Beirut police fire tear gas as protesters regroup: Live updates | Lebanon News

• Lebanese police fire tear gas to try to disperse dispersed protesters who scattered a road near the parliament in Beirut on Sunday in a second day of anti-government demonstrations, sparked by last week’s devastating explosion.

• International leaders take part in a virtual donor conference led by France and the United Nations in the wake of the devastating explosion at the port of Beirut, pledging nearly $ 300 million in humanitarian aid “delivered directly to” the Lebanese population “.
• US President Donald Trump has announced that the US will provide “substantial” assistance Lebanon, although he did not indicate how much.

• The International Monetary Fund said it was ready to redouble efforts to help Lebanon after the devastating explosion that hit Beirut, but said all the country’s institutions needed to show readiness to carry out reform.

• Lebanon Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad announced her resignation, saying that the government of Prime Minister Hassan Diab had failed to fulfill the people’s ambitions. Shortly afterwards, Environment Minister Damianos Kattar resigned.

• At least 158 ​​people were killed in Tuesday’s blast and more than 6,000 others were injured.

Here are the latest updates:

Monday, August 10th

04:20 GMT – Nine Lebanese MPs dismiss two ministers

Nine MPs and two ministers have so far resigned from their positions in Lebanon, according to an Al Jazeera census.

Manal Abdel Samad, the information minister, and Damianos Kattar, the environment minister, were fired at their post on Sunday as the government came under heavy pressure following the deadly explosion in Beirut on Tuesday.

So far, 9 MPs and 2 ministers have been fired since #Beirut blasts, #Lebanon

Second Chamber Members:
Marwan Hamadeh
Paula Yaacoubian
Nadim Gemayel
Samy Gemayel
Elias Hankash
Neemat Ephrem
Michel Moawad
Dima Jamali
Henry Helou

Ministers:
Manal Abdel Samad, information
Damianos Cats, Environment

– Saad (@SaadAbedine) August 9, 2020

04:04 GMT – Beirut blast causes 43 meters deep crater

The enormous explosions that hit Beirut of the Lebanese capital and claimed 158 lives left a crater 43 meters deep at the site, according to local reports.

The blast occurred near the port of Beirut and also injured more than 6,000 people, destroying a large granary and destroying about half of the buildings in the city. The enormous crater is located near the destroyed granary, filled with seawater.

02:15 GMT – Trump promises ‘substantial’ aid to Lebanon

US President Donald Trump has promised that his administration will provide “substantial” assistance to Lebanon, although he did not give details.

“On a humanitarian basis, we have to do it. We have to do it. It’s you white, you can almost tell how a country survives such a tragedy? This was at a level that people there, they said, at a level that we still never seen before. “

An emergency donors’ conference on Sunday raised nearly $ 253 million ($ 298 million) in funds for immediate humanitarian relief.

02:05 GMT – Beirut governor says many bodies have not yet been identified from port explosion

Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud has said several foreign workers and truck drivers remain missing after the massive explosion and are believed to be dead.

In an interview with TV station Al Jadeed, Abboud added that many of the dead from the blast have not yet been identified, and that it may take time to complete the identification of the remains.

According to reports, an estimated 45 of the more than 158 people confirmed killed in the blast were Syrian citizens working in the service sector in the country.

Sunday, August 9th

20:37 GMT – IMF chief renews call for reform

Kristalina Georgieva, the head of the International Monetary Fund, warned Lebanon again that it would not receive any loans from the institution unless it reformed its government.

“Current and future generations of Lebanese should not be left with more debt than they can ever pay,” she said during the planned conference.

She therefore said that the IMF “requires debt sustainability as a condition of lending”, adding that “the financial system must be solvent,”.

19:32 GMT – Environment Minister resigns

Environment Minister Damianos Kattar said in a statement that he had resigned, becoming the second minister to stop the explosion.

“In light of the enormous catastrophe … I have decided to surrender my resignation from the government,” Kattar said, adding that he had lost hope in a “sterile regime that clashed several opportunities.”

19:21 GMT – Will explosion cause humanitarian disaster?

Lebanon was in a dire state even before the enormous explosion that devastated many of Beirut.

The government is bankrupt, the currency is almost worthless and millions of Lebanese are unemployed. The explosion made matters worse by destroying the main port for a nation that was heavily dependent on food imports.

Some 300,000 homeless people in Beirut have not received much help from the government. Lebanon is also home to 1.5 million Syrian refugees.

How will aid organizations tackle the challenge?

Learn more here or see Inside Story below.

18:14 GM – Aid-top raises $ 300 million to give ‘directly’ to people

A host of nations has pledged nearly $ 300 million in humanitarian assistance to Lebanon at a conference focused on international support for the crisis-stricken country.

The sums will be implemented by the UN, international organizations and NGOs, instead of the Lebanese government – in line with the demands of large swaths of the Lebanese public, who fear that the funds will be lost to corruption.

Read more here.

16:07 GMT – Protesters throw stones at police on second day of protests

Protesters threw rocks at security forces blocking a road near the Lebanese parliament in a second day of protests against the government.

Reuters News Agency reported that hundreds of converts took to a main square, where thousands of Lebanese protested on Saturday against a political elite they blamed for the country’s economic and political misery.

“We want to destroy and assassinate the government. They did not give us jobs or rights,” said Nissan Ghrawi, a 19-year-old demonstrator of the unemployed.

On Saturday, more than 700 protesters were injured in clashes with insurgent police who used tear gas and live ammunition in an attempt to disperse crowds.