this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm rajini vaidyanathan. president trump now says he doesn't want a delay to november's election but believes postal votes will cause problems. the uk government places restrictions on parts of england, as the coronavirus infection rate rises. american civil rights campaignerjohn lewis is laid to rest — president obama among the mourners at his funeral. nasa launches its mission to mars — a rover to retreive rock samples from the red planet.

hello and welcome. president trump's suggestion that there should be a delay to november's election has drawn immediate bi—partisan condemnation. senior republicans said the election date was set in law and wouldn't be moved; democrats called it a desperate attempt by a losing candidate. speaking at his daily coronavirus briefing a short time ago mr trump said he didn't want to see a delay in the announcement of a winner. i don't want to see an election that... so many years i have been watching elections. and they say the projected winner or the winner of the election. i don't want to see that take place in a week after november, a month after, orfrankly, with litigation and everything else that could happen, years. or you never even know who won the election. you are sending out hundreds of millions

of universal mail—in ballots. hundreds of millions. where are they going? where are they being sent to? it is common sense. you don't have to know anything about politics. a short time ago i spoke to the bbc‘s north america correspondent david willis. he told us more about what the president said about postal — or ‘mail—in‘ voting. the president making the point in that press conference that he believes that as he put it will be a disaster if the vote of the election comes down to a mail—in ballot. and it is something that he railed about on twitter. he tweeted earlier about the subject a few minutes after it was revealed that the gdp figures for the last quarter here were the worst on record. president trump making the point that saying the forthcoming election might be delayed because of

what he perceives as problems with the mail—in voting. at that prompted a storm of condemnation both from republicans, people in his own party, and from the democrats. the president responded to that by pinning the controversial tweeting in question to the top of his twitter feed, and he then doubled down on the issue a short while ago and he said "must know election results on the night of the election, not days, months or even years." this is clearly a strategy on the president's part two get on the president's part to get people talking about this issue of mail—in ballots. having said that, there is no indication whatsoever that the use of mail in voting leads to fraud as he contends with. you're talking about postal votes. which is the american term for mail—in ballots.

he also kicked off that news conference talking about something that he talks about every day which is of course coronavirus. he also lost one of his close associates, republican herman cain died of covid—i9 it was announced earlier today. he paid tribute to him. tell us more about what he said on the coronavirus. that is right. he did pay tribute to herman cain, a man who he described as a close friend on twitter. he was 7a, a businessman and a friend of the president, a man who himself ran for president briefly before dropping out of the race the last time around and he died of the coronavirus. president trump paid tribute to him and going on to reinforce arguments that he has made before about the need for schools here to reopen injust a few weeks‘ time. that despite the constenation

of a lot of teaching officials and health education officials in this country, the president saying that it has been proven that children are the least affected by the coronavirus, least likely to pass it on and he believes that it is essential for this country to get back to work, back to normal and back to school. it is a familiar refrain with him and it is very much in the face of advice not only from education leaders but also from his own health professionals. the north of england has become the latest area of europe to see tough new restrictions after a rise in cases of coronavirus. millions of peoole living in greater manchester and parts of east lancashire and west yorkshire will be banned from going to other people's houses — or gardens. sophie hutchinson has the latest. old ham, where cases of coronavirus have more than tripled in the past week. people here, and now right

across greater manchester, will be banned from visiting each other indoors as part of new restrictions to curb the sudden surge in cases. the same measures will apply to blackburn with darwen and in other parts of east lancashire, and in some areas in west yorkshire. the health secretary said the decision had been reached after high—level meetings with local officials today. we take this action with a heavy heart but unfortunately it's necessary, because we've seen that households meeting up and a lack of social distancing is one of the causes of this rising rate of coronavirus and we'll do whatever is necessary to keep the country safe. a spike in coronavirus cases in places like trafford, in greater manchester, has led to tonight's decision. initially the virus seemed to hit teenagers there, according to public health officials. now it's adults, some with young families, and it's in the better—off areas.

it's a leafy suburb so we've got lots of professional families, lots of teachers, social workers, doctors, nurses. you know, it's a very, very desirable area to live, and the areas we are seeing these positive cases in are in these households. # let's get back to where we used to be... testing is free, quick and vital... the government's new ad campaign, a push to get more people tested, figures suggest two—thirds of infected people are still being missed. but there is better news in leicester, which has seen a significant drop in infections. after a month of local lockdown many will be wondering when restrictions might be eased. but despite falls in cases, there were still 200 new infections this week, raising questions about the safety of the city. sophie hutchinson, bbc

news. a few weeks ago we were reporting that australia had put five million people back into a strict six week lockdown. no one is allowed in or out of the city. alarmingly, it doesn't seem to be working. the area reported hasjust reported its worst covid death toll and a sharp rise in new cases. the prime minister now says he'll take "whatever actions are necessary" to bring the outbreak under control. our sydney correspondent shaimaa khalil has more. soldiers driving ambulances — a sign of how serious victoria's covid—i9 crisis has become, as health workers raced to contain the spread of the virus. there were hopes that the outbreak may have peaked on monday, with over 500 infections recorded. but the latest spike in coronavirus numbers has surpassed that by nearly 200 cases. we have now been in this lockdown now for some weeks. and we are not getting the results we would hope for. and, as a result, the further measures that are taken are certainly necessary.

they will come at an impact to the economy, and so it's important that we continue to work together to get on top of this. this meat processing plant and the royal melbourne hospital have been identified as two of the many covid—i9 clusters in victoria. authorities say they are concerned about people who turned up to work, despite showing symptoms, or waiting for test results. if you are a positive case, then you need to be at home and you need to be isolating. and that is a very important message. the state is also struggling to contain more than 80 outbreaks at care homes which have claimed dozens of lives in the past few weeks, including ten in the latest figures. they're getting neglected. it is so sad that they've been locked up three weeks in one room. get them out of the room, get them into another safe place. get them to a hospital. please, help. from midnight on sunday, every person in the whole of the state will be required to wear a mask or a face covering when leaving their house, as concerns grow

about rising cases across victoria. australia was seen as a success story over a month ago. a very different picture now. with the situation in melbourne unraveling quickly and with more cases of community transmission reported here in sydney, there is a real concern that the country could be heading towards a second wave. australia's second most populous city is halfway into its six week lockdown. but it's unclear whether this will be enough time to contain an outbreak that only seems to be getting worse. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, sydney. in pakistan, officials are warning of the dangers of a spike in coronavirus cases following the eid festival later this week. hospitals in the country were overwhelmed after a rise in transmission during the last eid celebrations at the end of may, but since then infections have been declining. over the past two months, one dr in the city of lahore has been keeping a video diary

for the bbc, tracking the country's battle with the disease. secunder kermani reports. i have a duty, but i can't find the strength to go. i don't know why. on the front line against coronavirus... ..resources are stretched. for the past two months, doctor amara has filmed her fight against the disease. this is her story. so, i'm ready for my morning shift. things are definitely not getting better. in fact, they are getting worse every day.

she works at one of the largest hospitals in the country, but there are barely any free beds. the hospital looks like a scary movie right now and things are actually getting out of control. it's almost 12am. by mid june, new admissions have started to fall, but it's still a struggle to care for existing patients.

my husband contracted covid—i9. i know he'll be fine very soon, but we live with our in—laws. it's scary. it's really scary. doctor amara's test comes back negative and she continues to work. doctor amara is

cautious. conspiracy theories that medics are killing patients have seen hospitals attacked by angry relatives and made others reluctant to seek treatment. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come... nasa's new mars rover blasts off to hunt for evidence of ancient life on the red planet. cheering.

the us space agency nasa has ordered an investigation after confirmation today that astronauts were cleared to fly while drunk. the last foot patrol, once an everyday part of the soldiers‘ lot, drudgery and danger, no more after almost four decades. in a private house. not doing any harm to anyone. i don't see why all these people should wander in and say you're doing something wrong. six rare white lion cubs on the prowl at the park and already have been met with a roar of approval from residents. they are lovely and really sweet. they are cute.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines. after suggesting november's us presidential elections should be postponed donald trump now says he doesn't want a delay but believes postal votes will cause problems. parts of the north of england have restrictions reimposed after a rise in cases of coronavirus. three former us presidents have been paying tribute at the funeral of the congressman and civil rights campaigner, john lewis. barack obama — who delivered the eulogy — said he owed a great debt to mr lewis and his vision of freedom. congressman lewis was the son of an alabama farmer who represented the state of georgia in congress for more than three decades. aleem maqbool has more. singing. they came together to honour a man whose activism helped bring about some of the biggest strides forward in american democracy in generations.

# shall not be in vain... to pay their respects tojohn lewis, three former presidents travelled to his final farewell. he has been called an american saint. a believer willing to give up everything. even life itself to bear witness to the truth drove him all of his life. that we could build a world of peace and justice, harmony, and dignity and love. it wasjohn lewis who lead marches on what became known as bloody sunday. an act for which he was brutally beaten but ultimately lead to new laws meant to end voter racial discrimination. but his whole adult life was devoted to bringing about change. barack obama's often talked ofjohn lewis as a hero. in his eulogy, he talked of their last conversation, about the recent protests

following george floyd's death. he could not have been prouder to see this new generation of activism standing up for freedom and equality. a new generation that was intent on voting and protecting the right to vote. in some cases, a new generation running for political office. and i told him, "all those young people, john, of every race, and every religion come from every background, every gender and sexual orientation, john, those are your children." they learned from your example. " in his last public appearance in june, john lewis visited the newly renamed black lives matter plaza close to the white house. he left a final essay to be published in the new york times on the day of his funeral. "in my life," he says, "i've done all i can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love, and nonviolence

is the more excellent way. now it is your turn to let freedom ring." taiwan's first democratically elected president lee dung hway has died, aged 97. he served as leader from 1988 to 2000 and is credited with turning taiwan into a democracy. our taiwan correspondent cindy sui looks back at his life. as the first taiwanese born leader and the first democratically elected president, lee dung hway will be remembered as the politician who changed the course of history for taiwan. while his predecessor is credited with paving the way for democracy, lee made it a reality. he changed laws and overhauled the legislature. in 1996, he gave taiwanese people their first free presidential election, enabling the island to become a vibrant democracy.

but lee was also criticised for provoking china. he advocated state to state relations between mainland china and taiwan. and he wanted the island to be treated as a separate country. his attempts to end taiwan's historical links with mainland china and assert its independence prompted beijing to test fire missiles near the islands ahead of the 1996 elections. in response, washington sent the biggest armada of warships to asia since the vietnam war. and to this day, the taiwan strait remains one of biggest military flashpoints in the world. in 2000, lee resigned as chairman of his party. he was widely believed to have orchestrated the defeat of his own party's presidential candidate to help the pro—independence party win. later in life, lee was criticised for his pro—japanese colonial views, which are considered outdated. he visited a japanese

shrine which honours ww2 war criminals and annoyed many taiwanese people by saying there were subjects of japan and that taiwan and japan belong to the same country and that the taiwan—claimed islands belong to japan. but his legacy on promoting democracy and distancing taiwan from mainland china continue beyond his death. cindy sui, bbc news, taipei. nasa's new robotic spacecraft is on its way to mars in a mission to search for evidence of ancient life. it will take almost seven months to travel more than 300 million miles to the red planet. it's one of three missions currently trying to make it to mars. the robot is called perseverance — named because of the difficulties of landing on its surface. engine ignition, two, one, zero. . .and liftoff. the start of a

mission... launching the next generation of robotic explorers to the red planet. ..that could finally answer the big question — was there ever life on mars? and that was to you. gone to close—loop control. the rover is called perseverance, and it's going to a region that was once covered by a lake. we now know mars had an enormous amount of water in its past. if ancient life was on mars, you know, we have a good bet that we might be able to find it in these sediments. so this is really a life—detection mission. this is the most advanced mars rover that nasa's ever built. it's about the same size and weight as a small car and it is jam—packed with instruments. this is its robotic arm, equipped with a drill and it will take samples of rock that could contain signs of life. there's also an instrument that

will try to make oxygen from the carbon dioxide rich atmosphere — a vital technology for future astronauts on mars. and for the first time, nasa will test a mini mars helicopter that will try to fly in the extremely thin martian air. it's another pair of eyes from a totally different vantage point. just being able to get to places that we simply can't get to today. like sides of steep cliffs or very steep crevices, craters, places like that that a roverjust can't rove into. i mean, we're going to need to fly. another first for this mission is that the rock samples collected will be stored and eventually brought back to earth, and some will head to the uk. hopefully, in about ten or 15 years, we'll get those rocks back from mars. more missions will be sent to bring them back and then we'll be actually able to study those pieces of mars in laboratories on earth. nasa's spacecraft is the last of a trio heading to the red planet. china and the united arab emirates are

already on their way. if they all succeed, it will mean a giant leap in our understanding of mars. rebecca morelle, bbc news. fred watson is australia's official astronomer—at—large, a short time ago he told me what was special about this mission. the spacecraft itself, the perseverance rover, looks like the curiosity rover which has been working well on mars since 2012. it's actually festering with a different suite of instruments, specifically looking for chemical evidence of past life on mars, but it also has a really strong eye to the future, carrying experiments on board that might look at the way we could live on mars perhaps in a decade or two, and most especially and perhaps most astonishing of all, it carries on board a helicopter, the very first time that we have tried to fly an autonomous helicopter on

another world. it has the name of ingenuity and that really speaks of what has gone into inventing this machine. tell us about the helicopter. when it gets to mars, what will that do? it is basically a technology demonstrator, the idea is to prove that you can fly autonomous vehicles on mars, so it doesn't carry any scientific instruments. but what it does have is a camera. it will allow the mission scientists to have a look ahead of where the rover is travelling, to look for obstacles like boulders that might be over the top of a hill or something of that sort. and to make sure that the perseverance rover can find the best pathway to its target. and that is the other reason for the helicopter. it will be looking for the best kinds of rocks to investigate with all the instruments that the rover itself carries. my my favourite story of the day. tupperware containers full of rocks back to the uk

potentially. you can find more of that store and a website and find me on twitter. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ bbcrajiniv. stay watching us here on bbc news. hello there. the heat is continuing to build across much of the country. it's going to be a short—lived heat because the wind direction changes again by the weekend. but a southerly breeze on thursday and bags of sunshine in the south lifted temperatures to 30 degrees around london. further north, you can see much more cloud where there is some rain too, only 16 in the central area for scotland. that rain is moving away and we have clearing skies and we start with these temperatures, 17 in liverpool, 18 in london, 20 or so in the channel islands where the heat is coming from. we are drawing all of that heat from france out over the channel, heading its way northwards across much of the country. that heat comes ahead of a weather front here, which is slowly pushing

in western areas through the day. so, it is not going to be hot everywhere, northern ireland likely to miss out, for example, because on that weatherfront, we have a narrow band of cloud that is going to bring some patchy rain and some of that cloud will head into the western fringes of scotland, into the west coast of wales and the far southwest of england. but ahead of that, lots of sunshine, more of a breeze perhaps for a time, but southerly and southeasterly breeze and the heat pushes northwards in the scotland. much warmer day in scotland. 28 degrees possible, widely 29, 30 degrees across england and east wells, 3a around the london area. across england and east wales, 3a around the london area. but you may notice the cloud developing into the afternoon and late in the day and into the evening, there could be showers heading across eastern parts of england and those are likely to be heavy and thundery too. the rain coming in from that band of cloud is very light and patchy area and it sweeps eastwards overnight and patchy and it sweeps eastwards overnight and out of the way by the start of the weekend. but we push away all of that heat towards germany and we introduce the atlantic breezes coming in and that means cooler and fresher air.

over the weekend, there'll be some sunshine and a few showers, but you can see here on saturday that there are not too many showers, many places will be fine and dry. you will notice a cooler and fresher feel. still, very pleasant for the eastern side of england with highs of 25 in the southeast. for the second half of the weekend, you get a fairly gentle westerly breeze for much of the country, most of the showers in the northwest of the uk, cloud amounts increasing across england and wales. but again, it is cooler and fresher throughout sunday and those temperatures continuing to slip away and this time, we're looking at higher temperatures in the southeast, around 22 celsius.

this is bbc news, the headlines. hours after suggesting a possible delay to november's presidential election in the us. president trump says he does want it to go ahead, but remained concerned that millions of postal ballots would cause problems. he says they'd lead to increased voter fraud but there's no evidence to prove the claim. the uk government has reimposed some coronavirus restrictions in parts of northern england — including greater manchester — in response to an increasing rate of transmission. the health secretary matt hancock said the spread of the virus was largely due to a failure to observe social distancing rules. the us economy has suffered its worst contraction since records began. gdp shrank at an annual rate of 32—point—nine per cent between april and june. and another one—point—four million americans filed for unemployment benefits last week.

now on bbc news. hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i am stephen sackur. in ireland, all the talk earlier this year was of a political earthquake, a radical nationalist party sinn fein won the most votes in ireland's general election. they promised to his smash the status quo. well, so much for that, in fact, ireland's two oldest parties formed a grand coalition and they are guiding the country through a global pandemic and brexit. my guest today is mary lou mcdonald, the leader of sinn fein. has her party missed their moment? mary lou mcdonald, in dublin, welcome to hardtalk.