French President Emmanuel Macron returned to Lebanon on Monday, a country in the midst of an unprecedented crisis, for a two-day visit and a schedule packed with events and political talks aimed at charting a way out for the country.

But his first meeting wasn't with the new prime minister-designate appointed hours earlier, nor with the country's feuding politicians or civil society activists. Macron instead chose to see Lebanon's No. 1 diva Fairuz, a national symbol and one of the rare figures in Lebanon beloved and respected across the country.

A veteran advocate of the arts and Lebanon's cultural heritage, Yvonne Sursock Cochrane died Monday aged 98, four weeks after the devastating Beirut blast in which she was injured.

Born into a wealthy Greek Orthodox family -- famed for their Sursock Museum -- and married to an Irish nobleman, Lady Cochrane died on the eve of the centenary of Lebanon, friends and family said on Facebook.

A Lebanese judge leading the probe into Beirut's deadly port blast issued new arrest warrants on Monday for two officials and three Syrian workers, a judicial source said.

"Investigating judge Fadi Sawwan interrogated director of land and maritime transport, Abdel Hafiz Kaissi, and director of the port, Mohammed al-Mawla... then issued arrest warrants against them," the source said.

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Beirut Monday for his second visit since a deadly explosion on August 4 shook the nation and fueled a drive for political change.

Macron, who first flew to Beirut only two days after the blast, arrived at 9 pm (1800 GMT) for a two-day visit that will include a ceremony marking the centenary of Greater Lebanon.

From the deadly explosion at Beirut's port on August 4 to Monday's nomination of a new prime minister, here is a snapshot of developments in crisis-hit Lebanon as French President Emmanuel Macron prepares to visit.

- Devastation -

When Lebanon's new premier-designate Mustafa Adib went for a surprise stroll through Beirut's disaster zone Monday, he shook hands, chatted with baffled passers-by, then earned hostile shouts of "revolution".

In a country traumatized by the massive August 4 explosion and worn down by political turmoil and economic pain, the brief encounter between the new PM and the people signaled the difficulties ahead for Adib.

A second European Union (EU) Humanitarian Air bridge flight lands in Beirut on Monday, delivering 12 tons of essential humanitarian supplies and medical equipment, including a mobile hospital and face masks.

In his first move after being appointed as Lebanon’s premier-designate, Mustafa Adib visited the historic neighborhood of Gemmayzeh, one of the areas hardest-hit by the catastrophic Beirut port explosion.

Donning an immaculate white shirt, tie and medical face mask, Adib tried to chat with residents -- something which no other senior Lebanese politician has done. Outgoing ministers Marie-Claude Najm and Tarek al-Majzoub had tried to inspect the area days after the blast but were chased away by residents and activists.

A century ago France created Greater Lebanon, the foundation for the modern-day state of Lebanon which is now mired in a deep political and economic crisis.

Mourning the Beirut blast disaster, ruined by economic meltdown and hostage to a dysfunctional political system, Lebanon marks its centenary Tuesday unsure whether it will survive as a state.

There will be no ceremony to commemorate 100 years since French mandate authorities on September 1, 1920 proclaimed the creation of Greater Lebanon incorporating mainly Muslim former Ottoman regions.