BEIRUT (AP) — The head of Lebanon's customs authority was formally arrested on Monday after being questioned over the massive explosion in Beirut earlier this month, the state-run National News Agency reported. The investigation is focused on why nearly 3,000 tons of explosive ammonium nitrate was being stored at the city's port. The ignition of the stockpile caused an explosion that tore through the capital, killing at least 180 people and wounding 6,000. Thirty people are still missing after the Aug. 4 blast, which caused an estimated $10 billion to $15 billion in damage. More than 70,000 workers are believed to be unemployed due to the explosions, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday, on top of 220,000 people estimated to have lost their jobs as a result of the ?nancial crisis that began last October last year and those left jobless by the COVID-19 pandemic. Dujarric said some 40,000 buildings were damaged, with 3,000 residential structures severely damaged, and at least 2,000 doctors were either injured or had their clinics destroyed.

Documents that surfaced after the blast, the single most destructive in Lebanon’s history, showed that officials have known for years that 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate were stored in a warehouse at the port and knew about the dangers. Judge Fadi Sawwan questioned customs chief Badri Daher, who was detained days after the blast, for 4 1/2 hours in the presence of his two lawyers before issuing the arrest warrant, the agency said. Daher will remain in custody as the investigation continues. NNA said that after questioning Daher, Sawwan headed to the scene of the blast to survey the damage and will later return to question Hassan Koraytem, who was the top port official until the day of the blast.

By Tom Perry and Ghaida Ghantous BEIRUT (Reuters) - More than 15 years since Lebanon's Rafik al-Hariri was killed by a massive bomb blast in Beirut, the verdict of a U.N.-backed tribunal into his assassination is due on Tuesday as the country reels from the aftermath of an even bigger explosion. The Aug. 4 port blast, which killed 178 people, has overshadowed the long-awaited verdict. It was the biggest explosion in Lebanon's history and more powerful than the bomb that killed Hariri and 21 others on Beirut's seafront corniche in 2005. Hariri, a Sunni billionaire seen as a threat to Iranian and Syrian influence in Lebanon, had close ties with the United States, Western and Sunni Gulf Arab allies opposed to Iran's expanding role in Lebanon and the region.

Four members of the Iran-backed Shi'ite group Hezbollah have been on trial in absentia over the killing of Saudi-backed Hariri, Lebanon's main Sunni Muslim leader. Hezbollah denies any role in the killing, which set the stage for years of confrontation, culminating in a brief civil war in 2008. The verdict comes as new divisions emerge over demands for an international inquiry and political accountability for the port blast, caused by a huge amount of unsafely stored chemicals. It may further complicate an already tumultuous situation following the explosion and the resignation of the government backed by Hezbollah and its allies. "We're scared. The country is unsettled," said Ebtisam Salam, a woman in her 60s, from Beirut's Tariq al-Jadida neighbourhood, a political stronghold of the Hariri's Future Movement which has been led by his son Saad son his death. She plans to watch the verdict on TV. "Hopefully the truth will come out," she said.

By Barbara Wojazer and Rory Sullivan -- CNN -- — Lebanese President Michel Aoun has said it would be "impossible" for him to resign following calls for him to leave office over the deadly explosion in Beirut. His comments came after the Lebanese government stepped down on Monday night in the wake of the blast that killed more than 170 people and injured more than 6,000 others. Speaking about the possibility of his resignation, Aoun said in a recorded interview with French network BFM Saturday: "This is impossible, because this would lead to a power vacuum. The government resigned. Let's imagine that I was to resign. Who would ensure the continuity of power? "If I were to resign, one would need to organize elections right away. But the current situation in the country does not allow the organizations of such elections," he added. When asked about the investigation into the explosion, Aoun cited its complexity, saying it "won't be able to be finished very quickly as we wished it to."

The President added that he has asked the judicial council to supervise the probe and called for an "independent magistrate" to investigate. The massive blast that hit Lebanon's capital on August 4 damaged much of the city and sparked violent protests against the authorities. Less than a week after the explosion, Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab described it as a "disaster beyond measure" during an address in which he announced his resignation and that of his government. In his speech, Diab took aim at Lebanon's ruling political class for fostering what he called "an apparatus of corruption bigger than the state" and said his government had chosen "to stand with the people" by stepping down. While suggesting that members of his Cabinet had "fought valiantly and with dignity," he added: "Between us and change is big powerful barrier."

by euronews.com — France is to resume issuing visas to Lebanese people “out of solidarity” following the devastating explosion that destroyed a …