![The roar of aircraft flying in from the Mediterranean over Beirut is especially tormenting to those who experienced the August 4 port blast that killed 200 and wounded thousands [File: Dror Artzi/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2006-05-28T120000Z_983937547_GM1DSRZYZTAA_RTRMADP_3_MIDEAST.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Violation of Lebanese airspace by low-flying Israeli jets brings back memories of deadly explosion at Beirut’s port.
Lebanon
![United States Vice President Kamala Harris, the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, shattered a major glass ceiling and then got right to work [File: Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/AP_21020603117627.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
We round up the numbers from the week’s biggest economic news stories so you can impress yourself and your friends.
![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=570%2C380)
Salameh said he would face questioning in Switzerland as part of a money-laundering probe, a source...
![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=570%2C380)
Meanwhile, a top health official has announced plans for a roll-out of vaccinations in the crisis-hit...
![Ghosn was arrested by Japanese authorities in November 2018 [File: Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/d331f38269674b3fa4d7350d747b7749_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
The trial is trying to piece together the details of how Ghosn fled Japan in December 2019 while out on bail.
![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.
The Lebanese Red Cross said it dispatched rescue teams to the warehouse where there was an explosion of gas canisters.
![The country has been grappling with its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war [File: Joseph Eid/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/000_8V72FV.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Occupancy rate of intensive care units jumps to 90 percent after authorities relax curfew ahead of holiday season.
![Eugenia Santome managed to keep all of her employees at BeWe Home working even amid the pandemic [File: Natalie Alcoba/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Eugenia-Santome-3.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
EDITOR'S ANALYSIS
Small firms: Little engines that could save the global economy
Small companies have taken the brunt of the COVID slump, but their agility has proven to be their greatest asset.
![Lebanon's outgoing Prime Minister Hassan Diab told Reuters news agency in a recent interview that he hoped for an agreement by February on a plan to cut subsidy spending while supporting the poor [File: Dalati Nohra/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/diab.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
A looming end to subsidies in Lebanon has triggered UN warnings of ‘social catastrophe’.
![Lebanon says it hosts some 1.5 million Syrians, including about one million registered as refugees with the United Nations [Ibrahim Chalhoub/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/000_8XT4AJ.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
UNHCR says several people injured after fire at camp hosting 75 families in Lebanon’s Miniyeh region.