Massive Explosions In Beirut Kill At Least 80, Injure Thousands; Widespread Devastation

💥 Updated, 7:45 PM ET (12:01 AM UTC/GMT, Wed 05 Aug 2020)

💥 Speculation and fear after massive explosion in Beirut - Jerusalem Post

💥 Beirut blasts damaged UN ship, badly injured crew - Al Arabiya, which also reports at least 75 dead and 3,700 injured.

💥 Some excellent live reporting by BBC News about the Beirut explosions

💥 A report from USA Today (emphasis added): "Though the cause of the explosion was yet to be officially determined, Abbas Ibrahim, chief of Lebanese General Security, said it might have been caused by highly explosive material that was stored at the port after it was confiscated from a ship. Television channel LBC [Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation] said the material was sodium nitrate. Mohammed Fahmi, Lebanon's interior minister, told Al-Jazeera news the blast appeared to have been caused by ammonium nitrate that was stored in a warehouse. Ammonium nitrate, used in chemical fertilizer production, was a component of the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995." 

💥  Bill Neely (@BillNeelyNBC) tweeted this at 5:29 PM ET: "Lebanese Prime Minister says #Beirut explosions caused by an estimated 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate left unsecured for 6 years in a warehouse. He vows to punish officials responsible. 50+ dead, 3,000 injured, hospitals overwhelmed."  (For comparison, in 1995 Timothy McVeigh blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City with two tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer mixed with fuel oil.)

Apple's Unintentionally Bendable iPhone 6

Unbox Therapy: Bending Apples on YouTube

September 24, 2014 - Apple's new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are prone to bending and even cracking, according to numerous reports and experimentation.

"The latest ultra-slim iPhone 6 can be warped as some owners are finding out after carrying the sleek aluminum phones in their pants pockets. Apple reports selling 10 million new phones in the three days since the devices debuted last Friday," reports New York Daily News. "

It's not just a rumor, and #BendGate is a hot topic on Twitter.

"#Bendgate is the predictable term that has flooded social media over the last 24 hours," reports Forbes today. "It comes after a video from Unbox Therapy [left] went viral after demonstrating that it was relatively easy to bend the iPhone 6 Plus. The video itself was a response to scattered reports of the iPhone 6 Plus bending in owners’ front and back pockets."

"This started a flame war between Apple fans and haters," continued Forbes, "and a number of defences were written including ‘Duh: Of Course the iPhone 6 Plus Can Bend in Your Pocket’ on Wired. Unbox Therapy then poured petrol on these flames with a second video (below) showing not only that trying to straighten a bent iPhone 6 Plus can shatter the screen, but that under the same tests a Galaxy Note 3 was fine."

Some, including Apple, have tried to blame tight jeans for the bending. Engadget points out that it's really "an issue of building materials."  Both the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have an aluminum chassis "spread over a wider area than any previous iPhone" and "with enough pressure and leverage, it's going to bend, and some owners reported similar issues with the iPhone 5"

If your new iPhone 6 has already bent or cracked, you might want to just destroy it completely. Think of the emotional satisfaction you'll get. See  "Videos Show How To Annihilate Your iPhone 6."

Also See:
Even BlackBerry is making fun of the bendable iPhone 6 CNET
Samsung acts on Apple threat, launches Galaxy Note 4 earlier GMSArena
iPhone 6 Plus vs. Samsung Galaxy Note 3: Aesthetics and design CNET
iPhone 6 receives its own ‘bend test,’ is ‘far more durable’ than iPhone 6 Plus iPhone Hacks