Relatives of Beirut port blast victims on Monday met with Judge Tarek al-Bitar, the newly-appointed lead judicial investigator into the thorny case.

“Judge Bitar is focused on the issue of the investigation and he will spare no effort in this regard, even in weekends,” a spokesman for the families said.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara el-Rahi met Monday in Bkirki with UN Deputy Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Najat Rushdi, where discussions focused on the general situation in Lebanon, the National News Agency reported on Monday.

Head of the Marada Movement ex-MP Sleiman Franjieh reportedly said he did not want to “waste his time” listening to a televised speech made by his Christian rival head of the Free Patriotic Movement Jebran Bassil.

“I did not hear him, nor do I wish to...no need to waste my time,” said Franjieh in remarks to al-Mustaqbal Web during a press conference on Sunday.

Caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni met with Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon Yasser Alwi on Monday, where discussions focused on the relations between the two countries and the Egyptian assistance for Lebanon , media reports said.

Head of the National Committee for the Administration of Corona Vaccine and infectious disease specialist, Dr. Abdul Rahman Bizri assured on Monday that Pfizer-BioTech corona vaccine was safe and effective, noting minor side effects reported among people who got the vaccine, Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported Monday.

Families of students studying abroad protested on Monday against “procrastination” by Lebanese banks in implementing the so-called Student Dollar law that enables them to transfer funds to their children studying abroad.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat on Sunday voiced concerns that the appointment of a new investigation team into the Beirut port blast could be aimed at “wrapping up and burying” the probe.

“The main point in the issue of the port bombing and the resulting destruction and death is not probing how the blast happened, but rather unveiling the truth about who brought the ammonium nitrate shipment and who covered for its presence until the disaster occurred,” Jumblat tweeted.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday re-clarified his call for a U.N.-sponsored international conference on Lebanon in the wake of the latest controversy over it.

He said the conference’s objective would be to “revive Lebanon through immunizing the Document of National Accord issued by the Taef Conference in 1989, and to implement its text and spirit and correct the obvious flaws in the constitution that was amended according to it in 1990.”

Lebanese Forces lawmakers George Okais, Fadi Saad, Imad Wakim and Majed Abillama will on Monday visit the office of the U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon to deliver a petition demanding an international fact-finding mission into the disastrous Aug. 4 blast at Beirut port.

A statement issued by the LF’s media department said the MPs will meet 3:00 pm with U.N. Deputy Special Coordinator for Lebanon Najat Rochdi to hand her the petition, which is signed by the LF’s 15 lawmakers.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement swiftly snapped back Sunday at remarks voiced by Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil.

“His lengthy speech today about the government, the constitution and standards was a repetition of stances that carry nothing new and which do not make the slightest breakthrough in the face of obstruction and impediment,” Mustaqbal said in a statement.