this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm david eades. clashes on the streets of beirut as police use tear gas against protesters in the aftermath of tuesday's massive explosion. it's a direct shot at the us gun lobby, new york state tries to disband the national rifle association accusing its organisers of fraud. in africa, the number of people who've tested positive for coronavirus passes the one million mark. we assess the worst affected countries. organisers of the london marathon restrict this year's event to elite runners only — a bid to stay one step ahead of the virus' spread.

thanks very much indeed for being with us. we begin in lebanon, where police have used tear—gas to disperse a group of protesters expressing their anger at the government. they had gathered near the parliament, as fury mounts over the way the country is being run and how tuesday's massive explosion in beirut‘s port could ever have happened. at least 137 people have been killed, many others are still missing and around 5,000 have been wounded. on top of that about a quarter of a million homes have been destroyed. alanna petroff has more. no time in beirut, outside parliament. emotions are running high. protesters throw object ‘s. security forces fire back with tear—gas. since the deadly blast on tuesday,

leading politicians are nowhere to be seen. residents say the explosion was symptomatic of neglect and corruption in the political system. people are dead. lives have been ruined. and anger is boiling over. earlier, when the lebanese justice minister came out to the streets, a crowd formed and people started yelling. water bottles were thrown in frustration. and she retreated. former colonial power france sentin former colonial power france sent in president emmanuel macron. i am not here to help them. iam here macron. i am not here to help them. i am here to help you. he saw the damage and desperation up saw the damage and desperation up close. he was there, others we re up close. he was there, others were not. funerals are providing another outlet for the nation's grief and tears. this person was donating blood moments before the blast took his life. his sister and those

who loved him distraught. everyone here is grieving in their own way. homes, shops, livelihoods are gone. for those alive and accounted for aid is coming in. from algeria, water bottles a nd coming in. from algeria, water bottles and food packages are being stocked up and flown over. translation: a shipment will be sent every day through the military airport until other operations can be set up. in france, the head of doctors without borders says he is concerned about the possibility of food shortages and malnutrition. translation: what we must monitor is what the people tell us. monitor is what the people tell us. for us the priority is to listen to the people and to know exactly what their needs are. we can't invent our own catalogues of humanitarian aid

which may not be able to the expectations of the lebanese people. as the aid comes through, volunteers pull together. they are out with brooms and shovels to clean up the mess. the broken city is filled with broken glass. but residents push ahead and try to pick up the pieces. alanna petroff, bbc news. that is going to be a long and arduous task. that is for sure. lebanon is the country with the largest number of refugees per capita in the world. it has taken in more than one million refugees since civil war erupted in neighbouring syria in 2011. that's one in four people making up the lebanese population. an estimated 300,000 of them are found in beirut, many in the neighbourhoods surrounding the capital's port. so you can imagine the effect it has had on them.

iam nowjoined by the un refugee agency's representative in lebanon, mireille girard. thanks very much forjoining us. thanks very much forjoining us. you are on the phone. that is because your own home was damaged. tell us what happened to you. oh, well, i'd lost everything, basically. but the most important people lost their loved ones or members of their loved ones or members of theirfamilies. we their loved ones or members of their families. we have their loved ones or members of theirfamilies. we have the humanitarian chief working that to try to find those unaccounted for. there are calls from refugees to our hotline, they have new hotlines and call centres. so people send their message. many refugees are calling us and indicating they have lost their homes and their homes were already not very good, they we re already not very good, they were living in garages. so our

biggest priority really is to look at support and try to provide basic repairs and those who lost a roof or those who cannot really stay where they were. this explosion has affected everyone. so the response is really for everyone. and focusing on the destitute. the refugees, migrants, we are trying to provide all the help we can for healthcare and protection. protection is very important. crosstalk. ijust wondered, just briefly, do you have some sort of number, an estimate of the number, an estimate of the number of people reported missing? how many are being looked for? no, we don't have this number because there are many call centres and not for the whole capital. for the

refugees, we received, you know, dozens of calls every hour. it is people telling of the losses, not necessarily of people... crosstalk. i'm sorry to interrupt you again. there is a little issue on the phone line. you've been in lebanon for a number of yea rs in lebanon for a number of years now working with the refugees to help the refugees. can you or do you distinguish 110w can you or do you distinguish now between those who are lebanese who live there and have lost their homes and essentially are seeking refuge and the people were more familiarly think of as the refugees from the likes of syria and iraq? we, you know, people were living in the same neighbourhoods. around the port isa neighbourhoods. around the port is a very crowded area. this is

where a number of buildings we re where a number of buildings were occupied by families, destitute families. so we're focusing those areas for now. but of course everyone is affected. all over the town. people trying to access their homes to see what they can recognise from their belongings. i think the aid is therefore everyone it is important we are there as soon as possible for people's needs. the trauma is extremely... not only because of the blast itself, the loss of people, relatives, of what you have accumulated in your life, for a refugee this population is our concern. but also there is the re— traumatising element for a number of people who have been through war and bombings and

this was a reminder of what happened. absolutely. it is another key area of intervention. and that will be needed. it's obviously a desperate situation and the pictures are desolate to go with it. mireille girard of the unhcr, thank you very much indeed for that. let's get some of the day's other news. sri lanka's governing party has won a major victory in parliamentary elections. it's the second electoral success in less than a year for the rajapa ksa family, which dominates sri lankan politics. they won 146 seats in the 225—member legislature, with a record number of votes. india's prime minister narendra modi has already congratulated the incumbent prime minister for his victory. hong kong police have arrested 25 activists, who took part in a banned vigil to mark the anniversary of china's tiananmen square crackdown. democracy campaigners joshua wong andjimmy lai

were charged with taking part in an unlawful assembly. authorities cancelled the event, citing coronavirus concerns, just before beijing imposed a new security law on hong kong. the president of ivory coast, alassane ouattara, says he will seek a third term in october's election. the ruling party's preferred candidate, the popular prime minister, amadou gon coulibaly, died suddenly last month. opponents say the constitution bars the president from running again. new york's attorney general has filed a major lawsuit against the us national rifle association, in an attempt to dissolve the group. top officials are accused of funding their lavish lifestyles by corruption and misspending. the nra's defence of the right to bear arms gives it huge cultural and political influence in the us — it also makes it a clear target for those who want to bring in tougher controls

on owning guns. live now to our north america correspondent david willis. imean, it i mean, it really is pretty strong stuff in terms of the allegations, david. it really is. and the new york attorney general, letitia james, paints a picture of almost bacchanalian a picture of almost baccha nalian excess on a picture of almost bacchanalian excess on the parts of senior members of the nra, among them wayne lapierre, the executive vice president of the executive vice president of the corporation and three other top officials who she said went through more than $60 million in the course of three years —— organisation. spending it on lavish lifts, private jets, organisation. spending it on lavish lifts, privatejets, and holidays in the bahamas. she said those officials were guilty of defrauding the organisation's more than 5 million members and she had come to the conclusion that the

organisation was so corrupt that there is no real way of reforming it, it had to be dissolved. there is a political angle to this, of course, because the nra traditionally represents republican causes and backs republican candidates. letitia james is a democrat. she said today she had followed the facts and the law and reached the conclusion that these officials in the nra will using the organisation is basically their own personal piggy bank. david, thank you very much indeed. david willis. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: how greece kept coronavirus at bay — we're on the island of zante where the only second waves are at sea. the question was whether we want to save our people and japanese, as well and win the war, or whether we want to take a chance on being able

to win the war by killing all our young men. the invasion began at two o'clock this morning. mr bush, like most other people, was clearly caught by surprise. we call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all the iraqi forces. 100 years old and still full of vigour, vitality and enjoyment of life. no other king or queen in british history has lived so long, and the queen mother is said to be quietly very pleased indeed that she's achieved this landmark anniversary. this is a pivotal moment for the church as an international movement. the question now is whether the american vote will lead to a split in the anglican community.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines: clashes on the streets of beirut as police use tear gas against protesters in the aftermath of tuesday's massive explosion. taking aim at the national rifle association — new york's attorney general accuses the group of fraud and attempts to disband it. to africa now, where confirmed coronavirus cases have reached a million. take a look at this graph, comparing some of the worst affected countries on the continent. as you can see cases are running higher in egypt, and then much higher again in south africa. our correspondents across the continent have been monitoring the virus's spread over the last few months — we begin with nomsa maseko reporting from south africa. just over 3 million people have

been tested for coronavirus in south africa. which recorded its first case five months ago. about 8000 people have died and just over half have tested positive. africa's most industrialised nation announced the nation wide lock down at the end of march to prevent the spread of covid—19 and is now eased restrictions to boost economic activity. biting affections pete as restrictions were eased. ——peaked. but in mozambique, but have the people who tested positive for coronavirus have not recovered fully, with less than 20 fatalities are reported. the country's president has imposed another 30 days state of emergency to prevent the spread of coronavirus. botswana have followed the example south africa of banning alcohol

and suspending licences and people are not complying with covid—19 regulations because of alcohol. let us now go to egypt. the first african country to record a case back in february. the latest from the capital, cairo. egypt, one of africa's worst—hit countries has experienced a sharp drop in the number of infections and deaths in recent days. according to official figures. but the government has been constantly criticised for not doing enough tests. the authorities have called on the people here to wear face masks in public places and commit to social distancing but very few people seem to abide by these rules. the borders have been open now and tourists are back. egypt depends on tourism as at a major source of income. so do other north african countries, like tunisia and morocco but, unlike egypt,

these two countries have witnessed a sharp spike in numbers as restrictions have been largely eased. in libya, numbers are rising and this does not come as a surprise, the country has been suffering from internal fighting and divisions for years. and medicalfacilities are unprepared. these north african countries are quite worried about a potential second wave of the virus. the world health organization says one of the african countries fuelling the surge is kenya. east africa is the fourth most affected region, after south, north and western africa, more than 84,000 covid—19 cases have been reported here. in east africa, kenya, ethiopia and sudan have the highest number of covid—19 cases. this is been attributed to increased testing and reopening of the economy by various heads of state. kenya, ethiopia, rwanda and uganda have conducted more than 200,000 covid—19 tests.

and, like south africa, where health care workers are going into the community looking for symptomatic cases, governments here are conducting targeted testing, focusing on a particular population 01’ an area that has a cluster of cases. there is concern about the cases being reported in kenya, ethiopia and sudan, where cases are rising fast. it is also urging the tanzania government to share its statistics on covid—19, and we're still waiting for data for the past three months. let us cross over to nigeria, where my colleague will share what governments in west africa are doing to contain further spread of covid—19. in west africa, some countries are seeing what looks like levelling of the curve, but they are witnessing a rise

in cases of covid—19. nigeria now has 114,890 cases with over 32,000 of them already discharged and 927 deaths so far. in the last few days, the number of cases has been reduced in nigeria, but the minister of health is saying it is not time to rejoice because it's too early to be thinking that the curve is flattening. chris ewokor there, reporting on the situation in west africa. india is another country that's reached a grim milestone. it's the third country in the world to surpass two million confirmed coronavirus infections, after the us and brazil. more than 41,000 people have died. the government argues that the fatality rate in india is among the lowest in the world and the recovery rate is more than 65%. more than 2.5 million uk

residents head to greece each year and authorities there insist, despite the pandemic, its islands remain open for business. but, despite being on the safe list of places to visit, strict restrictions have been placed on bars and night clubs following a spike in infections and these measures are affecting long—awaited events, including a sold out music festival that's going ahead in a very reduced form. greg mckenzie reports. fine, see and coronavirus, august increase is normally the busiest month for summer holidays but in this region, where visitor numbers are normally in excess of 250,000 tourists, bookings are down by 80%. all we want is to stay open and it's nice for people to see everything open, not just one shop, and we just want the government to give us help, cutdown taxes and make easier

payments for us that we can stay open until the end of the season and welcome tourists for next year. breeze has managed to avoid a large outbreak of coronavirus throughout the pandemic, despite the surging cases seen across europe — — greece. there were just seven reported covid—19 cases in xa nte and only reported covid—19 cases in xante and only 4000 in the whole of greece. we have been here before and we feel safe. happy here before and we feel safe. happy to be on the beach. it's been pretty chilled out here, taking it pretty seriously, social distancing still in place and the nightlife but things are functioning normally, it has been good, good time, yes. this weekend, gem fest was meant to take place on 4000 tickets were sold but the greek government have just imposed a ban on all live music events, concerts and festivals until the end of the month due to a surge in covert

cases on other islands. —— covid. what is happening?” think there is one festival in the world that was cancelled, it is not cancelled. the authorities will be keeping a close out on the event but recognise the impact such a festival could have. translation: under normal circumstances, it would be a festival of celebration, not only for this region but the whole of greece because we would be the whole focus of the festival. unfortunately, because of the measures put in place because the coronavirus put us in a difficult position so we cannot do everything we wa nted so we cannot do everything we wanted to offer. greece has worked hard for it to resist offering in an age of infection and for the time being at least, it seems to be paying off, even as a second wave of infections threatens other

european destinations. now it's been one of the biggest mass participation events in the world and also for hundreds of charities, one of the most lucrative. but this year's london marathon won't take place in its traditional time or location. originally postponed in april because of the pandemic, organisers have now said the rescheduled event on october 4th will be restricted to just 30 or 40 elite runners. laura scott has the details. it is the race at london for one day in spring since 1981, producing world beating times and some records for fancy dress also! last year ‘s event raised more than £66 million for charity but because of coronavirus organisers announced that the 40th anniversary marathon will be for the elite athletes only. it is more than just the right is,

is more than just the right is, is community and the city and is community and the city and is the right decision. that journey from greenwich to the mall where you are supported by three quarters of a million people, is not appropriate to happen this year. runners can defer their places to future yea rs defer their places to future years but if they complete their own 26.2 mile course on their own 26.2 mile course on the fourth of october they will receive a medal. meanwhile, in the closed bios bubble in london, the two fastest marathon runners in history, will go head—to—head. starting and finishing in front of buckingham palace, this year ‘s unique london marathon route or taking multiple lapse of st james park behind me but stop at the event will be behind the inspirational sight of tens of thousands of done let's find runners and for them and the good causes a support, the loss of this event comes as a huge blow. we had ambitions and lots

of plans to raise over £1 million for the charity so that will have a significant impact, the loss of income. disappointing but it will happen when it will happen, when it is safe to go ahead, and that's the most important thing, making it saferthe runners to do and not putting anyone's health at risk. the fees of the charities will not be helped by the decision to move the event from april to october, some 2.5 years from the last full marathon, a long wait for one of the toughest yet most beneficial sporting events. laura scott, bbc news. another look at this, a colombian farmer thought he had done a good deed when he rescued a kitchen from the side of the road but he realised that what he had discovered was he taken in a baby cougar and began to suspect the guest was

more thanjust began to suspect the guest was more than just an ordinary house cat after observing some unusual behaviour, although we cannot specify what that behaviour was! pretty sweet. thank you for watching. this is bbc news. hello. friday brings some weather deja vu, with temperatures soaring once again. one week on from well, last friday, this is how it looked at the start of the day. the uk was set to record its third—highest temperature on record. so, here we go again this friday. heat surging up from the south. not everybody‘s going to get it, but the hottest area — around london — could reach 36 celsius. and unlike last friday, this is the start of several days of heat, so for parts of england and perhaps wales, the start of a heat wave. but, again, not everybody will get it. this weather front for northern ireland, into scotland, will bring some outbreaks of rain and keep temperatures into the low 20s. pretty warm and muggy start to friday. and some cloud around, a lot of sunshine from the word go through central and eastern england. but for northern ireland and

scotland, here comes the rain. maybe some heavy and thundery bursts pushing eastwards during the day. i think parts of the east and south—east of scotland will stay largely dry until the evening. there may well be some misty low cloud hanging on towards some western coasts of england and wales. could be a bit drizzly in places here, but for the bulk of england and wales, it'll be sunny, though the cloud increasing in southern england mayjust bring the odd sharp shower later in the day. but, really, it's about those temperatures in england and wales. very warm to hot. parts of the midlands, eastern and south—east england in excess of 30 celsius, and exceptionally hot in the hottest parts of south—east england, where, of course, after such a very warm to hot day, it'll be very warm overnight and into saturday morning through a large part of england and wales. even where you have clear skies, difficult forsleeping. but as that weather front has pushed on and cleared away from scotland and northern ireland, some cooler, fresher air here, and some actuallyjust dip into single figures as saturday begins. high pressure in control on saturday. that means a lot of fine weather to start the weekend.

plenty of sunshine. bit of a breeze just kicking in towards some of these north sea coasts will actually take temperatures back down a bit from friday. even where it was so very hot, you may not be quite as hot on saturday, not so much, i think, as many people would notice. it is still very warm to hot across a large part of england and wales. overnight and into sunday for england and wales, the growing chance of seeing a few showers and thunderstorms break out, but many places will still stay dry and have a fine sunday. quite a range of temperatures across the uk, but it's those hottest parts of england and wales that will see the heat continue into the start of the week.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. antisocial media. president trump moves to ban tiktok and wechat, saying the chinese—owned platforms are "significa nt threats" to national security. plus, uber under pressure. user numbers slump as demand for rides collapses. but the tech giant still says it's on track to make a profit next year. we start in the us, where president trump has expanded his feud with china into the digital world.

he has issued sweeping executive orders banning any us transactions with bytedance, the chinese company that owns video—sharing app tiktok, and tencent, owner of the wechat app, starting in 45 days. the orders call the apps ‘significant threats' to us national security. sharanjit leyl is following this for us in singapore. it is an ongoing saw that has just turned into a nasty boil. it has indeed, david. is that us campaign against popular app tiktok. it has gone up in knots today. the white house released a statement mere hours ago essentially citing us president trump saying he must take aggressive action against the owners of tiktok to protect national security so, as you said, the executive order has

been issued to address the threat posed by to talk, essentially the president saying the app might be used in disinformation campaigns that benefit the chinese communist party. the executive order essentially seeking to ban us transactions with tiktok in 45 days. meanwhile, us senate has voted unanimously banning federal utilities from using it on the government devices. tensions aren'tjust on the government devices. tensions aren't just ticking on the government devices. tensions aren'tjust ticking up with tiktok, it is also another mobile application, that is wechat owned by the chinese company tencent holdings. it is subject to the same conditions in this executive order. wechat reportedly has over 1 in this executive order. wechat reportedly has over1 billion users worldwide, including users worldwide, including users in the united states and, like tiktok, wechat automatically captures vast amounts of information from its users and it is really this data collection that the

american administration are worried about. they said threatens to allow the chinese communist party access to not just american split was personal and proprietary information but also of chinese citizens and their movements abroad was up and know, to possibly inflame the us president even more, we had numbers out from china today showing the trade gap is growing ever more with the us and elsewhere, essentially china posting a trade surplus of over $62 billion injuly, with its exports, you know, quite unbelievably surging in the month ofjuly by 7—.2% from one year earlier. you know, in spite of the effects of the pandemic on the local economy that we keep reporting about, china still manages to sell itself to the rest of the world but, of course, is not buying as much with imports falling just over 1%. as much with imports falling just over1%. no, good point. mrtrump is not just over1%. no, good point. mr trump is not going to like that. sharanjit, thank you very much. tiktok on a deadline is a

headline writer's green. —— dream. let's turn to uber now. the transport tech giant's shares have fallen sharply after it revealed the damage the pandemic lockdown has done to its business. let's take a look at the figures. uber is still losing money — a lot of it. $1.8 billion in the three months to the end ofjune. that's less than the $5 billion it lost this time last year though. total bookings on its taxi service slumped 75% in the period. and the number of people using uber at least once a month slumped by 44 million — from 99 million to 55 million. there was one bright spot for uber though. earnings at uber eats more than doubled, as people trapped at home ordered more takeaways. it stands to reason, doesn't it? joining me now is daniel ives, managing director of equity research at wedbush securities in new york. thanks very much forjoining us. ina

thanks very much forjoining us. in a sense, the uber story, as those results show, just fall into type, don't they, a pandemic lockdown means you don't go out in cars and you do order in. they are hurricane like headwinds on the ride jones business. if you think about this covid environment, the gig economy, airbnb and others, but it has been uber who has been the gut punch. you see this reflect any numbers even though uber eats is definitely a positive and definitely a positive and definitely a positive and definitely a bright spot. the ceo still remains very positive though about the ability to turn a profit. where is that sense of confidence come from? well, that's the key. right now they focus on profitability into next year. by then they are sticking to those goals. that is why the stock doesn't go significantly lower. i think they will continue to cut

costs. uber eats has been a lot stronger. it really comes down to rationalisation in the business and how long this continues in terms of the headwinds. if it continues for another 18 or 24 months then profitability will be off the table. right, yes. but also is there a risk that we are seeing such a shift in our working lives that the need to hop in and uber first thing lives that the need to hop in and uberfirst thing in the morning, for example, simply won't be there in the same sort of level that it was prior to the pandemic was yellow yeah, there's one of the model risks right now in terms of it. we believe 30% of consumers don't get ina believe 30% of consumers don't get in a uber until a vaccine has been found. and then you look at the remote workforce, that has been equally negative for uber globally, even though some parts of asia and europe are seeing some strength overall, it is really a nightmare scenario for uber.

they must ask you as a have you, i'm president trump's executive order regarding tiktok and wechat microsoft might say wants to buy tiktok, we will see whether it happens and i, 01 if you're concerned at the way in which the battle front is emerging into the digital space here? yes. it's a slippery slope. we have seen it in this essential cold war between the us and china start with huawei and now with tiktok. it is essentially tiktok. it is essentially tiktok an arranged marriage between and microsoft. tiktok isa between and microsoft. tiktok is a high—stakes game of poker. they pull the plug september 15, the valuation goes from up to $50 billion to maybe $10 billion. this is definitely dangerous territory. we're looking at a 45 day countdown at the moment. is there anyway you can imagine that a deal could be brokered, in that time, for microsoft to buy it in case, tiktok? i think there

is an 80% chance it will get done and microsoft hits that deadline. because right now, microsoft —— for microsoft christmas came early to get an asset that was 40 billion of what they will play —— pay. we think it would be worth 200 billion in the next three or four years. 0k. billion in the next three or four years. ok. good to see you. let's turn to the us economy now and, depending how you look at it, this is either good or bad news. just under 1.2 million americans filed for unemployment benefits last week. that's down a quarter of a million on the previous week and the lowest figure since mid—march. all good news. but it means more than a million americans are still losing theirjobs each week. and government stimulus cash is running out, with progress on a new package painfully slow. here's michelle fleury in new york.

the broader picture is one we keep hearing again and again from economists and that is it is going to be a very long time before thisjob is going to be a very long time before this job market heels. it's interesting about these figures is it's the last week many americans were eligible for the enhanced unemployment benefits, that is this a $600 in extra unemployment benefits week. that expired at the end ofjuly. week. that expired at the end of july. lawmakers are week. that expired at the end ofjuly. lawmakers are still fighting over what to do next. and yet here we are several days on, the timeframe keeps slipping, we were told friday, we we re slipping, we were told friday, we were told possibly in the days ahead. meanwhile the white house is saying it is prepared to act unilaterally if something isn't done in time. the financial anxiety that for millions of americans continues to go up and, of course, on friday we get the official monthlyjobs figures friday we get the official monthly jobs figures and friday we get the official monthlyjobs figures and the unemployment rate. michelle fleu ry unemployment rate. michelle fleury there. joining me now is janet mui. the investment director at brewin dolphin. thank you for joining us. just wonder what you make of the figures. that

is 20 weeks in a row of joblessness. that obviously is bad news. no immediate sign of a deal through congress. it doesn't look that good. yes, think there is a lot of concern for the us labour markets at the moment. i think generally the moment. i think generally the trend is on improving one, so if you look at the initial jobless claims it is still over 1 million a week. but it has come down substantially from the peak and the trend is so far still going down. so this isa far still going down. so this is a positive. i mean, it is bad, but at least things can still normalise. and with regards to the gridlock in the unemployment benefits, we are optimistic that some deal will be done. because i think if there is no deal, if there is a cliff edge on the form of benefit and a lot of americans will suffer, because so far what we have seen is the

household spending date is holding up pretty well as a result of people having money in their pocket, despite being unemployed. so if this doesn't get extended it will be quite serious in terms of the hitter to the household spending. so i suspect there is a political determination to get the deal passed. so you think the deal will be done. that will ease a certain amount of the pressure building over that issue. we are expecting the non—farm payroll figures coming up. how many people are picking up jobs. they could be pretty disappointing. yes. so we had a preliminary labour market data, which is done by a private company and it significantly disappointed, it only created 150,000 jobs versus an expectation of over 1 150,000 jobs versus an expectation of over1 million. that could be a sign that we are going to see wicked later

today. but i think, you know, this may not be exactly an accurate indicator so we still have deceitful we think the market will be closely watching and we will see how it goes. we have had months of being buffeted around by organisations, whether it's a government or the imf, for example, giving us forecasts as to how dreadful this period of time is going to prove to be. the governor of the bank of england on thursday suggested that, may be, the british economy is going to be hit not as badly as feared. how much credibility do you give to these figures at the moment? these forecasts? so basically there is a lot of uncertainty regarding the forecasts. i know the expectation currently is slightly better than before but it is still pointing to a very sharp recession. and also i

think the inflation forecast is a little bit optimistic. it is basically forecasting inflation back to 2% in 2022. it is quite optimistic given we are still ina very optimistic given we are still in a very weak recovery where demand is still weak so i'm a bit sceptical on that front. generally speaking, you know, the government has said there isa the government has said there is a lot of risk with regard to this forecast so i suspect that it really depends on the end of the furlough programme, how many people end up going back to thejob stop many people end up going back to the job stop there may well be still some revisions towards the end of the year when they revise their forecasts, but i suspect this forecast are slightly more on the optimistic side. it is difficult to predict the future when you really don't know what is happening next, isn't it? janet, thank you very much. good to see you. let's get some of the day's other news. president trump has moved to reimpose 10% tariffs on some canadian aluminium imports to protect us industry. the announcement came during a speech at the whirlpool

washing machine factory in ohio — a key swing state in the upcoming election. business groups have warned the move will increase costs for american companies and consumers and risks undermining the new trade agreement between the us, mexico, and canada foreign exchange firm travelex has struck a deal to stay afloat, but with the loss of more than 1,300 jobs in the uk. administrators pwc said a cyber—attack followed by the covid—19 crisis had "acutely" hit the firm. travelex was held to ransom by hackers injanuary after the cyber—attack forced it to turn off its systems. nintendo is the latest games firm to reveal a boost from the pandemic. it made profits of more than 106 billion yen — around a billion dollars — in the three months tojune, more than five times higher than the same period a year ago. earlier this week sony reported a record quarter for its playstation division

stay with us on bbc news. still to come: ancient prejudice but in a modern industry. our castor discrimination is rearing its head amongst indians in silicon valley —— caste. the question was whether we want to save our people and japanese, as well and win the war, or whether we want to take a chance on being able to win the war by killing all our young men. the invasion began at two o'clock this morning. mr bush, like most other people, was clearly caught by surprise. we call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all the iraqi forces. 100 years old and still full of vigour, vitality and enjoyment of life. no other king or queen in british history has lived so long, and the queen mother is said to be quietly very pleased indeed that she's achieved this landmark anniversary.

this is a pivotal moment for the church as an international movement. the question now is whether the american vote will lead to a split in the anglican community. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: clashes on the streets of beirut as police use tear gas against protesters in the aftermath of tuesday's massive explosion. taking aim at the national rifle association — new york's attorney general accuses the group of fraud and attempts to disband it. let's go to beirut now, where the city's governor has estimated the financial cost of tuesday's deadly explosion could run to $15 billion. if accurate, that would amount

to well over a quarter of lebanon's annual economy. with its banks in crisis collapsing currency and one of the world's heaviest debt burdens, it's a bill lebanon can ill afford. hani bohsali is owner and ceo of food importer bohsali foods based in beirut. he also heads the syndicate of food and drink importers in lebanon. thank you wendy for being with us. it is a tough old situation that everyone is finding themselves in and can ijust ask you for one specific point first of all and that is about the port itself —— thank you for joining the port itself —— thank you forjoining us. you have to import food critical to your business and is the port beyond use or is there hope yet? first of all, i have two put a quotation from someone who says that if in some cases only keep

going, that is only keep going, that was what what was the code - "in 1956. that that was what what was the code - "in1956. that is that was what what was the code — "in1956. that is the situation. we are in deep deep trouble but the lebanese people have always thrived and come back. beirut has fallen seven times. it has fallen and ate the time but we will survive. as long as the port is concerned, we have seen pictures of the container terminal operating and that is very good news because that will be a bridge for us in case of food shortages. it is not only the port that was demolished, it is the lives of so many people, the infrastructure, the shipping lines, the clearinghouses, everything is demolished. so as long as we can see a container terminal working, gives us a little bit of hope of not being really in the bottom of the hole. right, and we have to

recognise that this explosion, dreadful as it clearly is, is not the cause of so much of the trouble that you find yourself in. you look at the state of the currency for example, it must be desperately difficult for you to negotiate and trade on the bringing in of whatever it may be, grain and other food and imports, when you basically have a useless currency. basically, we have been struggling for so many months as if we needed that explosion! we have already been drowning an barely surviving before that. and now with that, i don't know how we're going to survive. we are really seeking international help. we definitely, definitely cannot do it alone. as the reportjust said, the reconstruction of that accident itself needs at least $15 billion before

counting that we already needed another $15 billionjust counting that we already needed another $15 billion just a bailout the economy. we have a lwa ys bailout the economy. we have always had trouble getting foreign currencies, we have a lwa ys foreign currencies, we have always had trouble of getting imports from outside. we have been struggling with many governments, local governments, it is really a very bad situation and as far as i can tell you, we will survive. we area tell you, we will survive. we are a very strong people and we will survive. yes, you will survive. perhaps the route is how you get there? how you turn the corner? there are many of your compatriots is say that whatever you do if you do bring in aid and help, do not put it through the government because it is too corrupt, find other ways to do it. what is the business view of that? well, thatis business view of that? well, that is exactly what you are saying, is completely true. we fear that if national aid comes from government, these will not

come to the right people. as we heard even yesterday for the people talking directly to the president, the french president, emmanuel macron, they told him please do not pay money through the government. that is really dreadful and really u nfortu nate. that is really dreadful and really unfortunate. we will do our best to get our supplies, as long as we, look, during the civil war from as long as we, look, during the civil warfrom 1975, as long as we, look, during the civil war from 1975, the lebanese people have always been able to function without a functioning government. well, thatis functioning government. well, that is not good news but you know in times of trouble you can know in times of trouble you ca n always know in times of trouble you can always do that. of course, ican can always do that. of course, i can also say that there are many people, good people in the government, doing their best. but the whole system is faltering and i'm questioning everybody how we can survive during this very difficult time and we have seen yesterday,

many compassion from the people themselves. every lebanese has come to help his fellow lebanese and i think with this thing we can survive and go ahead. right. you recognise the challenges but you are very upbeat, and however it the world you are living in, you go on, carry on. that said, when we look at it in the cold light of day, you have inflation and which is rampant at some 45%, this is not only a very long haul, it seems difficult how you can be positive. even to the extent that with the pandemic, there are countries you probably are not ready to ship food and other necessities toa ship food and other necessities to a country that depends on them because they will hang onto them for themselves? yes, yes, for sure, but as i'm saying, it is the solidarity of the people in lebanon that are our only hope. look, let me

give you a very quick example. the port is destroyed. then there are many containers there, many goods there, a lot of capitalfor the there, many goods there, a lot of capital for the importers. we do not know yet what is the fate of that. before that, when the economic crisis started, all our bank accounts were frozen, so we started a new from whatever we had in our stock and accounts receivable, so we build a working capital to build on. now, with the blast, maybe with 25% or more of their working capital stuck in the port, are at stake so evenin in the port, are at stake so even in that dreadful situation we will try to deal with what is whatever left and start again. this is the only thing i can tell you. it is only by doing our ownjobs can tell you. it is only by doing our own jobs and can tell you. it is only by doing our ownjobs and doing our own appreciation and solidarity that we can go

through and definitely we need the support of many people from outside and there is a lot of solidarity that is coming in, a lot of food aid that will be coming for the time being to help the people. there are many people who have become homeless. there are many people who have lost their dear ones. i personally was one of the people whose home has been partially damaged and i have to move out to another house, maybe i'm luckier than others because some others are hanging on the streets and cannot go elsewhere. it is a very, very tough situation. we appreciate your time tough situation. we appreciate yourtime and tough situation. we appreciate your time and thank you very much and best of luck to you as well. i think we would all agree that the challenges facing lebanon are off the scale at the moment. at least there is attention being focused on the plight of the country. that is a significant

development, i suppose. country. that is a significant development, isuppose. we country. that is a significant development, i suppose. we will be focusing on the situation in lebanon, business and humanitarian scale of what is it the country. you are watching bbc news. thank you for joining watching bbc news. thank you forjoining us. hello. friday brings some weather deja vu, with temperatures soaring once again. one week on from well, last friday, this is how it looked at the start of the day. the uk was set to record its third—highest temperature on record. so, here we go again this friday. heat surging up from the south. not everybody‘s going to get it, but the hottest area — around london — could reach 36 celsius. and unlike last friday, this is the start of several days of heat, so for parts of england and perhaps wales, the start of a heat wave. but, again, not everybody will get it. this weather front for northern ireland, into scotland, will bring some outbreaks of rain and keep temperatures into the low 20s. pretty warm and muggy start to friday. and some cloud around, a lot of sunshine from the word go through central and eastern england. but for northern ireland and scotland, here comes the rain. maybe some heavy and thundery bursts pushing eastwards

during the day. i think parts of the east and south—east of scotland will stay largely dry until the evening. there may well be some misty low cloud hanging on towards some western coasts of england and wales. could be a bit drizzly in places here, but for the bulk of england and wales, it'll be sunny, though the cloud increasing in southern england mayjust bring the odd sharp shower later in the day. but, really, it's about those temperatures in england and wales. very warm to hot. parts of the midlands, eastern and south—east england in excess of 30 celsius, and exceptionally hot in the hottest parts of south—east england, where, of course, after such a very warm to hot day, it'll be very warm overnight and into saturday morning through a large part of england and wales. even where you have clear skies, difficult forsleeping. but as that weather front has pushed on and cleared away from scotland and northern ireland, some cooler, fresher air here, and some actuallyjust dip into single figures as saturday begins. high pressure in control on saturday. that means a lot of fine weather to start the weekend. plenty of sunshine. bit of a breeze just kicking

in towards some of these north sea coasts will actually take temperatures back down a bit from friday. even where it was so very hot, you may not be quite as hot on saturday, not so much, i think, as many people would notice. it is still very warm to hot across a large part of england and wales. overnight and into sunday for england and wales, the growing chance of seeing a few showers and thunderstorms break out, but many places will still stay dry and have a fine sunday. quite a range of temperatures across the uk, but it's those hottest parts of england and wales that will see the heat continue into the start of the week.

good morning. welcome to breakfast, with charlie stayt and naga munchetty. our headlines today: a health warning as the uk prepares for a weekend heatwave. today could be one of the hottest days on record. good morning from ramsgate on the kent coast where very high temperatures are predicted notjust here but across the south—east of england. with those high temperatures come health warnings and the importance of social distancing while on the beach. more later. good morning from kew gardens, where we will be talking about the heat all morning. today is going to be very warm or hot with a

top temperature of 36 around the london