The Aug. 4 Beirut port explosion devastated entire neighborhoods of the capital. (Credit: AFP)
The FBI found that the amount of ammonium nitrate detonated in the Aug. 4 Beirut port explosion was 500 tons, not 2,750, Hassan Diab said. “Where did the [other] 2,200 tons go?” the caretaker prime minister asked. Lebanon’s own investigation into the devastating explosion, led by Judge Fadi Sawwan, was suspended after Diab and other high-ranking politicians refused to submit to questioning. It will not resume until the Court of Cassation rules on a request from two accused politicians to remove Sawwan from the case.
A group called “Spiderz” has hacked Hezbollah’s microfinance agency, Al-Qard al-Hasan. On Monday night, the group released lists of borrowers and depositors at some 30 branches across the country, along with their personal details, as well as the agency’s budgets and certain details related to clients’ accounts at commercial banks. Recordings of cameras installed in their branches were also leaked. Al-Qard al-Hasan has been sanctioned by the United States since 2007.
Lebanon registered its second-highest count of new coronavirus cases yesterday at 2,298. This comes less than a week after the country’s worst day for new infections, Christmas Eve, which saw 2,708 new cases. With infections mounting, the country will be in the “heart of the storm” after Jan. 10, caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan warned. Meanwhile, discussions with vaccine manufacturer Pfizer are ongoing, the minister said, reiterating that the vaccine will be available in Lebanon mid-February. Separately, the head of the Order of Physicians, Charaf Abou Charaf, will hold a press conference today at noon.
Students gathered in front of the American University of Beirut to protest tuition hikes. Both AUB and the nearby Lebanese American University have more than doubled their tuition costs by abandoning the official LL1507.5 peg to dollar and setting their prices at LL3,900 to the dollar. Heavily deployed security forces pushed back protesters who were surrounding AUB, preventing them from entering the university.
Lebanon rings in the Gregorian new year Friday. Jan. 1 and 2 will be observed as banking holidays, with public institutions closing their doors.
The morning brief will go on hiatus as we at L’Orient Today reduce operations to take a small holiday break — news permitting. We will be back on Monday with everything you need to know to start the new year.