France and Britain have hinted that they would stop their carriers from landing in Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport for failing to abide by international standards.

The issue has been lately discussed by Speaker Nabih Berri and the French Ambassador. A similar meeting was also held between Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq and the British Ambassador, said As Safir daily on Wednesday.

Donors have pledged $250 million to educate over one million Syrian children this year but an additional $500 million is urgently needed to fund the program in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, the U.N. envoy for global education said Tuesday.

Gordon Brown warned that "death voyages to Europe" will soar in 2016 as long as Syria's two million refugee children and millions more displaced inside the country are exploited and don't have the opportunity for education.

A prayer hall came under gunfire Tuesday in the coastal Saadiyat area south of Beirut during the presence of a local Hizbullah official in it, state-run National News Agency reported.

“Unknown gunmen opened fire from a car at a prayer hall in the Saadiyat area as the region's Hizbullah official was praying inside,” NNA said.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq held talks Tuesday with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and noted that the election of a president needs a “regional-international decision that is not available now.”

“The visit is part of the necessary consultations with the doctor (Geagea) but we must all admit that the country is going through several and not one political storm,” said Mashnouq after a two-hour meeting in Maarab.

A Syrian Islamic State militant has been arrested in Lebanon at the hands of the General Directorate of State Security, state-run National News Agency reported on Tuesday.

“State Security's Mount Lebanon department has arrested the Syrian O. H. on charges of belonging to the IS group,” NNA said.

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc noted Tuesday that Hizbullah, the Free Patriotic Movement and Tehran are to blame for the presidential vacuum crisis that has been running since May 2014.

“The bloc reiterates its insistence on the election of a president as soon as possible in order to end the presidential void in the country and pave the way for restoring the role and work of state institutions,” said the bloc in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

Hizbullah strongly condemned Tuesday the deadly bombings that hit Istanbul and several Iraqi areas in the past two days while noting that “terror cannot be fought through condemning those who are combating it in Syria.”

“The terrorism that is striking everywhere regardless of any borders or restrictions requires all countries, organizations, bodies and individuals to close ranks in its face and to exhaust all possible efforts to prevent its proliferation,” said the party in a statement issued only hours after an Islamic State suicide bomber killed 10 people in Turkey's Istanbul.

The Change and Reform bloc did not announce on Tuesday whether it will attend Thursday's cabinet session at the Grand Serail.

Former Minister Salim Jreissati said: “Our participation in the meeting hinges on the consultations that will take place ahead of the session.”

A Syrian man was arrested Tuesday in the southern region of Nabatiyeh on charges of having ties to terrorist groups and involvement in illegal arms trade, state-run National News Agency reported.

“As part of its monitoring of the activities of terrorist groups and suspicious individuals, the Nabatiyeh Department of the State Security directorate has arrested Syrian national M. J., 25,” NNA said.

A swap took place overnight between Hizbullah and rebel fighters in Syria's al-Zabadani region, revealed LBCI television on Tuesday.

It said that the exchange saw the release of the corpses of a Hizbullah member and a Syrian soldier.