Lebanon's Justice Minister, Marie Claude Najm (left), has resigned following the Beirut blast. Reuters
Lebanon's Justice Minister, Marie Claude Najm (left), has resigned following the Beirut blast. Reuters
Lebanon's Justice Minister, Marie Claude Najm (left), has resigned following the Beirut blast. Reuters
Lebanon's Justice Minister, Marie Claude Najm (left), has resigned following the Beirut blast. Reuters

Beirut explosion: two more ministers walk as Lebanese government on brink


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Lebanese Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni and Justice Minister Marie Claude Najm resigned on Monday, becoming the latest ministers to quit after the catastrophic explosion at the port of Beirut.

The pair, who resigned separately, followed Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad and Environment Minister Damianos Kattar, who walked out on Sunday.

Ms Najm's exit was anticipated as she has been a vocal supporter of protesters who demanded change in last year's uprising.

She was accosted on the street of Beirut last week by volunteers cleaning up from the disaster who chanted "revolution" and demanded her resignation.

Mr Wazni, put forward by Speaker Nabih Berri, was a former advisor to the parliament budget and finance committee.

So far four ministers have resigned and are yet to be replaced. If there are seven resigned ministers in Cabinet it will collapse.

Lebanon’s Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni resigned in the wake of the Beirut blast. Reuters, file
Lebanon’s Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni resigned in the wake of the Beirut blast. Reuters, file

Anger in the wake of the blast has brought people back to the streets on Beirut, months after a nationwide uprising in October.

Lebanese police used teargas to try to disperse rock-throwing protesters blocking a road near parliament in Beirut on Sunday in the second day of anti-government demonstrations.

Tuesday's explosion of more than 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate killed 158 people and injured more than 6,000, compounding months of political and economic collapse and prompting calls for the government to quit.

A number of members of parliament have also quit and the country's senior Christian Maronite cleric, Patriarch Bechara Boutros Rai, said the Cabinet should resign as it cannot "change the way it governs".

"The resignation of an MP or a minister is not enough. The whole government should resign as it is unable to help the country recover," he said in his Sunday sermon.

Europa League group stage draw

Group A: Villarreal, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Astana, Slavia Prague.
Group B: Dynamo Kiev, Young Boys, Partizan Belgrade, Skenderbeu.
Group C: Sporting Braga, Ludogorets, Hoffenheim, Istanbul Basaksehir.
Group D: AC Milan, Austria Vienna , Rijeka, AEK Athens.
Group E: Lyon, Everton, Atalanta, Apollon Limassol.
Group F: FC Copenhagen, Lokomotiv Moscow, Sheriff Tiraspol, FC Zlin.
Group G: Vitoria Plzen, Steaua Bucarest, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, FC Lugano.
Group H: Arsenal, BATE Borisov, Cologne, Red Star Belgrade.
Group I: Salzburg, Marseille, Vitoria Guimaraes, Konyaspor.
Group J: Athletic Bilbao, Hertha Berlin, Zorya Luhansk, Ostersund.
Group K: Lazio, Nice, Zulte Waregem, Vitesse Arnhem.
Group L: Zenit St Petersburg, Real Sociedad, Rosenborg, Vardar

Managing the separation process

  • Choose your nursery carefully in the first place
  • Relax – and hopefully your child will follow suit
  • Inform the staff in advance of your child’s likes and dislikes.
  • If you need some extra time to talk to the teachers, make an appointment a few days in advance, rather than attempting to chat on your child’s first day
  • The longer you stay, the more upset your child will become. As difficult as it is, walk away. Say a proper goodbye and reassure your child that you will be back
  • Be patient. Your child might love it one day and hate it the next
  • Stick at it. Don’t give up after the first day or week. It takes time for children to settle into a new routine.And, finally, don’t feel guilty.  
UK-EU trade at a glance

EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years

Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
SHAITTAN
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Company profile

Date started: January, 2014

Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe

Based: Dubai

Sector: Education technology

Size: Five employees

Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.

Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)

Profile

Company: Justmop.com

Date started: December 2015

Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan

Sector: Technology and home services

Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai

Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month

Funding:  The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups. 

The biog

Hometown: Cairo

Age: 37

Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror

Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing

Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition