this is bbc news — the west coast of america is unrecognisable as nearly 100 wildfires destroy whole towns and displace thousands. oregon's governor says this could be the greatest loss of human life and property to fires in state history. record—breaking temperatures and windy conditions have fuelled the flames, which have now burned through more than three million acres. the eu threatens legal action unless the uk's plans to override parts of the brexit divorce deal are withdrawn by the end of the month. britain says it won't. also in the programme... nature in freefall. the new report warning humans are wiping out wildlife at record speed. and keep your voice down to stop the spread of coronavirus. it's going to be quite the challenge for some of us.

hello, i'm jane o'brien in washington, christian fraser is in london. it is hard to see a way through the latest brexit crisis. at an emergency meeting in london today the eu demanded an explanation. why is the uk government preparing domestic legislation that over rides parts of the withdrawal agreement it signed last year? the uk argued that it needs assurances, a safety net, that will guarantee the northern ireland peace process in the event of no deal. the eu is not persuaded. they are demanding that clauses in the legislation that refer specifically to northern ireland be dropped by the end of this month. they are not explicit as to what will happen if they are not dropped. but the implication from chief negotiator michel barnier this afternoon was pretty clear.

just one word. trust and confidence are and will be key. are they being deliberately provocative? nothing more. just one word. trust and confidence are and will be key. the bbc‘s rob watson is with us. there wasn't some subtle messaging in those statements rob i don't know which keywords you picked out. the trust and confidence, is that what you maybe were getting at? i am not sure about subtle and in many ways you could not have predicted this five years ago. we really do now have daggers drawn diplomatically between the uk and the european union andi between the uk and the european union and i think at this point it's

absolutely anybody‘s guess as to whether never mind if the uk and eu agree to a post brexit trade deal about the talks mightjust collapse completely. who do you think will wink at the last moment? —— you think either side will blink?” wink at the last moment? —— you think either side will blink? i have no idea. but i know we will both be watching very closely. i suppose there is a good reason to both sides as to why they would want to do a deal, the obvious one is it is good for the economies of both countries. the european union doesn't want to have a big loss in a market with the uk. on the uk site even though mr johnson's government is dominated by people pretty hard line when it comes to brexit and future relations with the eu, getting a deal with it your opinion is the best way to deliver on the promise to not be talking about europe and the european union any more so there is

20 of reasons on why they might want to do 20 of reasons on why they might want todoa 20 of reasons on why they might want to do a deal but paramount is affording economic direct —— discussion on east side. but i am not aware whether there will be one. rob getting brexit done, that was a mantra for so long. does anybody ca re mantra for so long. does anybody care in britain particular among boris johnson's base care in britain particular among borisjohnson‘s base that care in britain particular among boris johnson's base that this argument is not happening? you have raised a cracking point and jane because you know what is happening all over the world. people are thinking what an earth is going on in britain? has the government gone bonkers they have upset everybody in the european union, they have upset former conservative prime minister two of them, many of their own conservative mps. they have upset people out of the world and dragging britain's reputation down and what is going on? and the answer to that is going on? and the answer to that is all politics are local and parochial in whichever country you

are in and to get to the nub of your question, i think mrjohnson and his ina question, i think mrjohnson and his in a circle know that most people voted leave and voted conservative in 2019 are not bothered about it. anytime the eu threatens the uk with anything, i think thatjust makes the supporters of brexit and mr johnson more supportive. there is a thought. rob watson thank you very much indeed forjoining us there. speeding upa much indeed forjoining us there. speeding up a little at times in that audio but unlike the brexit deal. thank you very much. there is a trail of smoke hanging over the western states of america tonight, that can be seen from space. it stretches from portland oregon to los angeles, california some 830 miles, a distance equivalent to the entire length of the united kingdom. there are nearly 100 wildfires burning, 2.5 million acres of land has been lost, compared to 118,000 acres last year. it is unprecedented.

and of the five biggest fires of all time in california, three of them began in august. quite staggering numbers, aren't they? over the last 2a hours, it is oregon that's been the worst hit. the state's emergency crews are stretched to their limit. mass evacuations are taking place across the whole state in california to the south more than 111,000 firefighters work around the clock on 20 major fires. but there are scores of smaller fires burning all across the state, destroying homes and livelihoods, which emergency crews just don't have the manpower to fight. it is a national crisis. which demands a federal response. and yet we are still to hear president trump offer any words of support or comfort to those dispossessed. we'rejoined now from california by professor noah diffenbaugh who is a professor of earth system science at stanford university.

professor thank you for joining professor thank you forjoining us. why is this getting worse? wildfires result from a confluence of conditions. certainly we need a technician, we know the risk is elevated when the strong winds blow and fuel makes a huge difference and what we are seeing is global warming is drying out vegetation, increasing the fuel loads when we get ignition whether it is from lightning or human causes when we get these strong offshore winds like we have had just in the last week, we know that coble warming is elevating the risk by increasing temperatures, drying out vegetation. we know the risks, we know what is causing it. why can't we plan for it? like you said, these are unprecedented conditions and it is difficult to

ta ke conditions and it is difficult to take our old management systems that we re take our old management systems that were designed and built in an old claimant and adapt them for a new climate but that's exactly what's neededin climate but that's exactly what's needed in order to build resilience. we have a tremendous wildfire response system here in california and it is just response system here in california and it isjust in response system here in california and it is just in adequate for the new climate, we have seen that tragically in the last week and month and in recent years. global warming is increasing the risk throughout the california, throughout the california, throughout the california, throughout the western united states, that means we're getting the situations where we have many large wildfires burning simultaneously moving at record speeds in terms of their rate of growth. what will be required is to catch up to the climate change that has already happened and leap ahead to be prepared for the climate change that is coming in future decades. because the climate change you talk of would seem to me be undeniable when you look at some of the graphs i want to

point to for our viewers, this from the national oceanic and atmospheric association, they have been looking at rainfor association, they have been looking at rain for patterns going all the way back to 1980 and you can see generally from those speaks that the trend, professor, is downwards and that means presumably at this time of year this year, or there is very little moisture in the soil. our research was just published a few weeks ago, we have looked at this autumn period, we find that in california the frequency of extreme wildfire weather has more than doubled in the last four decades. that is primarily driven by long—term warming, that is drying out the vegetation. but we have also detected a drying trend throughout much of california, a less robust trend in the warming trend but overall the aggregate is that we are not ina overall the aggregate is that we are not in a climate where we are twice as likely to have the weather

conditions that produce these extreme wildfire episodes compared to just four extreme wildfire episodes compared tojust four decades ago. extreme wildfire episodes compared to just four decades ago. we also know from that research that as global warming continues to unfold that these conditions will intensify, that increases the probability of extreme fire conditions in a given part of the state or of the american west. but what it also does is it ups the odds that multiple different subregions will have big fires simultaneously and that's what's really has stressed our response systems in recent yea rs stressed our response systems in recent years and it has been made acutely borne out over the last month in california where it has just been impossible to contain these fires because there are so many on the landscape simultaneously. west we forget this is the most populous state in america. it is the biggest subnational economy in the world so it is on the more remarkable that

the president isn't talking about this crisis at the press conference he is at now. do you think in mind of the size of the population in california coming back to what you we re california coming back to what you were talking about with planning, they are going to have do think a lot more carefully about where they put the towns, where they build roads, how they position water, even how the firefighters go about fighting these things in the future. there is lots of actions that can be taken right now in terms of individual homes, clearing defensible space around homes, home hardening, the exterior surfaces, planning where we build and how we build absolutely plays a role and how we manage forests through both forestry, thinning of vegetation and also through a controlled burning that a so—called good fire can help to avoid these large episode of fires and then our investments in

the response system article. as cal fire has noted over the last several weeks, we simply don't have the resources both in terms of people. there are 111,000 brave firefighters in california right now, it is still not enough in terms of equipment. the aeroplanes and other equipment to fight these major fires that are required, in order to catch up with the global warming that we are already living with, it is going to require a greater investment of resources in order to be resilient to this new normal. some of the climate change policies will have to consider as well. professor noah diffenbaugh thank you for that. that is the macro and let's go to micro. we're joined now by daniel berlant, assistant deputy director at the california department of forestry and fire protection, better known locally as cal fire. good to have you with us and i know you are very busy so thank you for sparing us sometime. give us a picture what you would of which fires are able to tackle and how many are burning out of control.

right now there are still 29 major wildfires up and down the state. we have fires in every corner of the state right now. today we are making progress post up over and the last 24 progress post up over and the last 2a hours the winds have died down. that has about our firefighters an opportunity to really get in there and takea opportunity to really get in there and take a stand against these fires. however with so many fires running across california we still have over 60,000 people that are evacuating by these fires. are you getting federal help? a number of these fires are burning on national forests, forests managed by the us government and so they are bringing in resources from across the country. we are bringing in a number of the states, the western states are providing help and we have even activated our national guard partners, our military. we have today 1300 troops members working on the front lines fighting fire, flying helicopters, aircraft and doing anything and everything to

support the mission. while we are at a complete significant level of activity, we are calling in everybody that we can to help us better these fires. those numbers on their own, thousands and thousands of people needed to fight these fires, at what point are you concerned that you would just be overwhelmed? there are not enough fire engines in california to put a fire engines in california to put a fire engines in california to put a fire engine and front of every single home and so that is not our tactic. but one of the things that we have focused a lot here in california on is ensuring that homes in these rural areas where fires are burning, that they have clearance, removing dead vegetation, grass, brush, trees away from their home. we wa nt brush, trees away from their home. we want to get structures and homes built to a standard so they can withstand embers that way our firefighters can focus on responding to fires and putting them out and not having to do structure protection but right now that continues to be a focus. in fact in many of these fires, all we are able

to do is focusing on rescuing people, getting people effectuated. we are continuing to go through a paradigm shift of doing more work before fire start and ensuring we have good fire prevention efforts. and how are people responding because it must be absolutely terrifying to see a wall of fire coming to was your home? yeah, you know, for those that are evacuated, some of the scariest moments of their wives, many people panicked and don't know what to take and only have seconds ago sometimes. we work very closely with the police departments, the sheriffs departments, the sheriffs departments here in california so that they can effectuate residents as quickly as possible but in some of these scenarios, people only have minutes to evacuate and that's where it kind of comes back to the importance of really ensuring that oui’ importance of really ensuring that our residents are prepared because here in california we are no straighter to wildfires. wildfires have been part of our landscape well before in modern history and so we

have to continue to adapt making sure that we are building our communities so that they are resista nt communities so that they are resistant and resilient to these type of wildfires. your men and women are doing a good job. we know that. daniel berla nt, women are doing a good job. we know that. daniel berlant, thank you very much. as we report on the wildfires we have had another tiny reminder today that the world needs to drastically change the way it produces and consumes food if environmental catastrophe is to be avoided. that's the alarming warning from the conservation charity wwf. from elephants in africa, to the turtles of costa rica — animal populations wherever you look are in freefall, as land is lost to farming and construction. our environment correspondent claire marshall reports. wildlife is dying out at a rate which has never been seen before in human history, according to today's report. from the arctic to the warm seas of the caribbean, to the gardens of britain, it's happening faster than all the predictions and its global. the living planet report carried out

every two yea rs assesses more than 20,000 creatures all around the world, species in all groups of animals on every continent are being lost. what we have seen is a wholesale destruction of some of our most important natural assets in the space of one human lifetime, 50 years. and this is a trend only increasing and accelerating and that's why we have to stop now and start to address it. intensive agriculture is one of the key drivers. these are huge banana plantations in ghana and its a monoculture. wildlife is being driven out, so people around the world can eat the fruit whenever they like. it's the same story elsewhere. in the amazon, a football pitch of rainforest is lost every minute, cleared as grazing for beef cattle and to plant soy which goes into animal feed.

and a third of the food produced in the world for human consumption is lost or wasted. but it is possible for food to be intensively produced working with nature and that's what's happening here in wiltshire. it's a very good hunting ground for birds of prey. david butler's farm isn't organic but still a haven for wildlife. the grey partridge, here filmed in a different location, has declined by 85% since 1970 but is thriving on his farm. it's a nice wildlife habitat. he believes agriculture has to be balanced with nature. if we have no fertility in our soil, if we have poor air quality, if we have poor water quality then we are not going to have high yields of crops and we are not going to have healthy animals and healthy food and that directly feeds through to people. oil pours from a tanker shipwrecked off mauritius last month. this is about people destroying systems that we ourselves depend on rather than just wildlife.

humans are managing nature for their own benefit, whether it's for grazing animals orfor building on and it's having a dramatic impact all over the world. scientists say we can see this now by the pandemic we are living through. research suggests the emergence of covid—19 could be linked to bats. we are fairly confident that the driving forces which have led to the spread of that virus came through a combination of expansion into habitats, illegal wildlife trade, the removal of wildlife, and we are going to see those threats increase, so we've had a clear warning that impacts on wildlife overseas directly affect us at home. but the report says we can stop and even repair the damage but it will need unprecedented conservation action and radical changes in how we produce and consume food. claire marshall, bbc news.

a timely warning there. if you're watching on bbc world news, we'll be right back. scotland has followed england and is introducing the rule of six for social gatherings from monday. here's the first minister nicola sturgeon addressing holyrood earlier. a maximum of six people from two households will now be permitted to meet together to help reduce transmission but also to supply the rules as much as possible, this new limit will apply both indoors in houses, pubs, and restaurants and also outdoors including in private gardens. there will be some limited exceptions for example for organised sports and places of worship. also any children under 12 who are part of two households meeting up will not count towards the limit of six people. there is an an exemption, for children. scotland has seen a rise in new cases of coronavirus with the r number — the average number of people one

person infected with the virus will spread it to — now standing possibly as high as1.5. that is why the scottish government has been forced to act. the situation on the greek island of lesbos is desperate. thousands of migrants have spent a second night sleeping out in the open afer a fire destroyed their makeshift camp. a blaze engulfed moria camp on tuesday night, then another wiped out any remaining tents on wednesday. authorities are investigating whether the fires at the camp — the biggest in europe — were started deliberately. from there mark lowen reports. in this scorched wasteland of mangled memories was this man's home. temporary, overcrowded, but it was all he had. and then the inferno took hold. that moment, very bad moment.

the emotion is too much as he leads the way to where his shack stood. and this is all that is left. ruptured remains of family life. when the fire hit, he ran here frantically looking for his wife and son. he found them safe up in the mountain. next fire, maybe i burn, my wife burn, my kids burn. maybe. the fire on tuesday night tore through moria camp. destroying your‘s largest migrant camp. —— europe's largest migrant camp. suspected arson after the authorities tried to isolate those with coronavirus. two days on, it still smoulders, fanned by winds. the fires still are not out. every few hours another one starts. the thick, acrid smoke filling the air is burning my eyes at the moment. and imagine this spreading out

across this entire area, destroying the lives of almost 13,000 people. homes, livelihoods, gone in an instant. it is like a bomb has hit this entire area. how quickly the flames leap, a frenzy to get another blaze under control. the camp, four times over capacity, has emptied but they have nowhere to go, streaming out into lesbos island, now under a state of emergency. sheltering in the shadow of a police truck, a group from congo. the police inside look the other way, as europe has too for years, as despair mounted. translation: we left our country to find safety, but it is the opposite. we are in danger here. the fire took everything, including my documents from my asylum interview. the only things we saved were our lives.

the welcome has faded here, greece angry at being left by europe to shoulder the migration burden and now facing another crisis. translation: we want them to leave, go out of the country as they want. it is us or them, we cannot coexist. this is a new refuge, as europe decides what to do with these people. at least here, fire is comfort where little else is. mark lowen, bbc news, lesbos. a difficult situation for so many migrants down there. we will talk about coronavirus. we all know what we have to do to stop the spread of coronavirus. wash your hands, keep your distance, wear a mask — and "pipe down". there's a new study from the university of california that suggests if we lower our voices, and don't shout and we talk in a whisper. whispering: we will spread it less.

this is all about cutting the virus spreading particles we emit when we talk. and the difference between whispering and shouting apparently boosts the particle dispersal by 50 times. is that spittle? it is spittle is in it we are trying to reduce. so what we are after is a reduction of six decibels — which they reckon has roughly the same effect as doubling a room's ventilation. that will probably do it. do you know jane what six decibels sounds like? no. i'll show you. i have put our producer leo's iphone on the table. this is me talking normally, this is a whisper, but a half way measure they think will make all the difference. but what we need is somewhere halfway between that, there is the sweet spot. if we can talk for the rest of the programme at this sort of level, jane, that would be great.

you always rise to a challenge, christian. it is all about accidents, really. no talking, about of science, celibacy for some fun. hello again. it really has been a mixed bag out there today. some people were able to make the most of the fine weather, this picture was taken in cornwall, but for the north it was quite a different story across the uk. cooler, cloudier, a lot of cloud streaming in as well and across other parts of scotland with some rain too. that rain continues through the night in the northwest of scotland in particular a few spots of rain for northern ireland and more cloud coming into england and wales. they continue to strengthen across the northern half of the uk so a lot warmer than last night. best of the weather tomorrow across england and wales with lower pressure to the north, these weather fronts bringing

some rain into scotland and northern ireland. running at a higher pressure that is keeping it generally fine for the south. a band of rain moving into scotland and northern ireland, quickly in the morning that can be quite heavy over the hills eventually it arrives to cumbria through the afternoon. the rest of england and wales dry with sunshine at times and temperatures up to 20 degrees once again. cooler further north and blustery showers for northern scotland where the winds could be touching gale force at times. the area of low pressure pushes the weather front southwards as he goes south into high—pressure and weakens all the while. another weather system streaming in from the atlantic and this is mainly affecting scotland and northern ireland on saturday, we start with some showers will be swamped by thickening cloud and upwards of rain coming in for the atlantic and a strengthening wind too. much quieter and generally dry day with some sunshine and temperatures getting into the low 20s at best

in the southeast. it may well get a bit warmer through the rest of the weekend. for a start we've got rain on saturday night, for northern ireland and scotland with strong winds or rain into sunday morning, that blows up to the northwest of scotland threatening to some flooding here. developing elsewhere in the sunshine and southerly breeze temperatures make it into the mid—20s. some warmer weather on the way early next week. look at that weather front lurking in the northwest threatening some rain. high pressure across central parts of europe and tap into some of that heat that we've got here as well. briefly early next week temperatures could be as high as 30 celsius.

you're watching bbc news with mejane o brien in washington, christian fraser is in london. our top stories. the west coast of america is unrecognisable as wildfires destroy whole towns and displace thousands. this hour we heard from the california fire protection service — they are fighting 29 seperate fires right now. in an interview with this programme, britain's former ambassador to the us, lord kim darroch raises the possibility that a joe biden election victory in november would pose diplomatic challenges for boris johnson's government. ijust question that i just question that weather at the top levels of government, it will insta ntly top levels of government, it will instantly be as warm as we would like to be. will see. also in the programme... shot by police while

asleep in her own bed. we've got a special report on the case of breonna taylor whose family fear there's been a cover—up. and tackling racism as the nfl season kicks off this evening — a big shift for a league that had restricted its players from protesting for social change. in earlyjuly 2019 — private diplomatic cables written by the uk's ambassador to the us — sir kim darroch — were leaked to the british press. in them — he'd described president trump as ‘inept, deeply dysfunctional, and radiating insecurity‘. the revelations triggered a series of incandescent tweets from president trump — including this one: ‘the wacky ambassador that the uk foisted upon the united states is not someone we're thrilled with,

a very stupid guy'. sir kim's position as whitehall‘s man in washington was clearly untenable — and he handed in his resignation. here's how we covered it back injuly on beyond 100 days — when the story led our bulletin for three days in a row. used to describe the trump administration. donald trump says he will no longer deal with sir tim and the investor did not attend the meeting today between him and in its rational trade secretary. written's investor resigns after his e—mails have leaked that the president trashes him and borisjohnson fails to stand up for him. well, earlier today i spoke to lord darroch — his memoirs are being published next week. he told me that engaging with the trump administration was like no other government he'd ever worked with, he drew parallels between prime ministerjohnson and president trump's styles of diplomacy — and said it was striking thatjoe biden hadn't yet committed to early

trade talks with the uk. thejob of the uk the job of the uk ambassador in washington is to provide the inside track to help london understand what is going on inside the white house. how difficult was it in the early months to fully understand what was going on in the administration was yellow it was an unusual, may be unique administration and i'm not sure that it was a great deal easier now than in those first six months, but certainly it was a huge change from the obama team. no one would deny the donald trump has a good chance, i wouldn't say he's a favourite necessarily, but he could wina favourite necessarily, but he could win a second term and he has never fallen much below 14% approval ratings for the public. whatever is happening. so, maybe there's something about this unconventional way of working, it certainly works

for him, and perhaps there is new to learn from it. i do not know. do you think borisjohnson thinks he has something to learn from it? one thing i've noticed about the way this government is handling the brexit negotiations with a lot of confrontational statements and deadlines and being happy to walk with the rest of it. that sounds quite like this years administration, it sounds like there's a comparison in the style, not to say the same and policies. to push on that point, do you think there is been a rethink with the bit of chaos and unpredictability, and the diplomatic sphere, that it can actually work? i think the prime minister quite like the chaos theory of negotiations. if you look back to 2018, when he was foreign secretary, but he was falling out of, he was on

his way to resignation of a government, a speech that was intended to be private they got lea ked intended to be private they got leaked saying that if donald trump would negotiate brexit, he would make some outrageous demands of the beginning, it would create a huge amount of chaos, people would be furious, they would say that this com pletely u na cce pta ble furious, they would say that this completely unacceptable behaviour and then simmered down the track, he might doa and then simmered down the track, he might do a very good deal and that is always stuck with me as i watch the way the post brexit future relationship with the eu are going. ijust wonder if relationship with the eu are going. i just wonder if the prime relationship with the eu are going. ijust wonder if the prime minister instructed his negotiations with david frost to follow that sort of style a nd david frost to follow that sort of style and approach. he antagonizes people in the united states a stop we got a message from nancy pelosi that if the irish government was not happy with what was coming, then congress would block a trade deal with the uk. ifjoe biden administration will be find

ourselves at the back of the queue again was yellow it is a good question. the short answer is? no one can know it we get past the election and see how things unfold. butjoe biden, if your vice president, voting for brexit and wa nt to president, voting for brexit and want to give free trade deal with the us, we would be at the back of the us, we would be at the back of the queue, i think it is striking thatjoe biden so far as i'm aware, neither he nor any of his team have committed to an early free—trade negotiation with the uk in contrast to the donald trump team which certainly would get him to finalizing a free trade deals. on intelligence, i want to talk about russia because it been treated into another insight in the donald trump presidency and in it, they said that he continues to harbour a secret

believe, unsupported by intelligence proof that vladimir putin had something on trump. and i wonder if you picked up on something, but was it like on the time of the salisbury poisoning, trying to get the president of america on board? we first went to them and said would you expel some russians because they have come and use chemical weapons, nerve agents on british soil. initially, there was some pushback from the us machinery in the prime ministerfound from the us machinery in the prime minister found the president and there was certainly, he did not commit anything there and asked how much the europeans are going to support them. ultimately, the americans expelled 60 russians and it was as many as the whole of europe did combined and took an extreme tough line and before the europeans and moved, and they sent a lead for the rest of the

international community. you said that this british government wants to surround itself with courtiers and ina to surround itself with courtiers and in a similar way to the way donald trump runs things and he doesn't want people around them who disagree with him. do you think in the uk we are moving towards a different style of government, more like the us administration where every permanent secretary is a political appointee? whether moving into the american—style system, for your politicians, your ministers in the top level of the civil service are also political, whether it is the director general of the public secretaries or whoever, but the top 4000 jobs change when, change from democrat to republican and vice versa, that is a big policy question and that is of the government wants to do in their people inside the system who think that is an ambition, that we should have a

proper public debate about it and we should be showing proposals in parliament and show what parliament and the media and the british public think about it. that last point is really interesting because we have had six senior civil servants that have resigned so far, four of them permanent secretaries and key departments. jonathan slater at education and the fco, the home office, he has gone, the head of the civil service who went this week and also the head of the government legal service, jonathan jones, the top lawyer who went among the latest brexit row and he is right, there is a wider debate to make up the six. there is the wider debate that is stirring in the uk as to what kind of civil service we want. do we want political appointees who buy into the government programme and are there to deliver it with no questions asked. or do we want

people who have been several departments for a long time but will hopefully be political i do make a political and advise ministry —— a political. we have been talking for the revolving door in the white house, with the turnover that is been extraordinary. and it is because the paranoia that donald trump has felt on multiple occasions that his civil servants have not been loyal to them and thus he cannot work with them. ofjoe biden winds, it is speculated that we will see a return to the career civil serva nts see a return to the career civil servants and a lot of familiar faces in the obama years. obama's former security adviser and was touting her

as his running mate. a possible return to that traditional professional career civil servant. so many similarities between the two styles of government across the atlantic. we almost need a programme to compare and contrast them. it's been six months since breonna taylor was shot dead by police. the kentucky woman was killed after officers broke down the door to her apartment while carrying out a so called no—knock warrant. and yet, despite the media attention in recent months and the support from the black lives matter, no officer has yet been charged. breonna's family say they're worried about a cover—up in the case. her boyfriend, who fired the first shot during the raid, is now suing the police department for more than ten million dollars. our correspondent larry madowo is live in louisville for us, where he's been speaking to the local community.

her case is very much a focal point across the us, however her family reacting at the moment? it is a focal point and they are a little concerned. it began with the police incident that listed injuries as nonein incident that listed injuries as none in the rest was blank and the memorial behind me those next to the mayors office and the police department has become ground zero and trying to get some justice. i have spent some time speaking to her family and other activists. chanting: breonna taylor! on this night, it'sjust a handful of people protesting keeping breonna taylor's name alive. black lives matter! in the six months since she died, there have been large crowds here in louisville and around the nation marching for her. breonna taylor was a 26—year—old emergency medical technician with dreams of becoming a nurse, and showing her fun side on snapchat. the last thing i saw before i went

to bed was her laying there and she was in her bed and she had made a little snapchat of the movie she was watching. breonna taylor fell asleep next to her boyfriend, kenneth walker. 911 operator, what is your emergency? i don't know what's happening, somebody kicked in the door and shot my girlfriend! he lost the love of his life, she died in his arms. within a 15—minute span he went from laying in bed with her, the safest place that he knew, to her gasping for air. this is the house where breonna and kenneth lived and where she died after midnight on march 13 — louisville metro police executing a search warrant in a drugs investigation involving her ex—boyfriend forced their way in. kenneth, who is a licenced gun owner, fired. three officers shot into the house and breonna was hit five times. kenneth's lawyers say

it was self—defence. the police department did not respond to the bbc‘s request for an interview for this report. the sustained public attention in this case hasn't led to the departure of two police chiefs into investigations — a local one and another by the fbi's civil rights division. the people that ebb and flow into this memorial promise to be here, day and night, until breonna taylor gets justice however long it takes. i think our city is at a point of reckoning that only truth can bring us out of. only truth can bring us out of. only truth can take away darkness. yvette gentry will take over in october as interim police chief, the third this year. breonna's case is unique. unarmed and asleep in her own house and now, one of the few women whose deaths have become a rallying cry for policing reform in america. the little details that's coming out, like, they are all lies. like, we feel like we are just being lied to and something

is getting covered up. the people that gather daily at this memorial remember a young woman whose life was cut short but whose name lives beyond this city. so difficult for the family can share their frustration in the interviews that you have done. where the police with this's what excuses of the coming up with? at this point, investigations are being carried out by the kentucky attorney general, yesterday tweeted and said that we do not have a timeline for this. you're trying to find the truth and we will take as long as we need to get there. but the mayors office, the police is under the mayor and he said that he understands and he appreciates the frustration of the family and friends of breonna taylor has told the bbc about this obligations of a cover—up and he is doing everything to put any initiatives to discuss

systemic racism in these doing a top to bottom review of the police department that people cases like breonna taylor do not happen again. there's so much distrust between the police department in the community and they are trying to review everything to make sure they are more responsive to the community. louisville, kentucky. tonight is the start, and playing houston, texas and we can see on the back of their helmets are things like this, the names of some of the victims of systemic racism in the united states. breonna taylor, also george floyd, names that we are familiar with and how far we have come since the 2016, 2017 seasons

when colin kaepernick first took a kneein when colin kaepernick first took a knee in the revolt that there was in the criticism that he got from donald trump and this week, the washington redskins famous name in football in the united states, they are coming back as the washington football tea m are coming back as the washington football team because they do not have a new name as they have been pressured by the sponsors and the kansas city chiefs and are still playing at the arrowhead stadium, many of the fans where these headdresses, there's been a real shift in how they approach this. there will be an inauguration tonight, they'll take the big drum onto the centre of the field, but they are saying that it is a privilege to use that drum in the tomahawk chop motion that many of the fans use, instead there'll be a closed fist. as if they were banging the drum and those headdresses that you see there, they will be banned. so, some massive changes in the nfl

what you're seeing now is the sport activism that we've been talking about this programme, coming very much to the forefront. apt to say, many cynics will remember that it was only a couple of years ago that the nfl banned its players from taking and need during the national anthem and neither has been the shift, as you see an attitude. but i wonder, how much of this is lip service and how much is actually how much is this systemic change to the sport. stay with us on bbc news, still to come... we continue our tour of battle ground states — we'll hearfrom florida — the biggest state in play in november's election. how do you reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050? more than 100 members of the british public brought together in a so—called citizens assembly — have come up with their suggestions including a frequent flyer tax, consuming up to 40% less meat and dairy, and stopping the sale

of the most polluting cars. here's our science correspondent, rebecca morelle. our planet is heating up fast, with greenhouse gases causing temperatures to rise. now, the uk's first climate assembly has a plan to tackle this. launched by sir david attenborough, the assembly brought together people from across the country to give their views on combating climate change. leah, a student, and ibrahim, a gp, both took part. obviously, we are a representation of the people and it's very important that the government listens because, as it's going now, climate change is a big issue and there's going to be big effects in my lifetime. there are also lots of little contributions that each person can do on a day—to—day basis, and i would like to think that everyone, as they look at this report, will say,

"right, how can i as an individual improve my carbon emissions?" energy was also looked at, and offshore wind farms got the biggest backing. nuclear power, though, had much less support. experts say getting public insight is invaluable. the really exciting thing about this support is that it's not generated by a group of boffins in a room coming up with recommendations to government. this is real people dealing with real issues and coming up with practical suggestions. what's exciting is it doesn't look alarming. this looks like a really sensible set of steps overall. the report has a vision of a greener future and will not be submitted to parliament. it should reveal which policies may or may not receive wider public support. it's entirely possible that a relatively small number of voters

in half—a—dozen states could decide whether donald trump orjoe biden wins in november. in florida, joe biden is leading in the polls but hardly by a big margin. mr biden has led the polls in florida for much of the summer — it's a state the donald trump won by 12 points in 2016 — lifted by his strong standing among latino voters. it is the swing state to watch. it's time for our series — battle ground voices. we'rejoined now by brian mudd — host of the morning rush in west palm beach, florida. thank you very much forjoining us. throughout this campaign season, we have been talking about groups they could swing the selection, suburban women for the latino vote or older white men, who do we need to be watching in florida ? white men, who do we need to be watching in florida? is important that we have very dynamic that is the most reliable voting block for

republicans, your order —— older white voters in 2018, and the governor toward old rates, they actually are performed to republicans for oversight throughout the country, what we're seeing and pulling right now is thatjoe biden is performing a little bit better than democrats typically have with older white audience but donald trump into paul's is performing a little bit better than democrats typically have with older white audience but donald trump into polls showing that he has an outright lead with latino voters and that is something they'll be quite a change. so we might actually see this electorate is seeing teddy make bringing new people into this stop i postal voting in the very distinct possibility that we will not know the results on election night that this could turn to election month. florida has been here before, are you ready for that this time?|j florida has been here before, are you ready for that this time? i do still have ptsd from florida 2000.

in terms of ballots, that we are having conversations about is how they have been this time. most of they have been this time. most of the problems we have had have been palm beach county and the election supervisors were removed following theissues supervisors were removed following the issues in the 2018 election and we have new supervisors that were appointed by the governor and the appointed by the governor and the appointed supervisor of elections recently appointed supervisor of elections rece ntly wo n appointed supervisor of elections recently won her rates and will retain that status after the selection status. so, there's been more confidence that the snake not happen this time around but we do not know we get there. those older voters, the big take away from this this week was the president knew about the seriousness of coronavirus as early as february seven. he knew that it was deadly, more deadly than some of the most strenuous flus and

yet he played it down and i wonder, given that the order generation is the more vulnerable generation, whether that place back before him in florida? you bring up a good point, if this selection goes down to the virus, thejoe biden has an edge there, the one area where president trump has had the edge in florida as been on economic issues and restraint to see this come back into focus, however, if the prominent issue is the virus, that is something that would play better the joe is something that would play better thejoe biden is something that would play better the joe biden and is something that would play better thejoe biden and democrats down the ballot, there has been concerns about the virus and the one thing i would offer to you is yet the doctor at the national institutes of health provide an interview to fox news in which he said that the response to president trump during that window in question was appropriate and consistent with the messaging behind—the—scenes, but the doctor is often been the one health expert that presses times has been the most at odds with president trump and so

sa nkey at odds with president trump and so sankey is an ally down the home stretch. we will be watching you closely, thank you very much a fair bit on the. hello there. there's some summerlike temperatures on the way early next week. right now the area is a little on the cool side. and we have more unsettled weather coming down from the north, an area of low pressure pushing down on these weather fronts to bring some rain. but moving into high—pressure. so, for much of any and wales on friday again, it's dry. and wales on friday there will be some sunshine at times. the rain heavier as it moves

down across scotland and northern ireland and eventually into cumbria as well. it is followed by some blustery showers not far off gale force i think in northern scotland as well where of course it is cooler. ahead of that into southeast of england at temperatures again making 20 degrees. now as we head into the evening, you can see how that rain just tends to drift very closely southwards and tends to peter out so again for most of them good and wales, that weather front weakening all the while. then we look out into the atlantic, there is another area of low pressure streaming in. and again, it is mainly going to affect scotland and northern ireland. where we start with a few showers in the north—west, that gets swamped by thickening cloud, freshening winds, and some rain coming in later as well. for england and wales again, a lot of dry weather. some sunshine at times and those temperatures may sneak up to around 21 celsius. there's a bit more rain to come on saturday night again across northern ireland and particularly in scotland together with those strong winds and that conveyor belt of rain continues as we head into sunday morning. the wind direction starts to change a bit on sunday drifting england to a more southerly and push the rain northwards to again affect the north—west of scotland where there is an increasing risk of flooding here because of all

the rain over the next few days but with sunshine elsewhere, those temperatures respond and it's getting warmer over the weekend, it could make the mid—20s and eastern parts of england on sunday. but those temperatures are set to rise even higher for the first couple of days of next week. and that's because whilst we have a weather front way to ring in the north—west, we are tapping into some of this heat from continental europe around that large area of high pressure. and that means those temperatures are going to be rising. many places will be dried with some lengthy spells of sunshine. but still knew that weather front, some showery rain not far away from the north—west and scotland. not far away from northern ireland so the higher temperatures will be across england and wales in many places looking at the mid—20s, we may not be far off 30 degrees actually on monday or so. things start to destabilise a little bit as pressure falls out in the atlantic and that threatens to bring in a few showers. still got the chance of some rain in the far north—west of the uk. a bit more cloud arriving here the south and west and maybe one or two showers. many places still dry, wants of sunshine around and those temperatures continuing to rise up to around 28, 29, may be 30 degrees. if you get 30 degrees,

that is quite unusual. how long will that last? it is a battle between high—pressure and low pressure, low pressure moving down towards iberia and then coming back towards iberia and then coming back to bump into that area of high pressure. i need to show you this again, that high—pressure building into the northeast of the uk will block off anything from the atlantic and with lower pressure still across siberia, what you end up with is more than easterly wind and that would tend to pick up a bit as we pick—up towards the end of the week. later on in the week, it will be warm but it will not be as warm. the peak of the temperatures will peak on tuesday and it will always be warmer towards the west. most showers really affecting more southern parts of the uk.

tonight at ten — the eu says it's stepping up its preparations for a no deal brexit, as a major row erupts during talks in london. the eu demands that britain ditch its plans for a law overriding key parts of the brexit divorce deal, or says trade talks could collapse. just one word. trust and confidence are and will be key. but a tense stand—off tonight as the government refuses to budge, saying it will not back down. this legislation is critical to ensuring there is unfettered access for goods from northern ireland to the rest of the united kingdom. so with an ultimatum from the eu and neither side willing to give ground, the chances of a deal seemed to fade. also on the programme tonight...