Lebanon's president is confirming top leaders and security officials were aware of the 2750 tonnes of highly explosive ammonium nitrate stored in a waterfront warehouse since 2013. Michel Aoun says he was told nearly three weeks ago about the massive stockpile of explosive chemicals and immediately ordered action taken. But he says he had no authority over the facility. President Michel Aoun said several governments in charge since 2013 received repeated warning about the material. Aoun is suggesting the explosion was either an act of negligence or "external intervention" by a missile or

US President Donald Trump is re-imposing tariffs on Canadian aluminum. Trump says he signed a proclamation today that will restore the 10 per cent tariffs. He says ``Canada was taking advantage of us, as usual.'' In a speech at a Whirlpool factory in Ohio, Trump touted his record of defending American workers. The Aluminium Association of Canada said last week the exports in question fell 16 per cent in June and 40 per cent in July as the system was starting to re-balance amid the pandemic.

Canada is emphasizing the need for economic and political reform in Lebanon over the long term as it looks at immediate ways to help the country following this week's deadly explosion in Beirut.Canada has so far promised $5 million in emergency aid and International Development Minister Karina Gould says the federal government is committed to helping Lebanon as it begins to recover from the blast.Yet Gould emphasized long-standing Canadian calls for economic and political change in the country to address many of the root problems that have left Lebanon one of the most indebted countries in th

International aid flights are arriving in Lebanon, as the government struggles to deal with the aftermath of the massive blast that killed at least 135 and sent thousands more to hospital. Investigators are looking into why nothing was done about 2,750 tonnes of highly explosive ammonium nitrate stored at the port for six years. Search and rescue teams, medical personnel, humanitarian support packages and equipment designed to find trapped victims are being sent from countries like Australia and Indonesia as well as Europe. Russia's Ministry for Emergencies says that its first plane carrying

A massive explosion has shaken Lebanon's capital Beirut, wounding a number people and causing widespread damage.The afternoon blast shook several parts of the capital and thick smoke billowed from the city centre.Residents reported windows being blown out and a false ceilings dropping.The explosion appeared to be centred around Beirut's port and caused wide scale destruction and shattered windows miles away.An Associated Press photographer near Beirut's port witnessed people wounded on the ground and widespread destruction in central Beirut.Some local TV stations reported the blast was at Beir

The COVID-19 death toll in the US has now hit 150,000. The total reported by Johns Hopkins University is the highest by far in the world. A number of states in the Sunbelt had seen surges in cases, with Florida reporting 216 today. South Carolina's death toll has more than doubled over the past month, surpassing 15-hundred earlier this week. More than 4.5 million people have been tested positive for COVID-19 in US so far.

A nurse in Binghamton, New York was one of the first to get a shot this morning as the world's biggest COVID-19 vaccine study got underway.The world's biggest COVID-19 vaccine test got underway Monday with the first of 30,000 planned volunteers. Melissa Harting says she volunteered as a way to do her part to help out since she has other family members in front-line jobs that could expose them to the virus.The experimental vaccine is made by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., and it's one of several candidates in the final stretch of the global vaccine race.The needed proof: Wh

US President Donald Trump's coronavirus briefings are coming back starting tomorrow afternoon. That will be a first since late April, when ratings began to slide and Trump mused about the possibility of using disinfectants inside the body to kill the virus. He now says record numbers of people watched the briefings adding that, ``in the history of cable television, television, there's never been anything like it.'' The virus has killed at least 140,000 Americans and is surging again in much of the country.

There have been some minor side effects, but scientists at Oxford University say their experimental COVID-19 vaccine has produced good early results. The study conducted on about one-thousand people prompted a protective immune response in hundreds of people who got the shot. Dr. Adrian Hill says the vaccine does well at triggering both arms of the immune system. He says neutralizing antibodies are produced, molecules which are key to blocking infection and that the vaccine also causes a reaction in the body's T-cells which help to fight off the coronavirus.