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A CAR BOMB has rocked Beirut’s southern suburbs, a stronghold of Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah movement, injuring at least 53 people, government and military sources said.
The blast comes amid spiralling tension in Lebanon over the civil war raging in neighbouring Syria, where Hezbollah fighters have joined President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in facing down a revolt by mainly Sunni rebels.
The attack took place in a zone monitored closely by Hezbollah.
It is the most serious incident in the movement’s Beirut stronghold since the start of the Syria war more than two years ago.
“A car bomb exploded near a commercial cooperative called the Islamic Cooperation Centre in Bir al-Abed,” which lies in the heart of Hezbollah’s Beirut stronghold, the military source said.
Lebanon’s Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said that 53 people were wounded, adding that 12 remained in hospital and two had undergone surgery.
The densely populated Bir al-Abed neighbourhood is home mainly to Shiite Muslims.
Several broadcasters, among them Hezbollah’s Al-Manar, showed firefighters battling several blazes while large clouds of black smoke billowed into the sky.
The scene of a bombing in the Beir el-Abed earlier today. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
“Everyone started panicking. Everyone was running left and right” after the blast, said Carole Mansour, who owns a shoe shop near the affected area.
Some Shiites started their fasting on Tuesday, although other Shiites and Sunnis will begin fasting either Wednesday or Thursday.
Lebanese politicians from across the spectrum quickly condemned the blast, including President Michel Sleiman.
Officially neutral in Syria’s conflict, Lebanon is deeply divided into pro- and anti-Assad camps. Hezbollah and its allies back Assad, who adheres to the Alawite offshoot of Shiite Islam, while the Sunni-led opposition supports rebels seeking his ouster.
In an indication of the extent of the political divisions, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel was attacked by Hezbollah supporters as he arrived at the scene.
Hezbollah officials then fired live rounds into the air to disperse the protesters, who were apparently opposed to the visit by Charbel, a member of Lebanon’s anti-Assad camp.
Tuesday’s blast is not the first time Hezbollah’s Beirut stronghold has come under attack in apparent retaliation for its role in the Syrian conflict.
In late May, two rockets fired from inside Lebanon landed in southern Beirut, wounding four people just hours after Hezbollah’s chief Hassan Nasrallah pledged to fight until victory for Syria’s regime.
The southern suburbs of Beirut also suffered massive damage during Hezbollah’s month-long war with Israel in 2006.
- AFP, 2013
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Why is back to school allowance paid so early? I doubt many who get it will put it aside until the end of summer. It should be administered to the schools and used to subsidise books/uniforms closer to the new school term
Excellent idea Boy Russell.
For those lucky enough to get it early it can be used to pick up loads of cheap second-hand books – all of which are sold out by the end of the summer, so it would save people a fortune! Would be good if it was paid to schools but would all depend on how willing they are to foot the bill while the government still pi** about processing applications ( as they do with those receiving FIS)
I like to get it early because its always nice to get the beers in while the sun is still shining and I am skint right now.
For those of you who red thumbed that you probably think I am being mean and that it should be going to my sons education. It does go to his education, you should see him count beer bottles, he is a very good at math. In fact, within just one beer bottle he gets all the subjects covered such as math, ( counting them) History ( where it was brewed ) Geography ( location it was brewed in ) Art ( label design ) and the list goes on.
As soon as I get the school book list I’m down at our local supplier and that goes for most other mums like myself in late August your hard pressed to get a book since they are usually waiting for more stock to come in
I’ve already bought my daughter’s uniform. Been buying it bit by bit for the last few months whenever I’ve saved a little money. Shoes are the only thing I still need to buy. That €100 would be greatly appreciated so I can get a good pair that last the winter and a pair of lighter ones for the spring instead of a cheaper pair that fall apart after a few weeks.
The uniforms etc usually go on sale too before the kids get their school holidays
Agree 100% Boy Russell.
Also, a second language …. Polish beer out of Lidl.
Nicely spotted Martin. Lets not forget the money goes to their educational trips abroad to places like Lanzarote where our children can actually put all those language skills into practice on the beach. August is always a nice time to take them so its another important reason to get that money in early.
Personally i dont leave everything to the last min, uniform and books sell out and if you dont get them asap you could be waiting until school starts before they re-stock what you need.
the paymet isn’t until July 15th onwards according to Welfare.ie. It will be made along with weekly payments then.
Went to collect my money today, no back to school allowance well, probably forgotten me have to contact them now, and received no letter from them in June.
You are obviously clueless and have no need for the allowance
The back to school allowance is for clothing and foot wear not books. Most people buy uniforms as soon as their in stock. Books I pay for myself.
No problem with people who have fallen on difficult times getting this, but it is culture of entitlement for so many!
Yawn
Interesting to see how many spend it on their kids school supplies etc.
I don’t know why there’s so much negativity in the comments here. This allowance, unlike children’s allowance targets low income families. It has to be proven that your child will be in school, in Ireland for the next year. I don’t mind my taxes paying for this. To those who think that families squander this money; how then do they get their children clothed and booked for school? The allowance was already reduced in the Budget by 50 euro per child. What do you people want; that poor children shouldn’t go to school?
Paul. Its generwtiobs of the same family I have a problem with.
Do u have to be on welfare to be classed as having low income?
No, you just have to be living in poverty, … and be able to prove it.
There shouldnt be a cash payment, it should be given in vouchers to spend at the relevant stores.
In theory that’s a good idea, but in practise it would probably open a can of worms. Especially for those in more rural areas who live a long way from any of the major stores (Easons, Dunnes etc) that could be a nightmare. Would take far too much time and trouble for the government to roll that out so that it’s a viable method of payment for everybody who is entitled.
Well we have to pay 60 for each of our 3 school going children for book rental before the end of June, plus every penny of our back to school allowance is spent on our kids plus a lot more from our weekly money some people should think before opening there mouths
I’m not sure, are you looking for applause or something, you got an allowance and used it as described. I think people have a problem with some people not being as honest as you.
Families on FIS (income top-up for those in low-paid employment) don’t receive it early or automatically. You have to reapply for FIS every summer, during this time they stop your FIS payment causing your income to drop below that of the dole then they take months to reprocess your application – and because they take so long you are unable to claim the back to school allowance until it’s sorted – it was October of last year before my Aunt received it – and thanks to the reduced income while the whole FIS thing is being sorted it seems the government constantly punish those attempting to get back into employment – the sad thing is they were better off as a family on the dole – that’s not to say it’s easy to live off, just that more should be done for those who are fortunate enough to find employment! And I can’t speak for everyone in receipt of the back to school allowance but for those I do know I know that it’s a vital payment towards covering the cost of books, uniforms ect
What would be wrong with a prepaid credit card for educational supply shops.
The amount of money the government will want to try to administer the card system
What costs?
No Steve I’m not looking for applause just saying not to tar everyone with the same brush.So what it’s being paid early this year which makes a change from having to wait for it until after they start school. Maybe your voucher idea would be good sure they could start giving us our weekly money in vouchers too just to degrade us a bit more that would probably make u happy would it
Where did I say vouchers, I didn’t, I said pre-paid credit card. Are you saying that everybody spends this money as it is intended, sorry if you feel degraded by receiving money every week.
Pre paid card system so what your saying is people who are in need of this payment can’t be trusted with money which is degrading isn’t it
Our government add secret costs or stealth taxes to everything fuel,food,education,roads so the costs will be there just like a toll road or vat on fuel on food
Brian, if you are going to spend it as designed then what would the problem be, how is it degrading?
Ryanair will make a killing next month
In the title of the article it states that “11,000 families” and in the article itself it says “110,000″. That’s a big difference.
Try Specsavers
it did originally say 11,000
That’s what send a tip/correction button is for……..
This help is very important to a lot of people. Neither myself nor my husband were working last year and don’t know what we would have done without it. Our daughter was only going in to junior infants, and yet her school jumpers cost €30 a pop and her books cost nearly €80 before we even thought about bag/stationary/shoes ect. I think it’s great that they’re trying to avoid the delays that so many had to worry about last year, but I do wonder how many will actually put this money away until uniform etc becomes available, and how many will end up blowing it on a good weeks worth of shopping or a day out. :/
These guys definitely don’t get enough money they should be on at least €1000.00 a fortnight
Oh yer they are I forgot there grants for not getting out of bed to cloth and send your own kids to school
You had them why should we pay for them
Where is the box I can tick only to give to elderly and disabled
By these guys who do you mean – those that never worked a day in their lives ever, those that spent the last 30 years working only to loose their job and have to struggle to scrape enough money together yet get lumped into the same category as the first, or those who are working yet are entitled to the back to school allowance as they’re on a low income. The situation isn’t black and white – we were throwing money at people on the dole during the boom years, people that could have worked but wouldn’t – yet now there’s hard working, honest, decent people struggling to get by we’re just lumping them in with this group – no wonder they feel so isolated!
Don’t judge people by what you do with the money, whether you’re joking or not some people desperately need this
I think the whole system of back to school allowance is very unfair. You have middle earner families who are screwed with every tax going, high mortgage payments and struggle to send children back to school. The middle earner is bringing this country out of recession. Yet no help. This payment shoukd be made to all school going children. And what’s more cutting child benefit of kids that turn 18 during the school year is mental. There still in school and are still dependant’s. It should ge given up until the end of the leaving cert.
Shops in Galway that supply uniforms to secondary school students offer a 10% discount on uniforms purchased in June and July. I’m sure that applies in most cities and towns so the BtS payment will come just in time for most!
I was in Easons today and they’re already advertising for back to school so I don’t think the allowance is being issued too early, parents can pick up bargains as they come along without worrying about going into debt. The pre-paid credit card is a good idea but I can see how some would be offended at being accused of not spending the allowance on school.
Why do people who are long term unemployed not have to do community service for 20 hrs per week to collect there benefits as a taxpayer I think we should get something back for our taxes
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