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Officials announced a crackdown on exchange shops that “manipulate” the exchange rate and electronic platforms that report the lira market rate after a high-level meeting in Baabda. The meeting, prompted by the rise of the black market value of the dollar to more than LL10,000, was attended by President Michel Aoun, caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab, several ministers in the caretaker government, central bank Gov. Riad Salameh, representatives of the banking and money exchange trade associations, and officials from the army and other security agencies. Along with cracking down on illegal exchange operations and exchange rate platforms, the assembly called on ministries and security agencies to “work to control the use of foreign currency except for commercial, industrial or health sector purposes.” It also called for passage of the long-delayed capital controls law and for the Foreign Ministry to push international donors to help send refugees back to Syria.

Meanwhile, protests continued around the country over the plummeting value of the lira. Along with the announced crackdown on black market exchangers, Aoun called on security forces to stop protesters from blocking roads, which he described as “an organized act of sabotage aimed at striking stability.” Nevertheless, protesters continued to close main roads and highways in Beirut and around the country throughout the day and evening with dumpsters, burning tires and debris. At one protest in the town of Abbasieh, a man poured gasoline on his head and tried to self-immolate. A video of the incident showed bystanders and security forces intervening to stop him.

Lebanon’s International Women’s Day celebration was more muted than usual, in light of the ongoing wave of COVID-19 cases. Nevertheless, some 100 women’s rights activists gathered at the National Museum Monday afternoon and marched to Martyrs’ Square holding signs reading “I want a salary the same as his,” “They denied me custody of my children,” “They married me off when I was 15” and “He killed me and they didn’t convict him.” Meanwhile, public officials and civil society groups posted messages celebrating successes in the past year, including the passage of laws criminalizing sexual harassment and strengthening protections against domestic violence, but also pointing out how far the country still has to go on issues such as reforming the nationality law to allow women to pass on citizenship to their children and spouses as men do.

As Pope Francis wrapped up his four-day visit to Iraq, he reiterated to reporters his plans to visit Lebanon in the near future. Sky News Arabia reported that the pope had said Lebanon would be his next trip, while the official Vatican News site said he had promised to visit Lebanon but did not specify when. The site reported that Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai had asked the pope to make a stopover in Beirut after his trip to Iraq, but Francis said tacking it on at the end “seemed like a bit of a crumb … a crumb before the problems of a country that is suffering like Lebanon.” The trip would be Francis’ first to Lebanon; his predecessor visited in 2012.