Beirut Explosion: UK pledges another £20 million aid

The UK is set to escalate its involvement in Lebanon following the Beirut port explosion on August 04 which devastated large swathes of the Lebanese capital.

Taking to Twitter, Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, pledged £20 million in aid to Lebanon ostensibly to “help the most vulnerable”. 

The UK is committed to supporting the Lebanese people after the explosion in Beirut, and we are pledging another £20m to help the most vulnerable ????

Thank you @EmmanuelMacron and @AminaJMohammed for convening today's virtual conference on the crisis in Lebanon.

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) August 9, 2020

According to the government, the funds will be directly allocated to those “injured and displaced by the explosion” by providing “access to food and medicine as well as other urgent supplies”.

The latest offer of aid is on top of the £5 million so-called “emergency relief effort” which the UK pledged immediately after the explosion which killed nearly 160 people, injured more than 5,000 and left up to 300,000 people homeless.

In the immediate aftermath of the explosion the UK also announced it will send the Royal Navy survey ship HMS Enterprise to the port of Beirut as part of a “wide-ranging package of military support”.

The British government’s decision to escalate its involvement in Lebanon comes in the wake of French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Beirut on August 06 where he blatantly interfered in Lebanon’s internal affairs by calling for the overhaul of the country’s political system.

As part of a broader effort to enhance Britain’s profile in Lebanon, Johnson spoke with the Lebanese President, Michel Aoun, in a phone call yesterday (August 08) where he reportedly said the UK would “stand by the country [Lebanon] in its hour of need”.

 

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Imran khan thanks nation for participating in tree plantation drive

Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has thanked all those who came out on his call to participate in the tree plantation drive on Sunday across the country.

PM Imran in his tweet said: “From Lower Dir to all parts of the country; from Tigers and youth to the elderly; all came out in huge numbers to plant trees.”

“I want to thank everyone who responded to my call to plant a tree today,” PM Imran added.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday had launched a record-breaking plantation drive in the country on the Tiger Force Day saying keeping Pakistan green was the responsibility of all citizens.

The prime minister planted a sapling in Islamabad during an event and lauded the Tiger Force for planting a record-breaking 3.5 million saplings in a day across the country.

 

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Independence Day preparations continue in full swing across country

As Azadi festivities are gaining momentum, the sale of Independence Day-related items including national flags, buntings, badges, dresses, and other decorations.

At makeshift stalls has reached its peak across the country to attract patriotic customers, especially kids.

Shopkeepers and footpath vendors have set up their temporary stalls where people are seen in crowds busy in buying things at cheaper rates.

According to roadside vendors, the most enthusiastic are the children who are busy in collecting badges and also beautifying their bicycles with special stickers inscribed with messages of Independence Day.

A vendor at Islamabad's G-7 road while talking to APP said the demand for the national flag and badges was on the rise as August 14 is getting nearer, adding that most of the motorists were buying flags to hoist on their cars.

Another seller in G-10 Markaz commented that like every year, this year too vendors at their stalls on footpaths were doing a roaring business, trying to sell whatever they had as the entire inventory would go waste on August 15.

A motorist, Arslan Ali, said along with the sale of the national flag, the sale of green and white dresses was also popular among the citizens.

A buyer said, “We are coming to footpath stalls for Independence Day shopping as the prices of items are cheap here compared to shops and malls.”

On the other hand, booksellers and shopkeepers say stickers and hand-held stickers are also in high demand this year.

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Beirut Explosion: UK pledges another £20 million aid

The UK is set to escalate its involvement in Lebanon following the Beirut port explosion on August 04 which devastated large swathes of the Lebanese capital.

Taking to Twitter, Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, pledged £20 million in aid to Lebanon ostensibly to “help the most vulnerable”. 

The UK is committed to supporting the Lebanese people after the explosion in Beirut, and we are pledging another £20m to help the most vulnerable ????

Thank you @EmmanuelMacron and @AminaJMohammed for convening today's virtual conference on the crisis in Lebanon.

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) August 9, 2020

According to the government, the funds will be directly allocated to those “injured and displaced by the explosion” by providing “access to food and medicine as well as other urgent supplies”.

The latest offer of aid is on top of the £5 million so-called “emergency relief effort” which the UK pledged immediately after the explosion which killed nearly 160 people, injured more than 5,000 and left up to 300,000 people homeless.

In the immediate aftermath of the explosion the UK also announced it will send the Royal Navy survey ship HMS Enterprise to the port of Beirut as part of a “wide-ranging package of military support”.

The British government’s decision to escalate its involvement in Lebanon comes in the wake of French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Beirut on August 06 where he blatantly interfered in Lebanon’s internal affairs by calling for the overhaul of the country’s political system.

As part of a broader effort to enhance Britain’s profile in Lebanon, Johnson spoke with the Lebanese President, Michel Aoun, in a phone call yesterday (August 08) where he reportedly said the UK would “stand by the country [Lebanon] in its hour of need”.

 

from latest-news - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/30H4P7Q

Imran khan thanks nation for participating in tree plantation drive

Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has thanked all those who came out on his call to participate in the tree plantation drive on Sunday across the country.

PM Imran in his tweet said: “From Lower Dir to all parts of the country; from Tigers and youth to the elderly; all came out in huge numbers to plant trees.”

“I want to thank everyone who responded to my call to plant a tree today,” PM Imran added.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday had launched a record-breaking plantation drive in the country on the Tiger Force Day saying keeping Pakistan green was the responsibility of all citizens.

The prime minister planted a sapling in Islamabad during an event and lauded the Tiger Force for planting a record-breaking 3.5 million saplings in a day across the country.

 

from latest-news - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/2DsQ3Jq

Independence Day preparations continue in full swing across country

As Azadi festivities are gaining momentum, the sale of Independence Day-related items including national flags, buntings, badges, dresses, and other decorations.

At makeshift stalls has reached its peak across the country to attract patriotic customers, especially kids.

Shopkeepers and footpath vendors have set up their temporary stalls where people are seen in crowds busy in buying things at cheaper rates.

According to roadside vendors, the most enthusiastic are the children who are busy in collecting badges and also beautifying their bicycles with special stickers inscribed with messages of Independence Day.

A vendor at Islamabad's G-7 road while talking to APP said the demand for the national flag and badges was on the rise as August 14 is getting nearer, adding that most of the motorists were buying flags to hoist on their cars.

Another seller in G-10 Markaz commented that like every year, this year too vendors at their stalls on footpaths were doing a roaring business, trying to sell whatever they had as the entire inventory would go waste on August 15.

A motorist, Arslan Ali, said along with the sale of the national flag, the sale of green and white dresses was also popular among the citizens.

A buyer said, “We are coming to footpath stalls for Independence Day shopping as the prices of items are cheap here compared to shops and malls.”

On the other hand, booksellers and shopkeepers say stickers and hand-held stickers are also in high demand this year.

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Lebanon: Information minister resigns after Beirut blast

Lebanon's information minister Manal Abdel Samad on Sunday resigned, becoming the first person from the government to resign since a deadly blast in Beirut killed more than 150 people and injured more than 5,000.

"After the enormous Beirut catastrophe, I announce my resignation from government," she said in a statement carried by local media, apologising to the Lebanese public for failing them.

The head of Lebanon's Maronite church meanwhile called on the entire government to step down over the August 4 explosion, a blast widely seen as shocking proof of the rot at the core of the state apparatus.

Lebanese protesters enraged by the blast vowed to rally again after a night of street clashes in which they stormed several ministries.

Maronite patriarch Beshara Rai joined the chorus of people pressing Prime Minister Hassan Diab's cabinet to step down over a blast he said could be "described as a crime against humanity."

"It is not enough for a lawmaker to resign here or a minister to resign there," Rai said in a Sunday sermon.

"It is necessary, out of sensitivity to the feelings of the Lebanese and the immense responsibility required, for the entire government to resign, because it is incapable of moving the country forward."

Rai echoed calls by Diab for early parliamentary polls — a long-standing demand of a protest movement that began in October, demanding the removal of a policial class deemed inept and corrupt.

He also joined world leaders, international organisations and the angry Lebanese public by pressing for an international probe into an explosion authorities say was triggered by a fire in a port warehouse, where a huge shipment of hazardous ammonium nitrate had languished for years.

President Michel Aoun on Friday rejected calls for an international investigation, which he said would "dilute the truth."

At least six lawmakers have quit since the explosion.

Under increased pressure from the street and foreign partners exasperated by the leadership's inability to enact reforms, Diab's government is fraying at the edges.

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