The Appeals Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) has issued a scheduling order for the pronouncement of the Appeal Judgment in the Rafik Hariri case.

The ruling will be announced in a public session on March 10 at 14.00 CET, the STL said in a statement.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati chaired Thursday a meeting with a delegation from the World Bank headed by the World Bank Regional Director in the Middle East Saroj Kumar Jha.

"We want Lebanon to adopt an electricity plan as soon as possible," the regional director said, stressing that "it is a prerequisite for securing funds for the electricity sector from the World Bank."

President Michel Aoun on Thursday held a meeting with a delegation from New York-based audit firm Alvarez & Marsal.

The firm had launched an audit of the accounts of Lebanon’s central bank in September 2020, but was forced to pull out two months later because the central bank failed to hand over necessary data. Aoun said in October that the company had resumed its work.

Lebanese Forces MP Eddy Abillama and Change Movement head Elie Mahfoud submitted Thursday new information about the Beirut port explosion to Judge Tarek Bitar.

Abillama and Mahfoud presented, in a memo, new documents and information that they said might help with the investigations.

Ukrainian expats in Lebanon on Thursday staged a sit-in outside the Russian Embassy in Beirut to protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which began at dawn.

“Stop Russian Aggression”, “No Putin No War” and “Putin is the Hitler of the 21st Century” read some of the English- and Arabic-language banners that were carried by the protesters.

President Michel Aoun stressed Thursday Lebanon's keenness on the implementation of U.N. resolution 1701, during a farewell meeting with UNIFIL Force Commander General Stefano Del Col.

"Lebanon adheres to its rights and to its full sovereignty by land, sea and air," Aoun said, urging the United Nations to pressure Israel to stop its "repeated violations of Lebanon's sovereignty."

Lebanese students and citizens in Ukraine are urging the Lebanese embassy and authorities to return them home due to the Russian invasion of the country that started at dawn Thursday.

A Lebanese student in Kyiv told al-Jadeed TV in a phone interview that the Lebanese students in the city have gathered in “safe houses.”

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said that Hizbullah "has never been as strong as it is today."

Nasrallah stated, in an interview with al-Manar TV, that "if Israel starts a war on Lebanon, then it will see all our strength.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an air and ground assault on Ukraine on Thursday, forcing residents to flee for their lives and leaving at least 40 Ukrainian soldiers dead.

Weeks of intense diplomacy and the imposition of Western sanctions on Russia failed to deter Putin, who had massed more than 150,000 troops along the borders of Ukraine.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement Secretary-General Ahmed Hariri on Wednesday commented on ex-PM Fouad Saniora’s press conference without mentioning him.

“Only your stance represents me,” Ahmed Hariri wrote in a tweet accompanied by a photo of al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri.