a big issue in the us, very hard to see how between police and protesters, that is going to play out. who are angry at the government's response there is also, however, to tuesday's massive explosion which killed an interesting poll in the us 220 people. among young people. international donors, who have pledged $300 million 60% said that they felt part dollars for rebuilding, of a movement because of covid are also seeking political reform. and 80% said that covid had instructed them that politics affected their daily lives in a much more pungent way than they had realised previously. so it is possible this will lead to greater activism and civic involvement in the medium term. what do you think on that? great activism? do you a stronger sense of cohesion and purpose? there is always strong activism police in hong kong have in france, so i'm not worried arrested a prominent about french people not pro—democracy activist committing to political and media tycoon, jimmy lai. activities with the pandemic. his aides say mr lai has been quite the opposite. accused of colluding it will be a positive with foreign forces. for positive people who can he is thought to be the most reassess their lives high profile person to have at whatever age they are. every generation has been arrested under hong kong's controversial challenges and bad and good new national security law. things happening to them. australia's victoria state has asjeff said, there are core reported 19 cornavirus deaths industries, where people like, in the past 2a hours — in entertainment... the country's deadliest day looking at theatre in the uk, of the pandemic so far. a lot of people have the state is the epicentre to change careers and, of the nation's second for some of them, it is going coronavirus wave. a majority of the deaths to be heartbreaking, really. but it is a question were linked to care homes. of evolution. at the beginning of the pandemic, the french writer michel houellebecq was asked whether everything will change after the pandemic and he said, no, everything will be the same, except it is going to be slightly worse. now on bbc news, so it depends how you see life. and it will be positive for dateline london.

some and negative for others. i think we should be careful not to think it will change everything. that suddenly we will all become environmentally friendly, we will stop using planes and the planet will be quiet and peaceful and beautiful again. we will probably resume some very bad habits, but perhaps not all of them, when it is finished. clive, you've done a lot hello and welcome to dateline london. this week — we will be of reporting on the antiracism there for you, says a french president to the people of beirut. following george floyd's death what does he actually mean? we will be there for you says a british home secretary to migrants crossing in minneapolis, and then the english channel in record numbers, with an entirely different meaning. and has the coronavirus pandemic made millennials the unluckiest generation? we have obviously seen my guests on socially distanced screens. climate change activism, agnes poirier of french weekly l'express and american journalist and authorjef mcallister. and here in the studio which had been very strong the bbc‘s special and we saw thatjust correspondent clive myrie. before the pandemic. welcome.

do you agree with agnes, or do you think there we won't give up on you, president macron told is something different this time among this generation? the people of lebanon, i'm going to be optimistic as he inspected the wreckage in a way that agnes of beirut‘s port last week. was pessimisticjust then. he promised french aid i came across an article online would not go into corrupt hands recently that talked about the death of fashion. and french effort would go you know, young people are no longer interested in the latest into political reform. trends, apparently. they've realised let's pick that up with agnes, that there may be more important things in life. this is one for you. how much influence does the former colonial power still have in terms of domestic the idea that you would spend politics inside lebanon? half a day's salary going out well, i think it's interesting on a saturday night to talk about the influence or on a friday night — france might be having in helping lebanon out the end of the week of its current misery. was critical to your life, going out, dancing, all that kind of stuff. lockdown has taken a lot of that away and a lot of young people that i've come across have said, i don't actually miss this. you are mentioning the colonial and you look at the black past, but there is so much lives matter protest more to explain the bond between france and lebanon. and at the campaign to promote i think we need to talk about activism on climate change, this because when you look and you see young people at the pictures that we have seen, 36 hours after the getting more and more involved explosion, a political leader in the streets of beirut. and more and more engaged. i am positive about the younger generation now, as a result he's not lebanese. of the pandemic making them neither the lebanese president realise that, actually,

or senior ministers there are other out there that from lebanon were seen are important, not just in the streets of beirut. the latest hemline. it took a french president to be there. and it says a lot. jeff, just to flip in the other direction. we heard the coronavirus and you see it goes as far... would be the great leveller, of course, you can mention the because everyone could french protectorate of lebanon. be a victim. that lasted only 20 years but, actually, months from 1923 until 1943 in there's been a lot of discussion about the ways but there is much more in which it has accentuated and it is not so much inequalities, whether in terms of diplomatic generationally, or in terms of income, in an already unequal world. or strategic terms. what's your view on that? is there any sign that it is in terms of feelings political leaders have and sometimes in international got a handle on that? relations we don't talk enough about the links between people, i think you can see the affection between in the stimulus packages that have been put forward in the major countries, at least. and, also in developing france and lebanon. countries — a willingness to spend big in a way that the orthodoxy of the 1990s and the influence of president macron could actually be quite decisive. and 2000s that debt would kill he talks about the emergency that you and the bond market aid relief that lebanon needs would come and destroy everything about you, now, but there is the future. if you overspent. and the people of lebanon started it back in october. they want a political clear—out and france can help. just one example, in 2005, that has obviously been disproved by the pandemic. the governments are spending

when the president was big and they are spending on the bottom of the social assassinated, france was behind hierarchy, as well as the creation of an the middle and the top. international tribunal through the un and, two months later, the syrian army left lebanon. so there is a lot that france can do. i think the pent—up demand thank you for being clear to do better in that way — on that and giving us so much more infrastructure, more education — hey, background and history we can afford this, and you've shown us in these few months education. that might be possible. i think that could be a very jeff, i mean, notably not salutary longterm effect on the streets of beirut 36 of what has happened in covid. hours after the blast it has not happened yet. everyone is still milling around and figuring out what the long—term was president trump. political effects are. jeff, having asked a big now, obviously a superpower in the middle east question, i'm now going to have for all these decades. to cut you off, because i've president trump of course said got to get out on time something about a bomb attack which was then rowed back and i have not even let agnes on by his officials. and clive have a word on that, some aid is arriving from the us, but what but thank you to you all. is the us role here? it has been great, as usual, i don't think there having you on the programme. that is it for dateline is much of one. london for this week. us influence in the middle east we are back next week — same place, same time. has been on the wane for some thank you for watching. time, afterthe iraq war, in particular, but it is not

trying to do anything in particular in the middle east any more. there is no palestinian—israeli peace plan that the us is pushing, as it had for many years. syria is a mess, an imbroglio, and the us has basically checked out of that. the policy in iran is to impose hello there. more heat to come sanctions, which does not have the support of allies. so i don't think we will see an awful lot of american particularly across england and attempts to be influential wales on monday but they may here. there is no domestic lobby for it. well be showers around, too, though there is a substantial from the word go, especially lebanese diaspora in the us, across wales and the south—west, these turning heavy it is not politically organised. there is a difficulty because in bunbury, drifting northwards the us considers hezbollah a terrorist organisation. threatening northern ireland, of course, it's very powerful in the lebanonese government. south—west england and southern it makes it difficult scotland. one or two storms to work with the lebanese further east but plenty of sunshine and temperature is government, if you are the us. rising once again quickly in ireland and wales. hotter date through the midlands, 29 or 30 the health ministry is now run degrees. more showers and by a hezbollah minister. thunderstorms likely as we head so i would expect this into tuesday. the detail has is all going to be a kind of stasis and it is what allows changed again. some downpours president macron moving northwards across to do what he has. scotla nd moving northwards across scotland and then a scattering he can be a star because there is no american of thunderstorms breaking out across england and wales but that wants to show up. many places still dry with sunshine and are still with a

clive, jeff and agnes looking lot of heat for england and at the international relationship inside lebanon, but you've reported wales, probably feeling more humid in scotland as well. a from inside lebanon. take us through lot going on over the week the events on ground. how do you assess ahead. essentially we will find the past few days? the highest bridges across the i was last there a few south—east and even here it will cool off by the end of the years ago, reporting week but over the next few on the syrian refugee crisis. days, and increasing risk of 1.5 million syrians sheltering in lebanon. catching some very heavy rain, that shows the generosity of spirit of the people there. some thunderstorms and then that's on top of palestinian maybe some flash followed —— refugees who have been flash flooding. sheltering there, as well. i've always thought of lebanon as a country that is blessed with wonderful people. but is blighted with a ruling elite that is, frankly, pretty appalling. the question is what happened on tuesday, will that change anything? and i take agnes' point about what president macron and the french can do, certainly in the short term. i, however, feel, in the longer term, we are not going to see that much change and i think that is partly because the international community has too much on its plate already. yes, president macron in the short term can lead a coalition that will perhaps force systemic changes in terms of economic reforms and transparency and that kind

of thing, in return for aid and for financial assistance. but longer term, we are talking about the global coronavirus crisis here. it has killed well over a million people across the globe. we're talking about an economic situation globally that is worse than has been the case for over a century. the international community has other things on its plate and, sadly, i would suggest that lebanon is way down the list of priorities. let's go back to agnes and jeff on that. this is bbc news. that is a stark assessment there from clive. welcome if you're watching agnes, obviously here in the uk president macron is getting an international donor or around the globe. conference together, i'm james reynolds, talking about conditions for opening the purse strings. our top stories: what do you think his anger on the streets of beirut — protesters call for reform as donors pledge $300 million prospects are there? to rebuild the lebanese capital. well, i mean, i'm tempted to share the pessimism for years, lebanon has been buffeted by when you think about lebanon. political corruption

and mismanagement. but it's this catastrophe which has brought the country can it go worse? this is when something to its knees. can happen, and macron, when he said, well, this aides of the hong kong media tycoonjimmy lai say he's ben arrested for suspected is a moment of reckoning. collusion with foreign forces. clashes in belarus after pro—government exit polls suggest another landslide win perhaps we have reached the bottom. on the 11th of august, you know. nothing can be the same. for president lukashenko. because the situation is so dire when you think that half the population is below the poverty line, 80% australia's victoria state of the currency lost reports 19 coronavirus deaths in the past 2a hours — in less than a year. the country's deadliest day so now, what he is proposing to of the pandemic so far. do is to lead an international coalition of donors and that actually might trigger the return, for instance, of the gulf states in it, because they abandoned lebanon thinking, you know, it is in the hands of iran and hezbollah and they don't want to have anything to do with it any more. and then the imf and the eu. but the lebanese people are suffering and needs to do the rest.

i think there is something to be said about a young, energetic president like president macron. is behind this most extraordinary thing that is the eu recovery plan of 750 billion euros. he managed to convince angela merkel. it took three years to gain her on the side of his big european project, and he pulled it off. so, you never know, iam choosing to be positive here. just coming back to your point about the united states, because you set out in fairly stark terms the limits of us aspiration in the region now, but the us still does have strategic objectives and it has strategic friends. for example, israel. the gulf states has got strategic rivals in terms of iran. can it achieve any strategic objectives in this region, if it allows lebanon to become a failed state? if you look at the way it is defining its strategic

objectives now, at least under the trump administration, they are essentially negative. it is to stop iran from making trouble, but, really, regime change is the long—term goal, i think you would say. and it is being done not through using alliances, but by using sanctions, and other countries don't like the sanctions much, but their companies don't want themselves to be subject to american sanctions by breaking american sanctions. so it can be done without a lot of alliance support. there is not a peace process. israel and the us are close together and if israel wants the us to take some active role to help lebanon, i'm sure it would be glad to do so. i imagine the purse strings will be lifted to some degree and emergency aid will be distributed efficiently by the american military. but in terms of longterm coalition building, you just don't see that on the agenda

of the trump administration. ifjoe biden becomes president, i'm sure we will revert to a more traditional foreign policy where the us would like to be the sort of general chair of the table, no matter what the problem is. that is going to take some time to get organised. i think it would be an optimistic thing for countries around the middle east besides lebanon, if the us were to become more involved in a more sustained way, but we are a fair way off from that happening. thank you. we are going to move on. we can obviously keep what on that over the weeks ahead. i want to talk now about migrants closer to the uk. on just one day last week, 235 migrants, some of them in small inflatable vessels, made the sea crossing from france to britain. among them were a pregnant woman and many small children. migrant arrivals this year are already double those for the whole of last year, and the government is reported to be drawing up plans for the royal navy to turn back boats before they reach british beaches. clive, you mentioned 1.5 million syrian refugees in lebanon.

and palestinian refugees before even that. here we have a british government who said there would not be any of these crossings, or very few, by this time — it said that late last year. what has happened? it is a very good question. the weather has been great and the seas have been calm. that has encouraged people to get out on the water. you have also got the slightly more scattered nature of the migrant situation, as it were, across northern france. in the last few years, you have seen the dismantling of certain camps and that means that the problem is a little less manageable, as far as the french are concerned and as far as the british are concerned, who did have their own border force agents working with the french in those camps. now it is much more scattered. so the smugglers and those people who are taking money to get these people across the channel, they are in heaven, frankly. you have also got to the international maritime laws. the law of the sea.

which means that if you are a migrant or someone fleeing persecution, you get into the territorial waters of any particular country, that country has to pick you up and then you can apply for asylum. and, obviously, if these migrants are getting into british territorial waters, then it is the responsibility of the british to have to deal with them, and that is the problem we have at the moment. and agnes, that's the if — that the brits are getting, or the british government, i should say, is getting frustrated about because it wants the french to do more. what is the french view on this? well, if you compare the newspapers, just reading the newspapers in france and britain on that subject, it is quite amazing to see the front page for the daily mail, or in the times today. when, in france, it isjust a tiny piece, a tiny item inside the newspaper. i don't think... britain can deal with a few hundred, or even a few thousand

migrants crossing the channel over the summer for the reasons clive mentioned. and i am not sure it should be front page news, really, because britain has more important or pressing matters to deal with, so that is one thing. of course, it is always going to be difficult. priti patel met a few weeks ago with her french counterpart. they set up anotherjoint franco—british intelligence group with officers from both countries, but, in the end when you have people who have come from so far away and are ready to die to reach the uk — and some of them are economic migrants, others political asylum seekers — they need to be processed. and you can't just... if they are ready to die — and that is what they tell the french who try to stop them in the english channel.

they threaten to go in the water. and you have to to save them first and process them then. and of course divisions of opinion on the uk, jeff, on this, with some saying, well, it would just be cheaper to buy them a ferry ticket than all the effort put into policing the channel, while yet accepting them. and others saying, let's get the royal navy out, and some discussion about whether the government is considering getting the royal navy back out to turn people away. you are a lawyer, where does the law stand on all of this? the law is very clear. if you are on the high seas and in a bad boat and someone comes across you, they have to pick you up. and as was said, if a british government vessel does it, they are going to be processed by the british government. now, the if french coastguard,

who intercepts them close to the shores of france and can herd them back, that is one thing. but to find them in the territorial waters of britain and then try to herd them back to france is illegal. they must be processed in an orderly fashion. there are agreements to take migrants back to the countries that have allowed them to get from wherever they have come — maybe through germany or france, to britain. those countries are supposed to take them back from britain, but in an orderly process. and so, i mean, i do think it is overblown. there were 4000 this year. that is out of 49,000 refugees that britain has processed and out of 700,000 long—term migrants britain has accepted. and british refugee acceptances are one third of germany's and one half of france and spain. it is an arousing subject for the conservative party, but it is not, i think, an impending disaster for the british state. there may be some communities in southern england that find it hard to process a lot of people, but it is something that is manageable, and the duty, legally, is clear.

clive, let's just open this out beyond the kind of cross—channel blame game that is being presented in some of the media, to the wider forces at play here. at the start of the pandemic, we heard a lot of migration was on hold because of movement restrictions, but how is the pandemic playing into movement of migrants at the moment? it is a paradox, isn't it? you would think that because of covid—19 all the borders have been shut down, so it will be difficult for migrants to get on boats and across the sea. but actually, covid has exacerbated the problem. these people are already desperate — they are fleeing war and hunger and persecution. they are even more desperate now, because those areas, say in libya or parts of eritrea, these people are fleeing the continent of africa to try to get towards europe, across the mediterranean, the little bits of work that they may have been able to pick up on the black economy in those areas has gone because of covid.

so these people are now even more desperate to get across to the mediterranean. and we are hearing that the red cross in libya has been making the point that more people have been driven out of the country, despite the economic situation there, because of covid. they are now getting into boats, getting across to greece and to italy and, from there, they are trying to move further north to germany, france and, ultimately, to the united kingdom. that's why we are seeing how covid has influenced this whole situation. and agnes, give us a european perspective on this. the european commission was planning a kind of pan—eu strategy so that there was not all the name—calling and divisions across europe the last time this flared as a massive issue. where has this got to? well, not very far.

as you said, we have had a pandemic since. and so the focus has been put somewhere else. but, really, perhaps what the eu should look at first is to dismantle the criminal gangs and that trafficking industry that is thriving. it has become extremely violent towards the migrants and refugees. and so, when you think that refugees must pay £3000 to go on that dinghy boat with the hope of crossing the channel, this is appalling. but of course, since we're talking about the english channel and france and britain, there is brexit looming, so the eu might come up with a great strategy at some point in the future, but what about the british border? should it still remain in calais, in the northern shore of france? or should it be in kent? so i think that will be the next question for the borisjohnson government.

we are going to leave that question as we have to move on. we touched on the pandemic briefly, but now we are going to touch on it head—on in a big context of generational conflict. it may be unhelpful to talk about a hierarchy of suffering from coronavirus, but the longer this goes on, the clearer it becomes that different groups suffer in different ways and are impacted to differing degrees by policies to contain the pandemic. generationally, the contrast is stark. the elderly are most medically vulnerable, and the young may prove most economically scarred. jeff, do you think it is becoming clear at all, the impact on the generation moving into the workplace now, possibly in their very late teens or early 20s, some of the challenges that they face and the extent to which these are long term as a result of the effects of the pandemic?

well, i am reminded of the quote about what was thought about the french revolution and in the 1960s he said, "too soon to tell." i think these are huge social things that are going to be working themselves out for a while. i think you can draw some useful analogies with the last great economic crisis during 2008, which had a very outsized effect on young people's patterns of employment, which have persisted for that generation. the knocks they took at the beginning of their careers have continued. and it is interesting, in the us and the uk at least, the economic effects of the pandemic have been felt most acutely in the industries like hospitality and retail, where young people tend to predominate for their first jobs. i would expect this is going to have a long—term effect. you can certainly see university campuses are being upended, the nature of long—term teaching — whether there will be in—person universities to the same 00:21:53,483 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 extent, how much they cost.