welcome to bbc news, i'm james reynolds. our top stories: the un says millions more children in yemen will suffer malnourishment unless it makes up a shortfall of aid caused by the covid—19 pandemic. texas and florida reimpose restrictions after a record number of americans are diagnosed with coronavirus in a day. the chief of police in mexico city survives an assassination attempt by a powerful drugs cartel. the us house votes to make washington dc a state, but the historic step is unlikely to progress.

there's a stark warning that millions of children in yemen could be pushed to ‘the brink of starvation‘ unless international aid is dramatically stepped up. it comes from unicef, the united nations children's organisation. the country faces the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with the covid—19 pandemic compounding the effect of five years of civil war. houthi rebels backed by iran have been fighting yemen's government, itself backed by a saudi—led coalition — which is supported by the us and the uk. two million of yemen's children are malnourished, and 1.7 million have been forced to flee their homes. with only half of the country's health facilities in operation, one child dies every 10 minutes from a preventable disease. our middle east editorjeremy bowen sent this report, and i must warn you, there are distressing images right from the start. selwa al—odabei is five, the same age as the war.

selwa has cerebral atrophy — brain damage caused by malnutrition she's had since she was two months old. the vicious mixture that is destroying yemen is killing her. a man—made war, man—made hunger, and the coronavirus pandemic‘s grip on a broken country. selwa's parents are among the two million yemenis who have been forced to flee their homes because of the war. herfather, ibrahim, says they can't pay for any more medical treatment. selwa is not the only one. unicef says malnutrition has caused permanent mental and physical damage to 45% of yemen's under—fives.

this is aden — better supplied than most parts of yemen, but still living on the edge. there is food, if you can pay — many cannot. it's 20% more expensive than a fortnight ago, because the currency has crashed. yemen is an easy target for the virus. its citizens‘ immune systems are exhausted, their healthcare system is 50% destroyed by the war. some provinces have two hospital beds for every 10,000 people. this doctor filmed this for us in a covid—19 ward at his better—off hospital in aden.

rich countries could buy thousands more ventilators. the doctor says they have to turn away most of the patients, whose families beg for them to be treated here. this woman had a chance — a bed in hospital run by the medical charity msf. they couldn't save her. in yemen, 25% of people with confirmed covid—19 die — five times the global average. it's estimated yemen already has one million cases of covid—19 — three times more than the uk in a population less than half the size. it feels like the end. it feels like a calamity. they think the world has forgotten them. and it's chaotic and anarchic and desperate. are they right to think that, that the world's

forgotten them? unless action‘s ta ken straightaway, we are going to see a tragedy of globally catastrophic proportions. making everything worse, separatists are fighting a new war to end south yemen's union with the north. it's on top of saudi arabia's intervention five years ago to fight houthi rebels aligned with iran. in the desert, saudi troops are with the southern separatists, trying to observe a ceasefire that so far does not exist. chanting. the un is cutting its aid operation because donors have promised only half the funding they gave last year. unicef says that, in a single day, a child in yemen will suffer more injustice and hardship than most people face in a lifetime. when selwa al—0dabei

was a baby, her parents had to escape with her from a hospital bombed by the saudis in a raid that killed 19 civilians. now she's five, selwa's family have to try again to save her. they feed her with sugar and water, love and prayer. that's all they have. in this war, and this pandemic, it might not be enough. jeremy bowen, bbc news. hassan el—tayyab is legislative manager for middle east policy with the friends committee on national legislation. he told us why aid is not getting in yemen. right now there are funding shortages happening on the international side. there is a blockade around the whole country supported by saudi arabia and the uae and the who sees in north yemen are also obstruct king humanitarian assistance so it is a terrible

situation and what is needed right now is diplomacy to try and open up the country —— obstructing. to try to get aid to people who need it most. this is a proxy war between saudi arabia and iran. to those two countries show any signs of ending their regional dispute which affects the country of yemen? unfortunately, no. there was a brief moment of optimism when we saw earlier this year saudi arabia announcing a unilateral ceasefire but during that time the airstrikes just continued and continued on and the fighting has raged on. so u nfortu nately, the fighting has raged on. so unfortunately, yeah, this proxy war has just continued and what is needed is the international community to put pressure on the various players on the ground and on the united states‘s park, we provide

logistical support and weapon sales to the coalition. —— the united states‘ part. we are trying to put pressure on the coalition so they stop their campaign and put an end to the violence. there‘s more about yemen on our website, including a breakdown on the causes of the civil war which has been raging since 2015 between a saudi—led coalition of countries fighting iranian—backed houthi rebels. just log on to bbc.com/news. the united states has recorded an all—time daily high of 40,000 coronavirus infections, according to figures from the johns hopkins university. two of the country‘s biggest states, texas and florida, have reimposed some lockdown restrictions. the governor of texas has ordered all bars to close. here‘s our north america editor, jon sopel. florida seemed to be flourishing — beaches had reopened,

bars were buzzing. the republican—controlled state was one of the first to lift the shutters, despite not meeting government guidelines. but now coronavirus cases are absolutely skyrocketing — up over 60% injust 2a hours, and the governor is hitting the pause button, urging people to maintain social distancing and wear masks. but it‘s not going to be an easy sell. i need you to tell me, how do i play saxophone and sing with a mask on? listen to these people in palm beach. you literally cannot mandate somebody to wear a mask knowing that that mask is killing people. it literally is killing people. and they want to throw god's wonderful breathing system out the door. you're all turning your backs on it. and with the us yesterday recording more cases than at any time in the crisis, the pressure is on the president. i can name kung flu, ican name... cheering and applause. ..19 different versions of name.

particularly after holding a rally in oklahoma last weekend, which has resulted in dozens of campaign staff and dozens of secret service officers having to quarantine with covid symptoms. it does sound, though, like you‘re saying, "do as we say, not as we do." you‘re telling people to listen to local officials, but in tulsa you defied local health officials. well, i want to remind you again that the freedom of speech and the right to peacefully assemble is enshrined in the constitution of the united states. and the vice—president played down the severity of the current surge in cases. as we see new cases rising, and we are tracking them very carefully, there may be a tendency among the american people to think that we are back to that place that we were two months ago, that we are in a time of great losses and great hardship on the american people. the reality is we're in a much better place. the president insists it‘s because so many more people are being tested, like here in san francisco, that more

cases are being discovered. but it‘s only part of the story. public health officials, though, are far less sanguine about it. they say, unless urgent action is taken to deal with his current surge, then all the sacrifices of the past three months could have been for naught. far from flattening the curve, america seems to be fattening it. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. let‘s get some of the day‘s other news. after months of deadlock, ireland will have a new government, after the mainstream fianna fail and fine gael parties agreed a coalition deal with the green party. the irish parliament will meet in dublin on saturday to elect the fianna fail leader micheal martin as taoiseach or prime minister. the deal excludes the resurgent republican party, sinn fein, from government. marine biologists say the continued use of fishing trawlers has led to record numbers of dead dolphins washing up on france‘s atlantic coast. they‘re warning that the increase in deaths is so high it‘s now

threatening the survival of the local population. french law requires fishermen to declare all by—catch of marine mammals but scientists warn this doesn‘t always happen. for the first time in history, the us house of representatives has approved a measure to make washington, dc the country‘s 51st state. dc stands, of course, for district of colombia — and it has a population of over 700,000 people, larger than the populations of several states, but residents have no voting representation in congress. in the house of representatives, the district is represented by a delegate, who is not allowed to vote. and dc residents have no representation in the senate. despite the vote in the house, the proposal is almost certain to fail in the senate. professor allan lichtman

is an american political historian, academic, and author who lives and works in washington dc. he explained why it is that washington dc currently has no representation in congress or the senate. the district of columbia was not ever a state, it was a created region to be the nation‘s capital in the 1790 ‘s when there was not yet a permanent capital, and nobody wanted to go to one of the bigger established cities because that would favour one area over another, and it was totally under the control of the federal government. it wasn‘t until 1961 that by constitutional amendment the people of the district of columbia got to vote in presidential elections. but as you mentioned, they have no senator, they have no member of congress except the shutter representative with no voting rights. —— except the shadow representative

so does the vote in the house of representatives mean that washington, dc might be on the road to statehood, or what about the senate, what about the president? here is a thing, this is only the second time we have had a vote and it was defeated handily way back in the early 1990s. now i passed by quite a large majority with only one democrat voting against it. obviously the grim reaper, as he is known, mitch mcconnell, the senate majority leader, is going to let this die in the senate just as he let barack 0bama‘s appointment of merrick garland for the supreme court die, but we have an election coming up and there is at least a chance that the democrats could win the presidency, they are almost certain to hold onto the and they could take back the senate which could open a door to dc statehood because democrats so overwhelmingly favourite. if not washington, dc as a new state, what about puerto rico? well, that would be a possibility as well, i think you might be able to muster democratic votes.

what republicans don‘t want anything to do with dc or puerto rico, a, because puerto rico of course is hispanic, although they are all us citizens they don‘t have statehood, and dc is heavily majority minority, one opponent of dc statehood without explicitly saying it drew an invidious comparison between dc and wyoming which is over 80% white. but, if you get a big enough democratic majority it is certainly possible, it does not require a constitutional amendment. facebook says it will now flag posts from us politicians that violate its rules, but won‘t delete them — because of their ‘news value‘. until now the company has been reluctant to take action against posts by figures such as president trump because it believed users had a right to hear unfiltered statements from political leaders. facebook‘s chief executive, mark zuckerberg, defended the site‘s record in taking down hate speech

but said the company would tighten its policies by labelling potentially harmful posts. in the last week, more than 100 companies stopped advertising on facebook, as part of a campaign which criticised the social media giant for not doing enough to tackle hate speech and false information. this is bbc world news. the headlines: the un says aid to yemen must be dramatically stepped up to help save millions of children from the brink of starvation. texas and florida reimpose restrictions after the number of americans diagnosed with covid—19 reaches a new daily high. mexico city‘s security chief has been wounded in an attack that killed two of his body guards — the dramatic incident took place in a wealthy district of mexico city that has until now, seen little violence. reged ahmad reports. in this grainy cctv footage broadcast on mexican television, a group of heavily armed men, in an open—backed truck

and an suv, drive up. blocking off a road, it is understood they were preparing to open fire on the vehicle of mexico city‘s security chief, garcia harfuch. the footage zooms in on some of them as one holds up what looks like an assault rifle. residents reported heavy gunfire ringing out for several minutes during the attack, as the security chief‘s car was sprayed with bullets. translation: a group of men on board an suv attacked the vehicle, carrying mexico city public security chief, 0mar garcia harfuch. he has suffered minor injuries. he is out of danger at the moment and is receiving medical attention at a mexico city hospital. unfortunately, two security members of his team lost their lives. a woman passing by was also killed in the attack, which took place in one of mexico city‘s

wealthy districts. known as a location of ambassadorial residences, this level of violence is unusual for the neighbourhood and has shocked residents. 0mar garcia harfuch has been in the jobs since last october and hours after the attack, apparently from his hospital bed, the security chief tweeted, blaming the jalisco new generation cartel, known as the cjng, for the attack. a gang led by a former police officer, is accused of fuelling record levels of violence in the country as it seeks to eliminate rivals. mexico‘s president has linked the attack to attempts by authorities to establish order in the city. despite growing drug cartel violence over the decade, the capital has remained relatively calm compared to other parts of the country. officials say a number of arrests have been made and the involvement of the cjng is just one line of inquiry. reged ahmad, bbc news.

fishermen in the indonesian province of aceh have rescued nearly a hundred rohingya migrants from a boat stranded off the northern coast. officials had threatened to push them back out to sea. but local villagers decided to take their own action, as simon jones reports. they had been at sea for months. the fate of the exhausted migrants on board this boat unclear after they‘d fled persecution in myanmar. the authorities in aceh initially said they would not be welcome there, but local fishermen had a different idea. they said, if the government would not help them, then they would. taking matters into their own hands, they bring the 94 men, women and children to shore, describing it as their moral duty. translation: we are really concerned about them. they are humans and so are we. the government had no solution for them, that is why we are very

concerned about them. the authorities had been reluctant to accept the boat because of the coronavirus pandemic, and now the new arrivals have been taken to his former immigration centre where they will undergo testing. they say that not all of them survived the journey. translation: when i first got in the boat i felt dizzy and sick because the boat was going up and down because of the waves. i do not know how many have died. amnesty international has described the rescue as a moment of optimism and solidarity, but the long—term future of these people simon jones, bbc news. asian americans have endured a rise in harassment and hate attacks since the coronavirus pandemic began. they‘ve been scapegoated because the virus came from china. increasingly, asian americans are speaking out against xenophobia and inflammatory political rhetoric.

people willjudge by how you look, if you look asian, if you wear a mask, they‘ll just pick on you no matter what. in fact, three asians in texas got stabbed. getting a gun will somehow make you will make to feel a little bit secure, knowing that if you are attacked, you have something to defend yourself and ijust did not feel safe as an asian american at the time. when i first came here, i wanted to adapt to american culture, as soon as possible, that is why i chose to go to the football games and go to the home parties. after what i went through in this pandemic, i realized they will always see you as an outsider because you look different. being an american means to me, they fully accept you as who you are, you don‘t want to be aggressive or insult anyone, we just want to hope we can feel safe here in the states.

as cities open up, we are expecting a surge in anti—asian racism even more. my sister died over that covid. i expect kids to be bullied, when we go back to the office place, we will face jokes. we go out to the streets, we are going to be harassed even more. are you from china? why is that? you haven't heard of the coronavirus? people are targeting the most vulnerable. women, children and elderly. come here! i talk about the chinese virus and i mean it, that‘s where it came from. i can name kung flu... and there are spikes after politicians use the term chinese virus. they associate asians with masks, with the disease. they think of the disease being chinese. i‘m proud to be a chinese man. i‘m proud to stand with my

black sisters and brothers. as asian americans, we stand with black lives matter, not as a generic group of people who show up, but as a particular community with a particular racial history. we bled to built the railroads, the american farming economy is built on filipino and japanese labour in the mid—19005. black bodies are brutalised they are objectfied, they're fetishized, asian bodies and voices are erased and they are marginalised and they are ignored. older gen 2, younger millennials, for some, this is the first time that they have protested and marched. there's more of an understanding in this generation that we are ultimately fighting against the same oppressive system.

my rap group and i wanted to emphasise the fact that asian americans belong here. we are born here, we are saying that hate has no place in our country. the views of some asian—americans about the racism they have faced during the coronavirus crisis. they‘ve become one of the most potent symbols of the coronavirus pandemic. i am of course talking about face masks. in some parts of the world — the wearing of them has become a source of political debate. for most — they are seen as a useful aid in combating covid—19. but injapan the face mask can be so much more — as tim allman reports. even before the pandemic, they were a familiar sight on the streets and subway trains of japan. the face mask, a potential barrier against disease and perhaps a source of public reassurance. but this is a place where they never pass up the opportunity to innovate. let me introduce you to the c—mask, far more than just a bit of

personal protective equipment. using bluetooth technology, along with a smart phone or tablet, it can transmit and amplify your voice, making sure a face mask is a smart mask. translation: it is hard to hear what customers at the cash register of supermarkets and convenience store are saying, because there are petitions to prevent droplets. by wearing this mask, it can improve these communications by transcribing the conversation or delivering the sounds of voices. it does not stop there, the c—mask, along with its downloadable app, can help you make phone calls, send text messages, and even translate your words into eight different languages. each one costs around $40 and the designers hope to export them to china,

america and europe. a very smart mask, no matter what else you‘re wearing. tim allman, bbc news. hello. we‘ve seen some fairly lively weather developing over the past 24 hours or so. the recent heat and humidity giving away to some heavy showers and some thunderstorms too. and as we head into the weekend now, things are going to be turning increasingly cool and quite windy, with some rain around at times too. all down to the fact that low pressure is moving its way in, from the west, so lots of heavy showers rotating around that area of low pressure. still quite humid out there at he moment, but cooler air moving in from the southwest. plenty of heavy showers through the day on saturday, making their way gradually northwards and eastwards across the uk. it may well dry up a bit across southern counties of england during the afternoon. some sunny spells developing there but, equally,

still some showers for the midlands and wales. the showers for northern ireland and parts of northern england could be quite heavy, and potentially thundering later on. and for scotland too, we are expecting torrential downpours at times with some thunderstorms, interspersed with some sunshine but temperatures generally in the high teens, possibly the low 20s. you will notice though that those winds will be picking up the day, especially in the south, we could see those gusts winds up to about 40 miles per hour for a time along the south coast. 0vernight into sunday, no great changes. we keep further heavy showers through the overnight period. it will not be quite as hot and as humid though, as recent nights, with temperatures typically about 10 to 13 degrees overnight. heading on into sunday, and this area of low pressure

sits just to the north of the uk, so most of the showery rain i think on sunday will be in the north and the northwest, particularly for northern ireland, north wales, northern england and scotland too. further south, across england and south wale too, you should stay i think mostly dry. but wherever you are, you will notice the strength of the wind, gusts about 30 to 40 mph. certainly stronger than that around the coast and the hills in the north. so temperatures, by the time we get to sunday, quite a bit lower than recent days — about 14 to 20 degrees, and then, as we move on into next week, then we‘ve still got this area of low pressure not far away. it‘ll start to fill and move towards the east, but for monday, another day of sunny spells and blustery showers. more showers once on monday across the northern and north—western uk. fewer showers reaching further south, much colder, compared to recent days — 14—18 on monday. start next week on that showery windy note, but showers ease through the week.

the un says millions more children in yemen could suffer malnourishment after a shortfall in funding caused by the covid—19 pandemic. the country is five years into a civil war that‘s already led to what‘s seen as the world‘s worst humanitarian crisis. the unicef agency‘s urgently appealing for aid. in the us, the states of florida and texas reimpose some restrictions as the number of coronavirus cases rises steeply. a record high of around 40,000 people were diagnosed with covid—19 in the last day. doctors say they‘re treating an increasing number of younger patients. the police chief of mexico city has survived an assassination attempt that he‘s blamed on a powerful drugs cartel. 0mar garcia harfuch was shot and injured when gunmen opened fire in a wealthy part of the mexican capital.