The Banque du Liban headquarters in Beirut. (Credit: João Sousa/L'Orient Today/File photo)
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The viability of Lebanese offshore oil and gas Block 9 for natural gas extraction will be determined within “90 days,” caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayad said yesterday. The TransOcean Barents platform is scheduled to start the 90 day exploration process of the Qana 31/1 well in August. During his tour of the logistical support base for the drilling vessel, Fayad mentioned the possibility of re-exploring Block 4, which was explored in 2020 but had insufficient natural gas. Since Lebanon and Israel concluded their indirect maritime border negotiations in October, Lebanese officials called for an expedited drilling process.
Mount Lebanon investigating judge Rainia Yahfoufi ordered the arrest of a former employee of the Garderêve daycare who allegedly filmed a colleague abusing children, a judicial source told L’Orient Today. The suspect claimed that the video was filmed three months prior to its circulation on social media earlier this month, the judicial source said. Yahfoufi charged the former employee with failing to assist children facing danger and failing to denounce the violence at the appropriate time. Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal Public Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun, who ordered the arrest of the daycare’s owner and another of its employees, also questioned the suspect but released them to encourage similar whistle-blowing, claiming that the video helped incite public action against the center. Yahfoufi, however, argued that the employee released the videos only after an argument between her and the daycare owner. The Health Ministry shut down Garderêve earlier this month after videos circulating on social media showed daycare employees hitting and force-feeding children in the center.
An electricity cut interrupted the hearing of Banque du Liban governor Riad Salameh's brother Raja and former assistant Marianne Hoayek. Another hearing is set for next Wednesday with the governor in attendance at State Legal Department head Hélène Iskandar’s request. The Salameh brothers and Hoayek face charges for allegedly defrauding the central bank of commissions worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The trio is also being investigated abroad in five European jurisdictions where they acquired assets using allegedly embezzled funds.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri noted progress in overcoming the presidential election impasse after meeting with French diplomat Jean-Yves Le Drian, who arrived for his second visit to Beirut yesterday since his appointment as France’s special envoy to Lebanon. Local media claimed that Le Drian will remain in Beirut until tomorrow, during which he will meet with several local political actors. Parliament remained undecided on former President Michel Aoun’s successor after a 12th vote in June, the first since January. Meanwhile, the presidential impasse has hampered cabinet’s ability to meet and Parliament’s ability to legislate, preventing reforms that would unlock direly-needed international aid for Lebanon. The presidential vacancy also blocked appointments to key state institutions, namely a successor to Banque du Liban governor Riad Salameh who is serving his last month in office after 30 years heading the central bank. Earlier yesterday, Berri called for the appointment of a successor to Salameh, echoing a statement issued a day earlier by the caretaker cabinet’s ministers.
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “'The emergency machine': Humanitarianism in Lebanon”
Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz