a very warm welcome to bbc news. i'm mike embley with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. clashes high in the himalayas, on the india—china border, leave 20 indian soldiers dead. after weeks of rising tension, both sides have deployed thousands of extra troops. the trump administration has taken legal action to prevent the publication of a memoir by the president's former national security advisorjohn bolton. a breakthrough for patients seriously ill with covid—19 — a steroid drug which is cheap and already widely available. we return to wuhan, the chinese city where the pandemic started, to see what lessons have been learned.

it's the first deadly clash on the disputed himalayan border area in at least 45 years, between two nuclear—armed neighbours. the indian army is saying 20 of its soldiers have been killed by chinese troops in ladakh, in the kashmir region. china has not confirmed any casualties. this report from the bbc‘s freya cole. in the region of ladakh, indian military vehicles make their presence known. the territory has long—running tensions with neighbouring china and, in recent weeks, the fragile diplomatic ties have broken down, resulting in bloodshed. we have reached a situation where we were standing eyeball to eyeball and it has resulted in a scuffle where we have lost our brave guards. the clash between indian and chinese soldiers occurred in the galwan valley, a treacherous and remote

location in the disputed border between indian—administered kashmir and the chinese ruled region of aksai chin. according to the indian army, three of its soldiers were killed on impact but, in a later statement it confirmed a further 17 indian troops were critically injured... china has not confirmed fatalities and both countries have blamed each other for the confrontation. translation: we solemnly request that india follows the relevant attitude and restrains its frontline troops. do not cross the border, do not provoke trouble, do not take any unilateral action that would complicate the border situation.

it is reported no bullets were fired but the soldiers came to blows using rocks and clubs. the last war was in 1962. india suffered a significant defeat. the painful memory runs deep. the latest clash has triggered another round of anti—chinese protests in india, in a dispute which has the potential to escalate with grave consequences. freya cole, bbc news. earlier i spoker to sumit ganguly, who's a professor of political science at indiana university. i asked him how significant he felt these latest clashes between india and china were. i think this clash is extremely significant because this is the first time that indian and chinese forces have seriously come to blows since 1967. following the 1962 war, there were clashes along the border in 1967, which were fairly bloody and where the indian forces

acquitted themselves fairly well, unlike in the 1962 war, which was an utter military debacle for india, so i do see this flareup as a significant adverse development in sino—indian relations. professor, looking from the outside, you would think that both countries have so many important things to deal with at the moment. why has it come to this between the two of them in this region, would you say? because i don't even think the border is even officially agreed? that is precisely why these clashes are taking place, because the border is so poorly demarcated, and 22 rounds of high—level talks have not yet resulted in an exchange of maps in the two disputed sectors in the east and the west. and in this case, the trouble are taking place in the western sector and it has much to do with china's unhappiness

with india's decision last year to abrogate the special status of a disputed territory that abuts china. the dispute is with pakistan, one of china's principal allies. and india unilaterally abrogated the special status of this region, jammu and kashmir, which i think infuriated the chinese and, with the first available opportunity, when the snows melt, they decided to demonstrate their metal along the border, to convey their unhappiness to the indians. professor, just very briefly, if you don't mind, i guess much depends, given how the two countries have behaved in the past, on how the two governments and the two country's media choose to portray this? i think that is exactly right. we will have to watch very closely over the next few days and weeks how this is played out in the chinese—controlled press

and in a mostly open press and in india, which can, on occasion, be quitejingoistic. the trump administration is suing the president's former national security advisor john bolton to block the release of a book about his time in office. in its complaint to the court, the justice department says the memoir of the veteran republican contains classified information, which, if disclosed, could cause ‘serious or expectionally grave damage" to national security. despite that allegation, the department's case is actually based on civil employment law, accusing john bolton of breach of contract. it says he has failed to wait for a mandatory clearance process, intended to screen the memoirs of former officials for sensitive information. more on this now from mark zaid, specialist in security law in the us. mark, i know you've represented numerous government whistleblowers, including the one whose allegations about ukraine formed the basis

for president trump's impeachment? what do you make of the fact thatjohn bolton what do you make of the fact that john bolton is what do you make of the fact thatjohn bolton is seeking to publish a book and presumably seeking to make money on things he was not prepared to talk to congress about. it is very disturbing because one assumed that he was withholding this information during the impeachment proceedings which, i too narrowly infractions that he details, allegedly, in the book that they could have impeached him on. he was waiting to publish his book and,i waiting to publish his book and, iguess, make waiting to publish his book and, i guess, make a lot of money. this lawsuit filed by the government, because bolton has allegedly, at this point, but he has violated his nondisclosure agreement, he's about to write a very to the us government and never make a

dime. is this a serious attempt to block publication? no. this is not an injunction and it really has no likelihood whatsoever of stopping the book, scheduled to come out next week. in fact, because it isa next week. in fact, because it is a civil case and there is no attempt by the government to get a restraining order against john bolton and the and not even a defendant. this lawsuit will not be heard by the court for several months, at least what's the end of it before. they could be criminal charges against mr bolton from the point of view of administration did backfire and give more publicity to the book? as you mentioned, the complaint does say these classified information in the book, meaning the us government could prosecute him under the espionage act that dates back to world war i. and i have some difficulty understanding some of the strategy of the government because it is a

double—edged sword. they were right in filing the civil lawsuit. he has violated his nondisclosure agreement. on the other hand they already are giving a great amount of publicity to john bolton, giving a great amount of publicity tojohn bolton, far more than he would have had even though, obviously, this is a high—profile book. even though, obviously, this is a high-profile book. sounds like we may be coming back to you on this but for the moment, thank you very much. president trump has signed an executive order on police reform, three weeks after the death of george floyd, an african—american who was being detained by police caused international outrage. the changes will seek to tackle misconduct and improve the training of officers. i spoke to civil rights activist and attorney fania davis about her encounters with racism and with the police. two of her friends were killed in the 1963 bombing of a baptist church in birmingham, alabama, and then, some years later, her husband was wounded by armed officers in their home. well, it was in 1969,

i was very active, especially with the black panther party of that time. i have been active all my life. you know, coming out of birmingham — we called it bombingham, alabama — and just because of that activism, they broke into our home and pulled their guns and almost killed my husband. fortunately, he survived. a bullet went into his shoulder. exited like a millimetre from his spine. i was not harmed by the police. we were charged, however, of the attempted murder of police officers. my husband went to get his gun in self defence, while the officers drew their guns and almost killed him. we were charged with murder but a judge found that that was unlawful, that we were attacked in the first place. officers entered our home in the first place because of our political activity so it was a violation of our first amendment rights and of our rights to privacy so the charges were dropped. but it was a very frightening time.

and i think you became a civil rights attorney partly because of what happened to you and what happened to your sister, angela davis. there have been so many moments that felt like turning points. does this one feel like a real moment or do you think, once again, it will pass and nothing will really change? you know, this moment will pass at some point, but i have so much hope. i have never seen a moment like this in all of my years. and i don't know if we've had a moment like this in all of the history of the united states of america. but i am very hopeful, especially when you hear white people say that we have a systemic racism problem, when now 71% of white people think that much more needs to be done, and when people are saying no, we need to do more than reform the police, more than ban choke holds, more than having diversity hires, more than having trainings, and all of the things that are listed in the executive order. we need more than that because the police department of our country are historically enforces of white supremacy. they brutally have subjugated

and brutalised black people throughout history. and we have not reckoned with that history, that is why it keeps repeating itself, so it is time now, not to just prune and notjust to reform, but to upend the system and create an imagined, a new system, a new approach to ensuring public safety that does not endanger black lives, where black lives matter. what is that approach? this is a broad generalisation but a black friend said to me recently, "what you don't get as a white person, is most white people, generally speaking, see police as protectors," he said, "most black people,

because of their experience, see police as oppressors, at worst, as people who are more likely to kill you than protect you." there is a chasm there of experience and understanding. how do you bridge that? how do you convince people that what you're saying is right? well, george floyd, the george floyd moment is bridging that chasm. as i said earlier, white people have — it is almost as if they have had a course overnight, an intensive course in systemic racism, in anti—blackness, and they have graduated and they understand now, like never before, that there is such a thing called systemic racism, they understand that police officers historically have been enforcers of white supremacy, as i said earlier, whether catching slaves — those were the slave patrols — or the convict leasing era arrests, they have delivered black bodies to white mobs, and today, of course, they are killing black men in large numbers so it has been consistent throughout history and i think white people are finally beginning to understand this history. there has been a lot of truth telling, like never before, just in the last couple of years, especially since ferguson

in 2014, about this history. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: the view from out west. how voters in montana feel about protests, politics and whether donald trump deserves another term in office. there was a bomb in the city centre. a code word known to be one used by the ira was given. army bomb experts were examining a suspect van when there was a huge explosion. the south african parliament has destroyed the foundation of apartheid by abolishing the population registration act, which for 40 years, forcibly classified each citizen according to race. just a day old, and the royal baby is tonight sleeping in his cot at home. early this evening, the new prince was taken by his mother and father to their apartments in kensington palace. germany's parliament,

the bundestag, has voted by a narrow majority to move the seat of government from bonn to berlin. berliners celebrated into the night, but the decision was greeted with shock in bonn. the real focus of attention today was valentina tereshkova, the world's first woman cosmonaut. what do you think of the russian woman in space? i think it's a wonderful achievement and i think we might be able to persuade the wife it would be a good idea if i could to get her to go up there for a little while. this is bbc news, our main headline: at least 20 indian soldiers have been killed in a clash with chinese forces in a disputed himalayan border area. the incident follows rising tensions and is the first deadly clash in the border area in at least 45 years. there's been a significant development on coronavirus. for the first time, a drug has been shown to reduce the risk of dying from covid—19.

a cheap and widely available steroid, dexamethasone, has been found to help some of the most seriously ill patients. our medical correspondent, fergus walsh, reports. for those laid low by covid—19, for the very sickest hospital patients, at last, a drug that can tip the odds in their favour. 6,000 nhs covid patients were part of the trial and the results were so overwhelmingly positive, they were rushed out days after the study was completed. it found that dexamethasone saves one life for every eight patients on a ventilator and one life saved for every 25 patients on oxygen. if it had been used from the outset of the pandemic it's thought it could have saved 4,000—5,000 lives in the uk. catherine milbank from buckinghamshire spent 12 days on a ventilator with covid—19. she received dexamethasone after her husband paul gave

consent over the phone for her to take part in the trial. when someone tells you that your wife's hanging on the edge of something that could go either way, and you know that there is current, proven drugs that are already in the medical industry already that are prescribed to people, when you know that they are around and there's a chance it might help, you grab it. without trying these things... the researchers, us, no—one's going to get anywhere in finding out the right drugs to help the pandemic that's happening and still going on. as we're coming through it, i'm eternally grateful and will be for the rest of my life. dexamethasone has been around for decades. a steroid, it's widely used for arthritis, asthma, and other conditions. this is a genuine breakthrough in the treatment of covid—19. dexamethasone, either in tablet or injectable form, is available in every

hospital pharmacy. the treatment costs around £5 on the nhs and will be even cheaper in developing countries. so this drug has the potential to save lives across the world. we've been on a huge search for treatments that actually will improve survival for patients with covid. this is the first drug. not only is this the first drug that improves survival but it is available worldwide immediately and is affordable. that's fantastic news for patients. the drug helps stop the immune system from overreacting to covid. it's not a cure, but it will help more of the sickest patients to overcome this disease. fergus walsh, bbc news. brazil has set a record for new confirmed cases in a single day, tuesday. the caseload has

risen 35,000 to more than 9000 infections. that is the officialfigure and infections. that is the official figure and the most in the world outside the united states. beijing is re—imposing restrictions in many parts of the city in response to a new cluster of covid cases. questions are still being asked about china's early handling of the outbreak. the first case was in the city of wuhan, probably at the beginning of december last year. in total, there were nearly 4,000 deaths, at least 50,000 infections there. our china correspondent john sudworth has just returned from wuhan. for two months, time stood still in this city, as it endured one of the world's harshest lockdowns. now it seems a distant memory. interrupted lives have resumed again but, beneath the appearance of normality, the authorities are on edge.

people we arranged to meet are followed by plain—clothes police, who block our car. why are they doing this? we're stopped from filming. we can't leave? and at this apartment block, a group of officials keeps a careful eye on us. are we being detained? during the lockdown, anger erupted here over how it was managed, with a national vice minister heckled on an official visit. "it's all fake," they shout. it was a sign of how the crisis shook the foundations of a system, one now firmly back in control. "no interviews," she's told. "people may say something they don't mean," this official says,

explaining his concern about our filming. injanuary, wuhan‘s health service was the first to experience the onslaught. but despite evidence the disease was spreading, the public was given little warning. doctors were silenced by the police, and one of them, li wenliang, later died. at a small shrine, an offering is made to a dead brother. ms wong, who doesn't want to use her full name, has been told by the police not to talk to the foreign media, but has chosen to ignore that warning. 44—year—old wong fai died in early february in the same hospital as dr li wenliang. "they should have warned the public in time," his sister tells me. "if they hadn't covered it up,

my brother might be alive now." anyone asking similar questions too publicly is quickly silenced. for china, there is now only one narrative that matters in wuhan the undoubted success in eventually bringing the virus under control. china is determined that this place will not be remembered for a cover—up put global health at risk but, rather, the cornerstone of a great national victory, one that demonstrates not the weaknesses of tight political control but its strengths. john sudworth, bbc news. the next report will be investigating how the virus may have originated.

the united states has been shaken by nationwide protests since the death of george floyd three weeks ago. there's been much criticism of president trump's response and his decision to deploy the national guard onto the streets of america's cities. but what do people think in the rural heartland? our west coast correspondent, sophie long, has been travelling around the state of montana to find out what those who supported him in 2016 think of their president now. in big—sky country, support for the president is riding high. horns honking. and this is the relatively liberal city of bozeman. happy birthday, president trump! love you! i love him, and he deserves a chance. democrats cut him off at every angle. women for trump. it's important, and this is the election that will make the difference. not everyone is happy to see this celebration. i think that he doesn't care about the american people as a whole. people of colour, women. it's a little sad to see the things that he supports, and now there's this many people here that support the same thing. something he is, as they say here, all hat and no cattle.

but as you get further from the cities and the famous montana skies grow, so too does support for donald trump. dark, economic clouds may loom, but he made much hay here while the sun was shining. for him to just know that we're out here and care, and again, like i say, he doesn't underestimate our intelligence. i think that's... i think they underestimated him because they don't realise that, as in rural america, that's who we were looking for, somebody that paid attention to us. anger with president trump's leadership has never been more visible on the streets of the capital and cities across the united states. but this? this is a whole different world, and when you come here and speak to people living in america's prairies and remote mountain ranges, you realise many still have faith. even in the industrial heartland of colstrip, a city which grew around the now partially closed power station in the coal

mine that feeds it, where the coal workers' jobs donald trump vowed to fight for will almost certainly be lost, support for the president remains strong. what do you think about the way that president trump has handled the protests? personally, i believe he could be a little more aggressive. i don't believe that any place in this country, people should be able to throw rocks or molotov cocktails. i hope we can keep them, but boy, they're working hard at getting rid of him. but i think they forget the old silent majority still sitting here, and i'm one of them. the president and his rival in november's election have yet to go head—to—head. happy birthday, president trump! but his supporters here say donald trump offers them what no democrat does, the hope of being heard. liberty! sophie long, bbc news, montana.

more national and international news any time on the bbc website. thank you for watching. hello there. expect a stormy spell of weather over the next few days. not just for the uk, across much of central and eastern europe. we've seen some sharp, thundery downpours. we start off quite promising but then showers are likely to develop in the uk as we go through the day. after a sunny start, afternoon thunderstorms could be an issue and because we have light winds, it could be slow—moving. so localised flooding not out of the question. we could start off with low cloud, mist, and fog. that burns its way back to the east coast where it may well linger, but elsewhere, lovely spells of sunshine but as the heat builds, the showers will arrive. they should be few and far between across scotland and northern ireland. the most frequent ones through wednesday will be across england and wales. so through the afternoon —

this is a snapshot — you can see just a brighter colour denoting the intensity of those showers. slow—moving, a lot of heavy rain and some hail and thunder and lightning. it will be quite warm and humid out there. temperatures likely 22 degrees, 72 fahrenheit. the showers will continue for a while through the early evening, hopefully starting to ease away before during the night, we could see more persistent rain pushing in through east anglia and moving through northern england. as we go through the day on thursday, rain to the north of england, then that's going to be replaced by some pretty intense thundery downpours across england and wales. in the space of two or three hours, we could see a couple of inches of rain. so, weather warnings have been issued by the met office, certainly worth bearing in mind if you're going out and about. a slightly quieter day in scotland 17—22 degrees the high. as we go into friday, england and wales will see the quietest of the weather. fewer showers around, but more frequent showers

are likely through northern ireland and scotland. again, some of these will be heavy and thundery. 17—23 degrees as the high. we could do with some slightly quieter weather. we may well get it between england and wales for the start of the weekend as high—pressure builds, but this area of low pressure could spoil the story a little bit further north and west. so there's a chance this weekend of more rain to come across scotland and northern ireland, but it's drier elsewhere with the heat set to build across england and wales as we go into next week. take care.

this is bbc news, the headlines: chinese and indian troops have clashed along the disputed himalayan border between their countries — the most serious in several decades. the indian army said twenty of its soldiers were killed in the confrontation. beijing acknowledged that it had also suffered casualties, but did not say how many. the trump administration is suing the former national security advisor, john bolton, to block the release of a book about his time in office. the justice department said the memoir contained classified information. mr bolton argues the president committed impeachable offences, which mr trump denies. the world health organisation has hailed the discovery by scientists in the uk that a widely available steroid can dramatically lower

the risk of death for the most seriously ill covid—19 patients. the who called the research on the drug, dexamethasone, a lifesaving scientific breakthrough. now it's time for panorama. the death of george floyd at the hands of the minneapolis police.... chanting: black lives matter! black lives matter! ..has sparked america's biggest series of protests over race in a generation. protesters: hands up, don't shoot! ..highlighting once again the deep divide between black and white. protesters: we don't want no more police! with violent scenes — and police forces seemingly out of control. national guard: get in the house! the protests have gone global, spreading to britain. it's racism against the world. and if you're not with us, you're against us. and if you're not

with us, you're racist.