The U.S. Embassy in Beirut on Wednesday warned U.S. citizens in Lebanon of “heightened tensions in the region,” urging them to “maintain a high level of vigilance.”

“The U.S. Embassy in Beirut advises all U.S. citizens of heightened tensions in the region. We strongly encourage U.S. citizens to maintain a high level of vigilance and practice good situational awareness,” the embassy said in a security alert published on its website.

President Michel Aoun held talks on Wednesday with Acting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield who arrived in Beirut on Tuesday, as Washington mediates a maritime border dispute with Israel.

Aoun and Satterfield discussed the bilateral relations between Lebanon and the US, and the latest developments on the local and regional arenas, the National News Agency reported.

Lebanon bids farewell on Wednesday to former Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, who died Sunday.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri met with Acting US Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield for a second time on the visit who made no comments to the press after his meeting with the Premier.

President Michel Aoun on Tuesday reassured that the Lebanese lira is “not in danger.”

An international delegation of fifteen senior military officers from the British Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) led by Air Vice Marshall Garry Tunnicliffe visited Lebanon for one week to learn about the political, economic, security, and social challenges facing Lebanon and how these relate to regional and international stability.  

Pope Francis has hailed late former Maronite patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir as a craftsman of peace and “ardent defender of the sovereignty and independence of his country.”

“I address my warm condolences to you, as well as to his family and to all the faithful of the Patriarchal Church of Antioch of the Maronites, whom he governed for many years with as much gentleness as determination,” Pope Francis wrote in a May 14 cable to Sfeir’s successor, Beshara al-Rahi.

Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil on Tuesday called for abolishing “unproductive public administrations” and raising taxes on banks, as part of suggestions he made in Cabinet to further reduce public spending.

Speaking after the weekly meeting of the Strong Lebanon bloc, Bassil said he raised five suggestions in Cabinet related to “the state's size, funds waste and tax evasion, debt interests and trade balance.”

U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Satterfield arrived Tuesday in Beirut for talks with Lebanese officials.

Satterfield began his visit by offering condolences in Bkirki over the death of ex-Maronite patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir.

Foreign diplomats, Lebanese officials, religious and security figures flocked to Bkirki for the second on Tuesday to offer their condolences to Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi over the passing of former Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir.