g vim « {é 5'ng 7,713.1“ - flung“? "n «fig? it's people like you sitting to my right working on this other life and around the world is countries in a place with this and are prepared for a virus like this one. have any us diplomats or us officials contracted the virus is they've got to rescue us citizens abroad? not that i'm aware of it. not that i'm aware of it. when we sent our team to get officials about 800 nongovernment citizens living in wuhan, we sent one of our first repatriation flights in there, we we re very repatriation flights in there, we were very careful stop we send trained professionals in. but they we re trained professionals in. but they were going into a very difficult, very fraught place. i am not aware of any of our officials that have had the virus attacked them while they were performing their functions, try to get people back. we have a number of state department officials who have covid—19 now and are working their way through. we

have had three fatalities of local employees, not us direct hires, but local people working for state department embassies around the world. we have had three fatalities so world. we have had three fatalities so far. there have been some calls on the world health position for a leadership change there. i was wondering what your thoughts were on that. i don't. .. this is wondering what your thoughts were on that. i don't... this is not wondering what your thoughts were on that. i don't. .. this is not the time to be doing that kind of change. there will be a lot of time to look back and see how the world health organisation performed. in the meantime, what our task is to preserve and protect the amerian taxpayers, to make sure that our resources don't go to places that aren't going to deliver on behalf of the american people and president trump andi the american people and president trump and i are determined to do that. just a quick follow-up. .. you said china has a responsibility to

give correct figures. how would you probably characterize cooperations with china right now? with lots of places, we have been cooperating. their places on the ground now we have access to the data we need and we are deeply appreciative of that stop they have said they want to co—operate. we are completely prepared to co—operate. cooperation means sharing data, being upfront, allowing information to flow freely, and that's our expectation. notjust in china, though, of every country in this place. collectively, we have to work our way through this. and we have to have good data. thank you, mr president. thank you, all. 0k, thank you very much. just a few days, we've delivered nearly 11 million and 95 masks to hotspots around the country, including set .6 million to new york and newjersey -- n95 million to new york and newjersey

—— n95 masks. 1.7 million to detroit and 837,000 to new orleans. i spoke with the oven or a louisiana little while ago. they are doing really pretty well —— the governor of. much better than they thought. they are using fewer beds. as you know, we built a hospital. we are about to use another hospital and there is a possibility they will not needed. to date, we have shipped out more than a thousand ventilators and we have almost 10,000 sitting there ready to go should we need them, and in additional 2200 newly manufactured ventilators come online monday. we gonna be sending them to various locations just case they need them. my locations just case they need them. my menstruation __ my —— my administration is working... high—quality ventilators. we are

eliminating bureaucratic barriers to phillips, this will help to ensure that our country can permanently produce enough ventilators in the future that we can do that by ourselves. we will have a big stockpile when we finish and we expect we will send quite a few to other countries to help them after we are finished and even now, when a couple of countries are in really, really dire need. and it looks like oui’ really dire need. and it looks like our productions were right on ventilators in some states were thinking they would need thousands oi’ thinking they would need thousands or more, they are now already taken ca re or more, they are now already taken care of, which we are very happy about. in addition, beginning in may, we will be receiving almost 300 million new facemasks. we are going to have masks, about 300 million.

they are starting to be delivered in may and during the month ofjune. we are ordering a big stockpile and we are ordering a big stockpile and we are taking of doing an additional 200 million should we need them or for the stockpile so we will be in a position to have something. that will be a total of 500 million masks. and today, 750,000 new protective downs landed in dallas, texas as a result of the partnership led by the federal government, dupont and fedex, and that's been a great partnership so far. we have 750,000 new protective downs. and these are a high level, really high—quality for some as american industry steps up to help, so our america's doctors and scientists. ten drugs are now in clinical trials. in my menstruation is unprecedented actions —— my administration is taking unprecedented actions to make new therapies and treatment available without delay. the doctors, the lab technicians, the companies, i spoke to them yesterday, i spoke again

today, they are coming up with things that are i think, i hope in the very near future going to be very special, very important. our national stockpile is now equipped with nearly 30 million hydroxy chloroquine bills, so we are up to about 30 million. we are disturbing them by the millions. you read about state representative... going public for i think she was very much hoped by this pill. she saw what i was saying on television, she thought she was in very bad shape. i don't wa nt to she was in very bad shape. i don't want to go further than that but you saw her story, you know her story, she is a highly effective state rep for michigan and she did... i think she did a great service, which he has done. she is in terrific shape. she looks fantastic. and she was very generous with her statements.

in addition, the zinc... they say zinc, you should add zinc stop it all has to be recommended. i want to throw that out there because that's where they seem to be having the best result. you add the zinc and the azithromycin. we had a lot of good stories. a lot of good stories. and we have almost 30 million doses, so we and we have almost 30 million doses, so we have got a lot. i want to think prime minister modi of india for allowing us to have what we requested before the problem arose. he was terrific. we will remember it. later today, the cdc will release further guidance to ensure critical infrastructure workers can perform theirjob infrastructure workers can perform their job safety after infrastructure workers can perform theirjob safety after potential exposure to the virus. they are working on that. the question was

asked a little while ago about the world health organisation. and as you know come and they made a statement on january 1a, i you know come and they made a statement onjanuary14, i guess it was, that there was no human—to—human transmission. there was. they probably made that statement in the second or 3rd of december... let's move away from that daily press briefing by president trump and bring in kathy kate, who is in washington for us. —— caddy . it's more of the same, really. you we re . it's more of the same, really. you were getting their a resume from the president of all the things they have done and the masks that they have done and the masks that they have organised, the ventilators. it's become a kind of daily shopping list we are from the president. adding the interesting bit of these press co nfe re nces adding the interesting bit of these press conferences increasingly is when we hear from the press conferences increasingly is when we hearfrom the medical

experts, dr dr fauci and dr dr birx. we did hear... there have been employees who work for the state department, not american diplomats, who have contracted the coronavirus and there was also there a question briefly about reports here in the us about dissatisfaction in the white house, with the head of the world health organisation dr tedros, and whether this is a time the white house might be considering cutting funding to the world health organisation. that came up in last night's press conference and there's not much clarity on that. the president seemed to be seeing last night that he was considering cutting funding than saying, yes, they were going to. i was listening to it, but i think it was dr fauci saying, this is not the time to beaker to sizing or defunding. what

do americans think of these daily press briefings coachella mixed -- mixed reports. the president is ina lot -- mixed reports. the president is in a lot of free airtime. a lot of the president's supporters are very happy he is out there and some of them have been saying publicly, we feel that the president is taking control of this coronavirus situation that is because he is on tv all the time. he lists all the things, number by number of the masks and the ventilators, and he doctors and nurses in the hospitals and medical permit being moved around the country. that doesn't mean very much, those numbers, u nless mean very much, those numbers, unless you are there actually checking with the hospitals and seeing what they need in real time. but he is getting that kind of pr boost of being able to talk directly to the american public, and then there are debates in the media here about whether they should be played because much of what the president says, they say is not actually accurate, and why should they be giving him what amounts to free

political airtime? 0k, katty kay, thank you very much indeed. the prime minister is said to be "improving" as he spends a third night in intensive care battling covid—19/ the chancellor rishi sunak says the prime minister was setting up in his bed. but the wider picture... 938 have died. our political editor laura kuenssberg reports. still the wait. the prime minister is still in intensive care. but borisjohnson's condition in hospital is improving. he's sitting up in bed. but dilemmas for government will still come. good afternoon. the chancellor taking the lead today. the latest from the hospital is that the prime minister remains in intensive care, where his condition is improving. i can also tell you that he has been sitting up in bed and engaging positively

with the clinical team. this is more than an immediate health emergency, though, for the prime minister and the many thousands of families around the country with loved ones at risk. shuttered shops, closed down commerce, the outward signs of a massive hit to the nation's wallet for as long as this lockdown goes on. do you accept, chancellor, that under the lockdown there is a trade—off between protecting people's health and protecting people's jobs? our priority is to protect people's lives, their health and well—being. that is our absolute overriding priority. we have also put in place unprecedented and significant measures to protect people's jobs. we will all see a significant impact on the economy and i've also been very honest that in spite of what our unprecedented measures in scale and scope, you know, i can't stand here and say that i can save every single job, protect every single business or indeed every charity. we are not far off three weeks since the original stay at home instruction, and by law, ministers have to say

by next thursday if the rules should stay in place. but with saving lives the absolute priority, no one around here thinks the doors will suddenly be thrown open. but the longer the emptiness lasts, the more the financial hurt to the country. there are simply no easy choices ahead. we're still getting bad figures, and so therefore, it seems to me that saying that it's likely that the lockdown would be relaxed in any way, a decision taken next week, would be premature, not least because not only might that have public health implications, it would also have economic implications. some of the country's leaders, crystal clear already that the rules won't go next week. i must be plain with all members. these restrictions will not end then. we will not throw away the gains we have made and the lives we can save.

with restrictions on all our lives still in force, conversations that might have seemed fanciful taking place online. are you holding up pictures of your mummies and daddies? this is a picture of my mum and she works for the nhs as an admin for the health visitors, and i'm really proud of her. a chat between the royal couple and kids of key workers still in school in burnley. life continues, even though it is not normal. hopes for patients in public life and everywhere, wanted soon at home. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. in the united states, there have been more than 400,000 cases of coronavirus, with more than 111,000 deaths. there are no official statistics which illustrate the demographic context of the figures, but it does seem the virus is infecting and killing black americans at a disproportionately high rate. our north america editor jon sopel has more details. coronavirus is totally indiscriminate in who it infects, but in the us it's highly discriminatory in who it's killing.

at this intensive care unit in new york city, nearly every patient is black. stefan flores is an emergency room doctor in the city. the people we are seeing most are african americans, are latinos, black and brown people who come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. these are the patients that are coming into my emergency room that i am taking care of, people who really need to be admitted, who we are seeing in icu and critically ill. this is also a story about inequality. the black community tends to be poorer and suffers from much higher rates of diabetes, obesity, heart disease and hypertension. the mayor of new york says it's a source of shame. it made me angry to see that the disparities that have plagued this city, this nation, that are all about fundamental inequality, are once again causing such pain and causing people, innocent people, to lose their lives. the figures are startling.

in milwaukee, nearly three quarters of those who have died are black, but they represent just a quarter of the residents. across in illinois, 42% of those who have lost their lives are african—american, but are only 14% of the population. and it's the same in the deep south. in louisiana, the black community accounts for 70% of the deaths but are a minority. the us surgeon general spoke about his own health issues. i shared myself personally that i have high blood pressure, that i have heart disease and spent a week in the icu because of a heart condition. i actually have asthma and i'm prediabetic. and so i represent that legacy of growing up poor and black in america, and i and many black americans are at higher risk for covid—19. it's why we need everyone to do their part. race has been the great dividing line in america since slavery. but coronavirus is shining a new and unexpected light on its legacy. there is nothing new in

the recognition of the health disparities between black and white america, but covid—19 is showing how deadly they are. all americans are wracked with anxiety at the moment, african—americans more so. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. do stay with us on bbc world news. still to come, the show must go on. the ballet dancers of one of russia's oldest theatres still putting on a performance the coronavirus. —— despite the coronavirus.

this is bbc news. these are the latest headlines. there's been another record number of deaths in the uk from coronavirus, with 938 reported over a 2k hour period. a

fourth night in hospitalfor boris johnson, who is still in intensive ca re johnson, who is still in intensive care stuck down a street the prime minister is making steady progress. —— downing street says the prime minister is. let's take you to the united states. the american politician bernie sanders has suspended his campaign to become us president. senator sanders that he cannot in good conscience continue in a campaign he could not win. jane o'brien has more. for many months, bernie sanders topped the polls, winning in the early voting states and becoming the standard bearer of the progressive wing of the democratic party. but it was not to be. i wish i could give you better news, but i think you know the truth, and that is that we now sit 300 delegates behind vice president biden and the path toward victory is virtually impossible. so while we are winning the ideological

battle, and boly are winning the support of so many young people and working able throughout the country, i have concluded that this battle for the democratic nomination will not successful. when you're sick, you have a right to go to the doctor, period. bernie sanders styled his campaign as a revolution, a movement to and inequality that appealed particular to young people. he tapped into a pervasive sense that the rich are getting richer all the american dream was becoming unobtainable for the working classes. it was not long ago that people considered these ideas radical and cringe, today they are mainstream ideas and many of them are already being implemented in cities and states across the country. that is what we have accomplished together. but while his ideas and momentum and not enough people in his party believed he could beat president trump. thatjob

now falls to joe biden, could beat president trump. thatjob now falls tojoe biden, who in a tweet appealed for party unity. president trump, though, played on democratic divisions and urged sender supporters to vote for him instead. although he now backed biden, bernie sanders says he will remain on the ballot for the remaining primaries in order to win delegates and maintain his influence within the party. whether they like it or not, emma kratz will be feeling the berne for a long time yet. jane o'brien, the bc news. the houthi rebels have announced a to be caught in its operations. the cease—fire role—play from across the country midday on thursday. sources have called the bbc the coalition wanted... the who these have yet to respond directed to the saudi initiative. let's get more on this

from our chief international correspondent. you think this could give us some hope of something longer lasting perhaps? hope is a strong word to use in the midst of what has been a truly devastating warfor what has been a truly devastating war for yemen what has been a truly devastating warfor yemen but it what has been a truly devastating war for yemen but it certainly is the most significant step by the saudi led coalition to end the blistering campaign that it unleashed against its neighbour yemen five years ago last month. we do know that it has been many months it's been trying to find a way out of this war and the statement that was issued a short time ago by the saudi coalition, they spoke of the need to stop the spread of the coronavirus, and who can agree with that in a country where health country has been debited by this? but they also spoke of the conditions to support united nations effo rts conditions to support united nations efforts for a cease—fire. the saudis

would like to see an end to this war, which is costing them a great deal and their war, which is costing them a great dealand theirair war, which is costing them a great deal and their air campaign is blamed by those who gathered by causing the number of civilian casualties. so they want to find a way out. will these who —— the hutus and saudis agree, to make sure iran does not have a launching pad in yemen? and the who these want to really maintain their grip on power, so there still a long way to go —— the houthis. grip on power, so there still a long way to go -- the houthis. lyse doucet, thank you very much indeed. in russia — as in so many other countries, including the uk, measures to prevent the spread of covid—19 have resulted in entertainment venues being shut. for the dancers of one's

of russia's oldest theatres — in st petersburg — the show has been going on. our correspondent steve rosenberg reports. russians love ballet and the mikhailovsky is one of the country's top troupes. they're in lockdown now, but the stars of this stage have 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. absolutely fantastic. you can reach me on twitter. thank you so much for your company here on bbc news. plenty more to come. bye—bye.

hello there. wednesday was the warmest day of the year so far stub temperatures reached 2a celsius in sussex. wednesday and again on thursday, we've got this week weather front moving very slowly northwards across scotland. to the south of that, many parts of the uk in that warmerair south of that, many parts of the uk in that warmer air once again and those temperatures will get a boost in the sunshine. but we've got more cloud on that whether front, moving northwards across scotland, lingering across northern england, making it cooler. to the south, some variable cloud, good sunny spells. probably the sunniest weather to the southwest. it will be quite a bit cooler underneath the cloud in scotla nd cooler underneath the cloud in scotland and noticeably so in the northeast of england stub also an onshore breeze. that cloud will continue to drift its way

northwards, after the northern isles, taking a bit of rain there overnight but elsewhere, some good clear spells, critically further south across england and wales. after the warmth and the sunshine here in the day, temperatures here will be no lower than eight or 9 degrees. into friday, good friday, and a few changes for the northern half of the uk. while there may be some sunshine, there's the chance of catching a few showers. very hit and miss, mind you, but much of england and wales is probably gonna be sky. temperatures again, 23, maybe even 24 temperatures again, 23, maybe even 2a degrees. a little bit milder i think across the northeast of england and for many parts of scotland. as we move into the weekend, we will start to see some erosion of the area of high—pressure stop pressure is starting to drop a bit, got some weather fronts coming in from the atlantic. may be some showery person of rain coming. what's your weather particular across scotland —— wet weather. many parts of the linen wells dry, still

enjoying some sunshine and some warmth. —— england and wales. that is where we'll see some remaining. more showers likely to develop across england and wales with some heavier ones towards wales and the southwest. a little bit drier across scotla nd southwest. a little bit drier across scotland and northern ireland but those temperatures are beginning to add away and will turn cooler still as we move into monday was to be showers we are seeing in the south and southwest, those will fade away, and southwest, those will fade away, and instead around an area of high—pressure, we will see a northerly wind. it will turn drier and it will turn cooler.

this is bbc world news. these are the headlines. in record number of deaths in the uk from coronavirus, 938 reported over a 2k hour period. the british prime minister is facing a fourth night in the hospital. downing street says mrjohnson is making steady progress, though he is still in intensive care. the wto says global trade could fall by as much as a third because of restrictions to contain covid—19. the wto chief says the pandemic could provoke the deepest recession of our lifetimes. the saudi led coalition has announced it is halting military operations nationwide in order to and the five—year war. senator bernie sanders has announced he is ending his campaign for the democratic credential nomination, making way forjoe biden to challenge donald trump.