Security forces fired tear gas and clashed with stone-throwing demonstrators on Saturday in Beirut, and a group of protesters stormed the foreign ministry amid mounting fury over this week’s explosion, news wires reported.

During his European trip next week the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is due to sign a contract to boost US military presence in Poland by an additional 1,000 troops, news wires reported, citing sources close to the presidential office in Warsaw.

French President Emmanuel Macron will host a donor conference for Lebanon via video-link on Sunday, his office announced. The conference, which will be co-chaired by the United Nations, will seek pledges from participants including US President Donald Trump. It is expected to decide how to distribute the aid so it benefits the people directly.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin expressed confidence on Friday in a telephone call that tensions over the 33 Russian citizens detained in Minsk last month can be resolved, the Kremlin said.

The US on Friday imposed sanctions on Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, the territory's current and former police chiefs and eight other officials for their role in curtailing political freedoms in the territory, news wires reported.

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey had resumed drilling operations in the eastern Mediterranean as Greece had not kept its promises regarding energy exploration in the region. “There’s no need for discussion with those who have no rights, especially in maritime zones,” he said.

China's foreign ministry on Friday accused the US of "political manipulation" and said that it firmly opposes the executive orders announced by the President Donald Trump for TikTok, WeChat’s ban. China will defend the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese businesses, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday which will ban all US citizens from carrying out transactions with ByteDance, the China-based parent company of TikTok. It isn’t effective immediately, but has a 45-day deadline.

Arriving in Lebanon on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron called for the country's political elite to make swift and urgent reforms, news wires reported. Macron became the first world leader to visit Beirut after the deadly and devastating port blast on Tuesday, that killed over 100 people and left up to 300,000 without homes. It was the latest blow to a country already reeling from an unprecedented economic crisis and political turbulence.

Facebook Inc on Wednesday took down a post by US President Donald Trump, which the company said violated its rules against sharing misinformation about the coronavirus, news wires reported. The post contained a video clip, from an interview with Fox & Friends earlier in the day, in which Trump claimed that children are "almost immune" to COVID-19.