The government formation file has returned to square one following the optimism of the past days, a top official told al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks published Wednesday.

“After having agreed with President Michel Aoun on announcing the government once he returns from abroad, (PM-designate Najib) Mikati was surprised after his return that the situation had changed and that Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil had interfered with the President to propose changing all his ministers in the (caretaker) government and naming political ministers instead of them or expanding the government by adding six political state ministers,” the official said.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has met with Arab Tawhid Party leader Wiam Wahhab.

A Hezbollah statement said the talks tackled “the most important files and issues that are currently preoccupying the Lebanese, as well as the developments in the region.”

The Lebanese Forces, the Kataeb Party and the Progressive Socialist Party want MP Michel Mouawad to be the opposition camp’s candidate in Thursday’s presidential vote session, but Mouawad is “not accepted by the Change MPs because they want a candidate who is not part of political alignments,” MTV reported on Wednesday.

The TV network added that the LF, Kataeb, the PSP and the Change bloc will likely vote for ex-MP Salah Honein, who is an “acceptable” candidate for the Change bloc.

Most of the country’s parliamentary blocs and independent MPs will take part in Thursday’s presidential election session, several blocs and TV networks said on Wednesday.

Confirming that the Lebanese Forces-led Strong Republic bloc will participate in the session, LF sources told LBCI TV that the party had intensified its contacts with the opposition parties over the past hours in a bid to reach consensus over a single candidate ahead of the session.

An elderly Lebanese priest found guilty in France of sexually assaulting children has been defrocked by the Vatican, the Assembly of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops of Lebanon said.

Jihad Michlawi struggled to make ends meet as a chef in crisis-hit Beirut. The Palestinian had never considered taking a perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe until friends who did so persuaded him to try.

Now, he's one of dozens of survivors from a capsized migrant boat that left Tripoli, Lebanon, last week heading toward Italy carrying some 150 Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians.

MP Charbel Maroun of the Free Patriotic Movement-led Strong Lebanon bloc was on Tuesday summoned for judicial interrogation over his recent remarks against Higher Judicial Council chief Judge Suheil Abboud.

The interrogation session has been scheduled for Thursday.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati will not visit the Baabda Palace on Tuesday, contrary to what some media reports have suggested, al-Akhbar newspaper said on Tuesday.

Mikati will instead wait for General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim to meet with President Michel Aoun, the daily added.

A Free Patriotic Movement delegation led by FPM chief Jebran Bassil held talks Tuesday at Dar al-Fatwa with Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan, three days after the latter presided over a broad Sunni meeting.

“We witnessed at the Dar al-Fatwa meeting patriotic stances on which all Lebanese agree. We came here to stress that we stand by the mufti in all the remarks that were voiced, especially as to the constitution and the Taef Accord in terms of decentralization, the creation of a senate and the abolition of sectarianism,” Bassil said after the talks.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called Tuesday for parliament to meet Thursday to elect a president to replace Michel Aoun whose term expires at the end of October.

"Berri called for a session to be held at 11:00 am (8:00 GMT) on Thursday September 29, 2022 in order to elect a president," a statement from his office said.