Now on bbc news, hardtalk. Welcome to hardtalk. Im stephen sackur. In ireland, all of the talk earlier this year was of a political earthquake. The radical nationalist Party Sinn Fein won the most votes in irelands general election. They promised to smash the status quo. Well, so much for that. In fact, irelands two Old Established parties formed a grand coalition, and they are guiding the country through the covid i9 pandemic and brexit. My guest today is Mary Lou Mcdonald, the leader of sinn fein. Has her party missed its moment . Mary lou mcdonald in dublin, welcome to hardtalk. Thank you. After the february election, when you and your party did remarkably well you won the most first preference votes in irelands general election you talked about a revolution at the ballot box. Well, five months on, whats happened to that revolution . Well, five months on, we are into really uncharted and unprecedented times, no more than yourselves, with a global pandemic, with the Public Health eme
Easier to go on holiday. In thejohnny depp libel trial, more allegations of arguments and violence with his ex wife, amber heard. Hello and welcome if youre watching in the uk or around the world. The United States has once again breached a new daily record for confirmed coronavirus infections. Cases were falling towards the end of last month, but they are now rising steeply again, exceeding 65,000, making these the greatest single day tallies for any country since the Global Pandemic began. The spike in infections has been particularly bad in the south and west of the country, with the state of arizona recording the most cases. 0ur correspondent sophie long has been there. Loud music plays when the governor of arizona lifted the states stay at home order, people partied, pre pandemic style. It was a joke to us. We werejust like, covids fake news. Days later, many woke up to what will probably be the worst hangover of their lives. Never imagined in my life id be in a hospital, you know
Says schools must be prioritised over pubs, echoing englands childrens commissioner. The critical government errors which led to many more people contracting covid 19 a damning report from mps. 1500 jobs are at risk at wh smith after lockdown caused sales to plummet. Hello, good afternoon. The grim operation is underway in lebanon to recover the bodies of the more than a hundred people who are missing after a huge explosion devastated the port area of the capital beirut yesterday. The blast killed at least 100 people and injured more than 4,000 others. The whole city was shaken by the explosion and a Mushroom Cloud could be seen spreading over the port area. Local Authorities Say it is likely the blast was caused by a fire igniting tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate stored unsafely in a warehouse at the port. A number of beirut port officials have been placed under house arrest pending an investigation. This afternoon, her majesty the queen has said shes deeply saddened by the blast. A warning
You are watching bbc news. Lets get more now on our top story the aftermath of yesterdays huge explosion in beirut which killed at least 135 people. We heard briefly from the foreign secretary dominic raab earlier giving his reaction lets hear some more of what he had to say. First of all, its a devastating explosion. Theres clearly huge loss of life and wider damage in beirut. Were not sure on the precise figures. In relation to uk nationals there. 0bviously in relation to uk nationals there. Obviously we have a consulate they are. Obviously we have a consulate they are. We or monitoring that very carefully. I just spoken to the lebanese prime minister. We will stand by the lebanese people in their time of need. We will provide Immediate Response and aid packages, search and rescue, humanitarian assistance, up to £5 million, as well as expert medical support. Whats crucial at this time is how our support is tailored to the very specific needs that i just talked through with the leban
There are now fears of food shortages. As the clearup begins, pledges of help flood in from around the world, including the us and the uk, while aid agencies rush to offer assistance. In other news, more than 700,000 people have now died from coronavirus worldwide. The us has reported the most deaths, followed by brazil and mexico. In the uk, lockdown restrictions are imposed once again in the city of aberdeen amidst a spike in cases there. Rescue workers are searching for dozens of people still missing after the massive explosion in beirut yesterday. At least 135 people were killed and more than 5000 were injured. Large parts of the city were devastated by the force of the blast. The red cross is co ordinating with the Lebanese Health ministry to set up new morgues, and a two week state of emergency has been declared. More than a quarter of a Million People have had to leave their homes. The blast was felt on the island of cyprus, 150 miles away in the eastern mediterranean. They thou