The Guardian View on the Beirut Blast: A Tragedy within a Crisis

THE GUARDIAN: The world owes solidarity to a people exhausted by decades of corrupt and negligent government

Beirut has come to know the sound of explosions too well in its recent past, but none looked or felt like the blast that laid waste central districts of the city on Tuesday. The devastation is on a scale more usually wrought by earthquakes. The port at the heart of the Lebanese capital was annihilated. Shock waves ripped the facades from every building in neighbouring districts – and behind every shattered window are shattered lives. There are not enough hospital beds or a reliable supply of electricity. Infrastructure for storing and importing many of the city’s essential goods has been destroyed, making scarcity of food an imminent threat. A vast crater at the site of the detonation scars the coastline, but deeper still are the wounds to a nation that was already reeling from economic crisis, debilitated by pandemic and weary from political chaos and corruption. » | Editorial | Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Juan Carlos Has Fled Spain, But Questions Over His Past Will Follow Him

THE GUARDIAN: The immunity once afforded the former Spanish king won’t protect him any more against allegations of graft and fraud

For the past century and a half, job security has not been part of the Spanish monarchy’s experience. When former king Juan Carlos announced that he was packing his bags and heading into a form of exile on Monday, he was really following a family tradition.

No one would be more aware of that than 82-year-old Juan Carlos himself, who was born in exile and – reportedly – in relative impecunity (by royal standards) after his grandfather Alfonso XIII fled the country in the face of popular revolt in 1931.

It took General Francisco Franco, who came to power with the help of Hitler and Mussolini after turning a failed coup into the Spanish civil war in 1936, to restore the monarchy. But this only came after a vengeful Franco had himself ruled with absolute power, while violently suppressing democrats and making liberal use of death sentences, for almost four decades.

To secure the restoration, Juan Carlos had first to suck up to Franco, agree that the proper heir to the crown (his own father, Don Juan) should be leapfrogged, and then wait patiently for the dictator to die. When that finally happened in 1975, Juan Carlos received a dictator’s powers – and refused to criticise his predecessor as head of state. » | Giles Tremlett | Wednesday, August 5, 2020

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Beirut Explosion Destruction Captured in Drone Footage

Aerial video captures the devastating impact of the explosion that left dozens dead and thousands injured in the Lebanese capital. The full scale of the blast is yet to be felt as rescue efforts continued the morning after the explosion flattened much of the city's port

Spaniens Ex-König Juan Carlos: Flucht in die Karibik? | DW Nachrichten

Der ehemalige spanischer König Juan Carlos ist ins Ausland geflüchtet. Einst hoch angesehen bei vielen Spaniern, ist der frühere Monarch des Landes, Juan Carlos, durch zahlreiche Affären und Skandale ins Zwielicht geraten. Bedrängt von Justizermittlungen und Korruptionsverdacht, hat sich der 82-Jährige nun ins Ausland abgesetzt.

Gustav Mahler - Adagietto | Gustavo Dudamel

Gustav Mahler - Adagietto. Sehr langsam. Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor, 1901-02. Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, Gustavo Dudamel. Live Recording, 2015

Poor and Desperate, Pakistani Hindus Accept Islam to Get By

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Drawn by jobs or land offered by Muslim groups, some Hindus, facing discrimination and a virus-ravaged economy, are essentially converting to survive.

The Hindus performed the prayer rituals awkwardly in supplication to their new, single god, as they prepared to leave their many deities behind them. Their lips stumbled over Arabic phrases that, once recited, would seal their conversion to Islam. The last words uttered, the men and boys were then circumcised.

Dozens of Hindu families converted in June in the Badin district of Sindh Province in southern Pakistan. Video clips of the ceremony went viral across the country, delighting hard-line Muslims and weighing on Pakistan’s dwindling Hindu minority.

The mass ceremony was the latest in what is a growing number of such conversions to Pakistan’s majority Muslim faith in recent years — although precise data is scarce. Some of these conversions are voluntary, some not. » | Maria Abi-Habib and Zia ur-Rehman | Tuesday, August 4, 2020

Huge Explosion Rocks Beirut with Widespread Damage and Injuries | ITV News

Ivanka and Jared Pocket Millions from Massive Conflicts of Interest

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner managed to pocket a staggering $36 million in 2019, in spite of the fact that they are just simple White House advisers. This information was released late Friday evening in a financial disclosure form that the couple was hoping would be buried in the news cycle. But the massive conflicts of interest of the two cannot be ignored, as Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins explains.

Is everyone, absolutely everyone, at the top corrupt these days? – Mark

Spain Puzzles over Ex-King Juan Carlos's Whereabouts – BBC News

Former Spanish King Juan Carlos 'Leaves Spain' amid Corruption Investigations | DW News

Spain's former king Juan Carlos has left the country amid allegations of corruption. There are reports he is in the Dominican Republic, though no official announcement has been made. Prosecutors have long been investigating Juan Carlos. The longtime monarch is facing accusations he took a kickback from Saudi Arabia when Spanish companies won a contract to build a railway between Mecca and Medina. The King's former lover - Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein - is suspected to have received the bribe money.

Trump Lies to Save . . . Himself – with Dr. Justin A. Frank

Why is Donald Trump trying to destroy anything which is to do with his father. And father means the Fathers of our country as well. He wants to destroy our belief systems. Dr. Justin A. Frank take a look at why.

Trump: Tinpot Dictator? With Noam Chomsky

Is there a move towards fascism in the US? The Democrats are split, but it is the Republicans have gone way off the spectrum toward neo-fascism. Professor Noam Chomsky explains why.

Ex-King Juan Carlos Leaves Spain amid Corruption Allegations

Spain's former king Juan Carlos has left the country as criminal prosecutors investigate allegations of corruption. He has been accused of receiving a $100m gift from the late Saudi king for backing a high-speed rail contract. The move has reignited debate about the role of the monarchy in Spain.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Juan Carlos, Spain’s Former King, Quits Country Amid Multiple Investigations »

Former Pope Benedict XVI Reported to Be Seriously Ill

THE GUARDIAN: Ex-pontiff, 93, has shingles after being in poor health for some time, says German newspaper

The former pope Benedict XVI, the first pontiff in 600 years to resign instead of ruling for life, is seriously ill, a German newspaper has reported.

The newspaper, Passauer Neue Presse, cited Benedict’s biographer, the German author Peter Seewald, who met the 93-year-old emeritus pope at the Vatican on Saturday.

A Vatican spokesperson did not comment on the report and the former pope’s personal secretary, the archbishop Georg Gänswein, did not immediately return a call asking for comment.

Seewald said Benedict, who has been in poor health for some time, was now suffering from shingles, a viral infection that causes painful rashes and is common among older people. » | Reuters | Monday, August 3, 2020

Fareed: Trump Thinks the Essence of His Job Is Public Relations

CNN's Fareed Zakaria gives his take on the importance and limitations of presidential power.

Don't Eat before Finding out What Trump's USDA Just Did! (w/ Tony Corbo)

In a disgusting move, Donald Trump's Department of Agriculture (USAD ) is siding with major food production companies against consumers, by allowing cancerous, virus infected chicken on your dinner plate!

Brexiteers, enjoy your American chicken going forward! Not only is it chlorinated; but can it can give you cancer, too? – Mark

Rod Stewart: You Wear It Well

Velshi: The Gap between America’s Richest and Poorest Has Only Grown During the Pandemic | MSNBC

MSNBC’s Ali Velshi explains how recessions enrich the wealthiest while driving working class Americans into poverty.

Thousands Demonstrate against Netanyahu as Israel Protests Gain Strength

THE GUARDIAN: Crowds protest against alleged corruption and PM’s handling of coronavirus crisis

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets outside Benjamin Netanyahu’s house over the weekend in what appeared to be the largest protest to date calling for the embattled Israeli prime minister to resign.

Rallies on Saturday night and into the early hours of Sunday morning were held in Jerusalem, home to the official residence of the 70-year-old leader, as well as his beach house in central Israel, near Tel Aviv, and at dozens of road intersections across the country.

Throughout the summer, Israelis have packed roads and squares calling for Netanyahu to resign, protesting against his government’s handling of the country’s coronavirus crisis and charges of alleged corruption.

At a cabinet meeting on Sunday, the visibly frustrated leader accused what he said was a “one-sided” news media of supporting the movement against him. » | Oliver Holmes | Sunday, August 2, 2020