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 was obliterated — but she continued to work through the devastation. where we had patients who had arrests in the parking lot of the er and emergency doctors were rushing to them, trying to intubate, and we we re to them, trying to intubate, and we were doing cycles of arrests on the patients in the parking lots. as the clear—up begins, promises of help flood in from around the world, while aid agencies rush to offer assistance. wecome to the programme. only one place to start and that's in beirut in lebanon. the health authorities and red cross are struggling to deal with the aftermath of the extraordinary and devastating explosion. you've seen these pictures by now — this is the moment the explosion hit the city. and this shows the scale of the destruction. the port has been flattened — and you can see a major grain silo that's been destroyed. these are houses nearby. beirut‘s governor says up to 300,000 people are now homeless.

rescue workers are continuing to try to find survivors. the european union is rushing rescuers, search dogs and equipment to help. the red cross is setting up new morgues. the explosion killed at least 135 people and injured more than 5,000 others. carine torbey has the latest from beirut. well, at the moment it is night time, after a very long day of damage assessment, of people trying to figure out what really happened to them, to their city, to the nation, probably tonight at this point everything is coming to some very deserved rest. of course, behind me is the port. you cannot see it at the moment, it is not visible, because there is no electricity in the city. this is not entirely linked to the explosion but it adds a lot to the sense of darkness that beirut is living in at the moment.

and this is very much palpable and very much obvious in every single part of the city, every single street from every single neighbourhood. today was a day of not only assessing the number of injured, wounded, dead, but also the very large number of people who have become homeless, or at least his property have become totally totally uninhabitable because of the damage and destruction they endured during the blast. today, what the nation is facing is in a split second because of the explosion yesterday, there are tens of thousands of people who cannot return to their homes. we have seen a lot of community support, a lot of people opening their houses to strangers, to relatives, to friends, but this is not a sustainable solution, and the government should really work to find some medium—term

shelters to those people, and a sustainable solution, because one thing is for sure, there will be a very large number of people who will not be able to return to their houses and homes any time soon. so many people's lives have been ripped apart by this. i want to bring you just one of those. let's listen to shadia — she's waiting at a hospital in beirut where her husband is recovering from brain surgery after he was badly injured. after the explosion, she checked on her children then tried to find her husband. i crossed, i went up to the top of the stairs and i saw my husband lying down, unconscious, his head

twisted to the side in a pool of blood, and the window frame and the wall were on his head, and on his legs. soi so i ran down like crazy. by that time, the two ladies who were in the house were also safe, they were helping me, we wrapped his head and i was just screaming. i was going to call the balance but i knew there was no point, i could hear screaming from the streets, i knew they would never make it. let's go through what we know so far. this is the site of the explosion — the photo on the left was taken injanuary — and you can see the damage in the right hand photo taken today. the lebanese government has announced a two week state of emergency in beirut and a number of officials who worked at the port are being placed under house arrest. the cabinet has asked security forces to ensure no—one tampers with the scene. president michel aoun said the blast was caused by 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate being stored unsafely in a warehouse. the chemical can be used as a fertiliser in agriculture and as an explosive. here's what he said

after visiting the site. translation: there are no words to describe the catastrophe that hit beirut yesterday, which transformed it into a disaster stricken city. we are determined to investigate and reveal what happened as soon as possible, to hand out punishment to those responsible. here's our science editor david shukman with more detail on exactly what happened. the explosion in beirut happened in the worst possible place, right in the port with a lot of holdings around, and the impact would have been felt in several different ways. first, a shock wave, leading to a sudden increase in pressure, which would have killed people nearby. then a wave of debris, chunks of concrete and glass hurled through the air maybe a mile or more, and then a cloud of toxic gases and dust, carried by the wind right over the city. there's growing anger over why such a large quantity of ammonium nitrate was stored in a built—up area for so long. there are reports that between 2014 and 2017, customs officials sent six letters to thejudiciary warning

of the dangers of leaving such a volatile chemical in place. and newsnight‘s mark urban has been tweeting. .. reports are now beginning to emerge about how it got there. here's what we've been able to piece together so far from online open sources. according to fleetmon, a database of ships and ports, a russian—owned general cargo vessel called ‘rhosus' set sail from georgia to mozambique in september 2013, carrying almost 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate.

the moldovan—flagged vessel called at beirut port after facing technical difficulties. it was inspected by port state control officers, who found ‘deficiencies' and banned it from sailing, resulting in ‘rhosus' being stranded in beirut. the majority of the ship's ukrainian crew were repatriated on the grounds they were in ‘imminent danger‘ due to the explosive nature of the cargo on board. the ammonium nitrate was later stored in a warehouse dubbed ‘hanger 12‘, which according to the videos of the blast, was the epicentre of the explosion. a letter shared on social media indicates customs officials had warned judges of the risks associated with storing the explosives in ‘hanger 12‘ on several occassions between 2014 and 2017. major chris hunter is a former british army counter—terrorist bomb disposal specialist — here‘s what he said about ammonium nitrate. it‘s not designed to be left in ports for several years on end, and effectively discarded, and of course left with the other environmental conditions to degrade it, to dry

it out, that sort of thing, you know, it should never have been stored there in those conditions, and certainly not colocated with fireworks. just to emphasise the point — vyto babrauskas is the founder of fire science and technology inc., and has written an extensive review of ammonium nitrate explosions and how they happen. that was entirely foreseeable, entirely preventable, and there are centuries worth of tragic record to anybody who cares to be aware of it to realise that that is not how this dangerous material has to be treated and has to be stored. the blast comes as lebanon has been going through an unprecedented economic and political crisis. we‘ll talk about that in a moment — but in the immediate aftermath, it‘s placed immense pressure on a health care system already struggling with the coronavirus pandemic. this was the scene at one of beirut‘s hospitals

in the wake of the explosion — you can see here people trying to get access to the hospital but being turned away by staff, and the wounded being treated outside. here‘s dr marie eid, a paediatrician at st george university hospital. the hospital was full of patients, and it became completely non—functioning, so we had to evacuate the patients to the ground floor, or actually to the er floor, and outside of the er, we didn‘t have any electricity, we had patients who had arrests in the parking lot of the er, and emergency doctors were rushing to them, trying to intubate, and we were doing cycles of arrests on the patients in the parking lot. it was truly a very, very traumatic experience. with many hospitals damaged and staff themselves hurt, the system has been swamped. three of the city‘s hospitals

are too damaged to be functional, another two are only partially working, and now doctors are running low on supplies. here‘s one top emergency doctor. translation: the blast decimated our stocks. we used up in two days what we normally use in a month or two. all of beirut get its material from the port and our hospital gets all its needs from the port of beirut. and it‘s still not clear what the long term health effects of the explosion could be. professorjimmie oxley is a leading explosives expert. you have a lot of dust that itself can be harmful, fine dust in the air. if these people are still wearing their masks for covid, they may need them for the dust. lebanon is also already facing an unprecedented economic crisis. it defaulted on a foreign debt payment for the first time in march, and the value of its currency has been plummeting. inflation on basic food goods has soared 109% between september and may. here‘s maya yahya, director

for the carnegie middle east centre. incomes are collapsing, pensions are collapsing, people can't go to school, they can't afford health care. and then on top of that you have the health care crisis which came with covid—19. the security sector is suffering because they are also part and parcel. it was just an exponential collapse, almost 50% of the population have fallen below the poverty line. we were expecting more. people were starting to go hungry. what has held the country together so far was really the amazing energy and social solidarity that the lebanese exhibited throughout this period, in trying to help those less fortunate. and now, with this, the joke was until recently all we need is an earthquake, well, this was almost an earthquake. much of lebanon‘s food and other imports come through beirut‘s port — which has now been

virtually destroyed. this is what remains of the country‘s main grain silo, leaving the country with less than a month‘s reserve. but according to the economy minister, there‘s still enough flour to avoid a crisis. 300,000 people have been left homeless by the blast, and the bill for repairing the damage is likely to be between three and five billion dollars. and anger is growing at the lebanese government. here‘s a tweet from the journalist paula naoufal... "no. the author kim ghattas also tweeted. .. earlier, i spoke to bbc monitoring‘s hesham shawish. that‘s right. throughout the day there has been an outpouring of

anger on social media and also on domestic media there has been calls for the prime minister and the government to resign, and many have been expressing shock and incredulity at initial claims by officials that the explosion might have been caused by fireworks. no one believed that explanation, and huge questions are being asked of how the government, the customs forces and general security could allow such a huge amount of a dangerous substance like ammonium nitrate to stay in the port for such a long time. yeah, no doubt there will be continuing questions about how authorities did leave it there for such a long time. anger at politicians of course, and also anger at politicians because of the state of the economy. remind us exactly how bad things are there. that‘s true. i mean, lebanon is currently the third most indebted nation in the world, it has had a long list of problems since last year. unemployment is soaring, as is

poverty. there have been protests since last october, and then on top of that, you have had the prolonged covid—19 lockdown, of that, you have had the prolonged covid—19lockdown, which has impacted people even worse. with yesterday‘s explosion, beirut‘s governor said there are now over 300,000 people who have been left homeless, so the situation is quite serious. france, one of lebanon‘s key allies, has already sent planes with medical supplies and rescue workers. on thursday the french president will visit beirut himself. and here‘s what the british foreign secretary said earlier. we are going to stand by the lebanese people in their time of need. we are going to provide immediate response and an aid package, assistance package, search and rescue, humanitarian assistance up to £5 million, as well as expert medical support, and what is crucial at this time is that our support is tailored to the very specific needs that i have just talked through with the lebanese prime minister.

and here‘s more from hesham shawish. as we have seen, there has been an outpouring of support from all over the world, immediately after the explosion we saw messages from the uk prime minister and foreign minister, and most notable from france and qatar, who have set planeloads of medical equipment, mobile clinics able to treat up to 500 people, and this comes ahead of president macron's visit tomorrow. but notjust the big nations, the friendly nations, but we have also had offers of humanitarian assistance from israel, so offers like this from across the world have been quite heartening to see. stay with us on oustide source, still to come... the ‘critical government errors‘ which led to many more people contracting covid—19 — a damning report from mps here in the uk.

the children‘s commissioner for england says schools should be the last places to close in any future lockdowns — after pubs, restaurants and nonessential shops. anne longfield‘s comments come amid fears of a second coronavirus spike — with all pupils in england set to return to the classroom in september. of course i want life to be normal, like anyone else, but the fact of the matter is the virus is with us. we have to find ways to adapt, we have to find ways to manage it, and children have been out of school now for six months, the biggest disruption since world war ii. we know they have been really struggling, many children, in terms of home learning, many won‘t have been learning at all and the most disadvantaged of all other ones falling further behind. so this is something we have to look at very seriously, and i want to make sure they are given a protected priority in decision—making.

they doesn‘t mean it is absolutely essential decision to be made, but i don‘t want the default to be that schools are the ones that close. this is outside source, live from the bbc newsroom. a two—week state of emergency has been imposed in beirut and a number of officials who worked at the port put under house arrest after a deadly explosion. let‘s look at some of the day‘s other news. at least 15 people have died and more than 1,500 have been forced from their homes after torrential rain triggered floods and landslides in south korea. two areas have been declared disaster zones after 42 consecutive days of rain — the country‘s longest monsoon in seven years. the rescue effort is being complicated by coronavirus restrictions. bbc korean are following that story. in chechnya, children took part in a competition

to write poems praising the family of their authoritarian leader ramzan kadir—rov, who has ruled the region of southern russia since 2006. according to local reports one winner received nearly 7,000 dollars and all the top finalists got smartphones. bbc russian have more on that. 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. the fires, which cover an area of about ten square kilometres near martigue, are now thought to be under control. let‘s get an update on coronavirus. there are now more than 18 million confirmed cases in 188 countries. more than 700,000 people have lost their lives. outbreaks in the us, brazil, and india are behind a significant proportion of the worldwide toll. here in the uk, a group of mps have criticised the government‘s failure to bring in border restrictions earlier. they say mistakes accelerated the scale of the pandemic here. but ministers insist they were guided by the science. here‘s our health editor hugh pym.

the final ba flight from mainland china to london in late january, as concerns about coronavirus began to grow. officials at the time assumed the main risk was people arriving from asia. that proved to be wrong, with a lot more cases coming in from europe. now, a committee of mps says in subsequent weeks, the government should have implemented much tighter controls. by the time you get to early march, other countries were starting to bring in much stronger border measures. the uk was very much out on a limb. that alone should have rung alarm bells for ministers. they should have been saying, "why is our approach so different? why are we so isolated in our approach, in not having border and quarantine measures when so many other countries by now really are?" with britons evacuated from wuhan and quarantined in late

january, the first border measures were introduced. in february, arrivals from some countries and northern italy were told to self—isolate if they showed symptoms. in march, all italy arrivals were told to self—isolate whether or not they showed symptoms. crucially, this advice was not extended to spain and france. a day later, spanish football fans gathered in liverpool for a champions league fixture. on march 13, all country—specific guidance was lifted and people were only told to self—isolate if they had symptoms. at the time, ministers were having to assess whether imposing blanket quarantine restrictions on everyone arriving from abroad at heathrow and other major airports would do damage to the economy and whether it would significantly slow transmission of the virus. officials argued in march, if the virus was spreading in the uk anyway, there was no point restricting people arriving without symptoms.

quarantining wasn‘t introduced untiljune eight. throughout this process, we have followed the scientific advice. and the scientific advice has been very clear — when you have low infection rates in the country, that is the point at which you bring in quarantine measures. that‘s what we did on the 8th ofjune. but some experts agree that more should have been done at an earlier stage. i certainly think there should have been more monitoring of people coming to the uk from areas that were significantly affected by covid. i think what's apparent is that even people who were returning from italy who had been asked to self—quarantine for 14 days, there was no actual monitoring of that situation to ensure that people were doing it. france has begun compulsory airport testing for those arriving from high—risk countries. the uk authorities are less keen, as it may miss some people in the early stages of infection. hugh pym, bbc news. in scotland, all pubs, cafes and restaurants in aberdeen have been ordered to close to try and control a coronavirus outbreak which started to emerge last week. 54 positive cases in the city have now been linked to a cluster. the country‘s contact tracing system has idenitifed more than 20 venues

in aberdeen associated with the outbreak. scotland‘s first minister, nicola sturgeon, urged people in the area to restrict their movements. we are at a stage of this pandemic where extreme caution is necessary, and also, in my view, sensible. i am also mindful of the need to act quickly and decisively if we are to succeed in ouraim quickly and decisively if we are to succeed in our aim of keeping transmission is close to elimination levels as possible. for more on just how seriously the scottish government is taking the situation in aberdeen, here‘s the bbc‘s james shaw. if it is the case that community transmission is happening, then that is really, i suppose, coronavirus at its most dangerous. it has not been locked down, it has not been isolated to a specific group of people who have been traced and tested and told to isolate, but it may be at large in the community. now nicola sturgeon said that cannot

be ruled out. we don't know if it is the case, at the moment, but it certainly is the case that we will be watching and waiting over the coming hours to see what happens with those numbers of positive cases. there is another big jump then quickly there is a situation that may require other action by the scottish government to deal with. back now to our top story. news of the explosion in beirut‘s port first broke when videos began circulating on twitter and whatsapp yesterday afternoon. whilst most of the videos appeared to be authentic, filmed by residents from their homes, rumours about the cause of the blast were quickly shared on social media. and comments by the us president have fuelled more conspiracy theories — here‘s what he said earlier. some of our great generals, they just seem to feel that it was, this was not some kind of a manufactured exclusion type of event. seems to

be, they would know better than i would, but they seem to think it was an attack, it was a bomb of some kind, yes. our disinformation reporter marianna spring has more. in many ways that fuelled a lot of conspiracy theories that were circulating, especially on far right groups and apps like telegram. comments of him saying it was a terrible attack led to it being thought of as a terrorist attack, with the application being that trump knew that it was a terror attack, perhaps the us had some inside knowledge, again totally unfounded claims, and we even notice ha rd core unfounded claims, and we even notice hardcore conspiracy theories like those who support kyu anon, this far right conspiracy theorists —— conspiracy theorists, that related toa waragainst conspiracy theorists, that related to a war against the block —— against the banks so things would have got quite outlandish. against the banks so things would have got quite outlandishm against the banks so things would have got quite outlandish. if you

are online, you can get me on twitter. don‘t forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i‘m @lvaughanjones 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 head through sunday. still very warm, but the temperatures easing slightly.

hello, i‘m lewis vaughanjones, welcome to outside source. night‘s deadly 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. but there have also been remarkable stories of survival — we‘ll hear from the father

of a newborn baby whose wife was in labour when the explosion happened. welcome. as we‘ve mentioned already in the show, the blast comes at a difficult time for lebanon. here‘s the analysis of our middle east editor, jeremy bowen. the explosion flattened most of beirut docks. lebanon imports almost everything it needs. now its biggest port is out of commission. the force of the blast was devastating. if lebanon was rich, well—governed and secure, it would find it hard to deal with this crisis. but it has none of those strengths. the mayor inspected the damage. he said reconstruction would take billions of dollars. that‘s money lebanon just does not have. lebanon‘s president, michel aoun, has declared three days of mourning. many lebanese are sick of all their leaders. some former warlords, like the president, who have been

at the top for decades. lebanon‘s youth want change. before and sometimes during the pandemic, there have been public protests and rage against corruption and incompetence at the top. some of them said they wanted a revolution. the fear is that lebanon will become a failed state again. hundreds of thousands had been pushed into poverty by the collapse of the currency and hyperinflation, and all of this in the most unstable region in the world. lebanon is surrounded by enemies, and the kind of friends no country wants. to the south, there is israel. this time they have offered aid but before that the talk was of border tension and perhaps even another war. then there is a syria, where the assad regime has always regarded lebanon as its back yard. that lebanese have absorbed

about a million and a half syrian refugees, that is the same as britain taking about 15 million. and iran is close to the lebanese shia militia his brother, hezbollah. which is the most powerful political and military organisation in the country. the medical emergency is extreme. first covid—19, now three hospitals in beirut have been put out of action by the explosions. i saw all the war in lebanon. this, this blow is as important as the 11th september blow in the united states. for us, i think this is very big blow. we need really international support. rescue teams have arrived in beirut from france. others, and international financial aid, will follow. but lebanon has deep structural problems that money, without reform, will not be able to fix. in the wreckage of beirut docks are the ruins of the granary that contained vital supplies of imported wheat. lebanon sees itself

as a land of plenty. right now, that is a distant fantasy. jeremy bowen, bbc news. we will be back in beirut a little bit later. we will be back in beirut a little bit later. india‘s prime minister has laid the foundation stone for a hindu temple that‘s being built on a site that‘s been contested between muslims and hindus for decades. the temple is being constructed here, in the northern city of ayodhya. building it is a key election promise of narendra modi and his hindu nationalist bjp party. national media billed the ceremony an historic event. the times of india — one of india‘s biggest papers had a dedicated page. we‘re told millions tuned in for wall—to—wall coverage of the ceremony on tv. also watching was yogita limaye in mumbai. their prime minister laid the foundation for the temple, fulfills his hindu nationalist parties called election promise. but many see it as a sign of the country moving away from its secular identity.

hidden behind the decorations, remnants of a violent past. in 1992, a mosque that stayed here was torn down by them who triggered religious rights around the country. that criminal case is been resolved by last year india‘s top ports allowed a hindu temple to be built here. just like our independence struggle, generations of indians have for centuries worked tirelessly to realised this day. the prime minister declared. but many muslim indians don‘t agree with the country‘s decision and the governments actions. he wants to send out to the country and to the whole world the message

thatindia‘s now heading towards becoming a targeted country. india is now going to become a hindu majority to the indian constitution. and there are questions over the choice of that date, it marks one year indian administered kashmir, the countries on the muslim majority states was stripped of its relative autonomy. another political party promise. you might remember these pictures from august last year. protesters cashmere or some of them violent. they were clamped down on and indian troops were deployed and mobile phones and internet lines were suspended. a year later the region is backin back in lockdown. kashmer have been living under constant lockdown since august 5, 2019. first lockdown was enforced as five

then the special status in them when things were coming to normal that‘s when second lockdown was imposed. that was in march thank coronavirus was emergent in cashmere. most of the time cashmere has been shot. schools, educational institutions, public transport they all have been shut. so there is panic, there are uncertainties with the locals. most are political parties in kashmir have called august five as black date while hindu nationalist party has celebrated with a special status and headquarters. while civilians, local kashmirians inns, locked up in their homes. are not allowed to express their opinions. this question will always remain. what‘s going to be the future of cashmere? ——kashmir and when is this all going to end? india argues the move brings economic benefits to kashmir. neighbouring pakistan is unequivocal and condemned it as a military siege. the context here is that kashmir is disputed territory — split between pakistan and india. both have administered

separate areas since 1947. but both claim soveriegnty over the region in full and have fought wars over it. pakistan‘s prime minister imran khan didn‘t mince his words today. stands exposed before the world. in the world is looking at cashmere. india thought they would crush because marriage with the atrocities. in the kashmiris fear for genocide. prime minister imran khan was in pakistan administered kashmir for the one—year—anniversary. from there he presented a new "political map of pakistan". while india—controlled portion of kashmir is labelled the nationalist sentiment plays well to his domestic audience. we‘ve seen anti—india rallies across pakistan today. this one was organised by a right—wing religious

party in islamabad. protesters are calling it a ‘day of exploitation‘. here‘s pakistan correspondent, secunder kermani. events today and in the lead up to today in pakistan have been largely symbolic. in addition to this map we‘ve also seen pakistani army released a song about kashmir. we‘ve seen a special police. and we have this new political map of pakistan which sort of lays claim really, to india minister kashmir. and small portions of the indian state and india has dismissed this map, of course. but i think what this shows really is that in pakistan there is a recognition that a military action is not feasible. the two countries india and pakistan have gone to war on occasion in the past over kashmir. and i think there‘s a recognition within the pakistani government and in the pakistani army that that is not possible at the moment. stay with us on oustide source, still to come: the remarkable story of a woman who was getting ready

to give birth in a beirut hospital when the explosion rocked lebanon‘s capital. people from black and ethnic minority backgrounds face greater barriers when trying to protect themselves from coronavirus compared with white people according to a report by the race equality think tank, the runnymede trust. the report suggests that they are more likely to be key workers and live in multi—generational households. anna collinson reports. overexposed, 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 likely to be key workers,

which means they will come transport is another risk, with ethnic minorities more likely to use public transport—mm 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. this doctor spent three weeks on a ventilator asked contracting covert. it's quite a task especially when you think about your family and your children. it certainly one of those feelings which are really terrifying, how they will cope without you. what is your reaction about today‘s report about ethnics and covid—19? about today‘s report about ethnics and covid-19? we at more risk than we believe. we have been supported quite well, i will say it. this report claims important public

safety measures are not reaching all black and minority ethnic communities. the government says these groups have been disproportionately harmed by covid—19 and it‘s tackling the disparity. this is outside source live from the bbc newsroom a two— week state of emergency have been imposed in beirut and a number of officials who worked at the port put under house arrest after a deadly explosion. quick update on us politics now, the democratic presidential candidate, joe biden, will no longer travel to the democratic national convention in milwaukee. that‘s because of the worsening coronavirus crisis. he will instead accept the democratic nomination and address the nation from his home state of delaware. the convention committee said the decision was made to prevent risking the health of the community, as well as those involved in the event, with other speakers

also no longer travelling to the city. let‘s return to the aftermath of the explosion in beirut now. one of the hardest hit hospitals there was the st george university hospital. at the precise moment of the blast, one woman there had just gone into labour. here is the footage, filmed by her husband, and a warning, it does contain distressing images. we‘ve been speaking to the family who — despite the trauma are safe and recovering with their new baby boy george. here‘s father edmond described the moment the blast hit to my colleague christian fraser. we were moving to our labour room.

preparing her bed with the nurses and doctors. it was like 20 seconds, they were getting everything prepared and things around, and we just heard the sound, and everything was shattering around, the glass, the instruments, everything. nothing was there. nothing. just so i‘m clear, at that moment, the baby had not arrived, am i right? your wife was still in labour? no, she was already prepared, like she was just getting labour done. and we see from your pictures the wall suddenly coming through. what went through your mind? it was the glass, everything went through my mind. i thought everybody was dead. i thought we were going to die. ijust had an adrenaline rush. and then the dust clears, and what was left, what was there and what happened next?

the nurses and doctors were on the ground. i was looking around to check where is my wife, because all the ceiling was down, i was afraid that she might be hit, or the baby was hit. she was all covered with glass. i tried getting my wife out first. i moved the bed outside, and then i started helping the nurses and doctors to get them up. and how long after this did baby george arrive? like, an hourand 30 minutes. goodness. one hour. it is such a traumatic experience, a happy experience, but a traumatic experience giving birth, your wife must have been doing this while in shock? she wasn‘tjust in shock, there was no medicine. old —style old—style labor. goodness. how is your wife today how is baby george? and we see him? he's doing well.

here is george. george is sound asleep. 0h, here is george. george is sound asleep. oh, look. and he knows nothing of the chaos around him. what a beautiful picture. and just to recap the situation in lebanon tonight. at least 135 people are known to have been killed, and more than 5,000 others are injured. beirut‘s governor says up to 300,000 people are now homeless. rescue workers are continuing to try to find survivors. this is outside source. bye—bye.

no monumental upset on the cards it‘s too on with just a couple of minutes left to play. just in guard with the homes first and anthony marce out with the second a few moments ago. united will face copenhagen in those codified in. joining them will be done you ask and if things stay as they are entered milan as well. let‘s quickly round up some of the day‘s other football stories and... manchester united‘s alexis sanchez is set to join inter milan on a permanent basis after the serie a club‘s ceo confirmed the transfer.... giuseppe marotta has said the chilean forward, who is on loan at the club, will be announced as an inter player on thursday. gareth bale has been left out of the real madrid squad to face manchester city in the second leg of their champions league tie on friday. bale didn‘t play in the last six games of real‘s title—winning season. madrid trail 2—1 from the first leg in spain back in february. manchester city have signed bournemouth defender nathan ake

for 40 million pounds. the netherlands international has signed on a five—year deal at the etihad stadium and joins the club following bournemouth‘s relegation from the premier league. ake becomes city‘s second summer signing following the arrival of valencia winger ferran torres. arsenal have announced that they will have to make 55 members of staff redundant because of the financial impact of covid—19. the club say matchday revenue plus money from broadcasters and commercial activities have all been hit severely. babar azam was the star performer as pakistan took advantage of some erratic england bowling to finish day 1 of the 1st test at 139 for 2. henry moeran rounds up a weather interrupted day at old trafford in manchester. pakistan will fill the happier of the two sides of the conclusion of a frustrating first day. the manchester weather once again causing havoc during a test match during this well, far from causing havoc during a test match during this well, farfrom usual summer during this well, farfrom usual summer here in england. none won the toss elected bat first without

although england got what gets in the morning suffered through archer" including that of the captain without scoring a big partnership between the opener and the star batsman azam has taken pakistan to an excellent 139 for two at the end of this first day. no question about it, pakistan will know if they can get a big score the pressure all on this picture showing ready on the first day and with the two spin options in pakistan‘s line—up batting in the final innings of this match will be far from straightforward. pressure on england. pressure on england. that england pressure was helped by an unbeaten 46 from shan masood — who was happy with the way things had gone for the team on the opening day. when you win the toss and decide to bat first as openers you are always given the responsibility of seeing off the new and backing the decision that your captain, your squad and your management has made. i think we got through, me and albert got

through the session really well. albert got out, we lost a couple of wickets and then it was very important that we got a partnership and with our best batsman. obviously, it‘s not easy coming on and off. you have to apply yourself again. there were quite a few breaks. i think with that limit of luck we got through the day. and hopefully, weather permitting, tomorrow we can make it count. and hopefully, weather permitting, tomorrow we can make it count. 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 crucible won four frames 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. the coronavirus pandemic put paid to the first 2 majors of the golfing calendar — the masters and the open were both

called off earlier this year. but the us pga will be played — starting thursday, albeit behind closed doors. new world number onejustin thomas is one of 10 americans in the top 15 places in the rankings — but could it be a year for a british winner? adam wild takes a look at the contenders: it's it‘s been well over eight years since men‘s golf last found a major winner. the port rush lives long in the memory who could scarcely fail further away from harding park san francisco. a major return although, not with the crowd. major champion is special the spectators to make it aware, make it known that it‘s a major championship. it just feels like, you‘re aware of it. obviously, fans, spectators are to be missed. the atmosphere will not be the same. butjohn has now the atmosphere will not be the same. but john has now lost the atmosphere will not be the same. butjohn has now lost his world number one slot just in butjohn has now lost his world number one slotjust in time it‘s just an thomas. he now leads the

rankings. a motive for one reason it'sjust to win rankings. a motive for one reason it's just to win a golf tournament just happens to be pga championship. there's a handful of people who have had a for a short amount of time and ijust want had a for a short amount of time and i just want to had a for a short amount of time and ijust want to hold it for quite a bit longer. but those world rankings go some way to show the current american at least in theory. ten of the top 15 are from the us. for europe and the rest of the world there is much to do. there has only been three european winner since 1958. harrington, colima and two victories for mcelroy. he and rahm will shoulder much of the european hope. but first, they‘ll have to stop for exclaiming a third title pulled up i‘m not out here tojust try and compete and have a good time i‘m out here to win. try and compete and have a good time i'm out here to win. winning means being the best and being number one. so, that‘s the goal. and even now, more than 20 years since his first us pga title it's more than 20 years since his first us pga title it‘s impossible to talk of the major without mentioning

tiger woods. but this will be a championship unlike many other. most of time when you go from green to green people yelling or trying to talk to. that part is different. that‘s the new world we live in. talk to. that part is different. that's the new world we live in. and we‘re just that's the new world we live in. and we‘rejust gonna that's the new world we live in. and we‘re just gonna have to get used to it. this has been the longest gap between major since the second world warfor between major since the second world war for top between major since the second world warfor top the between major since the second world war for top the tournament promises much even if they‘ll be no there to see it. rafael nadal has said that people "i love around me" forced him to take the decision not to defend his us open title. nadal, who has won the trophy four times, said he loves playing in new york , but felt unable to take a long trip without knowing what could or could not happen. he announced yesterday that he won‘t be taking part in the tournament later this month: the tournament is still big, you know. it‘s the grand slam. i am not the kind of person that i think, i am not arrogant enough to say the tournament is not enough big because

i‘m not playing. there will be important players there. there will be other important players without travelling there. of course will be a tournament and fleet neck under special circumstances. but it‘s still a grand slam and the winner will feel it like aware of plan would not grand slam. will be under special circumstances with a lot of important players not travelling there. my feeling. let‘s see. finally 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. and that‘s all the sport for now.

for me mark edwards, we will see you very soon, for me mark edwards, we will see you very soon, bye—bye. hello. our focus of the last few day has been on the rain for the rest of the uk. once again towards the end of the week the story will be about the rising temperatures. through thursday it‘s going to be a much warmer day across the uk. this is the frontal system that been providing the heavy rain over recent days. finally claire and way eastward. running into an air of high pressure through thursday it was left is quite a bit of cloud. maybe patty drizzle for southern counties of england for the morning. cloud should then and break through the day. we will all see warm spells of sunshine. certainly a warm feeling day across scotland, northern ireland and northern england. lighter winds as well away from the western idols. will see temperatures quite widely across the northwest of the uk getting into the low 20s celsius. up to 26 or 27

celsius across the south east and northern england. lighter winds as well away from the western idols. will see temperatures quite widely across the northwest of the uk getting into the low 20s celsius. up to 26 or 27 celsius across the south eastern quarter potentially. there isa eastern quarter potentially. there is a evening will keep some good spells of sunshine and most cloud will tend to fade as we go through the overnight period. turning to friday, it‘s not a clear—cut story because we have this frontal system just fringing the west of northern ireland, western scotland through the day. cuyler and shari here but elsewhere across the uk we are starting to pull in this plume of warm air. it‘s going to be very warm if not hot once again. much more sunshine around on friday compared to thursday. away from northern island, western scotland will be more cloud showers, long spells of rain through the day. maybe one or two showers and northwest of england by and large for much of friday will be dry. plenty of sunshine and temperatures potentially getting up to 30 for our 35 celsius across central and southeast england. cooler, fresher feel across the far northwest of scotland. high temperatures by day, overnight it will be very warm and humid. particularly across england and

wales to the early hours of saturday morning. for the weekend we have this area of high pressure building across the uk. for most it will be dry, light winds. they‘ll be spells of sunshine a chance maybe showers on sunday. more on that in just a moment. saturday it‘s going to be a warm day, plenty of sunshine. a little bit of cloud building up with the breeze off the nurse see some eastern coast may be somewhat fresher. temperature is not as high as they might have been on friday. still in the low 30s across england and wales feeling a bit fresher across scotland and northern ireland was up sunday, i chance that we could see showers developing particularly for eastern counties of england but a view could cut their way west. the emphasis is on eight mainly friday again. again, that breeze just off the north sea will keep things pleasantly cooler along eastern coast. temperatures as we had england coming down slightly into the high 20s celsius was up is going to be feeling very warm and humid. we keep that 1‘s going as we go into next week. the combination

of this and also low—pressure developing through the bay of biscay, means it‘s a perfect recipe for thunderstorms through the early pa rt for thunderstorms through the early part of next week. such is the nature of thunderstorms, always had a mess. there is the potential that some of them could be very lively. depositing a lot of rain in a short amount of time. certainly going to be feeling warm notjust by day but overnight as well. second half of the week, keeping an eye on area of high pressure to the rest of the uk. it looks like it will slowly start to build. if that happens the risk of thunderstorms will slowly diminish as the week wears on. things are going to stay warm over the coming days with a risk of some thunderstorms through next week. bye— bye.

tonight at 10:00, the death toll rises in lebanon. at least 135 people have died. more than 5,000 were injured by the blast at beirut‘s port. the explosion has completely destroyed the port. dozens of people are missing. rescuers are still searching through the rubble. the shockwave was so powerful, it knocked people off their feet, blowing out windows for miles around. more than a quarter of a million people have been made homeless. in large parts of the city every street, every building has been damaged. people will not be able to return to their houses,