Selasa, 04 Agustus 2020

Widespread damage after huge explosion in Beirut - BBC News - BBC News

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  1. Widespread damage after huge explosion in Beirut - BBC News  BBC News
  2. Live: Massive explosion shakes Lebanon's capital Beirut  The Sun
  3. Beirut blast: Hundreds injured in explosion - Red Cross  BBC News
  4. Beirut explosion: At least ten dead in massive blast  Daily Mail
  5. BREAKING: Huge explosion rocks Beirut  Sky News
  6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2020-08-04 17:48:09Z
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RAW VIDEO: Beirut blast caught on camera - Sky News

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  1. RAW VIDEO: Beirut blast caught on camera  Sky News
  2. Live: Massive explosion shakes Lebanon's capital Beirut  The Sun
  3. Beirut blast: Explosion rocks city with many injured  BBC News
  4. Beirut explosion: At least ten dead in massive blast  Daily Mail
  5. Beirut explosion: footage shows massive blast shaking Lebanon's capital  Guardian News
  6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2020-08-04 16:44:41Z
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Beirut blast: Explosion rocks city with many injured - BBC News

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A large blast has hit the Lebanese capital, Beirut, causing widespread damage and injuring many people, officials say.

It is not yet clear what caused the explosion in the port area of the city. Video posted online showed a large mushroom cloud and destroyed buildings.

Hospitals are said to be overwhelmed by casualties.

It comes at a sensitive time with the country's economic collapse reigniting old tensions.

Tensions are also high ahead of the verdict in a trial over the killing of ex-PM Rafik Hariri in 2005. A UN tribunal is due to issue its verdict in the trial of four suspects in the murder by car bomb of Hariri on Friday.

Lebanon's health minister, Hamad Hasan, has spoken of many injuries and extensive damage.

Reuters news agency quotes sources as saying 10 bodies have been pulled from the wreckage.

The cause of the explosion is still not known, but some reports suggest it may have been an accident. Lebanon's National News Agency reported a fire breaking out at what it called an explosives depot at the port.

Local media showed people trapped beneath rubble. A witness described the first explosion as deafening. Video footage showed wrecked cars and blast-damaged buildings.

The latest reports come amid political tension in Lebanon, with street demonstrations against the government's handling the worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.

There has also been tension on the border with Israel, which said last week that it had thwarted an attempt by Hezbollah to infiltrate Israeli territory.

'Glass going down from all over the building'

Hadi Nasrallah, eyewitness speaking to the BBC

I saw the fire, but I didn't yet know there was going to be an explosion. We went inside. Suddenly I lost my hearing because apparently I was too close. I lost my hearing for a few seconds, I knew something was wrong.

And then suddenly the glass just shattered all over the car, the cars around us, the shops, the stores, the buildings. Just glass going down from all over the building.

Literally all over Beirut, people were calling each other from different areas kilometres away and they were experiencing the same thing: broken glass, buildings shaking, a loud explosion.

Actually we were shocked because usually when it happens, just one area will experience those happenings after an explosion, but this time it was all of Beirut, even areas outside of Beirut.

Shock and anxiety

By Sebastian Usher, BBC Arab affairs analyst

The videos and images not just of the massive cloud of smoke erupting in Beirut but the damage and devastation it's caused kilometres away have triggered a new wave of shock and anxiety in Lebanon, which is already teetering on the brink of a catastrophic economic collapse.

Just hours before the blast, anti-government protesters had been scuffling with the security forces outside the ministry of energy, demanding yet again accountability from the country's leaders.

There have been grave warnings of hunger in the streets or a reigniting of sectarian conflict if the economy worsens.

And the blast will remind many of the bomb that killed Rafik Hariri. The Lebanese will be hoping that this latest blast will remain a human tragedy - an accident - and not a premeditated act.

What's the Hariri case about?

On the morning of 14 February 2005, Rafik Hariri - then an MP who aligned himself with the opposition in parliament - was travelling in a motorcade when the explosion went off in a busy area full of hotels and banks, causing widespread damage.

Mr Hariri had been one of Lebanon's most prominent Sunni politicians and, at the time of his death, had joined calls for Syria to withdraw troops which had been in Lebanon since 1976 following the start of the civil war.

The killing brought tens of thousands of demonstrators on to the streets in protest against the pro-Syrian government, with the finger of blame for the assassination pointed at Lebanon's heavily influential neighbour.

Within two weeks the government resigned and weeks after that, Syria withdrew its forces.

After collecting evidence, the UN and Lebanon set up the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) in The Hague in 2007 to investigate the bombing, and ultimately charged four suspects of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group with terrorism, murder and attempted murder.

A fifth man linked to the attack, Hezbollah military commander Mustafa Amine Badreddine, was killed in Syria in 2016.

Hezbollah's supporters have dismissed the trial, suggesting that the STL process is not politically neutral.


Are you in Beirut? Have you been affected by the blast? If it is safe for you to do so, please email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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2020-08-04 16:30:00Z
52780977315550

BREAKING: Huge explosion rocks Beirut - Sky News

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  1. BREAKING: Huge explosion rocks Beirut  Sky News
  2. Live: Massive explosion shakes Lebanon's capital Beirut  The Sun
  3. Beirut blast: Many injured as large blast rocks city  BBC News
  4. Beirut explosion: Massive port area blast destroys ex-PM's home  Daily Mail
  5. Lebanon: dozens reportedly injured as explosion rocks Beirut  The Guardian
  6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2020-08-04 15:59:23Z
52780977315550

Live: Massive explosion shakes Lebanon's capital Beirut - The Sun

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  1. Live: Massive explosion shakes Lebanon's capital Beirut  The Sun
  2. Beirut blast: Explosion rocks city ahead of Hariri verdict  BBC News
  3. Huge explosion in Beirut shatters windows and rocks buildings  The Guardian
  4. Massive explosion rocks Beirut destroying buildings  Daily Mail
  5. BREAKING: Huge explosion rocks Beirut  Sky News
  6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2020-08-04 15:52:40Z
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What's going on with TikTok? - BBC News - BBC News

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  1. What's going on with TikTok? - BBC News  BBC News
  2. Donald Trump: US Treasury should get cut of TikTok deal  BBC News
  3. China brands US a 'rogue nation' over TikTok 'smash and grab' raid  Daily Express
  4. Trump's TikTok threats may drive users to Facebook-owned Instagram. Is that the point?  NBC News
  5. Trump grants TikTok a reprieve, but his ban threat should be permanently retired  The Washington Post
  6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2020-08-04 13:01:35Z
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Spain puzzles over ex-King Juan Carlos's whereabouts - BBC News

There is intense speculation in the Spanish media about the whereabouts of embattled ex-King Juan Carlos, after his shock announcement on Monday that he was leaving the country.

The 82-year-old, who is targeted by a corruption probe, announced the move in a letter posted on the royal website.

It gave no details about his destination, but some reports suggest he has gone to the Dominican Republic.

Juan Carlos said he would be available if prosecutors needed to speak to him.

In June, Spain's Supreme Court opened an investigation into his alleged involvement in a high-speed rail contract in Saudi Arabia.

BBC Europe correspondent Nick Beake says it is a humiliating exit for a king who had once seemed set to go down in history as the leader who skilfully guided Spain to democracy after the death of General Franco in 1975.

In 2014, Juan Carlos abdicated and handed over to his son Felipe.

What do Spanish media say?

Newspapers give various accounts about the former king's travels.

La Vanguardia says he went to Portugal early on Monday, and was planning to fly to the Dominican Republic to stay with friends.

ABC, another daily, said he was already in the Dominican Republic. But El Confidencial said he could be in Portugal, France or Italy.

El Pais meanwhile has so far refrained from speculating about Juan Carlos's whereabouts.

In Portugal, media said he was in the resort towns of Estoril or Cascais.

There are no reports from the Dominican Republic that he is in the Caribbean country.

What did the letter say?

In the letter, the former monarch wrote that he was leaving "in the face of the public repercussions that certain past events in my private life are generating" and in the hope of allowing his son to carry out his functions as king with "tranquillity".

The statement from the Zarzuela palace said that King Felipe VI had conveyed "his heartfelt respect and gratitude" to his father for this decision.

In March, King Felipe VI renounced the inheritance of his father.

The royal palace also said at the time that Juan Carlos would stop receiving an annual grant of €194,000 ($228,000; £174,520).

What is the corruption investigation about?

Spain's Supreme Court has said it aims to establish Juan Carlos's connection with the Saudi Arabia contract after his abdication.

Spanish firms won a €6.7bn (£6bn) deal to build a Mecca-Medina rail link.

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The probe involves Swiss banks too.

Spanish anti-corruption officials suspect that the former king kept some undeclared funds in Switzerland, and a Swiss investigation is under way.

The Spanish government has said that "justice is equal for all" and it would "not interfere" in the inquiry.

King Juan Carlos

  • Born in Rome, Italy, in 1938
  • Ascends the throne on 22 November 1975, two days after the death of fascist dictator Gen Francisco Franco
  • Juan Carlos was widely admired for steering Spain to democracy during a difficult period
  • But towards the end of his 39-year reign he drew growing criticism
  • Abdicates on 18 June 2014 in favour of his son Felipe

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2020-08-04 12:34:43Z
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