joe biden gets covid, pauses his campaign, and, for the first time, suggests a scenario where he'd drop out of the presidential race. donald trump's running mate, jd vance, vows to fight for forgotten americans as he takes centre stage at the republican party convention. i stand here humble and i am overwhelmed with gratitude to say i officially accept your nomination to be vice president of the united states of america. cheering the first report is due from the uk covid inquiry and it's expected to highlight failures in the country's pandemic preparations. the british prime minister is set to use a major european summit to push for tougher controls on illegal migration. and we hearfrom a nine—year—old chess prodigy as she prepares to make her opening gambit at a major competition in hungary.

hello, i'm lauren taylor. we begin this hour in the united states, where president biden has told reporters he feels good despite testing positive for covid. the virus, which he's had twice before, forced him to cancel a campaign speech he was due to give in las vegas. the white house says mr biden will self—isolate at his home in delaware where he'll continue his duties. before his diagnosis, president biden gave a television interview saying, for the first time, that he would consider dropping out of the election if any of his doctors said he had a medical condition. there have been repeated calls for mr biden not to run for a second term after a poor performance in his tv debate against donald trump. us media says the top two democrats in congress have both expressed concern to him that his candidacy could negatively impact other house and senate races. in a statement about his covid diagnosis, the white house press

secretary said, "he will be returning to delaware where he will self—isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time. the white house will provide regular updates on the president's status as he continues to carry out the full duties of the office while in isolation." this report is from our north america correspondent david willis. good afternoon. delegates were still taking their seats at an hispanic civil rights conference when word came that the keynote speaker had had to cancel. regrettably. .. ..i was just on the phone with president biden, and he shared his deep disappointment at not being able to join us this afternoon. he just tested positive for covid. minutes later came confirmation from the white house — a statement saying president biden was experiencing mild upper respiratory symptoms, combined with what was referred to as general malaise.

he'd fallen sick after this appearance earlier in the day at a mexican restaurant in the swing state of nevada. we're just getting down to game time now. questions about his health have dominated the campaign since his faltering debate performance three weeks ago. but speaking before the diagnosis, he suggested it would take something more serious than covid to make him drop out of the race. if i had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody... if the doctors came to me and said, you got this problem, that problem, but i made a serious mistake in the whole debate. and, look, when i originally ran, you may remember it. i said i was going to be a transitional candidate, and i thought that i'd be able to move from this to pass it on to someone else. but i didn't anticipate things getting so, so, so divided. and quite frankly, i think the only thing age brings is a little bit of wisdom.

but calls from members of his own party for the president to step aside are fast becoming a clamour. the influential californian congressman adam schiff said it was time for a passing of the torch, and it's emerged that the leading democrat in the senate, chuck schumer, met mr biden on saturday in an attempt to persuade him to call it quits. leaving las vegas for a spell of self—imposed isolation, the president was asked how he was feeling. how do you feel? i feel good. but the thumbs up will do little to assuage many people's concerns that at 81 years of agejoe biden is lacking the physical and mental capacity to do the job at a time when his rival is demonstrating what some see as almost superhuman strength. this unsteady exit speaks volumes about where the 2024 presidential race appears to be heading. david willis, bbc news, washington.

my colleague caitriona perry who's at the republican national convention has more on president biden�*s covid diagnosis. joe biden has not had a good run of luck, you would have to say, in this campaign so far. testing positive for covid. while he was on the campaign trail in las vegas. he had paused his campaigning because of that assassination attempt on donald trump. he wanted to give a respectful break. he took down some of his attack ads that were due to run on television, and then resumed this campaigning in nevada, another battleground state, yesterday and today. and he had been at an event, done an interview and was due to appear at a large rally for a latino worker rights union. and that was cancelled at very late notice. all the crowd were gathered in the venue and one of the organisers came on stage to say that the event was cancelled, joe biden had covid and was going back to his home in delaware to be in self—isolation there. now, the white house has put out

a couple of statements on this. the white house doctor saying that he only has mild symptoms, that he has a runny nose and a cough, and he's feeling well, and he's going to continue that self—isolation in delaware, while also carrying out his presidential duties. at the republican convention, donald trump's choice as running mate, jd vance, has formally accepted the vice presidential nomination. he praised mr trump as the once and future president, presenting him as a saviour for a troubled america. mr vance said republicans were united to try to win back the white house but were not afraid to debate. jd vance has aligned himself closely with the policies of mr trump and if the pair win in november, he's seen as the potential future of the republican party. here's a taste of his speech at the convention. now, never in my wildest imagination could i have believed that i'd be standing here tonight. i grew up in middletown, ohio... cheering ..a small town where people spoke their minds,

built with their hands and loved their god, theirfamily, their community and their country with their whole hearts. but it was also a place that had been cast aside and forgotten by america's ruling class in washington. when i was in the fourth grade, a career politician by the name ofjoe biden supported nafta, a bad trade deal that sent countless good jobs to mexico. crowd boos when i was a sophomore in high school, that same career politician named joe biden gave china a sweetheart trade deal that destroyed even more good american middle—class manufacturing jobs. crowd boos when i was a senior in high school, that samejoe biden supported the disastrous invasion of iraq. and at each step of the way, in small towns like mine in ohio, or next door in pennsylvania, or michigan, in states all across our country, jobs were sent overseas

and our children were sent to war. our north america correspondent, nomia iqbal, gave us the backstory of howjd vance rose to fame. he released a book in 2016, his memoirs about growing up in poverty. it went on to become a best—selling book. he also had a netflix movie based on that book and he was doing the media rounds for many years. and during that time, he was really laying into donald trump. he described himself as a never—trump guy. he said that donald trump was a liar and he even considered him america's hitler. so, it's quite a stunning, radical u—turn byjd vance. i mean, hejustifies it by saying, "well, i met mr trump "and i changed my mind about him." i did stop and ask a lot of people on the convention floor how they felt about that u—turn. and they were, you know... they're all in for donald trump. whatever donald trump does and picks and chooses, they are behind it.

and they said that they like jd vance, they like the fact that he was younger as well and that he is very much aligned with donald trump's policies. he's an isolationist, like donald trump, when it comes to foreign policy, and he's very hardline on domestic issues as well. mr trump was in the audience watching the speech. and of course, donald trump himself will give his speech later tonight, where he will formally accept the nomination to be the republican party's presidential candidate. and it will be the first time we hearfrom him since that assassination attempt on saturday. for a lot of republicans and, certainly, you know, other lawmakers, jd vance was not the ideal pick. i think there was an expectation by them and by others that perhaps mr trump would pick someone who was a little bit more moderate to try and appeal to the moderate voters, to try and make inroads with other types of voters. but i think the fact that he's chosen someone likejd vance, who is completely in line with him, suggests that he's confident

that his make america great again, hardline position is popular, and that he and vance are an alliance that can win the election in november. now, were some countries better prepared than others when covid swept across the world in 2020? well, the first report published by the covid inquiry here in the uk is out later and it's expected to lay out the failures and weaknesses in the uk's preparations. could it, for example, have learnt lessons from how countries in asia dealt with earlier outbreaks of two other coronaviruses — sars and mers? our correspondent nicky schiller is at dorland house in central london, where the inquiry was held. as he said, this is the first report from the uk covid inquiry, set up in may 2021 by former prime minister borisjohnson to look at how the uk handled the coronavirus pandemic. the inquiry itself is going to go on

for another couple of years. what we have today is the first report, specifically looking at how the uk was prepared for any pandemic. it is the first report from the chair of the first report from the chair of the inquiry, baroness hallett. we are expecting it to be quite critical. health reporterjim reid has this report. spring 2020, and the country was deep in lockdown. shops were shut, schools were closed. four years on, and life might feel back to normal. but what needs to change if or when the next pandemic hits us? good morning. a public inquiry has been trying to answer that question. shall be the truth... ..the whole truth... ..and nothing but the truth. today, its first findings will look just at the time before covid, including planning and the state of the nhs, after a decade of spending constraints. we were at the bottom of the table

on number of doctors, number of nurses, number of beds, number of itus. if you lose control of your debt and you lose control of your deficit and you lose control of your economy, you end up cutting the health service. dr saleyha ahsan is a documentary—maker and trained army medic. ijust remember it being a really brutal time, i think. she filmed this working in a covid ward during the pandemic. we were dealing with a killer virus. we hadn't a vaccine at that point. ppe was short. it was ridiculous. it felt that we were making do, and the people that were being pushed to the front were health care workers. in 2020, dr ahsan�*s father caught covid. he died weeks later. it's so super important to make sure that we learn lessons and i say learn from those who did it well because we're going to lose lives unnecessarily.

the inquiry will look into why some other countries seemed better prepared. south korea, for example, used fast contact tracing to suppress early outbreaks. professor adam kucharski advised the government at the time. one of the things that covid really showed is just the amount of damage a pandemic can do, particularly if countries aren't adequately prepared. and a lot of that wasn't just about the decisions they made in the middle of the outbreak, it was about all of the data infrastructure, resources, protocols, policies they had before that that put them in a much better position. many countries were caught offguard in 2020. the scars are still visible today. another reason why scientists say planning for the next pandemic is not important but essential. jim reid, bbc news. we have said this is quite a key day

for the overall inquiry. you mentioned _ for the overall inquiry. you mentioned at _ for the overall inquiry. you mentioned at the - for the overall inquiry. you mentioned at the start - for the overall inquiry. 7m, mentioned at the start about how wide—ranging this inquiry is. that is partly because it has to look into so many different aspects of the pandemic. it is divided into different modules, basically different modules, basically different sections, one after the other. later on we will be hearing about things like the impact on care homes, children and education. today it isjust the homes, children and education. today it is just the conclusions, the first section, looking at planning for a pandemic and preparedness. if you speak to scientists, other experts, a lot say it is in a way one of the most important thing is they will look at because if you are going to learn the lessons, as everyone says, at some point, it is inevitable, there will be an outbreak of another virus, whether like covid we don't know, we have to be better prepared. learn the lessons, important to learn around planning. we lessons, important to learn around -~lannin.~ ., �* ~ ., lessons, important to learn around ”lannin. ~ ., �* ~ ., ., planning. we don't know what baroness hallett _ planning. we don't know what baroness hallett will - planning. we don't know what baroness hallett will say, - planning. we don't know what i baroness hallett will say, some clues from the evidence given at the time. one of the issues being the uk tended to treat it like a influenza.

this fatalistic approach to covid, not just this fatalistic approach to covid, notjust in the uk, across much of the western world, europe and the us in particular. the plans were drawn up in particular. the plans were drawn up based on a flu pandemic and the idea there as you use vaccines but you can tweak existing vaccines relatively easily, anti—viral medication, and you accept the fact a century that virus has to spread across the population to a certain extent. you don't really use in the same way with flu is things like contact tracing, isolation, testing to a certain extent. we did end up using a lot of testing in covid. if you compare the uk to somewhere like south korea, taiwan, these were countries hit by previous outbreaks of different coronaviruses, sars, mers, in the decade before covid, they used those kinds of techniques, isolation, quite advanced technology

heavy contact tracing, to clamp down on earlier outbreaks and keep a lid on earlier outbreaks and keep a lid on it. if you look at the data, south korea, for example, they did much better in reducing infections and deaths, especially in the first wave of the pandemic compared with somewhere like the uk. in wave of the pandemic compared with somewhere like the uk.— wave of the pandemic compared with somewhere like the uk. in the report toda from somewhere like the uk. in the report today from baroness _ somewhere like the uk. in the report today from baroness hallett, - somewhere like the uk. in the report today from baroness hallett, she - today from baroness hallett, she will make some recommendations, we expect. does that government have to follow the recommendations? ida. it follow the recommendations? no, it is a ublic follow the recommendations? no, it is a public inquiry. — is a public inquiry, recommendations, the government can completely ignore them if it wants to. it would be a brave government at the moment in the uk that will completely dismiss these. quite interesting because when the new labour government came in, sir patrick vallance, chief scientist in the pandemic, he was named as one of the pandemic, he was named as one of the new health minister is, quite a surprise. it wouldn't shock me if he is the person who is given the job of taking some of the recommendations and making them into policy. but they don't have to take them, it will be up to the government. i them, it will be up to the

government.— them, it will be up to the government. ., ., g government. i have to let jim run off now because _ government. i have to let jim run off now because the _ government. i have to let jim run off now because the journalists i off now because the journalists about ten minutes ago were lined up here because what happens now is they will go in and be allowed to read the report, the report itself is not published until midday, so jen and the health editor hugh pym they will have time to read and die just what is in the report and then they will be at midday allowed to come out and tell us what is in the report ——jim. we come out and tell us what is in the report —— jim. we will also come out and tell us what is in the report ——jim. we will also hear from baroness hallett, the chair of the inquiry, she will do a statement at around 12:05pm uk time a little later to outline findings and recommendations. further coverage throughout the day on bbc news. back to you in the studio. thank you. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

the new uk prime minister, sir keir starmer, is hosting a meeting of dozens of european leaders at blenheim

palace in england. talks are expected to focus on how to tackle illegal immigration, and provide ongoing support for ukraine. sir keir starmer says border security will be at the heart of the government's reset with europe. our correspondent lewis vaughn—jones is at blenheim palace, in oxfordshire, where the summit is being held. thank you. welcome to blenheim palace, splendid backdrop. let me explain what is happening because we have different live cameras around the place we will be showing you, the place we will be showing you, the red carpet where leaders are arriving, walking down the red carpet to be met by keir starmer, prime minister. they have been driven through the glorious driveway and the clue as to why they are all here, the big sign, european political community. if you're not familiar with that as a summit, you will be forgiven because it is pretty new, 2022 established in the wake of the war with ukraine,

emmanuel macron�*s effective brainchild. 45 world leaders from across europe are here, a huge diplomatic opportunity for the uk. the uk has been talking about the opportunity to reset its relationship with the eu and of course why do leaders as well. that is a word we will be hearing through the day, research. where i was standing in the last half an hour, we heard from david lammy, uk foreign secretary on the relationship between the eu and the uk. take a listen. well, let me answer the question. the first thing is to say the european union and its commission is not up and running after their elections last month. they won't be up and running until december. this is not a gathering of the european union. it's a gathering of the whole european family. and of course we're entering into discussions, but we're nowhere near a negotiation on the trade agreement, the paper—thin trade

agreement that boris johnson struck, the veterinary deal, that we've said that we want to get, the mutual qualifications that we want to work on and the uk—eu security pack that we're proposing to europe that will enable us to discuss a whole range of issues across the european families. we aren't at that stage two weeks into office. here we have the epc. it's a gathering now of 44 leaders from the wider european family, discussing issues of mutual concern. central to that is security and ukraine. second is migration. and it's an issue that all european leaders want to discuss and talk about. that was david lammy standing not far from where i that was david lammy standing not farfrom where i am right now. one of the things he talked about emphasising it is not between the uk and the european union, so what exactly is it? i have a man to explain exactly what is going on, henry zeffman. we heard it is a

reset with european neighbours but it is not a direct negotiation, what is going on? b, it is not a direct negotiation, what is going on?— it is not a direct negotiation, what isuaoinon?�* , is going on? a resat with europe but not with the — is going on? a resat with europe but not with the european _ is going on? a resat with europe but not with the european union. - is going on? a resat with europe but not with the european union. i - is going on? a resat with europe but not with the european union. i think| not with the european union. i think the new_ not with the european union. i think the new government wants to remodel the new government wants to remodel the uk's _ the new government wants to remodel the uk's post—brexit relationship with the — the uk's post—brexit relationship with the eu a little bit though not a lot -- _ with the eu a little bit though not a lot —— reset with europe. there are almost— a lot —— reset with europe. there are almost 50 leaders coming to the european _ are almost 50 leaders coming to the european political community and 50 is a much _ european political community and 50 is a much larger number than 27, the number_ is a much larger number than 27, the numberof— is a much larger number than 27, the number of countries that make up the eu. number of countries that make up the eu it _ number of countries that make up the eu it tells _ number of countries that make up the eu ittellsa— number of countries that make up the eu. it tells a story, about half of the countries taking part are members of the eu. that is why as he was saying _ members of the eu. that is why as he was saying earlier president macron came _ was saying earlier president macron came up— was saying earlier president macron came up with this institution because _ came up with this institution because it is designed to foster unity— because it is designed to foster unity on — because it is designed to foster unity on the european continent, so bringing _ unity on the european continent, so bringing in— unity on the european continent, so bringing in all of the countries, among — bringing in all of the countries, among them the uk, european countries, _ among them the uk, european countries, but not eu member states. henry, _ countries, but not eu member states. henry, thank— countries, but not eu member states. henry, thank you for that. talk us through some of the highlights, they

are here all day, as we will be as well, what should we be looking out for? it well, what should we be looking out for? , . , , , ., for? it is a summit but it is not like the g7 _ for? it is a summit but it is not like the g7 summit, _ for? it is a summit but it is not like the g7 summit, g20 - for? it is a summit but it is not i like the g7 summit, g20 summit, like the g7 summit, gzo summit, where— like the g7 summit, gzo summit, where they— like the g7 summit, 620 summit, where they spend days crashing out a communique at the end of which they say every— communique at the end of which they say every country present has signed up say every country present has signed up to— say every country present has signed up to this, _ say every country present has signed up to this, there is not a product to the _ up to this, there is not a product to the meeting. this meeting is 6tht— to the meeting. this meeting is about what happens on the sidelines, an opportunity for the leaders in a more _ an opportunity for the leaders in a more informal contexts unusual to get to know each other, and that is why it is so fortuitously timed. keir— why it is so fortuitously timed. keir starmer, waiting two weeks ago for the _ keir starmer, waiting two weeks ago for the exit _ keir starmer, waiting two weeks ago for the exit poll, now in the splendid _ for the exit poll, now in the splendid surroundings with the opportunity to meet all these leaders — opportunity to meet all these leaders now his counterparts. james landale, diplomatic _ leaders now his counterparts. i—ne" landale, diplomatic correspondent, described as diplomatic speed dating for keir starmer, summing it up. on the slightly more substance, no communique, grand announcement, but the kind of meat, what will be

spoken about, what should we be listening out for?— listening out for? there will be a lot about ukraine, _ listening out for? there will be a lot about ukraine, after- listening out for? there will be a lot about ukraine, after all- listening out for? there will be a lot about ukraine, after all that l listening out for? there will be a | lot about ukraine, after all that is why the _ lot about ukraine, after all that is why the group was set up, and it seems _ why the group was set up, and it seems likely volodymyr zelensky is going _ seems likely volodymyr zelensky is going to _ seems likely volodymyr zelensky is going to be in attendance. that will be a resonant moment, his arrival, is it so— be a resonant moment, his arrival, is it so often— be a resonant moment, his arrival, is it so often is when he meets western— is it so often is when he meets western leaders from the country supporting him against russia. there are going _ supporting him against russia. there are going to be discussions about migration, — are going to be discussions about migration, defending democracy, and it will— migration, defending democracy, and it will he _ migration, defending democracy, and it will be interesting what the leaders — it will be interesting what the leaders have to say after those. henry, — leaders have to say after those. henry, thank you. fascinating. we willjust henry, thank you. fascinating. we will just take henry, thank you. fascinating. we willjust take a quick pause because we have more people arriving, 45 litres, quite a few. thank you for that. if we have... we are almost out of time, butjust before i hand back to the studio, mark your card, we are expecting to hear from keir starmer later on, once the summit is over and wrapped up, once the

plenary sessions are done, conversations about things like illegal migration, you can, we will hearfrom the prime minister illegal migration, you can, we will hear from the prime minister later on this afternoon. there will also be a reception, king charles will be hosting. although there will be no formal communique, we will get a sense in the press conferences about any progress being made or not. that is it for the moment, lauren, back to you. is it for the moment, lauren, back to ou. ., , ., ., ,., to you. louis vaughan jones, at blenheim _ to you. louis vaughan jones, at blenheim palace, _ to you. louis vaughan jones, at blenheim palace, thank- to you. louis vaughan jones, at blenheim palace, thank you. i to you. louis vaughan jones, at| blenheim palace, thank you. we to you. louis vaughan jones, at - blenheim palace, thank you. we will be monitoring the events in the summit throughout the day. also, if you want to catch up with that and the rest of the news, check out the website, details there of the top story, president biden now has covid and are still being pressured over whether he stays in the race. stay with us on bbc news.

where we have the sunshine today will be very warm. warmer than yesterday. the heat is building, perhaps only briefly and it is not going to be hot everywhere by any means. scotland and northern ireland, cooler, cloudier conditions. this was the picture early on this morning. also a bit of light rain or drizzle effect in western scotland and through the irish sea and northern ireland. eastern scotland may be drier and brighter. the best of the sunshine away from some irish sea coast across england and wales. he had the temperatures will be higher than yesterday, widely into mid 20s, could reach 27 in the south—east of england. scotland and northern ireland, temperatures several degrees lower. the rain will become lighter and more patchy in scotland and northern ireland and tending to move away overnight. more in the way of clearer skies for england and wales. quite a warm night, humidity

rising, so typical overnight temperatures, 15—16 . tomorrow, before the rain arrives in the western isles, a bit more sunshine and drier weatherfor western isles, a bit more sunshine and drier weather for scotland and northern ireland. plenty of sunshine for england and wales. we all have a southerly breeze bringing the warmth, a warmer day than today everywhere, and the temperatures will probably pique again in the south—east of england at 30, even 31. that is going to be the peak of the heat. pressure will be falling this weekend and we have some weather fronts moving across from the west to bring rain which should clear away by sunday. this is the picture for saturday, they may well be sunshine for a while and wants across eastern parts of england, but the risk of thundery showers developing. the wetter weather will move across northern ireland, scotland, into wales, western parts of england. temperatures will be around 17—19. ahead of any cloud on

storms in eastern parts of england, temperatures a bit higher, but not as high as friday. the rain clearing away overnight, left with very few showers on sunday. many places dry with some sunshine. rather than a southerly breeze, it is westerly, so temperatures lower and a bit below average for the time of year.

this is bbc news, the headlines... today, the uk, was it a sufficiently prepared for the pandemic? the uk covert inquiry is answering exactly that question. —— covid inquiry. a european summit, building bridges and relationships. keir starmer will host 50 leaders at the european summit in england today. and also the lib dem leader ed davey labour's pat mcfadden, both former postal affairs ministers, will give evidence at the postal inquiry today. first, let's hear what we might get

from the covid inquiry report, which