Beirut struggles to rebuild one month after blast

In Beirut, rescuers were still digging through the rubble of collapsed buildings on Friday after finding “signs of life,” one month after a massive explosion rocked Lebanon’s capital. [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [View in your browser]( [Top of The World]( --------------------------------------------------------------- In the news today Beirut tries to bounce back after tragedy [Lebanese and Chilean rescuers search at he site of a collapsed building after getting signals there may be a survivor under the rubble, in Beirut, Lebanon, early Friday, Sept. 4, 2020.]( Credit: Hussein Malla/AP In Beirut, rescuers were still [digging through the rubble]( of collapsed buildings Friday after finding “signs of life,” one month after a massive explosion rocked Lebanon’s capital. Signs of a pulse and breathing were detected as they searched through ruins in the Gemmayzeh residential district. The Aug. 4 [blast at the city’s port]( was set off by a large quantity of highly explosive and poorly stored ammonium nitrate, killing around 190 people and wounding 6,000 others. Lebanon was already ailing from an economic and political crisis made worse by the pandemic. The part of Beirut that was badly damaged includes many architecturally significant historic houses, many of which were [hard-hit by the explosion.]( Lebanon’s army has called for one minute of silence at 6:07 local time Friday to mark one month since the tragedy befell the country. From The World: ['Beirut is not for sale': Beseiged residents fend off developers, investors]( What The World is following Malaysia’s Bernama state news agency has reported that prosecutors in Kuala Lumpur [withdrew criminal charges]( against three Goldman Sachs units that were alleged to mislead investors over $6.5 billion in bond sales as part of the 1MDB scandal going back a decade. The move comes after the company agreed to pay $3.9 billion to Malaysia to settle claims in the probe over the financial giant’s role in the wrongdoing. Goldman has already paid $2.5 billion in cash and also guaranteed the return of $1.4 billion more in 1MDB assets seized globally. The Lancet medical journal has published early-stage trial results showing that Russia’s “Sputnik-V” vaccine for the coronavirus [produced a legitimate antibody response]( in all 76 participants and showed no serious side effects. Meanwhile, the vaccine will be further tested in the next stage of trials with 40,000 participants, which launched last week. Large, long-term trials and further monitoring are needed to establish the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing COVID-19 infections. --------------------------------------------------------------- From The World [A Black radio host calls on South Asian Americans to reject racism]( [Khafre Jay, the executive director of Hip Hop for Change, based in Oakland, says he has experienced anti-black actions from Indian Americans when visiting his in-laws in Sunnyvale, a suburb of the Bay Area that is majority South Asian.]( Credit: Matt Rogers/The World Khafre Jay taught himself Hindi so he could call out acts of racism by Indian Americans on his radio show. [He touched on a subject](many Indian Americans don't talk about: the prevalence of anti-Black attitudes in the South Asian community. [For Latinos ineligible to vote, US census offers a path to political power]( [Signs advertising the 2020 US Census cover a closed and boarded up business amid the coronavirus outbreak in Seattle, Washington, March 23, 2020.]( Credit: Brian Snyder/Reuters Some Latino organizers say [getting Latinos counted in the census can bring about even more change]( than casting a single vote. While elections take place once or twice a year, getting counted in the census means one person’s existence will be used again and again to provide funding to their community for the next decade. --------------------------------------------------------------- Bright spot After World War II came to an end 75 years ago, millions of servicemen came home to the US, and so did thousands of military dogs from K-9 units deployed around the world. Now,[a new illustrated children’s book, titled “Major: A Soldier Dog](,” brings the little-known story of the US War Dog program. Author Trevor Jones tells the life story of Major, a dog trained in Fort Robinson, Nebraska, after being donated by his owner Sid Moore. Like Major, nearly all dogs in the program were donated by their owners. By the end of WWII, about 18,000 dogs were used. The animals were trained to get used to gunfire and violence and perform jobs as sentries, scouts, messengers or sled dogs. [The concept behind Lego Braille Bricks was first proposed to the Lego Foundation in 2011 by the Danish Association of the Blind and again in 2017 by the Brazilian-based Dorina Nowill Foundation for the Blind.] Credit: History Nebraska Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this newsletter. --------------------------------------------------------------- In case you missed it on The World - [Ghanaian company designs textiles inspired by the pandemic]( - [Shark attack survivor raises money to protect sharks]( - [Beirut’s heritage homes are at risk]( - [US slaps sanctions on members of the International Criminal Court]( - [As fires burn in the Amazon, Indigenous land rights are more important than ever]( - [Iranians break their silence on sexual abuse]( - [Amazon fires ‘worst in a decade’]( - [India reports new daily record in coronavirus infections]( - [The race to ensure global access to COVID-19 vaccines]( Don't forget to subscribe to The World's Latest Edition podcast using your favorite podcast player: [RadioPublic](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Stitcher](, [Soundcloud](, [RSS]( [The World logo]( [The World on Facebook]( [The World's Twitter account]( [Donate]( | [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [Edit your subscription]( | [Unsubscribe]( | [View in your browser]( Top of the World is written weekday mornings by the team at [The World](. 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