this is bbc news. i'm rajini vaidyanathan with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. coronavirus infections have passed the 2 million mark in brazil, making it the worst hit country after the united states. people often say that this virus is invisible, but the suffering here is so easy to see. western governments say russian hackers are trying to steal the research on a covid—19 vaccine. as temperatures rise around the world, a warning from scientists about the dangers of heat stress for the human body. and the mini—solar flares across the sun's surface revealed in the closest images ever taken.

the health ministry has confirmed that the number of confirmed cases has surged past the 2 million mark. it's now the worst—hit country in the world after the us. the brazilian president, jair bolsonaro, is among those who've tested positive for the virus. despite that, he's encouraging the country to reopen and return to normality. katy watson reports from sao paulo. in these frightening times, moments of comfort are everything. for two months now, this man has been in intensive care. he only has one working lung, it's unclear if he'll survive. dr andre asks if he's experiencing pain. all he can do is

blink to say "yes". these are intense times for everyone. andre works on shift with his wife, dr fernanda. they live this crisis together 21w. even here, brazil's top infectious diseases hospital, coronavirus has floored them. it was the first hospital to fill up in sao paulo and every day they are turning more people away. it's not physical, it's psychological. sometimes we fail and we have to deal with the family pain and theyjust couldn't see those patients, they are not here for them when they are dying. it's the loneliness that they feel, even if they are sedated. i feel safe here, more than outside. really? it's a comment that says a lot. the president has shunned social distancing and regularly refused to wear masks, despite them being mandatory. the death toll keeps climbing

and even now that he has the virus he is supportive of shops and restaurants reopening. there is little love for jair bolsonaro on this ward. i think he was the worst thing that we can have in this moment. he was, he is, in fact, irresponsible. he is a person without empathy, and he said, "it's not my problem." so, is it my problem? in the midst of grief, politics doesn't matter, but everyone is affected. grave—diggers tell me that their work has tripled. no longer do you have hearses bringing in a body, you have vans bringing in five. people often say that this virus isn't visible, but the suffering here is so easy to see. i meet ada nielsen in latin

america's largest cemetery. he is exhuming bodies today. with burials rising, space is at a premium, so those whose loved ones died more than three and a half years ago are being asked to collect their bones. "the only thing a grave—digger is afraid of is getting covid," he says. he has been in thejob for 25 years. his hours are long and it has got personal. his uncle was buried here just a few weeks ago, a childhood friend was also lost to covid—19. ada nielsen says hisjob nowadays is also that of a counsellor, telling families to stay home and stay safe. "if people here understood the point of quarantine, we wouldn't be so busy," he says, "things would be different." for those who've passed, little chance to rest in peace in these challenging times. katy watson, bbc news, sao paulo.

russia has dismissed allegations that it has tried to steal research into a coronavirus vaccine and meddled in british politics. the uk, the united states and canada say hackers in russia have targeted organisations trying to find a vaccine. separately, the british government says it's "almost certain" there were russian attempts to interfere in the uk's last parliamentary election. our security correspondent gordon corera has more. today, the government lashed out at russia's spies, accusing them directly of trying to steal vital uk research on the coronavirus pandemic. given that the world is trying to come together to find a vaccine for our own people, british people in the uk, but also for people around the world, i'm afraid it's pretty egregious behaviour and it deserves and it should be called out in the way we're doing today. oxford university has been leading the world in developing a vaccine. i understand it's one of the labs whose computer systems have been targeted. british intelligence says it's seen hackers trying to steal

data from universities, labs and pharmaceutical companies. but its cyber security chief told me it's been trying to defend them. we're working flat out to protect vaccine research because it's so important to the nation right now. with our canadian and american partners, we've seen russian spies, who go by the name of cozy bear and the dukes, try to hack into the networks, undertaking some of our vital research. so, we've been able to detect it. this was russian tv news last night, saying their vaccine, developed jointly with the defence ministry, was nearly ready. the british government is not saying it has confirmation that the russians have actually obtained sensitive data. trials here are under way, and it is clear, though, that many countries are racing to find a vaccine, both for national prestige and to avoid being reliant on others when it's ready. these cyber attacks on labs are said to have been carried out by a group called

cozy bear, part of the russian intelligence services. but today, we learned about another operation allegedly linked to russia. this one involved a more shadowy group called sekondary infektion, whose exact identity is less clear. it's alleged to have spread information online to interfere with last year's general election. applause. during the campaign, labour presented a leaked document, arguing it showed the nhs was on the table in us—uk trade talks, but today, the government said it believed that the russian group was involved in spreading the document. the russian foreign ministry today mocked the allegations as confusing and contradictory, but russia has been long accused of trying to meddle, and according to the analyst who uncovered sekondary infektion‘s work, the group's aim has been to sow division. it's the kind of thing where you can see they're trying to drive wedges

between different countries which are critical of the kremlin. and it's interesting that when they did the initial leaks of the trade documents themselves, they didn't actually focus on the nhs. the way they presented the leaks was much more, here's another case of the americans bullying the british. mr corbyn, do you have anything to say about russian disruption? in a statement today, jeremy corbyn said the claim was an attempt to divert attention from a long—overdue parliamentary report on russia expected next week. today's claims are a reminder that even during a global health crisis, hackers and spies remain active, and also that tensions between russia and the uk have not gone away. gordon corera, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. the fbi has begun an investigation into the hacking of high—profile twitter accounts as part of an apparent bitcoin scam. among its victims were elon musk, barack obama, kanye west and bill gates. twitter said the attack took place after employees

with access to internal systems were successfully targeted. soldiers in southern china are racing against time to reinforce river banks with sandbags while residents flee high—risk zones. since the flood season began injune, 33 rivers in china have reached their highest levels in history. at least mi people have died. real madrid have won their first la liga title in three years with a game to spare. they beat villarreal at an empty alfredo di stefano stadium, which means they have an unassailable seven—point lead over barcelona. zinedine zidane‘s side have won all ten of their matches since spanish football restarted in june. scientists have warned that rising global temperatures will increase the risk of people suffering "heat stress". this is more thanjust feeling a bit hot. when the body can't cool down, it can lead to a range of serious health problems. it's already a big problem for those who work outside in hot countries, but medical staff have experienced similar

problems wearing ppe during the coronavirus pandemic. our science editor david shukman has this report. in the tropical heat of singapore, the medics are dripping with sweat, literally. they're caring for patients with covid—i9 but there's no air conditioning and the personal protective equipment makes them even hotter. i'm actually drenched with sweat inside the ppe. the risk is that hospital staff just keep working, but then collapse from what's called heat stress, where the bodyjust can't cope. heat stress can happen when there's a combination of two different factors. the first is a high temperature and the hotter it gets, the more the body tries to protect itself by sweating. the evaporation on the surface of the skin helps to

keep the body cool. but, if at the same time there's a high level of humidity, with a lot of moisture in the air, well, then that process of the sweat evaporating can't take place, cooling doesn't happen, the body becomes overheated. that can lead to anything from dizziness to fatigue, to failure of the kidneys. this device measures that combination of heat and humidity and the worry is that as climate change makes the world hotter, working conditions for many will become even tougher. this matters for millions of people, especially in developing countries. from brick makers in india, risking their health out in the open to earn a living... ..to construction workers in the already sweltering gulf. scientists say that heat stress could become the next big threat after the coronavirus. i see this pandemic almost like a full dress rehearsal for what is to come.

this climate change, global warming, will be a bigger monster and we really need coordinated efforts across nations to prepare what is to come. luckily, there are ways to help. resting in shade is the most obvious solution for people working out of doors, along with fans to keep the air moving and having plenty of water. researchers have found that simple steps make a real difference. if you can take a complete break, sit down and rest, take on some cold water and be seated in the shade with some air flowing through and allow yourself some recovery during that work day, we are seeing that have a significant impact in the health of the workers that we're working with. back in singapore, the hospital lays on semi—frozen drinks to help the staff cool down. many other employers don't think about the impact of heat

of heat on their workers, but there's growing evidence that they'll need to as global temperatures rise. david shukman, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, the closest ever pictures of the sun reveal the mini solar flares across its surface. after months of talks and missed deadlines, a deal has been struck to keep greece within the eurozone. the immediate prospect of greece going bust, in the worst crisis to hit the eurozone, has been averted. emergency services across central europe are stepping up their efforts to contain the worst floods this century. nearly 100 people have been killed. broadway is traditionally called the great white way by americans. but tonight, it's completely blacked out. it's a timely reminder to all americans of the problems that the energy crisis has brought to them. leaders meet in paris for a summit on pollution,

inflation and third—world debt. this morning, theyjoined the revolution celebrations for a show of military might on the champs—elysees. wildlife officials in australia have been coping with a penguin problem. fairy penguins have been staggering ashore and collapsing after gorging themselves on their favourite food, pilchards. some had eaten so much, they could barely stand. this is bbc news. the latest headlines — coronavirus infections have passed the 2 million mark in brazil, making it the worst hit country after the united states. western governments say russian hackers are trying to steal the research of scientists working on a covid—i9 vaccine. let's stay with that story. dave masson is from the cyber—security firm darktrace. i asked him what led britain, the us and canada

to the conclusion that russia was trying to steal information. they've obviously amassed a lot of intelligence and potentially evidence over a period of time since covid first broke out that's now become serious enough for them to actually combine together for this unprecedented statement. it's very unusual for any nation state to point the finger at another one. the australian prime minister wouldn't do so about a month ago when he spoke about australia being under attack. but on this occasion, three — canada, the uk and the usa — have felt that what's going on and the damage that may well been done was so serious that they decided to come out and make this very public and global statement. and in that report we saw from my colleague gordon, he talked about who these hacking groups might be. he talked about cozy bear and sekondary infektion as some of them. they sound like cuddly names,

but they certainly don't sound like they're cuddly in what they're doing. what do you know about these groups? there's another one called fancy bear, would you believe? they're both linked to russian external service and the gru, which is the russian military intelligence service. and in the statement that's been put out by our three nations, they've actually said that apt29, the cozy bears, also known as the dukes, are working for the russian intelligence services. so, this is attribution in their boldest term right at the russians. so, you're saying this goes right to the heart of the kremlin? it goes right to the heart of what drives russia's national interests. and with these attacks, they've considered that it's in their national interest to try and get a hold of the research that's gone on around the world, and in this case in the uk, the usa and canada, into covid—i9 research. now, dave, i was reading that canada had warned that biomedicalfacilities could be vulnerable a few months ago. can you tell us more about that?

yes, back in march, our equivalent of the ncsc, the ca nadaian centre for cyber security, warned canada there was potential for attacks on biomedical research related to covid—i9. now, that has subsequently come to light. we've had biomedical research facilities attacked. we've had universities who've been given grants to carry out research into covid—i9 suffer a large number of attacks, so the warning has proved to be true. the us attorney general, william barr, has accused hollywood and us tech firms of "collaborating" with the chinese government to do business there. in a speech, mr barr said such actions risk undermining the liberal world order. his intervention is the latest criticism of china by white house and other us officials. and every year at the academy awards, americans are lectured about how this country falls short of hollywood's ideals of social justice. but

short of hollywood's ideals of socialjustice. but hollywood now regularly since there own movies to appease the chinese communist party. over the yea rs, communist party. over the years, corporations such as google, microsoft, yahoo and apple have shown themselves all too willing to collaborate with the ccp. but if disney and other american corporations continue to bow to beijing, they risk undermining both their own future competitiveness and prosperity as well as the classical liberal order that has allowed them to thrive. the killing of george floyd in minneapolis continues to resonate around the world, even as far away as australia. recent protests there have highlighted the plight of the country's indigenous population, which suffers widespread poverty and inequality. successive governments there have described the situation as a "national shame". as part of the bbc‘s echoes of empire series, shaimaa khalil reports on the treatment of indigenous australians.

and a note, aboriginal and torres strait islander viewers are warned that this report contains images of deceased persons. go! good boy. it's not far from where he grew up, but a far cry from keenan mundine's own childhood. that's where the incident happened with my friend... taken into care aged six, keenan was locked up injuvenile detention for the first time at 14 for theft. he then spent much of the next 15 years behind bars. i turned 18 in juvenile custody. yeah, i remember that. you just want to be around your family, you just want to be loved. you just want to feel normal. keenan says the justice system unfairly targeted young, aboriginal people like him and that this hasn't changed. i live in constant fear of my children being put

in the same positions that i was and having things happen to them that were out of their control and traumatising them for the rest of their lives. i worry about them growing older and being arrested by police, being taken to prison. the numbers back up his fear. aboriginal australians make up less than 3% of the population, but they represent more than a quarter of adult prisoners here. and in youth detention, more than half the children locked up are aboriginal. indigenous australians are the most incarcerated people in the world. if you're a teenage, aboriginal boy, you are more likely to go to jail than to go to university. and once you are inside the justice system, it is very hard to get out. these are depressing realities and they have their roots in australia's colonial past.

massacres and the jailing of indigenous australians enabled british settlement here from the late 18th century. police played a big part in that, also forcing people off their land. white missionaries have come among the coloured aboriginals and are doing noble work in saving the blacks from themselves. and right up to the 1970s, police took part in the removal of huge numbers of indigenous children from their homes to be adopted by white families or put in institutions. the darkness of ignorance has been banished by the bright light of faith. this is not in the past for us. we feel the impact and the legacy of colonisation every single day in the over policing of our people, in the systemic discrimination that still exists from police interaction through to the courts, through to sentences in prison, being denied bail, ending up in prison on remand, through to black deaths in custody. british explorer captain james

cook remains a hero to some, but to many, he is the man who opened the door for the displacement and dispossession of australia's first nations people. black lives matter! and the death of george floyd in the united states has shone the light on cook's questionable legacy. like the us, there are now calls for shifting resources away from policing and prisons and for structural change. if you talk to aboriginal peoples, a lot of them will say the government doesn't care. i would say that governments do care, they spent a lot of money and a lot of effort trying to make things better. the problem is they don't try hard enough to change the way they do business. so, if you start all the way back from when the british first arrived in australia, the governments of australia have never treated aboriginal and territorial island peoples as distinct, political communities who are entitled to make decisions over their own lives. if we did that, and we listened to the aboriginal people, then we may see improvement in the numbers. some projects trying a community approach to justice

are getting government funding, although keenan's small charity that tries to keep young people away from prison relies heavily on donations. i don't want to make bad choices in life, ijust want to be like a good kid, but that is what the police officers think. they think because i'm black i'm just going to end up injail, selling drugs or something, but i'm not like that. i want to mind my own business, go to university and stuff. the violence and trauma suffered by indigenous australians has been passed from one generation to the next since the early days of colonisation. for these young people the hope is that their future will be different from their ancestors‘ painful past. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, sydney. that is the latest in our echoes from empire series he could find more on our website. two nasa astronauts have completed a six—hour spacewalk to upgrade the international space station's power system. they replaced its ageing

solar—powered batteries. the devices enable the station's laboratory to continue working when it's out of direct sunlight. another spacewalk is planned for later this month. scientists have revealed the closest images ever taken of the sun, which show mini—solar flares called "campfires" dotted across its surface. the pictures were captured by the solar orbiter spacecraft, as our global science correspondent rebecca morelle reports. our sun seen in remarkable close—up detail. these images, taken by solar orbiter, reveal something we've never seen before — small solar flares across the whole surface, which scientists have called campfires. seeing these images for the first time was breathtaking. and when we look at the sun in these images, we're able to see explosions happening all throughout the sun's atmosphere, and we weren't expecting to see that. that's the beauty of it — finding new things for the first time, seeing the sun in a new way, in a way that we couldn't have imagined. the spacecraft started its mission in february. built in the uk, it's

designed to cope with extreme temperatures as it nears our star. the earth is about 93 million miles from the sun and other missions have taken solar pictures from just above our planet. but on its first pass, solar orbiter got much closer, within 48 million miles. and over the next two years, it's heading closer still, within 25 million miles of the sun. this will give us a totally new view. in the next few years, we'll actually be able to pull up and look down on the sun above the north pole and then later on at the south pole, and we've never done that before. we've never ta ken pictures at the north and south pole of the sun and it could be dramatically different to what we see around the equator. today's images are just a glimpse of what's to come. the hope is this mission will finally shed light on our star. rebecca morelle, bbc news. on that bright note, we will end our programme. there is lots more on our website. if

you want to find me on twitter... i'm @bbcrajiniv. thank you for watching. stay with us. stay with us. hello again. well, some places stayed cloudy on thursday. there was more sunshine more widely, and it was a warmer day as well. the temperature reached 26 celsius in hampshire during the afternoon. well, the temperatures weren't far behind actually in the north east of scotland, helped by over eight hours of sunshine. let me set the scene for you, because at the moment, we've still got warm and humid air across the uk. that weather front is bringing some patchy rain and drizzle. to the north of it, it's cooler, fresher air. that will move southwards over the next few days as the band of cloud and patchy rain moves southwards. and that rain is pushing its way down into scotland and northern ireland. england and wales still dry early in the morning. quite warm and humid start to the day. that cloud and mostly light rain will continue to trickle southwards across scotland,

across northern ireland, eventually into northern england and later into north wales. to the north across northern scotland, it'll brighten up. there'll be some sunshine. not quite as warm as it was on thursday, but still 20—21. further south, there's a rain band across england and wales, some sunny spells, turning out to be quite warm. 26 or even 27 in the south east of england. now, that weather front bringing that cloud and rain will continue to move southwards overnight and into the start of the weekend. it's a painfully slow process, mind you, and we'll see that rain moving away from much of northern england as it heads into wales, through the midlands, perhaps lincolnshire and eventually the south west of england. the rain does tend to die out in most places. still dry towards the south east, still quite warm here. temperatures perhaps 2a degrees or so, but further north, we've got that cooler air moving down and temperatures will continue to just drop away a little bit. for the second half of the weekend, we see that weather front continuing down towards the south east. as it arrives here on saturday night, the rain could turn steadier and heavier. once that rain clears away,

we're all getting into that cooler and fresher air from the north—west. but still some rain to begin with on sunday morning across east anglia and the south east. once that clears away, we'll have some sunny spells. maybe a few showers around, mostly towards the north west of scotland. many places will be dry in the afternoon, but the air is cooler and fresher everywhere. we've got temperatures typically 16—20 celsius. that's a little below par for this time of the year, and we'll keep those sort of temperatures for the early part of next week. maybe one or two showers around, but many places, i think, will be dry. we're going to find some spells of sunshine at times. goodbye.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the number of coronavirus cases recorded in brazil has passed two million. the country has been hit especially hard by the disease. many people have blamed presidentjair bolsonaro, who has consistently played down the severity of covid—i9. nearly 77,000 brazilians have died from the virus. russia has dismissed allegations that it's attempted to steal research into a coronavirus vaccine — and meddled in last year's general election in britain. the uk, the united states and canada say russian hackers have targeted teams of scientists trying to find a treatment for covid—i9. real madrid have won their first la liga title in three years with a game to spare. they beat villarreal in an empty stadium — giving them an unassailable lead over barcelona. the side has won all ten of their matches since spanish football re—started.