A man with severe burn injuries sustained in the fuel tank explosion is carried on a stretcher from a helicopter after being transported for treatment at the severe burns unit of the Geitaoui hospital in Beirut yesterday. (AFP)

by reuters -- At least 28 people were killed and 79 injured when a fuel tank exploded in northern Lebanon early yesterday, the health ministry said. Military and security sources said that the army had seized a fuel storage tank hidden by black marketeers and was handing out gasoline to residents when the explosion occurred. Lebanon is suffering from a severe fuel shortage, leading to long lines at gas stations and extended blackouts. Accounts varied as to what caused the explosion, from gunfire that hit a tank of gasoline to reports that it was caused by a person who ignited a lighter.

Protesters, already angry at the economic crisis in the country, put the blame squarely on Lebanon’s politicians as they demonstrated outside the prime minister’s residency and hurled rocks at the building. “Akkar was put on fire by its deputies in parliament,” protesters sprayed on the building, referring to one of Lebanon’s poorest areas, where the explosion occurred. Abdelrahman, whose face and body was covered in gauze as he laid in Tripoli’s al-Salam hospital, was one of those in line to get gasoline. “There were hundreds gathered there, right next to the tank, and God only knows what happened to them,” he said. Witnesses said about 200 people were nearby at the time of the explosion. Army and security forces personnel were among the casualties, sources said.

دائماً عكار تدفع ضريبة الدم والانهيار الاقتصادي. يسقط لها شهداء وضحايا في الجيش، في البارد، في جرود الضنية وعرسال، في التفجيرات الارهابية، …

By NAJIA HOUSSARI -- arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: Lebanon’s army on Saturday seized fuel from petrol pumps to curb hoarding amid crippling shortages. The country is grappling with a financial crisis and foreign currency reserves are fast depleting, while its national currency has lost more than 90 percent of its value on the black market. Traffic in Beirut and other places was low on Saturday, and security forces temporarily closed the northern Aboudiyeh Border Crossing with Syria because of a power generator malfunction. Dozens of institutions surprised their employees with a day of unplanned leave next Monday, while shops and institutions in Beirut’s center were informed they would not be supplied with electricity because of the lack of diesel.

Activists shared a video on social media showing a crowd in the town of Ali Al-Nahri, in the Bekaa Valley, protesting around Hussainia Mosque, where Hezbollah member and former minister Hussein Hajj Hassan was giving a speech. Eyewitnesses told Arab News that around 50 people objected to Hassan going up to the pulpit and speaking. “They called on him to get back, throwing insults at him and saying, ‘We are hungry.’” The MP had to leave the town, shortening his mosque speech, amid a heavy army deployment. Army intelligence on Saturday arrested four of the people who had objected to Hassan’s presence. But they were released due to popular pressure. People objecting to the arrests blocked the road between Ali Al-Nahri and the eastern village of Massa, which is a vital road for Hezbollah. This road helps the party access Syria’s Al-Shaara region, where its military posts are located. Protesters accused Hezbollah of using the town as “a road to smuggle diesel to Syria.”

Moreover, a village resident who was present during Friday’s incident faced arrest today by an unknown party. Hassan Makkhal shared his arrest from his home on Facebook. Makkhal is said to be a critic of the Hezbollah figure.

By courtney Mares -- ncregister.com -- BEIRUT, LEBANON — The leader of the Maronite Catholic Church received threats from Hezbollah supporters this week after calling for an end to missile launches from Lebanese territory. Bechara Boutros Cardinal Rai had called for peace, saying that Lebanon should remain neutral in regional conflicts in his Aug. 8 homily, two days after Hezbollah fired 19 rockets into Israel from southern Lebanon. Hezbollah is a Shiite Muslim political and militant group designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. The group has strong alliances with Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, and with Iran in its conflicts with Sunni-majority Gulf states. Without mentioning Hezbollah by name, the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch said that it was unacceptable for “a party to make decisions on war” without the quorum of two thirds required by the country’s constitution. “We call upon the Lebanese army ... to prevent the launching of missiles from Lebanese territory, not for the sake of Israel's safety, but rather for the safety of Lebanon,” Cardinal Rai said.

Supporters of Hezbollah responded by threatening the cardinal’s life with social media posts that pictured Cardinal Rai with a noose around his neck. In a Facebook post, a person from Beirut’s south suburbs wrote in Arabic: “You don't think we know how to hang?“ and “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth...Initiator [Patriarch] shall bear the brunt of blame.” In Defence of Christians, a human rights organization that has sources on in Lebanon, told CNA that there have been people in the streets in predominantly Shiite areas calling Cardinal Rai a traitor and Zionist collaborator. Political leaders within Lebanon and abroad sent messages of solidarity to the Maronite patriarch after the public threats.