The health ministry said Tuesday that two individuals died and almost 750 people were rushed to hospitals as an unseasonal sandstorm hit Lebanon, covering the country, including Beirut, with a blanket of yellow dust.

In a statement, the ministry said two women had died at hospitals in the eastern Bekaa Valley because of the storm.

French President Francois Hollande said Monday that he would visit Beirut to meet with Lebanese officials and inspect Syrian refugee encampments.

Speaking at his bi-annual press conference, Hollande said that his trip to Lebanon would come after the U.N. General Assembly session in New York later this month.

The newly formed activist group dubbed the People's Court asserted on Sunday that they have filed a complaint against Environment Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq for neglecting the waste management crisis that led to the spread of diseases.

“We filed a complaint against the Environment Minister for his administrative violations and for neglecting the trash crisis that led to the spread of diseases,” the activists said in a press conference they held in Marty Square in downtown Beirut.

European Union Ambassadors underscored the EU's expectation that a new President would be elected for Lebanon and that Parliament would approve important draft laws, a press release said on Friday.

“The ambassadors reiterated the EU's expectation that a new President would be elected without further delay and that Parliament would speedily advance on pressing legislation, including a new electoral law with a view to legislative elections,” the EU Ambassadors told Prime Minister Tammam Salam in a meeting held at the Grand Serail.

Several anti-trash activists began a hunger strike Thursday outside the Environment Ministry in Beirut to press for Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq's resignation as two protesters were arrested in Ain el-Mreisseh for disabling parking meters that were recently installed in the area.

The hunger strike was started by the activist Waref Suleiman, who was later joined by four other activists, the You Stink campaign said on its Facebook page.

The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday called on Lebanon's parliament to elect a new president to help ease a political crisis that has fueled street protests.

The appeal came after Lebanese lawmakers again failed in their 28th bid to elect a new president and fill the post left vacant since May 2014.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq emphasized on Wednesday that future attempts by protesters to occupy and rally at state institutions will be “dealt with immediately.”

He announced in a press conference to address the recent civil society protests: “Future attempts will be dealt with by force.”

The Lebanese are never too far away from poking fun of their daily hardships and they were never less evident than during Saturday “You Stink” civil society protest.

References to popular songs, movies, and television shows were present among the myriad of banners and posters at the rally, which took place at Beirut's downtown area.

Thousands of anti-government protesters marched on Saturday from the interior ministry in the capital's Hamra thoroughfare to downtown Beirut's Martyrs Square in an anti-government protest organized by civil society, which is frustrated with the political class.

"You Stink,” which started as an online movement, is the main activist group behind the protest.

The General Security arrested at the Rafic Hariri International Airport a Lebanese fugitive while he was trying to flee the country to Venezuela through Turkey, the state-run National News Agency reported on Saturday.

The runaway has been in hiding since 2001 trying to flee several arrest warrants including a death sentence against him.