shaimaa khalil reports from queenstown. famous for: a mix of dramatic scenery, adrenaline rush, and a whole lot of cold water. yeah! it's fairly busy here today because of school holidays, which is a welcome change, but still, nothing like it was before covid—19 hit. pre—pandemic, operators ran eight boat rides an hour. this past year, it was down to only one. don't start sticking your arms out the side of the boat, in this tourist town, some operators have gone out of business since the country closed its borders. 0thers got by, relying on locals. we went from a business that was very accustomed to taking 1,200 people a day, having a lot of people on the ground to do that, to suddenly having to really enjoy the fact that we might have 200 in a day. before the pandemic, there were worries new zealand was getting too popular, risking the pristine environment which so many came to see. now, there are calls to use this lull as a chance to curb tourism's heavy carbon footprint. proposals presented to the government include limi

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, queenstown. help a paralysed man write on a computer by using chips implanted into his brain that converts his thoughts into words. the man was asked to imagine that he was using a pen and paper to write sentences, which the chips decoded. the system has reached an average texting speed with 94% accuracy — farfaster and more precise than previous methods. frank willett is the lead author of this study — he told me more about how it works. these sensors are very small, 4x4 millimetres, arrays of tiny electrodes that are placed on the outer layer of the brain, and they are interfacing with actionable single neurons, so we are listening to the electrical impulses, single nerve cells in the brain. what is new about this particular research? what is new about it is the idea of so previous brain computer interfaces work by allowing people to move a computer cursor on the screen using their thoughts, using their brain activity, and to type things they would click on keys one at a time, but we found it i

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, 0ueenstown.he help of the spatial —— with the help of these gloves, they have helped him spring back into place. now the 80—year—old maestro has returned to the bench and the music is playing once again. what a wonderful story to end the programme. you can reach me on twitter. hankey for watching bbc news. bye—bye. —— thank you for watching bbc news. hello there. the weather is in a very unsettled mood, notjust for the next few days, even as we head on into the weekend and into next week. that's because we've got low pressure nearby. for the next few days, it looks like it will stay showery, some heavy downpour in places with some hail and thunder, but also some warm sunshine around too. now, low pressure sitting on top of the country on thursday. this weather front bringing some wet weather to start the day for wales, up to the midlands, into the south and south—west of england. but it will tend to clear away through the day. away from the north and east of scotland, which will be rather grey th

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, queenstown. to fight covid—i9 including drinking bleach and taking unlicensed drugs. but this one definitely doesn't pass the sniff test. some people in india have been using cow dung as an immunity booster. and a warning, some viewers may find the following report from courtney bembridge difficult to watch. the cow is a sacred animal in india, hindus considering as a symbol of life and earth. the animals roam freely on the country's roads, but this is not a regular site. in the state of gudjurat, this group visits a cow shelter once a week to cover their bodies in dung and urine hoping it will boost their immunity against coronavirus i help them recover from the illness. translation: the biggest _ from the illness. translation: the biggest concern _ from the illness. translation: the biggest concern these - from the illness. translation: the biggest concern these days| the biggest concern these days is our bodies do not get enough vitamin d bi2. it is found in abundance in the cow. if we mix cow

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, sydney. ordered a fresh investigation by the us intelligence agencies into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. a world health organization report found that suggestions it was the result of a leak from a laboratory in wuhan was unlikely. but it did criticise china for not providing complete data. police say they've rescued more than 570 children during a week of operations against county lines drugs gangs across england, wales and scotland. more than a thousand arrests were made. county lines gangs are urban drug dealers who sell to customers in more rural areas, often using children as couriers. angus crawford reports. holly, the sniffer dog, is busy looking for drugs... how much have you got there? is that a couple of grams? ..and the young people used to move them around the uk. police forces across the country, even here on the railways, are targeting county lines. they're looking for drugs, weapons, money. but what they really want to find are the children are being exploited by the

lets get more from our correspondent shaimaa khalil. tell us what has happened.ly said there wasn't enough evidence that the environment minister was in breach of duty of care. the eight students and the none, they argued that the environment minister had a duty of care towards young people to protect them from the harmful and devastating effects of climate change, and allowing the extension of that coal mine in new south wales would be in breach of that duty of care. we had the ruling a few minutes ago and thejudge had the ruling a few minutes ago and the judge said the court was not satisfied that the minister was in breach of the minister was in breach of the care, and that there wasn't enough evidence of that, so he dismissed that injunction. but as you said, this would have been a landmark ruling because that would have set a precedent and made it more difficult for more expansions of coal mining projects. of course, coal is a huge resource in australia, the second most valuable export, government estimates of around $30 billion, so that definitely would hav

our australia correspondent shaimaa khalil says coal production remains a divisive topic, and this ruling light in the bush fires of 2019 when millions of acres were burned. the science came in and said this is a contributing factor, climate change is a contributing factor to the extreme weather events we have had in australia, areas hit by drought, bush fires and floods in less than two years. trying to say this is only going to get worse. but essentially this really goes into the heart of domestic politics in australia. this country is heavily dependent on fossil fuels when it comes to its wealth and export, coal, iron ore, and the conservative government in australia has won successive elections on a platform of supporting the fossil fuel industry. and the climate activists and young people saying whatever investments are put in today, it is putting their future at risk because of the climate change effects. a real showdown between a country whose wealth depends on fossil fuels and young people saying that that just does not bode well for their future. and we're going to look at anothe

as shaimaa khalil reports. it's the kind of high—octane adventure new zealand is famous for.olidays which is a welcome change but still nothing like it was before covid—i9 hit. pre—pandemic operators ran a boat rides an hour. —— eight this past year it was down to only one. the grounds of sailboat... in this tourist town some operators have gone out of business since the country closed its borders. others go by relying on locals. from a business it was very accustomed to taking i200 people a day have a lot of people on the ground to do that you suddenly have to really enjoy the fact that we might have 200 in a day. before the pandemic, there were worries new zealand was getting too popular. risking the pristine environment which so many came to see. now there are calls to use this lull as a chance to curb tourism heavy carbon footprint. proposals presented to the government include limiting visitor numbers and a departure tax to help offset tourism as climate impacts. it's a difficult prospect for an industry that has suffered so badly. it does feel a little bit like the dogs

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, sydney.ratory in the city of wuhan, where it was first identified. the world health organization is preparing further studies into its origins after previously saying it was "highly improbable" that it had come from a lab. let�*s get more now on our top story — the health secretary, matt hancock, has denied lying to his colleagues and to the public about dealing with covid in care homes after accusations yesterday from dominic cummings, the prime minister�*s former top aide. sam monaghan is the chief executive of methodist homes, the largest not—for—profit care provider in the uk. welcome to bbc news. thank you for speaking with us. take us back to a year ago at a situation you faced at the provider and the manager of your homes in light of the early months of covid—19. what was in place and what was established to help the transition of patients who had been in hospital receiving treatment for covid we needed to come back to the care home and the hospital stated to discharge them? right care

let's get more from our correspondent shaimaa khalil. what is the background of this case?nts have presented a class action to the federal court in melbourne asking them effectively to stop the environment minister from approving on extension of a coal mine in new south wales known as the victory extension project. their argument is that the australian environment minister has a duty of care towards young people, towards the next generation, to protect them from the harmful and devastating effects of climate change. and by approving this extension, she'll be in violation of that duty of care. their argument goes on to say that this extension will contribute about 100 million tonnes of emissions in the next 25 years because of their argument is about intergenerational equity in climate change, which means that whatever projects are put in place right now will be harmful for them in the future as adults. now, we are still waiting for a ruling on this. it will come in the next hour or so, but if approved and if thejudge agrees next hour or so, but if approved and if the judge

our asutralia correspondent shaimaa khalil has been examining the potential impact of the case.ht students have presented a class—action to the federal court in melbourne asking them effectively to stop the environment minister from approving an extension of a coal mine in new south wales known as the vickery extension project. their argument is that sussan ley, the australian environment minister, has a duty of care towards young people, towards the next generation, to protect them from the harmful and devastating effects of climate change. and by approving this extension, she'll be in violation of that duty of care. their argument goes on to say that this extension will contribute about 100 million tonnes of emissions in the next 25 years. so, the basis of their argument is about intergenerational equity in climate change, which means that whatever projects are put in place right now will be harmful for them in the future as adults. now, we're still waiting for a ruling on this. it will come in the next hour or so, but if approved and if the judge agrees with those eight young

lets get more from our correspondent shaimaa khalil in sydney.hen come onjudge's decision? the come on judge's decision? the 'udue's come onjudge's decision? tue: judge's decision as come onjudge's decision? tue judge's decision as you say did not find enough evidence that a duty of care, that a breach of duty of care, that a breach of duty of care had been established. the core of this belly that has been presented to the court in september last year was that the environmental, the environment minister had a duty of care to young people to protect them from the devastating effects of climate change and that approving an expansion of a coal mine in new south wales that would be in that obligation and while the judge interestingly enough found that the environment minister did have a duty of care which the lawyers are hailing as a victory and of itself, he say that the court was not convinced and was not satisfied that there was enough evidence that there was enough evidence that there was enough evidence that the environment and federal governmen

shaimaa khalil reports from the barossa valley in south australia.and for more than a decade they have cultivated a strong relationship with china. this has changed dramatically over the past year. beijing imposed huge tariffs on australian wine and sales dried up. it australian wine and sales dried u . _ , , , up. it is terribly disappointing. l up. it is terribly i disappointing. we up. it is terribly - disappointing. we have up. it is terribly _ disappointing. we have made so much inroads into china over 15 years, relationships, people, it takes a long time to build. to suddenly hit a roadblock like this, unfortunately it is 15 years work down the drain. they said australia was creating unfair competition, something officials here have strongly denied. this is not just about wine. this is a pattern of aggressive chinese action that is hit other industries and hurt many exporters in the past few months. australian rock lobster is a luxury see delicacy and most went to china but a bandmaster devastated the industry. there have been restrictions on g

banned and put in place criminal sanctions for its own citizens who return home. 0ur correspondent shaimaa khalilversial? absolutely, and the government today has been defending its position to do so, a mask escalation really in those strict measures, on another level, you say —— a marked escalation. the first time to —— the first time australia blocks its citizens but the threat of jail threat ofjail time and thousands of dollars in fines that has sparked outrage at —— and critics have called this immoral and some have had this brand as unaustralian and racist and the prime minister has come out and deny the accusations of racism and said there is no politics or ideological, ideology when it comes to the pandemic, this is about the virus, and we heard from their foreign minister marise payne who said 57% of all infections within quarantine have been from arrivals from india, but has put a lot of pressure on medical facilities which also raised questions about why australian indians are being blocked and why not expand on quarantine facilities, that is a big debate here now in australia. we also

as shaimaa khalil reports. it's the kind of high—octane adventure in new zealand is famous for.idays which is a welcome change but still nothing like it was before covid—19 hit. pre—pandemic operators rent a boat rides an hour. this past year it was down to only one. the grounds of sailboat... in this tourist town some operators have gone out of business since the country closed its borders. others go by relying on locals. ., ., , , ,, its borders. others go by relying on locals. ., , ,, , locals. from a business it was very accustomed _ locals. from a business it was very accustomed to _ locals. from a business it was very accustomed to taking _ locals. from a business it was very accustomed to taking 1200 - locals. from a business it was very accustomed to taking 1200 people | locals. from a business it was very l accustomed to taking 1200 people a day have a lot of people on the ground to do that you suddenly have to really enjoy the fact that we might have 200 in a day. before the andemic might have 200 in a day. before the pandemic there _ might have 200 in a day. before th

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, sydney.ins while excavating a cafe in gloucester. mary bastholm who was 15, worked at the �*clean plate' cafe before she went missing in 1968. police confirmed they'd completed the excavation of the cafe cellar and that "no items of significance" had been found. it's a decade since undercover filming by the bbc�*s panorama programme at a residential care unit near bristol shocked britain, revealing bullying and abuse at winterbourne view of people with learning disabilities and special needs. now the families of some of those affected have written to borisjohnson, warning there are still 2,000 people locked in in—patient units, and at risk of abuse and mistreatment. alison holt has that story. the images were deeply upsetting. undercover bbc panorama filming showed people with learning disabilities and autism being bullied and abused. that was ten years ago. government promises followed that all places like winterbourne view hospital would close in england, with better support provided for pa

shaimaa khalil�*s been finding out how they're doing it.id—19 hit. pre—pandemic operators had eightboats an hour and this year it was down to one. don't start sticking your arms at the side of the boat. in this tourist town, some operators have gone out of business since the country closed its borders. 0thers got by relying on locals. we went from a business that was accustomed to taking 1200 people a day, having a lot of people on the ground to do that, to suddenly having to really having to enjoy the fact we might have 200 we might have 200 in a day. before the pandemic, there were worries new zealand was getting too popular, risking the pristine environment which so many came to see. now there are calls to use this lull as a chance to curb tourism's heavy carbon footprint. proposals presented to the government include limiting visitor numbers and a departure tax to help offset tourism's climate impact. it's a difficult prospect for an industry that has suffered so badly. it does feel a little bit like the dogs are really down and were ha