welcome to bbc news — i'm mike embley. our top stories: imposing new restrictions — new york and two other states clamp down on travellers from the us where infection rates are surging. inside the race for a vaccine. we are with the team at imperial college, london — using a revolutionary new approach to combat covid—i9. it means that we can make the equivalent of 2 million doses in the volume of a litre. imagine a litre bottle of lemonade, that would have 2 million doses in it. locking down again. authorities in germany reimpose restrictions as new covid hotspots appear, one centred around 1,500 workers at a meatpacking plant. in moscow, a show of military power on victory day,

with president putin about to ask the nation for a further term in office. hello to you. new york and the neighbouring states of newjersey and connecticut are introducing a 14—day quarantine period for visitors from 9 other us states with high rates of coronavirus infection. across the us, there have been more than 2.3 million cases since the start of the pandemic — the highest figures for any nation. in the past 2a hours, more than 36,000 new infections were reported by the national health department — the biggest single, daily figure of the pandemic. three states — california, texas and florida — have reported record highs of coronavirus cases — with all three reporting more than 5,000 new cases apiece. depite the fresh surge, president

trump's administration has annouced plans to cut federal funding for covid—i9 testing sites, in five states — colorado, texas, illinois, pennsylvania and new jersey. 0ur north america editorjon sopel has more. there are now 26 states in america where they have seen more covid cases this week than they did last week. a handful of the biggest states, florida, texas, california, arizona are seeing massive spikes with thousands of new cases being reported each day. a hospital in houston, they've got 97% occupancy of intensive care beds. now, donald trump says this is all because of increased testing. his public health experts say it's far more serious than that. and if you compare the us to the european union, the difference is really stark. it's something per 100,000 of population, six or seven times worse in america than europe,

and that's leading the eu to consider introducing a travel ban on passengers coming from america into europe, and that would be a damning verdict on donald trump's handling of coronavirus. it would also be a very bold move by the eu, because it's bound to infuriate the president. this is much more than a simple public health issue. jon sopel there. we can now speak to dr peter hotez, who's dean of the national school of tropical medicine at the baylor college of medicine. thank you very much for your time. i know you are an exceptionally busy man. how would you characterise? what we are seeing is a very steep acceleration in the number of covid—i9 cases across many parts of the southern united states. as you mentioned, florida, california but also texas, oklahoma, arizona, nevada and here in texas, things are looking quite dire. we are in houston, home to the

texas medical centre, the largest medical centre in the world, it's a medical centre, 60 institutions, everything big here in texas and we are u nfortu nately here in texas and we are unfortunately seeing this big acceleration, this exponential rise, vertical rise of more than 1000 cases a day and houston with projections of 4000 cases per day by thejuly port weekend and it's notjust cases, its numbers mounting in terms of hospitalisations and intensive care admissions and finally we think a lot of that is among the low—income neighbourhoods so african—americans, hispanic, latinx, minority populations so in my opinion it's a humanitarian tragedy which is starting to unfold and i've been pushing hard for us to be more aggressive in beginning to dial things back and close thinks back down. doctor, what is this acceleration, this tragedy in these particular states as you call it tell it

about how the pandemic has been handled until now? we all know the story about new york. the virus probably entered the new york area from europe in the middle of february and went undetected for quite awhile and that led to probably the worst pa rt that led to probably the worst part of the academic so far in the new york city and the surrounding states. we then implemented lockdowns in the number of states including texas and did quite well with it for a while but then we lifted those bands prematurely ahead of the time when our epidemiological model is said it was safe to do so, so we are paying the consequences of that right now. is this bike because of increased testing, as president trump said? no, absolutely not because it's doubled with a spike in intensive care unit admissions. you mentioned we are about to

be overwhelmed in our icu units. we have a little bit more room because we are now opening up some of our speciality hospitals to adult patients, mdm ‘s, cancers centres, in the texas children's hospital is to accommodate covid—19 patients so we accommodate covid—19 patients so we still have a bit of wriggle room for that but who wa nts to wriggle room for that but who wants to get there? we need to do is hold community cranes transmission now. thank you so much for talking to us. there are more than a dozen vaccines being trialled around the world — all with hopes of ending the pandemic. producing a vaccine is a slow, complicated and secretive process. the bbc‘s medical correspondent fergus walsh has had exclusive access to the first human trials of a vaccine being developed by imperial college in london — they're using an approach that's never been tried before. coronavirus has transformed all our lives, and although restrictions are easing, there's only one certain way out of the pandemic,

one way to protect us all from the virus, to return society to normal, and that's a vaccine. never has science responded so fast to a global health threat. what usually takes years has been done in months. there are now more than 120 coronavirus vaccines in early development. 13 have begun human trials — five in china, three in the united states, two in the uk and one each in australia, germany and russia. we'll need several to work if there's to be enough doses to protect 7 billion people on the planet. after oxford university, now imperial college london is the latest to begin trials. kathy, who's 39, is one of 300 volunteers who will receive the imperial vaccine.

she'll get a second booster dose in four weeks. why did you volunteer? i think it came from not really knowing what i could do to help, and this turned out to be something that i could do, and understanding that it's not likely that things will get back to normal until there is a vaccine, so wanting to be part of that progress as well. if the safety trial goes well, a further 6,000 volunteers will be immunised in the autumn. trials might also need to happen overseas, in virus hot spots, because that's the only way researchers will know for sure if it offers protection. i wouldn't be working on this trial if i didn't feel cautiously optimistic that we will see great immune responses in our participants, but there's still a long way to go to evaluate this vaccine. this is a really unusual vaccine. the synthetic genetic code it contains should instruct muscle cells to produce the spike protein found on the surface of coronavirus. that should prompt the creation of antibodies, and that army of antibodies should remain on guard

in case of future exposure to coronavirus and, if it works, prevent infection. because it's all created artificially, with no need to grow any virus, the vaccine could be manufactured on a huge and concentrated scale. it means that we can make the equivalent of 2 million doses in the volume of a litre. so, if you imagine a litre bottle of lemonade, that would have 2 million doses in it. so, when you want to start making vaccines for the world if this is successful — and that's still a big if — it makes it so much more tractable because you don't have to build a factory the size of several warehouses. imperial college say they could have enough doses ready to immunise 40 million people in the uk by next summer, but trials must first show the vaccine

is safe and effective. fergus walsh, bbc news. in germany the authorities in the state of north rhine—westphalia have reimposed lockdown restrictions in two districts after a spike in cases of coronavirus. one area contains a meatpacking plant where more than 1,500 workers have tested positive — and a mandatory quarantine is in place for all employees. 0ur europe correspondent gavin lee reports. this is the source of germany's biggest coronavirus outbreak. the tonnies abattoir in gutersloh. 1,700 workers here have caught covid—19. the entire workforce is now under strict quarantine, fenced in and under police guard. these workers from bulgaria and romania are arguing to be allowed to go. food supplies are being brought in by local volunteers. translation: everyone knows about the living conditions here. sometimes there's 16 people living in one room. there's intense scrutiny on the company. volker bruggenjurgen from the charity caritas

accuses the firm of exploiting its staff. translation: just a month ago, people were still working normally on the cutting belts, so people were standing right next to each other, dismantling the meat. this leaked video footage has emerged allegedly showing workers at lunch during lockdown without masks and no social distancing. we have contacted tonnies to respond to the allegations of exploitation. they didn't want to comment, but earlier they've said they apologise for the outbreak which they acknowledged was their responsibility. they have also claimed the footage of workers cramped together took place before covid—19 started. it's been several weeks since germany came out of confinement, reopening cinemas, gyms, restaurants and shops. that has all closed down here in gutersloh. the effect of this outbreak means more than 500,000 people are back under lockdown. germany has been held up as an example in tackling the covid crisis. their stop—start approach to confinement may be a pattern

that is replicated in the uk and across uk. gavin lee, bbc news, germany. latin america and the caribbean has registered more than 100,000 deaths from covid—19, raising concerns about the spread of the virus there. more than half of the deaths are in brazil, and mexico has the second highest death toll, reporting 947 new deaths. aru na iyengar reports. this is the moment the earthquake struck mexico city hospital some 700 kilometres away from the epicentre in 0axaca on the pacific coast. staff and patients based themselves as an earthquake measuring 7.4 on the richter scale. here in the town of

huatulco in oaxaca, buildings are beyond repair and people have lost their lives. but it's not the only shock exco ‘s had to deal with. the country is already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic. it is suffered more than 24,000 covid—19 deaths, the second most in latin america behind was ill, and reported over 196,000 cases. within these cases, newborn triplets were tested positive for covid—19 at three days old. virus cases like this with multiple births have not previously been seen anywhere in the world. and adding to the shaky pick, the international monetary fund says it expect mexico's gross domestic product to fall by double digits in the coming year. many are desperate for work but the government's handling of the virus leaves them with little hope. translation: in the situation we are in right now, without work, because the pandemic, and

with the earthquake, i don't know what's going to happen. god willing everything will get resolved quickly. even before the virus arrived, experts warned the region's densely packed cities, millions of casual workers and healthcare ca re system casual workers and healthcare care system is starved of resources could undermine even the best attempts to curb the pandemic. now an earthquake has just added to their woes. aruna iyengar, bbc news. australian airline qantas is to cut 6,000 jobs because of the pandemic. another 15,000 employees will remain stood down until international flights resume. its ceo has said its airbus a380 aircraft won't be used for the next three years. stay with us on bbc news — still to come: in moscow, the traditional show of military power on victory day as president putin prepares to ask for a further term in office. 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 on 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 news, the latest headlines: the governors of new york and two other states impose new restrictions on travellers from the us where infection rates are surging. scientists at imperial college in london have begun human trials of a revolutionary vaccine against the coronavirus. a grand jury in the united states has formally indicted the three men arrested in relation to the death of ahmaud arbery, a young black jogger killed when out for a run in a residential area of brunswick, georgia. for more than two months, local police did not make any arrests. it was only when video of the killing went viral at the beginning of may that the investigation began in earnest. now—retired police officer gregory mcmichael, his son travis and william bryan have been indicted on counts which include murder, aggravated assault and false imprisonment. north america correspondent david willis has more on the background. ahmaud arbery‘s name, mike, has been chanted in recent

rallies against racism in the united states, along with that of george floyd, and the 26—year—old teenager, breanna taylor, who was shot dead in her home in louisville, kentucky. ahmaud arbery was a 25—year—old man who was shot dead while out jogging in the port city of brunswick in georgia. now, that incident occurred in february but only came to light last month after video of it was leaked online. that video appears to show mr arbery being pursued through the streets of brunswick and shot dead, and indeed an autopsy revealed he had been shot three times, twice in the chest. now, you mention, mike, police initially arrested a father and son, greg and travis mcmichael — greg mcmichael is a former police officer in that area —

and they were charged and then, two weeks after that, they arrested the man who shot the video and that's a man called william bryant. after this grand jury hearing, all three men are now facing a total of nine charges, including murder, aggravated assault and false imprisonment, amongst others, all three are expected to plead not guilty. as you say, david, it took so long for this to come to light, local law enforcement seemed quite reluctant to take action and yet again, as in so many cases, video appears to have made such a difference. it does, and that's potentially quite crucial because there are some idiosyncrasies to this case, if you like. for example, after he was arrested by police, greg mcmichael, the father, apparently told police that they were pursuing ahmaud arbery because they thought he was the man responsible for a series of burglaries in the local area. in actual fact, police checks reveal there have been no reports of burglary at all in that area in the seven weeks

prior to ahmaud arbery‘s death, and also william bryant, the man who shot the videotape, apparently told police as he stood over the body of ahmaud arbery, travis mcmichael uttered a racial slur. now, the civil rights attorney benjamin crump has said that the grand jury indictments confirmed what ahmaud arbery‘s family had maintained for several weeks, and that is that this amounted, mike, to a lynching. david mike, to a lynching. willis for us there. china is facing a major flooding emergency in large parts of the country with mass evacuations, landslides and huge damage to crops. thousands of teams have been mobilized, especially in the worst hit areas where houses and other buildings have been submerged underflood water which have — in some cases — now risen to their highest level in eight decades. stephen mcdonell reports from beijing. across vast swathes of southern

china, swollen rivers have burst their banks, causing widespread damage and leaving millions of people displaced. summer is the season for flooding in this country, but in 2020, especially heavy driving rains court officials by surprise. in the huge south—western metropolis of congqing, home to tens of millions of people, i red flood warning for parts of the city has been issued, meaning residents should leave the most dangerous areas. footage taken their shows at homes and businesses completely submerged as rising waters lead to conditions not seen this bad in decades. nearly half of all china's provinces have been affected, but in six of them, the situation has become especially severe. —— china's. more than 170 major rivers are flooding as this emergency stretches into its third week. even hubei province, after all it's been through with the coronavirus, is in the firing line. the weather is not due to change in a hurry. translation: it's predicted

that the rainy season in the middle and lower reaches of the yangtze river will be longer than usual with very high levels of rain. under this impact, we expect the yangtze to be hit by more regionalfloods. landslides have clogged the spillways of overfilling dams. hundreds of reservoirs have had to urgently discharge massive amounts of flood water. chinese rescue teams are accustomed to crises like this, but even they are being stretched to the limit by the scale of the flooding, as well as the unrelenting rain and surging river waters. the damage to millions of people's livelihoods is incalculable, and there disaster has a way to play out yet. stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. president trump has said the us will be sending troops to poland to boost the country's defence capabilities and bolster nato's eastern flank against potential russian aggression. his meeting today with the polish president andrzej duda marked the first visit of a foreign leader to washington since coronavirus travel restrictions were put in place.

mr duda welcomed the prospect of greater american presence in poland. translation: if anyone wants to attack poland, it won't be a soft landing for that entity, it won't pay off to such an aggressor because the strongest army in the world is present and they would help polish soldiers defend our borders. poland is one of the few countries that are fulfilling their obligations under nato, in particular, their monetary obligations, and they asked us if we would send some additional troops. they are going to pay for that, they will be paying for the sending of additional troops, and we will probably be moving them from germany to poland. a us appeals court has directed a federaljudge to drop the criminal case against president trump's former national security adviser, michael flynn. mr flynn was fired afterjust 22 days for lying about his contacts with russians, and pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi. he later asked to withdraw his plea and the case was handed to a districtjudge. this overruling effectively ends the politically—charged

case. russia has been holding its biggest public holiday, the victory parade marking the 75th anniversary of the defeat of nazi germany in world war ii, despite a growing number of coronavirus infections. the parade is usually held on may the ninth but was delayed because of the pandemic. 0ur correspondent, steve rosenberg, reports. if there was plenty of pomp... ..well, think of the circumstance. russia is marking 75 years since the defeat of nazi germany. military might in abundance. no social distancing, though. the kremlin claims coronavirus is in retreat, but it's not beaten. the city of moscow is recording hundreds of new covid cases every day. and while red square was heaving with hardware, a dozen russian cities cancelled their parades

due to the pandemic. so, why did vladimir putin decide his military show must go on? this parade isn'tjust about the past — it's very much about the present. vladimir putin wants to be seen as the father of the nation, the protector of russia and, crucially, he hopes that all of this will boost his popularity ahead of a referendum on extending his rule. away from the square, muscovites ignored calls by the city's mayor to stay safe by staying home and watching the parade on tv. fearing a spike in infections, politician leonid gozman has called on investigators to open a criminal case against president putin over the parade. we are on the very high level of the pandemic still. so, i think it's dangerous and i think that he and his

people understand that it's dangerous, so i think it's a crime. it's a crime. it's murdering. but this war veteran doesn't agree. translation: virus or no virus, nothing would stop me from being here to celebrate our victory and just like we defeated the nazis, russia will defeat the coronavirus. just the kind of optimism and patriotism vladimir putin would approve of as he looks to extend his rule over russia. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. just briefly a reminder of the main story, the governors of new york and two other states are imposing new restrictions on travellers from other parts of the us where infection rates are surging. much more on all the news, national and international, any time on the

bbc website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i'm @bbcmikeembley. thank you very much for watching. hello. wednesday was officially the hottest day of 2020 so far — 32.6 celsius at london heathrow airport. ithink, though, today may top that further. we're likely to see 33, again, i think somewhere towards the west of london or on into parts of the midlands. make no mistake, it will be hot and humid day across the board. we're pulling our air in across western europe, originally from northern africa, and you can see the amber makes it all the way to the north of the uk for thursday. so, areas that have lagged behind a little with the temperatures, scotland and northern ireland, will move into the warmer air through the day. notice some thunderstorms there towards the north—west — we'll see more of those a little later — but generally,

not much happens on that chart through thursday. that's because basically it's a day of blue skies and sunshine, and up go those temperatures. 30 degrees possible in central scotland, mid—20s for northern ireland, and as i said, possibly 33 somewhere further south. however, when it gets that hot, you know what's coming — thunderstorms. thursday evening, pretty quiet, very muggy, a lot of late sunshine, but then on into the small hours of friday, the thunderstorm start to break out, initially towards the west of the uk. it will take a while for them to ease the heat. so thursday night into friday, rather uncomfortable, some spots down no lower than 18 or 19 degrees celsius. through friday daytime, though, those storms are going to come increasingly widespread. some eastern areas will still see a lot of sunshine, feeling very muggy here indeed, whereas when the showers start to break out, we will feel the heat beginning to ease. so, a west—east split in our temperatures on friday. cooler, fresher with temperatures in the low—20s in the west, still possibly up to 30 in the east. but through friday and on into the weekend, this area of low pressure really does start to take hold from the atlantic.

it moves away the high that's locked in, though hot air, as it moves, it brings in clear atlantic air. gone the amber, in comes the fresher yellow. not just fresher conditions, though, but much more unsettled conditions thanks to that area of low pressure. so you can see spots a 10—degree drop in temperature at the start of the weekend, we're also going to see quite a few showers i think.

this is bbc news. the headlines: scientists at imperial college in london have begun human trials for a vaccine against the coronavirus. they're using an approach that's never been tried before — if it works, a vaccine could be cheaper and easier to manufacture in mass quantities. there are more than a dozen trials under way around the world. new york and the neighbouring states of newjersey and connecticut are introducing a 14—day quarantine for visitors from nine other american states with high rates of infection. new cases of covid—19 in the us have risen to their highest level since april. authorities in germany have reimposed restrictions as new covid hot spots appear, one centred on a meatpacking plant where more than 1,500 workers have tested positive. a mandatory quarantine is in place. it is the first time lockdowns have been reintroduced since restrictions were eased in may.