The Cabinet held a "very productive" session on Friday and the state budget is expected to be finalized on Monday, Industry Minister Wael Abu Faour said.

Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil meanwhile said that the Cabinet has not yet reached "the thorny articles which will require a lot of time."

The United States has reportedly appeased Lebanon’s fears about a security escalation in south Lebanon with Israel, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Friday.

In the event of war with the United States, Iran "will not be alone."

That message was delivered by the leader of Lebanon's Hizbullah group to a mass rally in Beirut in February marking the 40th anniversary of Iran's Islamic Revolution. "If America launches war on Iran, it will not be alone in the confrontation, because the fate of our region is tied to the Islamic Republic," Hassan Nasrallah said.

As the government plans to implement austerity measures to slash the country’s ballooning budget deficit, Prime Minister Saad Hariri said there is an “opportunity to improve the economic situation,” stressing that the Lebanese Lira is doing “fine.”

A US federal court in New York on Thursday convicted a man of charges that he bought weapons and plotted attacks on behalf of the Lebanese Shiite group Hizbullah.

Thousands of mourners from all over Lebanon flocked to Bkirki on Thursday to take part in the farewell ceremony of former Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir.

The funeral of the Patriarch began at 5:00 pm after the arrival of President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

The U.S. Department of State paid condolences on Thursday for the passing of former Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir who will be laid to rest today.

“Patriarch Sfeir was a brave leader against tyranny and oppression. He spearheaded the notion of Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence,” the DoS said in a statement.

Diplomatic sources confirmed that the maritime border talks between State Department's acting assistant secretary for near eastern affairs, David Satterfeld with Lebanese officials reflected a "very positive" atmosphere paving way for a real opportunity to restore Lebanon's full sovereign rights and provide suitable conditions for extracting energy, the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat daily reported on Thursday.

New Deputy Director for Middle East and North Africa Division for the Department for International Development (DFID) Jonathan Hargreaves ended a two-day visit to Lebanon (13-14 May) to see for himself the progress of UK assistance to Lebanon in the education, humanitarian and economic opportunities sectors. He visited three UK aid funded projects in the Bekaa Valley, a press release said.

The Lebanese Forces on Wednesday slammed what it called procrastination as the government failed anew to finalize its discussion of the 2019 draft state budget.

“Today we finalized all the legal articles related to the state budget which were raised during the previous sessions and we will hold another session Friday at 1:30 pm, during which the finance minister will submit a final report on the numbers of ministries and subordinate administrations,” Information Minister Jamal al-Jarrah said after a cabinet session.