hello this is bbc news with reeta chakrabarti. the headlines... lebanon places a number of beirut port officials under house arrest pending an investigation lebanon is in mourning into last night‘s explosion, after the huge explosion which killed at least 100 people which killed at least 100 people and injured thousands. and injured more than 4,000 others. translation: we were at home, we heard what sounded like fireworks. we thought it was a container in the port that was on fire. authorities say the blast was caused by nearly 3,000 tonnes of ammonium a few seconds later, nitrate stored unsafely in a warehouse. as an investigation gets under way — we were flying through the air. lebanon's prime minister says those responsible will be held to account. authorities say the blast was caused by nearly 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely translation: we were at home. we heard what sounded in a warehouse. like fireworks. as an investigation gets under way — we thought it was a container lebanon‘s prime minister says those in the port was on fire. responsible will be held to account. a few seconds later, we were flying through the air. after a cluster of cases some lockdown restrictions after a cluster of cases some are reimposed in aberdeen — lockdown restrictions scotland‘s first minister are reimposed in aberdeen. says schools must be prioritised over pubs — echoing england‘s children‘s commissioner.

the ‘critical government errors‘ which led to many more people contracting covid—19 — a damning report from mps. 1,500 jobs are at risk at wh smith — after lockdown caused sales to plummet. scotland's first minister says schools must be prioritised over pubs, echoing england's children's commissioner. let‘s return to our top story. the ‘critical government errors‘ an operation is under way in lebanon which led to many more people to recover the bodies of the more contracting covid—19 — than 100 people who are a damning report from mps. missing after a huge explosion devastated the port area news from the high street — of the capital beirut yesterday. the blast killed at least 100 people 1,500 jobs at risk at wh smith after lockdown caused sales to plummet. and injured more than 4,000 others. and coming up. happier feet — there are many more emperor penguins than we first thought, the moment of the explosion happened as new colonies are was caught on camera by a bbc arabic spotted from space. reporter in beirut who was recording an interview at the time. we can watch some of it back, a warning though, the images are distressing. look in the top right corner of your screen.

the grim operation is under way in lebanon to recover the bodies mariam al of the more than a hundred people toumi is the reporter who are missing after a huge in the top right hand corner, explosion devastated the port area she was carrying out an interview of the capital beirut yesterday. with a guest based in morocco. the blast killed at least 100 people mariam is in a stable condition and injured more than 4,000 others. with minor injuries — all bbc staff are safe and have the whole city was shaken by the explosion and a mushroom been accounted for. cloud could be seen spreading over the port area. local authorities say it is likely the blast was caused by a fire igniting tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely in a warehouse at the port. a warning — this report from our diplomatic correspondent james robbins contains a terrifying moment. earlier, international security expert dr sajjan gohel explained why some disturbing images. the explosion has more thanjust a physical impact on the city. lebanon is reeling notjust from the coronavirus, which has hurt them badly. part of the port utterly devastated by a massive boast of explosives which should never have their medical services can‘t deal with the proliferation of cases. been left here. they are also experiencing stored for six years beside a city economic crisis. and if that wasn‘t enough now suffering terrible consequences. with the country already on its knees, they have now faced

yesterday, after an initial this devastating explosion, which has impacted on the lives fire in the docks which of hundreds of thousands of people in beirut, who probably caused only concern, lost their infrastructure, theirjobs, their livelihoods. without warning, this happened. so this could not have come at a worse time and questions will need to be raised the immense pressure about this ammonium nitrate. wave ripped through much of the lebanese capital. but my concern is we may never really get the answer is because of all the murkiness killing many people instantly, gravely injuring even more. that is involved inside lebanon. 0ne measure of its force, the blast was felt 150 miles away, people from black and ethnic minority backgrounds face greater 240 kilometres from beirut, barriers when trying to protect on the island of cyprus themselves from coronavirus in the eastern mediterranean. compared with white people — people there thought that is the finding of a report it was an earthquake. but no one in beirut by the race equality think tank, the runnymede trust. thought that for long. the report suggests that they are more likely to be key workers, translation: we were at home. use public transport and live in multi—generational households. 0ur health correspondent, we thought what sounded like fireworks was a container anna collinson reports. in the port on fire, a few seconds later, we were flying through the air. 0verexposed, under protected. it‘s claimed this has been life for many ethnic she was one of the very lucky survivors. minorities in britain others were terribly injured. during the coronavirus crisis. a survey by the runnymede trust

hospitals across the lebanese suggests black, asian and minority capital were quickly overwhelmed. ethnic communities face greater barriers than white people the head of the local red cross called it a huge when it comes to protecting catastrophe, with victims themselves from covid—19. and casualties everywhere. barriers include theirjobs. translation: there are a lot of victims. it is claimed people from ethnic we lost four nurses and patients, visitors, minority backgrounds are more many dead and many injured. likely to be key workers, we had roughly 200 injured. which means they will come into close, sometimes prolonged, there is no hospital, contact with others. as you can see from. transport is another risk with ethnic minorities more likely to use public the hospital is closed. transport during lockdown. in the midst of coronavirus, they are also more likely to live beirut‘s hospitals, several badly in multi—generational households, damaged by the blast, which can make it difficult for people living now have to face this. there to self—isolate. bangladeshi and black african people translation: every one of our crew, doctors and nurses are operating, are said to be the most vulnerable. even administration, what our survey shows everyone is working. is that it is the perfect storm we have a lot of damage, as you can see. of factors that have made black and ethnic minority communities much of the ceilings have collapsed more vulnerable to covid—19. at the entrance and the glass windows are patient rooms. and importantly what it shows and there are so many individual is that there‘s been no safety net really to protect them. stories of suffering, grief, and government measures haven‘t terrible uncertainty. reached them as much as it ought to have.

here is a man looking for his son. dr ghulam abbas spent three weeks on a ventilator he is 29 years old. after contracting covid. it's quite a terrible feeling, from seven o'clock in the evening, especially when you think about your family, i have three children. we had been all over every hospital in beirut. we are now waiting for the names to come out and nothing has come out. and it's certainly one of those feelings which are really terrifying, we don't know if he is dead or alive, we just don't know. across the city, people how they will cope without you. are in deep shock. injured and trying to take what is your reaction to today‘s in what has happened to their homes. report about ethnicity and covid—19? first estimates suggest we are at more risk than our white hundreds of thousands in beirut could be homeless, colleagues but equally we have been at least temporarily. supported quite well, i will say. such is the extent of the damage. coronavirus is a national emergency... this report claims important public safety messages aimed at reducing transmission are not reaching lebanon's president has now been to see the ruined port, all black and minority ethnic communities. the source of the explosion, in a country which has suffered so grievously, the government says these groups have been where politicians are widely accused disproportionately harmed by covid and it is tackling the disparities. of mismanagement and worse, anna collinson, bbc news. so the prime minister was left promising to find and punish those responsible for allowing such a quantity of explosive material the inquest into the death to be kept inside the city. of television presenter caroline flack has resumed in east london. the 40—year—old former

love island and x factor star translation: what happens today was found dead at her home won't be held without account, in north london in february. she was due to stand trial those responsible will pay the price accused of assaulting her for what happened. boyfriend, which she denied. it is a promise to the martyrs 0ur correspondent helena wilkinson and to the wounded. this is a national commitment, facts will be revealed has been at the inquest. about the dangerous warehouse which has been there since 2014. among the international reaction, borisjohnson has tweeted this. she appeared in court in december at a magistrates hearing where she pleaded not guilty to one charge of assault against her partner lewis burton. he never supported the let me begin by sending prosecution‘s case but this america's deepest sympathies afternoon we have heard evidence from somebody from the crown to the people of lebanon, prosecution service who said where reports indicate that many, many people were killed. initially they did not feel that hundreds were very badly wounded there was enough evidence to charge in a large explosion in beirut. 0ur prayers go out to all there was enough evidence to charge the victims and their families, the television presenter. but the the united states stands ready police then appealed that decision, which was made i won prosecutor and to assist lebanon. it was successfully appealed. so

many countries are now promising aid to beirut both thatis it was successfully appealed. so that is the evidence we have heard for the short and longer term. this afternoon. but this morning we help to begin a long, painful process of reconstruction heard from caroline flack‘s mother, for the survivors of what beirut‘s governor has called who was listening by video link and simply an apocalypse. her sister as well. the statement james robbins, bbc news. was read out by caroline‘s mother to court and she wiped away tears as she heard that statement read out. she paid tribute to her daughter. as to the cause of the explosion, the lebanese prime minister said that almost 3,000 tonnes of ammonium she paid tribute to her daughter. she said she saw her the weekend nitrate had been stored unsafely before she died and she said to the in a warehouse for 6 years. but what is the chemical, inquest through this statement that why was it stored there and why did it cause so much damage? her daughter was seriously let down the explosion, which destroyed parts of beirut and could be felt more by authorities and in particular, than 100 miles away, she said, the crown prosecution was caused by the highly explosive material ammonium nitrate, and officials are now trying to find out what ignited it. service for pursuing the case. which ammonium nitrate is a common she described as a show trial. don‘t industrial chemical. it's used mainly for fertilizer, as it's a good source forget that caroline flack had of nitrogen for plants. pleaded not guilty to that one it's also one of the main components charge. we also heard a statement in mining explosives. on its own, it's not from her partner, lewis burton, a regarded as dangerous but, game that was read out to court. he under certain conditions, said the last time he saw her she it can be deadly. in its pure form, when it's stored was devastated. he said the media correctly by itself,

we re it is really fairly safe. was devastated. he said the media but it is a component were constantly bashing her character, writing unkind stories, of fertilizers, which is why it's freely available, but also a component of explosives. generally hounding her daily. what was bothering her the most he said and if it gets contaminated, was bothering her the most he said was the police case and losing her then that contaminant could be from the likes of fuel oil, or it comes into contact with other job on love island. we also saw fuel—related substances, or it's badly stored and it starts various witness statements from to degrade and it starts to fill up, friends of caroline flack describing drains where there's pressure, the distress and anxiety that she it can start to heat up, was feeling after she had been because it's got an exothermic reaction as that heat increases. arrested for that assault charge in december. in the to when she died. and we saw pictures of a huge fire beside the building, she died. she was facing that trial. or possibly even in the building asi she died. she was facing that trial. as i say, she had pleaded not guilty where the explosion came from. that would have been enough to that one charge. the inquest he to start to heat it up, to then come into this chain—reaction event has concluded for the day and the that is unstoppable. coroner has said that we will resume this wouldn't be the first disaster tomorrow, hearing from two more caused by ammonium nitrate. the most notable included witnesses and we should get her an explosion in texas conclusion at about midday. helena, city port in 1947. thank you. our correspondent helen 2,300 tons of ammonium wilkinson there. nitrate exploded then, killing hundreds of people, and the blast could be felt 40 miles away. senior leaders of thejesus army covered—up the widespread

abuse of church members, and in tianjin, in china, in 2015, according to a major, leaked investigation. 173 people were killed all five of the so—called after an explosion of 800 tons apostles were found to have protected paedophiles, through their handling of ammonium nitrate. of complaints. the disgraced religious sect, it's really important that which sprang up in northamptonshire you actually know how to store it, in the ‘70s, closed last year, after the bbc revealed you don't store in big quantities like this, you separate it, hundreds of alleged victims were seeking damages. it has declined our you ensure that if there is some requests for comment. jon ironmonger has kind of an explosion on one one part of the, erm, one part of the ammonium nitrate this exclusive report: store that you've got, that it won't propagate to other parts of the site. so, there's lots of work god, i have so many, many sins... that was done by scientists for all he preached, the founder of in the uk and across the world on how to store this. it appears, and i didn't go to this the jesus army for all he preached, the founder of thejesus army never confessed. an site, it appears that those lessons alleged bullying and sexual predator weren't learned in lebanon. who ruled for 50 years until his death in 2009 of one of the uk‘s the investigation continues to find out how this explosion most abusive churches. now we can could have happened. reveal his so—called apostles. bbc arabic correspondent, rami ruhayem is in one of the closest residential areas a p pa re ntly reveal his so—called apostles. apparently covered up the widespread to the beirut port and sent this update. abuse of vulnerable women and children. a leaked independent this is a sample of some of the destruction wrought on beirut review commission by the church by yesterday's blast. found that each of the five senior

this neighbourhood here is very leaders step down in 2017 colluded close to the site of the blast. many of the buildings with sexual offenders through the here have balconies that overlook the port of beirut. handling of complaints. thejesus so people would have been fellowship as it is formally known standing on their balconies, disbanded last year after the bbc near their windows, stretching their necks, exposed claims of prolific child to catch a glimpse of the fire when the blast struck. abuse. hi, i am mick... leaders if you were here when this happened, where you were standing would have made a difference including the top man mick haynes we re including the top man mick haynes were recently questioned by police but no evidence was found of any between life and death. crimes. frequently on tv in the between a superficial or a very serious injury. early 90s, the spokesman and head of but for the country as a whole, this feels like a crippling wound. safeguarding defended their roles. lebanon has just lost it port the leaders are exactly the same through which most of its import passed through and it has lost it footing as anyone else in the right in the middle of the worst church. so there is no financial economic crisis in generations. exploitation are no other form of exploitation. some of the leaders earlier we heard from our middle still live in communal houses. all east editor, jeremy bowen. five men declined our requests for comment. it is perhaps no surprise lebanon east editor, jeremy bowen. has been in a deep cris since lebanon has been in a deep crisis since the end of last year. that the jesus fellowship is sitting ona that the jesus fellowship is sitting on a considerable fortune with economic, political, medical, once properties like this one, its the pandemic started. there were

people on the streets demanding a headquarters in northamptonshire, totalling tens of millions of revolution until they were forced, pounds. but for how long? it is facing a huge damages bill and by covid—19, to take shelter, to get off the streets. the issue in around 800 alleged victims are seeking pay—outs. the lebanon on is that none of these structures really work. they don't come together and that is why so many lebanese right now are saying around 800 alleged victims are seeking pay-outs. the it helps. for that this tragedy that happened some people it could be life there, this cataclysm, is a result changing. but that in no way can of the breakdown in a corrupt political system. big questions have change. launching a small chapel, to be answered. who knew that the jesus army was one change. launching a small chapel, thejesus army was one of change. launching a small chapel, ammonium nitrate was there? why was the jesus army was one of the it there? was it simply some kind of largest religious communities. now ove rco m e by dreadful negligence or was it largest religious communities. now overcome by its dark past. something more sinister? something each year, the broadcast regulator 0fcom carries out a study to do with bribery and corruption or of the uk‘s media habits. and this year has seen a huge did somebody, some entity know it change, with a surge in screen time during lockdown. was there and were just keeping it until a time that the explosive force might be needed? lots of these british adults spent six hours questions need answering and i don't and 25 minutes a day watching screens during lockdown — that‘s 40% of our waking hours. remarkably, during lockdown think there is a great deal of alone 12 million new subscriptions were taken out —

a quarter of them from people who‘d confidence among many lebanese never signed up to one before. people about whether they will get straight answers and that in itself and 55% of adults say they‘ll continue to watch this will have consequences because there much after lockdown. isa limit will have consequences because there is a limit to how far, how much, a 0ur media editor amol rajan has been speaking to yih—choung, country can take before they get 0fcom‘s group director back onto the streets again, of strategy and research. demanding change, as they were the weeks and weeks and weeks, either very striking numbers in this year‘s side of christmas and the new year. report. what have you discovered? the way we are watching tv is unrecognisable from ten and even dr sajjan gohel is an expert five years ago. lockdown has really in international security at the uk—based think tank, accelerated those changes. at its the asia—pacific foundation. peak, we were watching a whopping 6.5 hours of tv a day and doubling how does a country keep going with the amount of time we spent watching so streaming services like netflix and how does a country keep going with so many crises ongoing like this? disney plus which has attracted more it's an important question. lebanon is reeling not just it's an important question. lebanon is reeling notjust from the than 12 million new subscribers. 6.5 coronavirus, which is hurt them hours a day. what exactly are people badly, their medical services can't doing during that time? it is a deal with the proliferation of cases. they are also experiencing combination of traditional tv viewing so to the public service economic crisis and if that weren't broadcasters and other channels and enough, with a country already on then also online viewing, which will

its knees, they have now faced this include a streaming services and other forms of online video such as devastating explosion which has impacted on the lives of hundreds of youtube. we have spoken in the past thousands of people in beirut, who about the deep underlying trends probably towards streaming services. has that thousands of people in beirut, who pro ba bly lost thousands of people in beirut, who probably lost their infrastructure, their jobs, probably lost their infrastructure, theirjobs, their livelihoods. so exhilarated you towards streaming services. has that exhila rated you lockdown?” towards streaming services. has that this could not have come at a worse exhilarated you lockdown? i think the predominant trend is an acceleration of the trend that were time and questions will need to be already there. so year on year we raised about this ammonium nitrate have been seeing a decline in traditional tv viewing and a rise in but my concern is that we may never get the answer is because of all the viewing to the subscription streaming services. so streaming murkiness that is involved inside services with their vast libraries lebanon. the irony is that after so of co nte nt services with their vast libraries of content a re services with their vast libraries of content are a real hit with much conflict in this city and in people of all age groups. and i this country, this could be a tragic think my third observation would be that the pandemic has shown public mistake. it's possible. of course, service broadcasting at its best, lebanon has moved on from the dark days of the civil war. it is a delivering trusted news and bringing country that was showing signs of the best of british content, which coming together, even though it has viewers really value. so we have a very complicated political system seen a real peak in news consumption of cohabitation where different sectarian and communal groups have in the early part of lockdown. to cooperate and have certain record audiences for the uk broadcasters, though that has tailed specific political powers, so for off more recently. so you discovered

example, the president has to be a that in early lockdown there was very high consumption of news and maronite christian, the speaker of that, contrary to some rumours you the house has to be a sheer muslim, might see on social media, trust in and at times there have been news on the public service broadcasters remains very high? conflict between these entities. 0ne that‘s absently right. i think it entity may not know what another was striking to see that the five group is doing. it all stems from most popular programmes were all news programmes about the pandemic. what is happening inside the port of when we have asked people what they beirut. we know that the militant think about the public service broadcasters news, eight out of ten group that also has a strong of them say they highly rate the political presence in lebanon has a news from the public service broadcasters. and even though significant... if they were not younger audiences are increasingly turning to social media for their involved in what transpired, they news, it is interesting to see that can certainly find out if they choose to. it is the nature, if one those are rated much, much less highly in terms of accuracy and looks at pictures like this, that reliability. thank you very much the death toll, the figures, they indeed for your time. rise dramatically. they will go up, the headlines on bbc news... i'm afraid. we need to brace ourselves for that. even in 2020, lebanon places a number of beirut port officials under house arrest when coronavirus deaths have made is pending an investigation into last almost immune to the reporting of night‘s explosion, which killed at least 100 people. hundreds of people dying, this is it now yet another type of tragedy. my concern is that the death toll is after a cluster of cases some

lockdown restrictions going to go up quite significantly are reimposed in aberdeen — scotland‘s first minister because the authorities will need says schools must be prioritised over pubs — time to identify those that died in echoing england‘s children‘s commissioner. the vicinity of the explosion. dna is going to be required. it's going the ‘critical government errors‘ which led to many more people to bea is going to be required. it's going contracting covid—19 — to be a very grim and painful exercise, bringing back memories of a damning report from mps. what happened during the september 11 the tax, because the death toll wasn't fully established until many weeks or months later. you mentioned new guidance is being issued to sonographers to use when they carry out ultrasounds his brother matt and when i was in on expectant parents. it‘s to help radiographers communicate in an honest and clear beirut, they were quick to hand out way — especially when they detect complications with the pregnancy. tim muffett has been speaking to some parents money to people. that has a huge about their experience. effect and impact in a population thatis effect and impact in a population right at the very end, she said, that is already suffering so much. "so everything looks fine, your baby‘s got a heartbeat and there is just no fluid around the baby." and that was almost said in passing. welt, his brother has a lot of you know, i can still hear those words clear as day. support. they it will be interesting hannah has had several miscarriages. to see how they react officially to 0n more than one occasion distressing situations this. initially, they were bracing were handled badly.

themselves for a tribunal verdict which was due on friday to do with the death of the former lebanese prime minister in which it was believed that several members of his brother were going to be held accountable for that death, so on top of what is already happened, i rememberjust feeling, the colour, the blood colour draining there is concerns about the out my face, i felt quit faint. political sensitivities that are and she said, "so if you canjust going to take place and we also need sit in the waiting room, to remember that his brother has we will send a doctor out to talk to you." and she looked at me and said, been involved in procuring ammonium "what‘s wrong with you?" nitrate. in the uk and germany,... i‘ve just had the shock of my life, actually. you have just given me this news and i am trying to comprehend it but also now i have to go and sit back in a waiting area full of other expectant parents. now a mum of five, hannah welcomes but we are talking about thousands new official guidance of tonnes here. 2750 tonnes. it is a for sonographers who carry out scans on pregnant women. it seems to me to be basic figure that is staggering. put it principles of good care into perspective, the 1995 oklahoma city bombing which resulted in many and it has not been present. around one in 20 baby scans pick—up anomalies that could indicate a health condition. dead, less than four tonnes of some are serious, some are not. it is down to sonographers, ammonium nitrate. the al-qaeda plot such as alexandra, to relay unexpected news.

in 2004 in the uk, in which several and what we‘re trying to do as sonographers is, whilst we are scanning in real—time, british nationals of pakistani quite often with the parents asking origin were planning attacks, they us questions, like can we see had half a turn and the authorities what the gender of the baby is, and is that the baby winking believe that dozens could have been or is it the heart flickering, killed from that. put that into we are trying to think, how are we going to perspective, 2750 tonnes of ammonium break the bad news. nitrate that was sitting in the port, locked up, for several years have i actually diagnosed what is wrong with the baby correctly. it is believed. and yet, nothing was and so it‘s a very, very stressful being done about it. this was such a situation to be in and then suddenly you have to turn to the patients crisis that is now being created for and sort of shatter their world, really. a country which cannot handle any more. the port is destroyed, it will a lot of the training that we get is in—house, so it‘s literally watching impact the country's economy. they the sonographer that is your mentor and who you are learning from. need support working in a matter of and obviously that‘s reliant on the sonographer doing it hours. this is potentially going to correctly in the first place. but we have never had destabilise the port for months. a go to publication, this is a country that already was something where there is a consensus on how we should break bad news. ina deep this is a country that already was in a deep economic crisis. can it the new guidance is published today. survive this? it has no option. some doctorjudithjohnson led the research. 250,000 people have lost their homes it's important that sonographers or have been damaged beyond repair. are honest and they provide businesses have been shattered and a balanced picture of what they have it is going to be hard in this seen, even if this is uncertain,

economic crisis, notjust in and linked with that neutral terms are really important. so it is important that sonographers lebanon, but globally, to be able to use the term "chance" instead of "risk", provide tangible support for the and "health condition" rather than "abnormality". country and to help them deal with the use of the word "baby" — what we now know is that it is this and to help them deal with the always "the baby" as soon as expectant parents know potential social ramifications and that they are pregnant with a baby, the communal tensions that may and it is really important that emerge from this because the blame sonographers use that language too. game is going to start very soon and for a country that has deep scars zoe is 13, she has down‘s syndrome and was born with a heart defect. from the civil war, people will be whenever you hear news like that, bracing themselves for what we describe it as like being hit potentially could come next. thank by a juggernaut. you very much for your time. we were the classic first—time parents, going to our 20—week pregnancy scan, expecting to find out whether we were having a boy or a girl, grandparent on hold all pubs, cafes and restaurants on the phone and all that sort in aberdeen have been ordered of thing so i don‘t think there‘s to close by five this afternoon any good way that you can possible to try to control a coronavirus hear the news like outbreak which started to emerge last week. the news that we heard. 54 positive cases had now been however, i think it is possible linked with the cluster to give that news in a sensitive and the country's contact tracing system had idenitifed more and in a compassionate way, and that is pretty much than 20 venues in aberdeen what happened happened associated with the outbreak. scotland's first minister, with our experience. nicola sturgeon, urged people the sonographer was very in the area to restrict compassionate, she responded to the questions we were asking, their movements. she was very honest. she told us what she you should no longer travel more than five miles for leisure thought she could or recreational purposes. you may continue to travel see but did not try to overtell us

for work or education, things, didn‘t try to diagnose. but we advise against other travel. john runs a charity called we are also advising people tiny tickers for children, like zoe, who are born who are not in aberdeen not with heart problems. to travel to aberdeen. he helped draw up the new guidance. if you're already in i think it is absolutely aberdeen visiting family, or on holiday, you can stay. vital that this training, please follow all of the guidance that these guidelines are adopted while you are there and take extra care when you return home. because sonographers are being asked secondly, from today, people in aberdeen should not go to do a really, really into each other‘s houses. difficult thing. up until now, there has been no consensus guidelines, there‘s been no mandatory training extended household groups can for sonographers so they have kind continue, but remember these of been really left to it, to pick their own way through that are situations which should only involve one or the adult really difficult thing. who is living on their own. zoe‘s life got off to a difficult finally, we will be start butjohn and his wife introducing regulations, were grateful that they were told we will publish those later today, sensitively and honestly about the challenges that lay ahead. requiring all indoor and outdoor tim muffett, bbc news. hospitality in the city to close by 5pm today. that includes all bars, you are watching bbc news. restaurants, cafe is in pubs. for pupils across the uk, hotel restaurants can remain open the coronavirus outbreak has but to provide food for residents brought huge disruption. pupils in scotland are due to return only and takeaway services can to school next week and students continue, but all other in england and wales will follow pubs and restaurants them next month. the reopening of schools has been described as a "priority" and cafe is must close.

by the children‘s commisioner for england, anne longfield. this restriction on hospitality but how do parents feel will be backed by regulation, about their children‘s return to the classroom? so if necessary, it will be fiona lamdin has been finding out. enforced, but i would expect, one, two, three. . . ready? given the responsible way that they have behaved in recent jo has been home—schooling her three days, the the owners of these children for five months. i have been shielding businesses in aberdeen will act voluntarily and continue because i have got severe asthma. to be responsible. we have continued to keep them here even though they could have our news correspondentjames shaw gone back to school, because for us, we wanted to keep me healthy. joins us now from glasgow. but what will you do about september? we would love them to go back in september. nicola sturgeon saying that opening that‘s my absolute hope for them. they miss their friends so much. schools is a priority and this is all linked to that, isn't it? it is. we are saying to them that they are probably going to go there has been a feeling for a long back, but at the same time, we have to keep an eye on the data time in the scottish government and and the statistics to check to see you hear from nicola time in the scottish government and you hearfrom nicola sturgeon, that whether it is safe enough, getting schools open is perhaps the because obviously, if there is another spike, we have to keep them back. main priority this summer and if and so that‘s going to be our new reality, i think. other things have to close down to and jo isn‘t alone. it is on many parents‘ minds. allow that to happen, then so be it. thanks forjoining me. it appears to be the case of what we is this what everyone is talking are seeing in aberdeen quite about at the moment? best friends gemma, becky and leisel widespread restrictions on, not as may be scattered around the country,

but it is an issue that affects them all. severe as at the height of the they need to go back to school, pandemic, but never the less people but i am concerned. in aberdeen will notice this. i've i don't feel the government knows just been looking at a news release enough to be able to categorically from the scottish government and it say that that is the safe thing is worth quoting some details of it to do, so that is a big concern because i think it does highlight of mine come september. i am ready and they what the scottish government is are ready to go back. doing here. you heard nicola sturgeon saying that this, these i have had some quite fraught conversations with some of my friends, really good friends restrictions will be enforced if about going back to school, and, you know, some of them are, necessary. that they are required by law to close the cafe is, pubs and like, "oh, god, just get them back. i want to get them back here. we need to get them back here now!" restau ra nts a nd law to close the cafe is, pubs and restaurants and i have also heard, will all of you be sending your although it hasn't as yet been children back in september? confirmed, that there will be an i want them to go back. increased police presence in yes, i will. i will be sending them aberdeen. presumably, that is to back in september. but for others, the decision is even harder. make sure that all those things oh, well done, great shot! happen. that the night—time economy lorraine‘s11—year—old son george in aberdeen is close down. to get a is due to start secondary school next month, but she is terrified. sense of how serious the scottish because my stepfather passed away government thinks this is, they think it is linked to the night—time from coronavirus back in april, economy, in other words there was i have seen a different side of this pubs and restaurants which may well have been very crowded at the and how serious it is, weekend and on previous weekends and and on so many different levels, they have also talked about an

accelerating increase in cases, so and it is such a cruel virus. and while george is desperate to that they cannot rule out community start, his mum is still undecided. i am looking at things like the r transmission and clearly, that is a number, i‘m looking at things, like, the infection rates locally, very important part of this whole equation, this whole picture in all of that information, aberdeen. if it is the case that and i don‘t know what it is going to look like in september, community transmission is happening, i don‘t think anybody does, then that is really, i suppose, but i suppose every day i am looking coronavirus at its most dangerous. for reassurance, so i can increase that confidence to send him to school. it has not been locked down or isolated to a specific group of people who have been traced and if we get to the beginning tested and told to isolate, but it of september and i don‘t feel that may be at large in the community. all of the issues have...that nicola sturgeon said that cannot be are currently bothered me ruled out. we don't know if it is are currently resolved, you know, the case at the moment, but it is there is a chance that i may say, "well, i am sorry, i don‘t feel that certainly the case that we will be all the risks have been mitigated" watching and waiting over the coming and i can‘t send him. as we head towards a new academic hours to see what happens with those year, everyone is preparing to return. numbers of positive cases. if there i want to go back to school is another big jump, then clearly, there is a situation that may so i can see my friends, require other action by the scottish my teacher and do all the fun government to deal with it. thank lessons we get to do in school. well, i really miss seeing my friends and my teacher, and having the food.

you very much, james. fiona lamdin, bbc news. douglas ross has been named the new leader of the scottish conservatives. the mp for moray will take over from jackson carlaw who resigned last week. douglas ross has said he wants now, we can bring you the latest to hand more power back to local authorities, accusing the scottish government coronavirus daily figures which have of a "power grab" over just been released. the government the last 13 years. has said that the latest figures coronavirus spread faster in the uk as the government show that 46,364 people have died in made ‘critical errors‘, including the inexplicable" hospitals, care homes and the wider decision to lift all border restrictions in mid—march — that‘s the finding of a report community after testing positive for from the home affairs select committee of mps. coronavirus in the uk. that is at it says the mistakes accelerated" 5pm on tuesday. and that is up by 65 in the country and led to "many more people contracting covid—19". from the day before. there are also the government has dismissed separate figures which have been the findings, saying they were "guided by the science". published by the uk‘s statistics here‘s our home affairs agency, which show that there have correspondent, dominic casciani. a pandemic gripping the world, now been 56,600 deaths registered in infection spreading as travellers globetrotted across continents. the uk where covid—19 was mentioned on the death certificate. a huge challenge for governments and scientists with almost every nation in the world attempting to stop or slow the now, on a lighter note there is good virus at the border. but, say mps today, not in the uk. news today about penguins. satellite observations have found a raft of new emperor penguin

buses leaving an raf base breeding sites in the antarctic. in 0xfordshire carrying 83 britons the locations were identified from the way the birds‘ to, flown back from wuhan in china, or guano, had stained large patches of sea—ice. the source of the the discovery increases the known number of emperor penguins coronavirus outbreak. by between five and 10% to more these people were quarantined for 14 than half a million birds. victoria gill has more. days in hospital but travellers arriving from europe where cases were rocketing faced no health checks at the border. they are the biggest and possibly from the 27th of january the toughest of antarctica‘s the uk‘s first border measures were introduced, first targeting people returning from china, later iran and italy. penguins. when they are not fishing anyone arriving was urged in freezing water they raise their to self—isolate for 14 days. chicks on the ice. and that backdrop but on the 13th of march that self isolation guidance has meant that scientists can use for travellers was lifted. only on the 23rd of march did satellite images to discover hidden ministers announce the national lockdown that forced most colonies. these are the tell—tale of the country to stay indoors. markers that gave away their and it wasn‘t until the 8th ofjune location. giant stains left on the that any formal border measures were reintroduced. ice from thousands of penguins the home affairs committee says droppings. we have found about 25 to the decision to lift border measures in march was completely inexplicable. 55,000 new penguins located in 11 we found that the government

decision not to have any quarantine emperor penguin colonies. it is great to have more emperor penguins or border measures in place because this is a species which is in the middle of march was a serious mistake. really quite vulnerable to climate change and we expect over the coming decades that the numbers will reduce it did mean that we had thousands more people arrived in the uk with covid—19, dramatically. the emperor penguin's often from spain, from italy, whole life cycle is centred on the people coming home. seaice whole life cycle is centred on the sea ice so the sign to say this good and that did accelerate the pace news about the population size comes and scale of the epidemic. with a note of caution. all of the and the mps say lessons new colonies are in vulnerable were there to be learned areas. places where the best climate from january including models but checked that the ice will from singapore which mounted a major airport screening exercise diminish in the coming decades. 0ne for high—risk flights. the damning criticisms go further. forecast suggests that the global population of emperors could crash by half by the end of this century. the mps say the uk did not recognise reducing carbon emissions to limit in time the threat posed by returning holiday—makers from spain. global temperature rise, researchers the government said say, is the only way to protect the the findings were wrong. frozen habitat that these animals throughout this process we have followed the scientific advice depend on. and the scientific advice was very now, the weather with alina jenkins. clear, when you have lower hello. infection rates in the country yesterday, tyndrum in western that is the point at which you bring scotland had around 72 millimetres of rain injust 24 hours. in quarantine measures and that is what we did on the 8th ofjune. a little under three inches. the mps say the government was right its wettest august day on record. the main focus of the rain today

last month to impose a quarantine has shifted slightly on people returning from holidays in spain. and to northern ireland, but the findings are also the second north wales, northern england, still no sign of any significant highly critical report in the week, rainfall across south—east england. here, the best of the sunshine issues for a future enquiry promised through this afternoon. by the prime minister. it‘s quite a messy picture though through the rest of wednesday. dame annejohnson is a professor this frontal system continuing on its journey eastwards. of infectious disease epidemiology the rain will tend to ease off at university college london. across northern ireland but push into parts of southern and western scotland, northern england, wales, the midlands, a few showers across south—west england, driest with the best of the sunshine the further south this issue of closing borders, does and east you are and hence the highest temperatures. it make a huge difference? it's a still feeling fairly cool where you have got the cloud, the rain and also very, gaited issue. clearly early a noticeable breeze. now through this evening on, there was quite a lot of and overnight that area of rain restriction on travel from china and across northern england, southern scotland will tend to push away eastwards. around the world, particularly those eventually most of us become dry. quite large amounts of cloud countries familiar with the sars but there will be some clear spells. epidemic were quick in closing their another mild if not borders and wit as we‘ve just heard, muggy night for many. temperatures not much lower than 15 we had a lot of travel restrictions or 16 celsius in places. a little bit fresher across scotland on china, southeast asia and compared to last night. so here‘s our frontal system subsequently on italy. i think tomorrow, notice how it is running however, what happened was that we into this area of high pressure. saw this epidemic emerging in so as it does most of the rain will tend to fade away europe, first in italy and but there will be a lot of cloud subsequently in france and spain. i left on it.

think in retrospect, and the that cloud could be thick enough across southern england through tomorrow to bring some light rain or drizzle, most committee acknowledge this, looking will have a mainly dry day. back, we know more about the magnitude of the epidemic but it‘s and although a lot of cloud around, quite clear now that we missed the it should thin and break extent of the epidemic in so most of us will see some spells of sunshine. particular, the asymptomatic quite a warm if not humid day tomorrow, 26, 27 celsius epidemic, we underestimated its eyes across the south—east and quarter on europe and we now know, from of the uk but feeling warmer than it has done recently with scotland, genetic studies that have become northern ireland and northern england. available, that there were a very large numbers of multiple transmissions coming in from italy as we go into friday, and subsequently from spain and also notice these frontal systems just fringing the western side of the uk. from france around that mid march so cooler here with some showers, maybe some longer spells of rain period. of course, the issue is how but elsewhere this heat is starting to build and temperatures will be much does a screening at airports rising once again on friday. much more in the way of sunshine for most on friday compared and so on help you and that can be to thursday but notice these areas of showers, longer spells of rain across northern ireland, western scotland, maybe limited if you are not going to test north west england but it‘s at airports, we know that the temperatures which will be the story on friday. temperature screening is not once again across the south—eastern sufficient. we know that sticky quarter of the uk we could see them advice is to make sure that we were getting up to around 34, maybe 35 celsius. able to get people to isolate if high pressure is building through the weekend, so for most of us it is going to be they were sick. by mid—march, that

mainly dry, still very warm was the advice for everybody but slowly turning a little bit although it was after the time when cooler for many through sunday. i think quite a lot of transmission bye— bye. would already have occurred and we understand that much better now. hindsight is a wonderful thing. do you think we have learned enough lessons to cope with this expected second wave? you can see, the last news item, in aberdeen, how you can so easily set off sparks, how incredibly important it is to have strong surveillance and of course now, we didn‘t have that, that was one of the things that was definitely missing from our toolkit was the extensive testing which is so important in getting on top of this. but it isn‘t testing in its own right, that is important to know where the epidemic is going on but most of the tools in the tool box are entirely to do with people being able to maintain high levels of hygiene, not mixed together in large groups, keep a distance from one

another, wear masks. these are all the tools that we have to use, each one of us collectively and make sure that we stay out of the way as soon as we feel at all sick and get tested, get the contact tracing going. that also applies across businesses come across hospitals and social care, to try and do everything we can, everyone of us at work, home, to reduce the risk of transmission. that‘s the only way we can get on top of this at the moment u nless can get on top of this at the moment unless we, in the future hope to this is bbc news. have vaccines and therapies but i‘m reeta chakrabarti. there was in turn take time to rule the headlines... out. professor, the one thing that does seem to surprise everybody is the speed at which the virus can lebanon places a number of beirut port officials under house search. absolutely, again, we are arrest pending an investigation into last night‘s explosion, continuing to learn. we didn‘t which killed at least 100 people realise how much asymptomatic spread and injured thousands. there was and how easily you can get translation: we were at home. these super spreading events and we heard what sounded it‘s very important that we get, we like fireworks. we thought it was a container in the port that was on fire. understand in detail, precisely what a few seconds later, it is that went wrong, what are the we were flying through the air. components that are making these authorities say the blast was caused

things happen? then we can really by nearly 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely try to learn lessons. so these in a warehouse. outbreak investigations are hugely as an investigation gets underway, lebanon‘s prime minister says those important and they are being undertaken by people locally, we are responsible will be held to account. after a cluster of cases, recognising it‘s also very important some lockdown restrictions to understand the practices or the are reimposed in aberdeen. local cultural issues or whatever it is or language issues or whatever, that our meaning that people are unable to adequately protect themselves, so absolutely, we need to continue to understand the science but we also need to understand human behaviour and we also need to understand how we communicate uncertainty and communicate uncertainty and communicate with everybody about what they can do to help. thank you so much for your time. there is more bad news from the high street. wh smith has announced it is planning to cut up to 1,500 jobs as bosses said its recovery from the covid—19 lockdown has been "slow". let‘s get more with our business correspondent simon gompertz. the depressing part of this is you

andi the depressing part of this is you and i are having this conversation every day and we are talking about large numbers of job every day and we are talking about large numbers ofjob losses. yesterday it was pizzaexpress and cu rrys yesterday it was pizzaexpress and currys pc world. today, whsmith is the biggest, up to 1500. i think they divide their business into two in the uk. there are the high street shops that we are familiar with, if they had a post office in they stayed open during the lockdown so they did do business and they have reopened all of those around 570 have reopened. and they‘re not doing brilliantly, trade is about 25% down on normal. the other half of the uk business is what they call travel. it is smaller shops in stations and in airports. and there drop in trade has been really drastic because of course so few people are travelling. they have reopened about half of them but trade is about three quarters down. i mean it is really terrible and this is where most of

thejob terrible and this is where most of the job losses are likely to be concentrated. it‘s not the only firm we have heard from today. there a fashion retailer that have said they are closing 47 shops, 380 jobs to go. and another company we have heard from is william hill the bookmakers, 119 of their betting shops are not going to reopen because they simply don‘t expect people to come back and bet physically in shops in so great numbers. but they think they will be able to rea bsorb numbers. but they think they will be able to reabsorb most of the staff who are affected in other parts of the business, so not too many people will actually lose theirjobs. simon, thank you very much. hello this is bbc news. the headlines... lebanon is in mourning after the huge explosion which killed at least 100 people and injured more than 4,000 others.

after a cluster of cases some lockdown restrictions are reimposed in aberdeen — scotland‘s first minister says schools must be prioritised over pubs — echoing england‘s children‘s commissioner. the ‘critical government errors‘ which led to many more people contracting covid—19 — a damning report from mps. 1,500 jobs are at risk at wh smith — a damning report from mps. after lockdown caused sales to plummet. sport now. and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here‘s katherine downes. let‘s start at old trafford where england have had a decent morning on the first day of the first test against pakistan. they rain mostly stayed away, and the bowlers took advantage before lunch, as andy swiss reports. smile everyone. barely a week after the west indies now it is pakistan‘s turn in the bio secure bubble. 0ld

trafford once again eerily empty as their batsmen emerged. for their pa rt their batsmen emerged. for their part england had included ben stokes, despite him being unfit to bowl. while those who were fit to bowl. while those who were fit to bowl were finding it frustrating. time and againjimmy anderson left the pakistan openers are prodding at thin airas the the pakistan openers are prodding at thin air as the visitors rode their luck. for england it was turning into one of those mornings. their hopes of an early breakthrough just agonisingly out of reach. but with the floodlights on and the rain clouds circling they finally struck. a beauty from jofra archer and he was gone for 16. success for england‘s speediest star as pakistan‘s progress took a heavy knock. it quickly took another. the pakistan captain gone for zero. suddenly england‘s tails were up.

babar azam is suddenly england‘s tails were up. ba bar azam is pakistan‘s suddenly england‘s tails were up. babar azam is pakistan‘s premier batsmen. but he very nearly went first ball. for the visitors it was proving tough going. they did pass 50 just after lunch but england will head into it with a spring in their step. and swiss, bbc news. let‘s have a quick look at the very latest from old trafford. pakistan are 104-2. from old trafford. pakistan are 104—2. shan masood on 42, babar azam on 29 —— 39. we will keep you updated on that throughout the rest of the day. european football returns for the first time since the start of lockdown tonight. manchester united play the austrian side lask in the second leg of their last—16 tie in the europa league. united are 5—0 up from the away leg, and are already guaranteed champions league football next season.

nevertheless the manager wants this season to end with a trophy. the team has developed all through the season and of course we are delighted with finishing third. but then the next step for this team is getting its hands on a trophy. we have been to two semifinals this year. we want to go one step further and we want to win something. the schedule for the resumption of the delayed six nations has been confirmed with the remaining four matches of the competition taking place in the last week of october. ireland and italy still have two matches to fulfill and they will meet at the aviva stadium in dublin on the 24th of october. the fifth and final round of fixtures will all take place a week later on the 31st of october. that is the six nations restarting in october. barry hawkins is through to the second round of the world snooker championship in sheffield. the 15th seed made light work of the resumption of his match

against switzerland‘s alexander ursenbacher. it took the englishman just 42 minutes to take the three frames he needed to win the match 10—2. already in the second round the four—time champion john higgins is playing norway‘s kurt maflin who‘s at the crucible forjust the second time. the score at the moment is two frames to one to the scot. you can watch all the action live now on bbc two, and via the bbc sport website and app. a 20—year—old has been convicted of raping and murdering a female friend who had "trusted" him to walk her home. wesley streete dumped keeley bunker‘s body in a brook before trying to conceal his crime in september last year. phil mackie reports. this was the moment that wesley streete was arrested last year. less than 24 hours earlier, he had raped and murdered his friend, keeley bunker. she thought he was

someone she could trust. she didn‘t know that he had already sexually assaulted other teenage girls. they‘d gone for a night out in birmingham, first to a gig and afterwards to a club in the city centre, staying until the early hours. before keeley took out enough cash to pay for a taxi back to tamworth. when they arrived, streete said he would walk her home, using a short cut through this park. keeley never returned and by the evening people were out looking for her. dozens of people joined in the search the next day as keeley bunker‘s family became frantic, increasingly concerned that she hadn‘t come back. eventually, her uncle spotted something in the water here. it was keeley‘s body. he was obviously trusted by keeley, trusted to walk her home that night. he has manipulated a situation where he has preyed upon her and ultimately raped and murdered her. as dozens of friends came to leave

tributes near the scene, other young girls came forward to tell the police they had been victims of sexual assaults carried out by streete. only one had made a complaint at the time and that had been withdrawn. he clearly carried on his offending, whether it made him more confident i can‘t really comment but he clearly carried on his offending after that report, where unfortunately it wasn‘t the right time for the woman at that time to take it any further. tamworth came to a standstill for keeley‘s funeral. she was a popular young woman betrayed by a man she trusted. her family described her as one of the most vibrant, caring and beautiful souls this earth has ever seen. phil mackie, bbc news, tamworth. the duchess of sussex has won a high court battle to keep the names of five of her friends private, for the time being, as part of her legal action against the mail on sunday.

meghan markle is suing associated newspapers over articles in the paper that included parts of a handwritten letter she had sent to her estranged father, thomas markle, in august 2018. the friends who will remain anonymous gave an interview to the us magazine people. adults spent 40% of their waking hours during lockdown watching television or video streaming services. that‘s according to the media watchdog 0fcom. it says that on average, people spent six hours and 25 minutes a day in front of a screen, a rise of almost a third on the same period last year. time on streaming services doubled. joshua rom is a film & tv critic and broadcaster. are you a surprise as many seem to be by these figures? quite frankly i‘m really not surprised and i think it is due to three factors here. 0ne, it is due to three factors here. one, the inexpensive price tag. to the coronavirus circumstances where people who live normally active lives are being forced to stay in.

and, three, the inexpensive price tag on these subscription services plus word—of—mouth. tag on these subscription services plus word-of-mouth. now, it is not just how much time it is what we are watching and it is the streaming services that have done particular well. absolutely. because i think that‘s the thing with streaming services is you have this whole huge library of content and notjust a specific sort of content aimed at a specific sort of content aimed at a specific form of demographic. you have got a library full of movies, tv shows, longerform programmes, short form programmes, films as well. documentaries. you have got pretty much a programme to suit any sort of audience in many different languages as well. so i am really not surprised why people are flocking to the streaming services, especially because they‘re so cheap to access. i know netflix is under

£10 a month, disney as well, disney plus is under £10 a month. they are very easily accessible as well to the average viewer and again because of the coronavirus, people that would usually lead active lifestyles are being forced by the government to stay at home. so they need to find a way of entertaining themselves. so this factor of easily accessible programming to suit any sort of audience at any sort of day which is also available at any given time period as well is due to bring in all kinds of different audiences. you mention disney plus, they launched i think on the day lockdown was introduced and they are a real success out of this. yeah, absolutely. and to be honest with disney i‘m really not surprised because one, i think the fact that they launched on the day that lockdown began is incredible timing because people were forced to stay at home, they were forced immediately to seek a new

alternative. the fact that disney is alternative. the fact that disney is a massive, well—established brand was of course going to bring people in wanting to maybe rewatch a classic if they are feeling nostalgic. but also, the huge variety of content that is notjust available on netflix and amazon but that‘s also available on disney. you have got huge cinematic movie blockbusters such as the complete star wars collection and also the com plete star wars collection and also the complete marvel collection. that is going to bring people in. combined with also maybe for millennials these nostalgic sitcoms that they used to watch on the disney channel, all available in one place for a very inexpensive price tag. of course the bbc advertising free untiljust now! course the bbc advertising free until just now! how course the bbc advertising free untiljust now! how is that done? the bbc as it happens linear broadcasting as a whole i think is

also, according to the 0fcom report, has actually increased as well. i know boris johnson‘s has actually increased as well. i know borisjohnson‘s various addresses and the queen‘s address, until we meet again address have become some of the biggest watched linear programmes. there is always going to be an appetite for live television out there is well. so i think even though we can clearly see streaming services on the rise, there is always going to be an appetite for linear broadcasting, especially live events. you mention live events and of course during a pandemic, a pandemic —— lockdown news is opposite going to do better. of course, people want to stay up—to—date with the facts, that‘s a guarantee. i think there is also the danger of people wanting to maybe escape the news, which you think is why disney plus has also done so well. because let‘s be honest, it is pure and utter escapism. the marvel

movies, the classic sort of disney princess movies. what i also think isa princess movies. what i also think is a realfactor princess movies. what i also think is a real factor here princess movies. what i also think is a realfactor here is princess movies. what i also think is a real factor here is also children, the fact that children are having to stay off school. so pa rents a re having to stay off school. so parents are having to find new ways of entertaining their kids within the comfort of their own homes. and obviously disney being this well established children‘s brand was obviously always going to draw in a big audience. great to talk to you and we got it, you like disney. they have done well! you are watching bbc news. people from black and ethnic minority backgrounds face greater barriers when trying to protect themselves from coronavirus compared with white people — that is the finding of a report by the race equality think tank, the runnymede trust. the report suggests that they are more likely to be key workers, use public transport and live in multi—generational households. 0ur health correspondent, anna collinson reports. 0verexposed, under protected. it‘s claimed this has been life for many ethnic minorities in britain

during the coronavirus crisis. a survey by the runnymede trust suggests black, asian and minority ethnic communities face greater barriers than white people when it comes to protecting themselves from covid—19. barriers include theirjobs. it is claimed people from ethnic minority backgrounds are more likely to be key workers, which means they will come into close, sometimes prolonged, contact with others. transport is another risk with ethnic minorities more likely to use public transport during lockdown. they are also more likely to live in multi—generational households, which can make it difficult for people living there to self—isolate. bangladeshi and black african people are said to be the most vulnerable. what our survey shows is that it is the perfect storm of factors that have made black and ethnic minority communities much more vulnerable to covid—19. and importantly what it shows is that there‘s been no safety net really to protect them. and government measures haven‘t

reached them as much as it ought to have. this doctor spent three weeks on a ventilator after contracting covid. it's quite a terrible feeling, especially when you think about your family, i have three children. and it's only one of those feelings that are really terrifying, how they will cope without you. what is your reaction to today‘s report about ethnicity and covid—19? we are at more risk than our white colleagues but equally we have been supported quite well, i will say. coronavirus is a national emergency. this report claims important public safety messages aimed at reducing transmission are not reaching all black and minority ethnic communities. the government says these groups have been disproportionately harmed by covid and it is tackling the disparities. anna collinson, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news...

lebanon is in mourning after the huge explosion which killed at least 100 people and injured more than 4,000 others. after a cluster of cases some lockdown restrictions are reimposed in aberdeen — scotland‘s first minister says schools must be prioritised over pubs — echoing england‘s children‘s commissioner. the ‘critical government errors‘ which led to many more people contracting covid—19 — a damning report from mps. yesterday, we reported on the british children of islamic state group members stranded in camps in syria. today we look at the way trinidad is dealing with the women and children who want to return. the carribean island had one of the highest recruitment rates to islamic state group in the west — as poonam taneja reports. trinidad, the tropical island best known for its steel bands and carnival.

but some they are swapped the caribbean island for the islamic state‘s self—declared caliphate. many, like this man have been killed in battle. his mother now fears for his wife and children, who are left stranded in camps in syria. the camp is not human like. it is overcrowded, and diseased. they hardly have rations, and water like, it is not. it is just not for human. i am a brother from trinidad and tobago. about 130 trinidadians joined is. some are seen here in this propaganda film. many of the trinidadians who travelled to islamic state group either visited or worshipped at this mosque complex in the small town of rio claro.

the imam‘s daughters, grandchildren and great—grandchildren also travelled to syria. he‘s come to the attention of both the us and local security services. are you a recruiter for islamic state group? i have never recruited anybody. i have never advised anybody to go over there. i am speaking the truth. whether you believe it or not. how do you explain that so many people with a connection to you and this mosque here, travelled to islamic state group territory? this is a good mosque. people can come here. why my children and grandchildren have gone, i don‘t know. how they went or when they went, number one, and the other people who passed through, i don‘t know how they went. no charges have been brought against him. the issue now in trinidad is how to deal with the women and children still in syria. something governments across the world are struggling with. here, new anti—terror laws are to be introduced to facilitate their safe return.

we have designed laws so that we can buffer the return, receive them into a safe zone, so that we can actually debrief, investigate and reacclimatise our citizens to life in trinidad and tobago in a responsible way. but their relatives can‘t understand the delay. certainly they are not innocent, but i don‘t think they will view the mothers as terrorists, and i can‘t see a four—year—old being a terrorist. they will just follow the parents. many western governments remain fearful about security, but aid agencies warn if they stay in syria, children will be increasingly at risk of death, disease and radicalisation. poonam taneja, bbc news, trinidad.

the funeral ofjohn hume, one of the key architects of the northern ireland peace process, has been taking place in londonderry. the former sdlp leader died on monday, aged 83, following a long illness. the funeral was attended by leaders from across the political spectrum from northern ireland and the irish republic. mr hume‘s family urged mourners wishing to line the streets to respect covid—19 guidelines on gatherings and light a "candle for peace" at home. the uk government has announced details for the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of vj day, the moment whenjapan‘s surrender ended the second world war. the prince of wales will lead the tributes with a national two minute silence. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. to those who took part, they were the forgotten army, fighting on against the japanese in the jungles of burma and elsewhere for several months after the second world war in europe had ended. the fighting in the far east ended in august 1945 after the allies had dropped atom bombs on hiroshima and nagasaki.

japan surrendered and british servicemen returned home. but britain by then was a country eager to move on. the feeling that their sacrifice had been forgotten was exacerbated. but at the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire on saturday august 15, the 75th anniversary of victory overjapan, or vj day, the prince of wales will lead the nation‘s commemoration of the moment when the global conflict that was the second world war finally came to an end. the service, which will include a national two minutes‘ silence, will be attended by a number of veterans who fought in the far east, and it will be broadcast by the bbc. the duke of cambridge will take part in a programme, vj day 75, the nation‘s tribute to be broadcast on bbc one. among the veterans who will feature in the programme will be the duke of edinburgh. as a young royal navy officer, he was on board a british warship in tokyo bay for the signing by the japanese of their surrender. and captain sir tom moore,

another veteran who served in the burma campaign, has voiced the hope of all of his comrades. nicholas witchell, bbc news. good news about penguins. satellite observations have found a raft of new emperor penguin breeding sites in the antarctic. the locations were identified from the way the birds‘ poo, or guano, had stained large patches of sea—ice. the discovery increases the known number of emperor penguins by between five and 10% to more than half a million birds. victoria gill has more. they‘re the biggest and possibly the toughest of antarctica‘s penguins. when they are not foraging in freezing waters, they live and raise their chicks on the ice. and that icy white backdrop has

meant that scientists have been able to use satellite images to search the vast antarctic continent for undiscovered emperor penguins. these are the tell—tale markers that gave away their location. giant stains left on ice from thousands of penguins‘ droppings. we have found about 25 to 55,000 new penguins located in the 11 emperor penguin colonies. it is great to have more emperor penguins because this is a species which is really quite vulnerable to climate change and we expect over the coming decades that the numbers will reduce dramatically. the emperor penguin‘s whole life—cycle is centred on the sea ice, so the scientists say this good news about the population size comes with a note of caution. all of the new colonies are in vulnerable areas. places where the best climate models project that the ice will diminish in the coming decades. 0ne forecast suggests that the global population of emperors could crash by half

by the end of this century. reducing carbon emissions to limit the global temperature rise, researchers say, is the only way to protect the frozen habitat that these birds depend on. victoria gill, bbc news. some of you tweeting to ask if i just use the word to on television. yes, idid. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with alina jenkins. hello. yesterday, tyndrum in western scotland had around 72 millimetres of rain injust 24 hours. a little under three inches. its wettest august day on record. the main focus of the rain today has shifted slightly and to northern ireland, north wales, northern england, still no sign of any significant rainfall across south—east england. here, the best of the sunshine through this afternoon. it‘s quite a messy picture though through the rest of wednesday. this frontal system continuing on its journey eastwards. the rain will tend to ease off across northern ireland but push into parts of southern and western scotland, northern england, wales, the midlands, a few showers across south—west

england, driest with the best of the sunshine the further south and east you are and hence the highest temperatures. still feeling fairly cool where you have got the cloud, the rain and also a noticeable breeze. now through this evening and overnight that area of rain across northern england, southern scotland will tend to push away eastwards. eventually most of us become dry. quite large amounts of cloud but there will be some clear spells. another mild if not muggy night for many. temperatures not much lower than 15 or 16 celsius in places. a little bit fresher across scotland compared to last night. so here‘s our frontal system tomorrow, notice how it is running into this area of high pressure. so as it does most of the rain will tend to fade away but there will be a lot of cloud left on it. that cloud could be thick enough across southern england through tomorrow to bring some light rain or drizzle, most will have a mainly dry day. and although a lot of cloud around, it should thin and break so most of us will see some spells of sunshine. quite a warm if not humid day tomorrow, 26, 20 seven celsius across the south—east and quarter of the uk but feeling warmer than it

has done recently with scotland, northern ireland and northern england. as we go into friday, notice these frontal systems just fringing the western side of the uk. so cooler here with some showers, maybe some longer spells of rain but elsewhere this heat is starting to build and temperatures will be rising once again on friday. much more in the way of sunshine for most on friday compared to thursday but notice these areas of showers, longer spells of rain across northern ireland, western scotland, maybe north west england but it‘s the temperatures which will be the story on friday. once again across the south—eastern quarter of the uk we could see them getting up to around 34, maybe 35 celsius. high pressure is building through the weekend, so for most of us it is going to be mainly dry, still very warm but slowly turning a little bit cooler for many through sunday. bye— bye.

this is bbc news i‘m simon mccoy. the headlines. lebanon is in mourning after the huge explosion which killed at least 100 people and injured more than 4,000 others. translation: we were at home. we heard what sounded like fireworks. we thought it was a container in the port was on fire. a few seconds later, we were flying through the air. authorities say the blast was caused by nearly 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely in a warehouse. as an investigation gets under way, lebanon‘s prime minister says those responsible will be held to account. translation: those responsible will pay the price for what happened. that is a promise to the martyrs and to the wounded.

after a cluster of cases some lockdown restrictions are reimposed in aberdeen, scotland‘s first minister says schools must be prioritised over pubs, echoing england‘s children‘s commissioner. the ‘critical government errors‘ which led to many more people contracting covid—19 — a damning report from mps. news from the high street — 1,500 jobs at risk at wh smith after lockdown caused sales to plummet. and coming up... happier feet — there are many more emperor penguins than we first thought, as new colonies are spotted from space. the grim operation is under way in lebanon to recover the bodies of the more than a hundred people who are missing after a huge

explosion devastated the port area of the capital beirut yesterday. the blast killed at least 100 people and injured more than 4,000 others. the whole city was shaken by the explosion and a mushroom cloud could be seen spreading over the port area. local authorities say it is likely the blast was caused by a fire igniting tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely in a warehouse at the port. a warning — this report from our diplomatic correspondent james robbins contains some disturbing images. even beirut has rarely seen horror on this scale. part of the port utterly devastated by a massive blast of explosives which should never have been left here. stored for six years beside a city now suffering terrible consequences. yesterday, after an initial fire in the docks which caused only concern, without warning, this happened. the immense pressure wave ripped through much

of the lebanese capital. killing many people instantly, gravely injuring even more. 0ne measure of its force, the blast was felt 150 miles away, 240 kilometres from beirut, on the island of cyprus in the eastern mediterranean. people there thought it was an earthquake. but no one in beirut thought that for long. 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. she was one of the very lucky survivors. others were terribly injured. hospitals across the lebanese capital were quickly overwhelmed. the head of the local red cross called it a huge catastrophe, with victims and casualties everywhere. translation: there are a lot of victims.

we lost four nurses and patients, visitors, many dead and many injured. we had roughly 200 injured. there is no hospital, as you can see. the hospital is closed. in the midst of coronavirus, beirut‘s hospitals, several badly damaged by the blast, now have to face this. translation: every one of our crew, doctors and nurses are operating, even administration, everyone is working. we have a lot of damage, as you can see. all of the ceilings have collapsed at the entrance and the glass windows of patient rooms. and there are so many individual stories of suffering, grief, terrible uncertainty. here is a man looking for his son. he is 29 years old. translation: from seven o‘clock in the evening, we had been all over every hospital in beirut. we are now waiting for the names to come out and nothing has come out.

we don‘t know if he is dead or alive, we just don‘t know. across the city, people are in deep shock. injured and trying to take in what has happened to their homes. first estimates suggest hundreds of thousands in beirut could be homeless, at least temporarily. such is the extent of the damage. lebanon‘s president has now been to see the ruined port, the source of the explosion, in a country which has suffered so grievously, where politicians are widely accused of mismanagement and worse, so the prime minister was left promising to find and punish those responsible for allowing such a quantity of explosive material to be kept inside the city. translation: what happened today won‘t pass without account. those responsible will pay the price for what happened. it is a promise to the martyrs and to the wounded. this is a national commitment, facts will be revealed about the dangerous warehouse

which has been there since 2014. among the international reaction, borisjohnson has tweeted this. let me begin by sending america's deepest sympathies to the people of lebanon, where reports indicate that many, many people were killed. hundreds were very badly wounded in a large explosion in beirut. 0ur prayers go out to all the victims and their families, the united states stands ready to assist lebanon. many countries are now promising aid to beirut both for the short and longer term. help to begin a long, painful process of reconstruction for the survivors of what beirut‘s governor has called simply an apocalypse. james robbins, bbc news.

the queen has sent a message to the president of lebanon saying that she and the duke of edinburgh were deeply saddened by the news of the blast. as we show you those live pictures of the lebanese capital, lebanon has now placed all lebanese port officials under house arrest, pending an investigation into responsibility for explosion. there has been an emergency cabinet meeting and the decision was taken there. we are hearing that a customs chief had earlier said that his agency had repeatedly called for the ammonium nitrate to be removed from the port but, in their words, this did not happen and we leave it to the experts to determine the for that. so the focus is on ammonium nitrate. but what is the chemical, why was it stored there and why did it cause so much damage? the explosion, which destroyed parts of beirut and could be felt more

than 100 miles away, was caused by the highly explosive material ammonium nitrate, and officials are now trying to find out what ignited it. ammonium nitrate is a common industrial chemical. it‘s used mainly for fertilizer, as it‘s a good source of nitrogen for plants. it‘s also one of the main components in mining explosives. on its own, it‘s not regarded as dangerous but, under certain conditions, it can be deadly. in its pure form, when it‘s stored correctly by itself, it is really fairly safe. but it is a component of fertilizers, which is why it‘s freely available, but also a component of explosives. and if it gets contaminated, then that contaminant could be from the likes of fuel oil, or it comes into contact with other fuel—related substances, or it‘s badly stored and it starts to degrade and it starts to fill up, drains where there‘s pressure, it can start to heat up, because it‘s got an exothermic reaction as that heat increases. and we saw pictures of a huge fire beside the building, or possibly even in the building

where the explosion came from. that would have been enough to start to heat it up, to then come into this chain—reaction event that is unstoppable. this wouldn‘t be the first disaster caused by ammonium nitrate. the most notable included an explosion in texas city port in 1947. 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded then, killing hundreds of people, and the blast could be felt 40 miles away. and in tianjin, in china, in 2015, 173 people were killed after an explosion of 800 tons of ammonium nitrate. it's really important that you actually know how to store it, you don't store in big quantities like this, you separate it, you ensure that if there is some kind of an explosion on one one part of the, erm, one part of the ammonium nitrate store that you've got, that it won't propagate to other parts of the site. so, there's lots of work that was done by scientists in the uk and across the world on how to store this. it appears, and i didn't go to this

site, it appears that those lessons weren't learned in lebanon. the investigation continues to find out how this explosion could have happened. bbc arabic correspondent, rami ruhayem is in one of the closest residential areas to the beirut port and sent this update. this is a sample of some of the destruction wrought on beirut by yesterday‘s blast. this neighbourhood here is very close to the site of the blast. many of the buildings here have balconies that overlook the port of beirut. so people would have been standing on their balconies, near their windows, stretching their necks, to catch a glimpse of the fire when the blast struck. if you were here when this happened, where you were standing would have made a difference between life and death. between a superficial or a very serious injury. but for the country as a whole, this feels like a crippling wound. lebanon has just lost it port through which most of its imports

pass through and it has lost it right in the middle of the worst economic crisis in generations. earlier we heard from our middle east editor, jeremy bowen. lebanon has been in a deep crisis since the end of last year. economic, political, medical, once the pandemic started. there were people on the streets demanding a revolution until they were forced, by covid—19, to take shelter, to get off the streets. the issue in lebanon on is that none of these structures really work. they don‘t come together and that is why so many lebanese right now are saying that this tragedy that happened there, this cataclysm, is a result of the breakdown in a corrupt political system. big questions have to be answered. who knew that ammonium nitrate was there? why was it there? was it simply some kind of dreadful negligence or was it

something more sinister? something to do with bribery and corruption or did somebody, some entity know it was there and were just keeping it until a time that the explosive force might be needed? lots of these questions need answering and i don‘t think there is a great deal of confidence among many lebanese people about whether they will get straight answers and that in itself will have consequences because there is a limit to how far, how much, a country can take before they get back onto the streets again, demanding change, as they were the weeks and weeks and weeks, either side of christmas and the new year. the conservative mp and chair of the defence select committee, tobias ellwood joins me now. in these crucial days after an event like this, a call for international help, what can we do to help? well,

firstly let‘s recognise this as a country that is already in despair. it has had interference from iran, which doesn‘t help. this massive corruption in the government itself, it is poorly governed, economic crisis, there is a quarter of people out of work there and of course, they have had their own lockdown issues with covid—19. 0n they have had their own lockdown issues with covid—19. on top of that, over 1 issues with covid—19. on top of that, over1 million refugees have spilled a cross from syria and i have to say there has been dwindling international support. british support has been there in the form of humanitarian assistance and david and ensuring up defences in training their debit lebanese forces but beyond that, the international community stepped back. you ask what britain could do, i think it comes into three areas. firstly, there is the media, humanitarian support, life—saving skills, being able to search and rescue medical, training people in car parks. i suggested

that a hospital ship could easily be moved into the area to provide support. then there is the more intermediate term of getting the electricity back on and working, reconstructing that port area, it is critical for reconstructing that port area, it is criticalfor bringing in produce such as wheat. 90% of lebanon‘s wheat is imported, needed to keep people alive and finally, the bigger question which i touched on, which is really helping a country which has been on its knees for a number of decades. the governance there is very poor. this is a sectarian country. it could easily fall prey to outside interference and the west needs to be far more greatly involved in helping. you have talked about the corruption, you can perhaps understand the reticence in sending money to a place like lebanon, but practical things like the hospital ship, that would be needed within the next few hours. what are the chances? well, i'm pleased to say that the prime minister has already offered a lot of support, i hear there is an announcement by the government coming soon. we are in a great

position, given our assets in cyprus to provide that support, along with international community. but we need to recognise that we have taken a step back strategically from the middle east and lebanon is paying the price for that. that is not to dismiss the huge issues of corruption, poor governance and waste of funds that this government to as illustrated, which is why so many individuals, the population are on the streets so regularly, now this has happened, the port was a wonderful part of beirut. it was the night life, it was the commercial centre as well. i‘ve walked along the shore front there many times. this will be devastating to beirut and we need to make sure that we provide as much assistance as we can, in the short, medium and long term, otherwise a middle east continues to deteriorate. years of violence. the pandemic. now this. how much can a city take? very good

question. this is why it‘s so important that we do step forward and recognise that we do have our own problems, we have been distracted as well from watching what is going on in the international field. we what is going on in the internationalfield. we need to what is going on in the international field. we need to work together provide that support. the initial thing is to help save lives, sending rescue teams, provide emergency responses, get the electricity working again, but ultimately, we need to look long and ha rd ultimately, we need to look long and hard at challenging external interference. that is what is hindering both lebanon and indeed syria, you could sale libya as well. the west stepping back and allowing that vacuum to be filled by other countries, other states, with a very different agenda to be pursued. should there be an international investigation into what on earth because this explosion? the ammonium nitrate on that sort of scale, what on earth was it doing there? very good question to be asked. jeremy bowen pose that earlier. was it

negligence? was it left there to accumulate, clearly anyone with the knowledge that it was there on this scale really could take advantage of that, but let‘s allow this investigation to move forward, but let‘s also not be distracted by the huge amount of work that the west needs to now commit itself to and supporting lebanon on a scale that we have not done in the last decade. you know better than i do that every hour counts and there is a very grim operation under way, but there is a lwa ys operation under way, but there is always hope that perhaps there is more people alive out of this. we should never give up. people can last a number of days in those conditions, we need search dogs, rescue teams, the heavy lifting equipment, i hope the lebanese government is listening to the calls and requests. nothing can move until they give the green light. i know britain is very, very keen to help. tobias ellwood, thank you very much. the headlines on bbc news.

lebanon is in mourning after the huge explosion which killed at least 100 people and injured more than 4,000 others. after a cluster of cases some lockdown restrictions are reimposed in aberdeen — scotland‘s first minister says schools must be prioritised over pubs — echoing england‘s children‘s commissioner the ‘critical government errors‘ which led to many more people contracting covid—19 — a damning report from mps. scotland‘s first minister has introduced tough new restrictions on pubs, cafes and restaurants in aberdeen, after a spike in coronavirus cases linked to a pub in the city. nicola sturgeon made clear her priority is to re—open schools from next week. that follows claims from england‘s children commissioner that the hospitality industry was being given priority over schooling. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley reports. scotland‘s third biggest city, aberdeen, where significant new restrictions have been announced.

people are being told not to visit each other‘s houses, not to travel more than five miles for leisure and with concerns over cases of the virus linked up to pubs they are being told to close from five o‘clock this afternoon, along with restaurants and cafes. we are at a stage of this pandemic where extreme caution is necessary and also, in my view, sensible. i‘m also mindful of the need to act quickly and decisively if we are to succeed in our aim of keeping transmission is close to elimination levels as possible and also to protect our priority, and it is our priority, you‘ve heard me say that before, of getting young people back to school. schools in scotland are due to return from next week, with all pupils back by the 17th, if the virus is kept under control. but the scottish government believes that getting schools open takes precedent over keeping pubs open. in england, some are calling for a similar approach. i want schools to stay open so when it comes to local

decisions, or national decisions, over any future lockdown, i want schools to be the last to close their doors and the first to open them. the westminster government is concentrated on local interventions as well, but there is increasing caution about opening up society. ministers repeatedly have said schools will return next month. clearly, we will have to look at this on a case—by—case basis, but the approach is very much on looking at this on a localised level but of course, the message is very clear, we want all schools to be coming back with all pupils from september. labour was criticised for not being more supportive of schools returning injune. but the party says that getting people back must now be the priority and that they would shut pubs if they had to. schools pubs if they had to. have to be the priority. the government schools have to be the priority. the government is running out of time. you have school reopening in september, we have outbreaks of the

infection across the country and the government has basically the months of august to get a grip on this and to get things in place. getting schools fully reopened has been a key issue for ministers, notjust because they are worried about some children falling behind, but also because of their potential knock—on effect, for more parents to get back to work. that, however, has led to warnings that the reproduction rate of the virus could go up in september. some think that to keep the virus under control, when schools open, you may have to close other sectors. that is something ministers don‘t want to do, but with aberdeen are nowjoining parts of the north of england in imposing fresh restrictions, it is a reminder. the impact of the virus can be unpredictable. nick eardley, bbc news. a 20—year—old has been convicted of raping and murdering a female friend who had "trusted" him to walk her home. wesley streete dumped keeley bunker‘s body in a brook before trying to conceal his crime

in september last year. phil mackie reports. this was the moment that wesley streete was arrested last year. less than 24 hours earlier, he raped and murdered his friend, keeley bunker. she thought he was someone she could trust. she didn‘t know that he had already sexually assaulted other teenage girls. they had gone for a night out in birmingham, first to a gig and then afterwards to a club in the city centre, staying until the early hours, before keeley took out enough cash to pay for a taxi back to tamworth. when they arrived, streete said he would walk her home, using a short cut through this park. keeley never returned and by the evening, people were out looking for her. dozens of people joined in the search the next day as keeley bunker‘s family became frantic, increasingly concerned that she hadn‘t come back. eventually, her uncle spotted something in the water here.

it was keeley‘s body. he was obviously trusted by keeley. he was trusted to walk her home that night. he has manipulated a situation where he has preyed upon her and, ultimately, raped and murdered her. as dozens of friends came to leave tributes near the scene, other young girls came forward to tell the police that they had been victims of sexual assault carried out by streete. only one had made a complaint at the time and that has been withdrawn. he clearly carried on his offending, whether it made him more confident, i can‘t really comment but he clearly carried on his offending after that report, where unfortunately, it wasn‘t the right time for the woman at that time to take it any further. tamworth came to a standstill for keeley‘s funeral. she was a popular young woman, betrayed by a man she trusted. her family described her as one of the most vibrant, caring and beautiful souls this

earth ever seen. phil mackie, bbc news, tamworth. the duchess of sussex has won a high court battle to keep the names of five of her friends private, for the time being, as part of her legal action against the mail on sunday meghan markle is suing associated newspapers over articles in the paper that included parts of a handwritten letter she had sent to her estranged father, thomas markle, in august 2018. the friends who will remain anonymous gave an interview to the u.s. magazine ‘people‘. there is more bad news from the high street. wh smith has announced it is planning to cut up to 1,500 jobs as bosses said its recovery from the covid—19 lockdown has been "slow". let‘s get more with our business correspondent simon gompertz.

yesterday, there were 2000 job losses announced with currys and pc world. we wait to miss is the biggest today. they divide the business into two in the uk, the high street shops that we are familiar with, a lot of those are post offices in, if they had a post office, they stayed open through the lockdown, so they did do business, and they have reopened all of those, around 570 shops have reopened and they are not doing brilliantly, trade is about 25% down on normal. the other half of the uk business, is what they call travel. its smaller shops in stations and in airports and there, the drop in trade has been really drastically reduced because so few people are travelling. they have reopened about half of them, but trade is about three quarters down. it‘s really terrible and this is where most of thejob terrible and this is where most of the job losses are likely to be concentrated. it‘s not the only firm we have heard from today, there is a fashion retailer who‘ve says they

are closing 47 shops, 380 jobs to go and another company we‘ve heard from todayis and another company we‘ve heard from today is william hill, the bookmakers. 119 of their betting shops are not going to reopen because they simply don‘t expect people to come back and bet physically in shops in such great numbers. but they think they‘ll be able to re—absorb most of the staff who are affected in other parts of the business, so not too many people will actually lose theirjobs. the funeral ofjohn hume, one of the key architects of the northern ireland peace process, has been taking place in londonderry. the former sdlp leader died on monday, aged 83, following a long illness. the funeral was attended by leaders from across the political spectrum from northern ireland and the irish republic. mr hume‘s family urged mourners wishing to line the streets to respect covid—19 guidelines on gatherings and light a "candle for peace" at home. now it‘s time for a look

at the weather with alina jenkins. hello, yesterday, there were 72 millilitres of rain in areas of scotland. its wettest august day on record. the main focus of the rain today has shifted into northern ireland, north wales, northern england and no sign of significant rainfall in south—east england, the best of the sunshine is there through the afternoon. a messy picture through the rest of wednesday. this frontal system continues on its journey eastwards, the rain tends to ease off across northern ireland, pushing into parts of northern england, wales, the midlands, few showers across south—west england, driest for the best of the sunshine of the south and east you are and hence the highest temperatures. still feeling fairly cool we have the cloud, rain and also a notable breeze. through this evening and overnight, that area rain across northern england, southern scotland will tend to push away eastwards. eventually, most of us become dry, quite large amounts

of plywood but some clear spells, and other mild if not muggy night for many, temperatures not lower than 15 or 16 for many, temperatures not lower than15 or16 in for many, temperatures not lower than 15 or 16 in some places. fresher in scotland. he is a frontal system tomorrow, notice how it‘s running into this area of high pressure so as it does, most of the rain tends to fade away, there will bea rain tends to fade away, there will be a lot of cloud left on it, the cloud could be thick enough across southern england through tomorrow to bring light rain or drizzle. most will have a mainly dry day and a lot of cloud around, it should thin and brea ks of cloud around, it should thin and breaks out most of us will see some spells of sunshine. quite a warm if not humid day tomorrow, 2627 celsius across the south—east and quarter of the uk but feeling warm that it has done recently for scotland, northern ireland and northern england. into friday, the frontal system isjust fringing the western side of the uk so it cooler here with some showers, some longer spells of rain perhaps but elsewhere, the seat is starting to build and temperatures will be rising once again on friday. much more in the way of sunshine for most on friday compared to thursday, but notice these areas of showers,

longer spells of showers across... but the temperatures will be the story on friday. 0nce but the temperatures will be the story on friday. once again, across the south—eastern quarter of the uk, we could see them getting up to around 3435 celsius. high pressure is building through the weekend, so for most of us, it will be mainly dry, still very warm but slowly turning a bit cooler for any through sunday.

hello, this is bbc news with simon simon mccoy. the headlines... lebanon is in mourning after the huge explosion which killed at least 100 people and injured more than 4,000 others. 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. authorities say the blast was caused by nearly 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely in a warehouse. as an investigation gets underway — lebanon‘s prime minister says those responsible will be held to account. after a cluster of cases some lockdown restrictions are reimposed in aberdeen — scotland‘s first minister says schools must be prioritised over pubs — echoing england‘s children‘s commissioner the ‘critical government errors‘ which led to many more people contracting covid—19 — a damning report from mps. 1,500 jobs are at risk at wh smith — after lockdown caused sales to plummet.

sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here‘s katherine downes. good afternoon. let‘s go live to old trafford and our cricket reporter henry moeran. and henry, england came into this series off the back of that win over the west indies, but pakistan will provide a very different challenge over these three tests? we area we are a little bit frustrated at the moment, the weather has set in so we haven‘t had any play for about 45 minutes. pakistan 121—2. led by babarazam. he is 45 minutes. pakistan 121—2. led by babar azam. he is 52 not out. england have to find a way in this series to avoid a situation that they had last summer with steve smith, a batsmen thatjust seems to hit form against england. they can get his wicket they will feel that it isa get his wicket they will feel that it is a day they are getting on top on. but at the moment this partnership i think england will be a little bit nervous. what about the

weather forecast for the rest of the day then, henry? we saw the weather playing a part in the series against west indies. manchester summertime typically doing its thing. we have had a couple of covers on, covers off situation. it seems to be setting in at the moment. we are expecting maybe another hour of rain and whether we get back on that is what we are waiting to see. the hope is that there maybe an hour of clear weather later in the day but that is a little bit up in the air. henry, thank you for the update. pakistan 121-2 with thank you for the update. pakistan 121—2 with a play—off at the moment because of rain at old trafford. european football returns for the first time since the start of lockdown tonight. manchester united play the austrian side lask in the second leg of their last—16 tie in the europa league. united are 5—0 up from the away leg , and are already guaranteed champions league football next season. nevertheless the manager wants this

season to end with a trophy. the team has played well through the season and we are delighted with finishing third but then the next step for this team is now getting its hands on the trophy. we have been to two semifinals, we want to go one step further and we want to win something. arsenal have this afternoon announced that they will have to make 55 members of staff redundant. they say the decision is a direct consequence of covid—19 with main sources of income all reduced significantly. the club say matchday revenue plus money from broadcasters and commercial activities have all been hit severely and this will continue into next season at least. the schedule for the resumption of the delayed six nations has been confirmed with the remaining four matches of the competition taking place in the last week of october. ireland and italy still have two matches to fulfill and they will meet

at the aviva stadium in dublin on the 24th of october. the fifth and final round of fixtures will all take place a week later on the 31st of october. barry hawkins is through to the second round of the world snooker championship in sheffield. the 15th seed made light work of the resumption of his match against switzerland‘s alexander ursenbacher. it took the englishman just 42 minutes to take the three frames he needed to win the match 10—2. already in the second round the four—time champion john higgins is playing norway‘s kurt maflin who‘s at the crucible forjust the second time. the score at the moment is two frames all. you can watch all the action live now on bbc two, and via the bbc sport website and app. that‘s all the sport for now. i‘ll have more for you in the next hour.

coronavirus spread faster in the uk as the government made ‘critical errors‘ — including the inexplicable decision to lift all border restrictions in mid—march ? that‘s the finding of a report from the home affairs select committee of mps. it says the mistakes accelerated the scale and pace of the pandemic in the country and led to many more people contracting covid—19 . the government has dismissed the findings, saying they were "guided by the science". here‘s our home affairs correspondent, dominic casciani. a pandemic group in the world, inspections —— infection spreading. a huge challenge for governments and scientists with almost every nation in the world attempting to stop or slow the virus at the border. but, say mps today, not in the uk. buses leaving an raf base in 0xfordshire carrying 83 britons flown back from wuhan in china, the source of the coronavirus outbreak. these people we re coronavirus outbreak. these people were quarantined for 14 days in

hospital. but travellers arriving from europe, where cases were rocketing, face no checks at the border. anyone arriving was urged to self—isolate for 14 days. but on the 13th of march that self isolation guidance for travellers was lifted. 0nly guidance for travellers was lifted. only on the 23rd of march did ministers announced the national lockdown that forced most of the country to stay indoors. it wasn‘t until the 8th ofjune that any formal border measures were reintroduced. the home affairs committee says the decision to lift border measures in march was com pletely border measures in march was completely inexplicable. we found that the government‘s decision not to have any quarantine or border measures in place in the middle of march was a serious mistake. it did mean that we have thousands more people arrived in the uk with

covid—19, often from spain, italy, people coming home. and that did accelerate the pace and scale of the pandemic. mps say those lessons were there to be learnt from january, including from singapore which mounted a major airport screening exercise for high—risk flights. the damning criticisms go further. the mps say the uk didn‘t recognise in time the threat posed by returning holiday—makers from spain. the government said the committee‘s findings were wrong. throughout this process we have followed the scientific advice and it has been very clear that when you have low infection rates in the country, that is the point at which you bring in quarantine measures. that is what we did on the 8th ofjune. the mps say the government was right last month to impose a quarantine on people returning from holidays in spain but their findings returning from holidays in spain but theirfindings are also returning from holidays in spain but their findings are also the second highly physical report in a week issues for a future inquiry promised by the prime minster.

people from black and ethnic minority backgrounds face greater barriers when trying to protect themselves from coronavirus compared with white people — that is the finding of a report by the race equality think tank, the runnymede trust. the report suggests that they are more likely to be key workers, use public transport and live in multi—generational households. 0ur health correspondent, anna collinson reports. 0verexposed, under protected. it‘s claimed this has been life for many ethnic minorities in britain during the coronavirus crisis. a survey by the runnymede trust suggests black, asian and minority ethnic communities face greater barriers than white people when it comes to protecting themselves from covid—19. barriers include theirjobs. it is claimed people from ethnic minority backgrounds are more likely to be key workers, which means they will come into close, sometimes prolonged, contact with others. transport is another risk with ethnic minorities more likely to use public transport during lockdown. they are also more likely to live in multi—generational households, which can make it difficult

for people living there to self—isolate. bangladeshi and black african people are said to be the most vulnerable. what our survey shows is that it is the perfect storm of factors that have made black and ethnic minority communities much more vulnerable to covid—19. and importantly what it shows is that there‘s been no safety net really to protect them. and government measures haven‘t reached them as much as it ought to have. dr ghulam abbas spent three weeks on a ventilator after contracting covid. it's quite a terrible feeling, especially when you think about your family, i have three children. and it's certainly one of those feelings which are really terrifying, how they will cope without you. what is your reaction to today‘s report about ethnicity and covid—19? we are at more risk than our white colleagues but equally we have been supported quite well,

i will say. coronavirus is a national emergency... this report claims important public safety messages aimed at reducing transmission are not reaching all black and minority ethnic communities. the government says these groups have been disproportionately harmed by covid and it is tackling the disparities. anna collinson, bbc news. each year, the broadcast regulator 0fcom carries out a study of the uk‘s media habits. and this year has seen a huge change, with a surge in screen time during lockdown. british adults spent six hours and 25 minutes a day watching screens during lockdown — that‘s 40% of our waking hours. remarkably, during lockdown alone 12 million new subscriptions were taken out — a quarter of them from people who‘d never signed up to one before. and 55% of adults say they‘ll continue to watch this much after lockdown. 0ur media editor amol rajan has been speaking to yih—choung, 0fcom‘s group director of strategy and research.

what have you just discovered from the numbers? the way we are watching tv is unrecognisable from five ten yea rs tv is unrecognisable from five ten years ago lockdown has really accelerated those changes. at its peak we were watching 6.5 hours of tva peak we were watching 6.5 hours of tv a day, doubling the amount of time we spent watching streaming services like netflix and disney plus, which attracted more than 12 million new subscribers. 6.5 hours every day, what exactly are people doing in that time? that is a combination of traditional tv viewing, so to the public service broadcasters and other channels and then also online viewing, which will include screening services and other online audio such as youtube. we have spoken in the past about the deep underlying trend toward streaming services. has that exhilarated? i think the predominant effect we are seeing is very much an acceleration of the trends that were already there. so year on year we have been seen a decline in traditional tv viewing and a rise in

viewing to the subscription streaming services. so streaming services with their vast libraries of co nte nt services with their vast libraries of content a re services with their vast libraries of content are a real hit with people of all age groups. and i think my third observation would be that the pandemic has shown public service broadcasting at its best, delivering trusted news and bringing the best of british content, which viewers really value, so we have seen a real peak in news consumption in the early part of lockdown. record audiences for the uk broadcasters, though that has tailed off more recently. sue discovered the early in lockdown there was very high consumption of news and that contrary to some rumours you might see on social media, trust in news on the public service broadcasters remains very high. that's right. i think it was striking to see that the five most popular programmes we re the five most popular programmes were all news programmes about the pandemic. when we have asked people what they think about the public

service broadcasters news, eight out of ten of them say they highly rate the news from the public service broadcasters. and even though younger audiences are increasingly turning to social media for their news, it is interesting to see that those are rated much, much less highly in terms of the accuracy and reliability. thank you very much indeed for your time. new guidance is being issued to sonographers to use when they carry out ultrasounds for expectant parents. it‘s to help radiographers communicate in an honest and clear way — especially when they detect complications with the pregnancy. tim muffett has been speaking to some parents about their experience. right at the very end, she said, "so everything looks fine, your baby‘s got a heartbeat and there is just no fluid around the baby." and that was almost said in passing. you know, i can still hear those words clear as day. hannah has had several miscarriages. 0n more than one occasion distressing situations were handled badly.

i rememberjust feeling, the blood, the blood colour draining out of my face, i felt quit faint. and she said, "so if you canjust sit in the waiting room, we will send a doctor out to talk to you." and she looked at me and said, "what‘s wrong with you?" i‘ve just had the shock of my life, actually. you have just given me this news and i am trying to comprehend it but also now i have to go and sit back in a waiting area full of other expecting parents. now a mum of five, hannah welcomes new official guidance for sonographers who carry out scans on pregnant women. it seems to me to be basic principles of good care and it is not been present. around one in 20 baby scans pick—up anomalies that could indicate a health condition. some are serious, some are not. it is down to sonographers, such as alexandra, to relay unexpected news.

and what we're trying to do as sonographers is, whilst we are scanning in real—time, quite often with the parents asking us questions, like can we see what the gender of the baby is, and is that the baby winking or is it the heart flickering, we are trying to think, how are we going to break the bad news. have i actually diagnosed what is wrong with the baby correctly. and so it's a very, very stressful situation to be in and then suddenly you have to turn to the patients and sort of shatter their world, really. a lot of the training that we get is in—house, so it's literally watching the sonographer that is your mentor and who you are learning from. and obviously that's reliant on the sonographer doing it correctly in the first place. but we have never had a go—to publication, something where there is a consensus on how we should break bad news. the new guidance is published today. doctorjudithjohnson led the research. it‘s important the sonographers are honest and they provide a balanced picture of what they have seen, even if this is uncertain, and linked with that neutral terms are really important. so it is important that sonographers use the term "chance"

instead of "risk", and "health condition" rather than "abnormality". the use of the word "baby" — what we now know is that it is always "the baby" as soon as expectant parents know that they are pregnant with a baby, and it is really important that sonographers use that language too. zoe is 13, she has down‘s syndrome and was born with a heart defect. whenever you hear news like that, we describe it as like being hit by a juggernaut. we were the classic first—time parents, going to our 20—week pregnancy scan, expecting to find out whether we were having a boy or a girl, grandparents on hold on the phone and all that sort of thing so i don't think there's any good way that you can possible hear the news like the news that we heard. however, i think it is possible to give that news in a sensitive and in a compassionate way, and that is pretty much what happened with our experience. the sonographer was very compassionate, she responded to the questions we were asking, she was very honest. she told us what she thought she could see but did not try to overtell us

things, didn't try to diagnose. john runs a charity called tiny tickers for children, like zoe, who are born with heart problems. he helped draw up the new guidance. i think it is absolutely vital that this training, that these guidelines are adopted because sonographers are being asked to do a really, really difficult thing. up until now, there has been no consensus guidelines, there's been no mandatory training for sonographers so they have kind of been really left to it, to pick their own way through that really difficult thing. zoe‘s life got off to a difficult start butjohn and his wife are grateful that they were told sensitively and honestly about the challenges that lay ahead. tim muffett, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news... lebanon is in mourning after the huge explosion which killed at least 100 people and injured more than 4,000 others. after a cluster of cases some lockdown restrictions are reimposed in aberdeen — scotland‘s first minister says schools must be prioritised over pubs —

echoing england‘s children‘s commissioner. the ‘critical government errors‘ which led to many more people contracting covid—19 — a damning report from mps. for pupils across the uk, the coronavirus outbreak has brought huge disruption. pupils in scotland are due to return to school next week and students in england and wales will follow in september. the reopening of schools has been described as a "priority" by the children‘s commissioner for england, anne longfield. but how do parents feel about their children‘s return to the classroom? fiona lamdin has been finding out. one, two, three. . . ready? jo has been home—schooling her three children for five months. i have been shielding because i have got severe asthma. we have continued to keep them here even though they could have gone back to school, because for us, we wanted to keep me healthy. but what will you do about september? we would love them to go back in september.

that‘s my absolute hope for them. they miss their friends so much. we are saying to them that they are probably going to go back, but at the same time, we have to keep an eye on the data and the statistics to check to see whether it is safe enough, because obviously, if there is another spike, we have to keep them back. and so that‘s going to be our new reality, i think. and jo isn‘t alone. it is on many parents‘ minds. thanks forjoining me. is this what everyone is talking about at the moment? best friends gemma, becky and leisel may be scattered around the country, but it is an issue that affects them all. they need to go back to school, but i am concerned. i don't feel the government knows enough to be able to categorically say that that is the safe thing to do, so that is a big concern of mine come september. i am ready and they are ready to go back. i have had some quite fraught conversations with some of my friends, really good friends about going back to school, and, you know, some of them are, like, "oh, god, just get them back. i want to get them back here. we need to get them back here now!"

will all of you be sending your children back in september? i want them to go back. yes, i will. i will be sending them back in september. but for others, the decision is even harder. oh, well done, great shot! lorraine‘s11—year—old son george is due to start secondary school next month, but she is terrified. because my stepfather passed away from coronavirus back in april, i have seen a different side of this and how serious it is, and on so many different levels, and it is such a cruel virus. and while george is desperate to start, his mum is still undecided. i am looking at things like the r number, i‘m looking at things, like, the infection rates locally, all of that information, and i don‘t know what it is going to look like in september, i don‘t think anybody does, but i suppose every day i am looking for reassurance, so i can increase that confidence to send him to school. if we get to the beginning

of september and i don‘t feel that all of the issues have...that are currently bothered me are resolved, you know, there is a chance that i may say, "well, i am sorry, i don‘t feel that all the risks have been mitigated" and i can‘t send him. as we head towards a new academic year, everyone is preparing to return. i want to go back to school so i can see my friends, my teacher and do all the fun lessons we get to do in school. well, i really miss seeing my friends and my teacher, and having the food. fiona lamdin, bbc news. the uk government has announced details for the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of vj day, the moment whenjapan‘s surrender ended the second world war. the prince of wales will lead the tributes with a national two minute silence. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. to those who took part, they were the forgotten army, fighting on against the japanese in the jungles of burma

and elsewhere for several months after the second world war in europe had ended. the fighting in the far east ended in august 1945 after the allies had dropped atom bombs on hiroshima and nagasaki. japan surrendered and british servicemen returned home. but britain by then was a country eager to move on. the feeling that their sacrifice had been forgotten was exacerbated. but at the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire on saturday august 15, the 75th anniversary of victory overjapan, or vj day, the prince of wales will lead the nation‘s commemoration of the moment when the global conflict that was the second world war finally came to an end. the service, which will include a national two minutes‘ silence, will be attended by a number of veterans who fought in the far east, and it will be broadcast by the bbc. the duke of cambridge will take part in a programme, vj day 75, the nation‘s tribute to be broadcast on bbc one. among the veterans who will feature in the programme will be

the duke of edinburgh. as a young royal navy officer, he was on board a british warship in tokyo bay for the signing by the japanese of their surrender. and captain sir tom moore, another veteran who served in the burma campaign, has voiced the hope of all of his comrades. i respectfully ask britain to stop whatever it is doing and take some time to remember, he said. nicholas witchell, bbc news. good news about penguins. satellite observations have found a raft of new emperor penguin breeding sites in the antarctic. the locations were identified from the way the birds‘ poo, had stained large patches of sea—ice. the discovery increases the known number of emperor penguins by between five and ten percent to more than half a million birds. victoria gill has more. they‘re the biggest and possibly the toughest

of antarctica‘s penguins. when they are not foraging in freezing waters, they live and raise their chicks on the ice. and that icy white backdrop has meant that scientists have been able to use satellite images to search the vast antarctic continent for undiscovered emperor penguins. these are the tell—tale markers that gave away their location. giant stains left on the ice from thousands of penguins‘ droppings. we have found about 25 to 55,000 new penguins located in the 11 emperor penguin colonies. it is great to have more emperor penguins because this is a species which is really quite vulnerable to climate change and we expect over the coming decades that the numbers will reduce dramatically. the emperor penguin‘s whole life—cycle is centred on the sea ice, so the scientists say this good news about the population size comes with a note of caution.

all of the new colonies are in vulnerable areas. places where the best climate models project that the ice will diminish in the coming decades. 0ne forecast suggests that the global population of emperors could crash by half by the end of this century. reducing carbon emissions to limit the global temperature rise, researchers say, is the only way to protect the frozen habitat that these birds depend on. victoria gill, bbc news. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with alena jenkins. hello. yesterday, tyndrum in western scotland had around 72 millimetres of rain injust 24 hours. a little under three inches. its wettest august day on record. the main focus of the rain today has shifted slightly and to northern ireland, north wales, northern england, still no sign of any significant rainfall across south—east england. here, the best of the sunshine through this afternoon. it‘s quite a messy picture though through the rest of wednesday. this frontal system continuing on its journey eastwards. the rain will tend to ease off

across northern ireland but push into parts of southern and western scotland, northern england, wales, the midlands, a few showers across south—west england, driest with the best of the sunshine the further south and east you are and hence the highest temperatures. still feeling fairly cool where you have got the cloud, the rain and also a noticeable breeze. now through this evening and overnight that area of rain across northern england, southern scotland will tend to push away eastwards. eventually most of us become dry. quite large amounts of cloud but there will be some clear spells. another mild if not muggy night for many. temperatures not much lower than 15 or 16 celsius in places. a little bit fresher across scotland compared to last night. so here‘s our frontal system tomorrow, notice how it is running into this area of high pressure. so as it does most of the rain will tend to fade away but there will be a lot of cloud left on it. that cloud could be thick enough across southern england through tomorrow to bring some light rain or drizzle, most will have a mainly dry day. and although a lot of cloud around, it should thin and break so most of us will see some spells of sunshine.

quite a warm if not humid day tomorrow, 26, 27 celsius across the south—east quarter of the uk but feeling warmer than it has done recently with scotland, northern ireland and northern england. as we go into friday, notice these frontal systems just fringing the western side of the uk. so cooler here with some showers, maybe some longer spells of rain but elsewhere this heat is starting to build and temperatures will be rising once again on friday. much more in the way of sunshine for most on friday compared to thursday but notice these areas of showers, longer spells of rain across northern ireland, western scotland, maybe north west england but it‘s the temperatures which will be the story on friday. once again across the south—eastern quarter of the uk we could see them getting up to around 34, maybe 35 celsius. high pressure is building through the weekend, so for most of us it is going to be mainly dry, still very warm but slowly turning a little bit cooler for many through sunday. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, i‘m reeta chakrabarti. lebanon is in mourning after the huge explosion which killed at least 100 people and injured more than 4,000 others. translation: we were at home. we heard what sounded like fireworks. we thought it was a container in the port was on fire. a few seconds later, we were flying through the air. authorities say the blast was caused by nearly 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely in a warehouse. as an investigation gets underway, lebanon‘s prime minister says those responsible will be held to account.

translation: those responsible will pay the price for what happened. that is a promise to the martyrs and to the wounded. after a cluster of cases, some lockdown restrictions are reimposed in aberdeen. scotland‘s first minister says schools must be prioritised over pubs, echoing england‘s children‘s commissioner. the ‘critical government errors‘ which led to many more people contracting covid—19 — a damning report from mps. news from the high street — 15—hundred jobs at risk at wh smith after lockdown caused sales to plummet. and coming up... happier feet — there are many more emperor penguins than we first thought, as new colonies are spotted from space.

the grim operation is under way in lebanon to recover the bodies of the more than a hundred people who are missing after a huge explosion devastated the port area of the capital beirut yesterday. the blast killed at least 100 people and injured more than 4,000 others. the whole city was shaken by the explosion and a mushroom cloud could be seen spreading over the port area. local authorities say it is likely the blast was caused by a fire igniting tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely in a warehouse at the port. in the past hour , her majesty the queen has said she‘s ‘deeply saddended‘ by the blast. a warning — this report from our diplomatic correspondent james robbins contains some disturbing images. even beirut has rarely seen horror on this scale. part of the port utterly devastated by a massive blast of explosives which should never have been left here. stored for six years beside a city now suffering terrible consequences. yesterday, after an initial

fire in the docks which caused only concern, without warning, this happened. the immense pressure wave ripped through much of the lebanese capital. killing many people instantly, gravely injuring even more. 0ne measure of its force, the blast was felt 150 miles away, 240 kilometres from beirut, on the island of cyprus in the eastern mediterranean. people there thought it was an earthquake. but no one in beirut thought that for long. 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. she was one of the very lucky survivors. others were terribly injured. hospitals across the lebanese

capital were quickly overwhelmed. the head of the local red cross called it a huge catastrophe, with victims and casualties everywhere. translation: there are a lot of victims. we lost four nurses and patients, visitors, many dead and many injured. we had roughly 200 injured. there is no hospital, as you can see. the hospital is closed. in the midst of coronavirus, beirut‘s hospitals, several badly damaged by the blast, now have to face this. translation: every one of our crew, doctors and nurses are operating, even administration, everyone is working. we have a lot of damage, as you can see. all of the ceilings have collapsed at the entrance and the glass windows of patient rooms. and there are so many individual stories of suffering, grief, terrible uncertainty. here is a man looking for his son.

he is 29 years old. translation: from seven o‘clock in the evening, we had been all over every hospital in beirut. we are now waiting for the names to come out and nothing has come out. we don‘t know if he is dead or alive, we just don‘t know. across the city, people are in deep shock. injured and trying to take in what has happened to their homes. first estimates suggest hundreds of thousands in beirut could be homeless, at least temporarily. such is the extent of the damage. lebanon‘s president has now been to see the ruined port, the source of the explosion, in a country which has suffered so grievously, where politicians are widely accused of mismanagement and worse, so the prime minister was left promising to find and punish those responsible for allowing such a quantity of explosive material to be kept inside the city.

translation: what happened today won‘t pass without account. those responsible will pay the price for what happened. it is a promise to the martyrs and to the wounded. this is a national commitment, facts will be revealed about the dangerous warehouse which has been there since 2014. among the international reaction, borisjohnson has tweeted this. let me begin by sending america's deepest sympathies to the people of lebanon, where reports indicate that many, many people were killed. hundreds were very badly wounded in a large explosion in beirut. 0ur prayers go out to all the victims and their families, the united states stands ready to assist lebanon. many countries are now

promising aid to beirut both for the short and longer term. help to begin a long, painful process of reconstruction for the survivors of what beirut‘s governor has called simply an apocalypse. james robbins, bbc news. as to the cause of the explosion — the lebanese prime minister said that almost 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate had been stored unsafely in a warehouse for 6 years. but what is the chemical, why was it stored there and why did it cause so much damage? simon mccoy has more. the explosion, which destroyed parts of beirut and could be felt more than 100 miles away, was caused by the highly explosive material ammonium nitrate, and officials are now trying to find out what ignited it. ammonium nitrate is a common industrial chemical. it‘s used mainly for fertilizer, as it‘s a good source of nitrogen for plants. it‘s also one of the main components in mining explosives. on its own, it‘s not regarded as dangerous but, under certain conditions, it can be deadly.

in its pure form, when it‘s stored correctly by itself, it is really fairly safe. but it is a component of fertilizers, which is why it‘s freely available, but also a component of explosives. and if it gets contaminated, then that contaminant could be from the likes of fuel oil, or it comes into contact with other fuel—related substances, or it‘s badly stored and it starts to degrade and it starts to fill up, drains where there‘s pressure, it can start to heat up, because it‘s got an exothermic reaction as that heat increases. and we saw pictures of a huge fire beside the building, or possibly even in the building where the explosion came from. that would have been enough to start to heat it up, to then come into this chain—reaction event that is unstoppable. this wouldn‘t be the first disaster caused by ammonium nitrate. the most notable included an explosion in texas city port in 1947. 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded then,

killing hundreds of people, and the blast could be felt 40 miles away. and in tianjin, in china, in 2015, 173 people were killed after an explosion of 800 tons of ammonium nitrate. it's really important that you actually know how to store it, you don't store in big quantities like this, you separate it, you ensure that if there is some kind of an explosion on one one part of the, erm, one part of the ammonium nitrate store that you've got, that it won't propagate to other parts of the site. so, there's lots of work that was done by scientists in the uk and across the world on how to store this. it appears, and i didn't go to this site, it appears that those lessons weren't learned in lebanon. the investigation continues to find out how this explosion could have happened. bbc arabic correspondent, rami ruhayem is in one of the closest residential areas to the beirut port and sent this update.

this is a sample of some of the destruction wrought on beirut by yesterday‘s blast. this neighbourhood here is very close to the site of the blast. many of the buildings here have balconies that overlook the port of beirut. so people would have been standing on their balconies, near their windows, stretching their necks, to catch a glimpse of the fire when the blast struck. if you were here when this happened, where you were standing would have made a difference between life and death. between a superficial or a very serious injury. but for the country as a whole, this feels like a crippling wound. lebanon has just lost it port through which most of its imports pass through and it has lost it right in the middle of the worst economic crisis in generations. earlier we heard from our middle east editor, jeremy bowen. lebanon has been in a deep crisis

since the end of last year. economic, political, medical, once the pandemic started. there were people on the streets demanding a revolution until they were forced, by covid—19, to take shelter, to get off the streets. the issue in lebanon on is that none of these structures really work. they don‘t come together and that is why so many lebanese right now are saying that this tragedy that happened there, this cataclysm, is a result of the breakdown in a corrupt political system. big questions have to be answered. who knew that ammonium nitrate was there? why was it there? was it simply some kind of dreadful negligence or was it something more sinister? something to do with bribery and corruption or did somebody, some entity know it was there and were just keeping it until a time that the explosive force might be needed? lots of these questions need answering and i don‘t

think there is a great deal of confidence among many lebanese people about whether they will get straight answers and that in itself will have consequences because there is a limit to how far, how much, a country can take before they get back onto the streets again, demanding change, as they were the weeks and weeks and weeks, either side of christmas and the new year. scotland‘s first minister has introduced tough new restrictions on pubs, cafes and restaurants in aberdeen, after a spike in coronavirus cases linked to a pub in the city. nicola sturgeon made clear her priority is to re—open schools from next week. that follows claims from england‘s children commissioner that the hospitality industry was being given priority over schooling. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley reports. scotland‘s third biggest city, aberdeen, where significant new

restrictions have been announced. people are being told not to visit each other‘s houses, not to travel more than five miles for leisure and with concerns over cases of the virus linked up to pubs they are being told to close from five o‘clock this afternoon, along with restaurants and cafes. we are at a stage of this pandemic where extreme caution is necessary and also, in my view, sensible. i‘m also mindful of the need to act quickly and decisively if we are to succeed in our aim of keeping transmission is close to elimination levels as possible and also to protect our priority, and it is our priority, you‘ve heard me say that before, of getting young people back to school. schools in scotland are due to return from next week, with all pupils back by the 17th, if the virus is kept under control. but the scottish government believes that getting schools open takes precedent over keeping pubs open. in england, some are calling

for a similar approach. i want schools to stay open so when it comes to local decisions, or national decisions, over any future lockdown, i want schools to be the last to close their doors and the first to open them. the westminster government is concentrated on local interventions as well, but there is increasing caution about opening up society. ministers repeatedly have said schools will return next month. clearly, we will have to look at this on a case—by—case basis, but the approach is very much on looking at this on a localised level but of course, the message is very clear, we want all schools to be coming back with all pupils from september. labour was criticised for not being more supportive of schools returning injune. but now the party says it must happen. schools have to be the priority. we need to get our children back into schools, that has to be the priority. the government is running out of time. we have schools reopening in september, we have outbreaks of the infection across the country and the government has basically

the month of august to get a grip on this and to get things in place. getting schools fully reopened has been a key issue for ministers, notjust because they are worried about some children falling behind, but also because of their potential knock—on effect, for more parents to get back to work. that, however, has led to warnings that the reproduction rate of the virus could go up in september. some think that to keep the virus under control, when schools open, you may have to close other sectors. that is something ministers don‘t want to do, but with aberdeen are nowjoining parts of the north of england in imposing fresh restrictions, it is a reminder. the impact of the virus can be unpredictable. nick eardley, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news.

lebanon places a number of beirut port officials under house arrest pending an investigation into last night‘s explosion, which killed at least 100 people. after a cluster of cases some lockdown restrictions are reimposed in aberdeen — scotland‘s first minister says schools must be prioritised over pubs — echoing england‘s children‘s commissioner the ‘critical government errors‘ which led to many more people contracting covid—19 — a damning report from mps. a 20—year—old has been convicted of raping and murdering a female friend who had "trusted" him to walk her home. wesley streete dumped keely bunker‘s body in a brook before trying to conceal his crime in september last year. phil mackie reports. this was the moment that wesley streete was arrested last year. less than 24 hours earlier, he raped and murdered his friend, keeley bunker. she thought he was someone she could trust.

she didn‘t know that he had already sexually assaulted other teenage girls. they had gone for a night out in birmingham, first to a gig and then afterwards to a club in the city centre, staying until the early hours, before keeley took out enough cash to pay for a taxi back to tamworth. when they arrived, streete said he would walk her home, using a short cut through this park. keeley never returned and by the evening, people were out looking for her. dozens of people joined in the search the next day as keeley bunker‘s family became frantic, increasingly concerned that she hadn‘t come back. eventually, her uncle spotted something in the water here. it was keeley‘s body. he was obviously trusted by keeley. he was trusted to walk her home that night. he has manipulated a situation where he has preyed upon her and, ultimately, raped and murdered her. as dozens of friends came to leave tributes near the scene, other young girls came forward to tell the police that they had

been victims of sexual assault carried out by streete. only one had made a complaint at the time and that has been withdrawn. he clearly carried on his offending, whether it made him more confident, i can‘t really comment but he clearly carried on his offending after that report, where unfortunately, it wasn‘t the right time for the woman at that time to take it any further. tamworth came to a standstill for keeley‘s funeral. she was a popular young woman, betrayed by a man she trusted. her family described her as one of the most vibrant, caring and beautiful souls this earth ever seen. phil mackie, bbc news, tamworth. coronavirus spread faster in the uk as the government made ‘critical errors‘, including the inexplicable" decision to lift all border restrictions in mid—march. that‘s the finding of a report

from the home affairs select committee of mps. it says the mistakes accelerated" the scale and pace of the pandemic in the country and led to "many more people contracting covid—19". the government has dismissed the findings, saying they were "guided by the science". here‘s our home affairs correspondent, dominic casciani. a pandemic gripping the world, infection spreading as travellers globetrotted across continents. a huge challenge for governments and scientists with almost every nation in the world attempting to stop or slow the virus at the border. but, say mps today, not in the uk. buses leaving an raf base in 0xfordshire carrying 83 britons flown back from wuhan in china, the source of the coronavirus outbreak. these people were quarantined for 14 days in hospital but travellers arriving from europe where cases were rocketing faced no health checks at the border. from the 27th of january the uk‘s first border measures were introduced, first targeting people returning from china, later iran and italy.

anyone arriving was urged to self—isolate for 14 days. but on the 13th of march that self isolation guidance for travellers was lifted. only on the 23rd of march did ministers announce the national lockdown that forced most of the country to stay indoors. and it wasn‘t until the 8th ofjune that any formal border measures were reintroduced. the home affairs committee says the decision to lift border measures in march was completely inexplicable. we found that the government decision not to have any quarantine or border measures in place in the middle of march was a serious mistake. it did mean that we had thousands more people arrived in the uk with covid—19, often from spain, from italy, people coming home. and that did accelerate the pace and scale of the epidemic. and the mps say lessons were there to be learned from january including from singapore which mounted a major

airport screening exercise for high—risk flights. the damning criticisms go further. the mps say the uk did not recognise in time the threat posed by returning holiday—makers from spain. the government said the findings were wrong. throughout this process we have followed the scientific advice and the scientific advice was very clear, when you have lower infection rates in the country that is the point at which you bring in quarantine measures and that is what we did on the 8th ofjune. the mps say the government was right last month to impose a quarantine on people returning from holidays in spain. but the findings are also the second highly critical report in the week, issues for a future enquiry promised by the prime minister. lucy moreton is from the immigration services union. good the immigration services union. afternoon. some i of good afternoon. some of the findings of this report will have had an

impact on your own members, won‘t it? what you make of it? absolutely. members at the time expressed concern that there were flights arriving from high—risk areas and of course, at the time, this was before lockdown, before a lot of the science was either known or understood and they were expressing concerns that back then, there was no ppe, no screens, they were exposed, but of course is our understanding expanded, as the government responded to the science, those things did slowly change. do you think the situation has changed now in there are a limited number of countries from which travellers can arrive here? do you think that means that the situation is safer for your members? travellers can arrive from anywhere they like. there is no restriction on flights into the uk. the only difference is that from some countries, they have to com plete some countries, they have to complete the health declaration at the border and they have to then go and self—isolate for 14 days and

from other countries, they only have to co m plete from other countries, they only have to complete the health declaration. but that form itself, that is not well enough publicised and what the members are telling us at the moment is that they are getting planeloads of people who didn‘t know they had to fill in this form, who then have to fill in this form, who then have to stand, they have to share small numbers of devices, they are in close proximity to each other and to our offices. there are delays at the border occasioning cues, it was over two hours at the weekend at heathrow. just with people waiting to fill in this form because they haven‘t been told early enough, usually by the carriers, that they need to do so. that's really interesting. who‘s responsibility is it to let passengers know they have to fill in the form? it's a bit of a mixed bag. subtitles will resume shortly.

we will make sure they have filled in advance and we can end up with 150, 250 people who have not completed this form, which is quite long, it takes a bit of time. they don‘t have the capacity, they don‘t have the it to do it. we have only got a certain number of shared ta blet got a certain number of shared tablet devices we can do it on and all of that puts them at risk from each other. 0k they have been on a plane together but also they are at risk of any asymptomatic carriers within our staff and our staff are at risk from them. so what do you think should happen? we need to take steps to ensure that this is completed before people travel. the number of passengers that we get is rising at the moment as people go on holiday but it is well down on what it was last year so we should build to cope. but check in the form at the border does slow the transaction

time down. and if you have got to correct it or wait for people to com plete correct it or wait for people to complete it all together that is just leading to this chaotic queueing which is really unsafe. thank you very much. the government has issued a statement in response to that report saying: the home affairs select committee are incorrect in their assertions. all of our decisions throughout the pandemic have been guided by the science, with appropriate measures introduced at the right time to keep us all safe. and with passengers numbers significantly reduced, the scientific advice was clear that quarantine measures for those entering the country from abroad would be most effective when the uk has a lower level of infection. there is more bad news from the high street. wh smith has announced it is planning to cut up to 1,500 jobs as bosses said its recovery from the covid—19 lockdown has been "slow". let‘s get more with our business correspondent simon gompertz.

yesterday, it was pizza express and currys pc world, nearly 2000 job losses announced then. today, wh smith is the biggest, up to 1500. they divide their business into two in the uk. they are the high street shops that we are familiar with, a lot of those have post offices in. if they had a post office, they stayed open through the lockdown, said it did do business and they have reopened all of those, around 570 shops have opened and they‘re not doing brilliantly. trade is about 25% down from normal. the other half of the uk business is what they call travel. it is smaller shops in stations and in airports and there, the drop in trade has been really drastic because, of course, so few people are travelling. they have reopened about half of them, but trade is around three quarters down, it is really terrible and this is where most of the job losses are likely to be concentrated. it‘s not the only firm we have heard from today, there is a fashion retailer,

m&co, they have said they are closing 47 shops, 380 jobs to go and another company we‘ve heard from today is william hill, the bookmakers will stop 119 of their betting shops are not going to reopen because they simply don‘t expect people to come back and bet physically in shops and so great numbers, but they think they will be able to reabsorb most of the staff who were affected in other parts of the business, so not too many people will actually lose theirjobs. the duchess of sussex has won a high court battle to keep the names of five of her friends private, for the time being, as part of her legal action against the mail on sunday. meghan markle is suing associated newspapers over articles in the paper that included parts of a handwritten letter she had sent to her estranged father, thomas markle, in august 2018. the friends who will remain anonymous gave an interview to the us magazine ‘people‘.

the funeral ofjohn hume, one of the key architects of the northern ireland peace process, has taken place in londonderry. the former sdlp leader died on monday, aged 83, following a long illness. the funeral was attended by leaders from across the political spectrum from northern ireland and the irish republic. mr hume‘s family urged mourners wishing to line the streets to respect covid—19 guidelines on gatherings and light a "candle for peace" at home. now, the weather with alina jenkins. hello, once again, it‘s the north in the west of the uk catching the rain today. some of it heavy, clearing from northern ireland but pushing across parts of scotland, northern england, the midlands and wales, a few showers for south—west england, driest the further south and east you are. still fairly cool, the cloud, rain and praise. 0vernight,

most of the rain will clear away into the north sea, a lot of cloud around but there will be some breaks in that. another mild, muggy night, temperatures not much lower than 15 or16 temperatures not much lower than 15 or 16 celsius, fresh night and last night across scotland, tomorrow we are night across scotland, tomorrow we a re left night across scotland, tomorrow we are left with a lot of cloud, some patchy light rain through southern england in the morning, most will have a dry day. through the afternoon, some breaks in the cloud allowing for sunshine and brightness. warm and humid feeling across the south—east and quarter of the uk but feeling warm and it has done recently across scotland, northern ireland and northern england. it could be very hot across central, and eastern england on 02:29:36,382 --> 2147483052:51:33,727 friday, most of us having a fine on 2147483052:51:33,727 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 saturday.