this is bbc news, the headlines. bahrain says it is normalising its relations with israel — less than a month after the united arab emirates said it was establishing ties. the israeli prime minister, benjamin neta nyahu, called it a new era of peace. but the palestinian leadership slammed it as a "betrayal ofjerusalem and the palestinian cause". there have been protests by migrants stranded on the greek island of lesbos after europe's biggest refugee camp was gutted by fire on tuesday. they're protesting against the construction of a replacement camp and want to be allowed to travel on to mainland europe. more than half a million people in the us state of oregon are fleeing deadly wildfires that are raging across the pacific northwest. one hundred blazes, fanned by hot, dry winds, are currently scorching 12 states. at least ten people have died and dozens more have been reported as missing. now on bbc news...

is lebanon's political system broken? zeinab badawi presents global questions. hello and welcome to this edition of global questions with me, zeinab badawi. this week we asked if lebanons political system is broken. the beirut explosion has led to a huge backlash against the countries ruling class who are blamed for decades of corruption and mismanagement. could the anger this time lead to a real change in direction or will it simply be more of the same? while the human and economic cost of the blast of the chemical blast in the port of beirut has been devastating, around 200 people died, 6000 injured, 300,000 laid homeless and there's been billions of dollars of damage.

well as always, we are having to bring you our two panelists and our questioners who join us from all around the world via video link. let me tell you who is in the hot seat this week. manal abdel samad is a lebanese politician who resigned as administer of information following the be explosion and she remains in the caretaker cabinet. she believes that change remains elusive and regrets being unable to fulfil the aspiration of the lebanese people. and rana khoury is a political activist and founding member of the beriut, an independent campaign group that has no political affiliations and is led by volunteers. it aims to bring progress on environmental and socio— economical issues in beirut.

she has been right in the midst of the street protests in the city. welcome to you both and also to my questioners, a solitary round of applause from me, remember you too can join the conversation its #bbc global questions. right. let's get right down then to our first question. and it's from the eastern cape in south africa and it's from blessing. blessing, what do you want to ask our two panelist? my question is going to be based on events that took place in lebanon. will the lebanon blast end up being a political game changer? minister? minister? hello, hello everybody. actually, the beirut blast is not only the game changer, the game change is starting from october 17 when we had this revolution in the street. and now the aftermath of this deadly blast the august four explosion that rocked the

city of beirut is required more than any other time else to reconstruct a better lebanon based on a good government. while and this good governance should start with the main pillars that are transparency, inclusion and delete not government affectiveness and accountability which is a major key issue. so that we can meet lebanese aspirations and demands. rana, do you agree that this is a real game changer? because you know, we've been here before, haven't we with lebanon? we've seen protesters out in the streets but do you sense that there is something different this time? because the explosion comes after the suffering that have been wreaked on lebanon because of covid—19 and all the rest of of?t. i mean, any common sense in politics but in events just on level i would say that after such a murderous blast there needs to be a change of the entire system. however what we saw drew a few minutes after

the blast we've seen it really a very incompetent, murderous political class that didn't change anything in their behaviour. they didn't even go on the street after the blast to help the people there. and what we've seen is a movement by the people of lebanon helping each other in solidarity. i don't think this isa game solidarity. i don't think this is a game changer but i think this is a game and are. i think this is a game and are. i think this is a game and are. i think this is the end of this political class. even if it's not technically there and because they will do everything they can, and you've seen what they've done to stay on the scene. i think today the trust of the people has been shaken forever. and this is why a lot of them have not even dared to go out on the street because they know the reaction of the people. i think the trust in this political class has ended. this has been last shot. we have seen, yes we've seen other events but usually we see exploitation by the political class was up now is a no—no. it didn't work and they can't exploit it and we sure this is

the end. i don't how long it will take and i don't how much more we will suffer but is the end of the game. 0k, more we will suffer but is the end of the game. ok, so it minister, i did say you were in the hot seat, do you accept that you are part of the political class who people like rana khoury condemn?” political class who people like rana khoury condemn? i think that it's not about politicians corrupt. we have a whole system the ruling class is represented not only by politicians but also byjudges, by civil servants, by legislatures, bite media institutions. we have a whole system. and not all politicians are good and not all are bad. 0k, sorry, you count yourself clearly amongst the good in the political class. ok well, we will test that proposition perhaps further on with some of our other questions. thank you for

the moment let's go to our next question which comes from new zealand. and elijah, you're a student married to eight lebanese. what is your question? so, my question is which political system is right front lebanon? how do you introduce a government that includes all religious space with democratic values? so rana khoury, which political system is right which is an inclusive one? i don't think lebanon is the only country in the world. i'm sure in there a lot of religious phase different ethnicities, different political views. the only today the only state that can work is a secular state that respects the citizen equally. that respects political views, believes where there is rule of law and this is for me the only. so there isn't any reforms to this completely rotten system and violent system and corrupt system. you

can apply reforms. you need to have a new secular state that observes social justice and respect the beliefs of everyone for some and the nonbelief of everyone. we can't talk about reforms and a system in lebanon today. we are not the only country that has different. you have to stop looking at lebanon as always the battle of the sex. it's not what lebanon is without is not with the revolution said. his novelty young generation is so with all the realities to take into account, we have to be courageous enough to say that this system is no longer working. and this system favours clientele as him, secretary is him and it also a ticking bomb at any moment for violence. just a bit of context here. because 1943 when lebanon became independent as it were from french colonial rule, it was given a constitution that gave the countries different religions very doing on various positions in the constitution.

and you are saying that that has simply constitutional eyes ifi has simply constitutional eyes if i can use that word the sectarianism that has led to the problems that you described. minister, do you agree with that? yes, and this question i agree. because any political system is a good system. as long as it doesn't interfere in the public administration work nor have any vested or, vested interest was up the problem in our syste m was up the problem in our system is deep—rooted corruption, the lack of transparency, lack of accountability, the lack of rule of law. what we need is a civil state that built on democracy. when i say democracy we say equality, social justice, freedom of opinion and expression. and definitely we need transparency and rule of law. these principles are all mentioned in the lebanese constitution. however it is in the application. unity in

agreement on the fact that lebanon needs a new political system that doesn't say the muslim get there as the muslim sunnis get these in the various christian sects get their share of the cake as well. a larger, very quickly what do you think on this question that you posed yourself? well, me coming from new zealand, we were the least corrupt country in the world. sol corrupt country in the world. so i wish that also for the lebanese people. but you agree that it should be, they should be no sectarianism it should be secular? do you agree with that panelist? of course. religion should never be in government. 0k, should never be in government. ok, thanks very much. let's go to beirut lebanon to a student there. what do you want to know from our two pilot eyes. want to ask one of the possible reforms that i need for lebanon to rise up again? rana khoury. i don't think there is a need for reform i think there is a

need for independent government of people that are completely detached from the corrupt system. we need a government that can save us for an economic crisis we are in. this is on short term. but then we need a complete change of the system and a complete change of the political class was up again, this is not about the people but whenever a government takes its trust whereby the people are outside the parliament asking for the government not to be formed because this is a political government and people being beaten up and incarcerated outside the parliament. it's a government that is not respected for that and demanded by the people. then this is pa rt by the people. then this is part of their political past. we need transition, and independent government that is farfrom this criminal independent government that is far from this criminal and also political terminal passed which brought us into the lower state ever. and then we need to move into a new state. into a new state of law, estate that respects people, their freedoms, their opinions and we

need a complete elimination of this political class. let's see what the minister says. so bring out the eraser, race everything, clear the drawing board and go back to the start. minister, do you agree with that? before coming into the government i was talking same as rana khoury. this is the major reason why i came into the government to make it difference. what i realises the government alone is not the changemaker. because we have a whole system that needs to be changed. we are talking about the legislature, the judiciary, about different other components of the system. she is right that we have to work on the whole component and this is our role. this is why i resigned because i couldn't find any reform plan based on oui’ find any reform plan based on our only endeavours in this matter. so if we put a we can work a lot. and i agreed that we have to make a change in the

whole system. because if we are, if we do the same thing, same way we get the same result. so we have to change the way we are doing things to get better results or a different results. i hope that a nswe i’s different results. i hope that answers your question. social media, lebanon will only have a future if it becomes a secular, tolera nt future if it becomes a secular, tolerant and multi—cultural lebanon where all religions can live in peace and prosperity for top so clearly, that is something which is very much on the agenda. next we are going to go to mohammed who prefers to go to mohammed who prefers to be known as mould. mo you are in our rocky but you join us are in our rocky but you join us from austria. what is your question? my question is that because we have seen outside players meddling in my country. the question is, how can you stop the power from fighting the battles in lebanon, thank

you. we've seen a lot of instability in lebanon forced by outside players. how can you stop that? actually, all the conflict that is taking place in the region affects lebanon and we are part of this big picture and we are definitely affected by any conflict that are taking place in the region. but what we care about more is the interest and the benefit of lebanon for us. and we have to work for any patriotic benefit more than anything else. and this meets the union of everybody in lebanon and solidarity of all political and nonpolitical parties. 0k. rana khoury? definitely there is a

bigger role being played in lebanon being the field of a lot of proxy war is being done for top and a lot of regional deals with, actually international deals with the final of things happening for some however, when you have a proxy then have a compliant party as well that is agreeing on being a player. as we said, the political class and we set it as part of the slogan, they are all involved in the murder of the lebanese people. but also in the corruption and the mismanagement. however there is a dominant ruling party today and lebanon and it is has a lock that controls most of the public institutions if not all lebanon and the government decides when the needs to be elected or who doing that he or she should be vels up this is the reality of lebanon. besides the reality of lebanon. besides the fact that law is heavily armed in lebanon and this is obviously a frightening issue, his brother is profoundly

incompetent in ruling this country on all other levels. the question is though, we know that has a lot is backed by ironic because it is a sheer political party, has limited parliament which is the religion which is extremely well. the question is, how can you stop outside players interfering in lebanon? we can't as people we can't stop outside people of interfering. however we can build a safety net around our own country. and this is why a transitional government and free elections are government and free elections a re necessary government and free elections are necessary in lebanon. if you asked me how will i disarm has a lot and in favour of war. noiam has a lot and in favour of war. no i am not in favour of war. we've seen that foreign nations also blue do not use their own benefits and use lebanon into their own benefit. it is a job we have to accomplish on her own. it is a job we have to, it isa own. it is a job we have to, it is a very long way to reach

that. i don't know what will happen on the international level, we are very firm in our opinion against having armed outside public institutions was that we are also very firm with all our other opinions against foreign powers. with ourfight with israel, with the palestinian cause. and i think this is what scared today's political class is that we are brought rejecting these proxy wa rs brought rejecting these proxy wars and at the same time we are sticking to the independence of lebanon and the freedom of lebanon. having these two together, people's revolution is really destabilising for the political class. a quick response on what you've heard our two panel essay. actually, i was expecting from the minister more. but i do completely agree with rana khoury of course. thank you very much, indeed. to singapore, to lawyer venetia. your question? international

community has pledged $300 million to help lebanon to expedite political reform. what should be the role of international intervention to self reform going forward? minister, i won't repeat the question. the international community has pledged $300 million to help lebanon to expedite political reform, what should be the role of international intervention for such reform going forward? referred for instance minister, that the french government has said it will help lebanon but any help is conditional on seeing real and substantial reform. is that something that appeals to you, minister? yes it's always been appreciated and lebanon here we welcome any donations all in—kind but the most important issue is

transparency. because people need to know where donations have come from and how they are spent. so this is maybe the lack of trust there is some kind of schism between the class and the lebanese people and to restore this trust we should work on transparency and accountability. the issue to show more of a serious action and reforms. and mainly we have to work on the reform of the electricity sector. because it cost lebanon so far more than $47 billion which represents around 40% of the public debt. and we are paying every year or $2 billion in a sector that is losing. i think gaining, restoring trust starts by seriously working on reforms and by applying transparency

rule of law and accountability. 0k, rule of law and accountability. ok, rana khoury should aid from the international community be conditional on reform? we heard the french government say that's what they would like to see, for instance. i think the $300 million are barely sufficient to address the more than 40,000 homes that have been shattered in beirut blast. i would suggest to everyone not to pass aid through the public institutions. there are a lot of good people working on the ground and actually accomplishing something and actually repairing the houses in actually helping the injured. i don't think any reform is possible with the current political class. i would urge everyone not to pass ip would urge everyone not to pass 1p through the current political establishment but to go through other channels. we need to start differentiating between the people of lebanon and those who are ruling. that's a lot of money. the beirut blast cause for $.6 billion of damage according to the world bank and then another three and a half billion because of the reduced economic

activity. who is going to be receiving all these billions if they come back well, you know there is a lot of micro —— fixing more than 100 houses in the last month. the red cross has been operating a lot of big organisation has been operating, international organisations have been operating on the ground. from my own experience and what i learned from my parents and grandparents and maybe great grandparents, money that goes into the public institution will never see the light. and will never see the light. and will never... yes, minister. i wa nt will never... yes, minister. i want to answer we have to pay attention also that we do not stereotype. because some public student are good and some are bad. and even ngos we have to be very vigilant in choosing which want to work with. sol think that it's a matter of trust, it's a matter of trust with people and not with industries or sectors. so we have to know with whom to work

and we have to know with whom to give trust. and now our final question is from british lebanese antoinette foster who joins us from the north of england. what is your question, please? thank you for inviting me to the show. as a lebanese i can say lebanon is in a political turmoil. and it is always been unfortunately. i can't tell you what's next. that's all i can say is surely lebanon will rise again. and i'm so proud to be lebanese. do they agree that lebanon will rise again? all right, thank you. so manal abdel samad. thank you so much for this positive spirit. and this positivity. this is what we need to raise lebanon again. and this is the support you can give to lebanon for top we have

to be positive we have to be a changemaker and to be positive we have to be a changemakerand in orderto to be positive we have to be a changemaker and in order to be change—makers we changemaker and in order to be change— makers we have changemaker and in order to be change—makers we have to have the three peas. passion, patience and perseverance will top if you have this passion to lebanon and if you have the perseverance to change and if you have the patience to get rid of all obstacles that we face then we can reach our goal. we have the same goal, i think. i don't think i came from different groups or from the corrupt group. i came also from the people and i turned back to the people. and for the same purpose i need to change and we have to work together in this positive spirit. i think we are, we have what we call resilience was that every time they say that lebanese are resilient, they will continue, they will build again and whatever happens and i think this leads us to refrain from

being angry and from calling forjustice. and for me, we will rise again if we resist. if we have a breath that is long enough that we sustain it long enough that we sustain it long enough that we sustain it long enough to see the change happening. but i don't agree on the fact of always covering the wounds, saying it's ok, moving on, being positive about it. i think this is the curse of resilience and rising from the ashes that is stacked lebanese people with. i think we are very angry people. they killed us very angry people. they killed us in ourown very angry people. they killed us in our own homes. they were killing us in the streets... will it rise again? i mean, as long as we are here, even if we go abroad, even if we live in the uk, even if we escape for the uk, even if we escape for the sake of our children for a while, as long as we exist i think it will. but it's not

about resilience and just rising ina about resilience and just rising in a title or in a song. it's really about seeking justice and about fighting and about getting your rights as a human being. because this is what it is all about. it transcends politics and transcends politics and transcends economy and everything. we took a lot as people. we took a lot of kicks, a lot of blood. it's no longer about being positive. now it is about being positive. now it is about taking what is our right. and our right is to live. thank you. manal abdel samad. and our right is to live. thank you. manal abdel samadlj and our right is to live. thank you. manal abdel samad. i work from day one for 15 years and came on many other battles on our territory. what i can say that resilience is already here. that is why we are strong and what doesn't kill us makes us and what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. so, it's not only a slogan it's really a fact is that this is what we practice and we used to do. we are stronger more and definitely

the son shine will rise again. thank you very much indeed. that is all from this addition of global questions. is it lebanon political system broken. we had a very great vigorous debates we've heard about patience, perseverance, the curse of resilience, passion and it seems like we've ended on a relatively optimistic note that out of this current crisis that lebanon will rise again. thank you to my two panelists the activists rana khoury the acting minister manal abdel samad, also to my question is whojoined us from samad, also to my question is who joined us from all over the world and of course do you wherever you are watching or listening to this programme for top remember if you want to be pa rt top remember if you want to be part of the programme you can submita part of the programme you can submit a question. please e—mail. remember, we are the programme that brings you the trending lines behind the headlines. until next time from me at zeinab badawi and the rest of the questions seem, goodbye.

hello. the weekend is upon us and the weather is looking a bit mixed. something of a north, south split. across much of england and wales we've got a fairly decent weekend ahead. it's looking largely dry, pretty warm as well with some sunshine on offer. but for scotland and northern ireland, a different story. here, things will be turning increasingly windy particularly through saturday and there'll be some rain at times. heaviest for the northwest of scotland on sunday. but that here and we've got this week weather front that's been slipping its way slowly south of the past 25 hours or so. a more active weather front waiting out in the atlantic. that is what will bring the rain to the northwest. saturday morning, we just got a band of cloud on this weak weather front pushing south could be the odd spot of drizzle for southern england first thing.

much of the uk looking bright with some long spells of sunshine but there will be more of those blustery showers for scotland and northern ireland. more rain arriving by the evening. temperatures on saturday will move to about 13 to 21 degrees. as we move through saturday overnight we see that system of rain arriving across northern ireland and scotland to really heavy around those hills in west in particular. the south should stay dry overnight. and for all of us it is going to be mild. most places temperatures are in the low teens to start sunday morning. through the day on sunday high pressure to the south keeping things settled but we've got this weather front, this warm front which is going to be quite slow moving through the day. on sunday, more heavy persistent rain which could lead to some flooding and disruption of course northern highlands in particular with a weather warning for that. elsewhere a lot of dry weather. the best of the sunshine towards the south and east when temperatures will be up to about 24 degrees on sunday. that warming trend is going to continue to your working week. moving on to monday is that warm front pushing its way through further north it is pulling in this warmer

air from spain, france. it will feel quite warm for many of us on monday long spells of sunshine. could be more cloud and perhaps the odd shower along some northwestern part of the uk. most places are avoiding it. for the sunshine, those temperatures in the southeast 29 possibly 30 degrees was that many of us in the low to mid 20s on monday. stays warm to the middle part of the week, gradually turns a bit cooler and fresher as we head towards the end of the coming week. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, i'm maryam moshiri. our top stories: dozens of people are reported missing in a wave of deadly wildfires in the us state of oregon. many more evacuation orders have been put in place, including right here, such that now more than half a million people in this state have been told to leave their homes. bahrainjoins the united arab emirates in normalising relations with israel, a move which further erodes the arab world's boycott of the jewish state. cheering and applause. protests in lesbos against conditions on the greek island, with migrants demanding to be allowed to travel to mainland europe. coronavirus is back on the rise in the uk,