The Lebanese lira made a major recovery against the dollar on Friday, after the central bank allowed commercial banks to purchase dollars from it at the Sayrafa platform exchange rate.

The media advisor of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Hussein Al-Wajeh, accused the FPM of "suffering from paranoia."

"It is very saddening for the presidency to reach a phase of complete denial of the chaos it has plunged the country into," Wajeh said in a tweet, criticizing a statement by President Michel Aoun.

Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh on Thursday hit out at Mount Lebanon Attorney General Judge Ghada Aoun over recent actions and tweets.

President Michel Aoun on Thursday lashed out at those who announced their boycott of his proposed national dialogue conference and those who boycotted the preparatory bilateral meetings.

President Michel Aoun said he feels the suffering of the families of the detainees and the martyrs in the case of the Beirut port blast.

He added, during a meeting in Baabda with the families of the detainees, that he is "doing everything he can, within his powers and within the laws in order to achieve fairness and end the injustice against the innocents."

Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2022 released Thursday that “the corrupt and incompetent Lebanese authorities have deliberately” plunged the country into one of the worst economic crises in modern times, demonstrating a disregard for the rights of the population.

It called for the international community to use “every tool at its disposal to pressure Lebanese policymakers to put in place the reforms necessary to pull Lebanon out of this crisis,” said Aya Majzoub, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch. She added that they should include imposing sanctions against leaders responsible for the “ongoing grave human rights violations.”

The sound of a blast was reportedly heard overnight between the southern towns of Houmine and Deir al-Zahrani of the Nabatiyeh district.

The causes of the blast, followed by a fire outbreak, remain unknown.

Public drivers, tanker trucks and buses blocked major highways Thursday to protest the country's deteriorating economic and financial conditions

The general strike by public transport and labor unions started at 5 a.m., making it difficult for people to move around.

Power shortages and soaring petrol prices mean many Lebanese university students can neither afford to reach their classes nor study from home, a conundrum that is ravaging a generation's future.

Agnes, a 22-year-old dentistry student from south Lebanon, is among the few still plodding to class in Beirut four days a week.

Hizbullah has hosted a conference for Saudi opposition figures in its stronghold south of Beirut on Wednesday in a defiant gesture certain to anger the oil-rich kingdom.

The gathering came as the Lebanese government is trying to mend relations with Saudi Arabia that hit a new low in October when the kingdom recalled its ambassador from Beirut and banned all Lebanese imports.