Tag Archives: Beirut

The Washington Post reports: Lebanon started a two-week lockdown Friday as coronavirus cases continue to surge in the aftermath of the devastating Aug. 4 explosion in the capital of Beirut that killed more than 170 people and displaced hundreds of thousands of others. At least 11,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Lebanon this year, with around half confirmed since …

Gulf News reports: Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab, submitted his resignation on Monday to Lebanese president Micheal Aoun since a deadly blast blamed on state negligence ripped through the capital. The explosion, along with a severe economic crisis, has been widely blamed on decades of corruption and misrule by Lebanon’s entrenched political class. Lebanon’s cabinet faced mounting pressure on Monday …

Reuters reports: World leaders and international organizations pledged nearly $300 million in emergency humanitarian aid to Beirut in the wake of the devastating explosion, but they warned on Sunday that no money for rebuilding the Lebanese capital will be made available until the country’s authorities commit themselves to the political and economic reforms demanded by the people. Over 30 participants …

The Washington Post reports: Security forces in Beirut fired tear gas at protest crowds as mourning turned to anger over the huge blast that leveled parts of Beirut earlier this week and left a shattered city casting blame on the country’s leaders. Activists have called for protests in the central Martyrs’ Square later Saturday in further evidence of the rage …

The Associated Press reports: Lebanese President Michel Aoun knew about the huge stockpile of explosive material stored at Beirut’s port nearly three weeks before it blew up, he said Friday, adding he had ordered action be taken about it at the time, although the top leader also said he had no authority over the facility. “Do you know how many …

CNN reports: Large crowds mobbed French President Emmanuel Macron in Beirut as he toured a neighborhood of the Lebanese capital devastated by Tuesday’s massive explosion. “Revolution, revolution!” people chanted, as shock at the devastation in the city gave way to anger on Thursday. New information reveals that Beirut officials had ignored repeated warnings about a stockpile of dangerous chemicals linked …

The Moscow Times reports: Nearly 3,000 tons of a highly explosive fertilizer that caused Tuesday’s devastating blast in Beirut came from a ship owned by a Russian businessman, the Mediazona news website reported Wednesday, citing Lebanese television and members of the ship’s crew. Lebanese authorities in 2014 confiscated 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate from a Moldovan ship called the Rhosus, …

Al Jazeera reports: Lebanese President Michel Aoun called for an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday and said a two-week state of emergency should be declared following a massive explosion in Beirut that killed at least 100 people and injured 4,000 others. The explosion on Tuesday sent shockwaves across the city, causing widespread damage as far as the outskirts of the …

The Daily Beast reports: Pentagon officials have reportedly said that they have absolutely no idea what President Donald Trump was talking about when he described the gigantic and deadly Beirut explosion as a “terrible attack” carried out using a “bomb of some kind.” On Tuesday, hours after the explosion killed at least a hundred people and wounded thousands, Trump said: …

The Independent reports: Donald Trump has described deadly explosions in Lebanon as a “terrible attack” despite no evidence that suggests the blasts were intentional. Massive explosions in Beirut on Tuesday have killed at least 70 people and injured more than 3,000 others while leveling a large segment of the capital. “Let me begin by sending America’s deepest sympathies to the …

The BBC reports: A large blast in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, has killed at least 50 people and injured more than 2,700 others, the health minister says. It is not yet clear what caused the explosion. Videos show smoke billowing from a fire before the blast, which is followed by a mushroom cloud. Hospitals are said to be overwhelmed and …

The Guardian reports: A massive explosion has rocked central Beirut that shattered windows, knocked down doors and shook buildings several hundred feet away. The source of the blast, which appeared to occur around the Lebanese capital’s port, is unclear. An enormous cloud of smoke could be seen from across the city and witnesses said there were reports of a fire …

For about as long as I can remember, Beirut has been the go-to comparison for describing another place as desolate and dangerous. As in “the Bronx is the Beirut of America.” But according to a lengthy travel piece in yesterday’s New York Times, Beirut is now the “Provincetown of the Middle East.” While homosexual activity (technically, sexual relations that officials …