The caretaker Cabinet convened Monday at the Grand Serail to discuss the much delayed 2023 state budget.

The Council of Ministers’ General-Secretariat received the budget draft law from the Finance Ministry last week, and cabinet will hold successive sessions to discuss and approve it.

Hezbollah central council member Sheikh Nabil Qaouq on Monday stressed that his party is “keen on consensus, because Hezbollah’s priority is halting the collapse and deterioration and saving the country.”

“But the other camp’s priority is employing the collapse and exploiting it for political objectives,” he added.

Caretaker PM Najib Mikati met Monday at the Grand Serail with Central Bank vice governors Wassim Mansouri, Bashir Yakzan, Salim Chahine and Alexander Mouradian.

The meeting was also attended by caretaker Deputy PM Saade Chami and caretaker Finance Minister Youssef Khalil.

Protesters took to the streets across Lebanon Friday to denounce Sweden's permission for a protest that desecrated the Quran.

In the southern suburbs of Beirut, thousands gathered at the protest, brandishing copies of the holy book and chanting “with our blood, we protect the Quran.” Some burned Swedish flags.

A verbal clash between ex-minister Wiam Wahhab and the journalist Simon Abou Fadel escalated into a fistfight during an on-air episode of MTV’s popular talk show Sar el-Wa2et (It’s About Time).

The fistfight immediately turned into a mass brawl and chaos on the show’s set, with supporters of Wahhab seen beating up Abou Fadel and MTV security scrambling to contain the situation.

The Central Bank’s four vice governors – Wassim Mansouri, Bashir Yakzan, Salim Chahine and Alexander Mouradian – might resign, a central Bank vice governor said.

The vice governor told al-Akhbar newspaper, in remarks published Friday, that the vice governors' meeting with the Parliament's Administration and Justice Committee was not "encouraging."

United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka and United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix have briefed the Security Council on the latest report of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006). The report covers the period from 21 February to 20 June 2023.

Discussions at the Security Council covered the recent tensions along the Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel and the need for both parties to prevent and avoid any actions that have the potential for rapid escalation. Special Coordinator Wronecka echoed the appeals of the Secretary-General “to all parties to fully implement resolution 1701, to cease (the) violations, and to respect the cessation of hostilities.”

The Central Bank vice governors sent Thursday a preliminary comprehensive plan to the Parliament's Administration and Justice Committee.

The plan "enables the correction of the monetary policy, and starts the recovery process. Its major objective is to float the exchange rate in a managed manner on an internationally recognized exchange platform, so that it reflects the real value of the Lebanese Pound," Wassim Manssouri, Bachir Yakzan, Salim Chahine, and Alexander Mouradian said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has lauded the statement issued Monday by the five-nation group on Lebanon, saying it was “based on the Lebanese constitution, the international and Arab League resolutions, and the sovereign and reformist priority for any president and political authority.”

“Accordingly, this statement has permanently thwarted the attempt by some parties inside the country, especially the Axis of Defiance, to bet on the stance of Lebanon’s friends to either elect the Defiance candidate or to clench illegitimate gains in return for ending their obstruction of the presidential vote,” Geagea added.

Hezbollah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has stressed that his party “accepts the Taif Accord.”

“We believe that it would achieve a lot of objectives when implemented in a better manner,” Qassem added.