this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. in several states in the us, protesters demand to go back to work, saying that stay—at—home measures are too harsh. fears in haiti, the poorest country in the americas, that an inadequate healthcare system could soon be overwhelmed. millions of people across the orthodox christian world are marking easter weekend, and not all follow their governments‘ advice on social distancing. and police in hong kong arrest leading figures in the pro—democracy movement on charges related to last yea r‘s mass protests.

hello and welcome. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. first, the virus has been spreading rapidly around the world, with more than 2.2 million cases now confirmed in 185 countries. at least 153,000 people have died, but the true figure is likely to be significantly higher. the us has the highest death toll in the world with more than 38,000 — one third of those are in the state of new york alone. spain is the second european country after italy where more than 20,000 people have now died. the uk recorded 888 deaths in hospital in the last 2a hours, bringing the total to more than 15,000. in the us, demonstrations have continued in several areas against lockdown restrictions imposed by state officials to try and stop the spread of coronavirus. in his white house briefing, president trump said some states would start lifting

restrictions soon. rich preston has this report. from new hampshire to minnesota, ohio to texas, these protesters want lockdown restrictions lifted. angry at how measures to control the spread of coronavirus have impacted on work and the economy, some have lost theirjobs, their livelihoods and their incomes, and say they'd rather risk catching the virus than continue like this. president trump using saturday's white house press briefing to reaffirm that america will again be open for business. texas and vermont will allow certain businesses to open on monday, while still requiring appropriate social distancing precautions. montana will begin lifting restrictions on friday. 0hio, north dakota and idaho have advised non—essential businesses to prepare

for a phased opening, starting on may the first. but there is concern that lifting restrictions too early could lead to more people becoming infected and potentialfor a spike in the death rate. in new york, by far the worst—affected state, a counter—protest by this far smaller crowd, who say the trump administration's measures haven't gone far enough and that the president is responsible for the deaths of thousands of americans. when the virus first hit america, president trump said the cure for the disease should not be worse than the disease itself. america is often referred to as a divided nation, whether it's on issues like healthca re, guns or the environment. that division remains. even on an issue like this, with a death toll of more than 38,000 people in the world's richest nation, amongst fears that the nation's wealth is now, too, injeopardy, all ahead of a presidential election

due in november. doctors injapan have warned that the country's medical system could collapse because of a new wave of coronavirus cases. japan initially appeared to have the virus under control, but there has been a recent surge and there are now more than ten thousand confirmed cases. reged ahmad reports. a much quieter tokyo in the wake of the state of emergency declared by the government. japan had its first recorded covid—i9 infection injanuary and since then, the government has been criticised for not doing enough to prepare for an increase. now, two medical associations say the outbreak is reducing japan's ability to treat other serious medical emergencies, even strokes. it is understood one patient with a fever was turned away by 80 medicalfacilities before he was accepted

by a tokyo hospital. like many countries, doctors are complaining of a lack of protective equipment, too. critics have taken aim at the prime minister, saying he has delayed restrictions in favour of the economy. shinzo abe says he is trying to effectively reduce people—to—people contact. translation: people out on weekdays in city areas like shibuya in tokyo have been reduced by about 60%. in umeda in osaka, it's been reduced by about 70%. but we have not yet reached our target level. japan is facing a new wave of infections and with it, a push to increase relatively low testing levels. it now remains to be seen if the country has done enough quickly enough to protect its medical system and head off a major outbreak. reged ahmad, bbc news. the haitian government is to allow textile factories to re—open.

it comes as official numbers suggestjust three people have died from covid—i9 there so far, but the world health organization is warning against complacency. as the poorest country in the americas, haiti's healthcare system is already on the brink of collapse, as will grant reports. nowhere in the americas does coronavirus pose a greater threat than in haiti. with 60% of haitians living below the poverty line, the potential for the pandemic to devastate the population is clear. while many nations would struggle to cope with the serious covid—i9 infection, haiti may never recover from one. the government has... respiratory therapist told us the country is woefully underprepared. to tell you the truth, there was about approximately a0 ventilators in the country, for the whole country, and we are 11 million people out of that a0, probably 20 were working.

and those 20 working, we have very, very limited amount of professional doctors that knows how to run them. with so few ventilators and icu beds available, preventing a major outbreak is the only way to save lives. grassroots organisations are carrying out some basic but vital tasks. distributing dozens of hand washing stations to the neediest communities. places like firstly, a mountainous village outside port—au—prince where most families scratch a meagre living from the land. clea n water meagre living from the land. clean water is a precious commodity in haiti and the ngo's initiative could be crucial in helping residents combat the spread of the virus. but when it comes to self isolating, many face a stark choice. jean is a motorbike taxi driver and says that staying indoors is not an option if he is to feed his family. translation: if i option if he is to feed his family. translation: ifi don't

go out to work, we cannot eat, he insists, describing self isolation is impossible. we wa nt to isolation is impossible. we want to respect the rules but we cannot, agrees his wife, lucille. i see what the governments are doing in other countries but here, they do not do anything. meanwhile, the pitch in shanty towns is especially grim. market days have been cut back and demand for basic food supplies is growing desperate. the government has been distributing food parcels to the most vulnerable households but people are angry at having to jostle and crowd for food. translation: the way they are distributing food is humiliating. people do not respect those social distancing. the government should organise it better. i am very concerned at the sanitary conditions, it is very worrying. the looming healthcare crisis is a huge threat to haiti but then, that is true of most of latin america. what is especially deadly here is the combination of the pandemic with a crippling economic crisis. one

which would deny the continent's most impoverished people the opportunity to even go outside to earn a living. will grant, bbc news. almost all of europe is still in lockdown and while some countries are beginning to ease restrictions, many others have extended the measures introduced to fight the virus. the impact is clearly visible, with empty streets being seen all across the continent, as the bbc‘s tim allman reports. this is madrid, one of the world's great capital cities, looking more like a ghost town. spain has been one of the ha rdest—hit countries with more than 20,000 dead. the prime minister says the state of emergency is to be extended for another 15 days. nearly 500 more fatalities in italy, but that figure is down from the day before — the death rate appears to be slowing.

in france, more positive news — this military field hospital is being partly dismantled as the situation in the country improves. heading east to baku, the capital of azerbaijan, where the streets are being sprayed with disinfectant. quarantine will last at least another two weeks. the country's borders are closed. in lithuania, they have seen a record jump in the number of coronavirus cases, just a day after the health minister insisted the virus outbreak had reached its peak. the hot spot — this town just outside vilnius. the military police stopping anyone going in or out. translation: it has been decided to test virtually all adult residents of town. tests will be carried out to not only find active cases of the disease, but also to try to identify residents who already might have immunity. this situation is indeed dangerous.

in poland, a presidential election is due to take place next month, but how does a country of nearly a0 million people vote in the middle of a global pandemic? translation: the coronavirus epidemic will be part of reality for the coming months. a presidential election in the traditional manner would be possible in two years' time at the earliest. if the parties don't agree, the only secure form of a presidential election would be postal voting. —— of conducting a presidential election would be postal voting. and this is istanbul, where europe meets asia — another place where the streets are deserted. a two—day curfew is in place. anyone younger than 20 or older than 65 has been told to stay home. the fight against the virus goes on. tim allman, bbc news. millions of orthodox christians are celebrating easter under tight restrictions. officials in europe, the middle east and africa urged people not to attend

services, fearing it would lead to a spike in coronavirus infections. but in georgia, orthodox leaders are at loggerheads with the government over their decision to keep churches open and offer holy communion using a shared spoon. the bbc‘s caucasus correspondent rayhan demytrie reports. holy communion in the time of pandemic. taken from a shared spoon. georgia's orthodox church has defiantly refused to adapt the sacred ritual despite the risk of spreading infection. translation: we parishioners come here in such high spirits that it is impossible to have doubts and fears. holy communion is the greatest thing. under georgia's

state of emergency, gatherings of more than three people are banned. but last week on palm sunday, at billy's's main cathedral, there were no police to enforce it. these markings here indicate the distance that people should be keeping apart from each other but u nfortu nately, from each other but unfortunately, outside, and most importantly inside the cathedral, these rules are not being observed. inside the cathedral, worshippers are kissing icons with no disinfection insight. some keep their distance but it is difficult to maintain, even in a building of this size. georgia's most revered man, the patriarch ilia the second, has ruled that the easter services will go ahead. this promo video shows the georgian police in action. issuing hefty fines for

those not complying with the state of emergency. so many people are questioning why the authorities have not been analysing the church. they believe that the church is the chief political ally which they cannot alienate. they came to power in 2012, to a large extent because of the support of the church. the country's prime minister says his government has been trying to strike a balance. by keeping its doors open, the church says it is providing a much— needed spiritual relief to the nation. but with covid—19 infection rates going up, the country's health authorities are calling on people to listen to the science for the sake of the country. rayhan demytrie,

bbc news, tiblisi. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: in several states in the us protesters demand to go back to work, saying that stay—at—home measures are too harsh. there are fears in haiti, the poorest country in the americas, that an inadequate healthcare system could soon be overwhelmed. the world health organisation has warned that coronavirus antibody tests, which show whether someone has had the virus, do not prove they are now immune. it's been a disappointing announcement for many who hoped that antibody tests would help end lengthy lockdowns across the world. earlier i spoke to anne rimoin, a professor of epidemiology at the ucla school of public. she explained how having antibodies does not mean you are protected against future infections.

antibody — having antibody does not necessarily mean that you have immunity, and i think that there's been a lot of confusion about this. having antibody just suggests that you may have been exposed to this virus, but it does not mean that you are protected against future infection, and i think that that's really the crux of what who has — the message the who is trying to get out there. it's important, we do need to understand how this virus is spread and who has had it, but that is not the answer to who is immune. so, essentially, you could be immune, people could be immune, but we just need to do more tests and discover more about how this virus works. yes, there's a lot of work that still needs to be done. we need to understand not only who's been infected, but does infection — does previous infection actually equal having immunity? and if we do have immunity, how long does that immunity last? and, infact, can people get reinfected 7 there are so many questions that need to be answered. and so antibody tests are great for understanding how many people have had the virus,

it does give us some data, but it does not answer this question about who is immune and who isn't, we still need a lot more research on this topic. yeah, absolutely, and a lot of people looking to their governments obviously for guidance as to how we kind of come out of this period, the phrase ‘exit strategy‘ used a lot. i guess exit strategies depend on the circumstances of the particular country and the state in terms of what kind of tactics they employ. exactly — exactly. we‘re still — exit strategies are — we‘re still — for most of us, for all of us, because of the lack of testing, in particular here in the united states, we don‘t know where we are on the curve, we don‘t know how many people have had it, we do not know how many people currently have it, and it‘s all compensated by this issue of asymptomatic infection, which we know is a driver of spreading disease. based on what you just said there about a lack of knowledge, how do you feel about donald trump and his ambitions to open up the country now? i think that thinking

about opening up the country right now is somewhat premature. we have done an excellentjob of mitigating spread of the disease, but i read on several social media tweets that opening up the country now is much likejumping out of an aeroplane and taking out your parachute, pulling the parachute, and then once you start slowing down, saying, "great, i don‘t need a parachute anymore! let‘s just cut it off." if we open up the country before we have — we‘ve really good solutions for making sure we have good contact tracing, we have good case identification, good contact tracing, ability to isolate people who have the disease, being able to quarantine people who‘ve been exposed, and making sure that

all of our hospitals have everything they need, we‘re just not there. so i think it‘s a little too soon. as a professor of epidemiology, you‘re probably very busy now. just tell us about the work you have been doing. at ucla, i‘m leading a study with some other colleagues to be able to test healthcare workers and first responders — so people — everybody who‘s working in a hospital, everybody from doctors, nurses, janitorial staff, administrative staff — everybody in a hospital setting — and first responders, paramedics, firefighters, others — to be able to know who has asymptomatic infection or presymptomatic infection — so having been acutely infected without having symptoms — this is really important for us to know because people could be unwittingly spreading it to other people, and as you know, our health force and our first responders are in contact with people every day, and they if are a symptomatically infected, they could be spreading it to colleagues, to patients or to their families at home. so we need to give them this information. and then we are also looking at their antibodies and then drilling down to be able to understand, does having antibodies actually mean that they are immune?

again, how long — if they are immune, how long does immunity last, and can people get reinfected ? this study has just started at ucla and we really expect this to be really important in terms of informing what we know about this virus and how we might be able to structure these kind of reopenings. but it needs to be based on data and science. sorry to interrupt you. now away from coronavirus — 15 prominent members of hong kong‘s democracy movement have been arrested for organising illegal protests last year, in what‘s being seen as a fresh attack on anti—government activists. britain has expressed its concern over the arrests, calling the right to peaceful protest fundamental to hong kong‘s way of life. earlier this week, beijing‘s most senior official in the city called for a new security law to deal with dissent. david campanale has more.

it‘s the biggest crackdown on the democracy movement since the outbreak of mass protests last year. those detained in a coordinated swoop by the police include several who have, for decades, been important figures in hong kong‘s campaign for greater freedom. among them, the 81—year—old barrister martin lee, known in the territory as the father of democracy. translation: i am proud to have had the chance to walk along our road to democracy with hong kong‘s excellent young people. the publishing tycoon jimmy lai was also arrested. he runs the apple daily newspaper, which is frequently critical of the hong kong and chinese communist leadership. the detentions relate to a series of anti—government protests last year. the first of these was attended by 1.7 million hong kong citizens. the authorities have not said why it‘s their high—profile figures, among them, former members of the legislative council, who‘ve been targeted

for detention. peaceful protest is protected in both the joint declaration between britain and china and the basic law. but hong kong police maintain that the rounding up of the suspects is simply the impartial application of the law. translation: they were arrested on charges of organising and participating in unlawful assembly at hong kong island and kowloon on 18 august, 1 october and 20 october 2019. before the coronavirus outbreak, hong kong had witnessed almost weekly demonstrations for greater democracy and less control from beijing. over recent days, chinese officials seeing the city have been making increasingly belligerent noises. some think beijing is worried about losing ground in local elections later this year. in this climate, it‘s hard not to see this coordinated series of arrests as anything less than a warning of beijing‘s intention to tighten

its grip on hong kong. david campanale, bbc news. now, sports fans around the world may not be able to watch their favourite player or club in the current climate, but one team in taiwan is being watched by more than half a million baseball fans around the world. and despite playing behind closed doors, there‘s not an empty seat in the stadium. russell trott explains. they take their baseball very seriously in taiwan. so when coronavirus caused most professional sport to be postponed or cancelled, the rakuten monkeys decided the show must go on. translation: the shouts and cheers from the fans help us get excited about the game, so when there is no audience,

we still have to deliver the performance that we are expected to show no matter if it‘s to be quite calm attitude, so that we have the same feeling as if there was an audience. the cardboard cutout fans here complete with the obligatory face masks may seem a little less than enthusiastic as they watch their heroes warm up for the big game against the fubon guardians. but for the players, there‘s plenty to play for. for the first time in 30 years, baseball games from taiwan are being broadcast and streamed online for free to a global audience. with no other baseball currently played, officials see a chance to highlight taiwanese baseball abroad. i think we have a mission to bring the comfort or bring the excitement orjust to bring — to provide a way out

for people out there. whether you‘re watching from the states, in europe or maybe in australia, i think they are looking at us. i believe if they enjoy the game, that also helps the people to go through this very tough time. and even the cheerleaders are getting in on the act. this woman says it‘s a chance for some light relief from the worries over the pandemic and she hopes the cheerleaders‘ enthusiasm encourages her team. it may not be as famous as the north american orjapanese leagues, but so far, more than 600,000 baseball fans have logged on to watch the games worldwide with a packed. . . if slightly quiet stadium. russell trott, bbc news. you can reach me on twitter —

i‘m @sipusey. hello. if you saw a bit of rain on saturday, sunday is looking like a brighter day, and plenty of dry and at times sunny weather to come in the week ahead. sunday is looking dry for most, still a bit of cloud across southern and western parts of the uk, but even through this, there will be some sunny spells coming through. this produced a bit of rain, this weather front on saturday, it‘s dying away. high pressure is building back in across the bulk of the uk, and that‘s going to give several days of settled weather. this is how it looks temperature—wise to start sunday. there will be a few spots in scotland down to —a, maybe —5 in the highlands. there mayjust be a touch of frost across the coldest parts of northern england as well. there is where there is plenty of sunshine to come during sunday, increasingly so across the eastern

side of england. that cloud toward southern and western england, wales and northern ireland breaking a bit. but we will keep a fair amount of cloud in northern ireland, even into the afternoon. now, there is a freshening easterly breeze, that pegs the temperatures back a bit along north sea coasts, whereas further inland and to the west, a few spots could be as high as 18 degrees celsius. as we go on through sunday night and into monday morning, again, we could see a touch of frost, parts scotland and northern england, and the chance of seeing some heavy showers pushing in towards the channel islands and the far south—west of england. there is a lot of uncertainty about that, but the potential is there for a weather disturbance coming in as we go into monday. whereas for most of the uk, it is high pressure, so it is dry. but there is a brisk easterly breeze. with these showers, again,

a lot of uncertainty about where they‘ll exactly be, but the chance of seeing some for the channel islands, cornwall, isles of scilly, whereas elsewhere, there should be plenty of sunshine around. the arrows indicating that brisk easterly breeze, these are average winds, gusts will be higher, around 30—a0mph in places, especially across parts of england and wales. it does peg those temperatures back along these north sea coasts, maybe just around ten degrees in some spots, whereas further west, getting to around 19. temperatures head up a little bit more as we go through the week as the easterly breeze starts to ease. just a selection of locations here, but you get the idea. with that area of high pressure around, there is a lot of dry weather in the week ahead. there‘s lots of blue sky and sunshine on the way as well for a bright weather view, a bright look through your window at the weather outside.

this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump has criticised democrat state governors, saying they were getting carried away with lockdown restrictions to slow the spread of the coronavirus. he has been supportive of demonstrators who are demanding that stay—at—home measures are lifted. but health experts warn that doing that this could result in more people getting infected. there are fears in haiti, the poorest country in the americas, that an inadequate healthcare system could soon be overwhelmed. around 60% of haitians live below the poverty line and can‘t afford to follow government advice to stay indoors as they have no means of supporting their families. millions of people across the orthodox christian world have been marking easter weekend, even though many governments have restricted the public from attending religious services. but in georgia, dozens of worshippers attended a midnight mass in the capital, tbilisi, despite a nationwide curfew. now on bbc news, victoria derbyshire has more information and health