welcome to bbc news. my name's mike embley. our top stories: another momentous number — as the death toll in america rises — 200,000 have now lost their lives. new covid restrictions in the uk. more masks, less socialising and bigger fines for those who don't adhere to the rules. never in our history has our collective destiny and our collective health depended so completely on our individual behaviour. a plea for help — the airline industry calls for the covid testing of all passengers to try and get flights back in the air. and — one giant step for a woman? nasa says it's heading back to the moon and this time the crew will be male and female.

the united states has recorded 200,000 coronavirus deaths. the latest figures, compiled byjohns hopkins university, also show that almost 6,900,000 people in the us are confirmed to have been infected by the virus. a short time ago, president trump made his first remarks on the latest death toll. i think it's a shame. i think if we didn't do it properly and do it right, you'd have 2.5 million deaths, if you take a look at alternatives, you could have 2.5 million deaths, or something there about. you could have a number that would be substantially more. with all of that being said, we shouldn't have had anybody, and you saw my united nations speech, china should've stopped it at their border. they should've never let this spread all over the world.

and it's a terrible thing. but, had we not closed our country down and reopened and now we're doing well in reopening, the stock market's up, all of those things, but i think it's a horrible thing. but if we had not done it right, you could have two million, 2.5 million and three million. the numbers of deaths in the us are high and there is a growing concern that infections will continue to rise during the winter months. they equate to just below 62 deaths per 100,000 people. this is the sixth highest rate of mortality from covid worldwide. that's six times higher than germany — a country lauded for tackling the pandemic well — which has a rate of 11.32 per 100,000. and if we look at china where the virus started, they have a rate of 0.34 deaths per 100,000. as with any country, the rate of death across the us varies widely. new york has been the hardest hit, with 33,000 deaths and close to half a million cases. here's what nancy pelosi, the democratic speaker of the house of representatives had to say about the handling of the outbreak.

but this was preventable — not all of it, but much of it. and what could be lost in the future is preventable too, if we embrace science. science instead of politics. at the centre for disease control, great scientists are there, demoralised by the political overturning of recommendations to save lives. we can now speak to dr craig spencer who's is the director of global health in emergency medicine at columbia university medical centre. thank you for your time. two and a half or 3 million it could have been if he hadn't intervened in the way that he

did. that is different than what he said at the end of march when he said if we have 100 or 200,000 deaths that would represent us doing, "a good job" was up we are already in that numberand good job" was up we are already in that number and the death toll continues to climb every day. yesterday the president said that this virus, covid, basically or virtually affects nobody, but covid is now the third leading cause of death in the united states will stop more people have died of covid in the us than in brazil, italy and spain combined. a big city in the united states, the deaths are the population of the city of utah. americans and many people recognise it has touched so many families. i saw this on the front lines in a neighbourhood in new york city where we saw so neighbourhood in new york city where we saw so many neighbourhood in new york city where we saw so many people die of this virus and i'm worried that as we go into the fall and the winter, we will have more cases and more deaths. clearly the figures are horrible and

the figures are horrible and the experience is horrible for eve ryo ne the experience is horrible for everyone concerned but when nancy belushi says much of this could have been prevented stop is this really true? do you think another administration could have done much better? absolutely. but we have downplayed, this administration has downplayed the science, downplayed the public health, has really undermined the public health messaging from day one and i'm not talking about the silly things like telling people to inject chemicals or all these other things that we have heard, the suggestions that came out of the president's mouth. it has been this information and myth truths since the beginning was not as somebody who is working in public health, it is nearly a full—timejob. if in public health, it is nearly a full—time job. if from day one, if we had from bob woodward and the tapes, if president knew it back then and we took it as seriously then as

we took it as seriously then as we should have, if we enforce mask wearing, elevated the public health above the political, we would be in a different place, less cases and less deaths and a lot more —— lot less worried about what is happening in the next few months. you work in the sharp end of this and we know people know you know what you know. having got here, we are where we are, is your interpretation of what is happening right now that things will get worse from here on in? it is really hard to say. we don't know what's going to happen. i am certainly concerned that as we go into the fall in winter with people more likely to be indoors with the possibility of other viruses including the flu and knowing that corona viruses tend to spread around this time with people going back into schools and colleges, it is certainly likely that the number of cases will increase in the next couple of months, that we will have more deaths. many projections say we will have a lot more death by the time of the election and by the

time of the election and by the time of the election and by the time of 2021. i think that is true, ijust don't know how much to quantify that. saying that it virtually affects nobody, but i have been doing this and watching this for the past six or seven months and it is just really disheartening. the united kingdom has reached ‘a perilous turning point‘ in its struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic. that's according to prime minister borisjohnson who has set out a series of new restrictions for england. he stressed that ‘significantly greater restrictions' will be brought in if new cases continue to rise sharply. mrjohnson had addressed parliament earlier in the day before explaining his decisions in a televised address to the nation a few hours later. i'm deeply, spiritually

reluctant to make any of these impositions or infringe anyone's freedom, but unless we take action, the risk is that we will have to go for tougher measures later when the deaths have already mounted and we have a huge caseload of infection such as we had in the spring. so will the latest measures introduced across the uk be enough to suppress the virus? our medical editor fergus walsh looks at the challenges ahead. how do you strike a balance between bearing down on coronavirus while keeping the economy moving? that's the challenge facing ministers. closing bars and restaurants at 10pm should reduce the amount of alcohol people drink in public, and so perhaps may make behaviour less risky. people will be a little bit more sober when they go home, which means they are less likely to engage in risky behaviours. they're perhaps more likely to put a face covering on when they get onto the bus and the tube. they may go home with friends, but the chances are it's not

going to be in as large a group as they would be in the bar with. the latest reproduction or r numberfor the uk is between 1.1 and 1.4, which means that for every ten infected people, they'll be passing the people on to between 11 and 1a others. and the prime minister made clear that, unless r falls below one, then further restrictions are likely. it's thought that coronavirus cases are doubling roughly every seven days and are increasing among all age groups. hospital admissions are rising, too. yesterday, government scientists said that, left unchecked, we could see 50,000 cases a day by mid—0ctober and perhaps 200 deaths a day a month later. but they stressed this wasn't a prediction. but that would still be a fifth of the 1,000 daily deaths at the peak in early april. encouraging people to work from home again should mean

fewer chances for the virus to spread on public transport and in offices. then there is scotland's decision to ban most people visiting other households indoors, aimed at tackling a key driver of infection. we can expect this to have a significant impact because we know that this disease is spread from person to person, particularly in indoor environments where there isn't so much ventilation and there may be multiple people close to each other. but, on the other hand, they will be impacts on well—being, particularly amongst the most vulnerable, from not being able to see friends and family as much. one thing that has not been tried here is a night—time curfew. that was imposed in antwerp, in belgium in latejuly and helped reduce an outbreak there, though cases across belgium are now higher than in the uk. fergus walsh, bbc news.

perhaps no single industry has been as hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic than airlines. traveller numbers have plummeted, so has revenue. and as countries introduce quarantine measures, the numbers wanting to fly are reduced further. now the body that represents airline companies is calling for all passengers to be tested before flying. the bbc‘s tim allman reports. this has been called the worst year financially in the history of aviation. an entire industry effectively brought to a halt. planes grounded all around the world. quarantine may help combat the virus that it deters passengers. so, could there be an alternative? systematic testing of all passengers at departure would guarantee that you fly people who are not infected by the virus or with the risk of being infected which is very, very limited,

limited by the sensitivity of the test. the scale of the problem is immense. according to the international air transport association, airline reve nu es transport association, airline revenues for 2020 are predicted to be a19 william dollars. a 50% drop on previous year. losses for all airlines are estimated to be more than $8a billion. they are expecting 2.2 5 billion predicted passenger losses, the lowest down. they have a ready been a piloted scheme where they test all departing passengers here. it might make travelling a little more collocated but the airlines are convinced it will work. will it is that it will. -- it is work. will it is that it will. —— it is clear that it will introduce an extra level at the airport but we have introduced airport but we have introduced a systematic cheque in which we

control every passenger. the first step is agreeing a standard test that is relatively cheap, effective and can be approved by regulators and all destination countries. airlines hoping this will get the industry back on its feet and passengers back in the air. tim allman, b sinews. —— bbc news. stay with us on bbc news — still to come: in what's seen as a big step forward in the fight against climate change — china commits to be carbon neutral by 2060. ben johnson, the fastest man on earth, is flying home to canada in disgrace. all the athletes should be clean going into the games. i'm just happy that justice is served. it is a simple fact that this morning, these people were in their homes. tonight, those homes have been burnt down by serbian soldiers and police.

all the taliban positions along here have been strengthened, presumably in case the americans invade. it's no use having a secret service which cannot preserve its own secrets against the world, and so the british government has no option but to continue this action even after any adverse judgement in australia. concorde have crossed the atlantic faster than any plane ever before, breaking the record by six minutes. this is bbc news — the latest headlines: in the united states, the death toll reaches 200,000. millions more are confirmed to have been infected. new covid restrictions

in the uk — more masks, less socialising and bigger fines for those who don't adhere to the rules. the bbc has been speaking with owners and directors of funeral homes who are reflecting on how the loss of life throughout the country has affected the families and communities that they serve. a warning, some viewers may find some of these images and stories upsetting. it's so disturbing because 200,000 isjust too many. it really is. it's just too many. and, it's disheartening. there really are no other words for it. it's just disheartening because, at this point, it seems as if everyone knows someone who has been affected if they haven't been affected themselves. if we have four or five people in our care, at any point, that's about normal. and at any point, and at any

point during april and may, we had close to 70 people here. we essentially converted the one facility into a giant morgue. we closed all the upstairs rooms and turned the air conditioners way up and made every available space either shelving or tables for storage. the hardest thing is the distance. normally, you're there to hold their arm or hold their hand and be there right there next to them. it affects the grieving process and the community, is, they're heartbroken. i mean, it's a lot of people

that we've lost, a lot of families that have lost loved ones, mum's not there, dad's not there, there's just a lot of deaths and it is something that we're not going to forget. we have to adapt. and that's the thing about this virus, we have to adapt until things are better controlled. and ijust wish, people had a better view of how many people this is really killing. we've always said, we're here one day and the next day, we may not be here. but with this pandemic, it's. . .that statement has even become more real. i mean, it takes a toll on you emotionally, it takes a toll on us physically, but, at the end of the day, i'm happy to do what i do. i realise that nothing is ever going to be

difficult after this. the regular day—to—day, like we are now, this is easy. and nothing is ever going to be, in my eyes, nothing is ever going to be difficult again compared to that. sombre tales from across the us. this week sees the general assembly in new york — well sort of. world leaders are not there in person, delivering their speeches on tape. and the headlines have been made by president xi of china. he's announced plans to make china carbon neutral by 2060. the announcement is being seen as a significant step in the fight against climate change. but the speech gave few details about how china would achieve carbon neutrality. translation: humankind can no longer afford to ignore the repeated warnings of nature and go down the beaten path of extracting resources without investing in conservation, pursuing development at the expense of protection,

and exploiting resources without restoration. the paris agreement on climate change charts the course for the world to transition to green and low carbon development. it outlines the minimum steps to be taken to protect the earth, our shared homeland, and all countries must have decisive steps to honour this agreement. i'm joined now by kevin rudd, former prime minister of australia and president of the asia society policy institute. it isa it is a headline grabbing thing to say. you think in a directed economy where there is little individual choice, it is possible and, if so, how?|j think it is possible and the reason i say so is because china does have a state planning system and, on top of that, china has come deluded, i

think, that it is in its own national interests to bring about a radical reduction in carbon over time so the two big announcements coming out of xi jinping at the general assembly have been, the one you referred to, which is to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060 and also for china to reach what is called peak greenhouse gas emissions before 2030. the international community would be pressuring them to bring that forward as much as possible, respectably, we hope, close to 2050 and is close to 2025 as far as peak emissions are concerned but we will have to wait and see until china produces its 5— your plan. to wait and see until china produces its 5- your plan. we can see that resident trump wasn't impressed, he's made his position critically on these matters. how do you think other countries will respond or were they just say, china countries will respond or were theyjust say, china can do that, we really can't. i think

you are right to characterise president trump's reaction is dismissive because ultimately he does not seem to be persuaded at all by the climate change sides and the united states under his presidency has been completely missing in action in terms of global work on climate change mitigation activity. but when you look at the other big player in the global climate change actions, the european union, and i think positively speaking both the european union and working as they did through their virtual discussions with the chinese leadership last week, have been encouraging directly the chinese to take these sorts of actions. i think the europeans would be pleased by what they have heard but there is a caveat to this as well. one of the other things the europeans askedis the other things the europeans asked is for china notjust to make concrete its commitments in terms of peak emissions and carbon neutrality, but also not to offshore china's

responsibilities by building a lot of carbon —based or fossil fuel based power generation pla nts fuel based power generation plants in the belton road initiative countries beyond china's borders. pixma belton road. that's where we have to see further action by china as well. you know there will be people yelling at the screen, how fast climate change has become a climate emergency, the 2050, 2060 is nowhere near soon enough, that we need to inflict massive changes on ourselves. the bottom line is, if you look at the science, it requires us to be carbon neutral by 2050 as a plan —— planet, given china is the world's largest emitter bya is the world's largest emitter by a country mile and i would say to those throwing shoes at the screen, getting china to that position, given where they were, brackley, ten years ago when i first began negotiating with chinese leadership on climate change matters, is a big step forward. secondly,

that i find most encouraging, though, is the china's national political interests have been engaged. they don't want to suffocate their own national economic future any more than they want to suffocate the world's. kevin rudd, thank you very much indeed. good to be with you. wide in 1969 it was a small step for man, in 202a will it be a giant step for women? nasa has outlined plans to send the first female astronaut to the moon in the next four years. the mission would be the first landing with humans in around 50 years. laura forczyk is the founder of the space analysis and consulting group astralytica. she gave me her reaction to the news. oh, it's fantastic, this a long time coming. we've been wanting to get back to the moon for decades now and, in a way, it's a perfect time because we're not only going as the united states of america, we're going as an international collaboration, and we're going with a more representation of the human body so it will be men

and women this time. laura, why has it taken so long to get back? a lot of politics, a lot of deciding which ways to spend our money on, so in previous presidential administrations, there have been plans to go back back to the moon, however they've all been cancelled, they've been too expensive or congress has decided it wasn't worth the money and so this time around, there is a new initiative, and it's going with international collaboration and with commercial partners which hopefully makes it more sustainable for the future. so it's not like apollo, where we planted a flag and we left. this time, it's going to be a sustained lunar base that we can learn from so we can go on to mars and the rest of the solar system. what are your thoughts on the plan to do it by 202a, is that realistic? it's a very optimistic plan. i think it will depend on how much funding congress allocates to nasa's plan and it is technically feasible however moneywise, politically, it's probably going to slip a little bit, we'lljust have to see. presumably, or at least

there may well be a political angle to the choice of date, mightn't there? yes, that's the speculation is that 202a was chosen as the date because that would be the end of a second trump administration if he is elected. the original date that was planned prior to the announcement of 202a was 2028, landing humans on the moon by 2028, and i wouldn't be surprised, ifjoe biden is elected, there is a biden administration, that we would see a slip in the day, maybe 2028 or some other date in between. what do you think is the possible significance of there being women on board, and possibly the first woman landing on the moon? what does it mean in a wider sense? it's very much more representative of not only the human body but the astronaut corps. back in the 1960s and ,'70s, nasa did not allow women to become astronauts, and that changed with the first nasa class in 1978 when sally ride became the first american woman to fly in space so it's been

decades in the making that we should send, women make up half the human body and women are just as much interested in science and engineering as men and boys are, so it would be an impact hello there. tuesday marked the autumn equinox and also the last of these very warm and sunny days. we saw 26 degrees in santon downham in suffolk on tuesday afternoon. by friday, it looks like temperatures in suffolk will only manage to make around 12 or 13 degrees. so noticeably colder as we end the week. and the change comes behind this cold front which is slowly spreading its way southwards and eastwards early on wednesday. ahead of it, there will be a lot of cloud around. some showers too, longer spells of rain, some of which could be on the heavy, maybe thundery side. but for scotland and northern ireland, skies will be clearing behind the weather front. so we start wednesday off on a chilly note here. but again, for england

and wales, where we have the weather fronts the cloud and rain, quite mild, 12—15 degrees to begin the day. but a lot more cloud on wednesday for england and wales. outbreaks of rain tending to become more persistent as it pushes eastwards. and heavier bursts again across the south—east and winds will pick up once again. probably the best of the sunshine through the day will be scotland and northern ireland but it will be chillier here, low teens celsius, 1a to maybe 19 across the southeast celsius 1a to may beat 19 across the southeast it looks like it could be quite went across the eastern side of england into the evening. persistent rain herem winds also picking up across the north sea coast across the south—east and across the south coast as well. that's because area of low pressure will eventually push off towards scandinavia and a new area of pressure will arrive just in time for thursday. now, this one's going to bring some windy weather too showers and longer spells, some of which could be quite heavy. some sunshine around, probably the best of it across the northern part of scotland but the winds

england, a0 and 50 miles an hour. cool, 11—1a celsius across the country. as we move out of thursday into friday, that area of low pressure continues to push over towards the north sea and the near continent. then we are in a run of pretty cool, brisk northerly winds. looks like most showers will be packing into northern and eastern areas closer to that area of low pressure. the further south or west you are, the better chance of seeing some sunshine. not feeling too bad in the sunshine but in some shade in that northerly wind, it will feel cool. things look like they will settle down a little bit perhaps a ridge of high pressure into the weekend but it's still going to remain on the cool side, both by day and by night.

plane ever before, breaking the record by six minutes. this is bbc news — the headlines: president trump has said it's horrible that the number of deaths from coronavirus in the united states has exceeded 200,000. but mr trump said his intervention had helped reduce the toll. democratic critics have highlighted what they say is mr trump's ineffectual response to the pandemic. the british prime minister — borisjohnson — has used a national television address to call for a ‘spirit of togetherness' — urging people to observe the new rules he's bringing in to combat the rapid rise in coronavirus infections. he said the country faced an unquestionably difficult winter ahead. the body that represents the airline industry is calling for all passengers to be tested for coronavirus before they travel. the international air transport association says it would be a better alternative than putting people in quarantine. the industry is facing huge losses as a result of the pandemic.