a very warm welcome to bbc news. my name is mike embley. our top stories: 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 is here inside our minds... we hear from a star of the phantom of the opera as coronavirus brings the curtain down permanently in the west end.

hello to you. joe biden has unveiled plans, if he wins november's election, to address the economic disparities impacting minority communities in the united states. the presidential contender for the democrats 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. the us has seen weeks of racial unrest and the pandemic has disproportionately affected black and hispanic communities. more than 30 million and counting are collecting unemployment cheques. black unemployment is at 15%, latino, 14.5%.

40% — 40% of black—owned businesses, 440,000 in total, have 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 he's failed it. the basic threshold of being president, the duty to care for the entire country, not just his re—election prospects. he's shown that he can't 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.

joe biden there. 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's become very political. i happen to believe in it. i would take it. as you know, i took it for a 14—day period. and i'm here. right? i'm here. i happen to think it's — it works in the early stages. i think front line medical people believe that, too. some, many. and so we'll take a look at it.

0ur north america correspondent peter bowes sastoe biden is now fighting back with his own brand of ha rd—hitting briefings. if you 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 flesh on the bones of what he says he will do if he wins the presidency in november, talking about help for minority communities, for housing, for small businesses, and attacking as we have just heard, the president, really in the strongest terms. and then 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.

but we have the president again insisting that 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. how he seems to be doing better than the president himself, and at one point donald trump said it seemed that nobody liked him. do we have a sense on how this is likely to play out from here on? how the president intends to fight this campaign, peter? i think we're going to see certainly more of what we saw in his news conference. it seems if the president at least believes that — and he often talks about ratings, he believes that people want to see him front and centre, as opposed to being shrouded by

his medical advisors. and 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 to avoid getting together in crowds and that kind of thing. we've seen perhaps a more subdued president perhaps realising that hill that he's still to climb in terms of this virus. as far asjoe biden is concerned, i think are going to see more of the strong attacks. he's emerging from his home where he was secluded for many weeks, he's giving these speeches. and i think we will see him repeatedly attacking the president in strong terms. one other thing to say aboutjoe biden, he confirmed that next week, it could be as early as saturday, he will reveal who his choice is for his vice president, his running mate at the election. peter bowes there. 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. the military has confirmed that two soldiers have been arrested. the murder has sparked a wave of protests over the last two weeks. drones are being used to fly coronavirus tests and blood samples around an israeli hospital for a "fast delivery". doctors say the drones deliver the samples from the coronavirus ward — located at one end of the dorot hospital in the coastal city of netanya — to the laboratories which are at the other end. it's hoped the project will open the way for medicines and supplies to be delivered from pharmacies to hospitals. the trade union unite has warned british airways it plans to move towards industrial action against the airline "with immediate effect." the two sides have been in dispute about ba's plans to cut thousands ofjobs and move remaining staff onto new contracts. ba insists changes are necessary because of the crisis the airline industry is facing as a result of covid—i9. 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. 0livia colman has one nomination for her role as the queen in the crown. the watchman leads the way

with 26 nominations, meanwhile netflix has the most nominations for a network with 160 nods. 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. 0ur 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 a0. 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 coronavirus 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. 0ur 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. do stay with us on bbc news. still to come: "ajigsaw with a million components" — scientists attempt to create a machine generating huge amounts of power through nuclearfusion. 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 opportunities 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. the us attorney general has been defending the deployment of federal agents to american cities, saying they are needed

to counter violent rioters. in heated testimony to congress, william barr claimed protesters in portland, oregon, are committing "an assault on the government of the united states". the committee, dominated by democrats, covered a wide range of controversial actions from mr barr's department of justice. julia manchester, political reporterfrom the hill, has followed william barr's testimony. well, it was a contentious marathon hearing on capitol hill between attorney general william barr and the house judiciary committee. you saw republicans very much defending barr against democrats, who really went on an all—out assault against william barr, essentially accusing him of being the president's henchman when it comes to deploying these federal troops to areas where protests have been taking place, such as portland. we also saw democrats also accusing william barr of being too easy on a number of president trump's associates, such as roger stone, who have essentially not gottenjail time despite committing crimes. so a very contentious, heated hearing with the 2020

election very much an undertone. on that point, it was kind of odd, wasn't it, 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 communities even concluded this years ago, that they had evidence that russia was interfering into the 2016 election, they had evidence they were working to interfere in the 2018 mid—term election, and that they would try to interfere in the 2020 election. so that was definitely very interesting to hear. and also, i'd like to point out tensions between the us and china are also at an all—time high right now. and there's concern the chinese may interfere as well. so it was definitely an odd comment or an odd response from attorney general barr. julia, mr barr is very associated, of course,

with a tough line against anti—racism protests, the sending in of federal agents to cities. i see the washington post is suggesting that 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's a bit of a problem, isn't there, in presenting these scenes and saying this is what you get if you vote forjoe biden, when 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 here from orlando, florida, a very critical swing state in november. and we have seen a number of ads essentially saying, you know, ifjoe biden becomes president, he's going to defund police departments and showing, you an actor portraying people essentially calling the police and getting a voicemail message. that's definitely, 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 trump is making this an issue because he is so behind in the polls. international scientists are converging this week in the south of france to begin assembling what is being dubbed — the "world's largest puzzle". it's a massive machine designed to generate huge amounts of power through nuclearfusion. people around the world have been working on this science for decades. now france — along with its international partners — thinks it's just a few years until it can prove the science works. alanna petroff has the details as construction gets underway. there's a big project. the ambition is even bigger. create clea n, ambition is even bigger. create clean, green, unlimited energy using nuclearfusion. about1 million components will be used to create this system in the

south of france. it does make the ultimate science experiments, with a pricetag of more than $23 billion. translation: imagine that this experiment is conclusive and that industrial applications follow. we will have developed a new form of energy that is nonpolluting, carbon—free, safe and practically without waste. an energy that will answer the needs of populations in all parts of the world, meet the challenges of climate change, and preserve natural resources. scientists have been inspired by the power of the sun. creating a doughnut shaped chamber that uses magnets and gas to generate and harness crazy hot temperatures. if it all works, the energy from this chamber will be able to power 200,000 homes. dozens of governments and corporations have been working for decades to make nuclear fusion have been working for decades to make nuclearfusion a reality. the project in france

isa reality. the project in france is a global collaboration between 35 countries. critics say these projects are expensive and it could be decades before widespread commercial use. but supporters say that if the science works it can be replicated around the world and light the path forward for a greener future. alanna petroff, bbc news. amber heard has spoken outside the high court in london about the libel case brought by her former husband johnny depp. she has been giving evidence. johnny depp is suing the publishers of the sun newspaper, and its executive editor, dan wootton, described him as a ‘wife beater‘, which he strongly denies. the sun says its article was true. the hearing ended today, with a judgement expected

at a later date. ms heard said she would have preferred not to appear in court. it has been incredibly painful to relive the break—up of my relationship, to have my motives, my truth, questioned, and the most traumatic and intimate details of my life with johnny shared in court and broadcast to the entire world. i stand by my testimony and now place my faith in britishjustice. amber heard outside the high court. phantom of the opera, the second longest running musical in london's west end, the longest—running on broadway, is to close. producer cameron mackintosh announced that andrew lloyd webber‘s hit musical will shut down because of the pandemic. 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. 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. it is interesting reading what cameron had to say. agreeing 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.# not quite singing us out. a rembrandt self portrait sold at sotheby‘s for over $18 million. it's the auction house's first face to face sale since the coronavirus. the portrait is one of only three left in private hands. three paintings by the street artist banksy, mediterranean sea view, sold for nearly $3 million. proceeds will go to a hospital in bethlehem. the triptych is usually seen as a reaction to europe's migrant crisis of the past decade.

much more news for you anytime on the bbc website and on our twitter feeds. thank you so much 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 too 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's 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 any 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 latest headlines: joe biden has promised he would spend tens of billions of dollars to boost opportunities for black, latinx and native american businesses if he wins the election in november. the democratic party's contenderfor the presidency sharply criticised donald trump, accusing him of intentionally stoking the flames of division and racism. the us attorney general has been defending the deployment of federal agents to american cities, saying they're needed to counter violent rioters. in testimony to congress, william barr claimed anti—racism protesters in portland, oregon, are committing "an assault on the government of the united states. " britain's prime minister has suggested there are signs of a second wave of coronavirus in europe, as he defended a 14—day quarantine on travellers from spain. borisjohnson said the government had to take swift action and hinted holiday—makers may face more quarantines.