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 afterfalling down a ravine, but didnt catch fire. The lebanese shia movement, hezbollah, has denied any link to tuesdays deadly blast at the beirut port. The United Nations is warning of a humanitarian disaster, with widespread medicine and food shortages. 154 people are now known to have died in the blast and thousands more were injured. Union leaders are threatening industrial action, after accusing British Airways of naked greed, in forcing some cabin crew out of theirjobs. Others will have to sign new contracts on lower pay. The airline says the changes are needed for its survival following the coronavirus pandemic. Now on bbc news. Its time to click. This week, hong kong activists. A touch of Space Tourism. Fire, fire and cgi catwalks. Hey, welcome to click. Hope you are doing 0k. Laura certainly is, because look, she has got a new friend. Thats right, basil, meat spencer, spencer meet basil. Hello, basil, nice to meet you, look at us we are talking to plants, thats what lockdown has done to us. Yeah, thats is what it has come to. This is a small example of my amazing gardening talent. You may recall a few weeks ago i planted a whole vertical farm. Yes i do, how was it, is it still alive . Yes, its doing really well, and i think device like this or that really stop you from going wrong. Because once you have got them plugged in and you make sure they dont run out of water, the device does the rest of the job. Later in the programme i will show you all of the food that i have been growing. Wow, thanks laura. We will come back to laura in a few minutes. First of all, we are going to hong kong. Now you will probably know that there have been protests in hong kong against the chinese authorities for over a year. And now beijing has introduced new laws to crack down on civil unrest. There are fears that these will give the authorities unfettered control over the internet, and many worry that the great chinese firewall is about to be extended. Danny vincent has been talking to hong kong tech activists on the front line. Every day at midnight, hong kongs most prominent activist, joshua wong, live streams his updates
to the world on facebook. He is using the lifestream to report he is to his followers will stop its one small way that young activists in hong kong are using technology in the wake of the new National Security law. Joshua thinks the authorities are building a case against him, and arrest is imminent. We have no confidence at all to guarantee all of our speech, and all of our statements could be legal under the framework of the law. Hong kong saw thousands of protesters take to the streets last year in a position to an extradition bill. They say they are now facing an even greater threat to their freedoms in the form of a new National Security law. They say theyre not only facing heavy policing on the streets, but also online. She is a tech activists, she sees the internet is a new battle ground. She says the new national
security law limits freedom of speech online. Digital sovereignty, its they were that china and beijing often use. They use it to describe that they have to have the right to control what information and what is Available Online for chinese citizens. This is how theyjustified their great firewall in china. And they are now trying to expand this kind of concept into hong kong by implementing the National Security law into hong kong, they are trying to argue that they have the sovereignty over hong kong and they have the rights to control what is available on the internet. The Central Government says the introduction of the new law is to restore order after a year of often viole nt protests. It criminalises state subversion. Punishment could mean life in prison. The law gives the authorities the power to force internet providers to delete content. China is evolving into a digital superpower. They have a really smart and comprehensive approaches in controlling its people including hong kong years. They have the great firewall in china, and their implementing it in hong kong. Not the physical infrastructure, because we have the open telecommunication system, but then they are trying to implement it through having this National Security law because that will encourage platforms and their users both to censor themselves and their users, and we have limited access to information. This footage is from a lifestream of recent arrests of student activists suspected of violating the National Security law. Their phones and computers were taken into custody. Tech activists are worried about mobile phone Extraction Technology used by the police force, equipment reportedly provided by an israeli company. The software allows users to access the content of mobile phones without using security features such as passwords. When the law was passed,
people were thinking of deleting telegram and replacing with something else. When you are in custody, police can still use that hardware and software to obtain your deleted messages and recover all of them. There are cases proving that messages deleted could be recovered by that software. Encrypted apps like telegram were used for Mass Communication to organise the street demonstrations. Protesters like simon say the police are using data extracting technology to build cases against young protesters. Tony is an it professional, and protester. He asked us to hide his identity. He says the protesters and residents are adapting to the new changes, he says hong kong must have been deleting past messages and starting to use encrypted apps en masse. People feel empowered that their physical identities will not be traced easily to their virtual entities. Its a wise ask that people start deleting their previous messages, because it might not have existed on a safe channel
or on a secure medium. Its a prudent move that people switch to new alter egos. China and america are engaged in another tech war, donald trump is in the process of banning chinese app tik tok over National Security concerns. American social media apps could be banned outright in china. Hong kong seems stuck in the middle. There are fears here that this city, promised Political Freedoms for 50 years, maybe becoming just another chinese city. Wow. Ok, that was danny vincent. And danny is online with me now from hong kong. Danny, how are you right now, how are you feeling . The new law was a huge shock to notjust the activists, not just the protesters, not just the tech activists but also ordinary people. That did not expect this law and changes to come about so quickly, and it feels like the city is really bracing for what comes next. Do you get the sense that you are not going to be able to report as freely from hong kong . For me as a journalist working here, the lions have simply changed almost overnight. In some ways you could say it feels even stricter than mainland china, because in the mainland at least you have a reference point. You know what can be written about, what can be said live on tv, you know what the lines are. But here in hong kong today it is not clear what the lines are. Its not clear what the future will bring, and the city in some ways it feels quite unrecognisable. To reiterate, whatever ive been to china and hong kong the difference is very stark. As soon as you cross the borderfrom hong kong into china google stops working, other Services Become unavailable, and it pretty much does happen at the border. So the worry may be is that, are you saying that they will extend into hong kong . That is the fear. The issue with the law is that it is so vague that people dont know exactly how it will be interpreted, and dont know how people will be charged. Dont know how quickly these further changes will be implemented. The activists right now that i have been speaking to you are confident that at least online when it comes to the apps they are using like facebook, twitter or instagram, they think it will still be able to use them for a while. People i have spoken to are also very much aware that hong kong is now caught in the middle of this new cold war essentially between washington and beijing. What is the worst Case Scenario that the great firewall and all of the restrictions there are unmanned in china, just extend and hong kong is subject to executive same restrictions . Is the feeling of the hong kong is living on borrowed time. Many people are now choosing to leave the city because they do think its going to become just another ordinary chinese city with those types of restrictions. Listen, thanks so much for doing that report. And stay in touch. Hello and welcome to the week intact. It was the week that the European Commission announced it will carry out a full scale probe into googles takeover of fitbit. Nasa launched exploration rover perseverance into space as it begins its seven month journey into mars. But while that goes up, space xs crew dragons splashed down. Yes, the first commercial spacecraft to travel to the International Space station came straight back down to earth after a successful mission. Samsung has unveiled the galaxy 2 fold two. Its screen is 1. 6 inches bigger than the last galaxy fold, as its a small and federally sides with one of its biggest criticisms. And finally, the force is strong as a key scene from starwars, the empire
strikes back has inspired researchers to create electronic skin with feelings. Its made up of a network of sensors connected via a single electrical conductor. It can be used in robots or prosthetic limbs to potentially recreate a sense of touch that feels pain, temperature, shape and texture. Its most recent development allows robots to read braille and classify objects. Vertical farming. A controlled environment to create perfect crops, sometimes even seen in restaurants or supermarkets. Now home devices allowing you to do the same on a smaller scale are growing in popularity. And in my garage. Well, here is my click and grow smart garden. That is that the actual name. As you can see, everything has grown pretty nicely. When i planted it i looked at it all in the outcome at the app does not sync up
with the device, there is a bluetooth version coming soon that will do that. But it does provide a good diary function. I know i planted these 27 days ago, and i have given that advice on how long it takes for them to be ready to eat. My lettuce is ready, my tomatoes are not. Never received the alert to refill the water that i should have done, but that was apparently down to a glitch in the app which im told has since been fixed. And walking away seeing lights left on did feel quite odd, but i was left with some really nice leaves. It will take you a few fair lettuces to get your moneys worth on buying the kids, but in the uncertainty of a global pandemic, devices like this do seem to have their own appeal. I feel like i was going to battle when i went to the Grocery Store with my mask and my hand sanitiser, and my wifes, so it has been really nice to be able to grow
my own food here. Sanitiser, and my wipes, so it has been really nice to not have to worry about that. Here you see my mature plants and these are my newer plants coming in for my second harvest. New Modular Concepts to allow you to personalise your set up. Choosing whether you want one salad shelf or two, or three. And like many of the latest grovers, this one connects to an app to remind you to add water or nutrients, or to harvest your veggies. One of the trickiest problems was getting the whole system integrated so that you can replace these trays, having it seek an add on trellises to the system, add on Modular Systems later, integrating all the sensor data of where the water is, and with the ph levels are in the nutrient levels. Putting all that into an app. Whilst big brands lg and samsung have shown off some intriguing kitchen concepts, lesser known farmers shelf has a device that might beat them to market. Its indoor farm gives sensors and Computer Vision to monitor the plants, automatically providing the right amount of water and nutrients. We are collecting data on how the plants are growing and monitoring those from equations as well as the images are analysed. In the as that data set to gross we are able to automate more and more actions in the system as well as automatic notifications. And changes to the plant recipes at the plant progresses through its lifecycle. Everyone smile for communities like this womens shelter, having an on site farm has been a lifeline through the coronavirus crisis. This huge container can house at 9000 plants to help feed her more than 1000 women and children staying there each night. Food supply chains have been varyingly broken across our country. One thing we knew that we always had with our farm. The container farm cost over 100,000, but it has certainly proved its value. We have produced in less than nine months over 40,000 equivalency, and in fresh, leafy greens and vegetables. Whether its the pandemic or just the everyday uncertainty of life in a homeless shelter, it has been a tool for learning and healing on every level. Although for most of us these high tech guardians will be more of a hobby, these self sufficient grovers can seriously help out in applicable times. Maybe needs a bit of dressing, but its good. Now then. We have 90 of earthbound worries at the moment, but that has not stopped developments in commercial space travel. Spacex has successfully sent
a crew to the International Space station and back again. It looks like Space Tourism outfit Virgin Galactic has been busy as well. The Company Recently announced partnership with engine manufacturer rolls royce to develop a supersonicjet capable of flying at three times the speed of sound. Thats one to sydney in five hours. For now the Company Still has its sights set on space. As mark reports. Fire, fire work continues that Virgin Galactic to realise its goal, the reusable space flight that allows the space tourists to experience zero g and if use of the earth from low orbit. I spoke with Virgin Galactics chief space officer George Whitesides about space flight testing during the pandemic. We had a great run so far this year, so the next flight we are going to do is just have
two pilots and a friend. Soon after that employees will help us test the experience will make sure its amazing for our customers. Wbr id wbr10290 Virgin Atlantic announces plans to cut more than 3000 jobs in the uk. The economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic have caused big problems for Virgin Galactics founder Sir Richard Branson. Have times when sir richard bra nson launched Virgin Atlantic. The billionaire request financial bailout from the uk government for struggling Virgin Atlantic, hit hard like all airlines due to the collapse of travel during the pandemic. Uks government rejected the bid. This week, a uk court also heard a carrier could run out of money if its creditors dont approve a £1. 2 billion rescue package, which has now been secured through private funding. And is part of the court sanctioned process needs the creditors approval, Virgin Atlantic has filed chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in us courts. Since the crisis began, branson has now sold b
a £a05 million stake in Virgin Galactic, part of which has now been pumped into the airline. However the virgin groups wider albums wbrid wbr10890 affected Virgin Galactic . We were in a relatively Strong Financial position before the covid hit, and so we have been lucky to be in a relatively good place where all of our direct employees have been retained throughout this crisis. The pandemic means that galactic has turns to Virtual Reality as a means of revealing the cabin interior of its spacecraft to journalists. Welcome to Virgin GalacticVirtual Reality. The Vr Experience for the oculus quest highlights the project achievements to date and allows the user to make galactics test pilots and astronauts. My name is kelly latimer, and im a Virgin Galactic pilot. As well as giving us a virtual taste of space flight. Jeremy brown is responsible for the design of the ship cabin, as well as the interior of spaceport america. We could not be more socially distanced as he is only other side of london, but hes able to get a quick tour in the er. My vr guide gives us the lowdown on some of the cabins main features. 17 windows on board, we provide a 360 degrees view. Capturing it with 16 cameras on board. Not only do we know the size of your suit and that will be perfectly fitting, but also your sneakers as well. I betjeremy farewell as i continue my space 0dyssey solo. Before we blast off, i can investigate the spacecraft up close and personal with them. You really can see all the details and check them out. For me, this experience is all about getting up in the air. And the beauty of the is you can do that very, very quickly indeed. And here we are, wow. That view, that is what you pay £250,000 four. The view of the planet earth from low orbit. Even in vr, i have to say, its pretty breathtaking. And i can do something that you cant do