BEIRUT — A powerful explosion shook a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, sending thick grey smoke billowing over the village, but the cause was not clear. Lebanon's official news agency, NNA, said the explosion in the southern village of Ain Qana, above the port city of Sidon, coincided...
Friday’s Creek Fire Updates: 6% Containment, More Firefighters & Equipment, China Peak Explosion
As the Creek Fire burns over 175,893 acres in Fresno and Madera into its eighth day, the more than 1,600 firefighters on scene have forged 6% containment. That first hard edge on the wildfire has Cal Fire officials expressing cautious optimism about bringing the aggressive blaze under control. “Today was...
Friday’s Creek Fire Updates: Cautious Optimism After 6% Containment; China Peak Explosion
As the Creek Fire burns over 175,893 acres in Fresno and Madera into its eighth day, the more than 1,600 firefighters on scene have forged 6% containment. That first hard edge on the wildfire has Cal Fire officials expressing cautious optimism about bringing the aggressive blaze under control. “Today was...
Diplomat Tapped To Be PM Vows Reforms in Crisis-Hit Lebanon
BEIRUT — Lebanon's prime minister-designate on Monday called for a new government to be formed “in record time,” pledging to speed up the investigation into the massive Beirut explosion and implement reforms after winning the backing of major parties in the crisis-hit country. Mustapha Adib, Lebanon's ambassador to Germany, spoke...
Lebanon’s Cabinet Resigns Over Beirut Blast Amid Public Fury
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s government resigned Monday amid widespread public fury at the country’s ruling elite over last week’s devastating explosion in Beirut. The move risks opening the way to dragged-out negotiations over a new Cabinet amid urgent calls for reform. Prime Minster Hassan Diab headed to the presidential palace to...
Gas Explosion Levels 3 Baltimore Homes; 1 Dead, 1 Trapped
BALTIMORE — A “major gas explosion” completely destroyed three row houses in Baltimore on Monday, killing a woman, injuring several other people and trapping at least one person in the wreckage, firefighters said. At least three dozen firefighters converged on the disaster scene, where the natural gas explosion reduced to...
A Look at Some Deadly Explosions Involving Ammonium Nitrate
The investigation into an explosion in the harbor of Lebanon's port city of Beirut is focusing on how 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive chemical used in fertilizers, came to be stored at the facility for six years, and why nothing was done about it. The explosion Tuesday...
Trump Says Generals Feel Beirut Blast Was Likely an ‘Attack’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said U.S. military generals have told him that they “seem to feel” the massive explosion that rocked Beirut on Tuesday, killing at least 70 people, was a “terrible attack” likely caused by a bomb. Trump was asked why he called it an attack and not...
More Than 135 Killed in Massive Beirut Blast. Search Continues for Victims.
BEIRUT — A massive explosion rocked Beirut on Tuesday, flattening much of the port, damaging buildings across the capital and sending a giant mushroom cloud into the sky. At least 135 people were killed and thousands are injured, with bodies still buried in the rubble, according to news reports. Hours...
Judge Threatens to Force PG&E to Hire More Tree Trimmers
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge on Thursday threatened to force Pacific Gas & Electric to hire more tree trimmers to reduce the chances of its electrical grid igniting fires in Northern California and adhere to a requirement imposed after the utility's natural gas lines blew up a neighborhood a...