this is bbc news, a very warm welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: explosion a massive blast in the lebanese capital, beirut, leaves almost 80 people dead and thousands injured — the explosion sent shockwaves across the city. translation: i don't know what happened. i was fishing. i heard there was a fire. i turned and started to head home. i heard something explode and then this happened. the lebanese prime minister says a confiscated haul of ammonium nitrate caused the devastating blasts — he promises those responsible would be held accountable. in china, a formerfashion model handcuffed to his bed for so—called "re—education" — rare footage of the uighur ethnic minorities held in secretive

detention centres — we have a special report. futher harrowing footage of police arresting george floyd is leaked to the media. his death began a worldwide protest movement against police brutality. hello to you. a huge blast in the port area of the lebanese capital beirut has killed almost 80 people and injured more than 4,000. many people are still missing, believed to be trapped under the rubble. the explosion was so powerful it caused extensive damage to buildings over much of the city and hospitals have been overwhelmed. officials say tonnes of confiscated ammonium nitrate caused the blast. 0ur middle east editor, jeremy bowen, has been following developments. just to warn you — his report contains distressing images.

explosion. it was a massive explosion. shouting. another view from the bay. and from the streets. what happened 7 oh, my god! oh, my god. it looks as if dozens are dead and several thousand injured. and a country already deep in crisis has been hit by a catastrophe. translation: i don't know what happened. i was fishing. i heard there was a fire. i turned and started to head home. i heard something explode

and then this happened. this was the fire in beirut port. the flashes, they say, wear fireworks. then something much bigger ignited. lebanon's interior minister told local media it was ammonium nitrate, which had been stored there since 2014. sirens. it can be used as fertiliser or to make explosives. alarm bell. this is downtown beirut, close to the parliament building. since the end of last year, lebanon has been paralysed by a political and economic crisis, and street demonstrations, before the country was gripped by the pandemic. the damage is spread across the city. the shock will run much deeper.

and this tragedy risks pushing the lebanese further into despair. hassan diab, the prime minister, broadcast to the nation. he told them that those responsible would pay the price. beirut‘s hospitals, already pressed hard by covid—i9, are faced with hundreds of casualties. translation: we were at home. we heard what sounded like fireworks. we thought it was a container in the port that was on fire. a few seconds later, we were flying through the air. lebanon will get international help which, until now, its friends have been reluctant to give because of corruption and incompetence in lebanon's wealthy elite. but public anger, already strong, will demand real change at last,

if lebanon's rulers cannot heal the wounded, fix the damage and punish the guilty. and there is one big question. who allowed the storage of so much deadly explosive for so long in a warehouse so close to the city centre? jeremy bowen, bbc news. 0ur correspondent, carine torbey has been at the american university medical centre in beirut. we are standing at the moment in front of the emergency gate. people are still coming in either to check on their relatives or to check whether their relatives are inside the hospital because they're still a large number of people who are unaccounted for. of course, the hospital, this hospital, like every other hospital in beirut, has been completely overwhelmed. they are working to their utmost capacity and are still unable to deal with the larger number of injured coming to

the hospital by the second. of course, every single space in the hospital has been turned into an emergency unit. as you can see, people are treated in corridors, people are treated even inside offices, not only in the medical rooms of the hospital, because it is impossible to accommodate everyone in the rooms. even the hospitals are categorising people according to the severity of their cases and giving priority to those who are at a very critical condition because this is the only way to deal with this high, very high pressure that they are under at the moment. as you can see, this is like a real emergency inside even in the emergency unit and hospitals. people are here not only because they are injured but also because they are in real shock and panic, and at the moment it is very, very hard to say what is the real scale of what happened this afternoon, but beirut has been immensely shattered and dropped by this explosion that happened hours ago,

and still up until now everyone is looking for questions and everyone is trying to understand what really happened to the capital. i've been speaking to hassan mneimneh, a middle east expert and a non—resident scholar at the middle east institute. i asked him what he thought had happened here. evidently one has to wait for the proper investigation to complete itself, whether there is such a body in the lebanese government that is capable of engaging in such an investigation. what we can readily say that lebanon faces two afflictions — an administrative dysfunction that may explain a laxness in the application of fuels and therefore might reduce what happened to an accident, but also lebanon is under a quasi—occupation of an army that loyal to iran — i'm talking about hezbollah evidently — that is known to

have stored all sorts of weaponry all over the place. is this one of the storage locations? is this one of the warehouses? these are questions that the lebanese are actually asking themselves. whether it is one or the other or a combination of both, actually, one cannot readily know, but unfortunately the catastrophe adds to the catastrophes already faced by lebanon. president trump has suggested it is an attack of some kind, as his generals have told him it might be a bomb. the government, of course, in lebanon is steering away from that interpretation. whatever, what about the wider impact on lebanon itself? well, i would not put too much weight on the claim even by trump that it is an attack. in the case of trump it might be just a reflection, his own assessment, but frankly when we talk about an attack, who is the party accused of attacking? clearly there has been quite a bit of

an intensification in the rhetoric and in the hostilities between hezbollah and israel. so has israel attacked ? why would israel give hezbollah just a couple of days before the international tribunal effectively condemns hezbollah for the assassination of former prime minister rafik hariri, give them a way out through this. in addition to the fact that it is really utterly disproportionate, meaning this is unrealistic. it do not think, it doesn't look like it was an attack. it is more likely, i would say close to a certainty, that it was an explosion. the question is whether the explosion was incidental or not — all indications so far pointing in the direction of an incidental explosion, and the responsibility is a criminal one none the less. what you are seeing now is the

live shot near the scene of the explosion in beirut. it is after six in the morning. almost 80 people killed and more than 4000 injured but many people still missing believed to be trapped under this kind of wreckage and rubble. the explosion so powerful it caused damage to people in much of the city, the hospitals are overwhelmed. 0fficials city, the hospitals are overwhelmed. officials say towns of confiscated ammonium nitrate because the blast. more on that to come. the bbc has obtained rare footage from inside china's secretive system of mass incarceration, in the far western region of xinjiang. in a self—shot video, a formerfashion model, who is from the uighur ethnic group, can be seen handcuffed to a bed. his relatives say he was taken away for what china has called "re—education" and that nothing has been heard from him since. up toi million uighurs have been detained in so—called "educational training" centres.

neither the chinese foreign ministry nor xinjiang authorities have responded to the bbc‘s requests for comment. john sudworth has this report. a few years ago, merden ghappar was a long way from his home in xinjiang, making good money as a fashion model in southern china. but this is him in february. his camera reveals his filthy clothes, and his left arm handcuffed to a bed. he is now clearly back in xinjiang. beyond the steel mesh on the window, a propaganda announcement drones away in the uighur language. despite the risk that it may bring him further punishment, relatives, including his uncle, who lives in amsterdam, say they have no choice but to release the video he sent them. translation: staying silent

won't help him, either. the only thing i can do is to raise public awareness. it is our only chance to rescue him. the young model had already served 16 months injail, having been convicted of a drugs offence in 2018, although his family say he was innocent. upon completing his sentence, whatever relief he may have felt was short lived. soon afterwards, the police picked him up again and took him back to xinjiang, for, they said, a few days education. we have asked chinese government officials here whether he was suspected of any further offence and, even if he was, why he was handcuffed to a bed. we have received no response. china has built a vast network of highly secure facilities across xinjiang, some of which we were shown as part of its efforts to convince the world that they're schools for combating

extremism, not camps. but last year, under intense international criticism, it said they were being closed. the texts merden ghappar sent, along with his video, clearly suggest otherwise. "50—60 people were locked in a small room," he writes. "all had sacks on their heads and handcuffs and shackles." elsewhere, he could hear the sounds of torture. "one time, i heard a man screaming from morning to evening", he writes. his first—hand description of the police holding cell is very, very vivid. he writes in very, very good chinese. it gives us a lot of detail, and frankly, a lot of horrific detail about the way in which these people are treated. so it is quite a rare source. in the end, it was the virus that allowed him to get word out from this secretive system.

with a slightly high temperature, he was moved to this isolation cell as a precaution and given access to personal belongings, which, unknown to his guards, contained his phone. but as suddenly as they began, the messages stopped. he has not been heard from since. john sudworth reporting there. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: a two day curfew is imposed in indian—administered kashmir, ahead of the first anniversary of delhi's decision to revoke the special status of the region. the question was whether we want to save our people and japanese, as well and win the war, or whether we want to take a chance on being able to win the war by killing all our young men. the invasion began at two o'clock this morning. mr bush, like most other people, was clearly caught by surprise.

we call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all the iraqi forces. 100 years old and still full of vigour, vitality and enjoyment of life. no other king or queen in british history has lived so long, and the queen mother is said to be quietly very pleased indeed that she's achieved this landmark anniversary. this is a pivotal moment for the church as an international movement. the question now is whether the american vote will lead to a split in the anglican community. this is bbc world news. our top story:

almost 80 people have been killed and thousands hurt in a huge explosion in the lebanese capital, beirut. well, investigations into the cause of the explosion are still going on, but the lebanese president has already blamed the massive quantity of confiscated ammonium nitrate stored unsafely at the port. it's normally used as a fertiliser and in industrial explosives. ammonium nitrate explosions have caused deaths in the past. in many cases, a fire has broken out first, then stored ammonium nitrate has exploded. in 2015 in tianjin, china, nitrocellulose caught fire in a warehouse, later triggering an explosion of 800 tonnes of ammonium nitrate. 173 people died. in april 2013 in west texas, 15 people were killed, and 200 injured when a fertiliser company building caught fire. ammonium nitrate stored there later exploded — flattening 80 homes.

the largest death toll was in texas city in 1947. 581 people were killed when 2,300 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded on board a cargo ship. i spoke to vyto babrauskas, founder of fire science and technology inc, who has written an extensive review of ammonium nitrate explosions and how they happen. i asked him how this could have happened based on what he's seen and heard. it is a question of fire and lack of fire safety consciousness that the — every single disaster where ammonium nitrate blew up, either in storage or in transport, has one and only one cause, and that has been an uncontrolled fire. an from what i can see from the reports, that is precisely what happened in beirut. that there was an uncontrolled fire and lo and behold, when it impinged upon a storage

of ammonium nitrate, there was a gigantic explosion. and that was entirely foreseeable, entirely preventable and there is a century's worth of tragic record for anybody who cares to be aware of it, to realise that that is not how this dangerous material has to be treated and has to be stored. if i understand it right, it is generally a fertiliser but it can be used for bombs and was in world war ii, also for the bali bombings in the oklahoma city bombings. also a terrible history of unintentional explosions. what makes it so dangerous and why don't we learn the lessons about storing it? well, that's a very good question. i think it has mostly to do with the agricultural industry. in other words, they insist that it be classified not as an explosive. in america, it is classified as a "blasting agent", when it is used for fertiliser purposes.

but that's really wordsmithing. and the material can blow up in a very disastrous explosion. so to anybody who uses english in a sensible manner, it is a substance which is an explosive. but because the agricultural industry feels that regulations would be more onerous as if there was a forthright admission that this is an explosive substance, it is classified as not an explosive material, even though it is, when it is used for agricultural purposes. if it is actually used for bomb—making, then it is classified as an explosive. harrowing video footage of police arresting george floyd has been leaked to the media. more harrowing footage. the body camera images show two officers approaching mr floyd in minneapolis after he was suspected of using a $20 note to buy cigarettes.

his eventual death — after another officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes — began a worldwide protest movement against police brutality. a warning — this report by paul adams contains some distressing images. floyd: why don't y'all believe me, mr 0fficer? officer: take a seat. i'm not that kind of guy! george floyd's violent death is all too familiar — a chapter in america's tortured story of race. a name and a face known all over the world. but how did it come to this? dang, man! listen! thanks to video from two separate police body cameras — obtained by the daily mail — we can see how it unfolded. on may 25, in a grocery store in minneapolis, the owner shows police officers a counterfeit $20 bill, allegedly used to buy cigarettes. the man who used it, he says, is sitting in a car across the road. alright. one of the officers, thomas lane, approaches the car where george floyd and two passengers are sitting. can i see your other hand?

please! both hands! do not shoot me! within seconds, a gun is pointing at mr floyd's head. not surprisingly, he seems agitated. put your hands on there. step out and face away. ok! please don't shoot me, man! please, man! please! i'm not gonna shoot you. even in these early stages, george floyd seems highly emotional and far from cooperative. ijust lost my mom, man... he says his mother has recently died and that he's been shot before. step out of the vehicle. why's he's getting all squirrelly and not showing us his hands? so far, the officers appear calm, one of the passengers, shawanda renee hill, says mr floyd is afraid of the police. is he drunk, is he on something? no, he got a thing going on, i'm telling you, about the police. what does that mean? he have problems all the time when they come, especially when that man's put that gun like that. the daily mail won't say how it obtained this footage, but it comes as lawyers representing some of the officers involved in mr floyd's death tried to get the charges against their clients dropped. chanting: black lives matter! more than two months after george floyd died,

protests sparked by his killing continue across america. the black lives matter movement demanding wholesale change to stop other black men dying in the future. the police footage is hard to watch. oh! 0uch, man! it shows a routine stop spiralling out of control for reasons a jury will eventually have to piece together. stop moving! mama! face down on the street, the last nine minutes are especially harrowing. by now, police officer derek chauvin has his knee on floyd's neck. police radio: suspect is... with an ambulance on the way, the tape ends. an hour later, george floyd was pronounced dead. paul adams, bbc news. authorities in indian—administered kashmir have imposed a two—day curfew ahead of the first anniversary of delhi's decision to revoke the special status of the region.

i've been speaking to the independentjournalist, aa kash hassan. he's in kashmir and described for us the current situation. right now as i am speaking with you there is a curfew on roads, roads are completely deserted. there are paramilitary forces patrolling, razor wires have been laid to block any movement. as of now, people are not allowed to move out. that has been the situation for the last year. communication lines remain snapped for six months, which include connections to internet and landline connections. right now, people are not allowed to move out of their homes because the authorities believe that there may be protests. how are local people

coping with all of this? it has been really difficult for the local people, especially if you look at the economic effect of the change new delhi has made because for the last year there has been no business going on. there has been a complete lockdown and the pandemic lockdown which was imposed across the world, more or less, has further crippled the life. there have been more than half a millionjob losses in the region. we have seen estimates — suggestions that there have been $5.4 billion of loss to the local economy. there is helplessness. people are really worried, but more than that, people are worried about the new laws, the slew of new laws that have been brought in which gives permission to the non—kashmiri, the outsiders, indians, to own property, buy land here.

the locals fear that this is an attempt to make demographic change in the only muslim—majority region which is contested between india and pakistan. with that kind of economic damage, surely the situation cannot go on. is there any sign of it easing at all? well, it doesn't seem so, because new delhi has been bringing new laws time and again. for example, the recent law has been brought in. it's called the domicile law, where residence certificates are issued to non—residents. entitling them to residency rights and jobs. around 400,000 people have got this certificate injust one month. these people include bureaucrats, these people include army soldiers from nepal and other

hindu minority groups. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i'm @bbcmikeembley. hello there. we're holding onto this north—west, south—east divide. certainly on tuesday it was the case, with many southern and eastern parts of england seeing plenty of dry, bright, warm and sunny weather. but it was a very different story further north. we had outbreaks of rain in northern ireland, northern england, and for scotland it really was a soaking wet day. now, this weather front responsible for it will sink a little bit further southwards into central areas to start wednesday, but we've got another front which will move into western areas later in the day. this first front will start to migrate northwards again through the morning, taking the patchy rain with it. this next weather front will push across the irish sea, into parts of wales and western england, the odd heavier burst mixed in there. and then further north—west, it will be rather cloudy with spots of drizzle at times. a blustery day to come, particularly in england and wales. but once again, we'll stay dry with some brightness

across england, the top temperatures 25—27 degrees. also fairly warm across aberdeenshire, with some brightness there. now, through wednesday night it stays rather cloudy with further outbreaks of rain pushing on in towards the north sea. but i think that will leave a legacy of clouds and clear spells and once again it's going to be quite a warm and humid night to come. now, this weather front really started out as we head on into thursday. you can see it fade out there in response to this building area of high pressure over the near continent, and that's going to be the theme as we end the week with high pressure starting to dominate. so that weather front as it fizzles out, it will take any showers with it, the cloud should start to break up, but as we start to pick up warm and southerly winds, i think it will be a dry day for many of us with variable cloud and sunny spells. and warmer, too, temperatures reaching the low 20s further north, the high 20s across the south—east. as we head on into friday, we could see a little bit of rain returning to western areas, some of it could be heavy.

but for the bulk of the country, central, southern and eastern areas, it's going to be a very warm or even a hot day with plenty of sunshine. so again, low 20s in the north and west, 30 to maybe 34 degrees in the south—east. so feeling quite hot again. as we move into the weekend, looks like another area of high pressure will build in across the uk and will settle things down, so it should be drier even further north and west, too. and again, another hot day across the south—east on saturday, signs of it starting to cool down a little bit as we head on into sunday.

this is bbc news, the headlines: at least 80 people have been killed and thousands injured after a massive explosion in beirut, lebanon. the explosion caused extensive damage over the city. the lebanese prime minister has blamed a confiscated haul of thousands of tonnes of ammonium nitrate. he has promised those responsible will be held accountable. lebanon was already facing huge economic and political difficulties, along with the covid—19 pandemic. the bbc has obtained rare footage from inside china's secretive system of mass incarceration, which detains up to a million muslim uighurs in the far—western region of xinjiang. in a self—shot video, a formerfashion model can be seen handcuffed to a bed. his relatives say he's been detained for so called re—education and nothing has been heard from him since.