found a creative way to keep performing. they're doing it at home and posting online. it's less classical, more kitchen, really. don quixote at dinner time. valeria normally uses a fan for this bit, but in quarantine, a plate will do. ah, the emotion of it all. a scene from the ballet giselle, with a saucepan of russian dumplings. there's clearly an appetite for this bizarre ballet. in russia, the video has gone viral. "stay positive, that's the message", prinicpal dancer ivan tells me. "life might be tough now, but a good mood and a sense of humour can save the world."

a sense of humour... well, russians certainly have that. stuck at home, people across russia have been impersonating famous paintings and sharing online. very. . . creative. and they've penned a plethora of pop songs about this pandemic. as for the ballet dancers — in their homes and gardens, they're promising more uplifting performances to raise the spirits of the nation. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. good for them. time for a look at the weather. here's thomasz schafernaker. hello and good evening to you. it was the warmest day of the year today. temperatures got up to 23.9 degrees in sussex and across southern parts of the uk over the next two or three days, it will be

every bit as warm. so while we stay at home, the weather stays warm outside. so, the latest satellite picture very clear skies across much of europe. so not just very clear skies across much of europe. so notjust warm here in uk but many other parts of the continent as well. this is what it looks like early on thursday morning. so many towns and cities around 6—9 degrees but possibly a touch of frost in the far north of the highlands. tomorrow, subtle differences in the weather. i think this guy is turning a bit more cloudy around these north sea coast, anywhere from aberdeenshire, newcastle, down towards hull could be pretty over our overcast. a lot of clear weather across the continent here but weather fronts starting to approach the uk. that means on good friday, we will probably see increasing amounts of cloud towards the west, maybe even a few brief showers. the chances of

catching a shower will be so low and most of us are in any way. 23 2a in london and around 16 expected in the lowla nds london and around 16 expected in the lowlands of scotland. so let's have a look at the outlook over the next few days. here is the easter weekend. you can see very pleasant temperatures here, around 19 in cardiff, 23 in london. then it looks like things will be clouding over as we head into sunday. monday, a big drop in the temperature towards the south from 23 down to 13 in london. thank you. a reminder of our top story: more than a fortnight after the lockdown started, there is another record number of deaths in the uk, with 938 reported over a 24—hour period. that's all from the bbc news at six, so it's goodbye from me and on bbc one, we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are.

you are watching bbc news. the time is coming up to 6:35pm. good evening, i'm olly foster at the bbc sport centre. the new uk athletics chief executive joanna coates has been talking about the size of the task she's taken on and she has promised huge change. the immediate priority is, like every other sport, dealing with the impact of coronavirus. they will be furloughing staff from tomorrow and look to protect what events they still have in the calendar, like the anniversary games in london injuly but that could see them clash with west ham. in herfirst on camera interview since taking on the role, she's been speaking to our sports editor dan roan. we are taking different measures, the same as most other organisations. we will start following staff as of tomorrow, we will look at other ways we can cut costs. if we don't have anniversary games in july, that costs. if we don't have anniversary games injuly, that is not good because that is a big income

generatorfor because that is a big income generator for us. because that is a big income generatorfor us. at the moment there are a lot of sports and worse situation than ourselves. i don't think it is right tojump the situation than ourselves. i don't think it is right to jump the queue looking for support, because from a cash position we are in a very strong position at the moment. you mentioned the anniversary games, have you heard back from west ham about whether or not they will allow you to stage that event in their stadium? and what do you think about the suggestion that you gift it to tokyo and let them host it instead? it has been reported a lot the conversation is between ourselves and west ham, they are not, there are between ourselves and our previous employers because we contract with them. we still really wa nt to contract with them. we still really want to hold that. if government is saying we can still have mass gatherings, we really want to hold that, it is important to us and our athletes. we understand the premier league are controlling fixtures so there are a lot of parties i work

here and we understand west ham want to play their remaining fixtures, but we are still having conversations in the background that we wa nt conversations in the background that we want the anniversary games to go ahead. if you select sometimes sport is weighted so much towards football andi is weighted so much towards football and i think all sport at this moment in time should be given a fair shot -- it in time should be given a fair shot —— itjust in time should be given a fair shot —— it just feels in time should be given a fair shot —— itjust feels like sport sometimes weighted towards football. the next world athletics championships will be held between 15th—24thjuly in 2022. they were going to be in oregon next summer but that was before the olympics were rescheduled. that means that the worlds, that were held in doha last year, will be the first in a triple bill of major events. they will be followed by the commonwealth games in birmingham and then the european championships in munich. world athletics have admitted that it's not ideal but it will be a unique celebration of the sport over 6 weeks. tottenham's head coachjose mourinho has admitted that he shouldn't have taken a training session with a handful of his players in a north london park, breaking government guidelines on social distancing.

they've been reminded of their responsibilities by the club after being pictured on hadley common. mourinho seen with a group of players including the club's record signing tanguy ndombele. davinson sanchez and ryan sessegnon were also filmed going for a run. jose mourinho has given this response, he says... ben stokes is wisden‘s leading cricketer in the world, the first englishman to be given that accolade since freddie flintoff in 2005. fast bowlerjofra archer is one of the almanac‘s five cricketer‘s of the year. stokes played a key role in england's world cup victory injuly, he was man of the match in the final. he also led to england to a thrilling one—wicket victory

over australia in the third ashes test at headingley. india captain virat kohli had dominated the leading cricketer title in recent years. i think the fact that kohli won it three years in a row, i think we we re three years in a row, i think we were always thinking what will it ta ke were always thinking what will it take for him not to win it and stokes achieved it. it is an award you can win more than once, but not quite the same with cricketers, you can get nominated once. it is nice to be able to give him some kind of reward for the miracles of 2019. as sports deals with the financial impact of coronavirus here are some other headlines today. wales leading rugby union players will take a 25 percent pay cut for the next three months, the wru and the four regions have reached the agreement with the players union. those earning less than 25,000

pounds a year won't be affected. country cricket champions essex are placing the club's playing staff and the majority of non—playing staff on furlough leave until futher notice... kent are also doing the same with the majority of their staff. british cycling say they'll furlough 90 staff, around a third of the workforce over the next two months. they are anticipating a drop in income of around 4 million pounds. the chief executive and the leadership group will take 10 percent paycuts. and finally... olympic swimming champion adam peaty has taken part in a 100 kilometre bike race, in his back garden to help raise funds for the nhs. peaty says he had some mechanical problems and finished the distance in two hours and 5a minutes. seems pretty good to me. he was joined by olympic medallists maddie hinch and jazz carlin —

who were among the 500 people who joined him on a virutal training app. peaty is also going to auction the trunks that he wore when he won gold in rio four years ago. that's all the sport for now... now let's remind you of the main points from today's government news briefing, the chancellor rishi sunak said the prime minister because my condition is improving and he is sitting up and engaging with his clinical team. he said that boris johnson is receiving excellent care. professor angela maclean said the spread of the virus is not accelerating but the this was not the time to become complacent. she said the count of new cases in the uk day by day over the last few weeks is not a seller rating out of control. the government also announced a 750 million funding package for uk charities, but the chancellor warned he could not save

everyjob, business or charity with his emergency measures. he also said they would match pound for pound what the bbc charity appeal raises, thatis what the bbc charity appeal raises, that is going to be broadcast on april the 23rd. that is children in need and comic relief coming together to raise money. earlier i spoke to heidi travis, the chief executive of the sue ryder charity which provides support for people living with a terminal illness and neurological conditions, as well as those who have been recently bereaved. i asked those who have been recently bereaved. iasked her those who have been recently bereaved. i asked her how the charity has been coping since the lockdown. i think normally we only get 30% of our funding from statutory sources and therefore we rely on the other 70% coming from what we generate from fundraising. it has been a really worrying time and we have tried to make sure our staff remain positive and motivated because we know they are out there working in homes, looking after people and supporting them or in

hospices, and we don't want to worry people make them not feel supported when they are doing such a difficult front—linejob when they are doing such a difficult front—line job already. this when they are doing such a difficult front—linejob already. this is going to make such a tremendous difference us now in terms of the next couple of weeks and our plan going forward. you must have lost so much moneyjust in the short term, a number of events, the london marathon, 66,000,001 day, you must have lost so much money that would have lost so much money that would have been raised for you. yes, and it is important that money will not be coming back. we will have lost that. i am sure the public will come back when our shops open again and support us with their donations and shopped really well, i have heard that from people who have been me. people are already going to our emergency appeal because they understand hospices rely on that funding and we do push all of that money to front line care and that is why the flow of that money is so, so important. it is excellent news today and we will continue to work today and we will continue to work to do everything we can to support

as many people in our hospices and in the community as we possibly can over the coming weeks. good news for many charities there following the news from the chancellor this afternoon. there is though concern from some small business owners. the people who have small limited companies like georgia who is a photographer stop she has a photography company and joins me 110w. photography company and joins me now. explain what the issue now is facing you? hello. the issue that is directly facing me is that i am a photographer of a small company, i am the sole director of a small limited company. i am a photographer and also a commercials director. my husband is also in the same boat. he isatv husband is also in the same boat. he is a tv presenter and live show presenter as well as a writer. what this actually means, we are not being looked after. we are not being

given any help at all. the only thing they have now suggested to us is that we could furlough ourselves, but only on our optimum level of salary which basically, as most directors are, is £8,000, recommended standard amount for all directors of limited companies and thatis directors of limited companies and that is the optimum level. which means if we are furloughed, we are given hundred and £23 per week. that will not go very far. it also means the business has been completely stopped. i have to run the studio so the studio has had to shut down also completely. we have no income whatsoever. just to be clear, you area whatsoever. just to be clear, you are a director of a company. when you say you are director of a company, it is just you, you say you are director of a company, it isjust you, you you say you are director of a company, it is just you, you are you say you are director of a company, it isjust you, you are not employing lots and lots of people.

yes, andi employing lots and lots of people. yes, and i am not alone at all. there are millions, hundreds of us, thousands of us and funnily enough a lot of my friends are doing the same thing. whether you are a sound maker, whether you make tv, a cameraman 01’ a home maker, whether you make tv, a cameraman or a home economist, we are all doing the same thing. we all pay our taxes, we all worked really ha rd pay our taxes, we all worked really hard and ironically, we are all creatives. the biggest, hardest thing at the moment is we are all desperately sitting around going help, help help and is self—preservation, we have become more creative to help our souls and entertain others at home, but we are not getting paid for it. ironically we have just been told that if we do anything at all to help our businesses, we will not be allowed to be furloughed, which is probably the biggest slap in the face because creative people cannot sit around. all the television shows have been

made, you can see all the instagram pages, i've been to instagram to keep you happy, and i am not allowed to do that any more. you have been earning your living, you have done mary berry books for example, your husband does television, you are basically freelance but you are paid toa basically freelance but you are paid to a limited company. but you are not being treated in the same way as freelancers. no, not at all. what happens to you if this doesn't change? do you know what? the brutal honesty is it's a disaster. i have had to have a conversation with my youngest daughters headmaster, she is there because she is very dyslexic and i cannot afford to pay the fees. they said you can pay it in three months, i said there won't be anything in three months, i can pay my tax. yes, we have delayed taxes for three months but there will not be an income. the reality

is there is no income for us. there are no savings. not enough to cover us. i have been in the garden trying not to have a real reality check and just pushing with these petitions, keep signing please, please, can you help us out, then we can carry on helping you be creative. do you think the government hasn't been able to take on board what is happening to you or that theyjust cannot help you ? happening to you or that theyjust cannot help you? no, i think they cannot help you? no, i think they can help us, without a question they can help us, without a question they can help us, without a question they can help us. i understand it is very difficult because we all get paid in different ways, but there is no doubt they can help us. it is as simple as that, thank you very much for joining simple as that, thank you very much forjoining us. joining me now from her constituency in sunderland is the labour mp bridget philipson. good evening. let's start there,

there are clearly people who are falling through the net at the moment, the small salt limited companies. there are a number of gaps in the existing schemes that the government have brought forward. we work constructively with ministers to try to make sure where there are gaps that action is taken to address them. what we just heard there is one of the number of exa m ples of there is one of the number of examples of areas where we think the provisions could be strengthened and where government could take steps to try and set things right. furloughed workers is another example were sadly many people are not able to access that. also in the application of some of these programmes we want to make sure that help is being provided as quickly as possible and we will be having further discussions with ministers to make sure that is the case. do you think people like georgia, they are small companies, they have just been forgotten, that they will get help? this is an unprecedented challenge and it would be for any government. clearly, the government has had to respond at pace to what

isa has had to respond at pace to what is a very challenging situation. we wa nt to is a very challenging situation. we want to make sure that where there are gaps in existing provision, where schemes could go further, or where schemes could go further, or where further steps could be taken to protect jobs where further steps could be taken to protectjobs and businesses, and to protectjobs and businesses, and to make sure families don't suffer, then we will be doing all we can to work constructively with ministers and we will be having further discussions this week to press them on those issues we have just heard about. interesting this afternoon listening to the chancellor, he was pushed on the economy and the impact of this will have. he said there is no two ways about it, it is going to have a very big impact on the economy. how bad you think it is going to get? it is hard to say at this point. we know this is a major challenge, not just for this point. we know this is a major challenge, notjust for our this point. we know this is a major challenge, not just for our country but globally and we will be encouraging ministers to work internationally so to work with other countries. we welcome the measures the government have announced so far, but it is clear in some places that may not have come quickly enough to protect some people, to protect somejobs quickly enough to protect some people, to protect some jobs and businesses, and again where there

are gaps in those schemes, such as where, for example, we see the impact on furloughed workers, we wa nt to impact on furloughed workers, we want to make sure that money is made available as quickly as possible. again, that is where we will work with government to try and see that happen. looking long term, you must be incredibly concerned about what this will do to the economy and how quickly the economy can recover? naturally. many families are already in very challenging circumstances. we have had many years of a real squeeze on the incomes and living standards of a lot of working people across our country who can ill afford to see a further hit to their budgets. we will do what we can to work constructively with government to protect jobs work constructively with government to protectjobs and businesses. if we feel the need to go further, we will push them to do it. in the spirit of cooperation and national interest, we all have to pull together to try and make sure we mitigate the worst impact of this, both on the economy, but we also all follow government advice so we come through this crisis. we stay at home, we do what we can to protect

the nhs and we emerge as a country where we can have these kinds of conversations about making sure we look after those who have played such a big role and continue to play such a big role and continue to play such a big role and continue to play such a big role from nhs and social ca re such a big role from nhs and social care workers, to those working in the shops and bus drivers, those doing vital roles. you talk about emerging from this, it is a difficult balance, isn't it? keeping the epidemic under control and also not doing absolutely terrible damage to the economy. how do you get out of this? what would your exit strategy be? it is very difficult for all of us, and for some more than others. for those who don't have the luxury of a larger living space have the luxury of a larger living s pa ce a ccess have the luxury of a larger living space access to open space. do you have an exit strategy in mind? are you helping the government come out with —— come up with ideas and a way out of this, because you have to get the economy going as soon as you can and to protect lives? and exits

strategies will be crucial. we need to make sure we follow government advice but also make sure government follows through on its commitments around testing. testing will be essential to this. kier starmer is working closely with the government on this so we do get to the point of having an exit strategy that does link very directly to testing, especially for our front line workers but we will have to go much further than that. 0k, thank you very much forjoining us this evening. an assistant head teacher ofa evening. an assistant head teacher of a school in grimsby is pounding the pavement to deliver his pupils school meals by hand. zane powells who works at weston primary school works five —— watts five miles every morning to make sure not a single student who is eligible for a meal goes hungry. there is a cheese ball, a piece of fruit, some mixed flavour crisps, cookies or cake. the school

lunch menu today, a team effort with the skeleton staff remaining at weston primary school in grimsby. but forget meals on wheels, this is meals on heels. every day since the coronavirus crisis began assistant head teacher zane powells has pounded the pavements to personally deliver more than 100 stu d e nts personally deliver more than 100 students a packed lunch. personally deliver more than 100 students a packed lunchlj personally deliver more than 100 students a packed lunch. i enjoy it because it saves parents coming out of the house to pick up the lodges from school, they are doing the right thing, i am just doing everything i can to do the right thing as well. and his friendly face and food parcel drop—offs... thing as well. and his friendly face and food parcel drop-offs. .. thank you. have become something to look forward to in this part of town.

thank you! it is nice to see mr powers every day. my turn. he is giving everyone dinner. like a breath of fresh air. he loves coming to the door and seeing him, it makes him smile, it makes him happy. to the door and seeing him, it makes him smile, it makes him happym to the door and seeing him, it makes him smile, it makes him happy. it is amazing, you wait for him to come m, amazing, you wait for him to come in, every day, don't you? he is a hero, he really is. just over two hours of five miles later, there is empty bags and the reassurance of full tummies all round. bye stop a quick bit of breaking news. downing street has just released a statement saying the prime minister remains in intensive care but is making steady progress. a spokesman said he continues to make steady progress and he will remain in intensive care in hospitalfor now. let's have and he will remain in intensive care in hospital for now. let's have a look at the latest weather. hello, it was a warranty across

parts of the uk, in sussex temperatures got up to 23.9 degrees according to the met office. as far as the rest of the week is concerned, looking at the uk as a whole, it is going to stay settled and warm but not absolutely everywhere because it is still cloudy and cool across parts of scotland. you can see the overcast skies, a ribbon of cloud, a weather front draped across scotland and into northern ireland. to the south of that high pressure is dominating the weather so that means that all conditions and often sunny and clear at night. variable amounts of cloud across the uk during the night, but here is the weather fronts slicing scotla nd here is the weather fronts slicing scotland in half, you can see cloudy skies from grampian into the lowlands, to the south a little bit milder. temperatures of around 9 degrees in birmingham first thing in the morning on thursday but it will be cold out in the countryside. tomorrow, variable amounts of cloud, the best of the sunshine probably across southern and south—western

areas, however the north seacoast may end up pretty cloudy, anywhere from edinburgh down to hull could be overcast and cool with temperatures averaging 10 degrees. in cardiff we have the sunshine and up to around 22. good friday, weatherfronts to the west, getting closer you can see the west, getting closer you can see the cloud associated with these fronts, that means increasing amounts of cloud for western fringes of the uk and also the possibility of the uk and also the possibility of some spots of rain. i think the sunniest and warmest weather will be across the south and south—east. your temperatures could get up to around 2a degrees and widely into the low 20s as far north as yorkshire. that is good friday. how about saturday? and the rest of the weekend? these weather fronts are flirting with uk, you can see a fair bit of cloud, we will see subtle changes in the wind direction over the bank holiday, over the easter weekend. that means temperatures will be changing as well. look at that london, by the time we get to monday temperatures will be dipping

down to 13 degrees. peeking through friday and saturday but then a big step come the start of the week. it looks as though it will be turning cooler through the easter weekend, but only gradually. that is it from me, goodbye.

this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. another record number of deaths in the uk from coronavirus with 938 reported over a 24—hour period. it's a third night in hospital for the prime minister, who's still in intensive care, downing street sais tonight mr johnson is "making steady progress". the uk government says it's giving more £750 million to charities — many who have warned they are on the brink of collapse. the world trade organisation warns global trade could fall by as much as a third because of the coronavirus pandemic, triggering a deep recession. and, bernie sanders says he's ending his bid to win the democratic party's presidential nomination, clearing the way forjoe biden.