Aerial video captures the devastating impact of the explosion that left dozens dead and thousands injured in the Lebanese capital. The full scale of the blast is yet to be felt as rescue efforts continued the morning after the explosion flattened much of the city's port
Continue reading...Category Archives: Lebanon
‘It’s a catastrophe’: Beirut residents and mayor react to deadly blast – video
Beirut’s mayor, Jamal Itani, struggled to describe what he saw as he toured parts of the Lebanese capital the day after an explosion killed at least 100 people. Footage from the blast zone showed extensive damage, with residents moving through rubble and cleaning up broken glass and overturned furniture in their homes
- Visual guide: how explosion caused mass casualties and devastation across Beirut
- Beirut explosion: latest updates
Donald Trump claims Lebanon explosion ‘looks like a terrible attack’ – video
The US president Donald Trump says an explosion that killed dozens of people in Lebanon's capital, Beirut, looks like an attack. 'We will be there to help. It looks like a terrible attack,' he said at a press briefing. Trump was later asked why he called the explosion an attack, not an accident, saying he met with generals who felt it was 'a bomb of some kind'
Continue reading...Beirut explosion: scores dead and thousands hurt as blast rips through city – video report
Beirut has been rocked by a huge explosion, devastating parts of the city and injuring thousands of people. Eyewitness footage shared widely on social media showed a section of the city's port area on fire before a huge blast engulfed nearby neighbourhoods, flattening buildings and leaving streets littered with broken glass and debris.
The Lebanese security chief, Abbas Ibrahim, later blamed combustible chemicals stored in a warehouse. Lebanon's prime minister, Hassan Diab, said those responsible would 'pay a price' for the disaster.
- Lebanon: at least 73 killed as huge explosion rocks Beirut
- 'We're cursed': shock and despair in Beirut as explosion devastates city
Beirut explosion: over half the city damaged in blast that killed at least 100 and wounded 4,000 – live updates
Lebanon PM Hassan Diab appeals for international assistance as search continues for missing in devastated city
- Full report: Lebanon in mourning
- ‘We’re cursed’: shock and despair as explosion devastates city
- Crisis upon crisis: blast rocks a Lebanon already on its knees
- Ammonium nitrate: what is the chemical blamed for blast?
- Tell us: how have you been affected by the explosion in Beirut?
The French Presidency has just confirmed that Emmanuel Macron will to travel to Beirut tomorrow (Thursday).
Pallets of aid are being loaded in Dubai to be flown to Beirut:
23 tonnes of aid will be sent via air to Beirut from the World Health Organisation warehouse in Dubai.
Items include medical trauma kits carrying syringes, bandages and gauze @TheNationalUAE pic.twitter.com/JoYpfklQDd
Beirut explosion: buildings destroyed and cars upturned in aftermath of blast – video
Two large explosions have devastated Lebanon's capital city, Beirut. Footage taken in the immediate aftermath shows windows blown out, streets littered with debris and cars upturned by the strength of the blasts. The impact was reportedly felt 200km away in Cyprus
- Lebanon: dozens killed as huge explosion rocks Beirut
- Beirut explosion – live updates
- Beirut explosion – in pictures
‘We’re cursed’: shock and despair in Beirut as explosion devastates city
Lebanese capital in state of chaos as people grapple with scale of blast that has injured thousands
As a ghostly brown haze began to clear, the streets of east Beirut emerged in apocalyptic ruin. Even 4km from the centre of the blast each building had lost some, if not all, of its windows. It was just after 6pm. Smoke, dispersed with pockets of pink gas, shrouded some of the carnage. Huge shards of glass covered roads – some jagged pieces had ripped through cars. Trees were shredded, and pools of blood formed puddles in the streets.
Continue reading...Beirut explosion – in pictures
An explosion has rocked central Beirut in Lebanon, shattering windows and shaking buildings for several hundred feet. The source of the blast is still unclear
- Beirut explosion – live updates
- Full report: huge explosion in Beirut
- Video: Beirut footage shows massive blast
Beirut explosion: footage shows massive blast – video
Video circulating on social media shows a massive explosion rocking central Beirut - shattering windows, knocking down doors and shaking buildings several hundred feet away.
Lebanon’s health minister told journalists a ship carrying fireworks had blown up in the port, though the size of the blast heard across the country raised suspicions it might have resulted from a rocket strike or detonation of explosives - deliberate or otherwise. The source of the blast has not been confirmed
Continue reading...Inside Lebanon’s economic crisis – podcast
Scenes of economic despair are visible across Lebanon – from shops to homes, businesses to hospitals. Guardian journalist Martin Chulov discusses why the country is verging on financial collapse
Across all pockets of a country conditioned to hardship over decades of war and tumult, the effects of a catastrophic economic implosion were evident when the Guardian’s Middle East correspondent Martin Chulov took a road trip across Lebanon. Since March, the prices of most goods have nearly tripled, while the value of the national currency has fallen by 80% and much of the country has ground to a halt. Those who still have work are surviving month to month. Poverty is soaring, crime is rising, and streets are incendiary. The country has defaulted on one bond payment and a second is due soon.
Martin tells Rachel Humphreys about how government corruption and financial mismanagement have lead to Lebanon finding itself on the brink of financial collapse.
Continue reading...‘I can see the despair on their faces’: Lebanon’s economy unravels
Prices of most goods have nearly tripled and the value of the national currency is plummeting
From her wedding dress shop in the impoverished northern Lebanese town of Akkar, Suzanne Hammoud has been selling bridal gowns for more than 15 years. She has revelled in her customers’ excitement as their weddings approached, and often stayed in touch as their lives progressed, sometimes making outfits for their children.
But this year, Hammoud has become more of a buyer than a seller of dresses. Sales racks are full of gowns she has bought back from families who have no other means of income left, except for selling their memories.
Continue reading...‘I just need a connection’: the refugees teaching languages across borders
A unique platform lets teachers from Venezuela to Syria to Burundi earn a living teaching their language online
Louisa Waugh and Ghaith Alhallak have met for language lessons in seven countries. “We counted it up the other day,” says Waugh, recalling the list of places from which she has video-called Alhallak: Britain, Mali, Senegal and Greece. Alhallak has answered from Lebanon, France and Italy, where he is now studying for a master’s degree in political science at the University of Padua.
“You just need a connection,” he says.
Continue reading...Fresh protests in Lebanon over worst economic crisis in decades
There were violent scenes as protesters took to the streets across the country for the third consecutive day
Hundreds of demonstrators angered by a deepening economic crisis rallied across Lebanon for a third consecutive day on Saturday, after violent overnight riots sparked condemnation from the political elite.
Protesting against the surging cost of living and the government’s apparent impotence in the face of Lebanon’s worst economic turmoil since the 1975-1990 civil war, protesters in central Beirut brandished flags and chanted anti-government slogans.
Continue reading...Syrian protesters call for Assad’s downfall as economic crisis deepens
Marches held on streets of Sweida amid soaring food prices and disillusion with corruption
A town in regime-controlled Syria is set for fresh protests this weekend as a burgeoning economic crisis engulfing even Bashar al-Assad’s most loyal supporters is now posing the biggest challenge to his grip on the country in years.
Food is now more expensive than at any other time during the nine-year conflict, triggering scenes reminiscent of the Arab spring protests of 2011 on the streets of the nominally government-loyal town of Sweida this week.
Continue reading...US ‘Caesar Act’ sanctions and could devastate Syria’s flatlining economy
Critics say legislation is being used for US strategy and could cause further problems for country and wider region
Its currency has plunged by 70% since April, more than half its people face food scarcity, and hopes of rebuilding a country shattered by war continue to ebb.
Syria seems barely able to absorb new shocks, but new US sanctions that take effect next week, could devastate what is left of its flatlining economy and amplify the gravest regional decline in decades.
Continue reading...‘We’re poor people’: Middle East’s migrant workers look for way home amid pandemic
Gulf states prepare for demographic shift as migrant workforces return home, with prospects bleak for those who stay
During 14 years in Lebanon, Jevie Olido’s four children have grown up without her, her marriage has failed and her parents have grown old. Now, the income that kept her far from her home in the Philippines has also gone, rubbed out by the coronavirus crisis and an economic implosion that has forced thousands of desperate domestic workers like her to look for ways to leave.
In neighbouring Jordan, Samir Ali, an Indian garment worker, is also waiting to be paid, after only receiving his March salary when he and other foreign workers at their factory threatened to strike. The pandemic has crippled production across the country and caused clashes between labourers and employers. Eight of the 40 men had registered to go back to India once their contracts had finished. “We’ve decided this factory is really bad,” he said. “We’re poor people, so we have to find another way.”
Continue reading...Lebanon’s cash crisis hits Eid: ‘There is nothing to celebrate this year’
Soaring prices have left basic goods outside the reach of more than half of country’s population
For more than a decade, Ahmad Hussein would spend the last few days of Ramadan assembling arrays of sweets in his shop in south Beirut, preparing for the bonanza to follow.
Eid al-Fitr, the three-day celebration that capped the monthlong fast, was an annual highlight as customers splurged on sugary treats and shiny new clothes. Cakes were made for the occasion. Abstinence was replaced by bountiful rewards.
Continue reading...Global report: US unemployment could hit 25%, warns Fed chairman, as Japan enters recession
India extends Covid-19 lockdown but eases many restrictions; South Africa reports highest daily new cases; World Health Assembly to begin
Unemployment in the United States could peak at 25% as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the chair of the Federal Reserve, amid warnings the June quarter economic figures will be “very, very bad”. The bleak prediction came as Japan slid into its first recession in five years, with forecasts that worse was to come.
In a sober assessment of the economic impact of coronavirus in the US, the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, estimated GDP contraction in the June quarter could be “easily be in the twenties or thirties”, as fallout from the global outbreak worsened.
Continue reading...Can Iraq’s new PM, and the region, escape Suleimani’s long shadow?
Rise of spy chief to premier comes as Iran struggles to maintain momentum months after killing of powerful general
In late February, six weeks after the Iranian general Qassem Suleimani was killed by a US drone, a candidate for Iraq’s vacant premiership was nervously preparing for an interview that would secure him the role.
Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s rise from intelligence chief to the seat of national power had been unorthodox, as was the journey he had just made – from Baghdad, where high-stakes appointments like his had mostly been made over the past decade.
Continue reading...We fear hunger, not coronavirus: Lebanon protesters return in rage – video
Lebanon’s coronavirus lockdown has sent an economy already in deep trouble into freefall, and many are struggling to survive. Gino Raidy is an activist who was prominent during the October 2019 anti-government corruption protests. Now, with many fearing hunger and believing there is nothing left to lose, he is helping to keep demonstrators safe as they demand real and lasting change
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