Transcripts For BBCNEWS Breakfast 20200805

Good morning. New car sales were up compared to last year. But what happened when pent up demand dries 7 happened when pent up demand dries up . Iwill happened when pent up demand dries up . I will be looking at the long, long road to recovery. Good morning. Its footballs richest match, and fulham won it at wembley. The london club are back in the premier league after beating local rivals brentford in the championship playoff final. Good morning. Afair good morning. A fair bit of cloud around today. Rain from the west and some rain in the north. Driest and brightest conditions will be in the south and east. I have the details later in the programme. Good morning. Its wednesday july 5. Our top story lebanon is in mourning this morning after an explosion ripped through the capital beirut. At least 78 people are now known to have died and thousands have been wounded as rescue workers continue to search through the rubble. Officials say a confiscated haul of explosives was to blame. This report from sean dilley contains some distressing scenes. It was a catastrophic explosion. What . the blast was heard 150 miles away. Another view from moments earlier shows a fire in beirut report. Authorities say the flashes we re report. Authorities say the flashes were caused by fireworks. But then. As the sound of the explosion rain out across the city, windows smashed and buildings were destroyed. From the streets. Beirut could only watch as the carnage unfolded. 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. Already heavily stretched by the covid i9 crisis, go to Public Hospitals were overwhelmed by casualties in need of urgent treatment. Translation we have at least 300 wounded in the hospital right now. We have six operating suite that are still operating right now. This keeps filling up by another group that needs attention. We have about four to five in intensive care, three arrived dad. Everyone of our crew, doctors and nurses are operating, Even Administration, eve ryo ne operating, Even Administration, everyone is working. We have a lot of damage as you can see. All the have collapsed at the entrance and the glass windows of patient by wounds. As medics struggled to help the injured, distraught locals or find lost relatives. Translation he is 29 years old, from seven oclock in the evening we have been all over every hospital in beirut and we are now waiting for the names to come out and nothing has come out. We dont know if he is dead or alive. Wejust dont know. The International Community has offered its help to a city in turmoil. Borisjohnson tweeted. Lebron en Parliament President has announced three days of morning and promised to release 100 billion lire of £50. 5 million of emergency funds. 0fficials of £50. 5 million of emergency funds. Officials say highly explosive materials believed to be Ammonium Nitrate stored in a warehouse for up to six years because the explosion. They say they are investigating what ignited it. In the meantime, Authorities Say those responsible will face the maximum possible punishment. Lets speak now to our correspondent, rami ruhayem, who is in beirut this morning. Good morning to you. The scale of this explosion really becoming clear this explosion really becoming clear this morning. Bring us right up to date with the latest developments in terms of those who have been killed any injuries. Well, the death toll is likely to rise, unfortunately. The number of injured also. Were just beginning to get figures from the authorities yesterday as soon as ones is is one thing, the next minute the total will be much higher stop as you said, the scale is massive from this explosion. The explosion was felt several kilometres away and it was experienced as an earthquake. Personally, i was quite far away, about 20 kilometres will do what i felt to begin with was an earthquake, like an earthquake, and then that was followed by an incredibly loud blast and it was quite a distant away from the site of the explosion. People closer, the contents of the explosion. People closer, the co nte nts of of the explosion. People closer, the contents of their homes were destroyed, practically unlivable, uninhabitable. People who were actually displaced by this blast, so u nfortu nately actually displaced by this blast, so unfortunately the toll is quite likely to rise. Again, one of the main questions being asked is how come all that material was just sitting there for six years in the warehouse in the port of beirut . But also other questions such as what is also other questions such as what is a country going to do without the port where most of its imports come through while it faces economic freefall . We are looking at the live images this morning, and you do get a sense of the devastation at the scene of the explosion itself with just a trail of smoke emerging from the rubble around there. Many of the injuries we know now were caused by glass shattering, buildings as you described, many miles away. Can you give us a sense of what that was like people . I tried to get close to the side of the explosion yesterday, and the highway leading from the north towards the capital was basically a blanket of shattered glass and rubble. Tractors were trying to clear the rubble so the ca is trying to clear the rubble so the cars could go by and the ambulances we re cars could go by and the ambulances were trying to rush to the scene through very heavy traffic. So for all of these people around the side of the explosion for quite a significant distance around the site of the explosion it was reallyjust a matter of luck where you happens to be at the moment the blast strikes is what is going to determine the kind of injury you are going to have, whether you will live oi going to have, whether you will live ordie, and what going to have, whether you will live or die, and what is going to happen to you, and that is talking about the wounded and the death toll, and of course, for all of those who are in the vicinity of the explosion, the question is how are they, even the question is how are they, even the lucky ones, how are they going to rebuild their homes at a time once again of economic freefall and the National Currency is in collapse, people bother purchasing powers have been decimated over the past few months, materials like glass, wood, everything you can think of when you think a basic reconstruction stuff, prices are going through the roof. So, really, imean, going through the roof. So, really, i mean, there is never a good time for such territories write such a city, but for beirut, you can hardly imaginea city, but for beirut, you can hardly imagine a worse time than this. We heard stories from those who have caught up close to the detriment close to the explosion, vehicles being lifted off the ground and thrown some distance, and also, as you mentioned, the infrastructure to office buildings, to homes as well. Yes, complete destruction inside homes and offices, just everything is gone. I havent been able to go inside these homes yet, but i have been hearing from friends and from everybody who is closer to the site of the blast, it looks, you walk into one of these apartments are offices, it looks like a war zone, just everything twisted into rubble, uninhabitable apartments. I dont know what is going to happen to all the people who, right now, have practically nowhere to live until this is sorted one way or another, and at the same time, it is not even the priority, it is not even the number one of priority for the authorities at the moment. They are still talking about the injured and the death toll, which is likely to rise higher, increased infections, covid i9 had already struck the country in the days and weeks ahead of this tragedy, so the hospitals we re of this tragedy, so the hospitals were already struggling. Now they are overwhelmed with thousands of people. So it isjust are overwhelmed with thousands of people. So it is just one disaster after the other. For the moment, thank you very much. Just let you know, throughout the programme, we be speaking to various different people. In a few minutes we will speak to someone who was in their apartment at the time, windows shattered and doors were all blown in as well. We will talk to her in a few minutes. Lets talk about other news this morning. Schools should be the last places to close in any future lockdowns after pubs, restaurants and non essential shops. Thats according to the childrens commissioner for england, Anne Longfield, said children were too often treated as an afterthought in the last few months. 0ur Political Correspondent nick eardley is in westminster. Good morning to you. Still some time before most children go back to school, and this is top of the agenda. It is september that children in england go back to school in scotland, it is actually next week so we will get a rough idea next week of how things are going in scotland when children start to return. But the pretty clear argument that the children by the commissioner for england is making this morning is that young people need to be more of a priority when the government is figuring out all the balance of rest that will inevitably come over the next few weeks and months. She is saying in a first lockdown children were too often an afterthought, and now she thinks he needs to be absolute priority that schools need to be numberone on priority that schools need to be number one on the list, the first thing to open up and the last thing to close if there is any need for more restrictions to come in. That is an argument being made. The guardian as well saying that getting children back to school in september in england is absolutely a priority. Now, we know that that she felt chief medical officer for england, we we re chief medical officer for england, we were talking about this yesterday, was saying there is some risk. They have probably reached the limit of what can be opened up safely. Many people are warning that if you want to open up schools and keep the virus under control, stop that rate of reproduction going up too high, then you might have to close other things as well. There is definitely some Big Questions coming from the government. I have to say i think the schools are a big priority. We have had minister after minister, the local government minister, the local government minister said yesterday schools are a priority and they are determined to be opened up in september. There is definitely a lot of pressure for that to happen and a lot of people saying to the government that whatever happens, that need to be numberone on whatever happens, that need to be number one on the list. For the moment, thank you very much. The inquest into the death of tv presenter Caroline Flack is expected to continue today. She was found dead at her flat in london in february. Lisa hampele reports. Caroline flack became synonymous with the show love island although her career when backed almost 20 yea rs. Her career when backed almost 20 years. She once quickly come dancing in 2014 and also cohosted the x factor for stopping in 2014 and also cohosted the x factorfor stopping december in 2014 and also cohosted the x factor for stopping december last year she was arrested and charged with assaulting her partner, lewis burton. She pleaded not guilty in court and her boyfriend said he did not support the prosecution. Weeks before she was due to stand trial, she was found dead in her london flat. The lawyer for her family said she had taken her own life. Todays inquest into her death is expected to last for two days. Lisa hampele, bbc news. The funeral ofjohn hume will take place today. Members formed a guard of honour in tribute to their former leader. He died on monday aged 83. The government has announced details for the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of vj day, the moment whenjapans surrender ended the Second World War. The prince of wales will lead the tributes with a national 2 minute silence. Our royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell reports. To those who took part, they were the forgotten army, fighting on against the japanese in the jungles of burma and elsewhere several months after the Second World War in europe had ended. Fighting the far it ended in august 1945 after the allies had dropped atom bombs on hiroshima and nagasaki. Japan surrendered and british servicemen returned home. But britain by then was a country eager to move on. The feeling that their sacrifice had been forgotten was exacerbated. But at the National Memorial arboretum in staffordshire on saturday the 15th of august, the 75th anniversary of victory overjapan, the prince of wales will lead the nations commemoration of the moment when the global conflict that was the Second World War finally came to an end. The service, which will include a National Two Minute Silence, will be attended by a number of veterans who fought in the far east, and it will be broadcast by the bbc. The duke of cambridge will take part in a programme, vj day 75, the nations tribute to be broadcast on bbc one. Among the veterans who will feature in the programme will be the duke of edinburgh. Asa in the programme will be the duke of edinburgh. As a Young Royal Navy officer, he was on board a british warship in tokyo by the signing by the japanese of their surrender. And captain sirtom the japanese of their surrender. And captain sir tom moore, another vetera n captain sir tom moore, another veteran who served at the burma campaign, has voiced the hope of all of his comrades. I respectfully ask britain whatever it is doing and ta ke britain whatever it is doing and take some time to remember, he said. We must all take the time to stop, think and be thankful. Nicholas witchell, bbc news. Hospitals have been overwhelmed and buildings have been destroyed in beirut after a huge blast killed dozens of people. It hit the port of the lebanese capital yesterday. Abbie cheeseman is a journalist who lives in the city, and shejoins us now. Good morning to you. Just tell us, first of all, i know you were in your flat, what happened . We saw initial reports come out on twitter that they had been an explosion at the bottom. I have a side view of the bottom. I have a side view of the pod from my balcony. Ijust peered around the balcony to see if i could see anything and i couldnt see anything but within moments, i was incredibly lucky i was in the middle of my flat, there was an explosion and all of the windows, all the furniture, flu towards me. It was complete chaos. People were screaming in my building. It was not clear whether people had been hurt and also a very loud rumbling overhead and it is important to note, when you see about people panicking, we are at a time of tension between hezbollah and israel. There was thought that could have been an airstrike. For me, the first instinct was to get to the ground floor. I am into the top floor. If the building was not stable. Because many buildings collapse. Everyone tried to get back into the car to get out of beirut. It mustve been a terrifying scene when you got down stairs . Of course, especially because so much infrastructure had crumbled. So much debris flying around even from buildings still standing. It was smoke and it was heavy in the air. People screaming, bloodied faces. The army was sprinting down the road, some of them with bloodied faces. We completely panicked. Nobody knew it was an explosion, we didnt know it was an accident. It could have been an earthquake, anything. The saint. I got to my carand anything. The saint. I got to my car and went to a friend up the mountain. The scenes. I am a kilometre away from the pot and the damage that it did to my flat and my car isa damage that it did to my flat and my car is a remarkable given that i am afair car is a remarkable given that i am a fair distance away. We are hearing that hospitals were full, having to turn people away. The fire is still burning . It is. Hospitals are very overwhelmed by this. They were already overwhelmed and that is an important point to make. Every aspect of Lebanese Society was collapsing around them. Every set, eve ryo ne collapsing around them. Every set, everyone was plunging into poverty. Sectoral. On top of this, yesterday the capital physically collapsed in on itself and the Public Hospitals, which are a minority in lebanon were overwhelmed by coronavirus cases and they were wanting ever before this happened that they were almost at capacity. Private hospitals were about to close their doors, many of them. And also many of them had severe damage. My also many of them had severe damage. My local hospital, the er was com pletely my local hospital, the er was completely destroyed in the blood. They were treating people last night in the car park. The hospitals are com pletely in the car park. The hospitals are completely overwhelmed as is every aspect of Lebanese Society at the moment. We appreciate your time and please take care of yourself. It can be a nerve wracking and exciting moment for expectant parents, but getting an ultrasound can also be the time you get some difficult news. Now, new guidance is being issued to sonographers to make sure that everything is communicated in the best possible way, especially if there are pregnancy complications. Breakfasts tim muffett has been speaking to some parents about their experience. Write the very end, she said everything looks fine, but there is no fluid around the baby. It was almost passive. I heard those words. Hannah has had several miscarriages and on more than one occasion situations were handled badly. And on more than one occasion situations were handled badlylj could feel the colour drain out my face. She said, sit in the waiting room and we will send a doctor. She looked at me and said, what is wrong with you . I just looked at me and said, what is wrong with you . Ijust had the shop of my life stop you have just given me this news and i am trying to comprehend it now i have to go and sit back in a waiting area with other expecting parents. She welcomes new guidance for sonographers who carry out scans on pregnant women. The need to be some basic principles of good care and it is not been present. Around one in 20 baby scans pickup anomalies that could indicate a Health Conditions. Some are serious some are not. It is down to sonographers to relay unexpected news. What were trying to do is, while we are scanning in real time, quite often with the pa rents real time, quite often with the parents asking us questions like ten you see the gender of the baby, we are trying to think, how are we going to break the bad news. Avenue i diagnose what is wrong with the baby correctly. Have i. And suddenly you have to turn to the patient and shatter their world. A lot of the training we get is in house, literally watching the sonographer who you are learning from. We have never had a go to publication where there is a consensus. The new guidance is published today. Doctor Judith Johnson led the research. They provide a balanced picture of what they have seen and linked with that neutral terms are important. It is important to use the word chance instead of risk, Health Condition rather than abnormality and the use of the word baby. It is important that they use that language as well. This 13 year old has Downs Syndrome as was born with a heart defect. This 13 year old has Downs Syndrome as was born with a heart defectm was like being hit by a juggernaut. We were expecting to find where that we we re we were expecting to find where that we were having a boy and all that sort of thing when we went to have the scan. There is no good way you could possibly hear the news that we heard. However, ithink could possibly hear the news that we heard. However, i think it is possible to give that news in a sensitive and in a compassionate way and that is pretty much what happens happened with our experience. She was very honest, compassionate. She told us what she thought she could see but did not try to over telus and diagnose. Tiny tickers is a charity for children with heart programmes. He held right up the new guidance. It is important these guidelines are adopted. Up until now, there has been no consensus guidelines, no mandatory training for sonographers so they have to pick their way through a very difficult thing. Solove got off to a difficult thing. Solove got off to a difficult start but the parents were grateful they will told honestly and sensitively about the challenges that lay ahead. Tim muffett, bbc news. If you want to get in touch about that, please do. And very good to have parents being so candid and how language can, in difficult moment that will sit with you for a long time, how we can make a difference. Becoming one of britains best dancers takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears, and now, a bbc documentary has gone behind the silk and sequins of the bhangra showdown to see just how much effort it really takes. The indian folk dance competition took place in birmingham before lockdown. Lets take a look at one of the teams in training. Show your character how bad do you wa nt show your character how bad do you want it i am dancing for the university of birmingham this year. Five, six, seven, eight. Come on. It gave me a place of belonging. I come from a very multicultural place and when i came to university, i had a culture shock. Different types of lifestyles and that is when ijoined this society, it gave me a place of belonging. Imagine your friends watching you, do they want to see you die out . No, they want to cheer you die out . No, they want to cheer you on. He is or has been motivated. He has always been. You on. He is or has been motivated. He has always been. After months of training together, you become a family. Stay tuned. It looks like hard work. Our reporter monika plaha is in birmingham for us this morning. This looks like proper exercise and really fu n. This looks like proper exercise and really fun. Yes, good morning, from Aston University in birmingham. Honestly, look at this Early Morning workout. Who exactly needs the gymnasium . Workout. Who exactly needs the gymnasium . They have workout. Who exactly needs the gymnasium . They have got rhythm and they have brought the outfits. This is the university bhangra showdown team. They are part of the university to see what it is like to compete in the bhangra showdown. They have won it a couple of times before but i do not want to tell you if they have won it this year because i want you to watch a documentary and find out for yourself. This is the team leader. Good morning to you. Good morning, how is it going. Nothing quite like this first thing in the morning . No good energy in the morning. What is the dance all about . It is a folk dance from punjab. We try to do our best. I know the blood sweat and tea rs best. I know the blood sweat and tears that go into it. What was Training Like . Training was hard and intense but, at the same time, we had a good time and bonded as a family and that is what brought us all together. Brilliant. You are also a full time student. What was that like for you . Of course, we are at university for a reason, we are here for our education but after that, we spent Time Training and trying to do what we can. |j that, we spent Time Training and trying to do what we can. I will give it a bit of a go later. I have been forced into it by these guys. I will bejoining you a bit later been forced into it by these guys. I will be joining you a bit later but these are brilliant dancers. That is how to wake up they need to stop, maybe, for a moment. No. Youre watching bbc breakfast. Still to come, from the dinosaur gallery to the blue whale well take a look behind the scenes of the Natural History museum as it reopens today. Well be discussing that shortly and bringing you the latest news. Now, lets get the weather with carol. Anything north west it is pretty miserable . It has been pretty wet, especially yesterday. Lots of Flood Warning signs in scotland and the north west of england. To date a little bit drier but still some rain around but not as heavy has yesterday. A beautiful start to the day in scotland. Lovely sunrise but it isa day in scotland. Lovely sunrise but it is a part of the north and west that will have the rain today. Brighter conditions further south. But today also warm in the south. This cold front is what produced the rain yesterday and if you look along it, you have what we call a wave so more rain to come. The rain across wales, Northern England and were starting to see more rain coming into the south of ireland at the moment. Through the course of the day, we will have this band of rain working across Northern England, into scotland and an expanded coming in from Northern Ireland and that could have the odd rumble of thunder, especially across Northern Ireland. Winds not as strong but still quite a breezy day. Brighter conditions in parts of the south east where we will have the highest temperatures, 25 27 degrees. Further north, between 18 and 23. Heading on through the evening and overnight, this band of rain continues to move off into the north sea, weakening of the time. Living cloud behind it. A spot of drizzle here and that but otherwise fiascoes. These are the overnight temperatures. A mild night. Tomorrow, a weakening front. The weather front not too far from the north west, squeeze in the isobars telling you it will be breezy but the direction of the breeze is coming from the south so, during the course of tomorrow, a lot of dry weather around, such under the north of scotland, a cloudy start to the day but through the day the cloud breaking up and some will see brighter spells. Temperatures tomorrow ranging from 16 end of the north to pies of 28 as we push down towards the south. As we head on through thursday and was at the weekend, we still do have this weather front but it is a week preacher. This coming in from the west and the wind coming up from the south during the course of friday. Friday itself, quite a lot of dry weather, some sunshine. And front introducing more rain from the waist and at times it will be thundery and heavy. Temperatures on friday itself, 16 35 as we push down towards the south. More weather in half an hour. Hello. This is breakfast with Charlie Stayt and louise minchin. Well bring you all the latest news and sport in a moment. But also on breakfast this morning should schools be given priority over shops and pubs when it comes to a future lockdown . Well speak to a head teacher in just a few minutes, and the childrens commissioner, Anne Longfield, later in the programme. A new study has found that there are 20 more emperor penguin colonies in antarctica than previously thought. Well ask what it tells us about the future of the breed. And as we find out how the 75th anniversary of vj day will be remembered, well hear the experience of one veteran and speak to historian dan snow. A very good morning. Time now to speak to this mornings gp. Werejoined by drjamie parker. A very good morning to you. Thank you forjoining us. So much talk this week about school going back, and the safety of many parents, some wanting them to go back and others concerned what are your thoughts . Having three children meant to be starting in the timber, in september. I starting in the timber, in september. Lam starting in the timber, in september. I am hoping they go back, but not for a personal point of view. I think it is really important for the health, development, view. I think it is really important forthe health, development, and i think the feeling at school is so incredibly important for the children for their Overall Health in general, their emotional and physical and educational development. I would physical and educational development. Iwould hate physical and educational development. I would hate for there to be long term effects of coronavirus. Schools will be working right now to make sure that people, both children and staff, ill say. What do we know about children and coronavirus . I think what is clear is the chance of a child becoming seriously unwell with coronavirus is much, much lower than an adult. It is extremely low. What is less clear is extremely low. What is less clear is to what extent the children could transmit the virus, although i think thatis transmit the virus, although i think that is less likely as well. Obviously it is important that the safety of children, families are taken into account. As you say, schools preparing all the time. What about parents preparing their children . It is a big change, so many have had nearly six months. Absolutely. If children are anything like mine, they are looking forward to going back to school. They have missed their friends above all. Seeing their faces when they can meet up with their friends outside is tearjerking to be honest, they are so is tearjerking to be honest, they are so happy to see them. I think it is really important. It is all very well saying we are prioritising the schools to open in september. What is going to happen when children have a cough and a snotty nose and a cold all winter . In terms of planning, going to work, you dont wa nt planning, going to work, you dont want to get a daily call saying, by the way, your child has a cough, can you take them for a coronavirus test . I havent heard an answer to that. It will be interesting to hear what they will say. You make a very good point, actually. What are your thoughts . I honestly dont know. I was talking to our head teacher before. It is not clear actually, because children are generally snotty, you speak to any children teachers in Primary School, they all have coughs and rubbing their noses, and the plans, how to manage that in and the plans, how to manage that in a practical way i think is a real challenge. I hope nobody s having their breakfast while we are having this conversation. We spoke to you last week. They have said phone or video consultations should continue. How has that impacted on you and is ita how has that impacted on you and is it a good thing that we are able to have own or video conversations . think it is good and in the acute stage of the pandemic, it looks to be the safest and most appropriate way of managing a large number of patients in the safest way. Personally, going forward, and as we continue with remote consultations, appropriately, it is increasingly unsatisfying and unfulfilling way of working. It is a real relief and refreshing when i see a patient face to face. That is the joy of the job andl face to face. That is the joy of the job and i am sure patients will feel the same. Going forward, it is how to incorporate that safely because the idea of doing everything remotely takes the heart out of general practice. There are some people who will be. If you see your doctor, go for one thing and talk about another. Absolutely, and i think talk about another. Absolutely, and ithinka talk about another. Absolutely, and i think a key thing in the communication skills is picking up on cues. It is not necessarily the patients will say, by the way, why ami patients will say, by the way, why am i feeling, it is picking up on that and saying, tell me more, and then they tell you the real reason they are there. Doctorjamie parker, thank you very much. Thank you for making us think about the winter of bugs on the way, childrens point view. Everybody has a Primary School child will know. It is absolutely true. If you have thoughts on how this will work, your concerns, maybe you are a teacher, a young person thinking about going back to school, get in touch today because we are talking to the childrens commissioner later on, the Education Minister who may be answered not able to answer some of those questions. It is time to talk to jane right now. There was an important game last night, wasnt there . Yes, it was incredibly exciting. It went down to extra time, but the richest game in football was eventually won by fulham. They are back in the premier league after beating brentford 2 1 in the championship play off final at wembley. The two goals were from the unlikely feet of defenderjoe bryan and the win could be worth as much as £135 million. Austin halewood reports. They say getting promoted through the play offs is the best way to do it, and just two years on from the last time, fulham have done it again. But this one was different with an empty wembley the setting. These two neighbours separated by just four miles and only by goal difference in the league this season couldnt be picked apart. Brentford keeper keeping his team level in a nervy first half. Brentford scored more goals than anyone else this season, but this was as close as they got inside 90 minutes. On the extra time, and still these two couldnt be separated. But in the play offs, it only takes one moment to define a season. Joe bryan with a free kick from miles out. It brought fulham within inches of the premier league. And with only minutes left, he took them all the way there. A second goal in extra time to seal it. Brentford did get one back, but it. Brentford did get one back, but it was all too little, too late. Their 70 year wait for top flight football continues, while for fulham, they are shooting right back up fulham, they are shooting right back up to the premier league. Austin halewood, bbc news. Rafael nadal has pulled out of this months us open because he says the coronavirus pandemic is not under control. Nadal says it was a difficult decision not to defend his title in new york, but that the situation is complicated and hed rather not travel to the us. This will be the first grand slam event since the year 2000 not to feature either nadal or roger federer, the swiss player is recovering from knee surgery. There was a thrilling finish to the final one Day International as ireland beat the world champions england. It all went down to the last couple of balls in southampton, kevin obrien hitting the winning runs as ireland chased down their target of 329. England had already won the series, but this was a significant win for ireland just their second ever win over england. From southampton to old trafford where englands test team start their 3 match series against pakistan this morning as long as its not raining of course. Theres still a big question mark over the fitness of star man ben stokes. Hes been struggling with an injury since the end of the series against the west indies, and england will make a late decision as to whether hes fit to bowl as well as bat. We are still a bit unsure of where he is at. Because of the weather, we have not been outside. We have to see. But we have options. We have a numberof see. But we have options. We have a number of different options we can go down with the squad we have gotten that is exciting. Regardless of the conditions, we feel we have all bases covered. And it was a day of shocks at the World Snooker championship in sheffield, the biggest was the world number 4 mark allen getting knocked out by the lowest ranked player in the tournament. Welshmanjames clarke is ranked 89 in the world and is making his debut at the crucible theatre, but he came from behind to beat allen in what is the biggest shock of the tournament so far. Clarke said he never believed that he would qualify to play at the world championships, never mind winning a match there. Possibly helped by the lack of crowds, not so much pressure on him. Congratulations to him. For pupils across the uk, the coronavirus outbreak has brought huge disruption. Now, the childrens commissioner for england says schools should be given top priority over shops, pubs and restaurants in planning for future lockdowns. So how do parents feel about sending their children back in september . Fiona lamdin reports. One, two. Ready . Joe has been homeschooling her three children for five months. I have been shielding because i have got severe asthma. We have continued to keep them here even though they could have gone back to school, because for us, we wa nted back to school, because for us, we wanted to keep me healthy. We would love them to go back in september. It is my absolute hope. They miss their friends so it is my absolute hope. They miss theirfriends so much. We it is my absolute hope. They miss their friends so much. We are saying to them that they are probably going to them that they are probably going to go back, but at the same time, we have to keep an eye on the date and the statistics to check whether it is safe enough, because obviously if there is another spike, we have to keep them back. That will be our new reality, i think. She isnt keep them back. That will be our new reality, ithink. She isnt alone. It is what many people think. Thank you forjoining me. It said what eve ryo ne you forjoining me. It said what everyone is talking about at the moment . Best friends may be scattered around the country, but it is an issue that affects them all. They need to go back to school, but iam they need to go back to school, but i am concerned stop i dont feel the government knows enough to be able to categorically say that that is the safe thing to do, so that is a big concern of my come september. am ready and they are ready to go back. I have had some short conversations with my friends about going back to school, and some of them are, like, god, just get them back. Get them back now will you be sending your children back in september . I want to go back. Yes, i will. I will be sending them back in september. But for others, the decision is even harder. Oh, well done great shot. Lorraine was an 11 year old son george is due to start secondary school next month, but she is terrified. Because my stepfather passed away from coronavirus back in april, i have seen a coronavirus back in april, i have seen a different side of this and how serious it is, and on so many different levels, it is such a cruel virus. And while georges desperate start, his mum is still undecided. am looking at things like the r number, the infection rate locally, all of that information, and i dont know what it will look like in september. I dont think anybody does, but i suppose every day i am looking for reassurance, so i can increase the confidence to send him to school. If we get to the beginning of september and i dont feel that all of the issues have. That are currently bothered me are currently resolved, there is a chance i may say, well, i am sorry, i dont feel all the risks have been mitigated and i cant send him. As we head towards a new academic year, eve ryo ne we head towards a new academic year, everyone is preparing to return. wa nt to everyone is preparing to return. want to go back to school so i can see my friends, my teacher and do all the fun lessons we get to do in school. Well, i really miss seeing my friends and my teeth are, and having the food let my teacher. Fiona lamdin, bbc news. Lets speak to andrew tremarco, who is the head of st teresas of liseux Primary School in liverpool. Good morning to you. Just tell us, right now, we havejust under a month to go. Are you prepared to reopen . Absolutely. All our classrooms are ready. All our clea ners classrooms are ready. All our cleaners are in place. We have extra clea ners cleaners are in place. We have extra cleaners in place through september. We are ready to go and we are really keen that all the children are welcome back but there is a worried that maybe not all of them will come back. Can you first of all describe what will be different . You bring your children to school, what is different about the practicalities compared to pre coronavirus . Different about the practicalities compared to pre coronavirus . There will be a half hour window from 840 for the younger children and the other children coming between 855 and 19, to make sure not all the pupils and parents are congregating. The staggered approach at the start and end of the day is already in place. Parents have been told about this. If you have children and three key stages, you can bring them all in at the one time. There are some problems we are having about wraparound ca re. Problems we are having about wraparound care. We cannot offer brea kfast clu b. Wraparound care. We cannot offer breakfast club. But in terms of Getting School open for the core hours, we are ready to do that. In terms of classrooms, all of the ta bles terms of classrooms, all of the tables are back in. Children will be sad in rows two to a desk from about you one on words. Sat. The government naturally agreed that they cannot socially distance. bring my child into my school and midway through the morning, the teacher notices the child is sneezing or coughing, that kind of thing. Maybe theyre right to or three kids. It is autumn. They will be brought to a first aid station, usually the school office. There is a room dedicated with door accessibility and window ventilation. There is ppe equipment into them. A phone call will be made to the parents. A member of staff will be sitting with the child in ppe equipment. Everyone else in school would stay in school into their bubble. Only if your test came back positive, will they have to go home and isolate. It is interesting hearing how it will work out. You would recommend to the parent to get a covid 19 test and then, if the test co m es a covid 19 test and then, if the test comes positive, then the child of this cannot come back into school then the bubble of children, they would also be required not to be in school . Thats right. I am doing you grip bubbles because i dont have a big school. The difficulty i have is, if there is a positive case, the whole year group has to isolate at home so i have between 60 or 90 children that would have to stay at home in order that they are kept safe. Are you required to her on the side of caution. Err. If you have concerns for a year group, they do not come in . No, only if there is a positive case will we have to isolate everybody in that bubble. The child initially would be isolated. And then they would have the test. And hopefully you could getan the test. And hopefully you could get an answer back quickly. And then. Sorry, one must question if i may, do you feel you have enough information and guidance, whether from the local authority or nationally in how you are running your school . I feel i have enough at the moment to open the school and i feel confident staff and people and pa rents feel confident staff and people and parents coming into the building more restricted assay. Track and trace also has to be really effective. If it is not there, it does not matter what i do at school. Really interesting hearing from you. Good luck as you reopen in the next few weeks. Thank you very much. Cheers. Sales of new cars are on the rise, but they have a long way to go before they fully recover from the pandemic. Nina is at a car showroom in crewe this morning to find out more. Good morning. It is not going to come as a massive surprise that through april and may, sales of new ca rs through april and may, sales of new cars practically came to a standstill. Come july, cars practically came to a standstill. Comejuly, sales were up 1196 standstill. Comejuly, sales were up 11 but overall, predictions are that sales will be down by 40 . That is massive. What is really interesting at the moment is there isa interesting at the moment is there is a trend for people to buy all the used cars. Yesterday, we spoke to natalie in preston, having a lovely moment of driving out with a car she saved up for. They were times of ca rs saved up for. They were times of cars to choose from. It was the colour, automatic, the low mileage was perfect. I would rather drive to work than carry public transport. That way i can travel on my own. I have been saving. I finally have got it andl have been saving. I finally have got it and i cannot believe it. Good on you, natalie, enjoyed. Peter is director here. What do you think is behind this trend currently for people to buy older, used cars . The reason people are doing it is there isa reason people are doing it is there is a general fear of travelling on public transport and we do not usually retail those cars but disposing by the options but we found the prices had been enormously high and we believe people are buying those cars knowing they can run for12, 18 buying those cars knowing they can run for 12, 18 months and not cost them too much money. People wanting a ru na round to them too much money. People wanting a runaround to get them through the pandemic . At the lowest possible cost. What have you notice about people researching on line . Minimising face to face . People researching on line . Minimising facetoface . Absolutely. When the journey to the showroom has happened, the customer has made their mind up already. They can talk to us via e mail or telephone. By the time they come to the dealership the time they come to the dealership the deal is visually done. Long term, that has an impact on you and your industry and in particular, if more people are working from home, are you worried about that . No, we undoubtedly will have to change and the sales process has changed and we may not need the usual salesman because basically we need people who can look after people but even the working from home perspective, people will still need transport and still need to get out and about. Cars eventually whereabouts are new cars will have to be purchased. And it is i was not to be purchased. And it is i was not to see people like you face to face. It is important to the wider uk economy. £80 billion the Automotive Industry is worth in the uk. We will chat to the boss of ford uk about lockdown and the future of the industry. It has faced its longest closure since the Second World War but today the Natural History museum will reopen its doors to visitors for the First Time Since the start of lockdown. But whether its a trip to the dinosaur gallery or a visit to the blue whale, visitors will find some changes. Simon browning reports. A cathedral to nature, forced into an unseasonal hibernation. In a way, it has been sort of fantastic to be able to be in this place in the quiet but that is actually not what it is for. The pandemic closed the Natural History museum for its longest period since world war ii and like businesses everywhere, as they reopen, fewer people are becoming too visit. 5096 they reopen, fewer people are becoming too visit. 50 what we would normally expect and so that is why it is important to and get on line and then we can carefully limit numbers, make sure everyone is really safe. We have big open area spaces so we have a really safe. We have big open area spaces so we have a few galleries when you go one way but in other spacesin when you go one way but in other spaces in a free to roam. Washing your hands, sanitising and staying apartare your hands, sanitising and staying apart are the drill, like anywhere. Face covering has will become law in england. On saturday. The museum has the most Extensive National History Collection around the world. 18 million items. This is quite delicate. We have to be careful. Anna is gently removing the dust. Lonely. Possibly. A Government Support package to protect the future of galleries and museums was announced last month. But the reason nervousness about what the co nsta ntly nervousness about what the constantly changing Health Situation could mean. We know there is a possibility that something may come along which means we have to close again but at the moment we are making the most of the opportunity to open up the museum. 150 million yea rs to open up the museum. 150 million years old, sophie has enjoyed it all but will anyone come to visit to see her through the next few . Simon browning, bbc news. It is one of my earliest memories going to that museum. Really . Absolutely. Carol, we have been complaining because it was really miserable but how is it for everybody. Bless you, rain and more rain on the clouds today as well. Rain in the north and west but brighter and warmer elsewhere. Not as windy as yesterday either. This front is what brought the rain yesterday, particularly in this end of it. This end of it is what we call a waving front. Produces lots of rain across parts of england and wales heavy rain across scotland pushed away into the north sea and more rain waiting in the wings. You can see how we have that rain across Northern England and also southern scotland, turning showery. Heavy and potentially thundery coming into Northern Ireland and advancing through scotland, parts of wales and england. It should state dryers in the south east with sunshine but lighter winds and breezy at times. If you are stuck under the rain, youre looking at 18, for example in glasgow. Through the evening and overnight, we eventually say goodbye to the rain pushing off into the north sea and were with a lot of cloud with some clear skies. The cloud with some clear skies. The cloud thick enough here and therefore the odd spot of drizzle. These are the overnight lows, 12 17 so quite a warm night. Tomorrow, the dregs of our weather front bumping into this High Pressure so not producing much more than a bit of cloud. It will be breezy across the west but look at the direction, the west but look at the direction, the breeze is coming from the south and that is a mild direction. Tomorrow, a cloudy start. Holes developing through the cloud in the day. Aberdeen getting up to 19 degrees. Before the cloud break in the south east, were looking temperatures getting up to about 28, 20 into belfast. Thursday into friday, we still have this weak weather front. Not doing friday, we still have this weak weatherfront. Not doing much. Another one coming in from the west, a bit more active. We have the rain coming in from the west on friday and, at times, that will be quite heavy and also potentially thundery. We have 16 in the north to a high of 34, possibly 35 in the south. The headlines are next. Good morning. Welcome to breakfast with Charlie Stayt and louise minchin. Our headlines today 100 people dead and 4,000 injured in a huge explosion in the lebanese capital, beirut. The blast, which shook the entire city, began with a fire at a warehouse, which housed thousands of tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate. Well be live in beirut throughout the morning with the latest on the desperate search for more survivors. The childrens commissioner for england calls for the government to prioritise reopening schools over pubs in any future lockdowns. Good morning. New car sales were up 11 in july but that is nothing compared to this year. I will be talking about the future of this key british industry. Its footballs richest match and fulham won it at wembley. The london club are back in the premier league after beating local rivals brentford in the championship play off final. Good morning. Its wednesday august 5. Our top story lebanon is in mourning today after an explosion ripped through the capital, beirut. Reports from the Lebanese Red Cross say 100 people have died. Thousands more have been wounded as rescue workers continue to search through the rubble. Officials say a confiscated haul of explosives was to blame. This report from sean dilley contains some distressing scenes. It was a catastrophic explosion. What . the blast was heard 150 miles away. Another view from moments earlier shows a fire in beirut port. Authorities say the flashes were caused by fireworks. But then. As the sound of the explosion rang out across the city, windows smashed and buildings were destroyed. From the streets. Beirut could only watch as the carnage unfolded. 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. Already heavily stretched by the covid crisis, beiruts hospitals were overwhelmed by casualties in need of urgent treatment. Translation we have at least 300 wounded in the hospital right now. We have six operating suites that are still operating right now, and this keeps filling up by another group that needs attention. We have about four to five in intensive care, we have three that arrived dead. Every one of our crew, doctors and nurses, are operating, Even Administration everyone is working. We have a lot of damage as you can see. All the ceilings have collapsed at the entrance and the glass windows of patients rooms. As embattled medics struggle to help the injured, distraught locals sought to find lost relatives. Translation he is 29 years old. From 7 00 in the evening, we have been all over every hospital in beirut and we are now waiting for the names to come out and nothing has come out. We dont know if he is dead or alive, we just dont know. The International Community has offered its help to a city in turmoil. Boris johnson tweeted lebanons president has announced three days mourning and promised to release 100 billion lire or £50. 5 million of emergency funds. Officials say highly explosive materials believed to be Ammonium Nitrate stored in a warehouse for up to six years caused the explosion. They say they are investigating what ignited it. In the meantime, Authorities Say those responsible will face the maximum possible punishment. Sean dilley, bbc news. We can go straight to the live images from beirut. They are two hours ahead of us and you can see this as the actual scene of the explosion. Just that faint plume of smoke coming from the centre of the screen as we look there. It gives you a real sense of some of the immediate devastation close by. We know the scale of the explosion, there was a lot of damage a lot further away. Lets speak to our correspondence in beirut for us. We are seeing a helicopter still dropping water over what must be the remains of the fire that exists. A very good morning to you. We understand the figures of those who have been killed, just recently, have gone up to 100. Can you give us a recently, have gone up to 100. Can you give us a sense recently, have gone up to 100. Can you give us a sense of what the latest information coming to you is . The rescue operation has been going throughout the night. It is still ongoing now in the morning. Our estimate of at least 4000 injured and many people need hospitalisation. We can still hear ambulances moving around in the city this morning, and basically trying to move people from one hospital to the other because most of the hospitals are overloaded with casualties to treat. This is a really devastating and shocking what has happened. The explosion was massive, it rocked the whole city. I live five or six minutes drive away from the location and my building was shaking and it felt like it was about to fall down. The impact of this was felt across the city of beirut and the damage is massive. As we heard in the package, the government is giving billions for the rescue fund. But the damages far beyond what we can imagine and expect the moment. Many houses are left in rubble, many people are now left in rubble, many people are now left without a place to stay in. For the moment, thank you. We will continue talking about events in beirut throughout this morning here on bbc breakfast. Schools should be the last places to close in any future lockdowns after pubs, restaurants and non essential shops. Thats according to the childrens commissioner for england. Anne longfield said children were too often treated as an afterthought in the last few months. Our Political Correspondent nick eardley is in westminster. Pupils in scotland go back to school next week. In england, it is not until september. This is a priority, isnt it . It is a huge issue, and the argument that the children by the argument that the children by the commissioner for england is making this morning is that it was not treated as high enough a priority early in the pandemic. She is basically saying that when it comes to assessing what is going to happen next, if there is a resurgence of this virus or there are a numberof resurgence of this virus or there are a number of new cases in local areas, the priority absolutely needs to be schools, and if that means doing Something Like closing pubs, so doing Something Like closing pubs, so be it. Schools need to be the priority. It is interesting because labour are making the same argument today as well. We have the labour leader writing in the guardian that schools need to be a priority, Boris Johnson needs to set the tough decisions that he is prepared to make over the next few weeks and months. The context of course is the scientist who advised the government, morning we are basically reaching the limit of what we can open up safely, and saying that it might be the case that to open up schools or open up other areas of society, you need to close some. One of the things we keep hearing being mentioned is the idea of having to close some pubs or restaurants to make sure the virus is kept under control. I have to say, i think the clear impression coming from the government is that is what they think. We heard ministers on app breakfast repeatedly over the next few weeks and days saying schools are a priority, in england they are definitely going to go back in september, and it does seem to be where the government is at at the moment. Absolutely, as we enter this kind of far more unclear. , there are Big Questions to be answered. Thank you very much indeed. The inquest into the death of tv presenter Caroline Flack is expected to resume today. She was found dead at her flat in london in february. Lisa hampele reports. Caroline flack became synonymous with the show love island, although her tv career went back almost 20 years. Caroline. She won strictly come dancing in 2014 and also cohosted the x factor. In december last year, she was arrested and charged with assaulting her partner, lewis burton. She pleaded not guilty in court and her boyfriend said he did not support the prosecution. Weeks before she was due to stand trial, she was found dead in her london flat. The lawyer for her family said she had taken her own life. Todays inquest into her death is expected to last for two days. Lisa hampele, bbc news. The funeral of Nobel Peace Prize winnerjohn hume will take place today. His body was carried into st eugenes cathedral in londonderry last night after sdlp members formed a guard of honour in tribute to their former leader. Mr hume, who played a major role in the Northern Ireland peace talks, died on monday aged 83. The government has announced details for the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of vj day, the moment whenjapans surrender ended the Second World War. The prince of wales will lead the tributes with a national two minutes silence. Our royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell reports. To those who took part, they were the forgotten army, fighting on against the japanese in the jungles of burma and elsewhere for several months after the Second World War in europe had ended. The fighting in the far east ended in august 1945 after the allies had dropped atom bombs on hiroshima and nagasaki. Japan surrendered and british servicemen returned home. But britain by then was a country eager to move on. The feeling that their sacrifice had been forgotten was exacerbated. But at the National Memorial arboretum in staffordshire on saturday august 15, the 75th anniversary of victory overjapan, or vj day, the prince of wales will lead the nations commemoration of the moment when the global conflict that was the Second World War finally came to an end. The service, which will include a national two minutes silence, will be attended by a number of veterans who fought in the far east, and it will be broadcast by the bbc. The duke of cambridge will take part in a programme, vj day 75, the nations tribute to be broadcast on bbc one. Among the veterans who will feature in the programme will be the duke of edinburgh. As a Young Royal Navy officer, he was on board a british warship in tokyo bay for the signing by the japanese of their surrender. And captain sir tom moore, another veteran who served at the burma campaign, has voiced the hope of all of his comrades. Nicholas witchell, bbc news. Lets go back to our main story this morning. It was an explosion so powerful, it was felt more than 150 miles away. This morning, residents of beiruts capital city are assessing the damage caused by yesterdays deadly blast. The Lebanese Red Cross say at least 100 people have lost their lives, while thousands more have been injured. Bel trew is a beirut based journalist for the independent newspaper and joins us now from the city. We can see from where you are that the damage, but give us an idea first of all when that explosion happened, what was it like . M happened, what was it like . M happened at about 6pm yesterday evening, and even though i was a few kilometres away from the epicentre of the blast, it still knocked me to the floor. It was extraordinary scenes, an enormous blast and a shockwave that basically raged through the whole of beirut, shattering windows, ripping balconies from buildings, completely destroying whole areas of the city, and you can see behind me here, shops have their front windows com pletely shops have their front windows completely destroyed. They spent the morning basically sweeping up glass from the streets. But it also damaged hospitals which were already suffering from a lack of supplies due to coronavirus. A multitude of disasters on top of each other at the moment in beirut. Give us a sense of where this happened, because it was close to where people live, where businesses are run. It would have been busy. Absolutely. I am right now in an area just under a kilometre away from the epicentre of the blast. It happened at beirut port, which is a busy area for business and close to lots of residential areas, including a very popular area for restaurants and bars. That is why the damage and destruction and injuries were so high, this enormous Mushroom Cloud of explosion basically towered above beirut. It raged through large parts of the city, destroying whole businesses, and you can see behind me, shattering shop windows, ripping off balconies, literally pulling window frames and their shutters out from the walls and throwing them across rooms as well as people. Tell us across rooms as well as people. Tell us about what they are doing now. Presumably, many thousands are injured, they are trying to treat them. What are their priorities . Last night when i went to my local hospital which had been affected by the shock waves, comments Emergency Department had basically been gutted and staff were actually trying to pull the medics, doctors, nurses and patients out from the rubble before they were even treating the newly injured who were really struggling. They have a lack of supplies and finances because levin on is suffering from a financial crisis and is not dealing with the coronavirus pandemic very well lebanon. We have massive problems with Power Outages in this particular hospital, their generator, their souls source of power, was affected by the blast. I watched doctors and nurses stitching up watched doctors and nurses stitching up people who were heavily bleeding in the car park of the hospital using their mobile phones for light. That is really what is still happening today as well as people digging through the rubble of their businesses, homes to find missing loved ones, to try and salvage the business they have left. The stories you are telling are absolutely desperate stories arent they . This will be sometime before the city can even start to recover. We have pictures this morning, it is still burning as well. I have absolutely no idea how the government will handle this kind of effort, reconstruction effort. They were already suffering from an unprecedented financial crisis before this happened, before the coronavirus pandemic even came along. We already had massive 20 hours Power Outages a day, people relying entirely on generators even though that is incredibly expensive and fuel prices are going up as the shortages, i dont know how the country is going to fix all the broken windows, all the shutters, houses, all the destroyed balcony fronts, the front of building. It is a colossal effort or a note nation already on his knees due to unprecedented financial crisis and the coronavirus pandemic. Doctors we re the coronavirus pandemic. Doctors were saying to me that they are worried about the spread of coronavirus in this additional disaster. Of course. Lets talk a little bit about what the cause is as well, because there have been different reports about what was at the centre of this. At the beginning there was speculation it mightve been increased tension between is bella as hezbollah and the israeli forces. But not properly secured Ammonium Nitrate sitting there seems to,ooo 14 is Ammonium Nitrate sitting there seems to,000 14 is thought to be the cause. It was that after he had been taken off machine. 2014. Original reports that it may have been some welding works nearby that cause the explosion but clearly something has gone really, really wrong. Perhaps it is due to corruption or mismanagement but somebody has to be blamed. Also reports that when it happened, people getting in their ca rs happened, people getting in their cars trying to escape the city . There was a bit of panic because of the nature of the blast. You had these plumes of grey smoke because of the chemicals released and there we re of the chemicals released and there were fears that the air would have been impacted by the blast. My flight been impacted by the blast. My flight is basically a shell of a building. Huge holes in the walls. I basically slept on my sofa for two hours last night. I am not sure i can live that and the residence all over asking the same question. Can they leave in buildings without power . We are just looking at pictures of your flat. It is just going to be very hard for everybody . Absolutely. I live in quite a new building that is quite structurally sound. France are concerned about going home because of the destruction of the building they live in. France who basically are wondering where they are going to leave the next few days. We are lucky because we are foreigners with access to foreign money. But there are residents struggling in the financial crisis, food prices doubling, in some cases tripling in price. Coronavirus cases already overwhelming the system. You can see behind me the shattered windows of houses, destroyed buildings, basically. The average lebanese citizen was already going hungry, andi citizen was already going hungry, and i wonder how they will survive. Thank you and best of luck to you. The childrens commissioner for england says schools should be the last places to close in any future lockdowns. The government says reopening schools is a top priority but has come under pressure to clarify. The government says reopening schools is a top priority. Were joined by Shadow Health secretary jonathan ashworth. First to open, last two clothes. Do you agree . Yes, it has to be an absolute National Priority to get children back into schools safely. The long term implications of children not in education really has devastating consequences of not only for the learning and development but also Long Term Health issues associated with it. The government a week or so ago associated with it. The government a week or so ago were associated with it. The government a week or so ago were rightly focusing on obesity. We are bound to see an increase on weight issues amongst this common cohort of children because they have been at home for so because they have been at home for so long. We want to get our children in schools and schools reopened safely. The leader of the labor Party Sir Keir Starmer said it was critical for the government to get the testing and tracing fixed urgently because if we can, we can hopefully avoid a serious winter but it is also key to getting our children back to school. She talks about education being a priority which you agree with but would you close other things to keep schools open for example pubs and restaurants . The government cannot rule these options out. The chief medical officer said we are at the limits of what can be eased. The government approach is to try do this on a localised basis which we understand because this is not an either or. I understand why the government wants to try a localised approach but fundamentally, our number one priority has to be getting children back into schools safely and if that means taking decisions then we would support the government in those tough decisions. As Health Secretary, if you were, you would be happy to close pubs and restau ra nts a nd you would be happy to close pubs and restaurants and other businesses in order to have schools open . restaurants and other businesses in order to have schools open . I would, if that is what was needed. At the moment, we do not know if that is what we need but we do know that the infection rate is rising, the testing and tracing system is not world beating entities costing us £10 billion that might be world beating dash but government need to fix these problems. If we get to the end of august, these infection rates at the level they are now, even higher, would suggest we head into a miserable winter. If schools do not reopened that would be disastrous for children and actually for the economy as well so the government need to fix test to ensure that tests are need to fix test to ensure that tests a re returned need to fix test to ensure that tests are returned within 24 hours, and plenty to ensure that teams are doing the tracing and that people who are asked to isolate get Financial Support to do so. Unless they put those urgent things in place now we could find a source in harder situation later in the year. Staff and people are asked to wet Face Coverings by some schools. But thatis Face Coverings by some schools. But that is not what the government says. The government says they are not necessary in our school but the government needs to continue to have this under review. An there is a broader point. There is a bit of confusion out there about what is safe and i think the government messaging has become a bit muddled. It does feel there is a every day and we need the government to bring back regular press conferences and eve ryo ne back regular press conferences and everyone used to watch them. Maybe not every evening but maybe once a week, twice a week, so people can be clear about what is the same thing to do for themselves, the public their neighbours and children. Would you support the decision by that school in cheshire that staff and pupils wet Face Coverings . school in cheshire that staff and pupils wet Face Coverings . I would but what i think would be better is if the government could keep this issue under review, keep themselves updated about the emerging Scientific Evidence and communicate that clearly to the country. We need to understand if our government and Scientists Say it is not necessary, they need to explain that properly. The government are not explaining things properly so why not bring back the press conferences to allow them to communicate directly to the nation. Thank you very much for being on bbc breakfast. Lets go back to our main story, the blast in beirut yesterday. We can get more on the situation this morning. What do you know of the number of casualties . Good morning and thank you for having me. As this morning, we have over 4000 people injured and at least 80 have lost their lives. The numbers are still. Changing every hour. People, search and rescue teams are still looking for people around the area so the numbers are changing quite often and thatis numbers are changing quite often and that is for this morning. Can you give us a sense of other hospitals and medical centres in beirut are coping . We understand they are under enormous pressure . They actually are, for example, this is a first time that we have had to mobilise for any crisis teams from outside beirut and mount lebanon. We had ambulances dispatched to the scene along with 375 pmt tees that were responding. This is the first time we have had to pull teams from other districts, from the south of lebanon, from the north, and we have 50 extra standby teams that could also respond so the pressure is enormous. The pressure on the medical staff in hospitals is enormous. The hospitals were overrun yesterday with a number of injuries and, in addition to the injuries. Ok, and, in addition to the injuries. 0k, apologist, we seem to have lost the line. We were talking to a member of the Lebanese Red Cross updating us on the injuries. They can confirm from their figures that 80 people have lost their lives, more than 4000 injured and we will of course have more throughout the morning. He was saying that such a rescue operation is still under way. That is the live picture from beirut. A helicopter still pouring water on the centre of where that explosion happened. We will keep you up to date throughout the morning. The rescue operation still ongoing. You are watching bbc breakfast. Still to come well be finding out about the future of emperor penguins as a new study finds that there are more colonies in antarctica then previously thought. Really looking forward to talking about that. Lets have a look at the weather. Carol is in charge today. As we came in very early this morning, i think we had warm rain in manchester. That is what it felt like. You are quite right, charlie, it was not a cool start to the day and also we had arranged so that combination for many of us today it is quite a mild start to the day. This picture taken in the isle of wight, a bit of cloud around. Cloudy night to start with most of us. A cloudy note. Less windy but warm for many of us. We do have weather fronts, one moving north and one east and they are both producing rain. Not as windy as it yesterday. This is the first weather front bringing rain northwoods. To the south of that a lot of dry weather. Some drizzle, some missed around the coast. But some starting with sunshine. Rain across Northern Ireland, some heavy and thundery. Fairly cloudy in scotland away from the north east. Through the course of the day, the rain in Northern Ireland continues to journey eastwards. Some of it will be heavy and thundery but ahead of it we should stay dry in the south east with the highest temperatures, 25 27 degrees. 18 in glasgow and 19 in belfast. Through this evening and overnight, all that rain pushing off to the north sea, leaving us with a fair bit of cloud behind and it will produce drizzle but there will be some holes in the cloud as well. That does not mean it will be a cold night, it will be another warm one. Tomorrow we start off on that cloudy note. Increasingly through the day, we will to see some holes developing in the cloud. South east scotland will hang onto the sunshine for the longest period of time. It is friday where we start to see the real increase in temperatures, notjust in the south but across the board. The highest temperatures in the south east. We also have a weather front coming in from the west, introducing some rain and some of it will be heavy and thundery, especially across Northern Ireland and western scotland. Temperature rain, 21 in aberdeen, 26 in liverpool, 29 in birmingham and possibly 35 in london. Saturday, still a lot of dry weather around. A su btle still a lot of dry weather around. A subtle change in wind direction. The northerlies feeling cooler. Sunday showers with a top temperature of 30. I will have more, later. Different reports about what was at the centre of this. Showers with a top temperature of 30. Iwill have more, later. A showers with a top temperature of 30. I will have more, later. A very good morning to you. This is breakfast with Charlie Stayt and louise minchin. We can speak to Education Minister nick gibb whos in westminster. A nick gibb whos in westminster. Very good morning deal a very good morning to you. A great deal of focus on schools and when and how they will reopen come september. We know this morning the childrens commissioner for england is saying that schools must be prioritised. These are her words, over pubs and shops over planning for future coronavirus lockdown. Do you agree . We agree that schools are a priority, all children will be returning to school in september. Schools have been open partially since june. We have had receptions returning to school. 1. 6 million children were in school by summer. We do want all children back in school in september, including in areas subject to legal restrictions such as Greater Manchester, and there are a huge number of measures in place in schools to make sure that children are safe and we minimise the risk of the spread of the virus. For example, increased hygiene, hand washing, cleaning of surfaces, staggered lunch breaks and play times, making sure that children are in those bubbles so they are not over mixing with too many children while they are at school, and making sure that staff are socially distant from each other and pupils where possible. We will get to those specifics in a moment. On prioritising, the point i think that and long field is making is that and long field is making is that people would find it very odd to say the least if a pub was still open and a school was shut Anne Longfield. It may well be a local lockdown, as you say. Can you be categorical letter that would not be the case, that a school would be the last thing that would be shut . You have to look at these things on a local basis, and that is how we are now tackling this virus, by having very detailed knowledge about the spread, the r factor based on our track and trace system, based on survey testing taking place all over the country. We now have much greater granular detail of where we are seeing spikes and the rate of infection, and then we take action with the local director of Public Health in those areas to see what measures we take. But we are very clear that all children will be going back to school in september, including in areas that are subject toa including in areas that are subject to a local lockdown at the moment. am still not quite clear. But i call the points you are making, but if there is a pub right next to a school, people would find it very odd if the school was required to shutin odd if the school was required to shut in the pub was allowed to be open. That is inconceivable, isnt it . It all depends on the local circumstances. What we are moving away. The local circumstances. You are providing a whole raft of hypotheticals. It is happening as we speak. It is happening in areas right now, places in manchester, for example, are subjected to specific requirements right now, so were there a school and a pub next to each other in that circumstance . You would not differentiate between the two. They would both be shut. Presumably. No, schools would be openin presumably. No, schools would be open in manchester in september notwithstanding the local restrictions. We are moving away from the National Decisions about pubs versus schools. What were saying is all schools will be open in for all pupils, and we are now looking locally at when we impose new restrictions, locally imposed, and they will depend on the local circumstances. So far as the local restrictions at the moment are concerned, including in manchester, all schools will be open in september, and indeed, throughout, in other parts where there have been lockdown recently, such as in leicester, all schools should be opening in september. Anne longfield is right. It is hugely important for children to be in school, it is best for the education and well being, better for them to be with their friends and with their teachers. And thatis friends and with their teachers. And that is the governments clear policy to have all children back in school in september. Yes, and it is something that a lot of people are embracing, the idea children should be back at school, but if infection rate are higher and that is perfectly possible given that the spikes we are seeing, if infection rates are higher, presumably the government is withholding the position that that might not be appropriate to open schools. We do think schools should open and remain open. Obviously, we have to keep theseissues open. Obviously, we have to keep these issues under review, as we monitor the science. Led by the scientific advice on all these issues. We we think it is very important, we agree with Anne Longfield about the priority for schools. It is usually important that schools are open and that children are in school. We want to make sure that no child suffers from the fact that we have had the lot down since march, we want children to recover their lost education, we wa nt to recover their lost education, we want them to be back in school, learning, and so in the long term, they suffer no detriment from the fa ct they suffer no detriment from the fact they have been at home over, since schools were closed. Do you think schools should be free, teachers should be free to require children to ourface teachers should be free to require children to our face masks . We have been given very clear advice, we have worked with the chief medical officer about the measure schools need to put in place to ensure we minimise the risk of transmitting the virus, and that doesnt include children or staff wearing a face mask. It does include, however, making sure that children are frequently washing their hands, that the surfaces are cleaned more frequently in schools, they are staggered breaks, we avoid pinch points where children are passing close to one another in schools. We have those bubbles in the class size bubbles in schools, and all these measures, this hierarchy of control as advised by the scientists are designed to ensure we minimise the risk of any infection happening within the school premises. Would you support a head teacher who did require their students to wear a face mask . We give a lot of discretion to our head teachers to do what is best for their pupils and their community, but we have given schools very clear advice, very detailed advice and guidance that is whether we have worked on with Public Health england and the chief medical officer about what they need to do to ensure the safety of their pupils and staff, and it does not include the requirement to wear Face Coverings in the school premises. We asked the head teacher this morning, you are talking about bubbles a moment ago, and what parents, stu d e nts moment ago, and what parents, students themselves and teachers interested in how this works in practice, he said he is running a year bubble, not a class bubble. It involves quite a number of children. We have the circumstance of a number of children, a teacher notices they have a cough or a sniffle. What would happen next . The head teachers as they get sent home, parents have to get a test done, and they stay away from school and that entire year bubble should stay away from school. Is that the official guidance, and would you require children who are off school to have tests . Children who are off school to have tests . Yes, that is broadly right. Whenever there are symptoms, the child will be sent home and to be tested and we have a small number of home Testing Available in schools for parents to use, and the bubbles are designed to ensure we minimise the contract that that child will have had with other pupils in the school, and then what happens is the school, and then what happens is the school will work with the director of Public Health in that area to work out what to do next and that could involve mobile testing unit is going to the school, it could involve other pupils in that bubble also being sent home to isolate and to be tested. But it will all depend on the local circumstances, working with local. Director of Public Health so that we tackle every single case of. Where there is a positive test for the virus. That is understood. Are you saying it would bea understood. Are you saying it would be a requirement for children who are sent home from school to have a test . Are you going that far . Is it a requirement . Iam not quite test . Are you going that far . Is it a requirement . I am not quite clear when you say that is what you would like to happen. Are you going a step further than that . What we are saying is they should certainly be self isolating at home, they will work with the local director of Public Health, they will be then tested and testing is available to anyone showing symptoms of the virus, any pupil or staff, they will be prioritising our testing system, and we are testing 335 thousand people a day, and the track and trace system, we then contact all the people, anyone who has tested positive, they have a conversation with somebody to track their contacts on those contracts and they are traced by our tracing team, so this is part of a very effective track and tracing system to make sure we identify children and adults who have been in contact with somebody who has tested positive, can self isolate. Can you guarantee there are enough tests available, that any parent who wants their child tested in those circumstances will have access to immediate tests . Yes, we are testing 335,000 people a day, we want to increase that further. By the end of october we hope to get up to 500,000 test a day. At the director of Public Health in the locality will be the person that drives the next stage of what happens when there are positive. When somebody is tested positive. When somebody is tested positive in a school, to make sure we tackle that outbreak where it happens rapidly and swiftly. That is what is happening with these local restrictions being imposed in Greater Manchester and elsewhere. That is now the direction of travel and how we tackle this virus, that we tackle it locally and we tackle it swiftly. Can i ask you one question they want press comments as to restart. Given the current circumstances around opening schools, is that something that has been thought about to bring back those Daily Press Conferences . We do hold press conferences as and when they are necessary, when there are announcements to be made, and you will see the Prime Minister making those, having those press conferences in downing street when he has an announcement to make. For example, he made an announcement on the 29th of june example, he made an announcement on the 29th ofjune about extra money, £560 million of School Funding for building and refurbishment projects. That is not new money. This announcement was made previously on the technicality of the press conferences, is that something you are thinking about . didnt catch the rest of your question. It was about the press conferences, whether that is something you will actively think about bringing back. That is a number mathematical number tend to decide. There are press conferences happening frequently. Whenever there is an important announcement, you will see the Prime Minister making a statement, the Health Secretary making a statement, other ministers making statements that are important to the public. We announced on the 29th ofjune £560 million, and today we are announcing how the £560 million to be allocated to 580 projects in schools up and down the country, plans ready to go. This is about making sure we have well built, this is about making sure we have well built, well designed, good environments for children to learning, teachers to teach in, and it is about kickstarting the economy, making sure we have projects for contractors ready to run, ready to start in the autumn term up and down the country. 580 projects, £180 million of projects that we are announcing today, as well as another £300 million of capital going to school. All the other 1400 School Building projects have a ready been announced. Thank you very much for your time. Because Education Minister speaking to us. Looking ahead to the reopening of schools in september. It is coming up schools in september. It is coming up to 7 45. It was a nail biter last night. It went into extra time. Not great for us early risers. But it was worth it with three goals and extra time, and it was fulham who were victorious. They are back in the premier league. They beat brentford 2 1 in the championship play off final at an empty wembley. Its a victory that could be worth as much as £135 million to the club over the next three years. And what a night it was for this man, defenderjoe bryan, with a season defining goal in extra time to give fulham the lead. And just 10 minutes later, he scored again. Bryan with a second goal on the night to take his side straight back to the premier league afterjust one season away. Manager scott parker says theyll be better prepared for the top flight this time around. Some clear errors made last time and we will learn from that. We will learn from that. Going into the best league in the world, the best place, the best teams, it is a brutal league and i realise the challenges ahead. Ido league and i realise the challenges ahead. I do not want to think about it at the moment because i want to enjoy what we have done so far. It could be the big transfer saga of the summer england starjadon sanchos potential move to Manchester United from borussia dortmund. Its been reported that the 20 year old was close to agreeing a deal to move to manchester, but the german club want a transfer fee of around a hundred milllion pounds. That would be a record for a british player, but united think thats too much and say theyll walk away if the price isnt dropped. Rafael nadal wont defend his us open title when the tournament starts later this month. Hes decided not to travel to america because he says the coronavirus pandemic is not under control. It means that the us open will be the first grand slam event since the year 2000 not to feature either nadal or roger federer, the swiss player is recovering from knee surgery. There was a thrilling finish to the final one Day International as ireland beat the world champions, england. It all went down to the last couple of balls in southampton. Kevin obrien hitting the winning runs as ireland chased down their target of 329. England had already won the series, but this was a significant win for ireland just their second ever win over england. From southampton to old trafford, where englands test team start their 3 match series against pakistan this morning as long as its not raining of course. Theres still a big question mark over the fitness of star man ben stokes. Hes been struggling with an injury since the end of the series against the west indies, and england will make a late decision as to whether hes fit to bowl as well as bat. Fingers it does crossed not rain but it does not look too good. Thank you and see you later on. Sales of new cars are on the rise, but they have a long way to go before they fully recover from the pandemic. Nina is at a car showroom in crewe this morning to find out more. Good bonding. They have been telling me here this morning that new cars have been flying out and the pent up demand may have seen an increase of 11 injuly demand may have seen an increase of 11 in july nationally demand may have seen an increase of 11 injuly nationally but they demand may have seen an increase of 11 in july nationally but they are still playing catch up. 4096 reduction is predicted compared to last year. Andy barrett is the managing director of ford in britain. When you hear those numbers, 40 in the sale of new cars, how worried are you . We are concerned. We have seen that pent up catch up and as we stand today, without a doubt, the uncertainty into thejobs without a doubt, the uncertainty into the jobs market, without a doubt, the uncertainty into thejobs market, the uncertainty about whether there are future lockdowns, is giving us a real challenge. We are the only market out of the five European Market out of the five European Market that does not have a stimulus package from any Government Intervention and i think it will ta ke intervention and i think it will take measures like that to really help. The government saver have intervened, a loan of 80 million, 44 billions forformer intervened, a loan of 80 million, 44 billions for former workers. Aviation and hospitality and finance will say they need a deal. They cannot do it all. When you look at the car business in the uk, it employs around a Million People and it is worth about 54 billion inaudible the magnitude of that to the economy and we have demonstrated is an industry that for any degree of stimulus, it will generate in excess of the stimulus. It will generate the economy if we can get this thing going. If you do not see that level of support, what would the endgame be . Arejobs under threat . And dagenham and merseyside we build for global consumption. We area we build for global consumption. We are a demand based business and the government loan to help exports has clearly helped those organisations however it is demand base and stimulating demand helps secure jobs, notjust at ford but throughout the industry and we think those are the kind of measures required to really keep demand where it is and keep people employed within the sector or. Many thanks and apologies, the line was not brilliant. We still do not know what the trade deal will be when we leave the trade deal will be when we leave the European Union at the end of the year. Big issues. And also, this is a huge industry, notjust ford, nissan in sunderland, and others in terms of the jobs it provides. The yea rs terms of the jobs it provides. The years ahead will be difficult. Theyre the largest penguin species, and can live for around 20 years. But the future of the emperor penguin has been in doubt as their homes are under threat from Climate Change. Now, scientists have discovered a number of new colonies of the birds in antarctica using satellite imagery. It suggests the global population is between 5 and 10 higher than previously thought. Tom parry is a naturalist and wildlife film presenter. Hejoins us now. Hearing this, it sounds like good news, is it . Yes, it is a refreshing piece of good news. It is nice to read about wildlife actually being ina read about wildlife actually being in a better state than we thought it was. But it does come with a slight caveat. All these new colonies of emperor penguins live in some of the most vulnerable parts of antarctica in terms of Climate Change so a lot of their habitat is potentially under threat. Tell us a little bit about emperor penguins. They are amazing. Their resilience is amazing. Their resilience is amazing. They live in some of the most hostile parts of the globe. These colonies will have to survive being in temperatures of 40, 50 degrees and they huddled together and basically work as a team to keep themselves warm but to have this really unique lifestyle where they are basically dependent on sea ice being around four at least nine months, which is how long it takes to raise a cheek. That would affect breeding grounds if the ice is melting . Exactly. This is their home. They live on sea ice and over the next few decades, the next century, it will be challenging for them and the authors of this paper refer to them as the canary in the coal mine. They have. They spend half their lives in the sea and half on land and therefore they are useful ways to understand what is going on with the oceans and, across the world, only to species of penguins live in antarctica. The majority are basically tropical. 11 species are recognised as threatened so species are recognised as threatened so penguins are struggling across the world. The reason they are described as the canary in the coal mine is this is the message we are getting. This new study, although it is fantastic news and it is great to hear about the population of emperor penguins potentially more than half a million, it is a reminder of what there is to lose. We were looking at there is to lose. We were looking at the satellite pictures. I think they found them because of the mess they leave behind . Pretty much. The thing about a penguin colony is it is a smelly place to be. Penguins are great birds but they are quite messy birds and emperor penguins, living in this white expanse, they do leave behind a bit of a track, yes. Laughter. Really good to chat to you. Thank you for having me. Carol has got a few satellite images to show us now. How do you know that . I was watching while you were doing your rehearsal. It has to be done. Good morning everybody. Today in the south east we will have 25 degrees as the highest temperature but if you like it hotter, by friday, were looking at 35 in the south east. The rest of uk on friday will have higher temperatures across the board than today but not the dizzy heights of 35, more likely in the 20s. Today, lighter winds than yesterday but rain on the forecast. Just for charlie, this is the satellite picture. This produces rain and the next batch also produces rain. The first batch across england and northern wales, the next two was in northern wales, the next two was in Northern Ireland. The first one taking shari rain to southern scotland. Heavy and thundery rain in another line and moving to other parts of the uk. Some sunshine around, especially in the south east with highs of around 25 degrees. 20 as we pushed further north. Tonight, as we pushed further north. Tonight, a lot of cloud around. We lose the rain. The cloud enough to produce some drizzle. Quite a warm night and tomorrow we still have the week when the front bumping into high whether pressure leaving us a cloudy start. The north scotland will hang onto the sunshine the longest. Another positive uk, holes punched through the cloud. More of the breeze but the cloud. More of the breeze but the direction is from the south so increasingly we are going to fully in some warmer air. You can see the temperature rising. By the time we get to friday, all of us will have higher temperatures. A lot of dry weather. A fair amount of cloud. This overnight picture getting into friday but we also have all this rain coming in and the shape of a weather front and some of it will be heavy and potentially thundery. 34 35 degrees in the south east, 25 in newcastle, 22 despite the rain and glasgow. How long will it last . Not terribly long for most of us. A lot of dry weather on friday. Temperature 26 in cardiff and 30 in london but they drop as we head into sunday and actually on sunday more ofa sunday and actually on sunday more of a breeze from the north sea and becoming more from a northerly direction so that there is goes, potential showers and for some temperatures will be a good 10 degrees lower than on friday. What about next week . Next week starts off on an unsettled note and it looks very much like we are going to have some thunderstorms, particularly across central and southern parts of england. The following part of the week, the second half, it looks like it will be drier and it will be brighter and once again temperatures will start to rise. That is all i have got to you for now. I will be back in half an hour. The headlines coming up half an hour. The headlines coming up next. Good morning welcome to breakfast with Charlie Stayt. Our headlines today at least 100 dead and 4000 injured ina huge at least 100 dead and 4000 injured in a huge explosion in the capital of lebanon, beirut. The blast which shook the entire city began with a fire at a warehouse which housed thousands of tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate. We will be live in beirut with the latest on the desperate search for more survivors trapped in the rubble. In other news, the childrens commissioner for england because for schools to be prioritised over pubs, restaurants and shops in any future coronavirus lockdowns. We will speak to Anne Longfield in the next half an hour. Good morning, it is the richest match in football and fulham won it at wembley. The london club is back in the premier league after beating local rivals brentford in the championship play off final. Good morning, it is wednesday the 5th of august. Our top story. Lebanon is in mourning today after an explosion ripped through the capital, beirut. Reports from the Lebanese Red Cross say 100 people have died. Thousands more have been wounded, as rescue workers continue to search through the rubble. Officials say a confiscated haul of explosives was to blame. This report from sean dilley contains some distressing scenes. Explosion it was a catastrophic explosion. What . the blast was heard 150 miles away. No another view from moments earlier shows a fire in beirut port. Authorities say the flashes were caused by fireworks. But then. Explosion alarm rings. As the sound of the explosion rang out across the city, windows smashed and buildings were destroyed. From the streets. Beirut could only watch as the carnage unfolded. 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. Already heavily stretched by the covid crisis, beiruts hospitals were overwhelmed by casualties in need of urgent treatment. Translation we have at least 300 wounded in the hospital right now. We have six operating suites that are still operating right now, and this keeps filling up by another group that needs attention. We have about four to five in intensive care, we have three that arrived dead. Every one of our crew, doctors and nurses, are operating, Even Administration everyone is working. We have a lot of damage as you can see. All the ceilings have collapsed at the entrance and the glass windows of patients rooms. As embattled medics struggled to help the injured, distraught locals sought to find lost relatives. Translation he is 29 years old. From 7 00 in the evening, we have been all over every hospital in beirut and we are now waiting for the names to come out and nothing has come out. We dont know if he is dead or alive, we just dont know. The International Community has offered its help to a city in turmoil. Boris johnson tweeted lebanons president has announced three days mourning and promised to release 100 billion lire or £50. 5 million of emergency funds. Officials say highly explosive materials believed to be Ammonium Nitrate stored in a warehouse for up to six years caused the explosion. They say they are investigating what ignited it. In the meantime, Authorities Say those responsible will face the maximum possible punishment. Sean dilley, bbc news. We can show you the live images of beirut this morning of the scene of the explosion and as we have been watching this morning we have seen helicopters dropping water. Presumably there are still some fires burning, we have seen one or two helicopters coming over the scene, but you do get a sense both of their size itself, and immediately in the foreground there of some of the damage that happened. We know now that 100 people have died and more than 4000 injured, and we know also that hospital and medical services in beirut are really struggling to cope with the numbers of people who have been hurt. We numbers of people who have been we also know it is very much an ongoing situation from the point of view of search and rescue. They are still trying to find people who may be trapped, perhaps under rubble there as well. Later we spoke to a beirut based journalist for the independent newspaper and she told us independent newspaper and she told us about the moment the blast hit the city. It happened at about 6p yesterday evening and even though i was a few kilometres away from the epicentre of the blast, it still knocked me to the floor. It was extraordinary scenes, im sure you saw from the video footage this enormous blast and shock wave that raged through the whole of beirut shattering windows, ripping balconies of this facades of buildings, completely destroying whole areas. I am in an area just under a kilometre from the epicentre of the blast. It happened at beirut port which is an busy area for business and is close to lots and lots of residential areas, including a very popularfor lots of residential areas, including a very popular for restaurants and bars. Thats why the damage and destruction and injuries were so high. This enormous Mushroom Cloud of explosion towered above beirut. Asi of explosion towered above beirut. As i said, it raged through large parts of the city destroying whole businesses. You can see behind me shattering shop windows, ripping off balconies, literally pulling window claims and shutters out from their walls and throwing them across rooms as well as people. Tell us what they are doing now. Presumably many thousands are injured, they are trying to treat them, what are their priorities . Last night when i went to my local hospital which had been affected by the shock waves, in fa ct, affected by the shock waves, in fact, its Emergency Department had basically been gutted and staffers there were trying to pull the medics, doctors, nurses and patients out from the rubble before they were even treating the newly injured. They were really struggling. They have a lack of supplies and finances. Because lebanon is suffering from a financial crisis and is not dealing with the co owners and is not dealing with the co owners coronavirus very and is not dealing with the co owners coronavirus very well. There have been massive problems of Power Outages and at this hospital, their generator, their sole source of power, had been affected by the blast so i watched doctors and nurses stitching up people heavily bleeding in the car park in the hospital using their mobile phones for light. Thats what is happening todayis for light. Thats what is happening today is welcome as well as people digging through the rubbles of their businesses and homes to find a missing loved ones and to try and salvage the businesses that they have left. Bel trew from the independent talking to me a little earlier and we will keep you up to date with that situation in beirut and the rest of the programme. It is 8 07am. The schools minister nick gibb has told breakfast that it will be up to local authorities in england to decide whether to close pubs and shops, or schools, in decide whether to close pubs and shops, orschools, in the decide whether to close pubs and shops, or schools, in the event of a further lockdown. The childrens commissionerfor further lockdown. The childrens commissioner for england said closing schools should be a last resort. Children should be priority. Our Political Correspondent nick ea rdley our Political Correspondent nick eardley is in westminster this morning. As we approach september and there is more focus on how schools will open, yes, we know eve ryo ne schools will open, yes, we know everyone says opening schools is a priority. In practice, the question is what would happen in the event of a lockdown . Absolutely, and we have the childrens commissioner for england saying this morning that basically we need to rethink our priorities. Children were not a priority when the first lockdown came in and now they need to be put at the top of the list. So if there are any reasons for extra restrictions, schools should be the last thing to close, she argues, and the first thing to reopen if possible. This is all in the context of the chief medical officer for england saying we have probably reached the limit of what we can open up safely and we are increasingly talking about trade offs between opening one thing and may be having to close another, lifting some restrictions, be having to put some more in. There is that big question of, do you have to start thinking about closing pubs and start thinking about closing pubs a nd restau ra nts to start thinking about closing pubs and restaurants to open schools if the rate of the virus is increasing. Really interesting that when the schools minister nick gibb was on brea kfast schools minister nick gibb was on breakfast earlier he was saying schools are a priority but actually it is going to be down to the local authorities to think about exactly what closes. Have a listen. We are moving away from these sort of National Decisions about pubs versus schools. What we are saying is all schools. What we are saying is all schools will be open in september for all pupils and we are now looking locally at when we impose new restrictions. They will be locally imposed and they will depend on the local circumstances. So thats the schools minister nick gibb. We have heard ministers say repeatedly on breakfast over the la st repeatedly on breakfast over the last few days they are determined to open schools up in september. And it does feel to me that it would be really ha rd does feel to me that it would be really hard for the government to do anything else now having made all those commitments repeatedly. Nick gibb also saying, by the way, that it will also include those areas facing increased restrictions like in the north of england. Schools there are also due to reopen. Labour have made it clear they think schools should be a priority as well. It was interesting that when jon ashworth was on breakfast earlier, he was saying the government should consider that idea of getting older pupils, perhaps in secondary schools come as unions have suggested, to wear Face Coverings. That has happened at a few schools but not many in england. The government isnt recommending it yet but it is something labour say should at least be on the table. We are speaking to Anne Longfield, the childrens commissioner for england, coming up in a few minutes time. Eight to 10am. The inquest into the death of tv presenter Caroline Flack is expected to resume today. She was found dead in herflat in london in february. Lisa happily reports. Caroline flack became synonymous with the show love island, although her tv career went back almost 20 years. Caroline. She won strictly come dancing in 2014 and also co hosted the x factor. In december last year, she was arrested and charged with assaulting her partner, lewis burton. She pleaded not guilty in court and her boyfriend said he did not support the prosecution. Weeks before she was due to stand trial, she was found dead in her london flat. The lawyer for her family said she had taken her own life. Todays inquest into her death is expected to last for two days. Lisa hampele, bbc news. Womens charities and unions representing parliamentary staff have called on parliament to suspend a conservative mp who has been accused of rape. In a joint statement they say safety at work must be paramount. The mp was arrested on saturday and later released on bail. The conservative party says it takes all complaints seriously. The funeral of Nobel Peace Prize winnerjohn hume will take place today. His body was carried into saint eugenes cathedral in londonderry last night after sdlp members formed a guard of honour in tribute to their former leader. He played a major role in the Northern Ireland peace talks and died on monday aged 83. The pupils across the uk the coronavirus outbreak has brought huge disruption. The childrens commissionerfor huge disruption. The childrens commissioner for england says schools should be given top priority over shops, pubs and restaurants in planning forfuture over shops, pubs and restaurants in planning for future lockdowns. How do parents feel about sending their children back in september . Fiona lamdin has been speaking to some. One, two, three. Ready . Jo has been home schooling her three children for five months. I have been shielding because i have got severe asthma. We have continued to keep them here even though they could have gone back to school, because for us, we wanted to keep me healthy. But what will you do about september . We would love them to go back in september. Thats my absolute hope for them. They miss their friends so much. We are saying to them that they are probably going to go back, but at the same time, we have to keep an eye on the data and the statistics to check to see whether it is safe enough, because obviously, if there is another spike, we have to keep them back. And so thats going to be our new reality, i think. And jo isnt alone. It is on many parents minds. Thanks forjoining me. It said what everyone is talking about at the moment . Best friends gemma, becky and leisel may be scattered around the country, but it is an issue that affects them all. They need to go back to school, but i am concerned. I dont feel the government knows enough to be able to categorically say that that is the safe thing to do, so that is a big concern of mine come september. I am ready and they are ready to go back. I have had some quite fraught conversations with some of my friends, really good friends about going back to school, and, you know, some of them are, like, oh, god, just get them back. I want to get them back here. I want to get them back in. We need to get them back here now will all of you be sending your children back in september . I want them to go back. Yes, i will. I will be sending them back in september. But for others, the decision is even harder. Oh, well done, great shot lorraines11 year old son george is due to start secondary school next month, but she is terrified. Because my stepfather passed away from coronavirus back in april, i have seen a different side of this and how serious it is, and on so many different levels, and it is such a cruel virus. And while george is desperate to start, his mum is still undecided. I am looking at things like the r number, im looking at things, like, the infection rates locally, all of that information, and i dont know what it is going to look like in september, i dont think anybody does, but i suppose every day i am looking for reassurance, so i can increase that confidence to send him to school. If we get to the beginning of september and i dont feel that all of the issues have. That are currently bothered me are currently resolved, you know, there is a chance that i may say, well, i am sorry, i dont feel that all the risks have been mitigated and i cant send him. As we head towards a new academic year, everyone is preparing to return. I want to go back to school so i can see my friends, my teacher and do all the fun lessons we get to do in school. Well, i really miss seeing my friends and my teacher, and having the food. Fiona lamdin, bbc news. Lets speak to the childrens commissionerfor lets speak to the childrens commissioner for england Anne Longfield. Good morning and thank you forjoining us. The government have told us repeatedly on this programme that schools are a priority. What are your concerns . Im pleased the government is saying schools are of her priority and opening schools in septemberfor all her priority and opening schools in september for all pupils is a priority and the opposition is saying that too. I want the government to follow that through, i wa nt government to follow that through, i want them to put the mechanism in place that will not only make it safe for children, particularly around test and tracing, but also that reassurance for parents. Because this is a step down that big step families to reintroduce children during the pandemic and also after six months out. But we also after six months out. But we also know that there are potential flare ups on the horizon. There may bea flare ups on the horizon. There may be a need for a second lockdown is, either national or local. And while children havent been at the forefront of making decisions, in many ways they have been an afterthought in the first phase, i wa nt afterthought in the first phase, i want schools to stay open, so when it comes to local decisions and National Decisions over any future lockdown i want schools to be the last to close their doors and the first to open. Youre being quite clear, and you have said pubs and restau ra nts clear, and you have said pubs and restaurants should be closed over schools, yes . I dont want anyone to close, of course, i want life to be normal like anyone else. But the fa ct of normal like anyone else. But the fact of the matter is that the virus is with us, we have to find ways to adapt, we have to find ways to manage it and children have been out of school now for six months. It has been the biggest disruption since world war ii. We know they have been really struggling in terms of home learning, many children will not have been learning at all, the most disadvantaged children are the ones falling further behind. So this is something which we have to look at very seriously and i want to make sure that they are given protected priority in decision making. It doesnt mean that if there is an essential decision to be made they have to be closed, but i dont want the default to be that schools close. We spoke to nick gibb who is the Education Minister on bbc brea kfast the Education Minister on bbc breakfast this morning and he said about schools, it would become a local Authority Decision, depend on local Authority Decision, depend on local circumstances. What is your response to that . That may be for local lockdowns but i would say my message to those making decisions locally as i want you to protect schools as much as you can during this period. Its essentialfor those children, essentialfor this period. Its essentialfor those children, essential for their pa rents to those children, essential for their parents to be able to work as well. The default cant be that children are the ones that actually closed the doors to schools and carry that risk. It has to be something that we look at and schools need to be that priority that they havent been before. It is something we have to learn to live with. We are not likely to have a vaccine over the coming months so we have to look at how we manage that risk. And if it has to be the awful decision over schools over other sectors then my argument is that schools should have that priority. I suppose my question is, should it be a government decision over what happens or a local Authority Decision . decision over what happens or a local Authority Decision . I would like the multiple children as a priority. I would like government to say and ask local authorities, or even require local authorities to make children in schools open as a priority. But whichever it is, my argument is clear. That children have had the greatest disruption in their education for decades. It is something that cant continue. It is already hugely affecting childrens well being and hugely affecting their education and we will feel the impact of that for years if not decades to come. Can i ask your opinion on Face Coverings . We know that one school in cheshire is asking pupils and staff to have Face Coverings. Is that something you support . What are your thoughts on that . The scientific advice at the moment is Face Covering isnt necessary and certainly we know the risks both of children catching the infection and of course transmission for younger children, primary and nursery is very low. It is still low for secondary School Age Children but there may be some children who feel more comfortable with a mask on so feel more comfortable with a mask on soi feel more comfortable with a mask on so i dont rule it out. I dont think it is something that should be a blanket introduction as yet unless the scientific advice is to do so. But if it means schools stay open and people have confidence i wouldnt want to rule it out either. Lets talk about confidence because schools go back next week in scotla nd schools go back next week in scotland and in september here and we are rolling towards the winter when we know young people in particular are full of snuffles and coughs and colds, what happens when a child comes in with a cough . think schools will manage that as they do with any other infection. Schools have been working tirelessly to make sure they have the kind of structure and system around the school in the way that it needs to be to be covid proof, but also health, hand washing and the like. Soi health, hand washing and the like. So i think schools will be able to fall back on all of the very robust systems they already have. But again, we know for very young children, many have been able to operate very successfully in nurseries throughout this whole period, the risk of getting the infection is very low and the risk of transmission is very low too. For younger children i dont think it is something schools need to worry about beyond their normal preparation. For older children, clearly there are bigger schools, they will be different systems within that, but again they will have their own systems in place. You dont see situations where they might be rolling bubbles with lots of different classes and year groups having to isolate . Of course that is a scenario that has been discussed, but again, it is so important then that test and track is in place so that test and track is in place so that they can be identified as soon as possible and hopefully prevent whole year groups from closing down. Anne longfield, thank you for your time on bbc breakfast, childrens commissionerfor time on bbc breakfast, childrens commissioner for england. The time is 8 21am. Back to our main story this morning. A huge catastrophe thats how the Prime Minister of lebanon described yesterdays explosion which devastated the city and left thousands of people wounded. The cause of that blast is still being investigated but officials blame highly explosive materials stored in a warehouse for six years. Lets speak now to Lizzie Porter, a beirut based journalist, and her neighbour, jackson allers, a film maker who saw the blast from his balcony. A very good morning to you both and im glad to see you are both safe and well. Jackson, as i understand it, the logistics in the building is your apartment is above lizzies and your apartment is above lizzies and you actually saw the explosion itself and ben felt the immediate aftermath. Could you describe that to us . You are correct, i do live above lizzie. The thing that put me ina above lizzie. The thing that put me in a position to actually see the blast was all of us are seemingly heard a large sonic boom. And because we live in lebanon there is a sort of regular pattern of israeli jets setting off those kinds of booms. So i came out concerned that they were flying, or possibly flying, i thought, they were flying, or possibly flying, ithought, overthe they were flying, or possibly flying, i thought, over the port area. Because i was in that position on my balcony i was right there when the explosion actually happened. So i saw the flash and then i sort of u pwa rd i saw the flash and then i sort of upward moving cloud of explosive material, and moments later, because id been here reporting in the 2006 war, i had been neara id been here reporting in the 2006 war, i had been near a large munition explosions so i knew something was going to follow. So i hit the deck immediately, and literally a moment later everything around me exploded. And when i mean exploded, i mean literally the entire space around me exploded. Im surprised i wasnt injured. I got to be immediately and it continued to rise up in the air in a kind of. I ama rise up in the air in a kind of. I am a cold war era kid, and it was really apocalyptic as it rose into the air. And moments later there was that debris field that hit that was filled with ash and debris so there was zero visibility for a number of minutes. So as you can imagine, moving inside from that, also part of it was that we didnt know what was happening. I thought if those we re was happening. I thought if those were air strikes then that meant that any place in the city could be hit and that meant that no one was safe. So there was a lot of feelings that that might be it for you. I checked on lizzie and leila, my neighbours. Eventually everyone settled into the idea that nothing was going to happen after that. And thats when the real aftermath started. Lizzie, jackson gives a very graphic description of what it felt like and looks like. Your experience, you are in yourflat just below. When did you first realised something had happened . Absolutely. It was about six to 10pm in the evening here in beirut and i we re in the evening here in beirut and i were sitting at the table in our living room doing some work and i had this enormous sound like thunder, we get lots of noises in beirut, asjackson said, we get drones, helicopters going over quite often, andl drones, helicopters going over quite often, and i thought what the hell is going on, but this was Something Else, the sound was like the biggest roll of thunder. I walked to the doorto roll of thunder. I walked to the door to see what was happening and there was this enormous bang that blew me backwards and blew our door backwards. Our door is totally destroyed now, took my glasses off my face, blew me backwards, and like jackson, my immediate thought was whatever this is Something Else might happen, there might be a follow up. So we took shelter and our neighbours started stumbling out of their houses as well with bloody wounds on their heads and we have a lot of elderly neighbours, so there was concern for them and they started patching each other up as much as possible. But there was a lot of confusion and panic in the moments straight after the explosion, which turned into anger and frustration and real hatred for the authorities and whoever allowed this to happen. Lizzie, jackson, i know you are on your balcony. Im not sure if you have the ability. You talked about damage to the flat. Are you able to move around and show us are you able to move around and show us anything . We are actually on our rooftop come on top ofjacksons apartment here. So behind us is the port area. Im not sure how well you will be able to see it there, but in the distance there that is the port area, there are big cranes that bring containerships in from all over the world because lebanon relies on imports for 80 of goods consumed in the country. It is a very import reliant country, so losing almost the entirety of the port area is a huge blow. Im not sure if you will be able to see around us. Windows are blown out. Windows are blown out everywhere. Let me do a little turnaround, you can see our neighbours there, every window in the neighbourhood is blown out. Yes, we can see those images of the neighbouring blocks. Im not sure what chance either of you had to get out from where you are now. Im assuming it is quite difficult on the streets at the moment, but what have you seen . Last night when this happened, we made sure, because lizzie and her housemate were both injured, and our neighbours were injured. But we were able to command i was able to, at least, dress and clea n i was able to, at least, dress and clean wounds in my immediate area. And then i went out onto the main street where so much of the damage had occurred. Every ten metres i was having to address wounds of old people. And eventually i got to a point i couldnt go any further. The debris field, even today as ive been going out trying to find things in the area to help outwith, the debris field is massive. Its everywhere. It is pervasive in this blast area. Literally, the glass cove rs blast area. Literally, the glass covers the streets. We couldnt see it all last night. This morning going out and seeing it all, its really quite unreal. Jackson, you mentioned lizzie has some injuries. Are you 0k . What happened . Mentioned lizzie has some injuries. Are you ok . What happened . Im very much fine. I had to have some stitches on my arm. I left it till very, very late last night or early this morning to go to hospital because the hospitals here are overwhelmed. Completely overwhelmed. The American University of beirut hospital, as of last night, had treated 400 serious trauma wounds. Other hospitals are reporting hundreds. They dont have the capacity to treat the number of people coming. Sol capacity to treat the number of people coming. So i actually got a lift with a friend to hospital outside beirut to get the stitches la st outside beirut to get the stitches last night. And asjackson described, driving on the roads is like driving on snow or ice because of the glass. We drove up and there is extensive damage along the motorway. There are a lot of warehouses, industrialareas motorway. There are a lot of warehouses, Industrial Areas around the port area, and all of those are damaged or destroyed. The hospital didnt have some of the antibiotics that i was supposed to be prescribed. We had to go to a 24 hour pharmacy that was luckily open along the road. And so that gives you a kind of scale of the incident that the Emergency Services are dealing with here. Even hospital are dealing with here. Even hospital a good drive out of beirut has run out of supplies because they had to treat so many patients. Another anecdote. Lizzie, i really appreciate your time this morning, Lizzie Porter and jackson allers, im glad in the circumstances you are ok and safe for now. Thank you for that. Lizzie porter and jackson allers, as you heard they witnessed the explosion and felt the immediate aftermath. And what we know this morning, of course, is that they are saying that up to 100 people have lost their lives, more than 4000 are injured. It is an ongoing situation this morning. You got a sense from them the sense of the devastation, a city, so good to speak to them and best wishes to them too. Youre watching bbc brea kfast. Them too. Youre watching bbc breakfast. Lets see what is coming up breakfast. Lets see what is coming up later on as we find out how the 75th anniversary of vj day will be remembered and we will hear the experience of one veteran and speak to historian dan snow. We will talk about that. It is 8 31am. There is a little bit of rain and perhaps some sunshine. Thats not a bad description. Quite a bit of cloud around. Certainly some rain coming your way if you havent already got it through the course of the day. We have rain across Northern England and southern scotland. To the south, west sussex, we have blue skies, as we have across the channel islands. The forecast today, rain in the north and west. Brightening up elsewhere. The winds are going to be a bit lighter than they were yesterday. The rain that came yesterday was courtesy of this weather front. If we follow it alone, you can see there is more rain on the cards. The first part of it, across Northern England and parts of wales is fairly wea k england and parts of wales is fairly weak and that will be moving north, but the second bit coming in from the west across Northern Ireland will be heavier. As we go through the day you could hear the odd rumble of thunder in Northern Ireland, and that will advance east through the day. Lots of cloud to start with, some breaks from the word go, hanging onto the brakes the longest across the south east of england, with the sunshine. Gentle breezes, at times you will notice it, most of the time they will not be any value at all, and we are looking at 25 27 is the top temperatures in the sunshine in the south east, 19 and glasgow and belfast. Overnight, that rain pushes off into the north sea. It will leave a lot of cloud in its wake. There will be some holes in the cloud, but itll take enough to produce some drizzle. Temperatures falling between 11 17 overnight. Tomorrow, starting off with that wea k tomorrow, starting off with that weak affair of tomorrow, starting off with that weak affairofa tomorrow, starting off with that weak affair of a weather front pumping into that area of High Pressure, then there is another one coming in from the west. Those isobars tell you that it is going to bea isobars tell you that it is going to be a more breezy day in the west, with the breeze coming from a southerly direction which is a mild direction. Starting off on a cloudy note, some holes developing in the cloud through the day. North east scotla nd cloud through the day. North east scotland hanging onto the sunshine the longest. Highs in aberdeen of 19,22 the longest. Highs in aberdeen of 19, 22 in glasgow and newcastle, birmingham 22, london seeing 27, possibly even 29. Thursday into friday, we still have this area of low pressure near, with its weather fronts, not much in the way of isobars, but what we have, we are pulling up some continental air, so on friday, we will see higher temperatures across the board. We have a weather front coming in from the west bringing rain across Northern Ireland, western scotland, western england and wales. Some of that rain will be heavy. You might hear the odd rumble of thunder in Northern Ireland. Temperatures 16 in the north, 34 further south, but you can see that the one air has climbed further north. It will not last. The yellow is coming from the west meaning temperatures fall, but the south and the south east so looking at about 30. Hello, this is breakfast with Charlie Stayt and louise minchin. It can be a nerve wracking and exciting moment for expectant parents but going for an ultrasound can also be the time you get some difficult news. Now, new guidance is being issued to sonographers to make sure that everything is communicated in the best possible way, especially if there are pregnancy complications. Breakfasts tim muffett has been speaking to some parents about their experience. Right at the very end, she said, so everything looks fine, your babys got a heartbeat and there is just no fluid around the baby. And that was almost said in passing. You know, i can still hear those words clear as day. Hannah has had several miscarriages. On more than one occasion, distressing situations were handled badly. I rememberjust feeling, the blood, the blood colour draining out of my face, i felt quit faint. And she said, so if you canjust sit in the waiting room, we will send a doctor out to talk to you. And she looked at me and said, whats wrong with you . Ive just had the shock of my life, actually. You have just given me this news and i am trying to comprehend it but also now i have to go and sit back in a waiting area full of other expecting parents. Now a mum of five, hannah welcomes new official guidance for sonographers who carry out scans on pregnant women. It seems to me to be basic principles of good care and its not been present. Around one in 20 baby scans pick up anomalies that could indicate a Health Condition. Some are serious, some are not. It is down to sonographers, such as alexandra, to relay unexpected news. And what were trying to do as sonographers is, whilst we are scanning in real time, quite often with the parents asking us questions, like can we see what the gender of the baby is, and is that the baby winking or is it the heart flickering, we are trying to think, how are we going to break the bad news . Have i actually diagnosed what is wrong with the baby correctly . And so its a very, very stressful situation to be in and then suddenly you have to turn to the patients and sort of shatter their world, really. A lot of the training that we get is in house, so its literally watching the sonographer that is your mentor and who you are learning from. And obviously thats reliant on the sonographer doing it correctly in the first place. But we have never had a go to publication, something where there is a consensus on how we should break bad news. The new guidance is published today. Doctorjudithjohnson led the research. Its important the sonographers are honest and they provide a balanced picture of what they have seen, even if this is uncertain, and linked with that neutral terms are really important. So it is important that sonographers use the term chance instead of risk, and Health Condition rather than abnormality. The use of the word baby what we now know is that it is always the baby as soon as expectant parents know that they are pregnant with a baby, and it is really important that sonographers use that language too. Zoe is 13, she has Downs Syndrome and was born with a heart defect. Whenever you hear news like that, we describe it as like being hit by a juggernaut. We were the classic first time parents, going to our 20 week pregnancy scan, expecting to find out whether we were having a boy or a girl, grandparents on hold on the phone and all that sort of thing so i dont think theres any good way that you can possibly hear the news like the news that we heard. However, i think it is possible to give that news in a sensitive and in a compassionate way, and that is pretty much what happened happened with our experience. The sonographer was very compassionate, she responded to the questions we were asking, she was very honest. She told us what she thought she could see but did not try to overtell us things, didnt try to diagnose. John runs a charity called tiny tickers for children, like zoe, who are born with heart problems. He helped draw up the new guidance. I think it is absolutely vital that this training, that these guidelines are adopted because sonographers are being asked to do really, really difficult things. Up until now, there has been no consensus guidelines, theres been no mandatory training for sonographers so they have kind of been really left to it, to pick their own way through that really difficult thing. Zoes life got off to a difficult start butjohn and his wife are grateful that they were told sensitively and honestly about the challenges that lay ahead. Tim muffett, bbc news. Lets speak now to lydia boyd, a volunteer at the miscarriage association, and Gill Harrison, a sonographer who was involved in drawing up the guidelines, joins us now. Thank you so much forjoining us, both of you. In some ways it is such an exciting time for parents but an nerve racking time as well and it can be very difficult. Lydia, youve had your own experience. Tell us a little bit about what happened. Yes, sir, we had a miscarriage in february 2017 and prior to finding out that that was what was happening i started bleeding, and we dont know whether this was normal bleeding, abnormal bleeding, but we will give you a scan and we will find out, and the ultrasound that we had with the sonographer, it was fairly devastating because we found out that it was a miscarriage but the way in which that information was communicated to us, it was really ha rd was communicated to us, it was really hard for us to then kind of go away and feel something about what we had been told because the sonographer basically questioned us. What i mean by that is, we went into the scan, they started scanning and said how many weeks do you think you are . And buy my date i was 11. 5 weeks and the sonographer said this gestation sac is only eight weeks and your baby actually isnt there. So that was how we found out that we had lost our baby that we had been dreaming about for 11 and a half weeks, so coming away from that, both my husband and i were in shock but also found it really hard to start processing that loss and feel validated in processing the loss of our child, and the language that was used, we found hard. So that is briefly what happened. What mattered what you describe, people are working through it with you. You walk out of that consultation. And the words you use is that you turn to each other and what happened then . It is that shock. Ok, so we have lost our child, yet, how this has been communicated to us almost makes you feel like, well i have not calculated this right order something not quite right that i have done, and there was very little compassion or i am sorry you are going through this. It was very clearly my clinical and working for the nhs myself i understand the pressures and stresses that our own clinicians and all of that, and the impact that can have on your ability to have that bedside manner and compassion. However, the humanity there, just wasnt. And it kind of made that process a little bit trickierfor made that process a little bit trickier for us. Im sure that what you are saying will resonate with many people. Bad news can be delivered in different ways. Gill harrison, how important is the language around that . You are part of drawing up these guidelines. I am so sorry, of drawing up these guidelines. I am so sorry, Gill Harrison doesnt seem able to hear me. Gill, i know that you are involved in drawing up these guidelines, how important is the language . Absolutely. Everything that we say will be remembered. The first words that we say are the ones that stay with them for ever. Sonographers are doing a difficult job. What kind of thing are you trying to make them change . Thinking about what the parents want in terms of terminology. Like doctorJudith Johnson said, using the term, baby, because this is a wanted pregnancy for most people, if the parents use the term baby, we should be using that, and the only time you would use the terms foetus or pregnancy is if that is the terminology the parents are using. And the same thing with risk and chance, in terms of Downs Syndrome screening, it is not a risk, it is a chance, which for some parents is very, very different. It is really interesting, both of you. We all know that nhs staff are under enormous pressure. When you are in that situation it is not even just the words. You are probably looking at the expression on the face of the person, trying to read anything. It is the moment, almost, that you walk into the room. You are right and the silence of when a scan is happening and you are searching the screen looking for what you think might be a positive sign, and then, yes, like we have heard, those first words are so important, and they stick with you. And the language that is used referring to your baby as a baby, to have my baby i have had it referred to as the contents of my uterus before, and it isjust to as the contents of my uterus before, and it is just putting myself in the perspective of the patient you are working with and having that compassion, and im not saying that sonographers dont, im sure that many of them do, but it can be about getting the job done rather than seeing the person as a human. Lydia, thank you for sharing your experiences, and Gill Harrison, ultrasound professional, thank you both. Apologies for the Communications Problems a little earlier. Im sure that what you said it will resonate with lots of people watching this morning. The Second World War officially ended on vj day, the moment whenjapan surrendered. To mark the 75th anniversary of the official end of the war on august 15th, the government has announced details for the commemoration to be led by the prince of wales. Our royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell reports. Those who took part were the forgotten Army Fighting against the japanese in the jungles of burma and elsewhere for several months after the war in europe had ended. The fighting in the far east ended in august 1945 after the allies dropped atom bombs on hiroshima and nagasaki. Japan surrendered and british servicemen returned home. Britain, by then, was a country eager to move on, with a feeling that there sacrifice had been forgotten was exacerbated. At the National Memorial arboretum in staffordshi re National Memorial arboretum in staffordshire on saturday 15th august, the 75th anniversary of victory overjapan, vj day, the prince of wales will lead the commemorations with the commemorations with the commemoration of the moment that the global conflict that was the Second World War finally came to an end. The service which will include a National Two Minute Silence will be attended by a number of veterans who fought in the far east, and it will be broadcast by the bbc. The duke of cambridge will take part in a programme, vj day 75, the nations tribute, to be broadcast on bbc one. Among the veterans who will feature will be the duke of edinburgh. As a Young Royal Navy officer he was on board a british warship in tokyo bay for the signing by the japanese of their surrender. And captain sir tom moore, another veteran who served in the burma campaign, has voiced the hope of all of his comrades. I respectfully ask britain to stop whatever it is doing and take some time to remember, he said. We must all take the time to stop, think and be thankful. Nicholas witchell, bbc news. Now we can speak to the historian dan snow who will be taking part in the bbcs vj day commemorations and to roy moore who served on active duty in the far east for three years during the Second World War on hms indomitable. He joins us from croydon this morning with his granddaughter alice nokes. A very good morning to you, roy and alice. So lovely to speak to you. First of all, roy, can ijust ask you for your memories of vj day . Where were you, and how do you remember the announcement . We were at sea at the time. I dont really remember where we were but we were in the pacific supporting the American Fleetjust in the pacific supporting the American Fleet just at the island of okinawa, and the captain came across on the speaker and announced that the war with japan was over, but we we re the war with japan was over, but we were to be aware of aircraft still flying around that possibly might attack us, so they were to be shot down by friendly fire. In other words, they would not be aware of the surrender terms, but we didnt have any problems with them and they didnt do that and we safely went into hong kong and i remember a japanese colonel coming on board the ship to sign some form of surrender, which we were not really aware of, but it was a document that was signed by our captain. And after some time, we then. My apologies, roy, i was going to ask whether there was any sense of celebration at the time. Now, relief is the word i want to use, that it was all over and the prospects were looking much better. Before that one was always a little bit worried about the future. But there was a real sense of relief. I wouldnt sayjoy, because people had lost their lives, we had lost people, the heroes of our ship we re lost people, the heroes of our ship were the boys who flew the aircraft on and off the carrier whilst we we re on and off the carrier whilst we were on operations. But everybody played their part in those days. A sense of relief, that it was coming to an end. I think that was the big feeling we had. Notjoy, but believe, really and remembrance, of course, of our comrades who were not coming back. And the prisoners who we re coming back. And the prisoners who were being released. That was another poignant part, because the ship, after leaving hong kong, was used as a big Aircraft Carrier and was used to bring back ex prisoners and people who had been involved, back to the uk. A very poignant moment for all of them. We will come back to you in a minute. Dan, we have spoken often on this programme about ve day, but thousands of personnel were still fighting until vj day, so how important is it to commemorate this day also . Very important. It is the end of the Second World War. It only was partly finished when hitler shot himself and germany fell. And in fact the blog was rumbling on. There were hundreds of thousands of british and indian troops fighting through burma, sir tom moore was on that campaign, roy, we havejust burma, sir tom moore was on that campaign, roy, we have just heard of, he was on one of the most powerful fleets ever assembled in british history. Extraordinary projection of naval power into the pacific. The war was very much going on. Both of my grandfathers were fighting in the indian ocean and pacific theatres at this time so there was a real sense that the war had not come to an end untiljapan signed that surrender. Alice, can i pick up signed that surrender. Alice, can i pick up i thought from you about your grandfather . You must be immensely proud of him being part of that. Yes, we are also proud. We are also very grateful to be able to share the stories with him, but there were so many people who lost their lives, who are not as lucky as well to hear about his experiences. We have heard so much from him, his four granddaughters. We are so grateful to happen now. We are all very proud. Alice, has your granddad spoken to you much about his experiences at that time . Sometimes, vetera ns experiences at that time . Sometimes, veterans often dont speak much about it, even with their own families. Is it something that you shared as a family . He picks and chooses what he tells because it is quite difficult sometimes to talk about it and be reminded of it. It was not a joyful time to stop it was sad and terrifying. And we all like to commemorate his bravery throughout the war. There are some stories that he tells us. More so stories that he tells us. More so stories of relief and teamwork as well, dont you . You like to remind us well, dont you . You like to remind us of that. Very much so. And some things we can learn lessons from,. Moments of great sadness, if i may say so, when we lost different people. And i know that you have talked about so many of them. You we re very talked about so many of them. You were very young talked about so many of them. You were very young when you signed up. Why did you want to sign up . a lwa ys why did you want to sign up . always wanted to go into the navy, asa always wanted to go into the navy, as a boy. I always had aspirations. And i was very pleased to be able to go to hms ganges for my initial training asa go to hms ganges for my initial training as a boy sailor. It was one of the toughest times in my life but it was a very rewarding time for me asa it was a very rewarding time for me as a young boy. I enjoyed every minute. I was very proud to serve, very proud to have served my country throughout all the years. And if we just pick up with you, it is important, as roy is talking now, it is so important. We still have the opportunity to speak to people like roy who have first hand experiences of what happened, and of the emotions surrounding it. Of course it is. I have built my career out of talking to veterans of both world wars and other conflicts and the civil rights movements. I find it completely compelling and what is exciting is that we are able to preserve these memories so that it cuts across now. Imagining 200 years time, we will have video and audio, it would be like us hearing someone from the battle of waterloo. It is still part of this amazing experiment that we dont know how itll turn it is exciting. If we are going to understand the problems of the world, look at the korean peninsula, for example, the korean warand peninsula, for example, the korean war and its uneasy peace on the peninsula is a direct result of what happened 75 years ago this month when korea was divided between the allies and the soviet union and the american led allies, so we need to listen to these stories and pay our respects to wonderful people like roy, and understand the consequences of this history, that we are still living with today. Roy, can i leave it with one thought from you . How important is it that we commemorate vj day . That we remember what people like you did . We must always remember these times, and remember all those men that lost their lives. That is my big thought about all of the guys that did not come back. Families were devastated. It was a very sad time. It must never happen again, we hope, but one never knows. I think we must always remember and commend them for what they did. And i always remember those gallant flyers that gave their lives over those nasty sorties, but lets be proud of what we did, and the fact that the british navy did itsjob. I am very proud to have served my country, and i will remain so. Im 96 years of age now. Ive had a wonderful life, i have the support ofa wonderful life, i have the support of a wonderful family, wonderful life, i have the support of a wonderfulfamily, and i look forward to remembering, throughout the coming few years that i have left. Roy miller, lovely to hear from you. Thank you both so much. A lovely scene, they are. And there are stories not to be forgotten, absolutely. Now onto something com pletely absolutely. Now onto something completely different. Becoming one of britains best dancers takes a lot of blood sweat and tears, and now a bbc documentary has gone behind the silk and sequins of the bhangra showdown to see just how much effort it really takes. The indian folk dance competition took place in birmingham before lockdown. Energy levels are off the scale, they are, monica . Hello. Good morning from Aston University in birmingham. Just morning from Aston University in birmingham. Just look at the energy. It is absolutely brilliant. They have got the energy and the rhythm and they have also brought the outfits. This is the Aston University bhangra group, and this is the team leader, and that is where you had a bbc documentary done. The bhangra showdown was a big competition, the biggest of its kind, all of the University Students in the uk that you bhangra came to battle it out for a trophy at the end. I believe your sister is also in the group, hello, how are you . I am loving what you are wearing. Wonderful outfit. I am currently wearing a waistcoat and these trousers, and the top, the traditional Adrian Indian attire for ladies. And your brother is team captain. What is it like working under your brothers leadership . The first year was weird, because i wasnt used to it but he is always pushing me and the team to unlock our potential and it has made us closer. Brilliant where does bhangra originate from . It originated in the punjab and farmers used to harvest their crops and it isa used to harvest their crops and it is a celebration type of dance, that a dance of joy, is a celebration type of dance, that a dance ofjoy, that we do not currently. Hello, gurdeep. We have to get you dancing online for the tv, but also, for the viewers having their breakfast, thinking bhangra are so their breakfast, thinking bhangra are so interesting, but how do you do it . What do you do . I have two perfect steps lined up for you. You put your hands above your head, and all you want to do isjust put your hands above your head, and all you want to do is just this, one, two, three, four. This is a bbc breakfast first, me doing bhangra with a boom microphone live on air i dont think it has ever been done before, but it is basically one, two, three, four. L nice little bird, and keep smiling, looking like youre having the best time of your life. The smiling, i can do. Im going to end it with the Aston University bhangra group, so, gurdeep, over to you Aston University bhangra group, so, gurdeep, over to you i think the smiling bit while you are doing it is the hardest part. You and i would be concentrating extremely hard. Thats wonderful. We will be back tomorrow morning from 6am. Goodbye. This is bbc news with the latest headlines. Explosion lebanon is in mourning after the huge explosion which killed at least 100 people and injured more than 4,000 others. The blast shook the whole city and a desperate search for more survivors is still under way. Translation from seven oclock in the evening weve been all over every hospital in beirut and we are now waiting for the names to come out, and nothing has come out. We dont know if hes dead or alive. Lebanons Prime Minister says the blast happened when thousands