welcome to bbc news — i'm james reynolds. our top stories: the lebanese army retakes government buildings in beirut after they were stormed by protesters angry over tuesday's explosion. thousands demand regime change on the streets. protesters are hit by tear gas, a police officer dies in the violence. no compromise in congress on how much to fund out—of—work americans, so president trump forces though his plans with executive orders. more oil spills from a stricken ship of the coast of mauritius as the island declares an environmental emergency.

thousands of people have taken to the streets of the lebanese capital beirut, in anger at the country's leaders, after this week's devastating explosion in the port area of the city. groups of protestors stormed a number of official buildings — and briefly occupied the foreign ministry before being driven out by the army. earlier, riot police used tear gas to try to disperse the crowds and one police officer was killed in the clashes. our middle east correspondent, quentin sommerville, spent the day among protesters. shouting. lebanon's rage against its elite is erupting anew. a city in the aftermath of an explosion is filled with tear gas and anger. the protests have barely started and, already, there's tear—gas coming in here from all sides. the protesters are falling back at the moment, but they keep continuing to push forward. "we are rebels, free men," said this man. "they fired directly at us."

and a city still reeling from the shock of the blast was met with violent force. they came to condemn the government they blame for the destruction of their city and their lives. and this is the fate lebanon's politicians deserve, they said. can you tell me in english what's written? "we are going to get our justice. " they'd started with a rollcall of the dead. among the names — 43 syrians, and the wife of the dutch ambassador to lebanon. they carried aloft the pictures of those killed. we're fed up — we're fed up. this is our country — this is our country. i want to defend our country. our president is useless. our prime minister is useless. everyone in this government is useless. they killed us. we have literally reached rock bottom. i don't talk about it because i'm going to cry.

these were not just ha rd—core protesters. lebanese of all walks of life joined the demo as well. among them, this woman. earlier, with her husband, george, she showed us their destroyed apartment. their business was in the port too. everyone is similar for where we are today. for losing our money, for losing ourjobs, for losing our businesses, for losing our homes, for losing our loved ones, ourfriends, everything. they are all to be blamed, they are all to be hanged. at the morning at the port, prime minister hassan diab acknowledged the anger, but took little responsibility. absolutely, they have the right to be angry and furious, notjust because of this. this is absolutely diabolical, what happened. but, however, they were also furious even before that for three decades of unbelievable corruption. the violence reached a crescendo, and then...it was over.

the police and army regained control. this is a country ruled by force and backroom deals. they have been calling for revolution here for almost a year. but lebanon's elite has staying power. the force of the disaster, which engulfed this city, may not be enough to bring change here. quentin sommerville, bbc news, beirut. carine torbey is monitoring the protests for us in beirut and says the protestors aren't just angry at the current government. it's very unlikely that what what the prime minister suggested would really be seen as a acceptable proposal for the masses. i mean, what people are angry about is notjust, you know, the specific government. it is what they call the "regime". the regime has to do with the group of secretarian and long—time entrenched political leaders who are considered as the

main rulers of this country. and what people are asking is a complete change of mentality of the way this country is run, because they perceive that, basically, what happened on tuesday was the epitome of decades of corruption, mismanagement and total negligence. so, basically, what the prime minister tried to do is to calm the masses, to tell them that, "i will be leaving probably in a couple of months, "if the other political leaders can agree on some sort "of transition, or of an alternative." he has called for early elections. but this proposal itself is not 100% guaranteed to bring change. many fear that elections at this time might bring in the same political parties and, therefore, they don't consider that this is the real way for change. also, it remains to be seen how cooperative the other political groups will be with

the prime minister's proposal. as we've been hearing, thousands of people have taken our middle east correspondent, lina sinjab has been speaking to people in the city basically it is really chaotic and lots of riots going on in central square in downtown beirut. as you mentioned, the protesters are having different plans this time. they are trying to occupy public buildings like the ministry of foreign affairs, like the ministry of finance, they even wanted to break into the central banking building, so that is the plan, to occupy these buildings and stay there until these politicians, the political elite respond to their request and be held responsible and be held accountable for what has happened. i am actuallyjoined now by one of the protesters who was just there and she just come out.

tell us what happened and what is going to happen next? they have just been throwing tear gasses on us and we're just fighting back. this is enough. they've taken our money, they've taken our pride, they're killing us and they still don't want to resign. this is too much. we can't take it anymore. this is too much. they're going to fight. we're going to fight back. they're fire tear gasses. we're still going in, we're still fighting. it will not end here. and what is your next plan? what is going to happen? are you planning to protest tomorrow again? if they're planning to — if the tear—gas is to get us away, we're not going to leave. we're going to stay, we're going to fight. this is enough. we can't take it anymore. they have just killed us. every place in beirut is destroyed. my house is destroyed. thank god no—one was hurt. but most people lost everything. most people... sorry about the loud noise because of the motorcycle.

can you repeat what you are trying to say? i was saying, like, i only lost... my house was damaged a bit but other people lost everything, their kids, their houses, their money, everything. they don't have anything. they are living on the streets right now. some of the people among the protesters are calling for the international community to come in and help them topple the government and get rid of the politicians. what do you say about that? that's what we want. but, like, as we can see from social media and all of that, they are not even taking the aids just because they're not going directly to them, and going directly to the people. the people want it, like, we need the aids. it is not what they want. thank you very much. that was one of the protesters. as you can see, the anger that they are living through, and they seem to be determined, and as some people are leaving, there are still many people at the square, protesting, and it still seems that some riots, operations are taking place with clashes with the army.

president trump has signed executive orders aimed at providing aid to us workers suffering the economic impact of the coronavirus. the move comes after talks with democrats on a rescue package broke down on friday. mr trump wants to defer payroll taxes, provide protection against eviction, extend zero interest loans for students and give unemployed americans higher benefits. i am taking action to provide an additional or an extra $400 per week in expanded benefits — m00, 0k? so that is generous, but we want to take care of our people. again, it wasn't their fault. it was china's fault. states will be asked to cover 25% of the cost using existing funding such as the tens of billions available available to them through the coronavirus relief fund. under this plan, states will be able to offer greater benefits if they so choose, and the federal government will cover 75% of the cost.

so what do people make of the announcement? here's the bbc‘s north america correspondent david willis. he accused the democrats of basically wanting to bail out a0 democratic—led states with this nearly $3.5 trillion bailout package that they have been promoting, and the president of course, following the breakdown of talks over that, is now going it alone with these executive orders, and he signed four of them, one of which will extend the moratorium on evictions here. another will grant the continuation of additional unemployment benefits, and they will be deterring student loan repayments and payroll taxes for those who are still in work. now, the big, thorny issue with all this has been an extension of unemployment —

additional unemployment payments. those have been $600 a week. they have prevented a lot of americans from falling into poverty. they are being reduced. the president announced that they would be going down to m00, a quarter of that money coming from individual states. now, the democrats have been very clear that they wanted to keep that sum at $600 a week. 0ther republicans had argued for it to be reduced. let's get some of the day's other news. activists in brazil have released 100,000 balloons in tribute to the people who have died of the coronavirus. brazilians are protesting against the way the president jair bolsonaro has handled the crisis — he has consistently played down the impact of the virus. two health ministers have resigned in protest. brazil now has the second highest death toll in the world, after the united states. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has angrily

condemned a wave of street protests by his opponents, saying they were aiming to trample on democracy. for weeks, thousands of israelis have been staging protests calling for mr netanyahu's resignation. they're angry at his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and they say he shouldn't be in office while also being on trial for corruption. the people of belarus are going to the polls in a few hours‘ time to vote in the presidential election. the incumbent, alexander lukashenko — a man nicknamed by his critics as ‘europe‘s last dictator‘ — is running for a sixth consecutive term . the authorities have arrested a second member of the opposition campaign. a close ally of svetla na tikhanovskaya — who is seen as the main challenger to president alexander lukashenko — has been detained by the police. wearing a face mask will be compulsory in busy parts of paris from monday. it comes as coronavirus infections continue to rise in and around the french capital. scientific advisers warned on tuesday that france could lose control of

the virus "at any time". the home office has formally requested help from the royal navy, to deal with migrants attempting to cross the english channel from france. the ministry of defence says it‘s ‘working hard‘ to find a way to assist. a record number of unaccompanied children were among the 146 migrants who arrived in the uk yesterday, and crossings have continued today, as gavin lee reports from gravelines beach, just north of calais. at first light this morning, on a beach close to calais, we watch from a distance as migrants, men and women, children holding hands at the back, take to the water with a rubber boat and a motor. this is a glimpse of what‘s happening almost every day in the early hours here in the town of gravelines. these men, who appear to be in charge of the crossing attempt, leave the migrants and start to exit the beach. but the boat‘s already in trouble.

0verloaded, they come back, leaving behind a woman and her child. they try again, finally getting out to sea. we‘ve been on this beach for almost an hour. we‘ve watched the migrants struggling with the boats and finally getting out to sea, and people heading back towards the dunes, possibly smugglers. and in this vast beach, one of the areas we‘re told that migrants set off from each day, there is no sign of surveillance. we called the police half an hour ago. still, we‘ve seen nothing. nearby, richard, a game bird hunter shooting on the beach, witnessed the attempt. he says he‘s seen migrants three times this week. translation: they leave from this beach all the time, every day. and if not here, they leave from higher up the beach, orfrom dunkirk. i didn‘t see how many children there were, but i heard them crying. 0n the other side of the channel, at least six migrant boats have been brought into dover

by the uk border force already today. french authorities claim they‘re doing everything they can, including regularly closing makeshift camps that pop up in calais to prevent migrants from settling here in bigger numbers. they say they‘ve intercepted ten times the number of boats at sea in the past month compared to the same period last year. but from the lack of surveillance we‘ve witnessed on these shores today, there are questions about whether enough is being done to stop these dangerous and now daily crossings. gavin lee, bbc news, gravelines, northern france. you are watching bbc news, the headlines. mass protests take place in beirut over tuesday‘s explosion. tear gas is fired on protesters and a police officer dies in the violence. as congress fails to agree on a financial aid package to help americans through the pandemic, president trump pushes through his plans with executive orders. france is sending

equipment and technical advisers to the indian ocean island of mauritius after its prime minister appealed for urgent assistance to contain a worsening oil spill there. the authorities have declared a state of environmental emergency after a japanese tanker ran aground two weeks ago. tim allman reports. paradise lost. the beautiful idyllic beaches of mauritius contaminated by thick, black oil. you can see it lapping at the shore, a dark, toxic tide, endangering wildlife and causing untold damage. and this is where it‘s all coming from, the mv wakashio, a stranded japanese tanker. look at the huge black streaks cutting through the emerald waters of the indian ocean. there has not been any proper risk assessment done on the vessel to know the probability of the oil spill existing,

so this is where we are today, and we are facing one of the major ecological crises that the island is facing. these satellite images show how the spill has just got worse and worse. this was the ship after it first ran aground. then, look again. a potential 4,000 tons of oil leaking into the sea. definitely, marine land is affected. it also affects the communities because there is a lot of fishermen who use the lagoon to fish and earn their living. the locals are doing what they can to try and protect this pristine environment. considered to have some of the finest coral reefs in the world. but this is a small, impoverished nation dependent on tourism. france has offered to send help but with fears the tanker may break up, that aid may not arrive in time. tim allman, bbc news.

the black box and cockpit voice recorder have been recovered from an indian passenger aircraft that crashed in kerala, killing more than 18 people, including both pilots. 190 people were on board when the plane skidded off the runway and broke in two on friday night. jill mcgivering reports. the wreckage shows the force of the impact. the plane skidded off the edge of this table top runway and broke in two. that was after early attempts to land in heavy monsoon rains and high winds. the flight recorder just recovered may help investigators understand the final moment. locals who rushed to help describe the screaming, children cowering under seats and dazed survivors covered in blood. some of those rushed to hospital are critical with traumatic head and spine injuries.

those who could paid tribute to the pilots the captain from a formerfighter pilot, had decades of experience. his young copilot got married last year and his wife is expecting their first child this month. translation: the pilot tried to land us safely in the rainy weather, it was cloudy, and around 7:00, 7:30 in the evening, we crash—landed. it was difficult to land. he tried a lot. the passengers are mostly local people stranded in the gulf by the coronavirus and finally trying to come home. jill mcgivering, bbc news. in poland, activists have taken to the streets. thousands of protesters are standing upright fellow activists, calling for a release and into homophobia and attacks on the lgbt community. the arrested campaigner identifies as margot and the

authorities call her michael. in poland, a catholic country, homophobia is widespread. it‘s been called the worst country in the european union for lgbt rights. some polls between leave homosexuals are paedophiles. the latest election injuly paedophiles. the latest election in july indicates paedophiles. the latest election injuly indicates this type of thinking isn‘t changing anytime soon. the ruling law and justice party repeatedly used anti—gay rhetoric in campaigning. it honest to defend traditional family values. it won with a 51% majority. this week, president duda was sworn in for another five year term. members of parliament and the opposition while rainbow colours, a sign of defiance. many in the international community have raised concerns about poland‘s increasing intolerance. last month, the eu commissionerfor equality called out poland with this tweet:

she wrote this as the eu denied funding to six polish towns after they declared themselves lg bt after they declared themselves lgbt free zones. meanwhile, human rights watch this statement after the vests arrest. the advocacy can —— advocacy group and these protesters are concerned about the way the country is clamping down on freedom of expression. they worry about a possible sentence for margot, up to two yea rs sentence for margot, up to two years in prison. they want the authorities to let her go and give them the freedom to live and love as they want. without persecution. the bbc radio presenter david whitely, known as sideman, has resigned. the dj said it follows the failure of the bbc‘s senior management to apologise

for allowing the use of the n—word, in a news report about a racially aggravated assault. what the bbc‘s sanctioning and the n—word being said on television by a white person is something i cannot accept. this is something i can‘tjust smile with you through the process and act like everything is ok. when the slur was broadcast, more than 18,500 people complained. the bbc defended its decision, saying the victim‘s family wanted the word to be used to highlight the severity of the attack, although it did accept, people were upset, by it‘s use. one of india‘s leading film stars, abhishek bachchan, says he‘s been discharged from hospital after testing negative for the coronavirus. posting on twitter, he said ‘i told you guys i‘d beat this‘, before thanking staff at mumbai‘s nanavati hospital where he and members of his family have been treated for the virus in recent weeks. his father, amitabh bachchan, one of bollywood‘s most revered stars, was discharged

last week. abhishek‘s wife, the actress aishwarya rai, and their young daughter also had medical treatment after testing positive last month. the edinburgh festival, which attracts more than four million people to the city every summer, should have begun today, but the coronavirus pandemic means there‘lljust be a few limited performances online. 0ur scotland correspondent, lorna gordon, looks now at how the cancellation of one of the highpoints of the arts calendar, is affecting the city. this is the reality of the edinburgh festivals this year. no audience. masks, social distancing. a world—class cultural event moved online. i think it‘s an enormous loss. i think that for a lot of people

who earn their living at this time of year, it‘s just a practical loss, which is quite profound. there‘s an enormous loss in terms ofjust the sense ofjoy. the festivals bring notjust culture but also cash and tourists to the city. but not this year. old town streets, usually packed with visitors and performers are much, are much, much quieter. do you like it like this? i do like it like this but i miss the people as well. edinburgh resident and bestselling author, val mcdermid, is one of many feeling the loss of august‘s cultural extravaganza. in many ways, i think the real catastrophe of covid is still to come. the economic catastrophe in my business and the arts, and what‘s going to happen with theatres? what‘s going to happen with concert halls? what‘s going to happen with gigs? all around the city, the small businesses, everything from bakeries, butcher shops, all sorts of shops that are just not going to open again. the lack of tourists is having an impact, whether that‘s festival enthusiasts or wizarding fans, it has left the city centre tills much quieter than before. this time of year, we would have

customers potentially queueing down the street to just come in and have a browse around and of course, at the moment, whilst we have reopened, the concern is that footfall is extremely low. some here see this as a chance to reimagine the city‘s relationship with its visitors, which they argue have in recent years, reached unsustainable levels. what makes edinburgh unique is the fact that people live here. and they work in the city centre. we do not want to become like a venice or genoa, but we are heading down that route. the festivals have a big impact on this small city, support thousands of jobs, and make it a global, cultural destination. those here who rely on tourists for their livelihoods will be hoping they return soon. lorna gordon, bbc news, edinburgh. thousands of people have taken to the streets of beirut in

anger at the country‘s leaders after the devastating explosion. hello there. pressure is on to bring in the harvest. there is heavy rain and thunderstorms in the forecast for next week. at the moment, it‘s all about how high the temperatures are going to get. it wasn‘t quite as hot on saturday as it was on friday. but still, the temperature in hampshire reached 34 degrees. the highest temperatures were in sussex and at frittenden in kent, and it‘s these sort of areas that we‘ll see the focus of the heat again during sunday. we start with some very high temperatures in the morning in the south—east corner of england, perhaps 19—20 degrees. again, it‘s cooler as you had further north, maybe 4—5 in the north—west of scotland. in between, we have got this zone of cloud that‘s pushed in off the north sea. and there may be 1—2 light showers in that as well. any shower threatening the far south—east should move away. gradually, the sunshine develops more widely, the cloud gets burned back onto some of those north sea coasts. we have got that onshore

breeze keeping it a little bit cooler as well. with that sort of wind direction, it will be cooler across eastern scotland than western scotland. and in northern ireland, temperatures will reach 20 degrees. the heat,though, is really focused on the south midlands, southeast wales, the west country, southeast england and east anglia. 33—34, possibly even 35 degrees to the west of london. into next week, the heat will slowly subside, and it is only very slowly, but we have got this increasing risk of some torrential rain and thunderstorms. that could start to develop on sunday night into monday morning, and the focus looks like it‘s more of these western areas with those storms pushing their way northwards. now, large parts of the country will still be dry and quite

sunny. more sunshine, perhaps, around some of those north seacoasts. but, again, the highest temperatures are towards the southeast of the uk. now, what‘s happening is that higher pressure is less in charge of our weather. pressure is falling from the south, we‘ve got a weather front trying to push in from the west as well. the air is essentially destabilising, which is why we have increased risk of some very heavy and thundery rain. the devil is in the detail, and there is still a lot of uncertainty. it looks like on tuesday, most of those downpours are moving northwards across northern england and scotland. later in the day, we could see some developing further south across parts of england. still strong sunshine and, again, the focus of those higher temperatures across eastern and southeastern england.

this is bbc news,

the headlines: there‘ve been violent clashes between police and the public, as mass protests took place in the lebanese capital beirut against the country‘s leadership. some government buildings were briefly occupied by protesters demanding a change of regime after tuesday‘s explosion. tear gas was fired at crowds and a police officer was killed in the vioelnce. donald trump signs executive orders aimed at providing aid to us workers suffering the economic impact of the coronavirus. the move comes after talks with democrats on a rescue package broke down on friday. mr trump‘s proposals include protection against eviction, extending zero interest loans for students and increasing unemployment benefits. here in the uk, the military says it‘s had a formal request to help the home office prevent the flow of migrants attempting the deadly sea crossing from france to the uk. a record number of unaccompanied children were among the 146 migrants who recently arrived in the uk as crossings continue.