this is bbc news. the headlines: the number of coronavirus cases recorded in brazil has passed 2 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—19. 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—19. the us supreme court has ruled that florida can maintain its law, requiring residents with felony convictions to pay any back—fees before being eligible to vote. the decison could prevent several thousand lower—income residents from voting in state primaries in august, and possibly the november presidential elections.

now on bbc news, the week in parliament. hello again and welcome to the week in parliament. a week when borisjohnson promised to learn the lessons of the pandemic. and certainly, we will have an independent inquiry into what happened. ministers pulled the plug on chinese involvement in the uk's 56 mobile network. this is a car crash for our digital economy but one which could've been visible from outer space. and could the house of lords really move north? peers wondered who gave ministers that idea. henry viii sought to placate his rebels with a parliament in york. but first — there will be an independent inquiry

into the coronavirus outbreak, but not yet. borisjohnson said the middle of a pandemic was not the right time to hold one. but at prime minister's questions there was a foretaste of some of the arguments that will be aired when the inquiry finally comes. the labour leader, sir keir starmer, asked about a report that warned "intense preparations" were needed now for a possible second wave of coronavirus with the potential to kill as many as 120,000 people this winter. one of the key recommendations in this report commissioned by the government's 0ffice for science is that testing and tracing capacity will need to be significantly expanded to cope with increased demands over the winter. the reality is this. trace and track is not working as promised as it stands today. the report makes clear it needs to be significantly expanded to cope with the risks of autumn or winter. what assurance can the prime minister give that the system will be fit for both purposes in the timeframe envisaged in this

report, ie by this september? mrspeakeronce again, he attacks the test and trace operation which is working at absolutely unprecedented scale, and 144,000 people across the country, 144,000 people across the country have now agreed to self—isolate to stop the spread of the virus, and i can certainly give the house the assurance that our test and trace system is as good as or better than any other system anywhere in the world and yes, it will play a vital... it will play a vital part in ensuring that we do not have a second spike this winter. but i have to ask in light of the last few questions, has the prime minister actually read this report that sets out the reasonable worst—case scenario and tells the government what it needs to do about it in the next six weeks? has he read it?

mr speaker, i am of course aware of the report and we are of course... we are of course taking every reasonable step to prepare this country for a second spike. borisjohnson said keir starmer should support what the government was doing. instead of endlessly knocking the confidence of the people of this country, knocking their confidence in test and trace, knocking their confidence in our schools and the safety of our schools, and knocking our confidence in our transport network. now is the time for him to decide whether he backs the government or not. keir starmer! it is perfectly possible to support track and trace and point out the problems. and standing up every week saying it's a stunning success is kidding no one. that isn't giving people confidence in the system. they would like a prime minister who stands up and say "there are problems and this is what i'm going to do about them." not this rhetoric

about stunning success when it is obviously not true. finally, this afternoon... this afternoon, prime minister, i'm meeting the families of the covid—19 bereaved families forjustice group, a group of hundreds of families who've lost loved ones. they will be listening to the prime minister's answers today. so what would the prime minister like to say to them? prime minister. mr speaker, ijoin with i think every member of the house in mourning the loss of everybody who has died in this epidemic. we will do absolutely everything we can to protect our country and to stop a second spike, but what he has to decide is whether he wants to back that programme or not because one day, he says it's safe to go back to school. the next day, he's taking the line of the unions. one day, they're supporting our economic programme. the next day, they're saying our stamp duty cut is an unacceptable bung. one day, they say they accept the result of the brexit referendum. the next day, today, they're going to tell their troops to do the exact opposite. he needs to make up his mind which brief he's going to take today. because at the moment, mr speaker, he's got more briefs than calvin klein. we're getting on! we're getting on with delivering on our agenda for the country, getting this country through this

pandemic, and taking it forward! it was the acting lib dem leader whose question prompted the more substantial response. under this prime minister, we suffered one of the worst death rates in the world and europe's worst death rate for health and care workers. previously, he's refused my demand for immediate inquiry, immediate independent inquiry, saying it's too soon. even though back in 2003, he voted for an independent inquiry into the iraq warjust months after that conflict had started. if he still rejects an immediate inquiry, will he instead commit in principle to a future public inquiry? yes or no? prime minister. mr speaker as i have told the house several times, i do not believe that now in the middle of combating still as we are a pandemic is the right moment to devote huge amounts of official time to an inquiry, but of course mr speaker we will seek to learn the lessons of this pandemic in the future, and certainly we will have an independent inquiry into what happened.

the snp focused on life after brexit warning of a possible "power grab" with the uk government imposing lower food standards on scotland. we know this government is undertaking a full—scale assault on devolution. a brexit settlement scotland rejected, imposed on scotland. an immigration system scotland rejected, imposed on scotland. a decade of tory government scotland rejected, imposed on scotland. it is no wonder the first minister's approval ratings are three times that of this prime minister. effective leadership and respecting the will of the people contrasted with the bumbling shambles coming from westminster.

i find it extraordinary for him to attack unelected bureaucrats for any role they may have in scotland when his proposal is to hand back the powers that we are going, that this place is going to be transferring to scotland back to brussels where they are neither elected nor accountable to the people of scotland. so, i really don't know what he means. the prime minister. after some confusion, the government confirmed that from july the 24th it will be compulsory to wear a face covering in shops and supermarkets in england. if you don't, you could face a £100 fine. the announcement brings england into line with scotland and other european nations. the health secretary explained to mps why he was taking the action now. we want to give people more confidence to shop safely and enhance protections for those who work in shops. both of these can be done by the use of face coverings. sadly, sales assistants, cashiers, and security guards have suffered disproportionately in this crisis.

the death rate of sales and retail assistants is 75% higher amongst men and 60% higher amongst women than in the general population. so, as we restore shopping, so we must keep our shopkeepers safe. there's also evidence that face coverings increase confidence in people to shop. after days of ministerial muddle, we finally have a decision. i've long warned that this virus exploits ambiguity and that mixed messaging in a pandemic is so damaging. on friday, we had the prime minister say he favoured facemasks. on sunday, we had the chancellor of the duchy of lancaster saying he didn't favour facemasks. yesterday, the justice secretary, unsure what to say, had to say in the end, he was perhaps in favour of facemasks. it didn't have to be this way, we didn't have to have this confusion. a conservative, sir desmond swayne, was unhappy. nothing would make me less likely to go shopping than the thought

of having to mask up. i think i can help the member from new forest west with his problem about wearing a mask. he's a knight of the realm, so he should just consider it a visor. in wales, the first minister rejected calls at question time in the senedd for masks to be compulsory for shoppers. your careful approach in terms of the easing of restrictions has served well in many ways. but you know i think risk treading the line between being too cautious and being too slow on this issue. why is wales lagging behind when so many other countries have acted so decisively?

ijust reject the language of lagging behind, we are doing the things that are right for wales. that does not mean following anybody else just because they have done something that we have decided not to do. is it proportionate to require every welsh citizen going into a shop to wear a face covering when the virus is in such a low state of circulation here in wales? mark drakeford. now, we may have left the european union but brexit is still with us. the government has launched a new campaign to help prepare the uk for the end of the transition period with the european union. although we left injanuary, we're still following eu rules until the end of this year. so we're all advised to review our travel insurance, ensure our passport is valid and check the roaming policy with our mobile phone provider. and if you want to travel to the eu with your pet next year, you need to contact your vet at least four months before you travel. there are new rules for businesses

too, with extra checks and customs declarations and new border posts whatever the result of the continuing trade talks with the eu. michael gove, the minister overseeing those talks, came to the commons to make a statement. we're launching a major new public information campaign to make sure that everyone has the facts they need about the actions that we all need to take in order to be ready, and we are also releasing for the first time an operating model for the border that will benefit importers and exporters and provide information to hauliers, shippers, freight companies, and our customs intermediaries.

the public information campaign "the uk's new start, let's get going, will run in the four home nations and internationally encouraging us all to play our part in preparing for change. the campaign will be supplemented by the deployment of experts in the field, giving one—to—one support to business and their supply chains to assure they've made arrangements that will help keep their operations running efficiently. it is vital that businesses and jobs are supported and that the oven—ready deal that the country was promised is delivered upon this year, and yet frankly mr speaker, many of us are worried about whether the oven was even turned on. mr speaker the best way to help all businesses to prepare is of course to agree a deal with the european union on the terms we were told to expect. that means no fees, charges, tariffs, or quantitative some senior conservatives were also unhappy. madame deputy speaker, with so many of our small and uk wide businesses struggling to survive following the covid crisis, the idea of adding additional friction and cost to the trade relationship with our biggest market is really and deeply problematic and worrying. my right honourable friend may be aware that i consider the decision to put an outbound emergency lorry park in my constituency near where several thousand new homes are being built on one

side and with a large hospital nearby on the other side to be wrong—headed. the snp said the government's refusal to extend the brexit transition period beyond the end of the year was the "ultimate act of self harm". in a debate initiated by the party, its leader at westminster set out his demands. if we are to ensure the most rapid recovery possible from the covid—19 crisis, the uk must immediately seek an extension to the brexit transition period for two years. we are in unprecedented times, a health pandemic, an economic crisis, the very real threat of a second wave of covid—19 later this year. now is the moment for the uk government to recognise reality and to reconsider its position. i wonder what the right honourable gentleman opposite thinks the odds are of the government extending the transition period? how likely does he think that we would do that? given, after all, it's end date is enshrined in law. given that the government of the uk

was elected on a mandate not to extend the transition period. given that the deadline set for asking for an extension to the transition period has passed. penny mordaunt with what sounded like a "no". the uk's mobile providers are being banned from buying new huawei 5g equipment after the 31st of december, and they must also remove all the chinese firm's 5g kit from their networks by 2027. only six months ago, the government agreed huawei could have a limited role. the u—turn follows sanctions imposed by washington, which claims the firm poses a national security threat — something huawei denies. it says the decision is bad news for anyone in the uk with a mobile phone. the culture secretary, 0liver dowden, told mps the uk could no longer be confident of being able to guarantee the security of future 5g equipment affected by the us sanctions.

today's decision to ban the procurement of new huawei 5g equipment from the end of this year will delay roll—out by a further year and will add up to half £1 billion of costs — requiring operators in addition to remove huawei equipment from their 5g networks by 2027 — will add hundreds of millions of pounds further to the cost and further delay roll—out. this means a cumulative delay of 5g roll—out of 2—3 years and costs of up to £2 billion. this will have real consequences for the connections on which all our constituents rely. it has been clear for some time that there are serious questions over whether huawei should be allowed to control large sections of our country's telecoms networks — yet, the government refused to face reality. their approach to our 56 capability, huawei, and our national security has been incomprehensibly negligent. mr speaker, this is a car crash for our digital economy, but one which could have been visible from outer space. bt and other vendors have put the cost of this decision in the billions, he says 2 billion. what is the basis for this estimate and how will he ensure the cost is not passed on to consumers?

well, well, well, here we go again, mrspeaker, sir, another screeching return. when we debated this injanuary, we on the snp benches warned the government that huawei could not be trusted with our 5g mobile network. security experts were clear — we should not open up the central nervous system of our modern society to a company owned by the chinese communist party. conservative mps welcomed the decision but some wanted the 2027 deadline brought forward. this does look like a long, slow goodbye to huawei, but does he understand the concerns

of some people here, that seven years is a very long time in politics and it would be better to be done sooner? if the government is going to be clear—eyed about china, it must also be clear—eyed about the human rights violation that are reportedly being undertaken by huawei and their use of slave labour. it is not acceptable for a global britain to be involved in a company that is perpetually using slavery labour in their supply chains. 0thers saw contradictions in the government's approach. if the government is banning a chinese tech company from our telecommunications industry on the grounds of national security, how come it's safe for them to participate in building a nuclear power station? secretary of state. the advice that we received today relates to the impact of the us sanctions. the us has imposed sanctions specifically on 5g. we have analysed the impact of those sanctions and it has undermined reliability as for huawei equipment, which is why we are now advising and then will set out in statute

that mobile network operators can no longer purchase that equipment. 0liver dowden. time now for a brief look at some other stories around westminster. the author of a landmark report on funding social care in england says he'd now recommend a cap on costs at around 45,000 pounds. sir andrew dilnot, who published his report on paying for care nine years ago, told mps on the health and social care committee that not enough money was spent on care. we want to be a society where we look after people, and right now, the funding of social care is inadequate and it's inadequate both for the means tested system that simply looks after those who cannot look after themselves, we are not putting enough money into that. that's a stain on us as a nation. but we also have a social care funding system that doesn't help the rest of the population that has some resource, prepare and look after themselves well.

mps backed a proposed new law to give effect to a temporary holiday on stamp duty on the first £500,000 of all property sales in england and northern ireland. the tax threshold has been temporarily raised until next march to boost the property market and help buyers struggling because of the coronavirus crisis. the government's plan forjobs will support the construction sector by injecting new confidence and certainty into the housing market. it will do this by ensuring that anyone buying a main home for under £500,000 before the end of march next year will pay no stamp duty whatsoever. the bill will save home—buyers up to 15,000 pounds, even if they're buying a second property. the government has decided to direct a huge bowl to second—home owners, landlords, holiday home—buyers, while millions of people are desperate for support. ministers from the department for international development took

mps' questions for the last time before its merger with the foreign office. anne marie trevelyan said the uk would continue to spend 0.7% of its national income on overseas aid. it's world—renowned for its focus and programme expertise, and that will continue to be the case. poverty reduction will continue to be a critical focus of how we spend the 0.7 that this government continues to be committed to, we enshrined it in law, and it stays there, the prime minister is absolutely committed to that. the new chair of the intelligence and security committee, julian lewes, was expelled from the conservative parliamentary party — after he was elected at the expense of the government's preferred candidate, the former cabinet minister, chris grayling. can the minister explain orjustify the decision of his party to withdraw the whip from the honourable member from new forest east — a conservative mp for 23 years, former navy royal reservist and chair of the fefence select committee for the crime of being elected as chair of the intelligence

and security committee. losing the whip used to be the result of serious misdemeanour, not independent thought. what does this say about the government's approach to expertise and scrutiny? the intelligence and security committees membership was chosen by this house, an election was appropriately taking place, but whipping matters are quite properly matters for the respective whip office of our parties and not for those like myself who exercise a different constitutional role. michael gove, again. borisjohnson has suggested parliament could move to york temporarily while the palace of westminster is refurbished under the restoration and renewal programme. ministers are looking at setting up a government hub in the city a piece of disused land has apparently been identified as a possible site. michael gove said the location of the lords was a matter for parliament and borisjohnson acknowledged it was a constitutional issue. the continuing speculation prompted an urgent question in the lords. in the words of an exasperated lord speaker, "here we go again".

it's all very well to say it's a matter for parliament, but it is the executive — not parliament — that keeps this running. my lords government policy was set out in may last year, i quote, "we agree with committee that the rnr programme should ensure "that the palace of westminster is fit to serve as the home "of the uk parliament in the future." has government policy — now in primary legislation — changed? have civil—service resources been considering moving your lordship's house to york, and if so, who authorised it? and what is the remit and cost so far? this is a matter which would, in the end, be resolved by parliament and in parliament. i would say to my noble friend, who i greatly respect, that given the circumstances, it is reasonable, i think, for all of us to examine how every part of parliament may find itself closer to the people. my lords, henry viii sought to placate his rebels with a parliament in york. so could the noble lord, the minister, let us know who this time they are trying to placate by suggestions of a parliament in york?

it sounds as if he's trying to rid himself of these pesky lords. he should be careful what happened to an earlier henry when that happened. given the various attempts by number ten to emasculate the scrutiny working in the lordships house, could we take at this proposal to banish us to york is simply a threat to cut off the house from the mps, ministers, cabinets, civil servants and the rest, and to weaken our constitutional role. i reject any contention that this government, at any time, would want to weaken parliamentary scrutiny. this is seen as off by the general public —

who view the house of lords as something as an outdated institution. the reality is that it is packed with experts in every field of life. the house should not present itself as in a state of shock—horror at the idea that some of its proceedings and some of its activities might take place outside london. lord true, struggling to win over a sceptical house of lords. now, as we've seen over the last few months, the introduction of the "virtual" parliament, with mps and peers able to contribute remotely, has thrown up the occasional challenge — including parliamentary proceedings being interrupted by uninvited guests. here's an example from the culture committee, where the snp‘s john nicolson was asking media executives why they didn't automatically put subtitles on children's tv. it's been shown to double literacy, youtube — which you mentioned — already do it. youtube kids do it and the bbc are also now embracing this, why —

and i apologise for my cat's tail — why are you not doing this by default? rocco, put yourtail down, please. 90% of citv. .. cat's are guaranteed... 90% of citv comes through subtitled. can ijust say, ijust... ..people appearing before us, it's particularly effective with cabinet ministers. i'll have another go. rocco the cat auditioning for her own series there. that was the week in parliament. thank you for watching. i hope you can join me again at 11 o'clock on monday evening for the latest from the commons and the lords. until then, from me, david cornock, bye for now. meow!

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 24 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.

welcome to bbc news — i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: coronavirus infections pass the 2 million mark in brazil, making it the second worst hit country after the united states. people often say that this virus isn't visible, 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.