:00:07. > :00:15.This is BBC World News Today with me,
:00:16. > :00:20.The headlines: A dramatic escape and a terrifying moment
:00:21. > :00:22.after an Emirates passenger plane crash-lands at Dubai Airport.
:00:23. > :00:25.These are the remarkable pictures of the moment the plane landed -
:00:26. > :00:27.all 300 people onboard are said to be safe.
:00:28. > :00:29.Mounting excitement in Rio, as the Olympic torch
:00:30. > :00:36.I'm Babita Sharma in Rio, where the sporting action has begun,
:00:37. > :00:49.despite ongoing confusion over whether Russian athletes can compete
:00:50. > :00:53.Fresh divisions are emerging within the Republican Party
:00:54. > :00:55.over its presidential nominee Donald Trump.
:00:56. > :00:58.A bridge collapses on the main route from Goa to Mumbai.
:00:59. > :01:00.Two buses and several cars are feared to have been
:01:01. > :01:19.It's the most dramatic of emergency landings -
:01:20. > :01:21.a passenger jet forced to touch down, apparently
:01:22. > :01:25.The incident happened at Dubai International Airport
:01:26. > :01:32.to a plane arriving from Southern India.
:01:33. > :01:35.All the 300 passengers managed to evacuate before
:01:36. > :01:38.and just a few minutes later, the fuselage was engulfed
:01:39. > :01:41.in smoke and flames, though one fire fighter was killed.
:01:42. > :01:46.Passengers have been speaking about their narrow escape.
:01:47. > :01:50.You can only imagine what it must have been
:01:51. > :01:54.A normal landing turns to chaos as the aircraft
:01:55. > :01:57.skids along on its belly, smoke pouring from the cabin.
:01:58. > :02:02.An explosion, probably fuel, centrepiece of the aircraft spinning
:02:03. > :02:04.through the air, although we don't know if everyone
:02:05. > :02:10.300 people escaped down these inflatable slides.
:02:11. > :02:14.They say they got no warning anything was wrong.
:02:15. > :02:16.We had not heard any announcement or anything,
:02:17. > :02:21.The smoke was coming inside and they asked us
:02:22. > :02:29.to evacuate so we escape through the emergency exits.
:02:30. > :02:34.All of the people were shouting, the children and women,
:02:35. > :02:43.This is what it looked like from another aircraft sitting nearby.
:02:44. > :02:51.I turned and we saw this plane on its side,
:02:52. > :02:54.the wings down, sparks coming off, on fire, it was horrific, we saw
:02:55. > :02:57.The chairman of Emirates said everything seemed fine
:02:58. > :03:01.Yet the plane doesn't seem to have had its wheels down
:03:02. > :03:07.We don't yet know if it was down to a mechanical problem, a mistake
:03:08. > :03:11.Still, it's incredible all of the passengers
:03:12. > :03:19.For more we can speak to Sean Maffett, an aviation analyst
:03:20. > :03:33.who joins us from Gloucestershire in the UK.
:03:34. > :03:43.Any information the sadly not. It seems to be a why would be coming
:03:44. > :03:54.down I understand at some stage air traffic control said check it is not
:03:55. > :04:01.clear whether down the approach or whether the wheels were down and a
:04:02. > :04:07.go around, which means that they put the power on the engines and try to
:04:08. > :04:12.they were clear to do that by edge up control. Pick up the wheels and
:04:13. > :04:18.the aircraft continued sitting, we don't know that the moment what
:04:19. > :04:25.happened. What is worth considering aeroplane skidded along Richard
:04:26. > :04:32.Wescott said and issue, and yet the cabin crew and a flight crew managed
:04:33. > :04:36.to get all 300 people off the plane without anybody being killed. It is
:04:37. > :04:47.dreadful that one of the emergency crew has apparently died fighting
:04:48. > :05:03.the, I think this is what, and how quickly would you expect as to how
:05:04. > :05:07.quickly, that is what they will are the two important recorders in the
:05:08. > :05:12.air plane, sometimes in one box, sometimes in two separate ones, the
:05:13. > :05:19.flight data recorder and a cockpit voice recorder, which will tell them
:05:20. > :05:24.what was happening in the final seconds and earlier, as well, I
:05:25. > :05:29.suspect they will be able to get those out of the aircraft without
:05:30. > :05:39.much trouble. It seems as if the back end of the aircraft, the
:05:40. > :05:44.tailplane area, was of course, we cannot be built to withstand fires
:05:45. > :05:50.and huge impact and other things. So we will be able to get good
:05:51. > :05:54.information out of that. And the crew and passengers are still alive
:05:55. > :06:07.so they will be able to say what went on. It shouldn't be
:06:08. > :06:09.Two days before the official start of the Games,
:06:10. > :06:11.the Olympic torch has arrived in Rio.
:06:12. > :06:12.Yet tensions remain between Olympic chiefs
:06:13. > :06:15.There are Russian athletes who still don't know
:06:16. > :06:20.Let's go live to Rio - and Babita Sharma.
:06:21. > :06:35.it looks stunning it is fantastic, isn't it? We are live on Copacabana
:06:36. > :06:38.Beach in the. We are 48 hours away from on Friday at the Maracana
:06:39. > :06:43.Stadium. The sporting action has already begun here. The first round
:06:44. > :06:47.of the woman's football has taken place in the Olympic Stadium and
:06:48. > :06:54.Sweden triumphed against South Africa when I can zero in that first
:06:55. > :07:02.in the last minute and are playing Australia, 60 seconds into that
:07:03. > :07:08.match getting Jenin Becky as their goal scorer for Canada the action is
:07:09. > :07:12.still taking place. We are waiting to find out from the International
:07:13. > :07:18.Olympic Committee whether or not some 250 Russian athletes will
:07:19. > :07:21.finally be given in these games. They are still waiting to decide
:07:22. > :07:27.that. We were told that we would know at some point today but the
:07:28. > :07:34.waiting continues it is an historic day to in because after an epic
:07:35. > :07:41.journey of some 20,000 kilometres across Brazil, the Olympic torch
:07:42. > :07:46.arrived in the, as our sports editor Dan after a journey across Brazil,
:07:47. > :07:49.this morning's arrival in the Olympic torch and was a symbolic
:07:50. > :07:53.moment. In today's time it will be the focal point of the opening
:07:54. > :07:59.ceremony, but the build-up to these games has been troubled, dominated
:08:00. > :08:05.by the Russian doping scandal pressure the accuracy is meeting
:08:06. > :08:10.amid a crisis of faith Britain's most successful Olympian told me
:08:11. > :08:13.that start or the sport cannot have seen some amazing performances
:08:14. > :08:19.across the board from other countries, not just Team GB. Just
:08:20. > :08:23.something, and remember the point of the Olympic Games. It was about
:08:24. > :08:29.bringing the world together and celebrating humanity through sport
:08:30. > :08:35.and not focusing on negative issues all but are the games worth the
:08:36. > :08:43.billions they cost? Fans found this in London but failed to make Britain
:08:44. > :08:54.a more the Winter Sochi were the most expensive ever and the most
:08:55. > :09:04.damaging and terms there are concerns and pollution some want
:09:05. > :09:10.other values to be prioritised. Campaigners in Rio insist that
:09:11. > :09:15.events like this are often linked to human rights the international
:09:16. > :09:19.federations, if they don't react and continue as they did and say, we
:09:20. > :09:26.don't care, then it might be the Olympic Games, the end as we know
:09:27. > :09:34.them, as a message, about as laid down in the Olympic charter. But in
:09:35. > :09:39.Rio, the games remain millions of pounds generated in webcasting and
:09:40. > :09:43.sponsorship revenue. And some lessons cities still want to play
:09:44. > :09:51.house. Los Angeles, one of those budding to secure the games for
:09:52. > :09:56.2024. Their sustainability and 97% of the babies overboard. We only
:09:57. > :10:01.have to build one permanent venue. We are a sporting town, with the
:10:02. > :10:06.facilities and 80% of residents not to bring the games back to the city
:10:07. > :10:09.of Los Angeles. This afternoon, the spirit began, the women's football
:10:10. > :10:13.tournament in front of other spectators. Organisers will hope the
:10:14. > :10:14.atmosphere builds as a games progress and provides the showcase
:10:15. > :10:30.that the Olympic movement it was a momentous
:10:31. > :10:38.moment when that torch leaving the city and making its way through,
:10:39. > :10:44.being Mayor of, who said this was that the Brazilians should be. They
:10:45. > :10:48.have declared a public holiday tomorrow and Thursday as the torch
:10:49. > :10:52.makes his way through the city. We are expecting that many people,
:10:53. > :11:00.thousands in fact, will come out on the streets to we have seen shows as
:11:01. > :11:13.some of the football magistrate under way. The country is going to
:11:14. > :11:24.get behind the that there was a lot of excitement. For many people, they
:11:25. > :11:30.did not understand that the games 's adaptation with the women's first
:11:31. > :11:35.round in further Brazilian locals, Brazilian football is about the
:11:36. > :11:43.men's team. It is there were lots of empty seats in the Olympic Sweden
:11:44. > :11:49.against South Africa match I think that when the games get under way,
:11:50. > :11:54.in full swing, if you like, following on Friday and over the
:11:55. > :11:59.weekend, we will see more and more of the tickets being sold, and other
:12:00. > :12:06.of the stadiums that have been built, the Maracana Stadium, for
:12:07. > :12:10.example and the with lots of spectators, because we still
:12:11. > :12:23.understand, there is about 15% of tickets left, which is
:12:24. > :12:25.And you can keep up to date with all our Oympics coverage
:12:26. > :12:40.there will be a full breakdown of taking place and also more on the
:12:41. > :12:50.controversy over within the Republican Party
:12:51. > :12:53.divisions are emerging over its presidential
:12:54. > :12:54.candidate Donald Trump. Major Republican donor Meg Whitman,
:12:55. > :12:56.has endorsed his rival Hillary Clinton, saying Mr Trump
:12:57. > :12:59.was "a dishonest demagogue" and it was time "to put country
:13:00. > :13:01.first before party". In the latest controversy,
:13:02. > :13:03.Mr Trump has refused to support two
:13:04. > :13:07.senior figures in his own party. Barbara Plett-Usher
:13:08. > :13:25.is in Washington for us. , how significant is that and how
:13:26. > :13:29.will that go down with Republican voters, it was significant because
:13:30. > :13:32.the presidential candidate is seen as the standard-bearer of the party
:13:33. > :13:38.so he would be expected to support and endorse all of the Congressional
:13:39. > :13:48.Republicans also running to be and for him to state clearly that he
:13:49. > :13:52.wasn't going to back including the house speaker, Perl Ryan and Senator
:13:53. > :13:56.John McCain, the subtext being because they had criticised the
:13:57. > :14:01.reason is quite a big deal for the party. The party responded
:14:02. > :14:06.furiously. The leaders, builders and strategists. By then, this is the
:14:07. > :14:10.latest example that they are not quite sure what is going on. They
:14:11. > :14:17.feel that the messages out of control. This comes off the back of
:14:18. > :14:24.five days during which Donald Trump a Muslim American family whose son
:14:25. > :14:26.died in Afghanistan, whose son is effectively and therefore
:14:27. > :14:29.Republicans have felt the need to come out and distance themselves
:14:30. > :14:37.from Bell's kind of statements. Having said that, the vast only
:14:38. > :14:49.distancing themselves. They have not abandoned Donald Trump. He members
:14:50. > :14:54.of Congress did not want to eliminate one big question is, how
:14:55. > :15:08.many more Republicans, senior Republicans, will move over the next
:15:09. > :15:12.Mr Trump's campaign, must a number of other Republicans have said they
:15:13. > :15:18.were back Hillary Clinton. There are certainly not a Maas -- a mass
:15:19. > :15:22.defection. They will decide whether it was in their interest in effect,
:15:23. > :15:27.but I should say it has given a certain bump the Mrs Clinton's
:15:28. > :15:31.campaign. At a speech at the Democratic convention last week she
:15:32. > :15:36.appealed to Republicans to join her well going to be representing all
:15:37. > :15:41.people, members of the different parties. And some have taken her up
:15:42. > :15:46.the campaign will make as much as it can out of this latest business
:15:47. > :15:50.criticising the parents of a dead soldier. They have put out an e-mail
:15:51. > :15:56.with all the negative coverage that that has a brother and I love the
:15:57. > :15:59.negative statements aware that his own advisers have said this is
:16:00. > :16:04.counter-productive, he shall be attacking Mrs Clinton, not these
:16:05. > :16:05.people, so as far as the Clinton campaign goes, they are quite
:16:06. > :16:17.pleased The Italian authorities
:16:18. > :16:19.are investigating whether so-called Islamic State is now involved
:16:20. > :16:21.in organising, and profiting from, the passage of migrants
:16:22. > :16:23.from Libya to Italy. The crossing is becoming more
:16:24. > :16:26.popular, as other routes close down, More than 3,000 migrants
:16:27. > :16:28.or refugees have died Our correspondent, Chris Buckler
:16:29. > :16:31.joined a rescue ship, operated by the charity MSF,
:16:32. > :16:42.and sent this report. each day, the Mediterranean appears,
:16:43. > :16:51.tempting those who see it as a even if they are able -- the stand
:16:52. > :17:00.reality of what that Search and Rescue teams have become a fixture
:17:01. > :17:33.on they are a necessity the boast that leave the Libyan with no
:17:34. > :17:43.hope of they had no obvious way of I was afraid. I was really afraid. In
:17:44. > :18:03.Libya, I was put in prison with my children. I had to pay money in
:18:04. > :18:16.order to there is joy for this group. They have found from Gambia,
:18:17. > :18:36.over the last fortnight a dozen babies each they have been brushing
:18:37. > :18:41.up on the Internationally, more than 4000 refugees and migrants have
:18:42. > :18:49.died. It is thought around three quarters of them drowned here in the
:18:50. > :18:52.Mediterranean Sea. This charity that operates this rescue ship is now
:18:53. > :18:58.refusing money from European governments because it says their
:18:59. > :19:01.policies are not helping refugees. Am ashamed of being European and
:19:02. > :19:08.seeing how Europe is treating these people. We hear numerous times about
:19:09. > :19:14.people getting tortured, girls are getting macerated and people being
:19:15. > :19:19.sold into slavery. You see the people back home basically talking
:19:20. > :19:23.about, we are bringing the terrace to Europe. There have been attacks
:19:24. > :19:26.that have been linked to refugees. Are you worried that the
:19:27. > :19:31.governments, the authorities in Europe are actually on only going to
:19:32. > :19:36.become tougher on how they deal with this problem? They probably are,
:19:37. > :19:39.absolutely, that is worrisome. I'm terrified it will be tougher because
:19:40. > :19:44.right now people are suffering and they are suffering a lot. Some are
:19:45. > :19:51.looking to Europe at the place really can build a better life.
:19:52. > :19:55.Europe is obviously a place that a lot of people are going to at the
:19:56. > :20:05.moment. Do you think it has room for everyone? I believe in Greece.
:20:06. > :20:11.Everybody is not the same. I believe my luck will shame. But the medical
:20:12. > :20:17.staff say it clear to them that many who have come through Libya have
:20:18. > :20:21.suffered. There are some very harrowing tales of abuse that has
:20:22. > :20:25.happened, people who have been forcibly imprisoned as well and they
:20:26. > :20:32.carry many injuries than that. Whatever they are leaving behind,
:20:33. > :20:38.rescue is a moment of relief. A time to savour. This journey is only the
:20:39. > :20:44.start. Europe will bring its own challenges.
:20:45. > :20:47.Now for a look at some of the day's other news.
:20:48. > :20:49.Fierce clashes are continuing between government forces and rebels
:20:50. > :20:53.on the southern outskirts of the Syrian city of Aleppo.
:20:54. > :20:56.Activists say that pro-government forces backed by Russian airpower
:20:57. > :20:59.have regained ground after a major rebel offensive was
:21:00. > :21:06.More armed officers are to be deployed on the streets of London
:21:07. > :21:10.in response to a series of recent violent attacks in Europe.
:21:11. > :21:12.The Metropolitan Police force has already said it's increasing
:21:13. > :21:15.the number of officers carrying firearms by 600
:21:16. > :21:22.Nationally the threat level hasn't changed and remains at severe.
:21:23. > :21:25.A police officer who worked on Washington DC's metro system,
:21:26. > :21:28.has been charged with attempting to provide support to
:21:29. > :21:34.It's claimed that 36-year-old Nicholas Young bought nearly 250
:21:35. > :21:36.dollars worth of credits for mobile messaging accounts used
:21:37. > :21:43.South Africans have voted in local elections, seen as a test
:21:44. > :21:45.of the popularity of the governing African National Congress
:21:46. > :21:50.Opinion polls suggest the ANC is facing a strong challenge -
:21:51. > :21:52.for the first time since the end of apartheid -
:21:53. > :21:55.in the key urban centres of Pretoria, Johannesburg
:21:56. > :22:03.Here's our correspondent Karen Allen.
:22:04. > :22:10.This is one of the thousands of times for millions of South Africans
:22:11. > :22:15.have been casting their vote in an election widely seen as a referendum
:22:16. > :22:19.on the ANC and of the leadership of President Jacob Zuma. This is one of
:22:20. > :22:23.the townships where we have seen protest. These are local Government
:22:24. > :22:28.elections and the things that matter to people I did provision of
:22:29. > :22:34.housing, education and jobs. But these elections could have national
:22:35. > :22:38.implications if the ANC sees its power erode and some key strategic
:22:39. > :22:42.areas. If that is the case and it has been in power for more than two
:22:43. > :22:49.decades, serious questions could be asked about his leadership. This is
:22:50. > :22:52.where the people's voice gets heard. 26 million South Africans are
:22:53. > :22:57.eligible to vote in an election for the opposition are threatening to
:22:58. > :23:02.inflict severe damage on the status quo. The big question is whether
:23:03. > :23:06.they can garner sufficient support. 22 years after black South Africans
:23:07. > :23:11.won the right to vote, one of the key things to look out for might
:23:12. > :23:14.also be voter turnout with some disgruntled voters are abstaining
:23:15. > :23:20.altogether. Rather than switching sides. At least 22 people and
:23:21. > :23:24.At least 22 people are missing after a highway bridge connecting
:23:25. > :23:27.the city of Mumbai with the beach resort state of Goa
:23:28. > :23:30.Officials said two buses carrying passengers plunged into
:23:31. > :23:33.a flooded river as the bridge came down early on Wednesday.
:23:34. > :23:35.Justin Rowlatt reports from the site of the collapse
:23:36. > :23:47.Raging floodwaters tore down a huge section of the bridge on the main
:23:48. > :23:51.road between Goa and Mumbai. Rescue workers say the buses were on this
:23:52. > :23:55.bridge when it crashed down into the flood waters early on Wednesday
:23:56. > :23:58.morning. They believe a number of cars will also swept into the
:23:59. > :24:04.torrent and feared the death toll could exceed 13. Specialist search
:24:05. > :24:09.teams including expert divers arrived early this morning but
:24:10. > :24:13.haven't yet found any trace of the missing people or their vehicles.
:24:14. > :24:17.The water is so strong it could carry the wreckage for males. They
:24:18. > :24:26.are not expecting to find any survivors. TRANSLATION: We cannot
:24:27. > :24:29.trace those buses. They haven't reached their destination. We think
:24:30. > :24:37.a total of 22 people were on the buses. This is the latest tragedy in
:24:38. > :24:42.a particularly strong monsoon season in South Asia. More than a .5
:24:43. > :24:47.million have been affected and more than 200 killed as floods have hit
:24:48. > :24:55.large parts of India, Bangladesh and Nepal. It is part of what appears to
:24:56. > :25:00.be a pattern of increasingly brittle weather. India recorded its highest
:25:01. > :25:06.ever temperature the summer, more than 50 Celsius. It was the climax
:25:07. > :25:09.of two years of drought, which left 300 million people facing water
:25:10. > :25:14.shortages in India alone. This dramatic weather is pushing the
:25:15. > :25:22.region's often crumbling infrastructure to its limit.
:25:23. > :25:30.Experts warn that it will take vast investment to avoid tragedies like
:25:31. > :25:32.this, if the pattern of extreme weather continues. And today, it is
:25:33. > :25:37.still raining. A passenger plane coming from India
:25:38. > :25:46.has made an emergency landing at the Middle East's
:25:47. > :25:47.busiest airport. All 300 people on board
:25:48. > :25:49.have escaped unharmed but a firefighter was killed
:25:50. > :26:01.while trying to put off the flames. The incident happened at the
:26:02. > :26:08.International Airport in Dubai the plane coming in from southern India.
:26:09. > :26:13.Some areas enjoyed a half decent day through Wednesday but for the
:26:14. > :26:19.greater part of Scotland and Northern Ireland, it wasn't bad at
:26:20. > :26:23.all. Thursday quieter for many with sunny spells around and a scattering
:26:24. > :26:25.of showers again. This was the culprit for the