Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh on Thursday described reports that the dollar exchange rate has hit the LBP 7,000 mark as “misleading, untrue and totally baseless.”

“The reports circulating on social networking websites about the dollar exchange rate are misleading and totally baseless,” Salameh said in a statement.

Protesters took to the streets across Lebanon on Thursday as reports said the dollar was selling at at historic rate of LBP 7,000 on the black market.

The protesters blocked most of the country's roads in scenes reminiscent of the October 17 uprising.

Ex-PM Saad Hariri on Thursday noted that he is not seeking to return as premier, as he lashed out at the Presidency and Deputy PM Zeina Akar and accused them of encroaching on the premiership’s jurisdiction.

“They are trying to establish new norms, such as the permanent presence of the deputy PM at the Grand Serail, and this is regrettable, because the premier’s powers are enshrined in the constitution,” Hariri said in a chat with reporters.

Fourteen more COVID-19 cases were recorded in Lebanon over the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.

A Japanese prosecutor on Thursday urged the U.S. to extradite two Americans accused of helping Nissan's former chairman, Carlos Ghosn, flee the country while he was out on bail.

Deputy Chief Prosecutor Takahiro Saito said Japan has issued arrest warrants for Michael and Peter Taylor for allegedly helping a criminal escape.

The Lebanese pound sank to a record low on the black market Thursday despite the authorities' attempts to halt the plunge of the crisis-hit country's currency, money changers said.

US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea affirmed support for the government’s reform program during talks with President Michel Aoun in Baabda, the Lebanese Presidency said on Thursday.

Prime Minister Hassan Diab was reportedly informed not to call for a coordination meeting for CEDRE unless the government launches reforms it vowed to implement, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday.

According to the daily, Diab who held a coordination meeting for CEDRE at the Grand Serail in May, was “officially” informed that there was “no point” in holding such “futile” meetings as long as the government “did not complete any reform plan.”

Congress Republicans released a comprehensive policy proposal on Wednesday considering sanctions on “all ministers of Hizbullah in the government, and figures who present themselves as independent and supportive of the party.”

President Michel Aoun on Wednesday said the government and its ministers should not “waste time” in responding to “rumors and campaigns targeting the Presidency and the government, especially those mentioning a government change or ouster.”

“Some exploited the social protests to carry out condemned acts of sabotage that we had already warned against, and today I reiterate the need for extreme caution in the future, especially that the relevant security agencies have obtained information about the foreign links of some groups of participants,” Aoun added during a Cabinet session.