this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm rajini vaidyanathan. cancelled because of coronavirus — president trump calls off the republican convention, one of the party's biggest pre—election events. us secretary of state mike pompeo calls on the world to turn on china, warning of a "new tyranny" from beijing. drowning in plastic — a major study predicts over a billion tonnes will be dumped into the environment, over the next 20 years. and the world should've been marking the start of the tokyo olympics — so what now for the would—be participants after its postponement?

hello and welcome. president trump has announced that he's cancelling the main gathering of the republican national convention in florida in august following a spike in coronavirus cases there. speaking at a white house press briefing, mr trump said he would give a speech ahead of us elections as planned, the timing for this event is not right, it's just not right with what's happened recently, the flare up in florida. to have a big convention, it's not the right time. it's really something that for me i have to protect the american people, that's what i've always done, that's what i've always done, that's what i always will do. that's what i'm about. joining us now on this is our north america correspondent david willis david, how significant does

this, for those who don't understand the significance of the republican national convention, start with that? its interesting, isn't it, because this underlines the impact, if you like him about the coronavirus pandemic is having on the political process here. now we have president trump announcing that the republican national convention, which culminates, of course, and his coronation as the pa rty‘s and his coronation as the party's candidates and his coronation as the pa rty‘s candidates going and his coronation as the party's candidates going into the november presidential elections is to effectively be cancelled, certainly as far as an in person gathering is concerned. president trump and his supporters very much wanted to have that big rally, the sort that the president like so much. well, today commit was the president seeming to concede that he would probably be accepting his parties nomination in a speech delivered online. this follows the republican party's moving from the convention of north carolina at least the main part of it to jacksonville, florida

only to find that, of course, florida has become new, if you like epicentre for the coronavirus here in the united states. i covered president trump ora states. i covered president trump or a candidate trump in 2016, he does so well at rallies when he connects with his base, so how significant is that that this huge convention, thousands and thousands of republicans won't be getting together in this way to hear him deliver a keynote speech?” think it's very significant, you are absolutely right, it's just the thing that's president trump thrives from if you like. he loves those big gatherings, he really feeds off the crowd and it's very interesting because we have a situation now where the republicans are effectively scrambling to hold this big convention with all of the security implications that come with that. now it doesn't really have a home with just four weeks to go. it was several weeks previous that the democrats announced that they would be holding virtually

their entire convention online, if you like, but the republicans looked to have been caught a bit flat—footed with this one. it's an embarrassment to them and to president trump, but he was making an attempt to spin it as a decision taken with regard to people's safety. he said he didn't want to put lives at risk by having a lot of people close to each other in the same arena. what is your ta ke in the same arena. what is your take on how this will impact the election campaign going forward as we approach november? well, it's very interesting because, you know what's this is affecting the conventions, it's going to affect campaigning, clearly. we have seen very little in real life ofjoe biden, the democratic presumptive presidential nominee. he's been mainly campaigning from his home, his basement at his home in delaware. president trump of course has been denied those big gatherings that he's attempted to pull off in

various parts of the country, and then, of course, the dilemma of voting, online voting, something that president trump really heavily objects to all in the next playing itself out in the next couple of months with that presidential election only less than four months away now. david willis in los angeles, very good to talk to you. the american secretary of state mike pompeo called on "free nations" to triumph over the threat of what he said was a "new tyranny" from china. in a speech attended by several prominent chinese dissidents, mr pompeo accused beijing of biting the international hands that were feeding it, and of exploiting the freedom and openness of american society. general secretary xi jinping is a true believer in a bankrupt totalitarian ideology. it is this ideology that has formed this decades long desire for global hegemony of chinese communism.

america can no longer ignore the fundamental political and ideological differences between our countries, just as the ccp has never ignored them. let s get some of the day s other news... britain and america have accused russia, of using one of its satellites to test fire a weapon in space. the uk says the action threatened the peaceful use of space, while america says it's further evidence, of russia s effort to develop space based weapons systems. a group of military police in italy have been arrested and their station closed after investigators uncovered a raft of alleged crimes taking place in the barracks. the unit, known as the carabinieri, in the northern city of piacenza are suspected of drug—trafficking, blackmail and torture. a usjudge has once again ordered michael cohen to be released from prison. president donald trump's former lawyer was sent home in may because of the coronavirus pandemic — he was returned to prison injuly after he questioned an agreement that barred him from publishing a book, engaging with news organisations and posting on social media.

new analysis suggests 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 the 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 of 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 15 million tonnes tonnes is dumped on land, nearly 50 million tonnes is burned out in the open, and that's in addition to the ten 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 two

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 wearing of face coverings in shops in england will become compulsory from midnight, and failing to do so, could result in a £100 fine. but it's notjust shops, you'll have to cover your mouth and nose in other enclosed

public spaces, including banks, post offices and public transport hubs. in some areas though, it's up to you to decide, including pubs, gyms and cinemas. in scotland, face coverings are already compulsory in shops, though not in wales, and northern ireland is still deciding whether to make face coverings mandatory. our business correspondent, sarah corker, reports 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. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we will be finding out how one athlete is coping with the postponement of the 2020 toyko olympics. coming down the ladder now. that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. a catastrophic engine fire is being blamed tonight for the first crash in the 30—year history of concorde, the world's only supersonic airliner. it was one of the most vivid symbols of the violence and hatred that tore apart the state of yugoslavia. but now, a decade later, it's been painstakingly rebuilt

and opens again today. there's been a 50% decrease in spurn quantity, and an increase in malfunctioning spurn unable to swim properly. thousands of households across the country are suspiciously quiet this lunch time, as children bury their noses in the final instalment of harry potter. this is bbc news, the latest headlines president trump cancels the main gathering of the republican national convention in florida in august following a spike in coronavirus cases in the state. us secretary of state mike pompeo calls on the world to turn on china, warning of a ‘new tyranny‘ from beijing. the 24th of july marks the day that the 2020 olympics opening

ceremony would have been held in tokyo. but it was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. the games will now open in the summer next year. for a japanese athlete, tetsuya saotomura, that postponement has meant the end of his career in professional sport. our tokyo correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes went to speak to him in northern tokyo. translation: i am 35 years old, so as an athlete, i'm old. four years ago, i decided to try to compete in the tokyo olympics — despite my physical problems. after i gave my best, i wanted to rest my body after the olympics. my personal plan was to end my career in the summer of 2020. considering the position ifound myself in, the sudden

postponement of the olympics by a year was a big thing. considering the long time i have spent, cancelling everything and putting an end to everything just because of one year's postponement may feel to some rather sad and negative. i understand that. but i was able to make that bold step because i believe that even after stopping the sport that i've been doing all my life, there is something, a dream, that can make me just as excited. i don't have an idea exactly what i'm going to do yet, but i'm really looking forward to my second career after professional sports. seijiro takeshita is a professor at the university of shizuoka.

he told us just how disappointed people are at the postponement of the games. well, to make a long story short, we are all gutted. of course, there is the physical side. the economic aspect, but moreover, it's the psychological negative let down that people are feeling. many japanese were seeing this olympics as an ignition point to get ourselves out of this, the last decade, the last two decades, where japan had been stagnating. it was some kind of icon of the psychological legacy that would put us into a new phase. that's the reason why we are really looking forward to this olympics. so many people are quite gutted over the fact that it's been postponed and possibly cancelled as well. of course, i'm really sorry to hear. let's break it down. you talk about different types of losses. i mean, the economic loss, people coming from all over the world to japan and lots of things being built, on the

on the olympic villages and all of that. what's happening with all of that right now? the estimate is basically between 4 trillion to 8 trillion, which is around 1% or1.5% of ourgdp. most of the physical side has already been cherished, in other words, we are ready have the benefit of that. so some of the people do suggest that it's not as big or as negative as many people think. if you look at 2012 olympics in london, you can see that the actual number of business visitors decrease decrease during the olympics because many people avoided a crowded and expensive hotels and etc. many people wear suggesting that if it's not going to be as negative as many people say. but i think that's estimate is premature because there are so many of the physical effects that could arise from the psychological side of this, as ijust explained. so i think tourism, retail, service, these areas will be hit very very hard injapan in the coming years. seijiro, also, as you mention,

the psychological effects, particularly for athletes and sports people who have been training for years for this moment. i just feel sorry for them because all of these schedules and their hopes, you know, will basically be gone, but that's it, i would like to think that, you know, the japanese are very strong with adversity. as you can see from our experience in natural disasters including earthquakes. so we are fairly strong at fighting off against these adversities, but that said, i still feel that many of these athletes and many people who are engaged in this including the volunteers are feeling quite down. i think we really need to look at something that had overcome or replace this loss of the olympics legacy. twitter is cracking down on accounts relating to qanon ? the pro—trump conspiracy theory which the fbi called a potential domestic terror threat. qanon followers believe donald trump will save the world from a secret group of paedophiles who run society. exclusive research seen by the bbc from the institute of strategic dialogue suggests

that interest in the conspiracy worldwide has soared since march. here's stephanie hegarty. we go one. we go all. over the last few weeks, thousands of people have been pledging allegiance to qanon. we go one. we go all. a bizarre conspiracy theory that has soared in popularity since the pandemic. followers believe that a cabal of paedophiles run the united states. they control the media, hollywood and politicians and the only person that can stop them is donald trump. fake news, fake press... this musician is one of the few qanon followers who agreed to speak to us. i've only been actively posting, i'd say, for the last couple of months but the response that i've gotten is insane. exclusive research seen by the bbc looked at the use of hashtags specific to qanon. here's how many posts there were over the two years

before the pandemic. then in march, this happened. on facebook, and just four months, membership of the biggest public qanon groups rose by 700% stubble people were looking for that for answers as to why everything was happening. people were also locked on in their homes, they were you know, stuck to their computers, stuck to their phones all day, so they had more exposure to this kind of thing online. last year, the fbi said qanon could lead to a domestic terror threat and followers hold some disturbing views on the events of the past few months. what do you think of the pandemic? i think it's a hoax. i think that the rumour on the street is that president trump is trying to get all of these people to go to jail for paedophilia and child sacrifice and that the deep state has control of the media and put out this story to try to save their ass. what if it is real and you are not taking it seriously enough, do you worry about that? yeah, i don't want anyone to get sick because they went outside without a mess

because of me, so i always want to stay researched. but what qanon is is just an amalgamation of all the greatest conspiracy theories thrown into one big belief. another site that seen a huge surge in popularity recently is this page on the message board read it. is this page on the message board read redditt. people are coming here to post about family members that they feel have been sucked into the qanon conspiracy. we have spoken to a few of those who have been posting, but we are going to hide their identities because some of their families could be quite vulnerable. my father is a cancer survivor and he is immunocompromised. this is putting his life at risk if he starts to believe these things too. he's going deeper and deeper in, like, what is that going to look like even six months from now? i have to accept that the person i knew as my mother is probably not coming back. at least 1a qanon followers are likely to be on the ballot in the us in november, president trump has retweeted qanon accounts nearly 200 times — helping this wild and wacky fantasy to find its foothold firmly on the fringes of the american right. stephanie hegarty, bbc news.

china has blasted off its first ever solo mission to mars — but it's not alone in the race to explore the red planet. the tianwen—1 probe is expected to start orbiting mars in february —— first spending several months surveying the surface for a suitable site to land the rover. the united arab emirates launched an orbiter several days ago. and nasa is due to send up its own rover, called perseverance, a week from now. 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 and better way. our science correspondent jonathan amos says the mission appears to be going to plan since the launch. yeah, so far, so good. we have had confirmation that the rocket has put the probe on the right path to mars, and now it's

seven months to wait until they try and get into orbit of the red planet. they are not good to go down to the surface straightaway, they are going to use a strategy, actually, that the americans used back in the 1970s, you may recall the viking landers then in the mid—70s. they went into orbit around mars and kind of, you know, looked at what the conditions were like, to pick their place, to pick their time to go down to the surface. now, they were successful, both both viking one viking two got down. viking to actually got down into the same place that this rover will targets which is a place called the utopia plane. so we will see what happens, but so far, so good. so they tried to go to mars in 2011, not on their own, they had a satellite, and they were going to go with the russians. unfortunately, the russian crew stage failed just above the earth and everything fell back into the pacific ocean.

so they got slightly burnt with that, but, you know, in the time since, china has been doing some remarkable things at the moon, putting rovers on the surface there. last year, they landed a little rover on the far side, nobody has ever done that before, so that was quite a notch for them. they are taking that experience a bit like a training programme, if you like, they are taking that and saying right, now we have the confidence to have another crack at mars using the same kinds of technologies that we've used for the lunar surface to use on mars. now, it's a bigger challenge for sure, but we will see how they get on. a reminder of our top story.... president trump has announced he will not hold the republican convention scheduled for august in florida because of the spread of the coronavirus. there are now more than four million confirmed cases in america, as the virus hits the economy too. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @bbcrajiniv.

0f of course, all of our headlines are also on the bbc website and the bbc news out. hello there. for many parts of the country, friday will be a drier, brighter, and warmer day. for a while on thursday, the rain was actually quite heavy. it has since eased off, but there is still some cloud around in more southern parts of the uk. the next area of cloud is looming large in the atlantic, and that will bring some rain eventually. but for much of friday, we are in between two weather systems, and hence that drier theme. eventually this next area of cloud and rain on those weather fronts will come into some western areas. but ahead of that, quite a range of temperatures — a bit cooler in scotland where we've got clear skies, but quite a warm and muggy start for southern parts of england and wales. there's more cloud around, and there may still be 1—2 showers around on friday. still for a while, there'll be some showers running into the far north of scotland, but elsewhere a lot of dry weather with some sunshine at times.

it will cloud over in northern ireland from mid—afternoon onwards, and we'll start to see some rain coming in from the west. but ahead of it, 18 celsius in northern ireland, a bit warmer in eastern scotland, widely in the 20s in england and wales, 25—26 celsius in the southeast of england. now for the test match, it's the third test match, england against the west indies at old trafford again. the first day looks like it'll be dry. but over the weekend, we may have to dodge some rain. the weather is turning much more unsettled, particularly for saturday. there'll be some strong winds over weekend, warmer when the sun comes out but there may well be some heavy, perhaps thundery downpours. and we'll see some rain pushing its way eastwards on friday night into saturday to clear away. then as it brightens and we get some sunshine, we introduce some more of those heavy, perhaps thundery showers with the chance of rain coming back into some southern and southeastern parts of england. now the detail may change, but you can't really rely on any lengthy spells of dry weather on saturday, and temperatures will be 18—21 celsius and quite breezy, as well, staying that

way into sunday. perhaps some stronger winds arriving in the northwest of the uk closer to that area of low pressure. that's where we will see most of the rain. there'll be some sunshine on sunday with some showers around too, more likely across northern and western areas, perhaps merging at times to give some longer spells of rain in scotland, particularly in the west. temperatures on the whole may be a little bit lower for much of the country on sunday, but a drier day for eastern parts of england, and those temperatures may be a little bit higher.

this is bbc news,

the headlines... the number of people to have been diagnosed with covid—19 in america has now passed four million. the infection and hospitalisation rate is rising in many states. donald trump has announced he will not hold the republican convention scheduled for august in florida. the american secretary of state mike pompeo says the united states is now hardening its stance in its dealings with china, and called on other nations to triumph over the threat of what he said was a "new tyranny" from beijing. mr pompeo accused the chinese of exploiting the freedom and openness of american society. an iranian plane carrying passengers to beirut has landed safely after two fighter jets — thought to be from the us — came close to it and nearly caused a crash. some passengers were injured as the pilot changed altitudes in airspace over syria.