this is bbc news. i'm reeta chakrabarti. the headlines... 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 and injured thousands. 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. 1500 jobs are at risk at wh smith after lockdown caused sales to plummet. hello, good afternoon. the grim operation is underway 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 number of beirut port officials have been placed under house arrest pending an investigation. this afternoon, her majesty the queen has said she's ‘deeply saddened‘ 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 six 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. that report was by simon mccoy. 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 lebanon has just lost its 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. let‘s speak now to the journalist and columnist baria alamuddin, who is from lebanon. good afternoon to you. thank you for joining us on bbc. you have family in beirut. how are they? they are fine. my husband and his in lebanon. he had last shattered all around

him. luckily he was watching tv, not on his computer. i have my son and his wife and they are lucky in the mountains. this is not in seen —— unseen in lebanon, but this is deeper. my heart goes to my fellow lebanese and i wish they would find those that are not accounted for. i also sent mike indulgence. this is huge —— my condolences. this is a problem for the region and the world. we are very close to europe. i‘m sure europe does not want to see more of this flooding. i‘m sure it doesn‘t want to see more terrorism coming its way. goodness. this is coming its way. goodness. this is coming ata coming its way. goodness. this is coming at a very challenging time for lebanon. economically and with covid—19. what is that you want to

see the west doing?|j covid—19. what is that you want to see the west doing? i want an international intervention in lebanon. at the only way. we have a huge problem. we are governed by and at —— hezbollah. the most beautiful, ifi at —— hezbollah. the most beautiful, if i may say. this is but not the image of women. —— lebanon. we have yemen, we have iraq, but lebanon is just on the break. 50% of lebanese are under the poverty line, and currency has developed for about 85%. we have really every reason, especially i call on europe because i don‘t have a lot of faith that the american administration will come to the aid of lebanon. we need to

debate our independence. we need to have the government system and people that can bring back the lebanon that the world knows and needs. it is a very vibrant, very important area, needs. it is a very vibrant, very importantarea, and needs. it is a very vibrant, very important area, and lebanon is the most important component. we are very lucky in lebanon. we have every religion, every culture, and that‘s one of who we are. but it needs to be preserved and we need europe. we need the world at large to come to oui’ need the world at large to come to ouraid. we are need the world at large to come to our aid. we are not a state that lacks education. we have hospitals, we have everything. i wonder ifi canjust we have everything. i wonder ifi can just interject and ask what sort of help is it you are looking to the west for? of course the history of recent western involvement in the middle east is not a happy one. absolutely. i‘m not calling for a british troop or european troops to

come to lebanon. what we need is a political solution. we need an international investigation and what happened. this president or this prime minister that we have, people laugh when they hear him. we have zero confidence in the government system and the people of are governing lebanon today. europe has a history of entertaining... tomorrow, president macron, why not borisjohnson? tomorrow, president macron, why not boris johnson? why not tomorrow, president macron, why not borisjohnson? why not go and make a statement with you, we want a country that is democratic, that is cultured, that is a beacon of democracy and openness. the world needs this. itjust so happens that your daughter is married to george

clooney. they are people of high profile and influence. do you expect them, do you want them to try and use their influence to bring help and change? i can tell you that both my daughter and her husband are helping the world a lot in the human rights issues. but specifically on lebanon? yes, they have donated money to the food bank. my daughter wrote a letter about human rights for the lebanese, i‘m sure they will be doing more. every lebanese is invited to come to the aid of lebanon today. as you know, we don‘t only have george clooney and my daughter, but many limit lebanese in high profile. many doctors are leaving england to help the lebanese, and from many other states, the lebanese are rallying around each other. we‘re not asking

who is your god or what your religion. it‘s the human being lebanon that we need to help, that we need to aid. we need the lebanese in that area of the world. the lebanese people... you canjust see, we are very famous for our culture and education, and indeed, hospitals. a big part of the hospitals. a big part of the hospital system in lebanon is destroyed. this is truly sad. hotels are not there. this is the most beautiful part of lebanon. this is the seashore. this is where the food is stored. it is not there any more. i really call on every member of this government, our government, and me and my family are very lucky that we‘ve been received in this country. we are proud to be part of it, we need the government‘s help. we need

europe, we need the democratic world to understand our predicament. we cannot be host to his brother world mac —— hezbollah. -- hezbollah. thank you very much for joining -- hezbollah. thank you very much forjoining us. -- hezbollah. thank you very much for joining us. breaking -- hezbollah. thank you very much forjoining us. breaking news about the mayor of luton who has stepped down from his position after breaking coronavirus rules. he was seen at a gathering a few days ago, and which he was seen to not be wearing a mask. he was hanging under -- it wearing a mask. he was hanging under —— it was hanging under his chin. the gathering had more than the number that was allowed at the time. so there were six people who were allowed in any one public gathering,

and there were more people there at this particular event. so the mayor of luton has today stepped down from his role and said he regrets his actions, which he knows were below the standard of his position, and he‘s apologised to the people of luton. 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. 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. pubs and restaurants were told they had to close at 5pm this afternoon. people are being told not to travel to aberdeen, and those living in the city face travel restrictions. 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. we need to get our children back into schools. that has to be the priority. at the government is running out of time. we've got schools reopening in september. we got 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. 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. gabriel scally is a visiting professor at the university of bristol and a member of the organisation that calls itself ‘independent sage‘, a group of scientists providing research and information on the pandemic. hejoins us now. good he joins us now. good afternoon to you. good afternoon. what do you make of the report? well, it's quite a read. there is such criticism of the government, it‘s very shocking. in fact, what they say, and it is ideal certainly with the events in

the early stages of the pandemic —— a deal. they should have been shot in public health terms. but they‘re also disturbing elements, the government has not provided the house of commons up cross party committee with information. also, they criticised the shadowy nature of thejoint they criticised the shadowy nature of the joint bio—security centre, which currently runs our test trace system. from beginning to end, it‘s a very critical report. the government would say that the border controls were relaxed because numbers in the country reached a point where it wouldn‘t have made any difference. do you disagree with that? of course it would have made a difference. if you can stop cases coming in at the border, it keeps the numbers down. they didn‘t say that it wouldn‘t make a difference. they said it wouldn‘t make a big

enough difference, that was their advice. they were wrong in that. the committee points that they didn‘t look at all the measures as additive. they were looking for the silver bullet to deal with the pandemic instead of looking at all the good public health measures, including quarantine for people, and more restrictive injury measures. they ignored that at a crucial period, then they brought it in later, shutting the door after the horse. how do you feel overall the government has handled the pandemic? i think very poorly. the death toll is the worst in europe. it proves they acted too late. to tentatively as well. they didn‘t... this virus is such a dangerous virus. if you don‘t get ahead of it, you‘ll never catch up again. that‘s what the government has been doing all the

way through this pandemic almost. they‘ve been playing catch up, and they haven‘t played it very well at all. you have made it known that you area big all. you have made it known that you are a big supporter of zero covid strategy. can you explain what that is? it is about getting the levels of the virus down to zero. as they have been trying to do in scotland, and nicola sturgeon is a big advocate and she‘s actually written to borisjohnson seeking agreement across the uk. it means getting the levels down to zero, and scotland, northern ireland, have been very close. then putting all of your effort into dealing with flare—ups when they happen and building really strong local public health responses, which we haven‘t got yet in england. then you can relax all of the social distancing, all of the restrictions on the pubs, on the economy. it could all happen. the

only thing you have to do there is make sure you don‘t import any new cases. do that and we won‘t... if we did that we could open all the schools without worry. we could also have avoided what looks like a very bumpy autumn and winter with serious flare—ups, and that is the great fear. the virus will take off again in the autumn. we have to leave it there, good to talk to you. the government has issued a statement in response to that report from the home affairs select committee saying: the committee is incorrect in its 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. let‘s return to our main story now,

the massive explosion that has killed more than a hundred and devastated beirut. the foreign secretary has been giving his reaction — let‘s hear what he had to say. first of all, it‘s a devastating explosion. there‘s clearly huge loss of life and water damage in beirut. we‘re not sure on the precise figures. we or monitoring that very carefully. i just spoken to the lebanese prime minister. we will stand by the lebanese people in their time of need. we will provide immediate response and aid packages, search and rescue, humanitarian assistance, up to £5 million, as well as expert medical support. what‘s crucial at this time is how our support is tailored to the very specific needs that ijust talked through with the lebanese prime

minister. you said the uk is ready to offer help. whether it‘s... minister. you said the uk is ready to offer help. whether it's. .. we have also heard —— offered medical experts, humanitarian aid, £5 million, search and rescue experts. we also got a ship in the area to be deployed to assess the damage. it‘s already to go. we want to make we‘ve got exa ctly already to go. we want to make we‘ve got exactly what is tailored towards the lebanese needs. that‘s why we‘ve spoken to the prime minister. the countries are already facing huge challenges. do you think that will prompt the engagement from the uk and showed it in terms of the need of the countries directly? the wider challenge is facing —— the wider challenge is facing —— the wider challenge has not going away. we are

just focusing on people come to terms and recover from this devastating explosion. of course we will also be looking at ways in which we can help meeting term challenge on governance, on financial support, given the situation. how confident are you that when an investigation takes place, the answers will be obtained? that‘s one of the issues i discussed with the leva ‘s needs prime ministers —— lebanese prime minister. there will be a full, rigorous investigation to get to that. i think people of lebanon deserve no less and there will be full accountabilities subject to the results of the outcome of that investigation. i think it‘s too early to say at this point what the conclusions will be. that was the foreign secretary dominic raab speaking.

here‘s katherine downes. hi there, good afternoon. it looks like we might be about to get some play after a rain delay in the first test at old trafford. pakistan were 121—2 when the covers went on. let‘s go live to our cricket reporter henry moeran. henry, england need a breakthrough, don‘t they, in this evening session or the day goes to pakistan, doesn‘t it? you will have to say so, really a partnership, a star batsman, a test 50 in the opening session. real frustration here at old trafford. looking out now and i can see the umpires are having another inspection, they are prodding and poking in various parts of the outfield, and we did have a mod of rain here at old trafford and it is a bit damp on the match surface. that is why we have not had a start time at the moment. there is not the pressures of supporters... perhaps

pushing the desire to get going. i think we have had an announcement, i will check what we have got, and indeed — 5:45 p:m.. will check what we have got, and indeed - 5:45 p:m.. it is a bit frustrating, we can see dissension coming up but it takes a long to get going again. once they do get going again, though, henry, what do you think england need to do? is it a case of mixing of that bowling attack or just case of mixing of that bowling attack orjust a case of pakistan proving a much sterner test than the west indies did in the previous series —— series coachella i think that is the case. -- i think that is the case. in that have this four prong bowling attack, james anderson, stuart broad, jofra archer and chris woa kes. i stuart broad, jofra archer and chris woakes. i do not think that england

have had this type of bowling attack in decades. if pakistan can better to the close with this partnership intact, no doubt about it — the tourists in control after the first day. thank you, henry. hopefully we get trickery —— get cricket later on. 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‘s developed all through the season and we are delighted with finishing third, but the next step for this team is now getting our hands on a trophy. we‘ve been to two semifinals — carabao cup and fa cup — this year.

we want to go one step further and we want to win something. real madrid will be without gareth bale when they take on manchester city in the second leg of their champions league tie on friday night. the welsh international has been left out of zinedine zidane‘s squad for the game at the etihad. bale didn‘t play at all in the last six games of real‘s title—winning season. madrid trail 2—1 from the first leg in spain back in february. 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. four—time champion john higgins is facing some strong opposition from kurt maflin in the second round of the world snooker championship in sheffield. the norwegian, who‘s making only his second appearance at the cruicible, won fourframes in a row to lead 4—2. that was enough to fire up scotland‘s higgins, who responded with his first century break of the tournament to pull a frame back. but he couldn‘t stop maflin restoring his two—frame cushion.

they‘ll resume their match tomorrow morning at 5—3. and that is all the sport for now. you can follow—up all on those stories, including the first test between them than an —— england and pakistan, on the bbc sport website and i would back with more on sportsday at 6:30pm. thank you, katherine downes. 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, underprotected. 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. 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.

you‘re watching bbc news. senior leaders of thejesus army covered—up the widespread abuse of church members, according to a major, leaked investigation. all five of the so—called apostles were found to have protected paedophiles, through their handling of complaints. the disgraced religious sect, which sprang up in northamptonshire in the ‘70s, closed last year, after the bbc revealed hundreds of alleged victims were seeking damages. it has declined our requests for comment. jon ironmonger has this exclusive report. oh, god, i have so many, many sins. but listen, if we confess our sins... for all he preached, the founder of the jesus army, noel stanton, never confessed. an alleged bullying and sexual predator, he ruled for 50 years, until his death in 2009, over one of the uk‘s most abusive churches. now, we can reveal his so—called apostles. hugh lewis, john campbell,

ian callard, mick haines and mike farrant apparently covered up the widespread abuse of vulnerable women and children. a leaked independent review commissioned by the church finds that each of the five senior leaders, who stepped down in 2017, colluded with sexual offenders through their handling of complaints. christ is lord! the jesus fellowship, as it‘s formally known, disbanded last year, after the bbc exposed claims of prolific child abuse in communal homes throughout central england. hi, i'm mick, mick haines. the leaders, including the top man, mick haines, were recently questioned by police, but no evidence was found of any crimes. frequently on tv in the early ‘90s, the spokesman and head of safeguarding, john campbell, defended their roles. the leaders are on exactly the same footing as anyone else in the church. so there‘s no financial exploitation, or no other form of exploitation. some of the leaders still live in communal houses,

like hugh lewis and mike farrant, who is the church‘s fd. all five men declined our requests for comment. it‘s perhaps no surprise that thejesus fellowship is sitting on a considerable fortune, with properties like this one, its headquarters in northamptonshire, totalling tens of millions of pounds. but for how long? it‘s facing a huge damages bill and around 800 alleged victims are seeking pay—outs. thejesus fellowship survivors association represents most of the likely claimants. getting whatever it is going to be, a cheque for 30,000 quid, it helps, you know. and for some people, it could be life—changing. but that in no way can change, can repair, make up for the abuse these people have suffered. launched in a small chapel, thejesus army became one of europe‘s largest religious communities, now overcome by its dark past. jon ironmonger, bbc news. 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. there‘s 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". our business correspondent simon gompertz gave us the latest. yesterday, it was pizza express and curry‘s pc world, nearly 2,000 job losses announced then. today, wh smith is the biggest, up to 1,500. they divide their business into two in the uk. the high street shops that we‘re familiar with, a lot of those has post offices in. if they had a post office,

they stayed open through the lockdown, so they did do business. and they‘ve reopened all of those, around 570 shops. 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‘s smaller shops in stations and in airports, and there, the drop in trade has been really drastic because so few people are travelling. they‘ve reopened about half of them, but trade is about three—quarters down. it‘s really terrible, and this is where most of the job losses are likely to be concentrated. it‘s not the only firm we‘ve heard from today. there is a fashion retailer m and co. they said they‘re closing 47 shops, 380 jobs to go, and another company we‘ve heard from today is william hill 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‘ll 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. 0ur correspondent simon gompertz there. time for a look at the headlines hit now 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. 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 teh, 0fcom‘s group director of strategy and research. very striking numbers in this year‘s report. what have you discovered? the way we are watching tv is unrecognisable from ten or even five years ago, and lockdown has really accelerated those changes. at its peak, we were watching a whopping 6.5 hours a day of tv and doubling the amount of time we spent watching streaming services like netflix and disney+ — which attracted more than 12 million new subscribers.

6.5 hours every day. what exactly are people doing in that time? that six hours and 25 minutes is a combination of traditional tv viewing — so, public service broadcasters and other channels — and then also online viewing, which will include the streaming services and other forms of online video like youtube. we‘ve spoken in the past about the deep, underlying trends towards streaming services. has that accelerated during lockdown? i think the predominant effect we‘re seeing is very much an acceleration of the trends that were already there, and so, year—on—year, we‘ve been seeing a decline in traditional tv viewing and a rise in viewing to the subscription streaming services. so, streaming 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‘ve seen a real peak in news consumption in the early part of lockdown, record audiences for the uk broadcasters, though that‘s tailed off more recently. so, you discovered that, 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 absolutely right. i mean, i think it was striking to see that the five most popular programmes were all news programmes about the pandemic. when we‘ve 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‘s interesting to see that those are rated much, much less highly in terms of the accuracy and reliability. yih—choung, thank you very much indeed for your time. now, for

now, borisjohnson, now, boris johnson, is now, borisjohnson, is adviser dominic cummings appear as the newest puppets in... the series will air later this year on britbox. the funeral ofjohn hume, one of the key architects of the northern ireland peace process, has taken place in londonderry. the former leader of the sdlp 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. sarah girvin reports. blessed are the peacemakers. this would have been a very different funeral before the pandemic. 0ur brotherjohn... thousands wanted to come here to pay their respects tojohn hume for his work

in northern ireland‘s darkest days, for helping lead the country into light. into your hands, father of mercies, we commend our brotherjohn. but covid—19 changed those plans, and it meant one of his sons had to miss the funeral, stuck in the united states. his youngest son told the congregation that despite the peace his father helped deliver, there was still work to do. we all need one another. we all have a role to play. the absolute importance of dad's core interest of building community based on respect and love. tribute were also read from pope francis, the dalai lama and former us president bill clinton, who said john hume was ireland‘s martin luther king. northern ireland‘s first minister, arlene foster, and deputy first minister michelle 0‘neill did attend, as did taoiseach micheal martin and irish

president michael d higgins. the hume family had asked members of the public to stay away because of coronavirus, but some did gather — to clap and to say thank you. absolute gentleman, superb politician and a man for everybody. didn‘t matter your religion, ethnicity — hume was your man. and he‘ll be greatly missed, particularly by the people in this city. last night, people across the island of ireland and beyond lit candles. prime minister borisjohnson said he‘d lit one at downing street, as a symbol of the peacejohn hume was so instrumental in securing. it‘s an imperfect peace but one that holds until this day — and that will bejohn hume‘s legacy. sarah girvin, bbc news. now, on a lighter note, you will be pleased to hear that there is 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‘re 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‘s 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. sophie raworth is coming up next with the bbc news at six. now, it‘s time for the weather with alina jenkins. hello.

so far this week, there‘s been some big contrast across the uk. very wet for parts of the north and the west — yesterday in scotland, today, across northern ireland and northwest england. this was cumbria earlier on this afternoon. meanwhile in the south and the east, it‘s been dry, there‘s been a good deal of sunshine and for many, away from the south coast this afternoon, it‘s been very warm. through thursday, most will be dry and warm. before we get there, we still have this frontal system still hanging around but slowly pushing its way eastwards overnight, so any early rain through this evening and the first part of the night will tend to fade away, so most places become dry. there will be quite a lot of cloud around, but it will thin and break to allow some clear spells. could see a bit of mist and fog in places. it‘s another mild, muggy night through much of england and wales, a little bit fresher than it was last night across scotland. so, into thursday, here‘s the bigger picture. still got our front with us. it‘s running into an area of high pressure, so as it does, most of the rain fizzles out. allow for some light rain

and drizzle at first across southern counties of england. it won‘t really amount to much. and for much of the day tomorrow, it is looking largely dry across the uk. quite a bit of cloud through the morning, thinning and breaking as the day wears on. the winds won‘t be as strong as they have been recently. away from the western isles, still quite breezy here, but certainly feeling warmer across scotland, northern ireland and the far north of england compared to recent days — low 20 celsius here. up to 26 or 27 across the southeastern quarter of the uk. those temperatures keep on rising as we head through friday. not for all. notice frontal systems just fringing to the west of northern ireland, northern and western scotland, so cooler here, some showers. but elsewhere, we are pulling up this warm air, and it‘s going to stay with us as we head into the weekend. now, on friday, we‘ll have more sunshine than we did on thursday. away from northern ireland, perhaps north wales, western scotland, more cloud and some showery outbreaks of rain here. but for many on friday, it‘ll be dry, very warm — if not hot. once again, we could see temperatures across central, southern and eastern england in the high 20s, low 30s celsius, maybe up to around 35 celsius around london. as we head into the weekend,

we do hold onto that warmth, the temperatures ease slightly. but notice it‘s high pressure which is the dominant feature across much of the uk through the weekend, so we‘re looking at some dry weather, maybe a few showers across eastern counties as we had through sunday. counties as we head through sunday. still very warm, but the temperatures easing slightly.

the death toll rises in lebanon — at least 135 people have died, more than 5,000 have been injured by the massive blast at beirut‘s port. dozens of people are still missing after the explosion blamed on almost 3000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely for years in a warehouse. and this is what is left of the port. almost all of the lebanon‘s food was imported through here — there are now fears of food shortages. i lived the war and never i seen a day like that moment. really, it was terrible. already the health care system is about to collapse and then you add this to it. and now the clear up begins — more than a quarter of a million people have been left homeless in the city.