![Once regarded as a pillar of stability in crisis-prone Lebanon, Riad Salameh has a reputation that has been tarnished by the country’s unprecedented financial crisis, which began in late 2019 [File: Hussein Malla/AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/AP_20325508811283.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Salameh said he would face questioning in Switzerland as part of a money-laundering probe, a source tells Al Jazeera.
![Lebanon has struggled to bring a COVID outbreak under control since the August port explosion that killed 200 people [File: Issam Abdallah/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021-01-14T142700Z_703829110_RC2Q7L90QMTK_RTRMADP_3_HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-LEBANON.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Meanwhile, a top health official has announced plans for a roll-out of vaccinations in the crisis-hit country.
![The Swiss probe centres on $400m in transfers allegedly tied to Lebanon's central bank governor of 27 years, Riad Salameh, his brother Raja, and Salameh’s adviser Marianne Al-Hoayek, a judicial source told Al Jazeera [File: Jamal Saidi/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/a19a6e23318143e7a8fa9350a29fd489_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
The investigation is the latest blow of confidence to Lebanon’s crippled financial system.
![The August 4 explosion in Beirut's port area killed 200 people and wrecked large parts of the Lebanese capital [File: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/72053a4e88af4b41bf9a1fc1c56d4ddf_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
One of the businessmen had previously been accused of trying to procure ammonium nitrate for the Syrian government.
![A view of destroyed Beirut port silos after the deadly blast on August 17, 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon [Chris McGrath/Getty Images]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/5500687172224893a3e357aadd9cdd45_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
International wanted notices issued for men connected to 2,750 tonnes of explosive material brought into Beirut’s port.
![People wait to get tested for COVID-19 at Rafik Hariri University Hospital, in Beirut, Lebanon [File: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021-01-04T180755Z_632809023_RC261L9J26Y8_RTRMADP_3_HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-LEBANON.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Front-line doctors say emergency departments are overwhelmed as cases spike following holiday easing of restrictions.
![Tarek Chehab, owner of Lebanese design firm Styro 3D, says he is most proud of a nine-metre clenched fist that he put up in Beirut's central Martyrs Square in support of the 2019 October protests [Courtesy: Tarek Chehab/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Revolution-Fist1.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Economic collapse, COVID and a port explosion tested Styro 3D, but its path out of crises could signal a broader trend.
![Parliament also expanded the scope of a law penalising domestic violence [File: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2015-05-30T120000Z_1093153575_GF10000112331_RTRMADP_3_LEBANON-PROTEST.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
New law to send perpetrators to up to four years in jail, with parliamentarians also amending a domestic violence law.
![Shaker was best known for songs about love and loss that made him a star across the Middle East - until he renounced his former career as sinful in 2012 and began supporting a group led by hardline Muslim leader Ahmed al-Assir [File: Mohamed Omar/EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/h_01529787.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
The Lebanese pop star turned hardliner was sentenced in absentia for providing support to a ‘terrorist’ group.
![Hassan Diab stepped down days after the explosion but continues to serve as a caretaker prime minister [File: Aziz Taher/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2020-12-14T110907Z_385513702_RC2ZMK93LFVG_RTRMADP_3_LEBANON-CRISIS-BLAST-INVESTIGATION.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Issue of interrogating top officials has turned into wider battle for accountability in country riddled with corruption.