Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi on Wednesday pledged that measures will be taken to limit the threats of birds and gunfire in the vicinity of Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport.

Security forces fired tear gas on Wednesday to disperse hundreds of protesters, mainly retired soldiers, who tried to break through the fence leading to the Grand Serail in downtown Beirut.

Retired members of the armed forces protested their low salaries at Beirut's Riad al-Solh Square. They rallied earlier Wednesday in front of Parliament as joint parliamentary committees convened to discuss the financial situation in the country.

Lebanon’s struggling banks resumed work Wednesday on the occasion of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, after a day of protests and sharp currency swings.

The Association of Banks announced Tuesday night that all lenders in the country will suspend the strike and resume work Wednesday.

The Lebanese pound recovered by around LBP 30,000 on the black market on Tuesday, after Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh announced a new Sayrafa platform scheme.

Several Israeli soldiers were wounded Tuesday when a landmine exploded under a military Humvee vehicle on the border with the Lebanese town of Aita al-Shaab, al-Manar TV reported.

The Order of Pharmacists of Lebanon on Tuesday called on pharmacies to "close as of this moment," after the black market dollar exchange rate hit the LBP 143,000 mark.

The Israeli Army said that the man suspected of entering northern Israel from Lebanon and planting a bomb at the Megiddo Junction did not cross the border via a tunnel.

"The possibility of the terrorist crossing via a tunnel has been completely ruled out," The Times of Israel said.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has described the calls for a bargain involving the presidency and the PM post as a “heresy,” stressing that there should be “a harmonious team.”

Marking the 45th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Aroldo Lázaro reflected on the mission’s origins and his hope, one day, for a lasting peace in the region.

Speaking to an audience gathered at UNIFIL Headquarters in Naqoura for the occasion, Major General Lázaro said that “the ultimate success of Resolution 1701 will be found in a permanent ceasefire and a sustainable peace. That needs a political agreement, and it is not something that we, as peacekeepers, can accomplish only ourselves. Our role is to create the conditions for this process to take place.”

Lebanese Froces leader Samir Geagea said Monday that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri's camp is the one to blame for the obstruction of the presidential election sessions, not the Christians' disaccord.

Berri had accused in an interview with al-Liwaa newspaper the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces of rejecting his calls for dialogue, warning that "without dialogue, the result will be further paralysis of the country.”