This is bbc news. Im James Reynolds with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. Anger on the streets of beirut protesters call for reform as donors pledge 300 million to rebuild the lebanese capital. For years, lebanon has been buffeted by political corruption and mismanagement. But its this catastrophe that has brought the country to its knees. Aides of the Hong Kong Media tycoonjimmy lai say hes ben arrested for suspected collusion with foreign forces. Australias victoria state reports 19 coronavirus deaths in the past 2a hours the countrys deadliest day of the pandemic so far. Clashes in belarus after pro government exit polls suggest another landslide win for president lukashenko. Hundreds of volunteers in mauritius are frantically trying to stop a Massive Oil Spill from reaching the islands pristine beaches. Hello and welcome. International donors have pledged 300 million in aid for lebanon five days after the explosion which devastated a swathe of beirut. Thereve been clashes on the capitals streets for a second day. Protesters are angry at what they see as government corruption and incompetence. 0fficials now say 220 people died, and more than 7,000 were injured in the explosion. 0ur middle east correspondent Quentin Sommerville has the latest from beirut. Heres the momentjust before beiruts ruin. The warehouse full of explosive chemicals is alight. Sahar fares, a firefighter medic took the video. Moments later, she and nine of her colleagues were gone. Sahar loved herjob. Shed even visit the station on days off. She sent the video to her fiance, gilbert. He told her, get out they found her body by the ports grain silo. All he has left is her engagement ring. Translation i video called her instantly. She was terrified and disoriented. So i told her to run and i was shouting, run, run, run. And then the video cut. We were to marry. This is her ring, it was in her hands and now its around my neck. I wanted to take her in a white dress, instead i took her in a white coffin. Sahar fares was 27 years old, shes one of 220 now confirmed dead by the blast according to beiruts governor. So much was lost in this disaster and lebanon is in crisis. Even before the blast here at the port, its government was broke. This was a large part of the countrys grain supply. Here, people were already going hungry. Its leaders didnt get round to building up an emergency food reserve. The little they had is now lost. Theres no greater symbol of the countrys dysfunction than this disaster, but for years lebanon has been buffeted by political corruption and mismanagement. But its this catastrophe which as brought the country to its knees. French emergency workers are lending a hand. But hope has vanished. Theyre now only using dogs that find human remains rather than those that find survivors. Beirut is in pieces. The cost of rebuilding here will be more than £2 billion. Britain is playing a part too. These rescue workers got here within 2a hours of the disaster. Suzie cooper is the teams structural engineer. What were looking at right now is quick assessment to make sure that the really risky structures are being evacuated and the ones that are safe, we can get people back into. The uk government today pledged another £20 million to help lebanon rebuild. For the second day, protests in beirut. Theyre still small and police and army push back hard. Two government ministers have now resigned but the demonstrators want much more
to sweep away the entire political system. And the world seems to agree. Its pledged millions to help them, but only if their leaders break the corrupt habits of a lifetime. Lets get some more on the donor summit. Among the voices pledging support for lebanon was the world bank with managing director Axel Van Trotsenburg reitterating the organisations commitment to help lebanon in its recovery and im pleased to say that hejoins me now from washington. This is personalfor this is personal for the this is personalfor the world bank, you have staff injured in beirut. How can you guarantee that donor money wont be wasted . First of all, this has been a terrible tragedy and it has also affected our stuff. We have 50 staff in our offices and more than it 200 family members who were affect did. But we would like to help the
lebanese people. But it is also clear that and what needs to be done. The first being what we wa nt to done. The first being what we want to do is a rapid damage assessment. It could serve as a basis for a short to medium term recovery and reconstruction plan. And it is very clear that what the people of lebanon want is that these plans are translated to benefit the lebanese people and therefore this is the challenge for us. But how we can best design programs that directly benefit the people. We have been offering direct support for example, with social Protection Program that could help half a million of the poorest people in lebanon. But it will require also the cooperation of the government. Right, that is the key point
you talk about, direct action. Will you then bypass a political elites that is widely seen as corrupt, and if you dont bypass it, what is the point . Well, here is the thing, we have two put systems in place that are radically transparent, inclusive, meaning reaching the people and with Good Government. With Good Government is with all of the anticorruption government is with all of the anticorru ption measures that you can imagine in place. None of that is in place in lebanon though. We know and we have been pushing this. Therefore we have been holding back. But we also see the suffering of the people and therefore we are trying to see how we can design it. I think todays meeting of the friends of lebanon, the voices were all in support of solidarity. People need to understand that we need to provide humanitarian assistance
but at the same time, most governments are also saying that we need profound changes and that is what we are asking that lebanese policymakers take to heart and act now. Profound changes, does that mean and dismantling the spoils system which has been in place since the end of the civil war which guarantees jobs to different sects, and promotes patronage and corruption. The system there is surely corrupt itself. I think that the lebanese people should decide how they wa nt to people should decide how they want to reform the system. What is for us important is that how can is for us important is that how ca n world is for us important is that how can world bank help. Where an institution that has been created to help reconstruct europe and countries in crisis but also have a development perspective. We can do wonderful work in lebanon provided we do this on the basis of transparency and inclusion and Good Governance. When we are willing to act on this because it is also a fact that, james, right now, 45 of the pop relation is poor and 2296 the pop relation is poor and 22 is living in extreme poverty. That is not an a cce pta ble poverty. That is not an acceptable state of affairs the bank wants to help. Noone disputes that the world bank wa nts to disputes that the world bank wants to help and nobody disputes that money needs to get to people in beirut and even get to people in beirut and eve n a cross get to people in beirut and even across lebanon, but the question is, are you going to get the entire authority is to change the way they work . Are you going to get the president to a cce pt you going to get the president to accept a credible International Requirement as your communique ask him to . What were doing with our programs is, we will have this anticorruption and we have also dealt with other countries that have problems with corruption. And we are able to control the. It requires enormous effort but we are willing to do that
because we need, we see the people are in need of help with the world, and we have offered. We have offered over 2 million ofan we have offered over 2 million of an operation for the poorest of an operation for the poorest of the poor. And we will engage and engage with the government to see if we can negotiate that. With the provisions of a radical transparency as well as Good Governance in place. Radical transparency, i think people in the streets of beirut would say that is something thatis would say that is something that is not associated with the political authorities there. If the people in beirut were able to speak to you and ask you a simple question, prove to us that your World Bank Money will not be wasted, prove it. What would you say to them . What i would you say to them . What i would say is that we want to work with this type of programs directly with Civil Society. We have programs that we are executing with Civil Society so that they are involved, they have a voice crosstalk and the
money goes directly to them and not the government, directed to the Civil Society organisations without going through the government. Out money is contracted by the government but you can create structures that directly Civil Society implements these projects and we have this experience. We have successful experience. We have successful experience. We have done it elsewhere. We are prepared to put the system in place that reaches the people that deserve the support. Thank you so much for speaking to the bbc. Thank you so much. A pro democracy activist and tycoon in hong kong, jimmy lai, has been arrested. The media mogul is one of the highest profile figures to be detained so far under the territorys new security law. Im joined now by our correspondent in hong kong, danny vincent. Remind us whojimmy lai is and why he is so important to. Jimmy lai is one of the most outspoken pro democracy activists here in hong kong. He is also a media mogul. He is the owner of apple daily, a newspaper that very frequently challenges the authorities and beijing with his journalism. Challenges the authorities and beijing with hisjournalism. He isa beijing with hisjournalism. He is a very important figure, very high profile. He has made no attempt really to restrict his criticism of the authorities over the years. And since this new National Security law was enacted, its been thought that he was perhaps the number one target of the authorities. Now this morning, he has been arrested under suspicion of violating the new National Security law stop the allegations are that he colluded with foreign forces, critics will say that isa forces, critics will say that is a very vague expression. Its not clear exactly what this means a this time. But what we do know is that it has
been reported thatjimmy lai has been arrested and this will definitely be seen as once again, another example of how this city is changing quite dramatically since this new National Security law was introduced. What impact might this have on the rest of the Pro Democracy Movement . This have on the rest of the prodemocracy movement . Well, for weeks now, i mean it has been more than a month since this law was enacted and many of the pro democracy activists, they sadly expected Something Like this to happen. But the same time, people are also surprised at how quickly this is changing. People were very worried about what they say is the vagueness of this law. They say it is incredibly wide ranging and they say it can be used by the authorities to simply target people that are critical of beijing. This will definitely be seen as another example of the chilling effects here in hong kong stop i think
pro democracy activists will say that this is an example that the authorities are trying to send a message to them and also to the International Community that hong kong is obviously a part of china but also that beijing seems to be taking more control and people that are criticising the authorities, criticising beijing, may well be punished under the full power of this new law. Thank you so much, danny vincent. There have been another 19 deaths from covid i9 in australia in the past 2a hours the deadliest day since the pandemic began. The previous record was 17 which was announced on sunday. All the deaths were in the state of victoria which is now entering its second week of level four lockdown. Meanwhile new zealand has gone 100 days without recording a locally transmitted covid i9 case. Joining me now is dr suzy wiles, a microbiologist and Infectious Disease expert at the university of auckland. Lets start with australia. What is your assessment of the latest figures . Well, its good to see that the rolling average are starting to trend down now. We have obviously been very concerned. The problem was that they didnt go into a lockdown soon enough. They have lost a few weeks really but now that they are in this level four, hopefully we will see the cases start to drop and continue to drop. You are of course in new zealand where things are very different. I think the country has gone about a hundred days without any community transmission. I imagine people there are tempted to declare victory, too soon . 0h, there are tempted to declare victory, too soon . Oh, yes. We are very much back to normal pa rt are very much back to normal part from the fact that we dont have any tourists and we are travelling anywhere. So we doing all of the kinds of things that if ended up letting covid i9 back in it would allow the virus to spread very fast. While we are all excited, its actually 100 and one day is, weve just actually 100 and one day is, wevejust had. Won actually 100 and one day is, weve just had. Won us and so you short, 101 but we know that our borders are where we have to control the virus. Yes,
we also note that numbers are growing overseas and were not taking this for granted. It is a sprint. What can other countries learn from the new zealand experience . Countries learn from the new zealand experience . |j countries learn from the new zealand experience . I think that we acted very hard and very fast. So i think that when the viruses around, that is exactly what you have to do. What is going to be very for new zealanders is if we do end up new zealanders is if we do end up with another case of community transmission, quite how we respond to that because it is very clear around the world, people are getting very tired of having to go in and out of lockdown. So yes, we havent faced the challenge. The question is whether we will all come together like we did the first time. People still able to come and go from new zealand . We have isolation when you come into the country and the only people allowed in our people from new zealand. There are exemptions for necessary workers and at the moment it is
about managing that isolation. Do we have the capacity to expand it anymore . The government at the moment is saying no. 101 days did it i will remember that figure. Stay with us on bbc world news, still to come hundreds of volunteers in mauritius, try to stop a Massive Oil Spill from reaching the islands pristine beaches. The big crowds became bigger as the time of the funeral approached. As the lines of fans became longer, the police prepared for a hugejob of crowd control. Idi amin, ugandas brutal former dictator, has died at the age of 80. Idi amin, ugandas brutal former dictator, has died at the age of 80. Hes been buried in saudi arabia, where he lived in exile since being overthrown in 1979. Two billion people around the world have seen the last total eclipse of the sun to take place in this millennium. It began itsjourney off the coast of canada, ending three hours later when the sun set over the bay of bengal. This is bbc news, the latest headlines anger on the streets of beirut as protesters call for reform donors have pledged 300 million to rebuild the lebanese capital, after tuesdays devastating explosion. The Hong Kong Media tycoon jimmy lai is arrested for suspected collusion with foreign forces. Hes detained under the bejings National Security law. Anti government protests have broken out in cities across belarus after exit polls
reported a sweeping victory for the long time, authoritarian president alexander lu kashenko. State run television said he won nearly 80 of the vote. The opposition says that that vote was rigged. Across belarus, people took to the streets. Go away, they chant. After 26 yea rs of away, they chant. After 26 years of their president they have had enough saying he rigged the election results. Named by some as europes last dictator, he hit back with some great knaves, tear gas and riot police. The violent and to election day, with unprecedented numbers to queueing to cast their vote, eagerfor change. When
queueing to cast their vote, eager for change. When the president cast his ballot he was confident of another landslide victory. And why not . He controls the media and the vote count stop he was scathing about his female opponent. Translation i do not consider that person my arrival. She said honestly that she has no idea what she is which isnt how she looked on the campaign trail. A few weeks ago she was a stay at home mother. And when her husband was banned from running from president and thrown in jail as she stepped in. And while unexpected to when she vowed to defend the vote and her supporters are doing just that. Can they make a difference . Im afraid the momentum will fizzle and it will be business as
usual, lukashenko will declare victory and held down the remaining rest list souls and embark on his sixth term. Over 100 people have already been detained. Authorities say they are in control, for now. Lets get some of the days other news at least 43 bodies have been recovered after a massive landslide was triggered by monsoon rains in india. Local media reported that many people are still missing from the tea plantation in kerala. The landslide happened while people were sleeping and rescue efforts continue. Gunmen in niger have attacked a party of wildlife tourists, killing six french aid workers, their guide and a driver. The gunmen arrived on motorcycles and opened fire on the group, who were taking part in a wildlife tour. Jihadists have become increasingly active in the area. At least five people have been killed after torrential rains on the greek island of evia. Officials say the victims include a couple in their eighties and an eight month old baby. Dozens of people have been evacuated. The greek Prime MinisterKyriakos Mitsotakis has expressed his profound pain for the loss of lives. The total number of coronavirus cases recorded in the United States has risen by 5 million, far higher than any other country. President trump has signed an executive order to provide economic aid to millions of americans. He said he was forced to do so after talks with the democrats in congress broke down. Police in washington dc say one teenager has been shot dead and about 20 other people have been injured after gunmen opened fire on an outdoor gathering which appeared to ignore social distancing rules. The police chief in the us capital said at least three shooters were involved. Hundreds of volunteers in mauritius havejoined efforts to stop a Huge Oil Spill from reaching the islands pristine beaches. They have been creating large net barriers stuffed with straw and plastic bottles. A thousand tonnes of oil have spilt from a japanese owned ship which ran aground two weeks ago. Tanya dendrinos reports. This normally pristine coastline is now the scene of an ecological disaster. 0il washing ashore and local volunteers scrambling to do everything in their power to stem the impact. From all around the country, volunteers have come to the south east of the island to do their part for their country. People are coming in with boots and shovels to pick up the oil from the shore. They are building kilometres of floating booms to contain the spillage and they are cutting hair to donate because hair is a great absorbent for oil. The bulk carrier had around 4,000 tons of fuel aboard when it ran aground on a coral reef just off the Indian Ocean Island on the 25thjuly. Its believed more than 1000 tons of oil has now leaked into the water. The operator of the stranded japanese tanker
offering a public apology but concerns have been raised over the time its taken for action. You know, its only the last three days since the oil started leaking that people have actually been taking action. Before that, the government really hasnt done too much to actually control the situation and obviously its been hard because nobodys really, nobody really knows whats going on. And already the impact is severe. Greenpeace warning animal species are at risk with potential for dire consequences for the mauritian economy, Food Security and health. This oil is so deep inside mangroves, in between rocks, under trees, inside the lagoon, that its not something thats going to be easily fixable to get all of it out. So its going to be a very challenging process. On friday, the Prime Minister declared a state of emergency and appealed for help. France has sent a military aircraft with pollution control equipment, with japan
dispatching a team to help with the effort. Tanya dendrinos, bbc news. Have a look at this world record its the biggest string dance in the world. More than 3,000 people performed the traditional folk dance in tibet, accompanied by a xian zi, a type of stringed instrument. The dance itself is more than 2,000 years old. A reminder of our top story. Fresh clashes have broken out in the lebanese city of a route between police and protesters who were angered by the governments response to the massive explosion on tuesday. Some demonstrators tried to breach the barricades surrounding parliament building, and they threw stones at security get forces who fired tear gas in response. International donors have pledged nearly 300 million in emergency funds, 220 people
died in the explosion of 300,000 residents were left homeless. Stay with us here on bbc world news. Hello there. This heatwave continued across southeastern parts of the uk on sunday. The highest temperature was recorded in herstmonceaux in east sussex, 3a degrees, closely followed by 33 in farnborough in hampshire. More comfortable temperatures, more comfortable humidity through bedford and prestwick. It is going to be southeastern areas that continue to see the extreme temperatures over the next few days. But even here, temperatures will drop a bit by the end of the week. Together with the heat and humidity, theres an increasing risk of catching some torrential rain with some heavy and thundery downpours. Although, pinning down the detail is going to be rather difficult. As we head into the morning, we start with a fair bit of cloud around. Maybe some showers or rain developing, particularly across wales in the southwest. These could turn heavy and thundery, drift their way northwards through the irish sea, threatening northwest england, Northern Ireland and heading into southern scotland. There could be the odd sharp shower further east, but there will be a lot of sunshine around as well. Its going to heat up very quickly in england and wales, may well be a hotter day through the midlands 29, or even 30 degrees here. It gets more humid as well overnight across england and wales, temperatures perhaps dropping no lower than 17 19 degrees. Also be a bit warmer in scotland, and probably feeling a bit more humid here, i think, on tuesday. There may well be some further heavy and thundery rain to clear away from overnight, moving northwards, but the details have changed already for tuesday again with a scattering of showers developing further south, but also many areas still dry with some very warm sunshine. Those temperatures peaking at 311 35 across the southeast of england. And probably a little bit higher across yorkshire and lincolnshire on tuesday. As we head into the middle part of the week, we are going to find a weather front developing across the uk. Were also finding falling pressure coming up from biscay heading across northern france. So every likelihood that there
will be some further heavy and thundery rain, giving the risk of some flash flooding. One area of rain pushing across scotland, northern england, then we will see a scattering of heavy thundery downpours developing more widely later in the day probably for england and wales. Still 33 degrees perhaps in the southeast. Seven days in a row with temperatures above 30 celsius. It will be cooler, fresher across scotland and Northern Ireland. So, the threat of some very heavy rain and a lot of thunder and lightning over the next few days. Gradually, the temperatures will get back to near normal by the end of the week and continue that way into the weekend. This is bbc news, the headlines fresh clashes have broken out in the lebanese city of beirut between police and protesters who are angry at the governments response to tuesdays massive explosion which killed 220 people. International donors, who have pledged 300 million for rebuilding, are also seeking political reform. Police in hong kong have arrested a prominent pro democracy activist and media tycoon, jimmy lai. His aides say mr lai has been accused of colluding with foreign forces. He is thought to be the most high profile person to have been arrested under hong kongs controversial new National Security law. Australias victoria state has reported 19 cornavirus deaths in the past 2a hours the countrys deadliest day of the pandemic so far. Officials in the state, which is the epicentre of australias second coronavirus wave, say a majority of the deaths were linked to care homes. Now on bbc news, Alicia Mccarthy looks back at how