Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s press office on Sunday denied “what some Aounist media is circulating about a phone call that took place between Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and caretaker PM Najib Mikati following the patriarch’s Sunday Mass sermon.”

Ex-president Michel Aoun on Sunday said that caretaker PM Najib Mikati's call for a cabinet session has "unveiled the real reasons that made him, throughout five consecutive months, refrain from forming a government."

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday stressed that the caretaker cabinet is “a cabinet for taking care of people’s affairs, not a cabinet for the agendas of political parties and blocs,” two days after caretaker PM Najib Mikati called for a cabinet meeting amid an ongoing presidential vacuum.

The United Nations' refugee agency chief has called for sustained support for Syrian refugees in Lebanon and vulnerable Lebanese citizens, three years after the country's economy began collapsing.

The closing ceremony of the Technical Assistance Facility for the Lebanese Private Sector (EU-TAF) project in Lebanon funded by the European Union and implemented by DAI was held on December 1.

The ceremony took place in the presence of Alessia Squarcella, Deputy Head of Cooperation, EU Delegation to Lebanon, European Commission and Sinisa Djuric, DAI Project Director along with more than 20 companies in the agri-food, creative ICT and healthcare sectors who benefitted from the 34-month support program to realize their commercial potential.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Saturday defended his call for a cabinet session on Monday -- the first to be held amid a presidential vacuum that followed the end of Michel Aoun’s six-year term.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has called on those casting blank votes in the presidential election sessions to declare the name of their candidate.

Hezbollah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Friday stressed that the country’s next president must have two main concerns: “rescuing the country economically and cooperation with all parties.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has called Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to ask the blocs who are hindering the presidential election to stop the obstruction, before Thursday's session.

"From now on we cannot tolerate any more delays," Geagea said.

Free Patriotic Movement leader Jebran Bassil and other politicians have been informed, in meetings inside and outside Lebanon, that the major capitals are willing to offer guarantees to all political forces should they endorse the presidential nomination of Army chief General Joseph Aoun, a media report said on Friday.