Iran's first batch of aid consisting of 9 tons of foodstuff, medicine & medical equipment arrived in #Beirut.

The first Iranian field hospital in Beirut, running and operational at the moment.

A 22-member medical team is now working tirelessly in Beirut to provide help. pic.twitter.com/RhHKgyt3NN

— Mehrdad Torabi (@mehrdadt1987) August 5, 2020

It is postponed to the 18th of August.[_link] pic.twitter.com/qlAqdecxeL

— 🇱🇧 Lebanese News and Updates (@UpdatesLebanese) August 5, 2020

Update: h/t Moon of Alabama

There is a short video of firefighters at the initial fire. Reportedly none survived when the fireworks fire set off the ammonium nitrate. Another video shows the initial fire caused by welding. It burns a while and then sets off fireworks in a first explosion. This takes the the roof off the warehouse. A few minutes later the fireworks cause the huge explosion of the ammonium nitrate.

This video is evidence there was no attack on a Hezbollah munitions depot. From this post it supports the fire was caused by a welding accident.

Drone footage taken above the port area following #BeirutBlast shows complete and utter devastation of the facility pic.twitter.com/EWCEBBkBWo

— Riam Dalati (@Dalatrm) August 5, 2020

Once homeless, now poised for the House: Protest leader ousts veteran Missouri congressman | LA Times |

Help us draft Cori Bush: FT nurse, pastor, mom, and Ferguson organizing powerhouse for Missouri's 1st District![_link] pic.twitter.com/s5jcTuVCfp

— Justice Democrats (@justicedems) March 9, 2017

Finally the voters made a new choice in St. Louis North ...

Congratulations to @CoriBush. What a remarkable victory. pic.twitter.com/jgG13hyF58

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) August 5, 2020

Remembering my days working at Beirut Port... and tracing the rot and decline that led to its obliteration along with much of the city. [_link]

— Faysal Itani (@faysalitani) August 5, 2020

There was attempts at selling voting machines in Europe and I was - with the Swedish Pirate party - a small part of the effort to prevent that. Which by and large succeeded.

In Sweden, we do hand count, as the conclusion over various tests is that it is the most accurate way. Even using those bill counters used at banks has turned out less reliable then by hand. Also almost all votes are counted at least twice and discrepancies that are large enough to change seats are grounds for re-elections, of which we have had a few.

Marwan Hamadeh, 80 years old, retires from Lebanese politics

Lebanese MP Marwan Hamadeh resigns from parliament during a live interview on Al Arabiya, saying that he no longer felt honored to be part of an "ineffective government" following the deadly explosions that erupted in the port of #Beirut.#Lebanon[_link] pic.twitter.com/mHuZbFMe5h

— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) August 5, 2020

للمزيد من المعلومات حول قضية عياش وآخرين ندعوكم لمشاهدة هذا الفيديو هنا: [_link]

— Special Tribunal for Lebanon (@STLebanon) August 3, 2020

The Special Tribunal is deeply saddened and shocked by the tragic news from Lebanon. We express our solidarity with the Lebanese people and, our thoughts are with them in this difficult time. pic.twitter.com/zpTdlSVqqz

— Special Tribunal for Lebanon (@STLebanon) August 5, 2020

Feiglin on Lebanon: "This hell was supposed to fall on us, we will be made a miracle" | One News |

According to former MK Moshe Feiglin, the material that exploded last night in Beirut was destined for Israel, as part of Hezbollah's war on it.

"There have not been good days for Israel as fifteen in the Father and today is the frost," Feiglin wrote on Facebook. "This mishnah by Rabban Gamliel took on topical significance yesterday ... In honor of" Valentine's Day ", we received a" spectacular pyrotechnics show "at the port of Beirut.

"You do not really believe it was some kind of messy fuel depot - yes ...? Do you understand that this hell was supposed to fall on us in the rain of missiles ?!", Feiglin asked.

Happy #FriendshipDay to our dear friends in #India!

मित्रता दिवस पर मेरी ओर से आपको व भारत की जनता को बहुत बहुत बधाई।@narendramodi pic.twitter.com/yQJcsftWJs

— Reuven Rivlin (@PresidentRuvi) August 2, 2020

Live from Ayodhya. [_link]

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 5, 2020

○ Youm-e-Istehsal Kashmir: India learned how to change regional demography from Israel, says President Alvi  | Dawn Pakistan |

Israel offers Lebanon medical assistance after Beirut blast | Al-Monitor |

According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the mediators who reached out to Lebanon on behalf of Israel were France and the United Nations' peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL.

"We share the pain of the Lebanese people and sincerely reach out to offer our aid at this difficult time," Israeli President Reuven Rivlin tweeted.

...
An unnamed Israeli intelligence official told The New York Times that Israel was not involved in Tuesday's explosion in Beirut.

Tensions remain high between Israel and Hezbollah. The militant group has vowed retaliation for a June 20 Israeli strike outside the Syrian capital of Damascus that killed one of its senior fighters. Israel has since deployed additional forces in the Galilee and last week announced the military foiled a Hezbollah raid along its northern border.

The Israeli military's Arabic spokesperson tweeted in the wake of the blast Tuesday that "this is the time to transcend conflict" and focus on providing humanitarian support.

In addition to Israel, a number of countries pledged to come to Lebanon's aid. Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said Iran is prepared to help "in any way necessary," and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States stands "ready to assist the people of Lebanon as they recover from this horrible tragedy."

Waste Away - The Baffler

A massive private holding company bought out the entirety of the downtown area - which had been the front line between the two divided halves of Beirut - promising to build a shiny new city out of its ruins. One that would look very much like the pre-war city, with its romantic, pale-yellow mandate-era buildings, but sleeker and more modernized. For a single private company to acquire so much prime land - most of which still technically belonged to the homeowners and shopkeepers and businesses who had waited fifteen long years to reclaim their holdings; some of which was public property and belonged to the municipality and hence the people - required certain zoning and property laws to be rewritten outright. There was very little outcry, except from those who had been swindled out of what they owned. At the time, too many people were invested, either financially or emotionally, in seeing the war come to an end to care about how the city's future might be made to emerge from the rubble of its past.

Downtown Beirut went from blasted wasteland to massive construction site overnight, with individual lots encircled by steel fences, upon which were digitally rendered images of the buildings that would sprout there, the apartments they would house, and the people who might live there (a vast majority of whom were inexplicably blond). There were also always a few lines of copy richly proclaiming the virtues of these soon-to-be dwellings. Some variation of "exclusive private luxury in the heart of the city" or else "luxurious private exclusivity." Really, the most the copywriters could be bothered with was to scramble the order of these words, occasionally also throwing in promises like "haven" and "retreat" and "elegant" and "singular views."

[...] The holding company's slogan, etched into the hundreds upon hundreds of cement barricades erected to mark the limits of its empire, declared Beirut "an ancient city for the future." A rebranding of the old national myth, one predicated on continuous destruction: Beirut, the phoenix, the city that had been destroyed and rebuilt seven times over the centuries would yet once more rise, glorious and triumphant, from the ash.

Devastation in Beirut:

* 300,000 Lebanese have become homeless
* $3 to 5 billion material lose
* Less than a month of grain in stocks
* Medical stockpiles destroyed, number of hospitals damaged
* 90% of hotels can no longer be used
* More than 100 dead, 4000 wounded

— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) August 5, 2020

The damage in Beirut port is apocalyptic pic.twitter.com/8xWuzCmz1o

— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) August 5, 2020

Warnings by Port Authority left unheeded | Al Jazeera |

The ship's dangerous cargo was then offloaded and placed in Hangar 12 of Beirut port, a large grey structure facing the country's main north-south highway at the main entrance to the capital.

Months later, on June 27, 2014, then-director of Lebanese Customs Shafik Merhi sent a letter addressed to an unnamed "Urgent Matters judge", asking for a solution to the cargo, according to documents shared online.

Customs officials sent at least five more letters over the next three years - on December 5, 2014, May 6, 2015, May 20, 2016, October 13, 2016, and October 27, 2017 - asking for guidance. They proposed three options: Export the ammonium nitrate, hand it over to the Lebanese Army, or sell it to the privately-owned Lebanese Explosives Company.

ممكن حدا يخبرنا مين القاضي العظيم اللي نيم هيدي القضية وليش؟
صراحة شي ببكي على حالنا @MarieClaudeNajm pic.twitter.com/EuPy7loktF

— Wadih AL-ASMAR (@walasmar) August 4, 2020

One letter sent in 2016 noted there had been "no reply" from judges to previous requests.

It pleaded: "In view of the serious danger of keeping these goods in the hangar in unsuitable climatic conditions, we reaffirm our request to please request the marine agency to re-export these goods immediately to preserve the safety of the port and those working in it, or to look into agreeing to sell this amount" to the Lebanese Explosives Company.

Again, there was no reply.

A year later, Badri Daher, the new Lebanese Customs Administration director, wrote to a judge once again.

In the October 27, 2017, letter, Daher urged the judge to come to a decision on the matter in view of "the danger ... of leaving these goods in the place they are, and to those working there".

Beirut Blast Wrap-up | MofA |

In 2013 Lebanese authorities arrested a ship (pdf) that had been abandoned by its owner.

On 23/9/2013, m/v Rhosus, flying the Moldovian flag, sailed from Batumi Port, Georgia heading to Biera in Mozambique carrying 2,750 tons of Ammonium Nitrate in bulk.

...
The ammonium nitrate was stored in a quayside warehouse. The picture shows the 1,000 kilogram big bags labeled "Nitroprill HD" in bad storage conditions at the 'Hanger 12' warehouse in Beirut.

"Nitroprill HD" is a knock-off product of the trademarked Nitropril, a premium grade porous prilled ammonium nitrate manufactured and sold by the Orica Mining Services in Australia. It is used as a commercial explosive in mining and quarrying. The safety sheet of the original product says it "May explode under confinement and high temperature, but not readily detonated. May explode due to nearby detonations."

For me it's highly speculative ... the author has proven excellent sources and he puts his reputation on the line.

Seeking to destroy a Hezbollah arms dépôt in Beirut, Israel accidentally detonated a massive explosives warehouse next door. [_link]

— Tikun Olam (@richards1052) August 5, 2020

If his source within the intelligence community is right, the assumption of "accidentally" causing the secondary massive explosion is incorrect.

Beirut explosion: Lebanon PM laments 'catastrophe' that killed at least 100 and wounded 4,000 - live updates [_link]

— The Guardian (@guardian) August 5, 2020

Whether you call it Vote by Mail or Absentee Voting, in Florida the election system is Safe and Secure, Tried and True. Florida's Voting system has been cleaned up (we defeated Democrats attempts at change), so in Florida I encourage all to request a Ballot & Vote by Mail! #MAGA

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 4, 2020

'We're cursed': shock and despair in Beirut as explosion devastates city [_link]

— The Guardian (@guardian) August 4, 2020

Beirut explosion: more than 50 dead and 2,750 wounded, says Lebanon health ministry

Tik Tok Canada UK Australia New Zealand

Microsoft confirms talks to buy TikTok in U.S. and 4-Eyes allies | CNBC |

President Trump said that he opposed the idea of Microsoft buying TikTok and that he would move to ban the app in the U.S.

The two companies have looked at Microsoft buying TikTok in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

TikTok Planning London HQ

The UK government has reportedly approved allowing Chinese video app TikTok to launch its headquarters in London.

PERRY: #Aurora police torment Black girls and cinch Worst Police Department accolades - Sentinel Colorado [_link] #AuroraCO #AuroraPoliceDepartment #APD #COpolitics #ElijahMcClain #AuroraProtests #BlackLivesMatter #PoliceReform #APD pic.twitter.com/Lgj8t8LIhn

— Sentinel Colorado (@SentinelColo) August 4, 2020

My Statement Regarding my Appointment to Chief of Police of the @AuroraPD. #ThankYouForYourSupport pic.twitter.com/MP5UkiIucV

— Chief Vanessa Wilson (@APDChiefWilson) August 4, 2020

Putin's Apprentice 😎

Dramatic footage captured of the huge blast that ripped through Lebanon's capital, Beirut.

Read more: [_link] pic.twitter.com/oHxrjxyCbm

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) August 4, 2020

As smoke clears, port of Beirut devastated- added to casualties- billons of $ in imports including national wheat silos-seem to have been eviscerated. Homes shattered for miles. Damages will be massive and could not come at worse time when everyone is broke and hungry #Beirut pic.twitter.com/PlUU5IfM99

— Habib Battah (@habib_b) August 4, 2020

Lebanon's capital Beirut shaken by massive explosion -- in pictures [_link] pic.twitter.com/bHYO0gJaSD

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) August 4, 2020

Beirut blast apparently caused by explosive materials seized from ship, stored at port | Times of Israel |

Footage from the massive explosion in Beirut Port, Lebanon pic.twitter.com/bdvzrS05Qf

— Beirut Today (@bey_today) August 4, 2020

Follow us for live updates on the Beirut blast. [_link]

— Timour Azhari (@timourazhari) August 4, 2020