Earlier on Saturday, protesters entered the empty buildings of the Foreign Ministry and declared it the headquarters of their protest movement. Others fanned out to enter the Economy and Energy ministries, and some walked away with documents claiming they will reveal the extent of corruption that permeates the government. Some also entered the Environment Ministry. Meanwhile,
...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck and Manuel's rivalry was entering a new and more dangerous phase...
dozens of protesters broke into the banking association headquarters.
Saturday's rally was in response to the devastating explosion at the Port of Beirut on Tuesday that killed nearly 160 people and maimed 6,000, defacing the capital’s coastline. Protesters demanded justice for the victims and wanted to hold the government accountable, complaining that years of corruption and mismanagement have brought about the disaster.
Public anger had already been rising in Leb
...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...before the blast because of an unprecedented financial crisis in which the national currency lost 80% of its value. Banks imposed informal capital controls in a controversial effort to control the collapse of the pound and foreign currency flight. The dire conditions were deepened with rising power cuts and concerns that hospitals were facing severe shortages and financial troubles.