But the painful reality remains for millions of americans out of a job because of coronavirus. That was never something that i thought would happen to me in my life. And the u. S. Is accused of political manipulation after donald trump signs of order banning business with the chinese owned apps to talk and we checked. And im here to stand with your sports jason day shares the lead at golds 1st major in 13 months the p. G. A. Championship. Lebanons president is beginning an address to the nation as the clamor grows francis over tuesdays port blast in beirut michele is already raised the possibility of external interference even a rocket or a bomb the full effect of the explosion is now becoming clear. With the u. N. Describing the need for shelter as quote massive the death toll has been updated now to 154 but the search goes on through the rubble in and around the port the number of injured is more than 5000 the World Health Organization says the city is now facing a shortage of hospital beds because of the number of damaged facilities amid is all the frustration grows 19 port workers and officials have been arrested but the peoples anger is being directed at the government the french president emanuel micro ended his visit saying theyd be no blank checks unless there is political reform done smith as at the heart of the story in beirut so bernard the comments from the president where do we put them. Well i think people really have lost a lot of faith in the lebanese political elite even before this happened people want to see action rather than words that certainly what were hearing from a lot of people here you can see as hes speaking for the cleanup operation continues and this is all being done by a volunteer a g. s a volunteer as you see across the city on a very basic tools really for what is very dangerous work shop shards of glass pieces of metal things falling down down off damaged buildings and not is the case the volunteers are doing it because the lebanese state has provided little in the way of help so its people who need it so much in the wake of a catastrophic explosion. The volunteers are on the streets of beirut. Sweeping clearing digging so theyre filling the gap left by the state. Which is conspicuous by its absence. We had an i. T. Company here times were tough before tuesdays explosion now she says she cant see any future here. I am in. Los angeles. I see im 30. And both come pick me up from 25 years. I work here ill hide this is the 1st time i. I see Something Like that. Lebanons president michel aoun says an investigation into the explosion will look at whether it was caused by negligence or external interference through a rocket or bomb or other act whatever it was in beirut they want to know why 2700 tons of Ammonium Nitrate was stored in an urban area. When the Ammonium Nitrate ignited the shock wave instantly crossed the city leaving beirut looking like a place but after just 5 seconds has suffered from years of conflict. Frustration and anger boiled over on thursday night and there were some small protests near lebanons parliament. But most people here have been focused on cleaning up for now the government says reconstruction costs will run to at least 15000000000. 00. This is a country that was already on its knees because of a deep economic crisis and a currency that has lost 80 percent of its value in less than a year we dont have a government to look after us and clean are doing the least either we dont need food or clothes or blood even our abutment. Were trying to see people if they need help within our street thats the least we can do the government is in cap of and capable of helping us so we the people are coming here to do to help are our comrades and love and on and were coming from the north all of us were like 78 people were coming from 90 kilometers north north of beirut and were here just to stand by the people the blast has left at least 300000 people homeless many will rely on relatives or friends to take them in. More than 150 people have been killed and there are many missing 7 foreign search teams are leading the delicate task of trying to find survivors under the rubble. More than 5000 people have been injured. 16 people have been arrested in the investigation into the warehouse explosion including the port manager. But for many in this city the finger of blame is pointed at the very top of government. Peter as you can see there is really been a considerable white overwhelming sometimes show of solidarity from the lebanese people here everybody has been out on the streets helping to clean it up the mess but 3 hospitals out of action theyre overwhelmed 80 percent of lebanons food imports come from overseas through the ports but is now out of action this country will not be able to go forward on its own it will need a lot of International Help its a bernard thank you so much Bernard Smith our correspondent there reporting live from the heart of whats going on in beirut lets stay with the story joining us here on the news paula. Is a lebanese m. P. And member of the Opposition Coalition paula q. B. And welcome to the news can i just ask you 1st to give us your thoughts on these comments from michele hinting that as far as he knows we assume this may not have been just the most appalling accident honestly if i didnt hear what our president said because we dont considering that president and more all of them they lost any of the eastern. In this country we dont know what to be done but i mean you could never imagine that theres a bomb. As Small Nuclear bomb inside the city because its inefficient lazy stupid but if you can is casts ruling this country so whatever the president said is insists. Service as usual or ive heard that theyve theyve they found their scapegoats someone already there put it it can cost them their wants and you more to run the forward than that i think is the only person in prison in fact they have to be all of them in prisons and being in prison is not enough for this but if they are caught they brought the country on its knees and then continuing to rule business as you is but i heard you saying that we need International Community to help us yes we need every single one but i heard today that there i mean they already using some international aids made coming. In france and its i dont know how can they go on but i know that their community is nice and here in this country and i think tomorrow it would be a very thick demonstration until they all got at least i hope so what does need to get from the government and in your heart of hearts do you think you will in chile get it. Beirut needs this government to go over a and to lead this country not only the government the government is representing a. Small part of the political system its the Political Parties we need to say to step down and say we have faded to we have faded dysfunctionally the mercenaries ruling this country needs to stay in their homes right now needs to be held accountable and we need to have early elections as soon as possible beepers of go and vote for a new but if it got no matter what they should vote for independent basis or wont support the opposition but we cannot continue it was the same but if you can that has been ruling this country for years and years and they take us from failure to another failure this country week even before and these are huge class. Already we have spent 300000000000. 00 on infrastructure under the christiane but theyve done nothing 300000000000. 00 on of. The country and nothing was done nothing was it based on all of that money they stole people is money in their bags. And and they continue the blame game everyone tells us that its the other whos responsible everyone is threatening but the good ones that they were the ones but its the other sects. Doesnt community we are one mean its you one nation living the same prices the same problems goes by these people you have to see the lebanese people how they are be building their their city who are people how being there are those who are in need people in needs trying to hide one and tearing bringing books are bringing everything just to to be able to be next to each others but do you have to pardon my french rubbish on you there i apologize for interrupting you theres a bit of a delay on our line as you and i are having a conversation do you however have to accept the approach that weve heard from emanuel macro the french president saying in effect the aid operation yes absolutely we are there we will help you but were not going to start giving you money until we know that there is real political change on the horizon there was no before for 30 years french did but there is one very soon lately the sads orderly binnys they are asked only for reforms they are asking else to report electricity the public sector. Basic things that he but also are demanding i think. More words understood that these people at the political cost were doing nothing they were just Good Business says hughes well oh stealing this country stealing everything not only that need but living in it stealing is stealing our lands they just you know we have worries everywhere its all going to what is it going to cost you know they just destroyed everything they still want everything and they want to continue and no reform was done ok even before the 1080 ok you clearly paula im going to interrupt your gangs i do want to get to one quick final point and i apologize for cutting across again you clearly want political reform but on top of that you clearly want the current government out of the way but one intriguing thing that has come out of the last year of antigovernment protests on the streets is the way that lebanese people have not coalesced around or joined together around anyone who might stand for Political Office you guys dont have the experience of that because in effect youve been governed by much the same kind of person and people for 25 or 30 years now so if youre asking people to vote this existing government out of office what do you replace it with people whove got no political history no political experience. Let me tell you we have pretty severe history and experience the problem of is that these same when its going to cost controls everything the media the money they also control the narrative they tell people to sing and theyre also trying to. Assist and so i think to bring us speedbird who are pro hezbollah pro. Services. Security services and theyre trying to divide us more and more icing now absent what happened people were rare there is a momentum right now and him credit was elected few months ago because of the difference before and that theyre going to soon it would have been the same in the oh its ever got to syndicate i know you dont see it but that same person at the same time to see him talk to. Someone from the parties again coming to you know in office and doing the same thing that evolution seems of lot of things even if people are not in the state of the industry there is a new momentum in lebanon and thats why you have that and that they would seem you know elections. Week they are saying ok we must leave our conversation the paula. Thank you for your time thanks for joining us here on the news out. Plenty more still to come here on the news hour for you including accused of sending a hit squad to canada the Saudi Crown Prince faces a lawsuit in washington d. C. And a struggle to control the pandemic cases in india past 2000000 doubling in just 3 weeks also ahead formula one sergio perez wont race this week after testing positive again for coronavirus peter has that in sport in about 30 minutes. Ok lets move on to the other headlining story this hour here on the news the election victory in sri lanka that is expected to cement the power of the rajapaksa brothers the governing party has taken nearly 60 percent of the vote the sri lanka peoples front is led by go to by and by hindu rajapaksa who serve as president and Prime Minister along with their allies at security 2 thirds majority but gives the president the power to make sweeping changes to the constitution well the parliament isnt expected to convene for another 2 weeks Mel Fernandez has more now from the capital colombo. Were waiting to hear sort of details of how the rajapaksa want to take this forward north that the 20th of august is when the new parliament has been convened by a gasket signed by the president they will come together but we also heard that as early as next week we will have the Prime Minister my him that rajapaksa and his cabinet to be sworn in awaiting confirmation but talk of limiting the cabinet to 26 so obviously the rajapakse is not wasting any time in terms of carrying on with the work program that they had targeted for them serves they did ask for a mandate a strong sort of a support of 2 thirds which now with all of their own votes and their allies they havent parliament to pass through any changes now the key thing that they had said was that the amended constitution does not allow them to Carry Forward their program but now there is that confidence with this result of the election in fact president gore tabi rajapaksa responding to the results as they came through yesterday he said hes confident that he can build a Strong Parliament to take forward hes a vicious stars of prosperity that hes kind of mandate and program that he put forward for his president ial bid and that this government is taking forward here so he sort of animal is the executive director of the think tank the center for policy alternatives he says the opposition is weak and divided and there are big challenges ahead. I think walked well talked about parts of succeeded in doing was looking out for by strong stable government person to the government but the calm before the so called documents god the which the Prime Minister and the president the policies it was a week and vacillating doctor organized it so strong stable government also the assertion of the identity of the Majority Community so its also a strong single those who just started with a strong sense all you know centralized leadership a formative years and perhaps an emphasis on lol and all of the i dont disappear out of the can we can get printed they will be back to speak to them but i think things will stop sending their off weeks those in addition to the key challenge i think for president and the new government is going to be big in terms of dealing with the consequences of the poor d with wires you know we see a doctor has to pay something write us dollars full b. And they get from the printer printed prints and we have the Foreign Exchange ready back to hit the floors by the wires the bike into their bows to the middle east the industry and hospitality. So that most of which is stuff you have as well. Hundreds of afghan leaders scholars and elders a meeting in kabul to negotiate a peace deal with the taliban the loya jirgah talks on the last hurdle to the stance of negotiations between the Afghan Government and the taliban the main assume is whether the government should meet the armed groups demands to release 400. 00 prisoners the u. S. Secretary of state might pompei of is edging support for them saying it will be an important step towards peace. Is the founder of the think tank the Afghanistan Affairs unit he says the taliban clearly have the upper hand here at the talks with the government expectation is that the jetta will be one thing in the favor of the needs of these prisoners because the Public Opinion has mainly been focused on facilitating and helping the Peace Process to proceed ahead and as this has been the only hurdle in the start off into of london which is a very important part of the Peace Process so the expectation is ready much. Of one government will be given to go ahead in order to proceed with the prisoner release to pick takes this off course discussion of 400. 00 prisoners released. One government i mean do you give them and in the peace negotiations that will be a fresh start but by the looks of things for the last 12 to 18 months one can realize that the taliban have been holding the is because they signed an agreement with the americans that the Afghan Government was not part of the process secondly. The mando but relieved of 5000. 00 prisoners would have been met which means that they have served their district a precondition for the beginning of the most important part of that we start so although we will be heading into a fresh start as far as the negotiation and bargaining is concerned but looking at the process for the last 18 months one can easily say the taliban have been on top for at least for the time being. Prince mohammed bin solomon is being accused of sending hit men to canada with plans to kill one of his former top intelligence officials suttle jobbery the alleged target has filed a lawsuit in washington d. C. Its been reported there that interpol rejected a request to extradite back to saudi arabia because it was politically motivated heres mike hanna. Crown Prince Mohammed bin solomon has been feted in the white house but now in papers before a washington d. C. Court hes alleged to have ordered death squads to torture and assessed in 8 opponents the cases being brought by a former saudi Intelligence Officer sardar japery who alleges the crown prince sent a team called the tiger squad to canada to kill him the Court Papers Say the men were denied entry by suspicious Canadian Border guards. This detailed flow chart submitted to the court identifies key members of the assassination squad and others involved including what are described as forensic technicians skilled in criminal evidence removal and their image of the hit squad that is believed to have murdered and dismembered journalist Jamal Khashoggi in istanbul in 2018 i know that there are women. All over the world in germany and france somebody notice character. Really basic run away from