this is bbc news: i'm samantha simmonds 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. the united nations warns thousands of refugees and migrants trying to reach europe continue to die on theirjourneys. the hajj pilgrimage to mecca begins but is dramatically scaled back owing to the coronavirus pandemic. and, the village in italy going the extra mile to encourage visitors.

the democratic party presidential contender joe biden has unveiled his plan to address economic disparities in america's minority communities. 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. our north america correspondent, peter bowes, joins me live now. tell us more about whatjoe biden has been saying. joe biden really is ramping up his campaign, turning up the rhetoric against donald trump. he also said that he will be announcing his running mate as early as next week, it could even be on saturday, but he has been focusing on his economic policies, helping people of colour in those impoverished communities that he believes have been ignored by the

president. $30 billion is the pricetag on his plan, investing in low income housing and also helping those businesses, small businesses especially run by african—americans and hispanics, but he also turned his thoughts to the coronavirus and he had this to say about the president. donald trump faces a real test and he has failed at. the basic threshold of being president. the duty to ca re of being president. the duty to care for the entire country. notjust his care for the entire country. not just his re—election prospects. he has shown that he cannot 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 laying into president trump there. meanwhile,

president trump has had more to say about hydroxychloroquine, talking about his belief in it again which is extremely controversial, isn't it? hello yeah, and this in the same 2a hours that his eldest son was kicked off twitter for a hours that his eldest son was kicked off twitterfor a period of time because he had sent out some misleading information that we know that the us food and drug administration has revoked its permission for this drug hydroxychloroquine to be used by the president again insisting that he believed in it, he says he has spoken to some doctors and as far as he is concerned, he has himself taken it, he believes it is worth trying. just think it is extremely good, some people don't, i think it has 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 works in the early stages,

frontline medical people believe that to. some. many. so we will take a look at it. meanwhile, peter, the us daily death toll is up again, its highest in nearly two and a half month. the numbers are looking really grim stopping nearly 150,000 people have died in this country from coronavirus. florida seeing its highest daily increase in the number of cases and there is a real sense now that this country is, at least in part, in the sunbelt states like warwick, texas, arizona, that it is losing control of covid—19 and there is a real difference between what you hear from the white house, the relatively optimistic tone of president trump and what we are hearing on the ground, especially from the hospitals and some of those hardest—hit state. peter both there. let's get some of

the day's other news. random blood tests carried out by the municipal authorities in india's financial capital, mumbai, show that 57% of those living in the city's crowded slums have had the coronavirus. the comparable figures for those who do not live in slums are much lower. mumbai is one of the world's largest cities and a very large portion of the population live in slums. drones are being used to fly coronavirus tests and blood samples around an israeli hospital. they deliver samples from the coronavirus ward, at one end of the dorot hospital in netanya, to laboratories at the other end. it's hoped medicines and supplies may soon be delivered by drone from pharmacies to hospitals. the operator of australia's dreamworld theme park on queensland's gold coast has pleaded guilty to safety breaches over a water ride malfunction that killed four people in 2016. they died almost instantly when their raft collided with another and overturned, crushing them. each of the three charges levelled against the company carries a maximum penalty of aud$1.5 million. the case is due to be heard

in court in september. international scientists are converging this week on the south of france to begin assembling what some call the "world's largest puzzle". it's a massive machine designed to generate huge amounts of power through nuclearfusion. alanna petroff has the details, as construction gets underway. it's a big project. the ambition is even bigger. create clean, green, unlimited energy using nuclear fusion. about 1 million components will be used to create this system in the south of france. it's the ultimate science experiment, 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 a 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 greenerfuture. alanna petroff, bbc news.

thousands of refugees and migrants trying to reach europe continue to perish on theirjourneys to africa's meditteranean coast, that's according to a new report by the united nations. released a day ahead of the world day of people trafficking, the report estimates that at least 72 people die each month on routes from west and east africa up towards libya. that makes it one of the deadliest migration routes in the world. of the people that attempt the mediterranean crossing, more than 6,200 refugees and migrants have been returned to libya so far this year alone. the situation has been further compounded by the coronavirus pandemic. on monday maltese authorities announced that at least 65 people rescued from a rubber dingy north of libya have tested positive for covid—19. many suffer sexual violence, torture and forced labour. here's the testimony of one somali refugee who spoke to the unchr.

vincent cochetel, special envoy of the unhcr for the central mediterranean, joins me now live from geneva. thanks very much for being with us on thanks very much for being with us on bbc world news. while these numbers are significant,

they are dramatically down on they are dramatically down on the peak of the migration crisis a couple of years ago aren't they, why is that, did you think? thank you very much for having me on the programme. the numbers are down because you have more border control on 43 african countries have closed their border in the wake of the pandemic. was going to ask how is the coronavirus pandemic playing into these migrants trying to make it across the seas? for most refugees and migrants it exacerbates the situation. we believe that there are more people moving towards north africa. doesn't mean they will have intention to cross to europe by c. many see north africa a country of final destination. what about the pandemic, how is that affecting migration camps? mainly because people have lost their livelihoods, so people are in much more vulnerable situations, especially outside

camps, so situations, especially outside camps, so they've lost their livelihood and they have to compete more seriously with local people. sometimes they have realised that during the coronavirus they were not included in the response of the official authorities. we have seen official authorities. we have seen a official authorities. we have seen a rise in acts of xenophobia against people, some of them think mobility is a last resort for them. you think that significant numbers of these migrants being returned back to their original destination is having an impact, is deterring people from trying to make these dangerous crossings? yes and no. for some of them, it has an impactand we no. for some of them, it has an impact and we see it in some communities and of course we need to prevent regular dangerous journeys for both migrants and refugees, but the driver of forced displacement isa driver of forced displacement is a complex one is moving out of his country for a reason of personal convenience. it is really something they really

are choosing from the start. the same applies to when a person moves to a country of first asylum. 85% of refugees are in the first country they arrive to but sometimes they come stay and so they move. but the focus should not be on just preventing them from moving. it should be on better programming and seriously tackling the programme dominic problem of human trafficking. 0k, thank you very much forjoining us. stay with us here on bbc news, still to come, we crossed a hospital or doctor say they have a new way of treating covid—19. 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. this is 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. the united nations warns thousands of refugees and migrants trying to reach europe continue to die on theirjourneys. a new report is released ahead of the world day of people trafficking. the annual muslim hajj pilgrimage to mecca in saudi arabia is beginning with drastically reduced numbers because of the coronavirus pandemic. normally more than two million pilgrims from all over the world take part but this year only around ten thousand saudi residents will perform the five—day ritual. here's bbc arabic‘s hanan razek. call to prayer. this year we will not be a thing thousands of muslims looking to the city. just like everything else the muslim pilgrim to hajj has been affected by covid—19. yes, saudi arabia has allowed a very limited number of residents to

observe hajj this year and we talking about a number between a thousand to a few thousand people. arguably, this years hajj will be like unlike any other as pilgrims along with organisers will have to wear face mask that all time. the author have to observe social distancing between prayers. 0ne of the main rituals were author change. it is calling this toning where they throw stones at different walls symbolising the defeat over evil and this year authorities will provide previously disinfected pebbles for pilgrims and allow no more than 50 people to do so at the same time. along with all of this, there will be checkpoints at the entrances of the holy sites, accommodation and assembly points, to check the temperatures of pilgrims to see if they developing any temperatures. yes, many might

think that pilgrims this year are luckier because they will be able to enjoy rituals without the usual massive crowds but there will also be things they will not be allowed to do. for example, touching or kissing although it is not part of the ritual, so many people do it to get the blessing. this year, it will not be allowed for obvious reasons. and every pilgrim will have to bring with them their own prayer mat as those in the holy mosque will be lifted to help curb the spread of the virus. saudi arabia is a wealthy oil country and the decision to stop millions of pilgrims from coming this year means it will lose around $12 million driven from hajj, a big hit to an economy already struggling over the last three years since the drop in the oil price. dr zahra jamal is associate director of the boniuk institute for religious tolerance at rice university, and joins me from houston.

what impact will this decision have on muslims around the world and their relationship with saudi arabia? i think that many were aggrieved to learn there were several changes to there were several changes to the journey to hajj. there were several changes to thejourney to hajj. 0ne there were several changes to the journey to hajj. one of the sacraments of this law is the sacramental quality of life and its protection so it is the most islamic thing i'm of them can do to a pandemic is to not go on hajj and stayed home and so in that regard they are quite happy with the fact that the saudi arabia government has decided to put restrictions. do they seem like the right restrictions? they are very detailed? they do but this is a

virus we know little about because there are multiple trait that it strains it is difficult to track and trace and we have no means of eradication and i think having this level of biometric data is very beneficial to medical professionals globally we can learn more about it so i think it's worthwhile. we are hearing in that report about the huge financial loss saudi arabia will take because of the lack of people that will be there. 0bviously saudi arabia is a very oil rich country, will this affect them economically? certainly, there will be repercussions for them as a major part of their income and at the same time the kingdom has been very generous so this yearfor has been very generous so this year for example none of the pilgrims have to pay their own way. the saudi arabia government is paying for the meals and accommodations and transport for all of the pilgrims. there have been issues in the past with the huge numbers of people that are taking part in the hajj with most year crushing people and

dying because of overcrowding and other issues. do you think now that there will be such a scale back hajj this year that will have a knock—on effect on future years? good question. my senseis future years? good question. my sense is that once we are in a post pandemic phase, probably not. the saudi arabia government has put a lot of effort and energy into expanding the space about justice around the kaaba and 2020 was meant to see up to 3 million pilgrims before the pandemic hit. in off—peak yea rs, pandemic hit. in off—peak years, up to 15 million pilgrims are up to be seen so i think we will see an expansion of the numbers going forward after the pandemic. interesting. thank you for being with us, doctor. my pleasure. hospitals and healthcare workers in several us states are dealing with a surge

in coronavirus 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. 0ur 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 are less than 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. one of the industries hit hardest by the coronavirus lockdown was tourism. travel was forbidden and pretty much all destinations were shut down. in some places, things are slowly getting back to normal, and one town in italy is going the extra mile to attract holidaymakers, as the bbc‘s tim allman explains. these are the parts of italy you have never heard of, they are beautiful. this is the village of san geovanni, a few hours from rome, pretty, picturesque and completely free of charge. visitors can come here and not pay a penny for their accommodation. translation: in reality we did not expect the success. we have

received requests from brazil, bogota, france and germany, everybody informed us. your bed cost you nothing. your board is a different matter. the idea is local businesses will make money from the extra visitors, spending plenty of euros and who knows? maybe next year they will come back. translation: it works for everyone, for bars and restau ra nts. everyone, for bars and restaurants. 0ther everyone, for bars and restaurants. other towns shall participate. it would bring in more people and it would work for more people. 40 families are being offered week long stays and the chance to discover one of italy less familiar areas. it is very beautiful. it offers many different things. lush nature, i could college oocytes, churches and museums — archaeological sites. the steam ru ns archaeological sites. the steam runs until the beginning of 0ctober runs until the beginning of october and they say there is no such thing as a free lunch. free holiday is a different

matter. —— the deal runs until the beginning of october. this gives emmy awards were announced and olivia has won a nomination with her lead in the crown. the queen has received 26 nominations. a rembrandt self—portrait has sold at sotheby‘s for more than $18 million. it's the first face—to—face sale at the auction house since the pandemic began. 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 go to a hospital in bethlehem. the triptych is usually seen as a reaction to europe's migrant crisis of the past decade. that is it from me for the

moment. i will be back shortly with all the days stories. see you shortly. you can reach me on twitter, i'm @ samanthatvnews. 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 with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. coronavirus has decimated the dining industry, we look at how heavyweights mcdonalds and starbucks have weathered the pandemic. flying through turbulent times — with the aviation industry in crisis we assess what the future holds for troubled giant boeing. and buy it, sell it, ebay it — we hear from the firms uk boss about how the site has become a home for lockdown entrepreneurs.

with sit—down restaurants off the menu for a number of months, mcdonalds and starbucks both reported a double digit fall in sales in the three months between april and june. the impact of the pandemic on the industry is hard to overstate — in the us alone more than a quarter of alljob losses due to the coronavirus outbreak have been in the hospitality and catering sector. the boss of the global restaurant booking app 0pen table meanwhile predicts that one in four restaurants worldwide will not be able to re—open after the virus has been dealt with. with more here's our north america business correspondent michelle fleury. starbucks and donalds have reported their earnings. starbucks said that it thought conditions easing despite the fa ct conditions easing despite the fact that coronavirus cases are still rising in the united states, most of stores are now open and that has helped it. it did report a sharp decline in sales, in fact a 38% drop in

revenue but that was slightly better than analyst had been forecasting and as a result of that shares traded slightly higher after they reported their results. it with a slightly different story at mcdonald's, the fast food giant said that its results also were hit by the pandemic. it saw sales internationally were down just shy of 24% on a comparable basis. the problem they had was that that was worse than a nalyst that that was worse than a na lyst ha d that that was worse than analyst had been forecasting and so as a result of that share price fell quite sharply. there were some interesting comments from mcdonald's executives afterwards, though, and they said that they thought this quarter represented the trough, in other words they thought that this was the worst or as bad as it was going to get for them and that here on and things would start to look up. and in both cases, you see that drive—through has played a key role in how they have managed to navigate the

pandemic. that being able to continue to serve through their drive—through while there in dining options were closed, that really helped sustain the business in both cases. boeing, the commercial aerospace giant, reports second quarter earnings on wednesday and the numbers are likely to be less than stellar. boeing delivered just 20 commercialjets in the last three months — the lowest number in over 40 years. on top of all that, the company's 737 max jet has been grounded since march 2019, following two fatal crashes. joining me now is charles williams, publisher and editor of aircraft commerce. welcome to you, thanks very much for being with us. i guess airlines aren't expected to recover for quite airlines aren't expected to recoverfor quite some airlines aren't expected to recover for quite some years from this pandemic. do you think anyone is going to be buying a plane in the near future? no, they are not. at the start of the year, there we re the start of the year, there were 22,000 jetliners and

operation. that number claims each year, by the way. between march and may, about 60% of those in draft were parked, so manufacturers like boeing and co nsta ntly manufacturers like boeing and constantly delivering aircraft normally to replace old ones but also adding aircraft for growth, and that process has now stopped, not only stopped but been put in reverse by the pandemic. when you say put in reverse , pandemic. when you say put in reverse, what has happened to boeing's production line? more than half the fleet is not operating, it is grounded. that we are continuing to produce aircraft at a lower than normal rate in anticipation that the pandemic will come to an end. 0bviously, pandemic will come to an end. obviously, you just can't stop and lay everybody off, it's very difficult to restart again. it's easier to keep manufacturing aircraft at a lower rate and hold them for

the future. what about as far as aircraft are being engineered for the future, is the pandemic having any impact on that while we look at airlines trying to put in place some sort of social distancing measures which is increasingly difficult, but will that have a knock—on for future aircraft, do you think? no, you can't operate aircraft economically with low occupancy rates. you need 80% of the seats filled to break even, in most cases. there's not much you can do about social distancing. ok, thanks very much forjoining us, telling us about more about boeing and its future. as devastating as the coronavirus pandemic has been for many people, some have used their time in lockdown to start a business. new data out today from ebay uk shows a big jump in new companies joining the platform in the last month, up 335% compared to a year earlier. joining me now is rob hattrell, vice president of ebay uk.

welcome to you, good to see you. so, are these people who have studied new businesses, other clearing out all the old junk or is this actually knew people starting up a new business which they see going into the long—term ? business which they see going into the long-term? i think it's much more the latter. 0n ebay we have nearly 300,000 professional business sellers, these are men and women up and down the country in the uk who run their own businesses that sell items to customers across the uk, and what we saw really is too phenomenal. 0ne the uk, and what we saw really is too phenomenal. one is this notion of a lockdown start—up, people start up a new business, they put a lot of intensity in things like fitness, diy, health and beauty, with people of spotted opportunities in the market but we also saw people, existing retail premises, stores that they were forced to shut through the pandemic, and then turned to online as a

route to find additional sources of income and the sellers that i took to have done that find that as a great asset to complement their existing store portfolio, so we are seeing genuine businesses starting up but are they actually making any money, these new businesses? their growth is phenomenal, we signed up growth is phenomenal, we signed up nearly three times as many as we do ina up nearly three times as many as we do in a normal period and that surely accelerated. did businesses run a very different cost basis as some of the additional retailers. they can access supply chains in a way that some bigger businesses can't and it gives them a creativity and an edge to respond to consumer trends as they change. i was going to ask you about those supply chains, with so much productivity put

on hold, and difficulties getting things from abroad, how are they accessing these products that are proving so popular? many supply chains we re popular? many supply chains were disrupted but not totally disrupted, so they continue to work. there's a lot of manufacturing still here in the uk, so businesses are able to create products that customers wa nt create products that customers want and those products are in demand worldwide, so the sellers who are on the platform of the uk, over two—thirds of them exported internationally in the middle of the pandemic isa in the middle of the pandemic is a many of those supply chain flows both in and out of the uk kept working, and have allowed them to continue to sell. 0bviously them to continue to sell. obviously it's good news for you that these companies are setting up online but what about the high street? there's pros and cons to this, isn't there? my view is that this is not a zero—sum game. there are

obviously continued challenges in the high street but the truth is the answer to the retail sector and retail in the long run is a combination of both online and physical presence. we have lots of sellers, speak to them a lot who have existing premises, who have used online to supplement their income, and is those that have started out entirely on ebay and have gone and created stores on the high street. i don't personally prescribed to the notion that this is one of the notion that this is one of the other, i think in the long run this is blending the two and we imagine a new version of the high street which probably looks a bit different in the future but certainly delivers and enables smes. what advice would you give to anybody watching who has been inspired by what you have to say and wa nt to by what you have to say and want to set up their own ebay business. talk to us, it is still free to list and trade on ebay, have the confidence, give us ebay, have the confidence, give usa ebay, have the confidence, give us a call, we can set you up and get you up and running in about two or three days of

stopping the truth is it's daunting as it seems. try to experiment and find your gap in the market, there is plenty of opportunity out there for you. ok, thanks very much for being with us. breakfast cereal is not a meal that you usually associate with having on the go, but one company in the uk broke into the market by bringing take away breakfast directly to the customer. now moma foods makes more than $6 million every year. the bbc spoke to its ceo about the secrets of its success. got kicked out of a couple of transactions by the police for loitering, there were definitely some moments going on. when i started, i thought there was a gap on the market for healthy, filling on the go brea kfast, healthy, filling on the go breakfast, so my idea was to sell to people directly on their way to work. let's just

sell a breakfast in places that are busy at breakfast time. a spent several months in transactions counting the number of people walking by, so i could get sufficient footfall to have a pitch that would be viable in the morning, and i got kicked out of a couple of translations by the police. first store was filing cabinet on wheels. we used to start work at half past two in the morning, load up the store, get to the train station, sell the product. with any business, when you are setting up, the first thing you do as you get a bit of credibility and makes it easy to get that next step, then you get more credibility which makes it easy to go on further than that. we got our first site which enabled us to get a second site and so on. then we got into bigger supermarkets, waitrose and so on and then we got into virgin atlantic quite

early on, so it gets easier and easier the more you do because you build up that credibility. making me think more and more about breakfast, surely it must be time! very shortly. australia is one country that closed it international borders early, to try and contain the coronavirus. now, the government says they'll remain closed for a significant amount of time to help the country maintain its status as an "island sanctuary" from the disease. so, how is it impacting business? from sydney, phil mercer reports. covid—19 has turned australia into a fortress. its borders we re into a fortress. its borders were shipped to foreigners in march, helping to contain the disease, but inflicting enormous economic harm. last year, almost 9 million overseas travellers arrived in australia. the biggest group was from china. during the pandemic, that lucrative trade has dried up, leaving businesses on the brink of collapse. travel agents worry that even when the borders are

reopened, tourists might still stay away. our income has been stopped since maybe february. as you can see, many people are out of a job, maybe people with income reductions. sol out of a job, maybe people with income reductions. so i don't think people have enough confidence to spend their funds on travel, on a leisure trip. many hostels that rely on international backpackers are hanging on, but onlyjust. this is the toughest it has ever been for the industry, so of course we have slashed prices, which everybody has had to do. we will survive, but it's sad that other businesses won't survive copy the new's international airport has been the gateway to australia, but look at it now. there is hardly anyone here. there are still some flights in and out but not that many. australia needs to reconnect with the rest of the world, but reopening its international borders will be a massive challenge. 0nly

citizens and permanent residents can return to australia. they face mandatory hotel quarantine, but numbers are limited and travellers must pay for their own accommodation. large—scale immigration which has fuelled prosperity can only take off again when the borders are open. it's important for our economy and our integration into the region. economically, we know that migration and an outward looking attitude can often lead to entrepreneurialism and new discoveries in business and science so that is going to be important for us in the economy in the future. it could be a long haul before australia fully opens up to the rest of the world be the government has warned that the borders will stay closed for a very significant amount of time. let's get some of the day's other news. on wednesday, four of the biggest names in tech will give evidence to members of the us congress. mark zuckerberg, the head of facebook, sundar pichai,

the head of google, tim cook, the head of apple and jeff bezos, the head of amazon will all be grilled. mr bezos, the world's richest man, has never testified before either house and all four men have never all been questioned together. the chief executive of heathrow airport has called on uk ministers to help ease quarantine restrictions on passengers, by testing them on arrival. john holland—kaye says he believes the scheme could be up and running in a fortnight. the uk prime minister has warned that quarantines could be applied to further countries, if there are more spikes in covid—19 cases. mackenzie scott, the ex—wife of amazon boss jeff bezos, says she has given $1.7bn to charity since the divorce. she made donations to historically black us colleges, climate change groups and health organisations. miss scott is the second—richest woman in the world, with a fortune of more than $62bn, according to forbes. stay with us on bbc

news, still to come: all quiet in the city of london. the square mile faces uncertainty as workers remain at home. a further 1.5 million children should be brought into the free school meals programme, while poorer youngsters should also be fed during the school holidays, according to a new government—ordered review. the national food strategy said urgent government action is needed in the face of the covid—19 pandemic, and described the country's diet as a "slow—motion disaster". the study proposes an expansion of free school meals to every child where a parent is receiving universal credit. trade union unite wants it will enter industrial action after the news that ba will cut more

jobs. ba insists that changes are jobs. ba insists that changes a re necessary jobs. ba insists that changes are necessary because the pandemic is left the airline in crisis. coming up at six o'clock on breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin will have all the day's news, business and sport. this is 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. the united nations warns thousands of refugees and migrants trying to reach europe continue to die on theirjourneys. a new report is released ahead of the world day of people trafficking. in many parts of the united kingdom there's been a gradual return of shoppers to the high street and more people back at the workplace in stark contrast to the empty streets, railway stations and city skyscrapers of central london.

many big employers are telling staff to stay at home and with theatre land closed and many hotels, bars and shops still not open, london's vibrant centre is facing an uncertain future. our business correspondent emma simpson reports. piccadilly circus, usually buzzing. london attracts the crowds but they disappeared overnight during lockdown. busy stations with commuters, they were deserted, too. the city emptied as workers stayed home. but look at it now, the big firms aren't rushing to bring their office workers back any time soon. not good news if you rely on them for a living. they used to serve coffees by day here and cocktails at night and they are not sure when they can reopen. they chose to put their offices in the city, in london bridge, in kings cross because there is whole ecosystem to support them. you know, because they can go to the bars and the restaurants and the drycleaners and the pubs and it's a great

place for their employees to be. but unless they come back soon, none of those businesses will be there so they will be coming back to an empty office building with no where to get lunch. the shoemaker, the italian, the pub and pret, they are all still closed. many of our cities have yet to bounce back, but london's problems are particularly acute. here in the financial district, it's normally a bustling, economic powerhouse but itjust feels so eerily quiet. in central london, footfall is still down 69%. hello. cabbies always have a good idea what's going on. michael has been one for 21 years. today, he's had just fivejobs in 11 hours and is now thinking of giving up for good. i don't think it will recover from this. i don't think these office blocks here will ever be full again. people are getting used to working at home because there no—one the streets. no—one at the stations, no—one in the hotels,

obviously the theatres are closed. no tourists. next stop, the tower of london to meet a professional tour guide whose income has dried up. how does this compare to say this time last year? it is not comparable, you cannot compare. the summer season is, you could work almost every day but three months. i work with american tourists and all of my work was completely cancelled. over in the west end they are now cancelling this long—running musical permanently. not viable with all of the restrictions. people are out though, and there is hope. london is the greatest city in the world. we need to remember that we are a resilient city, we are a strong city but it is important everyone feels confident getting back onto the high street, getting back into restaurants and pubs and supporting the businesses that are the backbone of our city. there are reminders of

the challenges are everywhere in a city that is trying to adapt and find a way through. emma simpson, bbc news, central london. time now for an update with our sports team. hello, i'm gavin ramjaun and this is your wednesday sport briefing. the miami marlins have had all their week's games postponed by major league baseball, after the coronavirus outbreak in the squad days after the season began. the team have at least 17 confirmed cases of covid 19, following a series of games in philadelphia against the phillies played at the weekend. the phillies are also affected. they won't play until friday at the earliest. both sides now have a job on their hands, making up those games, in this shortened season. stuart broad is celebrating his 500th test wicket for england, after their win over west indies on tuesday. broad becomes only the fourth pace bowler, and second england player afterjames anderson to reach the landmark. england came from behind to win the series 2—1 at old trafford, taking the deciding

test by 269 runs. broad taking 10 wickets across both innings and said while there were no fans in attendance, he was happy his dad, former england international chris broad, could be there. in this environment, it is weird not having fans and stuff. i've had so many people supporting me, coming to games on good days and bad days and it's a shame not to have family and friends to share the moment with. i do have dad here is quite unique and special and to have dad much refereeing is pretty cool! there are still matches in serie a this week — inter milan, moved back up to 2nd place in the table. they beat napoli two goals to nil on tuesday at the san siro. danilo d'ambrosio got the opener in the first half for them. lautaro martinez completed the win with around 15 minutes to go. inter had already qualified for the champions league. atalanta briefly rose above inter in the table after coming from behind to beat parma. ruslan malinovsky and alejandro

gomez with both their goals in the second half, atalanta winning 2—1. lazio have the chance go level with atalanta in 3rd, in serie a on wednesday. they take on second from bottom brescia, in one of 8 top flight games in italy. ciro immobile will be hoping to pull further clear, in the race for italy's golden boot. the italian international is top scorer with 34 goals so far this season, his nearest challenger is juve's cristiano ronaldo on 31. the draw for the world snooker championship gets undewrway in the next few hours. judd trump will be defending his title in very different circumstances when the event gets underway on friday. the championship is one ofjust a handful of uk sporting events to be played in front of spectators since the pandemic. but their number of fans will be limited and the players will be separated by plastic screens. and, while he waits for a date to fight

dereck chisora, former cruiserweight champion 0leksandr usyk has been keeping himself in shape, with some traditional dancing, during training. the ukrainian posted some of his finest footwork social media, and you can see he has the rhythm! usyk and chisora were due to fight in may but was postponed due to the pandemic, and could be rearranged for later this year. you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but, from me, gavin ramjaun, and the rest of the sport team, that's your wednesday sport briefing. a reminder of top stories, the democratic us contender, joe biden has promised to invest billions of dollars for black, latino and native american

businesses if you win the election in november. —— if he wins the election. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @ samanthatvnews. 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.

good morning. welcome to breakfast with dan walker and louise minchin. 0ur headlines today: a call for coronavirus tests at airports to reduce the time travellers spend in quarantine — this morning we hear from the chief executive of heathrow. it comes as one senior scientist appears to back the prime minister's warning that cases are on the rise in europe. what's actually happening is that there is virus, which had stopped being transmitted so widely because of the lockdowns, has now started to reassert itself and its just coming back. if you want to change or cancel travel plans but are feeling