30/07/2016 World News Today

This is BBC News. I'm Gavin Grey.

At least 16 people are feared dead as a hot air balloon catches fire.

It sounded like a gun going off. I looked up over there and the next

thing I knew, we saw a big fireball going off. Russia claims dozens of

families have left Aleppo. Florida insists it is still safe for

tourists after the first confirmed cases of Zika virus locally.

England's ban on plastic bags sees drop but Walker -- what more can we

do? Hello and welcome. Investigators say

it is unlikely there were any survivors after a hot-air balloon

carrying at least 16 police pull crashed and caught fire. It came

down early on Saturday around 60 kilometres south of Austen.

From clear skies above the Texas plains, the horror had unfolded in

seconds. Such was the intensity of the explosion and fire which

engulfed the balloon basket, there was little left of the crash scene.

Two of the balloons gas cylinders were still visible on the black and

past year. Emergency services were called by a witness who heard the

initial explosion. I stepped out on the porch, I heard one pop before I

stepped out and then I heard another pop and I looked around to see who

was shooting occurs it sounded like a gun going off, and I looked up

over there, and I saw a big fireball going up. It was just praying that

whoever was there got away in time. The balloon thought to be operated

by the balloon company was believed to be carrying an organised tour

group. Although it came down beneath power lines, it was unclear whether

it had developed a problem at high altitude. It is like a crime scene,

you only get one chance, we want to make sure we do everything

correctly. Thanks to all the agencies behind me, we have been

able to start on the right foot. Leaves are trying to establish the

identities of those who died. This will bring fresh calls to tighten

regulations covering more than 100 US operators.

US officials insist it is still safe to visit Florida, despite the state

becoming the first in the US mainland to confirm cases of the

Zika virus. The British government has advised pregnant women to

consider postponing any non-essential trips to the state.

Not that nothing is known as the sunshine state. Miami's beaches are

a magnet for British tourists. Now, pregnant women are being urged to

reconsider their travel plans, all because of mosque eaters carrying

the Zika virus which has been linked to severe rain defects in newborns.

Florida has become the first state in the US to con firm cases.

Previous cases have been largely confined to people who caught the

virus abroad. Now that Florida has been the first day to have a local

transmission, we will continue to put every resource available to

fight the care in our state. Experts described the risk to British

holiday-makers as medium. They haven't advised not to go. This is a

very limited outbreak, we are talking about Florida, not the rest

of the USA. They will have to speak to their travel health adviser,

their GP or the travel clinic they go to. The World Health Organisation

has described the Zika virus is a global public-health emergency and

whilst officials here aren't expecting a widespread outbreak of

the disease, they are gearing up to combat small clusters of cases. The

Zika virus has particularly affected Brazil where the Olympics get under

way in just six days' time. Top stars, including golf's quarry

Michael Roy are staying away because of the risk. -- Rory McIlroy. None

of the cases has been admitted to hospital but with no vaccine on

treatment, the emphasis and the stage is caution.

Russia says citizens have left Aleppo after humanitarian corridors

were opened but opposition activists have denied that claims. 300,000

people are trapped in the east of Aleppo. Russia announced it would

allow civilians and rebel fighters to leave parts of the city.

These are people leaving rebel-held parts of Aleppo, according to

serious state television. It claims they are using safe passages opened

by the government. We are relaxed now because we are under the

protection of the Army, may God protect them. We suffered a lot in

order to be able to come here. On Thursday, leaflets had been dropped

in Aleppo showing maps of the humanitarian corridors that would be

opened with support from Russia. Three exit routes for civilians and

a fourfold rebel fighters who want a way out. Russia claims that along

with civilians, nearly 70 rebel fighters have also come out. Syrian

TV says these are some of them. But opposition activists have called it

all a lie. They have released this video which they claim is from the

same area in which the state says a humanitarian corridor has been

opened. This is not true. The regime is making false propaganda. This

street has been closed for more than five years and the destruction you

can see those not allow anyone to get out. Civilians are not. Cars

cannot move anywhere around. Aleppo is a battle ground between

government led forces and rebel groups. For four years, it has seen

bombs and bloodshed. It is a big price for either side. But with no

food supplies going into rebel-held parts of the city, for a quarter of

a million people who live there, each day is a struggle.

And you can keep up-to-date with all the latest news on the Syrian

conflict including expert analysis on why the city of Aleppo is on the

brink of a humanitarian crisis, go to our website. Or download the BBC

News app. Let's look at Moscow stories this

hour. Police in Belgium have charged one of two brothers arrested on

suspicion of planning a terror attack in the country. The two men

were arrested after raids on seven houses. The 33-year-old is accused

of attempting to commit a terrorist murder and participation in the

activities of a terrorist organisation. His brother has been

released without charge. The Army in Turkey says they have

killed 35 people who tried to storm and Army base. The Turkish monetary

is battling an insurgency in the region since the breakdown of the

ceasefire between the Turkish army and the outlawed PKK a year ago.

Officials in Armenia say a police officer has been shot set out in a

stand-off. The policeman is the second law enforcement officer to

die since the group of armed men do police station almost two weeks ago.

The group are demanding the release of jailed opposition leader.

Let's return to one of our main stories on the Zika outbreak in

Florida. We can speak to an assistant professor of paediatrics.

Any -- he has produced Kiwi search on the Zika virus. Thank you for

joining us. We are hearing advice from Florida, St people can travel

there. The British government is telling pregnant women to not go.

What is the correct advice? Watch people do? I think we should look at

the situation. In the past week there were cases of what is believed

to be local transmission. These four individuals have not travelled to

foreign areas that were endemic with Zika virus, nor had they contracted

it with sexual contact. We believe there may be mosquitoes carrying the

mosque -- the Zika virus in North Miami. Local officials are currently

examining the area to try to find mosquitoes that harbour the Zika

virus. Until that has been con firmed, it is not known whether it

is prevalent within this area. Nonetheless, individuals should take

precautions when they do travel to Florida or areas. Until there is

confirmation of proved Zika transition within the local area,

people should nonetheless still take precautionary measures. I would

imagine that a lot of women and men who are either looking to have

children or women who are pregnant, they will say, I'm not going to take

the risk. And that is certainly a good precautionary measure to take.

There are two particular groups that you highlighted, pregnant women and

men and women thinking about pregnancy. If they do travel to

these areas, the CDC, as well as the Florida government health agencies

have recommended they wear long sleeves and use mosquito repellent

and add avoid areas where there are high areas of mosquito prevalence.

They have found these local mosquitoes that are carrying the

virus in Florida, is there a chance this could spread? Could the

mosquitoes travelled to other states? How widespread the crisis

become? Currently, the mosque eater that is transmitting the virus, it

is found in small areas, and small pockets certainly within the

Southeast United dates. The other mosquito has not been shown to

transmit Zika virus, that is the more aggressive basket as species in

the south-east United States. It certainly has the possible at each

spreading and certainly the CDC are anticipating additional cases to

occur in the 90s states in the next coming weeks. Thank you very much

for your time. Details there, as you see it on the Zika virus.

Stay with us, still to come, we will from the US PGA tempi and ship --

championship, where there is no play at the moment because of the threat

of lightning. This is BBC World News Today. The

latest headlines. Up to 16 people are feared dead after a large

hot-air balloon caught fire and crashed in Texas.

The Syrian government says dozens of families have left Aleppo through a

safe corridor opened by the government.

Rallies have been held in cities across Australia following

allegations that boys in juvenile detention centres were abused. Many

of them aboriginal children. Protesters gathered to express their

shock at TV footage which appeared to show children being

mistreated. Demonstrators around Australia said

the treatment of young detainees in the Northern Territory

shamed the nation. In Sydney, protesters insisted

they had little faith the royal commission would change what they've

described as a juvenile justice system that was inherently

oppressive to aboriginal people. This is one of the most brutal,

racist attacks on our young people that we have seen in the recent

history of this country. This week, a TV documentary showed

a 13-year-old boy held in isolation The same detainee is also tied

to a mechanical restraint chair A group of teenagers is then

seen to be tear-gassed Activists want the royal commission

to investigate juvenile detention I'm going to tell

you this right now. If you want to call this a country

to live in, stop this now. Demand that all institutions

holding our children be But the Australian Prime Minister,

Malcolm Turnbull, has rejected calls for the royal commission

to have a broader national mandate. He's also brushed aside criticism

that he didn't consult with the indigenous leaders

on the terms of reference for the inquiry, which he believes

will be effective. Aboriginal people make up about 3%

of Australia's population, but they make up more than a quarter

of those in prison and 94% of juvenile inmates

in the Northern Territory. The Pope has urged those to pray for

those suffering in Syria. The prayer vigil is part of a five-day visit

the Pope is making to Poland to mark the anniversary of the country's

adoption of Christianity. Possibly a million, maybe even 3

million people over the course of the next few hours into tomorrow

heading in this direction, crack off behind us, into the distance as a

large field and Pope Francis will hold a vigil there this evening and

a huge mass with the biggest crowd tomorrow. Once the preview, a line

possibly coming out of his speech this evening, Pope Francis is going

to call on young people to watch the TV less, go on the internet less,

and go out in their communities to do good in the world. The real

message of this festival is of mercy in the face of suffering. These are

young Catholics from all over the world. It is a truly international

festival, a real celebration, and, obviously, Pope Francis doesn't shy

away from controversy. He will tackle issues like the migrant

crisis and extremism, he says the world is at war, but not a religious

war. An absolutely huge mass will be held on Sunday.

Plastic bag use has cropped. Users have to pay 5p. Over half a billion

bags were used in the first six months after the charge was

introduced, a drop of around 80%. Earlier this month, France as

Morocco also introduced plastic bag bans. Every year, 220 million tonnes

of plastic produced globally. For every plastic bag produced, it takes

up to 150 years to disintegrate. Rustic bag causes the death of

marine mammals and sea birds. Earlier, we spoke to someone from

the organisation of plastic change and he explained

more about how plastic damages our environment. It is staggering

effects that we see on marine wildlife but also, we can take the

problem home to ourselves and our plates on the dining table because

what we know is that plastic is ending on the consumers table and

being a part of our food. It is definitely quite a challenge for us

in the future to be able to create a sustainable way of living with

plastics in the future and the levy, the charge that we see in rustic

bags is, as I see, the first step as we start to control and create a

system that we can actually control the way that we use plastic in our

everyday lives. We really have to, as consumers, ask our politicians

and industry to create a sustainable way of living. It can be that we

need a plastic super pipe with a deposit on it so that we can reuse

it. With renewable energy in a closed loop system, it can be that

plastic is also a part of the future, but we just have lost

control, we haven't created the system that can control it. So we

need to start thinking and use those levies, use that money that has

created by these fees in a clever way to create more innovation around

how to control plastic in the future in the way that we live with it.

Let's go to Tim Hague for all the sport.

At the final men's major of the year, the PGA championship, the

leaders, Jimmy Walker and Robert strap up on nine under par. There

were due to tee off half an hour ago but the threat of lightning has seen

play suspended. Here is how the leaderboard looked when they went.

-- went off. The Thailand player holds a two shot

lead after a third-round score of 66. She didn't drop a shop all day

and made six birdies. She scored 19 under par.

-- that type player -- the player from Thailand, Jutanugarn.

For the second week running, Lewis Hamilton will line up behind Nico

Rosberg, the German claimed pole and victory will see him retain the lead

in the title race. Plenty of football friendlies,

Celtic were beaten 3-1 by Barcelona. Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez were

playing. Chelsea are playing Real Madrid in

America right now. It is 3-0 about 15 minutes into the second half.

Carl Frampton will put his unbeaten record on the line against Leo Santa

Cruz tomorrow. He is confident his boxing will do the talking.

Historically, Madison Square Garden was always the home of big-time

boxing in this fight Man City. Now, the top fights take place at the

Berkeley Centre in Brooklyn. You don't seem to be feeling any

pressure. There is no pressure on me, all the pressure is on this guy.

He's the one that the have as favourite. I know I'm going to upset

then all. I'm feeling super-confident. I've made the wait,

I'm full of energy and they are going to see the best performance.

How could this fight changed your life? It could make me a superstar.

I want to be known, I want to be remembered for a long time. He has a

lot of support here, a lot of people will watch me. People will come here

and there will be a great atmosphere and I think this fight will pull a

lot of fans. Russia will appeal the decision to

ban its weightlifting team from the Rio Olympics. The Olympic weight

very -- there were allegations of state-sponsored doping. An appeal

will be made to the Court of Arbitration for Sport this weekend.

Mike and Bob Bryan, the men's double tennis champions have pulled out of

the Rio games citing health consoles. They said their family's

health was there top priority. They did not make direct reference to the

Zika virus. Zika is linked to birth defects in newborn babies.

That is all the sports are now. Now to China where they have been

celebrating in style the birth date of arguably the country's most

famous triplets. The world's only living and triplets. It is their

second birthdays. They were treated to a bamboo style birthday cake

before settling down to some entertainment. That is all for the

programme. From me and the rest of the team, see you soon.