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2020 Beirut Explosions
On 4 August 2020, a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the Port of Beirut in the capital city of Lebanon exploded, causing at least 218 deaths, 7,000 injuries, and US$15 billion in property damage, as well as leaving an estimated 300,000 people homeless. A cargo of 2,750 tonnes of the substance (equivalent to around 1.1 kilotons of TNT) had been stored in a warehouse without proper safety measures for the previous six years after having been confiscated by the Lebanese authorities from the abandoned ship . The explosion was preceded by a fire in the same warehouse. As of , an investigation by the Lebanese government is ongoing. The blast was so powerful that it physically shook the whole country of Lebanon. It was felt in Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, and Israel, as well as parts of Europe, and was heard in Cyprus, more than away. It was detected by the United States Geological Survey as a seismic event of magnitude 3.3 and is considered one of the most powerfu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blast Crater
An explosion crater is a type of wikt:crater, crater formed when material is ejected from the surface of the ground by an explosive event at or immediately above or below the surface. A crater is formed by an explosive event through the displacement and ejection of material from the ground. It is typically bowl-shaped. High-pressure gas and shock waves cause three processes responsible for the creation of the crater: * Plastic deformation of the ground. * Projection of material (ejecta) from the ground by the explosion. * Spallation of the ground surface. Two processes partially fill the crater back in: * Fall-back of ejecta. * Erosion and landslides of the crater lip and wall.P. W. Cooper. ''Explosives Engineering''. Wiley-VCH. The relative importance of the five processes varies, depending on the height above or depth below the ground surface at which the explosion occurs and on the composition of the ground. Examples One of the largest explosion craters in Germany is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prime Minister Of Lebanon
The Prime Minister of Lebanon, officially the President of the Council of Ministers, is the head of government and the head of the Council of Ministers of Lebanon. The Prime Minister is appointed by the president of Lebanon, with the consent of the plurality of the members of the Parliament of Lebanon (after the Taif Agreement, 1990). By convention, the office holder is always a Sunni Muslim. The current prime minister is Najib Mikati, having taken office on 10 September 2021. Mikati became prime minister 13 months after Hassan Diab resigned on 10 August 2020 serving as caretaker prime minister until Mikati took over. On July 26, 2021, New York Times among other newspapers, reported that "...billionaire telecoms tycoon, Najib Mikati, was appointed Monday to form Lebanon’s next government ... Mr. Mikati, 65, is the third politician delegated by the Parliament to form a government since the huge explosion nearly a year ago in the port of Beirut that killed more than 200 people ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yousef Beidas
Yousef Beidas ( ar, يوسف بيدس, also transliterated Yusif Bedas, Yusef Baydas, Yousif Beydas) (December 1912 - 28 November 1968) was a banker born to a Palestinian father and a Lebanese Beirut-born mother. Known as "The Genius from Jerusalem" and the founder and Chairman of Intra Bank headquartered in Lebanon, he was a central figure in one of the Middle East's financial success stories and later one of its most disastrous financial collapses. Until his final days, Beidas claimed he was victim of 'a well-planned conspiracy'. Early life Born in Jerusalem, Palestine (region) under Ottoman rule, Beidas was the son of Palestinian author and scholar Khalil Beidas and a Lebanese mother. In Mandatory Palestine he enjoyed a brilliant and precocious career. He was appointed the director of the exchange section of the Palestinian branch of Barclay's Bank at 21 years of age, and rose to be manager of the Arab Bank by the end of World War 2. Having fled Palestine in 1948 with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grain Elevator
A grain elevator is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lower level and deposits it in a silo or other storage facility. In most cases, the term "grain elevator" also describes the entire elevator complex, including receiving and testing offices, weighbridges, and storage facilities. It may also mean organizations that operate or control several individual elevators, in different locations. In Australia, the term describes only the lifting mechanism. Before the advent of the grain elevator, grain was usually handled in bags rather than in bulk (large quantities of loose grain). Dart's Elevator was a major innovation. It was invented by Joseph Dart, a merchant, and Robert Dunbar, an engineer, in 1842 and 1843, in Buffalo, New York. Using the steam-powered flour mills of Oliver Evans as their model, they invented th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quays
A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring locations), and may also include piers, warehouses, or other facilities necessary for handling the ships. Wharves are often considered to be a series of docks at which boats are stationed. Overview A wharf commonly comprises a fixed platform, often on pilings. Commercial ports may have warehouses that serve as interim storage: where it is sufficient a single wharf with a single berth constructed along the land adjacent to the water is normally used; where there is a need for more capacity multiple wharves, or perhaps a single large wharf with multiple berths, will instead be constructed, sometimes projecting over the water. A pier, raised over the water rather than within it, is commonly used for cases where the weight or volume of cargos will b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beirut Naval Base
Beirut Naval Base ( ar, قاعدة بيروت البحرية, translit=Kaidat Beirut al Bahriyah) is the first naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that us ... and the headquarters of the Lebanese Navy, established in 1950. The base comprises a part of Port of Beirut, and was affected by the massive ammonium nitrate explosion on 4 August 2020. References {{coord, 33.9017, N, 35.5094, E, source:wikidata-and-enwiki-cat-tree_region:LB, display=title Ports and harbors of Lebanon Lebanese Navy bases Ports and harbours of the Arab League ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rafik Hariri University Hospital
The Rafik Hariri University Hospital ( ar, مستشفى رفيق الحريري الجامعي, RHUH) – formerly known as Beirut Governmental University Hospital (BGUH) – is the largest Lebanese public hospital, located on the outskirts of southern Beirut. The hospital's main building has a maximal capacity of 544 hospital beds; it comprises a total of seven floors with three annex buildings a 50 bed hotel and four villas hosting staff dormitories, outpatient clinics and administrative services. The hospital is affiliated with the Lebanese University. History On February 2, 1979, the Lebanese government decided to build a governmental hospital with a 500-bed capacity on a publicly owned property in Bir Hassan, Beirut. The decision was based on technical studies made by the minister of Health and the Minister of Public Works and Transportation. Due to the advent of the Lebanese civil war, which significantly weakened the public health care sector, the construction project had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
COVID-19 Pandemic In Lebanon
The COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon is a part of the ongoing worldwide Coronavirus pandemic (), which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have reached Lebanon in February 2020. Background On the 12th of January, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, who had initially come to the attention of the WHO on 31 December 2019. COVID-19 is transmitted through little droplets carrying the virus. These droplets can enter the body through the eyes, mouth, or nose, and they might contaminate surfaces. Unlike SARS of 2003, the case fatality rate for COVID-19 has been much lower, but the transmission has been significantly greater with a significant total death toll. Lebanon was successful in handling the pandemic during its beginning, having reported between 0 and 100 daily cases from 15 March 2020 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lebanese Pound
The pound or lira ( ar, ليرة لبنانية ''līra Libnāniyya''; French: ''livre libanaise''; abbreviation: LL in Latin, in Arabic, historically also £L, ISO code: LBP) is the currency of Lebanon. It was formerly divided into 100 piastres (or ''qirsh'' in Arabic) but because of high inflation during the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990) the use of subunits was discontinued. The plural form of lira, as used in relation to the currency, is either ''lirat'' (ليرات ''līrāt'') or invariant, whilst there were four forms for ''qirsh'': the dual ''qirshān'' (قرشان) used with number 2, the plural ''qurush'' (قروش) used with numbers 3–10, the accusative singular ''qirshan'' (قرشا) used with 11–99, and the genitive singular ''qirshi'' (قرش) used with multiples of 100. The number determines which plural form is used. Before World War II, the Arabic spelling of the subdivision was غرش (''girsh''). All of Lebanon's coins and banknotes are bilingual in A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Default (finance)
In finance, default is failure to meet the legal obligations (or conditions) of a loan, for example when a home buyer fails to make a mortgage payment, or when a corporation or government fails to pay a bond which has reached maturity. A national or sovereign default is the failure or refusal of a government to repay its national debt. The biggest private default in history is Lehman Brothers, with over $600 billion when it filed for bankruptcy in 2008. The biggest sovereign default is Greece, with $138 billion in March 2012. Distinction from insolvency, illiquidity and bankruptcy The term "default" should be distinguished from the terms "insolvency", illiquidity and " bankruptcy": * Default: Debtors have been passed behind the payment deadline on a debt whose payment was due. * Illiquidity: Debtors have insufficient cash (or other "liquefiable" assets) to pay debts. * Insolvency: A legal term meaning debtors are unable to pay their debts. * Bankruptcy: A legal finding tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Politics Of Lebanon
Lebanon is a parliamentary democratic republic within the overall framework of confessionalism, a form of consociationalism in which the highest offices are proportionately reserved for representatives from certain religious communities. The constitution of Lebanon grants the people the right to change their government. However, from the mid-1970s until the parliamentary elections in 1992, the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990) precluded the exercise of political rights. According to the constitution, direct elections must be held for the parliament every four years, however after the parliamentary election in 2009 another election was not held until 2018. The Parliament, in turn, elects a President every 6 years to a single term. The President is not eligible for re-election. The last presidential election was in 2016. The president and parliament choose the Prime Minister. Political parties may be formed; most are based on sectarian interests. 2008 saw a new twist to Lebane ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lebanese Liquidity Crisis
The Lebanese liquidity crisis is an ongoing financial crisis affecting Lebanon, that became fully apparent in August 2019, and was further exacerbated by both the COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon (which began in 2020) and the 2020 Beirut port explosion. The roots of the crisis run deep and the country experienced liquidity shortages in the years prior to 2019 but the full extent of the fragility of the economy were concealed by the financial engineering of the governor of the central bank. Lebanon's crisis was worsened by U.S. sanctions targeting Syria's government and Iran-backed Hezbollah. Background Since 1997, the Lebanese pound has been pegged to the U.S. dollar at a rate of £L1,507.5 per US$1. The stability of the pound has been the cornerstone of the Lebanese central bank policy for over two decades. It was meant to bring about much-needed stability to the country after a severe devaluation of the Lebanese pound following the end of the Lebanese Civil War. Lebanon's post-wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
