General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim said that he “will appear before the court like any citizen, when the law allows it."

“I didn’t get permission to appear before the court,” Ibrahim said in a televised interview.

Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres will arrive in Lebanon On Sunday afternoon, for a state visit.

"At this challenging time for Lebanon, this will be a visit of solidarity during which the Secretary-General will reaffirm the support of the entire U.N. family – from our political teams and peacekeepers to our humanitarian aid workers and development professionals – for the country and its people," the U.N. said.

Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib has hosted the first Council meeting of the UK-Lebanon Association Agreement in the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants in Beirut, in the presence of the British Ambassador to Lebanon Ian Collard and Luciana Verda, Head of wider Middle East Trade Policy at the UK’s Department for International Trade.

Hizbullah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Thursday clarified recent remarks that have stirred an uproar in the country, noting that they have been deliberately misrepresented.

“Some rabid individuals have voiced insults… and some of them want to attack Hizbullah in any way possible,” Qassem said in a statement issued by his office.

Ex-ministers Ghazi Zoaiter and Ali Hassan Khalil on Thursday filed a request asking the Court of Cassation to again look into a recusal lawsuit they had filed against Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar, MTV reported.

The request was filed by Zoaiter’s son, the lawyer Mohammed Zoaiter, before the head of the First Chamber of the Court of Cassation Judge Naji Eid on behalf of the two former ministers.

Taxi and public transportation drivers on Thursday blocked several vital roads across Lebanon to press authorities to fulfill promises made to support them economically in the face of a crunching economic and financial crisis that has affected all sectors.

In the capital, the drivers blocked the intersection at the Mohammed al-Amin Mosque in downtown Beirut and the Hamra Street.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Thursday warned that calling for a Cabinet session without a prior agreement with the boycotting parties “aggravate” the situation.

“Everyone must stop considering the government to be a barricade for futile political wrangling,” Miqati said.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri announced Wednesday that he is willing to “go on foot to the Baabda Palace to meet President Michel Aoun” if he senses “the presence of positivity as to resolving the crisis that we are going through.”

Addressing Higher Judicial Council chief Judge Suheil Abboud, Berri said the Council “should have a role in the issue of investigative judge Tarek Bitar,” who is leading the probe into the catastrophic Beirut port blast.

The dollar exchange rate on Lebanon’s black market witnessed a major drop on Wednesday morning, hours after the central bank announced in a statement that it would take a host of measures aimed at halting the Lebanese lira’s freefall.

The exchange rate had hit a record high of LBP 29,000 on Tuesday evening before dropping to around LBP 26,450 on Wednesday.

A Gulf Cooperation Council summit has called for prohibiting Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hizbullah "from carrying out its terrorist activities and supporting terrorist militias that threaten the stability of Arab countries."

Lebanon's ties with Gulf states have grown increasingly strained in recent years because of Hizbullah’s growing influence and its interference in regional conflicts.