the let us speak to the bbc‘s lina sinjab, who can help us cover this story.at home in my own building when the explosion actually happened. first it felt like an earthquake, my whole building was shaking and only 7—8 minutes drive away from the port, then the explosion happened and all the windows exploded. there's some announcement that the explosion was at the port area. since then, the government, the ambulances, the medical system here is rushing

lina sinjab, thank you very much. 0ur middle east editor jeremy bowenjoins me now.an one city take? and one country. lebanon has beenin take? and one country. lebanon has been ina take? and one country. lebanon has been in a deep crisis really since the end of last year, economic, political, medical once the pandemic started. there were people on the streets demanding a revelation until they were forced by covid—19 to take shelter, to get off the streets. the issue in lebanon is that none of these structures really work. they don't come together. and that is why so don't come together. and that is why so many lebanese right now are saying that this tragedy that happened there, that this cataclysm isa happened there, that this cataclysm is a result of the breakdown in a corrupt political system. now, is a result of the breakdown in a corrupt politicalsystem. now, big questions have to be answered. who knew that ammonium nitrate was there? why was it there? was it simply some kind of dreadful negligence, or was it something more sinister, something to do with bribery

the let us speak to the bbc‘s lina sinjab, who can help us cover this story.us can help us cover this story. tell us what is happening in the port area of the city. i felt it here at home in my own building when the explosion actually happened. first it felt like an earthquake, my whole building was shaking and only 7—8 minutes drive away from the port, then the explosion happened and all the windows exploded. there's some announcement that the explosion was at the port area. since then, the government, the ambulances, the medical system here is rushing to help rescue people. there are reports of many casualties. so far it is hard to tell what the reasons are behind the explosion, we know the government is saying there was an explosive warehouse, which is the cause of the explosion. but actually it was so massive that the whole city heard it, even people up in the mountain heard the explosion or even felt it, depending on how close they are from the area. and we have seen some reports of a possible second explosion close to the former prime minister's residenc

ok, lina sinjab in beirut, thank you very much. is under way in which indian prime minister narendra modi is laying the foundation stone of a new hindu temple in the northern city of ayodhya. these are live pictures coming into us these are live pictures coming into us at the moment of narendra modi speaking at the site. ayodhya is believed to be the birthplace of the important hindu deity of rahm and miranda modi speaking at this temple. this has always been a controversial site because muslims have built a mosque on the site. subsequently. and the area became disputed by both hindus and muslims. but after years of controversy the government has laid the foundation stone they are of a hindu temple. the children's commissioner for england, anne longfield, says schools should be the last places to close in any future lockdowns, after pubs, restaurants and nonessential shops. ms longfield said children were too often "an afterthought", and education should be the last thing to close. of course, i want life to be normal, like everyone

a third correspondent in beirut, lina sinjab, has been speaking to protestors.ed now by one of the protesters who was just there and she just come out. tell us what happened and what is going to happen next? they have just been throwing tear gasses on us and we're just fighting back. this is enough. they've taken our money, they've taken our pride, they're killing us and they still don't want to resign. this is too much. we can't take it anymore. this is too much. they're going to fight. we're going to fight back. they're fire tear gasses. we're still going in, we're still fighting. it will not end here. and what is your next plan? what is going to happen? are you planning to protest tomorrow again? if they're planning to — if the tear—gas is to get us away, we're not going to leave. we're going to stay, we're going to fight. this is enough. we can't take it anymore. they have just killed us. every place in beirut is destroyed. my house is destroyed. thank god no—one was hurt. but most people lost everything. most people... sorry about the loud noise because of

as we've been hearing, thousands of people have taken our middle east correspondent, lina sinjab hasople in the city basically it is really chaotic and lots of riots going on in central square in downtown beirut. as you mentioned, the protesters are having different plans this time. they are trying to occupy public buildings like the ministry of foreign affairs, like the ministry of finance, they even wanted to break into the central banking building, so that is the plan, to occupy these buildings and stay there until these politicians, the political elite respond to their request and be held responsible and be held accountable for what has happened. i am actuallyjoined now by one of the protesters who was just there and she just come out. tell us what happened and what is going to happen next? they have just been throwing tear gasses on us and we're just fighting back. this is enough. they've taken our money, they've taken our pride, they're killing us and they still don't want to resign. this is too much. we can't take it anymore. this is too much. they're going to fight. we're goi

anger at the country's leaders in the wake of tuesday's explosion. 0ur middle east correspondent, lina sinjab chaotic and a lot of riots going on in the central square in downtown beirut. the protesters are having different plans this time, trying to occupy public buildings like the ministry of foreign affairs and the ministry of finance and even wanted to break into the central banking building. so that is their plan, to occupy these buildings and stay there until these politicians and elites respond to their requests and be held responsible and held accountable for what has happened. i'm am actually joined by one of the protesters, aline, who was just there and she just came out. aline, tell us what happened and what is going to happen next. there has been... they have been throwing tear gas on us. we are just fighting back. this is enough. they have taken our money. they have taken our pride. they are killing us. they still don't want to resign. this is too much. we cannot take it any more. this is too much. they will fight and we will fight back. they are firing tear gas and we are still

our correspondent lina sinjab is in beirut. people are still saying to you about the need foraid. still saying to you about the need for aid. first of all, let mejust talk about the solidarity in the lebanese society. incredible efforts by the people here, setting up makeshift aid areas. organisations here are donating food, registering names for people to come, even to help with fixing their houses. so we lebanese people have learnt it throughout their lives, that they get it and they rise up again at the next morning. and this is what we see today, walking around the city, many people are clearing up, many volu nteers many people are clearing up, many volunteers are cleaning up. however, this is not enough at all. the government has said it is going to put ina government has said it is going to put in a £55 million in emergency funding, but it is not enough to cover the need for the people, the need for the devastation in the aftermath of this explosion. almost 250,000 now are left homeless, and already 70% of the population

we can speak now to our middle east correspondent lina sinjab, in beirut. what is the mood there?g many people here in lebanon but at the same time, as much as they are angry with their own government and want the politicians to be out and held responsible, they have seen in the streets of beirut, despite the devastation, it's incredible the solidarity of people. as i look around me here, at the port, the destruction of buildings that are destroyed, hundreds of volunteers are out on the street, cleaning up, helping families in their destroyed homes to fix or clean their homes, distributing food and water. the sense here among the lebanese is that they have to help themselves because the government cannot help them and will not do anything for them, to rescue them. thank you. our top story this lunchtime... a record number of migrants are stopped trying to cross the english channel in one day. and coming up, rescuers praise the 10—year—old swept out to sea, who stayed alive by copying what he'd seen on a bbc documentary. coming up on bbc news, aberdeen‘s game at stjohnstone tomorro

lina sinjab is in beirut for us now.ue operation is still ongoing for the ones who are missing. not only clearing the degree of dislocation, you can see behind me this is the port, this is the building where all the chemicals we re the building where all the chemicals were stored, and blown up, and you can see the damage for your own eyes. the search operation is still ongoing and they are moving the degree and trying to find people here, but if the camera operator will be able to show you just behind the highway here, this is the street where all via buildings, or residential areas —— all of the residential areas —— all of the residential buildings are damaged, and the street behind it, some of the buildings have, you know, com pletely the buildings have, you know, completely damaged, and there is debris there was that people are still missing under the rubble. so the international community, some countries have sent experts and sent medical aid, they have sent experts to look for, search for, the missing people and ass

lina sinjab in beirut.ing me now is lina khatib — director of the middle east and north africa programme at the international affairs think—tank chatham house, and former director of the carnegie middle east center in beirut. thank you forjoining us. 0bviously a lot of questions were raised yesterday about whether this was an accident or something more alarming. what is your take on that at the moment? of course, it's not going to be easy to speculate. it could be an accident, it may not be an accident, but regardless, explosive material of this kind should not be stored in an area close to residential neighbourhoods and unsafely. and certainly should not be there for six years. this speaks of gross government incompetence and just illustrates the huge level of corruption that lebanon has been suffering from for decades and which seems to be snowballing. why would a substance like this, which is used in explosives, be stored in such mass quantities? that raises questions in itself, doesn't it? absolutely. w

lina sinjab in beirut.aiting to see president macron emerging from the aircraft that has arrived in beirut in the last few moments. in fact, there he is, arriving to meet his lebanese counterpart and to express solidarity. the french one of a number of countries internationally offering aid to the lebanese in this time of need. lina khatib is director of middle east and northern africa programme at the international affairs think tank chatham house. lina, thank you forjoining us today as we watch these images of emmanuel macron arriving in beirut. i want to begin, actually, speaking about aid, with the fact there is only one month's supply of grain left. lebanon is dependent on importing a lot of its food supplies and we are told because of damage to the port area and silos, they only had one month of grain left. how worried are you about that, in terms of food supply, you about that, in terms of food supply, food security for the country? it is certainly a worrying situation because lebanon relies on impor

a little earlier, i spoke to the bbc‘s lina sinjab in beirut.she experienced today's events. well, i'm not too far from the port. just six or seven minutes drive, maybe less if there is no traffic. the first feeling i had, it was like an earthquake. i felt my body would collapse. just moving like this, not like a normal earthquake. just a few seconds after, there was this big explosion where all the doors in my apartment were - open. broken, but - few down, ‘oken, but - few down, the n, but - few down, then, but. behind ' their windows were shattered. all their windows were shattered. that's the story you keep hearing from many people who are close or even farfrom from many people who are close or even far from the explosion, depending on the force that affected them. this is something that i've never heard before. it immediately broke to my memory the explosion that happened in 2005 that killed the former prime minister. people described as the time on that same kind of volume. people across beirut heard the explosion and felt its effects in di

part of £5 million support package to help the humanitarian effort in lebanon. 0ur correspondent lina sinjabple in the city have been pulling together to help their local communities as disapproval of the lebanese incredible efforts by the people here, setting up makeshift aid areas. but you know, organisations here are donating food, registering names for people to come, to help with fixing their houses. the lebanese people have learned throughout their lives, through the civil war, they get hit and they rise up against the next morning and this is what we see today, walking around the city. it is covered with rubble, glass, but many people are clearing up, many volunteers are cleaning up, this is not enough. the government said they are going to put in £55 million in emergency funding but it is not enough to cover the needs of the people. the need for devastation in the aftermath of this explosion. almost 250,000 now left homeless. already, 70% of the population living under the poverty line. at the lebanese wa nt the poverty line. at the lebanese want now, they want accountability for the