The investigation into the killing in February of prominent Lebanese intellectual and Hezbollah critic Lokman Slim will start again later this month after a five-month break, a high-ranking judicial source told The National.
Beirut First Investigative Judge Charbel Abou Samra is expected to hear plaintiffs’ claims on October 21, said the source.
Under Lebanon's system, an investigative judge carries out pretrial inquiries into allegations of crime and in some cases makes a recommendation for prosecution.
No accused party will be present because no one has claimed responsibility for the assassination of Slim, 58, who was found shot dead in his car on February 4 in south Lebanon on the side of a busy motorway near Saida city.
“We have been waiting for this the whole summer,” said Slim’s widow Monika Borgmann. “Things are moving forward.”
Neither the family nor their lawyer Moussa Khoury had been officially notified of the hearing at the time of writing, but the judicial source said that this should take place on Monday.
Lebanon has been suffering for the past two years from a crippling economic crisis the has caused the near-collapse of public services, including the state power utility.
Legal proceedings are delayed.
The investigation was put on hold after being transferred from Saida city, to Mr Abou Samra in Beirut in June, at the request of state prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat.
Mr Abou Samra had a choice between taking over the investigation himself or handing it over to another judge.
A lawyers’ strike and a two-month judicial holiday, which happens annually, were major factors in the five-month interruption in the probe.
Mr Khoury said that such transfers of an investigation may take place when a judge believes that public safety is at risk. This could include protests or public displays of anger triggered by controversial cases.
Hezbollah, which Slim’s family believes is responsible for his death, has a strong influence in south Lebanon. Legal experts previously told The National that the first judge to work on Slim’s death, Rahif Ramadan, was close to Hezbollah’s political ally the Amal Movement. Mr Ramadan denies this.
Information gathered by Mr Ramadan has been transferred to Mr Abou Samra, who can also work with documents provided by Slim’s family and ask for assistance from the local police or another judge, said the judicial source.
Hezbollah, which also has a powerful national and regional militia, has repeatedly rejected accusations that it is linked to Slim’s killing.
Yet a report recently published by Lebanese media watchdog Skeyes shows that high-profile pro-Hezbollah journalists led a Twitter campaign to vilify Slim shortly after his death. They both denigrated Slim as an irrelevant commentator and accused him of collaborating with the US and Hezbollah’s arch-enemy Israel.
Slim, who co-ran a local NGO with his wife, had been receiving death threats for more than a decade. In December 2019, after threats were placarded directly on his home’s walls, Slim wrote that the leaders of Hezbollah and its ally Amal should be personally held responsible if something happened to him. Slim lived in a Hezbollah controlled southern suburb of Beirut, home to his family for more than a century.
His killing added to a list of political assassinations in Lebanon, a grim phenomenon that some trace back to the start in 1975 of a bloody 15-year civil war, when Saida-born politician Maarouf Saad became the first prominent victim.
Killers are rarely found or jailed. Activists often criticise what they call Lebanon's “culture of impunity and political interference” in judicial processes.
UN human rights experts called in March for the Lebanese government to ensure a “credible and effective investigation” into Slim’s death, writing that authorities should consider embedding a unit of international experts to advice and support local probes into political assassinations.
Try out the test yourself
Q1 Suppose you had $100 in a savings account and the interest rate was 2 per cent per year. After five years, how much do you think you would have in the account if you left the money to grow?
a) More than $102
b) Exactly $102
c) Less than $102
d) Do not know
e) Refuse to answer
Q2 Imagine that the interest rate on your savings account was 1 per cent per year and inflation was 2 per cent per year. After one year, how much would you be able to buy with the money in this account?
a) More than today
b) Exactly the same as today
c) Less than today
d) Do not know
e) Refuse to answer
Q4 Do you think that the following statement is true or false? “Buying a single company stock usually provides a safer return than a stock mutual fund.”
a) True
b) False
d) Do not know
e) Refuse to answer
The “Big Three” financial literacy questions were created by Professors Annamaria Lusardi of the George Washington School of Business and Olivia Mitchell, of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Answers: Q1 More than $102 (compound interest). Q2 Less than today (inflation). Q3 False (diversification).
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
INVESTMENT PLEDGES
Cartlow: $13.4m
Rabbitmart: $14m
Smileneo: $5.8m
Soum: $4m
imVentures: $100m
Plug and Play: $25m
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
Iftar programme at the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding
Established in 1998, the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding was created with a vision to teach residents about the traditions and customs of the UAE. Its motto is ‘open doors, open minds’. All year-round, visitors can sign up for a traditional Emirati breakfast, lunch or dinner meal, as well as a range of walking tours, including ones to sites such as the Jumeirah Mosque or Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood.
Every year during Ramadan, an iftar programme is rolled out. This allows guests to break their fast with the centre’s presenters, visit a nearby mosque and observe their guides while they pray. These events last for about two hours and are open to the public, or can be booked for a private event.
Until the end of Ramadan, the iftar events take place from 7pm until 9pm, from Saturday to Thursday. Advanced booking is required.
For more details, email openminds@cultures.ae or visit www.cultures.ae
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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DUNE%3A%20PART%20TWO
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Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
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The%20specs
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The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The%20specs
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