hello, good afternoon. borisjohnson says it would be morally indefensible to keep schools in england closed, and he's pledged to make reopening them a national priority. in a newspaper article today, the prime minister insists it is safe to send children back to class next month. it's understood he wants schools to stay open as long as possible in any future local lockdowns.

all children were meant to be back in classrooms like this in england before the summer holidays, but that plan failed. now, the prime minister is making clear his commitment that things will be different in september. he writes in the mail on sunday... and he continues... boris johnson has been praised for putting particular emphasis on concerns for vulnerable children, saying he fears if classrooms don't reopen soon they may drop out of education, never to return. well, i'm very pleased that the prime minister is making skills a priority. —— schools a priority. i have been arguing for some time that my fear was that children

were being left behind in this relaxation of lockdown, they could not go to the park, they did not have youth clubs, many could not go to school and many couldn't learn because they didn't have that home environment or indeed the tech to do so. so the prime minister has told ministers that shops, pubs and restaurants will be expected to close before schools. but that decision will have to be made in conjunction with local public health officials in the event of spikes in coronavirus cases. labour's questioning safety measures for reopening and voices within the party say the current track and trace system will need significant improvement if pubs don't have to close to keep classrooms open. others have concerns, too. what we really need is not lots of rhetoric here, we need absolute clarity and we need a plan b for if it is the case that schools have to close down in particular areas and we don't want that, but if it is that, let us work through the details of that, so that parents feel reassured that the right people are taking

the right decisions. wales, northern ireland and scotland control their own schools and have separate plans to get children back into education. in scotland, children are due back next week, but in england borisjohnson is clearly putting political weight into keeping schools open, making it very much a test of his government. and matt cole joins us now. matt, how significant are these comments from the perimeter? you will remember the chief medical officer chris whitty said this is probably what we can do without risking a further spread of the virus and for further things to open we would have to think about shutting things down. what we have seen today i think ties in with that. we now have a real sense of sequencing to control outbreaks of covid—i9. first, it will be stricter social distancing measures, like we are seeing in northern england and leicester. then businesses and pubs must close and lastly it would be schools. the prime minister said he will take unprecedented action to prevent that from happening. this is

not least because he believes it is understood the threat to children's well—being from being in school is worse than the threat to them from the virus. in fact he said at the end of his article he wrote today that other than reopening schools nothing will have a greater effect than the life chances of children and nothing, he says is more important than for the future of our country. matt cole, a political correspondent, thank you. —— matt cole, our political correspondent, thank you. 220 people are now known to have died from tuesday's devastating explosion in the lebanese capital, beirut. today, the uk government's pledged a further £20 million of aid, as world leaders hold talks on how to help lebanon. thousands of angry protesters clashed with police on the streets of beirut yesterday accusing their government of negligence for allowing dangerous chemicals to be stored unsafely at the city's port.

there's been fresh arrivals of migrants on the uk coast this morning, adding to the more than 500 people crossing the channel by boat since thursday. it comes as the government has appointed a former royal marine to the new role of clandestine channel threat commander in a bid to tackle the number crossing. simonjones reports from dover. the crossings continue. these are the latest migrants arriving at dover picked up by the channel force —— borderforce dover picked up by the channel force —— border force after making dover picked up by the channel force —— borderforce after making it dover picked up by the channel force —— border force after making it into british waters. they are hoping to begina british waters. they are hoping to begin a new life here, as pressure mounts on the government to take action. conditions on the channel, like in previous days, are incredibly calm, and that is why migrants see this is the perfect weather to attempt to get across the channel, but they are being warned once again they are risking their lives crossing the busiest shipping lane in the world. this is the man appointed by the home secretary to try to make the route unviable. dan o'mahoney will now be the land stein channel threat commander. you will be putting pressure on the french to

turn the boats back at sea. on thursday 225 —— 235 people were intercepted, a record for a single day. on friday 146 people arrived on 17 boats and yesterday in 15 boats 100 -- 151 17 boats and yesterday in 15 boats 100 —— 151 arrived. 17 boats and yesterday in 15 boats 100 -- 151 arrived. it is a crisis and we need to look at more options. in relation to the navy what we have seen with border force at the moment is the pick up boats and bring them into britain. if the navy or indeed the border force are to be really effective in shutting down this small boats trafficking route then they need to make sure boats are returned to france, and we need french agreement to make sure this happens. but there are concerns about safety and whether the french will allow the navy to operate in its waters. france says it will need more cash from the uk to tackle the problem. both sides agree something needs to be done to prevent a tragedy at sea. simonjones, bbc

news, dover. mauritius has declared a state of ‘environmental emergency‘ after a japanese transport ship ran aground and began leaking fuel into the indian ocean. at least 1,000 tonnes of oil are estimated to have seeped into the water — endangering some of the world's finest coral reefs. environmentalists have described the situation as an ecological disaster. the number of companies in the uk planning mass redundancies injune was five times higher than during the same period last year, according to figures obtained by the bbc. airbus, royal mail and hsbc were among nearly 1800 firms which announced job cuts injune. here's our business correspondent, katy austin. in late may, liz received the news she had been dreading. work had dropped off at the mailing firm where she worked and she was being made redundant from her admin job. ifeel like i am on the scrapheap, if

i'm honest with you. it has had a massive impact, initially, sheer panic, how am i going to get through this, how am i going to cope? even with support like the furlough scheme, the crisis has hit thousands of businesses hard. among the larger companies which announced redundancy plans in june were airbus, centrica and the restaurantr group, the owner of frankie & benny's. there are fears of furtherjob losses when the furlough scheme ends in october. firms planning to make 20 or more staff redundant have to notify the government. data obtained by the bbc through a freedom of information request shows a steep rise in the number of positions being considered for redundancy between march and june this year. injune, the government was notified of plans to cut over 113,900 jobs in england, wales and scotland, although information from more than 79 firms was not available

when the numbers were compiled. injune last year, the number was 24,000 planned job cuts and far fewer employers planned them. there are a number of industries that have been directly affected by the crisis, where demand will not be returning and they are now starting to lay people off. that is particularly the case in hospitality and in transport. but then i think this has also shown those industries that are having to restructure now because underlying changes are being accelerated and, particularly in retail, the move to online shopping and a move away from high street shopping, that is driving quite significant restructuring for retailers. the figures give an insight into the surge of redundancies announced since coronavirus hit the uk, although employers often end up making fewer redundancies than the number they originally notify and the redundancy process takes time, which helps to explain why figures gathered by the office for national statistics don't yet show a significant rise. in response to the bbc‘s findings, the department for work and pensions said the government's plan forjobs would give business the confidence to recruit and retain workers and that new subsidised jobs for young people would be created through the kickstart scheme. katy austin, bbc news.

that's it from me. the next news on bbc one is at 6:35. good afternoon. the england cricket captainjoe root says his side now believe they can win matches from almost any situtation. it's after england dragged themselves to a stunning victory in the first test against pakistan. at one point they were 117 for 5 chasing 277, but a fabulous partnership betweenjos buttler and chris woakes drove them towards the win at old trafford. buttler said he felt he owed england his 75 runs after some costly mistakes as wicket—keeper. and captain root says he's proud of how his side came through. it shows a great amount of character

from the grip to be behind and never get up and always feel we could find a way to force ourselves back into the vitreous philippines. and it to be one having set up going in is exciting for us —— back into the game. we are to push it what a fantastic performance that was. from manchester, to san francisco where the former world number one dustinjohnson leads the way going into the final round of the us pga championship. the british challenge though is just a couple of shots back, asjoe lynskey reports. harding park golf course in the heart of san francisco. but this sport's first major of the year has never felt so empty. with no fans on the course, only the brave have tied to steal a view. the grandstands would have roared at their shot from casey. he has the best placed of the brits and today, at 43, could win his first major in the silence.

brits and today, at 43, could win his first major in the silencem has gone to my mind if your times, the gravity of the event to are playing in, but it does not... you cannot get over the fact that it is just... you're messing the roars and the excitement and any screaming. -- are missing. no englishman has won the us pga since 1919. justin rose is also well placed to end the waiting, but with tiger woods on our way behind, other americans are coming down the track. dustin johnson leads the field on nine under par. he has this expert plasma consistent man. he has been top two at all four majors —— expert's and sister man. i definitely have experience in the situation and having that experience is definitely going to be beneficial. and on the final day, more players will emerge from afar. both finished this round with... golf is not because tournaments can still door the

extraordinary. there were no heroics for chelsea in the champions league. they were absolutely thumped by bayern munich in their last—16 tie. 4—1 in their second leg last night, 7—1 on aggregate. robert lewandowski the star once again for the german champions. elsewhere, last night lionel messi was back doing what lionel messi does. scoring a brilliant individual goal in barcelona's win over napoli. that sets up a mouthwatering quarter final tie against bayern munich. )and that tie, along with all the other matches in the latter stages of the champions league will be played in a straight knockout tournament in lisbon. no second legs, one game, one winner in a move to get the competition finished. this is the full draw for the quarterfinals, and it all kicks off next week. celtic and rangers are both in action in the scottish premiership this afternoon. they're both looking to match hibernian‘s100% start to the season. they comfortably beat livingston 4—1 yesterday, with kevin nisbet scoring a hat—trick.

ross county also won to continue their perfect start to the season. world championship snooker continues in sheffield today. these are live pictures from the crucible theatre in sheffield. the 2010 world champion neil roberton‘s up against barry hawkins. it's 8—all in their second round tie. you can watch it live now on bbc two. kyren wilson 11—5 up on martin gould on the other table. and don't forget the 70th anniversary grand prix. lewis hamilton and valterri bottas locking out the front row for mercedes ahead of the race at silverstone which starts at 2 o'clock. you can follow it live via the bbc sport website and app. that's it from us, more in an hour. back to you in the studio. international leaders are holding talks aimed at raising aid for lebanon following the devastating explosion in beirut five days ago. the video conference is being coordinated by france

and the united nations with the french president macron opening the conference saying "our role is to be by the side of the lebanese people". earlier today, the lebanese government saw its first resignation of the crisis — the information minister manal abdel samad annouced she was quitting — citing the failure of the government to carry out reforms. at least 220 people died and 300,000 were left homeless when a huge store of ammonium nitrate exploded in a warehouse in the city's port. officials estimate that it caused up to $15 billion worth of damage and a crater that is 43 meters deep. today the uk government has pledged an additional £20 million — around $26 million — to help provide food for the most vulnerable in lebanon. the conference of world leaders follows a day of anti—government protests. many demonstrators called for the government's resignation — and even for revolution. our correspondent tom bateman

is in the city centre where the protests took place and gave us this update. this is marco square, the focal point of the demonstrations. —— marketers'. people gathered at this point and then headed down here, the main street towards the lebanese parliament. as it crowds surged down here, we saw them being blocked by the barricades and security forces. that is where tear gas and rubber bullets were being fired at them. there were then some running battles and protesters are throwing firecrackers and stones at the anti riot squads. here you can see this track was completely torched as authorities tried to block the street here. it is still smouldering this morning. what happens next

question miguel, the protesters themselves, some of them calling for more demonstrations today it is not clear whether they will be heeded. things began to fade away late last night and it has not gained the momentum that perhaps some of the organisers would have hoped. at the same time, this city continues to try to clean up. this building here is, was, the headquarters of one of leben on‘s biggest newspapers. just look at any stage of it. the recovery operation, people will tell you, feels very slow. this is a city on its knees trying to rebuild, but the scale of the issue is a far too much for lebanon by itself to cope with and that is why this international aid conference is taking place today headed by the french. what you hear repeatedly, over and over again from lebanese people here is that they do not want the money going directly to their politicians. the people they are calling on to resign. they say it needs to go directly to aid

organisations and to the people themselves. tom bateman there, our middle east correspondent beirut. here in the uk, a major teaching union has criticised the prime minister's suggestion that it is a "moral duty" to get children back into their classrooms in england next month. borisjohnson has said that schools will take priority over pubs, shops and restaurants in any future coronavirus lockdowns. earlier i spoke to geoff barton from the general secretary of the association of school and college leaders. he said everyone agrees it's a priority to open schools. i represent 20,000 leaders of schools and colleges. they are the last people, frankly, who need lecturing about moral duty. and i think what the article, essentially, with its slightly petulant tone, is telling us is three things — one is that the prime minister in number 10 had announced that all primary children were going to go back into school and the very next day, the government's own guidance made that impossible because of the conditions, it said. the conditions it set.

secondly, it is not a good look for a government which seems to be encouraging people to go to pubs and restaurants, indeed incentivising them to do that, when children are sitting at home. and thirdly, then by blaming the unions for all of this. we, the same trade unions, have worked with the welsh government where every child has been able to go back into school before the summer holiday because we had the moral imperative to it. there's a lot of talk from the government behind the scenes about this trade—off. if it comes to it, if it is necessary that the government would rather shut down pubs and restaurants than shools, that chools would have the priority. it that good? do you welcome that? it seems to me a very bizarre analogy all of that. running a school, i was a head teacherfor 15 years, is, i suspect, very different from running a pub, partly because you have a responsability, in my case for 1500 children and young people. you could not stand at the door and say, "sorry, we are full, you cannot come in". the logistics are more complex in schools and our members have been working to get our schools ready for the autumn, but even yesterday you had the schools minister here saying that more money

was going to go into school transport. what does that mean? i was deputy head of a school that had 22 buses arriving every day. those 22 buses would not be picking up children in particular year groups, they would be picking up children of different year groups in different villages. so again, it feels corporal jones—like because if the government is always on the back foot, putting us in the position of trying to then make some kind of sense out of their guidance, school leaders will do that, but it is a little bit rich, i think, for us to be hearing a prime minister saying this is a priority. it should have been a priority right from the beginning. i suppose they are looking ahead and thinking if the scientists say and the scientific advice is only a certain amount of social interaction as possible because the virus is rising again, then schools will have the priority. surely that's welcome? that is welcome, but if the implication of all of this is it is not what what happens within the school that is the real issue, it is the community transmission, it's the transport, for example, it is those children who, at secondary age, will go into newsagents, into supermarkets, get

onto public transport, what are the implication for them? again, the schools minister yesterday appeared to be saying that when they are sitting on the school bus, children have to wear face masks. when they get into school, they should not be wearing face masks. what we really need is not lots of rhetoric here. we need absolute clarity and we need a plan b for if it is the case that schools have to close down in particular areas, and we don't want that, but if it is that, let's work through the details of that so that parents feel reassured that the right people are taking the right decisions. geoff barton there. a grand council of elders — or loyajirga — in afghanistan has approved the release of 400 taliban prisoners, hoping the move will bring progress in peace talks. the council includes both afg hanistan‘s elected leaders, ashraf ghani and abdullah abdullah, and it agreed to the release after meeting for a third day in kabul. the government has already complied with taliban demands to release several thousand other prisoners but the remaining four hundred,

described by the government as "serious criminals", had become a sticking point. it seems very significant. there is a real sense of sudden movement again and hopes coming up again of a peace process after quite a long time of stalemate. as you say, the government has already released nearly 5000 taliban prisoners, but these 400 really proved a sticking point and it did not seem as if they could find a way forward. they are people who are accused of things like murder and kidnapping, involvement in drug trafficking, and basically, the government had tried to come up with ways around it. they had offered substitutes, for example. the taliban had rejected that and the taliban had held firm and said, "unless you release these 400, we cannot see progress". that's why they went to the grand council to say, "we don't think we, the government, should make this decision, we'd like you to make it for us," and they have gone ahead and said yes, with some conditions. but there is a sudden sense of movement and possibly some form of inter—afghan talks starting within a matter of days, they are suggesting.

so essentially an obstacle to those peace talks has been removed. what are the chances, do you think, of a successful round of peace negotiations? how close are we to a breakthrough? certainly closer than we were yesterday. the fact that the loya jirga has come behind this, i think, will be seen as very significant by a lot of people watching this in afghanistan. the loyajirga did also come up with a few conditions that i think, again, will be carefully watched and appreciated by a lot of afghans. they were saying they wanted a permanent ceasefire to be in place between both parties before those talks take place. that does not give very long to negotiate that. we have had short—term ceasefires in the past of two or three days. we just had one over eid, for example. those have actually been very succesful, they've held. a permanent one, i think, would do a lot to try and reassure people they are seeing things move in a positive direction. they also talked about human rights and said that when they do sit down for any form of inter—afghan talks, they want the rights of women, of religious groups,

ethnic minorities to form part of those discussions. so again, a key message there. the coronavirus death toll in brazil has reached 100,000 — on the same day that the country registered a total of three million cases. it's the worst—hit country after the united states, and there's no sign of the virus slowing down. gail maclellan reports. grief. as south america's largest country passes 100,000 deaths due to coronavirus. infections have reached the three million mark. experts say the official figures are most likely an undercount and they estimate the total number could be up to six times higher due to insufficient testing. translation: this dramatic situation is notjust a consequence of the seriousness of the illness, but also from the complete disorganisation of federal institutions for the adequate

confrontation of the disease. anger has focused on the president, jair bolsonaro, who has played down the virus from the start, despite falling victim to it himself. he called it the "little flu" and flouted all medical advice for prevention of the virus. earlier this week, mr bolsonaro said he was sorry for all the deaths, but suggested everyone carry on with their life. a message that some took to heart, flocking to clubs and bars and ignoring face coverings and social distancing. at the urging of the president, the country is focusing on reopening and people are returning to work. this, despite the fact that the pandemic is not yet near its peak. on rio's copacabana beach, activists marked the moment. red balloons to remember the 100,000, and the numbers still climb. gail maclellan, bbc news.

at least 11 people have died and 20 have been injured after a fire in southern india. the blaze took hold at a hotel that was being used as a covid care facility due to hospital bed shortages. an inquiry has been ordered into the cause of the fire, which came as india recorded more than 64,000 new cases of the coronavirus, another new record for a single day. it is 75 years since the us dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of hiroshima and nagasaki injapan, leading to the end of the second world war. a bell rang out to commemorate the moment the second bomb struck 75 years ago. prime minister shinzo abe and the mayor of nagasaki spoke at the anniversary event. it's estimated that 74,000 people died in nagasaki, on 9th august 1945, in addition

to the 170,000 when the first atom bomb was dropped on hiroshima three days before. from the bombs caused the deaths of many thousands in the