US President Joe Biden is preparing on Thursday to embark on his first overseas trip next week, including stops in the UK, Belgium and Switzerland.

Biden will meet several leaders "to highlight America’s commitment to restoring our alliances, revitalizing the Transatlantic relationship, and working in close cooperation with our allies and multilateral partners to address global challenges," the White House said Thursday.
He will meet British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on June 10 to affirm the enduring strength of the special relationship between the two countries. On June 13, Biden will meet Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle.
Biden will later travel to Brussels where he will participate in a NATO summit on June 14.
The US president will also meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to "discuss the full range of bilateral and regional issues," according to the White House.
Biden will hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 16 in Switzerland.
In Geneva, Biden will also meet Swiss President Guy Parmelin and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis.

Biden, Erdogan to 'discuss the full range of bilateral and regional issues,' says White House

Erdogan, Putin among leaders Biden will meet on first overseas trip

Sri Lanka was preparing Thursday for a possible major oil leak from the burnt-out cargo ship sinking off Colombo's main harbour, as worsening weather stalled salvage efforts.

The Marine Environment Protection Authority readied oil dispersants and skimmers in case of a leak from the MV X-Press Pearl, which had 350 tonnes of fuel oil on board when it caught fire two weeks ago.
The vessel, which burned for 13 days until Tuesday, has already caused the island's worst maritime environmental disaster, littering beaches with tonnes of tiny plastic pellets.
With the stern now on the sea bed and the bow slowly sinking, environmentalists fear an oil leak would cause even greater degradation to marine life.
An Indian coastguard vessel in the area has equipment to deal with any oil slick, according to the Sri Lankan navy, which requested assistance with the operation.
Sri Lanka's Harbour Master Nirmal Silva said no oil had leaked in the past 36 hours.
-Looking at the way the ship burnt, expert opinion is that bunker oil may have burnt out, but we are preparing for the worst-case scenario- Silva said.
Two-metre (six-feet) waves, rain and strong winds prevented salvage experts going on board to assess whether the ship could be refloated and moved further out to sea, he added.
Alternatively it could be broken apart in the relatively shallow water.

Sri Lanka's private Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) fears the disaster may also cause heavy metal pollution.

The Singapore-registered vessel was carrying 81 containers of "dangerous cargo" including acids and lead ingots.
-There is a chemical soup in that sea area- CEJ executive director Hemantha Withanage told AFP. -The damage to the marine ecosystem is incalculable.-However, he said the silver lining was that there was no sign of an oil spill yet.
Some oil was spotted near the beaches of Negombo, about 40 kilometres from Colombo, but the cause was not clear.

The escape of microplastic granules from the ship's cargo has already forced a fishing ban and prompted concern for the marine environment as well as the local economy.

-The ban is affecting 4,300 families in my village- said Denzil Fernando, head of the Sea Street Fishermen's Association in Negombo.
-Most people live on one meal a day, how long can we go on like this?- Fernando told AFP. -Either the government must allow us to fish or give us compensation.-Authorities believe the fire was caused by a nitric acid leak which the crew apparently knew about nine days before the blaze started.
Police said three officers from the ship -- two Russians and an Indian -- had been questioned and their passports impounded.
The ship was heading to Colombo from India. Its 25 crew were evacuated last week. Two suffered minor injuries.

The vessel, which burned for 13 days until Tuesday, has already caused the island's worst maritime environmental disaster, littering beaches with tonnes of tiny plastic pellets

The MV X-Press Pearl was heading to Sri Lanka with hundreds of tonnes of chemicals and plastics on board when it caught fire

Sri Lanka prepares for worst oil spill as weather hits ship salvage

Gunmen seized 136 children from an Islamic seminary in central Nigeria at the weekend, the state government said, the latest in a string of such incidents plaguing Africa's most populous nation.

The Niger state government first reported the raid on the school in the town of Tegina on Monday, but did not indicate the number of children seized.
Armed gangs are terrorising inhabitants in northwest and central Nigeria by looting villages, stealing cattle, and taking people hostage. 
More than 700 children and students have already been kidnapped by gunmen for ransom since December.
-Niger State Government has confirmed the number of students abducted by bandits at the Salihu Tanko Islamic School, Tegina... to be 136- the local government wrote on Twitter late on Wednesday.
The state deputy governor Alh Ahmed Mohammed Ketso said that security agencies were "doing their best but don't have enough logistics," adding that more help was needed to equip them to confront the criminals.
The attackers did release 11 of the pupils who were "too small and couldn't walk" very far, the authorities previously said.
The Niger state government said it did not pay ransoms. 
-We are trying to negotiate to see how we can bring them back safely- the deputy governor said.

More than 700 children and students have already been kidnapped by gunmen for ransom since December

Niger deputy governor Alh Ahmed Mohammed Ketso (left) gives a briefing on 2 June 2021 on the kidnapping of 136 schoolchildren

Gunmen kidnapped 136 from Islamic school in Nigeria on Sunday

Electric vehicle maker Tesla has initiated a recall of nearly 6,000 vehicles to inspect brake calipers for loose bolts.

The recall, made public on Tuesday, involves as many as 5,974 cars from the 2019-2021 Model 3 and 2020-2021 Model Y lines.
-The brake caliper bolts may be loose, allowing the brake caliper to separate and contact the wheel rim- according to a document sent by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to Tesla after it notified the regulatory agency of the issue.
-Contact with the rim may cause a loss of tire pressure, increasing the risk of a crash.-Tesla is not aware of the issue causing any injuries or deaths, according to the NHTSA documents, and the company will inspect and tighten or replace customers' caliper bolts as needed.
The automaker became aware in December that a fastener was missing from a brake caliper on a 2021 Model Y and began an investigation to see how widespread the issue was, according to the documents, which add that Tesla has taken steps to fix the problem on the assembly line.

The company will inspect and tighten or replace customers' caliper bolts as needed

A China-made Tesla Model 3 electric vehicle is seen ahead of the Guangzhou auto show in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China, November 21, 2019.

Tesla recalls 6,000 vehicles over loose brake bolts

Twitter on Wednesday deleted a remark on Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's account for violating its rules, after he referred to the country's civil war in the context of recent unrest.

Buhari, a former general, made a statement on Tuesday referring to recent violence in the southeast, where officials have blamed separatists for attacks on police and election offices.
Half a century ago, one million people died during a 30-month civil war after separatist generals declared an independent region for the Igbo people in Nigeria's southeast.
-Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War- his tweet said. -Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.-Twitter removed the remark, noting it had violated its rules.
A similar remark was still on the Nigerian presidency's official Twitter account.
Buhari's Minister of Information Lai Mohammed fired back saying while Twitter had its own rules, the president had the right to comment on the situation in Nigeria.
He accused Twitter of ignoring messages from Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra, or IPOB separatist group, which he said promoted violence.
Mohammed also referred to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's call last year for bitcoin donations to the #EndSARS protests last year in Nigeria against police brutality.
-We have a country to rule and we will do so to the best of our ability- Mohammed told reporters. -Twitter mission in Nigeria citing those two examples is very suspect. What is their agenda?-Southeast Nigeria has seen a recent surge in attacks, with around 130 police and security officials killed and around 20 police stations attacked this year, according to local media tallies.
Election offices have also been attacked.
IPOB, which agitates for a separate Igbo state, has denied its paramilitary wing, Eastern Security Network, is behind the violence, accusing the government of a smear campaign.
Streets in southeast Nigeria were deserted earlier this week as the former separatist region commemorated the more than one million people who died in the Biafra war and famine half a century ago.
Calls for independence and other regionalist demands have re-emerged since Buhari, a former military ruler and a Fulani from the north, became president in 2015 and was re-elected in 2019.

Buhari, a former general, made a statement on Tuesday referring to recent violence in the southeast, where officials have blamed separatists for attacks on police and election offices

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, pictured May 18, 2021, made a statement referring to recent violence in the southeast, where officials have blamed separatists for attacks on police and election offices

Twitter removes Nigeria president 'civil war' remark

At least eight civilians have been killed and 27 others injured since Monday as a result of YPG/PKK's gun fires on protestors in Manbij region, northern Syria. 

The protests against the YPG/PKK's forced recruitment of children started in the town center of Manbij and in the rural areas, and continue to grow despite the curfew the terror group imposed.
The demonstrators demand an end to detentions, the abolition of "conscription" and the prosecution of terrorists who opened fire on demonstrators. 
YPG/PKK terrorists, who opened fire to disperse the protesters, detained many civilians who participated in the popular movement in the last two days. 
Amid the continued demonstrations, the terrorist organization reportedly dispatched dozens of its members from northern Raqqa province and its surroundings to Manbij.&nbsp;&nbsp;

A show of support was held for the people of Manbij in the Azez district of northern Syria. 

The demonstrators chanted slogans including “Manbij is free and will remain free” and "We stand with the people of Manbij". 
Also, the Syrian Interim Government slammed the terrorist group firing on protesters in Manbij, and called on the international community to fulfill its responsibility for the protection of civilians in the district. 
Furthermore, Syria Clans and Tribes Council (SKAM) also voiced support for people of Manbij. 
-We follow the events in Manbij with concern. We support the rightful uprising of the people of Manbij with all our means. The YPG/PKK is a terrorist group that serves non-national and separatist projects- SKAM said in a statement. 
The group also called on the people of Manbij to support the Syrian National Army (SMO) to save them from the terrorists.&nbsp;&nbsp;

People in Manbij, where Arabs make up 90% of the population, have been protesting the forced recruitment of their children since Monday.

On Monday, hundreds of people gathered in Manbij's district center and surrounding neighborhoods to protest the terror group.
One civilian was killed and three others were injured when terrorists opened fire on the people protesting against the forced recruitments.
The terrorist organization YPG/PKK imposes mandatory "military service" on girls and boys born between 1990 and 2003. It forcibly recruits Arab children and teens in several areas, including Manbij, Ayn al-Arab (Kobani), Qamishli, Malikiyah, Hasakah, Raqqa, and Deir ez-Zor.
Documenting the violations against civilians in Syria, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, in its report released on May 22, said nearly 3,800 civilians are forcibly held in detention centers established by the YPG/PKK-led SDF.

People in Syria’s Manbij protest YPG/PKK for forcibly recruiting their children

YPG/PKK terrorists, who opened fire to disperse the protesters, detained many civilians who participated in the popular movement in the last two days

8 killed, 27 injured in YPG/PKK terrorist fire in N.Syria since Monday

At least one person was killed and 16 others were injured when a tornado hit China's northeastern Heilongjiang province on Tuesday.

Local authorities told public-broadcaster CGTN on Wednesday that the injured were shifted to hospital where one injured remains in “serious condition.”
Strong winds during the tornado forced at least 243 people to shift to other places.
The tornado hit four counties in the province on Tuesday evening. It came along with hail.
According to latest reports, 148 houses, farmland and factories were damaged due to the tornado.
The cost of damages is pegged at around $802,000.

Coming along with hail, tornado hits northeastern Heilongjiang province on Tuesday evening

Strong winds during the tornado forced at least 243 people to shift to other places

Tornado kills 1, injures 16 in China

A giant panda loaned to Malaysia from China has given birth to a rare third cub during its stay in the Southeast Asian country, wildlife officials said Wednesday.

The cub was born Monday at Kuala Lumpur zoo to Liang Liang, who has been on loan to Malaysia since 2014 along with a male panda, Xing Xing, said the country's wildlife department.
As it can be difficult to get pandas to breed in captivity, three cubs is a rare success.
Officials have been unable to get a close look at the new cub, and do not yet know its sex as it is being closely cared for by its mother.
The first cub, Nuan Nuan, was born in August 2015 and was sent to China in 2017 as part of Beijing's agreement with Malaysia over cubs born in captivity. The second, Yi Yi, was born in January 2018, but has not yet been sent to China due to coronavirus restrictions, wildlife officials said.
Liang Liang and Xing Xing came to Malaysia on a 10-year loan.
Their arrival was held up by a month after the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 -- carrying mostly Chinese passengers -- caused tensions between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing.
It's estimated that there are around 1,800 giant pandas left in the wild, living mainly in bamboo forests in the mountains of China, according to environmental group WWF.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies giant pandas as "vulnerable".

Officials have been unable to get a close look at the new cub, and do not yet know its sex as it is being closely cared for by its mother

Liang Liang, a giant panda, has been on loan to Malaysia since 2014 along with a male panda, Xing Xing

Third giant panda cub born in Malaysia

At least 23 migrants were missing and two bodies recovered from the sea off Tunisia, the Red Crescent reported Wednesday, after the military said more than 100 migrants were intercepted.

The Tunisian navy said a boat headed for Europe from Zuwara in Libya was intercepted on Tuesday near Miskar oil platform, some 67 kilometres (52 miles) off the coast.
The migrants -- 37 Eritreans, 32 Sudanese and an Egyptian, aged between 15 and 40 -- were handed over to the Red Crescent and International Organization for Migration in the southern port Of Zarzis.
Apart from 23 people missing, two bodies were recovered from the water, according to the Red Crescent.
The Tunisian army, for its part, said 39 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa were intercepted at sea off the eastern port city of Sfax on Monday night.
Tunisia and Libya are key departure points for migrants attempting the dangerous crossing from the North African coast to Europe, particularly Italy.

Tunisia and Libya are key departure points for migrants attempting the dangerous crossing from the North African coast to Europe, particularly Italy

Apart from 23 people missing, two bodies were recovered from the water, according to the Red Crescent

23 migrants missing, two dead off Tunisia coast

Relatives of scores of schoolchildren kidnapped by gunmen from an Islamic seminary over the weekend have appealed to the government to help free them, after the latest mass abduction to target a Nigerian school.

Some 200 children were at the school in Tegina, central Niger state, when it was raided on Sunday, the local government said, without confirming the exact number abducted.
Niger state police said attackers had arrived on motorbikes and started shooting indiscriminately, killing one resident and injuring another, before snatching the children from the Salihu Tanko Islamic school.
-My appeal to the government is that they should try to protect our people first and our children first- Sa'idu Umar, whose child was among those abducted, told AFP on Tuesday.
-We are hoping that they are going to try harder to bring back our children successfully.-Mothers and other relatives crouched, weeping and waiting for the missing children outside the school.
The Tegina attack marked the latest mass kidnapping in central and northwest Nigeria, where armed criminal gangs often raid villages to loot, steal cattle and kidnap for ransom.
Nigerian state authorities have said they are negotiating to bring the children back safely, though said they refused to pay ransom.
One school official said more than 100 children were taken though gunmen soon let a few go because they were "too small and couldn't walk".
-The authorities have done well, but we want them to do more, because as we are here, all the security, both the civil defence, and the army, and the police, they are there with us since yesterday- said Muhammed Garba, another parent.
President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the security and intelligence forces to step up efforts to rescue the children.
Mass kidnappings in northwest and central Nigeria are complicating challenges facing Buhari's security forces, who are also battling a more than decade-long jihadist insurgency in the northeast of the country.
Since December 2020, before the attack on Sunday, 730 children and students had been kidnapped.
Gangs often target schools in remote areas, where pupils live in dormitories with little security protection, before taking their victims deep into nearby forests to negotiate.&nbsp;

Some 200 children were at the school in Tegina, central Niger state, when it was raided on Sunday, the local government said, without confirming the exact number abducted

Niger state police said attackers had arrived on motorbikes and started shooting indiscriminately, killing one resident and injuring another, before snatching the children from the Salihu Tanko Islamic school

Families appeal for aid freeing kidnapped Nigerian schoolkids

The denial of freedom of movement of the people of Gaza is a crime against humanity, a Jewish-American scholar told an online conference Monday. 

Speaking at the conference, titled “Reconstructing the War-Torn Gaza,” Norman Finkelstein said: “The denial of the right of people in Gaza to freely leave and return to their homeland, namely Gaza, the denial of freedom of movement is a crime against humanity.”
The online event was organized by the ILKE Foundation based in Istanbul, Turkey and was also attended by the Deputy Chairman of Turkey's Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), Huseyin Oruc, Palestinian Journalist Jehan Alfarra and the head of the Pakistan’s Alkhidmat Foundation, Shaid Iqbal.
Speaking about the history of Palestine, Finkelstein said Israel first “conquered about 80% of what was called British-mandated Palestine'' in 1947-1949, while noting that “20%, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and Gaza, fell outside Israeli control.”
Adding that Israel later expelled about 90% of the Palestinian Arab population, he said about 70% of the population of Gaza today “consists of refugees and children and grandchildren of Palestinian refugees from 1948.”
Finkelstein said the 2006 Palestinian elections and victory of Hamas were a turning point before coming to the current situation in the region.
-The people of Palestine were punished for having participated in democratic elections and having elected a government that the US and Israel didn't support- he stressed, adding this was the origin of the current situation in Gaza, namely the “blockade.”
“It's a criminal blockade in the literal sense,” Finkelstein said. “The systematic, methodical and sustained denial of the people’s right to leave their country and return to their country is a crime against humanity.“
He later slammed “the periodic massacres that Israel launches against the people of Gaza.”
Underlining that “one half or more of the population of Gaza are children,” he said “it's an overwhelmingly defenseless population.”
“The length of Gaza is one marathon,” he noted. “I do not believe it's correct and I do not believe that evidence supports the fact that Gaza possesses any kind of weaponry or armaments that can be regarded in any sense as sophisticated.”
-Gaza was a totally defenseless civilian overwhelmingly child population that this past week -- or I should say, two weeks ago -- came under a fourth brutal assault- he added.
For her part, Alfarra asked: “What is the point of constantly trying to rebuild what Israel destroys?”
She pointed to the need for concrete actions.
-The root causes are still there, such as the ongoing brutal Israeli military occupation of Palestine, the suffocating siege of Gaza.--We can certainly reconstruct the buildings, but nothing will bring back the lives of the children that were lost, or the memories that are attached to the places that were lost- she added.
IHH’s Oruc spoke about the 11th anniversary of the Mavi Marmara incident, in which nine Turkish activists onboard the aid vessel, which was part of a flotilla traveling to the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid, were killed on May 31, 2010 when Israeli troops stormed the vessel before it reached the Palestinian territories.​​​​​​​
He added that the IHH did not stop after Mavi Marmara but continues its work on the humanitarian side.
-We have a big office in Gaza- he said, adding they have a huge humanitarian operation going on in the region.

Israel commits crimes against humanity, says Jewish-American scholar Norman Finkelstein

The online event was organized by the ILKE Foundation based in Istanbul, Turkey and was also attended by the Deputy Chairman of Turkey's Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), Huseyin Oruc, Palestinian Journalist Jehan Alfarra and the head of the Pakistan’s Alkhidmat Foundation, Shaid Iqbal

Online conference discusses reconstruction of Gaza

Israeli ministers on Tuesday laid the foundation stone for a new project to build 350 settler units in the Beit El settlement near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Health Minister Yuli Edelstein, Public Security Minister Amir Ohana, Education Minister Yoav Gallant and Regional Cooperation Minister Ofir Akunis along with Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin and other Knesset members participated in the ceremony to build the new settlement units, according to Israeli Channel 20.
-Settlements and land of Israel are more important than any person or any political situation- Edelstein, who is a member of the ruling Likud Party, told the ceremony.
Gallant, for his part, said his government has solidified Jewish settlement construction in the Beit El settlement, which he described as an "Israeli city where ancestors lived”.
The Israeli government has approved the construction of the new 350 settler units in Beit El settlement at the end of 2020.
International law regards both the West Bank and East Jerusalem as occupied territories and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity there illegal.

New settler units to be constructed in Beit El settlement near Ramallah

The Israeli government has approved the construction of the new 350 settler units in Beit El settlement at the end of 2020

Israel begins construction of 350 settlement units in West Bank

Anti-government protests raging in different parts of Colombia since April 28 have caused the death of at least 48 people, including one police officer, said judicial sources on Monday.

According to the latest report by the country’s Ombudsman’s office, at least 20 of the 48 deaths are directly caused by the anti-government protests shaking the country for over a month.
However, NGOs claim the death toll is much higher than the official figures.
Protests against the government's new tax reform plan are continuing across the country.
On Monday, students in the country’s capital Bogota were on the streets for a peaceful anti-government protest.
The country witnessed a bloody day on May 28 during which 13 people died in Cali, and dozens other were injured in Bogota and Medellin.
Meanwhile, at least nine people were murdered at a farm in the country’s south in a separate development.
Eight men and one woman were killed on a farm located in the rural area of Algeciras in the southern Colombian administrative department of Huila, according to the Colombian media.
Drawing attention to the escalating wave of violence in the country, the Bogota-based Institute for Development and Peace Studies (INDEPAZ) reported that 158 people have died in 41 violent incidents so far in 2021.

Protests against government's new tax reform plan raging across country

Protesters perform in front of the Portal de las Americas station, rename as "Portal Resistance" during a national strike in Bogota, Colombia, on May 29, 2021.

Anti-government protests in Colombia claim 48 lives

China reported the world's first human infection of the H10N3 bird flu strain on Tuesday but said the risk of it spreading widely among people was low.

A 41-year-old man was admitted to hospital with fever symptoms in the eastern city of Zhenjiang on April 28 and was diagnosed with H10N3 a month later, China's National Health Commission (NHC) said in an online statement.
-The risk of large-scale spread is extremely low- the NHC said, adding that the man was in a stable condition and his close contacts had reported no "abnormalities."
It described H10N3 as low pathogenic -- less likely to cause death or severe illness -- in birds.
The NHC said there had been no human cases of H10N3 previously reported in the world.
Several strains of bird flu have been found among animals in China but mass outbreaks in humans are rare.
The last human epidemic of bird flu in China occurred in late 2016 to 2017, with the H7N9 virus. 
The H7N9 has infected 1,668 people and claimed 616 lives since 2013, according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization.
Following recent avian flu outbreaks in Africa and Eurasia, the head of China's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention last week urged stricter surveillance in poultry farms, markets and wild birds.
Covid-19 was first detected at a food and animal market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.

A 41-year-old man was admitted to hospital with fever symptoms in the eastern city of Zhenjiang on April 28 and was diagnosed with H10N3 a month later

Workers vaccinate chicks with the H9 bird flu vaccine at a farm in Changfeng county, Anhui province, April 14, 2013.

China confirms first human case of bird flu strain

Russia has announced the resumption of air travel with Britain and a number of other countries which had been suspended due to coronavirus restrictions.

-Given the improvement of the epidemiological situation in the United Kingdom, a decision has been taken to resume regular air travel between Moscow and London from June 2- Russian health authorities said in a statement on Monday.
Russia will also resume air travel with Austria, Hungary, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Croatia, Mauritius, and Morocco from June 10, it said.
Flights to Turkey, a major tourist destination for Russians, will remain suspended until at least June 21.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, Russia's borders have remained largely closed to foreigners.

Flights to Turkey, a major tourist destination for Russians, will remain suspended until at least June 21

Russia will also resume air travel with Austria, Hungary, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Croatia, Mauritius, and Morocco from June 10

Russia resumes air travel with Britain, other countries

Pope Francis, who has promised to visit Lebanon if fractious politicians agree on a new government, said on Sunday he would meet its Christian leaders to discuss the country's worst crisis since its civil war that ended in 1990.

He told pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter's Square for his weekly blessing that the meeting in the Vatican on July 1 would be a "day of reflection on the worrying situation in the country".
Lebanon is still reeling from a huge chemical explosion at the Beirut port last year that killed 200 people and caused billions of dollars worth of damage, further weakening an economy already facing meltdown.
Prime minister-designate Saad al-Hariri has been at loggerheads for months with President Michel Aoun over cabinet positions.
Lebanon's three main Christian denominations are Maronite Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and Melchite Catholics. There are a number of other smaller Protestant, Orthodox and Catholic denominations.
The Vatican did not say which would be represented at the Vatican meeting.
Hariri, a three-time prime minister, resigned in 2019 after nationwide protests against a political elite blamed by demonstrators for pushing the country into crisis.
He was nominated as prime minister again in October but has been unable to form a new government.
Hariri said after meeting the pope at the Vatican in April that the pontiff told him he would visit the country but only after a government is formed.
Traditionally, invitations for the pope to visit a country are made by both civil and religious leaders.
Francis has urged the international community to help Lebanon get back on its feet.
He said on Sunday that the meeting with Lebanon's Christian leaders would be an opportunity to "pray together for the gift of peace and stability".
Lebanon's economic meltdown has pushed much of the population into poverty and poses the biggest threat to stability since the 1975-1990 civil war.

Lebanon is still reeling from a huge chemical explosion at the Beirut port last year that killed 200 people and caused billions of dollars worth of damage, further weakening an economy already facing meltdown

Pope Francis waves before leaving after the weekly general audience, in San Damaso courtyard, at the Vatican, May 19, 2021.

Erdogan, Putin among leaders Biden will meet on first overseas trip

Sri Lanka prepares for worst oil spill as weather hits ship salvage

Gunmen kidnapped 136 from Islamic school in Nigeria on Sunday

Tesla recalls 6,000 vehicles over loose brake bolts

Twitter removes Nigeria president 'civil war' remark

8 killed, 27 injured in YPG/PKK terrorist fire in N.Syria since Monday

Tornado kills 1, injures 16 in China

Third giant panda cub born in Malaysia

23 migrants missing, two dead off Tunisia coast

Families appeal for aid freeing kidnapped Nigerian schoolkids

Online conference discusses reconstruction of Gaza

Israel begins construction of 350 settlement units in West Bank

Anti-government protests in Colombia claim 48 lives

China confirms first human case of bird flu strain

Russia resumes air travel with Britain, other countries

Pope to hold crisis summit with Lebanon Christian heads

World

Erdogan, Putin among leaders Biden will meet on first overseas trip

Sri Lanka prepares for worst oil spill as weather hits ship salvage

Gunmen kidnapped 136 from Islamic school in Nigeria on Sunday

Tesla recalls 6,000 vehicles over loose brake bolts

Twitter removes Nigeria president 'civil war' remark

8 killed, 27 injured in YPG/PKK terrorist fire in N.Syria since Monday

Tornado kills 1, injures 16 in China

Third giant panda cub born in Malaysia

23 migrants missing, two dead off Tunisia coast

Families appeal for aid freeing kidnapped Nigerian schoolkids

Online conference discusses reconstruction of Gaza

Israel begins construction of 350 settlement units in West Bank

Anti-government protests in Colombia claim 48 lives

China confirms first human case of bird flu strain

Russia resumes air travel with Britain, other countries

Pope to hold crisis summit with Lebanon Christian heads