this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm james reynolds. as india hits 4 million coronavirus cases, experts warn the pandemic could spiral out of control. even with the low death rate, if the virus continues to spread, but still means hundreds of thousands of indian lives are at risk. lebanon marks a month since the explosion that destroyed large parts of beirut killing nearly 200 people. the former australian prime minister, tony abbott, is appointed as a trade adviser to the uk, despite critics describing him as a misoygynist and a climate change denier. and barcelona superstar lionel messi changes his mind

over leaving barcelona — now he says he doesn't want to drag the spanish club into court. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. india has now registered 4 million cases of coronavirus. the country is currently recording almost 82,000 new cases per day — that's a 5—day rolling average compared with nearly a4,000 in brazil and just under 40,000 in the united states. but while india's struggle with the pandemic continues, it could also be part of the solution, as our correspondent yogita limaye reports from mumbai. another day on the covid frontline with no end in sight. dr sumit ray, who sent us this video, has been treating critical patients for months now. he's had to tell dozens of families their loved ones have died. exhaustion is beginning to wear

india's doctors down. a few weeks ago, it had seemed as though the capital was coping with the pandemic but once again now, resources are falling short. now we are seeing a second surge which is notjust in delhi, but from smaller towns around delhi. those we are not able to provide the life—support systems will die. if we have to, if we reach a point like that — that is what worries me, that is what distresses all of us as doctors. this 42—year—old succumbed to covid earlier this week. he died in pune, a relatively smaller city which is now the worst affected in india. his family says there's a shortage of facilities. "if an ambulance had been available to take him to a critical care hospital, my brother would have been alive," his sister says. india's doing more than a million tests a day but that's not been enough to curb the spread. another lockdown is not an option for an economy

already in turmoil. the government has been highlighting that the number of deaths in india, compared to the size of its population, is lower than other countries badly hit. so far, there are only speculative theories about why that might be the case, and the thing is, even at a low death rate, if the virus continues to spread, that still means hundreds of thousands of indian lives are at risk. and so, all eyes are on a vaccine, and india could be a big part of the global solution. this is a factory of the world's biggest vaccine maker. including 0xford—astrazeneca's covishield, it's already producing tens of millions of doses of five covid vaccines each month. 70% of the world's vaccine capacity is from india... i asked the company's chief executive adar poonawalla when a vaccine might be ready. it takes 3—5 years normally

to make a vaccine, and we're all rushing it. well, i think in about 2.5—3 months, there will be vaccines licensed. will they be the best vaccines? i don't know. even if the vaccine is a success, inoculating more than a billion people will need a lot of time and money. yogita limaye, bbc news, mumbai. let's get some of the day's other coronavirus news. borisjohnson has insisted that the uk is — for the most part — "proceeding as one" on coronavirus travel restrictions, despite the home nations imposing different rules on people returning from portugal and parts of greece. wales and scotland have asked arrivals to isolate for 14 days. england and northern ireland have not. new zealand says a man infected with covid—i9 has died, the first such death in the country since may. the country's health officials said the patient, who was in his fifties, was being treated for the infection in an

intensive care unit. he's the 23rd person to have died with the coronavirus in new zealand since the beginning of the pandemic. meanwhile france says it has reported nearly 9,000 new confirmed coronavirus cases, setting an all—time high of daily infections since the start of the pandemic. the number of covid—i9 patients hospitalised has also gone up, for the sixth day running. the world health organisation says it doesn't expect widespread vaccination against coronavirus rescuers in beirut have been digging through the rubble of last month's massive explosion, after a scanner suggested someone could still be alive in the wreckage. a fire in a warehouse led to a devastating blast which killed nearly 200 and left tens of thousands more without homes. probing for signs of life, deep in the rubble. hidden from view, sensitive scanning equipment in the hands of a specialist rescue team from chile. on thursday morning, they picked up what seemed to be breath sounds and for two days, they have been searching. painstaking work, much of it

done by hand, clawing away at a ruin that could collapse any second. the dust and debris being sucked out to clear a pathway to the second floor, the focus of the search. the work is continuing here hour after hour. they are trying to lift away the rubble with extreme care and they are still trying to work their way down through about five layers of concrete. some local people have been here right through the night, unwilling to leave, hoping that today of all days, a survivor might be found. the lebanese film—maker nadine labaki was one of them. she could not tear herself away. you want to believe ina miracle. ijust wanted to come — it was an instinctive reaction to just come and see and hope. because this — i think

we are all holding onto this small ray of light after everything that has happened to us. this was the signal to call for complete silence, so rescuers could scan again for signs of life. but late this afternoon, they could no longer detect any breathing. hopes of a miracle were fading as lebanon approached 1806 local time, the moment of the blast one month ago. bells toll. church bells tolled near beirut port to honour the dead. some stood in silence, remembering lost friends and colleagues. 0thers stood with ropes in their hands, a noose for the entire political leadership here. 0rla guerin, bbc news, beirut. president trump has spoken for the first time since the hospitalisation

of russia's leading opposition figure, alexei navalny. german experts say the kremlin critic — who's in a coma — was poisoned with a soviet era nerve agent. mr trump said he would look into what had happened to mr navalny — before suggesting that reporters should focus their criticism on china. so, i don't know exactly what happened. i think it's tragic, it's terrible. it shouldn't happen. we haven't had any proof yet, but i will take a look. it is interesting that everybody‘s always mentioning russia. and i don't mind you mentioning russia, but i think probably china at this point is a nation that you should be talking about much more so than russia, because the things that china's doing are far worse — if you take a look at what's happening with the world, look at what happened with the china virus. look at what they did by not keeping that within the confines of china. they should've kept it in the confines of china.

look what they've done to i88 countries all over the world. 0ur correspondent nomia iqbal is in washington with more about president trump's comments. he's not really come out and condemned russia the way other people have. he said that he had no reason to doubt germany but, as we heard there, said he would take a look at the evidence. he repeated something which he often says which is that no one has been tough on russia than him, but interestingly in that conference, he didn't criticise vladimir putin, he stopped short of doing that, which has been pretty much the pattern of his presidency and is likely to further those accusations that he is a soft touch when it comes to russia. let's stick with russia. do you remember back in 2016, russia was accused of interfering in the last us presidential election. we've got this election coming up. what role, if any, is russia playing in this election, either in terms of potential interference or simply as a topic of debate?

well, here in america, donald trump is causing a lot of confusion around postal voting, so more americans will be voting by post because of the coronavirus pandemic. donald trump doesn't like that, particularly the aspect of those ballots which are sent out to you automatically, he says it's rife with fraud, even though there is no evidence. now, the department of homeland security has said that there is evidence that russia is trying to amplify the false claims around mail—in voting. facebook and twitter earlier this week removed accounts that are linked to twitter which they say were spreading false claims about the democratic presidential candidate joe biden, and earlier this week the us government's top attorney—general william barr, he did something similar which donald trump did at the press conference, he pivoted to china and said actually, china is the country that we should all be worried about, they are the ones trying to influence the elections, but the intelligence officials here have said there is no evidence of that.

the former australian prime minister, tony abbott, has been appointed as an unpaid trade adviser to the uk government. it comes after days of pressure to rethink the plan over allegations of misogyny and homophobia. 0ur political correspondent ben wright has more tony abbott recently flew into the uk to meet ministers and face flak about his possible appointment as a trade adviser here. but today, boris johnson trumpeted mr abbott's credentials. this is a guy who was elected by the people of the great liberal democratic nation of australia! and you've been to australia — it's an amazing country, it's a freedom—loving country, it's a liberal country. um...there you go. i think - i think - i think that speaks for itself. yes, i've had some discussions with members of the british

government... the confirmation of mr abbott's appointment as an unpaid trade adviser comes after he was given a rough ride by a committee of mps earlier this week. in 2012, you said that men are "by physiology or temperament more adapted than women to exercise authority or to issue command." look, i'm not sure that i ever did say that. tony abbott is from the right of australia's raucous politics. ditch the witch! a climate change sceptic who spoke at this rally, mr abbott incurred the wrath of his political opponents for his reported views of women. he wants to know what misogyny looks like in modern australia. he doesn't need a motion in the house of representatives, he needs a mirror. and here, it is not only labour mps who have spoken out against tony abbott. he is a misogynist, he has very poor views on lgbtq rights, and i just don't think this is a man who should be anywhere near our board of trade. but now, he will be on the advisory group. this brexit—focused government

deciding that mr abbott's experience cutting trade deals for australia trumps complaints about the man's character. ben wright, bbc news, westminster. what officials are calling an exceptionally dangerous heat wave is expected to hit america's west coast this weekend, bringing with it potentially record—breaking temperatures. saturday and sunday are expected to see the mercury hit 50 degrees celsius in some parts of california, nevada and arizona, and there's an increased risk of rolling electricity blackouts and fast—moving wild fires. from los angeles, david willis reports. these other hazy, not to mention crazy days of is shaping up to be one of, if not the hottest summers on record. the last holiday weekend of the summer, traditionally the ideal chance for people here to frolic on the beach, but not this time. too dangerous. what's more, this is the eighth heatwave of its kind so far

this summer. this time however, the official warnings are as dire as perhaps they've ever been. as well as caution against what they call dangerously hot conditions, with temperatures in many cases reaching an all—time high, the national weather service is projecting inland temperatures of more than 100 fahrenheit, that's around 38 celsius, higher, much higher in several places. some of these temperatures, we just don't typically see, when we look at oui’ typically see, when we look at our forecast models, we are given an idea of what to say, what to predict for the highs. sometimes you scratch your head and go, is this really accurate, is this really going to get that hot and we're talking about those kind of temperatures. some of these temperatures. some of these temperatures could be all—time record is set for any time of the year in south—west california. as a result, officials here are bracing themselves for another bout of wildfires. the last heatwave three weeks ago sparked some of the largest in california's history, two of which are still

burning. drive—through coronavirus testing centres are closed over the weekend due to the blistering heat and capacity is limited at cooling centres such as this one because of social distancing guidelines. some have headed to coastal areas where the weather is cooler. we had the fires up also we came down here to get out of the smoke. yeah. really? you know you got the heatwave. it's a lot better than over there. what are you going to do, just ignore it? ocean. ocean, my friend. beer, shots of chilled whatever. micah, i don't know, dude. high demand forair don't know, dude. high demand for air conditioning has prompted official pleas to c0 nse rve prompted official pleas to conserve energy 01’ prompted official pleas to conserve energy or once again face the prospect of power cuts. keeping cool in california has rarely been more ofa california has rarely been more of a challenge. david willis, bbc news. this is bbc news. the headlines: india has now registered four million coronavirus cases, with record levels of

infections being broken almost every day. experts are warning the pandemic in the country, could spin out of control. a minute's silence in beirut for the victims of the massive explosion, as rescuers search the rubble for a possible survivor, one month after the blast. it's the news that barcelona fans had been praying for — 10 days after saying he wanted to leave the club, lionel messi says he's now staying. arguably the world's greatest ever footballer, he told the website, goal.com, no—one could pay the 700 million euro release clause in his contract and he didn't want to take the club he loves to court.

the president of the hotel association of the greek island of corfu has told the bbc that business will be badly affected if england imposes quarantine on people returning from greece. last year, around 40% of the 1.6 million tourists to visit the island were british. bethany bell reports from corfu.

tourists are back on the sunbed of this corfu resort. many of these people are english but these people are english but the last few days they have been worried about whether they would have to self isolate for 14 would have to self isolate for 1a days when they return home on thursday, england decided not to impose a quarantine on people returning from greece and, for now, they can relax. we're relieved, really, apart from making sense of the quarantine because, quite frankly, we are bringing the covid over here as opposed to greece being the reason for the covid spreading. it is obviously a concern because when we get back, if we do have to self isolate, you have more concerns for yourjobs and your kids who have already spent a lot of time off school at the moment. england's decision is a relief for hotel owners as

well. the president of the corfu hotel association says he waits in suspense each week to see what the government in london decides to do. hopefully they will keep that borders open without any quarantine and british people will continue to come to corfu. this year we have been very dependent on them. and we are very grateful. it is not just them. and we are very grateful. it is notjust the hotel is suffering, it is bars and restau ra nts suffering, it is bars and restaurants as well. these streets would normally be packed with people. the locals are relieved that at least some holidaymakers have been able to return but corfu is missing its tourists stop your visitors mean much more space on the island's beaches but, for the sake of the economy, locals are hoping things return to normal soon. bethany bell, bbc news. mexican schoolchildren

returned to class this week in the middle of the coronavirus outbreak but, as the pandemic remains too severe to reopen school buildings, the classes are being delivered via television. the government fears that as many as 2.5 million children may drop out of school altogether as a result of pressures caused by covid—19. our mexico correspondent, will grant, reports. in mexico, the school run has been replaced with learning at home — for some. 13 million students — from primary to high school — must tune into four private television channels for their classes. but the martinez family are among those in rural mexico with no access to the right stations. "we can only find cartoons in news," says their father. "we can only find cartoons and news," says their father. even in the capital, mexico city, studying via tv is tough. 11—year—old emiliano is trying his best, but his mother isn't convinced he's learning.

"there's no alternative with this pandemic," she says. "so we have to adapt." the results are worrying. mexico's education ministry fears as many as 2.5 million children may drop out over the coronavirus outbreak. two million more may abandon private schools and join the overstretched public system. in mexico, the dangers of leaving school early are especially bad, given the lure of the drug cartels to vulnerable young people. unicef runs programmes in cartel—controlled areas to provide tablets and online access to children who often can't leave home because of drug violence. there's really a strong need for digitisation. whether we like it or not, everything's becoming digital. it has to be a key part of school infrastructure. it has to be a key part of the educational budget. and i think the mexican government should adapt to that. they should make sure all schools will have internet access.

and there are possibilities to learn even without physical presence. for now, the government of the president has turned to his traditional enemies, the country's media moguls, to overcome the challenges. but mexico has one of the poorest education systems in the americas, and the government admits lessons may continue this way for some time. translation: we all want to return to classes and the company of friends. teachers, we miss you. however, the risk to health continues to be high. the reality of the situation has forced us to be patient. parents and children alike are desperate for things to return to normal soon, but the end isn't in sight. and the social and psychological effects of this crisis may be felt among mexico's school kids for years. will grant, bbc news. during pandemic lockdown, artists across the world have

had to think creatively. the americanjazz legend wynton marsalis managed to get dozens of musicians to reimagine one of his songs. they gave their own interpretation of a song of his encouraging everyone to wear masks. upbeat jazz music plays # i said, everybody wear that mask. # boy, you gotta wear that mask. # i said, everybody wear that mask. # boy, you gotta wear that mask. # i said, everybody where that mask. # boy, you've got to wear that mask # i said, everybody wear that mask.# a little earlier i spoke to wynton marsalis. he explained how important it was for people to listen

to one another. listening takes a lot of patience, a desire to understand a person perceived to be another. it requires the willingness to develop a greater acuity. there has to be the thought that you could perhaps be incorrect, and that there could be something to learn from listening to another person, and the desire of being part of an us instead of me versus you. i mean, i write music everywhere, but it comes from people, from life experiences. my father was a musician. i am from new orleans and people and musicians all over the world. they are deeply human things. my music is not really topical. it seems like this particular piece, it's the ever funky lowdown i wrote, is a topical piece, but it was written before the pandemic.

the movement, if we can call it, what's going on now, a movement, doesn't have central leadership. somethings will be unfocused and some things will be unintelligent. everything will help bring about the change they need in order to heal our way of life and create more economic opportunity for more people. i make one point, if you think of all the acts of corruption, they are not cenralised. there are millions of them all over the world in many sectors. so let's do the same thing when it comes to elevating our fellow citizen. 700,000 people died in the civil war. the south was able to snatch back a victory from something they lost on the battlefield. you see the segregation we have he type of discrimination we are experiencing. this ongoing battle between the states and the federal government. many dialogues that are internal to the united state are are unresolved issues from that war. do let me know what you are up

to. iam do let me know what you are up to. i am on twitter. and to stay with bbc news. hello there. it looks like we're all in for a dose of cooler, fresher weather, a good weekend for seeing some rainbows, as we saw this weekend from weather watchers in scotland. it weather watchers in scotland. could be a perfect v for it could be a perfect weather for seeing rainbows. further south milder and quite muggy for a while. it is a cooler start to friday. temperatures in the cooler skies 11 degrees. more blustery showers in scotland. back into the south—west of england and wales. a bit of light rain and drizzle. further north, brighter skies, sunshine and

showers and turning more widespread in scotland and northern ireland. philly typical temperatures. —— family. into the weekend, high pressure towards the south—west of the weekend. north—westerly wind driving in cooler air and temperatures on saturday could be lower the during day. a chilly start to the beginning of the day. showers continuing on the weekend. a few showers across northern scotland and northern ireland. they will strea m northern ireland. they will stream into north—western parts of england and wales. for the south—east, largely dry. temperatures even lower in the central belt of scotland. more showers continuing overnight. a dry day for northern ireland

and scotland. most of the showers across england and wales and some could be heavy as well. probably a degree or two higher than saturday across scotla nd two higher than saturday across scotland and northern ireland but still only making 16 degrees. showers moving away during the evening as we head into the early part of next week. some weather fronts on the scene. high—pressure into southern areas. the first few days, unsettled for northern areas. temperatures in the mid— 20s.

this is bbc news. the headlines: india has now registered 4 million cases of coronavirus, with figures reaching record levels almost every day. among the world's most affected countries, the number of new infections is growing fastest in india by some margin. india is currently recording almost 82,000 new cases per day people in lebanon have observed a minute's silence a month after a massive explosion in beirut killed almost 200 hundred people and left 300,000 thousand homeless. rescuers are continuing to search in the rubble for possible survivors after some signs of life were heard on thursday. there's been condemnation of the appointment of the former australian prime minister, tony abbott, as an advisor to the new uk board of trade. he has previously been accused of homophobia and misogyny. downing street has defended the appointment — saying that abbot negotiated trade agreements as pm.