this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. i'm lewis vaughn jones. our top stories: schools in california will not reopen for the new academic year — as the us is hit by a new wave of coronavirus infections. displays of the confederate flag on us military bases around the world have effectively been banned by the defence secretary. little progress as european leaders meet to hammer out a deal to rebuild their virus — hit economies. the british prime minister plans a fresh lockdown easing, which could see more english workers back in the office.

hello and welcome. california has announced rules which mean most of its schools will not reopen for the new academic year, as the us is hit by a new wave of coronavirus infections. the government's leading infectious diseases expert, anthony fauci, said all americans should be told ‘as forcefully as possible‘ to wear masks. our north america editor, jon sopel has more. when donald trump arrived in atlanta earlier this week and descended the steps of air force one, he was arguably breaking the law. the democratic mayor of georgia's biggest city had made it mandatory to wear a mask to halt the spread of coronavirus, and he wasn't. and now the pro—trump state governor, himself seemingly unsure whether it should be off or on, is suing the atlanta city mayor over forcing people to wear a face covering.

mayor bottoms‘ mask mandate cannot be enforced, but her decision to shutter businesses and undermine economic growth is devastating. i refuse to sit back and watch as disastrous policies threaten the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. georgia, like nearly all states in america, has seen a big surge in new cases. the mayor insists she's simply following the science and is incredulous at the action being taken by the state governor. when you are reckless, as the governor has been, when you disregard science, as the governor has done, then certainly people are suffering and people are dying in our state. into this debate has waded the administration's top infectious diseases expert. i would urge the leaders, the local political and other leaders in states and cities and towns, to be as forceful as possible in getting your citizenry to wear masks.

but donald trump, at a white house event last night, barely talked about the coronavirus. in fact, he seemed to want to talk about anything other than that. dishwashers, you didn't have any water, so the people that do the dishes, you press it and it goes again. and there were all manner of other topics, too. unable to get out to rallies, the white house is being used increasingly as a backdrop for his re—election campaign. in the debate over masks, donald trump has now been filmed wearing one. but what he hasn't done is gone that extra step and tell americans they have to wear a facial covering if they can't maintain social distance. a lot of health experts believe that until he does, then america's coronavirus nightmare just goes on. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. let's speak to a woman who works for a community

organising group in los angeles. thank you so much for coming on the programme. thank you for having me. what do you make of this news now that it seems lots of schools are going to be staying shut? well, it's very challenging, especially for our low income communities of colour who rely so much on oui’ of colour who rely so much on our public schools for education and other important services. but i believe in our organisation —— and our organisation —— and our organisation believes that the safety a nd organisation believes that the safety and health of our children must come first. in terms of a public health response, we agree. another is an opportunity for our public school system to do a much betterjob to improve the quality of our distance learning and ensure that our highest need communities of colour receive a better education, even in this time of

covid—i9. education, even in this time of covid-19. how do you achieve that then because as you say these difficult to reach groups may not have internet access, device access, for distance learning. how do you get around this kind of problems? well, our district and our school leaders have to do more and get creative and bold to increase personalisation and education. these are the children of a workers, the children of frontline workers here in los angeles and california who are keeping our society and our economy from moving forward. and we owe them more than what we are doing in terms of access to technology, to equipment, to internet, and to quality teaching and learning. you

know, we have such immense resources in terms of our educators and our administrators and our districts have to do more to connect with families to train them and guide them through all of the online platforms ensuring that they are connected to services, because our communities are being ha rd est our communities are being hardest hit with the economic effects of the pandemic. and the increasing spread of covid—i9 in low income communities of colour. and maria, you mentioned the families there, of course it can be hugely stressful having children at home and trying to look after them, teach them and also hold downjobs. look after them, teach them and also hold down jobs. exactly. i mean, this is the time when we need to come together as a community and support families who are not only, you know, being impacted with the lack of access to technology or being

connected to education, but, you know, they are living in communities where they have lost jobs, they have communities where they have lostjobs, they have lost income or they are working in low—wage jobs where the employers are not putting their safety of workers, putting the safety of workers, putting the safety of workers first. and so that impacts the spread of the virus. and so as the school district, you know, moves into distance learning, we need to do better stop we need to come together as a community and make sure that our families are not just connected make sure that our families are notjust connected to services but they are being supported to ensure that their kids are still learning and we are not widening the achievement gap for african—american and latino stu d e nts for african—american and latino students in particular. thank you, maria, really good to talk to you. thank you for coming on the programme, maria brenes. thank you. the us defence secretary, mark esper, has, in effect, banned the flying of

the confederate flag at american military bases around the world. he's issued a memo prohibiting what he called "divisive symbols". the confederate flag represents the states that fought to keep slavery during the american civil war. our north america correspondent, david willis, explains. the us defense secretary, mark esper, issued a very carefully worded memo today which didn't directly mention the confederate flag. it talked, that memo, of "rejecting divisive symbols," and it listed all the flags that could be displayed on us military installations and bases, both here and around the world. but conspicuous by its absence was the confederate flag. now, the flags of individual american states and territories can be flown, and so can those of countries that are allies of the united states, but the confederate flag is verboten effectively from now on. and that is not going to please president trump, who has

defended it only a few days ago, saying that display of the confederate flag was, as he put it, "part of american free speech". and it has come to closely be associated with white supremacist groups, among them, of course, the ku klux klan. but since the murder of george floyd in minneapolis back in may, the american military has been looking quite closely into its own racist past. it is a very diverse institution, the us military, but it does have a rather regrettable past in some ways, and not least its association with confederate generals with bases that have been named after them, bases such as fort hood, fort benning and fort bragg. now, the military is considering renaming those

bases, but again it faces opposition from president trump, who believes that they are all part of america's "great heritage" and should retain their current names. david willis in the us they. let's get some of the day's other news. the financial crisis in lebanon has contributed dozens of protesters have protested reforms in khartoum under new laws. under the new laws, women no longer need permission from a male relative to travel with the children. and people convicted of announcing is a longerface and people convicted of announcing is a longer face the death penalty. the financial crisis in lebanon has contributed to an energy shortage that people are trying to combat on their own. without mains electricity, many residents and institutions, including hospitals are installing diesel generators. last year.

a convicted murderer has been executed by the us department ofjustice — the third federal execution by letal injection within a week after a 17—year hiatus. dustin lee honken, now 52, murdered five people in iowa in 1993, including two girls aged 10 and 6. he was convicted in 200a. should the eu lend, or give, money to its struggling member states because of the coronavirus pandemic? and should that money come with conditions attached? that's what's being discussed at an eu meeting in brussels at the moment. paul hawkins looks ahead to day two of the summit. birthday elbow bumps for germany's leader on the first day and the president from the agrarian pm —— present. angela merkel‘s best birthday gift

would be eu approvalfor a 750 billion euro rescue package. along with the french president, they want most of the package to be grants. but the package to be grants. but the so—called frugal four nations led by benevolence prime minister, along with austria, denmark and sweden disagree. they want most of the package to be loans, not grants and they want conditions attached such as getting greece and italy to reform their pensions and labour markets. translation: it's crucial to know what this money will be used for. we fighting that this money will be used for future orientated investments, for the environment, for digitalisation, for reforms, but not past orientated projects. but the southern eu states say attaching conditions will delay getting much needed help, especially with the eurozone economy forecast to slump by 8.7% this year. we should not lose the big picture and the big picture is that we are faced with the biggest

economic depression since the second world war. maybe some compromises would be necessary but we need to be certain that we achieve an ambitious solution because our citizens expect nothing less of us. the dutch prime minister said the chances of a deal were 50—50, while poland's said failure was highly probable. there's also the eu budget for the next seven the eu budget for the next seve n yea rs the eu budget for the next seven years to rubberstamp with little agreements on the first day, day two is likely to the same. paul hawkins, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: us supreme courtjudge ruth bader ginsburg says she won't be retiring, despite suffering a recurrence of cancer. 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 worse 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 a huge shoal of their favourite food, pilchards. some had eaten so much, they could barely stand. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: schools in california will not reopen for the new academic

year, as the us is hit by a new wave of coronavirus infections. people are being told to wear face masks to stop a rise in infections. the us supreme courtjudge ruth bader ginsburg, says she's suffered a recurrence of cancer. justice ginsburg, who is 87, said chemotherapy treatment was going well. she said she was still fully able to continue her work. earlier i spoke to melissa murray, a law professor at the new york university school of law. i asked her what she made of the news. well, it is perhaps not surprising. justice ginsburg has had a number of different health skirmishes, just as recently as last may, when she was hospitalised for a gallbladder infection. she has fallen ill a number of times over the last couple of years, so this is perhaps not surprising, but nonetheless a blow to her many fans in the united states. yeah, and it feels a bit inappropriate to pore over someone's health, but why does it matter so much? right now, the united states supreme court is precariously positioned with five conservative justices appointed by republican

presidents, and four liberal justices appointed by democrat presidents. and again, ifjustice ginsburg were to depart the court through retirement or other means, it would open up a seat and clearly shift the balance of power on the court to the right and to the conservatives. so it is something that is closely watched whenever any justice departs the court, but it's especially pitched because it is ruth bader ginsburg, who has been a lion of the liberal wing of the court. yes, just give us a flavour of her professionally and personally? she was one of the pioneering women law professors in the us, and as an advocate, argued some of the most important supreme court decisions on women's rights. as a justice, she was appointed in 1993 by bill clinton, she has been a stalwart defender of women's rights on the court, including the right to abortion. and so it is clearly understood by her followers that were she to depart

the court and be replaced by a conservative, it would definitely shift the balance of power on issues like reproductive rights. so she's very closely watched for that reason. it's a stark contrast to many other countries, like the uk, for example, where politics is completely taken out of the judiciary and we don't know the personal opinions of the leading judges. clearly a very different situation there in the united states. do you feel like it's been more politicised, more polarised ? that's certainly the impression we get. is that the case, or has it always been that way? well, according to the framers of the united states constitution, the supreme court was not supposed to be a political institution. it was supposed to be above the partisan fray. but of course, so many issues are politically fraught in the united states that that when they do percolate up to the court, they are bound to have some kind of political valence, and the court being as evenly pitched as it is right now, it's obviously going to be viewed as a political animal. of course, the chiefjustice

is at great pains to avoid that appearance, and in a number of decisions this term, including a decision on abortion, he sided with the liberals, i think in part to avoid the appearance of partisanship. just finally, the idea that you carry on working despite this treatment that you are going through, despite yourage, i mean, we should just pause for a second understatement is a pretty remarkable achievement in itself? well, she is remarkablejust in terms of her longevity and her time on the court, but she has been absolutely clear that she will continue to do this job while she's fully able to do it, and she says she's still fully able to do it. she even called in from her hospital bed to oral arguments just in may. she is a stalwart worker and she continues to do that work. borisjohnson has announced further steps to ease the coronavirus lockdown in england, offering a roadmap he says will return the country to "significa nt normality, possibly in time for christmas."

from the beginning of next month, employers will have the power to decide whether they want workers to return to the office, and those heading back to work can use public transport. vicki young reports. the journey out of lockdown has been slow and cautious. now the government's mapping out the next stage for england, hoping to encourage us back on public transport... back to the office... ..and back to the shops. but even after all these months it's impossible to say whether life will be normal by november. even as we plan for the worst, i strongly believe we should also hope for the best. that means looking ahead with optimism, now extending our plan to lift the remaining national measures. the prime minister's next steps for easing the lockdown in england include, from august, more people can return to the workplace, facial beauty treatments and indoor shows can resume,

and casinos can reopen. in september, schools, nurseries and colleges will reopen on a full—time basis. from october, subject to successful pilots, stadium events with audiences and other business events could be allowed. today we are publishing... there will be more cash for the nhs and councils will have extra powers to deal with coronavirus outbreaks in theirarea. guidance that people should work from home if they can will change from the beginning of august. we're going to give employers more discretion and ask them to make decisions about how their staff can work safely. whatever employers decide, they should consult closely with their employees, and only ask people to return to their place of work if it is safe. some companies have said to their workers that they don't need to be back in the office untiljanuary. are you now saying that employers should be doing more

to encourage workers back in august? obviously, it's not for government to decide how employers should run their companies. what we're saying now is that if employers think it would be better and more productive for their employees to come into the office and they can work in a safe way, then there should be discussions between the employers and employees. city centres like birmingham have been badly hit. fewer workers going to the office has left businesses struggling for custom. it is weird cos birmingham, as we know, you come to birmingham and it's a vibrant place, everyone is crowded, hustle bustle, you knock into people, "oh, sorry," and you carry on. none of that now. it will take a bit of time for people's confidence to get back and people understanding you can come, it's ok to come to town but you have to be cautious. if you rush it too much we are going to go back to where we were before and there will be spikes in infection because a lot of people will think

everything's finished and we have to be mindful of that. scotland and wales are following a more cautious timetable than england. our advice is that you should stay at home and work at home if you are able to do so. i positively don't want people to be returning to offices in the way that we did before coronavirus happened. this pandemic has left leaders treading a precarious path between controlling the virus and kick—starting economic activity. borisjohnson always prefers an optimistic message. today he held out the possibility of life being normal by christmas, but even he warned several times that restrictions would be back in place if people didn't behave sensibly. the rules in england are relaxing again but there is no guarantee that everyone will feel confident about going back to the way things were. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. in iran, women are banned from singing solo.

it's because shia clerics in the religiously conservative country believe that a woman's singing voice can be erotic. in the past two years, at least a dozen women have been sentenced to prison for singing in public. bbc world service women's affairs reporter faranak amidi has spoken to one singer who faced prison for making music. i always loved singing and dancing like britney spears. this is iran, the country where it is forbidden to sing if you area it is forbidden to sing if you are a woman. before the iranian revolution in 1979, women artists participated in a vibrant pop and cabaret culture. as the country became more conservative, women have been banned from singing because many shi'ite muslim clerics believed that a woman's

singing voice can be erotic. women, however, are allowed to sing as part of a choir. this is justina stop sing as part of a choir. this isjustina stop she is a wrap artist who left iran when she faced jail. she is now living in tblisi, georgia. i started singing rap at 18 and i knew that i couldn't promote my works, my music, as a male singer, and i should be careful. because i knew that the system would fine. justina, like many other women singers, had to make her music in secret. unfortunately, iwas arrested two years ago and a case was filed against me and

they accused me and my activities of being corrupt, and they asked me about my work, my music, wire was singing about women's rights. they took all of my computer equipment and finally i was able to leave iran and go to georgia. in the past two years, at least a dozen women have been sentenced to prison for singing in public or publishing their work on social media. justina has now cowritten a song to raise awareness about women's rights in iran and to protest her business sentence, but she still feels the consequences of making music. i'm worried about my family because maybe they bother them, and sometimes i think i should be quiet, maybe. iwill be and sometimes i think i should be quiet, maybe. i will be back

with the headlines in a couple of minutes. in the meantime, get me online at twitter. i'm @lvaughanjones. hello there. a good chunk of england and wales enjoyed sunny skies on friday, and in that sunshine, it was pretty warm. temperatures reached 29 degrees celsius towards london and south—east england. and then it was a sunny end to what's been a pretty cloudy week. further north—west, though, we had some cooler and fresher air. and what separated the hot from the cooler was this weather front. it brought some rain to parts of northern england, north wales, northern ireland, too. and the front itself, this area of cloud, stretches quite a long way out into the atlantic, and indeed, we've got this bump on the cloud just here. that's known as a wave, and what that will do is it essentially will stop the weather

front from moving very far very fast. so, small changes in the forecast as we get on through saturday. it means over the next few hours, we'll continue to see some rain across northern england, north wales, with rather misty conditions over the hills, a lot of low cloud. to the north of this, a few showers in scotland, a few clear spells as well. and to the south of our front, it's a warm night, temperatures around 15 degrees in cardiff and london. now, into saturday itself, this weather front‘s still with us, slow—moving. the rain turns a bit heavier for a time late morning, north wales, northern areas of england. but you can see all the while, the front doesn't really move very far very fast, so still bringing some damp weather to wales, northern england, the north midlands into the afternoon. south—east of our front, i think the temperatures could well reach the high 20s in the hottest spots, but further north and west, we've got that cooler and fresher feel to the weather. now, for the test match in manchester, well, it's not looking great, really. it's a damp morning here. the rain slowly easing off, i think, as we head through the day, but there will be some disruptions to play here. now, through saturday evening and overnight, here is the same weather front only slowly moving down towards the south—east. so, on sunday, we will have a change

in the weather pattern across east anglia, south—east england, a cloudy start to the day with rain at times. behind that front, brighter skies work in with some sunshine and a few showers into the north—west of scotland. what you will notice, though, particularly across the south east of england and east anglia, is a fresher feel to the weather. those temperatures back down generally into the high teens to low 20s. turning a bit warmer as well as the week goes by. that's your latest forecast. bye for now.

this is bbc news, the headlines: schools in california will not reopen for the new academic year, as the us is hit by a new wave of coronavirus infections. people are being urged by the government's leading expert on covid—19 to wear face masks to stop a rise in infections. the flying of the confederate flag at american military bases around the world has effectively been banned. without directly referencing the flag, the us defense secretary mark esper issued a memo prohibiting what he called "divisive symbols". recent protests have renewed calls to ban the flag across the us. a summit of european union leaders in brussels has ended for the day with no progress on a deal to help rebuild their economies after the coronavirus crisis. the recovery fund is proposed to be worth 750 billion euros.