a very warm welcome to bbc news. the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm mike embley. american coronavirus cases move past a million — that is nearly a third of the total worldwide. france is to ease its lockdown from next month, but masks will remain a way of life. british airways warns that 12,000 jobs may be lost as the demand for air travel collapses. explosions lebanese cities erupt into violence against economic hardship, worsened by the pandemic. at least one protester is killed in tripoli.

hello. we are covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. first, the united states has now registered more than a million known cases of the coronavirus. that is roughly four times the second worst affected nation, spain. here, the uk government says it's significantly expanding access to testing to include all care home residents and staff not part of the official figures so far. iag, the parent company of british airways, has said the airline may make up to 12,000 workers redundant. aid agencies are warning a lack of resources in conflict zones could spread the virus even further. and in france, all food shops will reopen from may 11, but bars and restaurants will remain closed. much more on all that to come. but first, jane 0'brien reports from new york as states across the us plan to lift some lockdown restrictions. a salute to the

covid warriors — the blue angels and the thunderbirds paying tribute to those on the frontlines of the battle against coronavirus. they flew formation across the north—east. an uplifting spectacle for residents in lockdown. new york continues to be the worst hit, but today, a glimmer of hope... what we've seen is clearly progress and that's getting us closer to the day when we can start to make some of the moves to open things up. but i've said it before, i'll keep saying it — we're going to be cautious, we're going to be careful, we're going to be governed, we'll be governed by the facts. more thani million people in the us are now known to have been infected and the emphasis is on more testing. in manhattan, people lined up at the latest facility. other states are moving faster, even without the recommended levels of testing. georgia has taken aggressive steps to restart its economy, opening salons, gyms and some restaurants. and most states are making plans even if they have

no clear time frame. well, it will go down to zero, ultimately. and you have to understand, when it comes to cases, we do much more testing than anybody else, so we're going to show more cases because we're doing much, much more testing — double anybody else. somebody said if you add everybody else combined, that would be a number — and it will be, at the appropriate time, it will be down to zero, like we said. but even as some businesses open their doors, it is not clear whether americans at home are ready to open theirs. consumer spending drives the us economy, but with no cure for coronavirus and social distancing the only proven control so far, they may not feel safe enough to spent outside. —— spend outside. jane 0'brien, bbc news. just a short while ago, our north america correspondent peter bowes gave us more detail. two grim milestones. the one we have just been hearing about now — more than 1 million

cases of covid—19 across the united states, and another milestone in that more americans have now died as a result of this virus than were killed during the almost two decades of the vietnam war. so for all, there's a lot of talk about states getting back to normal, of businesses restarting, of parks opening, of beaches opening — we're still a long, long way from the end of this, mike. the president, of course, talking the figures eventually going down to zero, but dr anthony fauci sounding a warning? yes, and the warning is — and he has said similar things before, but this was very specific — that he believes, with some certainty, that the virus will be back in the autumn. indeed, he stressed it may never go away, it will probably still be with us all the way through the summer. yes, it may, in terms of those peaks and troughs, it may well continue to go down and we're seeing some optimistic news from places like chicago and boston and new york city,

but he says the reality is that this virus, this disease, will still be with us towards the end of the year and, of course, major health implications for people, but of course it will also coincide with the presidential election, which has to take place in november. this curious instant involving the vice president's visit to a hospital, and we've just seen the latest pictures on this coming in? yeah, he's visiting or been visiting the mayo clinic, in minnesota, which is one of the leading medicalfacility in the united states, and he was meeting some of the workers there. he said thank you to them for their work, but he was not wearing a mask, and we understand that he was told as he went into the place, that it was their policy that all visitors should indeed wear a mask, as indeed in the pictures that we have seen, everyone else indeed has some sort protection on theirface. he explained this by saying that he's the vice president, he is tested regularly, along with all the other people

that he works with, and he did not believe that he needed to wear a mask. let's get some of the day's other news. spain's prime minister has outlined a a—phase withdrawal from one of europe's strictest lockdowns with the aim of getting back to something like normality by the end ofjune. social distancing will remain, schools won't reopen until september. president putin says the peak of the coronavirus outbreak in russia has not yet been reached and he's extending the lockdown until may 12. he said the spread had slowed, but warned of the risk of acting too quickly to lift restrictions. so far, there's been 867 recorded deaths. the death toll from the pandemic in brazil has now passed 5,000. it's the worst affected country in south america with infections close to 72,000. president jair bolsonaro has criticised the restrictions imposed by state governors to try to slow the spread of the virus. all residents and staff in care homes in england are to be eligible for coronavirus tests from wednesday, whether they have symptoms or not.

scotland, wales and northern ireland are expected to follow soon. latest figures suggest a third of all deaths in england and wales related to covid—i9 are in care homes. they've not been included in official figures so far. 0ur social affairs correspondent alison holt reports. at st cecilia's nursing home in scarborough, like many homes across the country, they believe the fight they have been waging against coronavirus for weeks is only now being reflected in officialfigures. this is the area that we will have for anyone that's being barrier nursed. they locked down early, have areas set aside for nursing coronavirus residents, and people stick to their rooms. but still, across the three homes in the group, they've had 11 deaths, four confirmed as covid—i9. i was called and did see her for the last — on the day that she died...

one of the residents who died was reg kemp's wife, liz. they were married for more than 50 years, and she loved spending time with her grandchildren. he says staff did all they could for her. i just hope that the ministers do recognise the wonderful work that's gone on and goes on up and down the country in nursing homes just like where liz was. they're doing a job equal to anyone in the national health service. information collected by the care regulator up to last friday suggested deaths in care homes are still rising. even so, homes like this one continue to struggle to get the testing and protective equipment they need. there are far more people being cared for outside the nhs than in the nhs, and they all need looking after. they deserve better than they've got. i think it's been too little, too late. the government says mobile units and home kits are making testing easier and that all residents and staff will be eligible for checks. it insists it's also providing millions of pieces

of protective equipment. but that offers no comfort here. ayse is struggling to explain to her 2—year—old granddaughter why her mother, a care worker, isn't coming home. 26—year—old sonya kaygan died of coronavirus. herfamily say she loved herjob looking after others, but they want people to understand the anguish and questions they are left with. they showed us the mask that sonya had bought online to protect herself. i believe what my sister has confirmed, that they have arrived when she was in hospital. so, too late for her? too late for her. in time, there will be questions that many families need answering about the impact of the virus on care homes. alison holt, bbc news. france is to ease lockdowns from the middle of next month. schools and shops will begin reopening and people can travel within 100 kilometres of their home.

but that depends on infection rates remaining low. this from our paris correspondent lucy williamson. of all the lessons learned during lockdown, the hardest for the government has been working out how to end it. aurelie‘s four children have been studying at home since the middle of march. primary schools will reopen on may 11, but aurelie says it's too soon. translation: i don't think my kids are going back in may. i'm going to wait before i send them into a group environment. the prime minister warned today that france risked the collapse of society if it kept the restrictions in place for too long. translation: never in the history of our country have we known a situation like this. not during war, nor occupation, nor in previous epidemics. never has the country been confined as it is today. it can't go on forever. if infection rates stay low, most major restrictions

will start to be lifted next month. schools will begin opening from may 11 on a voluntary basis. all shops will reopen. and people will be free to move within 60 miles. but beaches, cinemas and large museums will stay closed. and a decision on bars and restaurants has been pushed back to the end of may. pressure to lift the lockdown here is coming from the top. earlier this month, president macron set a date of may 11 to ease restrictions and start reopening schools. his government has quickly pulled together a plan for how to do that. but it's delicate, it's complicated and there is strong opposition from those on the ground. teachers‘ unions have described the reopening of schools next month as "unworkable", even "mission impossible". translation: the scientific advisers have proposed that classes are staggered, that the children are a metre away from each other

at all times, that they shouldn't circulate in the corridors. all this will cause us enormous problems. the plan for lifting lockdown here rests on keeping new infections low, under 3,000 a day. some areas may need to relax the rules more slowly. but the task of containing this epidemic is shifting from government responsibility to individual response. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. violent protests continue in lebanon with the country's deepening economic crisis, exacerbated by the coronavirus lockdown. there's one confirmed death with dozens more injured, the currency has collapsed and commodity prices have soared, with human rights watch warning millions could go hungry. with me in the studio is youssef taha, middle east analyst with bbc world service. suitably socially distance of course. thank you for this. how do we get here? what triggered

the latest problems? the protest began last bobo, again, the deteriorating economic situation in lebanon on and also accusing the government of corruption and mismanagement, and then we had the coronavirus locked down and the protests abated, and then the lockdown was eased a little, and people we re was eased a little, and people were out again on the streets, protesting because the economy is getting worse and worse, it has not improved at all, the local currency has crashed on the black market, it is now at 4000 to the us dollar from the official 1515. and for people, this has pushed prices for commodities very high up and also the currency crashed in the fall is far more difficult for people, for the protests to break out in tripoli, in the north, the second largest city, is because one of the poorest

cities in lebanon, with around 5796 cities in lebanon, with around 57% below the poverty line. and the world bank expects if the economic crisis in lebanon does not improve with any quick remedies, it might send about 60% of the lebanese population below the poverty line. tell us something about remedies if you can. 0ther something about remedies if you can. other possible ways out of this? on the horizon, there doesn't appear any quick fix. there is a new prime minister and a government in lebanon on who took over last month, pardon me, injanuary. after the resignation of the previous prime minister. and the new prime minister. and the new prime minister. and the new prime minister is a former professor of engineering and the american university in beirut and he is not affiliated with any political party. however, the solutions at the moment on the horizon are talks between lebanese government and the world bank for a loan. lebanon is the third most

indebted country in the world afterjapan and indebted country in the world after japan and greece indebted country in the world afterjapan and greece with 152% debt to gdp. and of course this does not make things any easier with lebanon having to pay the debt instalments, eating up more than half the government public revenues and lebanon had defaulted on foreign debt payments last month. so it is going to be tricky. it sounds as if we will be talking again. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, culture in a time of crisis: hundreds of leading arts world figures warn without support, there won't be a post—pandemic future. nothing, it seemed, was too big to withstand the force of the tornado. the extent of the devastation

will lead to renewed calls for government help to build better housing. internationally, there have already been protests. sweden says it received no warning of the accident. indeed, the russians at first denied anything had gone wrong. only when radioactivity levels began to increase outside russia were they forced to admit the accident. for the mujahideen, the mood here is of great celebration. this is the end of a 12—year war for them, they've taken the capital, which they've been fighting for for so long. it was 7:00 in the morning, the day when power began to pass on the minority to the majority, when africa, after 300 years, reclaimed its last white colony. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: american coronavirus cases move past a million, nearly a third of the global total. france is to ease its lockdown from next month, but masks will remain a way of life. british airways is to make up to 12,000 workers redundant because of the plunge in demand for air travel. its parent company predicts it will be several years until passenger numbers return to the levels of last year. 0ur transport correspondent tom burridge reports. parked up for weeks, but no one knows when they'll be flying again. tonight, british airways' parent company announced plans to lay off up to 12,000 staff. that's more than a quarter of its entire workforce. in a letter to staff, ba's boss said it was unclear when countries will reopen borders. so the airline had to be reimagined and reshaped.

he said substantial change was required to get through the pandemic and withstand longer term reductions in customer demand. the pilots and staff that work for british airways are shocked. i've been in touch with some of them this evening. it is a real bolt out of the blue. now begins a tricky negotiation with the unions. british airways didn't ask for any government bailouts. they told their workforce that they would survive quite comfortably, and lo and behold they turn around and announced 12,000 job losses. now they've got to come up with some very, very good reasons for that. i'm not convinced about any of those reasons yet. i suspect there's a bit of opportunism going on here by british airways. ba's transatlantic rival, virgin atlantic, is in a much worse financial position.

it has applied for a bailout from the government. first, it needs to attract new investors. it's a hugely competitive industry and it's populated by a lot of low—cost carriers which operate on the thinnest margins. and we could possibly be seeing an end to cheap air travel anyway. paying to park and maintain them is costly. some aircraft are leased for huge sums so airlines are haemorrhaging cash. more job losses elsewhere are almost inevitable. tom burridge, bbc news. china is insisting it should not be blamed for the pandemic. donald trump said beijing should have done more and on hardtalk, the ambassador to the uk suggested the white house it should be targeting rather than the country. i think president

trump keep very close contact, they keep two very close relationship, and i want america to know that china is not the enemy of the united states. the virus is the enemy of the united states. they need to find the right target. that was the chinese ambassador and there will be more on hardtalk. large crowds of people in belarus have attended cemeteries to mark the orthodox holiday — radunitsa day — despite fears of spreading disease. there's a growing divide in the eastern european country about the severity of the coronavirus pandemic — after repeated denials by the autocratic leader — president lukashenko. freya cole reports. a large crowd arrive at the local cemetery in belarus. some are wearing masks and others are wearing masks and others are not. stalls are full of colourful brocades and flowers are placed on the graves of

departed relatives. an 0rthodox tradition marked by a state holiday. families gather around a barbecue and enjoy a meal together. there is no social distancing here. translation: the main thing is to have optimism. not to be afraid of anything, security measures must be observed, but you need to believe in yourself we will not get sick, especially with doctors like ours, with a president like ours. he will not let anyone die. president lukashenko has denied the severity of covid—19. to a crowded ice hockey game in minsk earlier this month, he told the crowd "there are no viruses here." but, it's not true. according to the world health organization, there are now more than 12,000 cases of covid—19 in the eastern european country. 79 people have died.

but critics of the autocratic rule in belarus here these statistics could be much worse. and there is little being done to stop the spread of disease. professional football is in full swing although crowd numbers are starting to thin. the local economy is one of the reasons behind the president ‘s hesitancy to lockdown the country. he has high hopes a real election in august and has insisted the country can see out the pandemic without the need for restrictions. hundreds of leading figures in the arts are calling for more to be done to support creative industries. 0ur arts correspondent brenda emmanus explores the role of culture in this crisis and its future post pandemic. beating borden with some lip syncing is his comedian and his wife is in on the action and

his video went viral. the coronavirus pandemic has of consuming arts and culture like picasso ‘s art exhibition in oui’ picasso ‘s art exhibition in our homes. there are many ways in which organisations are trying to make being at home as pleasa nt trying to make being at home as pleasant as possible for as many people going through hardships, involving theatres putting their back catalogues online, museums putting their collections online so you can visit them whenever you want from the comfort of your sofa, and then there are some real innovations. have been videogames that have been hiding within themselves, m essa 9 es hiding within themselves, m essa g es to hiding within themselves, messages to stay at home so if you are messages to stay at home so if you are a messages to stay at home so if you are a kid playing that you get that right from the videogame you know and love, not just from your mum and videogame you know and love, notjust from your mum and dad. this singer is one of several performances streamed weekly on her facebook and youtube channel. covid—19 has forced it

to close for its longest. in 300 years the online content has become its saviour.|j 300 years the online content has become its saviour. i think a rts has become its saviour. i think arts and culture is very important during this time and oui’ important during this time and our people are realising that really need to gather to share this experience of art. of course, now we have to create in different ways. but it is not just about entertainment. he believes that the arts can also support our well—being. he believes that the arts can also support our well-being. we are running some workshops for older people, in fact, an older and younger people, for over 60 and younger people, for over 60 and under six and this way we can help people in their homes to keep moving a little bit and keep their health and well—being during this very difficult time. so how will culture service post lockdown? let's get this thing is —— in perspective, the most important

things are the nhs and buying food and those organisations in charge of making decisions between life and death. those are the things that are most important right now. everybody needs relief from the pressure of this and entertainment and the arts and all aspects of the creative industries, they can really contribute. this will change, but serious music, who hosts 600 live music events each year, are optimistic they will be enjoying events like the london jazz will be enjoying events like the londonjazz festival this autumn. we do not think there will be normal and the same place we came from. we think there will be huge changes in how audiences respond and artists work and so the challenge is both to respond to all of that at it and try to make it positive from what you we re make it positive from what you were doing. and you can get in touch

with me and most of the team on twitter. thank you for watching. hello there. it has been the sunniest april on record, and for much of the month, it has been exceptionally dry. but things changed a bit on tuesday for many of us. you can see the way in which rain pushed its way northwards across england and wales, and there were some showers for scotland and northern ireland. now that first area of rain is clearing away. you can see the frontal system sliding out into the near continent, but there is another area of low pressure out to the west. more frontal systems coming our way, so that means there is more in the forecast through the day ahead. this is our main rain band, pushing its way more northeastwards, so initially moving across the south—west of england, into wales, the midlands, into the london area by about lunchtime, and that rain will eventually get to know the mainland into northern england, northern ireland, and southern

scotland by the end of the day. northern scotland will hold on to something brighter with one or two showers. some brighter skies returning behind the rain band as well. quite a windy day across parts of northern ireland, and also the south—west of england. and those temperatures generally between 10—14 — some coastal areas in the north—east might struggle around 8—9. as we go through wednesday night, ourfirst rain band goes northwards, but another pulse of heavy rain will slide its way northeastwards across england, wales, northern ireland and again up into southern scotland. hefty showers chasing behind. temperatures to start thursday morning generally between 5—8 degrees. for thursday, low pressure firmly in charge of the scene. these various frontal systems are spiralling around the low, so there will be some outbreaks of rain to contend with and some patchy rank drifting northwards across scotland, perhaps parts of eastern england for a time. and then, yes, you will see some spells of sunshine, but also some showers, and some of those showers across of the thing to have the uk will be heavy and thundery

into the afternoon. also very windy across the south of england and the channel islands. across the channel islands we could see gusts of 50 mph, potentially with the temperatures generally in the range of 10—14 — certainly cooler than it has been on many days recently. for friday, it's another sunshine—and—showers day, the central area of low pressure will start to slide away eastwards, so we may start to see something a little bit brighter and certainly drier developing. temperatures nudging upwards a little bit, could get as high is around 15 degrees. then we get into the weekend, and certainly to start off, it will be drier with fewer showers. and i think some of us will see rain returning from the west on sunday.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the number of coronavirus cases in the united states has now passed one million. the figure is nearly a third of the total worldwide, and includes at least 57,000 deaths. president trump claimed the unwanted milestone is a result of the number of tests the us is carrying out. the french government has laid out plans for easing the lockdown, from next month. all shops will be able to reopen on may the 11th, and schools will also be allowed to resume teaching, despite the opposition of some teachers. masks will have to be worn in public spaces. british airways is set to cut up to 12,000 jobs from its 42,000 strong workforce. the airline says it's due to a collapse in business because of the coronavirus pandemic.

the british pilots' union, says it's devastating news and has promised to fight every singlejob cut. now on bbc news — panorama. tonight on panorama: has the government failed to protect the nhs... we've been put on the front line, to use government terminology, but without front—line protection. ..and left staff on the covid wards frightened for their lives? this is what you'd expect a dinner lady to wear. it's like a pinny. it's plastic. so, there you go. it does nothing. we reveal the mistakes that have put workers in danger... there's no excuse for not having adequate stockpiles to support the country when it faces a desperate crisis like this.

..and how the government downgraded protection standards,