Cinmpring kici

Rabu, 05 Agustus 2020

US steps up campaign to purge 'untrusted' Chinese apps - CNA

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration said on Wednesday (Aug 5) it was stepping up efforts to purge "untrusted" Chinese apps from US digital networks and called the Chinese-owned short-video app TikTok and messenger app WeChat "significant threats".

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said expanded US efforts on a programme it calls Clean Network would focus on five areas and include steps to prevent various Chinese apps, as well as Chinese telecoms companies, from accessing sensitive information on American citizens and businesses.

Pompeo's announcement comes after US President Donald Trump threatened to ban TikTok. The hugely popular video-sharing app has come under fire from US lawmakers and the administration over national security concerns, amid intensified tensions between Washington and Beijing.

"With parent companies based in China, apps like TikTok, WeChat and others are significant threats to personal data of American citizens, not to mention tools for CCP (Chinese Communist Party) content censorship," Pompeo said.

READ: TikTok's journey from global sensation to Trump target

READ: Trump's bid for a piece of Microsoft-TikTok deal could spur legal action

In an interview with state news agency Xinhua on Wednesday, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said the United States "has no right" to set up the "Clean Network" and calls the actions by Washington as "a textbook case of bullying".

"Anyone can see through clearly that the intention of the US is to protect its monopoly position in technology and to rob other countries of their proper right to development," said Wang.

TikTok currently faces a deadline of Sep 15 to either sell its US operations to Microsoft Corp or face an outright ban.

In the run-up to Trump's November re-election bid, US-China ties are at the lowest ebb in decades. Relations are strained over the global coronavirus pandemic, China's military buildup in the South China Sea, its increasing control over Hong Kong and treatment of Uighur Muslims, as well as Beijing's massive trade surpluses and technological rivalry.

Pompeo said the United States was working to prevent Chinese telecoms firm Huawei from pre-installing or making available for download the most popular US apps on its phones.

"We don't want companies to be complicit in Huawei's human rights abuses, or the CCP's surveillance apparatus," Pompeo said, without mentioning any specific US companies.

Pompeo said the State Department would work with other government agencies to protect the data of US citizens and American intellectual property, including COVID-19 vaccine research, by preventing access from cloud-based systems run by companies such as Alibaba, Baidu, China Mobile, China Telecom and Tencent.

Pompeo said he was joining Attorney General William Barr, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf in urging the US telecoms regulator, the Federal Communications Commission, to terminate authorisations for China Telecom and three other companies to provide services to and from the United States.

He said the State Department was also working to ensure China could not compromise information carried by undersea cables that connect the United States to the global internet.

READ: Commentary: Is national security a good reason to ban TikTok?

The United States has long been lobbying European and other allies to persuade them to cut out Huawei from their telecommunications networks. Huawei denies it spies for China and says the United States wants to frustrate its growth because no US company offers the same technology at a competitive price.

Pompeo's comments on Wednesday reflected a wider and more accelerated push by Washington to limit the access of Chinese technology companies to US market and consumers and, as one US official put it, to push back against a "massive campaign to steal and weaponise our data against us".

A State Department statement said momentum for the Clean Network programme was growing and more than 30 countries and territories were now Clean Countries and many of the world's biggest telecommunications companies Clean Telcos.

It called on US allies "to join the growing tide to secure our data from the CCP's surveillance state and other malign entities".

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiYGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vbmV3cy93b3JsZC91cy10aWt0b2std2VjaGF0LWNoaW5lc2UtYXBwcy1zZWN1cml0eS1jaGluYS0xMjk5NDAwMtIBAA?oc=5

2020-08-06 02:37:30Z
52780967412114

Beirut reels from huge blast as death toll climbs to at least 135 - CNA

BEIRUT: Lebanese rescue teams pulled out bodies and hunted for missing people on Wednesday (Aug 5) from the wreckage caused by a massive warehouse explosion that sent a devastating blast wave across Beirut, killing at least 135.

Prime Minister Hassan Diab declared three days of mourning from Thursday as early investigations blamed negligence for the explosion at Beirut port, which has left tens of people missing and injured more than 5,000 others.

Up to a quarter of a million people were left without homes fit to live in, officials said, after shockwaves smashed building facades, sucked furniture out into streets and shattered windows miles inland.

READ: Dazed and wounded, Lebanese emerge from Beirut blast angry at leaders

READ: Two explosions in Beirut port area rock Lebanon's capital, more than 100 dead and thousands injured

The death toll was expected to rise from the blast, which officials blamed on a huge stockpile of highly explosive material stored for years in unsafe conditions at the port.

The explosion was the most powerful ever in Beirut, a city still scarred by civil war that ended three decades ago and reeling from an economic meltdown and a surge in coronavirus infections. The blast rattled buildings on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, about 160 km away.

A combination of satellite images shows the area before and after a massive explosion in Beirut — A combination of satellite images shows the area, which was heavily damaged by a massive explosion and a blast wave, on Aug 5, 2020 and the same area on Nov 4, 2019 in Beirut, Lebanon. (Photo: Russian space agency Roscosmos/Handout via REUTERS)

"No words can describe the horror that has hit Beirut last night, turning it into a disaster-stricken city," President Michel Aoun said in an address to the nation during an emergency cabinet session.

Aoun said 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, used in fertilisers and bombs, was stored for six years at the port after it was seized.

The government was "determined to investigate and expose what happened as soon as possible, to hold the responsible and the negligent accountable," he said.

An official source familiar with preliminary investigations blamed the incident on "inaction and negligence", saying "nothing was done" by committees and judges involved in the matter to order the removal of hazardous material.

Aftermath of Tuesday's blast in Beirut's port area — A member of security forces stands guard in front of a damaged building near the site of Tuesday's blast in Beirut's port area, Lebanon Aug 5, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Aziz Taher)

The cabinet ordered port officials involved in storing or guarding the material to be put under house arrest, ministerial sources told Reuters.

Officials have not confirmed the origin of an initial blaze that sparked the explosion, although a security source and local media said it was started by welding work.

"COLLAPSE OF LEBANON"

For many, the blast was a dreadful reminder of the 1975-1990 civil war that tore the nation apart and destroyed swathes of Beirut, much of which had since been rebuilt.

Ordinary Lebanese, who have lost jobs and watched savings evaporate in the country's financial crisis, blamed politicians who have overseen decades of state corruption and bad governance.

"This explosion seals the collapse of Lebanon. I really blame the ruling class," said Hassan Zaiter, 32, a manager at the heavily damaged Le Gray Hotel in downtown Beirut.

READ: Utter devastation as death toll from Beirut blast tops 135; rescuers search for survivors

READ: World offers support, condolences to Lebanon after devastating blasts

Relatives gathered at a cordon to Beirut port seeking information on those still missing as the search continued. Many of those killed were port and custom employees, people working in the area or those driving nearby during the Tuesday evening rush hour. Some victims were hurled out to sea by the powerful blast.

A general view shows the damage near the site of Tuesday's blast in Beirut's port area, Lebanon Aug 5, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir)

The Red Cross was coordinating with the Health Ministry to set up morgues as hospitals were overwhelmed. Health officials reported that hospitals were running out of beds and equipment to attend to the injured.

Beirut's Clemenceau Medical Center was "like a slaughterhouse, blood covering the corridors and the lifts," said Sara, one of its nurses.

Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud told Al Hadath TV that collective losses from the blast might reach as high as US$15 billion, including indirect losses related to business.

"This is the killer blow for Beirut, we are a disaster zone," said Bilal, a man in his 60s, in the downtown area.

The World Bank Group said on Wednesday it would work with Lebanon's partners to mobilize public and private financing for reconstruction and recovery. It was unclear what effect the disaster would have on the country's difficult negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, however.

A general view shows the aftermath at the site of Tuesday's blast in Beirut's port area, Lebanon Aug 5, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Aziz Taher)

Offers of international support poured in.

Gulf Arab states, who in the past were major financial supporters of Lebanon but recently stepped back because of what they say is Iranian meddling, sent planes with medical equipment and other supplies.

Turkey said it would send 20 doctors to help treat the injured, as well as medical and relief assistance. Iraq pledged fuel aid, while Iran offered food and a field hospital.

READ: What we know about the Beirut explosions so far

READ: Macron to push for Lebanon aid after Beirut destruction

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tweeted: "We sympathize with the dear Lebanese citizens and stand by them in the painful tragedy of the Beirut port explosion ... Patience in the face of this incident will be a golden leaf of honour for Lebanon."

The United States, Britain and other Western nations, which have been demanding political and economic change in Lebanon, also offered aid. Germany, the Netherlands and Cyprus offered specialised search and rescue teams.

Two French planes were expected to arrive on Thursday with specialist rescue personnel and equipment, and President Emmanuel Macron was due to visit on Thursday.

FOOD SECURITY

"This is a catastrophe for Beirut and Lebanon," Mayor Jamal Itani told Reuters while inspecting damage.

The port district was left a tangled wreck, disabling the nation's main route for imports needed to feed a nation of more than 6 million people.

Beirut blast aftermath Aug 5, 2020 — A Lebanese couple inspect the damage to their house in an area overlooking the destroyed Beirut port on Aug 5, 2020 in the aftermath of a massive explosion in the Lebanese capital. (Photo: JOSEPH EID / AFP)

The country's main grain silo at the port was destroyed in the blast and Beirut Governor Abboud said a crisis might develop without international intervention.

Lebanon was already struggling to house and feed refugees fleeing conflict in neighbouring Syria and has no trade or other ties with its only other neighbour Israel.

"On a scale, this explosion is scaled down from a nuclear bomb rather than up from a conventional bomb," said Roland Alford, managing director of British explosive ordnance disposal firm Alford Technologies. "This is huge."

A view shows the aftermath at the site of Tuesday's blast in Beirut's port area, Lebanon on Aug 5, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Issam Abdallah)

The blast also prompted the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on Wednesday to postpone its verdict in the trial over the 2005 bombing that killed ex-Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri to Aug 18. The tribunal's decision had been expected this Friday.

The UN-backed court put on trial four suspects from the Iranian-backed Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah. Hariri and 21 others were killed by a big truck bomb in another area of the Beirut waterfront, about 2km from the port.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said the US government had not totally ruled out the possibility that Tuesday's explosion was an attack, and said it is still gathering intelligence on the blast.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiX2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vbmV3cy93b3JsZC9iZWlydXQtZXhwbG9zaW9ucy1sZWJhbm9uLXJlZWxzLWh1Z2UtYmxhc3RzLTEyOTkyNTE40gEA?oc=5

2020-08-06 01:25:31Z
52780977315550

Dazed and wounded, Lebanese emerge from Beirut blast angry at leaders - CNA

BEIRUT: Walid Assi was cooking at a Beirut pizza joint on Tuesday (Aug 4) night when a huge blast wave pushed him down. The ground beneath him shook. He saw a flash of white. The roof caved in.

"We can't believe we got out of this alive," the chef told Reuters in a central district of the Lebanese capital. "People were bleeding, lying on the ground, running around in the streets ... It was like a nightmare."

Staff stood aghast near the restaurant the morning after a massive warehouse explosion a few kilometres away at Beirut port, which investigators blamed on negligence. Once the shock subsided, Assi said, the next feeling was anger.

"Why should innocent people have to suffer like this because of worthless rulers? Is this how cheap our lives are to them?"

Beirut's residents woke up on Wednesday to a capital in desolation. Rescuers dug through the rubble for survivors in a city that was already buckling under the weight of a financial meltdown and a coronavirus outbreak.

READ: Two explosions in Beirut port area rock Lebanon's capital, more than 100 dead and thousands injured

READ: What we know about the Beirut explosions so far

The explosion killed at least 135 people, injured 5,000 and pushed up to 250,000 out of their homes after the shockwaves ripped out doors and shattered windows miles inland.

The death toll is expected to rise. Officials blamed the blast on a huge stockpile of highly explosive material stored for years in unsafe conditions at the port.

For many Lebanese, it was the latest blow they blamed on a clutch of sectarian political elites that have ruled for decades.

The government has vowed to hold those responsible for the explosion to account.

READ: Utter devastation as death toll from Beirut blast tops 135; rescuers search for survivors

But for workers and residents sweeping up debris in the popular nightlife neighbourhood of Gemmayze, clouds of dust swirling around them, it sounded just like the empty promises they were tired of.

Thousands of Lebanese have protested since October against state waste and corruption that pushed the country into financial ruin. The local currency has since crashed, sending prices soaring and leaving many poor.

IT'S AS IF LEADERS 'WANT US TO DIE'

"What more can happen to us other than death? It's as if they want us to die," Rony Abu Saad said outside the blown-out storefront of his sandwich shop. One of his employees had died under the wreckage inside.

"This country now looks like its rulers, the garbage and rubble in the streets, it looks like them," he said. "If any of them has a speck of consciousness left, they would leave."

Lebanese people gather on a bridge overlooking the destroyed silo in the Beirut port Aug 5, 2020 — Lebanese people gather on a bridge overlooking the destroyed silo in the Beirut port on Aug 5, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Joseph Eid)

Around him, shards of glass and twisted metal littered the pub street. The roof of a large petrol station had crashed atop its pumps. A loft building lost all its balconies.

In one alleyway, collapsed billboards and tree branches smashed a row of cars. In another, a man paced back and forth on the sidewalk muttering "this is war".

READ: World offers support, condolences to Lebanon after devastating blasts

Abu Saad, whose furniture in his house near the sandwich shop was torn to pieces, hadn't slept all night. "We're all still in shock, none of us can understand the scale of the destruction," he said.

The wreckage shocked many even in a city that has weathered crisis after crisis, including a 1975-1990 civil war, a 2006 war with Israel and a series of assassination bombings.

"The worst part is this government and all those before it did nothing. Nobody cares. Did they know this warehouse was there, and they kept it there near our houses?" said Habib Medawar, 65, landlord of a building where two people had died.

He sat outside in a yellow plastic chair, staring out towards the sea. "I don't want to do anything, I can't even bring myself to go inside."

Nearby, Pierre Mrad, the medical director of a hospital in Gemmayze that was knocked out of service, held back tears. The blast had wounded staff and killed one of the nurses.

"We evacuated all the patients. The hospital will have to be rebuilt. There's nothing left, nothing to be done right now," he said. "We have to start all over. What more can I say?"

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vbmV3cy93b3JsZC9iZWlydXQtYmxhc3QtZGF6ZWQtd291bmRlZC1sZWJhbmVzZS1hbmdyeS1ydWxlcnMtMTI5OTQyODTSAQA?oc=5

2020-08-06 01:09:25Z
52780977315550

Beirut blast: Port officials under house arrest, two-week state of emergency declared - The Straits Times

BEIRUT (REUTERS, BLOOMBERG) - Lebanon's Cabinet on Wednesday (Aug 5) declared a two-week state of emergency in Beirut, following a massive explosion in the port that rocked the city on Tuesday, and handed control of security in the capital to the military.

The Cabinet instructed the military to impose house arrest on anyone involved since 2014 in the administration of the warehouse containing vast amounts of highly-explosive material that blew up, according to a statement read out by the information minister.

It also approved an exceptional allocation of 100 billion Lebanese pounds (S$91 million) to deal with the crisis.

The volatile chemical suspected of causing the deadly explosion that flattened Lebanon's main port had been lying in storage there for six years, despite warnings from customs officials about its hazards, documents show.

The ammonium nitrate - equivalent to 1,800 tons of TNT - was unloaded from the cargo ship Rhosus in 2014, according to two letters issued by the director general of Lebanese Customs.

For reasons that are unclear, dockworkers unloaded the chemical, which can be used to make fertilisers and explosives, and put it into storage.

Workers welding a door on Tuesday started a fire that ignited the chemicals, Lebanese broadcaster LBCI said, citing people who attended a Supreme Council of Defence briefing after the blast.

The authorities have not said what triggered the explosion that roared through Beirut, killing at least 100 people and wounding 4,000.

Customs officials asked judicial authorities at least twice to issue orders for the highly inflammable substance to be confiscated or re-exported, according to the letters from the customs authority.

In one of the letters, dated May 3, 2016, the director general at that time, Shafik Merhe, warned of "the extreme danger" from storing the chemical in a warehouse "in these unsuitable weather conditions", saying it posed a risk to the staff and port.

LBCI reported on Wednesday that the Rhosus had been scheduled to sail with its cargo from Beirut six years ago, but stayed at the port due to a mechanical failure.

Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Tuesday described the storage of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate at the port as "unacceptable" and vowed those responsible would be held accountable.

The widely used commercial chemical explosive is almost as powerful as dynamite.

In 1995, Timothy McVeigh used about 2 tons of it to blow up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma, killing 168 people.

As Lebanese army personnel and rescue workers sifted through the rubble, looking for dozens of missing people, the government placed all port officials under house arrest, Information Minister Manal Abdel-Samad told reporters after an emergency Cabinet meeting.

As the two-week state of emergency has been imposed in the city, a coronavirus-related lockdown was extended for the next two months.

Outrage over the government's role in the calamity ran high in a country already groaning under the weight of its worst financial crisis and a resurgent coronavirus outbreak.

Dozens of people gathered in downtown Beirut as former Prime Minister Saad Hariri inspected the damage, beating cars in his convoy and shouting: "They killed Beirut".

The explosion was so powerful that it was heard in Cyprus, and severely damaged buildings kilometres away.

Massive shipping containers were flipped upside down as if they were toys, and cranes melted under the intense fire that still burned on Wednesday, and was being doused by helicopters whirring above.

"It's like an apocalypse," lawmaker Yassine Jaber told Bloomberg. "Pure negligence and that's the ultimate manifestation of how bad governance has been in Lebanon, with no accountability whatsoever, a manifestation of failure that should jolt us to wake up."

Hospitals, already stretched to capacity by the virus emergency, were overwhelmed.

The government appealed to other countries for emergency aid as concerns mounted over food supply in the import-dependent nation.

Wheat silos at the port were damaged, and their contents - equal to about six weeks of the country's needs - were rendered unfit for consumption, Economy Minister Raoul Nehme said. He assured Lebanese there would be no flour or bread crisis.

France and various Arab states pledged medical aid, while Germany offered members of its armed forces to aid search operations. French President Emmanuel Macron plans to visit Lebanon on Thursday, Agence France Presse reported.

"The damage is massive at the port and it will take a very long time to fix and build," Public Works Minister Michel Najjar told a local television station. The port at Lebanon's second-largest city, Tripoli, will serve as the alternative, possibly backed up by facilities in Sidon and Tyre, Najjar said.

The Beirut port handles 6 million tons of shipments a year.

Before the blast, talks with the International Monetary Fund for a US$10 billion (S$14 billion) loan had stalled over the government's failure to agree on a reform plan, and Gulf states deflected Lebanon's request for a bailout, afraid money would fall into the hands of Iran-backed Hezbollah militants. Officials had been discussing ways to partially privatise the port.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMifmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnN0cmFpdHN0aW1lcy5jb20vd29ybGQvbWlkZGxlLWVhc3QvbGViYW5vbi1vZmZpY2lhbHMtaWdub3JlZC13YXJuaW5ncy1hYm91dC1jaGVtaWNhbC10aWVkLXRvLWJsYXN0LW5hdGlvbi1kZWNsYXJlc9IBAA?oc=5

2020-08-05 16:44:17Z
52780977315550

Utter devastation as death toll from Beirut blast tops 100; rescuers search for survivors - CNA

BEIRUT: Rescuers searched for survivors in Beirut on Wednesday (Aug 5) after a cataclysmic explosion at the port sowed devastation across entire neighbourhoods, killing more than 100 people, wounding thousands and plunging Lebanon deeper into crisis.

Officials said the death toll is expected to rise.

The blast, which appeared to have been caused by a fire igniting 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate left unsecured in a warehouse, was felt as far away as Cyprus, about 240km to the northwest.

The scale of the destruction was such that the Lebanese capital resembled the scene of an earthquake, with hundreds of thousands of people left homeless and thousands more cramming into overwhelmed hospitals for treatment.

The governor of Beirut, Marwan Abboud, described the disaster as "an apocalyptic situation" he estimated might have made 300,000 people temporarily homeless and would cost the country in excess of US$3 billion.

A rescue worker tends to an injured man following an explosion at the port of Beirut on Aug 4, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Patrick Baz)

READ: Apocalyptic scenes as blasts ravage Beirut

"A massacre. I saw people screaming, covered in blood, homes broken, glass shattered, roads that look like Hiroshima or like a tsunami hit," Elie Zakaria, a resident of a neighbourhood close to the port, told AFP.

In those areas, the amount of destruction caused by the long years of civil war between 1975 and 1990 was achieved in a second by a blast that levelled buildings within a radius of several hundred metres (yards).

A resident of Mar Mikhail, one of the most affected neighbourhoods, said she saw bodies strewn in the middle of the street, apparently thrown off balconies and rooftops by the blast.

Many people were watching and filming with their phones after an earlier and smaller explosion was heard in the port and ignited a fire.

Smoke rises after an explosion in Beirut, Lebanon on Aug 4, 2020, in this picture obtained from a social media video. (Photo: Instagram/Karim Sokhn/Ksokhn + Thebikekitchenbeirut via Reuters)

"THE APOCALYPSE"

The resulting footage, which was widely shared on social media, shows a ball of fire and smoke rising above Beirut and a white shockwave engulfing everything around it.

The mushroom-shaped explosion - which seismologists said was logged as the equivalent of a 3.3 magnitude quake - and the scope of the damage drew nuclear analogies in many people's accounts of the tragedy.

"The Apocalypse" read the headline of L'Orient-Le Jour, the main French-language daily in Lebanon, a country that has seen its share of explosions in its recent past, but none quite this big.

Johnny Assaf, an estate agent whose home and office were destroyed by the blast, said he lost everything except his life.

"I saw the mushroom first, then the force of the blast swept through my office. It sent me literally flying halfway across the office until my head hit the printer," he told AFP, nursing a hastily bandaged arm.

"In hospital they stitched me up without anaesthesia and then stopped before they were done because too many serious injuries were being rushed in. I saw people die in front of me," he said.

READ: Ammonium nitrate: Fertiliser behind many industrial accidents

AMMONIUM NITRATE

President Michel Aoun said the ammonium nitrate, used in fertilisers and bombs, had been stored for six years at the port without safety measures.

The embattled government of Prime Minister Hassan Diab described the circumstances at the port that led to the explosion as "unacceptable" and vowed to investigate.

"Those responsible for this catastrophe will pay the price," he said.

"It's like a war zone. I'm speechless," Beirut's mayor, Jamal Itani, told Reuters while inspecting damage on Wednesday.

"This is a catastrophe for Beirut and Lebanon."

Officials did not say what caused the blaze that set off the blast. A security source and local media said it was started by welding work being carried out on a hole in the warehouse.

READ: Trump says Beirut explosion seems to be 'bomb of some kind,' cites generals

A woman is evacuated from the partially destroyed Beirut neighbourhood of Mar Mikhael on Aug 5, 2020 in the aftermath of a massive explosion in the Lebanese capital. (Photo: AFP/Patrick Baz)

Late Tuesday, thousands of families drove out of Beirut to take their families to safety, but many others were left stranded without a roof, unable to go anywhere or unwilling to leave their gutted homes open to looters.

The rescue effort was slowed at night by the lack of electricity, which was already intermittent at best in much of the city before the explosion.

Health Minister Hamad Hasan told Reuters late on Tuesday that many people were missing.

"People are asking the emergency department about their loved ones and it is difficult to search at night because there is no electricity," he said.

The security forces sealed off a huge area around the blast site, searching for bodies and survivors under the rubble of levelled buildings while rescue boats scoured the waters off the coast.

"DARK DAYS"

Hospitals that had already been stretched to the brink by a spike in the number of coronavirus cases in recent days were pushed to new limits by the influx of wounded and forced to turn many away.

Saint-Georges hospital was badly damaged by the explosion and lost several members of its staff.

"We've had some dark days in Lebanon over the years but this is something else," said Rami Rifai, a 38-year-old engineer, speaking to AFP from a hospital where his two daughters were receiving treatment after sustaining cuts despite being half a kilometre from the site of the blast.

"We already had the economic crisis, a government of thieves and coronavirus. I didn't think it could get worse but now I don't know if this country can get up again. Everyone is going to try to leave. I will try to leave," he said, his voice choked by tears.

People inspect the damage near the site of Tuesday's blast in Beirut's port area, Lebanon on Aug 5, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Aziz Taher)

The Red Cross said on Wednesday morning that more than 100 deaths had been confirmed. It also reported around 4,000 injured, prompting fears that the death toll could rise significantly.

"We are still sweeping the area. There could still be victims. I hope not," said the head of Lebanon's Red Cross, George Kettani.

In a country where smallholders have been unable to withdraw even limited amounts of cash from banks since the start of the year, there was little hope of compensation for those whose property was destroyed.

Crippled by debt and political paralysis, Lebanon, which was due to celebrate its centenary next month, looked ill-equipped to tackle the new crisis.

Grassroots solidarity was still alive however, with initiatives swiftly set up on social media to help people locate missing loved ones or assist victims with free accommodation.

Medical supplies and furnitures are stored outside the partially destroyed Saint Georges Hospital — Medical supplies and furnitures are stored outside the partially destroyed Beirut Saint Georges Hospital on Aug 5, 2020 in the aftermath of a massive explosion in the Lebanese capital. (Photo: AFP/Patrick Baz)

READ: World offers support, condolences to Lebanon after devastating blasts

COUNTRIES OFFER HELP

Messages of support poured in from around the world for Lebanon, whose economy was already on its knees after it defaulted on sovereign debt earlier this year.

A crippling devaluation has sent poverty levels soaring to an estimated 50 per cent of the population and for a country so heavily reliant on imports, the obliteration of the main port signalled more hardship ahead.

Criticism of the government was already rife on social media, where Lebanese users argued that a disaster of such magnitude could only strike in a state whose institutions are crippled by incompetence and corruption.

Turkey's Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) is among those searching for survivors in Beirut, and Ankara has offered to build a field hospital and help as needed.

"We've relayed our offer to help" including immediate work on the hospital, and "we are expecting a response from the Lebanese side," a senior Turkish official told Reuters.

Members of the IHH group were digging through debris to look for people and recover bodies, and the group mobilised a kitchen at a Palestinian refugee camp to deliver food to those in need, said Mustafa Ozbek, an Istanbul-based official from the group.

"We are providing assistance with one ambulance to transfer patients. We may provide help according to the needs of the hospital," he said.

Western countries including the United States, Britain and France said they were ready to assist.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMibmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vbmV3cy93b3JsZC9iZWlydXQtYmxhc3QtZGVhdGgtdG9sbC10b3BzLTEwMC1yZXNjdWVycy1zZWFyY2gtc3Vydml2b3JzLTEyOTkyMTk40gEA?oc=5

2020-08-05 10:52:30Z
52780977315550

What we know about the Beirut explosions so far - CNA

BEIRUT: The blasts that tore through Lebanon's capital with the force of an earthquake, killing at least 100 people and injuring more than 4,000 others, resulted from the ignition of a huge depot of ammonium nitrate at Beirut's port, officials say, but many questions remain.

Here is what we know so far:

WHAT HAPPENED?

An initial large explosion in the port area of Beirut took place around 6pm local time (11pm, Singapore time) on Tuesday (Aug 4), resulting in a fire, several small blasts and then a larger explosion that flattened the harbour front and surrounding buildings.

Seismologists measured the event, which blew out windows at the city's international airport 9km away, as the equivalent of a 3.3-magnitude earthquake.

[embedded content]

Video stills show an intense blazing fireball rising above a line of massive storage silos, then a billowing cloud towering into the sky as a powerful shockwave ripped through Lebanon's biggest city.

WHY SUCH A BIG BLAST?

Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab said 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, an agricultural fertiliser, stored in a port-side warehouse had blown up, sparking "a disaster in every sense of the word".

Ammonium nitrate is an odourless crystalline substance that has been the cause of numerous industrial explosions over the decades.

READ: Ammonium nitrate: Fertiliser behind many industrial accidents

When combined with fuel oils, it creates a potent explosive widely used in the construction industry, but also by insurgent groups such as the Taliban for improvised explosive devices.

Lebanon's General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim said the material had been confiscated years earlier and stored in the warehouse, located close to Beirut's shopping and nightlife districts.

WAS IT DELIBERATE?

There has been no indication from Lebanese officials that the explosions were caused deliberately.

US President Donald Trump said late on Tuesday that US generals had told him the explosions appeared to have been caused by a "bomb of some kind".

"It looks like a terrible attack," Trump said.

Beirut explosion — A helicopter try to put out multiple fires at the scene of the massive explosion that hit Beirut's port on Aug 4, 2020. (Photo: AFP)

But a Pentagon spokesman, when asked about the US president's remarks, told AFP that "we don't have anything for you" and "you will have to reach out to the White House for clarification".

Diab's government described the circumstances at the port that led to the explosion as "unacceptable" and vowed to investigate.

HOW MANY CASUALTIES?

The blasts killed at least 100 people and injured more than 4,000 others, the Lebanese Red Cross said on Wednesday, in the latest updated toll.

READ: Utter devastation as death toll from Beirut blast tops 100; rescuers search for survivors

Search and rescue teams were still sifting through areas surrounding the port, it added, with rubble from flattened buildings spread across a wide area.

Injuries were recorded right across the city, with glass blown out of buildings in multiple districts.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Lebanon's national defence council has declared Beirut a disaster zone and Diab has appealed to Lebanon's allies to "stand by" the country and send aid.

READ: World offers support, condolences to Lebanon after devastating blasts

READ: No reports of Singaporeans affected by Beirut blasts: MFA

President Michel Aoun has announced he will release 100 billion lira (US$66 million) of emergency funds.

But the country is in the middle of an enormous economic crisis and its hospitals are already overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The US, France, Qatar, Iran and Israel are among the countries that have offered to send aid.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiWWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vbmV3cy93b3JsZC9iZWlydXQtbGViYW5vbi1leHBsb3Npb24td2hhdC13ZS1rbm93LTEyOTkyNTYw0gEA?oc=5

2020-08-05 10:02:16Z
52780977315550

What we know about the Beirut explosions - CNA

Here is what we know so far:

WHAT HAPPENED?

Seismologists measured the event, which blew out windows at the city's international airport 9km away, as the equivalent of a 3.3-magnitude earthquake.

[embedded content]

Video stills show an intense blazing fireball rising above a line of massive storage silos, then a billowing cloud towering into the sky as a powerful shockwave ripped through Lebanon's biggest city.

WHY SUCH A BIG BLAST?

Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab said 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, an agricultural fertiliser, stored in a port-side warehouse had blown up, sparking "a disaster in every sense of the word".

Ammonium nitrate is an odourless crystalline substance that has been the cause of numerous industrial explosions over the decades.

READ: Ammonium nitrate: Fertiliser behind many industrial accidents

When combined with fuel oils, it creates a potent explosive widely used in the construction industry, but also by insurgent groups such as the Taliban for improvised explosive devices.

Lebanon's General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim said the material had been confiscated years earlier and stored in the warehouse, located close to Beirut's shopping and nightlife districts.

WAS IT DELIBERATE?

There has been no indication from Lebanese officials that the explosions were caused deliberately.

US President Donald Trump said late on Tuesday that US generals had told him the explosions appeared to have been caused by a "bomb of some kind".

"It looks like a terrible attack," Trump said.

But a Pentagon spokesman, when asked about the US president's remarks, told AFP that "we don't have anything for you" and "you will have to reach out to the White House for clarification".

Diab's government described the circumstances at the port that led to the explosion as "unacceptable" and vowed to investigate.

HOW MANY CASUALTIES?

The blasts killed at least 100 people and injured more than 4,000 others, the Lebanese Red Cross said on Wednesday, in the latest updated toll.

READ: Utter devastation as death toll from Beirut blast tops 100; rescuers search for survivors

Search and rescue teams were still sifting through areas surrounding the port, it added, with rubble from flattened buildings spread across a wide area.

Injuries were recorded right across the city, with glass blown out of buildings in multiple districts.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Lebanon's national defence council has declared Beirut a disaster zone and Diab has appealed to Lebanon's allies to "stand by" the country and send aid.

READ: World offers support, condolences to Lebanon after devastating blasts

READ: No reports of Singaporeans affected by Beirut blasts: MFA

President Michel Aoun has announced he will release 100 billion lira (US$66 million) of emergency funds.

But the country is in the middle of an enormous economic crisis and its hospitals are already overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The US, France, Qatar, Iran and Israel are among the countries that have offered to send aid.

Let's block ads! (Why?)