The video discusses the catastrophic event in Beirut, which resulted in a massive explosion at the port, devastating infrastructure, and lives. The explosion centered around a large quantity of ammonium nitrate stored irresponsibly, leading to loss of life and massive damage. The narrative traces back to the questionable origins of the shipment and subsequent negligence by Lebanese officials over several years.

The urgency for reforms and accountability in Lebanon's governance is highlighted amid growing despair among citizens. The government has faced criticisms for negligence, ineffectual leadership, and systemic corruption. The call for international aid and potential reforms to address Lebanon's critical needs in food security and governance are pressing.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. catastrophe [kəˈtæstrəfi] - (noun) - An event causing great and often sudden damage or suffering; a disaster - Synonyms: (disaster, calamity, devastation)

The catastrophe killed an as yet unknown number and wrecked thousands of homes.

2. volatility [ˌvɑːləˈtɪləti] - (noun) - Liability to change rapidly and unpredictably, especially for the worse - Synonyms: (instability, fluctuation, unpredictability)

Realizing the volatility of the cargo, Lebanese customs impounded the ammonium nitrate and ship.

3. microcosm [ˈmaɪkrəˌkɑːzəm] - (noun) - A community, place, or situation regarded as encapsulating in miniature the characteristic qualities or features of something much larger - Synonyms: (miniature model, little world, epitome)

The port itself, which is essentially a microcosm of the way Lebanon is structured.

4. seismic [ˈsaɪzmɪk] - (adjective) - Relating to earthquakes or other vibrations of the earth and its crust; enormous or highly significant in effect - Synonyms: (earthshaking, tectonic, groundbreaking)

Detonating thousands of tons of explosive, produced a seismic event.

5. armageddon [ˌɑːrməˈɡɛdən] - (noun) - A dramatic and catastrophic conflict, typically seen as likely to destroy the world or the human race - Synonyms: (cataclysm, apocalypse, annihilation)

Fighting Covid and staving off an economic armageddon.

6. impunity [ɪmˈpjuːnɪti] - (noun) - Exemption from punishment or freedom from the injurious consequences of an action - Synonyms: (exemption, immunity, indemnity)

No one is being held accountable.

7. dysfunctional [dɪsˈfʌŋkʃənl] - (adjective) - Not operating normally or properly; deviating from what is considered normal - Synonyms: (malfunctioning, defective, flawed)

That dysfunctional elite now faces a challenge of awesome proportions.

8. sectarian [sɛkˈtɛːrɪən] - (adjective) - Relating to religious or political sects and the differences between them - Synonyms: (factional, partisan, divisive)

But the bureaucracy contained therein is basically structured and staffed according to personal relationships, sectarian identification, tribal allegiances, clans and political parties, with the technical competence obviously not being a top priority

9. rehabilitation [ˌriːˌhəˈbɪlɪˈteɪʃən] - (noun) - The action of restoring someone to health or normal life through training and therapy after imprisonment, addiction, or illness - Synonyms: (restoration, recovery, rebuilding)

The destruction wrought in Beirut's harbor is stunning. Now the country has to rebuild.

10. allegiance [əˈliːdʒəns] - (noun) - Loyalty or commitment to a subordinate or a superior group or cause - Synonyms: (loyalty, fidelity, devotion)

The bureaucracy contained therein is basically structured and staffed according to personal relationships, sectarian identification, tribal allegiances.

Beirut explosion - Is Lebanon on the brink of collapse? - BBC Newsnight

This morning, drone footage revealed a crater where once hangar twelve of the Beirut port authority had stood. The catastrophe killed an as yet unknown number and wrecked thousands of homes. Across the city, politicians are vowing to pursue those responsible. There has to be an investigation. We will ask for help. We have a lot of friends abroad ready to help us so that we can figure out what's happening with this explosion, which some are referring to as Bereshima.

How did it all begin? It starts with a shady tale of cheap shipping under a Moldovan flag of convenience. The Rosas, owned by Russians based in Cyprus, was heading from Georgia to Mozambique in 2013 when it put into Beirut with technical problems. Realizing the volatility of the cargo, Lebanese customs impounded the ammonium nitrate and ship while the owners washed their hands of both. These unverified pictures appear to show sacks of the ammonium nitrate in hangar twelve, where they'd been offloaded from the ship. As they sat there year after year, customs officials tried to press judges, port officials and ministers alike to move on the ammonium nitrate. 120 16 letter noting the serious danger of keeping these goods in the hangar in unsuitable climatic conditions.

The port itself, which is essentially a microcosm of the way Lebanon is structured, the way power is distributed, it is essentially a place where the interests of political elites and various security forces, and to a certain extent, crime militias, intersect. That's not unusual for a port, I suppose. But the bureaucracy contained therein is basically structured and staffed according to personal relationships, sectarian identification, tribal allegiances, clans and political parties, with the technical competence obviously not being a top priority.

With the ammonium nitrate becoming increasingly unstable after six years sitting in the hangar, anything could have touched it off. The white smoke and multiple small explosions seen before the catastrophe suggest it could indeed be fireworks. But when the huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate blows, it produced this distinctive red smoke, detonating thousands of tons of explosive, produced a seismic event, and the authorities are only now working out the full consequences.

There's much anger in Lebanon today, and people denouncing the entire political class. That dysfunctional elite now faces a challenge of awesome proportions. It's severe. And the thing is that the Lebanese economy imports almost everything it consumes, including 90% of its grains, which were overwhelmingly stored in these silos. Of course, those grains are now ruined, and those silos no longer function. So you are talking about what is going to be an acute food crisis from space.

The destruction wrought in Beirut's harbor is stunning. Now the country has to rebuild. All of this while feeding its people, fighting Covid and staving off an economic armageddon. Mark Urban warranty.

Jude Chehab is a political activist and filmmaker and joins me from Beirut. Jude, first of all, I understand that you were in the middle of the blast and I wonder what you think the mood of the people is now in Beirut. I mean, being out there today on the ground, Beirut is crying, Beirut is screaming. You know, even as a filmmaker, feeling what we felt, the videos that we saw, it's something that you can imagine. It felt like a sight. And people are hysterical and people are tired. You know, we went through, we had the revolution and then we had the forest fires, then we had the pandemic, we had the economic crisis which now our Lebanese pound has no value and then no electricity.

We get 2 hours of electricity a day and now this is the cherry on top. I mean, people are devastated. The hospitals are overcrowded. People are waking up not knowing where they are. People are displaced. I mean, it's madness.

So what about the news today that many people knew that, that ammonium nitrate was in hangar twelve? And indeed the head of the customs had actually written several memos to the government to say not only this is terrible where it is, but actually had delivered some solutions as how they might be able to get rid of it.

You know, if it's a foreign attack, it's one issue, but if it's negligence, you know, why keep ammonium nitrate in the port, in the city for six to seven years? Everyone is asking why this is. These are the answers that the people are demanding.

You know, what is the government doing? Yesterday we expected someone to resign. No one resigned. No one is being held accountable. We're asking the international community to hold someone accountable.

If a thief steals you put them in jail for two years. If you kill over 100 people and wound 4000 and you're still not being held accountable. We're demanding justice. So we're in a situation. And we heard from that film there that, you know, 90% of the grain comes in through that port. Our people presumably have food short term just now. But then what about the longer term? What about next week? What about the week after?

Everyone's devastated. I mean, I think the reality of it is, is that we have, we no longer have hope. You know, this really was, this was the last straw. And I'm hearing about people that are in the hospital that are thinking about, you know, while they're in the hospital. Preparing. How are we gonna leave? You know, thinking about how the visa application is going to be there. There is no hope anymore. And we're, and we're. So we've become used to this and accustomed to it that I don't. The future is looking. It's looking empty. It looks like a void. I mean, yeah, we don't, we don't know what to expect.

Jude. Thank you very much, mister ambassador. People have no hope anymore. This is the final straw. Well, I think we shouldn't lose hope. Lebanon has been through a series of crises. All through his history, its history, and it has come out. Each time it has managed to find a way to come out. This time it's tragic. Obviously, yesterday was a national tragedy in Lebanon because what used to be one of the most beautiful and attractive cities and on the Mediterranean is half ravaged.

And many would say it's partly as a result of government, of all sorts of aspects of government that aren't working. But the key thing that people want to know right now, and you heard that from Chae, is how did that ammonium nitrate sit there for six years? When members were sent to the government to say it was there, many people knew it was there. There was no safety around it. How could that happen? Literally hundreds of meters from where people were living? That's what the investigation is supposed to establish.

And the government has decided yesterday to start a five days investigation, after which responsibilities will be attributed. The first thing they did was arrest and put under house arrest people that have worked there for six years rather than actually looking to themselves to say, is there something we didn't know or we didn't deal with? This is a precautionary measure pending the conclusion of the investigation. I think we owe it to our people, we owe to ourselves to establish the whole truth, because I don't think that this will just pass by as if nothing happened.

Alastair Burt, what do you think would be the reason why it was sitting there for all those years in plain sight? I think, as my friend the ambassador has said, there's serious questions to ask about who knew what and when. I, I think listening to the tone of a number of people from Lebanon that I've listened to today, there is a feeling of despair about the sheer mismanagement and incompetence associated with corruption in the governance of so many institutions there. And of course, people will want to know if such a dangerous storage of material was there for so long. Well, why?

I think at this stage, however, none of us know the answer to that. Question. His Excellency Rami Matada is absolutely right. That's what the investigation should be about. But I think the authentic voice of Beirut you heard from the previous correspondent who spoke of the anger and despair. And it is absolutely essential that those who lead Lebanon take account of that. Because if Lebanon is to have a future, and it should have a future, it's a wonderful country. It will have to deal with this sense of despair and the sense of negligence that has so affected it for so long.

Why is the government so corrupt? This was a government that was meant to bring all the factions together, was meant to govern for everybody rather than governing them for themselves. And it is mired in corruption. The current government has been around for only six months now. Of course, like any government, it has people who do not agree with it policies, but nevertheless it has a difficult task and it has been undertaking this task since its formation.

But things like, for example, there meant to be capital controls. There's been flight of $25 billion out the country this year. There's 25% unemployment. The debt is massive. It seems that actually it doesn't have a grip.

Obviously the country has huge challenges and it's time, I think, to come together and to project some, some governments to get the, to get the country out of this, this crisis. And you talk about some governments getting the country out, the crisis in the short term, Alastair, but I assume that President Macron's going there tomorrow. You know, Britain's already pledged 5 million in the short term for humanitarian aid, immediate aid.

I imagine that will not be a problem. But when it comes to negotiating perhaps a financial package to get Lebanon out of trouble, one that they're trying to negotiate at moment with the IMF, not with much success. Will there be a great reluctance of countries to deliver a big regeneration policy and a massive amount of money with the state the government's in?

I think your premise is absolutely correct. In the short term, there is no issue. The international community will certainly seek to provide the humanitarian aid that is necessary. The United Kingdom, I know the foreign secretary spoke to the Lebanese prime minister this afternoon. There's a package of support which is medical. It's also designed to support the armed forces in Lebanon. You're correct. All that will be done.

But you're also correct that the international community has a long history of trying to negotiate and support packages of assistance for Lebanon tied to internal reforms that are absolutely necessary to deal with some of the issues that we've just been discussing.

Can I ask you at this point, I can ask you at this point what you think the key reforms are. Briefly, key reforms are things like public services. Electricity is one of the major ones. I forget how many conferences I've been to where the then Lebanese government said absolutely parliament will pass the necessary legislation to make sure electricity is handled differently and people can have electricity like they do in other parts of the region. That hasn't been done.

There's got to be a look at the banking system, which has been corrupt for so long, but essentially also the sectarian politics. It's not for anyone from outside to prescribe what that answer should be. But until there is that sense that the ambassador has spoken of, that those who are elected to senior positions in Lebanon will govern for all, not just the group that has put them into office, then Lebanon will not be able to turn the international community and the IMF will be looking for those sort of reforms before money can be pledged.

Jude, what reforms would you and particularly your generation like to see in Lebanon? We want, we want a new government. I mean, even after the revolution, the only thing that we felt happened was they changed people's names, but it was the same people. I mean, it's, it feels so far fetched, but it's, that's the only way we see us having a future in Lebanon.

All of my friends have left. There is no future for us here. You hear Alster Burke there saying, you know, electricity, that's one particular area. There's also the question of security. These are fundamental changes, the end of sectarianism.

Lebanon has been at this for such a long time. Even with this last government, they expected that there would be a better outcome than there has been so quickly. There has to be fundamental reform, doesn't there, before the international community will really stay step in and help you?

I totally agree with that and I think the government agrees too. It has only been established since February and few days after its vote of confidence in the parliament Covid-19 crisis started, which made us lose some time to address this challenge. I think now all efforts should be focused on starting a really serious and deepen reform process, which is the only way out of the crisis.

And I like also to look at yesterday's tragic event as could be in a way, despite the tragic nature, an opportunity to focus the attention of all Lebanese on the need to come together and to start real reform in the country because Lebanon deserves better. It has been doing a public good, a global public good, hosting refugees in a very difficult regional dynamics which are all reflecting themselves in our country. Thank you all very much indeed.

International Community, Ammonium Nitrate, Corruption, Politics, Economics, Global, Bbc Newsnight