Retired servicemen on Monday blocked the entrances of Banque du Liban branches and blocked the vital highway of Dahr al-Baydar in protest at possible government plans to cut retirement salaries as part of austere measures to cut the state’s deficit.

The retirees suspended their sit-in outside BDL's headquarters in Hamra and outside the branches after a meeting with Defense Minister Elias Bou Saab in the afternoon.

The Premiership has announced that Wednesday and Thursday will be national mourning days over the death of former Maronite patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir.

MP Sethrida Geagea on Sunday described late Maronite ex-patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir as a "saint" who "stood by the Lebanese Forces party in the darkest circumstances, especially after the Taef Accord and between the years 1990 and 2005."

A grouping of retired servicemen on Sunday vowed to stage protests and block vital facilities on Monday morning to warn the government against "touching retirement salaries or social aid stipulated by the law."

The Cabinet will hold a session at 9:30 pm Sunday and another on Monday morning in a bid to finalize the 2019 draft state budget.

Lebanon's leaders and politicians on Sunday mourned the death of former Maronite patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, an influential figure in Lebanon's modern history.

Lebanon's former Maronite patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, who wielded considerable political influence during the country's civil war and was an ardent advocate of a Syrian troop withdrawal, died Sunday, the church said. 

The lawyer of an Australian-Lebanese dual citizen on trial for an alleged plot to bring down a passenger plane says her client has been ordered released on bail by a Lebanese military court.

Joceline Adib al-Rai, lawyer of Amer Khayyat, said Saturday the court's decision was delivered a day earlier. Prosecutors can appeal.

Progressive Socialist Party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblatt on Saturday said in its quest to formulate an austere state budget, the government has unveiled “treasures” of squandered public funds that have for decades been protected with secrecy, al-Joumhouria daily reported.

Lebanon renewed “requests” from the United States to pursue “mediation” with Israel to demarcate the maritime border in order to preserve its oil wealth right, mainly the border oil field Block 9 which Lebanon fears that Israel could steal, Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported on Saturday.