Kroger announced that it would pay all associates $100 if they get vaccinated against the coronavirus.
The reward will be given to employees who get the full manufacturer-recommended doses of the vaccine.
Those who can't get vaccinated because of medical or religious reasons can complete a class on educational health and safety to get the payment, the company said.
"We know that the most effective defense against this pandemic comes in the form of the COVID-19 vaccine and the continuation of the rigorous safety precautions we've established across our stores, manufacturing facilities, and supply chain," Dr. Marc Watkins, Kroger's chief medical officer said in the announcement. "We are strongly encouraging all customers and associates to receive the vaccine to curb the spread of COVID-19, and we'll do all we can to ensure they have access as soon as it's available."
The announcement said the company, which has stores in 35 states, would invest an additional $50 million "to thank and reward associates" with a $100 store credit and 1,000 fuel points available for hourly frontline grocery, supply chain, manufacturing, pharmacy, and call center workers.
Earlier this week, however, the company said it would close two grocery stores in Long Beach, California on April 17 after a local ordinance required certain grocery employees to earn extra pay while working during the pandemic, USA Today reported.
Other retailers have also incentivized employees to get vaccinated. The Wall Street Journal reported that Dollar General offered employees four days' pay to get the vaccine, while last month, Instacart announced it would pay shift leads, in-store shoppers, and full-service shoppers who get vaccinated $25.
Governor Doug Ducey and the Arizona Department of Health Services announced Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, that Arizona will open a 24/7 vaccination site at State Farm Stadium.
Ross D. Franklin, File/Associated Press
In a letter, National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell offered Biden all 30 NFL stadiums.
Mass vaccination sites continue to open across the US as part of Biden's vaccine plans.
Sites have already opened at Yankee Stadium, Disneyland Resort, and seven NFL stadiums.
In a letter to President Joe Biden, National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell offered all 30 of the league's stadiums to be used as mass vaccination sites.
Goodell said the NFL and its teams "are committed to doing our part to ensure that vaccines are as widely accessible in our communities as possible."
"To that end, each NFL team will make its stadium available for mass vaccinations of the general public in coordination with local, state, and federal health officials," the letter, which was sent to Biden on Friday, said.
Seven NFL teams are already using their stadiums as vaccine sites, including the Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, Houston Texans, Miami Dolphins, and New England Patriots.
Goodell's letter was sent just days before the Super Bowl is set to take place at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stadium in Florida.
Vaccines were first offered at Yankee Stadium to Bronx residents on Friday, where a long line of people waited to get their shots, CBS reported.
The San Francisco 49ers stadium, set to open next week, could be California's largest mass vaccination site, with a goal of administering 15,000 shots per day, the Los Angeles Times reported.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 30 million Americans have received an initial dose of the vaccine, which is administered in two doses several weeks apart. Over 8 million people have been fully vaccinated.
More than 460,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, while nearly 27 million have been infected, according to data compiled by John Hopkins University.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the agency responsible for the New York Subway system, drew anger Friday when it said on Twitter that it had removed benches from subway stations in an effort to prevent homeless individuals from sleeping on them.
On Friday morning, a Twitter user snapped a photo at the 23rd Street subway station in Manhattan that showed a platform free of any benches. To inquire about the lack of seating, he tagged the MTA's official account alongside the photo. About 20 minutes later, he received a reply from @NYCTSubway, the account used by the MTA to facilitate customer support and announce subway service changes.
"Hi, Jeremy," the response, sent by an individual identified as "JP" read. "Benches were removed from stations to prevent the homeless from sleeping on them."
The tweet prompted outrage, garnering hundreds of replies and thousands of quote tweets, which are similar to replies but enable Twitter users to share the original tweet on their timelines. Some called the policy "utterly evil" and "cruel," while others said the removal of benches would have ramifications for people with disabilities who rely on benches while waiting for trains to arrive in stations.
The MTA deleted the tweet Saturday afternoon.
In this since-deleted tweet, the MTA said it had removed benches from subway stations to "prevent the homeless from sleeping on them."
Screenshot via Twitter
In a statement to Insider, a spokesperson for the MTA said the tweet was a mistake.
"The tweet was posted in error and it has since been removed. The subway is not a substitute for a shelter and homeless New Yorkers deserve much better care. We have been working with the City on this important issue and have asked for more dedicated mental health and medical resources which are urgently needed to solve the homeless crisis that has been exacerbated by the pandemic."
"As someone with arthritis it's great to hear I will now be in immense pain for the purpose of preventing another person from suffering less," one woman said in a tweet.
"I'm disabled so not having a spot to sit causes actual harm," another said.
Others said they were surprised that an MTA representative would willingly admit such a policy.
"You must be new - you're supposed to come up with a plausible excuse that doesn't make the agency sound like it's run by monsters," one person tweeted.
It's not clear where, in how many locations, or when the MTA removed seating from subway stations, and the agency refused to answer follow-up questions. According to a February 2020 report from Gothamist, the agency last year removed the backs from about a dozen benches at the subway station on West 4th Street to reduce the number of "people sleeping in that problematic station."
As Gothamist noted, the MTA has in the past drawn ire from advocates for people who are homeless, as agency officials have in the past blamed the homeless for causing unsanitary conditions in stations, being disruptive, and causing train delays.
Advocates also last year took issue with New York City's "Subway Diversion Program," implemented in 2019 and championed by Mayor Bill de Blasio. Advocates said the program failed to address the root causes of homelessness and instead used police to criminalize homeless individuals. The program was quietly discontinued in July 2020, NY1 reported.
Cuomo's office did not return Insider's request for comment.
"The MTA and the City's ongoing efforts to discourage homeless New Yorkers from staying on the subways are not just cruel, but are also counterproductive," Josh Dean, Executive Director of Human.nyc, a New York organization focused on "unsheltered homelessness," told Insider.
"Shuffling people around makes it infinitely more difficult for people to secure permanent housing, as it becomes nearly impossible for homeless outreach teams to maintain contact and work people through the City's bureaucratic nightmare of applying for housing," Dean said.
<p><strong>New Delhi:</strong> With India vaccinating over 56 lakh beneficiaries so far against the novel coronavirus, the Union Health Ministry on Saturday announced the second dose of the vaccine will be given on February 13 to those who have received the first dose on the first day of the drive on January 16.</p> <p>The Union Health Ministry has also asked the states and Union Territories to ensure that beneficiaries of the inaugural vaccination day should start getting a second dose on February 13.</p> <p>This step assumes significance as India is the fastest to reach the 50-lakh mark in the world. </p> <p><strong>ALSO READ |</strong> <span style="color: #e03e2d;"><strong><a style="color: #e03e2d;" href="https://ift.tt/2LpkiEP" target="_blank" rel="noopener">'They Obviously Didn't Know Very Much': EAM Jaishankar On Foreign Celebs Reacting To Farmers' Protest</a></strong></span></p> <p>The Union Health Ministry also urged the states and UTs to exponentially increase the pace of coronavirus vaccination and schedule the inoculation of all healthcare workers at least once before February 20.</p> <p>“Every State/UT must schedule all healthcare workers for vaccination at least once before 20th Feb 2021 and immediately thereafter organize mop-up rounds for them. Similarly, all frontline workers must be scheduled for vaccination at least once before 6th March 2021 and immediately thereafter organize mop-up rounds for them. The failure of potential beneficiaries to get vaccinated in the mop-up round would automatically push them to age-appropriate vaccination category,” the Health Ministry said in a statement.</p> <p><strong>ALSO READ |</strong> <span style="color: #e03e2d;"><strong><a style="color: #e03e2d;" href="https://ift.tt/3tvOjE9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PM Modi To Visit Poll-Bound West Bengal, Assam On Sunday To Inaugurate Development Projects</a></strong></span></p> <p>Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, who reviewed the status and progress of COVID vaccination with Health Secretaries and National Health Mission (NHM) MDs of states and UTs through video conference, asked to improve the momentum and accelerate the coverage as the country moves forward with the COVID vaccination drive.</p> <p>The State Health Secretaries were asked to analyze the daily variation in the number of average vaccinations and take necessary steps to increase them. </p> <p>“The states and UTs were advised to ensure 100 percent saturation of people who have already been registered on CoWin digital platform. They were also asked to organize simultaneous vaccination sessions/day in the health facility wherever possible,” the Health Ministry said. </p> <p>Each state and UT was advised to devise a state specific strategy to achieve this target.</p>
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds speaks at a news conference on the state's guidance for returning to school in response to the coronavirus outbreak on July 30, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa.
AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds rolled back several health restrictions in response to the pandemic.
Reynolds said on Friday that Iowans no longer need to wear masks in public, for example.
This update comes as Iowan health officials say they've detected new coronavirus variants.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Friday lifted several health restrictions intended to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the Omaha World-Herald reported.
Reynolds rolled back health practices like mask-wearing and capacity limitations indoors, despite officials noting in early February that the state has seen three coronavirus mutations.
Reynolds said Iowans no longer have to wear face coverings in public, according to the Omaha World-Herald. She also said businesses no longer have to cap the number of people entering their establishing and can drop social distance guidelines.
Meanwhile, Iowa county officials continue to urge caution.
"Viruses constantly change through mutation, and new variants of a virus are expected to occur over time. Sometimes new variants emerge and disappear. Other times, new variants emerge and persist. Multiple variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 have been documented in the United States and globally during this pandemic," Dr. Caitlin Pedati, an Iowa medical director and epidemiologist, said in a news release from the Iowa Department of Public Health.
"Public health will continue to work with our partners at [the State Hygienic Lab] to monitor these trends and it is very important that we all keep practicing good public health protective measures," Pedati said.
The state's health department's website encourages people to wash their hands often, continue to social distance, and wear a mask around others.
Reynolds' office did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.
Iowa has had at least 323,000 confirmed cases, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Of that, more than 5,000 people have died from the coronavirus.
In the last week, Iowa almost topped its record-high number of deaths, according to Johns Hopkins data. Between December 6 and December 12 of last year, the state recorded 492 deaths from the coronavirus. Last week, the state hit 490 new deaths.
Reynolds' updates to the state's coronavirus health restrictions are in effect starting Sunday, the Omaha World-Herald reported.
Two members of the US House of Representatives introduced a new bipartisan bill on Friday that could provide gyms with $30 billion in relief during the coronavirus pandemic.
To support the struggling non-virtual fitness industry, Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois and Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania have co-introduced the Gym Mitigation and Survival (GYMS) Act. The act would give $30 billion to the Small Business Administration to distribute relief to gyms and fitness facilities accordingly.
In order to be eligible, the fitness facilities would need to prove that they need the financial relief, which could then be used for payroll, rent, utilities, and employee protection needs and costs. This relief could provide up to 45% of a facility's 2019 revenue, according to a report from The Hill.
Many fitness facilities were unable to reel in new sources of revenue during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a statement from Fitzpatrick. On top of this burden, several of these businesses also didn't qualify for relief provided by the first CARES Act.
As a result, job opportunities at fitness facilities have been decimated, amounting to a loss of 44% - about 1.4 million - positions in the industry since mid-March, according to the joint news release announcing the act.
"We've seen this pandemic attack people with preexisting conditions, making people eager to get to the gym to maintain and improve their health," Quigley said in a statement. "We must ensure gyms have the resources they need to make it to the other side of this crisis and protect their customers in the interim."
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on June 30, 2020 in Washington, DC. Top federal health officials discussed efforts for safely getting back to work and school during the coronavirus pandemic.
Al Drago - Pool/Getty Images
Health officials warned Super Bowl fans that watch parties could spread COVID-19.
Speaking to ABC News, Dr. Anthony Fauci asked fans to "just lay low and cool it."
Watching with friends indoors could lead to a national superspreader event, Fauci warned on MSNBC.
As Americans prepared for Super Bowl Sunday, health officials warned fans not to gather indoors, an attempt to stop the event from becoming a national superspreader.
"And this Sunday, remember: Whichever team you're rooting for and whichever commercial is your favorite, please watch the Super Bowl safely, gathering only virtually or with the people you live with," said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at a White House briefing.
Super Bowl LV, between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is scheduled to begin at 6.30 p.m. on Sunday in Florida.
On its website, the CDC published a gameday safety guide, saying it would be best to host friends outdoors, if people must have them over at all.
As of Saturday afternoon, the US had 459,571 confirmed deaths from COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University. The US has had 26.8 million confirmed cases, more than double the second-highest country, India, where 10.8 million cases have been logged.
Even small Super Bowl watch parties could turn into superspreader events, if viewers are in unventilated rooms, the CDC guide warned.
In several TV interviews last week, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious disease official at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, asked football fans to watch the game with people they live with.
Speaking on MSNBC on Friday, Fauci said he also liked to have big Super Bowl parties in the past, but won't be inviting anyone from his neighborhood over this year.
"If you don't know what the status of a person is - vis-à-vis whether they're infected or not - you're really putting yourself and your family in danger," he said. "So, enjoy the Super Bowl, but don't do it with a large group of people in your house."
Having friends over to watch the game was the "perfect setup to have a mini superspreader event in your own house," Fauci said.
In colder regions, having a party where you can't open the windows could spread the coronavirus, he said.
In Tampa, at the Raymond James Stadium, about 22,000 fans were set to watch the game at the stadium. Local businesses said they were gearing up for visitors, even if there will be fewer fans than at a regular Super Bowl. Ticket prices peaked last week at more than $35,000 per seat, and airlines added Kansas City-to-Tampa routes with one-way fares that climbed to more than $700.
Lebanon's main grain silo, pictured days after the August 4 blast. Located near the facility storing the ammonium nitrate which caused the blast, the facility key to Lebanon's economy was completely destroyed. August 20, 2020
Ammar Abd Rabbo
Since December 17, an investigation into the Beirut port blast has stalled due to political interference.
At the same time, Lebanon's economy and health sector have deteriorated during the pandemic.
"We lost everything we had and have nothing else to lose," blast victim Mehieddine Lazkani said.
Mehieddine Lazkani, a Lebanese student and part-time hospital worker, is still reeling from the Beirut port blast.
Six months ago, his father was killed in the blast and like many Lebanese people, since then, his personal and collective grief has only deepened.
Lazkani is the main breadwinner in his family, making less than $100 a month; all four of his siblings are students.
"When it comes to the atmosphere at home, we're still in a state of shock," Lazkani told Insider. "We still have nightmares. Our father was the main pillar of our household."
The Beirut port explosion on the evening of August 4 killed over 200 people, wounded thousands, and left much of the Lebanese capital destroyed. The explosion came following a fire in a port warehouse that had been storing over 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate and other potentially explosive material since 2014.
The blast's damage was colossal, and was an additional burden to the already ailing country, with a hefty repair bill of over $15 billion. In addition to the Beirut port being a key artery for the national economy, damage from the blast extended to residential buildings, schools, and hospitals.
Six months later, however, justice is not looming on the horizon. In fact, the investigation has staggered since December, after three ex-ministers and Lebanon's caretaker prime minister were all charged and summoned for interrogation. Continuous investigative reports by journalists have revealed that a handful of politicians, as well as port, security, and judicial officials were all in the know about the ammonium nitrate.
At the same time, Lebanon's already spiraling economy has continued to worsen, and COVID-19 has strained hospitals. People are grasping to survive.
Families of the Beirut blast victims line up a series of portraits of lost family members by the entrance of the port during a protest. Beirut, Lebanon. December 4, 2020.
Kareem Chehayeb
A spiraling economic crisis
Lebanon's economy has been in dire straits since late 2019 but continued to spiral after the port blast.
The country's economy is heavily service-based, and its local currency has been pegged to the US dollar at an artificial rate since the 1990s.
Lebanese economist Dima Krayem says poor policy decisions, mismanagement, and nefarious banking practices led the country to collapse.
"These are deliberate decisions, not accidents," Krayem told Insider, referring to the country's banking system as the "biggest Ponzi scheme in modern history." Even the World Bank calls it a "deliberate depression."
By the time the explosion rocked the capital, much of the impact of these policies was already hurting the country. A shortage of US dollars caused a panic at the banks in the fall of 2019, which began to impose withdrawal limits on people's accounts. Over time the value of the local currency - the Lebanese lira - began to subside in the marketplace, with black market rates emerging and eventually delegitimizing the official rate.
Originally at 1,500LL to $1, the currency rate fluctuates almost daily, impacted by political and economic developments in the country. Today, that rate is almost at 9,000LL to $1. Accounts in US dollars can only be withdrawn in the local currency at a fraction of that rate, vaporizing the savings of many, and ultimately decimating what's left of the country's middle class.
The inflated black market rate and the ad hoc banking measures were an additional burden on those who survived the blast. Inflated costs of glass and other raw materials made repairing their own homes a difficult task. Those who couldn't afford repairs had to wait for NGOs and charities, but many were kept waiting for months and tried to salvage whatever they could.
The destruction of the port also helped set off a building food security crisis as the country's main grain silo was decimated and given that Lebanon has heavily relied on food imports.
Two months prior to the blast, food inflation was already at a concerning 190%, but had skyrocketed to 423% by November, Krayem said. These are harrowing developments for a population whose savings were devalued and whose job market was decimated.
"Inflation disproportionately affects poorer households," she told Insider. "Food items constitute the majority of poor household expenditure, so they've faced a largely deteriorating purchasing power, no income generation."
Lebanon lacks a viable social safety net and often relies on private institutions. Krayem says that with about half the labor force in the informal economy, many households are left without any insurance at all.
The country had to face the COVID-19 pandemic while on its last legs
Lebanon's decades of poor fiscal policy and mismanagement has also impacted its ability to contain the virus, and impose proper lockdown measures.
Although it exploded in Beirut's port, the blast's figurative radius of destruction impacted the whole country.
Tripoli, Lebanon's second-largest and poorest city, had already been reeling from rampant economic inequality. In the weeks following the Beirut port blast in August, news began to surface of residents choosing to leave the country - by going to Cyprus by boat as a result of the blast and the dire economic situation.
In one horrifying case of that treacherous 40-hour journey, a small boat carrying a family was stranded at sea. Among the six who died were two children, and six others remain missing.
Following a new countrywide lockdown in mid-January, as COVID-19 cases hit record numbers, protests erupted in Tripoli, as living conditions continued to worsen. Those protests soon turned into riots and clashes with security forces. One protester was killed after security forces opened fire on a crowd.
Protesters said a total lockdown without any economic compensation and social support was unsustainable, especially in this current economic climate.
"Usually, a total lockdown comes with a social safety network and assistance program to vulnerable schemes - subsidy schemes, unemployed benefits...etc," Krayem told Insider. "Here, they're just told to stay home."
Weeks after the blast and with little help from the state, Lebanese volunteers continued to clean up debris and provide critical services to those affected by the blast. August 20, 2020
Ammar Abd Rabbo
'The emergency rooms are full'
Three of the Lebanese capital's major hospitals were destroyed following the blast. Hospitals that sustained less damage were suddenly met with a barrage of patients, many teetering between life and death. The night of the blast, a shaken medical resident told Insider that the scene was "apocalyptic." Receptions, hallways, parking lots, and every nook and cranny turned into operating rooms.
Through volunteer workers, fundraisers, and humanitarian aid, those hospitals were able to get back up on their feet but were soon hit with another catastrophe, as COVID-19 cases skyrocketed.
"For some reason, the authorities tried to ease up [lockdown] measures to get hard currency during the festive season," Dr. Firass Abiad of government-run Rafic Hariri University Hospital told Insider. "And that had huge consequences because it just made a bad situation much, much worse."
Cash-strapped Lebanon hoped that expats would return home - with lots of money to spend - to visit family and friends during the Christmas holiday season. The eased regulations were not only questionable in their efficacy, but they weren't even being implemented in the first place. Jam-packed gatherings at bars and restaurants in Beirut were common - even in nightclubs.
"Unfortunately, now the hospitals are overwhelmed. The emergency rooms are full," Dr. Abiad said.
Emergency rooms turned into makeshift COVID-19 ICUs, some surgeries were postponed, and patients with moderate cases of COVID-19 were sent home. There weren't enough beds or enough oxygen tanks.
Suddenly, oxygen tanks were a hot commodity in the market, and - once those ran out - a black market surfaced selling them for even higher prices.
The lockdown has been going on for almost a month, but circumstances aren't improving. Dr. Abiad believes that the easing of measures in December and not closing the airport in January with the arrival of the more infectious UK variant played a pivotal role in the spread.
"If this is correct - and there is circumstantial evidence that it is correct - it means to get where you want to go, you need a longer lockdown and stricter measures," he said, admitting that the economic crisis and lack of a compensation strategy during lockdown has rightfully irked much of the population.
It's a huge dilemma for Lebanon.
Its economy continues to contract with no recovery on the horizon, while COVID-19 infection, death, and hospitalization rates continue to hit new records - even under lockdown. Six months after the blast, a battered Lebanon continues to face a handful of catastrophes, each more fatal than the other.
But time is of the essence; hospitals cannot continue to constantly run on overdrive. According to the Lebanese Order of Physicians, at least 500 doctors left the country in 2020.
"We cannot afford our staff to burn out and we have a long period ahead of us at work," a concerned Dr. Abiad told Insider. "I can feel how tired they are."
Many residential buildings destroyed by the Beirut Port explosion were not tended to by the Lebanese government and charities a like. Karantina, Beirut, Lebanon. November 28, 2020.
Kareem Chehayeb
Stateless and falling through the cracks
According to the UNCHR Lebanon, there are close to 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and tens of thousands of migrant workers and refugees of Ethiopian, Iraqi, Palestinian descent among others, making up almost a quarter of Lebanon's population.
"One of the most concerning indicators of the impact of the compounded crises Syrian refugees have been facing in Lebanon is the sharp increase in the proportion of households living under the extreme poverty line, reaching a staggering 89% at the end of 2020, up from 55% only a year before," said Lisa Abou Khaled, the spokesperson for UNHCR Lebanon.
Syrian refugees in Lebanon, 80% of whom are living in urban settings and not in refugee camps, are now living on less than $200 a month, less than half the minimum wage in Lebanon.
And a joint report produced by the UNHCR, UNICEF, and the World Food Programme in the months after the blast found that 9 out of 10 Syrian refugees are now living below the extreme poverty line, and 96% are food insecure.
Egna Legna, an organization that provides services for and advocates for domestic workers in Lebanon, has said that due to plummeting currency rates, lack of pay, and the pandemic, they are working to repatriate more domestic workers than ever before, as many are also homeless now.
Rabih Torbray, the CEO of relief organization Project Hope, has also raised alarms about vaccine distribution particularly for vulnerable populations in Lebanon.
"We're starting to see some concerning trends in terms of who the vaccine should go to. The government made a statement that the vaccine would go to everybody on the ground in Lebanon, and they have to make sure that it actually does because it is the obligation of the government as the host government," Torbray said.
"If the Lebanese government can not do it by themselves, and we understand the constraints they're under, it is the obligation of the international community to work with the Lebanese government to ensure equal access to a quality healthcare system, as well as the vaccine," Torbray added, maintaining that mass access to vaccines may lag as long as the health sector is strained.
And the joint crises in Lebanon mean that no woe is exclusive, with 25% of Lebanese families living in extreme poverty and 50% living in poverty, according to the UNHCR.
Six months following the blast, the Beirut Port has not been rebuilt yet and runs on minimal capacity. Beirut, Lebanon. February 1, 2021.
Kareem Chehayeb
A simmering lack of political accountability
On August 10, after days of rageful protests following the blast and a forceful response by security forces, Prime Minister Hassan Diab and his government resigned.
Six months on, political infighting over cabinet seats means that there is still a caretaker government in place, ill-equipped to tackle the pandemic.
In addition to the political failures of the economy and the pandemic, stewing at the center of the collective pain and institutional ailments is the stalled investigation into what caused the tragic port blast.
"Six months later, unfortunately, our fears were warranted amid a stalled investigation that has been riddled with due process violations, that violates the rights of both the defendants who have been detained now for almost six months, and the victims who have no answers and no justice six months after this catastrophic event," said Aya Mazjoub, Lebanon researcher for Human Rights Watch.
As of December 17, the Lebanese Supreme Judicial Council's investigation into the port blast is politically stalled.
Since August 13, 37 have been charged and 25 people have been detained, mostly low to mid-level customs, port, and security officials.
A concerning uniform approach is being employed by the Lebanese judiciary and the judge at the center of the investigation, where each detainee, from welders and electrical workers to the Head of the Port, are being charged with the same litany of crimes, including; intentional homicide, unintentional killing, causing an explosion, disrupting the security of the port and the country, and polluting the environment.
And according to Mazjoub, who has spoken with the lawyers representing the detainees, the judge has not communicated the charges or the evidence used to determine the charges with defendants, violating local and international law.
And the political involvement in the investigation has raised serious concerns in Lebanon, especially as a final judgment will be made at a judicial council where 8 of 10 judges are appointed by the executive branch.
On December 10, leading investigator Fadi Sawan charged Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab alongside three former ministers in connection with the blast. Diab and two of those ministers refused to appear for questioning, and Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammad Fahmi said he would not instruct security forces to arrest the accused government officials, even if the judiciary issued arrest warrants.
"It's a ludicrous perversion of the principles of the independence of the judiciary," Mazjoub said.
The investigation has been paused since December 17 when two of the ex-ministers filed a motion requesting that the Cassation Court, Lebanon's highest court, replace the investigators, claiming that Sawan violated a local law by calling ex-ministers to a trial.
Mazjoub added that as the pushback to the investigation from the political establishment in Lebanon crystallizes, a more hopeful path to justice is through an international investigation.
The Lebanese government's unwillingness to even allocate resources to the investigation is apparent, as Sawan has operated with two clerks, who take notes by hand.
"Why isn't the investigative judge working? We need him to work." Lazkani, who lost his father in the blast, said, echoing a frustration felt by thousands.
"For the families of the martyrs, it's not about whether six months have passed or not. If six years have passed, we won't stop until we achieve justice. We won't stay silent. We protested yesterday, and tomorrow we will protest," Lazkani said.
And the stalled investigation has provided a focal throughline for protesters to once again demand accountability from their government, and Lazkani is doing so advocating through the Beirut Port Blast Martyrs' Families Committee.
"We lost everything we had and have nothing else to lose," Lazkani said.
"We don't want anything more than a transparent and thorough investigation to reveal who was behind this," he continued, "who brought the ammonium nitrate, who stayed quiet about it, who detonated it, everything."
