France reportedly seeks to call for a conference of the International Support Group for Lebanon before mid-December manifesting readiness to launch the CEDRE grants if Lebanon forms a government, An-Nahar daily reported on Saturday.

Owners of gas stations in Lebanon suspended a one-day strike on Saturday that paralyzed the country and drove angry Lebanese to block in protest the highways with their vehicles creating traffic jams.

The chances of Samir Khatib to lead the new government are still high and President Michel Aoun, Hizbullah and the AMAL Movement are not opposed to the re-designation of caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri, media reports said on Friday.

“Samir Khatib is still an option and his chances could be higher than those of other candidates in light of the pressing situations,” informed sources told LBCI television, noting that Hariri has not suggested another candidate.

President Michel Aoun on Friday presided over a financial meeting in Baabda aimed at discussing the deteriorating economic and financial situations in the country.

A statement issued after the meeting said the president "proposed several suggestions to resolve the crisis."

People got caught in their vehicles that ran out of gas on Friday after gas station owners announced an open-ended strike a day earlier.

Citizens in the northern city of Tripoli blocked roads with their vehicles in protest at the crisis.

Demonstrators gathered outside Lebanon’s Health Ministry on Friday calling for investigations into fake cancer drugs following a rise in death cases reported by healthcare workers.

Two demonstrations were held near the Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon in Beirut’s Zqaq al-Blat, one demanding the repatriation of Syrian refugees and another welcoming them on Lebanese soil.

Hizbullah has reportedly asked President Michel Aoun to delay the binding parliamentary consultations, allegedly relying that PM Saad Hariri -who withdrew his candidacy- agrees to lead a new government, the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported on Friday.

For the 43rd day in a row, protesters demanding an overhaul of the political class continue to pressure politicians into responding to their demands for a new government and termination of corruption.

The chances of the engineer Samir Khatib to lead the new government have surged and the picture will become clearer over the coming few hours, which might witness a complete agreement over the shape of the government and its premier, LBCI television reported Thursday.

Khatib himself meanwhile issued a statement about his meeting on Wednesday with caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri.