it, that's just a it, that'sjust a sample of is in it, that's just a sample of what we for today —— mr president. i know it's an encouragement to you andi know it's an encouragement to you and i trust it's an encouragement to people all across the country. that your direction, we are implementing a testing strategy that is supported at the federal level, but it is deployed and managed at the state level. we want to express our appreciation to every governor across the country. that are standing up all of those labs that are available that are working with us are available that are working with us and our supply chain personnel to make sure the swabs and the equipment is there to be able to process the test and we will continue to increase testing dramatically in the weeks to come. we wa nt we want to thank our governors for the progress on testing in their role in urging their citizens to practice the kind of mitigation and social distancing efforts really making real progress. we are one team. and one mission. and that is to save lives. because

of of all of the efforts that have been made at the state level, and the strong guidance that has come from the federal level, because of the amazing health care workers across this country and our first responders, but mostly i believe because of the cooperation of millions of americans who put the guidance into practice. their cooperation and their prayers have set us on a path where we are slowing the spread, we are protecting our most vulnerable and i truly do believe that they will soon come when we will heal our land and be able to reopen america and put this great nation back to work. thank you, mr president. that is the end of the daily briefing from president trump. vice president mike pence there was some president mike pence there was some president trump initially talking and admitted detail about the $500

billion coronavirus relief bill which has been signed into law today. he talked about how that will help americans and small businesses. it is the fourth kind a bill that has been passed in response to the coronavirus and the money will help existing small businesses and also be put towards testing hospitals and talking of which, we heard from stephen han, the fda commissioner talking about progress being made on producing home testing kits in the united states and in particular, he also honed in on antibody tests and talked about the fact that america was trying to produce these tests and also to produce therapeutics for covid—i9. the fda had approved trials for 72 therapeutics for covid—i9 treatments basically for covid—i9. that is the end of a pretty uneventful oppressor compared to some once we have had in the past few days. part of the reason

part of the reason we've been watching that press conference in at the white house is their is surreal debate in washington, with the president claiming he was being ‘sarcastic‘ when he suggested the injection of disinfectants to fight the disease. 0ur north america editor jon sopel reports. controversially, some of florida's beaches reopened last week. but maybe it was a smart thing to do. according to new research conducted by us government scientists, sunlight, heat and humidity dramatically reduce the life of coronavirus in the air and on hard surfaces. the scientists said it acted as a powerful disinfectant. and that led the president to muse on whether disinfectant could be used inside the human body to kill the virus. and then i see the disinfectant, that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. and it is there a way we can do something like that? by injection inside, or almost a

cleaning? because you see, it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. so it would be interesting to check that. the president's chief medical adviser looked as though she'd have liked harry potter's cloak of invisibility. in a minute, one minute. new lysol spray disinfectant... for over a century, lysol has been one of america's top—selling brands of bleach, but today, in 2020, the manufacturers felt forced to issue a statement saying under no circumstances should people ingest disinfectant. doctors, health professionals and politicians are similarly disbelieving. very clearly, disinfectants are not intended for ingestion, either by mouth, by ears, by breathing them in in any way, shape or form. but today, the president has sought to explain away the controversy by asserting that he wasn't actually being serious. but i was asking a sarcastic, a very sarcastic question,

to the reporters in the room about disinfectant on the inside. but it does kill it, and it would kill it on the hands, and that would make things much better. that was done in the form of a sarcastic question to the reporters. another question being asked forcibly is whether now is the right time to reopen the us economy. in georgia today, hairdressers, nail salons, tattoo parlours were able to resume business, even though coronavirus is still a serious problem in the state. the president's defense is that he was being sarcastic the reporters in the room, but i was at the briefing and that's not what happened. he addresses his remarks entirely to his chief medical officer and a scientist from homeland security, and he seemed deadly serious. the white house has been scrambling all day to come up with a plausible explanation. this does not seem to be it. i've been speaking to katty kay

in washington and asked whether anyone is really buying trump's claim he was being sarcastic. well, for a start, he wasn't talking to reporters. during that briefing — and you can watch the tape, it is all there. the president turns to his medical advisers, not reporters, his medical advisers and asks them about this notion of somehow injecting disinfectant into the body to give it, as he called it, "a cleansing". i did not see any sarcasm and there has been a lot of pushback against that. i think the white house is doing a bit of the clean—up job of its own, realising the president said this, and they got a huge amount of pushback from the medical community. and he's also going pushback from states because the state of maryland this morning has had to put out a notification advising people in the state not to drink disinfectant because, they say, they've had 100 calls from people asking about of what the president was suggesting them to do. all this comes as america passes 50,000 deaths with

coronavirus. yeah. huge numbers. and still, obviously, new york still the epicentre. they say they think they have passed their peak, they're on the plateau, but there are other hotspots around the country. the country really wrestling i think with this massive number of deaths, 50,000, and also at the same time states that are wanting to reopen. so i'm really watching the state of georgia today, where we are getting nail salons, gyms, tattoo parlors, massage parlors reopening. it is going to be really interesting to see, first of all, how many of those businesses feel they can reopen and whether customers, georgians, feel they want to go to them and feel safe because, so far, the polling suggests the american public is in no rush to do things that the doctors are not advising them to do. they're listening to the medical officials more than they're listening to the white house. there's a lot of frustration. millions of americans,

22 million americans have lost their jobs. they have no income. they need to go to work. it is desperate. they've had no money for five weeks now. you can understand why states want to open up, but the overwhelming medical advice still is, it has to be done in a very controlled, safe manner. otherwise, the virus comes roaring back and you have to have another lockdown. here in the uk the new government website that launched today for up to ten million key workers and their families to book coronavirus tests online had to close after it was inundated with requests. almost 50,000 people in england tried to book a testjust hours after the website launched. 16,000 did manage to book a drive through appointment or get home testing kits. the government says the site — for key workers with symptoms — is going back online this evening and will be taking more bookings. our health editor hugh pym has the latest. pop—up units run by the army — part of a new push in england to boost virus testing. the number of drive—through centres is being expanded and more home

test kits will be sent out, all to handle possible demand from up to 10 million key workers and their families. but by mid—morning, all slots bookable online for today had been taken by 11,000 people and 5,000 home test kits went within minutes. the department of health apologised for any inconvenience and said booking for the weekend had started up again, with capacity expanded. mike, who's a teacher, had symptoms and wants to know if it's safe to go into work. he managed to get a test slot. the whole process was very seamless. i was able to register and then ijust had to wait for the e—mail to come through. and once i'd got that email, i quickly logged on to the site, i selected the testing centre for me and it has been really easy. at one drive—thru test centre, essential workers who'd had their nasal and throat swabs taken told us about the process. i actually registered last night for today, so, yeah, i was quite surprised how quick it was.

i feel good that i've been tested, see what happens, see what comes through. hopefully, it's nothing. but the fire brigades union argued there had to be more easily accessible testing to allow emergency service staff to get back to work if possible from self—isolation. the scottish government said it was ready to go live with a similar system to england, with laboratories like this one in glasgow analysing the tests. at the downing street media briefing, i asked how much more testing capacity would be provided. obviously, you don't want people's expectations to be disappointed. are you pretty confident that you can meet the demand that is out there certainly in the next week or so? we will see how it settles down, but we are encouraged by the 16,000 bookings online. indeed, 116,000 people went to the portal first thing today. there are some more slots opening up right now as i'm speaking and there will be more slots tomorrow and in the days after.

the nhs has spare critical care beds, even with the covid—19 patient numbers. and the head of nhs england said there might now be scope to restart some more routine work which had been cancelled. it looks as if we are now coming through the peak of the coronavirus inpatients, and so we've got spare capacity in hospitals across the country. and that means that, as well as other critical and urgent services, we will be able to restart some of those more routine services that the nhs is also here to provide. as for mike, he got to the testing centre in peterborough and showed the e—mail he'd received. it was scanned by a member of staff and the test went ahead. he's hoping for the result by monday, which will determine whether he can get back to work. the united nations, political leaders and business leaders from around the world have launched a new initiative, aimed at speeding up the development of treatments

and a vaccine for covid—19. a key element of the effort will be to make sure that any vaccine is made available and affordable to everyone in the world, but there were some conspicuous absences from the international commitment, as reged ahmad reports. preparations for a second wave of the coronavirus infections in germany. even as the country eases this lockdown. while in italy, the russian military releases pictures of its personnel disinfecting hospitals. this pandemic has breached into nearly every corner of the world, and governments have warned we are just at the beginning of this unprecedented crisis. some experts say the only way back to normality might be a vaccine. to that and come in a virtual launch, the un is joining that and come in a virtual launch, the un isjoining forces that and come in a virtual launch, the un is joining forces with world leaders and the private sector to speed up development of vaccine. and raise billions of dollars to make it accessible to

all. translation: we will only overcome this virus if we join our powers together and build a powerful alliance. health officials have already done this in germany is prepared to support this politically with all of our efforts. we have also developed a diagnostics that are being used all over the world. and we are coordinating a global trial on the safety and efficacy against covid—19. the world needs these tools and them fast. there were, though, notable absences. the united states come even as it battles the highest infection rates in the world will not take part. president donald trump has been highly critical of the world health organisation and is already suspended funding. china to where the pandemic began is missing from the pandemic began is missing from the lungs. ——

at the launch. translation: i hope will be able to manage to bring people together with thisjoint manage to bring people together with this joint initiative. manage to bring people together with thisjoint initiative. if manage to bring people together with this joint initiative. if i may say so, china and the united states of america. because the fight against covid—19 is in the common features of the humanity and we cannot be divided if we want to win this battle. —— as in the common interest of humanity even if vaccine trials get under way, one covid—19 treatment study has had a result of sorts. a chinese trial of brenda severe has reportedly failed was up at the company behind the drug has disputed the findings. saying the results were inconclusive. it is one example of how much work is to be done. and whether a global initiative of this scale could work. ata time initiative of this scale could work. at a time when global cooperation has been on the decline. turkey has the seventh—most recorded infections in the world, just behind the uk, and more than china. that's despite tough lockdown measures in place in 31 provinces. the authorities say the outbreak

is under control but medical sources have told the bbc the real number of deaths is not being reported. from istanbul our international correspondent 0rla guerin reports. the new landscape of covid—19. istanbul under lockdown this weekend — like much of turkey, trying to shut out an invisible killer. the official death toll here is relatively low, around 2,600, but medical sources say the real picture could be a lot worse because turkey only counts those who test positive for the virus. this intensive care doctor tells me he has treated about 100 covid patients. we cannot reveal his identity, and an actor is voicing his words. not all patients test positive. when we try to register

patients who test negative in the system, we cannot do it. how many deaths of covid—19 do you think are not actually being recorded in the statistics? only half of our patients who died from covid—19 have that listed as the cause of death. we have to multiply the official number of deaths by two. playing with the real statistics creates a perception that the process is being handled very well. turkey has more intensive care beds than many european countries and a much lower fatality rate from the virus. it denies deaths have been underreported. the health minister, fahrettin koca, says the country has given the world health organisation the information it wants in a transparent manner and will continue to do so. but the who recommends probable cases, like torhan kaya,

should be counted. the turkish actor died last month. his son theo told us he had all the symptoms of covid—19 but tested negative, so it wasn't on the death certificate. theo is bereft without him. he was charming. he was a real gentleman and he was an incredible dad, a really good best friend. he had a lot of people who loved him because of that. he would give you everything and not ask anything in return. no, he was incredible, truly. obviously you have spoken out, and i know you spoke out before on twitter. i wondered, do you feel like this is something you have to do in memory of your father? i do it for my father, but i do it for a lot of people who haven't lost their father yet

and i hope they never will. but i do it for my dad, but i do it because i know that my dad would've done the same thing. this is a holiday weekend here, but like no other. the turkish medical association says shedding more light on the number of deaths will help the country emerge from this crisis. 0rla guerin, bbc news, istanbul. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we take you on the dailyjournal of a physiotherapist who has filmed himself working on the covid—19 health care front lines. the stars & stripes at half mast outside columbine high. the school, sealed off. the bodies of the dead, still inside.

i'd never thought that they'd 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. it's hard to believe it, i didn't believe it. we just — he wasjust 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. and liftoff of the space shuttle discovery, with the hubble space telescope, our window on the universe. this is bbc news, the latest headlines:

the death toll in the us has passed 50 thousand, as president trump backtracks on a suggestion yesterday that disinfectant, could be used to tackle the virus. the uk government website for key workers to apply for coronavirus tests has reopened for bookings, after it was closed due to "significant demand". the united nations has issued an urgent appeal to save hundreds of rohingya refugees who are thought to be stranded out at sea on people—smuggling boats. the refugees had been living in vast camps in bangladesh for three years after fleeing persecution in myanmar. 0ur south asia correspondent rajini vaidya nathan‘s report contains some distressing images. staggering to safety. scared, starving and stateless after months stranded at sea.

rohingya refugees, including unaccompanied children, back onshore after the boat they'd boarded to malaysia was turned away, for fear they'd bring coronavirus to the country. rescued by the bangladesh coast guard, the hundreds who survived tell the tale of the dozens who didn't. forced to drink sea water to stay alive, eyewitnesses say the bodies of those who didn't make were thrown into the sea. of those who didn't make it were thrown into the sea. mohammed made the perilous journey after borrowing money to pay a smuggler. "i couldn't find work in the refugee camps," he said. "the boat was cramped. we were hungry and i fell sick. when we got to malaysia, we were turned away twice. now, i feel unlucky and sad." it's believed hundreds more refugees are trapped on boats which were also turned away from malaysia. i asked the bangladeshi foreign minister whether they could return.

will you turn the boats away, then? it's a difficult question, because we don't want to see people dying. it's not the responsibility of bangladesh alone to take care of all the stateless people of the planet earth. ask the global leaders, like the us, uk, european union. who will help them now? as the world shuts its borders because of coronavirus, the rohingya refugees hope that the world doesn't shut its eyes to their plight. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news. throughout the coronavirus outbreak, we've been hearing from front line health workers about the challenges they face. 0ur health correspondent catherine burns is keeping in touch with a range of staff — and has asked them to keep video diaries. one of them is physiotherapist tom meredith who gave us this look at his daily work. physiotherapy might not seem an obvious part of the front—line fight against coronavirus, but tom meredith says his work is

crucial. it's 7:45am. bye. ijust dropped off my daughter to nursery, and now i'm heading in to start my shift. we have five wards up here with about 70 patients, all with coronavirus, age ranging from 90s down into their 30s. some are too frail for intensive care. their bodies would just not cope with being on a ventilator. tom and his team try to help clear their chests so they can breathe. sometimes that won't work, and they can only make them comfortable. 0thers, though, are at the start of the long road to recovery. so we're just off to see a patient now for some rehabilitation, with myself and taylor and charlotte here. this gentleman is a step down from intensive care, he was in intensive care for about three weeks, so he's very, very weak. michael cox moved down to the general covid ward a few days ago. now it's time to try to stand up and take his first

step. this is what success looks like. slow, painful and exhausting. but genuine progress. great! that was your first steps. everybody that i've had dealings with here have been brilliant. absolutely brilliant. so it's two o'clock now, and we're heading back onto the wards for the afternoon session. the team sees patients who have been weakened by the virus. theirjob is to get them well enough to start their lives properly again. when stanley came into hospital, he was told he had maybe two days to live. that was over a month ago. cheering. i had to have the mask on my face all the time. as soon as i took it off, i started suffocating. and bit by bit, with you guys and the doctors and nurses and everybody else, thank god for them, we started turning things around.

and we've all seen a fair few number of patients being discharged home or back to their care homes today, so some really nice, positive stuff going on today. and then back to his family. tom normally works with cystic fibrosis patients, and is used to helping sick people. but he says this last month has been intense, emotional and sometimes distressing. i've seen things which will stay with me for a long time. equally, though, he's proud of the work that he and thousands of other therapists are doing, bringing hope to people at their most vulnerable time. catherine burns, bbc news. now — getting through lockdown means a lot of people are getting closer to their neighbours. i've now got a what's app group for my street — and we offer to get things for each other when we go to the shops. if your neighbour happens be to a professsional musician — you could be in for a treat. that's the case in lausaune switzerland — where violin soloist

alexandra conunova treated her neighbours to this performance. it is amazing. have a listen. music. music hello. after a another predominantly dry week for most parts of the uk, the weekend promises and plenty more dry weather. but slow subtle changes and the increasing chance of catching a shower and it will begin to feel cooler across northern areas. nothing much is changing very

quickly at the moment because the pressure pattern is very slight. not many white lines at all on this chart. not many isobars. the winds are very light. nothing to push the weather along. we start off the day with a lot of cloud across eastern scotla nd with a lot of cloud across eastern scotland and eastern side of england and missy and ricky conditions in place. that should tend to break up the mist and fog should lift and all of us get to see spells of sunshine. perhaps a bit more cloud than we had over the last couple of days. temperature wise, 17 to 21 degrees. a bit coolerfor some northern temperature wise, 17 to 21 degrees. a bit cooler for some northern and eastern coast. northern ireland also having a cooler day and as we go into the late afternoon in the evening, or wales and the southwest cut skid seat wanted to shower in the early hours of sunday, generally more cloud rolling in across the north of scotland. those are your overnight temperatures. most places above freezing and it will be a little bit chilly across some peace and parts of england. we got wanted to study in this area of low pressure quite a weak affair, it

sta rts pressure quite a weak affair, it starts to move its way in from the north, that does increase the chance of seeing some showers across northern parts of scotland, a frontal system pushing south and a bed of cloud and some shower rain possible with that in the head of it across the heart of england and wales we could see they have the shower into the afternoon but there will still be a lot of dry weather and sunshine and another warm day down towards the south but notes of loosely cooler across the northern half of the country. and into monday you see the cold air making some and rose southwards, lower temperatures for both parties on monday, a been a cloud in frontal system sitting around parts of england and wales and the odd splash of rain but we could see slightly more significant what weather developing down to the south later in the day, 21 degrees in london but the further north you are come much cooler field to the weather. and for all of us it is going to turn cooler as we head deeper into next week. and the increasing chance of some rain and some fairly brisk ones as well. that

is all for now.

this is bbc world news. the headlines... more than 50,000 people have now died in the us from coronavirus. meanwhile president trump has backtracked on a suggestion yesterday that disinfectant, could be used to tackle the virus. the uk government website for key workers to apply for coronavirus tests has reopened for bookings, after it was closed due to "significant demand". the governement aims to meet a target of 100,000 daily tests by the end

of april. world leaders and the who have launched a global initiative to accelerate work on drugs to treat coronavirus. the head of the who says the biggest health effort in history is needed to rid world of covid 19. president trump has signed a bill that injects another 500 billion us dollars into the coronavirus economic relief package. it brings the total federal spending for the coronavirus crisis to $2.7 trillion. welcome to the papers — with me are claire cohen, the women's editorfor the daily telegraph and