Veteran Lebanese politician Michel Murr died Sunday from Covid-19, his family and state-run National News Agency said.

He was around 89 years old.

The Free Patriotic Movement said in a sharp statement on Saturday hitting out at PM-designate Saad Hariri, that “the tragedy” in Tripoli calls on him to visit Baabda Palace “immediately” in order to form a government “in agreement with Aoun.”

Firass Abiad, the Manager and CEO of state-run Rafik Hariri University Hospital, said Saturday that concerns among Lebanese over possible side effects from COVID-19 vaccine could impede the vaccination drive.

A group of women blocked the highway in the northern region of Minieh on Saturday, protesting the dire economic conditions, the National News Agency reported.

The controversial Lebanese file and the problematic formation of a government in Lebanon are reportedly being addressed by French authorities with “seriousness,” al-Joumhouria daily reported on Saturday.

The latest heightened tensions in the northern city of Tripoli “were a deliberate and organized” act “exploiting” poverty in the northern city, and investigation was initiated to find the "culprits," al-Joumhouria daily reported on Saturday.

The Presidency’s press office on Friday accused PM-designate Saad Hariri of “insisting on forming the government on his own” and “rejecting to take President Michel Aoun’s remarks into consideration.”

In a statement, the press office said Aoun’s remarks “represent partnership in the formation of the government in line with Article 53 of the constitution.”

The restive northern city of Tripoli on Friday witnessed minor skirmishes between protesters and security forces after four days of violent clashes that left one person dead and over 250 injured.

In the afternoon, a number of young men gathered outside Tripoli’s Serail, the government’s main building in the city, where they pelted security forces with stones as some of them chanted “we’re hungry, we want to eat!”

French President Emmanuel Macron announced Friday that he will “do everything” to push for the formation of a new government in Lebanon.

“We’ll do everything for the formation of a government in Lebanon, even if it doesn’t meet all specifications,” Macron said in remarks to Al-Arabiya television.

The army on Friday announced the arrest of five people suspected of involvement in the overnight torching of Tripoli’s municipal building.

In a statement, the army said three suspects -- two Lebanese and a Syrian -- were present inside the building when they were detained.