this is bbc news with the latest headlines. borisjohnson says it would be morally indefensible to keep schools in england closed. he's pledged to make reopening them a national priority. i'm very pleased that the prime minister is making schools a priority. i've been arguing for some time that my fear was that children were being left behind in this relaxation of lockdown. the first resignation following the wave of anger and mass demonstrations over beirut‘s catastophic explosion. the country's information minister quits. new arrivals of migrants on the uk coast this morning , adding to the more than 500 people crossing the channel

by boat since thursday. a public apology by the operator of the stranded japanese tanker that leaked tonnes of oil into the indian ocean off mauritius. japan remembers the victims of nagasaki, 75 years after the atom bomb was dropped on the city. and bbc arabic investigates if a tutankhamun exhibition in london broke egyptian law designed to protect the priceless artefacts. that's in half an hour here on bbc news. borisjohnson says it would be morally indefensible to keep schools in england closed,

and has pledged to make reopening them a national priority. in a newspaper article, 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. our political correspondent matt cole has more. 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... borisjohnson 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 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. matt cole, bbc news. i spoke to kate green an hour ago, the shadow education secretary, spokesman for labour. it seemed as though labour were on board with this. is that the case or is there

some sort of politics at play here? i think they're behind the principle, labour has been clear as the government that getting children back to school in england as a priority. the question however is exactly how you do it and i think there are still political concerns that the government hasn't given enough detail about exactly what this will look like, there are real concerns over the track and trace system and the fact that when schools reopen, you will have a lot more activity in society, notjust kids in classrooms, but parents taking them to school, perhaps pa rents taking them to school, perhaps parents going back to work as they no longer have childcare to worry about, so i think there are some concerns that this is easier said than done and i think what you will see over the next two or three weeks isa see over the next two or three weeks is a lot of pressure on the government to give more detail about exactly what this looks like. because of course, the scientific adviser said that they may need to bea adviser said that they may need to be a trail off, if you are going to go into partial lockdown, maybe you

close down pubs and restaurants and keep the school is open. as boris johnson got as far as saying that?” think he is pretty much made his mind up. initially, there was a real relu cta nce mind up. initially, there was a real reluctance on the part of the government to say that there is a trade—off and frankly what they saw that trade—off as because they are worried about spooking people going back into hospitality and things like that but there is a feeling, the scientific community, that people advise the government that as activity starts up around schools, the threat of the virus increasing again goes up and there are many scientists it was a saying look, you are going to have to trade—off at some point, if there are local outbreaks, you are going to have to close some things to keep schools open. my understanding is that boris johnson has been clear that he is prepared to do that, the priority will be keeping schools open for as long as possible and it will be an absolute last resort is even close again. nick, thank you very much. matthew mander is head of brockhampton primary in herefordshire, hejoins me now.

do you welcome the prime minister's intervention here? that it is a moral duty to make sure all schools are open next month? or yeah. to be frank, i do. are open next month? or yeah. to be frank, ido. i are open next month? or yeah. to be frank, i do. ithink are open next month? or yeah. to be frank, i do. i think i agree. are open next month? or yeah. to be frank, i do. ithinki agree. it's a lot of words and rhetoric at the moment and the detail needs to be there to support that, parents, teachers, to sort it out, but in principle, absolutely. ithink teachers, to sort it out, but in principle, absolutely. i think that we should be prioritising children returning to school. i don't think a setup where if we are all worried about a rise in infection but we have everybody heading off to the beach, we have everybody heading off to the pub, that it's reasonable for that to happen in schools to be closed, i don't think that make sense at all. have you made all the preparations that you have been told you have to make for the school to open properly next month?

presumably, you have had key workers children up until now. yes, we've been open every day since march. we we re been open every day since march. we were close in the summer but i make a point of doing what i'm told, so we have left that ready for september, in accordance with the latest guidance that we were given injuly and we are making tweaks through the holidays where necessary but yes, in terms of the principles that we are told to put in place to reduce the risk of transmission as much as possible, we have got that's ready to go. how many children do you have in your school and just when you are looking at the bubbles, keeping your groups in bubbles, how difficult is that going to be for you when it comes to playtime, mealtimes and all the other times when they are not actually in class? yes, we are a small school, we only have 200 children, so we don't have the kind of logistical challenges that some larger settings have and that some larger settings have and thatis that some larger settings have and that is extremely challenging for

them. it's difficult for us just the same, buti them. it's difficult for us just the same, but i am confident that we can manage that. we have the bubble set up, the kids will come back, they will go into their class bubbles, we have worked to timetable out, the logistics of arrival and departure so logistics of arrival and departure so that we reduce opportunities for those bubbles to come into contact with each other as much as possible and whilst they are in their bubbles, the hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene and rigorous cleaning throughout the day is good to go as well. when you have been ringing around family throughout this outbreak, how concerned have you been about some of your pupils not being able to attend school? not being able to socialise with their friends, not having a normal life at such a crucial time of a child's development? yes, very concerned, to be honest. i think, development? yes, very concerned, to be honest. ithink, i development? yes, very concerned, to be honest. i think, i don't know about other head teachers, but in my

case, it took for granted what a significant role school plays in kids lives, not just significant role school plays in kids lives, notjust the structure and routine of it, but the social and routine of it, but the social and emotional needs, the friendships and emotional needs, the friendships and the feedback from parents has been overwhelmingly supportive and positive that once our children start coming back, they saw the benefits straightaway and the majority, the overwhelming majority of my parents, are extremely keen to see school open, for kids to be able to come and get back to normal. well look, best of luck. it's going to be a busy time for you. thank you for joining us here. international leaders are holding a conference aimed at raising aid for lebanon following the devastating explosion in beirut five days ago. the video conference is being coordinated by france's president macron and the united nations and leaders taking part include donald trump.

at least 220 people died and 7,000 were injured — 110 people are still missing 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 dollars worth of damage and a crater that is 43 meters deep. the conference of world leaders follows a day of anti—government protests. many demonstrators called for the government's resignation and even for revolution. today one minister has quit citing failure to reform. our correspondent tom bateman is in the city centre where the protests took place and gave us this update. this is martyrs' square, the focal point of the anti—government demonstrations. and that sense of rage and fury that was visible on the streets last night came, of course, in the aftermath of an unprecedented disaster in this city. now people are dealing with the day

after the protests themselves. people have gathered at this point and headed down here, the main street, towards the lebanese parliament. as crowds surged down here, we saw them blocked by the barricades of security forces. that's where tear gas and rubber bullets were fired at them. there were then some running battles and protesters throwing firecrackers and stones at the anti—riot squads. you can see this truck was completely torched as the authorities tried to block the street. it's still smouldering this morning. so, what happens next? the protesters themselves, some of them calling for more demonstrations today. it's not clear, the degree to which they will be heeded. things began to fade away late last night. it hasn't gained the momentum that perhaps some of the organisers would have hoped. at the same time, the city continues to try and clear up. this building here is, or was, the headquarters of one of lebanon's biggest newspapers.

look at the state of it. the recovery operation, people will tell you, it feels very slow. this is a city on its knees, trying to rebuild. but the scale of the issue is far too much for lebanon by itself to cope with and that's why this international aid conference its taking place today, headed by the french. what you hear repeatedly, over and overfrom lebanese people is that they don't want the money going directly to the politicians, the people they are calling on to resign. they say it must go directly to aid organisations and the people themselves. 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 in the channel by the border force after making it into british waters. they're taken to shore, hoping to begin a new life here, as pressure mounts on the government to take action. conditions on the channel once again today, like on 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're 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 served in iraq and kosovo and will now be the clandestine channel threat commander. he'll now try to put pressure on the french to turn the boats back at sea. on thursday 235 people were intercepted crossing the english channel — a record for a single day. on friday, 146 people arrived on 17 boats, and yesterday in 151 crossed in 15 boats.

the british navy could now be brought in. it is a small boats crossings crisis, and so we do need to look at more options. in relation to the navy, what we have seen with border force at the moment is they 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. people in belarus are voting in presidential elections with a serious challenge to the man who's run the country for more than quarter of a century. alexander lu kashenko

is running for the sixth time, he's been in powerfor 26 years. several of his rivals were put in prison, orfled into exile earlier this summer. but a political novice, svetla na ti kha novs kaya, stepped into the race in their place and has drawn big crowds to rallies across the country, calling for change. a key figure of her campaign, veronika tsepkalo, has reportedly fled the country for safety reasons. professor elena korosteleva is director of the global europe centre at the university of kent, originally from belarus and has just cast her vote in today's presidential election. i think you were in minsk a few weeks ago as well. welcome to bbc news. alexander lu kashenko weeks ago as well. welcome to bbc news. alexander lukashenko has been in powerfor a long time. i suppose the odds are that he will remain in power but how much of the challenges at this time round? hello, yes,

simply because of the levels of mobilisation are astounding. i'm standing outside the embassy in london. it's incredible, i'm looking at the crowd of people, how they are cheering everyone coming out of the embassy, the way they voted, an exit poll registering every vote that comes out here and what is amazing is that the queues, it's about 2000 people long and it basically passes so people long and it basically passes so many streets and the crowds and the peaceful movement of voters, also people in the demonstrations, it's incredibly peaceful but also wanting change. but president lukashenko one back, though it was civil unrest and demonstrations, do you think he will win this time and if he does, will the elections be considered free and fair? the

prediction is that the president is likely to win this vote, given the way that the central election committee and the whole thing is organised. however, given the level of civic mobilisation across the country, we have volunteers here further taking record of everyone who came in to vote. it will be very interesting to see the difference between the real vote and the vote but is going to be reported by the central election committee. what has angered people? is it his handling of the economy, of coronavirus? he