Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has stressed that President Michel Aoun’s term should not be extended, as he called for “reevaluating” the Taef Accord.

“The constitution stipulates that the President cannot renew his term and this is what I advocate. We must elect a new president two months prior to the end of President Michel Aoun’s tenure,” al-Rahi said in an interview on LBCI television.

EU chief Charles Michel on Sunday condemned "atrocities" and pledged more sanctions on Moscow, as Ukraine accused Russia's forces of killing civilians near Kyiv in a "deliberate massacre."

"Shocked by haunting images of atrocities committed by Russian army in Kyiv liberated region #BuchaMassacre," European Council head Michel wrote on Twitter.

“For the future of Lebanon and its children, it is critical that the Lebanese Government and all stakeholders work together to rebuild the education system,” U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon Najat Rochdi has said.

“With the vital support of international partners, U.N. agencies in Lebanon have been providing significant support to the entire Education sector. We are aware of the difficult situation that teachers are facing and are supporting the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to improve the conditions in schools for both teachers and children,” Rochdi said in a statement.

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan, the country’s top Sunni Muslim religious authority, has called on the Lebanese to turn out heavily in the May 15 parliamentary elections, despite a declared boycott by al-Mustaqbal Movement, Lebanon’s biggest Sunni political party.

“There is a remaining peaceful path and the Lebanese must take it without hesitation. All Lebanese must head to polling stations,” Daryan said in his annual Ramadan message.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday told his popular base and that of Hizbullah that “Lebanon’s future, fate, identity, principles and means to exit the crisis are linked to the outcome” of the May 15 parliamentary elections.

Claiming that electoral rivals have so far spent 30 million dollars in the second electoral district in the South, Berri called on supporters in a speech in Msayleh to turn out heavily in the elections.

U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon Najat Rochdi welcomed on Friday "the important step by the Lebanese Parliament towards the ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) by adopting a law, on 29 March, authorizing the Government to proceed with the ratification process."

"Lebanon showed its commitment to the human rights of persons with disabilities by signing the Convention in 2007. Lebanon now needs to take the next step of ratification to join the current 185 States parties to the Convention and fully commit to promote, protect, and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights by persons with disabilities," Rochdi said.

Hizbullah “cannot fight the corrupts in our country” with weapons, “but it can besiege, rein in and punish them,” the head of the party’s parliamentary bloc, Mohammed Raad, said on Friday.

“We’re the guarantee for protecting this country and its security and stability, and our concern has been and will always to protect Lebanon against what harms our people,” Raad said in remarks in the southern town of Arnoun.

Hizbullah's MP Hassan Ezzeddine said Friday that the capital control law should have been issued at the start of the financial crisis and not after three years from its onset.

Ezzeddine claimed that Hizbullah is concerned about protecting the depositors' rights, just the way it is concerned about protecting the Lebanese from the Israeli enemy.

A group of protesters stormed on Friday the Ministry of Energy and Water in Corniche el-Nahr.

An activist was meanwhile seen on TV smashing then tearing up a picture of President Michel Aoun that was hung on a wall in the ministry.

Raja Salameh's lawyer has said that the LBP 500 billion bail that Investigative Judge Nicolas Mansour had ordered for the release of Salameh is an "unprecedented" order in the history of the Lebanese Justice Palace.

"The amount is unreasonable and illogical," lawyer Marwan al-Khoury said, after having filed an appeal demanding that the bail amount be slashed.