Iranian fighters and Iran-backed groups, like Lebanon's Hizbullah, have emerged emboldened from the war in Syria and with valuable battlefield experience that they are seeking to leverage elsewhere, the U.S. State Department said Wednesday.

The State Department's annual survey of global terrorism said Iran and its proxies are responsible for fomenting violence in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen.

Speaker Nabih Berri called the Parliament for a meeting on September 24 and 25 to discuss the draft laws listed on the parliament’s agenda, the National News Agency reported on Wednesday.

Kuwaiti Ambassador to Lebanon Abdul Al al-Qinai, praised the “official and popular Lebanese positions” condemning remarks made by a journalist deemed as insulting to Kuwait and its emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah.

Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea stressed that his party has won one-third of the Christian votes in the May parliamentary elections and is equally entitled to allocate one-third of the Christian ministerial shares in the new Cabinet, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.

According to Free Patriotic Movement chief, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, “31% of the Christian votes represent the LF,” said Geagea, “which means we represent a third of the Christians and we have the right to one-third of the Christian ministerial representation, i.e. five ministers.”

Naming a street after slain Hizbullah commander accused of masterminding the assassination of ex-prime minister Rafik Hariri is “provocative” since it synchronized with the beginning of closing argument of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Asharq al-Awsat daily reported on Wednesday.

President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri prepare to kick off separate trips abroad as the delay in forming a new government persists.

The Internal Security Forces managed to clamp down on a suspected drug dealer in the area of Baabdat after close monitoring for over two month, the ISF said in a statement on Tuesday.

Negotiations to end the government stalemate are “blocked” and reports claiming that a new government formula is being prepared to replace the one presented by the PM-designate Saad Hariri to President Michel Aoun early in September are “untrue,” al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday.

Center House sources (Premier’s residence) told the daily that “negotiations have stopped. None of the political parties have given up on their demand ceiling in order for the Premier to meet them halfway,” they said.

French Ambassador to Lebanon Bruno Focher visited President Michel Aoun on Monday where he asserted that Macron’s trip to Lebanon will take place in February, the Presidency media office said on Twitter.

Foucher discussed the latest developments with Aoun and the bilateral relations between the two countries, said the media office.

A diplomat from the Saudi Arabian embassy reportedly attended on Monday the proceedings of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon trying the accused in the assassination case of ex-PM Rafik Hariri in The Hague, LBCI TV station said.

The Saudi diplomat attended Monday’s session “based on the kingdom's interest in the assassination of Hariri, and issues related to the kingdom such as the Hajj pilgrimage reportedly made by the Accused Salim Ayyash in January 2005.”