The Constitutional Council on Thursday announced the annulment of some articles of the state budget and the “clarification” of other articles based on appeals filed by the Change parliamentary bloc and other parties.

“Our decisions are binding and the Constitutional Council is an independent authority that is not linked to anyone,” Council chief Judge Tannous Meshleb said at a press conference.

Paris attempts to help Lebanon elect a president are ongoing, diplomatic sources in Paris said, adding that they see no breakthrough on the horizon.

The sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper, in remarks published Thursday, that there are no signs of a breakthrough in the presidential file in light of the existing divergence between the politicians.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat accused Thursday the main political leaders of disrupting ministerial meetings by using "flimsy constitutional arguments."

In a tweet, Jumblat said that political leaders are obstructing any ministerial meeting that would facilitate people's affairs.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday accused MP and ex-energy minister Nada Bustani of “curtailing facts in an attempt to disavow her direct interference in the work of the executive authority,” after she accused him of backpedaling on the approval of funds needed to purchase fuel for the national electricity company.

In a statement issued by his press office, Mikati accused Bustani of failing to mention that his previous approval had stipulated the issuance of a cabinet decree and the presence of an official clarification from Electricite du Liban explaining how it intends to return the treasury loan.

Caretaker ministers Hector Hajjar and Issam Sharafeddine on Wednesday filed an appeal before the State Shoura Council against two decrees related to the Costa Brava landfill, al-Jadeed TV said.

Speaking to al-Jadeed on Tuesday, the media adviser of caretaker PM Najib Mikati, Fares Gemayel, stressed that “the decrees are constitutional and cannot be appealed.”

The White House has nominated U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea for the posts of U.S. Deputy Representative to the U.N. and U.S. Representative to the Sessions of the U.N. General Assembly, sending the nominations to the U.S. Senate for approval.

According to Lebanon’s MTV, a successor to Shea as U.S. ambassador to Lebanon is yet to be appointed.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday stressed that “domestic” dialogue must be held to agree on a new president for the country and that Hezbollah is keen on resolving the "dispute" with the Free Patriotic Movement through “communication.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea announced Tuesday that “dialogue is underway to find a reformist and sovereign exit for the presidential election among the various parliamentary blocs that believe in real and serious dialogue.”

Geagea’s remarks come after MP Melhem Riachi of the LF revealed that the opposition forces are preparing to launch a “Plan B” to deal with the presidential crisis in late January.

Unrest erupted Tuesday in Khalde in connection with the arrest of a fugitive from the area’s Arab tribesmen.

“Moussa Zaher Ghosn was arrested by army intelligence agents on Khalde’s seaside road and a clash broke out between the army intelligence agents and the tribesmen,” al-Jadeed TV reported, adding that Ghosn was wounded in the clash.

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan on Tuesday called for “finalizing the presidential election as soon as possible,” warning that “the country and citizens can no longer bear this vacuum that is destroying all of the state’s pillars.”

Accordingly, he called for electing a president who would be “a statesman who would embrace all citizens and be keen on their rights all.”