this is bbc news. the headlines at 6: 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 bbc has apologised and says mistakes were made after a news 00:00:00,000 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 and call; that lshangn must ngifingg

borisjohnson says it would be = 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. 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. 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

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

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. our health correspondent, catherine burns, joins me now. i have speaking to several headmasters and headmistresses who are encouraging this but there are lots of issues like social bubbles for year groups. they are big safety health concerns. the first thing to any parent health concerns. the first thing to a ny pa rent wa nts health concerns. the first thing to any parent wants to know is, will my kids get sick if they go to school? on this, we can be confident that there will always be risks but children make up far fewer cases of coronavirus compared to adults are globally if you have all the confirmed cases of coronavirus, i—5%

of a re are children, and then we of them are children, and then we also know with quite a lot of certainty then when children get it they do not get is ill, it is much milderfor they do not get is ill, it is much milder for them. they do not get is ill, it is much milderfor them. study looked they do not get is ill, it is much milder for them. study looked at 35,000 hospital patients with covid. 0f 35,000 hospital patients with covid. of those 0.8% were under 19, so those things are positive, but then there is the other question of if there is the other question of if the children going to school will they come out and spread the virus? the evidence on this is not certain but we're starting to see limited evidence and trends to suggest that actually children do not transmit in the way the adults do, so they look to co nta ct the way the adults do, so they look to contact they look to countries where schools have opened up and they do not seem to have had that jump they do not seem to have had that jump the people of been worried about. a study has not been officially published yet but the public health england. on the case numbers themselves though, we have seen a rise there? this is not

would have wanted. at borisjohnson would have wanted. at full pm, they announced 1062 new positive cases so to give you context there it's the first time in a good while that we have had over 1000 cases. it is actually six weeks since we have had higher numbers than that. so why are we in this position? there are a few theories, we have had local outbreaks - we we have had local outbreaksszadgwtz! are we have had local outbreakssaaajgwtir! are doing we have had local outbreakssaaajgwerl are doing more testing, but if you those ,:—: those ’ those 7 those cases ’ crunch those figures, those cases the result . about crunch those figures, those cases the result. about 165,000 with the result of about 165,000 tests in the last - we had that side have days have - days when i have have tests days when have has!— , ,, ,, have tests day as hen have has!— , ,, ,, have tests day as hen cases 115.34... e have tests day as hen cases as g. . ,, e have tests day a leave | cases as g

rising and they are dropping off more slowly. right now, neither of those things are true and we have to wait and see. it is high summer. should not be surviving. —— the virus. 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 in the channel once again today, like on previous days, are incredibly calm, and that is why migrants see this

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, 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 the boats and bring them into britain. if the navy or indeed the border force are to be really

then they need to make sure that boats are returned to france, and we need french agreement to make sure that 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. the director—general of the bbc, tony hall, has apologised after a news report containing a racial slur was broadcast by points west and the news channel. the n—word was used in full in a report about a racially aggravated attack in bristol. the bbc received more than 18,500 complaints and yesterday a presenter on bbc1xtra quit the radio station in protest. our correspondent, dan johnson, has been following the story.

through the background of the victim had agreed they wanted this word to be used. this all started with an attack on an nhs worker, a musician, in bristol, about two weeks ago and that was reported on by the local regional news bbc points west including photographs of the injuries he sustained and his account was that when a drop —— car was driven into him the man driving the car used the worst kind of racial language. bbc points west's reporter use that word in the report a p pa re ntly reporter use that word in the report apparently with the support of the victim and his family. there were warnings given but still it caused huge offence that a white reporter would use that word on local tv and then when that report was broadcast here on the news channel on national tv. the complaints piled in, nearly 19,000 of them, the bbc

decision to use that defended its decision to use that word and said it wanted to highlight the serious nature and the racially aggravated allegation behind this attack but now the director—general tony hall has apologised and said it was an error of judgment tony hall has apologised and said it was an error ofjudgment and says the bbc‘s intention was to highlight an alleged racist attack yet despite these good intentions i recognise we have ended up creating distress amongst many people. he says the bbc accepts... he goes on to say... there was this resignation by david whiteley. that was a big deal and he articulated that point that for a white reporter to make this comment, he thought it was a slap in the face. the worst kind of language are

not acceptable, even context not acceptable, even in the context given and even with the warnings. he said it was an error ofjudgment which he could not look away from and that's why he resigned yesterday and that's why he resigned yesterday and that's why he resigned yesterday and that was part of the pressure, other bbc staff also called this out, saying it was inappropriate and unacceptable but even though the bbc has apologised for it there may be questions why the was so much time for the bbc to take this into consideration and it's not the first time that bbc has got into a mess over some of these racial issues. 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.

110 people are still missing. more demonstrations this evening in beirut, daily demonstrations and clashes with riot police since the explosion happened. riot police firing tear gas, pattern rams as

simply gone away, no years, has simply gone away, no electricity or infrastructure, a failed state as one cabinet minister described lebanon approaching that status in the last few days. our correspondent, rami ruhayem, joins me now from beirut. people calling for the overthrow of entire people calling for the overthrow of z n if. rfrli‘llrlll but people calling for the overthrow of lt a. gin u ilk. ill malt wt? people calling for the overthrow of lt a. gfim u ilk. ill malt wt? ”p “f  theeetire rgevernmegtzbgt—teéag a me ‘did

to minister tried to convince them to wait until tomorrow's cabinet session and to delay their decision to resign. and basically, a third of the cabinet needs to resign for the entire cabinet to be considered a ca reta ker entire cabinet to be considered a caretaker cabinet and we are still a few resignations away from that but at the moment the government is clearly in trouble and possibly going to go away depending on developments that will take place in the coming few hours and days. as for the clashes, this is the second day of protests and clashes in downtown beirut. yesterday, we saw protesters clashing with riot police in parts of protesters clashing with riot police in - parts of downtown

were trying to enter parliament to at least pass through the gate leading to parliament, and these clashes as you said are ongoing at the moment. there is immense anger in the streets and the feeling of a desire to see immediate accountability among the political elite. has there been any clearer idea of who was to blame for the shipment of ammonium nitrate being stored in the port from 2013—14 with no real control over it? yes. at least we can start with the ministry of transport at the time and also customs officials and port management. almost everybody says these three... at

nobody has these three... at least nobody has defended them, saying the ministry of transport was responsible for the initial request to the judiciary in order to off—load that ship... that shipment to take of the ship and they should not have stored it in they should not have stored it in the port. thejudicial decision was for them to store it in a safe place with safe measures in the ministry of transport decided to store it in the port and violate the law while doing so according to several people we spoke to and then the customs and port authorities, the question now is who else is new, what did they know and when did they know it and what did they do? and these questions have not yet been answered, but there is almost a feeling of certainty that the number of officials who knew its much larger than simply those in the ministry of transport at the time or customs and port officials, the so the questions will be about security

rff—r‘ait services as well as different ministries and as well as top leaders of certain factions and, of course, the debate surrounding this is quite vicious. if you look at the accusation being traded by different factions, you can tell that probably there is both fear and an attempt by different factions to trade the blame but, of course, we cannot tell for sure where the investigation will go and whether it is going to be an investigation that will lead somewhere in terms of holding some one or more than someone somewhere in terms of holding some one or more than someone to account. thank you very much indeed. the headlines on bbc news: borisjohnson says it would be morally indefensible to keep schools in england closed. he's pledged to make reopening them a national priority. the bbc has apologised and says mistakes were made after a news report containing a racial slur was broadcast.

and calls that lebanon must not now be allowed to descend into chaos. 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 1,800 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 adminjob. i feel 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

in june were airbus, centrica and the restaurant 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 139,000 jobs in england, wales and scotland, although information from than 79 firms was not available when the numbers were compiled. injune last year, the number was 2a,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 being accelerated and, particularly in retail, the move to online shopping and a move away from high street shopping 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. to brazil now, where the coronavirus death toll has reached 100,000 people on the same day that the country registered a total

it's the worst—hit country after the united states and, as our south america correspondent, katy watson, told me earlier, there's no sign of the virus slowing down. the big problem here in brazil is that the testing has been much lower than we've seen in other countries. so the view is that, yes, those numbers should be much higher, the real numbers, compared to the numbers that have been reported. the virus keep spreading. here in sao paulo, it was in the big cities like sao paulo and rio where the virus started. it's actually now moving towards the interior, the vast interior, smaller towns and cities and more rural areas. that's where the virus is now heading, where the pressure is for the health authorities. the polls have just closed in the belarus presidential election and the exit polls show a sweeping victory

it's the sixth time mr lukashenko has ran for presidency and he's been in powerfor 26 years. the intial results of a national exit poll show he has an overwhelming victory. several of his rivals were put in prison — orfled into exile — earlier this summer. his rivals include a political novice — svetla na tsikhanouskaya — who stepped into the race 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. dr nigel gould—davies is senior fellow for russia and eurasia, international institute for strategic studies, who served as a british diplomat in belarus. hejoins us from south london. president lukashenko won 80% in 2010, there were riots after that, what is he predicted to have won

this can we trust it? you this time and can we trust it? you are right, the results will show a sweeping victory and they are sweeping victory and they are sweeping lies. this result will be falsified as previous ones were and in fact we have direct evidence from brave people who have leaked details of what they have been told to announce ina of what they have been told to announce in a few hours' time, probably 68—70% of the vote. other people bravely have reported that the result they have been told to show locally are completely untrue, some voting stations are already showing that more than 100% of people voted. the question is what happens next. all indications are that the courageous tsikhanouskaya has won popular support, she has run a superb campaign focused on one

only, we want genuine issue only, we want genuine elections for which anyone who wishes to stand can do so. the country is united in support of her. what happens next? they have difficult decisions to make. what is really worrying about this time around unlike previous crackdowns is that the military, notjust internal security forces, have a presence on the streets of belarus and so there are potentially very dark and difficult days ahead which matter for the whole of europe, notjust belarus. are you saying that the country is ripe for revolution but with the army still being controlled by president lukashenko they would try to stamp that out, which could be extremely violent, and where does russia stand on this? with a come to lukashenko's eight? it's not a matter of revolution. no one is calling for the overthrow of anything, certainly

this and simple. russia is watching this very closely. lukashenko suits them very closely. lukashenko suits them very well, he loads and distrust the west, is dependent on russia, and yet the two have a bad and dysfunctional relationship. what russia would probably like to see is a firmer russia would probably like to see is afirmer —— russia would probably like to see is a firmer —— further weakened lukashenko isolated from the west to give russia an opportunity to real belarus in, to create an integration project along the lines of the former soviet union, so russia has a keen interest in the tragedy here as there is nothing anti—russian and people's demands, they want good relations with russia but russia does not want a good relationship with them. he has been in power for 26 years, is he trying to create a family dynasty, is there a tsar or a daughter waiting in the wings to ta ke daughter waiting in the wings to take over? there are two adult sons, there is a younger son from another

relationship who lukashenko until recently has brought to every possible occasion. i had to shake hands with him when he was six years old when i was serving in belarus. lukashenko has old when i was serving in belarus. lu kashenko has hinted old when i was serving in belarus. lukashenko has hinted in recent days that even the youngest son may no longer support him, it's a very intriguing evidence, but lukashenko himself wants to go on and on at this point and he is a ruthless leader and the worry is that he will use every means available to allow him to do that. the key question now is, what will people around him do? what will the professional military do? they are not trained, they never intended to be passed of the apparatus within belarus that they have important questions to ask themselves. former british diplomat in belarus, thank you very much indeed for speaking to ossie on bbc news. ——

a grand council of elders or loya jirga in afghanistan has approved the release of 400 taliban prisoners. many are accused of serious crimes such as murder, kidnapping and drug trafficking. it is hoped that releasing them removes a key obstacle to peace talks which could start within days. jill mcgivering reports. after three days of debate, this council of the afghan people has just breathed new life into the hopes of peace. in giving this major concession, it set conditions. it called on both parties to respect human rights and the constitution and to agree a ceasefire — something the government has already offered. translation: the choice is now in the hands of the taliban. today, the taliban must show they are not afraid of a countrywide ceasefire. they must accept the request of the afghan loya jirga for a countrywide ceasefire.

sj all this flowed from the landmark deal between the united states

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. people injapan have been marking the day 75 years ago that the us dropped an atomic bomb on the city of nagasaki — an action that brought about the end of the second world war. it was the second atomic bomb that the us used onjapan following the one dropped on hiroshima three days before. a bell rang out to commemorate the moment the bomb struck nagasaki 75 years ago. prime minister shinzo abe

and the mayor of nagasaki spoke to the 170,000 killed in hiroshima. thousands more died from the effects of radiation in the months and years that followed. that is it for me so far this evening. coming up, the national and international news. hello. another hot day. hot and humid across southern and eastern areas, with temperatures on a par with those of yesterday. and an abundance of strong august sunshine. it is a more comfortable low 20s further north in the sunshine, but in between, we have had some stubborn cloud. very slow to clear across east wales and the north—east of england, and the sun could linger near the north sea coast for the rest of daylight and then return as we go through this evening and overnight. there is just the outside risk of a shower — the chances do increase through the night —

being drawn up from the south and west, perhaps the odd but the big talking point again tonight is how warm and oppressive the night will be, and more so for northern ireland and scotland. humidity is higher here through the coming night compared with the one just gone. so, a warm start to the new working week. but there is an increased chance now of some thunderstorm. the met office warning about that over the next two or three days, in fact. but still a lot of dry and settled and hot weather again, particularly in southern and eastern areas, that's the heat. but as the low cloud clears more readily than today across northern england, the heat is expected to spread northwards. the same time as increasing chances of showers for south—western england and wales, pushing towards northern ireland and scotland, perhaps the north west of england as well. but you can see those higher temperatures for northern england — some of that heat is creeping a little bit further north as well, and some of those thunderstorms could be torrential, giving some localised flooding. and that's because were starting to see pressure lowering and the settled situation starting to break down.

of biscay quite closely, because again, by tuesday, we've still got that chance of some showers. probably the midlands northwards and we think the greatest risks of those thundery, torrential downpours, but we can't rule out one or two further west, where the heat stays with us. it is still hot here, and you can see that the heat is creeping a little bit further north. temperatures in scotland and northern ireland are keeping up by a degree or so as well, as that heat moves northwards with the storms. so, this is the area of low pressure we talked about in the bay of biscay, which will bring, we think, a more general thundery breakdown. thundery rain moving north through wednesday night and into thursday. so, by that stage, we may well see the heat starting to break, even in the south, but not without some rather torrential rain to go with it. as ever, there's more details and the warnings online.

borisjohnson says it would be "morally indefensible" to keep schools in england closed because of coronavirus. he insists it's safe for children and should be a national priority, a view shared by some headteachers. in terms of routine and structure and systems, they desperately need to get back into some kind of routine, as do their families. but unions say they still need greater clarification on what anti—coronavirus measures will be in place. also on the programme. after the devastating explosion in beirut, international calls for lebanon not to be allowed to descend into chaos. the bbc apologises for broadcasting a racial slur in a news report, after initially defending its use.

white good evening. borisjohnson says it would be morally indefensible to keep schools in england closed because of coronavirus, and has pledged to make their reopening a national priority. in a newspaper article, the prime minister insisted it's safe to send children back to class in september. it's also understood he wants schools to stay open if possible in any future local lockdowns. here's our education editor bra nwen jeffreys. schools in england have been eerily quiet for months, children missing not

lessons but friends. today, notjust lessons but friends. today, borisjohnson said that must end in september, writing... i'm going to stamp out a big bug. he tried to get all primary pupils back earlier and failed. many agree children need school. labour says it is about making realistic plans. what the government need to realise is words are not enough. they've got to provide the support and information to schools so that heads and teachers can make the arrangements that enable children to safely in

turning their ”7; i w i ' months, keen turning their thoughts z; i w i turning their thoughts to i w i to get peoples back into the mh are turning their theughtsto think many parents have been classroom. many parents have been absolutely marvellous at supporting their children and their learning. but i think in terms of routine and structure and systems, they desperately need to get back into sunshinfffjuggling at today. parents some kind of routine, as do their families. families soaking up the sunshine in yorkshire today. after families. families soaking up the sunshinéf juggling re today. after families. families soaking up the sunshinéf juggling at today. after families. families soaking up the

will be able to achieve more than in my house. but definitely the big problem is will we be able to socially distance? that's the big thing for me because i'm living with my gran who is shielding. every step towards normality carries some risk. scientists will be trying to gauge the effect of each move, but in the end, deciding what matters most is down to ministers. branwenjeffreys, bbc news. the government has already been warned, that there may be difficult trade—offs to make, if schools are to fully reopen and stay open, in england. our political correspondent nick eardly is at westminster. what are the trade—offs it did not do enough to get kids back in classrooms before the summer holiday. i think this is boris johnson trying to tell us all pretty directly it is now his priority.

there is a moral duty, he writes today, to get children back in the classrooms. there is also a message to parents from the prime minister today that the government now thinks that the damage done from children being off school is greater than the potential threat to them of the virus. there is some evidence that young people are less likely to catch coronavirus, they are certainly less likely so far anyway to become seriously ill from it. as you heard in that report, there are still concerns. labour say that yes, they want schools back in september but there needs to be more support for schools. the unions say they still want to see the guidelines and make sure schools are safe before giving the thumbs up. but the government has been warning for some time now that there are trade—offs to be made in september, notjust because children are going back but because children are going back but because teachers, parents will be out and about more, and many people may be returning to work. boris johnson

call today. he johnson has made his call today. he has said that it is more important to keep schools open than to keep pubs and shops open. it is decision time from the government. boris johnson, as i say, has put his cards on the table. i have got to say, i think ministers have left themselves very little wriggle room on this. the test for them now is to deliver. nick eardley at westminster, thank you. the latest coronavirus figures show there were 1,062 new confirmed cases across the uk, excluding northern ireland, in the latest 2a hour period, with the average number of infections per day in the last week being 877. eight deaths were reported today, taking the overrall total in the uk to 46,574. on average in the last week, there were 53 deaths every day. our health correspondent catherine burns is here with me. quite a move upwards in the rate of infections, it seems. yes and

owe i’ over more than 1000 we has been over more than 1000 cases per day for about six weeks. the last time cases where this high was on the 25th ofjune. the government says the numbers are still relatively low compared to the start of the pandemic and it also says it is detecting more cases now because it is doing more testing. does that stand up? yes, to some extent, we are averaging about 170,000 tests per day at the moment which is about 115,000 more than when the figures were last at this level. but the i side of that is, there been - higher been higher this not kind all i would all - i would say e mm 9—11er on. too clear what is going on. think back to the ‘ march too clear what is going on. think back to the - march when

which was a clear sign lockdown was working. neither of those things is true. we are really in a time of uncertainty. as a society, we have been opening up and skirting around the limits of what we can do and still keep this under control. really, the only thing now is to watch and wait and see the trend over the coming days and weeks. catherine burns, thank you. brazil has recorded 100,000 deaths from covid—19, with more than three million infections. meanwhile in america, there are now 5 million cases, with more than 162,000 deaths. the us and brazil are the two countries worst affected by the pandemic. the french president emmanuel macron has warned that lebanon must not be allowed to slide into chaos, following tuesday's blast in the capital beirut. he was speaking at a virtual donor conference co—hosted with the united states. 0fficials now say 220 people died, and more than 7,000 were injured in the explosion at beirut‘s main port. 0ur middle east correspondent quentin sommerville has the latest.

even before the blast, here at the port, its government was broke. this was a large part of the country's grain supply. here, people were already going hungry. its leaders did not get round to building up an emergency food reserve. the little they had is now lost. they are still searching for bodies, but now, they are using dogs that find human remains instead of those that search for survivors. there is no greater symbol of this country's dysfunction than this disaster. but for years, lebanon has been buffeted by political corruption and mismanagement. but it is this catastrophe which has brought the country to its knees. france's emergency workers are lending a hand. and it wants the world to pledge millions, but only if lebanese

beirut is in pieces. the cost of rebuilding here will be more than £2 billion. britain is playing a part, too. these rescue workers got here within 2a hours of the disaster. susie cooper is the team's structural engineer. so what we are looking at right now is quick assessments to make sure that the really risky structures are being evacuated and the ones that are safe, we can get people back into. the uk government today pledged another £20 million to help lebanon rebuild. every community here has been shaken by this disaster. this morning at st maroun church, they are giving thanks that their priest was only slightly injured when the blast hit.

the disaster here has changed the face of beirut, but the world can't give freely to lebanon until there is deeper change at the very top of the country. quentin sommerville, bbc news, beirut. the director general of the bbc has apologised, saying it made a mistake by including the n—word in a news report about an alleged racist attack. the corporation received more than 18,000 complaints and was heavily criticised, after initially defending the use of the racial slur, saying the victim's family had asked for the word to be used. 0ur media correspondent david sillito‘s report does contain some distressing images. it was on the 22nd ofjuly that k who has been working at a local hospital was hit by a car on his way home. it took four hours to extract the glass from his wounds. a bbc report at the time also include the

racial was like racial slurs it was a note was like at him. the bbc said his family wa nted at him. the bbc said his family wanted the full nature of the incident to be broadcast. within a week, there were 18,500 complaints and dj sideman, a dj on bbc radio 1xtra resigned in protest at below with the bbc sanctioning the n word being said on tv by a white business of thing i can't go with. last week, the bbc issued a statement on the matter, acknowledging the word was highly offensive and it had upset people but it added, "the family we re people but it added, "the family were determined the bbc should report the racist language in full." now there has been another meeting and the bbc director—general tony hall says they now accept they got it wrong. a statement this afternoon says the bbc now accepts they should have taken a different approach at the time of broadcast and they are very sorry for that. it adds it was a mistake, a moment

listen and learn. david sillitee, to listen and learn. david sillitoe, bbc news. the labour mp dawn butler has accused police of racially profiling her, after she was stopped by officers while in a car. the former shadow equalities minister says she was pulled over by the metropolitan police in east london, and she recorded a video of what happened. our correspondent dan johnson is here. what more do we know about this? this happened earlier this afternoon in hackney in east london —— is london. dawn butler was in the passenger seat of a car that was stopped by police. she started recording on her phone and the video shows that she explains to the officers that she is an mp and she has concerns about the way they use stop and search, the way they profile people. she says that is sometimes wrong and has created animosity. she said she was irritated that he apparently could not drive around on a sunday afternoon as a black woman without being stopped, although she admittedly the officers were polite in the way that they stopped and communicated with her. the video made its way online and the

metropolitan police a metropolitan police has now issued a statement saying that an officer incorrectly entered the registration into a police computer which then flagged up the car was apparently from yorkshire, not london, which is why it was stopped and when they quickly worked that out, the mistake was explained to the occupants and they were allowed on their way without any search is being conducted. they say they have discussed the stop and the interaction as well as some feedback regarding the way it was done. dan johnson, many thanks. now with all the sport, here's jane dougall at the bbc sport centre. good evening. thank you, clive. tyre problems meant world champion lewis hamilton had to settle for second place in the 70th anniversary grand prix at silverstone, giving red bull's max verstappen the win. hamilton's mercedes team mate valteri bottas finished third. valtteri bottas finished third. andy swiss was watching. ata at a sweltering silverstone, a man ona at a sweltering silverstone, a man on a hot streak. lewis hamilton, hoping to make it four wins in a fow. hoping to make it four wins in a row. and away we go.

would row. and away we go. but he would have to do it the hard way. m: www: m gee? 71: “g: a: of him max max versta- -en was éfléw hanging none at it. rama: having none of it. radio: it's

way through it and swiss, bbc two goals from alfredo morelos helped rangers to a 3—0 win over st mirren in the scottish premiership. in the table after only managing a 1—1 draw with kilmarnock. against pakistan for family reasons.

while bothjustin rose and tommy fleetwood are three shots off the pace. ( from the world snooker championship at the crucible.

hello. this is bbc news. let's get more now on our top story — borisjohnson's pledge to make the reopening of schools in england a priority. writing in the mail on sunday, the prime minister said it was a moral duty to ensure children returned to class next month. matthew mander is head of brockhampton primary in herefordshire. my colleague tim willcox asked him whether he welcomed borisjohnson‘s intervention.

yeah, i think, to be frank, i do. it's a lot of words and rhetoric at the moment, and so on, and the detailed needs to be there to support parents, teachers, to sort it out, but in principle, absolutely, i think we should be prioritising children returning to school. i don't think a set up where we are all worried about the rising infection, that we have got everybody heading off to the beach, we have got everybody heading off to the pub, that it's reasonable for that to happen, and schools to be closed. i don't think that makes sense at all. have you made all the preparations that you've been told you have to make for the schools to open properly next month? presumably you've had some key workers‘ kids, have you, up until now? yeah, we've been open every day since march. we are close to the summer, but, yeah, i make a point of doing what i'm told, so that's been... we have left that ready for september, in accordance with the latest guidance that we were given injuly,

to reduce the risk of transmission is as much as possible, we have got that ready to go. how many children have you gotten your school, and just when you looking at the bubbles, keeping year groups in bubbles, how difficult was that going to be when they are not actually in class? yeah, we are a small school, so, relatively small, we are only 200 children on roll, so we don't have the kind of logistical challenges that some larger settings obviously have, and that is extremely challenging for them. it's difficult for us just the same, but we don't well, i am, at least, well, iam, at least, confident that we can manage that.

of arrival and departure so that we reduce opportunities for those bubbles to come in contact with each other as much as possible, and then, 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 families 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? yeah, very concerned, to be honest. i think it's... i mean, i don't know about other head teachers, i certainly, in my case, took for granted a little bit what a significant role school plays in kids lives, notjust the structure and routine of it, but the social,

once our children started coming back that they saw

misty w any tie‘utuy develops more widely misty patchy fog, and maybe some showers breaking out in the west, and over the next few days will see more showers, torrential rain, threats of some flash flooding, some thunder and lightning. pinning the detail down, thatis lightning. pinning the detail down, that is quite difficult at the moment. it looks like on monday that will be western parts of england and wales that will see showers, drifting their way northwards into scotland. one or two could break out later in the day in the east, but we should see the sunshine developing more widely, and that will heat things up very quickly. it will be hot through the midlands, 30 degrees here through the south—east of england, peaking at 34. into tuesday, a few more showers around, could be heavy and sundry, as we head through the second half of the day, the norse midlands northwards that will be more likely to get organised heavy rain and hunt thunderstorms, but it may well be warmer before them across yorkshire and lancashire into cheshire and lancashire, again those temperatures at their peak

south-east of at their peak in the south—east of england. heavy and—% rain

this is bbc news. the headlines at 7: borisjohnson says it would be morally indefensible to keep schools in england closed because of coronavirus and insists it should be a national priority — a view shared by some head teachers. in terms of routine and structure and systems, they desperately need to get back into some kind of routine, as do their families. the bbc has apologised and says mistakes were made after a news and calls that lebanon must not be allowed to descend into chaos.