this is bbc news — my name's mike embley — with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. president trump claims infection rates and cases in some hotspots are dropping and that more us states will be in a position to reopen. thank you. these trends demonstrate that our aggressive strategy to battle the virus is working and that more states will soon be in a position to gradually and safely reopen. it's very exciting. slipping backwards — why japan is facing a renewed outbreak. the bbc gets rare access inside a japanese hospital. people think that the younger generations, if they suffer from this covid, the symptoms are not so bad. but that's not true. many patients in the hospitals are in their 40s and 50s. here in the uk, according

to the chief medical officer, social distancing will be needed until at least the end of the year. and we'll have more on iran's claim that it has successfully launched its first military satellite into orbit. hello to you. as some american states start to reopen from the coronavirus lockdown, president trump has claimed to the white house briefing that the us has flattened the curve of infections. the us has so far seen 10,000 deaths and nearly 850,000 cases. but mr trump has taken issue with comments from the director of the us centers for disease control and prevention

that a second wave of coronavirus could be worse, saying instead that it would not be like the current outbreak. earlier, the head of the world health organization said the global pandemic would not be over soon. here in the uk, the chief medical officer has warned that social distancing measures could remain in place for up to a year. —— at least a year. after initially being one of the success stories in controlling the spread of covid—19, japan now appears to have a developing epidemic, with nearly 3,500 cases in the capital, tokyo. more on all that in moment. first, let's hear more from donald trump. if it does, it's not going to come back on anything near what we went through. but you could have a mess where they come the same time. and if they come at the same time, the flu is not the greatest thing in the world, jeff. it's not the greatest thing either. if they come at the same time you have them both. but if we have embers of corona, coupled with the flu, that's not going to be pleasant. but it's not going to be what we've gone through in any way, shape or form. the director of the centers for disease control and prevention was called

on by the president to clarify his comments to the washington post. this spring that we just went through, february, we had a benefit of having the flu season ended, so we could use all our flu surveillance systems to say, whoops, this is coronavirus, we need to focus. next fall and winter we are going to have two viruses circulating. and we're going to have to distinguish between which is flu and which is coronavirus. and so the comment that i made was that it would be more difficult, doesn't mean it would be more impossible, doesn't mean it's going to be more — as some people said, worse, itjust means more difficult because we have to distinguish between the two. and what i was wanting to do and what i want to do again here, is appeal to the american public to recognise they can really help like they did with mitigation, which they really helped. i need them to help now to best prepare us by getting the flu vaccine and taking flu

out of the picture. 0ur correspondent, david willis, told me robert redfield essentially stood by his previous comments in the washington post. absolutely, mike. and confirming, in fact, the washington post had got it correct. although mr redfield did take issue with the headline. but president trump then stepped up to say that this projection of a possible concurrence if you like, of the coronavirus and the winter flu season was the worst—case scenario and said that the coronavirus might not come back. although medical experts remained convinced that it probably will. as far as the cdc director, robert redfield, is concerned and his approach to that article in the washington post, he can't have been too displeased with it at the time, mike, because he retweeted the very same article. many people will have in mind, i think, this rather scary statistic that apparently the 1918

globalflu pandemic, killed 25 times as many people in the second wave as the first wave had done. obviously the president has no medical or scientific background. not for the first time, the science here is politically inconvenient? yes, it is. and of course he's somebody who wants to stress that this is an economy that needs to be reopened because the threat of the coronavirus is receding. and president trump's electoral fortunes may well depend on the economy bouncing back to the level that it was before the coronavirus, when the stock market was very buoyant and unemployment was not at 22 million level that we see it at currently. but you are right, president trump has taken issue with a lot of these figures and he has said today that he was quite disconcerted, in a way, by georgia's decision to reopen some of its businesses. businesses such as gyms, nail and hair salons and so on.

the georgia governor, who's been a staunch ally of president trump, saying that those businesses will be reopened as reopened as soon as friday and that other businesses, restaurants and cinemas, et cetera, will be reopening there on monday. president trump said he strongly disagreed with that decision, it was too soon for this to happen. although, of course, he has called on states to reopen their economies, mike, as soon as possible. david willis for us there. let's get some of the day's other news: in italy, the number of patients being treated has fallen for a third successive day. the daily number of deaths recorded has fallen by almost 100 to 437. the death toll in italy has topped 25,000, with millions still locked down. spain's lockdown has been extended until may the 10th. parliament approved a request from the prime minister. spain is one of the worst—hit countries, with more than 21,000 deaths. people there have been under severe restrictions for more than five weeks. all german states have announced plans to make

face masks compulsory. bremen was the last federal region to back the regulations. masks will be compulsory on public transport throughout germany, and nearly all states will also make face coverings mandatory when shopping. south africa is to deploy 70,000 troops to help keep order. it's been struggling to enforce a lockdown and a ban on alcohol sales. south africa has almost 3,500 confirmed coronavirus cases. until recently, japan was one of the success stories in controlling the spread of covid—19. in february and march, the country succeeded in suppressing early cluster outbreaks, and keeping total infections in the hundreds. but now, japan's capital, tokyo, appears to have a developing epidemic, with nearly 3,500 cases. 0ur tokyo team have been inside one hospitaljust south of the capital. this is the red zone. right.

so, in this room are negative pressure rooms. inside the st marianna university hospital in kawasaki, dr shigeki fujitani shows me the new covid unit, built from scratch in the last two weeks. this is their new control room. this is the airlock through the window, here? this is the green area. this is green zone, this is the airlock, and that goes into the red zone in there? yes, yes, yes. from here, dr fujitani and his staff can monitor the patients from a safe distance and preserve their dwindling stocks of protective equipment. this hospital has 1,000 beds. but the covid unit has just 15, and already 11 of them are filled with very sick people. dr fujitani says if the outbreak in tokyo isn't controlled soon, these beds will not be enough. because tokyo is a pandemic, with sick patients. and the number of icu beds are kind of limited, compared with other countries. so we are reaching the limit, especially in tokyo. 0n the monitors, we see nurses

attending to an extremely ill patient. all of the patients here are men. all are under 60. dr fujitani says too many people in japan still think this virus will not get them. people think that the younger generations, if they suffer from this covid, the symptoms is not so bad. but that's not true. many patients in the hospitals are in their 40s and 50s. but out on the streets of tokyo, lots of people don't seem to be getting that message. when you come out onto the streets of tokyo, like this now, it is very strange. because it is still very busy. so are the parks, so even the beaches. why don't japanese people have more fear of this virus? why don't they think it could get them? well, part of the reason is the number of deaths from covid—19 here are still — relatively speaking, very low. but the other is that the japanese government's communication about the threat from the virus has been very confusing.

when he called the state of emergency, prime minister shinzo abe made it clear it would not be a european—style lockdown. life would go on. and so it does. there is no two—metre rule here. no one in, one out at the supermarket. many here believe wearing a mask will be enough to protect from the virus. medical experts say that is a huge mistake. we need a further concrete message to stay home, and don't go out, and keep the distance of two metres away if you have to go out. these messages are not very effectively delivered, and a lot of people believing in wearing a mask is a solution. which it is not. japan has been attempting to control the virus, while keeping the economy open. the result is a health system that is now struggling to cope. rupert wingfield—hayes,

bbc news, in tokyo. let's return to events in the us. there's a fierce debate in the state of georgia over the governor's order to reopen some non—essential businesses on friday, including gyms, spas and hair salons. health experts and several georgia mayors have responded with concern, worried that the decision could lead to the coronavirus spreading much more rapidly. even president trump has criticised the reopening — he thinks it comes too soon. they can wait a little bit longer, just a little bit, not much, because safety has two predominates. we have two have the... ,so, predominates. we have two have the... , so, itold the governor very simply i disagree with his decision but he has to do what he thinks is right. let's get more on this with kevin riley, he's the editor of the atlanta journal—constitution. kevin, it's great to talk to you, thanks for your time. you know the president has been encouraging some dates stop they should liberate

themselves, he has been saying. most people think this is going against democratic governors, of course, but even he thinks georgia is going to far. what's going on? it's a very confusing situation here in georgia because just yesterday we found out what the governor wanted and then we are hearing from president trump that he thinks it's a bad idea. now the governor has responded saying he is going to stick with his plan. so i think a lot of georgians are unsure about what to do, whether they own a business or restaurant or they arejust average there business or restaurant or they are just average there is and is trying to decide if they are supposed to get back to work. —— just average citizens. supposed to get back to work. -- just average citizens. and so -- just average citizens. and so much of this being not depends on extensive testing being in place and that isn't in place, is it? no, georgia had a very slow start to testing and ranks near the bottom on long states that have tested per capita. so there is a long way to go before the state even has a good handle on how many people have the

disease and exactly what is going on with the statistics. what do you make of the movement to reopen the states? you are on the ground there. it does seem to have backing and some funding from people really quite close to the white house. it seems to be a combination of people who think the whole thing involving the virus is a hoax stop others who think it is perhaps being overplayed by democrats to damage president trump. 0ther democrats to damage president trump. other people who perhaps honestly believe the economic threat is worse than the threat to life? i just threat is worse than the threat to life? ijust took threat is worse than the threat to life? i just took a phone call from one of our reporters who visited a rural georgia cou nty who visited a rural georgia county today. that is where our governor's strongest support is an people there are urging him to reopen the economy and are making plans to open their business. but when you get to atla nta, business. but when you get to atlanta, the city, people are very reluctant. we are hearing from restaurant owners they do not plan to reopen because they

cannot make sure their customers will be safe. not to mention the difficulty about being closed for so many weeks and suddenly trying to reopen the restaurant. so people are very, very confused about what to do. confused, i guess, and worried. how do you think this will play out? in the past 24 hours the state reported another 71 deaths. so we are getting close. we are well over 800 deaths, approaching 1000. and i still think many people are worried. i think still the state is unsure of where this pandemic is going in the state of georgia and certainly even the white house issued guidelines for reopening a state, georgia hasn't met all of those standards. i think most experts are very worried. kevin riley, it really appreciate you talking to us. thanks so much. good to be here with you. thanks to you for being with us. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: lifting spirits

during the lockdown — two women from new orleans who've combined their talents for some musical relief. the stars and stripes at half—mast outside columbine high. the school sealed off, the bodies of the dead still inside. i never thought that they would actually go through with it. one of the most successful singer songwriters of all time, the american pop star prince, has died at the age of 57. ijust couldn't believe it, i didn't believe it. he was just here saturday. for millions of americans, the death of richard nixon in a new york hospital has meant conflicting emotions. a national day of mourning next wednesday sitting somehow uneasily with the abiding memories of the shame of watergate. mission control: and lift-off

of the space shuttle discovery with the hubble space telescope, our window on the universe. welcome back. very glad to have you with us on bbc news. the latest headlines: president trump says infection rates and cases in hot spots are dropping — and more states will be in a position to reopen. after initially being one of the success stories in controlling the spread of covid—19, japan now appears to have a developing epidemic. the british government's chief medical officer, chris whitty, has warned that social distancing measures to limit the coronavirus could remain in place for up to a year. mr whitty said the chance of a highly effective vaccine being found within the next year was incredibly small. 0ur science editor, david shukman reports.

we've been warned repeatedly of a long haul, that the momentous restrictions to try to contain the virus cannot be lifted soon. and now we're learning more about what that really means. everything hinges on a massive research effort to try to develop vaccines, to create immunity, and also drugs to manage the disease. and, at the moment, we don't have either. so, at today's government briefing, the chief medical officer for england said that social distancing would have to continue while we wait for those vaccines and treatments. until we have those, and the probability of having those any time in the next calendar year is incredibly small, and i think we should be realistic about that, we will have to rely on other social measures, which of course are very socially disruptive, as everybody is finding at the moment but, until that point, that is what we will have to do, and it will have to be the best combination that maximises the outlook, but it's going to take a long time and we need to be aware of that.

professor whitty pointed to this graph to show that even though the rate of deaths is falling in britain, and in other countries, it's a very slow process. this disease is not going to be eradicated or disappear so we have to accept that we are working with a disease that we will be with globally for the foreseeable future. if people are hoping that it's suddenly going to move from where we are now, in lockdown, suddenly into everything is gone, that is wholly unrealistic. we will have to do a lot of things for really quite a long period of time. the question is, what is the best package, and that is what we are trying to work out. what that means is learning to cope with the disease, rather than trying to beat it. and mass testing is a vital step to doing that — to know who's got it, and where it's spread. using apps to track people's contacts will help work out how the virus is being transmitted, so any future outbreaks can be isolated.

for the moment, the scenario of quiet streets is set to continue and the government's challenge is that every option for easing restrictions carries the risk of a resurgence of the virus so right now it's hard to see when or indeed if we will get back to normal. for businesses, large and small, this means more anxious times. this chain of bars in manchester has a 600 staff, almost all now furloughed. it will be pretty disastrous for our restaurants if we open them. i think they would barely be profitable and, with our bars, it would be impossible. the capacity of the bars and restaurants have been reduced so much by social distancing measures that i think it will cause us to be closed rather than open and then we will lose less money being closed than being open. tonight among the public, disappointment but also a sense of resignation.

it's not nice but we have to do it because otherwise the virus is going to be bad for people, you know? i think we have to do what we have to do. if you have parents or grandparents, you have to look after them. it seems a bit extreme, but if it's necessary, maybe we have to go that way. the struggle against the virus is exacting a very high price. vaccines and treatments can't come soon enough, but no—one can predict when we will get them. david shukman, bbc news. iran's revolutionary guard says it has successfully launched its first military satellite into orbit. the guards say the satellite — named ‘noor‘ or ‘light‘ — took off from the central desert region and reached an orbit of 425 kilometres. the mission is likely to increase iran's already tense relationship with the united states. shortly after the launch, the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, insisted tehran needs to be held accountable.

i think today's launch proves what we are saying all along here in the united states, the irg sea, designated terrorist organisation, launched a missile today. i think every nation has an obligation to go to the united nations and evaluate whether this missile launch was consistent with that security council resolution. i don't think it remotely is. and i think don't think it remotely is. and ithink iran don't think it remotely is. and i think iran needs to be held accountable for what they have done. that is the us secretary of state, of course. we go live to new york. bahman kalbasi is un correspondent for the bbc persian service. good to talk to you. first of all, why has iran launched a satellite now and how advanced is the ballistic programme? they are keen to demonstrate that the us‘s pressure policy is not only a failing to bring iran back to a table that the united states left but will not limit its act 70, what it sees

as integral to its defence strategy. but also, generally speaking, saying that these pressures will not stop us from continuing to have a strategy to deter america from any attack on iran and missiles, ballistic missiles, have been central to iran's defence. they have, innocence, puta central to iran's defence. they have, innocence, put a 2000 kilometre range, self—imposed, now with this test that they can push that as high as 5000 kilometres. so they are demonstrating that donald trump's policy of violating the nuclear deal, leaving it and putting these crippling sanctions are not working, they are backfiring. while you are on we should ask you about the situation with the coronavirus in iran and whether it is possible to get a clear picture. it is very difficult to get a clip. of course the

official numbers show a sense official numbers show a sense of decrease in the curve. we now have less than 100 deaths a day. that is not a reflection of reality, because many of these numbers are doubted by most people even inside iran, including some iranian government officials. but the real test now is, given that half opening has happened and people are going back to work, we will see a new wave of coronavirus patient. that is a question we would have a clear a nswer to question we would have a clear answer to in the coming weeks, regardless of what iranian officials' numbers are. we have to talk to hospitals, as we will, and see if there is a resurgence of people being admitted. so it is a very, very tense time to see whether this experiment of sending most of the workforce back to work will work or not. iran with the bbc persian service. thank you very

much. a violinist and a pedicab operator wouldn't usually have a lot in common, but during the coronavirus lockdown two women from new orleans have combined their talents to help lift spirits. 0ur reporter freya cole takes a look at their creation. through the streets of new orleans on a custom—made set of wheels, a violinist and her friend are spreading musical cheer. and it's working. i mean, i heard before i saw it. i thought it was out neighbours blasting music. i'm like, you play instruments now? what is this? and then i saw and i'm like, oh, breathtaking. this is definitely what i need. sarah grant has a pedicab operator and anna roznowska is a street violinist. together the duo created the mobile music box when theirjobs were impacted by the stay—at—home orders. i love playing music and i really believe in music. and at a time like this, yeah, we definitely need music, more than anything else.

they're happily accepting small tips, but they say their main aim is to bring the community together. it's amazing and uplifting, and, you know, live music is what we miss most right now. it's, you know, it brings everyone out and makes everyone, you know, feel like it's a beautiful day again. freya cole, bbc news. got to get your cheery stuff or you can these days. for more on the coronavirus pandemic go to our website. plenty of reaction and updates there, from the united states and around the world. or you can download the bbc news app. there is much more on all the news anytime on the website, national or

international, you can reach me and most of the team on twitter. thank you for watching. hello there. wednesday was a completely dry day across the uk and in the sunshine we had temperatures into the low 20s in southern england. 23 degrees in dorset. but thursday is likely to be the warmest day of the week. mind you, we get off to a bit of a chilly start, 4—5 degrees, typically. maybe, again, a touch of frost in the scottish glens. and a bit more of this mist and low cloud affecting southern scotland, northern england, perhaps into the midlands as well. but it won't last long. it's going to be a dry and sunny day. the sunshine a little bit hazy at times for the northern half of the uk. but the winds on thursday will be even lighter. it'll feel warmer and temperatures may be a bit higher as well. it could reach 25 degrees, somewhere like hampshire into 0xfordshire or berkshire. and widely 19 or 20 for england and wales. a little bit cooler around some

of those north sea coasts. but even across western scotland temperatures may reach 20 or even 21 celsius. but away from scotland we've still got some high pollen levels on thursday. it's tree pollen, of course. and at this time of the year we're looking at the oak tree in particular. into friday, we start with the mist and some low cloud, mainly for the eastern side of england. again, it will burn off very quickly in the sunshine. maybe a little more cloud towards the far south—west, threatening a shower. but it will probably be a dry day. a fair bit of sunshine again. another very warm day for the time of year. temperatures peaking at 21 or 22 celsius. now, into the weekend, a couple of things that we can be pretty sure about, temperatures are going to drop away a little, although it's still one for the time of year. the winds will remain light but there's the chance of showers. a lot of uncertainty about those, particularly on sunday. let's look at saturday first of all, and we're looking at more towards wales in the south—west. and this is where we're more likely to catch a shower or two. although there will be more cloud coming into

the north—west of scotland. elsewhere a good chance it's going to be dry, with a lot of sunshine around. still very warm. temperatures around 19—20 towards the coast of scotland, 20 or 21 in the south—east of england. but it's during sunday that there's much more uncertainty. because now it looks like the shower band could move its way further south into england and wales, with a cluster of showers and returning into a more northerly breeze across scotland. there'll be some sunshine around, but those temperatures in northern parts of the uk back down to around 14 or 15 degrees, could make 19 or 20 still, perhaps in the south.

this is bbc news, the headlines: president trump has claimed cases of coronavirus in american hot spots are dropping — and that more states will be in a position to reopen. he claimed the us has flattened the curve of infections, but there is concern about a second, even more serious, wave of infections in the autumn, combined with seasonal flu. american fatalities have doubled in a week, exceeding 46,000. the world health organization has warned of a worrying upward trend in coronavirus cases in africa, latin america and eastern europe. it said most of the epidemics in western europe now appeared to be stable — other countries were now seeing a surge. here in the uk the chief medical adviser — professor chris whitty — has said the policy of social distancing will be needed until the end of the year. he said the chance of a highly effective vaccine being found within the next year was incredibly small. now on bbc news — wednesday in parliament.