this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. our top stories: us prosecutors charge the british socialite ghislaine maxwell with grooming young girls for her former boyfriend, the convicted paedophilejeffrey epstein. she pretended to be a woman they could trust. all the while, she was setting them up to be sexually abused by epstein and, in some cases, by maxwell herself. texas makes wearing a face mask compulsory across much of the state as covid—19 cases continue to soar. we speak to one of hong kong's leading pro—democracy campaigners who has fled the territory following china's imposition of a new security law. the british government lifts covid—19 quarantine requirements, but only

for arrivals in england from some countries, including france, germany, italy and spain. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. the british socialite ghislaine maxwell has appeared in court in the usjust hours after she was arrested by the fbi. the 58—year—old has been charged with grooming girls for herformer boyfriend, the convicted paedophile jeffrey epstein, and repeatedly lying about it. prosecutors claim that ghislaine maxwell helped epstein to exploit underage girls, some as young as m. ms maxwell has denied any wrongdoing, as well as any knowledge of epstein‘s crimes. nada tawfik has this report. until now, ghislaine maxwell has remained out of sight ever since the arrest of sex offender and paedophile

jeffrey epstein. as his former girlfriend and closest associate, she is central to the fbi's probe of his sex crimes against underage girls. authorities had been discreetly keeping tabs on her whereabouts for the last year. when they moved in to arrest her on thursday, she was living on a 156—acre property that she bought in cash to shield her identity. we've been discreetly keeping tabs on maxwell's whereabouts as we work this investigation and, more recently, we learned she'd slithered away to a gorgeous property in new hampshire, continuing to live a life of privilege while her victims live with the trauma inflicted upon them years ago. federal prosecutors in new york have charged her with six criminal counts linked to epstein‘s alleged sex trafficking operation, including enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts and two counts of perjury. they allege the victims were as young as m years old when the crimes took place, between 1994 and 1997. she has previously denied all of the allegations against her.

maxwell would discuss sexual topics with the victim and undress in front of the victim, or be present for sex acts involving the minor victims and epstein. maxwell's presence as an adult woman helped put the victims at ease. as maxwell and epstein intended, this grooming process left the minor victims susceptible to sexual abuse. the daughter of the late media magnate robert maxwell is a long—time friend of prince andrew. in this now—infamous photo from 2001, the two are seen with virginia giuffre, who says she was trafficked to maxwell's home in central london to have sex with prince andrew. in an interview with newsnight which led to his retirement from public duty, prince andrew was asked directly about it. i have no recollection of ever meeting this lady. none whatsoever. you don't remember meeting her? nope. prince andrew has long denied

having sex with underage girls, but prosecutors today reiterated their desire to speak with him. i will say that we would welcome prince andrew coming in to talk with us. we would like to have the benefit of his statement. ghislaine maxwell appeared briefly in court in new hampshire, and remains in custody, but her trial will take place here in new york, where she faces 35 years in prison if convicted. it is a major moment for epstein‘s victims, who have had to relive their trauma in the public eye while fighting for justice for decades. nada tawfik, bbc news. a little earlier, i spoke to the daily beast‘s kate briquelet and asked what the reaction has been to the arrest of ghislaine maxwell. i was completely shocked to hear that, you know, she had ultimately been arrested today, approaching the one—year anniversary ofjeffrey epstein‘s arrest. earlier this week, i had been working on a story related to the one—year anniversary and, as part of my reporting,

had interviewing multiple victims of jeffrey epstein‘s —— had been interviewing multiple victims ofjeffrey epstein‘s trafficking scheme, and they all had expressed frustration that maxwell and other people hadn't been arrested. i mean, i think people were worried that the case was going to die with jeffrey epstein. that is clearly not the case now. what do you make of these charges that she is facing? it's interesting that these charges are stemming from victims and incidents that occurred in the mid ‘90s, which shows just how far and for how long jeffrey epstein‘s alleged sex ring had been going on. when we were looking at the case with the charges with epstein last year, those charges were related to, you know, incidents and victims that were in new york in the early 2000s. you know, the charges that maxwell is facing relate

to a victim that was met in london, it relates to a victim that was transported from florida to new york, and also a victim who had been abused in new mexico. i mean, itjust makes you wonder how far and wide did this alleged scheme run? i mean, it was an international sex trafficking scheme, and so i think there's a lot of questions as to, you know, the extent of maxwell's involvement, you know, how long she was involved and how many people besides her were also taking part in this. and we should stress, of course, ms maxwell has denied any involvement, as well as any knowledge of epstein‘s crimes. what do you think this development today means for the wider investigation here? i think for the wider investigation, a lot of powerful people that were injeffrey epstein‘s orbit, a lot of powerful people that were friends with ghislaine maxwell — are probably very scared right 110w.

because, i mean, if you were ghislaine maxwell, you would be facing — you know, if she is convicted, if she is found guilty, she is going to be facing possibly the rest of her life in prison — 35 years maximum. so, you know, you would think that she would want to co—operate with investigators and, you know, perhaps cut herself a deal. and i think it's also interesting to note that this case is being prosecuted by the southern district of new york's public correction unit, so there are questions as to would a public official be wrapped up in this investigation? i think time will tell. the governor of the us state of texas, greg abbott, has ordered that face masks must be worn in public across most of the state. it was amongst the first us states to reopen for business but it's become one of the country's main coronavirus hotspots since restrictions were lifted. mr abbott said face coverings

will help slow the spread of the virus. one of the best ways to keep businesses open while also slowing the spread is for everyone to wear a face covering like this when they go out. medical studies have shown that wearing a face covering slows the spread of covid—19, and it protects you and your family. the governor's plea comes on the day that the us reported more than 53,000 new covid—19 infections — a record increase for a third day in a row. 0ur north america editor jon sopel has more. america is now into its fourth month of emergency measures to tackle coronavirus and the situation is getting worse — way worse. yesterday broke all records with nearly 53,000 new cases being recorded in a single day, resulting in hospitals like this one in houston, texas drowning in a sea of covid. all you have to do is take a look at the news at night

and you see people congregating at bars without masks, congregating in different types of groups that are well beyond the recommended number of people. what happens when you do that and you don't wear a mask? you get the kind of outbreaks we're seeing. but though many in the us are wearing facial coverings, there's a sizeable chunk of the population that refuses — an almost "real men don't wear masks" attitude, — a viewpoint that at times has been aided and abetted by the president. can you take it off? because i cannot hear you. i'll just speak louder, sir. 0h, 0k, good. you want to be politically correct, go ahead. and look at the last rally the president attended. this was in arizona last week, where cases are going through the roof. but at no point did donald trump tell anyone they should put on a face covering, and he has done all he can to avoid being filmed wearing one, though he now says that might change. i mean, i'd have no problem. actually, i had a mask on. i sort of liked the way i looked.

i thought it was ok. i looked like the lone ranger. it's a sign of the division in america — maybe even the madness — that the simple act of wearing a face mask has become a political issue and notjust a matter of public health during a pandemic. there is a danger that this becomes the new frontier in the culture wars, that pits conservative against liberal. the past two weeks have been a torrid and horrid time for donald trump. today, his bounce was back, with good news on the economy. these are historic numbers in a time that a lot of people would have wilted. but with many states that had opened talking about shutting down again and those that were about to open putting plans on hold, the nightmare goes on. president trump vowed to defeat the hidden enemy, but coronavirus has been a curveball that he has nowhere near been able to master. jon sopel, bbc news, washington.

jeremy wallace is a political writer for the houston chronicle and the san antonio express news. he's joining from the state capital in austin. you very much for coming onto the programme. absolutely great to be here. what do we make than of this announcement by mr abbott? how much of a kind of u—turn is this or was there something he always wanted to do? will he faced criticism for coming out so strongly and telling everyone to wear a mask? this is a big change in his approach to this topic of wearing face masks. he has been asked repeatedly why won't you require that statewide and he has continually said texans need to be told to wear a face mask. they will do it because it is the right thing to do. but we can see that has changed 110w. but we can see that has changed now. the numbers arejust getting so astronomical and so out of hand with a hospitalisations that we are up nearly 400% since memorial day, and you can see on the

trajectory, we're going to be out of hospital beds notjust in houston and san antonio but in no time. we heard don sobel in that report talking about what a political issue the mask has become an people around the world a re has become an people around the world are looking on and scratching their heads but how on earth and if you like wearing a mask can become a political one —— jon sopel. wearing a mask can become a political one ——jon sopel. it is kind of mediaeval superstition when people in the us are supposed to be smart and listen to science. what is going on with these face masks? like you said, earlier, there was a political nest that has happened, particularly with people on the right and trump supporters have ta ken people on the right and trump supporters have taken his need a default lead and decided they don't need to wear a mask and particularly in a place like texas there were parts of texas that were not seeing covid—19 —— politicalness. there were parts of west texas and rural parts of west texas and rural parts who said why would i need to wear a mask that there was a push back there. i think that is what is happening, this

conservative push of do not wear a mask but in the cities, they have been saying please, let us put in rules to require a mask. the governor would not let them do that and in fact he took those powers away from them at one point, at least it took away their ability to enforce those, but now with these orders you can see he is 110w these orders you can see he is now starting to move back towards those cities, where they want him to be, letting him enforce these and making sure that people wear masks to ensure the spread does not happen anymore. but is an interesting and clear explanation, thank you. what about the broader principle of states reopening, you know? texas was fairly early to reopen. is there a sense across the us that ouch! but has not worked. but celebration we had at white house in early may with the governor and president seems a little foolhardy now, right? we look back at it and go oh boy. we were at the beginning of what was going to beginning of what was going to bea train beginning of what was going to be a train wreck. there was a point where the governor was using a lot of data to help him

make his decisions along the way. even he has now said you know what? we probably should not have reopened the bars. we probably went too far in doing that. since those bars will reopened, we have just that. since those bars will reopened, we havejust seen that. since those bars will reopened, we have just seen the spread isjust, you know, statewide here and i think that isa statewide here and i think that is a big piece of it and i think he is starting to see them of the mistakes that they have made, he is talking about a little bit more but he is defensive, saying back in may oui’ defensive, saying back in may our numbers looked good and it looks like we should be able to go forward, and even the white house officials, the top coronavirus experts were telling him his plan was great and yet, here we are, you know, we are seeing covid—19 cases arise right now and you can feel the fear is starting to grow. really good to talk to you, jeremy. thank you. appreciated, thank you. china has called on the united kingdom to stop interfering in its domestic affairs. it follows the uk's offer of a pathway to citizenship to hong kong residents who hold british national 0verseas passports. here's danny vincent. it is not new to be arrested

in hong kong as a pro—democracy activist, but potentially facing life imprisonment is. tak—chi tam was arrested after taking part in a protest. he is now out on bail after being charged with the offence of illegal assembly, but he can yet face steeper charges under hong kong's new national security law. nearly 200 people inside. 200. most of them are youngsters and some of them are middle—aged people, and some are old ladies, old men, inside. nobody knows what the future holds, but many fear the worst. in an abandoned building, we meet brian, who isjust out of college. translation: we, the younger generation, feel hong kong's prospects are gloomy. this includes choosing your career and your personal life. even personal freedoms and basic human rights can't be secured. hong kong is constantly

being suppressed. but brian has a way out. he holds a british national 0verseas passport, and is planning to leave. after china imposed the national security law, britain said the passport could lead to citizenship for up to 3 million hongkongers. 27—year—old alain also holds a bno passport. he was a member of a now disbanded political group, but he feels a responsibility to stay. translation: the main people in this social movement are those who were born after 1997. they're not like us, who are older and have a british national 0verseas passport, and can easily leave. right now, i'm going to stay with my fellow protesters, to resist together. i have no plan to leave for the uk. it's not clear whether china will even allow bno holders to travel to the uk.

translation: china will reiterate that hong kong affairs are china's internal affairs, and there is no place forforeign interference. the new national security law has changed this city and its people overnight. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: how new york is trying to welcome back tourists ahead of the independence day holiday weekend. china marked its first day of rule in hong kong with a series of spectacular celebrations. a huge firework display was held in the former colony. the chinese president, jiang zemin, said unification was the start of a new era for hong kong. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly that was cloned in a laboratory using a cell

from another sheep. for the first time in 20 years, russian and american spacecraft have docked in orbit at the start of a new era of cooperation in space. challenger powered past the bishop rock lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering a record that had stood for 3h years. and there was no hiding the sheer elation of richard branson and his crew. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: us prosecutors have charged the british socialite ghislaine maxwell with grooming young girls for her former boyfriend, the convicted paedophilejeffrey epstein. the uk government has announced it will remove travel restrictions for lower—risk countries ahead of the summer holiday season.

paul charles is the ceo of the travel consultancy the pc agency. he's welcomed the end of blanket quarantine restrictions. it's good news that the foreign office will be removing its non—essential travel advice from this saturday. and it means that many millions of holidaymakers will actually be able to travel from this saturday to certainly those countries you've mentioned, spain, italy, france and germany, but also many others which they're going to unveil in a few hours' time. i think the list, when it's published later on friday, will be potentially 70—80 countries. we understand that the government will be unveiling the traffic light system, which seems on the face of it to be a system providing a lot of clarity, which is what we need in the industry, and there'll be green, amber and red countries. now, obviously the green and amber countries will be those where you won't have to quarantine on your return. but apart from germany,

france, italy and spain, it's not clear yet which countries will be green and which ones will be amber, although we could hazard a guess. amber means that there's more risk attached to that destination, and indeed that travellers there should be more cautious, and it also makes it easier for the government, of course, to adjust the rating to red if they have to, if there's a spike in that country or if there's a sudden outbreak that affects the whole country. it gives the government flexibility, whereas the green rating, of course, is for those countries that are deemed very, very low risk indeed. there are still issues with this system. so while we welcome it, scotland is not recognising it. disagreement between scotland and westminster over how these countries have been chosen, which ones are in the final list. and there's a potential that when this is announced by the transport secretary in a few hours' time, officially, that it could apply to england only.

so that will still leave confusion reigning in scotland. now, a startling fact — the volume of electrical goods thrown away last year — weighed roughly the same as 350 large cruise ships. the analogy comes from a major study by the global e—waste monitor. their message is conclusive; it's not sustainable. 0ur reporter freya cole has the story. a mountain of waste, disused telephones, old televisions and a tangle of cords. these workers in vietnam are at the forefront of handling global electronic waste, and it is a growing business. translation: only recently did we start collecting e—waste as we start collecting e—waste as we saw more and more electronics being discarded. we also profit more from these. the world is addicted to the latest technology, out with the old, in with the new. but a report led by the united

nations has revealed the consequences of this obsession. electronic waste is anything with a battery or a plug. according to the study, the world generated more than 53 million tons of e—waste last year but just 17.4% million tons of e—waste last year butjust17.4% was recycled. it most likely end up buried or burnt. last year, 98 million tons of toxic chemicals we re million tons of toxic chemicals were released into the environment. and that amount of electronic waste is worth more than 57 million us dollars. the report reveals that china, the united states and india are the world ‘s worst offenders but it isa world ‘s worst offenders but it is a global problem. it is quite simple, if you go by the total wage generated by continent, it is asia simply because they have the biggest world population but if we go by per capita, then it is

europe, by far leading with like norway, et cetera, generating more than 25 kg per capita. the report says a solution is better recycling programmes but the onus is on big tech companies to make a longer lasting electronics and the consumer to cut back on things that they do not need. freya cole, bbc news. new york city is usually swarming with tourists at this time of year, visiting for the july 04 fireworks or a broadway show. but the coronavirus pandemic has knocked the tourism industry sideways, laura trevelyan has this report. the view of the statue of liberty is stunning from the water and there is nothing blocking the view from the harbour cruise either. tourists here are scarce and the city is losing millions of dollars a day as citizens avoid the place that was the original heart of the coronavirus outbreak. brian manages a hotel in the bowery area of manhattan. most of the guests now are medical workers. american tourists are starting to book rooms.

he is working on how to be welcoming behind plexiglass. hospitality is a relationship—based industry. the mask means smiling is harder to communicate warmth and hospitality, so how do you smile and show that through your eyes? so we are talking about those things. but how to make staff feel safe is the challenge. this woman has been volunteering at a food bank since she was laid off at a hotel front desk. her union is pushing for safe conditions and she is on the fence about going back, to given the number of guests she normally sees. on a regular day more than 300 people, because people leave, people check—in. do you anticipate you will return to work injuly? i don't know how i would feel about the commute to manhattan, taking the train, so i am still waiting for that to see how it feels. new york city is one of the most popular destinations in the world usually attracting more than 60

million tourists a year. but the coronavirus outbreak has had a catastrophic impact on tourism and it is far from clear just how long the recovery will take. jonathan runs a think tank focusing on the new york economy. out in queens, at the park where the world fair was held in 1964, he says the city has a history of resilience. we must go above and beyond to show that the city has a public health reform response that makes people safe from a pandemic. the good thing is new york has done this before. after 9/11 there were significant fears around the globe that people would not come to new york because of fears of terrorism. but i think the city took a lot of steps to make people feel safe. how to do that so manhattan bustles again with tourists and their dollars is the question. a coronavirus vaccine may reassure travellers. perhaps byjuly 4th next year, new york city

will be its vibrant and crowded self again. this is bbc news. good morning. we're halfway through 2020. it's supposed to be the middle of summer but the weather is very un—summerlike, unfortunately at the moment. as you can see through thursday afternoon, across the midlands and south—east england, we had a rash of showers and some of those were heavy and thundery with it as well. we did close the day on thursday with a window of finer weather out to the west, but look what is waiting in the wings. more cloud and more rain on its way, an area of low pressure will push in over the next few hours, bringing some heavy rain with it and if we look out into the atlantic, we can see that it is fairly extensive and will have a conveyor belt of wet and perhaps pretty windy weather for this time of year. it will, however, be a relatively mild start. double digits with the wind

direction coming from the southwest with more of a humid feel developing across the country. some of the rain through northern ireland and western scotland first thing in the morning will be quite heavy. we're going to see a couple of inches of rain maybe more to higher ground as we going into the afternoon and it starts to pep up across wales as well. so, this is a snapshot into the afternoon, scattered sharp showers through the northern isles. central and southern parts of scotland will see heavier rain, particularly the further west you are, the rain easing a touch into northern ireland with some heavier bursts across wales and southwest england. maybe the midlands and the southeast of england staying largely dry for much of the day, and if that happens, 21 degrees will be the high. we will see more wet weather feeding in particularly through northern ireland, southern scotland and northern england and it will stay pretty breezy to the south in particular. and because that wind direction again from the southwest, it will drag up some pretty humid air with it, so, despite the cloud, you will notice the feel when you're stepping outside.

some of that rain fairly persistent through northern ireland, southern scotland, and in northwest england and wales, and just like last weekend, pretty windy with it and unusually windy for this time of year with gusts in excess of potentially 30 miles an hour. we do manage to get a few breaks in the cloud and there will be very few and then temperatures will likely peak at 22 or 23 degrees. that humidity will start to ease for the second half of the weekend as the wind direction changes to more of a northwesterly. so, a cooler source but weather will start to dry up at the beginning of next week. take care.

this is bbc news, the headlines:

the british socialite, ghislaine maxwell, has appeared in court in the united states after being charged with helping the late paedophile and financier, jeffrey epstein, to sexually abuse underage girls. she has previously denied wrongdoing — as well as any knowledge of epstein‘s crimes. texas is making the wearing of a face mask compulsory across much of the state as covid—19 infections continue to soar. coronavirus cases in the us have risen by nearly 55,000 in the past 24 hours — the largest daily increase in any country in the world. one of hong kong's leading pro—democracy campaigners has fled the territory, following china's introduction of sweeping new security powers. beijing has called on the united kingdom to stop interfering in its domestic affairs after britain's offer of a pathway to citizenship for holders of a national overseas passport. now on bbc news — hardtalk.