Army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun met Thursday with Saudi Ambassador in Lebanon Walid Boukhari in Yarze.

Aoun, 58, is on good terms with all sides of the political spectrum, although Hezbollah has criticized him for his close ties to Washington.

Dozens of lawsuits are being prepared to be filed in several European countries on behalf of the victims of the Beirut port explosion, a media report said.

The Nidaa al-Watan newspaper quoted a source from Accountability Now – which identifies itself as a Swiss foundation whose mission is to support the Lebanese civil society in its desire to put an end to the impunity of leaders – as saying that the lawsuits will be filed in Germany, France, Belgium, Croatia and the United Kingdom.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat is searching for a president, he told Annahar newspaper in remarks published Wednesday.

"I am trying to find common ground and to break through the impasse in order to elect a president, until an Arab-international initiative crystallizes," Jumblat said.

A patrol from the judicial police on Wednesday raided money changers in the markets of the city of Baalbek and arrested two individuals who were practicing illegal money exchange operations, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The development comes a few days after State Prosecutor Judge Ghassan Oueidat sent a memo to Financial Prosecutor Judge Ali Ibrahim asking him to “immediately” order the arrest of the money changers and speculators who are contributing to “the collapse of the national currency.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has ruled out cooperation with Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil in the presidential file, as he warned against electing a president not enjoying the support of the two main Christian parties – the LF and the FPM.

“A president cannot be elected against the will of Christians. If someone believes that they can elect a president against the will of the majority of Christians, then they are mistaken. This is not a way to behave, seeing as everyone knows the reality of constitutional posts,” Geagea said in an interview with Kuwait’s al-Rai newspaper.

Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar on Wednesday went to his office at the Justice Palace in Beirut, the state-run National News Agency reported.

LBCI television meanwhile reported that Bitar met at the Palace with Higher Judicial Council chief Judge Suheil Abboud with the aim of “finding a certain solution for the Beirut port blast case.”

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri will not call for a president election session unless there are serious candidates competing for presidency, MTV said Wednesday.

The media outlet added that Berri and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat have affirmed that MP and presidential candidate Michel Mouawad has no chances of becoming president.

Lebanon shifted Wednesday its long-standing official exchange rate to 15,000 pounds against the dollar, a central bank source said -- an almost 90 percent devaluation amid a years-long economic crisis.

The Lebanese pound has been officially pegged at 1,507 to the greenback since 1997, but its market value began to slide in late 2019 and hit record lows of more than 60,000 this month.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has tried to reach a presidential consensus with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

"We're trying to cross some barriers in order to reach a consensus that would give us hope that a president will be elected," Jumblat said after meeting Berri in Ain el-Tineh.

Braving the bitter cold, Lebanese villagers have been patrolling a mountainside in the country's north, trying to protect trees from loggers who roll in under the cover of darkness. 

Near his village of Ainata, "nearly 150 centuries-old oak trees have been felled" in the past year, said Ghandi Rahme, pointing at the tree stumps in the rocky ground around him.