The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly “strongly” deplored on Thursday the car bombing in the Beirut suburb of …

khazen.org condemns the attacks in Beirut - We pray for Lebanon its victims, peace and security

Fire and smoke is seen at the site of an explosion in Beirut's southern suburbs January 2, 2014. The powerful explosion struck southern Beirut on Thursday, a stronghold of the Shi'ite group Hezbollah, killing at least 5 people and sending a column of smoke into the sky, a witness said. REUTERS/Jamal Sahili (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)

Firefighters attempt to extinguish a fire following an explosion in Beirut's southern suburbs, January 2, 2014.A powerful explosion struck southern Beirut on Thursday, a stronghold of the Shi'ite group Hezbollah, killing at least 5 people and sending a column of smoke into the sky, a witness said. REUTERS/Hasan Shaaban (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)

BEIRUT — An explosion rocked a stronghold of the Shiite Hezbollah group in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, killing at least five people, setting cars ablaze and sending a column of black smoke above the Beirut skyline.

The nature of the explosion that hit during rush hour in the Haret Hreik neighborhood was not immediately clear, but a Lebanese security official said it appeared to be caused by a car bomb.

Hezbollah’s Al Manar television channel showed scenes of chaos in a residential area, with smoke rising above charred cars, crowds of people pushing past one another and ambulances and fire trucks arriving. The channel said that at least three people had been killed and eight wounded.

The blast came six days after a car bomb killed a prominent member of the Future bloc, the Sunni party that is Hezbollah’s main political rival. And it came a day after reports surfaced of the arrest by Lebanese authorities of a Saudi militant who leads the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, a group affiliated with Al Qaeda that claimed responsibility for a November suicide bombing at the Beirut embassy of Iran, Hezbollah’s ally.

The recent bombings are part of a string of escalating attacks in recent months believed related to the nearly three-year-old conflict in Syria, which has deepened Lebanon’s pre-existing political and sectarian divisions. Hezbollah backs the Syrian government, sending its fighters to aid the army, and the Future movement backs the insurgency, which Lebanese Sunni militants have crossed the border to join.

On New Years Eve, a few hours before midnight, I sat with a family in the outskirts of Beirut.  We were piled into the living room, watching a serious-looking man on TV get interviewed.  On a background behind him, stars streamed past.  And stenciled onto his collar were the letters M and F.  They’re his initials. This is Mike Feghaly.

Feghaly is one of a handful of future predictors in Lebanon.  New Years Eve is the profession’s big night, when they make their most watched and grandest predictions.  Each TV station has its own celebrated predictor, and OTV has Mike Feghaly.

We watch as he moves through a variety of topics quickly.  Feghaly says that Suleiman Frangieh, a politician in Lebanon, will become the president of the country.  He predicts the Maronite Christians will get their own pope.

And he says that a well-known TV personality will get beat up.  The interviewer—himself a well-known TV personality—asks if it could be him.  And Feghaly answers, “Well, I wouldn’t rule it out.” The Lebanese family bursts out laughing.

In Beirut, a small sports technology startup is also aiming to make a splash in the sector with its heart-rate monitor that tracks a swimmer’s laps, turns and timing, and can be fitted to any pair of goggles.

Instabeat’s monitor provides instant visual feedback on a swimmer’s heart rate and is designed to limit the level of drag when flowing through the water.

The company has already been making waves in the Middle East’s startup scene. It just closed an undisclosed round of funding from a group of Middle Eastern investors to produce the product and will begin delivering 1000 pieces in the first quarter of next year, according to founder Hind Hobeika.

Dubai-based Jabbar Internet Group, Jordan-based MENA Venture Investment and a group of angel investors have stumped up this latest round of cash. But Instabeat also raised $75,000 last year on U.S. based crowdfunding site Indiegogo and won $50,000 in 2012 for winning the MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab competition, she said.

“We’re creating a small community around the product,” said Ms. Hobeika, who started the company after swimming professionally while studying mechanical engineering at American University of Beirut.