is not yet making public how he will respond to the shooting down of a U.S .drone by Iran.

"You will find out. Obviously, you know, we're not going to be talking too much about it," he said in the White House.

President Michel Aoun on Thursday received a message from Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, the Presidency said.

The message, relayed by ex-minister Melhem Riachi, tackled the current political developments, the Presidency announced.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Thursday traveled to Abu Dhabi, UAE on an official visit, his office said.

The premier will meet a number of Emirati officials during his visit, the office added in a statement.

Grand Sunni Mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Abdul Latif Deryan, welcomed at Dar el-Fatwa a delegation of the Shura Council of Saudi Arabia headed by Saleh Bin Munea al-Khalewi, accompanied by KSA Ambassador to Lebanon, Walid Bukhari, in the presence of Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Friendship with Saudi Arabia, former PM Tammam Salam, the National News Agency reported on Thursday.

Interior Minister Raya al-Hasan on Thursday denounced a decision reportedly taken by municipal chief of Hadath, George Aoun, banning Muslims from renting or purchasing real estate in the Christian majority area.

The Israeli Energy Minister said that Israel expects to launch within a month the US-brokered talks with Lebanon on demarcation of their maritime border.

The number of Syrian refugees wishing to go back to their homeland has reportedly dwindled lately for reasons attributed to the scholastic year, Hizbullah MP Nawar al-Sahli said on Thursday.

In remarks he made to al-Joumhouria daily, Saheli, a Hizbullah MP tasked with following on the file of refugees said: “The work has been ongoing for the last ten months and we have 11 regional offices around Lebanon that receive requests from refugees willing to go home. There is no doubt the number has greatly decreased as a result of the academic year.

Supporters of the Lebanese Democratic Party blocked the Mdayrej international highway in the Bekaa on Wednesday evening in protest at the release of Suleiman Yammine, the shooter in the Ain Dara incident.

Three LDP supporters meanwhile remained in prison.

Following the terrorist attack that hit Tripoli on the eve of Eid al-Fitr, a delegation of EU ambassadors with British Ambassador Chris Rampling on Wednesday paid condolences to the Mayor of Tripoli, Ahmed Qamareddine, and expressed their solidarity with Lebanon and its armed forces, who “work tirelessly to maintain security and protect civilians across Lebanon,” the British embassy said.

At the Rashid Karameh Exhibition Center, the Head of the EU delegation Ambassador Christina Lassen and German Ambassador Georg Birgelen, joined by Ambassador Rampling and other EU heads of mission, attended the inauguration of the EU and German-funded Local Development Program for Deprived Urban Areas in North Lebanon (UDP_NL).