Lebanese Democratic Party leader Talal Arslan on Tuesday decried “a black point in the history of Saudi diplomacy,” in response to remarks by Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari about the pro-Syria politicians who lost their seats in the latest parliamentary elections.

“We have always been accustomed to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a backer of Lebanon and all Lebanese throughout history, and no matter how much circumstances changed, it maintained its cordial rhetoric toward us,” Arslan said in a statement.

The dollar exchange rate crossed LBP 34,000 on the black market on Tuesday, marking a new record high in the country’s history.

The dollar was selling for LBP 34,100 at 3:30 pm according to exchange rate apps.

Pharmacists protested on Tuesday in front of the Ministry of Health as they urged authorities to issue a new pricelist for medicines.

Pharmacists slammed the smuggling of medicines that could be falsified. They said the citizens are forced to purchase these smuggled medicines as they are missing in pharmacies.

MP Sajih Atiyeh of Akkar, who is backed by ex-deputy PM Issam Fares, announced Monday that he is willing to assume the deputy parliament speaker post if nominated, as he voiced support for the re-election of Speaker Nabih Berri to his post.

“I know that he resembles us. He is the father of the deprived and we hail from a deprived region. Therefore this visit was to discuss the region’s affairs in particular,” Atiyeh said after meeting Berri in Ain el-Tineh, adding that he prides himself in a “patriotic figure” like Berri.

Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said Monday "this is Beirut's voice and the voice of the Lebanese" as a team of engineers removed cement blocks surrounding Parliament's building in Nejmeh Square.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri had ordered earlier on Monday the removal of the security barricades, in response to Mawlawi's demand as newly elected reformist MPs had suggested the removal of the blocs before the upcoming Parliament session.

Tripoli MP and ex-minister Ashraf Rifi stressed Monday that he “will not agree to a national unity government.”

Hizbullah top lawmaker “Mohammed Raad should stop trying to intimidate us and we will impose the government that we want,” Rifi said in an interview on MTV.

Hizbullah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has noted that of the 128 new MPs, 77 are with “resisting” Israel, as MP Hassan Fadlallah of Hizbullah stressed there should be “partnership” in the new government.

“March 14’s remnants were 47 MPs in the previous elections and now they have become 36, which is a clear deterioration,” Qassem said in a TV interview.

A Lebanese doctor claimed Monday that there are at least two cases of monkeypox in Lebanon, as the Health Ministry confirmed that a sample from a suspected monkeypox patient has been sent to France for testing.

The doctor, Mohammed Fahmi Kharroub, a specialist in family medicine and chronic illnesses, told al-Jadeed TV in a live interview that he has diagnosed a patient in Lebanon with monkeypox and that he has been told about “another case in south Lebanon.”

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri hasn't yet called for a session for electing a new Speaker, but new MPs will have to pick a speaker within 14 days.

Calls and consultations will intensify in the upcoming week, al-Akhbar newspaper said Monday, in an attempt to ease the tension as many blocs announced they wouldn't vote for Berri.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday described the explosion of several economic and financial crises after the elections as a “suspicious development.”

“It was notable and painful that, after the elections results were announced, we witnessed security disturbances and the return of the fuel, bread, medicine, prices and dollar crises,” al-Rahi said in his Sunday Mass sermon.