Pope says Lebanon faces ‘extreme danger’ after blast

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said lawmakers could face EU sanctions unless they moved to form a government and enact key economic reforms. Lebanon is currently gripped by its worst economic crisis in decades.

US President Joe Biden has promised $100 million in additional aid for Lebanon as he pressed the crisis-wracked nation to undergo reforms. "No amount of outside assistance will ever be enough if Lebanon's own leaders do not commit to do the hard but necessary work of reforming the economy and combating corruption," he tells a UN-backed donor conference for Lebanon led by France.

The Lebanese currency has lost up to 90% of its value, and prices are soaring. Most Lebanese are fighting a daily battle for survival and only a few profit from the skyrocketing exchange rates for the US dollar.

The move has heaped more misery on consumers, amid a deep economic crisis that has seen the Lebanese pound lose 90% of its value.

Pope Francis met Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose right-wing, anti-immigrant policies clash with Francis' call for countries to welcome refugees. Francis discussed refugees and anti-Semitism in Budapest.

"Here, in this place, the name of God was dishonored," Pope Francis said at a Holocaust memorial in Bratislava. During World War II, Slovakia was governed by a Nazi puppet regime, headed by Catholic priest Jozef Tiso.

Archbishop Stefan Hesse was on leave after being accused of neglecting his duty in a report on sexual abuse at the diocese of Cologne.

A new Syrian-Jordanian deal on energy for Lebanon is being seen by some as another step towards the international rehabilitation of the brutal Assad regime.

In his Angelus prayer, Pope Francis deplores the "terrible outbreak of violence" in the prison of Guayaquil, Ecuador, where at least 118 inmates died - including six beheaded - in rioting among rival gangs before police regained control.

Most of Lebanon is set to lose access to state-generated electricity, forcing residents to buy electricity from private providers or be plunged in darkness.

Power supplies in Lebanon have been restored after a blackout on Saturday caused by a fuel shortage. The army agreed to contribute fuel as an interim measure.

Supporters of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah staged a protest after a court dismissed a legal complaint about the judge investigating the 2020 Beirut port explosion.