Beautiful Virgin Islands

Sunday, May 10, 2026

The US pledged over $17 million in initial disaster aid for Lebanon after

The United States has pledged over $17 million in initial disaster aid for Lebanon, following Tuesday's Beirut port explosion, the US embassy said on Friday. It said in a statement that the aid included food assistance, medical supplies, and financial assistance for the Lebanese Red Cross. ''Announcements of additional aid and assistance are forthcoming, '' it added.

The explosion killed more than 150 people and injured thousands more, Reuters previously reported. Officials have said the blast was an accident involving 2, 750 tons of ammonium nitrate that was improperly stored in a warehouse. President Donald Trump raised eyebrows earlier this week when he said hours after the attack that he had spoken with ''generals, '' who ''seem to think [the explosion] was an attack.



''But by the next day, Trump had softened on his conclusions about the explosion, telling reporters Wednesday evening, ''whatever happened, it's terrible but they don't really know what it is. ''Lebanese authorities launched an investigation into the cause of the explosion amid reports in the aftermath of the blast said that authorities had been warned about the stock of explosives since it arrived at the port in 2014.

Business Insider's Ryan Pickrell previously reported that the explosion registered as a magnitude 3. 3 earthquake, and experts say it most likely had an explosive yield of several hundred tons of TNT equivalent. Trump spoke with Lebanon's President Michel Aoun on Friday, where he expressed sympathy for the country's recovery from the attack. On a phone call with Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo echoed Trump's offer of sympathy for the country, promising ''our steadfast commitment to assist the Lebanese people as they cope with the aftermath of this terrifying event. ''Lebanese officials unloaded a 'floating bomb' and apparently ignored warnings for years, according to reports.



The deadly explosion that devastated Beirut appears to have been far more powerful than the 'Mother of All Bombs'A video of bride posing in her wedding dress captured the moment a massive explosion tore through Beirut

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
The End of the Old Order [Podcast]
Labour Is No Longer a National Party [Podcast]
Lawyers vs Engineers: Why China Builds While America Litigates [Podcast]
The AI Gold Rush Is Coming for America’s Last Open Spaces [Podcast]
The Pentagon’s AI Squeeze: Eight Tech Giants Get In, Anthropic Gets Shut Out [Podcast]
AI Isn’t Stealing Your Job. It’s Dismantling It Piece by Piece.
Britain’s Democracy Is Now a Costume
Churchill’s Glass: The Drunk, the Doctor, and the Myth Britain Refuses to Sober Up From
The Met Gala Meets the Age of Billionaire Backlash
Russian Oligarch’s Superyacht Crosses Hormuz via Iran-Controlled Route
Gunfire Disrupts White House Correspondents’ Dinner as Trump Is Evacuated
A Leak, a King, and a Fracturing Alliance
Inside the Gates Foundation Turmoil: Layoffs, Scrutiny, and the Cost of Reputational Risk
UK Biobank Breach Exposes Health Data of 500,000, Listed for Sale on Chinese Platform
KPMG Cuts Around 10% of US Audit Partners After Failed Exit Push
French Police Probe Suspected Weather-Data Tampering After Unusual Polymarket Bets on Paris Temperatures
News Roundup
Microsoft lost 2.5 millions users (French government) to Linux
Privacy Problems in Microsoft Windows OS
News roundup
Péter András Magyar and the Strategic Reset of Hungary
Hungary After the Landslide — A Strategic Reset in Europe
Meghan Markle Plans Exclusive Women-Focused Retreat During Australia Visit
Starmer and Trump Hold Strategic Talks on Securing Strait of Hormuz Amid Rising Tensions
Unofficial Australia Visit by Prince Harry and Meghan Expected to Stir Tensions with Royal Circles
×