this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: the death toll in the united states from the pandemic has now officially passed 100,000. europe after lockdown — how different countries across the continent are relaxing the rules. president trump says he's asked the fbi and department ofjustice to investigate the death of george floyd in police custody in minneapolis. and no luck with the weather for the launch of the first privately—owned spacecraft to the international space station.

hello to you. the number of people who have died from covid—19 in the united states has now officially exceeded 100,000. the actual numbers are likely to be higher than that, but it is clear that in the past three months more americans have died from infection than during the korean war, the vietnam war and the conflict in iraq combined. let's take a look at how the us got to this point. the first death in the country was reported on february the 29th. on march the 13th, president trump declared a national emergency as schools were closed. stay—at—home orders were issued in california, new york and washington, dc. within a month, the us surpassed italy — with just over 20,000 — now the highest death rate in the world. then president trump released his guidelines for reopening the country, as anti—lockdown protests broke out. into may, and the president said his task force would continue indefinitely, 2a hours after announcing it would close.

the death toll then stood at 71,000. nowjust three months on from the first death, 100,000 deaths, officially. 0ur north america correspondent, aleem maqbool, reports from washington. # happy birthday to you... friends and relatives of more than 100,000 people in america can nowjust cling to the memories of happier times before the coronavirus. my father was a really caring person. he just wanted to help people and he was really outgoing. he thought he was really funny. doug was one of the first confirmed deaths back on the first of march. as somebody who lost someone so close to them and was someone obviously very, very dear to you so early on, when you saw the way this was going in the country, how has it made you feel over the last couple months? it's scary. it's sad. i feel angry.

we should have been listening to the doctors and the scientists. we should not have been listening to people talking about the stock market. it's natural that people are reaching for answers, for someone to be accountable after scenes like mass graves being dug in new york and refrigerated trucks lining up to receive the dead once the morgues were full. i'll see you saturday. we now know that african—americans, like rhoda hatch, are still dying in disproportionate numbers. i think 100,000 is an extraordinary number. it means that there's a lot of pain and grief. some of us in the black community are very concerned that as the narrative became that african—america ns were disproportionately

impacted by the virus, that there was also a push to open up the country and made many of us think prematurely that suggested the devaluation of black lives. those calls to reopen go on, even as the number of dead continues to mount and as the nation mourns. well, flags have been lowered here after tragedies like mass shootings, and even then, it's been difficult to grapple with the scale of loss after sometimes dozens of people have been killed. but how then does america even began to count the emotional cost of such a staggering number of deaths that have happened in fewer than 90 devastating days? to really do justice to the stories of those lost would take many lifetimes. for people left behind, the question lingers, could more have been done so these americans and tens of thousands of others might still be around? aleem maqbool, bbc

news, in washington. the bbc‘s david willis told me just now the latest figures could in fact be an underestimate. the united states now is firmly established as the epicentre of this global pandemic. and what this means is on average about 900 americans a day have been dying from the coronavirus and not a single state has been left unaffected by this. the situation has disproportionately affected african—americans, we know, and also about a third of those deaths have been in nursing homes. now unsurprisingly, perhaps, donald trump decided to go to florida today in search of a slightly better headline or a distractionary headline from this rather grim news. but that launch of the first nasa astronauts into orbit in nearly a decade was postponed. so, he was denied that headline and he has made no comment so far anyway on that rather grim milestone of 100,000—plus deaths here. and it does seem, to be blunt about it, that a lot of people

have reached the conclusion this disease that disproportionately affects black people, elderly people, people who are obese or people who are poor. and if you're not in that bracket, people decided not to be too worried about it? absolutely. and indeed there are some states, mike, that are saying they are still not able to fully test in the way they would like to. i mean, we've seen a decrease in some of the hardest—hit states such as new york, but there are still 20 others or so that last week were reporting a rise in the number of coronavirus cases. all that at a time when every state in this nation is slowly but surely starting to reopen its economy in line with the president's wishes. and we were mentioning earlier on that anthony fauci, this country's top infectious diseases expert and others have contended that if prudent measures such as a continuation of the social distancing, the wearing of face masks

and so on are not adhered to, there could a another spike, come the autumn, wintertime. david willis for us there. and later we will hear the story from a social worker deployed toa from a social worker deployed to a hospital to help deal with the coronavirus. in other news, large protests and looting have taken place in minneapolis after the latest death of an unarmed black man in police custody. president trump has tweeted that he's asked the fbi and department of justice to investigate the incident. george floyd died in minneapolis — he'd been arrested and pinned down in the street, an officer kneeling for some time on his neck. four officers, all of them white, have been sacked and george floyd's family have called for them to be charged with murder. i spoke just now to city councillor jeremiah ellison. he told me he was prompted to run for office by a similar incident in 2015, involving

the death of jamar clark. speaking from his doorstep, he called for murder charges over george floyd's death. it's a pretty tragic situation. i don't know if you have watched the video, if people are sparing themselves — i think that's ok. it's a pretty horrific video, it's hard to watch and he slowly dies over the course of those eight or nine minutes. so it feels senseless and infuriating. and chokeholds are in fact banned in minneapolis? but it is all right for officers to kneel on a suspect‘s neck? i'm not clear on whether we train our officers to use that manoeuvre. i was under the impression we didn't train officers to use that manoeuvre. but george floyd made it very clear he was in a tremendous amount of distress and the fact his life was not taken seriously by the officers is just unforgivable. and that phrase of course, that is so well—known, "i can't breathe. " was heard again many times.

yeah, yeah, it was. jeremiah, people are protesting on the streets as you know. we have those shots, of course. what are you hearing from people on the streets? what are they hoping forfrom this? i think people are in disbelief of the manner of george floyd's death. i think people want to know that the police are not some especially protected class. that when the police participate in criminal actions, there are going to be criminal consequences. but i think there is doubt about that happening. i think our response to the community that is grieving and hurt and frightened by the police hasn't really helped matters either. i think we have taken the route of inciting the crowd. i know i have made calls for the city to develop a different strategy, but that has only fallen on deaf ears,

to my frustration. and i think we can expect community members to continue to express themselves in this way, however unproductive we may deem it if we don't rapidly change our approach and our response. it looks like from the pictures there is quite a confrontation going on down there. what do you think of the way the police are dealing specifically with the protest? we always, as a city, even before my time here, have responded to protests this way. you know, look, if our goal was to prevent property damage, we're not doing that. if our goal was to prevent the spread of an infectious disease, we have no way to know if we are doing that. if our goal was to make sure protesters are not harmed, we are not doing that, and if our goal was to make sure we are not putting officers in harm's way, we aren't really doing that either. so someone is going to have to answer to me and tell me

what are we trying to accomplish aside from chaos? because i'm not seeing it. that was city councillor, jeremiah ellison there. let's get some of the day's other news: barbershops in russia, finally eased from restrictions. in the biggest international sporting spectacle ever seen, up to 30 million people have taken part in sponsored athletics events to aid famine relief in africa. the first of what the makers of star wars hope will be thousands of queues started forming at 7:00am. taunting which led to scuffles, scuffles to fighting, fighting to full—scale riot, as the liverpool fans broke out of their area and into the juve ntus enclosure. the belgian police had lost control. the whole world will mourn the tragic death of mr nehru today. he was the father of the indian people from the day of independence. the oprah winfrey show comes to an end after 25 years and more than 4,500 episodes. the chat show has made her one of the richest people on the planet. geri halliwell, otherwise known

as 'ginger spice,‘ has announced she has left the spice girls. argh, i don't believe it. she's the one with the bounce, the go, girl power. not geri, why? this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: the death toll in the united states due to the coronavirus pandemic has now passed 100,000. president trump says he's asked the fbi and department ofjustice to investigate the death in minneapolis of george floyd, who died in police custody. during the pandemic, we have come across some extraordinary personal stories of key workers and volunteers. earlier i spoke to one of them — eric dungan — a military social worker who has been deployed to a new york hospital to deal with the coronavirus crisis.

yeah, it's definitely a toughjob. the hospital staff and medical staff at jacobi medical center in new york, where we're currently helping out and integrated into the hospital, have been absolutely amazing to us. they've been very supportive. and then my unit, the 452, has been amazing. iama new guy— i'm seven months in. so it's been tough, and we've seen a lot of things that are kind of like an overload on the brain. but it's an honour to be wearing this uniform and to help this city that's been ravaged and the spirit of new york. although definitely hit very hard, the city is amazing and the people are amazing here. a lot of people i think will have been touched by the story published recently about what your dealings with and what you did for the second world war veteran, george crouch. can you tell us more about that? sergeant crouch is a world war ii veteran. he was in okinawa, where he was injured, and he also was then called up to go to the korean war.

but he came to the hospital with his wife at the same time, they both were admitted at the same time, they shared a hospital room. unfortunately, gail passed and succumbed to the disease. mr crouch was definitely devastated by that news. and then i had gotten a mental health consult to him for the first time, i think it was may 1st. so i got to meet him to do a consult for mental health and we kind of built from there a relationship and a friendship really, and i admire him. to me, he's a national treasure as a world war ii veteran, and he has proven that with hope, anything can happen. and i think he lost hope for a while. and i think the hospital staff and the military and all the visits he was getting helped him to get that hope back and he found a reason to go towards the positive. he's in the rehab centre and i'm still in contact with him and he's doing great. that's wonderful to hear. but i guess for people

who don't pull through, even tougher job for you. you're at the side of people who may well be dying, who may well be very lonely because their families can't get to them, may be very, very frightened. this is a grim, grim disease. it is, it is. it's a very grim disease and there are people and there have been many people that i've been with who have unfortunately passed. up until that point, i do my best as a clinical social worker representing jacobi medical center and the united states army, and the 452, to just be there for them. i hate to see people suffering or scared and sometimes coming in and holding my hand or trying to do something to help distract the imminent situation, or, you know, just the fight they're going through, my goal is hopefully that it gets them on the other side with a positive and they can get through. unfortunately, you can't say you win everything, but you try your best

because of the human spirit. you just believe in it and you believe in people. people are, to me, just amazing and i enjoy and feel so blessed that i get to try to help anybody in any situation. across europe, life for many is gradually returning to normal as countries ease restrictions on movement, which have been in place in some areas for almost three months. rich preston has this look at a continent coming out of lockdown. in italy, a visit after an intense lockdown. this stands for so much. translation: i missed it a lot, especially from this ice—cream shop. i think it's one of the best you can find in rome. just a few months ago, the words focus was on italy as the centre of the coronavirus outbreak. now with its infection rate slowing by the day, the lives of italians are being allowed to

return to normal. translation: we have been coming since day one of the reopening. we have been passing every day to check out if it was open. we have literally circled it. when coronavirus first hit switzerland, the country's military reserves were called to action, supporting hospitals and emergency services to contain the pandemic. now, a demobilisation ceremony. these soldiers are being stood down with the situation deemed under control, they can now return to civilian life. for many countries, the worry now is over the long—term impact of the virus, particularly on essential tourism industries. cyprus has taken a novel approach to try to win back businesses, it has promised to cover the costs of the holiday as well as the medical treatment of anyone who falls ill with the virus after visiting the island. a measure it hopes will reassure potential visitors a trip

to cyprus is safe from both a health and financial point of view. on wednesday, the european commission announced plans for an $825 billion fund to help countries whose economies have been hit by the pandemic. not all member states agree on the method of this kind of financial rescue, but few disagree with its motive. after asia, europe was the heart of the coronavirus pandemic. now as other regions see their death tolls continue to rise, the sights of italians eating ice—cream or the swiss army standing down may provide a glimmer of hope for the future. though governments around the world are clear — the fight against the virus is not over. rich preston, bbc news. the uk's health secretary matt hancock has stressed that it's everyone's 'civic duty‘ to co—operate with the new test and trace scheme set to rollout in england in the coming hours.the strategy will help health authorities find people who come into close contact with those infected. anyone who tests positive will be contacted by the health service — the nhs — and asked to disclose

where they have been and who they have been in contact with. the aim is to help facilitate a move from a nationwide lockdown, towards more targeted safety measures. it's a small thing but one of the worst things about lockdown, for many people — no haircuts. barber—shops and hair—dressers have been closed all around the world. in russia those restrictions are being eased — not a moment too soon, for one barber in particular. as the bbc‘s tim allman reports. vladislav demidovich man lives to cut hair. but thanks to the pandemic, his scissors and clippers remained unused. once the lockdown was lifted, he decided to make up for lost time, taking part in a haircut marathon — two days non—stop chop—chop. translation: everything went well. i was a little worried, thinking that something could happen given that he's not slept for 48 hours, but i sat down and everything was fine.

the main thing is to keep talking to him so he doesn't fall asleep or anything. safety measures remain in place. every customer has their temperature taken when they arrive. vladislav would devote 40 minutes to each haircut, getting by on muesli bars and energy drinks. translation: this guy gives great haircuts from the first till the last. people were joking that they wouldn't like to be the last client because he'll cut an ear. they were worried he wouldn't be able to take it, but it turned out completely the opposite. finally, after 48 hours, the final head had been shorn. never has a haircut received such a rapturous welcome. translation: i didn't understand at all what was

happening on the morning of the second day. i was just cutting and that's it, my hands were moving on their own and i was just watching. the salon manager says they plan to contact the guinness book of records. as for vladislav, with the lockdown over, he'll have plenty more haircuts to look forward to. tim allman, bbc news. the first private sector mission to the international space station and the first launch with a crew from us soil in nine years has been postponed due to bad weather. the launch of the spacex rocket from florida's famed cape canaveral was years in the making. if successful, it would be the first time a commercial aircraft put people into orbit, bound for the international space station. it's now thought that the spacex rocket will be launched on saturday. another professional sport emerges from a hibernation enforced by coronavirus. rugby league is kicking off again in australia, complete with tackles, scrums and no social distancing. there's been criticism of the move, as simon atkinson reports.

it doesn't really lend itself to social distancing, but this will be australia's first major sport back after the covid—19 shutdown. rugby league's nrl wa nted shutdown. rugby league's nrl wanted to return fast. now its biggest hurdle is winning public confidence. starting it up public confidence. starting it up again this quickly seems to me ridiculously risky. if there was no such thing as rugby league and you had to invent a game whereby coronavirus could be transmitted in the quickest manner possible as wide as possible among a group of two 01’ possible among a group of two or three dozen men, you would come up with rugby league. to try to make sure that doesn't happen, there are dozens of measures to minimise risk, from daily health checks and cleaning match balls to keeping outsiders well back. and for those at the heart of the game,

tight restrictions on and off the pitch. the players and officials have to make sacrifices, they have to self isolate. they have to keep away from the community. so they go to the ground and go home again and that's all they should be doing. there is very little risk when you do that. is a good example for all sports around the world that if you have the proper biosecurity measures in place you can get sports going as long as everybody abide by the biosecurity measures. that is not guaranteed. these three high—profile players were fined up high—profile players were fined up to going on a camping trip, and there are plenty of others controversies. this new zealand tea m controversies. this new zealand team has been allowed in to play even though international travel is effectively banned for everyone else. 0nly travel is effectively banned for everyone else. only six grounds are being used for the tenements restart so that means for most clubs, no home matches. it might not be as big a disadvantage as it sounds, though, because one of the key conditions of the nrl coming backis conditions of the nrl coming back is that games are played and empty stadiums. for the

players at least, that is a price with paying to resume their careers. we love having all the fans there but they will be watching from their homes anyway so even though we don't have that personal contact with them, we are going to try to do a good job for them. if the first few weeks of them. if the first few weeks of the season are trouble—free and of australia's coronavirus infection rates stay low, the league hopes there will be some spectators allowed byjuly. another big step for the sport's remarkable return air. most kids hope at some point they might find treasure hidden in the garden. so imagine how one group of surveyors felt about coming across a roman mosaic floor concealed under an italian vineya rd. after decades of searching experts in verona finally unearthed the well—preserved tiles buried under tons of earth. scholars first found evidence of a roman villa there more than a century ago.

technicians are still excavating the site to see the full extent of the ancient building. a reminder of our top story: the number of people who have died from covid—19 in the united states has now officially exceeded 100,000. the numbers may well be higher than that, but it is clear that in about three months, more americans have now died from covid—19 than during the korean war, the vietnam war and the conflict in iraq combined. but the number of new infections has slowed and more states are lifting their lockdowns, to ease the economic impact. globally there have been more than 5.6 million people recorded as infected, 354,983 deaths since the virus emerged in the chinese city of wuhan late last year. there is much more on all the news anytime on

the bbc website for you. thank you so much for watching, stay safe. hello again. wednesday brought us more sunshine across the country. the highest temperature was again around the greater london area, this time in heathrow, 26 degrees celsius. and a bit further north in suffolk, that's how we ended the day. now, over recent days, the warmth that has mainly been concentrated across south—east england has been spreading into wales, south—west england, and for thursday, the heat is more widespread across the uk. so most areas will have warmer weather, one exception really — east anglia and south—east england where it is going to get a little bit fresher and temperatures coming down just a few degrees, but still warm. we'll take a look at why. 0n the satellite picture, we've got this area of cloud working into northern scotland, bringing a bit of rain. and a very weak cold front diving southwards across the north sea —

that is introducing fresher air to east anglia and south—east england and, ultimately, will knock the temperatures down by a few degrees. this is how the weather looks at the moment, though. it's cloudy for northern scotland, still got some rain around at the moment, but that will tend to ease over the coming hours. elsewhere, it's a largely dry picture, a little bit of low cloud, a lot of mist and fog patches towards coastal areas of lincolnshire. but otherwise, clear spells for most and a fresher feel to the weather across some of these eastern areas of scotland, eastern areas of england as that cooler airworks in. now, for thursday, most of us will have sunshine from dawn till dusk. any low cloud and mist clearing away very quickly. and the rain also clearing from northern scotland. it should brighten up in the northern isles later in the day. a warmer day for most then. 23 degrees or so in edinburgh. probably about 23, 24 for western counties of northern ireland. but cooler in london — instead of around 26 or 27 it has been over recent days, it will be about 22. still warm in the sunshine and we've got more of the same to come on friday. most of us will have sunshine from dawn till dusk again with very little in the way of cloud. the highest temperatures always

likely across more northern and western areas of the uk. 25 or so in the glasgow area. now, how's the weekend shaping up? 0ur area of high pressure is still in charge, still keeping these atlantic weather fronts at bay, and that means we've got more of the same. that said, it will turn quite breezy for some of us, but nevertheless, we do have more of that warm sunshine to come. temperatures in glasgow peeking around 24 degrees celsius. enneskillen, 23, maybe a 24 through the weekend, and further south, quite widely we'll see temperatures in the mid—20s. some of the warmest weather in cardiff, 27 on saturday. that's your weather.

this is bbc news, the headlines: more than 100,000 people have now died from coronavirus in the united states. that's according to officialfigures. the real number will be much more. 100,000 is more than the combined total of deaths from the korean, vietnam and iraq conflicts. large protests and looting have taken place in minneapolis after the latest death of an unarmed black man in police custody. george floyd was arrested and pinned down in the street, an officer kneeling on his neck. president trump says he's asked the fbi and department ofjustice to investigate the incident. and the first private sector mission to the international space station and the first crewed launch from us soil in nine years has been postponed due to bad weather. it's now thought that the spacex rocket will be launched on saturday. now on bbc news, hardtalk.