welcome to bbc news — i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: the who warns that the spread of covid is still accelerating, saying the worst is still to come. pro—choice campaigners celebrate as the us supreme court rules against a law in lousiana making it harder to get an abortion. a ferry capsizes in bangladesh killing 32 people following a collision at a river port in dhaka. and there's a new push to allow athletes to protest at the olympics. the gold medallist involved in the most famous olympic protest of all gives his view. so the other younger athletes can move forward and won't be afraid to talk, won't be afraid to ta ke afraid to talk, won't be afraid to take a stand and move

forward. the world health organization is warning the coronavirus pandemic is far from over and the worst may be still to come. the head of the agency, doctor tedros adhanom ghebreyesus, says despite progress in some countries, the pandemic is still accelerating. let's take a look at the figures, which are predicted to get worse before they get better. there have now been over 10 million reported cases of the virus worldwide. and more than half a million deaths have been attributed to covid—19. june saw a global average of more than 4,700 people die from a coronavirus linked illness, every day. the who warned that a vaccine was still a distant goal. hygiene, distancing, and tracking and tracing remain the best ways to combat its spread. alanna petroff has more.

there have been prayers... ..there have been protests... ..all the while, the death toll keeps rising. brazil maintains its status with the second highest number of deaths from coronavirus. the figure now tops 57,000. it's second only to the united states, where new waves of thousands of fresh cases are being reported in many states. the who has strong words for citizens and world leaders to wise up. the worst is yet to come. i'm sorry to say that, but with this kind of environment and condition, we fear the worst. and that's why we have to bring our together and fight this dangerous virus together.

but it's tough to work together, especially when some places feel they're getting things under control. in mexico city, shops and restaurants are reopening. in parts of europe, including greece, travel restrictions are being eased. meanwhile, in south asia, india has reported well over 500,000 cases, and the numbers keep spiking. in neighbouring bangladesh, there are worries the stats aren't showing the full picture due to a lack of widespread testing. many cases may be going undetected. the who insists ordinary people have the power to help stop the spread — keep up with physical distancing,

hand hygiene and stay home if you feel ill. everyone should do their part to stay focused and save lives. health authorities insist this is going to be a long fight. alanna petroff, bbc news. let's go to the us now where a supreme court decision is being celebrated by pro—choice campaigners who want to protect women's rights to access abortions. this was about a specific law in the state of louisianna. the law would made it harderfor women there to obtain a termination. the supreme court decided it should be overturned. judges voted five to four with a usually conservative judge deciding to side with his more liberal colleagues. from washington, here's barbara plett—usher. all chant: protect women! protect life! this was a crucial decision for the future of abortion rights in the country, the first time the supreme court tackled the issue in the trump era.

the case has been closely watched by both sides of the debate. anti—abortion activists are unhappy with the result. i'm very disappointed and i believe that this is a huge loss for the women of louisiana and for the women of this country. we stand in solidarity with these women today, and we seekjustice. at stake was a louisiana law that imposed new regulations on abortion doctors to protect women's health, the state argued. opponents said it wasn't necessary and would force all but one of louisiana's abortion clinics to close, including the one that challenged the law. today, they celebrated a battle won. we are on quite the high, the supreme court has spoken and finally said something that i think our lawmakers — it's something our lawmakers need to hear. today's ruling does maintain the status quo in that clinics can remain open but it has done nothing to advance reproductive rights — that battle

continues to go on. the supreme court granted the right to abortion in 1973 in the landmark roe vs wade case. ..so help me god. congratulations. applause but president trump shifted the court to the right with the appointment of two conservative judges, putting the charged issue of abortion back into play. in the end, though, the conservative chief justice cast the deciding vote to strike down the louisiana law, citing a previous legal precedent rather than engaging the issue. this was a blow to mr trump, who has positioned himself as an advocate of anti—abortion activists. unborn children have never had a stronger defender in the white house. cheering an important part of his base in an election year. the decision upholds the status quo for now, but there are other test cases to come and given the make—up of the court, this marks more of a pause than an end to the battle over abortion rights. barbara plett—usher, bbc news, washington.

you can read much more about why abortion is such an important issue in the us right now on our website. we've been looking at what it might mean for the presidential election — and also how it could influence american politics right down to a grassroots level. just log on to bbc.com/news. let's get some of the day's other news. a notorious mass murderer known as the golden state killer has been sentenced to life in prison — after pleading guilty to 13 killings. joseph deangelo, who's 7a, was a serving police officer in california when he committed his crimes in the 1970s and 1980s. he was only caught after his dna was traced via a geneaology website. four sacked american police officers, who were accused last month of killing an african american man, george floyd, have made their second court appearance. derek chauvin, who faces second—degree murder among other charges, made his appearance remotely from prison. the other three ex—officers

appeared in person. they entered no plea. the hearing dealt with how the trial would proceed. the company behind the acrobatic circus troupe, cirque du soleil, has filed for bankruptcy protection because of the pandemic. dozens of shows in the us, europe and australia were cancelled overnight. most of its 4,000 performers and techcnicians are expected to lose theirjobs. founded in 1984, the canadian circus has performed in more than 300 cities around the world. the english city of leicester will not be allowed to ease lockdown restrictions this weekend unlike the rest of england. the decision follows a surge in cases of coronavirus — more than 800 in the past two weeks. a series of strict measures including the closure of schools and non—essential shops will be introduced to try and contain the outbreak. here's our health

editor hugh pym. leicester city centre tonight. pubs and restaurants which have been closed since lockdown in march all set to reopen on saturday along with others in england, but they've now been told they can't. it's very disappointing. at the end of the day, we've been gearing up to reopening for this period. i mean, it was announced a couple of weeks ago, so whether it's our colleagues, our suppliers, we're all getting together, working out plans, working with health and safety about what we're going to be doing, training staff, everything. and it's just really, really disappointing. as well as an extension of existing restrictions, non—essential shops will have to close from tomorrow and local schools on thursday, and there's advice to avoid non—essential travel in and out of leicester. i'm not surprised, because there are too many people going against what's been recommended. personally, ifind it hard because i live on my own, so it's going to be another two weeks. not happy about it at all,

to be honest, because it's happening all around the country. why is leicester the only place to be shutting down and nowhere else? it was late this evening when the health secretary came to the commons to announce the measures. having taken clinical advice on the actions necessary and discussed them with the local team in leicester and leicestershire, we've made some difficult but important decisions. we've decided that from tomorrow, non—essential retail will have to close. and, as children have been particularly impacted by this outbreak, schools will also need to close from thursday. labour's health spokesman, himself a leicester mp, said the outbreak had first been spotted 11 days ago and the government could've acted sooner. testing in the area picked up the unexpected rise in virus cases. new mobile testing units were moved into the city over the last few days to give more detail to officials, right down to local postcodes. there's been much speculation about the reasons for the increase in case numbers. inner—city areas with high

density housing, some residents vulnerable with underlying health conditions are among factors which have been mentioned. one local councillor said for some south asian communities, there were language problems with key health messages as well as housing challenges. local authorities in the area will be given extra funding to enhance communications with residents. but businesses will be wondering what might compensate them and how long these new measures will last. our health editor, hugh pym there. 32 people have died and many more are missing after a ferry capsized in bangladesh. officials say the ship overturned after colliding with another vessel — one of the main river ports connecting to the capital dhaka. a warning — some people may find images in reged ahmad's reports distressing this is the buriganga river in bangladesh, home to one of the largest river ports in the country in the capital — dhaka. the ferry was reported to be on the crowded waterway when hit another boat,

capsized and then sank. translation: what we have heard from witnesses is the ferry capsized with at least a0 to 50 people on board during the accident. some passengers managed to swim to shore, but rescue divers have been retrieving bodies, several of them children, as horrified relatives looked on and there are still more people missing. translation: my brother, an employee of the bank, who came in this morning with this launch is missing. he is my younger brother, every day he comes to dhaka with this ferry but today this has happened. i want to see his body, please. witnesses say some passengers appeared to be trapped in the cabins when the accident happened. bangladesh is heavily reliant on ferries for transport on its many internal rivers, and accidents are quite frequent, often due to overcrowding and inadequate

safety sta nda rds. rescuers say their next step will be to lift the damaged ferry out of the water. iran has issued an arrest warrant for president trump in connection with the killing of the top iranian commander, general qassem suleimani. the iranians say mr trump and more than 30 other people face murder and terrorism charges, and they want interpol to help detain the accused. interpol has said it wouldn't get involved in a political case of this kind, and the appeal has been dismissed by the us envoy on iran. america's aviation regulator has begun a series of test flights to assess whether the boeing 737 max is safe to fly again. the aircraft were grounded over a year ago, following two crashes, in which nearly 350 people were killed. the tests, taking place near the boeing headquarters in seattle, will evaluate new flight control software. the original version is thought

to have led to the crashes by forcing the planes intro catastrophic dives. even if the updated planes pass the tests, it could still be months before they are allowed to resume carrying passengers. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the push to let athletes protest at the olympics. the gold medallist who did it back in 1968 gives his view. china marked its first day of rule in hong kong with a series of spectacular celebrations. a huge firework display was held in the former colony. the chinese president, jiang zemin, said unification was the start of a new era for hong kong. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly that was cloned in a laboratory using a cell from another sheep.

for the first time in 20 years, russian and american spacecraft have docked in orbit at the start of a new era of cooperation in space. challenger powered past the bishop rock lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering a record that had stood for 3h years. and there was no hiding the sheer elation of richard branson and his crew. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the world health organization warns the spread of the coronavirus pandemic is speeding up. the number of confirmed cases around the world passes ten million. the us supreme court rules the state of louisiana cannot enforce laws which make it harderfor women to get abortions.

this month, protestors in several cities across asia joined the rest of the world in their support for the black lives matter movement. the inspiration came from america, in the wake of the death of george floyd. but many people across east asia want to put their own region's experience under the spotlight, as nick marsh reports. in tokyo they marched, in hong kong they gathered, in bangkok they zoomed. the numbers were smaller but the message of solidarity was so clear. for these people black lives matter in asia too. in mainland china state media condemned the killing of george floyd. so too did government officials. translation: racism against ethnic minorities is a chronic disease of american society.

but in this society muslim minorities are detained in so—called "re—education camps". foreign critics told to mind their own business. and when it comes to attitudes on race, few would argue that china is progressive. blackface on prime time television just one example. in april, signs went up around the city guangzhou forbidding black people from entering shops and restaurants. apparently to stop the spread of covid—19. these videos also emerged showing african residents appearing to be evicted from their homes. reddick has lived in china for seven years. he says he feels safe working as an african—american artist in shanghai. but even in the city's modern and progressive art scene, he's faced problems when potential clients find out he is black.

and then i may get, "oh, i'm sorry, when i send the photos over we were only looking for a chinese person or a white artist or something like that. so, this issue of colour and race is definitely something that is global and that is something that is systemic. here in multi—ethnic singapore keith has spent almost two decades reporting from asia. for him, the regions real test of tolerance is seen ethnic minorities in top positions. a lot of companies like to say that they don't discriminate work inclusive and etc when you get right down to brass tacks, if you just ask how many people who were not from the dominant ethnic group could actually rise to a certain level? i think that conversation is a start but it's a long way off yet. around the world, the black lives matter movement has caused new dialogue about race and white privilege. here in this part of the world, the biggest challenge might be simply to end the assumption that racism is something that happens somewhere else. nick marsh, bbc news. it was an historic moment

captured by the world's media. two american sprinters tommie smith and john carlos raised fists at the 1968 mexico olympics. it was against the rules and they were sent home. now a group of american athletes is calling for the scrapping of the rule which forbids athletes from protesting. i spoke to olympic champion tommie smith and i asked him for his reaction for calls to allow protests. i make if it a very positive idea, positive move, with the athletes now standing up for rights which we should have had way back then. and i am so proud of our young people who are taking the stand of moving society in a forthright situation, where everybody can enjoy the sound of freedom, the sound of equality and the sound of goodness, so people can live together. this modern call, obviously, this is in the wake of black lives matter. what have you made of this uprising, these protests, these changes

that we have seen? we've seen a lot of things in these type changes. some are good and, of course, some are bad. you know, for every forward movement, three steps, there is two steps backward, but at least we are making a move, because there are some involved you should not be involved. those interrogators who came in just to make things awry, and make things look as if they are out of control, but they're very much in control and with the black lives matter movement, everybody will be acquainted with the goodness of moving forward, and not the deterioration as we have now in the charter of 50 rules that so many have heard about. i'm happy to be a part of that movement because it is moving forward and it is an exercise which the athletes are moving with,

and i'm proud of that movement. well, let's go back to your statement all those decades ago now. when you were standing on that podium, with your fist in the air, what was running through your head? your heart must have been pounding. well, my heart was pounding because i was still recuperating from the race, really. laughter the other pound, the louder pounding was because i worked so hard for this platform, and the challenges i had every day finally proved efficient enough for me to make a stand and that was a stand, and that was a stand for the rights of people, the rights to move in a positive direction, from athletes who had been working all of our lives, trying to find a platform of graciousness, so the other younger athletes can move forward, won't be afraid to talk, won't be afraid to take a stand, won't be afraid to move forward. and i see this now and i'm still working with them,

trying to move in a direction which is going to help the younger generation. we've got the generation now who's moving for the present. we've got another generation right behind them, who are in high school, and they're trying to listen so they can move forward also, protect themselves with rights as the athletes now are trying to give them to move forward so listen up athletes. you started this incredible — decades on, we're still talking about this image. when you were standing there on the podium, what was running through your mind? did you think — did you how powerful it would be? did you think, "wow, 50 years later, we'll still be talking about this? " no, no, i did not go there for hurrah at all. i went to win a race so i could stand up for the rights of man and for the rights of the athletes. what was going through my mind was — how soon will i get down from this thing?

how soon will i be off so i can continue my fight for freedom, my fight for the ok to move forward proactively. well, your fight cost you personally, in what way did you suffer? oh, before i left my home in california, i was already abused mentally and verbally by catcalls, by phone calls at night on my phone threatening my life and et cetera. once i got there, i realised that i have made it this far, with help from the almighty. now i must do what is necessary to promotejustice, and even justice around the world, or sight to the sightless, or sight to the blindness. it was a silent gesture heard around the world, and that's what we, me

and john carlos, was given, is our voices so people can hear the sound of silence. now the athletes are moving toward the avenues of making a voice heard instead of a silent voice felt, and we are still working at that, john and tommie smith are still working toward that method. what about people who are on the other side of this debate, who may well completely agree with your fight, agree with your message but do not want the olympic games to be full of every athletes coming and parading their own protests — they want an arena free from politics, just to focus on the sport? what do you say to that? well, i think athletes are focusing, but i think the athletes now realise that they have a responsibility, they have a choice, they need a choice. i don't think erraticism it is so rampant with the athletes that they're trying to become famous because it surely

will result in infamy. so i do know and i do believe that what the athletes are doing now will prove, over the years, that it was the right thing to do, just like tommie smith, john carlos did years ago. and it proved to be the right move but the wrong stand for a lot of people because they thought it was the wrong time to do such things that was needed even 50 years before then. if you stand and do right, it will count later on. you might not see it, you might not get to that mountaintop but you can feel the ecstasy of your battle for right, for righteousness, for purity in heart. olympic champion alexis mcgill johnson with me there. —— tommie smith.

you can reach me on twitter. i'm @lvaughanjones. hello there. a slow—moving area of low pressure has been responsible for the unsettled weather during the weekend and indeed for monday. it has brought strong winds and quite a lot of rain across areas, particularly across cumbria. now for tuesday, it looks like we will see further rain at times but it won't be quite as windy as what we've see in the last few days, and that's because our area of low pressure is pushing off into scandinavia. less isobars in the charts, but we still have a tangle of weather fronts. that's going to bring outbreaks of rain at times. one of them will be bringing rain to southern counties of england and the channel islands through the day. another one will be bringing some down weather to northern ireland. but we should see a bit of brightness breaking through the cloud for eastern england, and especially across scotland. but when the sunshine comes out,

temperatures lift. this is where we're likely to see some heavy showers, perhaps even some thunderstorms. mid to high teens celsius in the north. perhaps a little bit warmer in the south, with the high teens, low 20s — that is because the winds will be lighter. now, as we move through tuesday night, it stays pretty damp. rain clears away from the south—east. we'll see further thicker cloud across northern and western areas, with outbreaks of rain here. those temperatures ranging from about 11 in the north, 15 maybe 16 across the south—east. so, a bit milder here. for wednesday itself, there is the parent low, which brought us all the wet weather and the windy weather over the last few days. this is a secondary low which is going to bring further showers or longer spells of rain. it is also going to drag in some cooler northerly winds across scotland, so it will feel quite chilly for the northern isles, the north—east coast there. further south, we should see a bit of sunshine, breaking through the cloud, although it is going to be a largely cloudy day for most, but if that happens then we could see some heavy showers or thunderstorms being sparked off here. temperatures lift up to around 20 or 21 degrees, but low teens in the north. thursday, similar story. it remains quite cool across the north of the uk. variable cloud but quite a lot of dry weather in the north. for central and southern parts

of england and wales again could see some heavy showers and thunderstorms developing. temperatures reaching highs of 19—21 celsius. so the lighter winds on thursday clear away, thanks to that ridge, and then we see low pressure move in for friday, and that's going to bring a spell of wet and windy weather and then, as we head on into the weekend, we hold onto this atlantic influence. lots of weather fronts and lots of isobars. it will remain breezy, rather cool for the time of year, with outbreaks of rain. some of it will be heavy at times, mainly affecting northern and western areas, our power so that they have favourable stay. and it will remain on the windy side, too.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the world health organisation is warning that the spread of covid—19 is still accelerating, despite progress being made in some countries. the head of the agency says the pandemic is not even close to being over, adding that the worst may still be yet to come. the us supreme court has overturned a controversial anti—abortion law in louisiana. the court found the law would have restricted the number of abortion providers in the state. it upholds a precedent set by the court four years ago regarding a similar law in texas. a ferry has capsized in bangladesh killing at least 32 people. many others are still missing. the ferry overturned after colliding with another boat on one of the main river ports connecting to the capital dhaka. one man was rescued more than 12 hours after the boat sank.