this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. borisjohnson says uk is response to their coronavirus pandemic shows the sheer amount of the union is the pie ministry makes his first visit to scotland since last year ‘s general election. the snp say boris johnson last year ‘s general election. the snp say borisjohnson ‘s message about scotland's dependence on the union during coronavirus will not be well received. wearing a face covering in shops and supermarkets becomes compulsory from midnight tonight in england. there is criticism of the new rules are unclear. if you are going into a takeaway and eating in somewhere that has a takeaway, that's like hospitality. you're eating, it is not practical to wear a face mask, we recognise

that but if you're going in and taking a product, you are leaving again, you should be wearing a face mask. president trump says he is sending a surge of federal officers into more us cities to fight what he describes asa us cities to fight what he describes as a shocking explosion of violent crime. china launches its first rover mission to mars. the spacecraft will take seven months to reach the red planet. and please get in touch with us about any of the stories today. you can reach me on twitter. or you can e—mail using the hashtag bbc your questions. coming up hashtag bbc your questions. coming up... the hashtag bbc your questions. coming up the biggest left for liverpool. after 30 years of waiting liverpool. after 30 years of waiting liverpool finally get their hands on the league trophy in a ceremony in front of an empty stadium.

hello and welcome if you are watching in the uk or around the world. stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and gci’oss news and analysis from here and across the globe. i am annita mcveigh. uk prime ministers boris johnson will tell people in scotland today that the uk treasury support has kept the wolves at bay for tens of thousands of scottish businesses. on his first visit to the country since last year ‘s general election. he will also say being part of the uk has saved nearly 900,000 jobs in scotla nd uk has saved nearly 900,000 jobs in scotland during the coronavirus pandemic. during the visit, the prime minister will set out details ofa prime minister will set out details of a £50 million funding package for orkney, shetland and the western isles, equalling a pledge for the same amount from the scottish government. that is investing in tourism, energy and skills on the

scottish islands. the trip comes as recent opinion polls suggest increasing support for independence. earlier, scotland ‘s first minister retweeted this cartoon from the times newspaper, depicting how she sees the prime minister ‘s visit today. earlier i spoke to our scotla nd today. earlier i spoke to our scotland correspondent james shaw said the curtain emphasises the scottish national party ‘s thoughts on the visit. what it sums up is the idea that in coming to scotland, borisjohnson is actually helping the independent schools, he thinks he is helping to shore up the union, but from the snp point of view, they hope the fact borisjohnson is not popular in scotland, is not seen, perceived in scotland, to have done a good job in coping with the coronavirus pandemic. they hope that will actually help their cause and that cartoon really sums that up extremely well. but on the other side, there is the case that was

made by the northern ireland secretary brandon lewis earlier on brea kfast. secretary brandon lewis earlier on breakfast. he argued that scotland, as part of the united kingdom, is better served, it gets more money from the uk treasury, essentially, the union works in his argument, for scotland. we as the uk were able to put in place the unprecedented support that the chancellor was able to put in place for businesses, for individuals, because we are part of an entire united kingdom. if you take scotland, for example, you will know as well as anybody their trade and their sales to the rest of the uk are more than the rest of the world put together. we are an important part of the economy of each other, that is why we are a united kingdom. a very different perspective from ian blackford of the snp, the scottish national party, also on brea kfast scottish national party, also on breakfast this morning. acknowledging that there has been support from the uk government, the

furlough scheme, which has given incomes to hundreds of thousands of people in scotland during the course of the crisis. but saying scotland needs more powers to be able to continue to cope with coronavirus. all of us want to see the furlough scheme come to an end, all of us want to see people back at work but we have to recognise that unique circumstances that we have in many of those areas and we simply said to borisjohnson, if he's not prepared to put that support in place, give us the borrowing powers which would be normal for any government to have to put in place in order that we can support people ourselves. we are told we have a powerhouse parliament, the strongest parliament in the world, in a devolved setting, well give us the power so we can do it because quite simply, the uk government is not providing the full support that is going to be necessary for us to come out of this. and it's true, james, devolution in various parts of the uk has really beenin various parts of the uk has really been in the spotlight during the pandemic is the various nations have

rolled out their individual plans for public health and dealing with the virus and so on. but in terms of scotland, what is the evidence in terms of polling, for independence? that is really interesting and i think the argument, the case that you could make, is because there is a perception, whether it is right or wrong, the fact there is a perception in scotland that nicola sturgeon has coped with the crisis better than boris johnson, sturgeon has coped with the crisis better than borisjohnson, that has improved her popularity ratings, his have fallen in scotland, and it seems that it has followed on from that, as well as other factors like the unpopularity of brexit in scotland, it has followed on add support for independence has increased so that over the last few months, you can see, to some extent, they are consistently suggesting that support for independence is more than 50%, not hugely more, but it seems consistent and that perhaps

is another one of the reasons we discussed earlier white boris johnson has come to scotland at this moment. james shaw. breaking news coming to us from china, from our china correspondent stephen mcdonnell, he says the chinese government says it's considering not recognising uk issued british national overseas passports as legitimate travel documents any more. a spokesman for the chinese government said actions by britain meant previous assurances regarding such passports were no longer valid. now, stephen was at a chinese foreign ministry briefing in beijing when this announcement was made. it's clearly a response to the foreign secretary dominic raab ‘s announcement that the uk would welcome people from hong kong who wish to come and live in britain, people who wanted to move because of the introduction of the new security law in hong kong. let mejust repeat that new line. the chinese

government says it is considering not recognising uk issued british national overseas passports as legitimate travel documents any more. saying actions by britain meant previous assurances regarding these passports were no longer valid. on the face of it, it would seem it would make it incredibly difficult for anyone wishing to use that sort of passport to get from hong kong to the uk, would find it considerably more difficult to do so. we are hoping to talk to stephen in beijing very soon about the breaking story. meanwhile, to the united states. president trump sending more federal law enforcement officers to cities he says are struggling with violent crime. they have already been operating in portland, oregon, there have been daily stand—offs between police and antiracism demonstrators. the mayor of the chicago city has already hit back at the move saying that chicago

doesn't need federal troops or secret agents. our north america correspondent david willis reports. amidst the chaotic demonstrations against police brutality that have been taking place in portland, are federal agents in military fatigues, sent in on a mission to protect federal property. critics say their presence here has only served to exacerbate tensions. president trump, however, defends their deployment and is now planning to send federal law enforcement officers to other american cities to combat what he calls "a rampage of violent crime". we want to make law enforcement stronger, not weaker. what cities are doing is absolute insanity. many of the same politicians who want to slash resources for law enforcement have also declared that their cities are sanctuaries for criminal illegal aliens. the next city on the list, chicago, where 15 people were shot outside a funeral parlour on tuesday night.

as in portland, president trump blames the violence on the failure of local democratic leadership and while chicago's mayor is cautiously welcoming the deployment of federal officers, the leaders of some other major cities are saying no way. so what we see in portland is that the federal presence is actually making the situation worse. and we cannot allow that here in new york city nor anywhere else in the country. i want to be very, very clear that we will not allow this to happen in our city. in the wake of george floyd's death at the hands of white police officers back in may, some have called for the defunding of the police. in response, donald trump has sought to depict himself as a law and order president and the democrats as weak on crime. my vision for america's cities could not be more different from the lawlessness being pushed by the extreme radical left.

while others want to defund, defame, and abolish the police, i want to support and honour our great police. for a president who once saw the booming economy as his ticket to second term, the protests over police racism represent an opportunity to fashion a new political strategy, as well as the chance to boost his standing in the opinion polls. recent polls show him trailing his democratic rival joe biden by a substantial margin. much could hinge on the president's assertion that the deployment of federal agents will help diffuse tension in america's major cities, rather than fuel it. david willis, bbc news. we can show you some live images from oregon. we are hearing people are saying this move by the

president smacks of authoritarianism. we've heard from the mayors of six major cities including atlanta, chicago, portland itself, that uninvited deployments of federal troops violate the constitution. you heard president trump in that clip talk about supporting the police. talking about threats from some to defund the police, he's been claiming for example, his opponentjoe biden says this even though joe example, his opponentjoe biden says this even thouthoe biden has not said anything about defunding the police but it is clearly a line president trump is running with. these are the latest images after those live pictures we have from portland, oregon, a little while ago. these protests have been taking place. for a 55th night, there have been reports of unidentified federal law enforcement officers taking action against the demonstrators with unrest in the city lasting for

several weeks. the mayor of portland making it clear he does not support their presence. first of all, i want to thank the tens of thousands of portlanders who came out to demonstrate in support of racial justice and equity. i want to thank the thousands of you who have come out to oppose the trump administration occupation of our city. it is an unconstitutional occupation. the tactics that are being used by ourfederal officers are aberrant. they do not act with probable cause. people are not being told who they are being arrested by. —— are aberrant. the reason this is important is because it's notjust happening in portland. and the president has made it clear it's going to happen in cities that are

controlled by democratic leaders. that is our use of federal police force for political ends. that is not an acceptable solution anywhere in america. that was the mayor of portland. cbs correspondent laura podesta expalains why there are such strong objections to sending in more federal officers. the governor and the mayor in this case, in portland, the governor of oregon, do not want this damage these federal agents there, they are at odds with the trump administration, with the belief that they need this extra support. we should mention that kate brown, the oregon governor, invited guards and to support law enforcement injune, it is not they are against federal assistance, it's these new federal agents, many of whom have not been trained in crowd control, are now infiltrating their streets. and the

other reason why it's so controversial and you heard the merit speak at length about this, he believes and many believe it is a violation of constitutional rights, the first amendment right to free speech, to the right to protest, when you have officers arriving, some in camouflage, some not showing who they are at all, they are wearing regular clothing, driving unmarked vehicles, detaining protesters and not telling them who they are, as they are being detained, these are all violations of what pulls american democracy which is our constitution. that was laura podesta. this time tomorrow, wearing a face covering in shops and supermarkets will be compulsory in england, with anyone failing to cover their nose and mouth facing a fine of up to £100. but the new regulations of where else they're required will only be published today less than 2a hours before they come into effect. the northern ireland secretary, brandon lewis, explained some of the changes we can expect including how the

measures will work for takeaways. the position has been we are advising people particularly on public transport to wear face masks. but actually, what changes from tomorrow is we are saying from tomorrow you should wear face masks notjust on public transport but if you are in shops or supermarkets. the difference that people may not have been aware of and what will be outlined in regulations today is if you are going into a takeaway and you are eating in somewhere that has got a takeaway, that is like hospitality, you are eating, it's not practical to wear a face mask, we recognise that, but if you are going in to buy a product and leaving again, you are treating it like a shop and you should be wearing a face mask. the headlines on bbc news... borisjohnson says the uk's response to the coronavirus pandemic shows the "sheer might" of the union as the prime minister makes his first visit to scotland since last year's general election. president trump says he's sending a "surge" of federal officers into more us cities to fight what he's described as a "shocking explosion" of violent crime.

wearing a face covering in shops and supermarkets becomes compulsory from midnight tonight in england, but there's criticism that the new rules are unclear. australia's government is reporting it could see the biggest decifit in public finances since the second world war, as the cost of fighting the coronavirus continues to rise. the country's treasurer josh frydenburg says the budget plunged into the red by around 85 million australian dollars for the financial year that's just ended. that's around sixty billion us dollars. and it's projecting that figure to balloon to 184 billion dollars for the next financial year, around one hundred billion pounds. like many countries australia imposed strict social distancing rules in mid march that have brought large parts of the economy to a standstill. the swedish government's decision to keep much of society working ‘as normal‘ during the pandemic

raised plenty of eyebrows especially when they were suffering one of the highest death tolls in relation to their population in europe. but despite a sharp drop in both deaths and serious cases this month serious questions remain about the country's unusual strategy. maddy savage has more. while many european cities are adjusting to life after lockdown, little has changed here in sweden's capital. markets, shops and bars have stayed open throughout the pandemic. the strategy here is focused on a ban on large gatherings and social distancing guidelines. we in sweden trust the authorities, and if the authorities they stay at home please and work from home, we do that. so they didn't need to say, "you have to go on a lockdown." i do think the natural thing would be to shut things down a bit more. i don't understand why we're not being more careful. i don't understand.

for months, sweden's had one of the highest death tolls in europe in relation to its population size. but there are signs things are improving despite its controversial approach. the swedish public health agency has reported a sharp drop in fatalities with daily admissions to intensive care units down to single figures. i mean, of course it feels good. i mean, finally we are where we hoped we would be much earlier on. but now we can see this rapid decline that is really hopeful. what about herd immunity? it wasn't the point of the swedish strategy, but something that you thought would be an outcome, spoke very strongly about. but studies suggest only about 6% of people in sweden are known to have antibodies. actually, immunity is definitely a lot higher than 6%. exactly how high has proven to be surprisingly difficult to measure. protecting the economy wasn't a formal part of sweden's strategy, but there were also hopes avoiding a lockdown would help. forecasters think sweden is on track to do better than other hard—hit

countries like italy and the uk, but that is not the whole story. well, compared to our scandinavian neighbours, we are not doing very much better. sweden, like the other nordic countries, is a small open economy, very dependent on trade, so the swedish economy tends to do poorly when the rest of the world is doing poorly. public confidence in sweden's government has fallen, and prime minister stefan lofven recently announced a commission to look into the country's response to covid—i9 after increased national debate about the death rate, especially in care homes. the swedish model is really put under pressure right now. but also, our strong trust in expertise agencies advising the government rather than the government being able to lead the expertise. and as domestic discussions continue, there are worries about how all this affects sweden's global image too.

although it may still be years before we know which governments had the best strategies for handling covid—i9, sweden's unusual approach is testing its reputation. maddy savage, bbc news, stockholm. let's speak to paul franks who's a professor of genetic epidemiology at lund university in sweden. also with me is professor max de courten who's a professor of epidemiology at victoria university in melbourne in australia. melbourne, nearly two weeks into its second lockdown. comparing sweden to other countries, do you think things should have been handled differently? well, i think without doubt, if one knew what we do now, a couple of months ago, i think things would have been done differently, not just that they should have been and that's been the position of the public health authority here in sweden. certainly, the death toll

compared with nordic neighbours is very, very high in the last couple of months and i think that tells a story that is very clear. of months and i think that tells a story that is very clearlj of months and i think that tells a story that is very clear. i suppose what we don't know is why exactly are the numbers of deaths and serious cases in sweden are dropping this month, whether ultimately, sweden may have fewer cases per head of population compared to other countries? we don't know for sure, of course, that's probably something we will never truly understand but the fact people are spending more time outdoors and breathing fresh airand time outdoors and breathing fresh air and exposed to the sun is likely to bea air and exposed to the sun is likely to be a factor. but certainly, thankfully, there has been a substantial decline in the number of deaths in sweden, now get to the point there are very, very few deaths each day from covid i9. point there are very, very few deaths each day from covid 19. was the idea of deaths each day from covid19. was the idea of herd immunity discussed? was that openly talked about? of

course that's been in the background, the public health authorities avoided really talking directly about herd immunity but really, the strategy has been one that you would have thought was designed to achieve herd immunity. that hasn't happened, we don't understand why, there are various theories, one is that the herd immunity threshold that's been put forward from around 60% is probably much higher than true herd immunity threshold because of the nature with which the virus spreads, it's quite heterogeneous in its spread and may beat the threshold is much lower and there are things like the t—cell mediated immunity, the degree to which people in sweden to which people might have this immunity, that's been put forward as a theory as to why the virus is not spreading to the degree it was initially feared. lots of theories. what's

happening with the number of daily cases in melbourne since the second lockdown was introduced? well, we are a little bit at the other end of the spectrum compared to sweden, we had a great decline from our heights in march but since about a little bit more than two weeks, the numbers going up every day and we exceed actually our daily new cases, the numbers we had in march. today, i think, we had the second day, the third day, over 400 cases which, for australia, is our lot because in may, the daily numbers were down to a handful, two single digit, five, nine cases a day and now we have 400. why do you think that is happening? given comparing australia to sweden, australia has such a

strict lockdown to begin with, in the first instance? that is right, the first instance? that is right, the short answer would be we don't quite know. the longer answer is we also speculate and see a number of things different from the first wave and one key difference is the spread of the infection now is actually through the community, we have a couple of housing estates, some clusters, before, in march, when the virus arrived, then, of course, being an island, although a very large one, the spread of the infection was through importing cases and therefore, quarantine worked very well and we were able to bring them down but we had very little, what we call community spread. now, it's the opposite. travel is very restricted, hardly anyone arrives in australia. even

those arrivals are put strictly undera two week those arrivals are put strictly under a two week quarantine. but the key spread is now through locally and through unknown sources in the community. what do you think of how they handle things in sweden? firstly, let me say it's new for us, all around the world. everybody is trying to throw the best mix of interventions at this epidemic, trying to find a middle way to curb, to flatten the curve, but not to completely choke the economy or other terrible consequences on, like, mental health consequences, people, if they are restricted in their movement and freedom for too long. we started with our

restrictive measures very early in the epidemic. and therefore, maybe also for other reasons, our cumulative death number is today, i am just looking at the other screen, 128, ina am just looking at the other screen, 128, in a population of 25 million. so, that is, we have a very, very low numbers, the total cases we have in the country is 12,000. so, the mortality, the death rate is actually here at much lower than it was and it is in sweden. just very, very briefly, professor, we are almost out of time, if death rates go almost out of time, if death rates 9° up almost out of time, if death rates go up again and we pray that they do not, do you think sweden might change strategy or is there an instinctive desire to continue with this approach of avoiding serious lockdown? no, sweden has not had a

particularly innovative strategy against covid 19, it's been a very basic strategy. there's been no sign whatsoever, even when death rates we re whatsoever, even when death rates were very, very high in sweden, that the strategy we change. i don't know whether the public health authority would change their approach but so far, they've stuck rigorously to the plant they laid out in march, i have to say, i hope that they would take a more aggressive and innovative strategy but i suspect they will not. thank you both very much for your time. an unnamed premier league club came close to losing £1 million during a transfer deal due to cyber hackers, according to a uk government agency report. the national cyber security centre said it was only the intervention of the club's bank that stopped the theft. it was one of several incidents highlighted as evidence that sport needed to improve its cybersecurity. let's speak to our cyber reporterjoe tidy. good to see you. tell us more about

this attempted attack on an english club. what more do we know? that particular case is the case of a managing director of the club, english football league club, somehow saw an e—mail perhaps from a hacker and clicked on it and they think what happened as he was sent toa think what happened as he was sent to a fake website, he thought it was an office 365 log in, he put in his e—mailand an office 365 log in, he put in his e—mail and password, he is not logging into any internal systems, he is logging in and letting the hackers know his credentials, they would have seen him logging on and gave the password and username, that gave the password and username, that gave them access to his systems and they did a business e—mail compromise attack, once they have compromised the business e—mail, they wait, very clever, very sneaky, they wait, very clever, very sneaky, the hackers, they waited until there was a transfer being organised between the european club. they put themselves in between the managing director of the english club and the managing director of the european clu b managing director of the european club and send e—mails back and forth, they thought they were

e—mailing each other but they were e—mailing each other but they were e—mailing the hacker and he or she said, these are the details, please send the transfer fee, £1 million to this bank account and as you say in this bank account and as you say in this instance, luckily, the account number was flagged by the bank as being particularly possibly for all they blocked the transaction —— possibly fraudulent. i know one a couple of years ago £8 million sent from one business to another with one of these attacks, the scale is unbelievable. do we have any idea how many of these attacks are successful or thwarted? no, is the answer, the uk, the national cyber security centre says they reckon 2 billion pounds every year is lost through these fraudulent transfers that are aided by cyber attacks. but if you ask the fbi, the worldwide figure could be ten times that, since 2016. that gives us some idea of scale. what else is the national cyber security centre telling us how businesses and individuals can do

more to protect themselves, not necessarily having to rely in this case, luckily, the bank spotting that something was wrong. there was another attempted attack on an english football league club, in the report, this is fascinating, we very rarely hear about these attacks, they are happening at the time but around somewhere attack, whereby the hackers somehow gained entry to the it systems, they think either again through an e—mail sent to the managing director or someone on the staff, or worryingly through the cctv system of the club, they encrypted every end point, every computer and service terminal that was added to the network, the club was added to the network, the club was basically granted to a halt, could not do anything, even at the turnstiles and cctv did not work and the hacker said he wanted 400 bit corn, about £3 million, you won't get your data back so in this insta nce get your data back so in this instance as per the authorities advise the club did not pay but it cost them hundreds of thousands of pounds to get back on their feet and they almost had to cancel a fixture as well. in total, the national

cyber security centre surveyed 57 different sports organisations around the uk, 70% said they had had some sort of hacking attempt with some sort of hacking attempt with some saying they were successfully hacked. 7096, yes. that is a big number. joe, thank you for telling us more about that. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: borisjohnson says the uk's response to the coronavirus pandemic shows the "sheer might" of the union as the prime minister makes his first visit to scotland since last year's general election. but the snp say borisjohnson's message about scotland's dependence on the union during coronavirus will not be well received during the visit. president trump says he is sending a surge of federal officers into more cities to fight what he says is an explosion of violent crime. wearing a face covering in shops and supermarkets becomes compulsory

from midnight tonight in england, but there's criticism that the new rules are unclear. china launches its first rover mission to mars. the spacecraft will take seven months to reach the red planet. it's now a year to go until the start of the olympics in tokyo, which were originally scheduled to start tomorrow. more than 10,000 athletes and half a million overseas visitors had been expected to flock to the japanese capital. instead, today a low—key ceremony is taking place at the national stadium to mark the milestone. let's speak to susannah townsend, a hockey player who was on the british team that won gold at the rio olympics four years ago and was hoping to be injapan today. but circumstances intervene, didn't they? thank you so much forjoining us. what are your thoughts today? have you been spending a lot of time thinking about where you ought to

have been, where you might have been? to be honest for you, the higher day for me was probably the day we were flying out. we have gone back into training and we are back in full flow and having our sites on next year has been important for us. for us as hockey athletes we traditionally do not go to the opening ceremony. 0ur traditionally do not go to the opening ceremony. our event lasts the whole two weeks and our rest is pretty important, but this time around we potentially would have gone because our opening game was actually on the sunday. it is a strange time for everyone. an olympics is the greatest event on earth and when we are looking back this time next year on how we fell, it will be even better. as a sports person at the top level you are pretty good at focusing on what is exactly in front of you and not on other distractions? yes, completely, but at the same time we are allowed to be sad, we are allowed to think

this is what could have been this year. you train your entire life to get to that point of walking out at an olympic games. there are some people who would have gone this summer who potentially may not go. it isa summer who potentially may not go. it is a team sport and people come and go all the time. we need to look forward to the next year, but allow ourselves to be a bit disappointed today. you yourself had been planning on retiring after these games had they been taking place this year. now, obviously, you are not, another year of competition at top level. how is it going? more time to prepare some people would say is a good thing, other people might have been psyched up mentally and physically for the olympics happening this year. do you think it isa happening this year. do you think it is a good thing overall that you have got another year to go? on a very personal note for me, and i have been open about it, i have been disappointed how i have played over the last couple of years and it has given me another chance to

definitely perform for another year. looking from a team perspective we are reigning olympic champions and you have to go to the next olympics not to retain it, but to win it again. for us results do not lie and we have not performed as well as we should have in the last couple of yea rs should have in the last couple of years and we have had a couple of changeovers with coaches. having mark hager, our coach for over a year, having him on board and giving him an extra year with the team can only be of benefit to us. looking forward we would have been ready this summer, but i think we will stand a better chance of winning another gold next summer. stand a better chance of winning another gold next summerlj stand a better chance of winning another gold next summer. i really hope that happens. great to talk to you, thank you so much for your time. susannah townsend, gold winning medallist from the rio olympics, and hopefully at the next one as well. olympics, and hopefully at the next one as well. president trump has used his latest coronavirus press briefing to talk

up plans to reopen schools across the united states, noting he'd be comfortable sending his son and grandchildren back to the classroom. but this comes as california reported nearly 13,000 new covid—19 infections in a single day and texas set new daily records for increases in coronavirus deaths and hospitalisations. alanna petroff reports. this is not your typical la traffic jam. they are waiting for tests for covid—19. coronavirus has been ripping through california, which just eclipsed new york or the highest number of confirmed cases in a single state. in total now the highest in the nation, not highest per capital but not highest in that respect but nonetheless, a sober reminder of why we are taking things seriously as we. seriously as we are. in texas, the state set new daily records for increases in coronavirus

deaths and hospitalisations. healthcare professionals are struggling. we are all trying our best to keep everyone healthy and alive and when it is out of our hands, it is out of our control, we sometimes feel helpless. after california and texas, florida, the nation ‘s third most populous state, with roughly 380,000 confirmed cases. teachers here have been fighting back against the governor's plan to reopen schools, saying it is not safe. in florida we have had well over 23,000 cases of covid among kids under the age of 18 and over 20,000 of those have happened in the last month or so, so we have seen that this rating is going much faster among our students and children under the age of 18. we know we have had increased hospitalisation of kids under the age of 18.

president donald trump takes a different view. regarding your family and your son and your children, are you comfortable and you plan to have them back in person in school? i am comfortable with that and we do have a national strategy but ultimately it is up to the governors of the states. many governors want the schools open. i would like to see the schools open, especially when you see statistics like this, we have great statistics on young people and their safety. in europe, economies have been slowly reopening and daily new cases have been declining but it is a different story in the us. as cases keep rising, many americans are determined to keep driving forward in a fight for their health. alanna petrov, bbc news. the israeli parliament has passed a law giving the government new powers to impose coronavirus restrictions and limiting parliamentary oversight. although initially praised for its rapid introduction of strict measures to control the virus, israel has seen more

than 1,000 new infections a day in recent weeks. and the government is now being challenged by angry protesters. our middle east correspondent, yolande knell, reports from jerusalem. pushed over the ring, hit by a new surge in coronavirus cases and record high unemployment, more israelis are demonstrating against their government. they accuse it of mismanaging the reopening of the country. joining the crowd is this restaurant owner. there is no agenda, nothing organised, only chaos. for now, he keeps his business in tel aviv shut. he says it is a financial disaster for him and his employees. we are dying here, people are dying. there is a big section, the restaurants, bars, nightlife, tourism. hundreds of thousands of people are living off this work and theyjust don't give a damn.

israel won praise for its effective tight lockdown and tracking during the first outbreak of covid—19. but as it has lost its edge, the prime minister, he was already on trialfor corruption, is increasingly under attack. some protesters are keeping up the pressure on the prime minister by campaigning outside his house but it is notjust israeli leaders who are facing growing public anger over the handling of this crisis. palestinians are also furious, challenging the latest lockdown. and there's sharp criticism of the palestinian authority. translation: shut down, that is it, the government does not even want to negotiate. it does not matter to them if people start, they don't care, they have food and the children are looked after. after 30 years as a chef,

this father of six has no work, there is no unemployment benefits so with the restaurant close, he is broke. translation: i am in debt. i cannot provide the basics for my family. i cannot borrow money as no—one has it. often, social distancing rules are openly ignored. students partied after their high schools exam results. and large weddings. complete with celebratory gunfire have gone ahead in open defiance of a ban. in the west bank and israel, politicians are losing people ‘s trust and that makes it far harder to get them to co—operate with steps to stop the spread of the deadly virus and leaves a growing risk of social unrest. the response to the coronavirus pandemic has shown the "sheer

might" of the uk union, borisjohnson has said as he travels to scotland today. during his first visit since last year's general election, the prime minister will meet business leaders and military personel to thank them for their response to the crisis. the snp says the visit shows mrjohnson is "in a panic" about rising support for scottish independence. sojohn curtis so john curtis is sojohn curtis is professor of politics at strathclyde university and he told me earlier that the scottish‘s government handling of the pandemic appears to have increased support for independence. i think the coronavirus pandemic has made devolution more visible, frankly, across the whole of the united kingdom. but obviously it does mean that within scotland crucial decisions about the nature's health and public health, life and death decisions that affected everybody‘s lives, that circumscribed what they could and could not do, these have come out of edinburgh rather than london as far as the people in scotland are concerned. it happens to be the case, despite the fact that in many

respects the statistical record looks rather similar as far as debts and prevalence is concerned at least until recently, that the scottish government's handling of coronavirus is rated much more highly than is borisjohnson's. is rated much more highly than is boris johnson's. that is rated much more highly than is borisjohnson's. that is true south of the border as well. it looks as though at least that alongside that there has been further movement. there have been signs, frankly, for 12 months of support for independence, when he looks in the wa ke independence, when he looks in the wake of the perception that boris johnson has not handled things terribly well and nicola sturgeon has, that support for independence has, that support for independence has urged up a bit further, so we are now getting poles on average of 5296, are now getting poles on average of 52%, 53%. it is the first time in scottish parliamentary history that we have had support for independence ahead of the union on a consistent basis in the polls and that explains why the prime minister is coming north of the border, where he needs to apply these arguments, but also why he is facing a more difficult

challenge to persuade people in scotla nd challenge to persuade people in scotland that it should remain part of the union than any previous prime minister. ministers are pledging to commit almost £600 million to the rail network in the north of england. much of the £589 million will be used to electrify the transpennine main line between manchester and leeds. the number of tracks will be doubled from two to four on the busiest sections, allowing faster trains to overta ke. sections, allowing faster trains to overtake. and looking to the future a new "acceleration council" is being set up to speed up investment in transport. in december, more improvements will be unveiled when a report is published, which it's thought will include plans for more trains, tracks, freight and all electric services between liverpool, manchester, leeds, york and newcastle. here is what people at manchester piccadilly had to say about the announcement. we have probably heard it before hundreds of times to be

honest. i guess we will see. it is ha rd honest. i guess we will see. it is hard to believe it will happen. why? it has been promised before, hasn't it? we have had terrible trains appear for such a long time, it is ha rd appear for such a long time, it is hard to see when that will happen and even if it is promised, when that will actually materialise into anything. it will be nice to not have the south— north divide we have had previously. are you optimistic there might be change? cove has shaken things up, so you never know. and we can speak to a lecture at the centre for railway research. i spoke to somebody from the northern house partnership before you said there had been storms when it came to improving transport links in the north of england. do you think this is different? i share the

scepticism of the people you just interviewed earlier there. these are rehashed promises, the same stuff that has been said previously. this is relatively speaking quite a small amount of money. electrification across the north between liverpool right the way across towards hull was promised the best part of a decade ago and it still has not happened. on the other hand mixed feelings, it is good, it is starting to progress, it is good more powers have been devolved to transport for the north. but this is a drop in the ocean in terms of the required investment we need. we talk about the north— south divide and within the north— south divide and within the m25 and you turn up at the station and you don't worry about when a train will arrive because they will be one in a few minutes. outside the m25 there is a different story. in the west, the east midlands, a lot of money needs to be spent. it is a quantum leap required, not a small amount of

money. i had a message from sue robertson, one of our viewers, who said will you please explain manchester is not the north. we live in the north of england and it takes three hours to drive south to manchester, no investment here. but i guess you get her point. do you think all of the north of england will be served by this, as opposed to some focus around metro centres? it isa to some focus around metro centres? it is a very good point. it is not even all the metro centres or the large cities that have an equal share of the pie. middlesbrough and teesside rarely get the rail investment required compared to manchester, birmingham and london. but it is the rural places, the smaller areas, perhaps rural that on the map look close to cities, some of the areas in south yorkshire, for example, they have incredibly poor services that make catching a train ina services that make catching a train in a futile experience, which means you drive. given that we are in the

midst of a climate crisis, 88% of transport in the country is by road, lorries, cars and vans, in order to reduce our carbon footprint we need to move people onto trains, staff as well as people, and to do that we need more services. you need electrification, tracks to put the trains on, you need the trains themselves, we need major investment. 600 million overfive yea rs investment. 600 million overfive years is pennies when we really need to be looking at multiple billion pounds a year of additional investment. you began the interview by saying you were pretty sceptical, but let's suspend that for a moment, that doubt, and talk about delivery. imagine this is being delivered. how do you see that working? as i discussed with our earlier gas, we have got the northern power has partnership, transport for the north, i have got the list in front of me soi north, i have got the list in front of me so i don't get confused with all these organisations, the

northern transport acceleration council. visit too many cooks as i put to our earlier gas? there is a risk there are too many cooks. there is always a balance between getting the work done and having streamlined delivery and a democratic input into what people want out of the railways and that is where you end up with these various organisations. but we need to avoid talking shops. there isa need to avoid talking shops. there is a risk the northern powerhouse partnership becomes a talking shop and it slows things down. this government has a habit of playing the north against itself, playing manchester against leeds with discussion about dropping parts of high—speed two. we need to push through that. transport for the north should aim at unifying these voices and press ahead with delivery. the most important thing is the north develops a plan and delivers it. what about affordability? the cost of getting ona affordability? the cost of getting on a bus and using otherforms of

public transport is a lot less expensive in london compared to other parts, isn't it? the way that fa res other parts, isn't it? the way that fares for rail work is fares are managed by demand and as you have more trains, fares can come down. if the trains are packed, you can charge what you like. the only way we can reduce fares is by increasing capacity on the system. in the long term you have got hs2, or the fast connection across the pennines, but in the shorter term this trans— pennine upgrade, electrification allows you to run more trains because the trains fit more closely together on the tracks, so ultimately if you want to reduce fa res, ultimately if you want to reduce fares, you need more capacity in the system. gareth davies, lecturer at the university of birmingham, thank you very much. the number of women trying to seek refuge accommodation rose sharply in

july as a lib dem restrictions were eased. refuge also says it has had more than 40,000 calls and online contacts were held during the first three months of lockdown. it is not just women who have been affected, the men's advice line which helps male victims of abuse says it received nearly 8500 calls over the first three months of the lockdown, much higher than the same period last year. jim kelly has this report. lockdown has affected my whole life and made the abuse more obvious than ever before. as lockdown eases, we're learning what life has been like for domestic abuse victims. some have finally managed to break free. others are continuing to be tormented by their abusers. claire says her ex—partner has exploited the delay in court cases during the lockdown to breach custody arrangements. at one point refusing to hand over their five—year—old daughter. lockdown has opened the door for him to control me more than he did

when we were together. i'm a nervous wreck. i hand her overand i'm thinking "am i going to see her again?" she's one of thousands who have contacted the national domestic abuse hotline, run by the charity refuge. staff have been working from home, offering round—the—clock support. and as the lockdown reduces, the demand for refuge places is on the rise. if we have learned anything from covid i hope that it is that domestic abuse is a huge issue. we anticipate that as lockdown lifts, demand will increase yet further and women will need emergency accommodation so that they can escape abuse. for so many, home hasn't been a place for safety under lockdown. the government came up with around £30 million during the pandemic to help victims. refuge and other domestic abuse charities are now calling for a long—term funding plan. june kelly, bbc news.

details of organisations offering support and information about domestic abuse are available on the website. china has launched its first ever solo mission to mars at the start of what will be a busy time for exploration of the red planet. here's the tianwen1 rover being blasted off from a launch pad on the southern island of wenchang. if all goes well seven months from now it will land on mars. it's the second of three separate missions to mars with the united arab emirates having launched an orbiter earlier this week, and nasa due to send its own rover, called perseverance, a week from now. it's all because the earth and mars are aligned to make the journey shorter. here's beijing's animation of what the mission will look like if all goes to plan as it makes its way to the martian surface.

a safe landing has proved to be one of the trickier aspects of going to mars. the plan is to use a combination of parachute and then thrusters before the legs absorb the rest of the impact. tianwen1 is about the size of a small car and will use solar power to get around. here's the head of china's mission explaining what they hope to achieve. translation: compared with the previous lunar rover improvement in various areas, including the power system, have been made on the mars rover. we are also conducting a detailed survey on the landing zone to give the mars rover more data so it can travel in a more stable and better way. you may find these pictures distressing, but the children were not seriously hurt. two children aged ten and three dropped around 33 feet into the arms of onlookers in the south—eastern city of grenoble. they were treated for smoke inhalation after the rescue and two of the man who helped to catch them

suffered broken arms. you are watching bbc news. when was the last time you saw a dramatic thunder and lightning storm? what amazing images. this was the scene in new york last night the huge bolt appears to almost strike the statue of liberty. more storms are forecast in the city until the early hours of friday. now it's time for a look at the weather. hello. summer remains otherwise engaged over the next few days. but there will be glimpses of sunshine and warmth at times. that will be in east anglia and the south east and brighter skies will develop in scotland and northern ireland. in between, damp in the midlands, wales and the south—west with rain and drizzle coming and going. misty around the hills and the coast.

misty around the hills and the coast. through the channel islands, east anglia and the south is, quite humid at 24, 25. even in wet spots we could see temperatures around 20. the isle of man, northern ireland and scotland, most places dry with the odd, isolated shower. winds are generally on the light side and it should feel warm enough with the sun on your back. overnight, patchy rain and drizzle in the midlands and southern england, east anglia and the south—east. quite humid overnight, with temperatures at 15 or 16. patchy mist and fog further north. in rural areas spots will drop down to single figures. but if you have plans for the outdoors on friday, it is the day to do it. between two weather systems and most will be dry. cloud amounts will vary, not huge amounts of sunshine everywhere. the odd shower in the south of england, the far north of scotland,

and turning wetter in northern ireland. we will have more sunshine around on friday and temperatures should creep up a little bit. just as the weekend sets in, this is not what you want to see on a summer saturday. an area of low pressure pushing into the uk, which means cloudy, wet and windy. we will have all of those first thing in the morning, brightening up in northern ireland. elsewhere, the showers keep going and in the south they could be heavy and thundery in places. wet in the far north—east of scotland. temperatures down on what we will see on friday. we continue that slightly cooler theme on sunday. in the south and east this is where you will see some sunshine. but it will feel like autumn at times in scotland and temperatures for some sit in the mid—teens.

this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. borisjohnson says the uk's response to the coronavirus pandemic shows the "sheer might" of the union", as the prime minister makes his first visit to scotland since last year's general election. but the snp says borisjohnson's message about scotland's dependence on the union during coronavirus will not be well received during the visit. china says it is considering not recognising british overseas passport is legitimate travel documents any more. wearing a face covering in shops and supermarkets becomes compulsory from midnight tonight in england, but there's criticism that the new rules are unclear.

if you are going into a takeaway and eating in somewhere that has a takeaway, that's like hospitality. you're eating, it is not practical to wear a face mask, we recognise that, but if you're going in and taking a product, you are leaving again, you should be wearing a face mask. president trump says he's sending a "surge" of federal officers into more us cities, to fight what he's described as a "shocking explosion" of violent crime. china launches its first rover mission to mars — the spacecraft will take seven months to reach the red planet. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. uk prime minister borisjohnson

will tell people in scotland today that the uk treasury's support has "kept the wolves at bay" for tens of thousands of scottish businesses, on his first visit to the country since last year's general election. he will also say that being part of the uk has saved nearly 900,000 jobs in scotland during the coronavirus pandemic. during the visit, prime minister boris johnson will set out details of a £50 million funding package for orkney, shetland and the western isles — equalling a pledge for the same amount from the scottish government — investing in tourism, energy and skills on the scottish islands. the trip comes after recent opinion polls suggest increasing support for independence. and, earlier, scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon retweeted this cartoon from the times — depicting how she sees the prime minister's visit today. but, speaking to the bbc, government secretary brandon lewis defended the significance of the united kingdom.

we, as the uk, were able to put in place the unprecedented support the chancellor was able to put into place for businesses, individuals and it was because we are part of an entire united kingdom. if you take scotland, for example, their trade and their sales to the rest of the uk are more than the rest of the world put together. we are an important part of the economy of each other, that is why we are a united kingdom. but snp leader in westminster, ian blackford, has called for the uk government to give more powers to scotland to allow it to deal with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. all of us want to see this come to an end, see people back at work but you have to recognise that we have circumstances in as many of those areas and if boris johnson circumstances in as many of those areas and if borisjohnson is not prepared to put that support in place, give us the borrowing powers but will be normal for any government to have put in place in order that we can support people ourselves. we are told we have our

powerhouse parliament, the strongest parliament in the world, in aid of all setting, so give us the powers so we all setting, so give us the powers so we could do because, quite simply, the uk government is not providing the full support that is necessary for us to come out of this. our scotland correspondence shows recent polling says the first minister puzzle popularity has increased during the pandemic. arguably, the case you could make is that because there is a perception, whether it is right or wrong, the fa ct whether it is right or wrong, the fact that there is a perception in scotla nd fact that there is a perception in scotland that nicola sturgeon has coped with the crisis better than borisjohnson, that has improved her popularity ratings. his have fallen in scotland and it seems that it has followed on from that as well as other factors, like the unpopularity of brexit in scotland, it has followed on from that that support for independence has increased, so that, over the last few months, you can see that, to some extent, they are consistently suggesting that support for independence is more

than 50%. not hugely more but it seems consistently more and that, perhaps, is another one of the reasons, as we discussed earlier, why borisjohnson has come to scotla nd why borisjohnson has come to scotland at this moment. james sure, there. the chinese government says it is considering not recognising uk issued overseas national passports as legitimate travel documents any more. britain issued the passport to many residents of hong kong. a spokesman for the chinese foreign ministry told a press conference in beijing that actions by britain men previous assurances, regarding such passport, were no longer valid. translation: the uk has neglected china's translation: the uk has neglected china's series argument and the bmo issue. it has broken its promise and violated international law and basic norms. the uk has intervened in both hong kong and china's domestic affairs. the uk broke its promise

first, so china will consider not recognising bn oh as a valid travel document. china reserves the right to ta ke document. china reserves the right to take further actions —— bno is a valid travel document. what does this announcement mean for people who want to travel on this passport. well, that is what everybody is trying to work out at the moment. this latest shot across the moment. this latest shot across the bows from beijing, in what seems to be the ever deteriorating relationship between the uk and china, is quite significant. what it means that, just say you are in hong kong and you want to leave there, if you have just an kong and you want to leave there, if you havejust an id card, you can go across the border into mainland china. but if you want to travel overseas, perhaps, what will be said to the airlines is you can't accept

travellers, say, flying to london with a bno passport. the other thing they could say is, to enter the terminal, you've got to present a ticket and your passport and there is somebody who has got their ticket to london and they have eight to passport, sorry, you can't go into the terminal at all. —— they have a bno passport. many local people will have a hong kong passport as well, thatis have a hong kong passport as well, that is ok, they can travel, but lots of others do not. i imagine they can now be thinking i have to hurry and get myself a local hong kong passport as well, lest i be stranded here and i am not able to travel to the uk to take up this offer, this path to citizenship, which has now been granted to me. but you can see where this is going. what they could, in theory, say is, all right, you can choose. you can apply for your hong kong passport

but you have got to give up your bno passport in order to do so, so the screws are certainly tightening on those in hong kong who only have a bno passport and i think many of them are quite worried about this right now. and is it possible to work out how many people in hong kong would be interested in coming to the uk? we don't really know but there are potentially millions, according to estimates it is potentially 3 million because anybody who was in hong kong prior to 1997, before the handover, and theirfamily to 1997, before the handover, and their family members and so, to 1997, before the handover, and theirfamily members and so, by to 1997, before the handover, and their family members and so, by some estimates, it is 3 million people. they are not all going to want to ta ke they are not all going to want to take up this offer to come to the uk but, in theory, a lot of their might. stephen mcdonnell invasion, many thanks. —— in beijing. president trump is sending more federal law enforcement officers to cities he says are struggling with violent crime.

they have already been operating in portland, oregon, where there have been daily standoffs between police and anti—racism demonstrators. the mayor of chicago has already hit back at the move, saying chicago doesn't need "federal troops" or "secret agents". our north american correspondent david willis reports. amidst the chaotic demonstrations against police brutality that have been taking place in portland, are federal agents in military fatigues, sent in on a mission to protect federal property. critics say their presence here has only served to exacerbate tensions. president trump, however, defends their deployment and is now planning to send federal law enforcement officers to other american cities to combat what he calls "a rampage of violent crime". we want to make law enforcement stronger, not weaker. what cities are doing is absolute insanity. many of the same politicians who want to slash resources for law enforcement have also declared that their cities are sanctuaries

for criminal illegal aliens. the next city on the list, chicago, where 15 people were shot outside a funeral parlour on tuesday night. as in portland, president trump blames the violence on the failure of local democratic leadership and while chicago's mayor is cautiously welcoming the deployment of federal officers, the leaders of some other major cities are saying no way. so what we see in portland is that the federal presence is actually making the situation worse. and we cannot allow that here in new york city nor anywhere else in the country. i want to be very, very clear that we will not allow this to happen in our city. in the wake of george floyd's death at the hands of white police officers back in may, some have called for the defunding of the police. in response, donald trump has sought to depict himself as a law and order president and the democrats as weak on crime. my vision for america's cities

could not be more different from the lawlessness being pushed by the extreme radical left. while others want to defund, defame, and abolish the police, i want to support and honour our great police. for a president who once saw the booming economy as his ticket to second term, the protests over police racism represent an opportunity to fashion a new political strategy, as well as the chance to boost his standing in the opinion polls. recent polls show him trailing his democratic rival joe biden by a substantial margin. much could hinge on the president's assertion that the deployment of federal agents will help diffuse tension in america's major cities, rather than fuel it. david willis, bbc news. protests have been taking place in oregon in portland for a 55th night. there have been reports of unidentified federal law enforcement officers taking action

against the demonstrators, with the unrest lasting several weeks. portland's mayor has made it clear he does not support their presence. i want to thank the tens of thousands of portlanders who have come out in support of racial justice. i want to thank the thousands of you who've come out to oppose the trump administration's occupation of our city. it is an unconstitutional occupation. the tactics that are being used by our federal officers are abhorrent. they do not act with probable cause, people are not told who they are being arrested by and they're being denied basic rights. the reason this is important is because it's not just happening in portland. the president has made it clear

it's going to happen in cities that are controlled by democratic leaders. that is a use of police force for political ends. that is not an acceptable solution anywhere in america. cbs correspondent laura podesta explains why there are such strong objections to sending in more federal officers. the governor and the mayor, in this case in portland, and the governor of oregon do not want these federal agents there, they are at odds with the trump administration with the belief that they need this extra support. we should mention that oregon's governor kate brown invited national guard troops in to support local law enforcement back injune, so it's not that they're against federal assistance, it's that these new federal agents, many of whom have not been trained in crowd control,

are now infiltrating their streets. and the other reason why it is so controversial, and you heard the mayor speak at length about this, is that he believes, and many believe, it is a violation of constitutional rights, the first amendment right to free speech, to the right to protest, when you have officers arriving, some in camouflage, some not showing who they are at all, they are wearing regular clothing, they are driving unmarked vehicles and they are detaining protesters and not telling them who they are as they are being detained, these are all violations of what upholds american democracy, which is our constitution. the uk government has been accused of mixed messaging over where people will have to wear face coverings when new rules come into force. but full guidance is yet to be published. ——they will be compulsory in shops in england from friday — but full guidance is yet to be published. the northern ireland secretary,

brandon lewis, explained some of the changes we can expect — including how the measures will work for takeaways. the position has been we are advising people particularly on public transport to wear face masks. but, actually, what changes from tomorrow is we are saying that, from tomorrow, you should wear face masks notjust on public transport but if you are in shops or supermarkets. the difference that people may not have been aware of and what will be outlined in regulations today is if you are going into a takeaway and you are eating in somewhere that has got a takeaway, then that is like hospitality, you are eating, it's not practical to wear a face mask, we recognise that, but if you are going in to buy a product and leaving again, you are treating it like a shop and you should be wearing a face mask. james lohmann is the chief executive of the association of convenience stores, which provide support and advice to over 3,500 local shops in the uk. the association is encouraging its members to communicate the guidance but not be the enforcers of it. we spoke to him

earlier. we have posters saying three things. first, thank you for wearing a face covering. secondly, making customers aware that there may be colleagues and other customers who might not wear a face covering for a legitimate reason, they may have a hidden disability and some reason they are not wearing and some reason they are not wearing a face covering and, thirdly, a very specific issue, which is around age related sales. so someone comes to buy alcohol or a lottery ticket, clearly you can't, as a member of staff, then be satisfied of that person's proof of age if they are wearing a face covering so, at that point, we can ask customers to remove a face covering so we can use that to prove age. so that is the co re that to prove age. so that is the core of the communications. it is also worth saying that many retailers have a much deeper relationship with their customer base than just going and buying things. they know them as a social touch point for many people. we have

just had the latest uk test and trace figures to the week ofjuly the 15th and just to let you know, 16,742 people were identified as contacts. 77. 9% were 16,742 people were identified as contacts. 77.9% were reached and asked to self—isolate so, again, about three quarters been contacted by the uk test and tray system at the moment. those are the recent figures, the latest figures coming in —— test and trace. the headlines on bbc news... borisjohnson says the uk's response to the coronavirus pandemic shows the "sheer might" of the union, as the prime minister makes his first visit to scotland since last year's general election. china says it's considering not recognising uk—issued british national overseas passports as legitimate travel documents anymore. wearing a face covering in shops and supermarkets becomes compulsory from midnight tonight in england, but there's criticism that the new rules are unclear.

here in the uk, the number of women trying to seek emergency accommodation after fleeing domestic abuse rose sharply in the first week ofjuly compared with the end ofjune, as lockdown restrictions were eased. the charity refuge also says it's had more than 40,000 calls and online appeals for help during the first three months of lockdown. and it's notjust women who've been affected. the men s advice line, which helps male victims of abuse, says it received nearly 8,500 calls over the first three months of the lockdown — much higher than the same period last year. our home affairs correspondent, june kelly reports. lockdown has affected my whole life and made the abuse more obvious than ever before. as lockdown eases, we're learning what life has been like for domestic abuse victims. some have finally managed to break free. others are continuing to be tormented by their abusers. claire says her ex—partner has

exploited the delay in court cases during the lockdown to breach custody arrangements. at one point, refusing to hand over their five—year—old daughter. lockdown has opened the door for him to control me more than he did when we were together. i'm a nervous wreck. i hand her overand i'm thinking, "am i going to see her again?" she's one of thousands who have contacted the national domestic abuse hotline, run by the charity refuge. domestic abuse helpline, run by the charity refuge. staff have been working from home, offering round—the—clock support. and, as the lockdown reduces, the demand for refuge places is on the rise. if we have learned anything from covid, i hope that it is that domestic abuse is a huge issue. we anticipate that, as lockdown lifts, demand will increase yet further and women will need emergency accommodation so that they can escape abuse. for so many, home hasn't been a place for safety under lockdown. the government came up with around £30 million during the pandemic to help victims.

refuge and other domestic abuse charities are now calling for a long—term funding plan. june kelly, bbc news. australia's government is reporting it could see the biggest deficit in public finances since the second world war, as the cost of fighting the coronavirus continues to rise. the country's treasurer josh frydenburg says the budget plunged into the red by around 85 million australian dollars for the financial year that's just ended. that's around 60 billion us dollars. and it's projecting that figure to balloon to 184 billion dollars for the next financial year, around £100 billion. like many countries, australia imposed strict social distancing rules in mid—march that have brought large parts of the economy to a standstill. the swedish government's decision to keep much of society working "as normal" during the pandemic raised plenty of eyebrows — especially when they were suffering one of the highest death tolls in relation to their population in europe.

but, despite a sharp drop in both deaths and serious cases this month, serious questions remain about the country's unusual strategy. maddy savage has more. while many european cities are adjusting to life after lockdown, little has changed here in sweden's capital. markets, shops and bars have stayed open throughout the pandemic. the strategy here is focused on a ban on large gatherings and social distancing guidelines. we in sweden trust the authorities, and if the authorities they stay at home please and work from home, we do that. so they didn't need to say, "you have to go on a lockdown." i do think the natural thing would be to shut things down a bit more. i don't understand why we're not being more careful. i don't understand. for months, sweden's had one of the most highest death tolls in europe in relation to its population size. but there are signs things are improving despite its controversial approach.

the swedish public health agency has reported a sharp drop in fatalities with daily admissions to intensive care units down to single figures. i mean, of course it feels good. i mean, finally we are where we hoped we would be much earlier on. but now we can see this rapid decline that is really hopeful. what about herd immunity? it wasn't the point of the swedish strategy, but something that you thought would be an outcome, spoke very strongly about. but studies suggest only about 6% of people in sweden are known to have antibodies. actually, immunity is definitely a lot higher than 6%. exactly how high has proven to be surprisingly difficult to measure. protecting the economy wasn't a formal part of sweden's strategy, but there were also hopes avoiding a lockdown would help. forecasters think sweden is on track to do better than other hard—hit countries like italy and the uk, but that is not the whole story. well, compared to our scandinavian

neighbours, we are not doing very much better. sweden, like the other nordic countries, is a small open economy, very dependent on trade, so the swedish economy tends to do poorly when the rest of the world is doing poorly. public confidence in sweden's government has fallen, and prime minister stefan lofven recently announced a commission to look into the country's response to covid—19 after increased national debate about the death rate, especially in care homes. the swedish model is really put under pressure right now. but also, our strong trust in expertise agencies advising the government rather than the government being able to lead the expertise. and, as domestic discussions continue, there are worries about how all this affects sweden's global image too. although it may still be years before we know which governments had the best strategies for handling covid—19, sweden's unusual approach

is testing its reputation. maddy savage, bbc news, stockholm. ministers in the uk are pledging to commit almost £600 million to the rail network in the north of england. much of the £589 million will be used to electrify the transpennine main line between manchester and leeds. the number of tracks will be doubled from two to four on the busiest sections ? allowing faster trains to overtake. and looking to the future ? a new acceleration council is being set up to speed up investment in transport. in december, more improvements will be unveiled when a report is published ? which it's thought will include plans for more trains, tracks, freight and all—electric services between liverpool, manchester, leeds, york and newcastle. earlier, our business correspondent nina warhurst sent this update from manchester picadilly station. this money, this 589 million, will begin by accelerating plans to electrify the route, the transpennine route, the infamous one between leeds

and manchester where we see so many commuter woes. on top of that, they will double the number of tracks at pinch points, so those horrible times when your fast train gets caught behind a slow one, no more, it will be able to work its way around. and, again, they'll set up, as you mentioned, annita, this northern transport acceleration council, what that means is senior ministers from the department for transport will be in regular contact with morthern leaders to make sure these improvements contact with northern leaders to make sure these improvements happen and happen in the right places and happen quickly. the problem is, commuters across the north have heard all of this before and that is something i put to grant shapps earlier when we spoke to him here. yeah, the principle is we want sort of connectivity in the north to be every bit as good as if you happen to live in london, you have got the convenient underground service, we want the north to enjoy the same benefits and that is why i am setting up the northern council today, really getting on with it.

i've spoken to every single northern leader in the last few weeks, myself and my team, and we're getting on with their priorities. if you are comparing the transport system up to here to london's integrated system, is it fair that treasury figures released last year showed that two and a half times the amount of money was spent per head on londoners than northerners? are we going to see that change? i think it is too easy if you have got some money to spend, go, oh, we willjust put that into london or the south—east. i want to make it so the argument is, no, what we have got to do is improve transport in the north so people can travel around easily, make the area, the region much more productive as a result and give people all the advantages. so these investment numbers are going to change, they are going to become more balanced? yes, and you can see that today through the 600, over £600 million i'm announcing today, with much more to come. it was interesting, we spoke with the labour mayor, andy burnham, earlier, and he confirmed what grant shapps has said, that, yeah, they have been in regular text conversations about what the right

thing to do next is. and i said to andy burnham, we have stood with chris grayling, with philip hammond, with ed balls way back when, talking about these improvements and they still have not happened. i said do you trust it this time? do you, as someone who represents greater manchester, think change is afoot? and he seemed reasonably optimistic. it's a bit groundhog day, isn't it? but i'm going to give this transport secretary the benefit of the doubt. i've been on your programme criticising transport secretaries who haven't done the right thing, but when one comes along and says there's new money, fully electrified, a modern 30—minute journey between manchester and leeds, it's got to be a good thing and anything that has northern transport and acceleration in the same sentence is something that i am just going to welcome. you know, i've always said this, if the government does the wrong thing, i will call it out really loudly and i've done that on the railways, but when they do the right thing, i think the public would expect me to say, well, ok, fair dos, this is a good thing and today this

is good announcement and i'm very much going to give him the benefit of the doubt, he's bringing a bit of energy and drive to northern transport and that's what it needs. it is what it needs but there is some frustration in the note that the big cities of leeds and greater manchester, they don't represent all of the north, so right up into the humber, right across to merseyside, they sometimes feel left out of these big announcements and there was scant detail on what would happen for those areas in today's announcement, they will have to be patient, but for many commuters, that patience has run out. china has launched its first ever solo mission to mars — at the start of what will be a busy time for exploration of the red planet. here's the tianwen—1 rover being blasted off from a launch pad on the southern island of wenchang. if all goes well, seven months from now it will land on mars. it's the second of three separate missions to mars —

with the united arab emirates having launched an orbiter earlier this week, and nasa due to send its own rover, called perseverance, a week from now. it's all because the earth and mars are aligned to make the journey shorter. here's beijing's animation of what the mission will look like, if all goes to plan, as it makes its way to the martian surface. a safe landing has proved to be one of the trickier aspects of going to mars. the plan is to use a combination of parachute, and then thrusters, before the legs absorb the rest of the impact. tianwen—1 is about the size of a small car, and will use solar power to get around. here's the head of china's mission explaining what they hope to achieve. translation: compared with the previous lunar rover, improvements in various areas, including the power system, have been made on the mars rover. we are also conducting a detailed survey on the landing zone, to give the mars rover more data, so it can travel in a more stable better way.

hello, this is bbc news. borisjohnson boris johnson says borisjohnson says the uk ‘s response to the coronavirus pandemic shows this year might of the union as the prime minister makes his first visit to scotland since last yea r‘s first visit to scotland since last year's general election. but the snp says his message about scotland boss my dependence on the union during coronavirus will not be well received during the visit. china says it is considering not considering british passport has official travel document any more. wearing a face covering in shops in england becomes law at midnight tonight but there is criticism that the rules are not clear. donald trump faces criticism as he sends federal troops into many cities that he faces what he calls an explosion

in violent crime. president trump is using his latest coronavirus briefing to announce is opening up schools across the us saying he would be comfortable to send his son and grandson back to the classroom. they have had more than 13,000 covid infections in a single day and texas has set a record for deaths and hospital infections. this is not your typical la traffic jam. they are waiting for tests for covid—19. coronavirus has been ripping through california, which are just eclipsed new york or the highest number of confirmed cases in a single state. in total now, the highest in the nation, not highest

per capita, not highest in that respect, but nonetheless, a sober reminder of why we are taking things seriously as we. in texas, the state set new daily records for increases in coronavirus deaths and hospitalisations. healthcare professionals are struggling. we are all trying our best to keep everyone healthy and alive and when it is out of our hands, it is out of our control, this we sometimes feel helpless. after california and texas, florida, the nation ‘s third most populous state, with roughly 380,000 confirmed cases. teachers here have been fighting back against the governor's plan to reopen schools, saying it's not safe. in florida, we have had well over 23,000 cases of covid among kids under the age of 18 and over 20,000 of those cases have happened in the last month or so so we have seen that this

spreading is going much faster among our students and children under the age of 18. we know we have had increased hospitalisation of kids under the age of 18. president donald trump takes a different view. regarding your family, your son and your grandchildren, are you comfortable and you plan to have them back in person in school? i am comfortable with that and we do have a national strategy but ultimately it is up to the governors of the states. i think most governors, many governors want the schools to open. i would like to see the schools open, especially when you see statistics like this, we have great statistics on young people and their safety. in europe, economies have been slowly reopening and daily new cases have been declining but it is a different story in the us. as cases keep rising, many americans are determined to keep driving forward in a fight for their health. alanna petrov, bbc news.

after a marathon summit, eu leaders struck a deal on a pandemic recovery fund and an eu budget deal. but now there's another hurdle. the final package must pass the european parliament, and some meps, including the budget committee, are insisting the deal cannot be passed in its current form. joining us fresh from the debate in parliament is the belgian mep and former prime minister guy verhofstadt. thank you for your time today. do you think this deal should go through today given the difficulty getting to this date already? this deal will go through that it will be naturally also reformed, the deal, in the way that more pan—european projects will be becoming the top priority of the recovery fund, and secondly it is absolutely necessary that the european parliament, european democracy, as a full oversight on this 750 billion

recovery fund. that said, it's an enormous step forward. 750 billion recovery fund, based on bonds issued by the european union, and paid back by the european union, and paid back by new resources. i call it hamilton moment for the european union. some are concerned that too many concessions were given to the so—called frugal nations of denmark, sweden and austria. that is true that that is the consequence of the role of unanimity. the basic rule to adopt such a recovery fund and the budget of the european union is unanimity. if you have that as a basic principle, then every country can ask for a rebate, as britain did in the past, as you know, or ask for more funding, more transfers, and the main lesson from the exercise of last week is that we need to abolish

in the future this unanimity rule. a modern organisation like the european union cannot be efficient, cannot be effective on the world stage if we continue to use the unanimity rule as the basic principle for decision—making. unanimity rule as the basic principle for decision-making. the question of hungary and poland is of course still controversial. they might have vetoed any deal if it was conditional on the so—called rule of law provision. this is going to be an ongoing political divide, isn't it? it is very difficult. that is true but i think there is a breakthrough also in this. one of the conclusions of the european council, firmly backed by the european parliament, is that a new system will be proposed by the european commission and will be put in place next year, with conditionality, which means that european money, money from european

recovery fund, can only go to countries who are fully in respect with the rule of law and with human rights and with democracy and there are doubts about hungary and poland, true. this will be decided not by unanimity but by qualified majority. we are waiting now for the concrete proposal of the european commission and if that is a qualified majority for that in the european commission counsel, and i have no doubt that a qualified majority exists in the council, then we can go forward with that. isn't that a slightly feeble response to the changes we have seen in hungary and poland? some feel they should have been expelled. would they have got membership now if they were trying? but until now, based on article seven of the treaties, the only way to tackle the problem was to discuss it in

european council and to take a unanimous decision, and that is quite impossible because in the case of hungary and then poland would veto the decision and in the case of poland, hungary would veto the decision, so there was deadlock. i am very pleased that varies agreement to ask the european commission to bring forward a new piece of legislation that will not be decided by unanimity but by qualified majority and that can really lead to sanctions in countries who are not fulfilling or not applying the rule of law. that said, the money will still go to that country but directly to the people, directly to local

communities, directly to non—governmental organisations and non—governmental organisations and no longer to the government organisations who are responsible for the breach of the rule of law. and if we can quickly move on to brexit, because of course talks have been ongoing and the uk government has said it is not going to extend any kind of deadline. do you think there is going to be a deal?” any kind of deadline. do you think there is going to be a deal? i deal on brexit? i hope. it is in the interest of both the european union and certainly in the interest of britain to have an agreement for otherwise i think that will be a disaster for the british economy and industry to have nothing next year any more. not having a single market, the reinstallation of all the bureaucracy at the borg ——

borders. i hope for both, the eu and my british friends, especially, that there is an agreement. what i see it as it is absolutely necessary that mrjohnson, the prime minister of britain, accepts that you cannot be out of the european union and have all the benefits of the european union. that is not possible. it will be necessary if britain wants to have the advantages of the single market also to apply the rules of the single market. and finally we saw a british report on russia this week, on potential russian interference. what did you make of that? the only thing that i have concluded from that report that has been published fairly late is that there was no serious inquiry by the

british government or the british authorities in the russian interference. i have no doubt there was russian interference. there was already russian interference in our politics in many countries in europe and in the us for many years. that is simply the strategy of mr putin. and it is quite shocking that the government is not willing to enquire into that, to look into that. and to shut its eyes down on it. who do you blame specifically for that? sorry? who do you blame for that? blame, thatis who do you blame for that? blame, that is a question that has to be a nswered that is a question that has to be answered in british politics. that is not for us here in the european parliament to answer that question andi parliament to answer that question and i think it is a good question to

put to the british politicians and the british parliament. guy verhofstadt, thank you very much for your time today. the uk prime minister boris johnson has been speaking during his visit to orkney in scotland. let's hear what he had to say. iam i am thrilled to be here in orkney because we have the chance to show off what we are doing with the growth deal, which i think is a real opportunity for the people here to get some funding to increase what they are already doing with amazing new green technology. what you have seen throughout this crisis is the union working together with their money for supporting peoples through fellow, the army working on the testing, moving people around. —— people through thurlow. but we can build a better together with a green recovery and in orkney they are streets ahead on hydrogen technology

and wind technology. this place, around orkney, they could supply 25% of the uk's energy needs, if they had the infrastructure to go with it. so we are looking at ways to support the council here, to support local leaders in their ambition. a new enterprise initiative is being launched today to help disadvantaged women in west africa affected by covid—19 get back into work. the start her enterprise scheme will also provide education and training and it's hoped can help the 180 million young women worldwide who face a lack of opportunity. in a moment, we will hearfrom one of the british businesswomen launching the initiative, but first let's see the story of a woman who has recieved help, fatumata, a single mother from sierra leone. hello. my name is fatumata and i'm 32 years old. i'm a single mother of two lovely boys. they're 12 and five. to live before the project

came was a struggle. my father died and my mother is very sick. she became paralysed down one side. the doctors prescribed her medicine that she has to take every day. before i would not have been able to afford it but thanks to my business i can now save and afford her the 20 us dollars for her medicine. ronnie savage is another three businesswomen launching this initiative. how exactly it work? thank you for having me today. as you heard, there is a real crisis with people working, but women in particular. the enterprise we are launching today, the purpose of the initiative, is to help women not

just by giving them money to run their business but training them, giving them the tool so they can really be accessible and that is the purpose of the initiative. and how are you getting to them or how are they finding you? i am an ambassador for the initiative. it has been pulled together by an organisation with connections across west africa and the world and also the ymca in the uk. the connections are there, and that is how the women are being found. 180 million young women out of work and needing help. that is a huge statistic. how many people realistically can be helped with this plan? as many as possible. we launched today and we are looking for support from people around us. then we can reach as many. but there are 180 million women that we could potentially help, so we want to go out as far as possible. we heard a

little bit of fatumata's story there and the sad fact is that in her case, i gather she would have ended up case, i gather she would have ended up on the streets effectively without this help directly and quickly. absolutely. ithink without this help directly and quickly. absolutely. i think what we are finding is there are many women out there who are unable to make enough money for their families to work and the opportunity this gives them is both the training and skills, and some capital to actually establish and maintain their businesses. without this there is no way they would be able to work and feed theirfamilies. way they would be able to work and feed their families. how difficult is it to operate this given the pandemic and the restrictions? extremely difficult but we are optimistic. we have the lot today which we are looking forward to and we hope that many people as possible canjoin us by we hope that many people as possible can join us by registering we hope that many people as possible canjoin us by registering on start

her enterprise's website and the more people we have on board the better the further we can get with this. it surprises me how many charities target women because if you get to women you help the whole family, especially the children, come up. why is it so urgent still to target women more than men?” can't speak for my industry. i work in an industry where only 12% of the workforce is female, the construction industry. but the population of the country is 50% and we are suffering from skills shortages. this not only benefits the women but the global economy as well. the alison rose and review concluded for the uk that it would add 250 billion to the economy and this is true for most countries that having female entrepreneurs can add 30% to the economy's gdp. it is

beneficial for the countries but also for the women. i think it is a really important issue to have. roni savage, thank you for coming on today. the nominations for this year's hyundai mercury prize for music have just been announced. it's awarded to the best album made by a british or irish act in the last 12 months. this year's shortlist includes albums by stormzy, dua lipa and charli xcx. eight out of the 12 shortlisted artists are female orfemale—led bands. previous winners have included dizzee rascal, the arctic monkeys and skepta. the winner will be announced at a ceremony on september 10th. let's take a look at this year's nominees. # i like, i like, i like, i like # i like everything about you. # don't show up. # don't come out.

# don't start caring about me now. # i don't have much in terms of money now. # i don't have material gifts for you. # if i have to split every item... # i was in the ends when kimmy from the network was banging out bends... # under the landscape in this unbearable pain... # dark every day. # time heals the pain. # you ain't the problem.

# gonna, giirl, you'rejust gonna. # cos you're really on fire. # show me how to control it... # here's the thing. # worth as much as all the luxury you buy. # here's the thing... we can now speak to the singer—songwriter anna calvi, who is one of this year's judges and has previously been nominated on three occasions for the prize. thank you forjoining us. the fact that so many are female or female led nominees this year, was that a deliberate choice by the judges? no, it wasn't. i think it is just that there are so many strong female artists. and how difficult was it to get to this shortlist?” artists. and how difficult was it to get to this shortlist? i mean, there are some amazing albums that have come at this year and i was listening to over 100 records, which isa

listening to over 100 records, which is a lot of music, but i think this list shows what incredible talent we have in britain, and the strength of ourfemale have in britain, and the strength of our female artists, so have in britain, and the strength of ourfemale artists, so it have in britain, and the strength of our female artists, so it is really exciting news. are there more pop a cts exciting news. are there more pop acts than normal this year?” exciting news. are there more pop acts than normal this year? i think it is important that we show a cross—section of the music that british artists are making, so from p0p british artists are making, so from pop to jazz to rock, which means we try to cover as many genres as we can and there is a really good balance. i don't know if you can give us any pointers as you are a judge but are there some acts that stand out more than others this year? i think it is a really strong list and all of the artists deserve to win and i am really excited for them and for artists that are smaller, this could be a massive thing for their career, and the pop artists as well. it shows it is not just about record sales. they have made an amazing piece of art that deserves that recognition. we all

know that music is capital going in these mad few months but being an artist now must be impossibly difficult. they can't form in mass gatherings and they can't sell merchandise. how are you managing?” am using this time to write which lots about as they are doing but it isa lots about as they are doing but it is a very difficult time for artists. a lot of our income is live and it is important that the government stands behind the live includes —— industry and helps wherever it can. can you point to a more positive future? we hope so but safety is the most important thing but i wouldn't want to do anything if there was any question over safety. you have had to cancel some of your own performances, not only here but around the world. how difficult was that for you? it was really ha rd. i

difficult was that for you? it was really hard. i had a us tour booked andi really hard. i had a us tour booked and i was going to play coachella and i was going to play coachella andi and i was going to play coachella and i was going to play coachella and i was really sad to cancel. when live music does come back we are going to need it even more and i think it will be a reallyjoyous experience when it does finally come back. of all the musicians that you must know, how are they managing financially? people who are not so well—known because basically they can't in their living, can they? well—known because basically they can't in their living, can they7m is really tricky. everybody is in the same boat and all we can do is keep being creative and keep making music and hope that eventually we will be able to get back out there. how important were the mercury prize be to lift spirits across the industry? i think it is really important to have something positive to hold onto and they started to have worked so hard on these records but they can't tour them which is really sad. you work so hard to make a record and you want to show it to the world. this gives these artists

something to feel positive about and hopefully when touring resumes they can have that notoriety that the mercury prize brings. britain is in danger of becoming a cultural wasteland because the government has not supported live artist during the lockdown, according to a report by mps. many theatres and museums are threatened.

for four months, theatres and performance venues have laid empty. now a report from a panel of cross—party mps is warning our cultural landscape is facing its biggest threat in a generation. it says the government was too slow to provide support for the arts industry and that without more help many parts of britain could become cultural wastelands. theatres in england will be allowed to reopen next month, but only with limited audiences. but this week, lord andrew lloyd webber told the bbc theyjust won't be financially viable with social distancing rules in place. what i can't understand is why is it that it's safe to go on an aeroplane and that you come into a theatre such as this, where the air is pure, you'll be required to wear a mask when you come in and you go through all of the measures we're putting in place, why is it unsafe to go to the theatre? i just simply don't get it. many in the arts have been calling for greater support. thus today's report says there needs to be more financial help for the many freelancers who work in the sector who have not been

eligible for existing government schemes. it also raised the prospect of cash—strapped museums being forced to sell off their collections. and mps have warned the pandemic has left many sports vulnerable, saying the financial model forfootball, in particular, might need to be reset. the government's department for culture, media and sport says it doesn't agree with the committee's findings. it argues it has worked with urgency, providing support for its sectors and has saved hundreds of thousands of jobs with furloughing and loan schemes. jon donnison, bbc news. you're bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather, with matt taylor. hello. summer remains otherwise engaged over the next few days. but there will be glimpses of sunshine and warmth at times. that will be in east anglia and the south east and brighter skies will develop in scotland and northern ireland. in between, cloud, rain and damper in the midlands, wales and the south—west with rain and drizzle coming and going. through the channel islands, east anglia and the south east, quite humid at 24, 25. even in wet spots we could see

temperatures around 20. brighter in the isle of man, northern ireland and scotland, most places dry with the odd, isolated shower. winds are generally on the light side and it should feel warm enough with the sun on your back. overnight, patchy rain and drizzle in the midlands and southern england, towards east anglia and the south—east. quite humid overnight, with temperatures at 15 or 16. patchy mist and fog further north. in rural areas in northern england, scotland and northern ireland, will drop down to single figures. but if you have plans for the outdoors on friday, it is the day to do it. between two weather systems and most will be dry. cloud amounts will vary, not huge amounts of sunshine everywhere. the odd shower in the south of england, the far north of scotland, and turning wetter in northern ireland. we will have more sunshine around

on friday and temperatures should creep up a little bit. just as the weekend sets in, this is not what you want to see on a summer saturday. an area of low pressure pushing into the uk, which means cloudy, wet and windy. we will have all of those first thing in the morning, but brightening up in northern ireland. elsewhere, the showers keep going and in the south they could be heavy and thundery in places. wet in the far north—east of scotland. temperatures down on what we will see on friday. we continue that slightly cooler theme on sunday. in the south and east this is where you will see some sunshine. but it will feel like autumn at times in scotland with showers and temperatures for some some in the mid—teens.

x borisjohnson says the uk's response to the coronavirus pandemic shows the "sheer might of the union", as the prime minister makes his first visit to scotland since last year's general election. i think the union, the merits of the union are very, very strong. they have been proved throughout this crisis and what we want to do now, it is why i am here in orkney, is to show how we can deal notjust with the health crisis, but work to deal with the economic consequences. but the snp says borisjohnson's message about scotland's dependence on the union during coronavirus will not be well received during the visit. president trump says he's sending a "surge" of federal officers into more us cities, to fight what he's described as

a "shocking explosion" of violent crime. china says it's considering not recognising uk issued british national overseas passports as legitimate travel documents anymore. wearing a face covering in shops and supermarkets becomes compulsory from midnight tonight in england, but there's criticism that the new rules are unclear. and china launches its first rover mission to mars — the spacecraft will take seven months to reach the red planet. a hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe.

borisjohnson has arrived in scotla nd borisjohnson has arrived in scotland for the visit that will be dominated by the question of scottish independence. speaking ahead of the tread, the prime minister suggested the coronavirus crisis had shown this year might of the union, claiming the uk government had helped to save almost 900,000 jobs in scotland. during the visit, prime minister borisjohnson will set out details of a £50 million funding package for orkney, shetland and the western isles, equalling a pledge for the same amount from the scottish government. the trip comes after recent opinion polls suggest increasing support for independence. and, earlier, scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon retweeted this cartoon from the times, depicting how she sees the prime minister's visit today. but borisjohnson says the union must be protected. the union is a fa ntastically must be protected. the union is a fantastically strong institution, it has helped our country through thick and thin. it very, very valuable in

terms of the support we have been able to give to everybody throughout all corners of the uk —— it was mike berry, very valuable. and i have a referendum on breaking up the union only six years ago and that is not a generation by any admission and i think what people really want to do is see our whole country coming back strongly together and that is what we are going to do. let's cross live to brussels where the eu chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier is holding a news conference following this week's round of negotiations in london. so, without further ado, i would like to pass on the floor to michel barnier are mmo will take questions. many thanks, and a good afternoon to all of you, ladies and gentlemen, following in london, brussels or elsewhere. i am very happy to meet you here in europe house in london

at the end of this negotiating round and would like to thank the eu delegation and our ambassador for welcoming us. thank you also for the very useful work you do representing the eu in the uk, together with the 27 eu ambassadors whom i met yesterday. this negotiation takes place in the middle of a very serious health, economic and social crisis across europe and in the world. this crisis gives us a duty to act responsibly and to work for an agreement, limiting the negative consequences of brexit. this is also why the agreement found this week in the european council is so

important. eu leaders showed responsibility and eu unity in agreeing on a budget for the next seven agreeing on a budget for the next seve n yea rs agreeing on a budget for the next seven years and on a very ambitious recovery plan. the european parliament is debating this today. ladies and gentlemen, let me begin with a few words in the context of this rub. add a meeting with the president of ursula von der leyen and others in june, president of ursula von der leyen and others injune, the president dash pro minister borisjohnson told us that he wanted to reach a political agreement quickly —— the prime minister boris johnson. political agreement quickly —— the prime minister borisjohnson. the prime minister borisjohnson. the prime minister borisjohnson. the prime minister also stated three red lines. number one, no role to the

european court of justice lines. number one, no role to the european court ofjustice in the uk. number two, the right to determine future uk laws without constraints. number three, an agreement on fisheries that shows that brexit makes a real difference compared to the existing situation. ladies and gentlemen, what boris johnson the existing situation. ladies and gentlemen, what borisjohnson writes and says matters to the eu. therefore, following the eyelevel meeting —— high level meeting, we agreed to intensify our discussions. we have tried to understand how these three red lines can be squared with our commitment to a comprehensive new partnership as set out in the political declaration signed by prime ministerjohnson on the 17th of october last year.

because, of course, any international agreement implies constraints on both parties. today, the eu, tomorrow with the us or japan. we have continued to engage sincerely and constructively in line with the mandate given to us by the member states, with the support of the european parliament. however, over the past few weeks, the uk has not shown the same level of engagement and readiness to find solutions, respecting the eu fundamental principles and interests. this week, we have had constructive discussions and issues on goods and services but these negotiations are complex and require us to make progress across all areas, all areas, and we are still

far away. this week, discussions took place in a positive atmosphere andi took place in a positive atmosphere and i want to thank david frost and his team, as well as the eu team, for their professional approach. very professional approach. it allowed us to make some progress. we had a useful discussion to narrow our divergences in the areas of social security coordination and union programmes. we made progress towards the objective of a comprehensive and single institutional framework, comprehensive and single institutionalframework, which comprehensive and single institutional framework, which must include robust enforcement mechanisms. and we had good discussions on police and judicial cooperation, even if divergences remains. on two important subjects, transport and energy, we had intense

and useful discussions. however, the uk continued to request a single market like benefits. in addition, there is still no progress, no progress, on two essential topics for our economic partnership. first, there must be robust guarantees for a level playing field, including on state aid and standards, to ensure open and fair competition among our businesses also over time. this is a co re businesses also over time. this is a core interest for all 27 member states and, in my view, also for the uk. second, we have to agree on a balanced, sustainable and long—term solution for fisheries, with the interests of all member states

concerned in mind, and, not least, the many men and women whose livelihoods depend on it on both sides. ladies and gentlemen, these two points should not come as a surprise. we have been saying the same thing since the very beginning of these negotiations. not only this year, but consistently over the last three years. these points are mentioned explicitly in the political declaration, a rather precise text, which remains the framework, the basic definitive framework, the basic definitive framework of this negotiation, for us. they were part and parcel of our political engagement with prime minister borisjohnson political engagement with prime minister boris johnson eight political engagement with prime minister borisjohnson eight months ago. we are simply asking, simply asking, to translate this political engagement into a legal text. nothing more. once again, what the

prime minister writes and says matters to us. and the two points i mentioned, the level playing field and fisheries, this week, again, the uk did not show a willingness to break the deadlock. on the level playing field, the uk still refuses to commit to maintaining high standards in a meaningful way. on state aid, despite the clear wording of the political declaration, very clear, we have made no progress at all. this is all the more worrying, because we have no visibility on the uk's intention on its future domestic subsidy control system and regime. we respect the uk political debate. the time for answers is quickly running out. —— with respect

to the uk political debate. on important areas such as climate, environment, labour and social law, the uk refuses effective means to undercutting by lowering standards. the uk wants to regain its regulatory autonomy. ok, we respect that, but can the uk use this new regulatory autonomy to distort competition with us? we have to a nswer competition with us? we have to answer these questions as we committed to a new economic partnership. we want to trade with the uk, free from tariffs, but also free from unfair competition and i am sure that uk businesses want that, too. the uk tells us it needs certainty for its businesses. ok,

but that cannot be at the price of long—term uncertainty and disadvantages for our business in the eu. we respect the uk government's political choice and we are ready to work on solutions. but the eu cannot and will not accept to foot the bill for the uk's political choices. and let me be very clear, u nless choices. and let me be very clear, unless ambitious agreement on goods and services will not lead the eu to drop its demands for robust level playing field. on fisheries, the uk is effectively asking for near total exclusion of eu fishing vessels from the uk ‘s waters. that simply unacceptable. the uk will be an independent coastal state and the eu

fully respects that. and we also recognise that, under the future agreement, there may be change to the benefit of uk fishermen, but common stocks need to be managed jointly, according to international law and the principle of responsible and sustainable management of resources . and sustainable management of resources. and any agreement cannot lead to the partial restriction of the eu fishing industry. i repeat, we have to agree on a balanced, sustainable and long—term solution forfisheries, protecting the many men and women whose livelihoods depend on it. ladies and gentlemen, the eu has always insisted that an economic partnership with the uk must include robust level playing

field rules and an equitable agreement on fisheries. this means, simply, that, by its current refusal to commit to the condition of open and fair competition and to a balanced agreement on fisheries, the uk makesa balanced agreement on fisheries, the uk makes a trade agreement, at this point, unlikely. until the uk makes a trade agreement, at this point, unlikely. untilthe very last day of these negotiations, and despite the current difficulties, the eu will remain engaged, constructive and respectful. in any case, the uk has chosen to leave the single market and the customs union on the 1st of january next year, in little more than five months. this will bring inevitable changes. on our side, we will bring inevitable changes. on ourside, we are will bring inevitable changes. on our side, we are getting ready, we are getting ready. we have published

are getting ready. we have published a communication a few days ago to help eu citizens, businesses and public administrations prepare for the transition period, five months from now. eu leaders have agreed this week on a 5 billion euros special instrument, the brexit adjustment reserve, to counter unforeseen and adverse consequences in member states and sectors that are worst affected by brexit. in parallel, we have so far published over 70 sector specific notices that explain in detail what actions must be taken in each sector to be ready for the end of the transition period. these notices are mandatory reading for the stakeholders. are on

our uk task force web page. —— they are available on. but, obviously, ladies and gentlemen, if we do not reach an agreement on our future partnership, there will be far more friction. for instance, on trading goods, in addition to new customs formalities, there will be tariffs and quotas. this is the truth of brexit. this is the truth of brexit andi brexit. this is the truth of brexit and i will continue to tell the truth. if we wanted to avoid this additional friction, truth. if we wanted to avoid this additionalfriction, we must come truth. if we wanted to avoid this additional friction, we must come to an agreement in october at the latest, so that our new treaty can enter into force on the 1st of january next year. this means that we only have a few weeks left and that we should not waste time. let

me also remind you that we only have little time, in fact, the same time, to properly implement the withdrawal agreement. together with the vice president of the commission, we continue to follow closely the implementation by the uk of its commitments and other protocol on ireland and northern ireland. in this context, eu leaders have also agreed, on monday, to allocate 120 million euros to the piece plus programme in support of peace and reconciliation and the continuation of north—south cross—border cooperation in ireland. the recent specialised committee and the protocol in ireland was a useful occasion to take stock of progress andi occasion to take stock of progress and i would like to thank michael gove and his team for their engagement, but remain concerned that the necessary measures will not

be in place in the 1st ofjanuary. let me remind you, there is no grace period for the proper implementation of this protocol. and, finally, on another key topic of the withdrawal agreement, we remain vigilant, together with the 27 eu governments and the european parliament, to guarantee the rights of british nationals living in one of our 27 member states. at the same time, in the same way, we expect the rights of eu citizens here in the uk to be safeguarded. today, ladies and gentlemen in london, i wanted to reaffirm the eu's willingness to reach an ambitious partnership agreement in all areas, including

even later on in external security and defence. i can tell you that this is also the wish of the president ursula von der leyen, john michel, the european parliament and the 27 heads of state and government. we continue to believe that prime minister borisjohnson and the uk government want to find and the uk government want to find an agreement with the eu, because it is, simply, in our common interest to cooperate and to address the many and very serious challenges of today. climate change, biodiversity, health and security. research and innovation. democracy and fundamental rights. to fight against poverty and financial stability. if i may borrow a famous line,

"negotiation is notjust to look or to speak at one another. it is to look together in the same direction." i will be back in london with my team next week, as planned. a new round is foreseen in mid august. work continues. our resolve remains unchanged or stop thank you very much for your attention, i am ready to answer questions now. thank you very much, mister barney. —— michel barnier. we will move over to the question and answers section. due to an it hiccup, we asked you to sendin due to an it hiccup, we asked you to send in your questions in writing so thank you again for your understanding and cooperation. we received 11 questions in total and we will go through them all right now. we start off with a question

from the financial times, from george parker. what explanation does david frost give when you ask why the uk has still not set out its post brexit state age state aid regime. how much of a problem is this? if i will, i will speak regime. how much of a problem is this? if i will, iwill speak to regime. how much of a problem is this? if i will, i will speak to -- switch to french and i thank the interpreters... translation: when one speaks of trade and state aid, we are dealing with very serious, essential things, for us and for the uk as well, i believe. we are talking about the conditions under which we ensure that open and fair competition. we wa nt that open and fair competition. we want trade and that is fair and open. this is useful and needed by everyone. not only businesses, but also consumers, in my view. this is

also consumers, in my view. this is a major challenge, open and fair competition and within that, we need robust oversight on both sides for state aid. we need consistency of some sort of equivalent between our respective systems. as long as such systems exist, and that is the problem we currently have. on the eu side, we have a state aid regime that everyone is familiar with and the uk knows well. the uk is leaving this regime on the 31st of december. we are now aside need to know what syste m we are now aside need to know what system this future british system is going to be —— we on our side. that is what we mean by a state aid regime. that is what we are asking, we want to see what is ahead of us so we can work on something that is one of the key aspects the level playing field, what has today with the state aid. i understand what david said, that the uk is still going through an ongoing debate.

parliament and government are still working on this and, obviously, we understand that but the debate does have to make some sort of progress so we can see where we are going to end up when the conclusion comes. thank you. the next question is from ben glaze at the daily mirror. to what extent do you believe that the uk is engaged in a game of brinkmanship? do you think the uk is bluffing? translation: we are engaged in very serious negotiations, very complex negotiations. a far more complex thana negotiations. a far more complex than a lot of people seem to think and all of this has major consequences. i noticed the word "brinkmanship". i don't believe in brinkmanship in negotiations when they are this complex. i have noticed that in all trade negotiations that the eu has carried out, many trade negotiations including recently with south korea, japan and canada to name but a few, the uk is currently doing the same

with new zealand, japan, australia and at the us and one doesn't use the word brinkmanship in such circumstances. it is far too serious for that. we need to build sustainable, long—term partnership between the uk economy and the european economy. we are talking about two of the most active, dynamic economies worldwide. there are enormous consequences in this relationship. it could, if we make it work, greatly improve the lives of employees, employers, businesses and consumers and you don't improvise that, you don't do that by having ultimatums or threats. i have never seen negotiations being carried forward in that sort of way. i don't think we have got time for these games. two questions for the

bbc. the first am from laura kuenssberg. if the uk does not offer any compromises from its current position, are you willing to risk no deal by sticking your heels in... macro studio this is bbc news. you said the chance of no deal, i prefer you said the chance of no deal, i p refer to you said the chance of no deal, i prefer to say the risk of no deal. translation: there are risks of no deal. quite objectively, that is the case, as long as the uk positions on two very important points that are at the heart of our interest and request on the eu side, i either level playing field is important to all 27 countries, the whole of the eu and, secondly, the fisheries, as long as we have the blockage on the uk side of these two points could, until there are reciprocal openers on the uk side to the reciprocal openers on the eu side, there is objectively a no deal risk. on these

two subjects, and on others as well, we are including the overall governance and the fundamental principles to be respected to protect citizens, increase cooperation, the eu positions are not tactical ones, they are not short—term ones, they are serious issues to address and a dynamic compromise needs to be soared. as president ursula von der leyen said a few weeks ago, we are prepared to negotiate until the 11th hour. the second question from the bbc from chris morris. isn't part of the problem that you personally have no enthusiasm for any deal because you think it will be worse than what we have now? it is quite difficult to negotiate something when you don't really believe in it. translation: well, chris morris, i presume he can see this camera, can

i say what he seems to think of me is actually completed the opposite of what is the case in my personal matter. i was never very enthusiastic about brexit, that's true, you won't be surprised to hear that. nobody has ever been able to prove to be any added value in brexit, but it is a reality. politically and institutionally, brexit has now taken place and i would point out to chris morris that it happened in an orderly manner thanks to a deal we signed with prime minister borisjohnson, then ratified by the house of commons. therefore by the uk parliament and the european parliament. for the la st the european parliament. for the last four years, it has been my honour to represent the eu in these negotiations, with all of the back—up of the various teams and i am working for an orderly brexit and foran am working for an orderly brexit and for an agreement. we have done part of that. the divorce, the

institutional political divorce has been done in an orderly manner. now we need to get to the next bit and it is my objective to get a deal for the economic and trade aspects of brexit. so far, we are not there yet. the next question is from oliver right from the times. you have hinted on several occasions by the european union is prepared to compromise with the uk in areas such as fishing and the european court of justice to get agreement. why in this case have you not tabled an explicit written offer to the uk government in these areas? translation: well, that is out exactly how you do negotiations of such complex areas —— not exactly. a few weeks ago, i did, as part of my mandate, show certain areas of openness and i talked about that in my opening remarks. i talked about the three red lines borisjohnson personally stated, on the court of justice, on uk sovereignty, on laws

and on fisheries. before going further, we need reciprocal openers on those subjects, which we said, on the eu side, from the outset were our priorities. and these are not tactical gambits, these are not short—term priorities, or one offs. when the uk comes to us with a real wish to compromise on these issues which are important to us, in the same way that we are prepared to confirm that we are prepared to move in their direction on the areas of importance to the uk, then, oliver, you will see that it won't take very long for these dynamic compromises to give rise to consolidated text. in march, we actually tabled a draft treaty almost. the uk did major work for legal text prepared for us and

the draft, once we agree, won't need much more time. once we have got the basis for a real, much more time. once we have got the basis fora real, unambiguous agreement, a compromise and an agreement, a compromise and an agreement that is unambiguous and clear. we will move to lisa o'carroll from the guardian. you sent ina o'carroll from the guardian. you sent in a pew questions. did the uk talk about abandoning the talks this week? did you discuss scheduling further dates for meetings in temper? what areas are now close to agreement? how do you intend to handle uk's refusal to accept european court ofjustice? very different questions, very multiple questions. i read to the uk press articles with great interest. always very scintillating to read the uk press. but you mustn't

believe everything that is written down. it doesn't always correspond to the truth and on the point lisa just referred to, there was never any question on his side or on my side to abandon the negotiations. farfrom side to abandon the negotiations. far from it. we side to abandon the negotiations. farfrom it. we want side to abandon the negotiations. far from it. we want to step up, side to abandon the negotiations. farfrom it. we want to step up, to intensify, and we want to get closer. it doesn't always work. we continue to bounce ideas off each other and clarify and work to that end. where was their progress? real progress took place in some areas. eu programmes, for instance. these are important matters. i got a letter a few days ago on university courses, on research, on erasmus. these are areas where we need to work ina these are areas where we need to work in a smart way because it is in our great interest for the future and like with other countries,

norway and switzerland, we have worked with them so they can incorporate things like horizon, research and indeed erasmus. on the european court of justice research and indeed erasmus. on the european court ofjustice point, i said we were prepared to look for ways including some flexibility such that we don't have to systematically reform the courts of the uk don't wa nt reform the courts of the uk don't want it at all, which is what boris johnson has said, but there is a price to pay for that. probably it means a narrower scope for corporations in some areas. take some of thejudiciary corporations in some areas. take some of the judiciary and police areas. i would regret such an outcome that it is a consequence of this. in some areas we have the obligation to refer to the court of justice when it is a matter of interpreting european law on the protection of citizens and their rights. we can't avoid that. if you

don't want the court to be involved, then in some areas, we probably have to minimise the scope of our cooperation in these areas. lisa had one final question. if the uk happy with the implantation of the northern ireland protocol and the continued refusal to allow a belfast office? but you want to see tariffs imposed on all goods entering northern ireland from great britain? -- is northern ireland from great britain? —— is the eu happy? do you want to see tariffs? the protocol on northern ireland is very precise. this isn't a text that will have to be negotiated or renegotiated. it was negotiated, it was ratified by the house of commons and the eu parliament, and leaders in the eu and now it is a matter of implementation. it has to be done methodically in a concrete manner. we need to take the drama out of this. there needs to be operationally effective, to preserve

the process. and that is the most important thing for me in these negotiations. it is all very well could talk about goods and trade and technical matters. it is about more than that. it is about men and women who live in ireland that have memories of this very difficult crisis, on the island of ireland where peace is still fragile. for us and the uk, our priority, on the eu side that involves working closely with the dublin government, our aim is to preserve the conditions of that piece, which we negotiated with two successive uk governments, boris johnson most lately, to achieve the protocol on the island of ireland. i thank michael gove and his team because i do believe the uk government is sincerely committed to implementing this agreement with ireland, about ireland. i know it is

sensitive. we are prepared to co—operate with uk authorities particularly when it comes to checks and controls in belfast, and we will do that in an open and constructive way and we are prepared to do that but we are also vigilant. time is flying. there are technical issues, infrastructure, legal conditions and frameworks, that need to be sorted out on a rolling weekly basis for the treaty, the irish protocol, to be operational on the 31st of december of this year. the next question is from sean connelly. do you believe it is realistic to provide a deal by october given the current british stance? earlier on i said that if the uk position on important issues for the eu side do not evolve, and a trade a agreement

becomes very difficult. if uk positions move, as we have shifted on some subjects, then october becomes not just on some subjects, then october becomes notjust realistic but indeed necessary because at the end of that, november and december, we need those two months for technical issues, like translations into eu languages. it can't just issues, like translations into eu languages. it can'tjust be done in english. and the ratification by the european parliament. these are necessary and we respect the uk parliament and we must do so with the european parliament as well. we hope we will have movement and shift in the right direction, and in that case, october is indeed necessary because that is the latest possible moment when an agreement could be reached. the next question is from gary gibbon at channel 4. in the uk we are looking for a light, skinny deal. if the uk were to exit with no

deal, it wouldn't be very disruptive. is that correct?” repeat this again. the truth of brexit means big changes. these are the mechanical, knock—on, automatic effects of brexit. whatever happens, those changes will happen on the 1st of january. all goods from the uk, wherever they arrive in the single market, they will have to be checked, there was goods. that is a considerable change. —— those goods. goods from the eu to the uk will also have to be checked. we are preparing for those checks. lots of extra customs posts have been created in belgium, ireland, the netherlands, france and other countries as well, so this is a major change. it is going to happen

anyway, this major change. the cumulative effect of all these checks, and these checks are compulsory, and they are the reality of the 1st of january, their cumulative effect, i say, with top any putative there the constraints of the tariff and quota elk on goods should we not have a trade deal would cumulatively mean serious effects and impacts on many sectors. light and skinny deal, you say. i am not working for light and skinny, not working for light and skinny, not even a low quality agreement. i am working for a high—quality agreement, we both are, with the uk. thank the next question. the british prime minister has set a deadline as the end ofjuly for an outline agreement to be reached between the eu and the uk. britain seems to want to show that if the negotiations collapsed will be the eu's fault. do

you think an agreement can be secured at this moment and in the event of no agreement, do you accept it would be the eu's fault? the sooner we can conclude, the better. and in my experience of these negotiations over the last four yea rs negotiations over the last four years the uk, every day counts. we have to finalise our agreement by the end of october, and every hour is going to count. of course we are going to have to have done all the work because we are working on a text which will be 500 or 600 pages long. this is a legal text which protects and provides guarantees on both sides, to the institutions, our citizens and businesses. the blame game you mention is something we are familiar with. i have never been very impressed by the blame game. i

have always thought that anybody involved in playing the blame game was wasting their time and are we don't have any time to wait, i suggest we avoid this kind of argument. we have come close on many different points. i think we have the same name, an intelligent and ambitious agreement in a lot of fields, although it is a shame that we are not covering all of the fields established in the political declaration, in particular foreign policy and defence, although that might come later and i hope so. quite simply, we respect the british position and they should respect ours and we respect their sovereignty and they should respect ours and we need to find points of compromise and agreement. i would simply say that when we are talking about conditions to enter into the european market, millions of consumers, when we are talking about the entrance conditions were british products and services including

financial services, people, british businesses, we will establish the access condition to our market, nobody else. that is our sovereignty. and in the same way we respect british sovereignty. i am convinced that an agreement as possible and we are working for an agreement although it at the moment it is difficult. the next question is from that date and at the sun. are you worried that certain figures inside number 10 are working for a new deal and this has stumped the chance of a deal? —— are working for no deal. has coronavirus affected the chances of a deal? let me repeat clearly a nd the chances of a deal? let me repeat clearly and sincerely that i have the utmost respect for david frost and the whole of the british team. it isa and the whole of the british team. it is a highly competent and professional tea m it is a highly competent and professional team which comes as no surprise to us because we are familiar with the high quality of the british administration. i

respect the whole of the british tea m respect the whole of the british team working at the table under the authority of borisjohnson. when you negotiate, as i have the honour of doing, on behalf of the eu with the british government and i'm under the supervision of the european council and the president of the eu and parliament, you have got to listen and respect what the british side say. that is what counts for us and for me, so i have got to take into account what the british prime minister says. the final question todayis minister says. the final question today is from gordon rayner at the daily telegraph. will michel barnier accept an offer to continue talks next week if one is given by david frost? i don't know where gordon gets his information from. i read

his article yesterday morning in the daily telegraph. the timing we are working on was established by both sides, by agreement, overa month ago. so the session next week, i will be back in london with my team and that was set over a month ago. yes, we will be meeting again next week. both sides feel the need for that. then on an alternative basis in brussels and here, the next round will be in mid—august, and in the meanwhile... of course, gordon, i will be taking a few days holiday with my family. i am sure you will be as well, gordon. david frost the same. but we will continue to work and remain available. there will be phone calls and we will still be making progress on these subjects and we will be preparing for this forthcoming round starting on the 17th of august because once again

every moment counts and every day and every week is useful to help us reach an agreement. thank you for tuning in to the press conference and a huge thank you to all of our collea g u es and a huge thank you to all of our colleagues and support staff in london and europe house and back in brussels including all it and interpreting stuff. thank you very much, michel barnier. have a good afternoon. michel barnier with that news co nfe re nce afternoon. michel barnier with that news conference in london. an interesting summary of the eu position, saying they really do need a deal by october, but the sticking points are still on a level playing field and on fisheries questions and the worry of the lack of a trade deal if the uk does not move and rejecting the idea this is about brinkmanship, but macro again. it is incredibly serious, says michel barnier, because the consequences are huge. rejecting the idea of brinkmanship and a game. what do you

ta ke brinkmanship and a game. what do you take from this? there is not going to bea take from this? there is not going to be a trade deal this month, which i think it is no surprise. i don't think it was never really on the cards but at the same time neither side is walking away and i think some of the reports in the british press this week on that point have been overblown. alongside that lengthy press conference we have had a written statement by david frost, the uk negotiator, who basically he also highlights in particular the level playing field, this idea of rules that businesses on one side don't have a competitive advantage on businesses on the other and a competitive field, and there is this mirror image where makoto said the eu positions are not tactical, they are long—term positions to protect

their interests are mister frost, in his written statement said, we have a lwa ys his written statement said, we have always been clear our principles in those areas of level playing field on fisheries are not simple negotiating positions, but expressions of the reality that we will be a fully independent country at the end of the transition period. anyone who is a veteran of trade negotiations won't find any of this uprising, bedside sticking to their guns, but, notably, both saying in their written statements that they believe an agreement could be reached in september but while talks will continue to august, i think september will be key month. saying it was going to have to be done by october, basically, and mr barnier on the level playing field saying that they don't want to see a distortion and they want to be free from unfair competition, even if there are tariffs and taxes ahead. ma koto there are tariffs and taxes ahead. makoto talked about the checks that are going to come in regardless of whether there is a deal or no deal

on customs. there are going to be big changes at uk borders whatever happens, whether there is a deal or not and we had that a few days ago from michael gove in the house of commons when he set out the uk's new border operating model. there will be new checks the difference between a and not having one big changes coming and there are concerns on both sides businesses aren't ready for that yet. businesses in the past two or three years have been told to prepare for a different no deal but nevertheless prepare for one and then the deadline shifted again. this time, the deadline isn't going to shift and things will change at the end of this year, whatever happens. thanks so much indeed. let's get more now on the prime minister's visit to scotland. boris

johnson says the coronavirus pandemic has shown the merits of the union are very strong and he is working to deal with the economic consequences of the virus. speaking from auckland this morning, the prime minister says the coronavirus crisis has shown the success of the union working together —— from orkney. we had a referendum in 2014, i think it was a success and a once in a generation event and what we have seen throughout the crisis is the importance and the strength of the union in dealing with certain crucial things. the success in testing and moving people around, and through the barnett consequential, another £250 million into the nhs in scotland to make sure that we are ready to be ready for the winter, because we have to

be clear that this thing has not gone away. throughout the uk, we have done very well in getting it under control, but it is not the end of the story, and we have to be very vigilant and we will be supporting the nhs with extra cash all round. i think the merits of the union are very very strong, and what i want to do now, why i am here in orkney, is show we can deal notjust with the health crisis but work to deal with the economic consequences together, building back better and investing in green technology and a green recovery. let's get some reaction from rhoda grant, labour msp for the highlands and islands, she's in inverness. thank you forjoining us. we have seen nicola sturgeon actually tweeting a cartoon from the times today, which suggests boris

johnson's visit to scotland will actually help her party. do you agree? we need to get both governments working together. we are facing a crisis the like of which we have not seen since war time. we need both governments rather than poking fun at each other and competing actually getting down to the business of government, working together, sorting out the pandemic but also the economy because otherwise people are going to lose their livelihoods and there is going to bea their livelihoods and there is going to be a bigger crisis. they need to get together, listen to what is required and get on with the day—to—day work of government. required and get on with the day-to-day work of government. but do you agree now that there does seem to be more support for independence than in recent times and that is something that could totally fracture the union in a very

real way? the way to deal with support for independence is for the uk government to get on with the job of governing rather than taking pot shots at devolved governments. they need to work together. people won't get fed up of the uk government if they don't work alongside the scottish government to protect the interests of scotland and indeed the wider uk. the way they deal with thatis wider uk. the way they deal with that is not by having a spat, constitutional wrangle, is by protecting the people of scotland and the uk against what is coming down the line. but nicola sturgeon has had her opinion poll ratings overshooting those of borisjohnson, and that supports the snp presumably to the detriment of him. nicola

sturgeon give straight answers when people ask questions that if you look at the performance of the scottish economy, it is not doing any better. actually they are doing the same thing and they need to work together. what has been the response in scotland to the change in management, as sir keir starmer put it, in the labour party? jeremy corbyn lost very decisively in the general election. well, we hope that people will see that the labour party are actually the only party taking seriously the consequences of covid—19 on both our health and the economy and i think that is how you prove that labour is the right choice for scotland. rhoda grant, many thanks indeed.

the uk is in danger of becoming a "cultural wasteland" because the government failed to act quickly enough to help the arts and entertainment industry survive the lockdown. a report by mps says many organisations, including theatres and museums, are facing a threat to their survival. jon donnison reports. for four months, theatres and performance venues have laid empty. now a report from a panel of cross—party mps is warning our cultural landscape is facing its biggest it's threat in a generation. it says the government was too slow to provide support for the arts industry and that without more help many parts of britain could become cultural wastelands. theatres in england will be allowed to reopen next month, but only with limited audiences. but this week, lord andrew lloyd webber told the bbc theyjust won't be financially viable with social distancing rules in place. what i can't understand is why is it

that it's safe to go on an aeroplane and that you come into a theatre such as this, where the air is pure, you'll be required to wear a mask when you come in and you go through all of the measures we're putting in place, why is it unsafe to go to the theatre? i just simply don't get it. many in the arts have been calling for greater support. today's report says there needs to be more financial help for the many freelancers who work in the sector who have not been eligible for existing government schemes. it also raised the prospect of cash—strapped museums being forced to sell off their collections. and mps have warned the pandemic has left many sports vulnerable, saying the financial model forfootball, in particular, might need to be reset. the government's department for culture, media and sport says it doesn't agree with the committee's findings. it argues it has worked with urgency, providing support for its sectors, and has saved hundreds of thousands of jobs with furloughing and loan schemes.

jon donnison, bbc news. astonishing footage has emerged of two children jumping from a astonishing footage has emerged of two childrenjumping from a burning flat block in france. you may find this picture is distressing. luckily they were not seriously hurt. the children aged ten and three dropped 33 feet into the arms are by looking is in the south—eastern city of grenoble. they were treated for smoke inhalation after the rescue. the two man that caught them suffered from broken arms. in a moment, the bbc news at one with jane hill. but, first, it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. extended periods of dry, warm, settled weather have been hard to come by so far thisjuly. instead we have had to make do with the gaps between weather systems and so it will continue. we have this procession of cloud working across the atlantic at the moment with one

area of cloud bringing rain for some today and another gathering strength for the weekend. there is a gap in between giving drier weather tomorrow. as we head through the rest of today, cloud bringing rain for south—east england and wales, turning light and patchy, and dry towards the south—east. brightening up towards the south—east. brightening up in northern ireland and scotland but with a couple of showers. they filter further southwards through the night but southern england and south wales will hold onto a lot of clout and it will be missed and make it in places. temperatures 15 degrees here but cooler and fresher further north with the old mr patch in the morning in northern ireland. tomorrow is the gap between weather systems with a lot of dry weather and spells of sunshine. cloud will hang on across england and south wales giving the odd light shower for eastern scotland and eastern england and then later it cloud over across northern ireland with heavy rain arriving in western counties of northern ireland through the middle pa rt northern ireland through the middle part of the afternoon. temperatures

generally between 18 and 24 degrees. the rain in northern ireland will sweep eastwards on friday night, sometimes heavy and thundery, opening the door to an area of low pressure just in opening the door to an area of low pressurejust in time opening the door to an area of low pressure just in time for the weekend. quite a windy weekend at times with some spells of sunshine but also some heavy, thundery downpours. this saturday's forecast with our first rain band clearing away to the north—east. then some sunny spells but then a scattering of thundery downpours breaking out through the afternoon. it is going to bea through the afternoon. it is going to be a pretty windy day and call for the time of year with temperatures between and 21. similar weather on sunday with not as many showers at this stage. for eastern and southern areas it will stay largely dry and further west and north we will see showers at times. a blustery day and particularly when the across northern and north—western scotland. there's temperatures may be getting up to 23 and eastern england but it will be

cooler further west.

borisjohnson says the uk's response to the coronavirus pandemic shows the "sheer might" of the united kingdom. the prime minister is on his first visit to scotland since last year's general election. i think the union — the merits of the union — are very, very strong. they've been proved throughout this crisis. but the snp says the visit shows borishjohnson is in a panic about rising support for scottish independence. we'll have the latest. also this lunchtime... face coverings are compulsory in shops and supermarkets in england from midnight tonight. the eu's chief brexit negotiatior says there's a real risk of the uk leaving the eu without a deal. a huge increase in calls to domestic violence