Thereve been violent clashes between police and the public, as mass protests took place in the lebanese capital beirut against the countrys leadership. Some government buildings were briefly occupied by protesters demanding a change of regime after tuesdays explosion. Donald trump signs executive orders aimed at providing aid to us workers suffering the Economic Impact of the coronavirus. The move comes after talks with democrats on a rescue package broke down on friday. Mr trumps proposals include protection against eviction, extending zero interest loans for students and increasing unemployment benefits. France is sending equipment and technical advisors to the Indian Ocean Island of mauritius after its Prime Minister appealed for urgent assistance to contain a worsening oil spill there. President Emmanuel Macron said teams were being deployed from the nearby French Island of reunion. Now on bbc news click. This week hong kong activists, a touch of Space Tourism. Fire fire and 6 catwalks. This is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk hey, welcome to click. And around the world. The Lebanese Army retakes government buildings in beirut hope youre doing 0k. After they were stormed laura certainly is, because, by protesters angry over look, she has got a new friend. Tuesdays explosion. Thats right. Basil, meat spencer, spencer meet basil. Thousands demand regime change on the streets. Hello, basil, nice to meet you. Protesters are hit by tear gas, a Police Officer dies in the violence. Look at us were talking to plants, thats what lockdown has done to us. Japan remembers the victims of nagasaki, yeah, this is what it 75 years after the atom bomb has come to. This is a small example
of my amazing gardening talent. Was dropped on the city you may recall a few weeks ago i planted a whole vertical farm. Yes i do, how was it, in brazil, a Light Projection honours the victims is it still alive . Of the pandemic as the yes, its doing really well, and i think devices like this countrys fatalities pass or that really stop 100,000. You from going wrong. Because once you have got them no compromise in congress plugged in and you make sure on how much to fund out of work they dont run out of water, americans, so President Trump forces though his plans the device does the rest with executive orders. Of thejob. Later in the programme i will show you all of the food that i have been growing. Well, cant wait. 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 livestream to report he is to his followers. 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 nat sec law. Hong kong saw thousands of protesters take to the streets last year in opposition 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. Glacier kwong is a tech activist, she sees the internet as a new battle ground. She says the new National Security law limits freedom
of speech online. Digital sovereignty, its a word 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 violent 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 really smart and comprehensive approaches in controlling its people including hong kongers. For example, they have the great firewall in china, and theyre 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 therefore we have limited access to information. This footage is from a livestream 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 kongers 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 identities. Its a wise act 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 tiktok 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, may becoming just another chinese city. Well. 0k, well. 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 not just the activists, notjust the protesters, not just just the activists, notjust the protesters, notjust to ta ke the protesters, notjust to take activists, but also ordinary people. They didnt expect this law and exchanges
to come about so quickly and it feels like 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 asa freely from hong kong . For me as a journalist working here, the lines have simply changed almost overnight. In some ways you could say it feels even stricter than Mainland China, because in the mainland, at least, 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 its not clear what the lines are. Its not clear what the future will bring. And the city, in some ways, feels quite unrecognisable. And just to reiterate, whenever ive been to china and hong kong, the differences very start, as soon as you cross border from differences very start, as soon as you cross borderfrom hong kong into china google stops working, other Services Become unavailable, and it pretty much does happen at the border. And so the worry maybe is, are you
saying, is that will extend into hong kong . Thats the fear. The issue of the law is that so vague that people dont know exactly how it will be interpreted. They dont know how people will be charged, and they dont know how quickly some of these further changes will be implemented. Right now the activist but ive been speaking to, they re the activist but ive been speaking to, theyre confident that at least online, when it comes to the app theyre using, like facebook, twitter, like instagram, they think they will still be able to continue using them for a while. People 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. Is the worst Case Scenario the great firewall and all of the restrictions there are on Mainland China just extend and hong kong is subject to exactly the same restrictions . That is the same restrictions . That is the worst Case Scenario. There isa the worst Case Scenario. There is a feeling here that hong kong is living on borrowed time. Of course, many people
are now choosing to leave the city because they do think its going to becomejust city because they do think its going to become just another ordinary chinese city with those type of restrictions. 0k, danny, listen, thank you so much for doing that report and stay in touch. Hello and welcome to the week in tech. It was the week that the European Commission announced it will carry out a full scale probe into googles ta keover of full scale probe into googles takeover of fitbit. Nasa launched exploration rover perseverance into space as it ends its seven month journey to mars. But all that goes up, spacexs crew dragon splashdown. 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 that fold two. As a screen is 1. 6 inches bigger than the last galaxy fold as it isa than the last galaxy fold as it is a small and fiddly size was one of his biggest criticisms. And, finally, the fourth as
strong as a key scene from star wa rs strong as a key scene from star wars the Empire Strikes back has inspired researchers to create electronic skin with feelings. It is made up of a network of sensors connected by a single electrical conductor. It can be used in robots or prosthetic limbs to potentially recreate a sense of touch that feels pain, tablatu re, recreate a sense of touch that feels pain, tablature, 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. This 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 grow smart garden. Yes, that is its actual name. As you can see, everything has grown pretty nicely. When i planted it i logged it all in the app because 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. I 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 kit, 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 wipes, so it has been really nice to be able to grow my own food here. 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 do allow you to personalise your set up. Choosing whether you want one salad shelf or two or three. And like many of the latest growers, 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 so you could 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 and the nutrient levels. Putting all that into an app. While big brands lg and samsung have shown off some intriguing kitchen concepts, lesser known farm shelf has a device that might beat them to market. Its indoorfarm uses 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 a variety of equations as well as the way the images are analysed. And as that data set grows 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 9,000 plants to help feed more than 1,000 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 was 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, 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 gardens will be more of a hobby, these self sufficient growers can seriously help out in unpredictable times. Maybe needs a bit of dressing, but its good. Now, then, we have plenty of earthbound worries at the moment. But that hasnt stopped developments in commercial space travel. Spacex has now
successfully sent a crew to the International Space station and back again. And it looks like Space Tourism outfit version galactic has been busy too. Now, the Company Recently announced a partnership with engine manufacturer rolls royce to develop a supersonicjet capable of flying out three times the speed of sound. But is london to sydney in five hours. Thats london to sydney. But for now, the Company Still has its sights set on space, as marchers like reports. Mark cieslak. Work continues at Virgin Galactic to realise its goal of reusable space flight that allows space tourists to experience zero g and views of the earth from low orbit. I spoke with Virgin Galactics chief space officer, george whiteside, about testing during the pandemic stop we
have had a great run so far this year. The next flight we are going to do willjust have to pilots in the front. Soon after that, employees will help us after that, employees will help us test the experience to make sure it is absolutely amazing for our customers. Virgin galactic has announced plans to cut more than 3000 jobs in the uk. The economic effects of the covid 19 pandemic have caused problems for Virgin Galactics founder, Sir Richard Branson. Happier times, when Sir Richard Branson happier times, when sir richard bra nson launched happier times, when Sir Richard Branson launched Virgin Atlantic. The billionaire requested a financial bailout from the uk government for struggling Virgin Atlantic, hit ha rd by struggling Virgin Atlantic, hit hard by all airlines in the colla pse hard by all airlines in the collapse in our travel due to the pandemic. The British Government rejected the bid. This week, a uk court also heard the 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 as part of the court sanctioned process which needs the creditors approval, Virgin Atlantic has failed chap
13 bankruptcy protection in american courts. Since the crisis began, branson has sold a £405 crisis began, bran