tonight at ten, tough new rules on face coverings come into force in england at midnight, with stiff fines for noncompliance. enclosed public spaces, like shops, banks and post offices, are affected. business owners are encouraged to help enforcement. if they are just really not going to do it i'lljust say, i'm really sorry, but i can't serve you. the government says its policy on face coverings has involved us the scientific advice has changed. also tonight, boris johnson the scientific advice has changed. also tonight, borisjohnson says the union is fantastically strong on a visit to scotland, where some polls suggest pro—independence sentiment is on the rise. what chance a trade deal between the eu and britain by the end of the year? latest talks aren't going well. drowning in

plastic, a major study predicts more than a billion tonnes will be dumped on the environment by 2040. and the show can go on as theatres pilot in droll performances with social distancing. —— indoor performances with social distancing. and coming up in the sport on bbc news: back in the england squad — jofra archer returns for the deciding test against the west indies at old trafford, which starts tomorrow. good evening. the wearing of face coverings in shops in england will become compulsory from midnight, and failing to do so, could result in a £100 fine. after initially being sceptical about their effectiveness in helping stop the spread of the coronavirus, the government says its view has evolved, as the scientific advice, has changed. but it's notjust shops, you'll have to cover your mouth

and nose in other enclosed public spaces, including banks, public transport hubs and takeaways. in some areas though, it is up to you to decide, including in pubs, gyms and cinemas. in scotland, face coverings are already compulsory in shops, though not in wales, and from august northern ireland will run a public information campaign encouraging the use of face coverings before deciding whether or not to make them mandatory. our business correspondent, sarah corker, reports now from wakefield in yorkshire. going to the shops in the era of coronavirus comes with a whole new set of rules. in wakefield, at trinity walk shopping centre, retailers and customers are preparing for the latest change. come on in! you can sanitise your hands if you want to. inside this candle shop, owner tanya is taking a no—nonsense approach to compulsory face coverings. if someone refuses to wear a mask, what would you do? if they're just really not

going to do it, i would just say, "i'm really sorry, but i can't serve you." rather than get into a situation of enforcing anything, i just won't let them in. face coverings are not a substitute for social distancing and regular hand washing but an additional measure to help stop the spread of the virus, and from tomorrow anyone not wearing one in shops and supermarkets here in england faces a £100 fine. and coverings are also compulsory when buying takeaway food, unless you're eating in — you don't have to wear one inside cafes and restaurants. some say the rules are confusing. i think it should be made compulsory throughout until they find a vaccine. and it won't put you off going shopping? no, no, not at all, no. not at all, i feel safe. it puts me off mainly because of the little one, because she looks at me funny when i've got it on, she can't see my expression. probably do a bit more online shopping and just try not to come out as much. you're saving people

passing the virus on. i mean, if some stupid ones want to pass the virus on, fine. but be it on their head. children under 11 and those with a disability or certain physical or mental health conditions will be exempt, but there is debate over who should enforce the rules. food retailers like the co—op are worried about staff safety. we've had abuse, we've had physical assaults. 0ur colleagues have been threatened on a consistent basis through covid. this is another thing that they have to enforce, and it will be a flashpoint. it's not theirjob, it's the police's job. but the organisation that represents most front—line police officers says they don't have the resources to be mask monitors. if we're getting calls about that regularly, then obviously that doesn't allow us to undertake our normal role of policing. obviously, if we're called to a situation where there's conflict, then of course we will attend, as we normally would do, and deal with that. but we are hoping we are

a last resort to being called to deal with it. the government has changed its stance on face coverings as the science has evolved, and as the economy opens up ministers say it's up to individuals to play their part in fighting the virus by following the rules. sarah corker, bbc news, in wakefield. borisjohnson says the response to the coronavirus pandemic, shows the uk is a "fantastically strong institution" speaking today on his first visit to scotland since the general election, he promised to be a prime ministerfor "every corner of the uk". but his trip comes as some polls suggest growing support for independence. there's also a significant gap between his approval ratings and those of scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon. here's our scotland editor, sarah smith. borisjohnson is, he stresses, the prime minister for every corner of the united kingdom. he's come all the way to 0rkney to make that point.

with crab fishermen in stromness harbour, he is here to highlight what he calls the "sheer might" of the uk union and his government's economic response to coronavirus. what i'm saying is that the union is a fantastically strong institution, it's helped our country through thick and thin, it's very, very valuable in terms of the support we've been able to give to everybody throughout all corners of the uk. you're not welcome! protesters who greeted the prime minister are demanding another independence referendum. go home! scottish wine made from fruit has been produced at this winery throughout the crisis. they've also had financial support from the uk government. but that's not something they feel they have to be particularly grateful for. i mean, we gave them the money first, then they gave it back to us and then say we've to say thanks. i mean, if we didn't have the uk we'd be keeping the money and we would have it to fund our own furlough scheme. nicola sturgeon accused the prime minister of crowing.

borisjohnson has every right to be on a campaign visit to scotland today. in his shoes it's not how i would be choosing to spend my time given what we're facing right now. people can make up their own minds about these things and can make up their own minds about where they think the decisions that we're having to take right now are best taken. but none of us should be crowing about this pandemic in a political sense, is my honest opinion. perth is a city that voted to stay in the uk in 2014, but where support for the snp rose at the last election. it is people in places like this the prime minister has to try to convince of the ongoing benefits of the union. for the last four months, people in scotland have been watching nicola sturgeon making most of the day—to—day decisions on how to try to cope with coronavirus. borisjohnson wants them to remember it's his government in westminster that has the power to borrow the money that's been funding things like the job retention scheme and extra spending for the nhs. this gift shop in perth had

to remain closed for longer than it would have done in england, but says the guidance from the scottish government has at least been consistent. in particular guidance as to what we should and shouldn't be doing. all along that has been something that i feel the scottish government has been fairly clear on. it hasn't been confusing, whereas i feel the uk government has given a lot of mixed messages. at raf lossiemouth in the north of scotland, the prime minister thanked the military for their role in the covid—19 response. one more reason he believes why the uk should remain united. he's clearly worried about polls suggesting rising support for independence, even though he insists there will not be another scottish referendum. sarah smith, bbc news, perth. latest figures suggest the nhs test and trace system in england is falling short of reaching the number of people needed, for the programme to be effective. just under four out of five people are being contacted and that's around 78%, but experts say it should be at least 80%.

thousands of people who are infected are still not having their contacts traced. all this comes as 53 more people have died in the latest 24—hour period, bringing the total number of deaths in the uk, to 45,554. on average in the past week, 62 people have died every day from covid—19. meanwhile 200 walk—in test centres are to set up across england, to try to get more people checked out in time for winter. here's our health editor, hugh pym. sha hzad and saeeda and their son on their way to a walk—in testing centre. they want to get tested for the coronavirus because there was a case at their son's nursery. do you have an appointment online? theyjust need to provide personal contact details. then they take the kits and get the swabs which are sent on to the labs. they are told results should be back the next day. they said the whole process was straightforward. easy, convenient. very convenient. very easy.

i would advise people to come in, you know, get tested if they have any symptoms. this was one of the first walking sites. the idea is you can come along without booking and it's open 12 hours a day. the system's bosses have set themselves a major task, creating a network like this in towns and cities around the country in time for winter, with all the pressures that will bring. the executive leading the test and trace programme in england explained it was all about better access. we want to make sure that the majority of people living in urban environments are within 30 minutes' walk of a walking testing centre. we have already got a good access for drive—in testing and we will continue to expand that. but for lots of us who live in big cities, we don't have cars, we don't drive. the welsh test and trace policy is reaching a higher percentage of contacts than england. scotland and northern ireland also have their own systems. the top ten highest uk infection rates in the week ending july 18 were all in england. blackburn with darwen

has the largest with 79 cases per 100,000 people. that's an increase of 32 on the previous week. leicester has a 74 cases, a significant drop of 51. herefordshire also saw a fall in infection rates, while calderdale and kirklees have stabilised. the rest have all seen increases. the national tracing system aims to reach contacts of those who have recently tested positive so they can be told to self—isolate. but in blackburn with darwen the director of public health said the system wasn't getting to about half of the contacts. he felt it really wasn't delivering in that area. what do you say to that? it's a team effort, contact tracing, and it's really important that we work together locally and nationally. on average, between 70 and 80% of contacts are reached by the national teams. the work on creating testing sites and laboratories to process the swabs has been welcomed by health leaders, though some argue

it was started too late. there have been some improvements. but i think we are paying the price for the initial stop start approach of government in testing. so when the pandemic first broke we didn't have a comprehensive approach to how we were going to test and trace. luton was today named alongside blackburn with darwen as areas of intervention, with local action plans including the postponement of the opening of gyms due elsewhere in england on saturday. hugh pym, bbc news. next week the government is expected to announce new measures, to curb the sale of unhealthy foods in england. it's thought there'll be restrictions on tv advertising and in—store promotions. there's growing evidence people who are overweight or obese are at a significantly greater risk from coronavirus. 0ur health correspondent dominic hughes has been looking at the connection between obesity and the pandemic, and what the link

says about wider health inequalities, across the uk. ever since she was a child, roxana has had a difficult relationship with food. every time you sit at a table you meet your demons. so you meet the addiction every time you have to eat. after becoming very overweight she developed type two diabetes. she is now trying to eat more healthily, lose weight, ahead of further gastric surgery. but those like roxana with underlying health problems were really vulnerable to covid—19, so the past few months have been tough. i had this anxiety of going out, and especially with knowing that i have type two diabetes, and i'm at a high level of danger. so i tried to avoid it as much as i could. in roxana's home town of sheffield around 60% of the adult population are overweight or obese. and like roxana they were among those at greatest risk of falling seriously ill during the pandemic.

the coronavirus has exposed the deep inequalities in our health. what happened here in sheffield at the height of the coronavirus pandemic reflects what happened in so many towns and cities right across the uk. the more affluent areas escaped pretty much unscathed but in the poorer parts of sheffield they saw some of the highest mortality rates in the entire uk. and that raises some really difficult questions about the state of our public health. and those questions are ones that trouble greg fell, the director of public health in sheffield, who knows he's dealing with a complex, multilayered picture. things that determine health isn't the nhs, and the amazing thing is that the nhs does do, and it does do amazing things, but is the environment in which we live, it's the poverty, it's the poor housing, it's the lack of educational opportunities, it's thejob opportunities. so its economic policy, housing policy, all of those things make a difference to health far more

so than the treatment the nhs can provide. so what has this coronavirus pandemic told us about the underlying state of our health, and more broadly our society? earlier this year experts warned that life expectancy, particularly among the poor, had stalled. now the coronavirus has reinforced that connection between poverty and ill—health. health and health equity, the fair distribution of health, tell us a great deal about how well a society is doing. and over the last decade society had stopped improving and inequalities in society had been increasing, so when the pandemic came it just exaggerated, as i say, exposed and amplified those inequalities. renewing plans to curb junk food advertising, the government is showing signs of stepping up the fight against obesity. but the big challenge for our political leaders is how to apply the deeper lessons

of the pandemic that a real transformation of our nation's health will need fundamental changes in society. let's take a look at some of the day's other top stories... the electronics firm dyson says it's to cut 900 jobs around the world, due to the impact of coronavirus, of which 600 will go in the uk. the majority of lay offs are in retail and customer service. america's total number of coronavirus cases has passed 4 million, with the average number of new infections rising by more than 2,600 every hour. the increase from 3 to 4 million tookjust 15 days. the latest edition of1 million cases took just 15 days. the eu's chief brexit negotiator says there's a real risk a trade deal cannot be agreed with the uk, by the end of the year. america says it is further evidence of russia's effort to develop space—based weapons systems.

britain and america have accused russia of using one of its satellites to test fire a weapon in space. the uk said the action was threatening the peaceful use of space. the us had raised concerns earlier this year about the satellite and said itt earlier this year about effort to develop space based weapons systems. the eu's chief brexit negotiator says there's a real risk a trade deal cannot be agreed with the uk, by the end of the year. after the latest round of negotiations in london, michel barnier said the two sides were "still far away", with a major sticking point being the access of eu fishing boats to british waters. the government has confirmed there is a "considerable" divide, between number ten and brussels but they are committed to more talks through august and september. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young has the details. the days of noisy protests, the anger... chanting ..thejubilation, seem a long time ago. we've left the eu but the changes won't come until the end of the year. after another round of talks in london the eu's chief negotiator wasn't exactly upbeat. this week again the uk did not show a willingness to break the deadlock. by its current refusal to commit

to the condition of open and fair competition and to a balanced agreement on fishery, the uk makes a trade agreement at this point unlikely. there are small signs of progress towards a brexit trade deal. the structure of the agreement will now be simpler after the uk dropped demands for several separate deals. negotiators are closer to agreeing a limit to the role of the european court ofjustice. but there's still deadlock over fishing and competition rules designed to stop businesses in one country undercutting those in another. this is known as the level playing field. the eu says that if the uk wants zero tariffs, that's no taxes on goods crossing the border, then we'll have to sign up to its regulations on environmental standards, workers' rights and subsidies for companies. we will negotiate energetically. we've got a round in august, in fact, and we will certainly talk through september if we can.

we will have to see what can be done. obviously we must prepare for every outcome and it is possible that we won't reach agreement but we are going to work very energetically to try to do so. this former top civil servant was in charge of the brexit department. he says compromise can be found. i'm sure solutions are available which will be ultimately in the interests of both sides. and getting a deal remains hugely important. no deal, a no—deal outcome, even compared to the thin free trade agreement we are looking at now would not be good news for either side. michel barnier will be back here next week for more talks. so although the language today was quite negative, the two sides are still negotiating and uk insiders say the progress is genuine. a breakthrough might not be imminent but ideal in the autumn is still possible. the relationship with our closest neighbours will soon change. what happens over the next few months will determine how dramatic that shift will be.

vicki young, bbc news, westminster. new analysis suggests around the world, as much as 1.3 billion tonnes of plastic waste could be dumped over the next 20 years, unless there is a radical effort to stop it. a computer model has tracked the production and disposal of plastic around the world, up to the year 2040. 0ur science correspondent, victoria gill, has that story. it is everywhere because it's almost endlessly useful. and when it's thrown away, if plastic finds its way into a plant like this, a lot of it can be made into something useful all over again. it could be bottles you buy from the supermarket, it could be household furniture, it could be garden furniture or composite decking. but every year more and more plastic waste ends up here. and a global team of scientists has now tracked the production and disposal of plastic all around the world and used that information to forecast the scale

of our plastic pollution problem for the next 20 years. if you were to count all together all the plastic waste that is going to be released into the environment both on land and reaching the seas, this would be the staggering number of 1.3 billion tonnes of plastic. 1.3 billion tonnes is so big of a number it's almost unimaginable. how can you even visualise how much waste that is? if you were to spread this on a thin layer of land then it would be 1.5 times the size of the uk. household waste, the scientists say, is by far the biggest source of all this pollution. they calculated that every year 30 million tonnes is dumped on land, nearly 50 million tonnes is burned out in the open, and that's in addition to the 10 million tonnes that finds its way into our oceans. many of us might do our bit with reusable water bottles and coffee cups.

but there's an estimated 2 billion people in the global south who have no access to any formal waste collection. they are simply left to work out what to do with all the rubbish. that's why waste collection is such a vital part of this. just making sure that everyone's household waste is collected, sorted and then it is channelled to plants like this, is the best way to make sure that it doesn't end up in the environment. providing protection and self—employment for workers in low—income countries who collect and sort all of that waste will be just as important globally as reducing the production of single use plastic. and while these new figures are daunting, the researchers say that recognising the source and scale of this problem is the first step in stemming the worldwide tide of plastic pollution. victoria gill, bbc news. the ongoing black lives matter protests, and the continuing debate over some of britain's public statues, have shone a light on the country's imperial past

and its continuing reverberations. our latest report looking at britain's colonial legacies comes from kenya. 0ur senior africa correspondent, anne soy considers the issue of land distribution and what, if anything changed, after kenya gained independence, more than 50 years ago. the highlands of the rift valley, where i was born and raised. it's here that the colonial administration faced one of the fiercest resistance movements to their settlement in east africa. at the turn of the 20th century, british settlers arrived here and found conditions perfect for agriculture. rich volcanic soil, constant rainfall and high altitudes suitable for growing tea. these fields have supplied britain's breakfast staple for over a century. but it came at a huge cost.

15 years of resistance by the kalenjin ethnic group, then led by the talai clan. translation: the settlers used divide and rule tactics. they turned the community against us. they convinced them that the talai were evil people. you see, they had guns and bombs and all we had were arrows and spears and we fought against them for more than ten years. so they said we were evil. once they had subdued the locals, laws were created in nairobi and london allowing them to push the locals to the fringes, what are called the native reserves, and the best land was divided up amongst a handful of settlers. they also introduced taxes, and because the locals did not have money they had no choice but to work in the settler farmers to be able to make money to pay the taxes. that subjugation lasted about five decades. in the 19505, resistance was growing again across the country and continent. closer to the colonial seat of power

in nairobi was the mau mau movement. they fought for freedom from colonialism and to get land back. many were rounded up, detained and tortured. the official death toll is disputed. some historians estimate that more than 20,000 died. at midnight the unionjack was lowered for the last time and kenya ceased to be a colony and became independent. 1963, statues of colonial leaders were removed and later replaced with kenyan faces. good luck to kenya in her new role as an independent nation. and decades later, as statues of leaders of colonialism and slavery are brought down across the world, some kenyans are now questioning how deep the change here really went. we just changed the face of the monuments. we were conned at independence. we were handed over to the people

who were subservient to the colonial authorities. the biggest beneficiaries of independence, they say, were those who worked for the colonial administration and fought against their opponents. controversial views in kenya today. what have i done? they landed activist mutemi wa kiama in trouble with the authorities last month. police raided his home and arrested him. i do a lot of social media activism and my premise is that kenya has never gotten independence. the thread that i did before the arrest that connected, traced from colonial chiefs to the current political elite and their entomologies and their linkages and their business linkages and that kind of thing, and it went viral because kenyans could now see, you know, they could actually connect the dots. and i guess there are people there

who weren't comfortable with that. the elites grabbed the independence and ran off with it and the mau mau were left landless. nothing had changed. and in the rift valley the talai are today some of the poorest people living here. translation: when land was being subdivided among the locals, we asked for some but we got nothing. they said we were the evil ones. for decades this was a detention camp and they were not allowed to interact with other communities. the colonial government tagged them an evil plan. and even after independence that tag remained. this camp had two rivers surrounding it. there was a physical barrier back then. but even now the stigma persists. i know relatives and friends who would be concerned that i interacted with them. the lasting legacy of colonialism in this village. a lot of the land in kenya is now owned by locals and tea remains one

of the country's biggest exports. but the inequalities created during colonial times and adopted at independence persist. there may be no precolonial statues here but this is a country still ill at ease with its past. anne soy, bbc news, nandi. one of the first large—scale live music events held indoors since the coronavirus lockdown has taken place at the london palladium. an audience of more than 640 people watched the singer beverley knight and her band perform. it was part of an official series of pilots designed to test new covid—related safety measures put in place by performing arts venues, which the government is partially allowing to reopen in a week's time. 0ur arts editor will gompertz was at the show. a famous name in lights. check. security personnel in place.

check. everybody wearing face masks. check. then let beverley knight's show go on even though we're in lockdown limbo, when everything is the same but also quite different. i'm on the stage of the london palladium which is completely normal, albeit a huge space. what is unusual, though, about today's performance is the auditorium, which looks like that. two thirds of the seats have got xs on, meaning you can't sit there, and that means that beverley knight is going to be performing to a few people and an awful lot of empty seats. # i can't get no...# the singer filled the room with her energy and her voice. the audience were definitely getting satisfaction. but it was also a bit odd. like being at a party when you're the first to arrive. the atmosphere was, well, a little subdued. it was an odd experience at first. i walked onto the stage and in my

mind's eye, even though i knew it was a reduced capacity, i still thought there will be lots of faces. there was not lots of faces and there was lots of empty spaces and lots of xs and lots of masks. so you can't read people's expressions, everybody‘s unsure. am i allow to stand? am i allowed to clap? what am i allowed to do? but i think between myself and the audience we found our way through in the end. so that is the performer‘s experience. what about the audience? fantastic. amazing.