A senior official of Speaker Nabih Berri's AMAL Movement stressed Sunday that no one can “eliminate” his movement from the political equation and that it is not to blame for the delay in the cabinet formation process.

Hizbullah has hailed late Cuban leader Fidel Castro, whose death was announced on Saturday, as a “historic symbol.”

MP Elie Marouni of the Kataeb bloc has stressed that his party will stand by newly-elected President Michel Aoun in order to “rebuild Lebanon.”

MP Ibrahim Kanaan of the Free Patriotic Movement has stressed the importance of the reconciliation between the FPM and the Lebanese Forces, noting that it aims to prevent “encroachment on the rights of Christians.”

The cabinet formation process is still facing several obstacles, amid wrangling by several parties over specific portfolios, a media report said on Sunday.

The Judicial Council, the Lebanese court that handles cases related to national security, launched Friday an in absentia trial in the case of the 1982 assassination of president-elect Bashir Gemayel, calling on Habib Chartouni -- who confessed to planting the bomb before escaping prison -- to turn himself in.

As the world marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag and Norwegian Ambassador Lene Natasha Lind visited Friday “Al Dar,” one of ABAAD’s safe houses for women and girl survivors or at high risk of violence.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea noted Friday that “a new equation comprising al-Mustaqbal Movement, the Free Patriotic Movement and the LF has started to emerge in the country,” hoping Speaker Nabih Berri will be “the fourth pillar of this equation.”

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri stressed Friday “the need to accelerate the trials of the perpetrators of violence and crimes against women in Lebanon” and to “toughen the verdicts.”

Customs authorities at Tripoli Port on Friday seized 96 barrels filled with drug-manufacturing substances, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.