ifi if i had some medical condition that emerge, if doctors said, it's probably time to go. it was just a few days ago that donald trump was almost assassinated, and that, of course is an event that looms large over this convention. as questions swirl by president biden staying in the race and show of unified dues unity with donald trump set to state we'll take the stage tonight. a matter of when, not if. the words of senior democrats tonight, as the pressure builds onjoe biden to quit the presidential race. he's currently isolating at home with — what his team describes as — �*mild covid symptoms�*. his campaign events are currently on hold. also tonight: the uk government

"failed its citizens". the damning verdict into the handling of the covid pandemic and lays out measures to prevent the same ever happening again. and �*resetting the relationship with europe�*. britain�*s prime minister urges european leaders, to address the illegal migration "crisis," and to stand firm in their support of ukraine. we begin tonight and the united states. we begin tonight and the united states. barack obama, is reported to have told allies thatjoe biden must seriously consider he viability to win a second term. mr obama is a powerfulfigure within the democratic party, and his words will put more pressure on a beleaguered president, to quit seeking re—election. mr biden has tested positive for covid, forcing him to suspend mrobama of mr obama of course a powerful figure within the democratic party. his words put even more pressure on the beleaguered president to quit seeking reelection. mr biden testing

positive for covid has forced him to suspend all engagements. elsewhere, at the republican national convention in milwaukee it�*s donald trump�*s turn to take to the stage. the former president will formally accept his party�*s nomination, and make a wide ranging speech expected to last more than an hour. it will be mr trump�*s first speech since surviving an assassination attempt at the weekend. in milwaukee at the republican convention, sue me, good to talk to you for that we will come unto you in just you for that we will come unto you injust a moment. you for that we will come unto you injusta moment. his you for that we will come unto you injust a moment. his big speech tonight. let�*s talk about the democrat and that pressure once again growing onjoe biden to quit the race. this latest intervention is a significant one. barack obama saying he needs to seriously consider his viability of his candidacy. consider his viability of his candidacy-— consider his viability of his candida . �* ., , ,., , consider his viability of his candida . �* ., , , , candidacy. ben, it absolutely is significant- _ candidacy. ben, it absolutely is significant. is _ candidacy. ben, it absolutely is significant. is the _ candidacy. ben, it absolutely is significant. is the former-

significant. is the former president, this is the washington post confirming he spoken to ally saying he does not see thatjoe biden has a viable path to victory and he wants the president to consider dropping out. this of course comes out the back of what we seen a washington as well, a growing number of lawmakers in the house of representatives, also decided publicly calling on the president to bow out of the race. they are worried about the democrats ability to wake president biden stability win and also lawmakers for reelection down the ticket as it�*s called. as we hear this chorus grow it comes as president biden has his ended his campaign at the moment because he contracted covid. all of this is putting ever more pressure on the president. in context, it is only 20 democrats in the house of representatives so far who have called on president biden publicly to drop out president obama, the former president is not explicitly calling on him to drop out. he said he wants to seriously consider it, which is what we�*ve heard from

former speaker nancy pelosi. president biden has said time and again he is staying in. he is the candidate and he said he hadn�*t actually spoken to president obama sincejust after the actually spoken to president obama since just after the debate. it�*s unclear how much this will add to the pressure for the we have to see what president biden decides in the coming days. what president biden decides in the coming dam-— coming days. that's the point. he's not auoin coming days. that's the point. he's not going to _ coming days. that's the point. he's not going to be _ coming days. that's the point. he's not going to be dragged _ coming days. that's the point. he's not going to be dragged off - coming days. that's the point. he's not going to be dragged off the - not going to be dragged off the stage, this needs to be mr biden is decision. even though all of the rhetoric, some of his ally saying maybe now is the time you stand aside. talk to me about the potential process what could happen? what could possibly happen gets a bit murky. we have the opera singer who is going to be performing tonight warming up behind me. i understand he will take the stage just after donald trump speaks. apologies if it�*s a little bit loud. the next part of the process would

possibly be that president biden could say that he would drop out of the race and endorses vice president kamala harris. there�*s been a lot of talk about that. it is believed she would get all of the campaign money thatis would get all of the campaign money that is been raised for the biden— harris ticket for this fall. it�*s believed she would also get the delicates that president biden wanted the primaries of course to become the candidate. that would be perhaps the easiest path for that one of the possibility is an open convention where you would see other candidates getting the possibility to make their case. that would get much trickier and also would put democrats in a very difficult position just a democrats in a very difficult positionjust a month democrats in a very difficult position just a month or two ahead of the election. ihell position just a month or two ahead of the election.— of the election. well done contending _ of the election. well done contending with _ of the election. well done contending with the - of the election. well done contending with the opera of the election. well done - contending with the opera singer. of the election. well done _ contending with the opera singer. we look forward to hearing that later. as you say, he�*s warming up to welcome former president trump onto that stage. fresh after surviving that stage. fresh after surviving that assassination attempt, tonight is the night where we will hear from him. it�*s a speech that could last a

wild and it�*s expected to cover quite a lot. wild and it's expected to cover quite a lot-— wild and it's expected to cover quite a lot. wild and it's expected to cover uuite a lot. ~ �* ., ., ., quite a lot. we're hearing from a gop official— quite a lot. we're hearing from a gop official familiar _ quite a lot. we're hearing from a gop official familiar which - quite a lot. we're hearing from a gop official familiar which says l quite a lot. we're hearing from a| gop official familiar which says it could be over an hour, there will be applause, movement on and off the stage for the were expecting a longer speech from the president. we heard from the republican national committee that the former president will focus on ushering in a new golden age for america. he was a focus on, according to this committee on prosperity in the us, america standing at home and abroad in a resurgence in cities and communities. it looks like the opera singer is back. apologies, i hope you can hear me okay. i would add to that we�*ve heard from another gop official that the president will deliver a very personal address. he said he rewrote the entire speech after that assassination attempt. his life and of course touched deeply by what happened. he almost lost his life. we can expect that to

factor in heavily in that speech tonight. factor in heavily in that speech toniaht. ,, , . tonight. sumi, en'oy the music. i know ou tonight. sumi, en'oy the music. i know you win— tonight. sumi, enjoy the music. i know you will keep _ tonight. sumi, enjoy the music. i know you will keep us _ tonight. sumi, enjoy the music. i| know you will keep us up-to-date know you will keep us up—to—date with the speech as well. we to have you with us. at the rnc convention. that story about barack obama and joe biden was reported the evening by the washington post. you can see there, 0bama telling bidens patty reelection has diminished. joining me now is washington post live anchor, leigh ann caldwell. good to have you with us. sumi was running through potential options on how this may play out. talk to me about the process. if, it�*s a big if at this stage joe body about the process. if, it�*s a big if at this stagejoe body decides to step down from running once again, what happens? are we assuming he willjust endorse kamala harris or leave the party to decide how this might work?— leave the party to decide how this miaht work? , ., �* ~ ., ., might work? first we don't know what joe biden is might work? first we don't know what

joe biden is going _ might work? first we don't know what joe biden is going to _ might work? first we don't know what joe biden is going to do. _ might work? first we don't know what joe biden is going to do. my _ joe biden is going to do. my democratic sources mostly on capitol hill tell me it�*s looking more and more likely that it�*s just not sustainable that he stays at the top of the party. the next 72 hours ago to be critical. if he does drop out of the race there is a huge open question. there are some on capitol hill and elected democratic officials, some donors who are pushing for kamala harris for practical reasons. because she gets the money, $200 million in the bed, she will get the infrastructure of the campaign. it will be a smoother process without anyone else would have to start from scratch for the presidential campaign in a matter of about 100 days is is virtually impossible. we don�*t know whatjoe biden would do, if he would endorse kamala harris, if he would say nothing and let the party fight it out. those are all questions that are being discussed. there are a lot of donors i am told who don�*t want kamala harris. there is a lot of

concern, even on capitol hill that kamala harris wouldn�*t do any better than joe kamala harris wouldn�*t do any better thanjoe biden. this isjust such unprecedented, unknown territory that these democrats are in just weeks from their own democratic convention. weeks from their own democratic convention-— convention. that really speaks to the difficulty _ convention. that really speaks to the difficulty of— convention. that really speaks to the difficulty of becoming - convention. that really speaks to the difficulty of becoming a - the difficulty of becoming a candidate to run for president. it is year of networking and all of that behind the scenes. you have so many different factions to win over. you touched on the other fundraisers, the people making money, those sponsoring a campaign, those others within the party. before you�*ve even got to voters, it�*s an election. i wonder where the focus should be forjoe biden and if he is determined to run once again, who does he need to win over first? he needs to win over his party, the elected officials. what�*s happening is democrats on capitol hill and congress in the house and the senate, they are so concerned

because yes, they wantjoe biden to win the presidency but they are in it for themselves. it�*s all about self—preservation. they are seeing polling in their districts, in their state data showing thatjoe biden is a huge drag on the ticket. especially after the debate. pre—debate he was a big drag. democrats have said they are going to be the ones that carryjoe biden to be the ones that carryjoe biden to victory. but nowjoe biden seems to victory. but nowjoe biden seems to be down in some of this internal polling and even public polling so much and some of the battleground states and districts that they don�*t think they can carryjoe biden and they are worried about being able to carry themselves. what it ultimately comes comes down to isjoe biden is going to have to win over democrats in congress. but that seems like it�*s not able to happen. no one can unseat the debate. people are extremely concerned about his ability to win an election and deliver an effective method. he�*s going to have to win over donors who

have all but the major daughters have all but the major daughters have and their donating to the campaign. —— major donors. if he doesn�*t have the money to run that is definitely not going to win. donald trump is can have so much money. and of course the voters. the voters are split for that they matter and the delegates at the convention, it is multilayered, multifaceted and very complicated. yes. we will try and make sense of it when we get a clearer direction of what can happen. thank you, liana. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

you are with the context on bbc news. you are with the context on bbc news. the british public was failed by a government that was not prepared for the covid outbreak that is the finding from the first report from the uk covid inquiry. the damning report, on the uk�*s preparedness, finds there were fundamental flaws

in contingency planning before the outbreak, with the wrong choices being made about the nation�*s health, and the readiness of the nhs to cope with huge a disaster. in the uk alone, 235,000 deaths were attributed to covid, from the start of the outbreak in 2020, to the end of last year. in all, £373 billion was spent by the uk government on tackling the crisis, including the additional health treatment costs, and the furlough scheme for workers. globally, there were 22 million excess deaths. that�*s the difference between the number of people who died, and the expected numbers of deaths, if there�*d been no pandemic. here�*s our health editor, hugh pym. empty streets, schools closed, deadly viruses are not new. this was mexico 15 years ago, even mask wearing was enforced. previous global outbreaks had shown

the world how an infectious disease could be controlled, but when covid struck, doctors like lisa remember how the uk was not ready. we were not prepared at all for anything of this level. we were scrambling to try to piece things together. we�*ve had so many opportunities in the past with sars, with swine flu to learn lessons about how to lock down, how to have stockpiles of protective gear, how to wear masks properly. and we�*ve learned nothing. today, the findings from the first phase of the inquiry were published. it concluded... i have no hesitation in concluding that the processes, planning and policy of the civil contingency structures

across the united kingdom failed the citizens of all four nations. there were serious errors on the part of the state and serious flaws in our civil emergency systems. this cannot be allowed to happen again. the bereaved, including deborah, seen here on the left, gathered at the inquiry. her mother contracted covid in march 2020 and didn�*t survive. a very comprehensive report, hard—hitting. there's lot in there, you know, the families, what we have experienced, it is there in black—and—white now. they said the government were ill—prepared. by the time people flown back from china were bussed into quarantine in early 2020, the uk was already playing catch up. that�*s incredible. but for those working in social care, it was too little too late. there was no preparation for infection prevention at all within the care home setting. did you? maria was in charge of a care

home in early 2020. herfirst resident died of covid in mid february, but in the week it took to confirm it was the virus that killed him, another nine residents contracted it. in those early days, there was no guidance, there was no ppe being sent to us. it was extremely scary. it was extremely isolating to be told to kind ofjust get on with it, really. it felt like an absolute war zone. it was just... ..like us versus the virus. today�*s report says rather than focusing on how to stop the spread of a disease, including stockpiling ppe and preparing a testing programme, the uk was too focused on coping with the consequences. as the report concludes, they should�*ve concentrated on tackling the causes. hugh pym, bbc news.

joining me know to break down this report a bit more is paul hunter professor in medicine at the university of east anglia whose research focuses on emerging infection diseases. good to have you with us. i was particularly struck by some of the comments from the chair of the commission, this inquiry saying, never again can a disease be allowed to lead to so many deaths and so much suffering. quite clearly the focus of this inquiry is to make sure that the same doesn�*t happen again. it is a damning verdict on how the uk government handled the, isn�*t it? how the uk government handled the, isn't it? , , isn't it? yes. very little in the re ort isn't it? yes. very little in the report that — isn't it? yes. very little in the report that is _ isn't it? yes. very little in the report that is not _ isn't it? yes. very little in the report that is not surprising. i j report that is not surprising. i think it�*s good to see it all in one pres, bringing all that expertise in opinion that went into writing this. when we look at some of the details, we will come onto the recommendations and suggestions at the moment. it said the uk lacked result two resilience with that though were high rates of health,

public services were running past capacity. you might say it�*s little wonder that the uk failed so badly given how already lacking in help and support the country was, given the state perhaps of some of our health facilities in the funding that i gone into them. i health facilities in the funding that i gone into them.- that i gone into them. i think one ofthe that i gone into them. i think one of the issues _ that i gone into them. i think one of the issues with _ that i gone into them. i think one of the issues with in _ that i gone into them. i think one of the issues with in dealing - that i gone into them. i think one of the issues with in dealing with | of the issues with in dealing with infectious diseases as you cannot predict when you are going to be experiencing large waves of something going back for decades. if you plan your services there is a point where you got very little infectious disease you don�*t have what�*s called surge capacity. i think that was lacking in the uk. 20 years ago we had... 30 years ago now, we had a laboratory system that was able to manage surges of infection, whether it had been

managed this one so big. the fact is we had very little old surgical capacity. we weren�*t able to gear up to do the testing that we were clearly going to need early on in the outbreak. to a large extent we had contracted our services to cope with effectively a peacetime level of demand. ., with effectively a peacetime level of demand-— with effectively a peacetime level of demand. ., ,, , .,, of demand. one of the issues was what the report — of demand. one of the issues was what the report calls _ of demand. one of the issues was what the report calls groupthink, l what the report calls groupthink, the idea that scientists facing too little challenge from some of the ministers of the decisions being made. no one really knew what we were dealing with them. it�*s easy to look at this it in hind sight and say look at how it all played out. we forget unprecedented, how unpredictable it was in the early days the pandemic.— unpredictable it was in the early days the pandemic. certainly in the first few months _ days the pandemic. certainly in the first few months it _ days the pandemic. certainly in the first few months it was _ days the pandemic. certainly in the first few months it was very - days the pandemic. certainly in the| first few months it was very unclear what was going to happen so that was is going to be something like flu, was is going to be something like

sars that we saw in 2003? the previous coronavirus that caused a significant problem actually was eradicated within about a year. so really january and february we didn�*t know what was happening. by march it was very clear that this particular coronavirus wasn�*t like the coronavirus in 2003. and there was going to be a significant more issue to deal with. because we were seeing asymptomatic transmission, which we didn�*t see in 2003. also the fact that people were more infectious early on in the infection before they were dying. where as in 2003 people were more infectious about a week to ten days down the course of their illness without up that�*s a lot more easy to control and contain people. where is with covid that was it going to be the

case, sadly. it was certainly by the end of february, end of march this was clear this was going to be a disease unlike anything we�*ve had for many years. disease unlike anything we've had for many years-— disease unlike anything we've had for many years. what do you make of the recommendation? _ for many years. what do you make of the recommendation? they _ for many years. what do you make of the recommendation? they are - for many years. what do you make of the recommendation? they are some for many years. what do you make of i the recommendation? they are some of them pretty radical, taking responsibility for pandemic planning away from the department of health, creating a new independent body to advise on emergencies. something to assess these date of preparation and resilience. a three yearly pandemic response exercise to stress test that plans are in place. have a enough to prevent this happening again? i enough to prevent this happening auain? ., �* ~' enough to prevent this happening auain? ., �* ~ ,, ., again? i don't think you can ever do enou:h to again? i don't think you can ever do enough to absolutely _ again? i don't think you can ever do enough to absolutely guarantee - enough to absolutely guarantee that we wouldn�*t get something like this again. we never really know what�*s going to happen around the corner. we�*re always dealing with the last pandemic. that�*s often setting the mind for how we deal with future

pandemics. i do think we need to look at how we arrange our pandemic preparedness. i think... look at how we arrange our pandemic preparedness. ithink... i�*m never easy with public health facilities sitting within government departments because the priorities of government departments are always more focused amongst their ministers and they necessarily are around their population. i think it was a mistake to levitate public health england into the department of health. ., england into the department of health. . ., , england into the department of health. . . , england into the department of health. . ., , ., ., ,, england into the department of health. ., ., , ., ., ,, ., health. paul, really good to talk to ou. paul health. paul, really good to talk to you. paul hunter— health. paul, really good to talk to you. paul hunter at _ health. paul, really good to talk to you. paul hunter at the universityl you. paul hunter at the university for east anglia, thank you. britain�*s prime minister has urged european leaders, to address the illegal migration "crisis," and to stand firm in their support of ukraine. sir keir starmer was speaking at a special summit at blenheim palace in 0xfordshire, where he said that while the uk would "not be part of the european union," it was very

much a part of europe". he said he wanted to repair the relationship that had been fractured by brexit. the war in ukraine was also being discussed extensively. president zelensky told the 50 leaders gathered that "putin has not divided us". illegal migration was another key topic. french president emmanuel macron said there was no "silver bullet" to tackle small boats crossing the channel. let�*s speak to political scientist and director of the istituto affari internazionali, nathalie tocci. a lot on the agenda. when we see world leaders meet, to they deliver anything? did you hear anything there that delivers concrete action? the thing about the political community, because it�*s an informal setting and it�*s not institutionalised it has on the one hand the value of getting heads of government together for the bare back and forth conversation, they are able to connect but it is very difficult to then see concrete

action coming out of the european relations precisely because there were no institutions to support. in a sense this is an initiative which i think has and was essentially driven by two sets of considerations. the first was preservation of ukraine and the paradigm and you two european security had to change. it was no longer a question of building security with russia but a question of building security against at the very latest protection of russia. that was one said. the second two i just want to get it because time is tight the idea of a reset. particularly with the crisis in ukraine. an important change in the sense of how the uk is perceived within europe exactly. the second

consideration _ within europe exactly. the second consideration was _ within europe exactly. the second consideration was precisely - within europe exactly. the second consideration was precisely the i within europe exactly. the second l consideration was precisely the fact what the eu is smaller then europe. and of course the uk being and turkey and others for their innocence both those considerations are far more today than they were two years ago. now the question that remains the same, one thing is to agree that europe is bigger than the european union and we need to do something to stand by ukraine and concrete actions coming out of it for and unless you institutionalise something... it doesn�*t have to be a heavy institutionalisation. it can be something as loose as a g7 or 620. be something as loose as a g7 or g20. there needs to be something that leads to action after the summits. that leads to action after the summits-— that leads to action after the summits. . ., . ., ,, , ., summits. nathalie tocci, thank you for cominu summits. nathalie tocci, thank you for coming on _ summits. nathalie tocci, thank you for coming on the _ summits. nathalie tocci, thank you for coming on the program. - summits. nathalie tocci, thank you for coming on the program. stay i summits. nathalie tocci, thank you i for coming on the program. stay with us, headlines coming up next. hello.

we�*ve seen some very warm weather today, particularly across the south and the east of the uk. it�*s been a bit more complicated further north and west with more cloud, a little bit of rain, but tomorrow it will be warmer generally and hot for some of us. we could see the highest temperatures of the year so far, 31 celsius possibly. quite a humid feel as well. thejet stream is running to the north of the uk at the moment, allowing us to bring in this feed of warm and humid airfrom the south. but with that increasing humidity, as we head through tonight, we will see quite a lot of mist, and murk, and low cloud rolling into coasts and hills in the west. today�*s rain, i think, tending to peter out. the best of the clear skies further south and east. certainly not a cold night — in fact, quite a warm one, temperatures holding up in most places between 13—17 celsius. so, into tomorrow morning, quite a warm start, and where we see that sunshine, the best of it across england and wales, while the temperatures really will start to climb. still some of this mist and murk clinging to western coasts. northern ireland and scotland

generally seeing a bit more in the way of cloud. and this frontal system will start to bring some outbreaks of rain at later. outbreaks of rain later. temperatures, though, 22 celsius for aberdeen, 25 celsius for liverpool, 30 celsius in london, somewhere in the southeast likely to get to 31 celsius, so well above the seasonal average. but into friday evening, we will see those misty, murky conditions out towards the west and some outbreaks of rain in northern ireland and western scotland, as this frontal system moves its way in. now this front is going to bring a big change through the weekend. it will eventually bring cooler air from the atlantic, but it looks like this front will take its time to move eastwards, so still a chance across eastern parts of england for some pretty warm weather on saturday. some spells of sunshine here. we may see some sharp showers and thunderstorms erupting as we head through the late afternoon. but out towards the west, our frontal system bringing a slow—moving band of heavy rain. underneath the frontal system and behind it, it is going to turn cooler. so, 18 celsius for plymouth, 16 celsius for belfast. but ahead of that front, i wouldn�*t be at all surprised

if we got up into the high—20s celsius in some parts of eastern england. however, that weather front will then slide its way northwards and eastwards, and all of us will be in the cooler air for sunday. not a bad day weather—wise — some spells of sunshine, just one or two showers, but temperatures at best between 15—22 celsius.

you�*re watching the context on bbc news. in the context on bbc news. a moment our weekly l( artificial in a moment our weekly look at artificial intelligence speaking to do titans of tech to find out how they are adopting ai for the workforce. but we will ask is al also a threat to ourjobs. we will talk all things ai in just a moment, but first let�*s head to the bbc sports centre, paul scott has all the details. let�*s start at royal troon, where day one of the 152nd 0pen is drawing to a close, and it was a tough day for many of the world�*s best golfers. more on that in a moment, but sat on top of the leaderbaord is irishman shane lowry on 5—under. he�*s a shot clear of

daniel brown, who�*s not yet completed his first round.