The Observatoire Européen pour l’Integrité du Liban has said that General Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat has received a request to interrogate several individuals responsible for auditing the accounts of the Central Bank.

A European judicial delegation from France, Germany, and Luxembourg had started to arrive in Lebanon this week to probe the country's Central Bank governor and dozens of other individuals over suspected corruption.

Families of the port blast victims gathered Thursday in front of the Justice Palace after some judges asked the Higher Judicial Council to meet to discuss the requirements of the judicial probe into the case of the Beirut port blast.

Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat left the Justice Palace after quorum was not secured.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Wednesday that a caretaker Cabinet session will be held early next week to approve an electricity loan regardless of who may attend or boycott it.

“There is no possibility to grant a loan to Electricite du Liban except through a Cabinet decree and there can be no actions that contradict with the public accounting law,” Mikati told Annahar newspaper in an interview.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday postponed a presidential election session scheduled for Thursday over the death earlier in the day of former parliament speaker Hussein al-Husseini.

Mourning Husseini, his predecessor, Berri described him as “one of Lebanon’s major figures” who “dedicated his life to defending the country and its people, territorial integrity and national and pan-national identity.”

The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers on Wednesday sent ministers a memo informing them of the draft agenda of Cabinet’s upcoming session ahead of setting a date for it, state-run National News Agency said.

The move comes “based on a request from the (caretaker) prime minister and in line with articles 62 and 64 of the constitution,” the General Secretariat said.

Caretaker Justice Minister Henri Khoury on Wednesday noted that “any international judicial cooperation that takes place according to the legal norms is not considered an attack on Lebanese sovereignty,” referring to the European judicial teams that have started arriving in Lebanon to question banking and financial officials in a case related to Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh and possibly the port blast case.

“We will confront any breach of norms,” Khoury added, at a press conference.

Hussein Husseini, Lebanon's former parliament speaker and the father of the 1989 Taif Agreement that ended the country's 15-year civil war, died Wednesday after days of illness. He was 85.

Husseini was admitted to Beirut's American University Medical Center on Jan. 3, after suffering from a strong flu, the state-run National News Agency said. NNA added that Husseini remained in the intensive care unit until his death on Wednesday morning.

The British Embassy in Beirut has categorically rejected "the unsubstantiated, erroneous and misleading claims made in a report on UK support for the IMPACT project published by Al Akhbar on 9 January 2023."

"We are and remain proud of our contribution to anti-corruption efforts in Lebanon, including the important work of the IMPACT platform, Central Inspection and Judge George Attieh," the embassy said in a statement.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Tuesday filed a notice with Financial Prosecutor Judge Ali Ibrahim, asking him to “launch a comprehensive and broad investigation into the work of the LibanPost company and reveal whether there are any offenses, violations or abuses committed by it or by its owners or those in charge of it.”

If it turns out that there are any irregularities, the relevant legal measures should be taken, Mikati, who owns LibanPost, added.

The European Union has launched two new initiatives worth 25 million Euro to support vulnerable people in Lebanon and to fight food insecurity.

"These initiatives are a response to the negative impact of Russia's war against Ukraine on the European Union's neighbouring countries," the EU Delegation to Lebanon said in a statement.