by bloomberg.com — Dana Khraiche and Ania Nussbaum — As French President Emmanuel Macron walked through downtown Beirut to express solidarity with a nation reeling from its worst peacetime disaster, he was hailed as a savior. The images, broadcast live around the world, are bound to stir conversation back in France, where Macron is frequently under fire for being tone deaf and his popularity is only just recovering from Yellow Vests protests and controversial reform plans. Wearing a black tie to honor those killed by a devastating explosion at the country’s main port, the French leader visited Gemmayzeh, a popular residential and commercial street where centuries-old buildings suffered extensive damage. Throngs of men and women crowded round, begging him to help lift their country, a former French protectorate, out of its misery. At one point, Macron — wearing a mask in a nation experiencing a coronavirus surge — pushed aside a bodyguard to hug a woman. “Help us. Please help us, what are you going to do to help us,” shouted one man, as he wept.

A vast consignment of ammonium nitrate stored at the port ignited Tuesday in an explosion so powerful it left behind a trail of destruction that stretched for miles. At least 135 people were killed, thousands more wounded and 300,000 are now homeless. The damage is estimated at $5 billion, money Lebanon doesn’t have. Speaking to reporters at the end of his visit, Macron called for an international investigation to determine the causes of the blast. “We need an open, transparent international probe to make sure nothing remains hidden and no doubts linger,” he said. The French leader is trying to show solidarity with the Lebanese people without endorsing a political class that led the country into financial meltdown through decades of corrruption and mismanagement — customs authorities warned long ago against keeping such flammable material in the warehouse and the fury against the administration was palpable. “Please don’t give money to our corrupt government,” one woman yelled. Macron turned to her and replied, “Don’t worry about that.” Macron promised he’ll be organizing international aid while also pushing for political change. “I came this morning to help, and I will speak to all political factions to ask them for a new pact,” he said. He refused to rule out sanctions against the Lebanese government, though he emphasized that’s not a priority at this point. He said Lebanese banks need to come clean about their losses to release international loans that are critical to maintaining food supplies. A group of seven explosive experts are in the country to aid investigators in their probe into the blast. Medical aid and civil defense teams are in place. The French helicopter carrier `Le Tonerre’ will arrive next week with more supplies.

Macron’s welcome speaks volumes about the ruling elite of Lebanon that’s largely shied from such highly publicized walkabouts, and couldn’t be more different from how Macron’s been greeted in other former colonies on recent visits. It points up the French president’s ambition to position himself as a global leader in a region where Russia and the U.S. have held the balance of power in recent years and Turkey is flexing its muscles. When former Prime Minister Saad Hariri toured the downtown area to see the damage for himself, he met with a group of angry people cleaning up rubble and helping those in need. And Justice Minister Marie-Claude Najm was met with shouts of “resign, resign, don’t you have dignity?” as she attempted to visit shattered homes. As residents followed her, she tried hiding in one of the damaged buildings before the army came to her rescue. Other officials, including President Michel Aoun, inspected only the port.

by Reuters — Lebanese authorities investigating a Beirut explosion that killed more than 150 people have taken the general manager of a port and 15 others into custody, sources say. State news agency NNA said 16 people were taken into custody, with a judicial source and local media saying Beirut Port general manager Hassan Koraytem was among them. The Prime Minister and presidency have said 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, used in fertilisers and bombs, had been stored for six years without safety measures at the port warehouse that blew up. Judge Fadi Akiki, a government representative at the military court, said authorities had questioned more than 18 port and customs officials and others involved in maintenance work at the warehouse, NNA reported. “Sixteen people have been taken into custody as part of the investigation,” NNA quoted Mr Akiki as saying. He said the investigation was continuing. Earlier, the central bank said it froze the accounts of seven people including Mr Koraytem and the head of Lebanese customs.

The directive, dated August 6, from the central bank special investigation commission for money laundering and terrorism fighting said the decision would be circulated to all banks and financial institutions in Lebanon, the public prosecutor in the appeals court and the head of the banking authority. It said the freeze and lifting of banking secrecy would apply to accounts directly or indirectly linked to Mr Koraytem, Lebanese customs director-general Badri Daher and five others, including present and former port and customs officials. State Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat ordered a travel ban on the same seven individuals, a judicial source and local media reported. Mr Koraytem and Mr Daher had both told Lebanese broadcasters on Wednesday that several letters had been sent over the years to the country’s judiciary requesting the removal of highly explosive material stored at the port, which blew up on Tuesday.

Anger mounts on the streets of Beirut.

by thenational.ae — The US government on Wednesday announced it sent an aid flight to the Lebanese people after the Beirut port explosion that killed at least 135 people. A US military aircraft is expected to arrive in Lebanon in the next 48 hours, carrying much-needed supplies for the humanitarian effort. The aid will be substantial and directed to Lebanese relief organisations, not the government, sources said. The death toll from the enormous explosion in Lebanon’s capital rose to 135 on Wednesday, as international rescuers began to arrive to help sift through the wreckage. Prosecutors in France have opened an investigation into the disaster after 21 French citizens were injured, the Paris prosecutor said. Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud says more than 100 people are still missing, 300,000 are now homeless and nearly 50 per cent of Beirut is damaged.

by middleeasteye.net — Tuesday’s devastating explosion at Beirut’s port ravaged homes across the capital of Lebanon and destroyed much of the surrounding area. At least 100 people have been killed and 4,000 injured, with many more still unaccounted for. The blast has been blamed on explosive materials being stored at the port. Rescue teams have been searching through the rubble of ruined neighbourhoods for the missing. Online groups have been set up to find those who have gone missing in the aftermath of the blast. Hours after the explosion took place, an Instagram page called “Locate victims Beirut” was set up to share photos of missing people.

The page quickly garnered over 70,000 followers, many frantically providing information that could help or sending in images of loved ones who had not yet been found. The page was able to locate around 40 people, who were found undergoing surgery at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUMBC). The head of the Lebanese Red Cross told local broadcasters on Wednesday that more than 100 people had died following the blast at a warehouse in the city’s port. In a show of solidarity, many people also took to social media to offer rides to hospitals outside of Beirut, as hospitals became inundated with patients injured by glass and materials from buildings. Careem, a service App offering car and taxi rides operating in Lebanon, offered free rides to hospitals for those donating blood as the number of injuries spiked.

Our prayers with all of the Martyrs, the wounded civilians,  Red Cross , the Lebanese army and the Lebanese. We demand accountability at the highest levels. 

Beirut, Lebanon (CNN) A massive explosion ripped through central Beirut on Tuesday, killing dozens of people, injuring thousands and blowing out windows in buildings across the city. The blast near Beirut’s port sent up a huge mushroom cloud-shaped shockwave, flipping cars and damaging distant buildings. It was felt as far as Cyprus, hundreds of miles away, and registered as a 3.3 magnitude earthquake in the Lebanese capital. Lebanon’s Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, said that 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive material used in fertilizers and bombs, had been stored for six years at a port warehouse without safety measures, “endangering the safety of citizens,” according to a statement.

Lebanon’s General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim said the “highly explosive material” had been confiscated years earlier and stored in the warehouse, just minutes’ walk from Beirut’s shopping and nightlife districts. Initial reports blamed the explosion on a major fire at a warehouse for firecrackers near the port, according to Lebanese state news agency NNA. The death toll from the blast is likely to continue to climb as more bodies are pulled from the wreckage. At least 78 people are known to have died and a further 4,000 wounded, Hamad Hasan, the country’s health minister said, according to Reuters. “There are many people missing until now,” Hasan said. “People are asking the emergency department about their loved ones and it is difficult to search at night because there is no electricity. We are facing a real catastrophe and need time to assess the extent of damages.”

A red cloud hung over the city in the wake of the explosion, which took place just after 6 p.m. local time (11 a.m. ET), as firefighting teams rushed to the scene to try to put out the initial fire. Footage from the scene captured the injured staggering through streets in the capital, and ambulances, cars and military vehicles packed with the wounded. One resident said the scenes looked “like an apocalypse.” At least 10 firefighters are missing, according to the city’s governor Marwan Abboud, who said the scene reminded him of “Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” “In my life I haven’t seen destruction on this scale,” Abboud said. “This is a national catastrophe.” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said at least one Australian was killed in the blast and the Australian Embassy building has been “significantly compromised.” The blast comes at a tense time in Lebanon. On Friday, a United Nations-backed panel is expected to issue a verdict on the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri, a move many fear will stoke sectarian tensions. The country is also in the midst of an economic meltdown, with ballooning unemployment, a tanking currency and poverty rates soaring above 50%.

Hospitals inundated Beirut’s hospitals Tuesday reflected the chaos in the city as doctors conducted triage on dozens of wounded people. Some had broken limbs, others had been showered with shards of glass. Some patients were unconscious. Emergency wards are inundated with the injured, while the Lebanese Red Cross implored the public on Twitter for blood donations to help the wounded. One of Beirut’s major hospitals, Hotel Dieu, received around 400 injured patients, an employee told CNN.

The Secretary-General of the Kataeb political Party, Nazar Najarian, died after being injured in the explosion, NNA reported. He was in his office when the explosion happened. The US Embassy in Beirut urged those in the area of the explosion to “stay indoors and wear masks if available” due to reports of toxic gases released from the blast. The explosion damaged buildings across the city, including the official residence of Lebanon’s president, the headquarters of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, and CNN’s bureau in downtown Beirut. Homes as far as 10 kilometers away were damaged, according to witnesses, and even people on the distant island of Cyprus felt the blast, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC). One Beirut resident who was several kilometers away from the site of the blast said her windows had been shattered by the explosion. “What I felt was that it was an earthquake,” Rania Masri told CNN. “The apartment shook horizontally and all of a sudden it felt like an explosion and the windows and doors burst open. The glass just broke. So many homes were damaged or destroyed.”

“You can see injured people all over the streets in Beirut, glass all over the place, cars are damaged, it is like an apocalypse,” said Bachar Ghattas, another resident. “It is very, very frightening what is happening right now, and people are freaking out. The emergency services are overwhelmed,” Ghattas told CNN. “Beirut port is totally destroyed.” The port is the primary entry point for most of Lebanon’s imports, CNN’s Wedeman said. The US response United States President Donald Trump offered sympathy and assistance to the people of Lebanon, referring to the incident as a “terrible attack.” Lebanese officials have not called the explosion an attack. Asked if he was confident if the explosion was an attack, the President said it “seems like” it was, based on what US military officials have told him. “This was a — seems to be according to them, they would know better than I would, but they seem to think it was an attack. It was a bomb of some kind,” he told reporters at the White House. But three US Defense Department officials told CNN that as of Tuesday night there was no indication the explosion was an attack. The officials, who declined to be identified so they could speak freely, said they don’t know what the President is talking about. One official pointed out that if there were indications an attack of this scale had occurred, it would trigger automatic increases in force protection for US troops and assets in the region. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo extended condolences and said, “We are closely monitoring and stand ready to assist the people of Lebanon as they recover from this tragedy.” The United States Ambassador in Lebanon, Dorothy Shea, expressed “heartfelt sympathies” to the victims and their families after “having witnessed the horrific explosions at the Port,” she said in a statement shared on Twitter. “We mourn each loss from this terrible tragedy alongside the Lebanese people,” the US Ambassador added. World mourns Prime Minister Diab described the explosion as a “catastrophe” in his televised statement. He concluded by making “an emergency call to all those countries who love this country to stand by us and to help us heal our deep wounds.” World leaders have expressed their condolences amid the unfolding tragedy. Israel offered humanitarian medical assistance to Lebanon — a significant gesture as Lebanon is one of a small number of countries that Israel regards as an enemy state. There have been no diplomatic relations since a ceasefire signed between the two countries in 1949. A spokesman at the Ziv Medical Center in Safed, Israel, not far from the border with Lebanon, told CNN that they had been contacted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and told to prepare for the possible arrival overnight of UN personnel wounded in the blast. The UK, Turkey, Qatar and Spain were also among the countries that offered their support to Lebanon. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi called his Lebanese counterpart Charbel Wahbeh to say that”Jordanians stand in support with Lebanon and its Lebanese brothers and are ready to offer any help they need,” he said in a tweet. French President Emmanuel Macron said “rescue and aid” were on the way to Lebanon, while expressing solidarity with the “Lebanese people after the explosion that caused so many casualties and so much damage tonight in Beirut.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted that his country was ready to help Lebanon “in any way necessary.” “My thoughts are with the people of #Lebanon and with the families of the victims of the tragic #BeirutBlast,” President of the European Council Charles Michel said in a tweet. “The EU stands ready to provide assistance and support.” Lebanese militant and political group Hezbollah said the explosion will require the unity of all Lebanese to overcome the catastrophe. “We are putting all our capabilities in serving our honorable people and dear citizens as needed,” Hezbollah said in a statement.

CNN’s Schams Elwazer, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Tara John, Alessandria Masi, Nada AlTaher, Hamdi Alkhshali, Amir Tal, Andrew Carey, Jennifer Hansler and Paul Murphy contributed to this report. by cnbc.com — Natasha Turak —

Two large explosions rocked the Lebanese capital of Beirut Tuesday evening local time, shattering windows in surrounding neighborhoods, destroying nearby buildings and wounding thousands of people. At least 50 people have been killed and more than 3,000 injured, Lebanese Health Minister Hassan Hamad told local media. Residents have posted graphic photos and videos to social media showing a mushroom-like cloud and enormous smoke plumes rising above the city from Beirut’s port area. While the first explosion appears to have come from a warehouse at the port, the cause of the blasts are not yet clear, and no one has claimed responsibility.

A second blast took place near the residence of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri. CNBC’s Hadley Gamble confirmed in a phone call with Hariri that he is unharmed. While it is unclear what was in the warehouses at the site of the explosion, Lebanon’s internal security chief was quoted by Reuters as saying that the area was housing “highly explosive material, not explosives.” Lebanese President Michel Aoun has called the country’s Supreme Defense Council for an emergency meeting, according to his official Twitter account. An Israeli government official told CNBC that “Israel had nothing to do with the incident.”

Witnesses told CNBC that the explosion had taken out all the windows in the surrounding area, and described numerous injured and bloodied people walking around “in a daze.” Local media footage showed people trapped underneath rubble. The Lebanese Red Cross said that hundreds of people have been rushed to hospitals, and tweeted an “urgent call for blood donations” at its transfusion centers across Lebanon. Beirut’s hospitals have been overwhelmed, with local reporters tweeting images of medical staff treating patients in a parking lot. Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab has declared Wednesday a national day of mourning for the victims of the blast, and is working to establish its cause and ensure the safety of those at the site, a spokesperson for his office told CNBC.

by arabnews.com — BASSAM ZAAZAA — DUBAI: Amid a Cabinet-imposed lockdown to prevent the coronavirus spreading, Miss Lebanon 2015 Valerie Abou Chacra held her marriage party on Saturday despite wedding bans. Chacra, an actress, married Lebanese businessman Ziyad Ammar in an open-space wedding in Bkerke during which Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai led the nuptials. The ceremony was followed by a wedding gala held for family and friends — flouting the nationwide lockdown. Following a surge in coronavirus cases, the Cabinet decided on the lockdown with strict regulations imposed by the health and interior ministries, so Lebanese were taken aback when photos and videos of Chacra’s wedding party surfaced on social media.

People took to social media to criticize the former beauty queen whom they accused, along with her husband, of being socially irresponsible for violating the ban. Meanwhile, other social media figures and users praised the “fancy and stylish” wedding. Social media users censured the authorities for allowing Chacra to carry on with her wedding celebration. The weekend witnessed a flurry of media statements from different ministries about allowing some prescheduled wedding parties to go ahead within strict social distancing and protective measures. In a televised interview with LBCI, Health Minister Dr. Hamad Hassan said that he had granted permission to seven wedding functions. “We have to adapt and live the joys and sorrows, but with certain procedures,” he said. However, the minister warned that in the case of any breach of procedures, the Interior Ministry would reconsider the exception.

by english.aawsat.com — Beirut- Asharq Al-Awsat Lebanon named the president’s diplomatic adviser as new foreign minister on Monday after Nassif Hitti quit the post, blaming a lack of political will to enact reforms to halt a financial meltdown which he warned could turn Lebanon into a failed state. Foreign donors have made clear there will be no aid until Beirut makes changes to tackle state waste and corruption – roots of the crisis, which poses the biggest threat to Lebanon’s stability since a 1975-1990 civil war. “Given the absence of an effective will to achieve structural, comprehensive reform which our society and the international community have urged us to do, I have decided to resign,” Hitti said in a statement.

President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Hassan Diab accepted the resignation and appointed Charbel Wehbe, Aoun’s diplomatic adviser since 2017, as foreign minister, said two decrees read out by the cabinet’s secretary general. Wehbe, 67, is a former secretary general of the foreign ministry. Hitti, a former ambassador to the Arab League, was appointed in January when Diab’s cabinet took office with the support of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and its allies. “I took part in this government to work for one boss called Lebanon, then I found in my country multiple bosses and contradictory interests,” Hitti said. “If they do not come together in the interest of rescuing the Lebanese people, God forbid, the ship will sink with everyone on it.” He also had differences with Diab and was frustrated at being sidelined, sources close to the ministry told Reuters. Diab appeared to criticize France’s foreign minister for tying aid to reforms and a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) when visiting Beirut last month.

The Daily Star –– BEIRUT: Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti plans to resign from his position over perceived diminished role and government incompetence, political sources said Sunday. The sources said Hitti could submit his resignation as early as Monday, adding that contacts had already started between political parties that back the government on choosing a successor. […]

By NAJIA HOUSSARI — arabnews.com — BEIRUT: Lebanon’s confirmed cases of coronavirus have reached 5,000 despite a five-day government lockdown that started last Thursday, as one doctor warned that the health system was “beyond its capacity.” The Ministry of Health recorded 175 cases on Saturday evening, 155 of whom are residents while 20 were people who had returned from abroad. Two deaths were recorded, raising the death toll to 61. No new recoveries have been recorded, and the total number of people who have recovered from coronavirus remains at 1,761. The disease spread during Eid Al-Adha at the weekend, reaching villages and towns where no cases had been previously recorded.

The Internal Security Forces announced in a communiqué that, on July 31 and Aug. 1, they drew up 555 reports against violators of social distancing and preventive measures. A fresh five-day lockdown is due to start this Thursday. “Intensive care rooms at Rafik Hariri University Hospital are now full and, if the situation remains the same during the coming days, the hospital will not be able to accommodate the cases requiring intensive care,” Dr. Osman Itani, a pulmonologist and intensive care specialist, told Arab News. He described the situation as “difficult,” adding: “The number of cases currently exceeds 100 per day, and this is a big problem that cannot be addressed by the health system as it is beyond its capacity. There is a need to restructure hospitals, bearing in mind that hospitals are currently not receiving positive cases, but rather patients just showing symptoms.”

Electricite du Liban (EDL) announced that a number of its staff had contracted COVID-19, and that these employees had come into direct contact with customers at the company’s headquarters. Imad Kreidieh, general director of Ogero Telecom, announced that 17 of Ogero’s staff had tested positive for COVID-19 and that 600 workers had taken a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. Al-Makassed Islamic Charitable Society Hospital is facing an employee shortage due to COVID-19 infections. Those who have contracted the virus have also transmitted the infection to several others, according to one of the hospital’s doctors. Those with the virus have been asked to self-isolate at home.

By BARIA ALAMUDDIN — arabnews.com — For two millennia the Silk Road was a 6,500km caravan route connecting China to the West, for the export of spices, fabrics and tea. Beijing today is investing hundreds of billions of dollars reopening these routes as an immense arena of Chinese commercial hegemony, with massive investments straddling Central Asia and Pakistan, and a $400 billion deal with Iran. Chinese hawks view Lebanon’s crushing financial crisis as a bargain opportunity to consolidate its presence in the eastern Mediterranean.

The incompetence of Lebanon’s bankrupt political class has plunged IMF bailout talks into deadlock. Politicians refuse to acknowledge the immensity of their financial black hole (the product of four decades of systematic looting), let alone countenance the extensive measures needed to staunch Lebanon’s economic bleeding. The Hezbollah-backed government is falling back on scattershot blame and conspiracy theories, with the ineffectual and widely despised Prime Minister Hassan Diab declaring: “We know well that there is a big decision to besiege the country. They are preventing any assistance to Lebanon.” Shunning the IMF, Diab is turning instead to China. Ambassador Wang Kejian was invited to high-level ministerial talks to “activate cooperation between the two countries.” The biggest cheerleader for salvation from the East is Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah, who proclaimed: “Chinese companies are ready to bring in money, and without any of the complications that we talk about in Lebanon. We don’t have to give them money, they will bring money into the country.” Hezbollah-friendly media outlets have been evangelizing Chinese proposals for $12 billion investments in ports, railways, electricity and waste management.

By Samia Badih — thenational.ae — Many experts have described it as the worst economic crisis in Lebanon’s history. The Lebanese pound’s value has dropped to record lows against the dollar, food prices have gone up and unemployment has risen drastically as more businesses shut their doors. Coupled with a global pandemic, it has become a hopeless situation for many, including artists in the film and television industry. A “sinking Titanic” is how director Tony Eli Kanaan, 27, describes it. “I am super frustrated; I’m super numbed. I hate that we have adapted to this situation,” Kanaan tells The National. “We have just adapted to this joke and that is what is frustrating me, other than the denial and the numbness I feel,” he adds. Also a writer and actor, Kanaan’s career had only recently started to take off, and his ultimate goal is to go to Los Angeles to pursue acting professionally. “I’m trying to get out of here,” he says. “I still think whoever has the chance to leave should leave.”

His message might surprise some, considering the success the young filmmaker has started to garner in his home country. Thanks to the comedy skits he posts on his Instagram page, Kanaan has racked up more than 50,000 followers in fewer than five months. However, despite his growing social media following, Kanaan says it is hard to not have a pessimistic view. “My perception of Lebanon is complete doom. How sustainable is this life?” And these feelings of despair are not just felt by the younger generation. The same sentiment is echoed by creatives who have been in the production industry for years. ‘Who is going to invest in films?’

by naharnet.com — The Israeli army on Saturday sent a spy balloon over the Lebanese border town of Houla, Lebanon’s National News Agency said. The agency said the balloon hovered over the town for 15 minutes. Cautious calm is meanwhile engulfing the Lebanese-Israeli border, NNA added. Tensions have surged in the border area since Israel […]