President Michel Aoun denied Thursday that he has sought a presidential system during his tenure, as he pledged to “expose every corrupt” before leaving office.

“When I tried to implement the constitution, they accused me of implementing a presidential system, whereas they are working on bankrupting Lebanon instead of fixing its situation and reviving its economy,” Aoun said in a meeting with a delegation from the Maronite League.

Investigative Judge Nicolas Mansour on Thursday ordered the release of Raja Salameh on a bail of LBP 500 billion, but Mount Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun appealed against the decision and demanded that he be kept in custody.

Salameh for his part filed an appeal demanding that the bail amount be slashed.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), the General Directorate of General Security (GDGS) and the Embassy of Japan in Lebanon held Thursday an inauguration ceremony in Damour, to celebrate the opening of the General Security Academy for Training and Education and Cybersecurity, which was built by IOM with funding from Japan.

Judge Nicolas Mansour adjourned on Thursday the interrogation session of Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh's to June.

Salameh's lawyer filed in a session today, that was held in Salameh's absence, preliminary defenses before Mansour.

As part of Britain’s “continuing support and partnership with the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), through the UK’s Conflict and Stability Fund (CSSF),” British Ambassador to Lebanon Ian Collard has announced the gifting of Land Rover spares worth £1m to “support the LAF in its mission to defend the security and stability of Lebanon,” a British embassy statement said.

In a handover ceremony organized at the Lebanese Army Logistical base in Kfarshima, Ambassador Collard oversaw the gifting of the Land Rover spare parts by the British Government. In attendance were Brig. Gen. Pilot Ziad Haykal representing LAF chief General Joseph Aoun, Logistics Brigade commander Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Abboud, British Defense Attaché Colonel Lee Saunders and Head of Security Program Sarah Kronfol.

Cabinet on Wednesday approved the capital control draft law after introducing amendments to it based on the observations of some ministers.

The ministers of Hizbullah and Amal meanwhile objected to the final format of the draft law in terms of the powers of the committee that will look into withdrawal requests, NBN television said.

President Michel Aoun on Wednesday stressed that Lebanon is “determined to hold the parliamentary elections on time on May 15, after having secured the necessary funding and accomplished a lot of related preparations.”

Aoun voiced his remarks in a meeting in Baabda with U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has met with the visiting secretary-general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, and an accompanying delegation, Hizbullah announced on Wednesday.

The two men discussed “the latest situations in the Palestinian arena, the development of the jihadist operations within the territories occupied in 1948, and the operations that took place over the past days,” the party said in a statement.

British Ambassador to Lebanon Ian Collard has visited Baalbek ‘the City of the Sun’ and joined students at the American University of Science and Technology in Zahle.

"The Ambassador’s visit to Baalbek (on Tuesday) was an opportunity to hear from Baalbek-Hermel Governor Bachir Khodr, local officials, dignitaries and NGOs about the important work they are doing to support their communities during very difficult times," the British Embassy in Beirut said.

The U.N. Productive Sectors Development Program (PSDP) funded by the Government of Canada is launching an online survey for women and men farmers, entrepreneurs, and Medium and Small to Medium industries and cooperatives working in the agri-food sector in Lebanon.

The survey aims to select beneficiaries in the PSDP’s activities, which will include technology transfer and technical skills training in the agricultural and agri-food sectors, training on environmental sustainability, and in-kind support, with a specific focus on female youth skills’ upgrade, and innovations promotion.