On 19 January, an American freelance journalist, Nicholas Frakes, was arrested on the allegation of sending footage of anti-government protests to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, according to The Washington Post. However, Haaretz Newspaper has rejected any connection to Nicholas Frakes, arguing that the live video feed of the anti-government protest uploaded on their Facebook account was from Reuters, the Jerusalem Post added. The committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) claimed that since 14 January, journalists reporting anti-government protests in Beirut have been arrested, attacked or molested by police officers, according to the International Business Times. According to France 24, In light of this week's World Economic Forum, the expected participation of Lebanon's outgoing foreign minister Gebran Bassil triggered a strong public protest, demanding the cancellation of his invitation. However, Bassil maintains that the protesters who chanted against him do not make up the majority of Lebanese and that he believes the people of Lebanon want change, but he argued that he's not leaving until voters drive him out in elections, according to The Washington Post. The former foreign minister further claimed that he came to Davos "on his own expenses". As of 21 January, there has been an increase in the number of injured people in the Lebanese protests to more 540, according to The Times of Israel.