Head of the Free Patriotic Movement Jebran Bassil asked the central bank governor Riad Salameh and all those who are backing up his decision to end fuel subsidies to “stop the (social) explosion!”

He called for a gradual lifting of the subsidies “until the ration card is distributed.”

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi held talks Friday in Baabda with President Michel Aoun.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, al-Rahi stressed the need to form a new government “as a gateway for reforms and to reach solutions,” urging the PM-designate and the President to “form the government as soon as possible.”

The British Embassy Beirut has announced the opening of applications for Chevening Scholarships to study in the UK between 3 August and 2 November 2021, with applications to be submitted via www.chevening.org/apply

President Michel Aoun held a meeting Thursday with Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh and the caretaker ministers of energy and finance, hours after Salameh announced the end of fuel subsidies in a controversial move.

The Presidency said Aoun stressed during the meeting that Salameh’s decision “has dangerous social and economic repercussions.”

A parliament session on the port blast case was adjourned Thursday due to lack of quorum, parliament's secretary Adnan Daher said.

The parliamentary attendance reached 39 lawmakers.

Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Thursday called for an emergency ministerial meeting to discuss Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh's controversial decision to lift subsidies off fuel imports.

Diab also asked caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni to tell Salameh that his decision is "illegal."

President Michel Aoun summoned on Thursday Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh after his decision to lift subsidies on fuel, the Presidency said.

The bank had said overnight it will provide a line of credit for fuel importers at market price, ending subsidies on the scarce resource.

Head of the Free Patriotic Movement Jebran Bassil said that the "sudden" lifting of subsidies by the Central Bank governor Riad Salameh is "a violation of the government’s decision and of Parliament's law."

Bassil tweeted on Thursday that the BDL is an independent public body "subject to the government and its decisions," and said that the central bank decision is "unilateral" and "sudden."

Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil on Wednesday noted that Thursday's parliamentary session is "illegitimate."

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday announced that his party’s bloc will boycott a parliamentary session scheduled for Thursday and dedicated to discussing a controversial parliamentary petition aimed at prosecuting three MPs summoned by Judge Tarek al-Bitar in the port blast probe.

"We submitted a parliamentary petition for holding a parliamentary session for looking into the investigative judge's request for lifting immunity off some MPs, but we were surprised by the call for a session tomorrow according to Article 22, not to look into the investigative judge's request but rather for looking into an illegal petition signed by some MPs to take the investigation to another track," Geagea said at a press conference.