Arab and Western capitals have received warnings that Lebanon’s security and military forces might “truly collapse” unless an urgent aid program that includes a salaries increase is implemented, a media report said on Monday.

“After a series of consultations, a meeting was held around 10 days ago at the U.S. Embassy in Awkar, which was attended by representatives of several countries and of the security and military forces,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported.

Two scientists won the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for their discoveries into how the human body perceives temperature and touch, revelations that could lead to new ways of treating pain or even heart disease.

Americans David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian identified receptors in the skin that respond to heat and pressure. Their work is focused on the field of somatosensation, which explores the ability of specialized organs such as eyes, ears and skin to see, hear and feel.

Lebanon's Finance Ministry said Monday it has resumed "interactions" with the International Monetary Fund in an effort to pull the small nation out of its worst economic crisis in its modern history.

The ministry said the government will work for a fair solution for creditors, but did not give details about the talks. The announcement came a week after the new Cabinet named a delegation to resume bailout negotiations with the international agency after talks were suspended last year.

Energy Minister Walid Fayyad is in Egypt and will hold intensives meetings today, Monday with the Egyptian petrol and electricity ministers, media reports said.

The talks will especially focus on “the possibility of expediting the steps aimed at Lebanon obtaining Egyptian gas as soon as possible,” al-Joumhouria newspaper said.

The Court of Appeals, headed by Judge Nassib Elia, dismissed Monday the requests submitted by MPs Nohad al-Mashnouq, Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zoaiter for the removal of Judge Tarek Bitar from the port case.

The Court issued a ruling saying that it has decided to dismiss the removal request for the lack of competence and that the three MPs will be fined LBP 800,000.

French presidential envoy Ambassador Pierre Duquesne has arrived to Beirut to follow up on the international aid to Lebanon, a mission that had been assigned to him.

Duquesne will meet today with Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamiyeh, one of the two ministers assigned by Hizbullah – “which reflects the French interest in the port blast case,” al-Joumhouria newspaper said on Monday.

MP Hassan Fadlallah of Hizbullah’s Loyalty to Resistance bloc on Sunday said that the latest stance by leading U.S. Congress members on the Beirut port blast investigation highlights the presence of “direct U.S. interference.”

Slamming what he called “a blatant attack on Lebanon’s sovereignty and flagrant interference in the investigations,” Fadlallah called for “a clear official stance defending Lebanon’s sovereignty,” and for “the rejection of these dictations.”

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday lashed out at Hizbullah without naming it.

"I can only cry. I'm devastated -- my family too," said 25-year-old Syrian Kawthar Raslan, cradling her newborn child in a migrant camp on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.

U.S. Senators Jim Risch and Bob Menendez, ranking member and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, have released a statement in reaction to the suspension of Judge Tarek Bitar’s investigation into the 2020 Beirut port blast in the wake of legal motions calling for his dismissal.

“We are extremely concerned by the suspension of Judge Tarek Bitar’s investigation into the devastating August 4, 2020, explosion at the Port of Beirut which killed more than 200 people and injured thousands more. The Lebanese people, many of whom continue to suffer physical and economic impacts of the blast, deserve accountability for this tragedy,” they said in the statement.