Beirut explosion: Lebanese authorities detain workers, freeze assets

Lebanon is drawing up a controversial plan to deport thousands of Syrian refugees every month. The country is in the midst of an economic meltdown and its government says it can no longer host more than 1 million Syrians. NGOs, though, say forced deportations are illegal and that Syria is not safe for returnees. Our Beirut correspondent Serge Berberi went to meet some refugees who are weighing up the prospects of going back.

Lebanon is drawing up a controversial plan to deport thousands of Syrian refugees every month. The country is in the midst of an economic meltdown and its government says it can no longer host more than 1 million Syrians. NGOs, though, say forced deportations are illegal and that Syria is not safe for returnees. Our Beirut correspondent Serge Berberi went to meet some refugees who are weighing up the prospects of going back.

Lebanese grape farmer Kamal el-Saikali came up with what he calls a "grape bank" where he preserves 72 different grape varieties in his vineyard in the village of Kfar Mechki.

Detained pro-democracy activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah has been refusing to eat or drink. His family now says Egyptian authorities have placed him under "medical supervision."

Indonesian rescue workers were racing on Tuesday to reach people still trapped in rubble a day after an earthquake devastated a West Java town, killing at least 252 people and injuring hundreds, as officials warned the death toll may rise.

Fresh protests were reported from China's Guangzhou despite massive police deployment across the country. China is currently facing its largest civil disobedience movement since the Tiananmen massacre.

Iraq's government is going after what it calls "decadent content" on social media. Users of TikTok, Instagram and other platforms who are found to breach "morals and traditions" can now be jailed. The campaign was announced in January and so far, a dozen people have been arrested. Our correspondent Marie-Charlotte Roupie reports.

As their country sinks deeper into a financial crisis, more Lebanese people depend on money sent by relatives living abroad to survive. Remittances sent by the Lebanese diaspora, one of the largest in the world, partly explain why Lebanon has not yet descended into social chaos or full-scale revolt, despite the country suffering from what the World Bank calls one of the worst financial crises since the mid-19th century.

German authorities searched a vessel suspected of involvement in Nord Stream pipeline explosions, the German Prosecutors Office said. German ministers warned against hasty conclusions about responsibility for the blasts.

An Indian newspaper report alleges that New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art is home to 77 smuggled antiquities. According to UNESCO estimates, some 50,000 pieces of art stolen from Indian temples are currently in Western museums or private collections. Faced with this enormous challenge, police forces, international institutions and art enthusiasts are working together to dismantle art mafias and bring back India's stolen idols. Our correspondents report.

Experts say the drop in oxygen levels in the water after the recent floods receded likely caused the mass death, as well as hot temperatures due to climate change.

The black market for stolen cultural goods is the third most profitable in the world, behind only drugs and arms trafficking – the UN's cultural agency UNESCO estimates it's worth some $9 billion each year. In France, around 1,000 thefts of cultural goods are reported annually.