mark simakovsky, thank you _ later on. mark simakovsky, thank you for _ later on.for coming - later on. mark simakovsky, thank you for coming on. i thank you for coming on. thanks. let's take you live now to the gobi desert. the first astronauts for china's new space station and set to blast off shortly, actually, for the country's longest crewed mission to date. it is china's first crewed mission in nearly five years, and it represents a landmark step in establishing beijing as a major space power. the three astronauts will launch on a long march 2f rocket, heading for the space station, where they will spend three months. lift—off is expected in a few minutes' time. their spacecraft will dock with the main section of the space station, that has been in orbit since april. the first crew will test and maintain the systems onboard, conduct spacewalks and undertake scientific experiments. things like that. we will be keeping an eye on this and bring more to you in about half—an—hour. hong kong police say they've arrested five executives from the pro—democracy apple d

mark simakovsky. the day's other news: the chinese government has acknowledged that the fuel rods at a nuclear power plant in the south of the country have been damaged, but insist that no radioactivity has leaked. the admission comes after us media reported that the us government was assessing a reported leak at the facility. police in the italian capital rome have diffused a homemade explosive device, that was found on a car near the olympic stadium just hours before the euro 2020 clash between italy and switzerland. the bomb was reported to have been filled with bolts and gunpowder and had been put on a vehicle belonging to a local government official. france is to lift its night—time coronavirus curfew from sunday, allowing people to leave home at night without official justification for the first time since october. and from thursday they will no longer be obliged to wear a mask outside, except in queues. china has launched its first crew to its new space station — a landmark step in establishing