Lebanon after explosion: Angry crowds in Beirut urge French President Macron to help bring change

Beirut, Lebanon: French President Emmanuel Macron toured Beirut's shattered streets on Thursday, two days after a giant explosion, with crowds demanding the end to a "regime" of politicians they blame for corruption and dragging Lebanon into disaster.

"I see the emotion on your face, the sadness, the pain. This is why I'm here," he told one group, shaking their hands on roads strewn with rubble and flanked by shops with windows blown out after Tuesday's blast that killed 145 and injured 5,000. Macron, wearing a black tie in mourning and flanked by security guards, promised to send more medical and other aid to Lebanon, while those around him chanted "Revolution" and "The people want the fall of the regime."

"But what is also needed here is political change. This explosion should be the start of a new era," Macron said, making the tour shortly after arriving on the first visit to Lebanon by a foreign leader since the blast. The president has said he would deliver "home truths" to a government that France and other Western donors have said must reform the country's politics and the economy.

One man told Macron: "We hope this aid will go to the Lebanese people not the corrupt leaders." Before the Beirut port blast, whose explosive force was registered hundreds of miles (kilometres) away, Lebanon was grappling with an imploding economy - its banks in crisis, currency in freefall and mountain of debts climbing.

"Mr President, you're on General Gouraud Street, he freed us from the Ottomans. Free us from the current authorities," said one person among the crowd who gathered around him, appealing for help from Lebanon's former colonial power.

Some of the crowd, who were filmed by a pool report in a predominantly Christian district of the capital, shouted: "Mr Macron, free us from Hezbollah," referring to the Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim group, a powerful player in a nation where political loyalties often run along sectarian lines. After visiting a pharmacy damaged by the explosion, Macron told the crowd: "I understand your anger. I am not here to write a blank cheque ... to the regime."

France: Eiffel Tower goes dark to commemorate victims of Beirut blast

Paris, France: Paris' Eiffel Tower switched off its lights an hour earlier than usual on Wednesday, August 5 to commemorate the victims of an explosion in Beirut.

Earlier in the evening, a candlelit vigil was held outside the Sacre Coeur in Paris where people stood in silence, draped in Lebanese flags. In Beirut on Wednesday, rescue teams pulled out bodies and hunted for missing in the wreckage of buildings on as investigations blamed negligence for the massive warehouse explosion that sent a devastating blast wave across the Lebanese capital, killing at least 135.

More than 5,000 other people were injured in Tuesday's (August 4) explosion at Beirut port, authorities said, and up to 250,000 were left without homes fit to live in after shockwaves smashed building facades, sucked furniture out into streets and shattered windows miles inland.

Two French planes were expected to arrive on Thursday (August 6) with 55 rescuers, medical equipment and a mobile clinic. French President Emmanuel Macron will also visit Lebanon on Thursday. Other Arab and European countries are sending doctors, mobile hospitals and equipment.

The United States, Britain and other Western nations, which have been demanding political and economic change in Lebanon, also offered aid. Germany, the Netherlands and Cyprus offered specialised search and rescue teams.

French hospital tests new breathalyser machine to detect COVID-19

Lyon, France: A hospital in the southern French city of Lyon is testing patients with a new machine that enables them to breathe into a tube to see whether they have COVID-19 in a matter of seconds.

The machine is entering a second trial phase after three months of use on dozens of people, among which about 20 were patients with the virus, and others without. Unlike the uncomfortable standard PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests, the machine is not invasive and provides an immediate result.

"It's the same principle as a classic breathalyser test," Christian George, director of research at the National Centre of Scientific Research at the la Croix-Rousse hospital, told. "The machine will register the molecules in the exhaled air and then detects the traces of the sickness," Christian George, director of research at the National Centre of Scientific Research at the la Croix-Rousse hospital told.

Jean-Christophe Richard , head of intensive care at the Hospital La Croix-Rousse, said the objective was to have the machine fully operational by the end of the year. Bruno Lina, an independent virus expert who has been consulted on the machine, said it was a step in the right direction, but at this stage was too expensive for widespread distribution at hospitals.

Corona Era: Movie magic as Paris turns the Seine into open air cinema

Paris, France: While the cinema drive-in may have gotten a boost as lockdowns gradually come to an end amid the COVID-19 outbreak, in Paris film fans can now munch on their popcorn watching a movie from a boat on the river Seine.

As part of Paris Plages, the yearly transformation of sections of the Seine into man-made beaches, moviegoers on Saturday, JULY 18 were able to board 38 electric boats for a free showing of the 2018 French comedy "Le Grand Bain". "I really enjoy open-air cinema. It marks the beginning of the summer, and even if we already are in mid-July, for me it marks the beginning of the Parisian summer adventures," said 25-year-old Eloise Blomme.

"I really enjoy the idea of the boats - associating the Seine with a movie on water, I didn't want to miss this." Each boat can seat up to six people who know each other. Organisers hope to hold similar showings during the six-week Paris Plages festivities. Others watch from deck chairs as the screen floats over the Seine.

Cinemas have reopened in France, but occupancy levels remain very low. While the virus has been under control with fatalities and the number of people in intensive care falling, daily cases have increased ahead of the summer holiday season. The disease has killed more than 30,000 people in France.

The artificial beaches on the banks of the Seine in central Paris and the Bassin de la Villette, a man-made lake in the northeast of the city, have been a roaring success since they were launched by Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe in 2002.

As well as sand and views of central Paris’ architecture, Paris Plage offers sporting opportunities such as fencing, giant table-football, and open-air gyms looking out over the Seine, although this year the tighter health restrictions have limited some of the activities.

Corona Crisis: COVID-19 tests offered to Paris 'beach' goers

Paris, France: Parisians heading to the opening of Paris Plages, the yearly transformation of sections of the Seine river into a man-made beach, were met with a new attraction on Saturday July 18: COVID-19 test centres.

A series of indicators across the country, including the French capital, have suggested the virus could once again be gaining momentum. Authorities are pushing an aggressive testing policy to avoid a return to the peaks seen between March to May. The artificial beaches on the banks of the Seine in central Paris and the Bassin de la Villette, a man-made lake in the north-east of the city, have been a big success since they were launched by Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe in 2002.

As well as sand and views of central Paris' architecture, Paris Plage offers sporting opportunities such as fencing, giant table-football, and open-air gyms looking out over the Seine, although this year the tighter health restrictions have limited some of the activities. Medical teams are now in place at two locations until the end of August offering serological and standard PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests with a capacity to do carry out between 150 to 200 a day.

The disease has killed more than 30,000 people in France.

While it has been under control with fatalities and number of people in intensive care falling, daily cases have increased ahead of the summer holiday season, where people are gathering in larger groups and travellers to and from France have been allowed back into the country without specific quarantine periods.

Kais Arbi, 25, who lives in a northwestern Parisian suburb, took the test knowing that he was travelling to see his family in Tunisia in the coming weeks. "I was already going to get tested no matter what, and I passed by here, and I was planning to get tested in the next two weeks since I'm planning to travel. I want get tested more as a security measure for my family in the country where I'm travelling, although it's not mandatory for the moment. I still prefer to protect them and myself and reduce the risk of spreading the virus to another country." said Kais Arbi.