where you know as we always like to say we do believe by golly it's time to do news again. don is in mourning after some 100 people are killed and thousands more injured in a massive explosion that rocked the country's capital on tuesday a huge shockwave ripped through beirut destroying buildings in the port district and leaving many residents without electricity exact cause of the disaster is unclear though it's believed to be linked to the improper storage of explosive materials in a white warehouse. where you might die in the sun we found everything turned over our hands i was moving and it's like. this all unfolds and something explodes and everything falls with it. also this hour despite millions of

furloughed workers returning to work in the u.k. the economic impact of the pen demick has seen major cities including london become ghost towns. this is r t international coming to you live from the russian capital where it's just turned 3 pm welcome to the program. condolences are being sent from all over the world to lebanon where a devastating explosion ripped through the capital on tuesday the nation is in mourning as the catastrophe has claimed the lives of at least 100 people and left over $4000.00 injured that's according to the country's red cross.

on your screen you can currently see live pictures from beirut there is almost nothing left of the port district as you can see the city is governor says about 300000 people have been displaced and lost their homes the blast destroyed nearby buildings causing chaos across the lebanese capital rescue workers do continue to search through the rubble given the large number of injured hospitals are under immense strain facility is already dealing with the crown virus crisis were quickly filled beyond capacity they should pleas for blood donations and for generators

just to keep the lights on here some firsthand accounts from people who experienced the shock wave of the blast. are you my son and we felt everything turned over our hands i was at home and my dad was when the window fell over on me the wardrobe also follow us my daughter. and she needs a surgery now. because . we were at home we heard the sound of the airplanes above our house will even the op of floor of the building we heard destroy noise from airplanes and suddenly the song halls and us so often explodes and everything falls with it c.

i was moving and it felt like an earthquake looked around and we saw glass shattered everywhere earlier we spoke to journalists all tough ahmad in beirut from the blast site. well since the early morning hours and throughout last night to the lebanese army and fire fighters have been still trying to put off the fire which is still until today burning through the remains of the warehouses at the ports of the city of beirut the lebanese president michel own has announced 2 weeks emergency state of emergency in beirut today we're expecting an emergency session to be held at the lebanese cabinet we're expecting a lot of decisions and sacking of poor officials who are accused of negligence and that's had a lot to do over was short comings had a lot to do with why this entire situation took the turn it did yesterday rescue

workers are still trying to dig through the rubble to find the remainder or the missing individuals as well as if they can find more bodies unfortunately really are expecting that the death toll is going to continue to rise because of how massive the blast was and because at the top of the ports were the ports in the time of de blas or in the time of the explosion. at least 10 rescue workers died in the 2nd explosion of the disaster according to beirut's governor and a t.v. interview are when i liken the tragedy to her roshumba and nagasaki speaking at the site he broke down in tears. on a big food a friend of mine about. the explosion happened in the densely populated port district of the city the blast leveled buildings in the surrounding area and the shock waves were reportedly felt as far afield as cyprus the world health organization and sending medical supplies

as are a number of other countries are picks up the story. the country's prime minister has said that the cause of the explosion was 2700 tons of ammonium nitrate that was stored in a way house he said he would reveal facts soon about the way house but he wouldn't do so now because he did not want to preempt an official investigation that's under way now hospitals continue to report being in the state of chaos we know that they've been turning people away they've simply been unable to cope with the huge number of wounded and injured they are calling for blood donations and also for generators to keep the lights going all of this comes as the mini supreme defense council recommended to clearing a disaster stricken city they're also calling for 2 weeks of national emergency the military have now taken control of the security on the streets we're also hearing that the lebanese government has made available 100000000000 lebanese pounds in

emergency funding to assist those who has been affected the prime minister says that they will find that those all those responsible and bring them to book so that i will not rest until we find the person responsible for what happened so we can hold them to account and impose the most severe punishment it's unacceptable as a shipment of 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate has been present for 6 years in a warehouse without any preventative measures now the lebanese government has asked for assistance there's a host of countries who have responded saying that they sending both humanitarian and or medical aid amongst them. the united states the united kingdom qatar iran and france we are hearing from the american president donald trump who says that this looks like a terrible attack which is a statement that contradicts contradicts the official words that we hear coming from lebanese officials let me begin by sending america's deepest sympathies to the people of lebanon where reports indicate that many many people were killed and i've

met with some of our great generals and they just. seem to feel that it was this was not a some kind of a manufacturing. explosion type of event this was a seems to be according to them they would know better than i would but they seem to think it was a attack it was a bomb of some kind years now and mangos countries who have been offering assistance ah israel this is despite the fact that the 2 countries are technically at war we have heard from the country's foreign minister benny gantz saying that 3rd party mediators have been approached and israel has offered humanitarian assistance no word as of yet what has been of a sponsor from lebanon all of this comes as an emergency security cabinet meeting is due to be held in the lebanese capital this morning it comes as both israel and has been that deny any kind of involvement there has been speculation as to what caused the blast at this stage the official word from lebanon is let's wait until

the investigation is concluded. with the country already going through tough economic times it's fear the tragedy it will aggravate the dire financial situation we spoke to experts about the possible impact. what the ground shaking turned into all the windows kind of blowing at the same time some sort of pressure and explosion and it's like nothing i've ever experienced and since then i've been around the city and everything i mean no building is left untouched the level of devastation is shocking the best i can come up with and shocking i can't even describe to you like everybody's homes are damaged right now the rich and the poor the economy a living on is on the eve of collapse the unemployment is rising the money is losing the currency is losing all its value the country has a lot of economic problem because a lot of conflicting information right now some from the interior ministry have

said that it was stored there on route to africa others including the prime minister said it was stored there for 6 years in any case whatever the case may be . the responsible party of course it should be held to account what you're likely to see here unfortunately is a game of sort of passing the buck from one official to the next with nobody really wanting to step up and take responsibility for this before this explosion took place living on was in need. of assistance of aid of a proper reform program there are multiple issues built on top of one another and this explosion and the devastation that is brought in terms of human lives and destruction infrastructure etc is sort of the cherry on top so to speak ultimately though what's levanon needs is a proper reform program that needs a cash injection from from the outside in order to to release funds to people so that they can actually get the economy moving again so as you can see there's

compound issues here which make addressing this particular issue very challenging. the economic impact of the corona virus is becoming increasingly apparent in the u.k. with london taking a have to hit from the pandemic with near empty streets and workplaces it's predicted the capital could lose almost 180000000 pounds a month in 2021 and it's feared london will remain a ghost town for some time yet are to shoddy edwards daschle reports. so the lockdown in london is easing it certainly doesn't feel like it the financial and business district the heart of the city is usually overcrowded and bustling but now it looks like a ghost town even though the government's pleas to get people back into the office i want people to go back to work. very people should be. going back to work you. over own right after saying that boris johnson left downing street and set off for checkers his country retreat so much for leading by example

and while the government gave employers the right to order stuff back into the office many companies are not rushing into that decision but can you blame them when the u.k. is the worst hit by the coronavirus in europe and considering the government's mantra for months was strictly to stay at home stay at home folks stay at home stayed home sorry for being the country's economic engine pulling in commuters by the millions now and it is also the capital of entertainment with plenty of things to do and places to eat but this 24 hour city now seems to be in a. feels like a bit of a very strong. has been previously a lot of people find you very comfortable working at home so you want to go back to work in offices of engineering or get back to normal it's going to take a while with sound instead in a partial shutdown that's expected to have a devastating impact on the entire economy its business is scared off by this if the potential labor force either doesn't come or goes home if people don't think

london is where they want to live and hence fail to attract new businesses the effect on london's g.d.p. could be a huge multiple of this a huge chunk of the workforce at lloyds h.s.b.c. and barclays are expected to work from home until at least september and google are not west group also allowing employees to work from mostly until 2021 with many other tech companies also following suit it's now predicted that in 2021. the new normal will be about 30 percent of london based employees still working from home on any one day that would equate to around 178000000 pounds lost on other things like after work drinks cups of tea stationery and other office of quitman each month it's pretty staggering stats even despite the government's latest eat out to help out initiative offering discounts on meals to kickstart the hospitality sector . is unique we need to be creative so to get

customers back into restaurants cafes and pogs and protect the 1800000 people who work in them i could announce today that for the month of august we will give everyone in the country. to help out discount its office diners 50 percent off meals up to a maximum of 10 pounds per head courtesy of the taxpayer and is the latest of a series of government efforts to tackle soaring unemployment but it's unclear whether or not popular schemes like this one will be enough to rescue the economy especially when the expected 2nd wave of the coronavirus hits shuttered arts in london. employers in the u.k. are now required to contribute towards covering their furloughed workers salaries such stuff are entitled to up to 80 percent of their normal salary but that doesn't sit well with some employers who are footing the bill the owner of the u.k.'s largest plumbing firm pimco plumbers says that some of its staff have been let go

for refusing to return to work charlie mullins has hit out at the government's for low scheme claiming some employees are taking advantage of it to collect pay without working or half of those for a low during the coronavirus lock down have been returning to work but millions more have stayed at home charlie mullins told us his side of the story. you could look at it as you want to look at it but i'm just being all nice people need to get by so well and. you know the people the long the with lives all very much the place where the want to come by so well and you know been assigned. a splendid solemn moment but you know over the past all should be sensitive they would shoot said come out we've you know they're not ready to go back so well if we're going to stop the 2 percent close to morrow they'd be back to fall into if you could change anything but in greece and not see god's will then go with tommy well for them and of course they need help you know and we need to call for them please the people i'm talking about

a younger people would just go by surely they don't want to come to the state given night she was saying that that was just a style of existence that you know i'm all about just question that these are all subsets will please and wholesomely the system is not just problem of locals in general what a bad experience is. still had on our team with corona virus infections on the rise in france many are blaming young people for the search details on that story after this short break. the world is driven by a dream shaped by one person. who

dares thinks. we here to ask. all across the board trump is down in the polls and not just by a pointer to traditionally incumbency alone is enough to win the election but this time around it is a race trump name and let's be clear this is little to do with joe biden. we.

welcome back to the program france's top scientific body is warning that a 2nd wave of corona virus will likely hit the country after the summer restrictions were recently tightened with masks now mandatory outdoors in the worst hit areas young people though are among those who have been flouting the measure and are widely being blamed for the search and cases but as charlotte devinsky explains the fault may lie elsewhere. i startle one said that young people aha it mind it because they have not yet been humbled by life thousands of years later and little seems to have changed when there is a problem the finger is often pointed at the perceived source the youth as front sees an increase in the number of covert cases and a rise in hospital admissions this age old blame game continues. the boy.

instead of being huddled at home in socially isolated bubbles since lockdown ended in france many young people have decided to party that's shocked some and that the world health organization to issue a warning young people you are not invincible young people can be infected young people can die. only young people can transmit the virus to others so when one french infectious disease expert suggested this i believe more and more that they should be allowed to infect each other provided they don't visit parents and grandparents otherwise young people will be a reservoir of contamination and we will end up with an unimaginable epidemic by

letting them contaminate themselves they will participate in collective immunity you could almost hear the gospel of horror. young people go to the bakery the baker's not necessarily they go to the poor mysie they meet people of all kinds so this is really a totally wrong idea but hold your horses after investigating france's clusters of covert that national health agency has made a rather startling discovery apparently it's not the youth and them ask 3 socially packed parties that are the biggest source of contamination here would you believe it it's actually the office of the $147.00 cost is currently under investigation more than a quarter of them can be traced back to the workplace social gatherings and that's all social gatherings and not just parties only account for 13 percent of clusters

well just seeing your extended family accounts for almost the same number of clusters with the facts clearly on display what the people in paris make it so it's very easy to point your finger at the youth. but i think it's it's kind of both ways because now that i'm hearing this it's are easy for me to put my finger at the elderly so i don't think it does matter who does it just like that it's happening and we have to be very careful and for me it is really like if it's us or if it's them i don't know. fact i think they're right it's. also factor all the people who are working despite coffee some of them are going to be carrying the virus and so it is going to spread fast even if we young people decide to stay at home and not go to work so unless you intend to stay in bubble best not to point the finger or the bubble might burst pretty quickly so it's even ski

auty paris. we turn back to our top story lebanon is in mourning after the country's capital was rocked by a massive blast that claimed over 100 lives leaving thousands injured we're going to get my analysis from professor was a robbery the director of the motion die and center for middle eastern african studies you're very welcome to the program now there are some competing ideas out there as to what exactly has happened why do you think people are continuing to speculate when an investigation still hasn't been completed it's barely been started. well this is typical climate in the middle east you know i mean it's such a combustible an area so when a little thing like that is happening in a state or port city like beirut you know speculations are being arise in days and nights and this is part of the story but i can tell in my opinion actually

israel is well known to not be part of the story i mean this is kind of. consensus when it comes to the are a big fault or the are appalled and i dare say also while looking at lebanon that the culprit behind the event even if in italy it is no other than has 15 years actually since the assassination of rafik hariri the then prime minister of lebanon footprints are there. lebanon actually was assassinated or hijacked by hezbollah basically look at the last 15 years to get an idea why things are getting that worse lebanon is. on the verge of collapse 50 percent unemployment very close to bankruptcy basically this

is kind of a failed state and i think that many lebanese and i also take the liberty to tell that i do speak to many are of the lebanese it is kind of. conventional wisdom that lebanon has been hijacked by hezbollah and i hope that lebanese would rise to the occasion and create kind of a protest that would believe my eyes the influence of us by law in the state of lebanon we do know that both hezbollah and israel came out immediately and said that they were not responsible for this situation that they had nothing to do with it whatsoever and if we can touch on israel again israel is actually offered assistance to its you know longtime rival lebannon could this tragedy somehow help to decrease tensions between the 2. sure i mean i think that that was kind of a smart move to assist humanitarian aid basically you know we know the

story and or of government which part of it by the way is has barred law would refuse actually publicly to get an assistance from israel. that beneath the readers or behind the scenes there would be kind of a corporation in israel or ups and some of the states in the world in order to help lebanon in such a difficult hour. and the background of this lebanon was already suffering suffering from an economic crisis not to mention the fact that lebanon's main grain silo at the port was also demolished in this explosion. how badly will this tragedy aggravate the dire situation. well it is so lethal so bad that you can just listen to the pain being experienced by people at own levels as you said and you are you're right it would be actually the. whole

poor to give us treated we know that was kind of a collateral damage and i think that lebanese who are so eager to have kind of a slice of who got another blow and what i try to tell you before is that while listening carefully to the talk of the day when it comes to tripoli when it comes to parts of beirut when it comes to christian neighborhoods well i mean the truth is there a true true horse has been hijacked lebanon and this is has once again has bala is being asked and called upon to prove that those facilities were not actually under his disposal under his. or part of his equipment. i mean there are many many questions that are in the air now and hezbollah would have to come up with some good answers because we know that he took control over

some facilities civilian facilities all around lebanon and the spatial in the poor by which to bypass sanctions that are being actually taken against him since part of the war that actually has to recognize that we do talk about a terrorist group so we'll wait and see but again in lebanon people are so fed up with what's going on they would like actually to have something else and you know work if there is a glimpse of hope maybe lebanese together with some other a lot of states. assistance from the out would rise to the occasion and come up with kind of approaches that would change into lebanon because otherwise this is kind of a nonstarter lebanon has been demolished day by day by the true john horse named hezbollah and its petro on namely iran. in this case that the lebanese

officials are pointing the finger at these explosive materials that were improperly stored should that be the focus right now. yeah sure i mean that could be kind of a poor performance but who actually story these. lethal battery of their why it was not perform lee or rightly men teen i mean all these questions are going actually to be part and parcel of the talk of the day and the government where hezbollah is part of should bring in some proper are answers since we know that this state as i said before is on the verge of collapse since we know that the government is not properly ruling lebanon and since we know that people lost hope in lebanon i think that maybe this you know lethal act and this calamity would be ended up in kind of

a new direction for lebanon because those questions must be answered one way or the other people are so upset so desperate that i think that they know have no fear anyway and since i know that those protests are always ready then maybe this would be kind of a beginning of a change i do hope that this is going to be the thing in any case. that the tension between israel and hezbollah is becoming so ridiculous so. kind of a minor thing that nowadays hezbollah has many many problems in lebannon it should deal with lebanon and prove to lebanese that he is working in favor of lebanon and not in favor of iran and basically it serves to sideline only these actions that were taken in the recent days between israel and hezbollah. now we can

only hope for a transparent and independent investigation into what happened what's behind this tragedy professor director of satoshi dion center for middle eastern and african studies thank you for joining us on the program. breakdown of today's headlines for now if you're looking for more you can always follow us on twitter or facebook drop them into reports though next we're going to get. anyone else chose seemed wrong why don't we just don't hold. anything. yet to shape out these days actually. and in detroit equals betrayal. when something find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for call.