Prime Minister Saad Hariri left Beirut for Paris to represent Lebanon on Monday at the farewell ceremony honoring former French President Jacques Chirac, Hariri’s media office said.

Iran has released a "never before seen" photo of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei alongside Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

Hundreds of Lebanese protested Sunday in the country's capital and other areas over an economic crisis that worsened over the past two weeks, with worries over dollar-reliant Lebanon's local currency losing value for the first time in more than two decades.

Lebanon is facing a deep-running fiscal crisis as it staggers under one of the highest debt ratios in the world, at $86 billion or more than 150% of the country's gross domestic product.

President Michel Aoun on Saturday made several contacts with monetary policymakers to follow on the latest developments aggravating in Lebanon over the dollar “shortage” crisis.

LBCI station said “contacts from Baabda Presidential Palace included talks with Minister of Economy Ali Hassan Khalil and Central Bank (BDL) governor Riad Salameh.”

Social Affairs Minister Richard Kouyoumjian on Saturday said there is not following a “systematic policy to tighten measures against displaced Syrians, but we are working on a plan to ensure their repatriation,” the National News Agency reported.

Speaker Nabih Berri said the situation in Lebanon is “critical” requiring "drastic" solutions, but he pinned hope on the regional developments which he said could “positively” affect the situation in the country, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Saturday.

Lebanon is to hold a day of mourning Monday following the death of former French president Jacques Chirac, the country's leader announced.

President Michel Aoun on Friday said some of the external pressures exerted on Lebanon especially on the economic level “were not new at all,” and highlighted the need for patience with regard to the recent fears over shortage in dollar reserves.

Kneeling beneath Lebanon's ancient cedars, Waheeb Humayed peers through a protective visor and waves a metal detector until he hears the tell-tale beep. He clips the grass, pushes a small prodder into the ground and gently sweeps the dirt away with a garden trowel, revealing another deadly mine.

Three decades after the civil war ended, deminers are still working to clear this mountainous northern region, famous for its centuries-old cedar trees, which are Lebanon's national emblem. Humanity and Inclusion, an international demining organization, says it has removed hundreds of mines and other explosives since 2011.

The central bank’s intention to issue instructions to regulate the provision of funds to import fuel, wheat and medicine; in addition to the emergence of a secondary market for the exchange rate of the Lebanese pound to the dollar, have all raised concerns about a shortage in dollar reserves, media reports said on Friday.