Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday followed up with caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi on “the preparations for holding the municipal elections based on the law issued yesterday by parliament,” the National News Agency said.

“It was agreed that the Interior Minister would prepare the new and needed budget for organizing the elections so that a line of credit can be opened,” NNA added.

Members of Khalde’s Arab tribes blocked Wednesday the Khaldeh-Beirut highway, after the military court issued rulings overnight against detainees of the Khaldeh 2021 clashes.

In August 2021, deadly armed clashes erupted during the funeral of a Hezbollah-linked man who was killed a night before in a vendetta shooting. The clashes left at least five people including three Hezbollah members dead.

Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh held talks Tuesday in Bkirki with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

“What we’re seeing in the media is baseless and distorted, seeing as settlements have started in the region, rivals will reconcile, the game has changed and this matter will reflect on Lebanon,” Franjieh said after the meeting.

U.S. Embassy Beirut on Tuesday marked the 40th anniversary of the April 18, 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, in which a suicide bomber attacked the embassy, killing 63, including 52 Lebanese and American Embassy employees.

Families of the victims joined Ambassador Dorothy Shea, Deputy Chief of Mission Richard Michaels, and the Embassy community to honor and pay tribute to the men and women who lost their lives in this attack, and to pay respects to their families and loved ones.

Security forces Tuesday fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters, including retired soldiers, who tried to break through the fence leading to the government headquarters in downtown Beirut, ahead of a cabinet session.

The protesters hurled stones at the armed forces protecting the government headquarters and repeatedly tried to break through the fence, while some of them suffered breathing problems from the tear gas.

Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh “will not continue with his presidential nomination if he does not sense a positive stance from the Gulf states and the Arab nations regarding this nomination,” caretaker Information Minister Ziad Makari of the Marada Movement said.

“He does not intend to repeat the experience of ex-president Michel Aoun” with the Gulf countries, Makari told al-Hurra television.

Cabinet on Tuesday agreed to increase the private sector’s minimum monthly wage from 2.6 million to 9 million pounds, worth $92.50 at the country’s black market rate, which dominates the market. The ministers also raised the exchange rate used for calculating customs fees from 30,000 pounds to the dollar to the central bank’s Sayrafa platform, where the dollar is valued at 86,700 pounds.

Parliament earlier on Tuesday postponed municipal elections for up to a year amid concerns the government would not be able to secure the needed funding in time for the polling.

Kataeb Party chief Sami Gemayel has met at the Elysee Palace with French presidential advisor Patrick Durel.

“We did not discuss (presidential) candidates and there is a French idea that was being circulated in this regard,” Gemayel said after the talks.

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The demand for clean and renewable energy is growing rapidly worldwide, and the Middle East is no exception. To address this need, the “Middle East Clean Energy” exhibition and conference are returning to Beirut for the second consecutive year, from Wednesday May 3 to Friday May 5, 2023 to provide visitors with access to the latest developments in the world of clean energy production.

U.S. Embassy Beirut and the United Nations commence Tuesday cash distributions under the “Livelihood Support Program.”

The first tranche of this program, valued at $16.5 million, will disburse temporary financial support for Internal Security Forces (ISF) personnel.