this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. countries around europe pursue options to end the lockdown, belgium sets out a detailed plan to relax restrictions. meanwhile a former chancellor in the uk calls on the government to set out how britain can ease its lockdown and restart the economy. people needing medical care are urged not to be put off by the coronavirus pandemic, as visits to uk a&e departments drop by almost half. you should not be afraid of accessing health care services. we want you to call 111, call your gp, or call 999 first. but the nhs is there for you. the english premier league holds talks with ministers about how football matches could resume with televised matches played behind closed doors.

three us states allow some businesses to reopen, as the number of deaths from coronavirus there tops 50,000. and, well, we can't go to the zoo at the moment, but we've got the next best thing — a virtual tour round edinburgh zoo, courtesy of its keepers. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. first, as countries in europe start to end their lockdown, belgium has come out with a timetable for gradually lifting its restrictions.

most shops will reopen across the country on the 11th of may and schools will reopen a week later. in other developments, in the uk, the former chancellor philip hammond has called on the government to begin easing the coronavirus lockdown to restart the economy. the british public is also being urged to seek medical care when they need it and not be put off by the coronavirus outbreak. in the united states, three states — georgia, oklahoma and alaska — have allowed some shops to reopen, despite warnings it may be too early. and the premier league has been holding talks with the uk government about how football matches could be permitted to resume. more on that later, but first, this report from tim allman on how countries are beginning to ease restrictions. this is mont—saint—michel on france's normandy coast. millions of tourists come here every year, but not this year. for now, it's like a ghost town.

empty streets, empty tables, the lockdown in full effect. translation: i would say it was done like a military campaign, because at nine o'clock, theyjust said, "sorry, sir, you are not opening." that was it, it was done in less than a minute. it was very sudden. so we closed, everyone left, we just dropped everything. it is the same all across the country. this is the place de la concorde in paris, almost completely deserted. but things may soon change. president macron suggesting travel restrictions could soon be eased as france tries to get back to normal. for belgium, that process is already tentatively under way. in a late—night news conference, the prime minister unveiled a detailed timetable to ease the lockdown. translation: wearing an item of protection that covers both the mouth and the nose

will be compulsory when taking public transport starting may 4th for travellers aged 12 and above. most shops and schools will begin reopening next month, although classrooms will be limited to ten pupils and facemasks will have to be worn on public transport. translation: if we can present you with an exit strategy, it is because of the citizens who are also leading the fight against covid—i9. restaurant owners in germany have been staging a protest, laying out rows of empty chairs in dozens of towns and cities across the country. they say their industry is in a precarious situation and they don't know when they will be allowed to reopen. and there were tense scenes in austria as around 200 people took to the streets of vienna calling for an end to the lockdown there.

restrictions have been eased, but for some, it is just not happening fast enough. tim allman, bbc news. let's speak to our political correspondent, nick eardley. we were talking a moment ago about the chancellor obviously discussing the chancellor obviously discussing the problems for the economy and a plan for getting out of the lockdown. a line which is tangentially relevant is that an airline have announced they are to restart flights from luton to destinations around romania, serbia, hungary, portugal and spain on the ist of may. that plays into philip hammond's argued. potentially. the uk governed has been a lot more relu cta nt uk governed has been a lot more reluctant than other countries to go into detail about how restrictions might eventually lifted. it has focused on that message of telling people to stay at home despite some

governments in the uk like the scottish and welsh government is providing more detail. there are increasingly more questions being asked about the trade—offs and the impact of the economic shutdown, potentially in the long—term. philip hammond was arguing this morning on the bbc that emerging from lockdown would be complicated but needed to happen to avoid that irreparable damage to the economy. we have to start reopening the economy, but we have to do it living with covid—19, we can't wait until a vaccine is developed, produced in sufficient quantity and rolled out across the population. the economy won't survive that long. we are going to have to start reopening, but we are going to have to do it alongside the measures that are in place to protect the population from covid—19. that is going to be a much more complex phase of this crisis than the initial acute phase. locking everything down and keeping everything locked down is relatively straightforward,

the challenge of how to progressively, carefully, methodically reopen, protecting both health and jobs, is much more challenging and calls for a really skilful political leadership. there are many who agree with that view. both that the government has to be more open about how these restrictions might eventually be lifted and secondly, that the economy needs to play a more central role in thinking. i want to ask you about another political story. that is around the prime minister's chief political adviser dominic cummings, his status at a scientific advisory meetings. there is a storm around this politically, how much does it add up to? this is a story that has been very central in terms of sage

being very central in advising the government on its coronavirus strategy but interest roof we don't know much about what they have decided and who is on it and what their minutes are. what exactly those once discussions have entailed. the guardian has a league of who is on it and it says that some meetings were attended by dominic cummings. number ten‘s argument is that that is normal for one of the government's top advisers to be ata one of the government's top advisers to be at a meeting where important strategy is being discussed. they say that hisjob strategy is being discussed. they say that his job wasn't necessarily to intervene with the science, but to intervene with the science, but to contribute when it was about how good it is run. but some are deeply uncomfortable with that. the labour party are saying that mr cummings doesn't have a role to play in that situation. a former chief scientific adviser said this morning that it calls into question neutrality of that body and the question of whether politics was perhaps

interfering with the science and number ten says that is not the case. thank you so much. i'm joined now by the conservative mp damian green, who was the first secretary of state in theresa may's government. thank you for talking to us. let's deal with those in the order we just tackle them. i am interested in your view on philip hammond talking about how we need to start discussing the next complex phase in terms of lifting some restrictions to allow economic activity. i think we are already discussing it clearly. i absolutely take the point by ministers that are keen not to read that discussion in public. they have succeeded at one of the successes of the government's response has been the government's response has been the way, and it is a public success as well, that by and large people have obeyed the lockdown and putting that at risk would, if it led to a spike in cases, notjust, obviously,

damage people's health, was damage the economy, because it would mean the economy, because it would mean the full lockdown would have to stay on for longer. i have a great deal of sympathy for ministers who are saying we should wait for the right time to talk about this. inevitably it means that some of the public will get mixed messages and might start doing things that they shouldn't be doing yet. you say you have sympathy with them, but despite the theme for the, you think that discussion shall be had in public or the thing that they should be carrying on as they are doing? the thing that they should be carrying on as they are doing7|j carrying on as they are doing?|j think carrying on as they are doing?” think they are behaving epically sensibly. it is easy for all of us to think of how to do it and that discussion is going on. the point will come, the real difficulty for ministers is taking the decision. sorry to interrupt, but this question as to whether the question should be made in public is

important, isn't it? be best minister of scotland has talked this week about not treating her publicly children. i don't think the government is treating the public like children at all. people are entitled to express their view and they are exposing their view, i think the governors has taken a view, which is a sensible view, and they have established a successful lockdown. —— government has taken a view. putting that at risk would damage the country more than anything else. therefore they are determined not to put that at risk and that seems to me a perfectly sensible thing to do. on their five tests, i will take a yes or no on this, are you comfortable that those five tests are the key tests? yes. and on the other points, the one that philip hammond made, he said the complex phase is coming next, much harder in his mind, than the

lockdown and stay—at—home, the complexities as to how to reopen and make the economy function, he said that it demands a very skilful political leadership. do you feel we have that? i do. and philip is right ina sense, have that? i do. and philip is right in a sense, what you are then sending out in terms of messaging is more nuanced message, that is always more nuanced message, that is always more difficult. more to the point, you have got to take right decision. you have got to unlock the economy as much as you can, but at the same time, not allowing the virus to go back to spreading very fast. that involves a mixture of scientific decision—making and political messaging, which is very difficult, but clearly that is the next big decision the government has to take. lets turn to the question of scientific decision—making and the allegations, i suppose, scientific decision—making and the allegations, isuppose, that scientific decision—making and the allegations, i suppose, that there

is at least the perception, if not the reality, of political interference or political involvement in those with dominic cummings being present at, either as a member oran cummings being present at, either as a member or an observer status at meetings of sage, the scientific advisory group that advises the government, weddings stand on this row? i think this story is complete rubbish. i would row? i think this story is complete rubbish. iwould be row? i think this story is complete rubbish. i would be more worried if seniorfigures from rubbish. i would be more worried if senior figures from number ten weren't listening to the scientific discussions. the most improbable thing is the way in which the scientists' advice would be altered by having a number ten official in the meeting. that is an insult to them. of course they will give the best scientific advice. of course it is sensible for someone from number ten to be there to say, to ask questions and to get the tone of the meeting for what will actually be

distilled into that meeting. i do think that this is a storm not even anything as big as a teacup. said david king, former chief scientific adviser himself, is easy uneasy about this himself. he said this didn't used to happen, normally, the discussions taking place at sage aren't the most important discussions happening in the country. it is absolutely the case that officials from number ten will sit in in official meetings when they feed into big political discussions and i can say that with a degree of authority because i used to work as an adviser at number ten. i would attend meetings if there was clearly going to be some political outcome from them. this is nothing new, it would be much more worrying if people weren't attending this type of meeting. thank you so much for joining type of meeting. thank you so much forjoining us. we arejust type of meeting. thank you so much

forjoining us. we are just getting some breaking news and from spain which often comes in at this time of day which is the deaths and infection cases from coronavirus. the death toll in the last 2a hours has risen 378 in spain, that is a slight increase on friday's 367. that was the lowest figure recorded in the past month. still, by comparison with last month in spain, a relatively low figure at three 78. the overall number of coronavirus cases in spain has risen to 223,759. that is from 219,764. british government ministers have been holding talks with the english premier league about allowing football matches to resume. games would be played behind closed doors

for a television audience only. the sun newspaper has reported football could be back ‘within weeks' but clubs would have to ensure the safety of players. meanwhile the dutch fa has controversially decided to abandon its football season. martin lipton, the deputy sport editor of the sun newspaper, joins me now. martin, thanks for talking to us. what is your assessment? is this going to happen? we all want to see football return. i read a month ago that there were discussions even before the full scale of the lockdown was clear and football are seen as a way of leading the country out of its despondency and bringing morale back. there are significant issues that have to be crossed before it can happen. the positive thing is that discussions are now ongoing. run us through what you see to be the biggest hurdles in getting players back on the pitch. health

and safety. if you see... 0nly yesterday the german league talked about coming back on may nine and within a day, the health minister said you can only do that if you play in masks. and if they slip off, you have to stop the game and switch masks every 15 minutes. whilst they may seem minor things, they would cause huge issues within the game of football. it would stop the ebb and flow of the game. there is also the number of people that must be in the stadiums, the proof required for everybody in the stadium to be clear of infection, they would be some sort of test that would have to take place. the germans say there are 322 people minimum inside the stadium and because of all the technical staff etc. it is still a huge undertaking. it is, and guaranteeing the health and safety of players from different clubs, that is by definition not social distancing. on

the pitch, unfortunately, my team aren't good at defending corners, but you are supposed to. tottenham hotspur, not great this year. you couldn't reinforce all of the social distancing measures on the pitch. if one person, one player is infected, then potentially, both teams could be infected within the space of about 90 minutes. which, when you put it like that, makes it seem hard to imagine somehow that we are going to imagine somehow that we are going to see football back in short order. what is your best guess for the first saturday when we might sit down and watch a match? we know the premier league are looking at the weekend of the 8th ofjune, the saturday would be the 13th, i think,

that would be the ultimate wish fulfilment of english football. i genuinely hope it happens, because the worst thing would be to cancel the worst thing would be to cancel the season. you want to play the season out. but it is going to be really tough, and i remain, u nfortu nately, really tough, and i remain, unfortunately, pessimistic that we will be able to restart before the autumn. i fear that this season may end up being wiped out and then other issues coming in, including legal cases as to whether you can determine what happened within the season. the dutch have done that. the fa have said that if the national government bans you to play, it forces you to call the season. scotland have ruled the season. scotland have ruled the season out. belgium did it. there is no way around it. it will be tough. anyone who is saying it will be ok and we will start next month or whenever, i fear that we will be very disappointed. lets keep the

flame of hope alive while hearing your reservations. like you so much for joining your reservations. like you so much forjoining us. the death toll in the united states from the coronavirus pandemic is now double the second worst—hit country, italy. more than 50,000 people have died, according to johns hopkins university. three of the us states less affected are allowing shops to reopen. president trump has now claimed he was being ‘sarcastic‘ when he suggested injecting disinfectants may be a way to fight coronavirus, and refused to take questions at the white house daily briefing. david willis reports. thank you very much. and with that they were gone. a daily press briefing which routinely stretches beyond two hours, all over in 22 minutes. donald trump's reluctance to face further question seen as a response to the backlash he has faced over comments made to the coordinator of his coronavirus task force the day before. and then i see the disinfectant...that knocks it out in a minute. one minute. and 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 prompted a torrent of ridicule and condemnation. government officials warning of the health problems that ingesting household disinfectant could cause. and a stark reminderfrom mr trump's democratic rivaljoe biden. "don't drink bleach." president trump has since said he wasn't being serious, even though he appeared so at the time. i was asking a sarcastic, in 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. meanwhile, more than 50,000 people here have now died from the coronavirus, but in georgia and some other southern states, hairdressers, tattoo parlours and nail salons have already started to reopen. despite warnings from health officials that it's too early

for them to do so safely. now let's look at some global stories making the news today. the french government has set out a package to help air france and the car maker, renault. under the plans, the national carrier would receive $7.5 billion in loans, to save 350,000 jobs. renault could recieve more than five—billion dollars. the indian government has allowed neighbourhood stores to reopen more than a month after they were shut due to the crisis. the interior ministry said only 50% of staff should work and and only if they adhered to safety precautions. people in lockdown across australia and new zealand have held vigils at home to mark this year's anzac day in remembrance of their war dead. the coronavirus outbreak has meant the usual parades haven't been possible. services at gallipoli in turkey have

also been cancelled. a group of hereford crafters have been raising money for charity and bringing a smile to the local community by knitting and crocheting key workers during the coronavirus pandemic. it's their way of showing their appreciation to all the essential workers during these challenging times. we can speak now to one of the founding members of the group, jo baily. thank you forjoining us. when i said that you were knitting and crocheting team workers, are they individual people?” crocheting team workers, are they individual people? i would like to say we are the hartford secret society of hartford crafters. this isafair society of hartford crafters. this is a fair point you make. they make it different geographic locations. thank you for that. as we are a

secret society, the conversation may be fairly short, but let's see how we get on. first of all, we have over 130 members in our secret society. and it was an's wonderful idea to think about how we could support with key workers and she came up support with key workers and she came up were support with key workers and she came up were about 25 characters and key workers we may represent. we know that that many number of members, everybody is sitting at home keeping calm, crafting on, and just really wanted to do something to spread a little bit ofjoy during these difficult times. we started off with 25 key workers, and we have got at least double that now. the response from all of our members has been absolutely fantastic. they are so beautiful. we havejust been

looking at them on the screen there. congratulations to everyone who is making them. i canjust imagine that demand for them must be soaring. making them. i canjust imagine that demand for them must be soaringm terms of the demand, because we are viral, we are virtual, we haven't got anything physically that we can show people, everything that we are showing is online through our social media. the response from so many people has been fantastic. i think, partly because every key worker that we are representing has got a little back story that brings that key worker to life. so whether it is carry the care worker and we can understand a little bit more about the role she is playing and, for instance, how she is taking rainbow pictures into the place where she works. i think that is what really brings it to life or people. we are representing those people who are

really helping our communities all over the country the moment. we have to leave it there, thank you so much. joe bailey, founding member of the secret society of hartford crafters. as the weather's starting to improve for most of us it would be perfect — under normal circumstances — for a day out. so we're bringing you the next best thing. keepers at edinburgh zoo have been doing some filming to show us how the animals there are coping with the lockdown. lorna gordon reports. the animals of edinburgh zoo. lion cubs joined by other additions like this koala joey, venturing out for the first time. there are over 2,500 animals here. the keepers agreeing to film for us to show how the animals are faring while the gates are closed. one of the first things we have to do is check on all our penguins and make sure everybody is ok. the famous penguin parade is for now

no longer happening but the breeding season here has started, so both the penguins and their keepers have plenty to do. this is one of our breeding nests for our northern rockhoppers this year. we are currently at this moment waiting for this chick to hopefully hatch in the next couple of days. the city's zoo would usually get thousands of visitors every day. but the lockdown means pathways here are now deserted. but obviously today we are. ..empty. however, we've still got a panda who is outside and having a bite of lunch, so let's go and have a look at him. the solitary creatures are among the most popular animals here. their adoring audiences may have disappeared but it has made no difference to them. with everything that is going on, social—distancing isn't really a problem for pandas, because they quite like being solitary and he certainly doesn't miss having company. a lot of people worry that if he's on his own, he's lonely. he's not. as long as yang guang has food,

he is perfectly happy. the keepers are always careful around their charges, but coronavirus means they are taking even more precautions now. we wear gloves when we're handling any food or things like that, but we have started wearing facemasks all the time. one of the things that could potentially is happen is that we could pass coronavirus onto the chimps. as far as i know, there are no known cases of chimpanzees catching coronavirus but they are susceptible to things like the flu so we really don't want to take that chance. the zoo is a charity, so like other similar organisations it has worries now its income from visitors has dropped away. its priority, ensuring the animals here receive the best care possible during this crisis. now it's time for a look at the weather with helen willets. hello there. it has been a rather cold start in some areas with the

low cloud very extensive in eastern areas, even giving a little bit of drizzle. the sunshine were lifted and melted away. some cloud in southern and western parts of england and wales with some showers. the cloud in the east is thick enough for some drizzle as well. but for many it will become dry and bright with spells of sunshine. still some showers in the south—west and in the mountains of wales but inland it will feel warm again. more likely 21 degrees and cooler for the north coast of northern ireland as we have some subtle changes taking place. we have this low pressure approaching from the north so more showers in the north and western isles. the chili as part art most likely east anglia, close to freezing here. it looks like there will be more showers around tomorrow, particularly for scotland and central parts of england and wales. more details on the website.

this is bbc world news. the headlines... as european governments pursue options to end the lockdown, belgium has set out a detailed plan to gradually relax restrictions. the prime minister said most shops would reopen on monday, the 11th of may. three us states have allowed some shops to reopen following measures imposed to curb the virus, as the country's death toll passes 50,000. salons and spas could reopen in georgia and oklahoma while alaska lifted restrictions on restaurants. british government ministers have been holding talks with the english premier league about allowing football matches to resume. games would be played behind closed doors for a television audience only.