This is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. Im Lewis Vaughan jones. Schools in california will not reopen for the new Academic Year, as the us is hit by a new wave of coronavirus infections. Little progress as european leaders meet to hammer out a deal to rebuild their virus hit economies. How germany fears thatjetting off on Summer Holidays could undermine efforts to keep the coronavirus outbreak under control. And facing prison for making music, the iranian women banned from singing solo. Hello and welcome. President trump has said he wont force americans to wearface masks in public to help contain the spread of coronavirus. His comments come as millions of children in the two most populous us states, california and texas, have been told they wont be going back to school for the new Academic Year. About 140,000 americans have died from the virus. The bbcs north america correspondent david willis reports from los angeles. The partitions are in place but it will be awhile before californias classrooms children again. For schools and counties on a coronavirus watchlist, it will be online lessons only when the new term gets under way. If you are not on that monitoring list you can
move forward as a county if you choose to physically open your campus, physically open your schools. However, schools that dont meet this requirement, they must begin the school year this fall through Distance Learning. In texas, a state that was quick to reopen just a few weeks ago, Online Learning will be the norm as well at the start of the new school term following a surge in coronavirus cases there as well. And as intensive care units reach capacity, more refrigerated trailers have been ordered to store the bodies of those lost to the virus. All this as civic officials squabble over the wearing of facemasks. In georgia, the states republican Governor Brian Kemp seemed a little unsure whether his should be on oi unsure whether his should be on or off as he greeted President Trump earlier this week, but he is now suing the mayor of the
largest city there at london for forcing people to wear a mask. The mask mandate cannot be enforced but her decision to shut businesses and undermine Economic Growth is devastating. I refused to sit back and watch as disastrous policies threaten the lives and livelihoods of oui the lives and livelihoods of our citizens. Those who oppose a mandatory mask requirement, donald trump among them, believe such a move constitutes a threat to personal liberty. But atlantas democratic mayor insists she was simply following the science and cant believe the action the states governor is taking. When you are governor is taking. When you a re reckless governor is taking. When you are reckless as the governor has been, when you disregard science, as the governor has done, then certainly people are suffering and people are dying in our state. Here in california, the lines at drive through testing centres are growing, and unlike in other parts of the world, so to
is the spread of the coronavirus. Maria brenes works for the Community Organising group innercity struggle in los angeles. I asked her what she made of the decision not to reopen schools. Well, its very challenging, especially for our low income communities of colour who rely so much on our Public Schools for education and other important services. But i believe and our organisation believes that the safety and health of our children must come first. In terms of a Public Health response, we agree, and now is an opportunity for our Public School system to do a much betterjob to improve the quality of our Distance Learning and ensure that our highest need communities of colour receive a better education, even in this time of covid i9. How do you achieve that then because, as you say, these difficult to reach groups may not have internet access, device access, for Distance Learning . How do you get around these kind of problems . Well, our district and our School Leaders have to do more and get creative and bold to increase personalisation and education. These are the children of our workers, the children of frontline workers here in los angeles and california who are keeping our society and our economy from moving forward. And we owe them more than what we are doing in terms of access to technology, to equipment, to internet, and to quality teaching and learning. You know, we have such immense resources in terms of our educators and our
administrators, and our districts have to do more to connect with families to train them and guide them through all of the Online Platforms ensuring that they are connected to services, because our communities are being hardest hit with the economic effects of the pandemic, and the increasing spread of covid i9 in low income communities of colour. And maria, you mentioned the families there, of course it can be hugely stressful having children at home, trying to look after them, teach them and also hold downjobs. Exactly. I mean, this is the time where we need to come together as a community and support families who are not only, you know, being impacted with the lack of access
to technology or being connected to education, but, you know, they are living in communities where they have lostjobs, they have lost income or they are working in low wagejobs where the employers are not putting their safety of workers, putting the safety of workers first. And so that impacts the spread of the virus. And so as the school district, you know, moves into Distance Learning, we need to do better. We need to come together as a community and make sure that our families are notjust connected to services but they are being supported to ensure that their kids are still learning and were not widening the achievement gap for African American and latino students in particular. Thank you, maria, really good to talk to you. Some breaking news in the last few minutes
its been reported that the civil rights leaderjohn lewis has died. He was 80 years old. The former congressman was one of the last survivors among leaders of the 1960s Civil Rights Era and members of dr Martin Luther king jrs inner circle. He went on to become a i7 term democratic member of congress. That breaking news the civil rights leaderjohn lewis has died. Should the eu lend, or give, money to its struggling Member States because of the coronavirus pandemic . And should that money come with conditions attached . Thats whats being discussed at an eu meeting in brussels at the moment. Paul hawkins looks ahead to day 2 of the summit. Birthday elbow bumps for germanys leader on the day one and a present from the bulgarian pm. But Angela Merkels best Birthday Gift would be eu approval for a 750 billion
euro rescue package. Along with the french president , emmanuel macron, they want most of the package to be grants. But the so called frugal four nations led by the netherlands Prime Minister mark rutte, along with austria, denmark and sweden, disagree. They want most of the package to be loans, not grants, and they want conditions attached such as getting greece and italy to reform their pensions and labour markets. Translation its crucial to know what this money will be used for. Were fighting that this money will be used for future orientated investments, for the environment, for digitalisation, for reforms, but not for past orientated projects. But the southern eu states say attaching conditions will delay getting much needed help, especially with the eurozone economy forecast to slump by 8. 7 this year. We should not lose the big picture and the big picture is that were faced
with the biggest economic depression since the second world war. Maybe some compromises would be necessary but we need to be certain that we achieve an ambitious solution because our citizens expect nothing less of us. The dutch Prime Minister said the chances of a deal were 50 50, while polands leader said failure was highly probable. Theres also the eu budget for the next seven years to rubberstamp, but with little agreements on the day one, day two looks like being the same. Paul hawkins, bbc news. Lets get some of the days other news. The us defence secretary, mark esper, has, in effect, banned the flying of the Confederate Flag at American Military bases around the world. Hes issued a memo prohibiting what he called divisive symbols. The Confederate Flag represents the states that fought to keep slavery during the american civil war. Dozens of defenders of islamic law have protested in the sudanese capital
khartoum against recent government reforms that allow non muslims to drink alcohol and grant more freedom to women. Under the new laws, women no longer need permission from a male relative to travel with their children and anyone convicted of renouncing islam will no longer face the death penalty. The financial crisis in lebanon has contributed to an Energy Shortage that people are trying to combat on their own. Without mains electricity, many residents and institutions, including hospitals are installing diesel generators. The lebanese pound has fallen by nearly 80 since late last year. Germany has been relying on testing, tracing and now technology, to reduce the number of new corona infections. More than 15 Million People have downloaded a corona tracking app. But the countrys Health Minister has admitted hes worried that as germans head off on their Summer Holidays
they might bring the virus back, undermining efforts to keep the outbreak under control. Jenny hill sent this report. This is germanys largest airport, just a few weeks ago it was almost at a standstill. Now . This country is back on the move. But how to stop the virus spreading too . Germany is testing more, 500,000 tests last week. Here at frankfurt, for a tree, they are on offer to travellers to. Get the results within three hours or around seven hours depending on how much you are willing to pgy how much you are willing to pay. Lets give it a go. How much you are willing to pay. Lets give it a go. 3 five people test positive here every day, they tell us stopping many had no symptoms. Its not the Nursing Homes showing up here, it is really
young travellers, especially those who have nothing or slight symptoms that they did not link with covid i9. Tracking infection is important too. At every cafe, bar, restau ra nt, too. At every cafe, bar, restaurant, you have to leave your Contact Details and for the last month germans have been able to download a tracing app. Every time i, or rather my phone, comes into close proximity with someone else and their phone, it keeps a record stopping it wont tell me who they were or where we met but if within 14 days they test positive and tell the app, i will get an automatic warning, so will get an automatic warning, so im checking in now and it tells me i have had no exposure and low risk. Thats reassuring. Around one in five germans have downloaded the app. For privacy reasons their data stays on the phones. The authorities cant see it. So it is unlikely to put sylvia out of work. She is the human
version, speaking to those who have tested positive and tracing those they might have infected. In the beginning, the people had so many contacts, it was awful there were so many, and then you would see after the shutdown, it was less and less. Germany has got used to masks, distance, caution, but is this country embarks on a very different holiday season, experts worry. Too easy to leave those cares behind. You are watching bbc news. The main story this hour. Schools in california will not reopen for the new Academic Year as the us is hit by a new wave of coronavirus infections. People are being told to wear face masks to stop a rise in infections. The us Supreme Courtjudge
ruth Bader Ginsburg says shes suffered a recurrence of cancer. Justice ginsburg, who is 87, said chemotherapy treatment was going well and she would continue her work. Melissa murray is a law professor at the New York University school of law. I asked her what she made of the news. Well, it is perhaps not surprising. Justice ginsburg has had a number of Different Health skirmishes just as recently as last may, when she was hospitalised for a gallbladder infection. She has fallen ill a number of times over the last couple of years, so this is perhaps not surprising but nonetheless, a blow to her many fans in the United States. Yeah, and it feels a bit inappropriate to pore over someones health, but why does it matter so much . Right now, the United States Supreme Court is precariously positioned with five conservative justices appointed by republican president s and four liberal justices appointed by democrat president s. And again, ifjustice ginsburg were to depart the court through retirement or other means, it would open up a seat and clearly shift the balance
of power on the court to the right and to the conservatives. So it is something that is closely watched whenever any justice departs the court, but its especially pitched because it is ruth Bader Ginsburg, who has been a lion of the liberal wing of the court. Yes, just give us a flavour of her, professionally and personally . She was one of the pioneering women law professors in the us and as an advocate argued some of the most important Supreme Court decisions on womens rights. As a justice, she was appointed in 1993 by bill clinton. She has been a stalwart defender of womens rights on the court, including the right to abortion. And so, it is clearly understood by her followers that were she to depart the court and be replaced by a conservative, it would definitely shift the balance of power on issues like reproductive rights, so shes very closely watched for that reason. Its a stark contrast to many other countries like the uk, for example where politics is completely taken out of the judiciary and we dont know the personal opinions of the leading judges. Clearly, a very different situation there in the United States. Do you feel like its been more politicised, more polarised . Thats certainly the impression we get. Is that the case, or has it always been that way . Well, according to the framers of the United States constitution, the Supreme Court was not supposed to be a political institution. It was supposed to be above the partisan fray. But, of course, so many issues are politically fraught in the United States that that when they do percolate up to the court, they are bound to have some kind of political valence, and the court being as evenly pitched as it is right now, its obviously going to be viewed as a political animal. Of course, the chiefjustice is at great pains to avoid that appearance, and in a number of decisions this term, including a decision on abortion, he sided with the liberals i think in part to avoid the appearance of partisanship. Just finally, the idea that you carry on working, despite this treatment that you are going through, despite your age i mean,
we should just pause for a second and say thats a pretty remarkable achievement in itself. Well, she is remarkable, just in terms of her longevity and her time on the court, but she has been absolutely clear that she will continue to do this job while shes fully able to do it and she says shes still fully able to do it. She even called in from her hospital bed to oral arguments just in may. She is a stalwart worker and she continues to do that work. Our thanks to melissa murray. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced further steps to ease the coronavirus lockdown in england, offering a roadmap he says will return the country to significa nt normality, possibly in time for christmas. Vicki young reports. The journey out of lockdown has been slow and cautious. Now the governments mapping out the next stage for england, hoping to encourage us back on public transport. Back to the office. And back to the shops. But even after all these months, its impossible to say whether life will be normal by november. Even as we plan for the worst, i strongly believe we should also hope for the best. That means looking ahead with optimism, now extending our plan to lift the remaining national measures. The Prime Ministers next steps for easing the lockdown in england include from august, more people can return to the workplace, facial beauty treatments and indoor shows can resume, and casinos can reopen. In september, schools, nurseries and colleges will reopen on a full time basis. From october, subject to successful pilots, stadium events with audiences and other business events could be allowed. Today, we are publishing. There will be more cash for the nhs and councils will have extra powers to deal with coronavirus outbreaks in theirarea. Guidance that people should work from home if they can will change from the beginning of august. Were going to give employers more discretion and ask them to make decisions about how their staff can work safely. Whatever employers decide, they should consult closely with their employees and only ask people to return to their place of work if it is safe. Some companies have said to their workers that they dont need to be back in the office untiljanuary. Are you now saying that employers should be doing more to encourage workers back in august . Obviously, its not for government to decide how employers should run their companies. What were saying now is that if employers think it would be better and more productive for their employees to come into the office and they can work in a safe way, then
there should be discussions between the employers and employees. City centres like birmingham have been badly hit. Fewer workers going to the office has left businesses struggling for custom. It is weird cos birmingham, as we know, you come to birmingham and its a vibrant place, everyone is crowded, hustle bustle, you knock into people, oh, sorry and you carry on. None of that now. It will take a bit of time for peoples confidence to get back and people understanding you can come, its ok to come to town, but you have to be cautious. If you rush it too much, we are going to go back to where we were before and there will be spikes in infection because a lot of people will think everythings finished, and we have to be mindful of that. Scotland and wales are following a more cautious timetable than england. Our advice is that you should stay at home and work at home if you are able to do so. I positively dont want people to be returning to offices
in the way that we did before coronavirus happened. This pandemic has left leaders treading a precarious path between controlling the virus and kick starting economic activity. Borisjohnson always prefers an optimistic message. Today, he held out the possibility of life being normal by christmas, but even he warned several times that restrictions would be back in place if people didnt behave sensibly. The rules in england are relaxing again but there is no guarantee that everyone will feel confident about going back to the way things were. Vicki young, bbc news, westminster. In iran, women are banned from singing solo its because shia muslim clerics in the religiously conservative country believe that a womans singing voice can be erotic. In the past two years at least, a dozen women have been sentenced to prison for singing in public. Bbc World Service Women Affairs reporter Faranak Amidi has spoken to one singer who faced prison for making music. Bbc World Service Women Affairs. I always loved singing and dancing like britney spears. This is iran, the country where it is forbidden to sing if you are a woman. Before the iranian revolution in 1979, Women Artists participated in a vibrant pop and cabaret culture. As the country became more conservative, women have been banned from singing because many shia muslim clerics believed that a womans singing voice can be erotic. Women, however, are allowed to sing as part of a choir. This is justina. Shes a rap artist who left iran when she faced jail. Shes now living in tbilisi, georgia. I started singing rap at 18 and i knew that i couldnt
promote my works, my music, as a male singer, and i should be careful because i knew that the system would find me soon. Justina, like many other women singers, had to make her music in secret. Unfortunately, i was arrested two years ago and a case was filed against me and they accused me and my activities of being corrupt. And they asked me about my works, my music, why i sing about womens rights. They took all of my computer equipment and finally, i was able to leave iran and go to georgia. In the past two years, at least a dozen women have been sentenced to prison for singing in public or publishing their
work on social media. Justina has now co written a song to raise awareness about womens rights in iran and to protest her prison sentence, but she still fears the consequences of making music. I worry about my family because maybe they bother them and sometimes i think i should be quiet, maybe. And to bring you that breaking news again in the past hour, its been reported that the civil rights leaderjohn lewis has died. He was 80 years old. The former congressman was one of the last survivors among leaders of the 1960s Civil Rights Era and members of dr Martin Luther kinngs inner circle. He went on to become a 17 term democratic member of congress. Thats the breaking news
the civil rights leader john lewis has died. Thats it. Im Lewis Vaughan jones. This is bbc news. Hello there. A good chunk of england and wales enjoyed sunny skies on friday, and in that sunshine, it was pretty warm. Temperatures reached 29 degrees celsius towards london and south east england. And then it was a sunny end to whats been a pretty cloudy week. Further north west, though, we had some cooler and fresher air and what separated the hot from the cooler was this weather front. It brought some rain to parts of northern england, north wales, northern ireland, too. And the front itself, this area of cloud, stretches quite a long way out into the atlantic and, indeed, weve got this bump on the cloud just here. Thats known as a wave, and what that will do is it essentially will stop the weather front from moving very far very fast. So small changes in the forecast as we get on through saturday. It means over the next few hours, well continue to see some rain across northern
england, north wales, with rather misty conditions over the hills, a lot of low cloud. To the north of this, a few showers in scotland, a few clear spells as well. And to the south of our front, its a warm night temperatures around 15 degrees in cardiff and london. Now, into saturday itself, this weather fronts still with us, slow moving. The rain turns a bit heavier for a time late morning north wales, Northern Areas of england, but you can see all the while, the front doesnt really move very far very fast, so still bringing some damp weather to wales, northern england, the north midlands into the afternoon. South east of our front, i think the temperatures could well reach the high 20s in the hottest spots but further north and west, weve got that cooler and fresher feel to the weather. Now, for the test match in manchester, well, its not looking great, really. Its a damp morning here. The rain slowly easing off, i think, as we head through the day, but there will be some disruptions to play here. Now, through saturday evening and overnight, here is the same weather front, only slowly moving down towards the south east. So on sunday, we will have a change in the weather pattern across east anglia. South east england, a cloudy start to the day with rain at times. Behind that front, brighter skies work in with some sunshine and a few showers into the north west of scotland. What you will notice, though, particularly across the south east of england and east anglia, is a fresher feel to the weather those temperatures back down generally into the high teens to low 20s. Now, beyond that, looking at the forecast into next week, High Pressure looks set to build in, particularly across southern areas, so some dry and bright weather with some sunshine. Turning a bit warmer as well as the week goes by. Thats your latest forecast. Bye for now. This is bbc news, the headlines schools in california will not reopen for the new Academic Year, as the us is hit by a new wave of coronavirus infections. People are being urged by the governments leading expert on covid 19 to wear face masks to stop a rise in infections. The civil rights leaderjohn lewis has died at the age of eighty. The former congressman was one of the last survivors among leaders of the 1960s Civil Rights Era, and members of dr Martin Luther king jrs inner circle. A summit of European Union leaders in brussels has ended for the day with no progress on a deal to help rebuild their economies after the coronavirus crisis. The Recovery Fund is proposed to be worth 750 billion euros
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