good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. at least 8 people have died after a mountain cable car plunged to the ground in northern italy. two children have been airlifted to hospital in turin. the cable car takes people from the town of stresa, on lake maggiore, up almost a mile above sea level to the top of the mottarone mountain. luca gemelli is a travel agent based in stresa, and says both the town and the wider region are very popular with tourists. lake maggiore is in the northern part of italy and is one of the big lakes in the northern part of italy. quite popular with tourists, especially during the spring and summer. and the cable car that we have been talking about where this accident happened, it is a popular destination for people, i assume? it is a very popular destination. before covid it used to carry approximately 100,000 passengers every year. where does it go from and to? cos it is quite high at the end? it goes from basically one of the suburbs of stresa, to
airlifted to hospital. lava from a volcanic eruption in the democratic republic of congo stops just short of the city of goma prompting evacuees to return home. the eurovision winner s lead singer agrees to a drugs test after speculation over this competition footage. good evening. a new study has found that two doses of the uk s main covid vaccines offer strong protection against the so called indian variant of the virus. the public health england study the first to look at the vaccines effectiveness against the indian variant comes amid warnings that the new strain is now the dominant one in some parts of the country. here s our science correspondent pallab ghosh. today and through the weekend, people in rochdale were actively coming forward to receive their vaccinations. the latest research shows that the jabs are effective in reducing the chances of getting infected from the variant that came from india, and experts think that the vaccines are stopping serious illn
lead singer agrees to a drugs test after speculation over this competition footage. hello and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world. belarus has arrested a leading opposition activist after forcing the international commercial flight he was travelling on, to land in its capital minsk. roman protasevich played a key role during mass protests against the authoritarian leader, alexander lukashenko. he was on board a ryanair plane travelling from greece to lithuania when it was forced to divert. european diplomats have expressed outrage, and poland says the eu will discuss immediate sanctions on monday. the plane has now arrived at its original destination, vilnius airport in lithuania about 90 minutes ago these are picture of ryanair flight as it touched down. ryanair says it found nothing untoward on board after it was ordered to land by air traffic control. belarus state media says authorities are investigating a hoax bomb plot and the fact an opposition was
hello and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world. there s been a chorus of condemnation across europe after a ryanair plane flying from greece to lithuania was diverted to minsk in belarus and a dissident belarusian journalist on board was detained. state media in belarus said the plane was forced to land because of a bomb scare. the uk foreign secretary said the outlandish actions would have serious implications . the bbc s diplomatic correspondent james landale reports. this is not where flight fr4978 was supposed to be this afternoon, on the ground at minsk airport. the ryanair flight with about 170 people on board left athens this morning bound for vilnius. butjust before the aircraft entered lithuanian airspace, it suddenly headed east. according to ryanair, the crew were warned of a potential security threat and ordered to land at minsk. for good measure, a belarussian warplane onto the teeth was dispatched to the aircraft in. armed to the teeth.