Workers have begun removing tons of rubbish that have piled up around Beirut under a government plan to end an eight-month crisis that has sparked repeated protests.

"More than 8,000 tons of accumulated trash have been removed from streets and random dumps in the past 24 hours, which indicates that the waste plan is being implemented in a serious manner," Environment Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq announced.

A waste management plan that was approved last week was put into implementation on Saturday with the first garbage dump trucks entering the Naameh landfill that has been closed for over eight months.

Seven dump trucks entered Naameh that will receive only the trash that has accumulated on the streets of Beirut and Mount Lebanon, according to the cabinet's plan.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam expressed dismay on Saturday at the cabinet performance stressing that discussions during its meetings have become no longer possible to manage, al-Akhbar daily reported.

“The situation is completely out of control,” said Salam weighing Thursday's cabinet session that was marred by a heated dispute over the appointments in security positions.

Speaker Nabih Berri has urged Hizbullah to settle for the election of Marada leader MP Suleiman Franjieh as president in light of the unlikelihood of their candidate MP Michel Aoun to reach the post, al-Akhbar daily reported on Saturday.

“Berri held contacts with Hizbullah a few days ago and has explained his point view on the need to expedite the election of Franjieh before the Saudi-Iranian dialogue kicks off in order to help a candidate of the March 8 camp to win the post” sources close to the Speaker said on condition of anonymity.

A Yemen Red Crescent Society volunteer was fighting for his life on Friday a few days after he was injured by shelling while on duty in Yemen's Maa'rib Governorate, a joint statement issued by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.

Another three volunteers are in stable condition after they were wounded by shrapnel in the same attack on Monday, it said.

Around 1,100 Lebanese and Syrian nationals will be banned from renewing their residence permits in Kuwait for having direct links to Hizbullah, the Kuwaiti al-Qabas daily reported on Friday.

A well-informed security source told the daily on condition of anonymity that a list “of those banned from renewing their residency permits” in Kuwait will include the names of “blocked” 1,100 Lebanese and Syrians for having direct links to Hizbullah.

A group of young men from the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh have joined the ranks of the extremist Islamic State group, raising the number of new members from Lebanon to 14, al-Akhbar daily reported on Friday.

A source close to the IS confirmed to the daily that the group has called these youth to follow security training sessions in order to task them afterward with missions inside Lebanon.

Hizbullah's Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc on Thursday slammed Saudi Arabia's labeling of Hizbullah as a “terrorist” group as one of the “most ridiculous” decisions that have been taken by the kingdom.

“The Saudi regime's designation of Hizbullah as a terrorist organization is one of the most ridiculous innovations of this flabby regime that has lost its balance,” said the bloc in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

The waste contractor for Greater Beirut, Sukleen and Sukomi stressed that the increase in the “value of their contracts” came as the result of the expansion in size and geographical scope of their work in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, slamming media reports questioning their integrity in handling the waste management file.

“The expansion in the size and geographical area of our work in the capital Beirut and Mount Lebanon was the main reason behind the increase in the contract work,” a statement by Sukleen said on Thursday.

Lebanon has ranked 93rd in a list of more than 150 countries in the 2016 World Happiness Report.

Denmark, closely followed by Switzerland, is again the happiest country in the world while crisis-torn Syria and Burundi are the most miserable, said the United Nations, which published the first such study in 2012.