until new oil and gas have driven the uea's economy, but it is trying to diversify with its burgeoning space industry. around half of all missions to mars have failed. but the stakes are higher for this country. it's a scientific mission and failure is an option. however, failure to progress as a nation is not an option, and what matters the most here is the capacity and the capability that the uae gains out of this mission. the spacecraft will take seven months to reach mars, and if it does succeed, a new player in the global space race will have truly arrived. rebecca morelle, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with nick miller.

hello, the cloud and rain finally clears in the south—east, original high pressure is building. it is looking mainly fine for the next couple of days. a few showers continuing overnight towards north—west scotland but mostly will be dry, clear and unusually cool as city temperatures drop down into single figures. there will be quite a bit of sunshine as we start the day tomorrow. still strong sunshine out there, some patchy cloud developing just like today, a few of the showers in scotland with one or two heavy ones during the day, a lot of them to the north of the central belt. you might catch one in northern ireland and northern england in the afternoon. winds are a little breezy. getting into the low 20s.

hello this is bbc news . the headlines. china denies an accusation by foreign minister, dominic raab that they're carrying out human rights abuses against its uighur population. borisjohnson says he doesn't believe another nationwide lockdown will be needed — even if there's a second spike of coronavirus this winter. today the government announced a further 27 deaths from the virus. president trump has defended his handling of the coroanvirus pandemic, telling fox news that the us has the lowest mortality rate in the world. police and public health officials are investigating a mosque in blackburn, after 250 people attended a funeral there on monday. it's since emerged that the imam has tested positive for coronavirus. the united arab emirates prepares to launch a mission to mars — making it the first arab nation to do so. and chelsea are on their way to the fa cup final — they lead 2—0 in their semifinal against manchester united.

now on bbc news louise minchin has been speaking to the duchess of cambridge about her involvement with the bbc‘s "tiny happy people" initiative. aimed at the 0—4s, it wants to help parents develop their children's communication skills, with simple activities. music. hi! hello! it's like a game of hide—and—seek in the woods. thank you so much. very nice to see you. isn't this lovely? i'm ryan, this is mia, she's eight months old today. her favourite word now to say is dada, and she loves to try and blow raspberries.

hello, my name is henrietta, and this is my partner. my name is abu. this is our lovely daughter, amira. she is almost one and she isjust learning how to stand up. hi, i'm kerry. and i'm darren. and this is dexter. he's two. he now strings words together into sentences. pigeon! pigeon? oh, well done! never said that word before. hello! thanks for coming down. how are you guys doing? is that your digger? very nice. louis would like that digger. it is such a fun age because they start to, like, express more. she can now scrunch up her nose and everything. we play peekaboo a lot as well. so that's amazing. but yeah, i've learned a lot

through tiny happy people as well, how much food she should have. and her first word was dada as well. 0h, amazing. i was trying to get her to say dada and it worked. dada! there you go! you are absolutely passionate about early years development. yes, very passionate. people sort of assume it's because you're a mum, but actually it goes back quite far for you, doesn't it? yeah, it goes back a long way. i think, you know, in a way, lots of the parents here and lots of the parents and families that you speak to, i think they all know how important it is to look after our children, and to nurture and care for young kids. but i didn't realise, before i started all this work, i didn't realise just how important it is. some of the science behind all of it is extraordinary, it's sort of 90% of our adult brain grows before the age of five, and it just shows what a precious time this is and what an amazing opportunity us as parents have to really nurture their minds,

and really put them in the best possible position for their future lives. dada, dada? dada, dada. at the heart of the bbc‘s tiny happy people initiative, a simple message. talk to your children from as early as possible. want some more yoghurt? are you making a mess?! mess is good. it's important, because more than one in four children starting primary school in england don't reach the required level of literacy development, and it's a similar picture right across the uk. the duchess of cambridge has been involved for some time. chatter. today, she and i are meeting three families at sandringham to find out how they're getting on. she's very chatty! she is. she learns a lot from us, she copies a lot. like eating shoes! does that happen a lot? you just want to eat?

yeah! my children have bottomless pits. i feel like a constant feeding machine for them! just a few more bits? he is the same age, isn't he, as prince louis? when's his birthday? the 2nd of june. 0k, gosh, yeah, very close together. louis' end of may. hello! i wasjust saying, louis doesn't understand social distancing. so he goes up wanting to cuddle everything, and particularly any babies youngerthan him. what kind of resources did you use with yours, and are still using, obviously? well, i think it's really hard, so much focus, particularly during pregnancy, and when you've just got a newborn baby, is on the physical development of your baby, and you as a mother. but what i think is really missing, and what i found was missing, too, was the support there in how to help their social and emotional development — you know, how do you interact with a newborn baby,

what is it that you should be doing? not perhaps... in the first few months, there's a huge amount of support from midwives and health visitors and things, but from then onwards, you know, there's a massive gap before they start school, and it's that bit that i think you really need the support. have you learned anything new from being part of tiny happy people that perhaps you didn't know before? you don'tjust need all these toys. you canjust use something simple like a tree or, you know, a bit of paper rolled up. and just a pen to paper is the best way for them to learn, is what i find. and talking. because talking is free, isn't it? what is that? what is it? can you say pasta? can you say princess kate?

princess kate. you are so clever! look at you, so many words! me and her mum broke up three months ago, we have been co—parenting. but we get on really well. particularly for first—time dads, is it quite daunting? it is very scary. with the midwives, mums get more support, i feel the dads do not get as much support as they could. but obviously the mums go through it all, all respect to them. he has taken to running everywhere. i know that. you put louis down, he is off. having a child young, all eyes are on you. do you feel you are being judged? i feel there is a stigma towards young parents. they don't know what they're doing, they're young... you don't know what it is like to have a baby. but ijust feel like, just take each day as it comes

and you just do your best. there is an assumption that you should know that, you should know what to do. do you think people are fearful to reach out for information? i think so, i think we have heard it from a couple of parents today, and i hear it a lot, there is a sense of being judged if they feel they are not doing a particularly good job or something is not right, they do not feel they can reach out for help, which is very sad because we all need support, i needed support. and we have to work with those around us who can be there as our lifelines, really. ryan, i'm interested in what you said about she has five different cries? which is incredible, to know that. one cry, if, say, i need to get a drink, there is a fake cry. there is a fake cry if i need to, say, get a drink. it is like, show me attention. there is one cry if you are watching tv, she is sitting on your lap, you think she is crying, you look at her and she starts smiling.

then there is this cry, which is another attention cry. and then she has a feeding cry, which is very more high—pitched, and then you have a night terror cry. which is the worst one. that must be really hard, the middle of the night is so lonely. ryan saying how his baby has five different cries, he has learned a huge amount from tiny happy people. it is information like that i wish i had had as a first—time mum, so many parents, it is gold dust for families to be given those tips and tools to use, particularly in these first five years. how have you guys found lockdown? how have you guys been through lockdown? it has been so hard? i work a lot, it takes up a lot of my time, how have you guys been through lockdown? it has been so hard? i work a lot, it takes

up a lot of my time, at least 40 hours a week, so being at home, it is a lot different to being at work, i am seeing things i don't usually see as a parent. it gives me time to spend with my daughter and bonds. it is very hard, i did not see my dad or any of my family. for 3 months, until boris said. ease it down. it was a struggle. they have spoken about the attentiveness, you can't meet friends, it has been really hard for people — they had spoken about the intensity. how do you think it will be for these parents and children? i think some of the elements will be really positive, families have spent much more precious time together, and really reflected on some of the simple things that make a difference to their kids, particularly in the first five years. for others, it has been really tough on relationships, money issues, relationship issues, it has been a real challenge. it has been challenging for those of people.

i'm usually home a lot, myself and the baby, it has been difficult with him at home with me, he has been in my face a lot. i am used to being home a lot. we have had lots of arguments. ijust want to know how you can work to make things again and make the love strong again. juggling parenting and relationship. it is such an importantjob as parents have but it is such a huge responsibility. it is really hard. henrietta and abu were very honest about the stresses of a child on a relationship and lockdown as well. massively. in a way, we have forgotten almost how important relationships are and almost...

it is that connectivity, that intimacy that we have all really missed during lockdown. if nothing else, hopefully one of the silver linings is people will really revalue how important those things are. you talked about going back to work, but you have loved being with her? we grew so close over the lockdown, i went back to work on monday and did not see herforfive days and that was so challenging. how do you extend that umbilical cord, having had that precious time together? from a personal perspective, having lots of the extra time together as a family but then being able to stand back again and go back to how things were is really hard for lots of families. i think you guys do an amazing job, and so many families, it is a hard job but one of the most important jobs we can all do is raising the next generation of happy, healthy kids, and you are doing a greatjob, i can tell. thank you for having us. thank you for coming, i am sorry about the weather.

we'll take the tent down when we go! it has been great to meet the families, and what tiny happy people has provided for parents is a great lifeline. there is not a huge amount of support and guidance and it is very much needed. so well done. now on bbc news it's time for sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm jane dougall.