Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil on Tuesday lauded the government's “solidarity” during the first Cabinet session after the Eid al-Fitr holiday..

“There was full governmental solidarity today,” Khalil, who represents the AMAL Movement, said after the session.

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis on Tuesday visited the 6th Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) Intervention Regiment and the Central Training Center for Border Management in Riyaq in eastern Lebanon as well as a watchtower of the 3rd Land Border Regiment and a LAF monitoring post at the eastern border.

The Russian president's special envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev on Tuesday met with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh at the beginning of a two-day official visit to Lebanon.

Lavrentiev is accompanied by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin and a diplomatic delegation.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri chaired a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday where he highlighted Lebanon’s economic and financial concerns, urging the ministers to show solidarity and adhesion to the decisions they agreed to in the government's policy statement and the draft state budget.

The Syrian army detained two members of the General Directorate of State Security after reaching the border between Lebanon and Syria while on a hiking trip in the Mount of Hermon, the state-run National News Agency reported on Tuesday.

Health Minister Jamil Jabaq on Tuesday held talks in Bkirki with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi after which he affirmed that the budget of his ministry was not affected by the austerity measures implemented by the government.

A delegation from the Saudi Shura Council is expected to arrive in Beirut on Tuesday, a visit described by diplomatic sources as a "historic first" at this level, as well as at the level of the Saudi-Lebanese Parliamentary Friendship Committee of the Shura Council, al-Joumhouria daily reported.

The finance parliamentary committee on Monday suspended a draft state budget article pertaining to imposing a 2% tax on imported items.

“Article 63 has been suspended pending a new text that takes into consideration the suggestions of the MPs and the finance minister on excluding daily-use consumer goods,” committee head MP Ibrahim Kanaan said.

Lebanese national and U.S. green card holder Nizar Zakka, who has been recently freed from Iranian prisons, on Monday lauded the Lebanese state for securing his release.

“The credit goes to the Lebanese state, which has proven that it is truly strong and that it preserves the right of every Lebanese,” Zakka said after meeting Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil in Ashrafieh.

Free Patriotic Movement chief and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil met Monday at the Grand Serail with Prime Minister Saad Hariri following tensions between them and between their two parties.

A statement issued by Hariri's office said the lengthy meeting was dedicated to “evaluating the previous stage, in light of the exchanges and stances that affected political stability.”