Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20200808

The plane couldnt stop in time. Both pilots are among those dead. That seems to have skidded off the runway and we must remember its a table top runway. So it seems to have crossed that runway and fallen into a ditch sort of a place. And because of that impact, there seems to have been a breaking of the fuselage into two and the aircraft, the front portion has been very badly mangled and damaged. This locals were among the first to respond. The injured, taken to hospitals in taxis and private cars. Families, searching for loved ones theyve waited months for. Many on board are believed to have been Migrant Workers whod gone overseas to earn a living. The crash is yet another blow for a region that is grappling with landslides and the covid crisis. Yogita limaye, bbc news, mumbai. The United Nations is warning of a humanitarian disaster in lebanon, with widespread medicine and food shortages, after this weeks explosion in the capital, beirut. 154 people are now known to have died in the blast and thousands more were injured. At least 300,000 people have been made homeless. 0ur middle east correspondent, Quentin Sommerville has this report. Singing. The lebanese are used to taking matters into their own hands. Singing their national anthem, they came from all over the country to clear up their capital. Youve come all the way here to beirut . Why . Yes, for volunteering. To support all the people who are damaged and they are homeless right now. And meet the ladies of the tripoli cleaning squad, from just up the coast from beirut. They told me, we remain united no matter how much they try to separate us. Muslim, sunni, shia, druze, christian were all one band. It seems like every second person in beirut is carrying either a shovel or a broom. Theres a massive clear up going on. Theyve come from all over the country. The devastation here is enormous, and these homes arent going to be habitable for a very long time. In some neighbourhoods, the devastation is almost total. No house has been spared. More than 300,000 people are now homeless. And the crisis is far from over. Here, theyre rushing to evacuate another home. There is a house up there. Its almost getting fallen. Can you see the roof . Yeah, so were helping them to get out their stuff from the house before the building fall down. French firefighters are helping with the search. Theyre welcome, but theres frustration that the lebanese authorities arent doing enough. Theres blood everywhere. Yeah. Alan says his family are now homeless. He took us inside their apartment. His father was badly injured. His blood is everywhere. His dad will make it, but 12 of their neighbours died on this one Street Corner alone. In lebanon, nobody come check. Three days, this big catastrophe in lebanon, nobody can come and tell me, this room, you cannot sit in this room. Here, its. I dont know. Nobody care. And theyre still finding survivors. Mobile phone footage. In the last few hours, this girl was pulled from the rubble. Inside the port, at ground zero, its a scene of annihilation, though russian rescue teams are still looking for survivors, and french rescue workers too. One said, we always hope of still finding people alive. If theres still structures standing, then theres still a chance. Lebanons president says a missile may have detonated the chemicals, which flattened this area, but he offered no supporting evidence. Hes rejected calls for an international investigation. But in any case, leaving such a large store of chemicals here in the heart of the city was deadly folly. Quentin sommerville, bbc news, beirut. Despite the desperate situation in beirut, stories of heroism and survival are emerging. 0ur correspondent, Carine Torbey has been speaking to a nurse, who managed to rescue three newborn babies, after the explosion ripped through the city. This is normally a place ofjoy, but tuesdays explosion ripped through the neonatal intensive care unit. Three premature babies were in their incubators. In the chaos, pamela, the only nurse on shift who was unhurt, picked them up. A picture that spread across the world. The only thing i could think of was the safety of the babies i had in the unit. The first thing i had to do was to rescue the babies and just carry them and get away with them. I thought that i can never leave them alone here and go away. Pamela walked for over 30 minutes before finding safety, holding them close to keep them warm amidst the havoc. I felt like the babies are very important to me, they were part of me. I had to keep them safe until they reached their destination. People were giving me their jackets so that i could cover the babies and take them back to safety. I felt like i was their mother in this timing. They needed me the most and i needed them most. Today, one of those three babies is with her mother again. Translation they gave us hope again. They revive our home again. There arent many joyful pictures coming out from beirut nowadays, but this one does stand out. Carine torbey, bbc news, beirut. Tougher coronavirus lockdown measures, including new restrictions on household gatherings, have come into force in preston in north west england. It follows a sharp rise in infections. 0ur correspondent Judith Moritz reports. This cafe in preston market only moved into new premises just before lockdown. Now its getting back on its feet again, but the owner remains nervous. Infection rates have surged in the city, and she fears the consequences unless theyre brought under control. I am concerned, because obviously weve all invested a lot of money into our businesses, and what i dont want to see is another total lockdown again, especially for small independent businesses. I mean, you know, it would be a real struggle. The cafes bread comes from a baker who operates across north west england, covering some areas where government restrictions are in place and others where theyre not. It is without doubt the clarity, thats all you hear, people say, if we just knew what was going to happen, there needs to be clear guidance, and i think people are more than willing to support it, but theyjust need that clarity and support. Infection rates have spiked across preston. Cases in the under 30s have rocketed. Nightclubs are not allowed to open under current restrictions. Recently Lancashire Police criticised this clubs decision to re purpose itself as a bar. The club said it is adhering to social distancing and safety guidelines. 0n preston high street, people were not surprised to hear that restrictions are being tightened. Im just using my common sense, which is what maybe one or two people arent using, hence why its, you know, spreading again. A lot of people have been asking me to, like, meet up and that kind of thing, and they dont want to wear masks and they dont want social distance. If the government is asking us to follow, then we have to follow, because its not for someone else, its for our safety, so we have to follow. The prohibition on household gatherings will continue in other parts of northern england, including pendle, where mobile testing has been introduced. Kirklees in West Yorkshire is still under restriction, but one of its mps feels that, within its boundaries, the rules in some low infection areas should be eased. We need to have the confidence of the people that are making the sacrifices that theyre doing it to reduce transmission and because there are cases, so in areas where there are no new cases, we need to take them out of restrictions as soon as possible. Here in preston, the authorities were already asking people to wear masks and avoid visiting each others houses voluntarily. From midnight tonight, theyll have to do so by law and the council has warned that if the restrictions are ignored, its highly likely that even more stringent measures will follow. Judith moritz, bbc news, preston. There were few countries less prepared for covid 19 than venezuela. Its economy was already on the verge of collapse, and the Healthcare System was in a similar state. The government has struggled to contain the virus and human Rights Groups say the authorities are going too far in enforcing a lockdown, as tim allman explains. Lined up in rows, sitting in the heat of the daytime sun, these people will are being punished. Crime . Breaking the rules during a pandemic. There are claims others have been forced to carry out physical exercise and some have even been beaten. Translation this thing the authorities are doing is not right. I leave my house to work and get food for the day and they wont let us work. It is easy for the soldiers because they have food and how do we poor people do it . Accurate figures are hard to come by but so far the authorities have confirmed around 23,000 cases of covid 19 and more than 200 deaths. Cu rfews have been and more than 200 deaths. Curfews have been imposed and there are strict limits on peoples movement. The opposition says the response is heavy handed and, in the end, self defeating. Translation with the police and judicial handling of the pandemic there will be a higher rate of infection, a lower capacity for ca re infection, a lower capacity for care and cases will be collocated. The population will not only then be afraid of virus but also of the Police Handling of the pandemic. President maduro has praised the military saying they are doing battle with covid 19. His critics say that if this is a war he is going to far to win it. The unite union has accused British Airways of industrial thuggery after thousands of cabin crew, engineers and other staff were told theyre being made redundant. Many of those invited to stay are being asked to accept salary cuts. Ba insists its to protect jobs. 0ur transport correspondent, tom burridge, has been speaking to some of those affected. Ba is locked in a bitter battle with some of its staff, who now face a bleak new reality. How this is going to affect my family personally . Thats whats keeping me up at night, is to be able to provide for them. And i simply didnt want to end my career at British Airways like this. This cabin crew member wanted to hide his face. He fears ba could take action against him, but he wants his story heard. Myself and my wife, we both fly. Its going to affect us both. Were going to have to sell our home. Even if he keeps hisjob, his overall pay will be halved. They forced me into a corner. Its been unfair, immoral and opportunistic, and itjust leaves with a really bad taste. He protested with colleagues who hid their faces with photos of their bosses earlier this week, their salaries cut or theirjobs gone. Were losing our livelihoods, were losing our houses, were losing everything. Why . Because theyre just being greedy, greedy, greedy. Weve devoted our lives to British Airways, and this is how they treat us. We are going to be on the lowest pay, the lowest terms and conditions if British Airways get their way. And i say, no way, ba. Youre an absolute disgrace to treat people like this who have built the airline. So, what exactly does ba plan . Two in five of the lowest paid crew should get a small pay rise, but three in five will have their basic salary cut by 20 . Crucially, theyll allowances too, meaning longer serving members of staff would have their overall income cut by around 50 . In a statement, ba said it has to. Ba needs to reset, it has to develop a new strategy because its facing huge competition from the very low Cost Carriers that are emerging from this crisis with better Balance Sheets and better financial situations. With much of its fleet parked up for months, the airline has lost record sums, but staff argue they helped the company make healthy profits before covid. Now, strike action is on the cards. Tom burridge, bbc news. This is bbc news. The headlines at least 17 people have died after an air india plane skids off the runway at an airport in kerala. The un is warning of a humanitan crisis after tuesdays explosion in beirut, which killed 154 people. Lets stay with that now. Steven cook is senior fellow for middle east studies at the council on foreign relations. He told us how the explosion has exposed a failing system in lebanon. It certainly seems that it is accelerating the end of this government and perhaps the regime in lebanon. The country has been rocked by protests since last fall. The covid crisis has only intensified an economic crisis and many lebanese have grown extraordinarily frustrated with the government and system itself. Thus far, the government is holding there have been no resignations but certainly people are begging the International Community when they do provide aid to lebanon to go around the government because this is a government of corrupt warlords and officials that date back many, many, many years who have siphoned the countrys wealth. You have written in an article that the ossified structure of lebanon puts up in a system where top posts were assigned to various sects, as part of the problem. Lebanons Political Class is not interested in providing. Resources to their own constituents. They are only interested in providing for their constituents which breeds corruption and in turn breeds dysfunction and we see this on full display after this tragic explosion but we were seeing it well before. The country last march defaulted on its debt. More than half of the population is in poverty or outright destitute. There is only a few hours of electricity a day. And now with the port basically shattered lebanon which imports 80 of food, fuel, and medicine is left in terrible, terrible straights. Most of the initial reports as we have seen in our own reporting was that the explosion was probably an industrial accident. Why might the president michel aoun then suggest that external forces might be to blame . Well, michel aoun and the entire lebanese Political Class is under tremendous political pressure, and it seems as if almost the entire country is in revolt against them and it is clearly an effort to shift blame and to relieve political pressure. Alluding to a possible Israeli Attack is something in which they are trying to turn the tide of politics in lebanon, but it strikes me that at least thus far, the lebanese people arent buying it and they are continuing to focus their anger on the lebanese government for its dysfunction and that that has led to this catastrophe. The home secretary, priti patel, says the rising number of migrants reaching the uk across the English Channel in small boats is unacceptably high. More than 1000 people arrived last month, while 235 were detained on thursday, a record for a single day. So far this year, more than 300 boats, carrying almost 4,000 people, are known to have attempted the journey. Our home editor, mark easton reports from dover. Calm seas are attracting desperate people. In the early hours, our camera spotted this group among the occupants, several children and a pregnant woman. Its just one dinghy among more than a dozen that yesterday left france seeking a better tomorrow in britain. Where are you from . From iraq, we are iraqis, from iraq iraq . Ruthless smugglers convince those in migrant camps that its now or never, while the waters are benign and the land borders are open covid or brexit, they lie, will soon shut off this route to asylum. During the course of today, we watched dozens of rescued migrants being led up the ramp to the Processing Centre on the dockside. From here, adult Asylum Seekers and families are loaded into vans and taken off to Home Office Immigration detention centres. The unaccompanied children, though, become the responsibility of kent social services. In the last day, there have been 23 the most ever recorded. I dont think there is any council in the country, certainly not even one of the size of kent county council, that could take on board 60, 70, 80 or more young people coming into its care month on month on month. 110w as those numbers increase. Throughout the day, coastguard and Border Force Vessels have patrolled the kent coast as holiday makers enjoy the sun on beaches where migrant dinghies recently came ashore. Many more migrants sneak into britain in the back of lorries and other vehicles, but the sight of dinghies breaching the countrys borders beneath the iconic white cliffs is always politically potent. The mp for dover says britain should send them all straight back. What weve seen is an absolutely unacceptable level of small boats crossing this year, and we do need the french to stop the boats leaving their shore, we need to make sure boats are taken back to france, and that if people do arrive here, that they are sent back to another country. The home secretary, priti patel, is not the first in that position to be embarrassed by the sight of migrants being smuggled into the uk, even more so as a brexiteer who campaigned for britain to control its borders. Its understood she wants the royal navy to join the Border Force Cutters on patrol. Meanwhile, a Repatriation Flight is due to leave for france and germany in the middle of next week as british and french immigration officials monitor a crisis that has every potential of becoming a tragedy. Todays beautiful weather has, of course, seen thousands of sun seekers relaxing on the beaches of kent, while just out to sea, Border Force Vessels are still patrolling, on the lookout for more desperate migrants, risking their lives crossing the busiest sea lane in the world to reach those same beaches. Mark easton, bbc news, dover. Friday was the hottest day in august for 17 years as large parts of the uk experienced high temperatures and the south of england baked in a heatwave. London reached just over 36 degrees celsius. Ican i can vouch for that people are advised to avoid busy beaches and maintain social distancing as Sangita Myska reports. Sun, sea, sand and social distancing. This is british summertime in our new normal. The sun seekers of essex today flocked to southend sea front as temperatures here and across englands Southern Coast have soared. The government is urging people to keep their distance from one another, but with limited success. When we got here we suddenly realised there was a lot of people in a very small amount of space. So were going to try our best to keep our distance from everybody else. Its difficult when its so crowded everywhere, isnt it . Yeah, not many people wear masks in shops around here, ive noticed. Well, i was stuck in for three months. Youve got to live, havent you . Because we dont know when this is going to end. With thousands of people having now cancelled their foreign holidays, Public Health england recognises that they will instead probably flock to beaches like this one in southend. Even so, they are urging members of the public, particularly those in vulnerable groups like the elderly and very young, to limit their exposure to the sun and make sure that they remain hydrated. Away from the beaches, at frensham ponds in surrey, accomplished swimmers have found their own way staying cool. But in another part of the same county, the heat has brought danger. Thick smoke and lapping flames at this scrubland fire on a chobham common could be seen from over 30 miles away. Dozens of firefighters remain at the scene. Further west, by the dorset coast, those at boscombe beach has so far managed to keep socially distanced. But with the weekend arriving and temperatures rising, how closely those rules will be followed remains to be seen. Sangita myska, bbc news, southend, essex. All this week, bbc news has been looking at the impact of coronavirus on the tourism industry. For Business Owners in the south west of england, the lockdown has proved costly. The trade body, visit cornwall, says fewer holidaymakers will mean a loss of £800 million this year, almost half the regions annual tourism turnover. Heresjon kay. Cornwall was not designed for social distancing. Even on a damp afternoon, the narrow streets of st ives are heaving. A bit crowded a bit crowded, yeah hiding in a doorway, holiday makers ed and margaret. Theres that many people coming backwards and forwards, you dont know where to go. Does it frighten you . It does frighten me, yeah, because ive got heart problems. So, you know. Did you think about staying away . Well, if i do that id never be able to go on holiday. There are clear warnings and restrictions in place. But some locals want more. None of them are kind of wearing masks. Michelle and stephen live here, but theyre not going into town. She lost her retail job during lockdown. We want to get rid of it. So knows the importance of tourism to this region. But they feel some visitors are forgetting theres a pandemic. Theyre packed in like sardines. People are going to be catching the virus. Its going to spread. I personally think, if we carry on the way we are, were going to have another lockdown. Tourism Officials Say there are actually fewer holiday makers in cornwall this summer than there were a year ago. But it feels busier because a lot of cornish people have decided to stay at home, so theyre here as well. And a lot of attractions have had to shut, which means people are crammed into specific areas. Thejudd family have been coming here from kent every summer for half a century. We kept ringing up and saying, can you get us in, ca they wanted to visit this year to support the local economy. But they are avoiding the busier areas to stay safe. Its being selective and reasoning things through. You know, we dont need to go to st ives this year. Well be back at easter anyway, so well go to st ives at easter itll still be there. A feeling of normality after a period of great uncertainty. For the family that run this holiday park relief. Theyre as full as they can be, and all the staff are back. Our customers have all been very receptive to the measures weve put in place. Everyones been keeping to their own families and maintaining social distancing. And thats been really reassuring to see. It feels like the coronavirus isnt here any more. It feels like normal. It is a delicate balance for a county that, until now, has escaped the worst. Jon kay, bbc news, cornwall. You can reach me on twitter. Im jamesbbcnews. Hello there. For the second friday in a row, some of us have experienced some extreme heat drifting up from the near continent. In fact, the first friday of august saw temperatures peaking at 36. 4 degrees in central london, and the heat was pretty widespread across the midlands, central and southern england. Widely seeing those temperatures in excess of 30 degrees. That said, not for all. In parts of North West Wales and the outer hebrides we saw temperatures only at around 16 or 17 degrees, and here there were some showery outbreaks of rain. So over the next few hours those temperatures will fall into single figures. By contrast in the south east its going to be a very uncomfortable night for getting a good nights sleep. We wake up on saturday morning, perhaps low to mid 20s. So that means plenty of sunshine around, albeit hazy for the weekend. We keep the heat in the southeast for some very warm nights to come, much fresher in the far north west. Thats because we are under this influence of high pressure, but there is a weak weather front slicing across the high. Now this is just a band of cloudy, really. Maybe the odd spot of light drizzle, but its the dividing line between the fresher air up into the north west, and circulating around that high is a north easterly breeze that will just make it feel a little more comfortable, perhaps, along those exposed east coasts. At the same time, after that warm and sultry start, the temperatures in the south are set to climb once again. So widely we are going to see mid to high 20s, possibly into the mid 30s once again. Further north and west, thats where temperatures should be, really, for the time of year. 17 to 22 degrees. That weather front could spark a few showers through the night, but generally speaking it will be a quiet night, and a quiet start to sunday morning once again. Again its going to be another uncomfortable night down into the south with low 20s to greet us first thing on sunday morning. We could see a few isolated showers here and there across Eastern England on sunday, but generally this weekend its with a dry story with some hazy sunshine coming through. Again, that north easterly breeze just peppering the feel of the temperatures, really, across the east coast. Highest values on sunday afternoon are 32 degrees. Now that heat is set to stay with us, and it could, as we go into next week, trigger off the risk of some sharp and thundery downpours. Thats it. Have a great weekend. This is bbc news, the headlines at least 17 people have died after an air india plane skidded off a runway during heavy rain, in kerala. Many of the injured have been taken to local hospitals. The aircraft with around 200 people on board broke in two