this is bbc news. the headlines: latest figures from the us show at least 90,000 people have now died with coronavirus — almost a third of the global total. there have been more than one and a half million recorded cases of covid—19. it's now been confirmed by a white house physician that president trump has been taking an unproven antimalarial drug, in the hope of helping prevent infection, even though his own administration as a precaution. the trump administration has once again criticised the world health organization's response to the coronavirus pandemic, accusing it of costing many lives by failing to provide the information the world needed. in response, the agency's director—general said they had sounded the alarm early and often. india and bangladesh are preparing to evacuate more than two million people as cyclone amphan heads towards their coasts. it's expected to make landfall on wednesday. this would be the first super cyclone in the bay of bengal in 20 years. it is likely to trigger heavy rains and tidal surges.

now on bbc news, steve rosenberg explores how moscow views the tumultuous events of 1989 and looks into whether the coronavirus pandemic thwarts vladimir putin's bid to make russia great again? it stretched from the pacific ocean to the fringes of western europe. the soviet empire seemed invincible. but in 1989 the iron curtain was swept away and i saw a superpower crumble. the soviet empire falling apart piece by piece. today's russia wants to forget about 1989. 30 years on russia is reasserting itself. through military muscle and disinformation. adolf hitler is more popular than harry potter? absolute fake.

you are pushing the kremlin‘s narrative. it has begun to feel like a new cold war. but will global pandemic curb the kremlin‘s global ambitions? he is frozen. he has stalled. he cannot react, he cannot say anything. i'm on a journey to find out how russia has been pushing to regain influence and rebuild its power. throughout its history russia has swung from wanting to be part of europe and competing with the west. right now it is set on rivalry. and that risks confrontation, especially with the kind of methods moscow has been

employing close to home. they call it the jewel of the black sea. crimea, once part of the roman empire, it fell to the ottomans, then to the tsars, and the soviets. most recently it has been part of ukraine. the beauty belies geopolitical tension, for crimea has become a flashpoint between east and west. this is why. in 2014 masked soldiers in unmarked uniforms seized control of a ukrainian peninsula, crimea.

they acquired the nickname the little green men. but they were russian special forces sent in by president putin after the ukrainians‘ pro—western revolution. at a hastily organised referendum, voters backed joining russia, but the poll widely condemned wasn't internationally recognised. it had taken moscow less than a month to occupy and annex a piece of its neighbour. for many russians this was cause for celebration. i first met irina in moscow back in the early 1990s. she has a second home now in crimea. emotionally it means very much because if we look back into the history, i mean two or three centuries back, since that time the crimean history has always been connected with russia.

in the west as you know there's a lot of criticism of vladimir putin for what happened here, for russia taking crimea. i am very grateful to mr putin and i take my hat off and bow my head to mr putin because he saved generations of the crimean people from rivers of blood here. there would be a war. because of those extremists who might have come from the ukraine to settle their own rules here. that is what i think. in sevastopol they are marking russian navy day. and centre stage is the black sea fleet. it's an opportunity to showcase

russian power at sea. since it annexed crimea, russia has become the dominant force in the black sea. it's upgraded its fleet. more ships. more weapons. and new missions. some of these ships have taken part in russia's military operation in syria. after its annexation of crimea russia has consolidated its control here. and increased its presence in the black sea. it is using that as a springboard to project power far beyond this region into the mediterranean and the middle east. and the balkans.

at nato headquarters russia's actions are causing alarm and disappointment. at the end of the cold war a partnership with the kremlin seemed achievable. there was even talk russia might one dayjoin nato. that idea seems pie in the sky now. what we see is a pattern of behaviour where russia is responsible for aggressive actions against neighbours. that reflects that the main problems in russia is that they still believe in the idea of spheres of influence. of the 30 nato countries nine of them used to be in moscow's zone of influence. it's a change in the balance of power that unnerves russia.

0ne complaint i often hear from russian officials is that 30 years ago a promise was made by the west to moscow that nato would not enlarge and move closer to russia's borders. and russia says the west deceived moscow. first of all no such promise was made. but second, just the idea that washington or a big western ally should promise that to moscow is an idea based on a total wrong assumption that big countries can promise something on behalf of small countries. since russia took crimea, nato has bolstered its forces near russia's borders. in the baltic it has strengthened its air policing mission. from estonia's amari airbase nato jets are regularly scrambled.

their main task is to intercept russian planes who are approaching estonian airspace which fail to identify themselves. over the baltic sea typhoon jets intercept two russian military aircraft and escort them from the area. this land is ours and nobody else‘s. russia wants to assert their dominance over the baltic area on land and on sea. so the subtle message of theirs is this is our territory, keep out. and our response to them is, no, you are wrong, this is western territory, nato‘s territory, and we are here. do you really believe that russia is a threat to estonia? as long as russia as such has not

changed its stance towards the west it can be a threat to smaller neighbours. moscow dismisses the idea that it is a threat to the baltic. nato is taking no chances. after what happened in crimea, for the nato alliance the security of the three baltic states is a priority. the baltic has become one of the front lines of what feels like a new cold war between russia and the west. to moscow the presence of nato troops here is a direct threat to russia's national security but nato insists that all of this is purely defensive and the reaction to an increasingly assertive and aggressive russia. russia's new assertiveness goes beyond its military.

vladimir putin's kremlin has a whole

range of instruments for exerting influence. and one of these tools russia employs against many european countries including latvia. in 1989 latvia was part of the soviet union. it is in the eu now and in nato. but moscow still casts a shadow. today latvia is a target of russian disinformation. there is an attempt to distort reality here by spreading fake news to sow doubt, confusion. russia's objective, to discredit a new european democracy on its border.

and here is one example of what appears to be russian disinformation. this website is called baltnews. it is in russian, it is aimed at ethnic russians across the baltic but it is part of a news organisation which is bankrolled by the kremlin. what kind of stories does it put out? here is one. listen to this. among latvians, it says, adolf hitler is more popular than harry potter. hitler's mein kampf tops readers‘ book choice in latvia. astonishing. so the impression you get when you read this is that in latvia in an eu country nazi ideology is thriving. and this story was picked up and republished by a whole string of other news sites. but is it really true? i'm off to investigate. my first stop is latvia's

largest book—seller. harry is here. but i can't find hitler. perhaps the company director can help me. how many copies of mein kampf have you sold in your shop in 2018? none. not a single copy? not a single copy. is it not available in the book shops? no, it isn't available. what do you think of this claim then that in latvia adolf hitler is more popular than harry potter? it is nonsense. it is absolute fake. i head across to the national library of riga. if latvians aren't buying mein kampf then perhaps they are borrowing it? now, the national library tells me that in the last three years they've only received 39 requests for mein kampf.

if you look at the statistics for across the country the grand total for all the libraries in latvia for mein kampf has only been requested 139 times in three years. compare that to 25,000 requests for harry potter books. i tracked down a key link to the baltnews story. it's rita. she runs a second—hand book website in latvia. baltnews had based its report on data from her site. in its article baltnews claims that on your site mein kampf has been one of the most clicked on titles.

in fact, there's a section on your site which shows the books that are gaining the most interest from users. until recently mein kampf was right at the top. how do you explain that? they are page views. they are not the real deals. it is interesting that for this mein kampf, about 70% of all clicks are anonymous clicks. and if we compare with other most popular books like harry potter, 70% are registered users. so if most of the clicks for mein kampf are anonymous, unregistered users. what does that mean? they can be fake users or whatever how we call them. fake views to create fake news? yes, definitely. the fundamental aim of the russian operation is to undermine the other countries. russia cannot tolerate the success

of the baltics that have embraced freedoms and values of the west and can be successful. a good example is very dangerous, so you should taint it. everything i've been told here proves, i think, this hitler story is 100% fake news. there's just one more conversation i would like to have, though. and that's with the people who published the story, baltnews. the thing is baltnews doesn't have an office in latvia. so to speak to them i'm going to have to go back to moscow. in moscow i have come to the headquarters of the state media giant. it transmits the kremlin‘s view to the world. baltnews uses one of its outlets.

your editorial policy is the kremlin‘s editorial policy. you're pushing the kremlin‘s narrative. why don't you publish a piece that says harry porter is much more popular in latvia than mein kampf? but it's the true situation, it's the truth. can a country be simultaneously

the grand spoiler and a great power? does modern russia even want the title ‘superpower‘? this is my chance to ask the president. vladimir putin has just finished an event near the kremlin. it's a rare opportunity to get up close to the kremlin leader. bbc news.

vladimir putin set out to restore russia's status as a global player. and everything seems to have been going according to plan. until now. suddenly the whole world has changed. covid—19 has put russia and most of the planet into lockdown. for now, cold war has been

superseded by a battle with a virus. for russians, the priority isn't being a superpower, it's survival. this is eerie. it feels as if someone‘s pressed a giant pause button and the world's largest country has come to a standstill. the pandemic threatens to decimate russia's economy. a crash in global oil prices is making things even worse. there are forecasts of a long, deep recession. we are now facing a totally different russia.

vladimir putin wants to be seen as being in control, leading from the front. he has come to visit a hospital for coronavirus patients. but this is not the kind of battle the kremlin is used to. for years it's has been telling russians that the threat to the security comes from nato, from america, from the west. it turns out that russia has more to fear from an invisible enemy. the putin on russian tv is a decisive leader at the centre of power.

but on coronavirus, his critics accuse him of delay, mixed messaging, and of not doing nearly enough to protect the economy. he's not an adaptive politician who can react. to external challenges. because you see many leaders trying to take over trying to rule the event. and putin since he is in lockdown, he is frozen, he has stalled, he cannot react. he cannot say anything. every nation is under pressure in this pandemic. but after years of chronic underfunding, russia's public health system has been stretched to the limits.

but amid the crisis at home, moscow is sending aid abroad. the russian army has been in italy to help tackle the epidemic there. russia is saying, we are still power. we are still power. we have possibility to help you. no little green men. this time, it was the boys in blue. they presented this as a mercy mission. but images of the russian military in an eu and nato country are a propaganda coup for moscow. it's good for geopolitics, it's good for another country, but i think it's not perhaps good for us.

because the priority is your own country. not another. the pandemic is the biggest challenge for moscow since the fall of its empire 30 years ago. but it hasn't extinguished its determination to regain influence and to be seen as strong. for russia, the real lesson of 1989 when the iron curtain lifted, is that weakness costs power. the paradox is that today's russia wants to forget about 1989. it was, yes, an amazing period, but it was the period of backtracking, surrender, defeat.

so the kremlin wants victory, wants omnipotence, wants dominance, and try to forget about this kind of nightmare. when the berlin wall fell, i remember thinking that from now on everything was going to be different. it was going to be better. that east and west were going to join hands and walk off into the sunset together, a happy ending, hollywood style. well, that didn't work out. i wonder what will happen now? what kind of a world will the pandemic leave behind? will this global crisis finally convince east and west and north and south to set aside their differences and work together? or will the fallout from the virus be so immense that it will increase geopolitical tension and the search for scapegoats, and end up building new barriers? new walls?

hello there, it should be a mild start for most of us in the morning. but there is quite a lot of cloud around and some objective rain, too. that ran mainly affecting the northern half of the uk through the morning, tending to peter out later in the day, many bases drain the afternoon and brightening up as well. best of the sunshine for wales, the midlands and southern england, where temperatures could be get ready fable 26 degrees. 0n the whole, those temperatures should be higher than they were on monday. it should feel a little warmer. and those temperatures continue to rise.

starting a failure because northern areas on wednesday, some rain to clear the northern isles. you see how the sunshine develops widely and with southerly breezes that will be putting up into scotland, 23 degrees in central areas, 20 in central scotland. warmer for england and wales with temperatures at 26—27. things start to break down on thursday, where we have the chances of some thunderstorms. and for all of some thunderstorms. and for all of us it turns cooler and fresher by the end of the week.

welcome to bbc news. i'm mike embley. our top stories: president trump's doctor confirm says he's been taking an unproven drug to prevent coronavirus. i happen to be taking it, i happen to be taking it. hydroxychloroquine? hydroxychloroquine. the world health organisation pledges an independent inquiry into the pandemic, but the us renews its criticism. the british government adds loss of smell or taste to its official list of symptoms — doctors say it should have been done weeks ago. cyclone amphan powers towards india and bangladesh. two million people are fleeing the coast.