this is bbc world news, the headlines. at least 135 people have been killed and five thousand injured by a huge explosion in the lebanese capital beirut. many people are still missing, believed trapped under rubble. the blast caused extensive damage across the city. rescue workers are continuing to try to find survivors in the port and other districts hit hardest. the lebanese prime minister has blamed a confiscated haul of thousands of tonnes of ammonium nitrate on the blast. he has promised those responsible will be held accountable. the lebanese cabinet has agreed to place all beirut port officials — who have overseen storage and security since 2014 under house arrest. in france, almost 2,000 firefighters have been trying to extinguish wildfires to the west of marseille, which broke out on tuesday. some 2,700 people have had to be evacuated from campsites and residential areas.

you are watching bbc news. let's get more now on our top story the aftermath of yesterday's huge explosion in beirut which killed at least 135 people. we heard briefly from the foreign secretary dominic raab earlier giving his reaction — let's hear some more of what he had to say. first of all, it's a devastating explosion. there's clearly huge loss of life and wider damage in beirut. we're not sure on the precise figures. in relation to uk nationals there. 0bviously in relation to uk nationals there. obviously we have a consulate they are. obviously we have a consulate they are. 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 i just talked through with the lebanese prime 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 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 rengagement from the uk and should it in terms of the need of the countries directly? 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 concerned 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 —— 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. pubs, cafes and restaurants have been ordered to close in aberdeen this evening after a spike in coronavirus cases. 5a cases have been recorded in the cluster. residents have been told they can't visit each other‘s homes or travel more than 5 miles from where they live — unless for work or education — as lockdown restrictions are reimposed. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon reports. aberdeen, back into a local lockdown. more than 200,000 people living here facing restrictions on what they can do and where they can go. this, a last pint poured in a granite city pub before, like other venues, at five o'clock it had to close. instead of closing down aberdeen, maybe close the two or three bars, that's fair enough. some people, this is the only enjoyment they get. it's fair enough but i think it's absolutely terrible they are having

to go through all this again. what can you do? the first confirmed cases were traced back to this city centre bar. 5a people have now tested positive. more than 30 venues linked to the emerging cluster. scotland's first minister warns there may now be some community transmission of the virus in the area. 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 as close to elimination levels as possible. pictures of queues outside an aberdeen pub at the weekend shocked many. a warning from the police, more officers will be on patrol to enforce the new regulations if required. to deal with a small minority who decide they don't want to do so and put others' health at risk, we will clearly and undeniably enforce the law when it comes to that very small

minority of people. the restrictions will be reviewed in a week's time but nicola sturgeon says the measures are scotland's biggest wake—up call since the early days of the pandemic and are needed to give schools the best possible chance to reopen. lorna gordon, bbc news. the children's commissioner for england says schools must be prioritised over pubs and shops in planning for future coronavirus lockdowns. it comes amid fresh warnings from a top scientist, professor neil ferguson, that reopening secondary schools could see a signifiant rise in the virus‘ ability to spread. here's our education correspondent elaine dunkley. this is a primary school that's open all year round during term time and holidays. this head teacher agrees with the children's commissioner that schools should be the last to close. she says it should be up to school to make the decision on whether it's safe to open.

we know the cases in the area, so i think it would be really helpful if it was done on an individual basis by authorities so that we would monitor oui’ own areas. then put things in place from that. there are concerns about how much we can reopen society without a resurgence of coronavirus. this leaves a question mark over schools reopening. some scientists say the risk of transmission on primary school children is relatively low, but there's concern about secondary schools opening. the evidence is still not certain, but it looks like teenagers can transmit just as well as adults. so the risk then is that big schools, universities, link lots of households together. social distancing measures have deliberately disconnected. there are difficult decisions and trade—offs between the economy and education.

teachers, parents and pupils were hoping at the end the end of the holiday would bring clarity and normality. with continued fears around the spread of the virus, that feels a long way off. we do need the pubs, restaurants to get on with. we've got to go on with ours. i do think they should be open. often i think it's important that they go back. as long as everyone is sensible, i think it's something we will need to learn to live with really. the government says getting children back to school is a national priority. we want all children back in school in september, including in areas subject to local restrictions such as greater manchester. there are huge number of measures in place in schools to make sure children are safe and minimise the risk of the spread of the virus. schools in scotland and northern ireland are due

to reopen this month, and children do back to school in september. but coronavirus has made planning for the future increasingly difficult. elaine dunkley, bbc news. wh smith has said it's considering cutting up to 1—thousand 5—hundred jobs 11% of its workforce the retailer has described its recovery following the coronavirus lockdown as "slow". figures show its revenue was down by 57% last month compared with july 2019. our business correspondent, simon gompertz says it's just the latest big high street name to cutjobs in response to the pandemic: 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 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. 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. five former gymnasts from one of britain's most successful clubs have spoken for the first time about how they feel they were mistreated and bullied. the young women all used to train at the city of liverpool gym club and their claims come after a number of other gymnasts around the world made similar allegations about their own treatment

and what they say they witnessed as they chased their dreams in the sport. our sports correspondent, natalie pirks, has this special report. this summer, 0lympic dreams should have been realised. instead, multiple claims of a culture of fear across the whole of gymnastics in this country have been laid bare by those who could no longer stay silent. i'd wake up and feel physically sick. it was not a happy place and it should have been a happy place and it was a sport but we all loved but for me, and i don't know about the others, but it turned into a sport that i absolutely hated. these are the women who say they were left behind in the quest for medal glory. their stories are, by now, all too familiar, and they blame the governing body, british gymnastics, for prioritising the sport over the individuals. you know, maybe they thought the treatment we were given was working. it produced many champions, many olympians, and maybe

british gymnastics thought that is the treatment they deserve. the team of great britain! in 2012, one gym ruled when it came to the british women's team. city of liverpool gym proudly coached four of the five women here but, away from the spotlight, some gymnasts say their experiences of training at that club were a lot different. just made me feel worthless, just turned me into a shell of who i used to be. it has affected me now, really. like, i'm really worried about making friends. gymnasts are well used to pushing through the pain barrier in a physically tough sport but all five women can remember times when they felt it went too far. abbie was 1a when this happened, in 2012. i ended up getting left on the bars and another group came tojoin in on the session i was doing on the bars. and it turned out that the gymnasts had to speak to their coach and say, "i can't use this bar because there is too much of abbie‘s blood on it," because it was too slippy. amber's parents say they took her out of the gym shortly

after their daughter was hurt at age 11. ijust landed awkward and i heard a click and i thought. i was told to carry on as if nothing had happened but i couldn't carry on. it was up to me to ring my dad to come and pick me up and take me to the hospital where they told me i'd broke my foot in four places. sophie was a three times british champion at 12 and 13 but says that frequent weighing throughout her gymnastics career led to an eating disorder. we were told that parents were not usually allowed to view training and that glass in the doors at the liverpool gym was often covered or the view obscured with screens. my mum, she's been heartbroken. she's actually cried to me and says that she feels like she failed as a parent. but our parents were probably just as manipulated as we were as gymnasts. british gymnastics urged any gymnast affected by abuse to contact their integrity unit or the nspcc helpline

set up for survivors. it added. city of liverpool gym declined to provide a statement they liverpool city council confirmed they had received eight complaints about the gym. it added that city of liverpool gym declined to provide a statement city of liverpooljim declined a statement. but they strongly denied bullying or mistreatment of athletes. they maintain that no such complaint or allegation has been made to them and that the welfare and safety of athletes was at all times their first priority. it is clear becoming adults has given these gymnasts and those from different gyms across the country the strength

to process what they went through. i miss gymnastics and it has took me the whole year to get used to being coached normally and respected, and, like, being able to have a voice and to learn that i can actually express how i feel without being shut down or shouted at or told that i'm a liar. uk sport is now spearheading an independent investigation into a slew of disturbing allegations. for these women, and countless others, it cannot come soon enough. natalie pirks, 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: i have so many senate many sins. for all he preached the founder of the jesus army never confessed. an alleged bully and sexual predator he ruled for 50 years until his death in 2009. one of the uk's most abusive churches. now we can reveal his so apostles. lewis, camel haynes and mike farren apparently covered up and mike farren apparently covered up the widespread abuse of vulnerable women and children. a leaked, independent review finds the church each five senior leaders who stepped on in 2017 colluded with sexual offenders through the handling of complaints. thejesus fellowship as is formally known to last year after the bbc exposed claims of prolific child abuse in communal homes throughout central england. hi, i'm mick haynes. the

leaders including the leader mick hames were recently questioned by police. but no evidence was found of any crimes. frequently on tv in the early 90s the spokesman and head ahead of safeguarding john campbell defended their roles. the leaders are exactly on the same footing as anyone else in the church. so there's no financial exploitation, fio there's no financial exploitation, no other form of exploitation. some of the leader still live in communal houses like lewis and farren. all five men declined our request for comment. it's perhaps no surprise that the jesus fellowship is sitting ona that the jesus 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 payouts. thejesus fellowship survivors association represents most of the likely claimants. getting whatever's going

to be. a check for 30,000 quick, it helps. and for some people it could be life—changing. but that in no way can change, can repair, makes up for the abuse that these people have suffered. launched in a small chapel the jesus army suffered. launched in a small chapel thejesus army became one of europe's largest religious communities. now overcome by its dark past. each year, the broadcast regulator of com 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 6 hrs 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. 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 it's time for a look at 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.

hello, i'm lewis vaughanjones, welcome to outside source. a two week state of emergency is declared in beirut following last night's deadly explosion. explosion. a number of port officials have been placed under house arrest, pending an investigation. rescuers continue to sift through the rubble searching for survivors — at least 135 people were killed, many are still missing and thousands injured. there have been remarkable

stories of survival — we'll hear from a doctor who says her hospital