MISLEADING
A slew of conspiracy theories flying around social media by Saudi-linked accounts and others are seeking to cast blame on who is responsible for the deadly explosion in Beirut.
Barbie Latza Nadeau, correspondent-at-large for The Daily Beast and author Roadmap to Hell: Sex, Guns and Drugs on the Mafia Coast, about sex trafficking and the mafia, and Beast Book Angel Face, about Amanda Knox, has reported from Italy for Newsweek since 1997 and for The Daily Beast since 2009. She is also a CNN Contributor and frequent writer for Scientific American.
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APOCALYPTIC
Authorities were warned soon after a Russian ship brought in the ammonium nitrate that blew up Beirut’s port, but did nothing.
MUSHROOM CLOUD
At least 73 people have died and more than 3,700 were injured when a large explosion caused widespread damage throughout the beleaguered city.
ROYALLY SCREWED
Juan Carlos I, who abdicated in 2014, has gone into hiding after a big-game hunting getaway with a German princess raised questions about the contents of his Swiss bank account.
PURR-PETRATOR
A cat that broke out of prison is on the run after being apprehended with heroin and SIM cards it was smuggling to Sri Lankan inmates.
THE PLOT THICKENS
Police in Hanover, Germany, have uncovered a sealed cellar in the yard behind where the prime suspect in the British toddler’s disappearance once lived.
PLAYING GOD
An American cybersecurity company says Chinese hackers breached the Vatican's computer network to spy on confidential church dealings ahead of negotiations with Beijing.
THE SEARCH GOES ON
Officials near the city of Hanover say they have reason to believe there might be a clue about the disappearance of the British toddler from Portugal in 2007 in a German backyard.
GRISLY
American Billy Kruger was arrested after police found his dismembered French wife buried by their vacation home near Toulouse.
GOT HIS WINGS
Thailand has dropped all charges related to the drunken driving death of a police officer by Vorayuth Yoovidhya, the grandson of the founder of Red Bull.
