Cabinet began a highly-anticipated session at 3:00 pm Tuesday at the Baabda Palace, in the absence of Finance Minister Yassine Jaber of the Amal Movement and Labor Minister Mohammad Haidar of Hezbollah, who are both outside the country.

The session had the thorny issue of Hezbollah's disarmament as the first article on its agenda, but it was postponed to the end of the session as the meeting got underway. TV networks meanwhile said that there is an inclination to postpone the final decision on the clause related to arms to another cabinet session.

The British Embassy in Beirut announced Tuesday that applications for the UK Government’s flagship Chevening Scholarships program are now open. Applicants should apply online via www.chevening.org/apply by 7 October 2025.

Lebanese citizens (and Palestinians residing in Lebanon) are eligible to apply under the Lebanon scheme in any subject area, the embassy said in a statement.

Hezbollah and the Amal Movement do not want a “popular escalation” on the streets over Tuesday’s cabinet session that will tackle the thorny issue of Hezbollah’s disarmament, pro-Hezbollah journalist Qassem Qassir told Al-Jadeed TV on Tuesday.

The country’s political forces are holding intensive contacts ahead of Tuesday’s cabinet session that will discuss the thorny issue of Hezbollah’s disarmament, amid an inclination toward consensus, with some media reports suggesting that no final decision would be taken in the session and that discussions would continue in another session on Thursday.

The U.S. Embassy in Beirut on Monday said Washington stands with the people of Lebanon in “their call for accountability” in the Beirut port blast case.

On the fifth anniversary of the devastating explosion at the Port of Beirut on 4 August 2020, the European Union and its Member States have reiterated their solidarity with the families of the victims and with those whose lives, homes, and livelihoods were tragically impacted by the explosion.

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert on Monday said progress in the port blast case is “both necessary and long overdue.”

The call for Tuesday’s crucial cabinet on Hezbollah’s arms “was not preceded by any agreement, seeing as contacts intensified after PM Nawaf Salam declared the date,” political sources said.

Free Patriotic Movement leader Jebran Bassil considered, amid domestic and American pressure to disarm Hezbollah, that it is time for the group to admit that its arms have become a burden to Lebanon.

"I call on Hezbollah to act responsibly and to admit that these arms have become a burden," Bassil said in an interview Thursday with Lebanese TV channel MTV, also urging the group to do some "serious thinking" and "not to buy time."

Ahead of Lebanese Army Day on August 1, the UK Chargé D’Affaires Victoria Dunne, accompanied by UK Defense Attaché Lt. Col. Charles Smith, inaugurated a new military accommodation facility in Hamat on Thursday, July 31.

The building, funded by the UK Ministry of Defense, will support UK personnel to deliver a variety of training and support to various Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) units. This includes leadership development for junior officers and infantry skills courses, including for female LAF personnel.