6 killed as protest over Beirut port blast probe descends into chaos
CBSN
Beirut — Gunfire killed six people and wounded 30 at a Beirut rally organized by the Shiite Hezbollah and Amal movements on Thursday to demand the dismissal of the lead investigator into last year's port blast. Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi told a press conference that the death toll had climbed to six. He said that some of the victims were shot in the head.
Heavy fire rang out as ambulances rushed the wounded through the deserted streets, a few blocks from the Palace of Justice, where hundreds of black-clad protesters had gathered to demand Tarek Bitar's removal.
The judge has in recent days been in the sights of the Hezbollah and Amal parties in particular for insisting on subpoenaing top officials from those groups in his probe into last year's deadly port blast.
Noumea — France's president held a flurry of meetings with local representatives in the restive Pacific territory of New Caledonia on Thursday, urging calm after deadly rioting, and vowing thousands of military reinforcements will stay in place to quell what he called an "unprecedented insurrection."
Kathmandu — Nepali climber Phunjo Lama on Thursday reached Mount Everest's summit in 14 hours and 31 minutes, smashing the record for the world's fastest ascent of the mountain by a woman. Climbers usually take days to reach the top of the 29,032-foot mountain, spending nights on its different camps to rest and acclimatize.