Lebanon

BEIRUT, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese President Michel Aoun vowed on Tuesday to continue investigations into the explosions that rocked Beirut on Aug. 4, killing 171 people and wounding around 6,000 others.

"I will not remain silent nor will I rest until we reveal all the facts about these explosions; referring the explosions to the Supreme Judicial Council is the first step in this direction," Aoun said in a statement.

Primary information reveals that ammonium nitrate stored since 2014 in warehouse No. 12 at Port of Beirut may have caused the explosions in Beirut.

BEIRUT (AP) — When the huge explosion ripped through Beirut last week, it shattered the glass doors near where 3-year-old Abed Achi was playing with his Lego blocks. He suffered a head injury and cuts on his tiny arms and feet, and he was taken to the emergency room, where he sat amid other bleeding people.

In the days since then, Abed has not been the same. Like thousands of others in Lebanon, he is grappling with trauma.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s prime minister stepped down from his job Monday in the wake of the catastrophic explosion in Beirut that has triggered public outrage, saying he has come to the conclusion that corruption in the country is “bigger than the state.”

The move risks opening the way to dragged-out negotiations over a new Cabinet amid urgent calls for reform. It follows a weekend of anti-government protests after the Aug. 4 explosion in Beirut’s port that decimated the facility and caused widespread destruction, killing at least 160 people and injuring about 6,000 others.

10 Aug 2020; MEMO: Eleven Lebanese politicians, including three government ministers, have resigned in the wake of the lethal explosion in Beirut’s port last week.

10 Aug 2020; MEMO: Lebanese President Michel Aoun yesterday described calls for an international investigation into a blast which devastated Beirut Port and killed over 150 people as an attempt to “waste time”.

“President Aoun considers the demand for an international investigation into the port issue as aimed at wasting time,” the Lebanese presidency’s office said on Twitter, adding that the Lebanese judiciary “must be swift to establish who is a criminal and who is innocent”.

BEIRUT, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- The international community has pledged immediate humanitarian relief worth over 252 million euros (297.08 million U.S. dollars) to Lebanon, whose capital Beirut was rocked last week by two huge explosions that have claimed at least 158 lives and injured 6,000 others.

After a UN-backed virtual conference hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday, representatives from Britain, Qatar, the United States, the European Union, China, the World Bank and others issued a joint statement, pledging solidarity with and support for the Lebanese people.

BEIRUT (AP) — The 160-year-old palace withstood two world wars, the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the French mandate and Lebanese independence. After the country’s 1975-1990 civil war, it took 20 years of careful restoration for the family to bring the palace back to its former glory.

“In a split second, everything was destroyed again,” says Roderick Sursock, owner of Beirut’s landmark Sursock Palace, one of the most storied buildings in the Lebanese capital.

BEIRUT (AP) — World leaders and international organizations pledged nearly $300 million in emergency humanitarian aid to Beirut in the wake of the devastating explosion, but warned on Sunday that no money for rebuilding the capital will be made available until Lebanese authorities commit themselves to the political and economic reforms demanded by the people.

BEIRUT, August 9. /TASS/: The task force of the Russian Emergencies Ministry completed the search and rescue effort at the blast scene in the port of Lebanon's capital Beirut, the crisis center told TASS on Sunday.

"The search and rescue works in Beirut are over," the crisis center reported, adding that the emergency relief effort was ongoing.

09 Aug 2020; MEMO: Lebanese President Michel Aoun called on Arab countries today to support Lebanon in the wake of a massive explosion at the Beirut port, Anadolu Agency reports.

“Lebanon needs any help in every field, and there is great hope in the brotherly Arab countries,” Aoun said in statements following a meeting with Arab League Secretary-General, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, at the presidential palace in Beirut.