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: as coronavirus cases rise in the us, the top infectious disease expert warns that some parts of the country are seeing a disturbing surge. right now, the next couple of weeks are going to be critical in our ability to address those surgings that we are seeing. the fbi says bubba wallace was not the victim of racism despite the noose found in his nascar team's garage. opening up and getting closer, england relaxes social distancing to get the economy moving, we look at the science behind the new rules. we can now make life easier for people to see more of their friends and family, and help businesses get back

on their feet and people back intojobs. as brazil struggles to cope with the pandemic a judge orders the president to wear a mask in public. the top us official on infectious diseases, anthony fauci, has warned some parts of the country are seeing a disturbing surge in coronavirus cases. let's go through the figures. covid—19 has killed 120,000 people in the us and there are more than 2.3 million cases. in more half the states, the number of new cases is still rising. you can see that in the south and west, particularly in states which loosened their restrictions on business early on. texas for example recorded its biggest number of

new cases on saturday. and the number of people in hospital with the virus has risen for 11 consecutive days. california's infection rate has been surging in the last week, the number of people in hospital has surpassed the peak in april. florida is also seeing cases rising sharply, it's now the seventh state to reach 100,000 cases. earlier dr fauci was giving testimony to a congressional hearing. this is part of what he said. right now, the next couple of weeks are going to be critical in our ability to address those surges that we are seeing in florida and texas and arizona and in other states. they're not the only ones that are having difficulty. bottom line, mr chairman, it's a mixed bag — some good and some now, we have a problem with. 0ur correspondent barbara plett usher has more on mr fauci's testimony. he and others testifying also talked about the testing, he said that it was progress being made, that there was an increase in the amount of testing, that they were

going to do more and they certainly had not been instructed to do less, which seem to contradict what president trump had said. at a rally at the weekend he told people he directed the administration to slow down the testing because the increase in test cases it revealed made the country look bad. the white house said he was joking and he later told journalists he wasn't. later all m public—health officials testifying before congress said they were committed to testing and it was crucial for the pandemic. doctor fauci said he had a note of complement no optimism, he was cautiously optimistic a vaccine would be available for the american people by the end of the year or by the beginning of next one. dr craig spencer is director of global health in emergency medicine at columbia university medical center. i asked him what he made of the rise in infections in some us states.

doctor fauci mentioned it is a mixed bag and i am and new york which, as everyone remembers, just a few months ago was the scene of a really apocalyptic increase in the cases, what we we re increase in the cases, what we were dealing with on a daily basis but now the number of cases here and york has really do, so that seeing covid—i9 patients is quite rare. that is not the case in arizona, texas, california, and in fact almost the majority of states in the united states. 0ver the majority of states in the united states. over the past two weeks we have had a 30% increase in the number of cases, we have had an uptake in the number of cases all across the number of cases all across the country and also a concerning increase in the test positivity percentage, meaning that it positivity percentage, meaning thatitis positivity percentage, meaning that it is notjust that we are doing more testing, it is that more people are actually getting infected and that is why we are seeing more. so we are all concerned. right now there are hotspots in many places all throughout the country. we know this virus will continue to roll around the country because we have so many people who are still so

susceptible to this virus and who, quite frankly, are not taking the necessary precautions to prevent the virus from spreading. what does that tell you about the likely progress of the disease, or do you feel the authorities should be doing, what you think they are likely to do? what it tells me about the progress is that normally and some as we think about decreased transmission in respiratory viruses like this one. the fact that we are seeing an increase means that when it comes to fall and the winter, we are going to be starting from a much higher baseline and we're not can have the same ability to decrease spread of this virus by doing things like simple contact tracing and other bread—and—butter public health, we will have two resort to more of those lockdown measures. what i think the administration should be doing is elevating and amplifying the voices of public health professionals. today was one of the first times we have heard from doctor fauciand times we have heard from doctor fauci and doctor redfield in the last couple of weeks. we need to be hearing from them a lot more, doing a lot more testing, focusing on how valuable the testing is. we

need to start taking this seriously as a country because right now a lot of people haven't and we are seeing the dramatic results of that. we know the president is very much against more testing even though the co—ordinator of his task force has suggested to governors and states that they should be doing more testing, but surely approaching an election, politicians are going to be very reluctant to order more lockdown, aren't they? absolutely, but if you think about, the best response to this, to the pandemic should not have been an economic or a political one, it had to be a public health one. if we responded to this correctly and march and april and even now we would be in a much better position, much like the other countries around the world that this seriously as a public—health threat, not necessarily as a primarily economic one, that would have been better for anyone looking for re—election in november. we are going to have an overlap of flu season with an undoubted surge of covid—i9 cases. it is

going to be really hard, i think if they were a politician, to sell myself and my response to this pandemic if cases and deaths are increasing throughout this country when we see other countries throughout the world who have handled this well, who have started opening up well, who have started opening up and getting back to that normal that so many of us here wa nt normal that so many of us here want in the us. you some very pessimistic about the way this is going. i'mjust pessimistic about the way this is going. i'm just really frustrated because we have the tools, we know how this should work. we have experienced doing this, we weren't really prepared for this in the united states. we were told in the beginning of march that everybody could get a test, when donald trump was at the cdc, with people who struggled to get tests and it is unclear whether the president is joking about whether he was trying to decrease testing or not. i'm frustrated because they have seen s0 frustrated because they have seen so many frustrated because they have seen so many people die of this disease, so many families on face time who were unable to stand by their bedside as i held theirfamily stand by their bedside as i held their family members stand by their bedside as i held theirfamily members hand as they died. we are months into this and it appears we are

getting worse, not better, and i think of all the families that this is going to impact the same way it has impacted so many who came through my emergency department and it makes me really angry. doctor craig spencer via. —— there. in atlanta, the funeral has taken place of rayshard brooks — an african—american shot dead by police in a confrontation two weeks ago. his killing, following that of another black american, george floyd, provoked weeks of protest by anti—racism campaigners. on tuesday president trump called the protestors vandals and anarchists, and promised to reinforce the law to protect statues and monuments. long—term jail sentences for these vandals and these hoodlums and these anarchists and agitators and — call them whatever you want. some people don't like that language, but that's what they are. the fbi has concluded bubba wallace was not the victim of a racist act at talladega superspeedway, nascar has announced. an investigation was launched into the noose left in the garage of the association's only black full—time driver. dozens of drivers showed

their support for wallace by pushing his number 43 car to the front of the field at the alabama speedway in an act of solidarity with the 26—year—old on monday. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes has the details. this was certainly a very swift conclusion by the fbi, justice department an investigation 2a hours or so ago and they say they saw authentic video supplied by nascar that led them to believe that this noose — at least a rope shaped in the form of a noose — wasn't deliberately left there as a form of intimidation. in fact, they say it was part of a pulley system for a garage door and according to the evidence they have seen, it has been in this particular garage since last october. since he hadn't been assigned the garage until last week, the conclusion is this wasn't a racially—motivated attempt to intimidate a driver, a man who has become very prominent in the last few weeks because of his support of black lives matter and he was also, of course,

a key figure in campaigning against the confederate flag being shown at nascar events — he was very successful in that, and some people thought this was retaliation against his newfound profile, not only in the sport but more generally because of what's been happening in the states, the race protests over the last month or so. peter, if you can, give us a bit more of a feel about nascar, it's huge inside the united states, of course, but not that well known outside? yes, it is huge, and it's a mostly white sport and that's why, to a large extent, it's been at the centre of this controversy. he is the only lack driver, at least full—time, and i think that's why there's been a lot of focus on what's happened over the last 2a hours.

i should say nascar has released a statement following the conclusions of the fbi, saying that they are thankful to hear it wasn't an intentional racist act against bubba, they say they remain steadfast in their commitment to providing a "welcoming and inclusive environment for all who love racing," and they also say their investigation will in fact continue to see why this particular piece of rope was left, it seems, lying around in the form of a noose. britain's prime minister, boris johnson, has announced the most significant easing of coronavirus restrictions in england since imposing a lockdown in march. from july the fourth, the two metre social distancing rule will be reduced to one metre. pubs, restaurants, hairdressers, cinemas and museums will be allowed to reopen — provided they follow safety guidelines. mrjohnson said he would take full responsibility if the relaxation of measures backfired. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg reports.

moving to a new sort of normal. in england, at least, from next weekend the pumps will flow, glasses will chink, a symbol there is life after lockdown — you'll be able to raise a pint. are you taking a gamble with public safety, prime minister? exactly three months after the deadly virus derailed everything, the disease isjudged by number 10 to be fading enough to open many more of the country's doors. speaker: prime minister. you could almost hear the relief in the prime minister's voice. thanks to our progress, we can now go further and safely ease the lockdown in england. mps: hear, hear! at every stage, caution will remain our watchword. hairdressers, hotels, libraries, playgrounds, a long list of venues will be back but you will still be asked to keep at least im distance, with extra precautions, and still work

at home if you can. but hold on, the different parts of the uk are moving at different paces. in wales and in scotland, the 2m rule is still in place. but for number 10, it's time to move on. 5pm today, the last occasion that this briefing will be routine. professor whitty, you previously said very clearly you would like to see the 2m rule stay until the end of the pandemic. have you changed your mind? the advice to stay at 2m if you can stay at 2m remains, and the 1m is a 1m+, mitigations that bring it into line with other areas, and that's why people must take it incredibly seriously. personally, am i comforable with it? this is a balance of risk. it's like many things in medicine — you don't go in for an operation unless you have to, it's a balance of risk. the end of the emergency phase maybe, but from the lectern or your living room, the impact of the coronavirus is certainly not a thing of the past. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster.

stay with us on bbc news, still to come: a fine balancing act, how these swiss acrobats ares staying in business during the coronavirus pandemic. members of the neo—nazi resistance movement stormed the world trade center armed with pistols and shotguns. we believe that, according to international law, that we have a rightful claim in certain parts of this country as our land. i take pride in the words "ich bin ein berliner." cheering as the uk woke up to the news that it is to exit the european union, leave campaigners began celebrating. in total, 17.4 million people voted for the uk to leave the eu. the medical research council have now advised the government that the great increase in lung cancer is due mainly to smoking tobacco.

it was closing time for checkpoint charlie, which, for 29 years, has stood on the border as a mark of allied determination to defend the city. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: america's leading infectious disease expert has warned of a disturbing surge in covid—19 cases in parts of the country. dr anthony fauci told the congress the next couple of weeks are going to be critical. england has relaxed social distancing to get the economy moving. restaurants and pubs can re—open injuly and the government has eased its 2—metre rule. ajudge in brazil has ordered presidentjair bolsonaro to wear a protective mask when out in public, or face a $400 daily fine.

mr bolsonaro did appear to be obeying the decision at an offical event in brasilia, after the ruling. he's been criticised for belittling the risk posed by coronavirus and has attended several political rallies without a mask. covid deaths across latin america have now passed 100,000, over half of which are in brazil. the court decision is the latest blow to mr bolsonaro in series of clashes between him and the country's top courts. last week mr bolsonaro lost a key ally, education minister abraham weintraub, who lost a supreme court appeal to not be included within a federal probe into the spread of fake news. following the decision mr weintraub resigned his cabinet position. he then announced he had accepted a posititon at the world bank the next day. critics have accused him of fleeing the country. one of those critics is federal deputy tabata amaral. she represents sao paulo for the opposition democratic labor party. a little earlier i asked her about the resignation

first it's very important to say that abraham weintraub is by any account of the worst education minister we have had so far. we have been monitoring his actions in the ministry of education for over a year, and he failed to deliver anything in education. he did nothing in this whole time because he was so involved with those fake news campaigns. he is being investigated and he fled to the us with his diplomatic passport, which is illegal, and it seems our government actually helped him with that, so it's a very hard time for our country. and he's a very close ally of the president, of course. and there are a lot of allegations circling that much of the fake news has come from people close to the president. yes, and you just mentioned the court ruling, that bolsonaro should wear a mask, and ijust wanted to point out first how absurd it is that we need a court ruling.

this happened because the president has been attending antidemocratic protests pretty much every weekend for months now even though brazil has over 1 million people diagnosed with covid—19, at least1 million, we have lost over 50,000 lives from covid—19, and we haven't had a health ministerfor one month, but this whole health crisis is being aggravated because of the political crisis that you just mentioned. there are currently three investigations closing in on bolsonaro and his sons — one is about illegal financing during the campaign, the second one is about the promotion of fake news with public funds, and the third one is about corruption accusations involving his sons. things just got worse for the president, and that's one of the reasons why we had the education minister fleeing the country, because the person we believe to be the conductor of all these money laundering form one of bolsonaro's sons

was found hiding in one of bolsonaro's personal lawyer's house. things are getting pretty bad here. it's clear to me that my country is suffering much more than was necessary during this pandemic. a lot of allegations there, of course, tabata, we can't prove them and we will have to leave them there as allegations, but one particular thing that the president would say, and has said, in fact, the danger to the economy was worse than the health risk. he may have changed his mind on that now. what was the justification for the government attempts to have data from covid—19 removed from official websites, i know they have been forced change that ruling as well? there has been many attacks on transparency in general, one particular ngo listed ten attempts from the government to go against transparency,

and brazil is doing pretty badly in dealing with the crisis. again, we have lost over 50,000 lives. there is no action being co—ordinated by the federal government, and now and then bolsonaro goes and says this is a small crisis, a mild cold and people shouldn't worry about it. i think he's trying so hard to hide the numbers because this is one of the few things that make him lose support eventually among the people that support him the most, because people are starting to his action during the pandemic as not being very human of him. so we have been fighting and so far have been able to maintain all the transparency that's necessary, but brazil is doing a very bad job in dealing with the whole crisis. and, in many times, the bolsonaro, the president, will go on and say his enemies are the mayors and the governors, because they are going against the economy but the thing is, brazil

is doing both things very badly right now and our president doesn't understand you need to save lives first, the economy you can save later, the lives you can't. tabata amaral. doctors say tens of thousands of patients who've had serious covid—19 infections in the uk will need to be recalled to check whether they have suffered permanent lung damage. specialists at the royal college of radiologists fear that a significant proportion of people could have scarred lungs, which can result in life—long, irreversible breathlessness. 0ur health correspondent sophie hutchinson has the story. breathless after even a short walk. tony mchugh, a retired taxi driver, spent two weeks on a ventilator with covid—19. three months on, he's still struggling. even, like, having a shower still exerts you a bit, you know.

so i have to sit down when i come out of the shower, just for a little bit. see, the silly thing, like, if i'm just watering the flowers at night, you bend down and you're picking something up and...he gasps. most people who have been breathless with the virus are expected to recover, but doctors are concerned about tens of thousands of people who have been seriously ill with what's called covid—19 pneumonia, and whether they have permanent lung damage. this is what healthy lungs look like — nice and black where they are filled with air. but in stark contrast, these are the lungs of a severely ill covid—19 patient, and you can see this white haze covering much of them. it's the air sacs filled with fluid. and it's this that doctors are concerned may lead to scarring, permanent damage, which could leave some patients breathless for the rest of their lives. this consultant radiologist has seen hundreds of abnormal scans throughout the pandemic. he's been shocked by how badly the virus can affect the lungs

and says up to 30% of those he's re—examined could have scarring. i am concerned about it, because of the unusual nature of this infection and how much of both lungs it's affecting. the other thing that's concerning me is the length of time it's seemingly taking, based on the x—rays, to clear the virus from your lungs — and when you have those two in combination, that is the ideal scenario for scarring. it's estimated that between 20% to 60% of survivors of other coronaviruses, sars and mers, have been left with lung scarring. 45 minutes, i have to stop because i can't breathe... this clinic in nottingham is one of a number in the uk that have begun monitoring for lung damage. it follows new guidelines from the british thoracic society that patients must be followed up. never before in our lifetime have so many people been subject to the same lung injury

at the same time. so even if it's only a very small proportion of people who do get scarring of the lung, that's still going to be a large number of people overall. because of that, the government says it's providing more clinics and equipment, but radiologists fear services could be overwhelmed by the tens of thousands of patients in need of care, like tony. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, we've seen organizers cancel or delay countless performances. in switzerland, a group of acrobats decided the show must go on. alanna petroff reports on how these individuals got back to work in a surprising new setting. you may be maintaining your social distance safe at home. here in the swiss alps, these acrobats are social distancing at an altitude of3,000m, that's nearly 10,000 feet.

the show involves some blindfolded cable walking, some slow scar cycling. some slow scary cycling. this one is called the wheel of the death. 0rganisers say this stunt, with the steep cable incline, set a new record. acrobat freddy nock and his troupe performed their death—defying moves to raise awareness about the artists who have not been able to perform over the past few months. it's good for everybody we don't give up, and keep thinking positive for the future. it's a hard time now, but i think it will become better also. it's certainly been a time of highs and lows, a time of balancing priorities. these acrobats hope their performance at the top of the world will lift the spirits of those below. alanna petroff, bbc news. much more for you on all of the

news any time on the bbc website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. thank you for watching. hello there. on tuesday, the temperature reached 29 celsius around london. now, by the end of the week, we're likely to find the weather breaking down with a bang but, for the next couple of days, the heat and humidity will continue to build, and we could get 90 fahrenheit. that heat and humidity coming in from continental europe, and spilling its way northwards to much of the country. that warmth coming in around an area of high pressure but, by the end of the week, the pressure pattern looks very different. lowering pressure coming in from the atlantic, threatening to sweep some thundery downpours in from the west on friday. now, at the moment, we've still got some rain around, mainly for western scotland and northern ireland. elsewhere, dry with clearer skies, and quite a warm start to wednesday — 12 to 15 degrees.

now, the rain in the north—west will gradually peter out during wednesday. the cloud thins, skies brighten and there'll be some sunshine, particularly for southern and eastern scotland, where it should be quite warm. but it's across england and wales where we've got the gentle breezes and the strong sunshine, and the temperatures are continuing to climb — 30 degrees in birmingham, 31 in london. and you probably noticed, like i have, that the pollen levels are very high, not just across england and wales, but in across northern ireland and a good part of scotland as well. as we move into thursday, there could be some thundery showers towards the far north—west of scotland to move away. later in the day, maybe just a hint of things to come, with some showers in cornwall, but thursday's probably going to be the peak of the heat. the warmth will continue to push its way into scotland. we're not getting the extreme heat in northern ireland. 32 is 90 fahrenheit, that's in london on thursday. and then the change as we head into friday. it's always going to be a little bit uncertain, but we do have that lowering pressure, and some of those thunderstorms are beginning to develop

out towards the west. now, the potentialfor some very wet and thundery weather for a while across northern ireland and western scotland. and then those thundery downpours push their way eastwards steadily through the day. could be a little bit more hit and miss towards the south—east, and the last of the heat is really getting pushed more towards eastern parts of england. elsewhere, those temperatures are starting to drop away. and that process will continue over the weekend. 20 or 21 will be the best we'll manage, i think, by sunday, and maybe a bit of rain around and it could be quite unusually windy for the time of year.

this is bbc news. the headlines: america's leading infectious disease expert has warned of a disturbing surge in covid—19 cases in parts of the country. anthony fauci told congress that the next two weeks would be critical to stop more infections in states such as florida, texas and arizona. the british prime minister, boris johnson, has announced a significant easing of coronavirus restrictions in england. restaurants and pubs can reopen injuly and the government has relaxed its 2—metre rule. mrjohnson said he would take full responsibility if the relaxation of measures backfired. the fbi says bubba wallace was not the victim of racism after a noose was found in his nascar team's garage. the agency said what had been assumed to be a noose was actually the garage door‘s pull rope and had been hanging like that since last 0ctober.