The caretaker cabinet convened Thursday morning at the Grand Serail to discuss, in two consecutive extraordinary sessions, "urgent" articles including the refugee crisis and the state budget.

"We are carrying out our responsibilities and we're not confiscating power," caretaker Prime Minister Bajib Mikati said at the beginning of the session.

Caretaker Tourism Minister Walid Nassar has honored prominent Lebanese music producer and DJ Rodge over his achievements in the field of music and concerts in Lebanon and the world, offering him a memorial shield.

Nassar said that he wanted to honor Rodge “at the building of the Ministry of Tourism, not anywhere else,” noting that the Lebanese producer “has become famous internationally as well as locally and an icon of entertainment and musical culture as part of the entertainment tourism that Lebanon is known for.”

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri seems to be very relieved, a week after he called for a seven-day dialogue, following which open presidential election sessions would be held, al-Liwaa newspaper reported Wednesday.

The daily said that Berri is patiently waiting for the positions of the political forces to crystallize regarding the dialogue. "And if they don't want it, too bad for them," the daily quoted Berri as saying.

The annual “Art of Living Exhibition”, a pioneer in interior home design and innovation projects, is taking place at the Forum de Beyrouth from 15 till 19 November 2023.

“We decorate the future. Our main goal is to give you the best solutions with expert designers” and “a place to turn your ideas into decoration,” a press release said.

Hezbollah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has hit back at Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea over his latest remarks on presidential vacuum.

“Someone has said that they are willing to bear vacuum for months and years but not willing to bear us. This means that they are ready to see the country in ruins and not ready to open the door to a certain agreement or settlement to finalize the presidential juncture,” Qassem said, referring to Geagea.

The newly designated Ambassador of the European Union to Lebanon, Sandra De Waele, took office this week.

Ambassador De Waele met with caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Abdallah Bou Habib, Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, an EU Delegation statement said.

Speaker Nabih Berri is carrying on with his call for dialogue and is awaiting the final stances of the parties, sources from his bloc told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, while noting that “a large number of blocs have announced their support for the initiative, including Christian parliamentary blocs.”

MP Jimmy Jabbour of the Free Patriotic Movement meanwhile told Radio VDL (93.3) that “the FPM respects the stances of the Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb Party” on rejecting dialogue, but noted that “the only way to reach results is going to dialogue among the Lebanese so that foreign solutions don’t get imposed on them.”

Will political blocs engage in dialogue to elect a president before the end of September? While Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is reportedly cautious yet optimistic, some parties have lauded his initiative and others have rejected it.

The Speaker had called for a seven-day dialogue, following which open presidential election sessions would be held.

Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea on Tuesday called Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and discussed with him the latest developments in Lebanon, especially the presidential election file, Geagea’s press office said.

The phone talks come a day after al-Rahi met in Diman with Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari.

UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti has noted that nothing will change in the work of the U.N. peacekeeping force with the latest renewal of its mandate, adding that partnership with the Lebanese Army will continue.

In an interview with al-Hurra television, Tenenti pointed out that the U.N. resolution that extended the Force’s mandate contains the same wording that was used in 2006.