this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. i'm mike embley. our top stories: president trump suspends american funding for the world health organisation over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. the reality is that the who failed to adequately obtain, vet, and share information in a timely and transparent fashion. more than one in five deaths in england and wales is linked to coronavirus, as figures show 6,000 more people died than expected at the beginning of april. polling is under way in south korea's parliamentary election. voters must wear masks and plastic gloves and maintain

social distancing. # 20,000 feet up... bringing music and light into uncertain times. the multiple grammy award winning singer—songwriter, mary chapin—carpenter, performs for you from her home. hello to you. president trump has announced he is suspending american funding for the world health organization. he's alleged that the who, the united nations‘ health agency, has failed to show accountability in its response to the coronavirus outbreak. he also claimed it had failed, earlier this year, to investigate reports from the chinese city of wuhan that conflicted with official accounts about the virus emerging there. this is what he had to say. today i'm instructing my

administration to halt funding of the world health organization, while a review is conducted to assess the world health organization's role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus. one of the most dangerous and costly decisions from the who was its disastrous decision to oppose travel restrictions from china and other nations. they were very much opposed to what we did. fortunately, i was not convinced and suspended travel from china, saving untold numbers of lives. thousands and thousands of people would have died. had other nations likewise suspended travel from china, countless more lives would have been saved. instead, look at the rest of the world, look at parts of europe, other nations and regions who followed who guidelines and kept their borders open to china, accelerated the pandemic

all around the world. that was the president from the white house, of course. i spokejust now to our north america correspondent peter bowes. as he said, mr trump's critics see the president's attack on the who as an attempt to deflect criticism for his own handling of the pandemic. that is the main criticism, that president trump is trying to deflect criticism and, especially, criticism based on what he did or didn't do in the month of february. this is after he imposed a ban, effectively a ban on travel from china to the united states, which he has, on many occasions, hailed as a major decision in terms of slowing down the spread of coronavirus in this country. and it seems he was particularly hurt, particularly annoyed by criticism, who criticism of that travel ban at the time. but in terms of withholding funds, $400 million to $500

million, this is a major blow to the who. the us is the major contributor to that organisation. it isn't a final decision. it is pending a further review. but it does calculate some of the complaints we have heard from donald trump going back several weeks now. peter bowes for us there. ashwin vasan is an assistant professor at columbia university medical centre and an attending physician in new york. doctor, i know you also worked at the who between 2004 and 2005, at the height of the hiv crisis. first of all, it's not actually clear, is it, but an american president has the power to do this. that is true. there is congressional budget oversight and there are limitations on what a president can do, unilaterally, to change

something that is already allotted for funding to the who. soa allotted for funding to the who. so a expect there to be congressional pushback, at least from the house and senate democrats here. that said, what do you make of what the president is trying to do, at least the point is making? there is an argument the who has an impossibly large job there is an argument the who has an impossibly largejob in an impossibly small budget and did failto an impossibly small budget and did fail to tackle china in the early days of the outbreak. did fail to tackle china in the early days of the outbreaklj think early days of the outbreak.” think that the decision to take away funding in the middle of a pandemic, in the middle of a global pandemic is an incredible mistake. you know, during my time at the who, both at the height of the hiv pandemic and thereafter, they saw how important multilateral co—ordination, leadership, and target setting is in galvanizing support and local leadership, especially in lower income countries. and it is clear that particularly poor

countries will be at most by this decision. we all lose without who's impossible presence in this pandemic response. i think the time for humility is now where we all kind of look in the mirror and say" did we miss something? and if we rate too long to react? —— weight". what is clear is that president trump is blaming who for much of the mistakes he has made. is trying to shift the responsibility towards estates. we have more than 600,000 cases in the us and over 26,000, nearly 600,000 cases in the us and over26,000, nearly 26,000 deaths. it is time for the federal government to really step up and to take a role here and, despite the best efforts of our state governors to co—ordinate, they can only do so much. they don't have the resources to make the same scale of response and they think we are going to see the same inequality and difficulty

in poorer countries amassing a response if we cut funding to the who in the middle of this. soi the who in the middle of this. so i think is a very misguided and a very self—centred decision at this point. just briefly, if you don't mind, we're slightly short on time, do you think lydie funding will actually happen or is it in a way grandstanding, the present playing to his core voters? much of what this president does seems to be grandstanding, but it has a real effect, whether it has a material effect on the budget of the who during the coronavirus pandemic is unclear, because a hopeful that our congressional leaders will step up, but what it does, much as he does with every issue,is much as he does with every issue, is trying to undermine institutions, undermine democratic decision—making, undermine multilateralism, and this is exactly the time when we need global solidarity. we are all in this together, we are all in this together, we are all in this together, we are all suffering from this pandemic. we are overi million

cases. and we have work to do together and this is not the time to be defunding the world's largest and most important public health agency. ashwin vasan, can imagine how busy you are. thank you very much for giving us your time. pleasure. thank you very much. here in britain, the latest official evidence of the human cost of coronavirus shows a very sharp rise in the number of deaths per week throughout england and wales. it amounts to 6,000 more than would be expected at this time of year. the figures relate to the week leading up to april 3 — since when the numbers have risen again. there's particular concern about the situation in care homes and in the community at large, as our health editor hugh pym reports. my mum, she was my best friend, she was kind, funny... candice remembers her mother, ann, who died with covid—i9. she last saw her when she was in an ambulance on the way to hospital where she died 11 days ago.

i'm never going to see my mum again and i'd rather not see the outside again. my mum was only 58 and it just wasn't her time. this is just the worst pain in the world. and i think it's just not worth it, it's just not — going outside and meeting up with your friends. a tragic loss and there are many others suffered by families every day, and now new statistics reveal there are more than we thought. until very recently, all the focus on coronavirus deaths has been on those in hospitals — that's where the daily data comes from. but the latest set of stats shines some light on the spread of the virus in local communities and deaths there which might be directly or indirectly linked to covid—i9. weekly deaths in england and wales were at the highest since records began in 2005, according to the office for national statistics. in the week ending april 3rd, there were more than 16,300 deaths, that's around 6000 more than the average for this time of year.

coronavirus cases contributed much of thejump, linked to nearly 3,500. but it's not clear what's behind the rest, possibly some could be caused by people not seeking treatment for other conditions. it is possible that there are further deaths that relate to coronavirus that haven't been recorded as that. it is possible there are further deaths that relate to other conditions for which people perhaps have not accessed help in the way that they might have done in the past. the head of nhs england, after a big drop in a&e visits last month, has urged patients not to stay away from hospitals. if you're a parent and you're worried about your child, if you're concerned about maybe having a heart attack or a stroke, any other essential need, please come forward, access the nhs — our staff are here to look after you. sir simon, who revealed he himself had had coronavirus

and self—isolated forjust over a week, was meeting student nurses and doctors who volunteered for front line work. is it a bit daunting when you think about it? yeah, it is — it is daunting. obviously i have family and friends that i care about. and my health too, as well. but... ..it‘s an important time for everyone, to be part of it. boosting testing of patients and nhs staff wanting to return to work is an urgent priority. and the government set an ambitious target of 100,000 a day by the end of this month — up from about 15,000 now. and the big pharmaceutical companies say they can help. we'll be fully operational at the end of the month, the beginning of may, and by then, i think that lab‘s going to be contributing around 30,000 of the target. and obviously we're delighted to participate, we've got many of our scientists who are very engaged in that and keen to support that aspect of solutions.

but supplies of personal protective equipment are still tight and there's been an urgent appeal to businesses to produce whatever they can for front line staff to help save lives for the carers as well as the patients they look after. hugh pym, bbc news. the coronavirus pandemic is disrupting political calendars around the world, but in south korea they are pressing ahead with parliamentary elections, despite the risk of infection. polling stations opened seven hours ago and voting is under way. it has involved a lot of preparation to get polling stations ready, but the government is trying to reassure its 44 million eligible voters that it's safe to leave their homes. from seoul, laura bicker reports. this is an election like no other. voters must wear masks, stand at least a metre apart. their temperature is taken, they disinfect their hands and wear plastic gloves. these two days of early voting

have seen a record turnout. despite the ongoing pandemic, people are still coming here in the thousands to cast their vote. they are going into these little booths here with their plastic gloves, they mark their ballot, and then put it in the box. translation: i thought maybe the election should be postponed because people wouldn't turn up. but now i am here and see so many others i'm not worried. translation: i don't think we should be worried. this is about our right to vote. patients with coronavirus are also able to vote. special polling booths have been set up outside treatment centres. this woman told us she was thankful for the opportunity. campaigning during a pandemic requires some thought. gone are the mass rallies, replaced by mostly masked encounters.

candidates whose main concern was once a slowing economy and stalled peace talks with north korea have now had to show they're doing their bit to fight covid—19. south korea controlled the spiralling number of cases quickly and effectively, aggressively tracing and testing infected patients. the widely praised response has given president moon's once embattled democratic party a boost. the opposition, however, credit the thousands of health professionals on the front lines. there are fears that holding an election could trigger a second wave of infections. but, for now, south korea is determined to prove what is possible during this pandemic. laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. stay with us on bbc news.

much more to come. and not all of it grim. bringing a little music and light into these uncertain times, grammy award winner mary chapin—carpenter performs for us from her living room. pol pot, one of the century's greatest mass murderers, is reported to have died of natural causes. he and the khmer rouge movement he led were responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million cambodians. there have been violent protests in indonesia, where playboy has gone on sale for the first time. traditionalist muslim leaders have expressed disgust. the magazine's offices have been attacked, and its editorial staff have gone into hiding. it was clear that paula's only contest was with the clock, and as for her sporting legacy,

paula radcliffe's competitors will be chasing her new world—best time for years to come. quite quietly, but quicker and quicker, she seemed just to slide away under the surface and disappear. this is bbc world news. our main headline: president trump halts us funding to the world health organisation, over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. let's get more on that. here's an assessment on president trump's latest press briefing from the bbc‘s katty kay in washington. president trump has had a string of enemies that he has

criticised and blamed the coronavirus for and now it is the turn of the world health organisation, specifically it seems the president is unhappy with the organisation for being too close to china and at one point in the briefing he said that the two political correctness ahead of saving lives. and it is worth remembering that at the back of january — donald trump specifically supported the world health organisation and president xi jinping and so there is some rewriting of history but for the moment he is suspending funding to the who, pending some review. we will have to see how long the review takes and how the funding will resume. the international monetary fund has warned that the coronavirus pandemic has left the world facing the worst recession since the great depression, nearly a century ago. it said the pandemic represented a crisis like no other, much worse than the financial crash, a decade ago. here's the imf‘s

chief economist. under the assumption that the pandemic and required containment peaks in the second quarter in most countries in the world, and then recedes in the second half of this year, we are projecting global growth in 2020 to fall to —3%. this makes the great lockdown the worst recession since the great depression, and far worse than the global financial crisis. assuming the pandemic fades in the second half of 2020, and that policy actions taken around the world are effective in preventing widespread firm bankruptcies, extended job losses, and system—wide financial strains, we project global growth in 2021 to rebound to 5.8%.

scientists are working on a major study, to try to understand why the severity of symptoms for coronavirus can be so varied. a vast store of dna is being analysed at uk biobank, a major national and international health resource. it's thought that genetic differences might explain why some people with no underlying health conditions can develop severe illness. our science correspondent rebecca morelle has the story. it's a big mystery — why coronavirus can strike different people in so many ways. with the lockdown, our streets are empty, so we've had to recreate a crowd. some people who are infected have no symptoms, or get a mild to moderate disease. about one in five people have a much more severe illness and can go on to need hospital treatment. a small number will die. scientists think the answer could be in our dna. what looks like an ordinary warehouse could in fact

hold the key. inside is genetic material from half a million volunteers donated to uk biobank. it's followed their health for more than a decade and now it will also track those with covid—19. we are looking at the data in the uk biobank, to understand the differences between those individuals. what are the differences is in their genetics? are there differences in the genes related to their immune response? are there differences in their underlying health? so it is a uniquely rich set of data, and i think we could go very quickly into getting some very, very important discoveries. scientists are looking for tiny variations in patients' genetic material. they will be examining genes like the ones involved in making a structure on the outside of cells in ourairways. it acts as a docking site

for the virus, allowing it to enter and infect the cell. it could be the differences in people's dna changes this, making it easier for the virus to lock on, resulting in a more severe illness. and we are not at the peak, yet. intensive care units are filling up. and some patients are younger, with no underlying health issues. they are now the focus of a new study starting in new york. for diseases like flu and herpes, some people carry genetic variations that make them seriously ill, and this could be the case with coronavirus. it was discovered by our group, and other groups that there were surprisingly inborn areas of immunity that made people, that render human beings specifically vulnerable to one microbe, and this inborn immunity can be silent, latent, for decades until infection by that particular microbe. so, what our programme does is essentially testing

whether this idea also applies to covid. the rapid spread of coronavirus means there's no shortage of patients to study. it's hope this work could identify those most at risk and help in the hunt for new treatments. rebecca morelle, bbc news. the american singer songwriter, mary chapin carpenter, a multiple grammy winner, has been trying to bring a little music and light into these uncertain times while everyone is stuck at home. from her home, with support from her dog and cat, she told us about her she's launched a series of online gigs on facebook, called songs from home which have attracted around 60,000 likes and at least 2 million views. ijust started doing them to sort of bring a little light and hopefully a smile to folks out there and i had no idea that my animals would pitch in like they have so it has been a realjoy. well, apart from having

you on live, it isjust a joy, really, to get away, to take people away from some of the horrors of the news. this is a very different vibe for you, isn't it, obviously, from a live gig orfrom a recording studio. how does it feel to be doing it? it is pretty great. it is a first time the bbc has ever come into my house, so i am really excited about that. and, you know, i don't have to dress up or anything, so it feels pretty greatjust to be playing a guitar and making it simple. and of course, there's so much music online now, there's been much more live streaming since the crisis happened. do you read some of the posts? i have watched some of the posts, some of the pieces and, of course, there's loads of stuff coming from your fans. when i first started doing it, i tried to read when i first started doing it, i tried to read all of the comments and the posts and i was able to do so, and then it sort of exploded and i have not been able to keep up and i say that with humility. it is a great problem to have.

i have been overwhelmed and overjoyed by people's desire to be connected and that is really what it is about. because music is connection, and a comfort and a strength. exactly, it is all of those things. will you play for us and what are you going to play for us? i'd love to play you a song. it is called transcendental reunion. i wrote it about actually taking a trip, flying over to the uk, as i do quite a bit as i love to come there and play and record. it is about sort of feeling a little lost at the beginning of a journey, but then, when you get to the other side, you realise you are with your tribe and it is sort of how i think we are all feeling now, so it's called transcendental reunion. shall i go ahead? i'm going to thank you now because i don't want to be the guy to cut you off before the end. we would be very happy if you just take us to the end of this bulletin. thank you so much. thank you. # from twenty thousand feet i saw the lights below me # twinkling just like christmas

# we descended slowly # and the curve of the world passed # with all of that flying # above the mighty ocean # and now we all are arriving # grab the carry—on baggage # join the herd for the mad run # take a place in the long line # where does everyone come from? # as we shuffle on forward # as we wait for inspection # don't be holding that line up # at the end lies redemption

# now i'm stamped and i'm waved through i take up my position hello there. well, there's another fine and sunny day on tuesday. not quite as chilly but there was a bit more high cloud in the sky in scotland. then it was picked up by the setting sun in stirling, with a fine end to the day here. now, some of the high cloud is pushing southwards now, which means it could well be quite a nice sunrise across some eastern areas as we start off wednesday morning. other than that, it's going to be a chilly start to the day. you can see the skies for many, apart from the high cloud, staying clear. and that will allow temperatures to dip down, close to orjust below freezing in the countryside, to give some patches of frost up and down the country. an area of high pressure firmly with us then as we get on into wednesday, centred close to the uk — it means there's going to be more fine and dry weather for the vast majority. remember though, there will be

a little bit more in the way of high cloud in the sky, which at times will make the sunshine a little on the hazy side. also thicker cloud working in across the northern and western isles. it could bring an odd light shower and some cloudy weather seeping its way southwards across western scotland. just knocking the edge off the temperatures here. otherwise, it's a warmer day. temperatures reaching a high of 18 degrees. now, on into thursday, we're going to see some colder air arriving to the far north of the uk but some warmer air arriving across england and wales. so thursday is a day of increasing contrasts. again, there will be some areas of high cloud around, which will make the sunshine rather hazy at times. we could see some showers arriving towards the south—west of england late in the day, although there is some uncertainty about exactly how many of those are likely to make it down to the ground. and across the north—east of scotland, that's where we've got some cloudy weather, an odd spot of rain, and much cooler conditions but, otherwise, england and wales seeing temperatures into the low 20s. it will feel increasingly warm. for friday's forecast, there is a rather greater threat of seeing some showery bursts of rain, particularly across parts

of southern england, perhaps the midlands and wales as well. turning increasingly heavy perhaps later on in the day but, away from that south—west quarter, it's largely dry but still quite a bit of cloud in scotland and we'll start to see those temperatures cooling off around some of the north sea coasts of england as well. come inland, 17 degrees still not bad for birmingham and for london. now, the weekend, quite cloudy for england and wales. there is the prospect of seeing a little bit of rain for some of us. the driest weather probably in scotland, where it will stay dry and bright.

this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump has halted us funding to the world health organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. the president claimed the who had "failed in its basic duty and must be held accountable." he also accused the agency of promoting china's "disinformation" about the start of the outbreak. more than one in five deaths in england and wales are linked to coronavirus. new figures show 6,000 more people died than expected at the beginning of april, that's a record high. there was also an increase in deaths from causes other than the virus. polling is under way in south korea's parliamentary election. the vote, using paper ballots, is going ahead despite concerns that coronavirus will affect the turnout. in fact, the turnout looks high. voters must wear masks and plastic gloves and maintain social distancing. the result is expected to be influenced by the government's