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Huge blast in Beirut just now!
Oh my goodness.
Looks like at least one warehouse by the port went up. Widespread damage from the blast throughout the city.
Looks like lots of minor crackling explosions preceding the big blast. Local media reports fireworks storage. Unclear for now.
Footage of the aftermath. Local Red Cross reporting hundreds injured, authorities asking people to clear the roads.
Reuters live stream of the site of the explosion. Absolute devastation. pscp.tv/w/1DXGyALEjbPGM
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More from @tobiaschneider see all

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Tobias Schneider
@tobiaschneider
Alright, since I have been tweeting mostly about the role of existing European and American sanctions, I feel I should offer some clarity regarding the Caesar Act, which went into force yesterday with the designation of three loyalist businessmen and their respective firms. /1
Caesar has divided even the Syrian opposition. Where past sanctions have mostly sought to limit the Syrian regime's ability to access Western resources for their butchery, Caesar effectively mandates the US employ its economic power deter third parties from engaging Damascus. /2
As a result, most larger companies around the world are likely to refuse any transactions involving the Syrian government (or its banks), effectively cutting off its last remaining sources of foreign currency and crippling any prospect of outside investment for reconstruction. /3
Read 29 tweets
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Tobias Schneider
@tobiaschneider
Just ten days ago, the European Union renewed its sanctions against the Syrian regime and its worst agents. Now, there is going to be a chorus blaming the current collapse on an economic "siege" by the West, demanding measures be lifted. They will be disappointed either way. /1
First, sanctions are unlikely to be lifted in near future. While some policy entrepreneurs keep searching for openings for normalization ("more for more"), the broad policy consensus holds. Nobody's chomping at the bits to send their tax euros to Assad. /2
Why? There are simply few incentives esp few "push" factors. Assad and Putin won the war, so let them chart a path forward then. They thought they had a trump card in the migration and returnees issue. But the "refugee crisis" was half a decade ago. Europe has mostly moved on. /3
Read 25 tweets
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Tobias Schneider
@tobiaschneider
Two years ago today, Syrian helicopters dropped Chlorine bombs on residential areas of Douma, killing at least 43 civilians. Despite rabid disinformation, the detailed @OPCW FFM report on the attack remains the single best account of events of that day: opcw.org/media-centre/n…
The @nytimes visual investigations team also produced a fantastic and very accessible feature on the incident, helping lay readers situate the jarring images of that day in time and place and slowly walking them through the steps of the investigation. nytimes.com/interactive/20…
Our friends at @bellingcat have also been indefatigable: Among the first to cover and correctly assess what had occurred that night as well as going through the works of responding to the myriad wild conspiracy theories that have cropped over the years:
Read 10 tweets

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