Construction works preparing the Srar landfill in northern Akkar district have been halted on Wednesday after protesters and several students held a sit-in protesting the move, the state-run National News Agency said.

A number of campaigners erected tents in Akkar's area of al-Abboudieh and school students held a sit-in in the area to halt the works of bulldozers amid heavy security presence, NNA added.

Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil warned that danger is approaching the “structure of the state” as the parliamentary paralysis and failure to stipulate loans of the World Bank has pushed the latter to issue a warning that it would exclude Lebanon from its aid list, As Safir daily reported on Wednesday.

“Frankly, I will be compelled in the end to close down the finance ministry and close its iron gate if we did not rectify the deteriorating conditions and stop the attrition. I advise all political forces to take my words seriously,” said Khalil.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam's has demanded that a response over the proposed solution to the garbage disposal crisis be made in the upcoming days, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Wednesday.

His sources told the daily that his patience is wearing thin and that he “will not wait forever” for the issue to be resolved.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stated that any improvement in political developments in Lebanon is linked to a regional agreement, most notably between Saudi Arabia and Iran, reported al-Akhbar newspaper on Wednesday.

He told the daily: “Iran is not in a hurry to resolve Lebanon's presidential deadlock. Once the West's sanctions against Tehran are lifted, then we can talk.”

The navy thwarted on Wednesday an attempt to illegally smuggle a number of migrants from Lebanon, announced the army in a statement.

It said that 53 people were arrested off the coast of the northern city of Tripoli as they attempted to illegally depart the country in a Lebanese boat that can support no more than 15 people.

A fugitive was killed Tuesday in an exchange of gunfire with the army in the Baalbek area of al-Taybeh, the military said in a statement.

It said troops opened fire at the plateless SUV of the fugitive, Hussein Ali Sawwan, after he failed to stop at a checkpoint and tried to run over one of the soldiers.

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday described Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq's latest remarks as a “warning bell,” while stressing that it has the final say on the issue of staying in or leaving the government and the dialogue sessions.

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the bloc said Mashnouq's statement “reflected the dismay of the Lebanese over the current situations in the country and the state of its constitutional institutions.”

The Change and Reform bloc led by MP Michel Aoun announced Tuesday that it supports the so-called legislation of necessity amid the presidential void, but stressed that the topics must be agreed on before heading to parliament.

“We reiterate our stance on the legislation of necessity, which was raised due to the presidential vacuum and the extensions,” bloc secretary MP Ibrahim Kanaan announced after the weekly meeting in Rabieh.

The trial of detained Salafist cleric Ahmed al-Asir was postponed on Tuesday to 2016.

The new session, held at the Military Tribunal, will be held on January 5, 2016.

Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat criticized on Tuesday the prolonged presidential vacuum, while hailing the efforts of Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb in resolving the garbage disposal crisis.

He said via Twitter: “I wonder at how the presidential race now has to pass through the garbage dumps instead of ballot boxes.”