this is bbc news, i'm carrie gracie, the headlines at 9:00. ministers say there is little evidence of coronavirus being transmitted in schools as they push ahead with plans for all children in england to return full—time to the classroom next month: the evidence we have is, on the one hand, very low transmission and, also, the risks to children from covid are very low. so absolutely it is safe for children to be back in schools. police in hong kong have arrested the prominent pro—democracy activist and media tycoonjimmy lai for suspected collusion with foreign powers. ministers say the number

of migrants crossing the channel is unacceptable — nearly 600 people have arrived in the past four days. are you 0k? are you all right? are you 0k? 0k! where are you from? syria! syria? there've been violent clashes in belarus after state media declared alexander lu kashenko the landslide winner of the country's general election. and a metal detectorist says he was left "shaking with happiness" after discovering a hoard of bronze age artefacts in the scottish borders. the find included a complete horse harness and sword good morning and welcome to bbc news.

ministers are insisting there is little evidence that coronavirus is transmitted in schools, as they push ahead with plans for all children in england to return full—time to the classroom next month. the education secretary, gavin williamson, has suggested that an upcoming study will support the government's position on reopening schools. borisjohnson, who's expected to visit a school later, is understood to have made it clear that schools should be the last to shut in any future local lockdowns, after businesses like shops and pubs. the association of school and college leaders has said there is an absence of clear guidance from the government, and it was "losing patience" with ministers‘ failure to have a back—up plan in the event it's not possible for all children to return next month. schools in scotland are getting ready to go back, with some children returning tomorrow. leigh milner has this report. schools in england were preparing to welcome children back into the classroom before the summer holidays.

that plan failed. but the prime minister insists things will be different in september. and his education secretary, gavin williamson, says research to be published later this year, makes clear there is little evidence the virus is transmitted at school. the children's commissioner for england supports a return to the classroom, if the correct safety measures are put in place. i would like to see testing and tracking very, very often within schools, so that's something which i think has to continue to improve. with face masks, i wouldn't want us to leap into that, but if it's something that makes people feel safer, then i think so be it. in addition, the association of school and college leaders union has suggested a week—on, one week—off timetable to limit social interaction, if there are local lockdowns. for these parents soaking up the sun in yorkshire though, september can't come soon enough.

ask my son's opinion and he's really, really happy to go back to school in september. so, if he's happy, i'm happy. i think it's a good idea because the break was quite big. they should have gone back in after september, you know, at september, after the holidays, but i think it was totally pointless taking them back before just for that short period of time. in scotland it's time to pack a pencil case, with teachers preparing classrooms for pupils arriving back tomorrow. that is the plan too in northern ireland later this month, and in england and wales at the start of september. but will it prove to be that straightforward 7 or will more testing or trade—offs, like closing bars and restaurants, be required? leigh milner, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent, jonathan blake, is at westminster. the government's priority is for schools to open at the start of the

academic year, and stay open where it is possible for them to do so. the government is trying to avoid a rerun of what happened earlier in the year when it tried to open some primary and secondary schools before the summer holidays, which didn't end up happening on the scale that was planned. you have the prime minister and other senior government ministers trying their best to reassure pa rents ministers trying their best to reassure parents and teachers that it will be safe for schools to open. and to make sure that schools had the guidance they need to operate. whether they have done that is a matter of opinion. we will see the prime minister visiting a school later on, and i'm sure he will echo what gavin williamson has said, pointing to research that has been done that it is clear in his view that there is little evidence that the virus is transmitted in schools. that will be a big part of the

government for the latter argument when it comes to persuading schools and parents that it is safe for children to go back. that is something that the health minister helen whately reassured parents of when she spoke to bbc breakfast earlier this morning. the evidence we have is, on the one hand, very low transmission and, also, the risks to children from covid are very low. so absolutely it is safe for children to be back in schools. 0ur our national priorities to get children back in school this autumn. although parents and teachers made huge efforts to keep children's education going during the lockdown period, it'sjust not the same thing as children being in school. a big question is what happens if local lockdown is are imposed, if there is a spike in cases in certain areas as we have seen in leicester and other parts, greater manchester and other parts, greater manchester and other parts of northern england does well recently. if schools are open, what happens? it is clearly the government priority that they

should stay open as long as possible, and to be an absolute last resort for them to close. nevertheless, there are concerns about what happens then. the guidance says that schools should revert to online, distanced home learning. 0ne union has put forward a plan for schools to operate on a week on, week off basis, if it is not possible for all children to be there at one time. and then there is issues about hygiene and how pupils will be able to move around between lessons. there is broad political consensus that it is right for schools to open at the start of the academic year, for all pupils to return, that is something that was stressed by the mayor of manchester andy burnham earlier. i agree with the government that it has to be a top priority to get kids back into school. they have had huge disruption this year, haven't they? i think we got to make every

arrangement possible so that people can have that peace of mind. but it does point out the test and tray system. it is not yet good enough. i'm saying to the government might go, look, we need to work together to get this system right over august so to get this system right over august so that we can give that confidence to those parents. pupils and parents may be keen to get back to school and get their children back to school after, in many cases, months away from the classroom. nevertheless there are questions and some uncertainties about how it is going to operate when all pupils return at the start of the academic year, of course, at various points over the next few weeks, depending on where you are in the uk. thank you, jonathan. an inflatable dinghy carrying around 20 syrian migrants has been met by the border force in the english channel this morning. nearly 700 people have reached the uk on small boats since thursday. the immigration minister chris philp says he'll meet french authorities tomorrow to demand stronger measures from them. 0ur correspondent simonjones

is on a boat in the english channel. we took to the waterjust we took to the water just after five o'clock this morning and, initially, it was much rougher than it is now, where it is pretty calm at the moment. as we were heading out, mid—channel, we had from the coast that they thought potentially a boat carrying migrants had set off from the north of france. and then the skipper with binoculars or something coming towards us. it was a boat carrying migrants. as they got closer, try to speak to them. are you 0k? are you all right? 0k? 0k! where are you from? syria! how many people? so, they say they are from syria, they say they are ok. i can see there are some women

on board, the majority are men. where are you going? where do you want to go? their destination is dover, obviously. so, at the moment they are motoring through the channel. at the moment, the boat seems to be safe. much are we shadowed that a boat for around an hour. there was no sign of the border force initially, we saw a spotter plane above us, and then after about an hour a border force vessel came out to meet the boat. it took the people on board the border force boat and they have now been escorted back to dover. i think pressure is growing on both sides of the channel for something to be done about this. because these crossings are extremely dangerous. i think it will be eight crucial week for the british government. a priti patel, the home secretary, is coming under

increasing pressure from her own mps, being told by their constituents that the government mako doesn't seem to be getting a grip of this and sorting this out. we also have the immigration compliance minister, chris philp, who is going to travel to calais to speak to his french counterparts. ‘s idea is that more needs to be done to turn his boat around at sea. this is controversial because there are potentially safety issues and the french have seemed reluctant to do this, saying that there is fear that migrants could threaten to jump overboard. i the meeting in paris will be difficult, what we could see is that britain says that it will give more cash to france to increase patrols in northern france and stop the boat setting up in the first place. speaking this morning, the conservative minister helen whately called the number of migrants crossing the channel a ‘worrying' development. we are seeing an unacceptable number of migrants coming across the channel at the moment. it's a worrying situation, in fact.

it's a dangerous journey to take, and it also involves migrants paying people smugglers to take them across. we need to bring this to an end. the home secretary is determined that this shall not be a viable route to the uk. and my colleague, home office minister chris philp, is going to be in paris later this week to talk directly with the french government about working together to stop this transit. the mp for calais, pierre—henri dumont, says the french are already doing a lot to stop migrants making the crossing and questioned what support the royal navy could offer. my question is, what for? if a small boat full of migrants is entering the british waters, is the british navy going to shoot at them? is the british navy trying to impede them entering british waters? that is totally against the law of the sea.

you know, the moral duty of everyone, when we are at sea, is to save lives. so, basically, when you see a small boat, very dangerous boats at sea, filled with migrants, you need to save lives first. and then you see what could we do with these people. but, again, we are talking about human beings. we are not talking about cattle or animals. so first we need to save lives and then we see what we are going to do. but we are doing a lot on the french side. we are trying to stop all of these crossings. you know, with brexit, the united kingdom, they will no longer be part of the agreement on immigration. that means all immigrants that arrive in europe in the last few years,

and get fingerprinted in greece or italy, they can now go to the uk, or at least they will go after the transition period on the ist of january, without facing the risk of being deported back into greece or italy. that would cause a huge increase in the number of migrants trying to cross the channel again. police in hong kong have arrested the prominent pro—democracy activist and media tycoon, jimmy lai, for suspected collusion with foreign powers. jimmy lai was detained along with his two sons and four other people in the early hours of the morning on suspicion of breaching the new national security law. he is the most high profile person to be arrested so far under the act. i'm joined now by claudia mo — who's is an opposition legislator in hong kong. thank you for talking to us. the charge mentions collusion with foreign powers. 0bviously charge mentions collusion with foreign powers. obviously the national security legislation is new. what does that amount to? now,

thatis new. what does that amount to? now, that is something very worrying, the arrest ofjimmy lai, is deja vu in hong kong, because police have done it at least a couple of times on other charges, previously. but this time the fact that they are using the new security law, it tells you that they are really targeting this publishing tycoon of ours, who has been very blatantly pro—democracy. it isa been very blatantly pro—democracy. it is a warning signal, also, that the local and foreign media who are stationed in hong kong should learn to behave, or there could be such a theatrical raid on your newsroom if they think it is necessary. yes, it is worth pointing out to viewers

that it does, in the past, have a flourishing free press? hong kong used to be journalistic hope in the whole of asia, and they are telling us whole of asia, and they are telling us that the thoughts of society don't really matter. we all knew that ideological control is of paramount importance to beijing, and so they are reining in public opinion, and hopefully they can also, ina opinion, and hopefully they can also, in a way, rain in international comments on what has been happening to hong kong, they think official propaganda could gain the upper hand. but it's not going to work like that any more. what happened today, so full of theatrics, the way that they raided

theatrics, the way that they raided the apple daily headquarters, tells you that the official propaganda, this 0rwellian approach to a modern society is going to work. it is just preposterous. this is a complete departure from civilisation. the reaction from hong kong, they are saying it is shocking and terrifying. but the reaction from beijing, one prominentjournalist from china has said that this demonstrates that hong kong authorities are not scared of us sanctions, and he also predicts the hong kong public will move towards the china mainland position. is it possible to get a sense of whether the hong kong public are taking a stand on this? i think it will generate more antipathy amongst the

people, because in hong kong we do appreciate the journalistic media in particular. and this highhandedness, it is getting the government nowhere. it will just it is getting the government nowhere. it willjust make people feel that the carrie lam government, and the boss in beijing, are telling hong kong people, iam the and the boss in beijing, are telling hong kong people, i am the law, and they can do whatever they want. in they can do whatever they want. in the year 2020, that is not going to work. the scare tactics are not going to work. the view in beijing and the hong kong government may be very different on that. , definitely. the point that this shows that the hong kong government are not afraid of sanctions, we have seen sanctions, we have seen

extradition arrangements between hong kong and many countries as a result of national security legislation, we have seen sanctions on individuals, including caroline herself. in a way, is that a fair point from beijing, from senior reporters, saying, well, actually, the arrest ofjimmy lai, shows that the arrest ofjimmy lai, shows that the hong kong government is simply not listening to us and us pressure? well, naturally, beijing and hong kong governments would need to put on this brave face, to say we are not intimidated by any us sanctions, and our officials will do whatever they need to do according to the boss. if they think that by playing tough they would actually harm hong kong even more, they are now practically linking the arrest of

jimmy lai, to the us sanctions. at first, i had some reservations, i was not sure how the two could be connected. but the senior reporter that you just quoted has made it very clear that they are linked. it isa very clear that they are linked. it is a retaliatory move on the part of the carrie lam regime in hong kong. we will leave it there. 0bviously the carrie lam regime in hong kong. we will leave it there. obviously we will try to get hold of the hong kong government on beijing to get their perspective on this, and talking about beijing's perspective, we have a line from the chinese foreign ministry saying that china has decided to apply sanctions on several us politicians, starting today. this is ted cruz, marco rubio and other us politicians. i haven't seen yet the names of the others, but we will bring them to you. i think that probably is... i don't

know what that is specifically, but we have seen tit—for—tat closures of consulates from china, and now tit—for—tat on individuals, the us has sanctioned several individuals, including carrie lam, the chief executive, and in xinjiang, in the north of china. state media in belarus says the incumbent alexander lukashenko, has been declared as the winner of sunday's presidential election with 80% of the votes. at least one person has died and hundreds detained, after a night of clashes between anti—government protesters and police. russian president, vladimir putin has congratulated mr lukashenko on his victory, but poland's president, mateusz morawiecki has called for an extraordinary eu summit on yesterday's election. sarah rainsford joins me now from minsk.

in the last couple of hours, this announcement of an 80% win of the vote, what is your assessment of how accurate that is? well, alexander lukashenko was always going to win this vote by a landslide according to the official results. he has never lost an election since 1994. so, this was never in doubt. the preliminary results gave him almost 80%. the official results that came out just 80%. the official results that came outjust an 80%. the official results that came out just an hour 80%. the official results that came outjust an hour or 80%. the official results that came out just an hour or two 80%. the official results that came outjust an hour or two ago have given him just over that, given his chief rival just given him just over that, given his chief rivaljust under 10%. her campaign have dismissed the results come and say they do not accept it. they have claimed the actual result is almost entirely the reverse of that. they pointed to the huge queues at polling stations across belarus on sunday as primarily svetla na ti kha novs kaya belarus on sunday as primarily svetla na tikhanovskaya supporters, who flocked to polling stations to vote for change. i think this was

never really about the official results. this was always about the response to them from opposition supporters. what we saw last night we re supporters. what we saw last night were big, big protests, bake processions of opposition supporters in the streets, and then clashes with belarussian in the streets, and then clashes with bela russian police. in the streets, and then clashes with belarussian police. do you expect those to go on, or do you expect those to go on, or do you expect that to have been a momentary display of rage that will be intimidated back of the streets by the brutality of the response? no, i think this is an absolutely critical moment in belarus. this kind of clash has not been seen before on this scale. i think this is absolutely very important. i think it is important that opposition forces, opposition supporters, have a lwa ys forces, opposition supporters, have always said that they will continue protests every single evening until, they say, they achieve their goal, which is defending their vote for svetla na ti kha novs kaya. which is defending their vote for svetla na tikhanovskaya. i which is defending their vote for svetlana tikhanovskaya. i think the leader of belarus, alexander lukashenko, has vowed he is going

nowhere. he says he will not give away belarus. and he has said that those who want to push the country into chaos, as he put it, will meet a very tough response. these are unprecedented times. remember that this is a man who has led the country for 26 years. and i think these elections have been extremely unusual, in the way that opposition forces have united for the first time to demand change. whether or not and how that comes, i think those are very big, open questions. ido those are very big, open questions. i do think these protests will go on. a body has been found in the search for a 12—year—old girl who had fallen into water near loch lomond. emergency services were called to the area near the town of balloch bridge on the river leven in west dumbartonshire just after seven o'clock yesterday evening. a police underwater unit and rescue boat recovered the girl's body just after ten o'clock.

a woman in her 30s has died after getting into difficulties in the sea off the norfolk coast. emergency services were called to the area near the village of waxham. the coastguard has warned people to be careful in the sea after the highest number of call—outs for more than four years were recorded on saturday. more lockdown measures are being relaxed in wales from today, as gyms, swimming pools and leisure centres reopen their doors. wales will also become the first part of the uk to allow children to return to indoor soft play areas. 0ur correspondent tomos morgan is at a play centre in newport. are you having fun? well, u nfortu nately are you having fun? well, unfortunately i'm not able to go on the slide because... welcome as much asi the slide because... welcome as much as i would like to as a parent myself, i'm being told i can't because adults will still need to socially distance in soft play as they reopen today, even though children won't have to do. the welsh gunmen who made the announcement that children under 11 no longer

need to socially distance, but adults will need to do so. —— the welsh government. wales is the first of the uk nations to allow people to go back to soft play centres. it will look a little bit different. there will be a few less toys to play with, things that are difficult to clean like a ball pits. they will be open, although, as you can see, there will be different procedures in place, bubbles for the adults to set in. as a soft plays begin to open, there are a number of other areas of the economy also opening today in wales. obviously been a tough few months — frustrating, as well — within the fitness industry here in wales. getting a sweat on outdoors, which has been the norm in wales the past few weeks. that is until today. we've implemented this box system to allows members to be three metres apart, people's physical and mental health... you know, this period has only

highlighted the importance, you know, the fitness industry plays in that. being reserved in the the easing of lockdown is probably the sensible thing to do during this time, but it's a fine line. and, you know, certainly, the benefits that the fitness industry can have on individuals in terms of keeping them fit and healthy and safe... you know, that's something that has to be a priority going forward. they get sanitised in the morning and then they get completely changed at lunchtime. the welsh government says that there's such a low risk of children passing on the virus that those under 11 years old don't now need to socially distance. so, much to the delight of some toddlers‘ parents, one sector of the economy that will be opening today — and before england — are play centres. we thought they'd let the schools go back first of all, and then open the play centres, not this way round, so it has caught us by surprise.

following in the footsteps of the other uk nations, as well, is the hospitality industry, which reopened inside last week to the welsh public. cos of the size of my venue, there's no way, given the guidelines issued by welsh government on restaurants reopening, that i could have anyone sat inside. so with those struggling for space, cardiff council have blocked off a section of the city centre so that more customers can sit safely and enjoy a meal. with no local lockdowns yet since restriction eased, the welsh government say their more reserved approach has been guided by science. that clear advice was to do one significant intervention at a time so you could understand, if there was an upswing in coronavirus, where would it have come from, and shut off that particular additional easement. that deliberately cautious approach, keeping people safe, has been welcomed by people in wales. three in four people

support the approach of the welsh government. as those chasing the pump are able to do so again, and children also have another avenue to expel some energy, normality begins to return in wales — and across the uk, just at different paces. so, parents will be able to come into some of the soft play areas. at they will be limited, of course, because they will still need to socially distance as their page, you are the assistant manager here. there are far fewer toys than the children would normally be able to play with. talk to is a bit about these procedures you have had to put in place to make sure things are safe for the children and adults? 0bviously with everything going on, we have increased the amount of sanitation we have had to do. normally, we would have a lot more sensory toys for the little ones, xylophones, maracas, that kind of stuff. they are harder to sanitise, with the children sticking them in their mouth, so we have reduced the amount of toys we have. so we are left with the bigger items we can

sanitise more regularly. but it's not the same as it was. and you are not the same as it was. and you are not putting a booking system in place. you are saying it is going to be first—come, first—served. tell is a little bit about some of the measures you are going to be putting m, m measures you are going to be putting in, in terms of time limits and numbers? we have limited to 23 tables, so the capacity is less than half of what it usually is. it is a 90 minute time for the children and adults. everybody will be given a designated table so we can control when people are coming in, when people are leaving, and it gives us enough time to sanitise that table when they have left. so we're hoping for a gradual turnover of tables. the slight distance is that wales is ahead of the other uk nations. but with all of the other sectors the economy, we have usually been behind the other countries. so, this came asa the other countries. so, this came as a bit ofa the other countries. so, this came as a bit of a surprise for you. how was that? mixed feelings. obviously we we re very was that? mixed feelings. obviously we were very excited to be back in work. we feel there wasn't enough time to get things prepared, if i am

honest, we were given just over a week and other sectors have had three weeks. but we are more than happy we have everything in place to open safely. looking forward to having children back? can't wait, so excited. great stuff, page any funky monkey. soft play, gyms, leisure centres and pools reopening, but they will all look different to how they will all look different to how they did pre—lockdown. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. hello, our heat wave is set to last for several more days. that means we have more hazy sunshine. it will continue to feel hot and humid in england and wales, but turning humid in scotland too. that heat and humidity will trigger some big thundery down pours, bringing the risk of localised flash flooding. we could see some storms popping up just about anywhere today. but the

storms are most likely in south—west england, wales and later moving into northern ireland as well. another hot and northern ireland as well. another hotand humid northern ireland as well. another hot and humid day. top temperatures in the south—east around 35 celsius. tonight the thundery down pours will push into northern england and scotland. as the storms move into scotland, they will drag in more humid airand it scotland, they will drag in more humid air and it will be a very warm night for sleeping in london. 25 degrees at 11 o'clock! hello this is bbc news. the headlines: ministers say there is little evidence of coronavirus being transmitted in schools as they push ahead with plans for all children in england to return full—time to the classroom next month. police in hong kong have arrested the prominent pro—democracy activist and media tycoon, jimmy lai — for suspected collusion with foreign powers.

ministers say the number of migrants crossing the channel is unacceptable — around 600 people have arrived in the past four days. there've been violent clashes in belarus after state media declared alexander lu kashenko the landslide winner of the country's general election sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's katherine downes. it was a dramatic finish to golf‘s uspga championship and it was won by 23—year—old collin morikawa. he was playing in only his second major, but he battled his way to the top of a packed leaderboard in san francisco. at one point there was a seven—way tie at the top, but he produced a flawless final round of 64 to finish two shots clear of a group including england's paul casey. morikawa said he was on "cloud nine". when i woke up today, i was like, you know this was meant to be, this

is where i feel very comfortable, this i where i want to be. and i'm not scared from it, i think if i was scared from it, the last three holes would have been a little different. but you want to be in this position. there was an unexpected winner at the 70th anniversary grand prix at silverstone and all because of the tyres. max verstappen was warned by his red bull team to go easy but he told them he was "not backing off and driving like a grandma", and the two mercedes tore their tyres to shreds. lewis hamilton still leads the championship by 30 points afterfinishing second, ahead of valtteri bottas. i really enjoyed it to be honest, but it was so difficult to manage the tyres. way more than we had experienced in any of these races coming up, so definitely wasn't expected. but i did the best i could with it. we had a lot of pace in the car. i didn't really have a lot of tyre issues at all, and yes we just kept pushing

and an incredible result to win here and we just had a great day. i think everything worked out well, we had the right strategy, everything was running smooth so, yeah, i was incredibly happy to win. the five—time world superbike championjonathan rea has gone to the top of this season's standings, after a superb weekend in portimao. after winning race one on saturday, he took the honours in yesterday's sprint race, and completed a hat—trick with victory in race two. he's now four points ahead of fellow—briton scott redding after this, the third round of the series. rangers have two wins out of two in the scottish premiership, after beating st mirren 3—0. but champions celtic dropped points, drawing 1—all at kilmarnock — chris burke with killie's equaliser from the penalty spot. atletico madrid say two individuals from the club have tested positive for coronavirus, ahead of their champions league quarter—final against rb leipzig on thursday. atletico haven't said if they're part

of the playing or coaching staff. the pair are now isolating and everyone at the club will be retested. manchester united manager 0le gunnar solskjaer says the passion has been missing from football, since fans were barred from attending matches. united play fc copenhagen a europa league quarter—final tonight in cologne. if they win they'll stay in a bio—bubble in germany, aiming for an eventual final, to be played on friday week, but nothing's quite right at the moment. it is strange and it is not football as it should be and i think it's changed a little bit. i think you know that little bit of, that passion and the edge to the game it's missing, because the fans, they have got to be this. but i have to commend our players, they have done really well, they have handled the situation really well. england all—rounder ben stokes will miss the remainder of the test series against pakistan forfamily reasons.

he's leaving the uk to travel to new zealand, where his parents live. his father ged has been recovering there since he fell ill over christmas, while he was injohannesburg to watch his son play against south africa. we've heard some extraordinary interviews with ronnie 0'sullivan over the years and it seems he's not mellowing with age. he beat china's ding junhui by 13 frames to 10 to reach the quarter—finals of the world snooker championship in sheffield and when he was asked why he thinks he's had such a long, successful career, he didn't hold back. if you look at the younger players coming through, they're not that good, really. do you know what i mean? most of them are, like, you know, wouldn't even... wouldn't even make... they'd probably do well as half—decent amateurs, do you know what i'm saying? not even amateurs. i mean, they're so bad that, you know, a lot of them that you see now, you just think, "cor, i've probably got lose an arm and a leg to sort of fall outside the top 50!"

do you know what i mean? now pakistan, we know, is a cricket—mad nation. the test side is playing here in england, of course and in some parts of the country not even mountains can get in the way of a good game. this is the final of a local competition on a steep hillside near abbottabad. the batsman needed a fourfor victory and by the reaction of the villagers, he got it, although it's tricky to spot the boundary. but that looks like a pretty flat wicket. i have seen worse pitches on village greens around this country. mountain cricket in pakistan! that is it for now. thank you. we have some breaking news from the mod, on migration in the channel. the tweet says, a royal air force

aircraft has been flown from raf brize norton to support border force operations in the channel, authorised by the defence secretary ben wallace. you may remember that it was on saturday that we learned that the home office had directly asked the ministry of defence for assistance, or what assistance they might be able to provide in terms of the borders and the number of crossings that we have been discussing for the last few days, during these calm seas and warm temperatures and large numbers of irregular migration coming across the channel in inflatable craft of one kind of another. we saw simon jones earlier seeing more migrants coming across. an raf aircraft being

flown support border force operations. the governor of the lebanese capital beirut, says that more than two hundred people are now dead after tuesday's massive explosion. thousands are injured and many are still missing, as protests continue over the government's response to the crisis. meanwhile, the head of the world bank has told the bbc that ‘radically transparent‘ systems are needed to deliver financial aid for lebanon if the money pledged is to benefit the people directly. paul hawkins reports. 6 the lebanese people are desperate for political change, but the government does not seem to be listening and the demonstrators want the world to make them listen. any money to rebuild the country they say must come with conditions attached to get rid of corruption and cronyism. the 15 donor or

countries agree. qatar is the biggest donor country with $50 million. the eu has pledged $35 million, on top of the 39 already promised. the us has also pledged $15 million. on a humanitarian basis, we have to do it. we have to do it. it‘s... you almost say how does a country survive such a tragedy? this was at a level, i have people over there, they say this is ata people over there, they say this is at a level we have never seen before. how easy will it be to get to change the system? we have to put systems in place that are radically transparent, inclusive, meaning reaching the people, and with good government, with good government is with all the anticorruption measures you can imagine in place. i think today's meeting of the friends of

lebanon, the voices were of support and solidarity. people understand that we need to provide humanitarian assistance, butt that we need to provide humanitarian assistance, but t the same time most governments have said that we need profound changes and that is what we are asking. many lebanese remain sceptical about whether their government is listening or not. wearing a face covering outdoors will be compulsory in some parts of paris from today. several other cities including nice and lille have also implemented similar measures. last week, french scientific advisers warned the country was at risk of losing control of covid—19 "at any time." we can now speak to corinne menegaux, director of the paris convention and vistors bureau. welcome to the programme. do you support this move on face masks or face coverings for paris? yeah, of course. i think i‘m not a specialist of health, so i‘m just thinking that

the professionals know how to do it. if it is a precaution that is necessary , if it is a precaution that is necessary, a sanitary precaution, we have to be safe and we have to keep the barriers, so we can keep the virus inside the perimeter we can control and it is important. this is coming in areas that are busy with tourists or shoppers? yeah of course, the risk is when you have a lot of people. but it doesn‘t impeach you to visit or getting in the streets or do your life as usual. it is just a little constraint that we all get the habit with. i think we are going to live with. i think we are going to live with that for a few months, because it is not finished. we have testing the mood of maybe happening to learn how to live with that and that would be the case also for travellers, tourists and people who come to paris. obviously, across the world,

governments and local governments are having to consider these decisions and in some cases there are problems convincing people to wear face coverings, what is the mood on this in paris, is there still solidarity and cohesion around the measure, so people are in general in support of this? ilj think people are supportive, they‘re conscious there is a problem. you a lwa ys conscious there is a problem. you always get people who disagree. i think this is important to make it happen and if it is a decision and a law enforcement, we have got to have law enforcement, we have got to have law enforcement, we have got to have law enforcement anyway. what then about the or theism numbers, because we know there is a move by the french government to help museums, galleries, hotels and the entire industry, how desperate is the situation? well, i'm not sure we can say desperate. it is not more desperate than anywhere else. it is

all around the world. of course we don‘t have as many tourists as before. the opening of the frontiers with europe helped, because we have people coming from foreign countries that are the close to france and i think these sanitary measures and the covering of faces, as well we develop a caring attitude are also as well as opportunities to reassure also the people that they can come over, because we took all the measures that can protect them. of course it won‘t be the same numbers as before and that is the same every where. so we don‘t know. it is a little early to get some real figures. we have got to wait for the end of the period, which is a good period for us in terms of tourism. the issue will be how it goes from september to the end of the year. according to the evolution of the situation. speaking from a uk point of view for a moment, this country

has reintroduced quarantine from some countries, not france as we speak, but there have been concerns about the growing number of cases in france, do you think your country has this under control and won‘t have to impose quarantine. i'm not in the legal discussion or the government, i hope they‘re in control. i think they are. the discussions are important between all countries. also we will all take the measures that will be necessary if the situation is rally increasing —— really increasing. but we don‘t know. if we take all the measures to cover faces, being able to get the sanitary measures and respect them, i think it is not more riskyjust to go in i think it is not more riskyjust to goina i think it is not more riskyjust to go in a country or another, it is the same if you go in your street just down the hall or in another

country, if you respect the measures, that is a real comfort and we can hopefully think it will be much easier to travel from one country to the other. let us hope you are right. thank you. thank you. "don‘t kill granny" — that‘s the message going out in preston after a spike in cases there. the extra lockdown measures were prompted mainly by an increase in cases among young people. the police hope the slogan will help them to enforce the new measures — which includes a ban on meeting people from outside of your household. judy hobson joined officers on the beat on saturday night. saturday night, and the streets of preston are quieter than usual, but pcjulie stewart and her team still have their work cut out. your hands are sanitised... i‘m coming in here to look at licensing objectives and seeing whether those are being adhered to, but also the covid measures — whether people are socially

distancing, whether they are from the same household. bars are asking people to book ahead, but some owners are cancelling bookings for large groups. they say keeping people safe is a priority. how are you finding the new measures that are in place? do you understand them? yeah. i think as alcohol was involved it can be quite challenging at times but, to be honest with you, most people are being very good and very cooperative. the latest lockdown rules were announced for preston late on friday, but bar owners say enforcing these rules is almost impossible. it's very difficult. we use due diligence — ask people for identification, ask whether or not they live in the same household — but proving it can be quite difficult. julie‘s colleagues are checking another venue. footage allegedly taken inside switch was shared on social media last week, amid concerns it had reopened as a nightclub — which is against the rules. the club claims the footage is fake, and tonight officers

say they‘re satisfied they are following guidelines. i found that, as advertised, it‘s been running as a bar, not as a club. there‘s social distancing. there‘s not very many people in. there‘s plenty of space for them, they‘re all sat down. well, it‘s midnight. normally preston city centre would be heaving now but, as you can see, it‘s still quite quiet. what the police have said about this evening is that they‘ve been impressed with how the venues are enforcing these new lockdown measures. workforces have changed — the way they run and operate has totally changed — and i believe they're doing a brilliant job. they've tried their best and i'm really proud of them. so how are the customers behaving? guys, you won‘t get in unless you‘re with your social bubble... almost half of positive cases here are in people under 30. the local authority believes the main cause of the spike has been gatherings in pubs and homes. i‘m just meeting my mates, so obviously i‘ve asked them

if they‘ve got symptoms of covid and they haven‘t, so if they‘re safe then i‘m safe. i‘m sure it‘s not a problem. are you from the same household? we're all from the same uni. in the seven days to august 4th, there were 61 new cases in preston — twice as many as the week before. this is a high—risk area but you‘re happy to come out. yeah, as long as we are away... like, we're keeping to the rules — we're two metres away from other people — so we're not bothered about...anything, really, you know? like, we're young, we're trying to have fun. we don't want to get, like, depressed, stuck in our rooms all by ourselves. yeah, it‘s been a long few months, as well. exactly. as the night wears on, there‘s less social distancing. it's very difficult to enforce. just by repeating those messages we'll hopefully get the message across, but we're not going to get that message across to everybody. any changes to these latest measures will be announced by friday. judy hobson, bbc news. the labour mp, dawn butler, has accused police of racially profiling her after a vehicle

she was travelling in was pulled over for questioning. the metropolitan police said the stop was a mistake caused by an officer incorrectly entering the car‘s registration number, but the former shadow equalities secretary says the police need to "stop associating being black and driving a nice car with crime". she filmed part of what happened. and i am recording. that's fine you're more than entitled to. i am concerned about the reason for the stop. that‘s what i‘m concerned about, so because you know we should be able to drive wherever we want in london. of course. because you‘re not just contained to the area where you live. no, of course. so, that is my concern, so if you‘re just profiling people who are driving outside their area, i think that‘s a ridiculous reason to stop. if you‘re profiling people who are driving a certain car, that‘s an inappropriate reason to stop and if you‘re profiling people because of the colour of their skin, that‘s an inappropriate reason to stop. speaking to the bbc, dawn butler said that the stop—and—search does not work in its current form,

and better education is needed for the system to work for everyone. what we have to do is look at the fa cts what we have to do is look at the facts that have been presented to us and move forward to how we are going to correct the situation. this often happens you see when people raise an issue or when black people complain about an issue, somebody tries to explain it away and that is why we don‘t make much progress. what we have to do is have just an honest conversation. yes, the conversation might be uncomfortable at times, but we have to have that honest conversation. i have a conversation with my area commander all the time. there is things i go public on and things i don‘t. and we have frank conversations. we need to say we are going to work to make sure this stop and search works for everybody and it isa and search works for everybody and it is a just system, that we are not

overpolicing one group of people unnecessarily and when it cops to crime —— comes to crime, i want crime —— comes to crime, i want crime to be eliminated, i gun and knife crime to be eliminated. but what i don‘t want is the over policing and the mental trauma to a group of people. i want to go out on a sunny sunday afternoon with my friend, who happens to be black and male and have a good time without thinking we might get stopped by the police, oh, my god i have to bring my passport and my driving licence, just because i‘m stopped. i‘m sure that white people don‘t have to do that white people don‘t have to do that and the people that have come to the streets on black lives matter are from all races and are saying we need to have a just system. justice is important to everybody. it matters to me as it matters to my neighbours, we shouldn‘t be over policing one group of people and making excuses where there doesn‘t need to be. we should just be resolving the problem.

the online abuse of elite sportswomen has doubled over the past five years according to a bbc survey. its prompted the bbc to review its policy on responding to hate speech on its platforms. wales rugby international elinor snowsill has been scared by the persistence of the comments she receives on social media, as jane dougall reports. if that was happening in real life — you know, someone coming up, constantly commenting on your appearance, like, "0h, looking sexy," or, "your bum looks good in that," you know, we wouldn‘t accept it. i just wonder why it‘s still acceptable over social media. as a wales international for 11 years, elinor snowsill thinks it‘s important to post social media updates on her sport to inspire young girls. but lately, she‘s considered stopping because of the responses from trolls. is it the sort of low—level persistence, replying to sort of my stories — you know, maybe love—heart emojis or commenting on how i look. i had one instance that scared me a little bit because i put up a post and someone had replied straight away, sort of making me feel

as if they were there. research by the bbc has found that the trolling of female athletes appears to be increasing. the survey was sent to more than a thousand women in 39 different sports, and received 537 responses. it found that 30% had been trolled on social media — that‘s up from 14% in 2015. blocking individuals is a temporary solution, but when responses become abusive or threatening, what options are available? it is absolutely the responsibility of those platforms that have given a megaphone and the targeting capacity to these individuals. if social networks are incapable of dealing with it themselves, there's going to have to be regulation and legislation. whilst platforms like the bbc say they‘re committed to strengthening their response to hate speech on social media channels, the problem still persists on the wider web. it stops you from posting sometimes.

and it does make you double think — should i post this now? because they could comment on, you know, how my bum looks in these leggings. as well as her own safety, elinor also worries that young girls will read those comments and be put off ever playing sport. jane dougall, bbc news. a metal detectorist has said he was ‘left shaking with happiness‘ after discovering a set of bronze age artefacts in a field in the scottish borders. mariusz stepien was searching with friends when he found the bronze objects buried about half a metre underground. a complete horse harness and sword was uncovered and experts have said the discovery is of ‘national significance‘. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. hello, the heat wave is set to last for several days. the next few days dominated by hazy sunshine, hot and humid in england and wales and more humid in england and wales and more humid in england and wales and more humid in scotland. but that heat and

humidity will kick off some big thunder storms. down pours that will lead to localised flash flooding. looking at the weather today, hot and humid, top temperatures 35 celsius in south—east england. england will see the best of the morning sunshine. in west england and wales, quite a bit of cloud and thunder storms becoming wide spread. some storms in southern scotland later in the day and a shower could p0p up later in the day and a shower could pop up almost anywhere in england as temperatures surge into the 30s. tonight, storms become widespread in northern ireland and will move north into scotland, bringing more humid air. these are the temperatures heading to bed, another uncomfortable night for london with temperatures at 25 celsius at 11pm. 0n temperatures at 25 celsius at 11pm. on tuesday the thunder storms will

affect scotland and move north with time. the cloud breaking up and sunny spells developing. it is hot and humid in dmrals. england and wales. turning more humid in scotland. thundery down poursjust about anywhere. and more storms to come for wednesday. scotland, england and wales seeing these. but northern ireland into the fresher airand northern ireland into the fresher air and probably have the greatest chance of staying dry on wednesday. top temperatures again into the mid 30s so our remarkable of very hot weather continues. towards the end of the week, some changes in the weather. low pressure takes hold and weather. low pressure takes hold and we will see bands of thundery rain pushing north. towards the end of the rain we will see more heavy down pours widely and the rain will be torrential at times. but ultimately later in the week we are going to see some fresher at llan tick air

move “— see some fresher at llan tick air move —— atlantic air move in and it will feel less humid. that is your latest weather.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the british government says there is little international evidence of coronavirus being transmitted in schools as they push ahead with plans for all children in england to return full—time to the classroom next month: the evidence we have a some on the one hand, very low transmission, and also that the risks to children from covid are very low. absolutely it will be safe for children to be back in schools. police in hong kong have arrested the prominent pro—democracy activist and media tycoonjimmy lai for suspected collusion with foreign powers. a surveillance aircraft is deployed over the english channel — more than 600 migrants have arrived in the uk in small boats from france in the past four days. are you 0k? are you all right? are you 0k?

0k!