Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh has decided not to attend the May 16 interrogation session in Paris and is instead planning to retire in Sharjah, UAE, media reports have said.

Salameh fears that he might be detained or banned from traveling if he goes to France, the reports said. Instead, the governor and his legal team will argue that he has not been officially notified of the French interrogation request.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has decided not to reveal the developments of the talks with the Free Patriotic Movement over a presidential candidate.

"Every party has the right to keep its cards hidden," Geagea told MTV, urging Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to call for an election session this week. "We are totally ready for it," he said.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday stressed that his party is not “imposing” a presidential candidate on anyone in Lebanon.

“Let each camp nominate any candidate it wants and let’s go to parliament to elect a president,” Nasrallah urged, in an annual televised speech commemorating slain Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine.

Ann Snow has been appointed UK Special Representative to Syria. She has taken up the role in succession to Jonathan Hargreaves.

Snow joined the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in 2009. She has served in Malaysia and worked on Iran, China and Counter Terrorism. She takes up the role after 15 months of full-time Arabic-language training.

The British Ambassador to Lebanon, Hamish Cowell CMG, hosted a celebration of the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on Wednesday, May 10 at the Sursock Palace Gardens in Beirut.

The U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday that it has seized 13 domains used by Hezbollah and affiliates.

The United States obtained court authorization to seize moqawama.org, almanarnews.org, manarnews.org, almanar-tv.org, alshahid.org, manartv.net, manarnews.net, almanar-tv.com, almanar-tv.net, alidaamouch.com, Ibrahim-alsayed.net, alemdad.net, and naimkassem.net, the Department of Justice said.

Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel met Thursday with Democratic Gathering bloc MP Wael Abou Faour over the presidential file.

Gemayel had said Wednesday in a televised interview that meetings with other opposition parties are in an advanced stage.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has stressed that the election of a new president is the “beginning of beginnings,” warning that “the presidential election should be finalized before June 15 at the latest, seeing as no one would know where the country would head if the presidential vacuum continued.”

“The mother of all problems is the sectarianism that is deep-rooted in all the joints of the state,” Berri added, underlining that “there is a dire need to work for reaching a non-sectarian electoral law and implementing what has not been implemented of the Taif Accord, especially its reformist articles.”

Saudi Ambassador Walid Bukhari and Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh met Thursday at Bukhari's residence in Yarze.

The two sat in the garden after having breakfast to discuss the presidential crisis.

Hezbollah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has stressed that the rival political camp “does not have any chance to impose a president” and is “gradually deteriorating.”

“In return, our camp started with a promising chance when it supported the nomination of (ex-)Minister (Suleiman) Franjieh, because he is the man of patriotic characteristics who shows openness towards everyone locally and at the Arab and regional levels,” Qassem added.