hello. this is bbc news we'll be taking a look at tomorrow mornings papers in a moment — first the headlines. china denies an accusation by britain's foreign minister, that it's carrying out human rights one never tires of that site, does abuses against its uighur population. one, of the achievement of getting a craft safely off the ground? 50 cani one, of the achievement of getting a craft safely off the ground? so very 90, craft safely off the ground? so very go, hope is in the sky is on its can i ask you why people are kneeling, blindfolded and shaven and way, powered by that rocket from being led to trains in modern china? japan, up through the atmosphere and what is going on there?|j out towards mars. let's talk again being led to trains in modern china? what is going on there? i do not know where you get this videotape. to our correspondent in dubai. was it is deeply, deeply troubling and there any indication in delight at the reports and the human aspects of this achievement? i said m years because that is when the space programme began, as you say six forced sterilization and camps are yea rs programme began, as you say six years for this project, but they reminiscent to something we have not seen reminiscent to something we have not seen for a long, long time. added an extra impediment, the authorities in the uae, they said to president trump has defended his handling the engineers, you can't use another of the coroanvirus pandemic, incorrectly telling fox news that the us has the lowest tech country's technology, you must mortality rate in the world. and blast off, and the first do it all from scratch. that is

right and do it all from scratch. that is rightand in do it all from scratch. that is right and in 2014 when the mission arab space mission was announced... all, some of the tea m to mars has successfully launched — was announced... all, some of the team members are here clapping, the probe being sent along with the media. jubilation, excitement, and as you can see if i can pull the camera round, a sense of exhilaration is here. so yes, it has taken off, but this is phase one, remember, and the next stage will take about an hour or a little more than that when the spacecraft will separate itself from the rocket and that is the period, the time when it will start sending signals back to the control room here and thatis back to the control room here and that is a really critical moment to really determine whether the launch has been successful. this is phase one and we really have to wait for another hour or so to figure out whether the liftoff has been successful. coming to your other question about yes, the mission was announced in 2014 and at that point

of time, the political leadership of the country told the space team here that they do not have the money to buy the spacecraft from another country or a private company and thatis country or a private company and that is why they have to build it from scratch. now, the whole project was not done entirely by that team, they had a lot of partnerships, with they had a lot of partnerships, with the university of colorado, which helped them build the spacecraft and then a lot of the work was done over here at the spacecraft over here, so it was a collaboration and the united arab emirates realised they couldn't do everything on their own, so couldn't do everything on their own, so they wanted to borrow the experience from other projects and also involve their own scientists who are getting trained by american scientists to work on this project because remember this is a mission that has never been attempted before, not only by the uae, but anyone in this region or the middle east, so it is a very ambitious project and a very challenging one

at the same time. just to add a caveat, half of the mars missions that have been launched in the past have failed, so even though it is a big night, historic night for this country, it is still a long journey because it is going to take seven months for the space probe to reach the mars atmosphere, sorry, orbit, and after that it is going to rotate around the planet for the next one martian year, which translates to 685 earth days, to gather that information. so step one, a big night, but still a long journey. thank you very much, i'm sure there will be celebrations for while yet. thank you very much for staying up. you probably never get bored of space launches. it is a wonderful launch. there really something. as an astronomer, there is an odd irony

to the fact that it is only now that the arab world is getting a space programme when it is their astronomy that taught us so much about the planets thousands of years ago. most of the named stars sky that we discuss carry arabic names in arabic meaning and there's so much astronomical heritage when it comes to the exploration of space and it is delightful to see the middle east becoming yet another region to actually break the journey to mars along with europe, america and with india as well. it is fantastic to see another mars mission very ambitious one at that. tell us about the circumstances that make this possible, not just the the circumstances that make this possible, notjust the uae commitment which is moving away from oil and gas production and looking for a new role in celebrating 50 yea rs for a new role in celebrating 50 years since the uae was created. in

practical terms, is a good time to do it because we are very close to mars. ) relatively speaking. there are so many mars. ) relatively speaking. there are so many factors that come into deciding when to launch a mission like this and i think it is an event thatis like this and i think it is an event that is something to be proud of. and it is important as well to be focusing on the space sector which isa focusing on the space sector which is a booming industry and has many technologies and really reaches out to do so many different sectors and provides employment opportunities in so provides employment opportunities in so many interesting areas. but there isa so many interesting areas. but there is a window in which you want to launch and reach mars and that is because we orbit the sun at about twice the rate that mars does and we can benefit from that with our increased speed is a planet, we can throw the spacecraft with our additional speed and is the space flight additional speed and is the space flight controls in this mission will be focusing on now, the imported

legal beauty navigate the spacecraft to where mars is going to be next february, not where mars is now, we are on the catch up to mars in the spacecraft is going to be exploiting that speed to rendezvous with mars next february, but mars is now in the sky if you're staying up late enough into these early morning hours and you look over to the east, thatis hours and you look over to the east, that is the southeast for the northern hemisphere, you see that red orange star in the sky will be playing very close attention in october this year will be making our approach to mars is a planet. will be thinking about this mission that is due to arrive a few months down the line. you made the point that kind of the record of mars missions is mixed and the late colin showed his enthusiasm and it did not succeed in the web hoped in terms of

sending back information. if this one is successful, what is actually going be doing? this is a really interesting mission. it's going to be studying primarily the martian atmosphere and also the lower atmosphere and also the lower atmosphere between the ground and where you'll get some remarkable weather features. dust devils and dust storms that occur on mars and how they come and go is still something of a mystery. and there is much bigger mystery which revolves around the erosion of the martian atmosphere which seems to be disappearing and part of that is due to interference from the solar actually the energy from the sun pushing the atmosphere away, but understanding that rate of decay in the atmosphere is very important for understanding the past stability of mars, so this is very much going to complement the kind of data that comes into ground missions from mars rovers that are probing the past

habitability i it all ties into the fascinating question that drives so much of the space research, could there once a bin life the —— could there once a bin life the —— could there once a bin life the —— could there once have been life on mars was white thank you very much. —— thank you very much. that is go back to dubai. the mission is being overseen at the dubai space centre. our correspondent sameer hashmi is there. it's economic and desire to move away from the gulf states. in fact, when the mission was announced, one of the main objectives was that this mission programme will be used for

building in knowledge—based economy which will move away from the dependence on oil. and create a workforce for the future which will be focused on science and technology. one of the main objectives of this mission and what the government is saying is that this will not only inspire young people in this country, but even in the arab countries. the dependency on oil and the big big way, all of those countries than saudi arabia, which is the largest producer of oil in this region, they're not trying to focus on programmes which will help them move away and build new industries, skill —based industries from 20 years from now and start taking the pressure off the oil industry in space is a great opportunity. it is a sector where a lot needs to be discovered and

explored and the uae is one of the very few countries in the world to send a mission to mars and if this is successful, it will be a real boost for the countries main objective to build the economy that is not dependent on oil and from that point of view it is crucial. because you're the contrast between that nervous silence in the moments before liftoff and the buzz in the relaxation that there is no. we hope you have a great night there. thank you have a great night there. thank you very much for sharing it with us here on bbc news. well before we move on to the days others news —— let's take a look one more time at the probe al amal — the arabic translates in english as ‘hope' — blasting off on the it's journey to mars.

it was in 1218, 1264 that the first observation of mars was made from the observatory in iran, persia as at the end was. this was a long process , at the end was. this was a long process, the climax of an amazing interest in the skies and the planet above us in parts of the arab world. let us move on to the other news now. the foreign secretary, dominic raab, is expected to announce what practical measures the uk will take against china, as tensions grow between the two countries, over beijing's tough new security law for the territory. that legislation could see dissidents sent to the chinese mainland, and so it's thought

tomorrow mr raab may announce the uk is suspending it's extradition treaty with hong kong. beijing's ambassador to britain, has threatened that china will retaliate and accused downing street of ‘dancing to the tune of the americans.‘ meanwhile the foreign office has also criticised beijing over human rights abuses, against it's moslem uighar population, as our diplomatic correspondent, caroline hawley, reports. diploma formerispondent, diploma former firms-m i relations. [51 gosing new diploma former firms-m i relations. imgosing new security relations. imposing new security laws undermining hong kong autonomy has dramatically escalated tensions between beijing in the west. as britain prepares to step up its response, a warning from china.“ the uk government go that far, goes

that far to impose sanctions on any individuals in china, china will certainly make resolute response to it. but britain feels it must act when they can no longer trust the independence of hong kong's legal system. we will conduct an interview of our extradition arrangements and an arrangement of other measures that we wish to take. with the home secretary and completing that review, i will update the house of commons with further measures will be taking tomorrow. david clements talked about a golden era with china, but the relationship is deteriorated in recent months and is not beset by problems on several fronts —— david cameron. take while way, the government banned the company's way, the government banned the compa ny‘s technologies in way, the government banned the company's technologies in the 5g network. a u—turn prompted by pressure from the americans. there are fears not of the potential economic fallout of british

business, other countries including the us,japan and business, other countries including the us, japan and australia have paid a price for following the us, japan and australia have paid a price forfollowing up the us, japan and australia have paid a price for following up with china. china has sanctioned commerce, trade and companies of those countries operating in china, so those countries operating in china, so to be honest, it is difficult to predict which china might do with regard to the united kingdom, but we may have to expect that the british companies will be in the cross hairs. with china is doing to its minority has caused international outrage and men have been forced into mass re—education camps, women forcibly sterilized. dominic raab said the human rights abuse was egregious and deeply troubling. the ambassador was showing video that appears to show bound, blindfolded men being forced onto a train. this was his response. what is happening here, ambassador? these have been shown by australian experts who say that these are

people being put in on trains and taken off. the so-called western intelligence make this a false accusation against china. in hong kong, the protest i on despite coronavirus and the government as well as its economic and diplomatic interests must be weighed. a difficult balancing act. nury turkel is a commissioner for the united states commission on international religious freedom and he's also a uighur rights activist. i welcome any decision from europe, including uk, to show a strong policy response to the ongoing humanitarian crisis that has been correctly described as the largest incarceration of ethnic minority

since the holocaust. so the uk government needs to respond, need to respond strongly in a similar way, in a similarfashion, as the united states has done. this decision for public condemnation is long overdue. it is a matter not of conscience but of principle. united states does not advocate any country to break economic ties with china, but that economic relationship, trade relationship, economic interest, should not be at the expense of human rights or moral principles. the train has left the station a long time ago. it is ripe time for uk and other european nations to catch up. that has been quite a long period when concerns have been raised about what has been happening inside xinjang, which is effectively a closed province of china, for outsiders, largely. we have the footage that was revealing the building of these camps. are you frustrated about how long

it's taken to get countries, including your own, where you now live, where you have asylum, united states, to actually acknowledge that this was really going on? i couldn't be prouder of my adopted country, the united states. and my government, for the responses they have shown. we have a very strong bill that has been enacted in the united states and also the current administration has been, has issued a number of executive orders and made a number of executive decisions to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis. i'm ok with the united states. i welcome more decisions. i urge more multilateral decisions and efforts to address the crisis, but i am more disappointed in other countries that have been looking the other way. what we are looking at is a crime against humanity, a crime committed against uighur people. and international community,

particularly the european countries, germany and france, to be specific, cannot continue to be silent. we call on our international partners, the us' traditional allies, industrial democracies, liberal democracies to get on the right side of history. the human rights commissioner appointed by the us congress and he is also a long—standing uighur rights advocate. he took asylum while studying it and has been trying to get his family out ever since. a senior health official in blackburn and darwen, a borough in the north west of england with one of the highest infection rates for covid 19, has warned the current test and trace system, isn't working well enough. it comes as scottish authorities are investigating whether workers

at an nhs test and trace facility in north lanarkshire, have themselves become infected with coronavirus. here's our health editor, hugh pym. blackburn today. part of an area which has seen one of the biggest recent increases in coronavirus cases. it's been identified by national health officials as needing enhanced support for tackling the virus. the local council has introduced its own measures, including limiting household gatherings. i think the two metre distance has more or less gone, but that's not the council's fault. that's down to silly people, isn't it? we need to take control of the virus, you know, and, yeah, i think, i think at the end of the day, everybodyjust needs to obey, you know, by the rulings. an investigation is under way at a blackburn mosque after about 250 people attended a funeral. there has been a positive test result, and the congregation contacted. mosque leaders say there was a misunderstanding over

the guidelines for a limit of 30. in communities like this, the test and trace scheme is vital. finding people who have been in contact with those who have tested positive, and telling them to self—isolate. but the local public health chief said today the national system wasn't yet effective. we could risk seeing an exponential growth, because up to half of the people that may have been infected by an index case, by the first case with the virus, will themselves not know they are infected or at risk of infection and get tested and self— isolate. the department of health said the test and trace service was working closely with local authorities in england, to help manage local outbreaks and data was shared daily. in the weekend ending july eighth, officials managed to get through to 78.7% of those who tested positive. that was up slightly on the previous week. they were asked to give details of their recent contacts. of those, 71.1% were reached and asked to self—isolate. that was down slightly.

in total, since the scheme was launched in late may, 156,000 contacts have been traced. speeding up test results and getting to more contacts is seen as crucial as winter approaches. experts say this is especially important in places where infections are seen to be on the increase. there has to be very large testing in those areas, with tracing, to be able to keep the epidemic under control. and certainly, i think that is where that, if you like, rise in the ability of us to test and the number of tests is incredibly important. a cluster of cases linked to a call centre has been identified at bellshill near glasgow. ironically, part of the test and tracing system. another example of the local outbreaks which health officials around the uk are striving to identify and stamp out. covid—19, the disease

caused by the coronavirus, only came to light at the end of last year, and the more scientists study it, the more they're learning about who is most at risk. here's our medical correspondent, fergus walsh. the risk of catching and dying with covid—19 varies dramatically depending on your age, and roughly doubles every five to six years. now if we look at data for england and wales up to the end ofjune, if you're over the age of 90 there was a one in 49 risk of dying with covid—19. butjust look how quickly that risk falls away the younger you are. under the age of 45, there was a greater risk of dying in an accident during that period. and for the five to 14—year—olds the risk was one in 2.4 million. there were three covid deaths in that age group during that period, compared to 138 from other causes. but even though the risks to the young are incredibly low, they can still pass on the infection

to older and more vulnerable people. i think the figures for covid are quite extraordinary. we know that in normal life older people are at a greater risk of dying each year than younger people, but for covid the difference between the old and young is far more extreme than in normal life. older people might have 1,000, 10,000 times the risk of a very young person. of course it is notjust your age that's important. men are twice as likely to die in hospital with covid—19 as women. people living in deprived areas are also at increased risk, as are some occupations, such as security guards, bus and taxi drivers. now even after adjusting for socioeconomic factors, ethnicity plays a key role. black and south asian men have up to twice the risk of dying as white men, and women from these ethnic groups are also at increased danger. then there is your overall health.

nine in ten people who have died have had at least one underlying condition, such as diabetes, high blood pressure or lung disease. this scientists have developed a tool to help them assess an individual‘s vulnerable to covid—19. take peter. he is a 63—year—old white man. now his body mass index of 37 adds five years to his covid age, but it is his type—2 diabetes that has the biggest impact, adding eight years, giving him an overall covid age of 76, which places him in a more vulnerable age group. now, what about mantej, who is 65? we know women are less vulnerable than men, so we can take eight years off her covid age, but because she is of south asian origin, we have to add four years back on, giving her an overall covid age of 61. now it is not possible to give

a completely personalised risk, but it is clear that sex, ethnicity, age and overall health are key factors. fergus walsh, our medical correspondent reporting there. let's take a look at some of the day's other top stories, and the number of new coronavirus cases worldwide has risen by almost 260—thousand, in just the last 24 hour period. the world health organisation says it's the largest single—day increase since the pandemic began. more than 600,000 people, have died. people in melbourne in australia, will be forced to wear face coverings in public from this wednesday, as the authorities try to contain a fresh coronavirus outbreak. the state of victoria has recorded more than 400 new infections, in the last 24 hour period. ten temporary courts are to begin hearings in england and wales tomorrow, to try to help clear a backlog of hundreds of thousands of cases built up during the lockdown. the so—called nightingale courts will hear civil, family and tribunal cases,

as well as non—custodial crimes. now it's time for a look at the weather with nick miller. temperatures by day will be close to average this week. we start the week with overnight temperatures below average. quite chilly, first thing monday morning. temperatures will head up. a fair amount of sunshine out there. high pressure settling things down to start the week. around that area of high pressure will be some showers, especially in scotland. these are the starting temperatures for monday morning. widely in single figures. these are towns and city centres, colder in the countryside. well into single figures in the more chilly spots. some cloud is going to build. for scotland a mixture of cloud and sunshine. most of the showers north

of the central belt. northern ireland and northern england may pick up a shower later. the bulk of england and wales will stay dry with the lion's share of the sunshine for south wales and southern england with some spots creeping into the low 20s. as for the cricket at old trafford, looking like a not particularly warm monday for the final day, a mixture of cloud and sunshine with the chance of picking up a brief passing shower. monday evening, any showers that forms will tend to die away. they will continue on and off in northern scotland overnight. for most of us it will be another dry, clear and chilly night going into tuesday morning and again on tuesday there will be a lot of sunshine to start the day. there is a chance of catching a shower again more especially across parts of scotland with the odd one may be found elsewhere, northern ireland

and northern england, with cloud thickening and a chance of patchy rain to the further north and west you are through the day. temperatures, a few spots getting into the low 20s in some sunny spells but most will not get that high. there is a weather system coming on tuesday night into wednesday and as these weather fronts moving it will bring rain into northern ireland and scotland and on wednesday reaching for a time into northern england. thursday and friday, the chance of a shower, and then into next weekend, it looks like low pressure will come back, temperatures coming down a few degrees, and we will see rain spreading east. 00:28:37,639 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 goodbye.