This is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. Im victoria derbyshire. The uk signs deals for 90 million doses of Coronavirus Vaccines being developed overseas on top of a pledge for 100 million of the Oxford University vaccine. There is a very high degree of confidence but we will be entering trials, will need half a Million People to be able to trial these vaccines Going Forward through the winter. But its a really important part of their development. A new treatment for covid 19 developed by a uk company could dramatically reduce the number of patients needing intensive care. Eu leaders in brussels hold
talks through the night as they attempt to Reach Agreement on a Coronavirus Recovery Fund. As tensions grow between britain and china the uk is expected to announce its suspending its extradition treaty with hong kong. Amber heard takes the stand at Londons High Court in johnny depps libel case against the sun over allegations of Domestic Violence during the pairs relationship. Please do get in touch with us regarding any of todays stories on twitter vicderbyshire or you can email at victoria bbc. Co. Uk. Also coming up this hour an Historic Mission to mars is underway rhe first attempt by the first attempt by the United Arab Emirates to reach the red planet. Hello and welcome if youre
watching in the uk or around the world. Here, the uk government has signed deals for 90 million doses of Coronavirus Vaccine developed overseas. One of them is with a partnership between the german and us pharmaceutical giants biontech and pfizer. Its vaccine produced a strong immune response in early trials. If successful, the first of 30 million doses could arrive by the end of the year. The other deal is with the french firm valneva, which wont begin trials of its jab until the autumn. That agreement is for 60 million doses. And theres already a deal to buy 100 million doses of the vaccine produced by the university of oxford early results of trials for this vaccine are due later today. Also this morning theres been some positive news about a new treatment which could dramatically reduce the numbers of patients needing intensive care. More on that in a moment but first our medical correspondent, fergus walsh has this report. There are now an astonishing 23 Coronavirus Vaccines in Clinical Trials around the world, including two in the uk developed
by Oxford University and Imperial College london. Today, the government announced deals with two overseas vaccine producers. Biontech, pfizer, is one of the frontrunners a german us partnership. Its Coronavirus Vaccine produced a strong immune response in early trials. If its successful, the first of 30 million doses could arrive by the end of the year. The other deal is with the french firm valneva who wont begin trials of theirjab till the autumn. That agreement is for 60 million doses. Its vaccine will contain an inactivated virus. This is a more tried and tested method for creating a vaccine so could be important if others fail. Theres already a deal to buy 100 million doses of the vaccine produced by Oxford University. This may look like the uk government
has overbought but bear in mind that nine in ten vaccines are unsuccessful, and you see, the logic behind the decision to back several horses in the search for a winner. Also, most of the Coronavirus Vaccines in trials require more than one dose. Vaccine trials depend on volunteers. The public are being encouraged to sign up to a new nhs website to speed up the process forjoining Coronavirus Vaccine studies. The aim is to get half a Million People to register interest by october. Fergus walsh, bbc news. The uk education secretary, Gavin Williamson said the vaccines were the most advanced in development. Theres a very high degree of confidence but well be entering trials. Well need half a Million People to be able to trial these vaccines Going Forward through the winter. But its a really important part of their development. But its vital that britain is leading the way and as im sure youll know, britain is a world leader in terms of research and development and we talk about the work thats going on at oxford, but similar work going on at imperial, some amazing universities in this country. But not only are we leading the way in terms of the research, were leading the way in terms of manufacture as well. Youll see the investment and development of manufacturing facilities, you know, expansion in scotland at livingston, but also the creation of a new Vaccine Centre in 0xfordshire as well. So we lead the world on research and development but also lead the world on manufacture. The chair of the vaccine taskforce, kate bingham says the uks is at the forefront of the effort to source and develop vaccines. Were still in the process of actually running the Clinical Trials and the different vaccines weve secured rights to. So what that means is we are assessing whether or not these vaccines are safe and whether or not they provide protection to those who are vaccinated. The rules at which we do that are very tightly regulated by the mhra, which is the regulator in the uk that defines which vaccines and drugs can get licensed. We are well on the way. 0xford, if you take that as an example, has vaccinated over 9000 people so far. So, we are really beginning to get a good sense of how these vaccines are behaving. The fact that these Clinical Trials are taking place more quickly does not mean we are cutting any. Making any short cuts in terms of safety. Whats happening is we are running things in parallel in ways that have never been done in parallel before. So, we are, from the uk government perspective, funding activities such as manufacturing before we know whether or not the vaccines will work so that if they do work we then have a vaccine ready and available. And that is not normal. Normally this happens all sequentially. Now what we are doing is compressing everything and running it in parallel. Positive news this morning about a possible new treatment for covid 19 which reduces the risk of patients ending up in intensive care. It uses a protein which our bodies produce to fight infections. 0ur correspondentjustin rowlatt has more details. These are preliminary results of a relatively small Clinical Trial the company did with the drug. But it does produce what the scientists call a very strong signal. It suggests there was a reduction of 80 in the number of patients whose condition deteriorated once they were in hospital. Patients were more than twice as likely to recover fully within 28 days. They were likely to leave hospital earlier, so instead of spending nine days in hospital theyd spend six days and one of the key symptoms of covid 19, breathlessness, was reduced very significantly, according to the study. So those are all very positive
signals, very good news. The health warning, if you like, on the study is, as i said these are initial preliminary results. We havent had this reviewed in a peer reviewjournal. We havent had the data released so the bbc hasnt been able to confirm the claims the company is making. But, if the claims the company is making are correct, then this is a very significant new development in the treatment of coronavirus illness. One of the clinical lead around the Clinical Trial, a guy called tom wilkinson, described it as a potential game changer in terms of the treatment of covid 19. The managing director of the company says it is a major breakthrough, potentially. But the warning again, these results have not been Peer Reviewed yet so this is quite an early stage. But nevertheless, very encouraging news on the treatment of covid. Health ministers in the uk have admitted failing to assess Data Protection risks around the nhs test and Trace Programme for coronavirus in england. The system traces contacts of people who may have been infected
with covid 19 but privacy campaigners are concerned over how personal details are collected and stored. They say the admission means the programme has been unlawful; the programme has been unlawful. The government insists no information has been misused. Eu leaders in brussels have been talking through the night to try to agree on a Coronavirus Recovery Fund stretching their two day summit into a fourth day of negotiation. Some Member States believe the 750 billion euro package is too large and should come as loans not grants. The summit is the first face to face meeting between leaders since the lockdowns began in march. Gavin lee is in brussels and says there is still some hope they could reach an agreement. I think there are some signs or a puff of white smoke emerging at least from the austrian camp. Because Sebastian Kurz has tweeted this morning that after some tough negotiations, he is happy with where this is going and suggestions that they could conclude by this afternoon. It is already the longest european summitfor20 years, go back to nice 2000
when they were expanding from 15 countries. This is about money, this is about trust, this is about the idea that these frugal four, the self proclaimed frugal four, austria, sweden, netherlands, denmark plus finland in this circumstance, they are not budging, according to the others. They have been saying we dont want to give 500 billion euros in grants. We dont trust enough that the money will essentially thatll be it and it will be spent on the right things and the furthest is the dutch leader, mark rutte, who wants a veto for the dutch to be able to say, we dont like the spending lets stop it at this point. So its basically been a back and forth between the council, putting new proposals on the table with lots of different meetings. Now, where we are at at the moment, the so called frugal four are saying they will offer as grants, no more than 375 billion euros. Other countries, including france and germany are saying that they wont go over 400 billion
euros and at the table this afternoon will be around 390 billion. That is where it seems to be at. And this has got pretty nasty at points. Tempers flaring like i havent seen it before, youve had the bulgarian Prime Minister, boyko borissov, calling mark rutte acting as a policeman of europe. Victor 0ban, the hungarian leader saying, whos to blame . Not me, its the dutch guy. This morning in the early hours, emmanuel macron, the french president , banging his fists on the table saying to the frugal four, you are putting the european project in danger. According to french officials and italian diplomats told me that giuseppe conte, the Prime Minister said to them, you might be a hero in your home country in the short term but you will be lambasted, you will be seen as part of the reason that europe fails. So that is how its got, tiredness leading to tempers flaring and the art of diplomacy, like the masks that the leaders have been wearing, slipping. The uk government says all state schools in england will receive a funding increase of at least 2 next year. In a settlement agreed
last summer, education spending will increase by £2. 2 billion, an average increase of 3 per pupil. The institue for fiscal studies says theres been am 8 real terms cut in per pupil spending since 2010. Ministers are also providing an extra £1 billion covid catch up fund to help children who have missed over four month of education due to School Closures during the lockdown. 0ur asissta nt Political Editor norman smith is at westminster. What can this money be used for, norman . There are two streams of money and one is the three year increase in educational spending, worth over 1a billion over three yea rs. We worth over 1a billion over three years. We knew about this, what we get today is where the cash is going. That tells a story because the areas which are getting the biggest percentage increase of the most deprived parts of the uk where schooling is deemed to be struggling
most. That is down in the south west and also in the north east. There is and also in the north east. There is a view over the past 15 years or so, london in particular has benefited hugely from increased resources and increased focus on particularly inner city schools. London inner city schools where the worst in the country. Now, if you look at the data, london inner city schools outperform most other parts of the country outside of london. So they are trying to replicate what was donein are trying to replicate what was done in london in the city schools and some of these other areas like the south west and the north east. The second thing we get today is extra cash to help schools enable pupils to catch up after six months also off because of the covid virus, before they go back in september. Familiar message from Gavin Williamson, they will leave it to schools as to how they want to spend this money. In terms of their covid catch up, its about making sure that teachers have the ability to do an assessment of the children where they fallen behind, what theyve missed out on, how we can get the right types of interventions. What we have been encouraging on the £650 million that has been announced going to schools, we are giving schools the discretion on how to spend that but we have been looking at them to give extra coaching for small groups of children, making sure that if they fallen behind on their maths or the english or foreign languages, they have been given that little bit of extra support. Now, labour this morning saying this extra cash is fine but it does not make good the amount of money that was cut by the government during the eight years of austerity, and 8 cut per people. The other thing i thought interesting from labour this morning, there does seem to be a noticeable tilt in labours stance
on getting children back into schools in september. Previously, they have been a bit equivocal on it, more aligned to the unions who have been sceptical, unless there is a significant fall in the level of infections. This morning, the new shadow education secretary, kate green, going out of her way to stress the enormous social benefits of getting children back into school in september. Thank you, norman. The uk foreign secretary, dominic raab, is expected to suspend the uks extradition treaty with hong kong today. Its all part of mounting tension with beijing after china imposed a controversial new security law on hong kong, and after the uk decided to ban huawei from its 5g network. At a news briefing in beijing this morning, a Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman has urged britain to
avoid, in his words, taking any more steps down the wrong path. Translation these remarks, these Hong Kong Related remarks turn a blind eye to the basic facts that the National Security law is for the sustained success of one china two systems. It goes against the International Law, the international norms. We strongly condemn this wrong action. We urge the us to make no more steps down the wrong path so as to avoid further damage to china uk relations. Our china correspondent Stephen Mcdonell is in beijing. A strong warning from beijing . Yes, we have just come from that briefing. Some tough language. He is accusing the uk are brutally meddling in chinas internal affairs
regarding the new state security law in hong kong and crucially, threatening some sort of unspecified resolute response. If britain goes ahead and pulls out of an existing extradition treaty with hong kong. He also accused britain of breaching International Law and actually we asked which law are you talking about . He could not name our lord that london was breaking, but said this was a breach of international norms, as he described it. And, also had some tough words for the foreign secretary regarding the far Western Province of china where, according to the uk foreign secretary, there has been the forced sterilisation of women. By making those remarks, according to the Chinese Government, he has slandered china and they accuse him of flat out lying about this subject. So very strong
language today from the Foreign Ministry targeted towards a british government, towards the foreign secretary in particular. But we still dont know how they are going to britain pulls out of this extradition treaty with hong kong because of the new state security law in the coming hours, as has been predicted. Thank you very much, we will see what happens. Amber heard is beginning three days of evidence at the high court as part ofjohnny depps libel case against british newspaper the sun over allegations of Domestic Violence during the pairs tempestuous relationship. Lizo mzimba is at the high court in Central London for us. What might we expect over the next few days . We are entering the third week brought byjohnny depp against the Sun Newspaper. For the first two
weeks we have had johnny depps sides, with the actor himself being in the witness box for almost a week, being questioned by his relationship with amber heard and other aspects of his life. He was spoken to a lot about his relationship with drink and illegal drugs. He denied that alcohol and drugs. He denied that alcohol and drugs turned him into some kind of monster, he was capable of violence towards women. And also many people gave evidence on his behalf. For the most part, people who have worked with him or continue to work with him, they were consistent in saying they never saw signs of violence on amber heard, as a result ofjohnny depp and many of them said to the contrary, amber heard was the aggressive one in the relationship. There were other witnesses, including a Los Angeles Police officer giving evidence about one alleged incident. But today, as you say, amber heard is in the witness
box and she took the oath a few minutes ago and is expected to give evidence for the next three days also. She is expected to be questioned about 1k separate incidents on which she says questioned about 1k separate incidents on which she sastohnny depp was violent towards her. The case is being brought against the sun and its executive editor and she is giving evidence as the main witness on the suns behalf. There will be a small amount of evidence relating to Sexual Violence that will be heard in private with both the media and the public excluded. But she is expected to be in the witness box for the next three days 01 so witness box for the next three days orso and witness box for the next three days or so and then other people, friends, her sister and acting coach are expected to also be in the witness box, here or being questioned by video link from abroad about the allegations she says are true, thatjohnny depp was violent towards her. Not just true, thatjohnny depp was violent towards her. Notjust one, but 1a separate occasions and the whole trial is expected to conclude on tuesday of next week. Thank you very
much. Wearing a face mask will become mandatory in shops and supermarkets in england from friday. People who dont follow the rules will face a fine of up to £100. The rules will be enforced by the Police Rather than shop workers. Scotland has already made Face Coverings mandatory in shops although there are some exemptions, including for children under five. With me is farooq aftab, who supports mandatory face masks in shops. And also im joined by dr nick flatt, who disagrees and thinks we shouldnt have to wear them. Certainly not if we are being forced to. Good morning, gentlemen. Nick, why are you against mandatory Face Coverings . The thing is, if you remember back in march and april when the w and matt hancock were saying the evidence didnt support wearing face mask, the evidence hasnt changed in that time, all that has changed is the political
pressure. I think the government are using this in the sense they want to reassure people, it wont make much difference. Although the evidence has changed a little, that is what we are told, the World Health Organization now, for example, has changed its advice on facemasks. They say Face Coverings could provide a barrierfor they say Face Coverings could provide a barrier for potentially infectious droplets. The trouble is, again it is a political thing, really. If you are going to introduce something that is that effective, do it early on rather than at the tail end of an epidemic. This is your graph from the bbc. We are here. That is right. The inconsistencies, as i understand it, shoppers have to wear the masks, but the staff dont. If you can walk around the shop as a member of
staff, but if you want to do a bit of shopping before you go home, you then put a mask on. It is insane. Matt hancock, the health secretary, was asked about that last week and he said because shop staff are remaining alongside the same shop staff during the day, so it protects the shop staff. Good morning to you, farouk. What would you say to nick . I understand and i completely appreciate that, but there are so many unknowns. Things have shifted and changed and as he said, first we we re and changed and as he said, first we were told facemasks were not effective but now we are told they may help. Also, just like taste and smell came into the symptoms. If there is a small chance it may help save someones life, we should do that and as responsible citizens we have a duty. I know people who have
lost their lives, so it really has hit home and we should take any precaution which may help. Whether it is 100 conclusive is another argument. But if there is something that could help will potentially help, what is the harm in that . Nick, what would you say . As i mentioned earlier, introducing it this later is a little odd. Also, when are you going to stop doing this . Introducing it when there is hardly any cases, when are you going to stop doing it . Will we were facemasks for ever . The point is not when it is introduced, but the point is, even if there is a potential to help, why not do it . What is the alternative . If you dont wear a face mask, this causes more people
to get the code of it. Isnt that a worse position to be in . Why not be prudent for the sake of a few minutes oh an hour or so. Wear a mask if you go outside, i dont see any harm in that. Go on, nick. Do you want to come back at what he has just said . We are talking any old thing on yourface, basically. This is basically Face Coverings. If you have any police they will not be policing the mass, just whether you are wearing it. I managed to catch covid 19 while at work wearing a full f53 very uncomfortable airtight mask. The other argument is, you can catch this through your eyes, you know. Why arent we wearing eye coverings . The whole thing is
getting insane. I understand where youre coming from, where do we stop, i dont find this comfortable, but i have seen how it has affected people and if there is a potential this might help, the point is you can risk your own life, but why risk others . Even if there is evidence, the science says you should not wear a face mask, it is shifting and there is no agreed position on this. So the best course is to be cautious and do something and just put on a Face Covering over a mask of whatever it might be. Bearing in mind there hasnt been a single case worldwide of reinfection of covid 19, not one single case, do you think there is immunity . I have had it, i have got antibodies, iam
immune so how can i give it to somebody if i cannot catch it . |j immune so how can i give it to somebody ifi cannot catch it . I am not a doctor, but that is besides the point. In your daily life he will do whatever you can to take precaution and take care of your own life, take care of your loved ones, ta ke life, take care of your loved ones, take care of your children. What is the harm here, i dont see what is the harm here, i dont see what is theissue the harm here, i dont see what is the issue in doing this for a little amount of time. Whether it is completely agreed by the Science Community is a different point. At least it is some reassurance, you are doing something which benefits arent as good citizens, we should do ultimately what we are being advised to do. It is not curtailing of freedoms, you can take the facemasks. Before we move on, are you going to break the law when it comes in this friday . That is a good question. Probably not, really. I have already had a face mask printed
with code immune written on it. It will be interesting. Compliance in scotla nd will be interesting. Compliance in scotland is pretty high, but the trouble is, this is not science, it is not an experiment. I dare say if we dont get a second wave, and it doesnt seem to be materialising at the moment, if we dont get a second wave they will take credit and say it is the facemasks that stopped it. It is just superstition, not science. I am going to give you a couple of more scientific reviews. Chair of the Global Public health at the university of edinburgh said, a study from that university found that masks can limit how far exhaled breath travels out by as much as 90 and one study from germany noted the daily growth rate of Coronavirus Infections fell by 40 after mask use was made compulsory. Thank you
very much, we will see what happens on friday. Thank you for talking to us. Meanwhile, in france, it is now compulsory to wear masks in indoor spaces. Starting from today, there will be a penalty of more than 150 for failing to wear a mask in places such as shops, restaurants and banks. France has seen a slight resurgence of Coronavirus Infections. Our correspondent in paris, Hugh Schofield has more. I think people recognise it is in response that all is not well. All is not necessarily set on the path to recovery and normality. It is perfectly possible that things turn back. There has been a rise in the number of clusters in france in the last couple of weeks and there has certainly been indications, much
lamented by government and doctors, of people simply, you know, not taking it all so seriously any more, the holidays are upon us and there is a feeling of relaxation around the country which i think has spooked government. So this reaction is as much as anything, a psychological reaction to get people to realise it is not over and from today, therefore, in all experiences in public buildings inside you will have to wear a mask. Up until now, if i go shopping in the supermarket i have not been obliged to wear a mask and i would say about half of the shoppers at my local supermarket have not been wearing masks. Thatll end, if we go to the post office, if we go to the bank, well have to wear masks from now on. In addition to the masks that are already compulsory in Public Transport and in restaurants if you move around in a restaurant and so on. So thats how i see it, its a sign, among others, that the government is looking ahead a little bit too after the holidays and a fear that there will be, not necessarily a second wave, but there is a gathering number of dangerous signals out
there which need to be stopped. Hello this is bbc news with victoria derbyshire. The headlines the uk government has signed deals for ninety million doses of Coronavirus Vaccines being developed overseas on top of a pledge for one hundred million doses of the Oxford University vaccine. A new treatment for covid 19 developed by a uk company could dramatically reduce the number of patients needing intensive care. Eu leaders in brussels have held talks through the night as they attempt to Reach Agreement on a Coronavirus Recovery Fund. Beijing has accused the uk of brutally meddling in chinas internal affairs, following criticism of the new state security law in hong kong. Amber heard takes the stand at Londons High Court in johnny depps libel case against the sun over allegations of Domestic Violence
during the pairs relationship. The uk foreign secretary, dominic raab, is expected to announce that the uk will suspend its extradition treaty with hong kong later today. Tensions with beijing have been growing since it imposed a controversial security law in the chinese territory last month. Mr raab has also accused china of gross human rights abuses against their Uyghur Muslim population and warned they could impose sanctions on the officials responsible. The uyghur are a muslim ethnic minority mostly inhabiting chinas far west xinjiang province. China denies human rights abuses there, but theres evidence of mosques being destroyed as you see in these before and after pictures, and uyghurs say they are subject to intense state surveillance. More recently, drone footage has emerged that
appears to show uyghurs being blindfolded and led to trains, destined for internment camps. The Chinese Communist party has denied locking up hundreds of thousands of uyghurs in camps, but has also said the camps are not prisons but schools for thought tra nsformation. It also says its policies in xinjang have been effective in the fight against what it calls terrorism and extremism in the area. Well, those images were shown to the chinas ambassador to the uk by the Bbcs Andrew Marr on the weekend. Lets look at some very disturbing drone footage that has been shared widely around the world. This is almost certainly over northern china. Over xinjiang. Can you tell us whats happening here . I cannot see. You know. This is not the first
time you have shown me. I still remember last year you have shown me what is happening in xinjiang. But let me tell you this. Have you been to xinjiang yourself . No, i never have. Xinjiang is regarded as the most beautiful place. There is a chinese saying, you do not know how big china is. Ambassador, that is not. That is not beautiful coverage, however, is it . You know, xinjiang. That is exactly what im going to tell you. Since 1990, xinjiang has changed changed because of the thousands of terrorist attacks. That was ten years ago. Can i ask you why people are kneeling, blindfolded and shaven and being led to trains in modern china . What is going on there . I do not know where you get this video tape. Sometimes you have a. Transfer of a prisons and prisoners. You know, in any country. Butjust what is happening here, ambassador . I do not know where did you got this video clip. These have been going around the world and have been authenticated by western intelligence agencies and by australian experts, who say these are uyghur people being pushed onto trains. Let me tell you this. The so called western intelligence keeping up make up false accusation against china. They say1 million uyghur has been persecuted. You know how the population of xinjiang . Its just about. A0 years ago, its 4 million, 5 million, now it is 11 Million People and people say we impose. We have ethnic cleansing, but the population has doubled in a0 years. According. Im so sorry to interrupt, but according to your own local government statistics, the population growth in uyghur jurisdictions in that area has fallen by 84 between 2015 and 2018. 84 . Thats not right. 84 . Those are chinese figures. 84 . I give you officialfigures. 84 . You ask me. 84 . I give you this figure as a Chinese Ambassador. This is a very. In the past a0 years, the uyghur population increased. The population in xinjiang increased to double. The population doubled. So there is no so called restriction of the population and no so called forced abortion and so on. The Chinese Ambassador to the uk. We can talk now to zubayra shamseden, chinese Outreach Coordinator at uyghur human rights project in washington dc. She is originally from east turkistan, or xinjaing province in northwest china. Her brother has been detained there for 22 years. And to arfat erkin, who now lives in Northern Virginia in the us, both of his parents have been detained in camps in xinjiang province and he has lost contact with them. Thank you so much for talking to us. Zubayra, the footage that was being described that we saw of uyghurs blindfolded and lined up and lead onto trains, what do you say is happening there . Um, it is enforced labour transfer. According to reports. And the witness testimonies and the uyghurs not only detained in the internment camps and detention camps, even now, the concentration camps, they are also forced to work in the factories in Mainland China. According to reports. Expatthose blindfolded or handcuffed people were people were transferred to Mainland China to work in factories as forced labour. You left, i understand, in the 19905. You left, i understand, in the 1990s. Your brother is injail there
and has been detained for 22 years. Why was he arrested . He was. My brother is absolutely innocent. There was one bloody massacre that happened on february five 1997. After that incident, many people, especially Young Uyghurs were arrested, house by house, with no reason, no excuse and my brother was one of them. He was arrested in 1998 in april. And he was detained illegally. He wasnt allowed to ask to see any family members. Not able to see any family members. Not able to see any family members. Not able to see him. And later, he was sentenced in a secret trial, without any. Lawyers representation on behalf of him or without any family members attendance of the court. And
he was sentenced for life. And what do you think of that . This is absolutely a violation of even the Chinese Governments constitution and law. It is absolutely crime against humanity. It is absolutely crime against an innocent person and innocent people. Arfat, why are the chinese treating the uyghurs in this way, do you say . Can ijust. It is the misconception people have of the region. Some people say it is about chinas islamaphobia and it is because uyghurs are muslim and that is why they are taken but it is very similarto is why they are taken but it is very similar to what is happening in tibet. Both tibet and xinjiang was occupied at the same time by china. Even the people who started the
concentration camps and many other colonial policies in the region, saying he was a ao Party Secretary of tibets autonomous region. Former Party Secretary. Calling it islamaphobia, it changes its colonial context to completely different reasons. There are restrictions on religious expression, just like how our language, our culture how it is also being restricted and banned in the region. Sorry to interrupt, but is that because you believe the chinese are trying to get rid of the entire uyghur community. Yes, uyghurs make up uyghur community. Yes, uyghurs make up over 80 of the population excluding chinese separatists. For china to control the region as long as possible, china wants to get rid
of uyghurs. They cant just as possible, china wants to get rid of uyghurs. They cantjust kill as possible, china wants to get rid of uyghurs. They cant just kill off everyone so of uyghurs. They cant just kill off everyone so what they are trying to do is assimilate uyghurs and detain millions of them, assimilate the re st of millions of them, assimilate the rest of them in open air prison society. When you hear the Chinese Ambassador to the uk are saying that claims of ethnic cleansing of the uyghurs are baseless and that they enjoy peaceful, harmonious coexistence with other ethnic groups of people, what do you say . Mr ambassador, i think. Of people, what do you say . Mr ambassador, ithink. Hejust needs to think about what the Chinese Government said just two years ago. They were denying the existence of the camps in 2018 until october. They have changed its narrative and said, we hows those people but these are re education facilities. For people who need to work, who
need to have skills to work. Their narrative has changed over time. They need to look at their own documents and see what is truth and what is a lie. Your mum and dad have both been detained. I think your mum was released last year. Do you think you will see your parents again . Um. | you will see your parents again . Um. Idont you will see your parents again . Um. I dont know. In 2000. I came to the United States as an international students. In 2017, i lost co nta Ct International students. In 2017, i lost contact and a year later, i learned that my mum was sent to a concentration camp in 2017 at last year, my mum was released under critical house conditions. She was hospitalised. But i still dont have contact with her and i cant still contact with her and i cant still contact her because all my relatives signed a paper, saying they would not have any contact with me. I want to contact. Today is my mums 50
year birthday and i cant call her and ifi year birthday and i cant call her and if i call her, they might detain heragain andl and if i call her, they might detain her again and i dont want my mum to suffer in those camps or wherever they took her. I hope i can see them, but under the current situation, i dont think it is possible. Zubayra, what do you want the world to do . The un has been afraid to act. The secretary general has been shamefully absent. In fact, the United States need to immediately assess the situation and make a legal determination about what is going on in turkestan, that is how we called it. Governments need to loudly and publicly demand that china start to fulfil its human
rights obligations. People should not keep blind about what is happening. It doesnt matter whether one innocent person dies or1 million dies, what is happening in east tu rkesta n million dies, what is happening in east turkestan is genocide. Xi jinpings genocidal intent, the governments genocidal intent is clear because chinese president xi jinping compared s lamb to a virus that would require a period of painful treatment compared islam. The whole crisis has included mass detention, enforced disappearances, the destruction of uyghur mosques, graveyards, widespread force labour,
intense persecution, sterilisation of women. What else needs to be said enforced. Enforced labour. Thank you for talking to us, we appreciate your time, particularly because you have got up in the early hours of the morning. Zubayra shamseden Outreach Coordinator at the human uyghurs rights coordinator. Talking to us from Northern Virginia, arfat. In australia, an inquiry is under way into how Security Breaches may have undermined the covid 19 Hotel Quarantine programme in the state of victoria. Its thought passengers returning from overseas could have spread the disease, despite being in isolation. Victoria is currently grappling with a fresh wave of the virus. Our correspondent in sydney, phil mercer, has been listening to the inquiry. We have heard some pretty extraordinary claims at this enquiry and it has heard that nearly all the current cases in the australian state of victoria
could be linked to breaches in that Hotel Quarantine system. Now, this programme was set up for returning australian citizens and permanent residents. They are allowed to return to australia, despite the fact that this countrys International Borders have been closed to foreign nationals. Those citizens and permanent residents face a two week mandatory period in a hotel, in isolation. And there is lots of speculation that somehow, infected passengers have been allowed either to leave Hotel Quarantine or have somehow been responsible for spreading the disease into the General Community. And thats why this judicial inquiry, set up by the victorian State Government, is investigating the Hotel Quarantine system. Because, as we say, it could well be responsible for this spike in cases in australias second most populous state. The headlines on bbc news. The uk government has signed deals for 90 million doses of Coronavirus Vaccines being developed overseas on top of a pledge for one hundred million doses of the Oxford University vaccine. A new treatment for covid 19 developed by a uk company could dramatically reduce the number of patients needing intensive care. Beijing has accused the uk of brutally meddling in chinas internal affairs, following criticism of the new state security law in hong kong. Democratic lawmakers in the United States have asked thejustice and Homeland Security departments to conduct internal investigations into whether they abused Emergency Powers when arresting demonstrators in portland, oregon. The citys mayor, ted wheeler, has accused federal troops of abusive tactics against protesters, saying they are sharply escalating the situation in the city with ongoing protests turning
voilent once again. Tanya dendrinos reports. A clear use of force and tensions escalating in portland. Protests have been ongoing in this city since the end of may following the killing of george floyd. But the scene has grown increasingly volatile. And according to the citys leaders and those filling the streets, it is thanks to the federal troops now stamping their authority here. Its picking back up. You ve got the feds out here, people, theyre tear gassing people, theyre snatching people, theyre beating people in the streets. The mayor of portland has renewed his calls for federal troops to leave the city, while the attorney general for the state of oregon has filed a lawsuit against the federal government, accusing it of unlawfully detaining protesters. Every american needs to be concerned about whats happening here in portland. These federal agencies are operating with no transparency and against the will ofjust about every leader in our state, and i assume it will be the same in other states where they show up. But portland is currently the poster child for this administration. They are using us, sort of throwing mud on the wall to see if this is an issue that might stick for the president. President trump took to twitter, saying, we are trying to help portland, not hurt it. Their leadership has, for months, lost control of the anarchists and agitators. But it is notjust a clash of the political divide. Theres a myriad of individuals gathering on the streets to make their voices heard. Their actions are terrifying. I mean, we, as a democracy. And we need to stand up. I am 60 years old. I probably shouldnt be here in public. But this is beyond acceptable. It has been more than 50 days and theres no end in sight when it comes to these clashes, some suggesting they could go right through until election night. Tanya dendrinos, bbc news. Kanye west has officially launched his bid for the us president ial election with an emotional rally in which he claimed his father had never wanted him. My my mum saved my life. There would have been no kanye west, because my dad was too busy. He did not make any traditional policy announcements at the event in south carolina, leading some fans to speculate that his campaign isjust a publicity stunt to promote his music. The rapper announced his candidacy earlier this month, but has missed the deadline to qualify for the ballot in several states. Scientists in new zealand have invented a new volcano alert system that they say could have provided warning ahead of last years white island disaster. 21 people died when the countrys most active volcano, white island, suddenly erupted last december
with tourists on it. The new system uses Machine Learning algorithms to analyse Real Time Data to predict future eruptions. The research was publish in the journal nature last week. Foreign travel rules may have been relaxed but we know that many people are still planning to spend their Summer Holidays in the uk this year. That means the beaches will be busier, and potentially messier, than usual. Weve been looking at the Environmental Impact of the pandemic and what its meant for britains coastline. Tomos morgan reports. Those iconic scenes from the blue planet series the pictures that made us more aware of the effects plastics have on our sea life. But as restrictions began to ease, ogmore beach in south wales was subject to similar scenes seen across other uk beaches recently with litter left everywhere. How much did you actually end up picking up . 33 bags altogether. Local resident lewis morgan took it upon himself to clear up, the following morning. So i thought id come down, id have a look at the rubbish that was here. I didnt come down thinking i was going to fill as many bags as i did. But, yeah, there was quite a lot of rubbish to pick up. Being environmentally conscious is important and picking up litter where you can is something i think we should all be doing. The Marine Conservation society say they are concerned that recycling may have taken a back seat as more Single Use Plastics have been used during lockdown. Yes, definitely, the concern is there that there has been a setback, because weve all seen in the media all the horrific pictures where people are going down to their local beaches and enjoying it, because they havent been able to for such a long time, but at the same time, you know, we mustnt forget that the problem hasnt gone away. French divers found ppe in their waters last month and theres now concern here that ppe could end up on our beaches soon. We have been receiving anecdotal reports from our supporters that they are noticing ppe around their local areas. So how would people like lewis feel picking up ppe on the beach . Would i pick it up . As long as i had the correct ppe, i probably would, but without that ppe myself, id probably be quite reluctant to do it, because of the environmental hazards that come with it. The direct effect plastic has on fish is well documented but it also has a more long term and damaging effect on the wider ecology. So, the plankton, the bottom of the food chain, is where the energy comes into the system. Thats where the equivalent of trees and grass in the terrestrial environment, so everything basically eats this stuff. If we are doing things that are affecting the plankton, it is going to affect Everything Else. So the fish that we eat, the dolphins that we see jumping around in the sea here, if the plankton are not doing well, its game over for them as well. As the summer break begins and the weather begins to improve again, british beaches will no doubt be busy again. But the message will be clear bin it, or take the rubbish with you. A Historic Mission to mars is underway after a successful lift off injapan last night. Its the first attempt by the United Arab Emirates to reach the red planet, as our global science correspondent Rebecca Morelle reports. Blasting off, the start of a journey to mars. The United Arab Emirates making history. For the team, a moment of celebration. 51 years ago on the 20th ofjuly, man first walked on the moon. And today, on the 20th ofjuly, for us here, it marks a milestone, it marks a change and a transformation. And that, i hope, will stimulate and push forward an entire generation to think differently. The spacecraft is called hope. It was built over six years with help from american scientists. Until now, the uae has only launched satellites into earths orbit. Getting to mars is a huge leap. 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, though, 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. The spacecraft will take seven months to reach the red planet. When it gets there, a new player in the global space race will have truly arrived. Rebecca morelle, bbc news. Carrie gracie will be with you on the hour to bring you the latest News Headlines from the uk and around the world as you carry on watching bbc news. Now its time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. Hello, again. Weve got a north south split going on with the weather today. In the north, theres more cloud and some showers whereas in the south, weve got brighter skies and some sunshine. Showers through the course of the afternoon in Northern England, though, will tend to ease a touch. So, High Pressure is firmly in charge of our weather today. And as you can tell from the spacing in the isobars, theres not much of a breeze around. The showers toppling around the top of that High Pressure. So weve got the cloud across scotland with some showers this afternoon, one or two showers in Northern Ireland and you may catch the odd passing shower in Northern England, but come south of that and were looking at sunny intervals with areas of cloud at times. With the lions share
of the sunshine today in wales and southern england. Thats reflected in the temperatures. Here, weve got highs of between 20 and 22. Lerwick, 1a and 17 in glasgow and belfast. Through this evening and overnight, the showers will become more well scattered for scotland, we will see a lot of clear skies develop, some cloud coming in from the irish sea across parts of wales and around liverpool bay. These are the temperatures you can expect in towns and cities. In rural areas, it will be a bit lower than this, in nippy start tomorrow. Talking of tomorrow, High Pressure is still firmly in charge and later in the day, weve got this clutch of fronts coming in from the atlantic and it will affect Northern Ireland and also western scotland. But to start with, under all the clear skies, itll be a chilly start. There will be plenty sunshine with more cloud developing through the course of the day and more cloud across southern england and wales than we are looking at today. By the end of the afternoon, thicker cloud will be bringing some spots of rain across western scotland and north of Northern Ireland. Temperatures 13 21 north to south. Tuesday into wednesday, we still have this clutch of fronts which will be moving from the west towards the east and a bit more of a breeze as you can tell from the proximity of the isobars. They are closer together across northern areas, and as we come further south, brighter skies but still large areas of cloud and we could see some of that rain skirt across Northern England at times. Temperatures 1a in lerwick, 16 in glasgow, 2a in the sunshine in london. As we head into thursday, there will still be quite a bit of cloud around, still some spots of rain, especially in the north. Friday, some sunny skies but then we have an unsettled weekend in prospect. This is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. The uk signs deals for 90 million doses of Coronavirus Vaccines being developed overseas on top of a pledge for 100 million of the Oxford University vaccine. There is a very high degree of confidence but we will be entering trials, will need half a Million People to be able to trial these vaccines Going Forward through the winter. But its a really important part of their development. A new treatment for covid 19 developed by a uk company could dramatically reduce the number of patients needing intensive care. Eu leaders in brussels hold talks through the night as they attempt to Reach Agreement
on a Coronavirus Recovery Fund. Beijing accuses the uk of brutally meddling in chinas internal affairs, as the uk is expected to announce its suspending its extradition treaty with hong kong. Amber heard takes the stand at Londons High Court in johnny depps libel case against the sun over allegations of Domestic Violence during the pairs relationship. Also coming up this hour. An Historic Mission to mars is under way. The first attempt by the United Arab Emirates to reach the red planet. Hello and welcome if youre watching in the uk or around the world and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. Here, the uk government has signed deals for 90 million
doses of Coronavirus Vaccine developed overseas. One of them is with a partnership between the german and us pharmaceutical giants biontech and pfizer. Its vaccine produced a strong immune response in early trials. If successful, the first of 30 million doses could arrive by the end of the year. The other deal is with the french firm valneva, which wont begin trials of its jab until the autumn. That agreement is for 60 million doses. And theres already a deal to buy 100 million doses of the vaccine produced by the university of oxford. Early results of trials for this vaccine are due later today. Also this morning theres been some positive news about a new treatment which could dramatically reduce the numbers of patients needing intensive care. More on that in a moment but first our medical correspondent, fergus walsh has this report. There are now an astonishing 23 Coronavirus Vaccines in clinical
trials around the world, including two in the uk developed by Oxford University and Imperial College london. Today, the government announced deals with two overseas vaccine producers. Biontech, pfizer, is one of the frontrunners a german us partnership. Its Coronavirus Vaccine produced a strong immune response in early trials. If its successful, the first of 30 million doses could arrive by the end of the year. The other deal is with the french firm valneva, who wont begin trials of theirjab till the autumn. That agreement is for 60 million doses. Its vaccine will contain an inactivated virus. This is a more tried and tested method for creating a vaccine so could be important if others fail. Theres already a deal to buy 100 million doses of the vaccine produced by Oxford University. This may look like the uk government has overbought, but bear in mind that nine in ten vaccines are unsuccessful, and you see, the logic behind the decision to back several horses in the search for a winner. Also, most of the Coronavirus Vaccines in trials require more than one dose. Vaccine trials depend on volunteers. The public are being encouraged to sign up to a new nhs website to speed up the process forjoining Coronavirus Vaccine studies. The aim is to get half a Million People to register interest by october. Fergus walsh, bbc news. Speaking on bbc breakfast earlier, education secretary, Gavin Williamson said the vaccines were the most advanced in development. Theres a very high degree of confidence but well be entering trials. Well need half a Million People to be able to trial these vaccines Going Forward through the winter. But its a really important part
of their development. But its vital that britain is leading the way and as im sure youll know, britain is a world leader in terms of research and development and we talk about the work thats going on at oxford, but similar work going on at imperial, some amazing universities in this country. But not only are we leading the way in terms of the research, were leading the way in terms of manufacture as well. Youll see the investment and development of manufacturing facilities, you know, expansion in scotland at livingston, but also the creation of a new Vaccine Centre in oxfordshire as well. So we lead the world on research and development but also lead the world on manufacture. The chair of the vaccine taskforce, kate bingham says the uk is at the forefront of the effort to source and develop vaccines. Were still in the process of actually the Clinical Trials
in the different vaccines weve secured rights to. So what that means is we are assessing whether or not these vaccines are safe and whether or not they provide protection to those who are vaccinated. The rules at which we do that are very tightly regulated by the mhra, which is the regulator in the uk that defines which vaccines and drugs can get licensed. We are well on the way. Oxford, if you take that as an example, has vaccinated over 9000 people so far. So, we are really beginning to get a good sense of how these vaccines are behaving. The fact that these Clinical Trials are taking place more quickly does not mean we are cutting any. Making any short cuts in terms of safety. Whats happening is we are running things in parallel in ways that have never been done in parallel before. So, we are, from the uk government perspective, funding activities such as manufacturing before we know whether or not the vaccines will work, so that if they do work
we then have a vaccine ready and available. And that is not normal. Normally this happens all sequentially. Now what we are doing is compressing everything and running it in parallel. There is some positive news this morning about a possible new treatment for covid 19, which reduces the risk of patients ending up in intensive care. It uses a protein which our bodies produce to fight infections. Our correspondentjustin rowlatt, is in southampton, where the bio tech firm which makes the treatment is based and has more detail. These are preliminary results of a relatively small Clinical Trial the company did with the drug. But it does produce what the scientists call a very strong signal. It suggests there was a reduction of 80 in the number of patients whose condition deteriorated once they were in hospital. Patients were more than twice as likely to recover fully within 28 days. They were likely to leave hospital earlier, so instead of spending nine days in hospital theyd spend six days and one of the key symptoms
of covid 19, breathlessness, was reduced very significantly, according to the study. So those are all very positive signals, very good news. The health warning, if you like, on the study is, as i said these are initial preliminary results. We havent had this reviewed in a Peer Reviewed journal. We havent had the data released so the bbc hasnt been able to confirm the claims the company is making. But, if the claims the company is making are correct, then this is a very significant new development in the treatment of coronavirus illness. One of the clinical lead around the Clinical Trial, a guy called tom wilkinson, described it as a potential game changer in terms of the treatment of covid 19. The managing director of the company says it is a major breakthrough, potentially. But the warning again, these results have not been Peer Reviewed yet so this is quite an early stage. But nevertheless, very encouraging news on the treatment of covid. China has accused the uk of brutally meddling in their internal affairs, following criticism of the new state security law in hong kong. China has also promised an unspecified resolute response if, as expected, the uk foreign secretary, dominic raab, suspends the uks extradition treaty with hong kong. It follows increasing tensions with beijing over a tightening of Civil Liberties in the chinese territory and the decision to ban huawei from the uks 5g network. At a news briefing in beijing this morning, a Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman said britains actions were damaging relations between the two countries. Translation these remarks, these Hong Kong Related remarks turn a blind eye to the basic facts that the National Security law is for the sustained success of one china two systems. It goes against the International Law and international norms. We are strongly condemn these wrong words and actions. We urge the us to make no more steps down the wrong path so as to avoid further damage to china uk relations. Lets speak to the former British Foreign secretary sir malcolm rifkind. He joins us from westminster. We are expecting the suspension of the uks extradition agreement with hong kongment do you see that as necessary . Im afraid it is. It is very sad, but the whole point about extradition, we have never been prepared to extradite anyone to a country that does havent the rule of law. Hong kong, unlike china, until now has had the rule of law. Because of this new legislation and the appointment ofjudges to implement it by china, that is no longer the case. Do you see other
measures as being necessary in face of this National Security legislation . Well we have to take this step by step. You know there is no desire to either punish hong kong, god forbid, or china, except asa kong, god forbid, or china, except as a way of ensuring that we can do all within our power, which is limited, to try and help hong kong maintain its freedom. Hong kong has enjoyed liberty, personalfreedom and the rule of law, which is what the two systems one country agreement was meant to guarantee and it has broadly enjoyed that for 23 yea rs. It has broadly enjoyed that for 23 years. It is not that the system couldnt work. It is xi jinping has been determined to erode and destroy it. The chinese have themselves to blame if they find their relations not just with the blame if they find their relations notjust with the united kingdom, but with the United States, canada, australia, 20 or 30 other countries, are seriously collapsing. It is
extremely sad. It is not good news for anyone. But it is particularly bad news for china. Lets take the issues one by one. In terms of uk rethink on dealings with china in the light of the different policy framework that you described from beijing from xijinping, do framework that you described from beijing from xi jinping, do we framework that you described from beijing from xijinping, do we need a complete overhaul of our relationship with beijing . M a complete overhaul of our relationship with beijing . It depend combhas you mean it depends what you mean. At the height of cold war, we had trade with the soviet union and that was sensible. Where we have to, in the case of china, where we have to reconsider in is two areas. We have to do all in our power to help the people of hong kong, we have a treaty obligation, not just a right to actually help ensure that the people of hong kong continue to enjoy their freedoms. The second area where we have to reconsider is in those aspects of chinese Economic Investment or contact with our economy, whether our National Security implications are involved. There is an aggressive Chinese Government and we have to assume as their law gives them power over every Chinese Company to co operate with the chinese. Intelligence agencies, we have to assume it is a no go area where we are concerned. What you didnt mention is the area that has been a topic of debate and we saw the Chinese Ambassador denying there was any concentration camps, any genocide, any Human Rights Violations there. Others in your party have demanded sanctions should be imposed against senior chinese officials who might be involved in
what the foreign secretary called human rights abuses. What is your view on that . The arguments are slightly different. Not because the situation there isnt dreadful. It is an appalling. Ignoring of basic human rights for reasons that we are all familiar w but you know that has got to be a matter for International Response in a joint way. We are not the United States. The United States is such an incredibly powerful country with such a powerful economy, that it can implement sanctions on a host of countries, evenif sanctions on a host of countries, even if our countries dont follow, the sanctions can have a powerful impact. For the united kingdom, we have to take the lead on anything that affects hong kong and take powerful action if there are threats to our National Security. As far as other high man rights violation, we must be part of an international
response, preferably through the un. If that is not possible, there are other ways in which large numbers of like minded countries can come together and if nay do, canada and australia and others, we must be pa rt australia and others, we must be part of that. But that is different criteria to hong kong. You mentioned that the chinese rejected the accusations against them in relation to hong kong and in relation to huawei and they say it is nonsense. Are you worried about the warning from beijing that there will be retaliation . That is standard practice. We have the same response with the russians with putin when he is, quite literally being punished for Cyber Attacks and they always deny it and threaten a response. There may be a response. But when
our own vital interests are at sta ke, our own vital interests are at stake, and that applies to matters involving our National Security, but it also applies to our responsibilities for hong kong, then evenif responsibilities for hong kong, then even if we do lose out, because of chinese response, that is part of world we live in. The chance will lose more. Because and im notjust making that as a general statement, pa rt making that as a general statement, part of chinas obsession has been to insist its relationship with hong kong is a domestic matter. Until a few weeks ago, it looked as if apart from the united kingdom, the rest of the world was not that interested. The chinese themselves have changed all that. What we now have already is two to three dozen countries, particularly the United States and canada and australia and a series of european and some asian countries, criticising the chinese and making it clear that hong kongs future is of importance to them. That ills not what china wanted. But it has got itself to blame. Before i let you
90, itself to blame. Before i let you go, a itself to blame. Before i let you go,aa itself to blame. Before i let you go, a a very typy answer tiny a nswer go, a a very typy answer tiny answer on something that has been puzzling me, the use by british figures of the world genocide to describe what is happening in north west china. Would you use the term genocide to describe that . Genocide has a technical significance as well as a broader one. Normally the very word genocide implies killing large numbers of people of a particular ethnic group. So far as we know, the chinese have not doing that in the area. But there is a definition of genocide and it may be one that the un have used, that broadens its significance and for example forced sterilisation. In that broader sense if that is the way the term is being
used, the Chinese Government is or is is very close to being dplt of exactly oo guilty of exactly that. Thank you. We are going to hearfrom Prime Minister who is at a school and has been discussing china and other issues. Lets listen in. About 14 and a half billion pound package and we are fulfilling the promise we made to ensure every secondary pupil gets 550 pounds per pupil. 30,000 starting salary for every teacher. We are delivering on our commitments and want to see every school get the funding it needs. It is wonderful to be here at this Discovery School in
kent, talking to pupils and teachers, many of whom have kept going throughout the pandemic and you have got schools now back, some classes back at 97 and i congratulate them on that. But also pupils and teachers who have kept going, kept learning, kept teaching throughout the whole crisis. It is wonderful to talk to them today and to thank them for what they have been doing. On china, whether it is hong kong or huawei, is britain resetting its relationship with china and are you prepared for chinese retaliation . Lets be clear, there is a balance here and im not going to be pushed into a position of being a knee jerk sinofobe. But we have concerned about the
treatment of uighur minority and we have concerns about what is happening in hong kong and you will be hearing later from happening in hong kong and you will be hearing laterfrom the foreign secretary about how we are going to change our extradition arrangements to reflect our concerns about what is happening with the security law in hong kong. We have to think about the human rights, the rights of the people of hong kong to participate in democratic processes and people here from hong kong and how the changes affect them. What we wont do is completely abandon our policy of engagement with china. China is a giant fact of geopolitics and will bea giant fact of geopolitics and will be a factor in our lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren. We have to have a calibrated response and we are going to be tough on some things, but continue to engage. On covid19, how confident are you that a vaccine will be ready by the end of the year . Well, paul, iwish i could
will be ready by the end of the year . Well, paul, i wish i could say i was like 100 confident we will get a vaccine for covid 19. As you know there are about 100 different scientific ventures out in the field now. The uk has got some world leading scientists engaged in this. We have the Oxford Programme where we have secured 100 million doses. We are investing in a couple of potential vaccines, one french and one german, 90 million doses that we are going to invest in there. Im obviously hopeful, i have got any fingers crossed, to say that im 100 confident we will get a vaccine this year or indeed next year, is alasjust, this year or indeed next year, is alas just, you know, this year or indeed next year, is alasjust, you know, an exaggeration. We are not there yet f you talk to the scientists, they think the sheer weight of International Effort will produce something. Theyre pretty confident we will get some sort of treatment,
some sort of vaccines that really make a difference. Can i be right now, it will you im100 confident . No. That is why we have got to continue with our current approach, maintaining social distancing measures, as you have seen in this school, where theyre doing an amazing job, we have to do the sensible things, washing our hands, wearing face masks in confined spaces, all those things and then we will continue to drive the virus down by our own collective action. It may be that the vaccine is going to come riding over the hill like the cavalry, but we cant count on it now. The Prime Minister at a school in kent. Our asissta nt Political Editor norman smith is at westminster. Do you think the education point, the extra money will be enough to
satisfy his critics in schools . |j suspect satisfy his critics in schools . suspect not. Because the point being made is although he is setting aside 14 made is although he is setting aside 1a billion that, doesnt take per Pupil School Spending back to what it was in 2010. I suspect the teaching unions and the labour party will continue to criticise him. What we do get from the education announcement is more clarity about where the cash will go. What is interesting, the largest chunks are going to comparatively the more deprived parts of the country, the south west and the north east, where schools have not performed so well. That is part of borisjohnsons levelling up agenda. Cash too for the covid catch up. Nothing new on that. I thought the two most interesting things we heard there was confirmation on china, that the government is going to change the
extradition treaty with hong kong, maybe suspend it rather than formally cancel it. Might suspend it until there is a sign that china is changing. The other interesting thing is that note of caution about a vaccine. Saying, we are not probably going to get it this year and we may not get it next year. There have been people intimating that actually the Oxford Research is going so well, maybe they could be on the corrs for getting something course for getting something this year or next year. The Prime Minister saying, well, perhaps not and perhaps not next year. So an element of caution about when we might get 2a5 vaccine get that vaccine. Thank you. Amber heard is to begin three days of evidence at the high court as part ofjohnny depps libel case against the sun over allegations of Domestic Violence during the pairs
tempestuous relationship. Our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba is at the high court in Central London and laid out what can be expected from the trial this week. Well, were entering the third week of this libel defamation trial brought by the hollywood Actor Johnny Depp against the Sun Newspaper. For the first two weeks, weve had johnny depp side of events with the actor himself being on the stand, in the witness box for nearly a week being questioned about his relationship with amber heard and other aspects of his life. He was spoken to a lot about his relationship with drink and with illegal drugs. He denied that alcohol and drugs turned him into some kind of monster who was capable of violent towards women and also many people gave evidence on his behalf. For the most part, people who worked with him or continue to work with him. They were consistent in saying they never saw signs of violence
on amber heard as a result ofjohnny depp, and many of them said to the contrary, amber heard was the aggressive one in the relationship. There were other witnesses including a Los Angeles Police officer giving evidence about one alleged incident. But today, as you say, amber heard is now in the witness box. She took the oath a few minutes ago and is expected to give evidence for the next three days or so. She is expected to be questioned about 1a separate incidents in which she sastohnny depp was violent towards her. The case of course has been brought against the Sun Newspaper and its executive editor dan wootton and shes giving evidence as the main witness on the suns behalf. There will be a small amount of evidence relating to allegations of Sexual Violence that will be heard in private with both the media and the public excluded, but she is expected to be in the witness box for the next three days or so and then other people, friends of hers, her sister, her acting coach,
are expected to also be in the witness box either here or being questioned by video link from abroad, about the allegations she says are true thatjohnny depp was violent towards her, notjust once, but on 1a separate occasions and the whole trial is expected to conclude on tuesday of next week. Eu leaders in brussels have been talking through the night to try to agree on a Coronavirus Recovery Fund, stretching their two day summit into a fourth day of negotiation. Some Member States believe the 750 billion euro package is too large and should come as loans not grants. The summit is the first face to face meeting between leaders since the lockdowns began in march. The dutch Prime Minister mark rutte said the tlaks were difficult but progress had been made. Translation we are not here because we are going to be visitors at each others birthday parties later. We are here because we do business for our own country. We are all pros. Gavin lee is in brussels and says there is still some hope they could reach an agreement. I think there are some signs, or a puff of white smoke emerging at least from the austrian camp. Because Sebastian Kurz has tweeted this morning that after some tough negotiations, he is happy with where this is going and suggestions that they could conclude by this afternoon. It is already the longest european summitfor20 years, go back to nice 2000, when they were expanding from 15 countries. This is about money, this is about trust, this is about the idea that these frugal four, the self proclaimed frugal four, austria, sweden, netherlands, denmark plus finland in this circumstance, they are not budging, according to the others. They have been saying we dont want to give 500 billion euros in grants. We dont trust enough that the money will essentially thatll be it and it will be spent on the right things and the furthest is the dutch leader, mark rutte,
who wants a veto for the dutch to be able to say, we dont like the spending lets stop it at this point. So its basically been a back and forth between the council, putting new proposals on the table with lots of different meetings. Now, where we are at at the moment, the so called frugal four are saying they will offer as grants, no more than 375 billion euros. The other countries, including france and germany are saying that they wont go over a00 billion euros and at the table this afternoon will be around 390 billion. That is where it seems to be at. And this has got pretty nasty at points. Tempers flaring like i havent seen it before, youve had the bulgarian Prime Minister, boyko borissov, calling mark rutte acting as a policeman of europe. Victor 0ban, the hungarian leader saying, whos to blame . Not me, its the dutch guy. This morning in the early hours, emmanuel macron, the french president , banging his fists on the table saying to the frugal four, you are putting the european project in danger. According to french officials
and italian diplomats told me that giuseppe conte, the Prime Minister said to them, you might be a hero in your home country in the short term but you will be lambasted, you will be seen as part of the reason europe fails. So that is how its got, tiredness leading to tempers flaring and the art of diplomacy, like the masks that the leaders have been wearing, slipping. French air investigators have started examining the black boxes from the ukraine internatioalflight shot down in iran injanuary. One official told the bbc its not possible to say exactly how long the investigation will take, but said these things usually takes about a week. Other investigators from ukraine, the us, the uk, canada and boeing company are also taking part. Health ministers have admitted failing to assess Data Protection risks around the nhs test and Trace Programme for coronavirus in england. The system traces contacts of people who may have been infected with covid 19 but privacy campaigners are concerned over how personal details are collected and stored. They say the admission means the programme has been unlawful but the government insists no information has been misused. An investigation is under way after an outbreak of Coronavirus Infections at a call centre in motherwell which carries out Contact Tracing for the nhs. Measures have been brought in by the Regions Health board to try to suppress the outbreak. At least seven workers are understood to have tested positive. A mosque in blackburn is being investigated by police and Public Health officials after around 250 people attended a funeral there last monday. The imam has since tested positive for covid 19 and mourners have been advised to self isolate for a fortnight. A maximum of 30 people are currently allowed at funerals in england. This year tens of thousands of student nurses, radiographers, paramedics and other Health Care Workers in the uk were given
a choice postpone their training placements and concentrate on theory work instead or sign up as a paid volunteer, helping the nhs through the covid 19 outbreak. More than a0 thousand students answered that call, according to new figures seen by the bbc. Weve been following the lives of four of those volunteers. This film by our reporterjim reed. The liskeard community hospital, normally a rehabilitation hospital. During covid 19 it was the allocated ward for covid 19 positive patients. Joy is coming to the end of her student placement in kernel. At the height of a pandemic, the board was full so bed capacity is 31. This year student nurses like jy 31. This year student nurses like joy could choose, either delay their placements until next year, and concentrate on fairly instead or volunteered to help the nhs to the outbreak. Lots of students were not able to come out on placement because they needed to shield loved
ones or due to their personal circumstances. For me, the driver is very strong. I discussed it with my friends and family and i just very strong. I discussed it with my friends and family and ijust really wa nted friends and family and ijust really wanted to be out here. This was all very wanted to be out here. This was all very new wanted to be out here. This was all very new for the nhs. In normal times, student nurses, midwives, and other Health Care Workers are not paid to train. In march, the decision was made to offer short Term Contracts for the first time to help deal with the outbreak. Imaging plays a key role in covid. A lot of our work at the moment has been chest x rays and abdomen x rays to check for signs of the effects of. She helps to scan covert patients. When you experience covid and see patients suffering with covid, thats when it hits you. You dont realise the reality of it until you are experiencing it. Obviously i was scared, my parents were scared. And they were like, no, youre not going back, but when i spoke to them they came around and understood how
passionate about it i was and this is something i really wanted to take on. For many, the experience was life changing. Natalie elliott is at the Clinical Research facility in glasgow working on covert studies and the first vaccine trials. This was the first time i have really experienced this in a covid patient, and it was tough to see the difficulty he had in breathing. We we re difficulty he had in breathing. We were so difficulty he had in breathing. We were so keen to help, the research, were so keen to help, the research, we felt like we wanted to repay something. And ijust thought that was beautiful to be part of. Yeah, it was really tough. In total, more than a0,000 students have chosen to ta ke than a0,000 students have chosen to take up an nhs placement since march. Supervised but often working on the front line. Today we heard that the last patient here who was covid positive has now tested covid
negative. For the whole team here its quite a surreal moment because the wards are eerily quiet. Theres also a strong sense of weve been through it, if it comes again, eve ryo ne through it, if it comes again, everyone feels more ready. So for the team here its a huge, huge significant moment. With infection snow falling, the system is returning to normal ahead of the next academic year. Its been a term, though, none of the students could have predicted, helping to keep the nhs running through the worst outbreak in its history. Jim reed, bbc news. Were joined now by stuart tuckwood, the National Nursing officer at unison who has been involved in the negotiations for the student placements during the pandemic. He is also a Critical Care nurse himself. And abbie rich, a student midwife who volunteered to support the nhs through the virus outbreak. Thank you so much for talking to us, both of you. Before we move on to the issues, it was very interesting to watch that report because it was
emotional the experience had been for all of those nurses. Tell us about your experiences. You were a student, he went into this outbreak, how was it for you . So, yes, similar to those experiences, it was quite an emotive thing to opt in to do. Obviously very personal to each person. Some people were unable to help due to Health Reasons themselves but there was a real sense of teamwork and belonging. That real kind, you know, yes, they we re that real kind, you know, yes, they were clapping on thursdays to feel it was part of a bigger thing, youre not just it was part of a bigger thing, youre notjust a student but part ofa youre notjust a student but part of a wider nhs, and actually, going back to the clinical placement id beenin back to the clinical placement id been in for three years, where they helped and nurtured me into becoming a midwife, actually going back to that team and feeling really part of them are going it was a surreal kind of experience with Everything Else going on at the height of lockdown. I saw nobody but my partner and my cats going to work and seeing people and yeah, it was amazing to be part of that. So you are glad you made that decision to volunteer for active duty, if you like rather than read a book, read the theory of nursing . Yes, definitely. Really glad i went in there and i was in a position to do that and i praise those who obviously couldnt for all manner of reasons and actually really, really happy and proud of what i did. Stewart, how about you . You went back onto the front line is a Critical Care nurse yourself but you also were involved in some of the policy framework around getting the policy framework around getting the student nurses involved. How was your experience on both of those scores . It was a challenging few weeks id rather not repeat. It was very difficult and challenging for many reasons a lot of the students have said and abbie hasjust echoed,
emotionally, very stressful, and challenging. I was working in intensive care where i hadnt really work before, so that was very nerve racking but also was an incredible experience to be part of, to see the scale, the knowledge, the determination from all the nhs staff and students working together to save as many lives as they could. And to provide the best possible ca re we and to provide the best possible care we could. I was sitting at a National Level and also on the ground in terms of what was happening andl ground in terms of what was happening and i just ground in terms of what was happening and ijust cant praise highly enough all the students that came forward to help out and the nhs staff that looked after their patience and support of those students, as well, because they really did an incredible job. And in order to make that work as well as it did for the students, you had to put some things in place. There was an issue over paying students, and there was an issue over appropriate deployment and leadership and guidance. Yes, so in unison we
represent Different Health care students and this was a big change, these emergency arrangements, so we surveyed a lot of our students to ask them how they felt about this opportunity and what they wanted to have to protect them and the vast majority dont want to be able to help in the response but they were very, very concerned about their safety in doing so. Our number one priority was the physical safety of our students and the patients, so we insisted absolutely all students have the same protection as nhs staff in terms of protective equipment and support while they we re equipment and support while they were working and we also want to make sure they still continue to be treated as students despite the fact they we are providing this great direct patient care, so they still got support from universities and had a protected supervision time to make sure they were supported appropriately while they were there. Clearly, the fact they were included in the numbers to help out in this way meant we had to make sure they got paid properly and are still a lot of work to be done to make sure students arent disadvantaged
because many also didnt feel like they were ready to go out onto the front line and that was absolutely fine, but we do need to make sure all those students are supported properly, Going Forward to make sure they still have the time to complete their learning and qualify as fully skilled for the future. Abbie, just picking up on that, did you feel you had the support you needed on that front line role . Did you get the ppe . Did you get paid properly . Did you get support and leadership from line managers and teachers . Yes, definitely. We were quite lucky we had support from both the clinical Hospital Trust as well as our university, so my lecturers were fantastic answering all sorts of questions and sometimes they didnt have the answers to them and there was a lot unknown at the time. But they were fantastic. They were at they were fantastic. They were at the end of the phone call, e mail, they regularly caught up on us, and we had Senior Leaders helping, heads of midwifery, matrons, and the
supervisors who supported us throughout our placements and they we re throughout our placements and they were available to support provide support as well. We had each other. That was fantastic. I felt really well supported to return. We were treated as members of staff in the hospital and had inductions, e learning, able to access the right ppe all times, and felt really part of it as a student. We are just losing you there. I was just asking you, i would give you a try in the hope we still have you, what happens now . Are you going back to school or back onto the midwifery ward . What happens . Im still in midwifery and maternity on my placement and this is my final week and i will be a registered midwife in the next couple of weeks, so in september i will be a fully fledged midwife and leave my student status behind. Yes, the covid placement of the into
that. We are having trouble with a line and we also running out of time. Im going to say thank you to both of you, abbie and stuart, and i wish you all the best. In france, it is now compulsory to wear masks in indoor spaces. Starting from today, there will be a penalty of more than 150 for failing to wear a mask in places such as shops, restaurants and banks. France has seen a slight resurgence of Coronavirus Infections. Our correspondent in paris, Hugh Schofield has more. People recognise it is in response to this slightly worrying signal here that all is not well. All is not necessarily set on the path to recovery and normality. It is perfectly possible that things turn back. There has been a rise in the number of clusters in france in the last couple of weeks and there has certainly been indications, much lamented by government and doctors, of people simply you know,
not taking it all so seriously any more, the holidays are upon us and there is a feeling of relaxation around the country which i think has spooked government. So this reaction is as much as anything, a psychological reaction to get people to realise it is not over and from today, therefore, in all experiences in public buildings inside you will have to wear a mask. Up until now, if i go shopping in the supermarket i have not been obliged to wear a mask and i would say about half of the shoppers at my local supermarket have not been wearing masks. Thatll end, if we go to the post office, if we go to the bank, will have to wear masks from now on. In addition to the masks that are already compulsory in Public Transport and in restaurants if you move around in a restaurant and so on. So thats how i see it, its a sign, among others, that the government is looking ahead a little bit too after the holidays and a fear that there will be, not necessarily a second wave, but there is a gathering number of dangerous signals out there which need to be stopped. In the United States the number of people who have died with covid 19 has passed 1a0 thousand almost a quarter of the global total. But President Trump has dismissed evidence from Johns Hopkins university that the us has the worlds seventh highest mortality rate from the disease. In an interview with fox news, he insisted that his country had one of the lowest rates. Heres our north america correspondent peter bowes. American sunbelt is being hit hard. Southern and western states are dealing with a big surge in coronavirus cases and lockdown restrictions are back in force. For President Trump, he insists the us is the envy of the world for the way dealt with covid 19. Again playing down the seriousness of the outbreaks of the disease and suggesting the scale of the problem is being exaggerated by the media. Many of those cases are young people that would heal in a day. They have the sniffles, we put it down as a test. Many of them, dont forget, i guess its like 99. 7 people will get better and in many cases they will get a better very quickly. In a contentious interview, he denied a high death rate in the virus in the usa was to blame for the country is continuing isolation from europe. The European Union has a travel ban. I think what we will do, we have them on a travel ban too, close them off, if you remember, iwas them on a travel ban too, close them off, if you remember, i was the one who did the European Union very early but when you talk about mortality rates, but i think its the opposite. I think we have one of the opposite. I think we have one of the lowest mortality rates. We had 900 deaths on a single day. This week. Can you please get me the mortality rate. Kayleigh is right here. I heard we have one of the lowest, maybe the lowest mortality rate anywhere in the world. Do you have the numbers, please . I hope you
have the numbers, please . I hope you have the numbers, please . I hope you have the best mortality rate. Number one low mortality. The Data Collected by americas johns one low mortality. The Data Collected by americasJohns Hopkins university does not support the president s claim. It shows the mortality rate in the usa is higher than many other countries although the uk is worst affected. The incident trump also defended his decision not to enforce the use of face masks around the country. No, i wa nt face masks around the country. No, i want people to have a certain freedom and i dont believe in that, no, andi freedom and i dont believe in that, no, and i dont agree with the statement of everyone wore a mask it would disappear. Doctor fauci said dont wear a mask. My surgeon general, terrific guy, so dont wear a mask. Everyone said dont wear a mask and now everyones got mask . With that being said, im a believer in masks. I think masks are good. This is the new epicentre for covid 19 and there is little sign of masks here. Florida is facing a growing crisis although the streets
of this party time are still busy. With a persistently high number of cases in the states, miami beach is under curfew. We have a lot of visitors, we have a lot of folks who are not necessarily complying with the mandates and orders to face, and to have that social distancing. So we are hoping that, by closing earlier, it tones down the party to allow these folks to go back to their hotels wherever they are staying and possibly keep else around them indoors. At least 14 us states have reported record numbers of people being admitted to hospital with coronavirus so far this month. With President Trump again repeating his view that the virus will eventually disappear, there is little sign of it happening anytime soon. Peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. The american rapper kanye west has officially launched his bid for the us president ial election with an emotional rally in which he claimed his father had never wanted him. He did not make any traditional policy announcements at the event in south carolina, leading some fans to speculate that his campaign isjust a publicity stunt to promote his music. In australia, an inquiry is under way into how Security Breaches may have undermined the covid 19 Hotel Quarantine programme in the state of victoria. Its thought passengers returning from overseas could have spread the disease, despite being in isolation. Victoria is currently grappling with a fresh wave of the virus. Our correspondent in sydney, phil mercer, has been listening to the inquiry. We have some pretty extraordinary claims that this enquiry has heard that nearly all of the current cases in the australian state of victoria could be linked to breaches in that
Hotel Quarantine system. Now this programme was set up for returning australian citizens and permanent residents. They are allowed to return to australia despite the fact that this countrys International Borders are being closed to foreign nationals. Those citizens and permanent residents face a two week mandatory period in a hotel in isolation and there are lots of speculation that somehow infected passengers have been allowed either to leave Hotel Quarantine or have somehow been responsible for spreading the disease into the General Community and thats why thisjudicial General Community and thats why this judicial enquiry set up by the victorian State Government is investigating the Hotel Quarantine system because, as we say, it could well be responsible for this spike in cases in australias second most populous state. Scientists in new zealand have invented a new volcano alert system that they say could have provided
warning ahead of last years white island disaster. 21 people died when the countrys most active volcano, white island, suddenly erupted last december with tourists on it. The new system uses Machine Learning algorithms to analyse Real Time Data to predict future eruptions. The research was publish in the journal nature last week. A Police Officer has been injured and a number of others were hurt when thousands of people gathered last night to celebrate leeds united being promoted to the premier league. A huge clean up operation was underway this morning, after around 7,000 fans gathered to celebrate leeds united returning to the premier league after 16 years, leaving broken glass and rubbish on the streets. Police said several Police Officers had been injured and nine people had been arrested. Foreign travel rules may have been relaxed, but we know that many people are still planning to spend their Summer Holidays
in the uk this year. That means our beaches will be busier and potentially messier than usual. Weve been looking at the Environmental Impact of the pandemic and what its meant for britains coastline. Tomos morgan has been to brighton and has this report. Those iconic scenes from the blue planet series the pictures that made us more aware of the effects plastics have on our sea life. But as restrictions began to ease, ogmore beach in south wales was subject to similar scenes seen across other uk beaches recently with litter left everywhere. How much did you actually end up picking up . 33 bags altogether. Local resident lewis morgan took it upon himself to clear up, the following morning. So i thought id come down, id have a look at the rubbish that was here. I didnt come down thinking i was going to fill as many bags as i did. But, yeah, there was quite a lot of rubbish to pick up. Being environmentally conscious is important and picking up litter where you can is something i think we should all be doing. The Marine Conservation society say they are concerned that recycling may have taken a back seat as more Single Use Plastics have been used during lockdown. Yes, definitely, the concern is there that there has been a setback, because weve all seen in the media all the horrific pictures where people are going down to their local beaches and enjoying it, because they havent been able to for such a long time, but at the same time, you know, we mustnt forget that the problem hasnt gone away. French divers found ppe in their waters last month and theres now concern here that ppe could end up on our beaches soon. We have been receiving anecdotal reports from our supporters that they are noticing ppe around their local areas. So how would people like lewis feel picking up ppe on the beach . Would i pick it up . As long as i had the correct ppe, i probably would, but without that ppe myself, id probably be quite reluctant to do it,
because of the environmental hazards that come with it. The direct effect plastic has on fish is well documented but it also has a more long term and damaging effect on the wider ecology. So, the plankton, the bottom of the food chain, is where the energy comes into the system. Thats where the equivalent of trees and grass in the terrestrial environment, so everything basically eats this stuff. If we are doing things that are affecting the plankton, it is going to affect Everything Else. So the fish that we eat, the dolphins that we see jumping around in the sea here, if the plankton are not doing well, its game over for them as well. As the summer break begins and the weather begins to improve again, british beaches will no doubt be busy again. But the message will be clear bin it, or take the rubbish with you. A Historic Mission to mars is underway after a successful
lift off injapan last night. Its the first attempt by the United Arab Emirates to reach the red planet, as our global science correspondent Rebecca Morelle reports. Blasting off, the start of a journey to mars. The United Arab Emirates making history. For the team, a moment of celebration. 51 years ago on the 20th ofjuly, man first walked on the moon. And today, on the 20th ofjuly, for us here, it marks a milestone, it marks a change and a transformation. And that, i hope, will stimulate and push forward an entire generation to think differently. The spacecraft is called hope. It was built over six years with help from american scientists. Until now, the uae has only launched satellites into earths orbit. Getting to mars is a huge leap. 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, though, 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. The spacecraft will take seven months to reach the red planet. When it gets there, a new player in the global space race will have truly arrived. Rebecca morelle, bbc news. A line of breaking news from Marks Spencer. Obviously an icon of the british high street. They are announcing 950 job cuts, 950 jobs, and they say that will affect roles
across central operations, property and store management. They are hoping to find voluntary redundancies for affected colleagues. You are watching bbc news. Time now for a look at the weather. Hello again. A north south split today. In the north there is cloud and showers but in the south, weve got brighter skies and some sunshine. Showers of the course of the afternoon in Northern England, though, will tend to ease a touch. High pressure is firmly in charge of our weather today and as you can tell from the isobars, theres not much of a breeze around. The shower was toppling around the top of that High Pressure. So weve got the cloud across scotland with some showers this afternoon. One or two showers in Northern Ireland but catch the odd passing shower in Northern England, but south of that, sunny intervals with areas of cloud at times, the lions share of the
sunshine today. While and southern england. Thats reflected in the temperatures. Highs between 20 22. 1a17 in temperatures. Highs between 20 22. 1a 17 in glasgow and belfast. Through this evening and tonight, the showers will become more well scattered across scotland. A lot of clear skies develop, cloud coming from the irish sea, wales, liverpool bay, and these are the temperatures you can expect in towns and cities and rural areas, you can expect in towns and cities and ruralareas, a you can expect in towns and cities and rural areas, a little bit lower than this. A murky start to tomorrow. High pressure tomorrow firmly in charge. Later in the day we got a touch of a front coming in from the atlantic affected Northern Ireland and also western scotland. To start with, under the clear skies, a chilly start, plenty of sunshine, more cloud developing through the day and more cloud across southern england and wales and we are looking at the end of the afternoon having thick cloud with spots of rain across western scotla nd spots of rain across western scotland and the north of Northern Ireland. Temperatures 13 21, north
to south. Tuesday into wednesday, a touch of these fronts moving from the west towards the east. A bit more of a breeze and the proximity of the isobars are closer together across northern areas. As we come further south, brighter skies but still large areas of cloud and we could see some of that rain actually spurts across Northern England at times. Temperatures, 13 in lerwick. 2a in london. As we head into thursday, still a bit of cloud around, spots of rain, especially in the north. Friday, sunny skies, but then an unsettled weekend in prospect. This is bbc news the headlines the uk signs deals for 90 million doses of Coronavirus Vaccines being developed overseas on top of a pledge for one hundred million of the Oxford University vaccine. Obviously, im hopeful, ive got my fingers crossed, but to say that im 100 confident that well get a vaccine this year or indeed next year is alas is just an exaggeration. We are not there yet. A new treatment for covid 19 developed by a uk company could dramatically reduce the number of patients needing intensive care. Beijing accuses the uk of brutally meddling in chinas internal affairs, as the uk is expected to announce its suspending its extradition treaty with hong kong. More problems for the high street, marks and spencer has announced that it plans to cut 950 jobs. Amber heard takes the stand at Londons High Court in johnny depps libel case against the sun over allegations of Domestic Violence during the pairs relationship. A big clear up operation is under way in leeds, after celebrations to mark their promotion to the premier league left a Police Officer seriously injured and a number of others hurt. The government has signed deals for 90 million doses of Coronavirus Vaccine developed overseas. One of them is with a partnership between the german and us
pharmaceutical giants bioentech and pfizer. Its vaccine produced a strong immune response in early trials. If successful, the first of 30 million doses could arrive by the end of the year. The other deal is with the french firm valneva, which wont begin trials of its jab until the autumn. That agreement is for 60 million doses. And theres already a deal to buy 100 million doses of the vaccine produced by the university of oxford early results of trials for this vaccine are due later today. Also this morning theres been some positive news about a new treatment which could dramatically reduce the numbers of patients needing intensive care. More on that in a moment but first our medical correspondent, fergus walsh has this report. There are now an astonishing 23 Coronavirus Vaccines in Clinical Trials around the world, including two in the uk developed by Oxford University and Imperial College london. Today, the government announced deals with two overseas vaccine producers. Biontech, pfizer, is one of the frontrunners a german us partnership. Its Coronavirus Vaccine produced a strong immune response in early trials. If its successful, the first of 30 million doses could arrive by the end of the year. The other deal is with the french firm valneva who wont begin trials of theirjab till the autumn. That agreement is for 60 million doses. Its vaccine will contain an inactivated virus. This is a more tried and tested method for creating a vaccine so could be important if others fail. Theres already a deal to buy 100 million doses of the vaccine produced by Oxford University. This may look like the uk government has overbought but bear in mind that nine in ten vaccines are unsuccessful, and you see, the logic behind the decision to back several horses in the search for a winner. Also, most of the Coronavirus Vaccines in trials require more than one dose. Vaccine trials depend on volunteers. The public are being encouraged to sign up to a new nhs website to speed up the process forjoining Coronavirus Vaccine studies. The aim is to get half a Million People to register interest by october. Fergus walsh, bbc news. Speaking in the last hour, the Prime Minister borisjohnson says he cannot guarantee a vaccine this year. There are about 100 different inquiries, different scientist ventures out in the field now. The uk has got some world leading scientists engaged in this, there is the Oxford Programme, where we have secured 100 million doses. We are investing also in a couple of potential vaccines, one french and
one german and 90 million doses that we are going to be investing in there. But im obviously im hopeful. But to say that im 100 confident that we will get a vaccine this year or next year is alas just you know an exaggeration. We are not there yet. If you talk to the scientists, they think the sheer weight of International Effort is going to produce something. And theyre going to produce something. And they re pretty going to produce something. And theyre pretty confident that we will get some sort of treatment, some sort of vaccines that really make a difference. But can i tell you right now that im 100 confident . No. We can now speak to dr elisabetta groppelli virologist and lecturer in Global Health at St Georges University of london. Thank you forjoining us. What is your assessment of the prospects today . I think i would say it is really a good time, a good time for vaccines, because the news that
there are so many vaccines becoming. Getting into Clinical Trials to phase 2 and 3 and there are different technologies. It is fantastic. I think the fact that the uk government is showing that they are, becoming aware of the different technologies, but also of the time limiti technologies, but also of the time limit i think is a really good day today. Help us navigate between the three options we have been discussing what, are the significant differences . They are different vaccines and theyre different technologies and different platforms. One that actually is quite an old school vaccine, we know it works as a principle and therefore it has potential think higher chances of success. However, in terms of, we might not generate the kind of long term immunity that
is required, the oxford vaccine is quite a novel virus, because it uses a viral vector and using its normal virus to deliver the payload. Then there is the pfizer vaccine, which isa there is the pfizer vaccine, which is a completely Different Technology again. So its quite important that given the unknowns about this virus, that different technologies are being developed and explored at the same time. Because we dont know actually which ones are going to be the ones that we need, that are going to be successful in real life. Obviously, all of this is being done at high speed, are you confident and can you reassure those who are less confident that it is being done safely . Yes, high speed is great, the high speed doesnt mean short cuts. There are no short cuts that are being taken when it comes to
safety, specially and then the need for solid data that the way it is normally required for any development of drug is still there and still the aim. However, we know that every process can be fast tracked and it be facilitated and sometimes with the paperwork or the regulations and sometimes in doing things at the same time, in stead of waiting for something to become available. Streamlining the process and facilitating the process, but definitely no short cuts. Thank you. There is some positive news this morning about a possible new treatment for covid 19 which reduces the risk of patients ending up in intensive care. It uses a protein which our bodies produce to fight infections. The trial of the drug has been small scale so far but with promising results. The trial of the drug has been small scale so far
but with promising results. Lets get more from our correspondentjustin rowlatt. He is in southampton. Where the biotech firm is based. Tell us more about it. Well, as you say, it uses about it. Well, as you say, it uses a protein naturally occurring in our bodies. Its role is to kind of, it was described by the scientists as orchestrating our bodys immune response. One of the sneaky things that the coronavirus does is it side steps the system that alerts your body. What they, the scientists who have been developing this product for about 15 years, thought if we can stimulate the response in lungs, maybe that will help with coronavirus. Therefore very early in t pandemic they started this Clinical Trial and the results have been promising. Small trial, initial
results, those are the warnings, but the lightly hootd of you likelihood of deteriorating in hospital was reduced by 80 . You we re hospital was reduced by 80 . You were more than twice as likely to fully recover if you had the drug and you had fewer symptoms of breathlessness and you were likely to be released arley. Patients who received the drug stayed in hospital on average for six days rather than nine days. All positive results and all suggesting that this was having quite a profund effect on patients profound effect on patients. But this has not been reviewed by other scientists. That has not happened and it has not been published in a med xaljournal and and it has not been published in a med xal journal and we and it has not been published in a med xaljournal and we havent been able to check out the claims the company are making. But if these claims are born out by these future studies, if they are borne out, we
are seeing a significant step in terms of treatment of coronavirus illness. And one which would save lives today and tomorrow and lots of viewers who may have family or friends suffering and they will want to know when will it be rolled out nationally . That is a very good question. The good news in a sense is because they have done 15 years of research already on the drug, they already had fairly good ideas about how safe the drug is, it is already used in multiple sclerosis and they have used tests to show they have a response and because they have a response and because they were confident that it might prove positive, they have got companies beginning to manufacture the compound and the nebulisers at scale and say at winter we could have hundreds of thousand of doses
of treatment. But they need permission from the medicines regulator to have permission to authorise, to licence the medicine. There could be an emergency license. Or they could say, listen start giving it to more patients and we will monitor how safe it is. There area will monitor how safe it is. There are a few ways it might happen. There is currently another Clinical Trial being run by the same Company Using this drug, which is on patients who have onlyjust been diagnosed with covid. If there are high risk patients watching who have been diagnosed, they go online and sign upfora been diagnosed, they go online and sign up for a current trial and that was the trial they thought was most likely to prove positive, because if they thought if you get in early and stimulate the immune response early, you are more likely to get on top of the disease. So there are patients who could get the treatment right
now. In terms of a wider use of the treatment, that is a desin sigs that decision that will be made by the authorities. Borisjohnson says he has serious concerns about chinas new National Security laws as his foreign secretary, dominic raab is expected to suspends the uks extradition treaty with hong kong. China has accused the uk of brutally meddling in their internal affairs. It follows increasing tensions with beijing over a tightening of Civil Liberties in the chinese territory and the decision to ban huawei from the uks 5g network. Our asisstant Political Editor norman smith is at westminster. The Prime Minister said he needed to calibrate the uks approach . thought it interesting, he was just trying to dampen down some of the more hawkish demand 5 that have been emerging from his backbench over
china, indicating when dominic raab gets up, he will implement a change to the extradition treaty with hong kong. Beyond that, i thought Boris Johnson was trying to douse things down a bit saying what what an important country china was and our children and grandchildren would wa nt to children and grandchildren would want to have good relations with china. This when we know there are demands that action should be taken against tiktok and it has been suggested that maybe china should no longer be allowed to invest in new Nuclear Power plants, the argument being they cant be trusted in telecommunications, so why would you trust them with Nuclear Power stations and calls for powers to impose targeted sanctions on chinese officials and you got the sense borisjohnson was trying to calm things town. Have a listen to him. Lets be very clear. There is a balance here. Im not going to be sort of pushed into a position of becoming a knee jerk sinnophobe on every issue, someone who was automatically anti china, but we do have serious concerns. We have concerns about the treatment of the uighur minority, obviously about the human rights abuses. We obviously have concerns about whats happening in hong kong. Youll be hearing a little bit later on from the foreign secretary about how well change our extradition arrangements to reflect our concerns about whats happening with the security law in hong kong. We have to think about the human rights, the rights of the people in hong kong to participate in democratic processes and people here from hong kong and how those changes affect them. What we wont do, as i say, is completely abandon our policy of engagement with china. China is a giant fact of geopolitics. Its going to be a giant
factor in our lives, in the lives of our children and our grandchildren, so weve got to have a calibrated response and we are going to be tough on some things, but are also going to continue to engage. Pa rt part of the difficulty is it is not just tory mps who are pressing Boris Johnson to go further. All parties, i think really going back to the covid outbreak and the sense that china, there was a lack of transparency about what happened in wuhan and since then there has been a slight mind set change at westminster about china and now actually labour politicians are pressing borisjohnson to go further, to impose individual sanctions, in particular the idea of sanctions, in particular the idea of sanctions where certain individuals, chinese officials, thought to be linked to the persecution of uighur muslims may face travel bans and
have their assets frozen. That is what we heard from keir starmer this morning. Well whats happening in china is deeply disturbing and we cant turn a blind eye to it. Now of course theres been a long and deep relationship between the Chinese People and united kingdom, but some of the actions of the government are deeply disturbing. We cant turn a blind eye. We shouldnt turn a blind eye. What weve argued for is sanctions in this country against chinese officials who have been involved in human rights abuses. Thats something that could be done straightaway so we are calling on the government to do that. Obviously the foreign secretary is going to make an announcement about a extradition this afternoon. One factor is how china responds and anyone who saw the interview with the Chinese Ambassador can be under ill losings, there illusions, there will be a response and that
then can Boris Johnson there will be a response and that then can borisjohnson dampen down demands for his government to take more action. So we are waiting to see how chinese responds. Thank you. At a news briefing in beijing this morning, a Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman said britains actions were damaging relations between the two countries. Translation these remarks, these Hong Kong Related remarks turn a blind eye to the basic facts that the National Security law is for the sustained success of one china two systems. It goes against the International Law and international norms. We are strongly condemn these wrong words and actions. We urge the us to make no more steps down the wrong path so as to avoid further damage to china uk relations. Joining me now from nottingham
is steve tsang who is the director of the soas china institute. Steve, where to you see this going on the chinese side . They have warned of retaliation, the world will call them a paper tiger if they dont carry through with that. What dont carry through with that. What do you think the retaliation will look like . It will depend on how far we actually go. If there is any indication that sanctions will be imposed, then i think we are going to see british politicians being blacklisted by the Chinese Government. It is more difficult for them to retaliate in a specific and proportionate way, if the extradition treaty with hong kong is being suspended. There isnt something that is equivalent that they can respond easily. So they
would probably pick on British Companies or institutions in china and make things difficult for them. You say pick on companies and institutions, do you see china as a safe 5 pa ce institutions, do you see china as a safe space for british individual citizens and companies right now . What would your advice be to anyone who talked about going to live there or going to operate a business there . It is a very difficult one, because i think we do want to engage with china. It would be wrong for us not to do so. But on the other hand, we also have to be a bit. Concerned about the implications of what could happen. We have seen what happens to say canadian citizens working in china, or visiting china and they were used as means to retaliate against a canadian government response over huawei. So that kind of thing can happen. We have to bear in mind that the new
National Security law in hong kong, in fact will criminalise that activities that happen in the uk, including on say british campuses. Just lets take you, would you feel safe, the kind of things that youre familiar with saying about china or hong kong, do you feel safe in going to hong kong or Mainland China, presumably some of what you say may be regarded as an offence under the legislation . I do make a clear distinctions that i dont do advocacy, i only provide analysis and comments. But the Chinese Government does not make that kind of fine distinctions. Somebody who has been critical of chinese policy to wards hong kong would be at risk by going to hong kong or china. That is worrying for many of us, who
discuss these issues. Now, i want to ta ke discuss these issues. Now, i want to take up something that the Prime Minister said, because he obviously keeps trying to say, i dont want to be in keeps trying to say, i dont want to beina keeps trying to say, i dont want to be in a knee jerk sinophobe. Beijing has been saying the world is big the uk is small. How much of this relationship is in the hands of borisjohnson . Relationship is in the hands of Boris Johnson . I think it is more in the hands of Chinese Government. I think the Chinese Ambassador has in fa ct think the Chinese Ambassador has in fact been very clear, china does wa nt to fact been very clear, china does want to engage with the uk and have Good Relationship with the uk, but on chinas terms. The problem with us of course is that we cannot accept china imposed terms, we would wa nt to accept china imposed terms, we would want to say equality in that relationship and hen we ask for
that, we would be seen as offending the sensitivity of la billion Chinese People and of course only the communist party understand it is feelings of the Chinese People. So we are in a tight spot. We may try not to have to choose, but in the end we may have no choice. Thank you very much. Sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, heres holly. First we go to old trafford. We have had an hourand first we go to old trafford. We have had an hour and 20 minutes of action and ben stokes had smashed 78. England knew they had to set a target that would be out of the reach for the west indies and leave
england enough time to take the wickeds they need to level the series. England striking in the first over. Broad thought that campbell had got on edge on the ball. But buttler not sure. Joe root went for the review and campbell out in the first over forjust went for the review and campbell out in the first over for just four. West indies set 312 for victory and would see them winning the series. England need a further nine wickets to level things up ahead of the third and final test. Thank you. Nigel pearson says hes been overwhelmed by the support since being sacked by watford yesterday. Pearson joined in december when watford were bottom of the table. Hes since guided them out of the relegation zone and although they can still go down, his dismissal was a bit of a surprise. Watford are the first
premier league team to sack three managers in the same season. The premier leagues all time top scorer alan shearer says its time for Manchester United to drop their goalkeeper david de gea. He made a couple of huge mistakes as united lost 3 1 to chelsea in their fa cup semi final at wembley. Chelseas second goal a particularly diffcult watch for de gea. His manager ole gunner solskjaer maintains that de gea is still one of the best keepers in the world. Chelsea will play arsenal in the fa cup final a week on saturday. And Borussia Dortmund have confirmed the signing ofjude bellingham from birmingham city. The teenager joins the german side for a fee that could eventually be worth more than £30 million. At 17, bellingham is birminghams youngest ever player and follows in the footsteps of fellow englishman jadon sancho, who joined dortmund at the same age three years ago. Thats all the sport for now. Ill have more for
you in the next hour. The uk government says all state schools in england will receive a funding increase of at least 2 next year. As part of a settlement agreed last summer, education spending will increase by £2. 2 billion, an average increase of 3 per pupil. The institue for fiscal studies says theres been an 8 real terms cut in per pupil spending since 2010. Ministers are also providing a £1 billion covid catch up fund to help children who have missed over four months of education due to School Closures during the lockdown. Lancashire police say they are not investigating a mosque in blackburn after around 250 people attended a funeral there last monday. The imam who was leading the prayers has since tested positive for covid 19 and mourners have been advised to self isolate for a fortnight. A maximum of 30 people are currently
allowed at funerals in england. Lancashire police say the incident is a matter for local Public Health officials. The mosque chairman has told the bbc that it was their first funeral since lockdown and they made a mistake. An investigation is under way after an outbreak of Coronavirus Infections at a call centre in motherwell in scotland which carries out Contact Tracing for the nhs. Measures have been brought in by the Regions Health board to try to suppress the outbreak. At least seven workers are understood to have tested positive. A Police Officer has been injured and a number of others were hurt when thousands of people gathered last night to celebrate leeds united being promoted to the premier league. A huge clean up operation was underway this morning, after aroud 7,000 fans gathered to celebrate leeds united returning to the premier league after 16 years, leaving broken glass and rubbish on the streets. Police said several Police Officers had been injured and nine
people had been arrested. Amber heard has begun three days of evidence at the high court as part ofjohnny depps libel case against the sun over allegations of Domestic Violence during the pairs tempestuous relationship. David sillito is at the high court in Central London for us. What has the court been hearing today . A great deal. This is the first chance that amber heard has had to put her side of events to this legal battle. You have got to remember this is a libel battle betweenjohnny depp remember this is a libel battle between johnny depp and remember this is a libel battle betweenjohnny depp and the sun. She said, im eager to take part in this trial and today was her chance to give her evidence of seven separate witness statements were presented to court. A huge body of evidence that she has given. And it begins with her describing the outline of what
she says was a relationship that was controlling verbally and physically abusive. She said there was slapping, kicking, head butting, choking me as well as throwing me into things, pulling me by my hair. He threw things at me. He was. He was cross examined byjohnny depps legal team who asked about the truthfulness of her account and especially about her statements about her drinking and her drug use. She was questioned about a nurses note that described Substance Abuse and Mental Health problems. She said there was no Substance Abuse or Mental Health problems. And she was asked about a statement that described a day of excessive drinking. She said there was no excessive drinking. She said she had
only taken one drug for helping with sleep disorders. She said under the control she said ofjohnny depps doctors, that was increased, she said, in order to keep her sedated and calm. All of these allegations of abuse have been strongly denied byjohnny depp. Of abuse have been strongly denied by johnny depp. Thank you. Now its time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. Hello again. As we dont have the second looks like temperatures look to be around about average for the stage injuly. To be around about average for the stage in july. Today to be around about average for the stage injuly. Today weve got more cloud across scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland producing some showers. As we move further south, sunny intervals, the best in wales and southern england. Here weve got temperatures, 20 22. Further north, 13 19. Through this evening and overnight, the showers
in scotland will become more well scattered. Clear skies, some cloud coming in from the irish sea across parts of wales and north west england and there is temperatures we can expect in towns and cities, will be lower than this in rural areas. A chilly start tomorrow, but with a clear skies it means a lot of sunshine first thing that the cloud will build as we go to the course of the day and a few showers ahead of whether france coming in from the west which will introduce thicker cloud and some rain across western scotla nd cloud and some rain across western scotland and also Northern Ireland. Hello. This is bbc news. The headlines. The uk government has signed deals for 90 million doses of Coronavirus Vaccines being developed overseas on top of a pledge for 100 million doses of the Oxford University vaccine. A new treatment for covid 19 developed by a uk company could dramatically reduce the number of patients needing intensive care. Beijing accuses the uk of brutally meddling in chinas internal affairs, as the uk is expected to announce its suspending its extradition treaty with hong kong. Amber heard takes the stand at Londons High Court in johnny depps libel case against the sun over allegations of Domestic Violence during the pairs relationship. A big clear up operation is under way in leeds after celebrations to mark their promotion to the premier league left a Police Officer seriously injured and a number of others hurt. Marks and spencer is the latest high street store to announce job cuts with plans to make 950 posts redundant. M s said in a statement that it has started collective consultation with its Employee Representative Group and has set out its intention to first offer voluntary redundancy to affected colleagues. Ben thompson is following the story for us. Its another sad case ofjobs going on the high street. Tell us more. Yes, youre absolutely right, something we should get used to hearing a lot more. Over the coming weeks and months. Retailers up and down the country tied try to work out how they recover from being closed for so long and also the new shape of our shopping habits, if and when we do venture back to high streets. This is news for Marks Spencer is today. 950 jobs have been put at risk as part of its transformation plan. We should remember Marks Spencer already in a three year transformation plan, before all of the Coronavirus Crisis hit, they were struggling to try to turn around their fortunes. Well documented problems of Marks Spencer. Its food sales are pretty robust, but its clothing and home ware that continues to suffer. So
what Marks Spencer did was to launch a three year turnaround plan. All of that has been thrown out the window by this unprecedented crisis which has meant its stores have come in many cases, remained closed. Some of its food stores were able to stay open but remember too Marks Spencer says a lot of outlets and things at train stations and airports, so there weve seen a big falloff in passenger demand and therefore the number of customers going through the doors there also a significant decline, so what they have done today is said we are looking at our entire business. We think we have 900 people to money for the sake of the business be expected to be in over the coming months and years, and therefore we have launched a consultation to reduce those. We expect it is store managers, individualstores, reduce those. We expect it is store managers, individual stores, which will suffer the most, front line staff, but also management roles at head office, a real mix of departures. And i think for them, what they are trying to work out now is whether there will be enough
demand to sustain the number of stores it has forcibly already know its made significant plans to close stores and i think this is the latest in its plan to revive its fortunes. Its a very, very tough retail environment, particularly in high street locations where rent and rates are expensive and quite simply there are not the number of customers to justify it. Very difficult. Thank you. More now on one of our main stories this hour. Borisjohnson says he has serious concerns about chinas new National Security laws as his foreign secretary, dominic raab is expected to suspends the uks extradition treaty with hong kong. Earlier i spoke to the former foreign secretary sir malcolm rifkind. He said the possible suspension of extradition is a necessary step. Im afraid it is. It is very sad, but the whole point about extradition, we have never been prepared to extradite anyone to a country that doesnt have the rule of law. Hong kong, unlike china, until now has had the rule of law. Because of this new legislation and the appointment ofjudges to implement it by china, that is no longer the case. Do you see other measures as being necessary in face of this National Security legislation . Well we have to take this step by step. You know there is no desire to either punish hong kong, god forbid, or china, except as a way of ensuring that we can do all within our power, which is limited, to try and help hong kong maintain its freedom. Hong kong has enjoyed liberty, personal freedom and the rule of law, which is what the two systems one country agreement was meant to guarantee and it has broadly enjoyed that for 23 years. It is not that the system couldnt work. It is xijinping has been determined to erode and destroy it. The chinese have themselves to blame
if they find their relations not just with the united kingdom, but with the United States, canada, australia, 20 or 30 other countries, are seriously collapsing. It is extremely sad. It is not good news for anyone. But it is particularly bad news for china. Lets take the issues one by one. In terms of uk rethink on dealings with china in the light of the different policy framework that you described from beijing from xijinping, do we need a complete overhaul of our relationship with beijing . It depend what you mean. At the height of cold war, we had trade with the soviet union and that was sensible. Where we have to, in the case of china, where we have to reconsider in is two areas. We have to do all in our power to help the people of hong kong, which we are doing, the chinese
accuse us of interference, that is ludicrous, we have a treaty obligation, notjust a right to actually help ensure that the people of hong kong continue to enjoy their freedoms. The second area where we have to reconsider is in those aspects of chinese Economic Investment or contact with our economy, whether our National Security implications are involved. There is an aggressive Chinese Government and we have to assume as their law gives them power over every Chinese Company to co operate with the chinese. Intelligence agencies, we have to assume it is a no go area where we are concerned. Sir malcolm rifkind. Eu leaders in brussels have been talking through the night to try to agree on a Coronavirus Recovery Fund stretching their two day summit into a fourth day of negotiation. Some Member States believe the 750 billion euro package is too large and should come as loans
not grants. The summit is the first face to face meeting between leaders since the lockdowns began in march. The dutch Prime Minister mark rutte said the talks were difficult but progress had been made. Translation we are not here because we are going to be visitors at each others birthday parties later. We are here because we do business for our own country. We are all pros. And the European Commission president ursula von der leyen called for a solution. So, after three days and three nights of negotiation marathon, we are entering now the crucial phase, but i have the impression that european leaders really want an agreement, they showed a real will to find a solution, and we need a solution. European citizens need a solution. The European Union needs a solution, needs an agreement to overcome this crisis and to prepare europe for the future. I am positive for today. We are not there yet but things are moving in the right direction. French air investigators have started examining the black boxes from the Ukraine International flight shot down in iran injanuary. One official told the bbc its not possible to say exactly how long the investigation will take, but said these things usually takes about a week. Other investigators from ukraine, the us, the uk, canada and boeing company are also taking part. A Palestinian Human Rights Group has expressed concern about what it says is a sharp rise in the number of suicides in the impoverished gaza strip. More than 30 people are said to have taken their own lives this year while hundreds more have made suicide attempts. Tough Living Conditions and a lack of freedom of expression under hamas rule are believed to be factors. Our middle east correspondent, yolande knell, has been looking into the suicide of a 25 year old activist. Singing. Suleiman al ajuri was 25, an accountancy graduate in gaza with lots of friends. So why did he take his own life earlier this month . Suleiman al ajuri had been a leader of the we want to live movement. Last year, it staged protests against unemployment and poverty. They were seen as the greatest challenge to the Islamist Group hamas since it took full control of gaza in 2007. And they were violently broken up. Suleiman was arrested and accused of spreading chaos. Unusually, his family agreed to speak to us about his death. Translation i dont really know what pushed my son to kill himself. We were sitting together at home and we ate his last meal together. There was no problem and i dont
know yet what happened to him. But in general, i dont think poverty alone is a reason for suicide, and we as a family are still living in a state of great shock. Suicide remains a taboo in gazas conservative Islamic Society but a Human Rights Group says the number of people who kill themselves is rising. Over 30 committed suicide this year and there were 600 more attempts. Translation the main causes of suicide are the political division, which plays a major role, and the long siege that people have been living under in gaza. When someone becomes convinced of killing himself, he has reached a dead end and has exhausted all opportunities. It is not an instant decision. The hamas authorities deny there is a suicide crisis but conditions in gaza, long under blockade by israel and egypt, are getting tougher. Nearly four in five young graduates have no work. Theres a growing sense of despair. Suleimans last Facebook Post read this wont be a futile attempt, its an escape bid enough. Yolande knell, bbc news. A sad story. If youve been affected by any of the issues weve been talking about sources of information and support are available at bbc action line, thats at bbc. Co. Uk actionline. In australia, an inquiry is under way into how Security Breaches may have undermined the covid 19 Hotel Quarantine programme in the state of victoria. Its thought passengers returning from overseas could have spread the disease, despite being in isolation. Victoria is currently grappling with a fresh wave of the virus. Our correspondent in sydney, phil mercer, has been listening to the inquiry. We have heard some pretty extraordinary claims at this enquiry and it has heard that nearly all the current cases in the australian state of victoria could be linked to breaches in that Hotel Quarantine system. Now, this programme was set up for returning australian citizens and permanent residents. They are allowed to return to australia, despite the fact that this countrys International Borders have been closed to foreign nationals. Those citizens and permanent residents face a two week mandatory period in a hotel, in isolation. And there is lots of speculation that somehow, infected passengers have been allowed either to leave Hotel Quarantine or have somehow been responsible for spreading the disease into the General Community. And thats why this judicial inquiry, set up by the victorian State Government, is investigating the Hotel Quarantine system. Because, as we say, it could well be responsible for this spike in cases in australias second most populous state. In france, it is now compulsory to wear masks in indoor spaces. Starting from today, there will be a penalty of more than a hundred and 50 dollars for failing to wear a mask in places such as shops, restaurants and banks. France has seen a slight resurgence of Coronavirus Infections. Our correspondent in paris, Hugh Schofield has more. People recognise it is in response to this slightly worrying signal here that all is not well. All is not necessarily set on the path to recovery and normality. It is perfectly possible that things turn back. There has been a rise in the number of clusters in france in the last couple of weeks and there has certainly been indications, much lamented by government and doctors, of people simply you know, not taking it all so seriously any
more, the holidays are upon us and there is a feeling of relaxation around the country which i think has spooked government. So this reaction is as much as anything, a psychological reaction to get people to realise it is not over and from today, therefore, in all experiences in public buildings inside you will have to wear a mask. Up until now, if i go shopping in the supermarket i have not been obliged to wear a mask and i would say about half of the shoppers at my local supermarket have not been wearing masks. Thatll end, if we go to the post office, if we go to the bank, we will have to wear masks from now on. In addition to the masks that are already compulsory in Public Transport and in restaurants if you move around in a restaurant and so on. So thats how i see it, its a sign, among others, that the government is looking ahead a little bit too after the holidays and a fear that there will be, not necessarily a second wave, but there is a gathering number of dangerous signals out there which need to be stopped. The headlines on bbc news. The government has signed deals for 90 million doses of Coronavirus Vaccines being developed overseas on top of a pledge for 100 million doses of the Oxford University vaccine. A new treatment for covid 19 developed by a uk company could dramatically reduce the number of patients needing intensive care. Beijing accuses the uk of brutally meddling in chinas internal affairs, as the uk is expected to announce its suspending its extradition treaty with hong kong. Social distancing rules are being relaxed in nurseries across england from today, allowing staff to open their doors to more young children. Our education correspondent dan johnson has been two nurseries to find out how theyve been coping and what the relaxtion of social distancing rules will have on them. This is a tale of two very different nurseries. Weve been really busy sincejune. The children have all come back into the nursery and theyve been really settled. This room is a 12 place room and we are full at the moment. At little pioneers in leamington, there are lots of little people. But sunflowers in sheffield is still really quiet. The nursery should have 120 children in, every day. And now weve got 20. When we come into sunflowers, this will have 24 children. Its not. Its got zero, so weve adapted it so the children can sleep. Im walking through empty rooms and thats sad. Its worrying, because ive got 28 staff. They need to stay in a job, as well. Only a handful of kids came back, because furloughed parents dont need childcare, or cant afford it, or theyre cautious. Were fighting a losing battle, because weve onlyjust opened
and parents are nervous. And youve got more ppe than you can throw a stick at. Thats not cheap. And were not getting any more funding for that. Its not a good place to be in. But the reopening was a relief for some parents, who were seeking salvation from the lockdown. It was a difficult situation, so when nurseries said that they were opening, i was like, absolutely. The kids just love it, so every time they get home, theyve been excited about all the things theyve been doing, telling us about their days. And i think for them, its a bit of going back to normality. Youre not going to get the economy running if you dont get people back in work and people have to have childcare to enable them to go back to work. Unless the laws changed, you cant take children into factories anymore. Every nurserys done lots of work to reopen with extra ways to keep everyone safe. A lot of parents were unsure and obviously with the reassurance and great communication,
they felt really reassured. The children are having temperature checks on arrival, also including the staff, as well. Lots of hand washing activities with the children, making sure they understand the importance of why they need to be washing their hands, as well. But even todays rules might not be able to save everywhere. We are already seeing some nurseries are closing. Were already seeing nurseries up for sale. This is really difficult for particularly small nurseries. Mostly in deprived areas, who rely on government funding through the funded childcare. This cant go on. Im in a position where im looking at january as the latest that i can stay open, unless something changes. Democratic lawmakers in the United States have asked thejustice and Homeland Security departments to conduct internal investigations into whether they abused Emergency Powers when arresting demonstrators in portland, oregon. The citys mayor, ted wheeler, has accused federal troops of abusive tactics against protesters, saying they are sharply escalating the situation in the city with ongoing protests turning voilent once again. Tanya dendrinos reports. A clear use of force and tensions escalating in portland. Protests have been ongoing in this city since the end of may following the killing of george floyd. But the scene has grown increasingly volatile. And according to the citys leaders and those filling the streets, it is thanks to the federal troops now stamping their authority here. You have got the feds out here, people, theyre tear gassing people, theyre snatching people, theyre beating people in the streets. The mayor of portland has renewed his calls for federal troops to leave the city, while the attorney general for the state of oregon has filed a lawsuit against the federal government, accusing it
of unlawfully detaining protesters. Every american needs to be concerned about what is happening here in portland. These federal agencies are operating with no transparency and against the will ofjust about every leader in our state, and i assume it will be the same in other states where they show up. But portland is currently the poster child for this administration. They are using us, sort of throwing mud on the wall to see if this is an issue that might stick for the president. President trump took twitter, saying, we are trying to help portland, not hurt it. Their leadership has, or months, lost control of the anarchists and agitators. But it is notjust a clash of the political divide. There is a myriad of individuals gathering on the streets to make their voices heard. Their actions are terrifying. I mean, we, as a democracy, and we need to stand up. I am 60 years old. I probably shouldnt
be here in public. But this is beyond acceptable. It has been more than 50 days and there is no end in sight when it comes to these clashes, some suggesting they could go right through until election night. Tanya dendrinos, bbc news. The american rapper kanye west has officially launched his bid for the us president ial election with an emotional rally in which he claimed his father had never wanted him. My my mother saved my life. They would have been no kanye west because my dad was too busy. He did not make any traditional policy announcements at the event in south carolina, leading some fans to speculate that his campaign isjust a publicity stunt to promote his music. A Historic Mission to mars is under way after a successful lift off in japan last night. Its the first attempt by the United Arab Emirates
to reach the red planet, as our global science correspondent Rebecca Morelle reports. Blasting off, the starts of a journey to mars. The United Arab Emirates making history. For the team, a moment of celebration. 51 years ago on the 20th ofjuly, man first walked on the moon and today, on the 20th ofjuly, for us here, it marks a milestone, it marks a change and a transformation. And that, i hope, will stimulate and push forward an entire generation to think differently. The spacecraft is called hope. It was built over six years with help from american scientists. Until now, the uae has only launched satellites into earths orbit. Getting to mars is a huge leap. 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, though, is a mission with a difference. It is 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 10 day cycle. The spacecraft will study the Martian Atmosphere to give us much more information about its weather and climate. It the atmosphere on mars is 1000 times thinner than earth, we still see all these and type events, so dust storms, clouds, fog, lightning even, so understanding the weather on mars theyll help us understand the weather on earth. Until now, oil and gas had driven the uae economy but trying to diversify with space technology. It will act as an inspiration for young people in the uae to show they too can be part of
a great challenge of space exploration. Their mission might be the one that finds life on mars. The spacecraft will take seven months to reach the red planet. When it gets there, a new player in the global space race will have truly arrived. Rebecca morelle, bbc news. In a few moments its the bbc news at one with simon mccoy. More on the breaking news ofjob losses at Marks Spencer. Time now for a look at the weather. Hello. Plenty of sunshine today across england and wales. Third time, really dramatic skies in the south west by one of our weather
watchers but this clouds spread for a time. Across Northern England and Northern Ireland and scotland, it has been a cloudy day and also we have seen plenty of showers. Particularly in northern and Western Areas of scotland with a view getting into Northern Ireland and the north west of england too. With those shower clouds, looking like this. Through the rest of today, we will continue to see the showers coming in particularly in scotland. And just a few isolated showers for Northern Ireland and north west england but otherwise, a lot of dry weather around as we head into the early pa rt weather around as we head into the early part of the evening. Quite warm in the south. 23. London. Quite a cool day further north. Showers around, as well. Overnight, more showers to come in scotland. Otherwise, most of us will have a dry night with clear spells, turning chilly again. Temperatures into single figures. So a cool start to
the day on tuesday but again plenty of sunshine, Northern Ireland, england and wales, and cloud will tend to develop, mostly fair weather cloud, but it will tend to turn much grey a cross cloud, but it will tend to turn much grey across the north west later in the day without outbreaks of rain to end the afternoon. Temperatures into the 20s in the south. Still quite cool in the north, 16 17. Tuesday night, more general rain moves in. No pressure. A wet night, tuesday night, and the rain is with us on wednesday for Northern Ireland and scotla nd wednesday for Northern Ireland and scotland with a freshening south westerly wind. Most patches around the hills. England and wales, a few isolated showers around, but there should be bright weather to come, hazy sunshine coming through, the best of it in southern parts. Temperatures widely into the low 20s in the south, but quite cool weather wise further north. More rain left over from that weather system on thursday. That tends to push through on friday, a brighter day for many but some isolated showers around. Ratcheting up the tension with china the uk looks set to suspend its extradition treaty with hong kong. Beijing accuses the uk of brutal meddling in its internal affairs. Britain says it cant ignore whats going on in china. Im not going to be sort of pushed into a position of becoming a knee jerk sinophobe on every issue, somebody who is automatically anti china. But we do have serious concerns. Well be gauging the damage this could do to anglo sino relations with our diplomatic editor. Also this lunchtime. The race for a Coronavirus Vaccine the government signs global deals to purchase millions of doses. More retail misery as high Street Stores Marks Spencer and ted baker announce major job cuts
comparemela.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.