this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. joe biden promises to spend tens of billions of dollars to boost opportunities for people of colour if he wins the election in november. president trump's attorney general defends sending federal officers to anti—racism protests around the country. britain's prime minister warns there are signs of a second wave of coronavirus in parts of europe, as he defends his decision to quarantine all travellers arriving from spain. # the phantom of the opera rose here inside our minds...

and as the coronavirus brings down the curtain on the phantom of the opera, we speak to its west end star. hello to you. the democratic party presidential contender joe biden has unveiled his plans to address what he calls economic disparity among america's minority communities. mr biden sharply criticised president trump, accusing him of intentionally stoking the flames of division and racism. in a speech in his home town of wilmington, mr biden said he would spend tens of billions of dollars to help people of colour overcome what he called the racial wealth gap, if he wins the election in november. the former vice president's remarks follow weeks of racial unrest and a health crisis that's disproportionately affected america's black and hispanic communities. more than 30 million and counting are collecting unemployment checks. that

unemployment checks. that unemployment is at 15%, latina, 14.5%. 40% - unemployment is at 15%, latina, 14.5%. a0% - a0% of unemployment is at 15%, latina, 14.5%. 40% - 40% of black unemployment is at 15%, latina, 14.5%. 40% — 40% of black owned businesses, 440,000 in total, had reported they had to shut down, and everything is worsened by this crisis of presidential leadership. to change the tone over the last few days as trump has, doesn't change the facts of the last four years. donald trump faces a real test, and his failed it. a basic threshold of being president, the duty to care for the entire country, notjust his re—election prospects. he's showed that he can beat the pandemic and keep you safe. he can't turn the economy around and get america back to work.

and he is horrifyingly, and not surprisingly, intentionally stoking the flames of division and racism in this country. well, that is what mr biden is saying. president trump has announced an initiative to develop generic drugs in the united states, aiming to reduce dependence on pharmaceutical products sourced abroad. he's also repeated his belief in hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus treatment, even though there is no evidence it can fight the virus, and regulators have warned it may cause heart problems. twitter banned his eldest son, donald junior from tweeting for 12 hours because he shared a misleading video about the drug. the fda has revoked its approvalfor emergency use of hydroxychloroquine. many doctors think it's extremely good and some people don't. some people — i think it is become very political. i happen to believe in it. i took it for a 14—day period and i'm here. right? i'm here.

i happen to think it is — it works in the early stages in the front line medical people believe that too. some, many. and so we'll take a look at it. that is the president's point of view. our north america correspondent, peter bowes, joins us live. the campaign is ramping up? yes, and it's interesting, isn't it, mike? look at the juxtaposition of the president and his now regular again coronavirus press conference and joe biden really ramping up his campaign and putting a lot of less on the bones of what he says he will do if he wins the presidency in november, talking about help for minority communities, housing and small businesses, and attacking the president really in the strongest terms. president trump at his news conference talking about drugs and what he's doing to perhaps reduce america's dependency on importing drugs, but then also talking about coronavirus,

hydroxychloroquine, which has been at least as far as the officials in this country who control these matters, they have stopped its use for the treatment of coronavirus. we have the president began insisting he believes he's heard from doctors who say it can be beneficial for covid—19 sufferers. and there was an interesting exchange once again between the president and reporters on that issue, and some tweets that he retweeted about the wearing of masks. and he got to talking about doctor anthony fauci, his leading medical advisor, and his public opinion poll ratings. harry seems to be doing does mccarty seems to be doing does mccarty seems to be doing does mccarty seems to be doing better than the president —— and how's doctor fauci seems to be doing better than the president. we get a sense on how donald trump is intending to fight this campaign, peter? i think is intending to fight this campaign, peter? ithink will see more of what we saw in his news conference. if the

president at least believes, and he often talks about ratings, that people want to see him front and centre as opposed to being shrouded by his medical advisors, i think we will see more of him leading the way. he has changed his tune a little bit in the last couple of weeks, acknowledging the scale of the problem and generally the need to wear a masks and avoid getting together in crowds and i kind of being. we have seen perhaps a more subdued president realising that hill that is still to climb in terms of this virus. as far as joe still to climb in terms of this virus. as far asjoe biden is concerned, i think will see more of the strong attacks. is emerging from his home where he was occluded for many weeks, even the speeches —— where he was secluded, giving these speeches. joe biden, perhaps as early as next saturday, will reveal who his choice is for vice president, his running mate for the election. peter, thank you very much for that. borisjohnson has said signs

of a second wave of coronavirus are appearing in europe and it's the government's job to protect the uk. the prime minister was defending the decision to impose a 14—day quarantine on arrivals from spain. our europe correspondent gavin lee sent this report from barcelona. the call for the sick and the anxious at a covid testing centre in the suburbs of barcelona. five weeks after the state of emergency was lifted here, cases are on the rise again. albert tomas is waiting his turn. his girlfriend tested positive this morning. i work near to beach, so close to beach, and yeah, a lot of young people without masks, drinking. it's close—to—close, face—to—face. and for me, it's the problem, the young people don't understand how this covid increase. young catalans have been blamed by the regional government for accelerating the spread, showing a lack of solidarity,

ignoring the rules to socially distance. one of the nurses here, rossella morales, has worked throughout the pandemic and says the majority of cases now are people under 40. yeah, there's a lot of asymptomatics that then become positive. you do the test and the test becomes positive. at this time, there's not that many acute symptoms that they need to be hospitalised. it's more like mild symptoms, like headaches, loss of smell, loss of taste. the catalan government say the situation has reached a critical point that if, in the next ten days, covid cases haven't reduced, there'll be a second lockdown in this city. and with it, shutting down a vital industry that attracts millions of brits each year — tourism. it's said there are more selfies taken in front of gaudi's sagrada familia basilica than anywhere else in spain. now, there's barely enough business for the street sellers. the flights arriving

from the uk today are not even half—full. there must have been about 20 people, maximum, on the flight. my row in front of me, behind me, my row was empty. debbie is on the way back to cardiff, filling out an online covid form ahead of a two—week quarantine. she says the decision has caused her a great deal of stress. i wish i hadn't come to spain now. i wanted to come away and i wanted a holiday, but i wouldn't have gone, had i known that there would be the self—isolating on my return. hotels and resorts outside the city say they're working hard to reassure tourists that it's as safe as possible, but despite intense diplomatic efforts, british officials have shown no sign of changing course. gavin lee, bbc news, barcelona. the impact of the latest restrictions on travel to and from spain has led to calls for virus tests

to be conducted on people arriving in the uk as an alternative to quarantine. the british government says it's looking at a range of options to manage the risk of people importing the disease. our science editor, david shukman, reports. a sudden rise in coronavirus cases in kosovo. all over europe, there are local surges of new infections. but whether this amounts to a second wave is unclear. in germany, an outbreak at a farm in bavaria has led to a new warning. numbers are still relatively low, compared to many countries. still, the authorities say they are very concerned. so, german airports are offering testing for anyone arriving, to see who has the virus, and this may become compulsory. the problem, though, is that the tests are not always reliable. what matters is how well they're carried out. are they done by medical staff? does the swab used in the test actually reach the virus in the throat or nose? it could miss an infected area.

one study found that 20—25% of people who are infected get a negative result. and then there's the problem of timing. if you become infected on holiday — let's call that day one — and then fly back a couple of days later — day three — and have a test at the airport on your return, you may well get a negative result because, at that stage, the virus is still incubating inside you. it may be day six, or even later, before you show any symptoms, and what scientists are worried about is people getting a negative result and thinking they're completely in the clear, when in reality, they're infected. i think a negative result at the airport does not mean you are necessarily free of the infection. you might not yet be shedding the virus. and if you believe that you're free of infection and you go back to your normal life, very much, the risk is that you can start spreading it

to family, friends and work colleagues, and thereby hasten the spread of the virus generally in your home community. but screening at airports is becoming more common. china found a positive case last week. and one idea is to have a system of double testing, a week apart, to have a better chance of spotting who's infected. heathrow airport wants to start a trial. i can understand that the jury is out at the moment on having a single test on arrival. not enough work has been done on that. and it may be that we need to have a test on arrival and maybe a test after five days, or eight days, to get people out of quarantine early. a passenger in south korea. regular testing may well allow more travel and minimise quarantine, but it's not exactly pleasant to have to go through. david shukman, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. several thousand protestors marched in south—west myanmar

to demand the military‘s withdrawal from the area and an end to rights abuses. soldiers allegedly killed an unarmed woman just recently. the military has confirmed that two soldiers have been arrested. the murder has sparked a wave of protests over the last two weeks. at the dorot hospital in israel's coastal city of netanya, drones are being used to fly coronavirus tests and blood samples around the hospital for a "fast delivery." doctors say the drones deliver the samples from the virus ward, located at one end of the hospital, to the labs which are at the other end. it's hoped this project will open the way for medicines and supplies to be delivered from pharmacies to hospitals. us attorney general has been defending the deployment of federal agents to cities, saying they are needed to counter violent rioters. in a heated testimony to congress, william barr said protesters in portland, oregon, are committing "an assault on the government of the united states". the democrat—led hearing covered a wide range of controversial actions from mr barr's department of

justice. let's talk more about this with julia manchester, political reporter from the hill. julia, it's good to talk to you. what you meant men take away some hearings. it was a contentious marathon hearing on capitol hill between attorney general and william barr and the housejudiciary general and william barr and the house judiciary committee, republicans very much defending barr against democrats who went on an all—out assault against william barr, accusing him of being the president's and man when it comes to the point is trips to areas where protests have been taking place —— president's henchmen, to places like portland. also accusing william barr of being too easy ona number of william barr of being too easy on a number of president trump's associates such as roger stone, who have essentially not got in jail time despite committing crimes. we very contentious, heated hearing with the 2020 election very much an undertone. on that point, it was kind of odd to

see the top legal officer in the country struggling with a question about whether foreign interference in an american election was a bad thing. absolutely. and this also comes as the us intelligence community is included this yea rs community is included this years ago, that they have evidence that russia was interfering into the 2016 election, they have evidence they were working to interfere in the 2018 mid—term election, and they would try to interfere in the 2020 election. so that was definitely very interesting to hear. also, i would like to point out tensions between the us and china are also at an all—time high right now. there is concern the chinese may interfere as well. it was definitely an odd comment or an odd response from attorney general barr. he is associated with a tough line against antiracism protests of the sending ina antiracism protests of the sending in a federal agents to cities. the washington post suggested part of the point of

sending in agents to confront protesters is to generate footage of violence that will be useful in attack ads in the election campaign. there is a bit of a problem, isn't there, in presenting the scenes and saying this is what you get if you vote forjoe biden, when everybody knows it is happening in mrtrump's everybody knows it is happening in mr trump's america? absolutely. and we have actually seen a number of those ads in swing states across the country. i'm coming to you from orlando, florida, a critical swing state in november. we have seen a number of ads essentially saying, you know, ifjoe biden becomes president, he is going to defund police departments and show you and after betraying someone calling the police and getting a voicemail message, that is obviously a bit of an exaggeration there, but this is very much republicans and president trump leaning in on this law and order message. republicans have been very successful with this message going back to former president richard nixon, however, democrats are very much calling this out, in fact, vice president biden said today that

president biden said today that president trump is making this an issue because he is so behind in the polls. julia manchester, from the hill, thank you. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: a new approach to the treatment of covid—19 — we report from a hospital in texas. the us space agency nasa has ordered an investigation after confirmation today that astronauts were cleared to fly while drunk. the last foot patrol in south armagh, once an everyday part of the soldiers' lot, drudgery and danger, now no more after almost four decades. if one is on one's own

in a private house, not doing any harm to anyone, i don't really see why all these people should wander in and say, "you are doing something wrong. " six rare white lion clubs are on the prowl at worcestershire park and already they've been met with a roar of approval from visitors. they're lovely, yeah, and sweet. yeah, they were cute. welcome back. good to have you with us on bbc news. the latest headlines: joe biden has promised to spend tens of billions of dollars to help boost opportunitues for black, latino, and native american businesses if wins the election in november. borisjohnson has warned that there are signs of a second wave of coronavirus in parts of europe and that further quarantines for holiday—makers may be necessary. hospitals and healthcare workers in several us states are dealing with a surge in cases, as the nation

struggles to control the pandemic. the state of texas has nowjoined new york, florida and california by recording more than 400,000 cases. our correspondent larry madowo has been inside a coronavirus unit in the city of houston. please, come in. welcome to the covid unit. drjoseph varon is chief of critical care here. most of the hospital has been taken over by coronavirus patients. this old ward was converted into a covid—only icu but, within a week, they ran out of space and expanded. they now have three covid units. ummc is a small community hospital. 80% of the patients they see don't even have health insurance, and the doctors say it's all about timing. if they came any later, many of them would not make it. dr varon is conducting a procedure called a tracheostomy. they're boring a hole in this man's neck to insert a tube

into his windpipe to save his vocal chords. he's been here for two weeks and, if they don't do this, he may never speak again, even if he recovers. i've never seen an illness that is so tricky. every day, i get surprised with corona. every day, there is a new thing, something new comes out. the days are long and lonely for the patients here, with no family or visits allowed. the patients can only identify who's attending to them by the pictures hanging on their necks. we're going to go and see christina. this is one of your nurses? she's one of my nurses. nurse christina matthis was at work here when she too tested positive for covid—19. this is my other family. so, to not be out there with my family is weird. to be on this side, it's like, i'm still asking them what i can do. he's saturating. 88%, when i walked in... dr varon and the team here try to avoid the use of ventilators.

instead, they use an experimental treatment, combining commonly used drugs in a unique cocktail to combat the inflammatory damage caused by the virus. we have found from the new experience, the spain experience, the italy experience, but when you put a tube in somebody‘s throat, the chances of them leaving the hospital lesson is 20%. the chances are my patients leaving the hospital are 95%. the youngest patient isjust 18. the oldest is in her 80s. his lungs look amazing, amazing. this is a guy that was not supposed to be around. nearly 60% of the patients at the hospital are latino, and the impact on hispanics across texas is even greater. ephraim guevara, a professional chauffeur, is almost heading home, but he does not plan to return to work any time soon. he tells me coronavirus is real and people who don't take care of themselves will die. the medical team describes this as a good week. patients are improving here, but more than 1,000 people die of coronavirus every day

in the us, and cases are rising in at least 30 states. larry madowo, bbc news, houston. the second longest running musical in the west end of london and the longest running musical on broadway, the phantom of the opera, is to close. the show‘s producer cameron mackintosh announced that andrew lloyd webber‘s hit musical will shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. earlier, my colleague tim willcox spoke to sierra boggess, who played christine on broadway, at the 25th anniversary production at the royal albert hall, and in the west end, she gave her reaction to the news. i am deeply saddened as everyone is. but it brings up for me is how tragic this pandemic is that even a show like phantom of the opera cannot last because financially,

cameron so beautifully said, i work for both cameron and entering they are two incredibly generous humans and forces beyond any of our control and everyone shares this. sharing what he had to say, they agree that he had become a very wealthy man from the spectacular musicals that have gone around the world. is there no way that he could have perhaps subsidised this until the social distancing matters had been resolved? i do not know of his financial situation that is the thing that everyone thinks when someone has quite a few dollars. or pounds, as it would be. but i know cameron and if there was something that he could do, then he would've done just that. but as cameron spoke about, he made his money from the theatre and he has given all of his money into the theatre and is so generous to his actors and i know that he is someone that takes care of his performers and his staff and continues to do as much as he can.

so, it really just breaks my heart that this is the situation that we are in and in my opinion, it is of no fault of anyone's except that this pandemic that we are in and i really, really think there should be something for the arts. i always say try to get to this pandemic, try to get through this quarantine without the arts, as we have all seen, show people, where some the most resilient people and we come together, we have been singing online, we've been doing all kinds of things, filming to create anything so that people can bring people joy, can bring people some type of relief from the sadness, the devastation that everyone is experiencing health—wise orfinancially, everyone is in such a difficult place and so, try to do that, try to feel better without some type of figuring or any type of the arts, there must be some financial support. the british government has made

£1.5 billion available, i do not know what is happening for you over there, but presumably, it has been devastating for you and fellow singers as well and just an answer to that and if you would, because we have a few seconds left, could you sing this out? i can sing you... # the phantom of the opera is here inside our minds.# the nominations are out for tv‘s top awards: the emmys. this year's nominees were announced in a live stream virtual event in los angeles. olivia colman has one nomination for her role as the queen in the crown. the watchman leads the way with 26 nominations. three paintings by the street artist banksy have been sold at auction in london for more than £2.3 million that's

nearly $3 million — with proceeds going to a hospital in bethlehem. the triptych is seen as a reaction to europe's migrant crisis of the past decade. that's it for now. thank you so much were watching. —— for watching. hello. it looks likejuly is planning to leave us with something to remember it by. although if you are a fan of summer heat, this all may be to little too late. but friday, the last day ofjuly, it is going to be a hot one for many of us. and it's quite a transformation this week from what we had at the start of the week with low pressure and strong winds, rain, high pressure building, and although low pressure will bring a bit more rain back to some of us before the week is done, it is the position of these pressure systems here which will allow the wind to turn around to a south southeasterly for friday, drawing up that heat, lifting those temperatures, it's not out of the question the uk could record its highest temperature of the year so far on friday.

we will get to all of that as we go through the forecast. clearly we are not there yet. and for wednesday, it will be a little bit warmer out there. the winds are lighter and many places will be dry, these are starting temperatures. it will be cooler than this in rural spots of some of us in single figures as the day begins and it's still quite windy in the northern isles, parts of northern scotland, but the wind will ease further during the day and we will lose any outbreaks of rain as it become drier into the afternoon. for many places, it will be dry. best of sunny spells probably in southern scotland and northern england, quite a bit of cloud around, temperatures a little bit higher. and you notice we do have a weather system that will bring some rain towards northern ireland to end the day, some patchy rain affecting parts of wales and northwest england as well. it mayjust ease for a time and notice some heavier rain overnight pushing into northern ireland and on thursday, that is going to spread north across scotland, we're ahead of it with the clear skies and it will be chilly for some of us as thursday begins. here goes the rain on thursday. clears northern ireland, again quite heavy in places,

then pushes across scotland. for england and wales, look at this. a lot of sunshine to come. the wind going around to that south southeasterly and the temperatures are heading up. it does get hotter on thursday and that heat is more widespread by the time we get to friday, and in northern ireland, it will be close to the weather front here. so, not particularly hot. we will see a bit of rain to end the day. we can't rule out a thundery shower into parts of eastern england as well. and notice how the temperatures come right back down again at the start of the weekend. that is because the system bringing some rain in northern ireland to end friday is a cold front which moves east across the uk for the weekend as it turns much cooler again.

this is bbc news. the headlines: joe biden has promised to spend tens of billions of dollars to help boost opportunitues for black, latinx and native american businesses if wins the election in november. mr biden sharply criticised president trump, accusing him of intentionally stoking the flames of division and racism. us attorney general william barr has defended the deployment of federal agents to cities, saying they are needed to counter violent rioters. in testimony to congress, mr barr said anti—racism protesters in portland, oregon, are committing "an assault on the government of the united states. " britain's prime minister, borisjohnson, warned there are signs of a "second wave" of coronavirus in europe, as he defended a 14—day quarantine on travellers from spain. he said the government had

to take swift action and hinted there may be further quara ntines for holiday—makers. in germany, police are searching a garden