this is bbc news. i'm james reynolds. our top stories: an air india plane with around 200 people on board skids off the runway at an airport in kerala — 17 die and dozens more are injured. the united nations is warning of a humanitarian disaster in lebanon, after the beirut explosion. many are still missing. hundreds of thousands are homeless. there is a massive clear up going on. they come from all over the country and the devastation here is enormous. strike action could be on the cards over british airways‘ plans to cut cabin crew, and their pay. as it's revealed texas has the third highest number of coronavirus cases in the united states — why the state's hispanic

community suffers most. hello and welcome to bbc news. at least 16 people have died after an air india plane skidded off a runway during heavy rain, in the southern indian city of kozhikode. the aircraft with 191 people on board broke in two after falling 35 feet down a ravine. our correspondent yogita limaye has more. this plane was bringing home indians who had been stuck abroad amidst the covid pandemic. landing in the dark amidst heavy rainfall, on what many say is a challenging runway, the plane couldn't stop in time. both pilots are among those dead. that seems to have skidded off the runway and we must remember it's 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. locals were among the first to respond. the injured, taken to hospitals in taxis and private cars. families, searching for loved ones they've waited months for. many on board are believed to have been migrant workers who'd 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. jagriti chandra is a journalist at the hindu, india's national newspaper. she's been covering the story for the paper.

what more do we know about the passengers on board the plane? the casualty figures have been confirmed. in all our injuries. of the kind of damage evident from the photos, the aircraft slid —— split into two and the clock pit brawl the bore the brunt of the accident and that is why the kind of injuries on the pilots were very serious. the latest date are that there will be... relief flights of air india leaving delhi and mumbai to reach... iam leaving delhi and mumbai to reach... i am afraid your line has gone down, i am so sorry. we will try to establish that

line a little later. let's get some of the day's other news. the united states is placing sanctions on hong kong's chief executive carrie lam and 11 other officials, arguing they were responsible for suppressing democratic processes in the chinese territory. it follows an announcement last week from ms lam that september's elections would be delayed for a year because of the coronavirus, sparking claims she was undermining hong kong's political freedoms. the main challenger to president alexander lukashenko in this sunday's election in belarus has accused the authorities of subverting the poll. svetla na ti kha novs kaya said voters were tired, after 26 years of mr lukashenko's rule. earlier, thousands of people gathered at a rally in the capital, minsk, in support of the opposition candidate. us authorities say they've discovered a highly sophisticated, 400—metre long tunnel running beneath the border with mexico. it was found by arizona officials when a sink—hole appeared in the desert. images show a solid—looking construction with water lines, electrical wiring and railway tracks running along the floor. officials believe it would have

been used to smuggle drugs, people and weapons. the united nations is warning of a humanitarian disaster in lebanon, with widespread medicine and food shortages, after this week's 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. you've 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 — "we're all one band." it seems like every second person in beirut is carrying either a shovel or a broom. there's a massive clear—up going on. they've come from all over the country. the devastation here is enormous, and these homes aren't 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, they're rushing to evacuate another home. there is a house up there. it's almost getting fallen. can you see the roof? yeah, so we're helping them to get out their stuff from the house before the building fall down. french firefighters

are helping with the search. they're welcome, but there's frustration that the lebanese authorities aren't doing enough. there's blood everywhere... yeah. alan says his family are now homeless. he took us inside their apartment. they're welcome, but there's frustration that the lebanese 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, it's... i don't know. nobody care. and they're still finding survivors. mobile phone footage. in the last few hours, this girl was pulled from the rubble. inside the port, at ground zero, it's 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 there's still structures standing, "then there's still a chance." lebanon's president says a missile may have detonated the chemicals, which flattened this area, but he offered no supporting evidence. he's 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 tuesday's 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 aren't many joyful pictures coming out from beirut nowadays, but this one does stand out. carine torbey, bbc news, beirut. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: counting the cost of coronavirus on england's tourism industry. the question was whether we want to save our people and japanese, as well and win the war, or whether we want to take a chance on being able

to win the war by killing all our young men. the invasion began at two o'clock this morning. mr bush, like most other people, was clearly caught by surprise. we call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all the iraqi forces. 100 years old and still full of vigour, vitality and enjoyment of life. no other king or queen in british history has lived so long, and the queen mother is said to be quietly very pleased indeed that she's achieved this landmark anniversary. this is a pivotal moment for the church as an international movement. the question now is whether the american vote will lead to a split in the anglican community.

this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: at least 17 people have died after an air india plane skids off the runway at an airport in kerala. jagriti chandra, a journalist at the hindu, india's national newspaper, has been covering the story for the paper. we had some connection problems earlier but you about with us. can you bring us up to date? 0vernight there have been confirmation about the casualty. we know that there are 16 people who have lost their lives, this figure includes the two pilot. if you have seen the visuals of the accident and the aftermath of the accident it is evident that the accident it is evident that the damage was extensive. the fuselage of the aircraft split

into two and the front portion of the aircraft, the cockpit et cetera, jammed into the boundary wall and visuals show that the nose of the aircraft has borne the brunt of the accident and that is why the two pilots succumbed to injuries. i can give you the latest. we know that free aircraft from new delhi and mumbai have left with air india staff as well as the top brass. these flights are also carrying the officials of the regulatory body of india's aviation as well as officials of the aircraft investigation bureau. we know that the family members of the two pilot's are also airborne from mumbai and will be reaching the airport. the

tea m be reaching the airport. the team also includes aircraft and flight team also includes aircraft and flight safety tea ms team also includes aircraft and flight safety teams and talking about how this accident took place, it was raining last evening and there were tail winds. there had been warnings in the past and reports as far back as 2011 by flaked safety experts who spoke about the inadequate safety area alongside the runway as well as at the end of the runway. the end of the runway also has a very steep slope and that is why, you know, it is very dangerous for pilot and there have been warnings that the airlines must come up with proper procedures for operations in such circumstances. so a detailed

investigation hopefully will follow and it will be an unbiased affair —— and fair investigation and they will hopefully be stock—taking from this. this is a tabletop runway and we have seen around ten yea rs and we have seen around ten years ago a similar accident at a different airport which also had a tabletop runway and had the advice of the safety committee been heeded perhaps yesterday's tragedy would have been avoidable. thank you so much for speaking to us. union leaders are threatening industrial action after accusing british airways of naked greed in forcing some cabin crew out of theirjobs. thousands of uk staff have received emails today telling them whether they're being made redundant, while most of those choosing to stay with ba will have to sign new contracts on lower pay. the airline says the changes are needed for its survival following the coronavirus pandemic. 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 — that's what's keeping me up at night, is to be able to provide for them. and i simply didn't 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. it's going to affect us both. we're going to have to sell our home. even if he keeps hisjob, his overall pay will be halved. they forced me into a corner. it's been unfair, immoral and opportunistic, and it just 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. we're losing our livelihoods, we're losing our houses, we're losing everything. why? because they're just being greedy, greedy, greedy. we've 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." you're 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, they'll lose their 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 it's 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. no, strike action is on the cards. tom burridge, bbc news. there were few countries less prepared for covid—19 than venezuela. its economy was already on the verge of collapse, and the health care 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 are being punished. their 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 won't let us work. it is easy for the soldiers because they have food but 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. curfews have been imposed and there are strict limits on people's 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 infections, a lower capacity for care and cases will be complicated. 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 state of texas has the third highest number of coronavirus cases in the united states. more than half of those who've died come from the state's hispanic community. latinos are four times more likely to be hospitalised than other groups. the bbc‘s larry madowo reports from houston on why that is. after more than a month battling covid—19, octavio calderra's back at work as a mechanic. like many other latino texans during the pandemic, he was hit hard by the virus. "i had sensations that i'd never felt before. i had to completely isolate and take care of myself to not spread to my family," octavio told me. like octavio, most of the other workers here are hispanic. the risk of getting

infected hangs in the air, but if they don't work, they have no income. in thisjob, you can't work from home. blue—collar workers in texas have been especially hard—hit by the coronavirus. many of them work in places like this, a concrete plant. the work involves close contact with other people. there's pressure to show up for work that's available because there are fewer opportunities with the economic crisis. we don't have the same amount of hours that we normally have. they don't do the production that they're used to, so, you know, from 30 drivers, we're down to 15. the number of positive cases and deaths doubled in houston in july compared to the previous four months. this community health centre that has been conducting tests for its predominantly latino patients has seen a positivity rate of 39%. our patients are part of the essential workforce, and so they are construction workers and they work in grocery stores and they are caregivers for other people.

and that makes it extremely challenging to be able to practise those safe mechanisms for social distancing and also to decrease the spread. the consequences of record coronavirus infections are both clinical and financial here. fearing a language barrier with immigrants from latin america, the houston health department is running a multilingual covid—19 campaign. the mayor says this outreach is critical. you have people within the community who may be undocumented and who are fearful and distrustful of government. and maybe waiting too late before seeking medical attention because they're scared and they're concerned. the mayor's better together campaign is trying to overcome those barriers with information. texas has the highest number of people without health insurance in the us, and 60% of them are hispanic. in a pandemic this prolonged, the worst—affected are also the least protected.

larry madowo, bbc news, houston. 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 region's annual tourism turnover. 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. there's that many people coming backwards and forwards, you don't know where to go. does it frighten you? it does frighten me, yeah, because i've got heart problems. so, you know... did you think about staying away? well, if i do that i'd 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 they're 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 there's a pandemic. they're packed in like sardines. people are going to be catching the virus. it's going to spread. i personally think, if we carry on the way we are, we're 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 they're 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. it's being selective and reasoning things through. you know, we don't need to go to st ives this year. we'll be back at easter anyway, so we'll go to st ives at easter — it'll still be there. a feeling of normality after a period of great uncertainty. for the family that run this holiday park — relief. they're as full as they can be and all the staff are back. our customers have all been very receptive to the measures we've put in place. everyone's been keeping to their own families and maintaining social distancing. and that's been really reassuring to see. it feels like the coronavirus isn't 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. i'm @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 it's going to be a very uncomfortable night for getting a good night's 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 south—east for some very warm nights to come, much fresher in the far north—west. that's 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 it's 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, that's 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 it's 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 it's 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. that's 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 afterfalling down a ravine, but didn't catch fire. the united nations is warning of a humanitarian disaster in lebanon, with widespread medicine and food shortages after this week's 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. 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.