Prime Minister Najib Miqati has dismissed the reports about a possible Cabinet reshuffle that would involve the replacement of the Justice Minister as “incorrect and baseless.”

He added, in remarks to al-Joumhouria newspaper published Friday, that he is satisfied with the outcome of his Thursday talks with Pope Francis.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has warned that the postponement of the upcoming parliamentary elections would lead to “the total destruction of the country.”

“It is very necessary to hold the parliamentary and presidential elections next year, or else we will face the total destruction of the country,” al-Rahi said.

A small group of protesters broke into the Ministry of Social Affairs in Beirut early Friday and removed a photo of President Michel Aoun from one of its main rooms, as the Lebanese pound hit new lows amid a worsening economic and political stalemate.

The nearly dozen protesters who entered the ministry said conditions in the crisis-hit country have become unbearable as a result of the rapid economic collapse and ongoing crash of the pound, which reached 25,100 to the U.S. dollar. The previous record was 25,000.

The Lebanese pound sank to a new low on the black market Friday, with no end in sight to the economic and political crisis plunging ever growing numbers into poverty.

According to websites monitoring the black market rate, the pound was trading at 25,000 to the dollar, or nearly 17 times less than its official peg value of 1,500.

The Court of Cassation on Thursday said it is the only authority eligible to look into recusal requests against Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar, media reports said.

Noting that the investigative judge "can be dismissed," the Court stressed that it is up to it to take such a decision and not to the Judicial Council, reversing a ruling by Judge Imad Qabalan in this regard, al-Jadeed TV said.

Families of the victims of last year's explosion in Beirut's port rallied Thursday outside the Justice Palace against what they say are intentional obstructions to the probe of the devastating blast. They said their message to authorities was: "We are sick of waiting."

The investigation into the August 2020 explosion led by Judge Tarek Bitar was suspended for the third time earlier this month because of a deluge of legal challenges filed by defendants.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati gave Pope Francis on Thursday a tile from a 19th-century Beirut church that was seriously damaged in the August 2020 port explosion that killed 216 people and injured more than 6,000.

Miqati met privately with Francis who told him that he was praying that God would help Lebanon "get up" and get back on its feet.

Technical negotiations with the IMF are almost over, Deputy Prime Minister Saade Shami

said Thursday, after meeting with President Michel Aoun in Baabda.

The UK's COP26 Regional Ambassador for the Middle East and Africa, Janet Rogan, ended a two-day visit to Lebanon this week. This was her first official visit to the MENA region since the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference concluded in Glasgow earlier this month.

Pope Francis urged Thursday all Lebanese to cooperate in order to save their country and give it back its role “as a model for dialogue and convergence between East and West.”

The pope said after meeting with Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the Vatican that he will pray for Lebanon.