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...The Rhosus left for its last journey from Batumi, Georgia, in September 2013. Its cargo was destined for Mozambique, but the captain was ordered to make an unscheduled stop in Beirut to take on additional freight. Captain Prokoshev said they needed to make extra cash to pay for their passage through the Suez Canal. Lawyers for the ship’s creditors said the additional cargo was supposed to be transported to Jordan. ...The Rhosus was left abandoned, and Lebanese authorities transferred its cargo to a warehouse in the port. In 2015, the ship was moved 1,000 feet up the pier where it...

French president Emmanuel Macron has been accused of trying to reconquer Lebanon rather than help it in the wake of the devastating explosion at its capital which killed 150 people. It comes as the country is expected to refuse humanitarian aid from Israel because the two neighbours are technically still at war. Visiting explosion-ravaged Beirut this week, France's leader comforted distraught crowds, promised to rebuild the city and claimed that the blast pierced France's own heart.

Beirut port explosion mystery solved? UPDATES: 3 ships disappeared. Mikhail Voytenko News August 5, 2020 3:28 pm Aug 5 1515 UTC UPDATE: Cruise ship ORIENT QUEEN, berthed at Beirut near blast site, was seriously damaged, started taking on water, capsized and sank starboard along berth, remaining partially above waterline. 2 crew reportedly (but not yet confirmed) died. Cruise ship ORIENT QUEEN, IMO 8701193, GT 7478, built 1989, flag Bahamas, operator Abou Merhi Cruises. Aug 5 0730 UTC UPDATE: Three ships were berthed near explosion site, AIS of all these ships are off during last 14-16 hours, immediately or shortly after,...

More than any other group in Lebanon, the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah bears responsibility for the conditions that led to the blast. ... Lebanon is a mafia state governed entirely through criminality and institutionalized corruption. The .. Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah. If there’s one group that bears primary responsibility for the state of affairs in Lebanon that led to the explosion in Beirut, it’s Hezbollah. ... Tony Badran.. Hezbollah’s role in governing Lebanon. .. the terrorist group isn’t a parallel structure to the government, it is the government. ... Hezbollah has long used the port for massive commercial scams and...

A second source has confirmed the fireworks’ presence, which was also the subject of media reports in Lebanon on Friday. The claim that fireworks were being stored in the same warehouse as the ammonium nitrate appears to be confirmed by phone footage, apparently filmed by a port worker from the roof of the grain silos that overlooked the seat of the biggest blast – now a 150-metre-wide crater of seawater. In the brief section of footage posted on social media, a long warehouse – running parallel to the grain silo and separated by a road – is visible, with smoke...

Lebanese President Michel Aoun says there are two possibilities behind Tuesday’s blast — either negligence or “external intervention” by a missile or a bomb. Aoun said Friday that he asked France for satellite images to see if there were warplanes or missiles in the air at the time of the blast. The blast is believed to have been caused when a fire touched off 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been stored at the port since it was taken from an impounded ship in 2013. The cause of the initial fire is not known. Aoun told journalists that he...

Baroudi & Associates, who represented the Russian vessel's crew, published a statement on Wednesday saying they sent letters in July 2014 to officials at Beirut Port and the Ministry of Transportation "warning of the dangers of the materials carried on the ship." Customs authorities issued repeated notices to a judge about the dangerous cargo, according to documents seen by CNN. But the judge, who cannot be named for legal reasons, responded multiple times saying that the ship and its cargo might not be within the court's jurisdiction, the documents show. In four handwritten responses written in 2016 and 2017, the...

Sat images of the blast in Beirut.

Macron told a crowd of reporters and angry people that he would propose a "new political pact" to Lebanon's embattled political class during his visit to a predominantly Christian quarter of the city. An Elysée Palace spokesperson told CNN that Macron said to Lebanese protesters: "I am here and it's my duty to help you, as a whole population, to bring medication and food. "This aid, I guarantee it, won't end up in corrupt hands. I will speak to all political forces to ask for a new pact," Macron said, adding: "I am here today to propose a new political...

Lebanese officials targeted in the investigation of the massive blast that tore through Beirut sought to shift blame for the presence of explosives at the city’s port, and the visiting French president warned Thursday that without serious reforms the country would “continue to sink.” The blast Tuesday, which appeared to have been caused by an accidental fire that ignited a warehouse full of ammonium nitrate at the city’s port, rippled across the Lebanese capital, killing at least 135 people, injuring more than 5,000 and causing widespread destruction.

A tragic photo has emerged showing the final moments of firefighters sent to tackle a blaze at Warehouse 12 in Beirut's port before the chemicals stored inside exploded with the force of a small nuke - killing at least 137. The image - verified by MailOnline - shows firefighters trying to pry the lock off a door beneath a sign that reads 'entrance 12', along with signs warning of hazardous chemicals inside. The person who took the photo has been confirmed dead with the photo found on his phone, while Beirut's governor has said 10 firefighters are missing after the...

At least 19 soldiers of Bangladesh Navy were injured as two explosions rocked the Lebanese capital port Beirut on Tuesday, according to Bangladesh embassy in Beirut. One of the injured soldiers was in critical condition, five were moderately injured and 13 were released after primary treatment. During the explosion, Bangladesh Navy ship BNS Bijoy, was anchored at the Beirut port. BNS Bijoy is a Castle-class guided missile corvette of the Bangladesh Navy. She has served in the Bangladesh Navy since 2011. On 1 December 2017, BNS Bijoy departed for Lebanon to join in United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)....

The cataclysmic explosion which ripped through Beirut on Tuesday is just the latest disaster to strike the city once known as the ‘Paris of the East’ Rescuers searched for survivors today at the port after the blast sowed devastation across entire neighbourhoods, killing more than 100 people, wounding thousands and plunging Lebanon deeper into crisis. Bullet holes remain studded into walls around Beirut, a reminder of the brutal and bloody civil war that ended 20 years ago but more recently, Lebanon has been preparing to face a new enemy.

What you need to know: At least 100 people were killed and 4,000 wounded in a massive explosion that shook Beirut on Tuesday, state-run media reported, citing the Red Cross. Hundreds have been reported missing in the aftermath of the blast raising fears that the death toll will rise, Lebanon's Health Minister said Wednesday. It's still unclear what exactly caused the explosion. Lebanon's Prime Minister said an investigation would focus on an estimated 2,750 metric tons of the explosive ammonium nitrate, stored at a warehouse. Beirut's governor said the blast caused up to $5 billion worth of damage. ============================================================================ Lebanese...

[This piece is heavy on video.] And so the false narrative forms around the Beirut explosion. – The official government narrative out of Lebanon about the horrific series of hundreds of smaller explosions followed by at least one, and possibly two massive blasts at the shipping port of Beirut on Tuesday. As I noted yesterday, the Al Arabiya news service reported that the explosions took place at a warehouse that was a known weapons depot for the Hezbollah terrorist group that dominates Lebanon’s government. President Trump stated at his press conference late Tuesday evening that his generals had told him...

A huge rescue operation and an international aid effort got underway Wednesday, less than 24 hours after much of Beirut was buried by rubble and choked by smoke in a colossal explosion Tuesday afternoon. Lebanese health minister Hamad Hasan said 135 people have been killed and 5,000 injured in the explosion. Dozens of people are still missing. Those figures look set to rise with hospitals overwhelmed and victims still trapped underneath debris. "There is no word to describe the horror of the catastrophe that occurred in Beirut yesterday," Lebanese President Michel Aoun said during an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday,...

The Orient Queen cruise ship capsized overnight in Beirut, taking on water at her berth following a deadly blast in Lebanon on Tuesday evening. The explosion also claimed the head office of the ship's operator, Abou Merhi Cruises, as well as the entire Abou Merhi Group. Two crew are reported dead while seven are listed in critical condition.

Ammonium nitrate is frequently added to increase a fertilizer's nitrogen content. It's relatively stable under most conditions and is inexpensive to manufacture, making the chemical a popular alternative to other, more expensive nitrogen sources. But ammonium nitrate has a potentially lethal downside: The compound is considered an oxidizer, meaning at an atomic level, it removes electrons from other substances in a chemical reaction. What that means in a more practical sense is that it increases the burning of fuels by increasing the oxygen that's available to those fuels. To start the reaction, ammonium nitrate must come into contact with an...

On Tuesday afternoon, two huge explosions ripped through the port of Beirut at 6:07 local time, killing hundreds and wounding thousands more. As of Wednesday morning, the Red Cross reported the death toll to be at least 100 dead with fears that it could go much higher. At least 4,000 people were injured. The explosion generated an enormous shock wave that was actually visible in the videos. Buildings as far away as 6 miles from the source of the explosion were damaged. Streets were filled with shattered glass. Rabbi Yosef Berger, the rabbi of King David’s Tomb on Mount Zion,...

Yesterday a massive explosion ripped through Beirut, Lebanon from the city’s port: Sometimes you do calculations and get a result that you know must be wrong, and you report them anyway so others can spot your errors. Reports had the explosion shattering windows 10 kilometers away, and doing damage to the Beirut airport, so I set out to calculate the explosive yield using the Nukemap, based on shattering windows at the airport (the 1 psi overpressure ring) and ignoring radiation effects. (The nukemap interface is far more user friendly than the “Nuclear bomb Effects Computer” at the back of Samuel...