A group of 61 migrants picked up by a cargo ship from a crippled vessel in the central Mediterranean have safely reached Crete hours after a severely ill child on the freighter died while being airlifted to the Greek island, authorities said Wednesday.

It was unclear whether these were the same people who had earlier been reported stranded for days without provisions on a leaking fishing boat near Malta, after trying to sail from Lebanon to Italy.

The Higher Judicial Council has agreed to a proposal from caretaker Justice Minister Henri Khoury to name an alternate investigator in the Beirut port blast case, sparking political and judicial controversy after the move was seen as illegal and politically motivated.

Dozens of relatives of the victims of the blast protested Wednesday against the decision, calling the move an attempt by the country's political class to prevent justice into one of the world's largest non-nuclear explosions.

International human rights groups have condemned acts of torture in Lebanese prisons following the death of a Syrian refugee in detention and urged authorities to transfer the investigation into his death from a military to a civil court.

Photos surfaced last week of the battered body of a Syrian who had been held for questioning. The grisly visual made headlines in Lebanon and was followed by a video of a coroner assessing the body, which was covered in gashes and bruises. The body was later identified as that of Bashar Abdel-Saud, 30, a Syrian refugee who fled the war-torn country in 2014.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Tuesday hit back at both Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Speaker Nabih Berri and said that the FPM “will not recognize the legitimacy of the resigned government” should there be a presidential vacuum.

“We stress that the caretaker cabinet cannot convene or practice the president's powers. This would lead to constitutional chaos,” Bassil warned in a press conference that followed a meeting for the FPM’s political council.

A security source at the Rafik Hariri International Airport confirmed Tuesday to MTV that Free Patriotic Movement deputy chief Mansour Fadel was briefly detained at the airport for trying to smuggle a “drugs mincing tool” out of the country.

Fadel was carrying the tool as he was heading to France to visit his son, the source said.

A meeting Tuesday between a Free Patriotic Movement parliamentary delegation and Higher Judicial Council chief Judge Suheil Abboud witnessed a “verbal clash” between Abboud and MP Charbel Maroun, the FPM said.

The meeting was dedicated to discussing the file of detained Customs chief Badri Daher, who has been in custody since August 2020 in connection with the Beirut port blast case.

U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein, who will return to the region this week, is “deliberately keeping a low profile,” Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth has reported.

He has recently talked in Athens with senior Israeli officials to finalize the final details of the operations of Greek-Cypriot oil exploration company Energean, the daily said. He made a similar move with French company TotalEnergies for the operation of the Lebanese offshore gas field, Yedioth Ahronoth added.

Activists and relatives of migrants aboard a fishing boat taking on water near the island of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea said Tuesday they lost contact with the vessel overnight.

The roughly 60 Lebanese and Syrian migrants on board had told their relatives and volunteer groups by satellite phone earlier that they have been without food, water, and baby formula for several past days.

U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein will visit Lebanon this weekend but his visit will not be decisive, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Tuesday.

“He will brief the three presidents (Michel Aoun, Nabih Berri and Najib Mikati) on the United States’ vision for the solution, in light of the ongoing discussions with the Europeans and Israelis, and he will ask the Lebanese to clarify some points,” the daily said.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati held talks Tuesday in Ain el-Tineh with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

The 30-minute meeting tackled the general situations, especially the issue of the state budget and legislative files.