President trump has defended his handling of the coroanvirus pandemic, telling fox news that the us has the lowest mortality rate in the world. Police and Public Health officials are investigating a mosque in blackburn, after 250 people attended a funeral there on monday. Its since emerged that the imam has tested positive for coronavirus. The United Arab Emirates prepares to launch a mission to mars making it the first arab nation to do so. Half time at wembley and its 1 0 to chelsea as they compete with Manchester United for a place in the fa cup final. Welcome to bbc news. Amid growing tensions between beijing and london, china has threatend repercussions, over british criticism of its handling of hong kong. The foreign secretary dominic raab will set out in full tomorrow, number tens response to beijings tough new security law for the territory, amid calls from some senior conservatives to suspend the uks extradition treaty with china. Theres also criticism of the reatment of the muslim uighur population in the province of xingjiang, amid claims some women are being forcibly sterilised. Our Diplomatic CorrespondentCaroline Hawley has the story. It has never been an easy relationship, but now troubles are mounting on multiple fronts. There is deep concern for the future of hong kong, after china imposed new security laws on the former british colony, undermining its autonomy. The government is now preparing to escalate its response. I said we would conduct a review of our extradition arrangements, and also a range of other measures we might wish to take. I have now, with the home secretary and the rest of government, concluded that review, i will update the house of commons on what further measures we are taking tomorrow. Today china warned britain not to follow the us in imposing sanctions. If uk government goes that far, goes that far to impose sanctions on any individuals in china, china will certainly make resolute response to it. China reacted with fury to britains decision to ban huaweis technology because of security concerns. There are fears now of the potential economic fall out for british business. Other countries, including the us, japan and australia, have paid a price forfalling out with china. China has sanctioned commerce, trade, the companies of those countries operating in china. So to be honest, it is difficult to predict what china might do with regard to the united kingdom, but we might have to expect that British Companies would be in the cross hairs. What china is doing to its uighur minority has caused international outrage. Men have been forced into mass re education camps. Women forcibly sterilised. Dominic raab said the human rights abuses were egregious and deeply, deeply troubling. The ambassador was shown a video that appears to show bound blindfolded men being forced on to a train. This was his response. Uighur people enjoy harmonious life, peaceful Harmonious Co existence with other ethnic groups of people. Uighur people is just one small portion of the chinese population, among even among the muslims, but they are, the majority of them are living happily, peacefully, harmoniously. The British Government says it cant stand by and watch abuses take place but it also wants a Good Relationship with china and with the us at the same time. An almost impossible balancing act. Caroline hawley, bbc news. Nury turkel is a commissioner for the United States commission on International Religious freedom, and hes also a uighur rights activist. Hejoins me now from washington. Good to speak to you again. First of all, what do you make of the British Governments decision to call out what china is doing in xinjiang . It is nice to be with you. I welcome any decision from europe including the uk, to show strong policy response to the ongoing humanitarian crisis that has been correctly described as the largest incarceration of ethnic minorities since the holocaust. The uk government needs to respond, needs to respond strongly, in a similar fashion needs to respond strongly, in a similarfashion as the needs to respond strongly, in a similar fashion as the United States has done. The public condemnation is long overdue. It is a matter of conscience and principle. The us does not advocate any country to break economic ties with china. But that economic trade relationship, that economic trade relationship, that should not be at the cost of, the expense of all principles. The train has left the station a long time ago. It is the right time for the uk and other european nations to catch up. There has been a long period where concerns have been raised about what has been happening inside xinjiang which is effectively a closed province in china to outsiders. We had the footage revealing the building of these camps. Are you frustrated how long it has taken to get countries including your own where you now live and have asylum in the us, to acknowledge this was going on . I couldnt be prouder of my adopted country the United States, for the responses legislatively. We have a very strong bill that has been enacted in the United States and also the Current Administration has issued a number of executive orders to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis. When i talk to you two and a half years ago, i was hoping the National Committee through my interview with you would act. I called for action to address the injustice, crime being committed against the uighur people. I am 0k with the United States, i welcome more decisions, i urge more multilateral decision efforts to address the crisis, but i am more disappointed other countries looking the other way. We are looking at crimes against humanity, against uighur people. The International Community particularly germany and france to be specific cannot continue to be silent. We call on oui continue to be silent. We call on our international partners, us traditional allies, industrial and liberal democracies, to get on the right side of history. You mentioned the interview we did backin you mentioned the interview we did back in 2018. That underlines the point that a lot of this has been known for some time about what has been going on. You have seen reports in the us media ofjohn boltons book. Saying the Us Government has taken a lead on this and you are proud of what it has done. John bolton says President Trump told president xi he should go ahead building the camps because he thought that was the right thing to do. Iam not do. I am not here to defend or deny the allegation. What i would acknowledge is the fact the Clinton Administration has done a number of significant things including sanctioning chinese officials including the one who is a member of the powerful politburo recently. I urged other countries like the uk, canada, estonia, to have similar legal tools to impose sanctions on chinese officials who have been responsible for those grotesque ghastly human rights abuses. Cani ghastly human rights abuses. Can i ask you about what was specifically said by the Chinese Ambassador to the uk on the bbc on sunday morning. The ambassador was asked for his reaction. He was asked for his reaction to pictures that have been shown of uighur men on their knees, blindfolded, apparently being detained in what looked to be highly unsatisfactory and very disturbing conditions. His response was he thought the video was probably fake and as far as claims of mass sterilising work concerned, that was totally not the truth. You cant rule out individual cases but said that could be any country doing that. We describe the relationship of uighurs in xinjiang, saying they live mostly, enjoying a harmonious life. How does that square with what you hear from friends and family back home . It is another example of chinas propaganda. It is no surprise to me this individual representing the Chinese Government, in a way damaging chinas long term relationship with the rest of the world, by making such unfounded statements. The pastas statement is pa rt statements. The pastas statement is part of chinas denying, conflated effo rts part of chinas denying, conflated efforts to disseminate this information around the world, cover artan information around the world, cover art an obvious crime. What we have now is not based on what government officials said experts or media reports, what we have today is admissible evidence that we use in litigation. The most recent evidence been reported is based on the chinese open source information. The Chinese Government needs to do some soul searching, there speaking in public. This is a matter of crimes being specifically defined in international law. Genocide has taken place. I have been very careful with that terminology because it is a very serious allegation. But based on what we know today, and one specific example that the chinese are sending uighur children to a state run orphanage purposely, systematically preventing population growth, that meets the definition of genocide. The Chinese Ambassador and others can say the same thing 15 times. But they should not underestimate the intelligence of the people in the free world who can do their own independent investigation. And use their brain to make the judgment call. This is a no brainer. There is not even this is a no brainer. There is not eve n c0 ntrove rsy this is a no brainer. There is not even controversy to take sides on the uighur issue. The crimes being committed deserves worldwide condemnation and strong governmental responses. Thank you very much. 0ur Political Correspondent nick eardley is with me. Hearing that interview, the link people may not be aware of is the chinese official who was in charge in xinjiang is now the chinese official, in hong kong, and hong kong is notwithstanding concerned about the uighurs, is the immediate concern of the British Government. The uk government has to things it is concerned about. One is the influence of chinese infrastructure and money in the uk. The other is chinas actions in the International Community. Both things come together to form the uks response. 0n hong kong, we got a strong hint from the foreign secretary that when he addresses mps tomorrow, he will suspend the extradition treaty which we havent had confirmed but dominic raab will be speaking tomorrow. Another option is sanctions against high ranking chinese officials. If that happens, it will take longer. There is legislation that allows that to happen but there is a slightly complicated progress process. All of these things point to tensions between the uk and china increasing over the next few weeks and months. It is intriguing, this relationship almost appears to be turning full circle in the last few years. We had David Cameron when he was by mr talking about a golden era of relations between china and the uk. We wa nted relations between china and the uk. We wanted china involved in the british infrastructure. Boris johnson went on a tour of china and i went along as a journalist to follow. We had theresa may at the home 0ffice allowing people to get visas to come to britain if they were wealthy. And suddenly, we are talking about sanctions, tackling human rights abuses. Why has this changed in the way it has . Does the government acknowledged the contradictions between their position . It is only five years since David Cameron took president xi to the pub in england. The simple answer to it is, firstly, there is real concern in the government that china has hardened a lot of its domestic policies and policies in places like hong kong. The huawei decision, the government will blame on the sanctions in the us, saying we have no idea where chips are coming from, which gives us concern. There is also a distinct hardening of their position within the conservative party, a group of 80 tory mps, the Chinese Research group, concerned about chinese influence in the uk, who have lobbied for the end of the extradition treaty with hong kong, looking at Critical Infrastructure like Nuclear Power plants, sing should we have the chinese having such a heavy influence, potentially controlling interest. We will see more pressure on borisjohnson from his own party to tighten the position on china, potentially looking at things like technology. Tik tok, the app so many people are using on their phones, mps are worried about security implications. There are suggestions it is less inclined to continue negotiations. Bearing in mind it is notjust china. There are increasing tensions with russia, we saw that last week with russia, we saw that last week with the uk government accusing russian actors of trying to steal information from the vaccine programmes in the uk. With the government accusing russian actors amplifying stolen information during the 2019 general election. We will be talking about it again early next week, tuesday or wednesday, with the intelligence and Security Committee publishing that russia report which has been behind closed doors for a year. We will be talking about russian influence potentially in the Scottish Referendum campaign, the brexit referendum. As the uk tries to find its way in world after brexit, to find a new role, the diplomatic rows with two of the most powerful countries in the world are ratcheting up. Intriguing times thank you. And well find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrows front pages at 10 30 and 11 30 this evening in the papers our guests joining me tonight are harriet line, deputy Political Editor at pa, and giles cunningham, political commentator and former conservative party press chief. Borisjohnson says hed be extremely reluctant to impose another nationwide lockdown if theres a second widespread wave of Coronavirus Infections this winter. It comes as a Senior Health official in the north west in blackburn and darwen, a borough with one of the highest infection rates for covid 19 in england, has warned the current test and trace system isnt working well enough. Heres our Health Editor hugh pym. Blackburn today. Part of an area which has seen one of the biggest recent increases in coronavirus cases. Its been identified by national Health Officials as needing enhanced support for tackling the virus. The local council has introduced its own measures, including limiting household gatherings. I think the two metre distance has more or less gone, but thats not the councils fault. Thats down to silly people, isnt it. We need to take control of the virus, you know, and, yeah, i think, i think at the end of the day, if everybodyjust needs to obey, you know, by the rulings. In communities like this, the test and trace scheme is vital. Finding people who have been in contact with those who have tested positive and telling them to self isolate. But the local Public Health chief said the National System wasnt yet effective. We could risk seeing an exponential growth, because up to half of the people that may have been infected by an index case, by the first case with the virus, will themselves not know they are infected or at risk of infection and get tested and self isolate. The department of health said the test and Trace Service was working closely with local authorities in england, to help manage local outbreaks and data was shared daily. In the week ending july 8th, officials managed to get through to 78. 7 of those who tested positive. That was up slightly on the previous week. They were asked to give details of their recent contacts. Of those, 71. 1 were reached and asked to self isolate. That was down slightly. In total, since the scheme was launched in late may, 156,000 contacts have been traced. Speeding up test results and getting to more contacts is seen as crucial as winner approaches. Winter. Experts say this is especially important in places where infections are seen to be on the increase. There has to be very large testing in those areas, with tracing, to be able to keep the epidemic under control. And certainly, i think that is where that, if you like, rise in the ability of us to test and the number of tests is incredibly important. On friday the Prime Minister announced new powers for local councils in england to control outbreaks. He said today another National Lockdown would only be like a Nuclear Deterrent a last resort. Hugh pym, bbc news. A mosque in blackburn is being investigated by police and Public Health officials after 250 people attended a funeral there on monday. The jamia ghosia mosque emailed its congregation following the service to warn them that the imam tested positive for coronavirus. The mosques chairman told the bbc they made a mistake and believed any number of people were allowed to attend as long as social distancing guidelines were adhered to. The government advice in england limits weddings and funerals to 30 people. For the First Time Since the coronavirus pandemic began, the number of new daily infections around the world has surpassed a quarter of a million. The biggest increases were in the us where the total number of virus related deaths has just passed 140,000. 78,000 people have died in brazil and cases have surpassed two millions, and those numbers are still rising. And the death toll in india now stands at 26,816. But the United States remain the worst affected country. Speaking on fox news, President Trump disputed the impact on the country and said that the us has the lowest mortality rate in the world. When you talk about mortality rates i think it is the opposite. I think we have one of the lowest mortality rates. Thats not true, sir. We had 900 deaths in a single day this week. We will take a look. Check it out. Can you get me the mortality rates . Kayley is right here. I heard we had one of the lowest, may be the lowest mortality rates in the world. Do you have the numbers, please . Because i heard we had the best mortality rate. Number one low mortality rate. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes says despite what the president is saying, medical experts remain concerned about the growing number of coronavirus cases in the us. It was a contentious interview over the numbers, mortality rate. What we cannot dispute is the number of coronavirus cases here in the us and the Positivity Rate which is all important, the numbers of those tested as a percentage is increasing dramatically. The president continues to insist that is more because more people are being tested. He says some of those cases should not be cases. What he means is they should not be considered cases because they recover very quickly. 99. 7 of people he says recover very quickly. But the fact is, a positive test is a positive test, and what Health Experts are saying over and again is that those, many young people testing positive, have the potential to pass the virus to others in their family and perhaps older people who are less able to survive. Breaking news from brussels, the summit of the 27 members of the eu meeting to come up with a rescue package for their economies in light of the pandemic, that summit which has lasted two days, has broken up without agreement. It seems the leaders were not able to find common ground. According to a diplomatic source, 350 billion euros was the maximum acceptable to some of the Northern European countries, compared to 400 billion euros seen as the bare minimum by many other countries. Interestingly, germany has sided with that group, traditionally seen as a country sceptical about the northern countries as it would have seen it subsidising southern countries whose economies have been most hit particularly tourist based countries in spain, portugal and so on. A rerun of the dispute in ee at the time of the financial crisis a decade ago when countries like germany said we will be subsidising the profligacy of those countries that do not save as much as us. That battle, and coronavirus affects everyone, you cannot name one country or another for its impact. But nonetheless there is a real instinctive reluctance in some countries like the netherlands to support poorer countries that are seen as not so prudent in terms of individual saving. And they are worried they are effectively giving the money. There are suggestions of making loans with a long payback period but that hasnt been enough to close the gap. They will have to go home and come back and do it all again. In scotland restuara nts, bars and parts of the Tourism Sector opened for the first time this weekend since the coronavirus lockdown. Some churches have also had their First Sunday Services for months. It comes as a leading Public Health figure in scotland says the country is at a very delicate moment in its fight against the virus. Gillian sharpe reports. Sunday mass at st andrews cathedral in glasgow. For those attending, real joy at their return. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. I had been in to visit when it first opened, when it first reopened. But actually coming to mass is something special. Just delighted to be back for the first one. We cant sing but in my head i will be singing, you know. I miss it so much, it will be emotional. While much is familiar, there is a lot that isnt. No communal singing and the need for social distancing means limited numbers. Contact details taken, and strict Infection Control measures. This was the scene at a Scottish Episcopal Church in aberlour today. It has been a week of real change in scotland with pubs, restaurants and tourism businesses also opening up. The latest Scottish Government figures say there are 23 new confirmed covid 19 cases. Yesterday, the number was 21, the highest in nearly a month. All will be carefully examined. This is an incredibly sensitive time. I think we all need to realise that and unfortunately we know that from international examples. We need to look at the Positivity Rates, the relationship between the number of cases and the number of people tested. It is still less than 1 so although these numbers i think are slightly concerning, they may also be a feature of increased testing. As lockdown eases and more of normal life opens up, experts say we all need to be careful to allow that to continue as planned. Gillian sharpe, bbc news. The First Mission to mars by an arab nation, is preparing to lift off later today. The rocket will send the United Arab Emirates probe, named hope, into orbit to the red planet to learn more about its atmosphere and weather. Its part of a plan to help the uae move away from oil and gas production, and enter the global space industry. 0ur science correspondent Rebecca Morelle reports. Mars is a mysterious planet. It has always fascinated people on earth. Heading for the red planet, the first arab mission to mars. The United Arab Emirates about to make history. The spacecraft is called hope. It was built over six years, with help from american scientists. Until now, the uaes only launched satellites to earth orbit. Getting to mars is a huge leap. Feeling more nervous than anything else. Weve tested and tested and tested the spacecraft to ensure it can survive every single scenario, and now all of that rests on a launch pad on top of a rocket that is destined to a planet that is millions of miles away from us. Our view of mars is about to be transformed. Most spacecraft that have been there have orbited around the planets poles and very close in, but this has meant a limited view. Hope is a mission with a difference. Its heading towards the equator, and in a much wider elliptical orbit, and this means it will reveal almost every part of the planet, at every time of day, in each ten day cycle. The spacecraft will study the Martian Atmosphere to give us much more information about its weather and climate. Even though the atmosphere on mars is around a thousand times thinner than the atmosphere on earth, we still see these weather type events, so dust storm, clouds, fog, lightning even, so understanding the weather on mars will help us understand more about the weather on earth. Until now oil and gas have driven the ueas economy, but it is trying to diversify with its burgeoning space industry. Around half of all missions to mars have failed. But the stakes are higher for this country. Its a Scientific Mission and failure is an option. However, failure to progress as a nation is not an option, and what matters the most here is the capacity and the capability that the uae gains out of this mission. The spacecraft will take seven months to reach mars, and if it does succeed, a new player in the global space race will have truly arrived. Rebecca morelle, bbc news. Now its time for a look at the weather with nick miller