this is bbc news. i'm rich preston. thanks forjoining us. our top stories: coronavirus takes another 900 lives in the uk, bringing the national total to over 7,000. there have now been over 1a,000 deaths in the united states. how deaths in the united states. a in a supermarket he spread how a in a supermarket helps to spread the virus. he knew evident suggests masks to provide vital protection. and in russia, the show must go on line. despite the pandemic, dances from one of russia's oldest theatres are taking their performances to the web.

the condition of the british prime minister, borisjohnson, is said to be improving as he prepares to spend a third night under intensive care battling covid—19. tim's chancellor of the exchequer rishi sunak, said he is sitting up in bed and engaging positively with the team around him. but the wider picture is less encouraging. britain recorded its worst figures to date or hospital patients who have died of coronavirus, 938. 0ur 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? 0ur 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 single 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 round 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 are still getting bad figures, and so therefore, it seems to me that saying that it is 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 at 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. president trump has given his daily update on the coronavirus from the white house. the president doubled down in his pledge to reopen the nation sooner rather than later, once again promising that meetings on the issue would be taking place soon. but it would be nice to be able to open with a big bang and open up our country, or certainly most of our country and i think we're going to do that soon. you look at what's happening. i would say we are ahead of schedule. you hate to say it too loudly because all of a sudden, things don't happen but i think we will be sooner rather than later, but we will be sitting down with the professionals, we will be sitting down with many different people, making a determination

and those meetings will start taking place fairly soon. also at the news conference, the president continued to criticise the world health organization. it came after the who's director—general indicated the organisation should not be politicised. mr trump said the organisation needed to do a betterjob. everything was going to be fine, no human—to—human, keep the borders open. he wanted me to keep the borders open. i closed the borders despite him, and that was a hard decision to make at the time. we were all together, we made a decision against the world health organization so when he says politicising, he's politicising, that shouldn't be. but look, we spent $450 billion, $452 billion, almost $500 billion last year, hundreds of billions in previous years and they've got to do better than that, they've got to do better. when you talk about politics, i can't believe he is talking about politics when you look at the relationship they have to china.

so china spends $42 million, we spend $450 million and everything seems to be china's way. that's not right, it's not fair to us and honestly it's not fair to the world. i spoke earlier to david willis, our north america correspondent, who has more on that. we started by discussing why president trump had taken to criticising the who. absoutely, rich. he's railed against the world health organization, as he has over the last 48 hours, accusing it of getting things wrong as far as the coronavirus outbreak was concerned, of being pro—china and pushing back on his travel ban that president trump imposed at the end of january on people coming here from china, later expanded to europe and the uk. so the president again repeating to withdraw money or withhold money from the who and also saying that his government would be investigating how the organisation actually worked.

you heard the quote there are from him that the united states contributed $450 million last year compared to china's $40 million—plus so the president clearly believes this is money that is not being well spent. he wouldn't be drawn on whether he thinks the director general of the who should resign. the director general, for his part, has said this is not the time to politicise events surrounding the coronavirus crisis, rich. and david, as we heard, the president saying he wants the country to open up sooner rather than later but that's despite us numbers continuing to rise. yes, it is. the president clearly itching to get this country back to some sense of normality. he said it was getting closer to that point and that would happen sooner than many people thought. he also concurred with the estimates given by the new york governor andrew cuomo earlier today that the curve, as far as coronavirus cases in the united states

is concerned, was starting to flatten and he once again talked about the light being at the end of the tunnel and you heard that quote about looking to get back to business with a big bang. it was put to him, i might add, that perhaps may i might be the date at which people could look towards getting back to some sense of normality here. the president wouldn't be drawn on that, rich. he knows the folly right now about talking about dates for this country to reopen after previously having said they would be back to normal by easter. david willis, thanks forjoining us. countries across europe have been reacting to warnings by the world trade organisation about the financial impact of the coronavirus. that could be

a decline of a third this year and companies must take steps. while europe's death toll continue to rise, most of its stock markets were in decline. the world trade organisation warns the pandemic could cause the deepest economic recession in living memories. the bank of france said the nation's economy contracted 6% in the first quarter, putting it in recession, despite the news the finance minister promised to keep the current support measures in place. translation: we will maintain them for the duration of this health and economic crisis. we have made a choice and i see it as a choice of responsibility to protect these skills and employees rather than in the united states, having millions more unemployment claims every week. one of spain's biggest football teams, real madrid, said its players have reduced wages by one—fifth to support the rest of the staff. spain has the most confirmed cases of coronavirus in europe, exceeding 14,500

deaths, but while the country remains a lockdown, others are taking a different approach. translation: we can see all around us they keep spouting quarantine, curfew. it would be a piece of cake. we could do it in 24 hours, but what would we eat? belarus has seen its cases rise above 1,000, with 13 deaths. their president questioned the benefits of introducing a lockdown, saying that countries should focus on solving economic issues instead. translation: it is no longer only a few officials from international organisations who are talking about famine in the near future but everybody else is talking about it as well, including yesterday's most developed advanced countries and their leaders. italy has seen a slowing in coronavirus deaths, prompting fears people may ignore the lockdown restrictions on the easter weekend. while austria's chancellor has announced plans to start easing some of the restrictions, despite this being against world health organization guidance. but while the fight

to preserve human life continues, europe's economic health is deteriorating, the european central bank saying £i.3 trillion will be required to tackle the crisis. matt graveling, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come. a 2—week ceasefire in yemen and new hope to an end to one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. 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 news, thanks for being without. the headlines: britain has recorded its worst daily figure for coronavirus deaths in hospital, but in italy there are further signs of the pandemic slowing. across the us there has been more than 400,000 cases of coronavirus, with more than 14,000 deaths.

bernie sanders has dropped out of the democratic race for president. senator sanders said he could not in good conscience continue with the campaign that he couldn't win, which interfered with the important work required in this difficult hour. the bbc‘s jane o'brien has more. for many months, bernie sanders topped the polls, winning in the early voting states while becoming the standard bearer of the progressive wing at 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 are now some 300 delegates behind vice president biden on the path toward victory is virtually impossible so while we are winning the ideological battle and while we are winning the support of so many young people and working people throughout the country, i have concluded that this battle for the democratic nomination will not be successful. when you are sick,

you have a right to go to the doctor! bernie sanders started his campaign is a revolution, a movement to end inequality which appeal particularly to young people. he tapped into a pervasive sense that the rich were getting richer while the american dream was becoming unobtainable for the working classes. it was not long ago that people considered these ideas radical and fringe. 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 gained momentum, not enough people in his party believed he could beat president trump. that job now forced tojoe biden who, in a tweet, appealed the party unity. president trump, though, played on democratic divisions and urged sanders supporters to vote for him instead. although he now backs joe biden, bernie sanders said he will remain on the ballot for the remaining primary is in order to win delegates

and maintain his influence within the party. whether they like it or not, democrats will be feeling the bern for a long time yet. thank you all very much. jane o'brien, bbc news. i was speaking to a senior adviser to joe i was speaking to a senior adviser tojoe biden, i was speaking to a senior adviser to joe biden, moe i was speaking to a senior adviser tojoe biden, moe vela. actually i expected it a little sooner but i think it is time to thank senator sanders for the contributions he made to our national dialogue and give him credit for two presidential races that have been well run. he was such a contrast to president trump and the republican rhetoric. particularly amongst young americans, that was a big deal. have they now lost the person fighting for them?

not at all. as you mentioned, i am a former senior adviser tojoe biden and the white house. i knowjoe biden and i'll tell you, as soon as young people realise he is absolutely going to listen, he is absolutely going to be advocating for policies and he is going to act in a matter that will make their future much greater and much better, above all he represents the decency that we hope and we like to think are — there's an american value. so this is a new race now. this is a biden versus trump, this is decency versus division, and i think the american people, i trust they are going to make the right decision in november. what is your assessment of senator sander‘s campaign? i alluded to it a second ago. i commend him. i have been in this business for four decades and i have to tell you, both times he ran excellent campaigns. they were inclusive, they were diverse, they represented a lot of what is great about our nation, and above all i think he moved the dial on the discussion of issues that are very important to all americans,

so i congratulate him, i commend him. i think you should hold his head up high. his supporters should now rally behind us on the biden camp and the biden family, and let's go take back our nation. this is what it is about for us this election. the saudi—led coalition fighting houthi rebels in yemen has announced a two—week halt in its military operations. the ceasefire will apply across the country from midday on thursday. sources have told the bbc the coalition wanted to create space for the start of un—brokered peacetalks. the houthis have yet to respond directly to the saudi—led initiative. this initiative marks the most important move by saudi arabia to end the war it unleashed against neighbouring yemen five years ago. it's blistering campaign against houthi forces aligned to iran has cost many civilian lives and left yemen on the brink of collapse. there have been un—brokered peace talks before,

as well a secret talks in recent months between senior saudi and houthi officials, but this will be the first time the saudi—led coalition has announced a unilateral, nation—wide ceasefire. one source described it as an effort to create space for the un's latest initiative to end a devastating war, which includes joint efforts to fight against the coronavirus in a country where the health system has been decimated. brazil's health ministry has reported the first coronavirus case, a 15—year—old boy in the northern and was on. coronavirus could wreak havoc on indigenous groups. the health minister set he plans to build a field hospital for indigenous communities. a key question emerging is whether the public should

wear face masks. countries including israel, indonesia and morocco as well as the us are now insisting they are worn or encouraging people to do so. a computer simulation of someone coughing in a supermarket. this is new research, still to be confirmed, that shows how coronavirus could spread and linger in the air, infecting people nearby. the scientist involved say the obvious conclusion is to avoid places that might be busy. first of all, don't go there if you don't need to go there. if you need to go there, go there only as seldom as possible, and number three, stay there as short a time as possible. now, if someone is showing symptoms they shouldn't be going to a supermarket or anywhere else, but there is growing evidence that people can have the virus and not show symptoms, and that's one reason why the us government

and many others are now urging people that if they do have to go out, they wear a mask. in morocco, for example, there is now a government order to wear masks. with the threat of prison or fines to back that up. but the world health organization and the british government believe that measures like this just aren't needed. here in the uk the guidance is that it's health care workers and carers who should wear masks, and the worry is that supplies might run out if the public are trying to buy them as well. there are different views about this among scientists. one is that if you wear a mask you might reduce the risk of passing virus to others. another is that once you put a mask on, you might get a false sense of security. you might think you can get close to people again, or stop washing your hands so often. and you might treat the mask too casually. wearing a mask must be consistent.

it's not on to wear a mask and then decide to take it off to smoke a cigarette or to eat a meal. it must be worn full time. at the same time, when the mask is taken off, the outside surface may be contaminated as well, and has become contaminated, and then could serve as a source of infection. in any event, more and more countries are demanding that people wear masks. in indonesia they are handing them out. and the italian region of tuscany is scaling up deliveries because everyone will have to wear one. attitudes are changing fast. david shukman, bbc news. in gaza, the ministry of health says it has run out of coronavirus test kits. over in the west bank there are similar concerns but some communities feel their way of life may

offer protection. in the jordan valley they know all about isolation. these in towns and cities of the west bank, thanks to the virus, the distance seems even greater. translation: because of the coronavirus we have been asked to stay away from centres, not joint gatherings stop this is what scares us. this is why bed when lifestyle is better than in the city. chances may be reduced but like in so many other places, the economic impact is profound. these are very farmers. they have no markets and no customers. translation: the markets for go get entries are close. we cannot sell anything and we have a lot in stock. jericho is

on lockdown and we cannot reach any other city to sell our products. and are ready to get health system struggles to cope. treatment is almost impossible if you cannot test for the virus first. translation: we confirm that tests have stopped after testing kits have completely run out. doesn't are awaiting to be tested. the lack of testing kits represents a new challenge in confronting the pandemic. coronavirus cares not for boundaries or borders. everyone here, no bad or city dweller, is waiting and hoping for the best. in russia, as in so many other countries around the world, entertainment venues were among the first to shut and many performances are being streamed online, some free of charge. for one of the oldest dance theatres, the mikhailovsky theatre, the show

has been going on. music plays 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," principal 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. great stuff. a host of coronavirus stories on our website,

including helpful guides like this, explaining what the symptoms of covid—19 are and how you can protect yourself. stay with us on bbc news and reach me on twitter. hello there. wednesday was the warmest day of the year so far — temperatures reached 24 celsius in sussex. on wednesday and again on thursday, though, we've still got this weak whether front moving very slowly northwards across scotland. to the 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 weather front, moving northwards across scotland, lingering in the north—east of england, making it cooler. maybe a bit of rain from that too. to the south, some variable clouds, some good sunny spells. probably the sunniest weather towards the south—west. this is where we are more likely to see the highest temperatures. and it will be wuite a bit cooler underneath the cloud in scotland and noticeably so in the north—east of england. there will also be an onshore breeze too. now, that cloud will continue to drift its way northwards, up toward the northern isles,

taking a bit of rain there overnight. but elsewhere, i think, we will see some good clear spells, particularly further south, across england and wales. but, after the warmth in the sunshine during the day, temperatures here probably no lower than around eight or nine degrees. into friday — good friday — and a few changes for the northern half of the uk. whilst there may be some sunshine, there's a chance of catching a few showers which could be heavy. they are very hit and miss, mind you. for much of england and wales it's probably going to be dry. the sunniest skies for the midlands southwards and here temperatures again 23, maybe even 24 degrees. a little bit milder, i think, across the north—east 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. pressure starting to drop a bit. lots of weather fronts coming in from the atlantic. they will certainly bring more cloud and maybe some showery bursts of rain, some wetter weather, particularly across scotland and perhaps into northern ireland, even the chance of a shower or two not farfrom the south—west of england. but again, many parts of england and wales should be dry, still enjoying some sunshine and some warmth with the highest temperatures across the south—east of

england. and that is where we will see any remaining warmth on easter day, because there's more showers likelty to develop across england and wales, with soem heavier ones towards wales and the south—west. a little bit drier across scotland and northern ireland but those temperatures are beginning to ebb away and it will turn cooler still as we move into monday. the showers that we're seeing in the south and south—west, those will fade away and instead, around an area of high pressure, we will see a northerly wind. it will turn drier but it will turn cooler.

this is bbc news — the headlines: the total number of people who have died in hospitalfrom coronavirus in the uk has risen by 938 to more than 7000. however the director of the national health service said the number of new infections and hospital admissions are starting to show signs of flattening. there is growing concern in the united states of the apparently disproportionate impact of coronavirus on black americans. statistics from chicago alone showed that its black population accounted for 70% of death from covid—19 complications. and there is similar information from new york. the sauddi—led coalition fighting in yemen announced they are holding military operations for two weeks. starting on thursday, there are attempts to support un brokered peace talks to end five years of war.