Judge Fadi Sawwan listened to the testimonies of caretaker transport and public works minister Michel Najjar and State Security agency head Tony Saliba as witnesses in the Beirut port explosion, LBCI television reported on Thursday.

France’s public national television channel, France 2, announced Thursday that it is organizing an evening of support for Lebanon on October 1 in the aftermath of the massive Beirut port explosion earlier in August.

President Michel Aoun has reportedly dispatched Lebanon’s General Security chief to France in a mission directly linked to ongoing talks on the government formation, and to infer the French position after the recent US sanctions against Lebanese officials, the Saudi Asharq el-Awsat reported on Thursday.

Hizbullah on Wednesday condemned new U.S. sanctions against two former ministers from allied political parties over alleged corruption and aid to the group.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday described the reported obstacles delaying the formation of the new government as “very shameful.”

“What’s happening as to the formation of the government is very shameful,” Geagea said in a statement.

Lebanon on Wednesday launched a forensic audit of the central bank, in line with a long-standing request of donors, an outgoing minister said, as the country suffers its worst economic crisis in decades.

"Today the first phase of the forensic audit started," caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni said in a statement.

Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh on Wednesday described the U.S. sanctions imposed Tuesday on Marada’s ex-minister Youssef Fenianos as a “political decision.”

The sanctions will only push Marada to cling to its “path and political alignment,” Franjieh said in a short statement.

President Michel Aoun has come under fire after reports and activists said that tea donated by Sri Lanka for victims of the Beirut blast was distributed instead to families of his presidential guards.

But the press office of the Presidency hit back on Wednesday, noting that an official memo sent by Sri Lanka to Lebanon's Foreign Ministry had mentioned that "1,675 kilograms of Ceylon tea" were "a donation to His Excellency the President, General Michel Aoun, as a gesture of solidarity and friendship between Sri Lanka and Lebanon."

AMAL Movement that is headed by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri held an urgent meeting on Wednesday on the heels of the US sanctions slapped against its senior official and former finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil.

Caretaker Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbe reportedly tested positive for Coronavirus and will be isolating for two weeks, the National News Agency said on Wednesday.

The Minister did not comment on the matter nor were any details revealed.