Middle East Experience

Many, dazed and awestruck, fearful and confused, wondered what had happened.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Speculation and fear after massive explosion in Beirut

Several senior officials have expressed concern over manner in which new CEO is being selected and its impact on NGO's future.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: JDC rocked by internal strife over CEO search process - Special Report

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking Monday to his Likud faction, said that the issue – so hot just a month ago, but hardly on the public agenda since then – is still on the table.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Israel’s annexation problem: indecision - analysis

The spike in coronavirus cases has prompted Iranian authorities to reimpose restrictions lifted earlier this year..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Iran records highest Covid-19 cases in over a month

Israel states it has nothing to do with Beirut blast..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Israel states it has nothing to do with Beirut blast

Multiple videos show plume of smoke rising from coastline and then a large blast and shockwave. IDF remains on high alert in the North.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Hundreds injured after massive explosion rocks Beirut Port

“It’s a catastrophe! Catastrophe in Lebanon! Lebanon is destruction! Lebanon is gone, bye!” one survivor told Al Arabiya on Tuesday after two explosions ripped through Beirut’s port.Another survivor said he blamed the “neglect” by the Lebanese government following the explosions.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.At least 70 people were killed Tuesday and more than 3,000 wounded in multiple explosions that rocked Downtown Beirut, Lebanon's health minister said. US President Donald Trump said he had reason to believe that the blasts were an attack.Buildings several kilometers away suffered material damage, the explosions were heard over 20 kilometers away from Beirut and residents in Cyprus said they felt the blasts.Read more:Damaged Lebanon hospitals treating patients in parking lots after Beirut blasts‘It’s a catastrophe, Lebanon is gone’: Survivors recount Beirut blastsTwo-week state of emergency declared in Beirut following explosions“I turned and wanted to return home and suddenly I heard an explosion. What happened, happened, and I was wounded and didn’t know anything else,” one survivor told Al Arabiya close to the site of explosions in Downtown Beirut.“I don’t want to give a specific number, but I will tell you that we have more [casualties] than our capacity. There are casualties, yes. There are critical injuries and other minor ones,” said one doctor at a hospital treating patients.An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the explosions, which resulted in a giant mushroom cloud above the country. But Prime Minister Hassan Diab said that 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate were stored in the warehouse that exploded in the Port of Beirut.Al Arabiya English’s Joseph Haboush contributed to this report.Read more:Watch: Debris falls on Lebanese priest, parishioners during Beirut explosionsMillers fear for Lebanon’s food security after Beirut explosionLebanon’s PM vows to make officials 'pay the price’ after Beirut explosions
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: ‘It’s a catastrophe, Lebanon is gone’: Survivors recount Beirut blasts

The global death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 700,000 on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally, with the United States, Brazil, India, and Mexico leading the rise in fatalities.Nearly 5,900 people are dying every 24 hours from COVID-19 on average, according to Reuters calculations based on data from the past two weeks. That equates to 247 people per hour, or one person every 15 seconds.For all the latest coronavirus updates, visit our dedicated page.The United States and Latin America are the new epicenters of the pandemic and both are struggling to curb the spread of the virus.The coronavirus was initially slower to reach Latin America, which is home to about 640 million people, than much of the world. But officials have since struggled to control its spread because of the region’s poverty and densely packed cities.More than 100 million people across Latin America and the Caribbean live in slums, according to the United Nations Human Settlements Programme. Many have jobs in the informal sector with little in the way of a social safety net and have continued to work throughout the pandemic.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the appThe United States, home to around 330 million people, has also been battered by the virus despite being one of the richest nations in the world.The US government’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, on Monday said states with high coronavirus case counts should reconsider imposing lockdown restrictions, emphasizing the need to get cases to a low baseline before the fall flu season.Even in parts of the world that had appeared to have curbed the spread of the virus, countries have recently seen single-day records in new cases, signaling the battle is far from over.Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Bolivia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Bulgaria, Belgium, Uzbekistan and Israel all recently had record increases in cases.Also read: Gold prices hit $2,000 an ounce for first time as COVID-19 weakens economyCoronavirus: IMF says COVID-19 may shrink global imbalances further in 2020China, WHO discuss plans to trace coronavirus origins
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Global coronavirus deaths exceed 700,000, one person dies every 15 seconds on average

Ammonium nitrate, which Lebanese authorities have said was the cause of the Beirut blasts, is an odorless crystalline substance commonly used as a fertilizer that has been the cause of numerous industrial explosions over the decades.These include notably at a Texas fertilizer plant in 2013 that killed 15 and was ruled deliberate, and another at a chemical plant in Toulouse, France in 2001 that killed 31 people but was accidental.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the appWhen combined with fuel oils, ammonium nitrate creates a potent explosive widely used by the construction industry, but also by insurgent groups for improvised explosives.It was also a component in the bomb behind the 1995 Oklahoma City attack.In agriculture, ammonium nitrate fertilizer is applied in granule form and quickly dissolves under moisture, allowing nitrogen – which is key to plant growth – to be released into the soil.Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab said 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate that had been stored for years in a Beirut portside warehouse had blown up, killing dozens of people and causing unprecedented damage to the Lebanese capital.However, under normal storage conditions and without very high heat, it is difficult to ignite ammonium nitrate, Jimmie Oxley, a chemistry professor at the University of Rhode Island, told AFP.“If you look at the video (of the Beirut explosion), you saw the black smoke, you saw the red smoke, that was an incomplete reaction,” she said.“I am assuming that there was a small explosion that instigated the reaction of the ammonium nitrate – whether that small explosion was an accident or something on purpose I haven’t heard yet.”That’s because ammonium nitrate is an oxidizer – it intensifies combustion and allows other substances to ignite more readily, but is not itself very combustible.For these reasons, there are generally very strict rules about where it can be stored: for example, it must be kept away from fuels and sources of heat.In fact, many countries in the European Union require calcium carbonate to be added to ammonium nitrate to create calcium ammonium nitrate, which is safer.In the United States, regulations were tightened significantly after the Oklahoma City attack.Under the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards, for example, facilities that store more than 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms, 0.9 metric tonnes) of ammonium nitrate are subject to inspections. As per the Lebanese authorities, the warehouse contained triple that amount.Despite its dangers, Oxley said legitimate uses of ammonium nitrate in agriculture and construction has made it indispensable.“We wouldn’t have this modern world without explosives, and we wouldn’t feed the population we have today without ammonium nitrate fertilizer,” she said.“We need ammonium nitrate, we just need to pay good attention to what we’re doing with it.”Read more: UAE's Burj Khalifa lights up in solidarity with Lebanon after Beirut blasts kill 100‘It’s a catastrophe, Lebanon is gone’: Survivors recount Beirut blastsLebanon’s top defense body recommends two-week state of emergency after Beirut blasts
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Beirut blast: Ammonium nitrate fertilizer behind many industrial accidents

The number of deaths in the Beirut blasts continues to rise with the latest figures at 135 deaths, around 5,000 wounded, Lebanon’s Health Minister Hamad Hassan said Wednesday."There are still tens missing," Hassan was quoted as telling a local Lebanese TV channel.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Early Wednesday morning, the Red Cross said that there were 4,000 people injured and around 100 dead.“We have compiled a list of aid and sent it to several countries,” Hassan said. “We need everything to hospitalize the victims, and there is a acute shortage of everything.”Tuesday’s blast at port warehouses storing highly explosive material was the most powerful in years in Beirut, already reeling from an economic crisis and a surge in coronavirus infections.George Kettaneh told LBCI TV by telephone that the Red Cross was coordinating with the health ministry for morgues to take victims because hospitals were overwhelmed.President Michel Aoun said that 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, used in fertilizers and bombs, had been stored for six years at the port without safety measures, and he said that was “unacceptable.”He called for an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday.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.“What we are witnessing is a huge catastrophe,” the head of Lebanon’s Red Cross George Kettani told a local broadcaster. “There are victims and casualties everywhere.”Hours after the blast, which struck shortly after 6 p.m. (1500 GMT), a fire still blazed in the port district, casting an orange glow across the night sky as helicopters hovered and ambulance sirens sounded across the capital.Thirteen hours after the blast, smoke was still billowing from the port, where a towering grain silos had been shattered.The blast revived memories of a 1975-90 civil war and its aftermath, when Lebanese endured heavy shelling, car bombings and Israeli air raids. Some residents thought an earthquake had struck.Dazed, weeping, and injured people walked through streets searching for relatives.“The blast blew me off meters away. I was in a daze and was all covered in blood. It brought back the vision of another explosion I witnessed against the US embassy in 1983,” said Huda Baroudi, a Beirut designer.Prime Minister Hassan Diab promised there would be accountability for the deadly blast at the “dangerous warehouse,” adding “those responsible will pay the price.”The US embassy in Beirut warned residents about reports of toxic gases released by the blast, urging people to stay indoors and wear masks if available.Many still missing“There are many people missing. People are asking the emergency department about their loved ones and it is difficult to search at night because there is no electricity,” HealthMinister Hamad Hasan told Reuters.Footage of the explosion shared by residents on social media showed a column of smoke rising from the port, followed by an enormous blast, sending a white cloud and a fireball into the sky. Those filming the incident from high buildings 2 km (one mile) from the port were thrown backwards by the shock.Bleeding people were seen running and shouting for help in clouds of smoke and dust in streets littered with damaged buildings, flying debris, and wrecked cars and furniture.The explosion occurred three days before a UN-backed court is due to deliver a verdict in the trial of four suspects from the Shia Muslim group Hezbollah over a 2005 bombing which killed former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri and 21 others.Hariri was killed by a huge truck bomb on the same waterfront, about 2 km (about one mile) from the port.Israeli officials said Israel, which has fought several wars with Lebanon, had nothing to do with Tuesday’s blast and said their country was ready to give humanitarian and medical assistance. Shia Iran, the main backer of Hezbollah, also offered support, as did Saudi Arabia.Cyprus said it was ready to offer medical aid. The explosion was heard throughout Cyprus, which is about 100 miles (160 km) away.At a White House briefing, US President Donald Trump indicated that the blast was a possible attack, but two US officials said initial information contradicted Trump’s view.With agenciesAlso read: Aid offers flood in after Beirut blasts leave 100 dead, thousands injured in LebanonUAE's Burj Khalifa lights up in solidarity with Lebanon after Beirut blasts kill 100‘It’s a catastrophe, Lebanon is gone’: Survivors recount Beirut blasts
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Death toll in Beirut blasts rises to 135, around 5,000 injured: Health Minister