this is bbc news. i'm simon pusey with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the british prime minister boris johnson is admitted to hospital for tests, ten days after testing positive for coronavirus. americans are told to brace for what could be the hardest week of their lives but the president says there is hope. things are happening. we're starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. and hopefully in the not—too—dista nt future, we'll be very proud of the job we all did. the queen delivers a rallying call to the uk and the commonwealth, stressing the value of self—discipline and resolve. i hope in the years to come, everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge. and those who come after us will say the britons of this generation were as strong as any.

and, lights out in india in a show of solidarity against covid—19 — but there's criticism not enough is being done to help those most in need. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. the british prime minister borisjohnson has been admitted to hospitalfor more tests as his coronavirus symptoms persist. a spokesman insists mrjohnson remains in charge of the government. a statement from number 10 said he was taken there on the advice of his doctor and that it was a precautionary step as the prime minister continues to have symptoms — 10 days after testing positive for the virus.

earlier, in a special broadcast to the uk and the commonwealth, queen elizabeth said "together we are tackling this disease and i want to reassure you that if we remain united and resolute then we will overcome it". in the us, the surgeon general warned people that the coming week will be their pearl harbour or 9/11 moment with deaths from covid—19 expected to peak. we'll have more on developments across the world, but first our reporter simon jones has more on borisjohnson and his admission to hospital. boris johnson was taken to hospital at around 8pm on sunday evening, uk time. that was coincidentally the same time queen elizabeth was addressing the nation about the coronavirus crisis. now, we understand he has been taken to hospital as a precautionary measure. that's what downing street are saying. he has spent the past ten days in self—isolation in a flat above downing street. but his symptoms have persisted over those ten days, particularly we understand, a high temperature. so, having discussed the situation with his doctor, it was decided the best thing to do was for him to go to hospital where he could be seen in person by medics

where he could undergo further testing. we have seen a bit of him over the past ten days since he was diagnosed with having the virus. he was last seen on thursday evening just outside the door of downing street, joining people across the nation clapping to thank the emergency services and nhs staff, what they're doing on the front line in the fight against the pandemic. he then posted a video on twitter on friday where he talked about still having a high temperature but saying to people they needed to follow the rules of staying at home, not going out unnecessarily, but he did look in those pictures as if he was struggling to shake it and that has been proven by his admission to hospital. it's such big news that donald trump had opened his press conference talking about boris johnson. what did he have to say? president trump said he thought borisjohnson was a great leader and he said that the prayers and thoughts of the american nation were with him and he wished him a speedy recovery.

we also had political reaction here in the uk. the new leader of the opposition labour party keir starmer has also said he hoes the prime minister gets well soon, so really creating some political debate, particularly as he, of course, the man leading the fight in this the country against the virus and now he himself in hospital. number 10 came out quickly trying to calm people's nerves saying, don't worry, he is still in charge. but practically, can boris johnson still run the country from hospital? the statement from downing street was very quick to say that he is continuing to lead the country. he remains in charge, he is leading the fight against coronavirus. but the reality, as you say, that will be difficult to do while he is in hospital. in the morning, there's going to be a meeting of the emergency committee known as cobra here in london. and his de facto deputy is going to lead that meeting that's going to be the foreign secretary, dominic raab. so, although downing street trying to say this is business as usual when boris johnson was in self—isolation, he was carrying on holding cabinet meetings with his colleagues via zoom, using technology to do that, in a way, nothing is ordinary about this situation. a huge fight as he tries

to battle against coronavirus and now he himself ending up in hospital so, far from certain times. president trump has used his daily coronavirus briefing saying donald saying —— saying the us is close to the peak. he says the next week or two will be very difficult with many more deaths. things are happening. we're starting to see light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully in the not—too—distant future we'll be very proud of the job we all did. you can never be happy when so many people are dying but we're going to be very proud of the job we did to keep the death down to an absolute minimum, the least that could have happened, with this terrible, terrible virus.

0ur north america correspondent peter bowes outlined the main message from the briefing. the tone from president trump as it has been before over the past few days, overwhelmingly positive about the eventual outcome, talking in optimistic terms, talking about light at the end of the tunnel and also giving an update about the help that's being given to states around the country, the 3,000 military medical workers that have been sent to hospitals to help the doctors and nurses who in some places, especially new york city, are really stretched to the limit. talking about the hundreds of ventilators and thousands of face masks that have been distributed around the country and again we continue to hear complaints, desperate complaints in some places, that they simply don't have enough equipment. and the president really stressing once again that the federal government is sending that equipment out

to states on a necessary basis where certain places, the numbers begin to peak and then drop down and the equipment, he says, has to be moved around the country accordingly. his advisors aren't quite as upbeat as donald trump, are they? well, no. we've heard from the surgeon general who was really talking in quite dire terms about what americans should expect over the next week or two, talking about a pearl harbour moment, a 9/11 moment. those times in history really etched on many people's memories as being particularly dark days, and reflecting on that and suggesting that the same in terms of the number of deaths, perhaps even more deaths over the next couple of weeks is likely to happen. and i think that's something that a lot of americans are hearing on the sunday afternoon as it still is here

in the states, giving a lot of people reason to pause and think about what they are doing, and this is part of the president's message and his scientific advisors‘, that if only people continue to stay at home, to follow the guidelines, to socially isolate themselves, that the country will get through this and the president indicates will get through this sooner than some people have thought. for only the fifth time in her 68—year reign, queen elizabeth has addressed the uk and the commonwealth outside her annual christmas broadcast. she paid tribute to the national health service and key workers keeping goods and services going amid the coronavirus pandemic. the queen also acknowledged the grief, pain and financial difficulties that many people were facing. here's our royal correspondent, nicolas witchell. from windsor castle, a broadcast by the longest serving head of state in the world. a speech without parallel in her reign, as britain and the wider world face an unseen threat. while we have faced challenges

before, this one is different. this time we join with all nations across the globe in a common endeavour, using the great advances of science and our instinctive compassion to heal. we will succeed and that success will belong to every one of us. she spoke first to those facing the most immediate challenge. i want to thank everyone on the nhs front line, as well as care workers and those caring out essential roles who selflessly continue their day—to—day duties outside the home in support of us all. i'm sure the nation willjoin me in assuring you that what you do is appreciated and every hour of your hard work brings us closer to a return to more normal times. together, we are tackling this disease and i want to reassure you that if we remain united and resolute, then we will overcome it.

cheering and applause she praised the way people had come together to help each other and support the health services and she thanked those who'd followed the government guidelines to stay at home. 0ur collective response, the queen said, would define us. i hope in the years to come, everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge. and those who come after us will say the britons of this generation were as strong as any, that the attributes of self—discipline, of quiet good—humoured resolve and a fellow feeling still characterise this country. the pride in who we are is not a part of our past, it defines our present and ourfuture. she recalled her first broadcast, as a teenager during the second world war when she'd sought to comfort children who'd been sent away from their homes

for their own safety. today, once again, many will feel a painful sense of separation from their loved ones. but now, as then, we know deep down that it is the right thing to do. for all the current hardships, the queen said, we would come through it. we should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return. we will be with our friends again. we will be with our families again. we will meet again. but for now, i send my thanks and warmest good wishes to you all. it had been an exceptional broadcast for an exceptional moment. nicholas witchell, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: as italy's death toll drops to its lowest in two weeks, we speak to some people who are finding life very hard after weeks in lockdown.

25 years of hatred and rage, as theyjump up on the statue... this funeral became a massive demonstration of black power. the power to influence. today is about the promise of a bright future. a day when we hope a line can be drawn under the bloody past. i think that picasso's works were beautiful. they were intelligent and it's a sad loss to everybody

who loves art. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: the british prime minister borisjohnson has been taken to hospital for tests, 10 days after testing positive for covid—19. well, more on that now. 0ur political correspondent, chris mason gave us this update. there might have been a deterioration. we know her —— we we re deterioration. we know her —— we were told yesterday he was continuing to self isolate because of the high

temperature. you are told to continue self—isolating if the symptoms don't go away. so it's the persistence of those existing symptoms and in particulara high temperature that led to a decision by his doctors that he should go into hospital for what is described as routine tests. it was not an emergency admission. his doctor believed that it would be sensible, given the ongoing nature of his symptoms, that he was seen face—to—face by doctors rather than being consulted from self—isolation, in effect, over the phone. he was taken to a london and nhs hospital. he is staying there overnight. and dominic raab, who is the foreign secretary, the first secretary of state, will chair the government's daily 9:15am meeting on its response the coronavirus. i can think we can say he is number two in the government. and so in that sense whilst he doesn't carry the title of deputy prime minister, he does carry

the title of first secretarty of state, meaning ‘the next person down the line'. so it would conventionally fall to him to deputise for the prime minister. he's not been doing the job long enough for that to have been a reality, for instance at prime minister's questions, which sometimes happens. but in this instance, he would be the first person requested to substitute behind the prime minister. i suspect the reality of this is going to be how long does he stay — the prime minister in hospital. that will determine, i suspect, how much more work dominic raab has to pick up on his behalf. chris mason speaking to me a little earlier. on sunday, for the first time in a week, new york, the hardest—hit state, reported a fall in the number of deaths. i spoke to akiko iwasaki, an immunologist from yale university, explaining what the us is doing to flatten the curve. many places are mandating shelter in place and stay—at—home orders, which is very good because social distancing is currently the only method that we have to fight this disease, but i wouldn't say that we have

reached the peak death rate in the country yet. would you say that it's too early to tell if social distancing measures have been working? i think social distancing measures are definitely working and this is the result of the social distancing measures, that we are seeing some of the numbers dropping in different places. but it is still too early to lift these measures because i think the spread is still continuing rampa ntly in this country. we have just been talking about new york state, a decrease in the number of cases and deaths, how positive can we be about that? well, it‘ s a little too early to celebrate, it is one day and it is wonderful news, but some of the other algorithm predictions say that we are still not at the peak death, even in new york state yet, so i would be cautious about those numbers at this point. yeah, and it's obviously really important to get more testing done to get a clearer picture of where the us is generally. outside of america, what about countries that don't

have social distancing measures, how are they being affected ? right, so social distancing is really the only measure that we have right now, so i would expect that if you are not practising these measures, there is a danger of rapid and exponential spread of this virus anywhere in the world. there's lots of doom and gloom when we are talking about this story, of course. is there any hope for viewers out there in terms of how this ends in terms of a vaccine, and how far are we away from that? vaccines are being tried already in people, phase one trials are happening right now, but it is still about at least a year away from being distributed throughout the population, so i don't hold vaccine as the first measure to get out of this social distancing. other measures like antivirals or even immunotherapy like monoclonal antibodies, hopefully will come into play sooner than the vaccine

so we can start to lift these measures. and you are a leading immunologist, just how well do you think the federal government and state governments have been responding to the crisis? well, the state governments are sort of on their own responding to this crisis in this country, so governors and mayors and local efforts are really what we're depending on, and that is why we don't have a uniform policy throughout the country to deal with this pandemic, and so i just worry that some states which are still not mandating the social distancing measures will see a rise in the spread very quickly.

italy has recorded its lowest daily death toll in over two weeks, a further sign that the country is starting to get the disease under control. but — the reality on the ground is still very bleak for many italians, particularly amongst poorer communities. from rome, jean mackenzie reports. at this moment i have no way to have money, no. on these balconies there's desperation — people who've not been able to work now for weeks. tito started bringing food to those who can no longer afford to buy it. like stephano, who sells houses for a living, and now can't feed his two young children. living without money for more than one month. we change our life from one day to another one. everything changed, everything. it's not your life.

casual work is common here, so for many the money has simply stopped. rosa? like for maria rosa. yesterday, her money ran out. these sacrifices have helped fight the epidemic here. the situation is finally improving, but the price has been high. this virus has taken thousands and thousands of lives, but it's also taken people's livelihoods, it's taken people's futures, it's taken some people's very last pennies. the government has promised to pay part of people's wages, but four weeks into this strict lockdown, the money hasn't arrived. applications only opened last week.

do you accept it's taken too long for this money to come through? here, they've given up on political promises. italy may be starting to control this virus but it's unprepared for the devastation it's leaving behind. jean mackenzie, bbc news, rome. let's get some of the day's other news. spain has reported its lowest number of daily deaths linked to coronavirus for more than a week.

the latest figures show nearly 700 people died, taking the total to 12,400. the country has just over 130,000 confirmed cases, the second highest in the world after the us. south korea has reported fewer than 50 new coronavirus cases, its lowest daily total since the outbreak there peaked in february. the rate of infection has been dropping for weeks. fewer than 200 people have died. the colombian army has stepped up security along the border with ecuador, which has reported one of the highest number of cases of the disease in latin america. ecuador is using cardboard coffins due to a sought edge of caskets —— shortage. sweden's king has urged to people to stay at home over the easter holidays in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus. the swedish government has been criticised for its softer measures to combat the disease.

ireland's prime minister, leo varadkar, has re—registered as a medical doctor to help out his country's health service. he'll do one shift a week, reportedly staffing a phone line for people who think they've been exposed to coronavirus. millions of people in india have followed the prime minister's plea to switch off, and light up candles for nine minutes, in a show of solidarity during the coronavirus crisis. but government critics have been quick to dismiss the movement, saying there's an urgent need to assist the country's poor. freya cole reports. the victory of light over darkness, prime minister modi's message during india's battle against covid—19. the country of 1.3 billion people were urged to light candles or torches at 9pm for nine minutes — a show of national unity. so to stand in solidarity, we have lit diyahs, did some meditation also, and hope india

survives this and we come out in two weeks. but government critics say it was nothing but a picture opportunity for the prime minister, who is under increasing pressure to do more, especially for the country's poon the former finance minister made this direct appeal to the leader, saying: "we will listen to you and light diyas on aprilfive, but in return, please listen to us and the wise counsel of epidemiologists and economists." india is in the grip of a strict 21—day lockdown. almost allshops, including large factories, have closed, leaving workers on a daily wage with no source of income. the prime minister has announced a $22 billion package to assist the poor, but many fear the financial aid won't go far enough or come quick enough.

chaos is also breaking out in some of india's poorest the doctors say people are frightened by their presence and fear they are a source of spreading the disease. there are now more than 3,500 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in india, almost 100 people have died. there are fears the number of deaths will rise significantly. but for many people on the lowest of incomes, their greatest fear is starvation and having no work to go back to after the lockdown. freya cole, bbc news. that is just about it from me for now. plenty more on our website, including this article, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic is having on the illegal wildlife trade.

that's all at bbc.com/news or download the bbc news app. you can reach me on twitter, i'm @sipusey. hello there. the weekend brought plenty of sunshine for many of us and temperatures responded accordingly. sunday was the warmest day of the year so far, 22.2 degrees, the highest which we recorded in west wales. but for monday, something a little bit cooler. there will be some sunshine around, yes, but there will also be some showers. so that plume of very warm air that wafted northwards across the uk through sunday is being replaced by something cooler from the atlantic, moving in behind this frontal system. now, this frontal system will bring some outbreaks of rain through monday morning, the front becoming very slow moving, actually, across east anglia and the south—east. you can see these outbreaks of rain only slowly trudging eastwards and then for east anglia and the south—east the rain likely to turn heavier

for a time during the morning. behind it, though, we see brighter skies and sunshine, one 01’ two showers across england and wales, one or two more for northern ireland and scotland, some of which could be possibly heavy and thundery. fairly windy across the far north—west. temperatures down on where they have been but 12—18 degrees, that is still respectable for this time of year. now, as we move through monday night with light winds and largely clear skies overhead, it is going to turn cold, certainly a colder start to tuesday morning. temperatures in towns and cities very close to freezing. some spots in the countryside probably will get down to freezing. so there could be a frost for some on tuesday morning. potentially one or two fog patches around as well. tuesday is all about high pressure building its way in from the new continent, so that promises a lot of dry weather. yes, that chilly start, but we will see plenty of sunshine. the winds come back up from the south so there will be some warmth in that sunshine with top temperatures in london getting to around 20 degrees. further north, for glasgow, more like 14—15, always some patches for northern ireland and north—west scotland, turning any sunshine quite hazy.

some frontal systems trying to push in from the atlantic and the squeeze between the two will bring a renewed surge of warm air from the south. notice scotland holds onto something colder, but elsewhere temperatures climbing, 23 degrees is likely in the south. it does look like we will see some outbreaks of rain moving on from the west on friday.

this is bbc news.

the headlines: british prime minister borisjohnson has been taken to hospital, ten days after testing positive for covid—19 and going into self—isolation. his office says he's still suffering symptoms, including a high temperature, and has been admitted for tests as a precaution. he's expected to remain in hospital overnight. donald trump says there is light at the end of the tunnel, as parts of america prepare to reach their peak in deaths in the coming week. that's as officials warn the death toll in places such as new york is a sign of trouble to come in other states. the queen has given a televised address in which she urged the people of britain and the commonwealth to remain united and resolute in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. speaking from windsor castle, she said countries around the world werejoined in a common effort against the disease.