Security forces in Beirut have used tear gas against anti-government protesters in clashes following Tuesday night's explosion in which more than 130 people died. Many in Lebanon blame government negligence for the blast which levelled entire districts of the capital. More than 2,700 tonnes of the chemical ammonium nitrate, which was being stored at a warehouse in the city's port, exploded following a fire. Sixteen people have been taken into custody as part of a probe into the causes of the explosion, according to the state news agency.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who visited Beirut on Thursday, has called for an international investigation into the blast while also saying Lebanon needs "profound change" from its government. 

At least 5,000 people were injured by the explosion, and dozens of people near the blast site are still unaccounted for. As many as 300,000 are thought to have been left homeless. The BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Beirut says every second person has a broom in their hands, trying to clean up the city's devastation.

We've been looking into the background of the explosion, as well as how it has come at a time of crisis in Lebanon.
 

With GCSE and A-level exams cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, schools in England have been told they will be able to challenge results which may not reflect improvements in their performance. Because students have not sat exams this year, grades are being calculated by combining teachers' estimates for individual pupils with a statistical model based on their school's past results. But the exams regulator in England, Ofqual, says schools and colleges will be able to challenge the results if they have been through a major change of leadership which has turned around their recent performance .

The announcement follows a row in Scotland this week, where it has been claimed that exam grades for students from poorer areas were marked down. Scottish Government ministers have denied that pupils from deprived areas were unfairly penalised, with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon saying the appeals process will "rectify" any "genuine individual injustices".

However, students in England cannot mount direct appeals, although they can submit allegations about bias or discrimination in the way their teachers estimated their grades. Pupils can also sit A-level exams in October or GCSE exams in November.

BBC Bitesize offers help and advice for pupils and parents expecting exam results in the coming fortnight.
 

A 10-year-old boy has told of how he thought he was going to die after being swept out to sea off Scarborough. Ravi Saini, from Leeds, was swimming with his father and sister on a day trip to the beach when he realised he was out of his depth. Thankfully Ravi is a fan of the BBC documentary series Saving Lives at Sea and remembered to adopt the "Float to Live" technique of lying on his back, staying calm and spreading out like a starfish . While he says it felt like he was in the water for five hours, he was reached after an hour by the local RNLI lifeboat and taken to safety. Crewman Rudi Barman said the fact Ravi was floating on his back saved his life.
 

Pictures of the TV presenter Caroline Flack feature on the front pages of some of Friday's papers, after a coroner ruled she took her own life in February. The Metro reports that Flack's mother criticised the detective who pressed for her daughter to be charged with assault. The inquest heard that Flack killed herself a day after learning she was to face trial for allegedly attacking her boyfriend. Elsewhere, the Times says France may be the next country to come off the UK's safe travel list. The paper quotes one expert as saying the country is "bubbling" with coronavirus cases. And the Guardian says leading doctors have warned that the NHS should not shut down normal operations again and become a "Covid-only" service if there is a second wave of infections in the UK. There's more on this in our paper review.

It may not have escaped your notice, but it's going to be quite warm in the south and east of England over the next couple of days (commiserations or congratulations if you're elsewhere in the UK). Fortunately for those in the hot zone we have refreshed our ever-popular feature on how to sleep in the heat. Elsewhere, rapper Nadia Rose has been talking to the BBC's Paul Glynn about controlling her own destiny, "outlandish" new music, and receiving texts from Rihanna .

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