After a wave of protests rejecting the parliament's decision to impose a series of tax reforms in a bid to fund Lebanon's long-stalled wage scale, Speaker Nabih Berri said the pay scale must be approved “independently” from the controversial issue of tax suggestions, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Saturday.

“Efforts are underway as for the wage scale file, some important progress has been recorded in that regard,” Berri said in front of his visitors according to the daily.

U.S. authorities arrested a long-wanted alleged Hizbullah financier Friday on charges of violating U.S. terror-related sanctions, after he was apparently deported to the United States from Morocco.

Kassim Tajideen was formally charged in U.S. federal court in Washington nearly eight years after the United States named him a "specially designated global terrorist" for allegedly proving tens of millions of dollars to Hizbullah.

United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag and United Nations Deputy Special Coordinator Philippe Lazzarini met with President Michel Aoun on Friday at the Baabda Palace, a U.N. statement said.

The meeting took place ahead of President Aoun's anticipated meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the upcoming Summit of the Arab League.

A Syrian national suspected of transferring money to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham militant group in Syria has been arrested in south Lebanon, the National News Agency reported on Friday.

Lebanese authorities in the south have detained Ahmed al-Issa in the southern district of Tyre, NNA said.

Minister of Economy Raed Khoury stressed on Friday that the ministry has started monitoring commercial institutions and prices of commodities, as he urged the Lebanese to report any violation related to manipulation in prices.

The Lebanese army arrested on Friday at dawn two wanted suspects in the Hermel district and in the border town of al-Qasr, the State-run National News Agency reported.

In collaboration with the Intelligence Directorate, the army staged wide raids on houses of wanted fugitives in several neighborhoods in Hermel and al-Qasr village, NNA said.

Lebanon's security apparatuses have launched a wide security operation to hunt down the most wanted fugitives of drug traffickers, kidnap gangs and outlaws in Hizbullah's strongholds in Beirut's southern suburbs (Dahiyeh) and the Bekaa valley, al-Akhbar daily reported on Friday.

The Cabinet on Friday approved an item on purchasing security equipment for Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport, postponing the discussion of the state budget and the electricity plan to a session that will be held on Monday.

“All the items on the agenda have been approved and the session was adjourned to 4:00 pm Monday to complete the revision of the state budget and discuss the electricity plan,” Information Minister Melhem Riachi said after the session, noting that the discussion of the electricity plan will continue on Tuesday.

After his latest defensive statements of Hizbullah and its weapons, President Michel Aoun is under a “pressure campaign” at the domestic and international levels “to prevent him from making unfavorable positions at the upcoming Arab League Summit,” as concerns mount that U.S. authorities could tighten measures on Lebanese banks over alleged facilitation of Hizbullah transactions, al-Akhbar daily reported on Thursday.

It is estimated that the pressure campaign and intimidation will continue, at least until the Arab summit convenes at the end of March in Amman, to prevent Aoun from declaring “undesirable” positions at the highest Arab forum, said the daily.

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi received on Wednesday at al-Ittihadiyah Palace, Prime Minister Saad Hariri in the presence of his Egyptian counterpart Prime Minister Sharif Ismail, Hariri's press office said.

Discussions focused on the latest developments at the Arab and international arenas, in addition to the means to bolster bilateral relations between the two countries at various levels, added the statement.