welcome to bbc news, i'm mike embley. our top stories: a change in tack as president trump brings his daily virus briefings back. he urges americans to socially distance and wear masks as deaths rise across the us. when you are not able to socially distance, wear a mask, get a mask. whether you like the mask or not they have an impact, they'll have an effect, and we need everything we can get. british lawmakers criticise the government for not doing enough to tackle the threat from russia, as their report reveals the uk's one of moscow's top targets. around a dozen people are freed from an armed siege in the ukraine, after the president complies with a hostage taker‘s bizarre demand to promote an animal rights film. demand collapses for bear

bile in south korea, now instead of being killed they're left starving and captive. campaigners demand the government set—up a sanctuary. hello. it'll get worse before it gets better, president trump has acknowledged, as he gave his first coronavirus briefing in weeks. tens of thousands of new cases are being identified every day in the us, more than a thousand americans are dying each day from the virus, at least 140,000 so far. mr trump urged people to wear face coverings, although he has, many times previously, been reluctant to recommend masks, or wear one himself. 0ur correspondent peter bowes told me resuming the briefings is an acknowledgement by the president that his handling of the pandemic is an election issue.

certainly to be an acknowledgement of what a lot of people have been saying in the country and that is that the country and that is that the president doesn't command a majority support of americans, for what he has been doing over the last few months in terms of dealing with this pandemic and as you implied, the election is upon us, just less than four months to go now and those opinion polls are not looking good for president trump, so a different tone and a different tactic, i think, from the white house. he was the only person at this coronavirus briefing, none of his medical experts we re none of his medical experts were on the platform, and the main message from president trump did seem to be on the issue of masks, he has been relu cta nt to issue of masks, he has been reluctant to be seen himself in public wearing a mask, onjust one occasion have we seen president trump with a face covering but this is what he had to say about masks. everybody that, when you are not able to socially distant, where a mask, get a mask. with you like the mask or not, they

have an impact, they will have an effect and we need everything we can get. the president gave some figures as well, some question marks there? yes, and the president has actually been questioned a lot over the last few days in terms of the figures that he has been given. he gave an interview at the weekend, he was talking about the mortality rate, the number of fatalities in this country compared with other countries around the world, and he was suggesting that the us is doing much better than some of the official statistics suggest, from thejohns official statistics suggest, from the johns hopkins university, they have been collating all the data from around the world and tell a rather different story to the president but as far as this news c0 nfe re nce president but as far as this news conference is concerned, this is what he had to say. fatalities nationwide have fallen, 75% since mid april, that's a great number. as cases and fatalities rise in certain hard—hit and fatalities rise in certain ha rd— hit states and fatalities rise in certain hard—hit states which you are looking at right now, we

surging personnel supplies and therapeutics, we again, have tremendous of supplies. we are in very good shape and we can move them quickly. he was saying, peter, some doubts over those figures. just looking at the figures overall, 3 million americans have been infected, 140,000 have died at least, tens of millions have lost theirjobs and yet curiously, theirjobs and yet curiously, the only people that mr trump ex presses the only people that mr trump expresses explicit sympathy for other governor of florida and ghislaine maxwell? ghislaine maxwell was a surprise, and that was actually the result of a question that was put to the president at the end of the news conference, one of the reporters asked him whether he thought ghislaine maxwell would essentially, say anything that could bring the powerful people to justice, could bring the powerful people tojustice, and could bring the powerful people to justice, and prince could bring the powerful people tojustice, and prince andrew's name was mentioned and former president clinton's name was

mentioned and this is how the president responded. mentioned and this is how the president respondedlj mentioned and this is how the president responded. i don't know, i haven't really been following it too much, just wish her well, frankly. i have met her numerous times over the years especially since they lived in palm beach and i guess they lived in palm beach, but my wish her well, whatever it is. i don't know the situation with prince andrew. not aware. the president there of course with our correspondent peter bowes. the uk is one of russia's top intelligence targets, today's report said, but it questions whether the country is equipped to respond. after months of delay the uk parliament has finally been able to publish its report into allegations of russian interference in british public lifeit described russian influence in the uk as ‘the new normal‘ — and said successive governments had welcomed rich oligarchs with open arms — without asking too many questions about the source of their wealth. 0ur security correspondent gordon corera has more details. the uk is one of russia's top intelligence targets, today's report said, but it

questions whether the country is equipped to respond. the report details russia's aggressive use of spying, especially in cyberspace, stealing information. it points to its use of assassination, going after russians abroad like sergei skripal, poisoned with nerve agent in salisbury in 2018. and most significantly, it points to a long—running campaign of political interference, meddling in events around the world. this russian campaign is the new normal, we were told today. but the report also says the uk has been slow to respond. it is tough on britain's spies, saying they treated the task of defending the democratic system like a hot potato, with no—one wanting to take charge amid competing demands like stopping terrorist attacks. but the real criticism is for the government forfailing to give the spies clear direction. and as well as not investigating recent events like the brexit referendum, the report also says there was a longer term problem of not seeing the challenge from moscow. the killing of alexander litvinenko in london using radioactive polonium 14

years ago was a clear indication of the danger, the committee said, but it was a warning that went unheeded, his widow told me. do you feel that britain failed to learn the lesson of what happened to your husband in 2006? unfortunately, i would like to say yes. and because there was no strong reaction after that, we received salisbury. now we are discussing about hacking attacks to try to get a vaccine from british scientists. why has there not been a tougher line? the committee says russian money has been allowed to seep into public life, what it calls the london laundromat, recycling illicit cash while powerful oligarchs aid the kremlin. all of this buys moscow influence, according to one witness who gave evidence to the committee. there's a lot of russian money sloshing around london, and it creates an enormous conflict of interest, and a conflict of interest creates political pressure.

and i think the reason why things haven't been done is because there's too many people who are feeding at the trough. there had been speculation that one former russian official, now a british citizen who's given more than £1 million to conservatives, might be named in the report. but he was not, and he told me there was a russian threat, but it's about more than money. it's not a report about me, it's a report about us, because they are really a threat, the russian threat exists, absolutely. my point is that there is a more serious threat of cyber attack. existing laws may be out of date and new powers needed to counter russian spies and influence, the committee said. but today's report also raises questions as to whether the british state has notjust the tools, but the desire to confront moscow. gordon corera, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news.

the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, has encouraged every nation to push back against the chinese communist party — following talks with borisjohnson and dominic raab in london. mr pompeo congratulated the uk for banning huawei from its 5g networks — and welcomed the government's response to china's new security law in hong kong. he also said he hoped britain and america could conclude a trade deal "as soon as possible". saudi arabia's 84—year—old ruler, king salman bin abdulaziz is in hospital in the capital riyadh. state media says he is holding a virtual cabinet meeting from there. it also reports he is undergoing medical checks for a gall bladder infection. over 2,000 israelis have gathered outside prime minister benjamin netanyahu's home before marching to the knesset over his handling of a worsening coronavirus crisis and alleged corruption. protests turned violent and a number of people were arrested. reimposed coronavirus curbs, after a spike in new covid—19 cases, have prompted israelis

to demand better state aid. the us secretary of homeland security, chad wolf, has defended the actions of federal law enforcement officers who have been protecting government buildings against demonstrators in the city of portland, 0regon. mr wolf denied claims that the security officers had no identification and insisted they were wearing insignia showing they were police. but how did we get here? here is the bbc‘s laura trevelyan. after george floyd was killed in police custody in minneapolis on may 25, the first protests over police brutality began in the city the next day. by may 29, protests over george floyd's death had erupted in cities across the us and, before too long, the world. in portland, oregon, the demonstrations against police brutality turned violent. there was looting downtown. the city's police chief resigned after criticism of how the protests were being handled. meanwhile, washington, dc was dealing with protests

of its own against george floyd's death. outside the white house peaceful protesters were cleared away by police and national guard troops using tear—gas so the president could hold a photo opportunity with a bible outside stjohn's church. over the course ofjune, while protests in many cities are subsided, portland's did not after president trump signed an executive order tasking a department for homeland security unit with protecting federal monuments and buildings. by the end ofjune federal law enforcement officers started appearing in portland, confronting and detaining protesters. and that brings us to now. 0regon officials call the extraordinary use of federal force on the streets of portland a blatant abuse of power and an attack on democracy. the protests continue. and president trump is threatening to send federal law enforcement officers to other us cities. these are anarchists. these are not protesters. preparations are under way to send agents to chicago. stay with us on bbc news,

still to come: they're kept to be used in medicine, but a collapse in demand's led to calls for a sanctuary for south korea's moon bears. nasa: can see you coming down the ladder now. one small step for man... 0ne giant leap for mankind. a catastrophic engine fire is being blamed tonight for the first crash in the 30—year history of concorde, the world's only supersonic airliner. it was one of the most vivid symbols of the violence and hatred that tore apart the state of yugoslavia. but now, a decade later, it's been painstakingly rebuilt and opens again today. there's been a 50% decrease in sperm quantity and an increase in malfunctioning sperm unable to swim properly.

seven, six, five, four... thousands of households across the country are suspiciously quiet this lunchtime as children bury their noses in the final instalment of harry potter. president trump uses his first coronavirus briefing in weeks to change tack and urge americans to wear masks when they can't socially distance. let's get some analysis on president trump's coronavirus briefing with anita kumar. she's politico's white house correspondent. well, he took a different tone. you know, the president, as you mentioned, he talked about wearing a mask, which is something we haven't heard from him. he also said things are going to get worse before they get better, and that is something

he really hasn't said. he took a very optimistic tone saying the virus will go away, so it was a very, very different tone. he was reading his prepared remarks. the briefing was shorter. he didn't talk about his democratic opponent, joe biden, he was fixed on the coronavirus. and there are question marks on his claim over testing which we cannot verify one way or the other at the moment, but the idea that fatalities there are lower than in almost anywhere else in the world is not true? he has been using a particular study, and has been confronted with other studies that show that is not the case. i was struck by one thing he mentioned about the testing today, he seemed to signal that we have to do better with testing. so governors, state officials, local officials have been complaining testing is taking too long and they are not getting the information

back quick enough. he did signal tonight that has to be better, and that is a very different tone than we have seen from him in the past few weeks. and anita, just holding this briefing is a signal he feels he is being judged on his handling of the pandemic and perhaps found wanting? yes. all of the polls we have seen in recent weeks, four months now, have shown him behind joe biden in the presidential race, but more importantly his approval rating is dropping. if you look at the polls they say americans are not satisfied with the way he is handling the coronavirus. for the last several weeks, even the last few months, he has really moved onto other issues happening the country, even the economy are issues that have nothing to do with the coronavirus pandemic. i have talked to a lot of his supporters and allies and they say he is not understanding that this is still going on in this country. people are still in their houses and still worried. they're urging him to get back out there and talking again.

the usjustice department has accused china of sponsoring hackers, who are targeting labs developing covid—19 vaccines. officials have charged two chinese men who allegedly spied on us companies doing coronavirus research and got help from state agents for other thefts. the accusations against the two former electrical engineering stu d e nts who've been released, include charges of trade—secret theft and wire fraud conspiracy. prosecutors say the men sometimes acted in their own self—interest but at other times were stealing information of obvious interest to the chinese government. here's what the us justice department had to say. in this manner, china has now taken its in this manner, china has now ta ken its place in this manner, china has now taken its place alongside russia, iran and north korea in that shameful club of nations that shameful club of nations that provide a safe haven for cyber criminals in exchange for those criminals being on call for the benefit of the state. here, to feed the chinese

communist party ‘s appetite for american and other non— chinese companies hard and intellectual property, including covid—19 research. live now to new york and to william beer, from mitiga, an israeli company which advises organisations about cyber security. good to talk to you. you have seen good to talk to you. you have seen the advancement, what you other? an interesting indictment in the fact that it was extremely detailed, 27 pages, 11 counts and a significant amount of technical detail that clearly indicates they have been investigating this for quite some time. the cases really well solid and well—prepared. cases really well solid and well-prepared. likely do you think that these people people we re think that these people people were after vaccine secrets? according to the indictment, this has been going on for more than ten years and more broader than ten years and more broader than just vaccines, so according to the indictment, it included a whole series of industries, not just about

intellectual property but about extortion. i think this is really a fire across the bow if you will of two... to ensure that they understand things are changing and business executives really need to sit up executives really need to sit up and pay more attention to the problem. do you think it is likely the chinese government sponsored these activities? they are described in the indictment as a blended threat? look, industrial espionage has been around for a long time and i don't think chinese and the chinese are the only government that conduct this type of espionage but obviously in the heightened and congealed political tensions we are facing right now, there is truly a lot of attention and focus on just —— truly a lot of attention and focus onjust —— on more than just the vaccine. at this point of timea just the vaccine. at this point of time a sense of vigilance is needed from everyone. the truth is that every government is at it? yes, indeed and notjust government, often industries involved and organised

criminals so a wide ranging threats to many private sector companies that they are facing at this time. how can governments and companies better protect themselves? great question and i think u nfortu nately, great question and i think unfortunately, again, it is not a new problem and i think again if you read the indictment it is clear that there are some advanced techniques used and therefore a lot of that traditional systems, methodologies and technologies in place in the organisations we re in place in the organisations were simply not triggered. to my mind, we need to start to adapt to a different mindset and think in the way the criminals do a mirror there actions, more simulated exercises, more hunting exercises, more hunting exercises to detect undetected problems on the network to corrode —— to get a more active sta nce corrode —— to get a more active stance on these problems. william beare, stance on these problems. william bea re, from stance on these problems. william beare, from mitiga, thank you.

——beer. 13 hostages have been freed after they were taken captive on board a bu in western ukraine. but a strange intervention from the coutry‘s president brought the situation to an end, with one man now under arrest. it all happened in the city of lutsk, as alanna petroff reports. a hostage situation on a bus in the city of lutsk. a stand—off for hours with people trapped onboard. the suspect, a 44—year—old with previous convictions who's already spent ten years in prison. he posed a real threat — he fired shots and threw explosives, but they didn't detonate. city residents were told not to leave their homes after the suspect warned he had put an explosive device in a public place. the hostage taker had a number of demands and he got on a call with the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky. translation: if we can do anything without launching an assault, if we can avoid putting at least one person's life at risk — these are principles i live with, have lived with,

and will live with. the president complied with one particular demand by posting a facebook video where he says... "everybody should watch the 2005 film earthlings." it's not known specifically why the suspected specifically wanted to promote an old animal rights documentary. within an hour of this post, all passengers were walking free. everyone who came out was unharmed. the suspect was on the ground, arrested, and taken away. the president's video was taken down. the situation is over now, and the investigation begins. people in the city can breathe a sigh of relief that in the end, no—one was hurt. alanna petroff, bbc news. police in costa rica have

seized 13 kg of cocaine, they arrested seven colombians, one can draw on and intercepted two boats in different elections — locations. central america has become an important point for drug cartels and it thought the shipment was heading into mexico, eventually to the united states. animal rights campaigners are asking the south korean president for help to save hundreds of the country's caged moon bears. over 400 bears are being kept on farms across the country. they're waiting to be killed for their parts which some people use as medicine. 0ur seoul correspondent laura bicker has this report, you may find some of the scenes upsetting. distressed, she rocks from side to side. she's not known life beyond these rusty bars. over 120 moon bears are crammed in filthy cages on this farm. some are missing limbs and fur. all are just waiting to die.

translation: i started the farm to sell bear bile. back then, the bile used to sell so well, but now no—one wants to buy it. this distressing footage shows a bear being killed for its bile. it's legal in south korea, as long as the bear is over ten years old. the fluid is used for a number of health problems from hangovers to heart disease. but demand has collapsed and farmers have no funds to feed the bears. these ones are fed leftover doughnuts from the krispy kreme factory. translation: this farm has the most bears out of any farms in korea. so we anticipated it would be in poor condition, but it's actually a lot worse than what we expected. campaigners are pushing the government to provide

a sanctuary for over 400 of korea's forgotten moon bears and close down these farms. translation: we need to stop this wrong farming culture, especially in this time of coronavirus when it's important to put distance between wildlife and humans. the smell of the bear dung that's piled up underneath these cages is really overwhelming. and we're told that sometimes these bears will fight one another, injure one another, and often, they‘ re just left to die. moon bears are not meant to be in cages together, they're solitary animals. this is what a happy moon bear looks like. he is a two—year—old in the mountains injirisan national park. bear bile was once so sought after that these bears were captured and killed to near extinction but dozens have now been

reintroduced to the wild — including this mother and her cubs, spotted on hidden cameras. it's not possible to re—wild the over 400 bears in this country, but campaigners are trying to make some of them more comfortable in the hope that one day they will have more freedom. laura bicker, bbc news. finally, thousands of people have lined the streets of jack ta rlton have lined the streets of jack tarlton ‘s home town of northumberland to pay respects of the world cup winner ahead of the world cup winner ahead of his funeral. many applauded and cheered as the funeral proceeded past. they paid tribute to a proud northerner, and irishman at his funeral service. much more on the news any time at the bbc website and

on the twitter feed. thank you so on the twitter feed. thank you so much for watching. hello. well, for some of us, the skies have remained clear but overall a very cloudy picture on the way, at least for the northern half of the uk during the course of wednesday, and on top of that, we've got some patchy rain as well. and you can see where the clouds coming from, off the atlantic as it often does. it's spreading across northern ireland and into scotland. eventually, it will engulf northern england, too. to the south of that, however, i think some sunshine in the morning and in fact, it will end up being a pretty decent day for the channel counties, certainly for london perhaps east anglia, too. temperatures could get up into the mid—20s in one or two spots but for northern england, scotland, and northern ireland at times overcast, and there will be a little bit of rain, too. and temperatures will be mostly in the mid or the high teens. now, this is the following night, so early hours

of thursday, and you can see that cloudy theme continues. if anything, further patchy rain streams in on a south—westerly breeze off the atlantic. and it's going to be mild early on thursday morning, around 13, 14, 15 degrees. now, this is thursday's weather map and quite a complicated structure of weather fronts sitting on top of the uk. that basically means a lot of cloud and outbreaks of rain. and you can see dumfries and galloway, the lake district, the north—west of england, certainly wales getting some rain, too. now later in the day on thursday, it does look as though it will brighten up across parts of scotland and northern ireland and there might even be some sunshine there across the south—east in the afternoon, too. that was thursday, this is friday. and on friday, we are actually in between weather systems. so, one moves away towards the east. another one waiting in the wings here and approaching ireland during the afternoon with the bulk of the uk during the course of friday actually enjoying a pretty bright if not in places sunny

day with temperatures into the low 20s. now, here's the weekend. at this stage, it is looking unsettled. you can't miss that — low pressure with weather fronts moving across the uk, quite a few splodges of blue here moving across the uk and increasing breeze as well, so a pretty unsettled start to the weekend for many of us on saturday. and those temperatures a little lower than the average for the time of the year, especially in the south of the uk. now, there is a possibility things will brighten up at least a little bit by the time we get to sunday but on the whole, an unsettled weekend on the way.

this is bbc news. the headlines: in his first coronavirus briefing for weeks, president trump has sought to defend his administration's handling of the pandemic and urged people to wear face masks if they can't maintain a safe social distance. he acknowledged that the outbreak is likely to get worse before it gets better. russian attempts to interfere in the uk have been described as ‘the new normal‘ in a long—awaited report by british lawmakers. mps on a key house of commons committee describe the uk as one of russia's top targets and criticise the government for "badly underestimating" the threat and the response it required. the us secretary of state mike pompeo has said washington wants to build a coalition of like—minded allies to counter, what he called, the threat from china. he was visiting london,