A very warm werlcome to bbc news. My names mike embley, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. Explosion a massive blast in the lebanese capital, beirut, leaves more than 70 people dead and thousands injured. The explosion in the port sent shockwaves across the city. Translation i do not know what happened. I was fishing. I heard there was a failure i turned and started to head home. I heard an explosion and this happened. The lebanese Prime Minister says a confiscated haul of Ammonium Nitrate is to blame for the devastating blasts and vows that those responsible would be held accountable. In china, a formerFashion Model handcuffed to his bed for so called reeducation rare footage of the uighur ethnic minorities held in secretive
detention centres. We have a special report. A two day anti protest curfew is imposed in indian administered kashmir ahead of the First Anniversary of delhis decision to revoke the special status of the region. And why the latest issue of British Vogue is making history, in front of and behind the camera. Hello. An explosion in the port area of the lebanese capital beirut have killed almost 80 people and injured more than 4,000. Many people are still missing, believed to be trapped under the rubble. The blast was so powerful that it caused extensive damage to buildings over much of the city. Hospitals have been overwhelmed. Officials say more tonnes of confiscated Ammonium Nitrate caused the blast. 0ur middle east editor, jeremy bowen, has been following developments. Just to warn you his report
contains distressing images. Explosion. It was a massive explosion. Shouting. Another view from the bay. And from the streets. What happened 7 oh, my god oh, my god. It looks as if dozens are dead and several thousand injured. And a country already deep in crisis has been hit by a catastrophe. Translation i dont know what happened. I was fishing. I heard there was a fire. I turned and started
to head home. I heard something explode and then this happened. This was the fire in beirut port. The flashes, they say, wear fireworks. Then something much bigger ignited. Lebanons interior minister told local media it was Ammonium Nitrate, which had been stored there since 2014. Sirens. It can be used as fertiliser or to make explosives. Alarm bell. This is downtown beirut, close to the parliament building. Since the end of last year, lebanon has been paralysed by a political and economic crisis, and street demonstrations,
before the country was gripped by the pandemic. The damage is spread across the city. The shock will run much deeper. And this tragedy risks pushing the lebanese further into despair. Hassan diab, the Prime Minister, broadcast to the nation. He told them that those responsible would pay the price. Beiruts hospitals, already pressed hard by covid i9, are faced with hundreds of casualties. Translation we were at home. We heard what sounded like fireworks. We thought it was a container in the port that was on fire. A few seconds later, we were flying through the air. Lebanon will get International Help which, until now, its friends have been reluctant to give because of corruption and incompetence in lebanons wealthy elite. But public anger, already strong, will demand
real change at last, if lebanons rulers cannot heal the wounded, fix the damage and punish the guilty. And there is one big question. Who allowed the storage of so much deadly explosive for so long in a warehouse so close to the city centre . Jeremy bowen, bbc news. 0ur correspondent, carine torbey, has been at the American University medical centre in beirut. We are standing at the moment in front of the emergency gate. People are still coming in either to check on their relatives or to check whether their relatives are inside the hospital because theyre still a large number of people unaccounted for. This hospital like every other hospital in beirut has been completely overwhelmed. They awoke into utmost capacity and are not
able to deal with the larger number of injured coming in. They are. People are being treated in corridors and even inside officers and not only in the medical rooms of the hospital because it is impossible to accommodate eve ryo ne impossible to accommodate everyone in the rooms. Even the hospitals are categorising people according to the severity of cases and giving priority to those in a very Critical Condition because this is the only way to deal with this very High Pressure they are under at the moment. As you can see, this is a real emergency inside even in the emergency inside even in the emergency unit and hospitals. People are here not only because they are injured but also because they are in shock and panic and at the moment it is very hard to say what is the
real scale of what happened this afternoon but beirut has been immensely shattered and dropped by this explosion that happened hours ago and still up until now everyone is looking for questions and everyone is trying to understand what really happened to the capital. Lets go live to washington and hassan mneimneh, a middle east expert and a non resident scholar at the middle east institute. Thank you very much for your time. What do you think, as far as anyone could tell, happen here and why . One has to wait for the proper investigation to com plete for the proper investigation to complete itself, whether the lebanese government is capable of such an investigation or not. An administrative dysfunction may explain a lax nurse in the application might
have reduced what happened but also lebanon is under the quasi occupation of an army loyal to iran that is known to have stored all sorts of weapons all over the place. Is this one of the storage locations . These are questions of the lebanese are actually asking themselves. Whether it is one or the other or a combination of both, one cannot readily know but unfortunately the catastrophe adds to the catastrophes already face my the lebanese people. Generals have told the president it might bea have told the president it might be a bomber. The government is staring away from that interpretation but what about the wider impact on lebanon itself . I would not put too much weight on the claim even by donald trump that it is an attack. It might be just a
reflection, his own assessment but frankly when we talk about an attack, who is the party accused of attacking . Clearly there has been quite a bit of an intensification in the rhetoric and into the hostilities between hezbollah and israel. Why would israel give them a couple of days before condemning as well of the sessa nation of rafik hariri. But this is unrealistic. It does not look like it was an attack. It is more likely, close to a certainty that it was an explosion. The question is whether the explosion was incidental or not, all indications pointing to an incidental explosion but it is
a criminal one none the less. Thank you very much for talking to us. More on that later in the programme. Lets round up some of the other main developments the World Health Organization has urged russia to follow International Guidelines for producing a vaccine for covid i9. The leadership in moscow has said it will begin vaccinations in october. The russian vaccine is not among the whos list of six that have reached phase three clinical trials, involving more widespread testing on humans. New york citys Health Commissioner has resigned. Dr 0xiris barbot, cited her deep disappointment with mayor bill de blasios handling of the coronavirus outbreak, saying the Health Departments incomparable expertise was not used to the degree it could have been. More than 20,000 new yorkers died of the virus, although infection rates are now low. A United Nations report has warned that north korea is still developing its nuclear programme, despite international sanctions, and may already have reached a key milestone. According to the study several countries believe the north already has the ability to mount
nuclear warheads on its ballistic missiles. Colombias Supreme Court has ordered the detention of the countrys former president , alvaro uribe, over allegations that he was involved in witness tampering and fraud. Mr uribe has repeatedly denied such claims but will now stand trial in october. The Supreme Court has not yet said whether the former president will be jailed or await the court case under house arrest. The bbc has obtained rare footage from inside chinas secretive system of mass incarceration, in the far Western Region of xinjiang. In a self shot video, a formerFashion Model, who is from the uighur ethnic group, can be seen handcuffed to a bed. His relatives say he was taken away for what china has called reeducation and that nothing has been heard from him since. Up toi million uighurs have been detained in so called educational training centres. Neither the Chinese Foreign ministry nor xinjiang authorities have responded to the bbcs requests for comment. John sudworth has this report. A few years ago, this man was a long way from his home in xinjiang, making good money as a Fashion Model in southern china. But this is him in february. His camera reveals his filthy clothes, and his left arm handcuffed to a bed. He is now clearly back in xinjiang. Beyond the steel mesh on the window, a propaganda announcement drones away in the uighur language. Despite the risk that it may bring him further punishment. Relatives, including his uncle, who lives in amsterdam, say they have no choice but to release the video he sent them. Translation staying silent wont help him, either. The only thing i can do is to raise public awareness. It is our only chance
to rescue him. The young model had already served 16 months injail, having been convicted of a drugs offence in 2018, although his family say he was innocent. Upon completing his sentence, whatever relief he may have felt was short lived. Soon afterwards, the police picked him up again and took him back to xinjiang, for, they said, a few days education. We have asked Chinese Government officials here whether he was suspected of any further offence and, even if he was, why he was handcuffed to a bed. We have received no response. China has built a vast network of highly secure facilities across xinjiang, some of which we were shown as part of its efforts to convince the world that theyre schools for combating extremism, not camps. But last year, under intense international criticism, it said they were being closed. The texts merdan sent along with his video clearly suggest otherwise. 50 60 people were locked in a small room, he writes. All had sacks on their heads and handcuffs and shackles. Elsewhere, he could hear the sounds of torture. One time, i heard a man screaming from morning to evening, he writes. His first hand description of the Police Holding cell is very, very vivid. He writes in very, very good chinese. It gives us a lot of detail, and frankly, a lot of horrific detail about the way in which these people are treated. So it is quite a rare source. In the end, it was the virus that allowed him to get word out from this secretive system. With a slightly high temperature, he was moved to this isolation cell as a precaution and given access
to personal belongings, which, unknown to his guards, contained his phone. But as suddenly as they began, the messages stopped. He has not been heard from since. John sudworth, bbc news. Stay with us on bbc news, still to come why the latest issue of British Vogue is making history in front of and behind the camera. The question was whether we want to save our people and japanese, as well and win the war, or whether we want to take a chance on being able to win the war by killing all our young men. The invasion began at two oclock this morning. Mr bush, like most other people, was clearly caught by surprise. We call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all the iraqi forces. 100 years old and still full
of vigour, vitality and enjoyment of life. No other king or queen in british history has lived so long, and the queen mother is said to be quietly very pleased indeed that shes achieved this landmark anniversary. This is a Pivotal Moment for the church as an international movement. The question now is whether the american vote will lead to a split in the anglican community. This is bbc news. The latest headlines almost 80 people have been killed and thousands injured in a huge explosion in the lebanese capital, beirut. The lebanese Prime Minister says a confiscated haul of Ammonium Nitrate is to blame for the blast. He vows that those responsible would be held accountable. More on that to come. First, the authorities in indian administered kashmir have imposed a two day curfew ahead of the First Anniversary of delhis decision to revoke the special status of the region. New razor wire and steel barricades have been placed on key roads of the main city, srinagar. Thousands of troops have been patrolling in other parts of the region. Officials said the curfew starting today had been imposed following reports of protests in the muslim majority region. With me is the bbcs ishleen kaur. Good to have you here. Help us with a background . Good to have you here. Help us with a background . It was on the fifth of august 2019 that the fifth of august 2019 that the Indian Government advocated article 370, it took away the special status of the state of jammu and kashmir. Jammu and kashmir had certain privileges like a separate flag, a separate constitution, exclusive rights to property, to permanent residency, foreign
affairs, defence, they remained under the preserve of the central government. 0nce under the preserve of the central government. Once the announcement was made there we re announcement was made there were a violent protest in indian administered kashmir, communication blackouts, and the state has been under curfew light conditions for seven months. Why have the government on this, do you think . The indian Prime Minister, and around remotely, and the ruling Hindu Nationalist Party have long opposed the existence of article 370, they say that the article does not put kashmir on the same footing as the rest of india. So if the rest of india was given the privilege to purchase property in kashmir, then, kashmir would purchase property in kashmir, then, kashmirwould become purchase property in kashmir, then, kashmir would become a more active economy. However, critics of the announcement, they fear this was actually designed to change the demographic make up of the muslim majority state. So if the rest of india was to purchase property in kashmir, thenit purchase property in kashmir, then it could turn into a hindu state. How would you describe
the situation there generally, one year on . I have spoken to a lot of fellow journalist back in srinagar, and what they have told me is the situation is pretty much the same because there is heavy presence of other military forces, soldiers every few metres, barricades every few metres, barricades every few metres, and there is silence on the streets of srinagar, as it was back on the fifth of august, 2019. Schools and universities remained shut, also because of the pandemic, but local businesses have really suffered. And the economy of kashmir has really, really suffered. So it is pretty much curfew and silence in kashmir. Ishleen kaur, thank you so much. Theres a very good chance youve seen some of president trumps interview with axios. In it, he insists the United States is doing an incredible job during the coronavirus pandemic. Thereve been more than 4. 7 million confirmed cases of covid 19 in america. At least 156,000 people have died. The president spoke to journalist Jonathan Swan for axios on hbo. Take a look at some of these charts. Id love to. Were going to look. Lets look. And if you look at death. They start to go up again. Heres one. Well, right here, United States is lowest in numerous categories. Were lower than the world. Lower than the world . Were lower than europe. In what . Take a look. Right here, heres case death. 0h, death as proportion of cases. Im talking about death as proportion of population. Thats where the us is really bad. Much worse than south korea, germany, etc. You cant do that. Why cant i do that . You have to go by. Look. Here is the United States. You have to go by the cases. Virgin atlantic has child for
chapter 15 bankruptcy protection. If the second member of the virgin group to file for such production. Virgin australia took a similar step in april. Airlines have been hammered by the drop in travel due to the pandemic was that this is a legal based manoeuvre to protect companies assets. For the first time in its history, the cover of British Vogue has been shot by a black male photographer with a predominantly black team on set. The magazines editor said the September Issue was a rallying cry for the future and includes 40 activists described as the faces of hope. Brenda Emmanus reports. If a picture paints 1,000 words, then this is the vision for hope for the future are seen by the editor of British Vogue. The prestigious September Issue has been dedicated to activism and features a host of International Authors and change makers. Led by footballer Marcus Rashford and model turned mental health
campaigner adwoa aboah. Because of covid 19, then we went into sort of real