this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. my name is mike embley. yemen's latest battle. after years of civil war and hunger, how does a country fight a pandemic, with little medical care and almost no testing? the number of coronavirus infections in the us passes 3 million, with at least 132,000 deaths. the white house claims cases are flattening out. because of what the american people have done and the extraordinary work of our healthcare workers around the country, we are encouraged that the average fertility rate continues to below and steady. melbourne begins a second lockdown in response to a new spike in covid infections. some residents in australia's second—largest city are told to stay at home

for six more weeks. on day two of his libel case at the high court in london, johnny depp strongly denies slapping amber heard when they were married. hello and welcome. it is so often called the world's worst humanitarian crisis, and then it gets worse. in yemen, united nations aid agencies are warning they still have nowhere near the resources needed to fight the looming threat of famine, in a country already ravaged by five years of war and disease, now struggling with a surge in coronavirus deaths. with the medical system already devastated, covid—19 is spreading virtually unchecked. nawal a—maghafi has been speaking to those bearing the brunt of yemen's latest crisis. there are no daily briefings about covid—19 in yemen...

allahu akbar. all: allahu akbar. ..no accurate statistics, and barely any tests. but every day, there are the dead, buried quietly in the early hours of the morning. among the buried on that day in sana'a was mohammed al—kuhlani. a few weeks ago, we spoke to him and his friends as they worryingly followed the pandemic news. translation: if the virus reaches yemen, they won't be able to count the dead. yemenis mix a lot. we need to raise awareness. we need to teach people how to keep safe at home. the disease was already spreading silently throughout homes in yemen, including mohammed's. his family said his death was of a respiratory infection. it had all the hallmarks of coronavirus.

now we learn that mohammed's father and several members of the family have lost their lives with the same symptoms. this is his cousin days before he died. none of the deaths have been reported as coronavirus—related. six years of war has destroyed half of the country's health system in the conflict between the houthis and a saudi—uae—led coalition supported by the uk and the us. i met dr ashwag on several milestones during the yemeni conflict, during the famine, cholera and now covid—19. the suffering only gets worse, she says. translation: i go to people with hand sanitiser and i tell them to stay at home. they tell me, "doctor, don't scare us with the disease. we're dying of hunger anyway. we need to eat. what options do we have? it's a tragic situation. it is coronavirus or hunger. protective gear is not a priority

for a population where two—thirds don't know where their next meal is coming from. and the international community, distracted with its own crisis, is turning its back. a un fundraising summit raised only half the amount needed to keep its life—saving programmes running. for months, there have been warnings of coronavirus sweeping silently in yemen. now the pandemic is here and is exacting its deadly toll unchecked. nawal al—maghafi, bbc news. us vice—president mike pence says the us has recorded at least 3 million coronavirus infections, more than any other country in the world. to put that in international comparison, it's significantly higher than brazil and russia which have recorded the second and third most cases. and it means the us alone has recorded more infections than both asia and the entire european continent, which were once global centres for the virus. of course this figure doesn't take into account differences

in testing rates. here was mike pence speaking at the coronavirus task force briefing. at this point, we have tested more than 39 million americans. among those, more than 3 million americans have tested positive and more than 1.3 million americans have recovered. sadly, more than 133,000 americans have lost their lives and our sympathies are with all of the impacted families, and while we mourn with those who mourn, because of what the american people have done, because of the extraordinary work of our healthcare workers around the country, we are encouraged that the average fatality rate continues to below and steady. —— be low. let's speak now to our north america correspondent david willis. these horrible figures don't ta ke these horrible figures don't take into account different testing rates but they are

likely to be underestimates. they are likely to be underestimates, mike, and they are chilling figures. they seem to be going to the opposite direction to those in europe and instead of flattening the curve, the united states appears to be fattening it. more than 3 million coronavirus cases, more than 132,000 deaths as you mentioned. president trump for his part is touting the mortality rate which he saysis the mortality rate which he says is the lowest in the world but there are still hospitals in texas, arizona and florida that are running at full capacity. the president, of course, very anxious, mike, to open this country up ahead of the november presidential election and he is now calling on schools and colleges to reopen in the autumn. that, despite contrary advice from his own medical experts and the warning from the president of one of america's largest teaching unions that the president is potentially

putting students lives at risk by this. and the president actually threatening schools with loss of funding. that's right, yes, although it's doubtful if can actually carry through on that threat since federalfunding through on that threat since federal funding accounts a p pa re ntly federal funding accounts apparently for about 10% of schools funding across the country at the president took issue with harvard university which said it would be running the remainder of the year on line. the president called that disappointing and u nsatisfa ctory disappointing and unsatisfactory and he wants to get those colleges back running as soon get those colleges back running as soon as get those colleges back running as soon as possible because it's an emblem, if you like, of the economy reopening and it also provides the opportunity for those children were back at school, for their parents to go back to work and that's something that is crucial of course to reopening this beleaguered economy. just deeply, david, some nervousness i think about the apparent lack of backing at one of the

briefings for dr fauci. that's right, dr fauci has taken issue particularly over the past few days with the president's that the united states has the lowest mortality rate in coronavirus in the world. dr fauci said that was a false narrative and he warned of a false sense of complacency and at the white house briefing this afternoon, the spokeswoman was asked if the president still had faith in dr fauci and she declined to give a direct a nswer to she declined to give a direct answer to that, mike. david, thank you very much for that. brazil's president says he's confident he'll survive coronavirus because he's taking the anti—malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, a treatment plan that has no proven success when used to tackle covid—19. mr bolsonaro has spent months downplaying the severity of the pandemic as thousands have died in his country. he tested positive yesterday. 0ur south america correspondent katy watson reports from sao paulo.

social distancing, no thanks. masks, probably not. jair bolsonaro is a leader who's never much cared the health guidelines, dismissing them every step of the way. but when it comes to unproven drugs to tackle the virus, it's only horse he's back. on the day he got covid—19, jair bolsonaro posted this video of him taking the antimalarial hydroxychloroquine. he said he was feeling much better and over the weekend so it must be working. it's an honour to give that to you. like his friend up north, jair bolsonaro doesn't ca re if north, jair bolsonaro doesn't care if the drug isn't recommended for covid—19, nor that there could be serious health risks for people who ta ke health risks for people who take it when they don't need it. it works for him, he says, so he promotes it. and pharmacies here have felt the impact. ever since the president first touted the drug's president first touted the drugs and its, medication more

often used in brazil to fight malaria in the amazon or for those skin conditions like lupus, demand has soared. authorities had to introduce prescription for the drugs to try and control them. translation: we had lots of people looking for it, many just wanted to stock up at home but we don't allow that. even though, there was such a big demand for it. the price of the drug has gone up as well, there has been a huge move. while jair bolsonaro is made sure the drugs can be offered to patients with even the mildest symptoms, many health professionals say it's a dangerous path to go down. they are telling me, people come to the emergency room asking for the emergency room asking for the drug before we even examine the drug before we even examine the person. this is how this message has penetrated, is another virus, is an information virus, that has penetrated and synchronised millions of people to believe that there is a silver bullet when we all know there is not.

the newspapers say jair bolsonaro minimised the pandemic, encouraged social contact and is now ill. throughout this crisis, he's fought against measures that others have introduced to keep people safe. is water down the law on wearing face masks and is even pushing to open the economy as soon as is even pushing to open the economy as soon as possible. sick or not, he is singing the same tune for now. in the middle of a pandemic, the health ministry has been sidelined. to help ministers, both doctors, have gone, because they backed global health recommendations. the man now in charge temporarily as an army general whose biggest move so army general whose biggest move so far has been to get the military to boost production of hydroxychloroquine. but those are back president repeat his mantra that people need to work on the collateral damage of the virus cannot become bigger than the disease itself. a lot of people talk about science, science, science but science

means medicine, medical science, it means social science, it means social science as well so we have to have all those things together. because a solution that's perfect for europe, maybe it's not the best solution for brazil. maybe we need to find a solution in the middle between them. the problem is, brazil's president is coming up with his own solutions that few people believe in. the countries in the middle of a crisis and it feels like little is being done. katy watson, bbc news in sao paulo. elsewhere in latin america, health workers are protesting over a lack of protection from coronavirus. the continent has now recorded more than 2.9 million cases of the virus. our reporter freya cole starts this report in peru's capital city, lima. rallying outside their work place, these nurses in peru say their life is at risk. they are demanding better detection from the virus which is so far claimed more than 10,000 lives

across the country. translation: many of my collea g u es translation: many of my colleagues have become ill and there is no special monitoring of our cases. the families of these nurses have also fallen ill. there is no protective equipped wind, no food vouchers, no transportation for medical staff. —— equipment. elsewhere in peru's capital city, lease used water cannons to disperse crowds. they to feel local hospitals are on the brink of collapse. this is a snapshot of one field unit in central peru. patients are crowded in, relying on oxygen to breathe. nurses in bolivia also have grave concerns. the virus is on the rise and they say there is nowhere near enough detection. translation: we need the authorities to come to the hospital with tests for

all of us workers because we don't know who is infected and who isn't. some of my collea g u es who isn't. some of my colleagues already have symptoms. in columbia, strict lockdowns are taking place along the caribbean coast. the city of baranquilla is reporting morbid terms than the capital, the silent victims of a byron ‘s which means —— a virus which remains out of control. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: six kids, lots of homework, butjust one phone. how a new project in the uk is helping get digital devices to those in need. central london has been rocked by a series of terrorist attacks. police say there have been many casualties, and there is growing speculation that al-qaeda was responsible. germany will be the hosts of the 2006 football world cup. they've pipped the favourites,

south africa, by a single vote. in south africa, the possibility of losing hadn't even been contemplated, and celebration parties were cancelled. a man entered the palace through a downstairs window and made his way to the queen's private bedroom. then he asked herfor a cigarette, and on the pretext of arranging for some to be brought, she summoned a footman on duty, who took the man away. one child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world. education is the only solution. applause this is bbc news. the latest headlines: after years of civil war, yemen faces a crippling fight against the covid pandemic, with little medical care and almost no testing.

the number of coronavirus cases in the united states has passed 3 million, with over 130,000 american fatalities. for many children in lockdown, going to school has meant going online. but, in the uk, around 700,000 students have missed out on schoolwork because they don't own a computer or even have internet access. a new programme is trying to change that by getting donated computer equipment to those who need it most, as fiona lamdin reports. homeschooling... can i borrow your phone, please, mum? thank you. this family in swindon, like thousands, having to learn without a computer. it takes forever, and it stresses you out, and then ijust end up giving up and not doing it. do you feel like you're falling behind? yeah, a lot. because i'm not getting as much help as i should be.

i just can't, like, focus properly. and it — sometimes it crashes. i'm finding it very, very stressful, and to be honest, sometimes i find it too much, so ijust don't do any work at all. and it's a similar story for 14—year—old charlie, who is in foster care. he is doing his gcses next year. i'm worrying a lot about going back to school, having detentions after detentions for not doing the work. but what we've seen is an exaggeration due to covid. nick runs 31 schools, and has 2,500 students who don't have a computer at home. across the uk, hundreds of thousands of young people are disadvantaged digitally. they're disadvantaged emotionally, financially, socially. but the it divide has grown bigger as a result of covid. but now, people are donating the computers, laptops and tablets they no longer need. is that a dinosaur? the holgate family were also struggling — six children, all sharing mum's phone. but a donated tablet

has helped. what difference has it made having another device in the house? we've been able to do, like, loads of homework. and we've been sharing — like, sharing better. whereas before, i think they were falling behind a little bit, but now they're on track. daddy! the government says it is committed to reopening schools in september, but many families are worried that by then, the gap will be too big. fiona lamdin, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news: one of the central figures in the impeachment proceedings against president trump is retiring from the army. lieutenant colonel alexander vindman was a white house national security official who testified about mr trump's phone call with ukraine's president. mr vindman's lawyer said his client had been the victim of a campaign of bullying, intimidation, and retaliation by the president. the presidents of the

united states and mexico have signed a joint declaration at the white house, just days after their new trade deal took effect. but that deal includes a third nation, canada, whose leader was not present. justin trudeau stayed home managing his country's coronavirus response. the prime minister of ivory coast, amadou gon coulibaly, has died at the age of 61. the country's president confirmed mr gon coulibaly was taken ill whilst chairing a cabinet meeting earlier this week and died in hospital. he was due to stand as the governing rdr party's candidate in october's presidential elections and had recently returned from france, where he was treated for a heart condition. police have used tear gas to disperse protesters who had gathered in front of the national assembly in belgrade. the serbian capital has seen its second day of unrest following the announcement that coronavirus restrictions could be renewed. protesters tried to storm the parliament on tuesday after the initial announcement. a final decision is expected on thursday.

residents of melbourne in australia are waking up today to a depressing sense of deja vu. the city is back under lockdown after a recent spike in coronavirus cases. 5 million people have been ordered to stay at home except for essentials like shopping, unavoidable work or caregiving. wednesday was the third day in a row that the state of victoria recorded more than 100 cases. 75 of those infections are linked to this group of public housing towers in melbourne. they have been placed under hard lockdown, which means residents cannot leave the buildings at all. australia's overall covid numbers are comparatively small — nearly 9,000 cases. that's less than california recorded in one single day this week. but australian authorities are determined to stop the spread going any further. abc news reporter steven schubert joins me from melbourne now. i know you have been covering this solidly, tell me more. well, mike, as you say, today

is the first day of this new stage of lockdown just for melbourne. so unlike when australia was last in lockdown, when the whole country really was all in it together, this time it isjust was all in it together, this time it is just melbourne, was all in it together, this time it isjust melbourne, and there are police road checks at there are police road checks at the outskirts of melbourne, stopping people coming in. now, we understand that they are providing some leniency today, for the first day, so if you show up at the road check and you don't have a valid excuse you don't have a valid excuse you are being turned around. but they are saying that window of leniency is closing, and it won't be long until you are issued with fines, and that fine is 1600 australian dollars, so it would definitely sting. on the towers behind me, on the front there, this is unprecedented in australia. this is a hard lockdown. these people haven't been allowed to leave their homes at all since sunday. so hopefully there will be some news for them today. the state government here in victoria is saying that the testing is now complete and the towers, and they will be having some news about the easing of

those restrictions fairly soon. seeing some pushback, i think, is steven, especially from people in public housing, that they seem to be seeing more of police than health workers or social workers. concerned, police than health workers or socialworkers. concerned, i think, about the way this lockdown is being implemented. yes, certainly at the start, mike, iwas yes, certainly at the start, mike, i was here on monday, which was the first full day of the lockdown, and the police presence here was enormous. the state government he was talking about how they had 500 police and every shift monitoring the towers here and another site in north melbourne which is not far away from where i am. now, that works out to one police officerfor that works out to one police officer for every that works out to one police officerfor every six residents. and the police were the first on the scene here, not health workers, not social workers. so there was some witticism for that, and we have to keep in mind also that the make up of the people in these towers are largely immigrant families, people who don't speak english as their first language, people who might have an inherent distrust in police or government authorities —— criticism for that. due to where they have come from. so yes, some pretty strong

criticism when this was set up, but i have to say, the police numbers are much lower here today. whether that's indicative that the lockdown may be easing, we will have to wait until this afternoon australian time to find out. arejust very briefly, australian time to find out. are just very briefly, steven, seeing very strong restrictions being announced by queensland. yes, another australian state, queensland, has announced that they don't want any victorians, they don't want any victorians, they won't be allowing any victorians into their state. we are becoming something of a pariah state here in victoria. the border to new south wales, which is immediately to the north of victoria, is closed for the first time since the spanish flu. so we can't travel anywhere outside of the state here, and if you are in melbourne, you can't travel anywhere out of melbourne. so thatis anywhere out of melbourne. so that is quite a historic decision, mike. steven shubert, from abc, thank you very much. —— schubert.

the hollywood actorjohnny depp has denied slapping his ex—wife, amber heard, on the second day of his high—profile libel action at the high court in london. he is suing the publisher of the sun, news group newspapers, and its executive editor, dan wootton, over an article published in 2018 which called him a ‘wife beater‘. he strongly denies the allegations. david sillito was in court. johnny depp arriving at court for day two of his case against the the publishers of the sun newspaper. reporter: johnny, johnny! it was this article and the headline that described him as a wifebeater that led to him suing for libel. the claims of violence were made by his former wife, amber heard, who arrived today at court to watch proceedings. it was a day of questioning about his drinking, his drug use, his addictions, even his friendship with stars such as marilyn manson. amber heard says there is withinjohnny depp a monster that is released by drink and drugs, that leads to violence, something which he strenuously denies. photos were shown of the star. he has made no secret

of his struggles with drink and drugs, but he says he wasn't violent. he was asked about an argument in march 2013. it was put to him he slapped her across the face. he said that's untrue. questioning continued. "you slapped her three times." he responded, "that is potently untrue." the court heard details of the couple's arguments, his addiction to painkillers, as well as recordings and text messages. news group newspapers says there is overwhelming evidence to support their claim that he was violent towards his former wife. and that's whyjohnny depp has brought this case — to try to clear his name. david sillito, bbc news. there is more for you on all the news nationally and internationally on the bbc website and on our twitter feeds. thank you very much for

watching. hello again. there were two very different types of weather across the uk during wednesday. it's a similar setup as we go into thursday. in the south, we've got lots of low cloud. this was cardigan bay during wednesday afternoon. to the north of that, we've got a showery regime, much more sunshine around. and the divider is this area of low pressure. so keeping all parts unsettled, but it's been bringing in heavy and persistent rain during the course of wednesday night. and that heaviest rain — yes, it will be clearing out of the way, but it leaves a legacy of those weather fronts and misty clouds. it's pretty humid, as well, with that by the front

across the southern half of the country a tad chillierfurther north. but lots of misty low cloud, hill and coastal fog to clear first thing. or certainly the rain clears, but that misty, low cloud is likely to hang around for much of the day. so dull and overcast, damp and dreary, and very little changes. of course it won't be raining all day, there will be some drier slots as we had during the day on wednesday. and it's still quite warm, 19—20 degrees, generally speaking. you might see some of the brighter skies filter into the north of england later. just the odd shower for northern ireland, with some sunny spells. sunny spells across scotland, but given the light winds, when the showers develop, they could become heavy and thundery and slow—moving. so quite a lot of rain falling in a short space of time from those thunderstorms. but equally on either side of them, plenty of sunshine. and those will translate into clearer skies as we go through thursday night, as those thunderstorms rumble out. and that clearer weather is gradually filtering southwards. so not quite as humid through the night ahead, more comfortable for sleeping.

more sunshine, therefore, on offer as we go into friday. but a brisker wind, and that wind comes down from the northwest, and it will make it feel cooler — notably so in the south, although there will be more sunshine to compensate. but equally, as you can see, lots of showers. they'll be heavy, as well, running southwards on that northwesterly breeze. they do tend to dampen down any activity towards the west later. why? that's because we've got the azores high moving in, and that's with us for the weekend just with the risk of more rain coming into the northwest of the uk come sunday. so for many, we are lifting our temperatures a little, as well, with more sunshine and lighter winds across the south. in the north, still predominantly dry, but potentially some rain in the north—west later.

this is bbc news, the headlines. the united nations has issued a stark warning that after five years of conflict, its aid agencies don't have the resources they need to fight the looming threat of famine in war—torn yemen. the country is also struggling with a surge in suspected covid—19 deaths. the number of coronavirus cases in the united states has passed 3 million, with about 130,000 american fatalities. the milestone comes with the trump administration facing criticism for its handling of the outbreak. the white house has defended the president's approach to the pandemic, saying the latest wave appears to be flattening out. 5 million people in australia's second—largest city, melbourne, have been ordered to stay at home for six weeks after a major spike in coronavirus infections. doctors say australians will have to get used to the "new normal" of on—off lockdowns — as fresh clusters emerge and subside.