this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the uk government announces it has exceeded its target of 100 thousand daily tests for coronavirus. the health secretary says it's been a national effort. it helps remove the worry, it helps keep people safe, and it will help us to unlock the lockdown. tens of thousands ofjob cuts are looming in what's been called ‘the worst crisis in the history of aviation‘. the aisle and the window seats are two and a half feet away from each other, they're not two metres. there's no way you can have social distancing in an aluminium tube. a three kilometre queue for food. as india extends its lockdown for another two weeks — we report on the impact on the vulnerable and in the uk, risk of death from coronavirus is twice as likely

if you're from a poorer urban area, say new official figures. 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, the uk government says it has hit its target for 100,000 coronavirus tests per day, with the british health secretary matt hancock saying it was an "incredible achievement". the target was set less than a month ago — whenjust 10,000 daily tests were being carried out and the government was facing criticism for failing to rapidly increase capacity. in a moment we'll hear from our health editor, but first some other developments tonight... more than1 million people have now recovered from the coronavirus worldwide, according from the latest figures from johns hopkins university.

in the past few minutes, ireland's premier leo varadkar has announced an extension of most elements of the lockdown until may 18th. two restrictions will be eased: the exercise travel limit will be extended and over 70s will be able to leave home for isolated exercise from tuesday. in india, where stringent lockdown restrictions on 1.3 billion people have been credited with keeping virus cases low — lockdown in many regions will continue for two more weeks. several us states are starting to ease lockdown measures, including texas on friday, but new york's shutdown is due to run until at least may 15. our top report tonight is from our health editor, hugh pym. a very quiet stansted airport, especially for a friday, but there was activity in a car park, with virus testing continuing. one of the drive—through centres set up in the last month to greatly expand capacity, with an overall target of 100,000 tests per day by this week.

how do you intend to further develop and expand the testing network as part of moves to combat the virus? by testing, you can help to treat patients better. we have always been testing patients. it will help get people back to work, and there has been a big expansion of the eligibility to get a test to get back to work. and also for surveys, and very soon we should get the first results of the surveys that are out in the field at the moment. the scottish government says testing capacity, which is included in the overall total announced today, is set to rise from just over 8,000 to 12,000 per day in a few weeks‘ time. this mobile unit in elgin, staffed by military personnel, opened today. the daily uk total includes home testing kits sent to people who booked them online but not actually completed. government sources argue it is the only way they can be counted, as it is harder to track them when swabs are sent back to the labs. there's confusion about some aspects of the new system.

the owner of this care home in cumbria said he was sent a letter telling him only to book home testing kits if residents and staff who had symptoms, whereas days before, the government had said tests could be booked online regardless of whether they were symptomatic. it's terrible, really. these people, they're are being treated as throwaway, i think. they are no longer important. it's an awful shame. 0ne nurse told us there was no nhs priority system and she was stuck in a queue. a police man came and told us the test centre had run out of test we should go home and come again tomorrow. i think, for me, the frustrating thing was that i had access

testing is one thing but slowing any of the virus is contact with anybody that tested positive. the government said it is recruiting 18,000 staff to do this. an app will also be used to do this, alerting someone if someone they have been with has tested positive. they are then told to self—isolate and report any symptoms. make sure that we involve local public health and local authorities in doing this, notjust with an app but using people to contact people in order to put that system into place. that will be utterly crucial in trying to control the virus going forward. there were more thanks to the nhs today. in edinburgh, they painted the postboxes blue. ryanair, one of the world's largest budget carriers, has become the latest to announce job losses.

the dublin—based airline says it may cut three—thousand positions over the next few months, to help stem losses linked to the coronavirus outbreak. other airlines like lufthansa and british airways are also warning of big cuts to their workforces as theo leggett reports. just a few weeks ago, the airline industry was booming. the future looked bright. but now ryanair has been the latest carrier to say it will make thousands of people redundant. we announced this morning we are going to have to cut 15% of staff. that is, we think, the minimum we need, just to survive the next 12 months. if a vaccine is found, then clearly the recovery will be stronger. if a vaccine isn't found, we may have to announce more cuts, and deeper cuts into the future. unions insist that all this is premature, and that there is no need to make such deep cuts so soon. ryanair is not in financial difficulty, it's one of the wealthiest airlines within europe. it should be be able to ride out the storm, and it should be be able to take a more measured view.

some employees say airlines are taking advantage of the covid—19 crisis to drive through job and pay cuts and reduce costs in a way they could never normally manage. it's not simply as binary as that, that airlines are just taking advantage of a bleak situation. reality is, there are hardly any planes flying and therefore airlines now are waking up to this new reality and they are making long—term decisions now, it is like a pre—emptive strike. this is clearly an unprecedented situation, and you can see that from where i am standing. the skies behind me are normally full of planes — that's one of the major routes into heathrow airport, the busiest airport in the country. yet at the moment, nothing. no planes, no contrails, and it has been like that for several weeks. globally, 80% of flights have been grounded. 17,000 aircraft are sitting unused on the tarmac,

and the cost to airlines is expected to reach £250 billion this year. once the outbreak is over, things certainly won't be getting back to normal quickly. although you can currently fly if you want to, restrictions are expected to increase. it's been suggested that passengers could be forced to wear protective gear, as already happens in certain countries, or practise social distancing on aircraft. the head of heathrow thinks such measures would be wholly impractical. if you can imagine going on your last summer holiday, if you were flying somewhere, can you imagine social distancing in that kind of circumstances? we are not designed for that. and that is why we need to have a way of making sure that only people who are very low—risk are allowed into the airport and can travel through the journey. yet airlines remain determined to get back in the skies as soon as possible. today, hungarian carrier wizz air did just that, starting to fly a small number of services in and out of luton. theo leggett, bbc news. i'm joined live by nicky kelvin,

a director at the travel wesbite the points guy. nikki, will all these airline survive? it's the big question and i don't think we can be sure. what's for sure is we haven't seen the end of cuts and possible collapses. so ryan airwas of cuts and possible collapses. so ryan air wasjust of cuts and possible collapses. so ryan air was just next in line after the big announcement by british airways this week. and i think we can be sure that there'll be more big announcements to come in terms of cu ps big announcements to come in terms of cups during my cats. and i also don't think that any airline is safe at the moment. once travel restarts. and i know we don't know when that will be. do you expect flights to get cheaper or more expensive? another huge question. there are so many things at play here. first of all, supply is going to be cut significantly, potentially. with less roost airlines i can have less staff, less aircraft. also restrictions on where these airlines can go. there's plenty of places that are in lockdown still. that may extend towards the end of the air into next year. it depends on how

quickly places open up. but then also when it comes to demand, passengers make be more worried to fly and there also can have less money to fly. so, we don't know how long the effect that can last you could lose number clay. lots of people of lost ofjobs, lots have lost their disposable income and holidays and travel at the first thing to be cut. same with business was a business travel people might wa nt to was a business travel people might want to save their pennies and keep their employees on a digital method of meeting. you and i are talking viral video call, that's almost all anyone does at the moment. after the lockdowns end might it be that we are now so used to this then instead of flying out to see family, friends 01’ of flying out to see family, friends or colleagues we mightjust say of flying out to see family, friends or colleagues we might just say well let's just save a bit of money and carry on video calling and stop travelling? on the one hand i think it's possible that people see this asa it's possible that people see this as a viable option. but i also think that this method of communication has its flaws. in these laws have come to light from the amount that have been doing it. i think

creativity has dampened when it comes to vehicles. you know 12 people in a room around the table when it comes to a business setting can come up when it comes to a business setting can come up with much more ideas than can squabble in over a call on line. when it comes to family, friends it's just not the same. it's never good to be the same. and i think those long distance trips, those meetings in person are always can happen and people are going to wa nt to can happen and people are going to want to eventually start doing that again. i think people are craving it already. business travel and leisure travel and tourism are they affected in different ways? absolutely. leisure travel is going to take a hit both in terms of how people feel and whether they want to jump back on planes again. and in terms of where they want to go. we don't know where they want to go. we don't know where people can be allowed to go and are those places going to be the places you want to go on a holiday to? also there are people who are can be worried about money. lots of families in not gonna want to drop thousands of pounds on a holiday when they're not sure where their next paycheque is coming from.

that's going to apply to a lot of people. when it comes to business it sort of the same but business necessity is probably gonna crank out. lots of businesses are still operating at full speed. we are. and we need to start travelling again for our business to function properly. thank you so much. the white house press secretary — kayleigh mcenany — has led her first briefing in front of the media. it was the first such event since sarah sanders stopped them in march last year. among the first questions put to herfocussed on the president's claim that he saw evidence that coronavirus originated in a chinese laboratory. that's despite the president's own intelligence agency saying covid—19"was not manmade or genetically modified". the president statement is consistent with the other intelligent assessments. while we continue to have very limited and dubious information from china current assessments indicated that president trumps state and is consistent with what some analysts believe is the epicentre of where

the virus began. i would note that intelligent statement you're referring to it really made two points. 0nce referring to it really made two points. once that this virus were originated in china, to that it began through contact with infected animals or it was a result of an accident at a laboratory in wuhan. so, i consider that consistent with what the president said. that he's seen intelligence suggesting and could be in a wuhan laboratory. seen intelligence suggesting and could be in a wuhan laboratorym seems to lean into the idea that they started in a laboratory where is the statement that we saw from the d is the statement that we saw from the band is the statement that we saw from the d and i said were still investigating those two options that theyjust laid out. is the president and any way creating mixed messages by personal investigating. let me remind everyone intelligence isjust an estimate insect or essentially for topics up to policy makers to decide to what to do without evidence. in this case the president of the united states will make that decision at the right time. the irish prime minister, leo varadkar, has outlined a plan to reopen his country's economy. the strategy will unfold in five

stages, with measures reviewed every 3 weeks. it'll begin on the 18th of may, when its planned that people who work outdoors — such as construction workers — can return to theirjobs. here he is speaking a little earlier. we have a plan to ease restrictions from the 18th of may. but before that we have two weaken the virus further so it doesn't have the strength to make a comeback. and we start to interact with each other again. during this period we are making some changes. where extending the distance you can leave your home so from next tuesday it will be possible to travel up to five km from your home for the purposes of exercise. for people who are cocooning, the public health advice is to continue to do so. however, from tuesday it will be possible to go for a walk or a drive within five km of your home. if you avoid all contact with other people. our plan

is to reopen the country. in a slow, stage phased way. five stages, three weeks apart, starting on may 18. and all things are going to plan with the fifth phase commencing on august ten. the victims of covid—19 have overwhelmingly been people who are elderly. so far it seems that children are generally spared the worst effects of the disease. scientists are trying to work out why this is and whether children can spread the virus even if they don't have any symptoms. 0ur science editor david shukman has more. a mastery about the virus is the role of children. some have lost their lives. but the vast majority aren't affected. so how easily can they spread it to others? to try to find out. have thousand children are being tested ina thousand children are being tested in a project led by the university of oxford. we note that not many children are being admitted to hospital or becoming unwell with

this illness. and that's fantastic. but it's important to understand just how many children are getting the infection because they may potentially be transmitting it on to others. and therefore become a source of a spread in their community. so far, there is been very little research into this. one of the largest studies of 2000 infected children in china found 51% had mild symptoms. 39 were moderate injust over 40% had no had mild symptoms. 39 were moderate in just over 40% had no symptoms at all. but in icing a different kind of study found that of 8118 children under the age of ten none of them had any sign of infection. so what is this confusing research mean for schools? in denmark where they've reopen the children are kept apart in classes but once outside they of course crowd together. the risk to them might be low but it's course crowd together. the risk to them might be low but its greater for the teachers. when we think

about opening schools and having large gatherings of kids, although we don't know how well and how fast this virus might spread in the group we do know that the adults working with these kids, the teachers, the administrators are more susceptible to this severe covid—19. administrators are more susceptible to this severe covid-19. when it comes to reopening schools there are no easy options. 0urs may be can be staggered, class sizes smaller but central question remains, how easily do children spread the disease? especially if they're not showing any symptoms. and scientist for the moment do not have the answer. time and time again you'll hear our political leadership say they are guided by best evidence. there has to be an understanding sometimes that evidence even though it's the best evidence is pretty thin. despite that switzerland reckons it safer under tends to hug their

grandparents. many scientists disagree. warning that with this new virus there is still so much we don't know. the united nations state many children miss missing out on vaccines because of restrictions. officials say shipments for diseases like measles .net measles and polio have brought more than 70% since the end of march. let's speak to doctor rob and now the chief of immunisation for unicef. doctor imagine it's a rather sad point, the world is on lockdown waiting for a coronavirus lockdown and the same lockdown prevents children from getting existing vaccines which they desperately need. hello. absolutely. i think that is our major concern. we had the disruption in transportation that you've been

talking about earlier in your show and that's obviously, affecting shipments of vaccine. even the countries that have vaccines now they coronavirus pandemic is stretching available system capacity, human resources and other resources . capacity, human resources and other resources. these are being diverted to their direct response to covid—19. and so immunizations services are being suspended. we have recommended that the campaign style of approach of vaccination be temporarily suspended to minimise risk of covert. so a lot of children that would have received vaccine, we estimate more than 115 million children will miss out on measles vaccination through planned campaigns. this year. that's a huge

number. which areas of the world are most affected ? number. which areas of the world are most affected? the most affected areas would be typically the countries would be with weaker systems and africa and asia that rely on campaigns to deliver vaccines because they routine services don't reach high enough coverage. and i think the key message here is that the longer these disruptions continue the bigger the risk of countries experiencing outbreaks of vaccine preve nta ble experiencing outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases like measles as they recover from covert. and that would stretch their system even further. what should parents do if they're in one of these countries where vaccines are suddenly not available and they have young children? i mean to be very clear, the disruption in vaccination services at this point is not

because of lack of supplies. the supplies are still adequate to continue services. we are monitoring carefully at some countries are running low on supplies and we are planning with them in the manufacturers to supply them. the constraints a re manufacturers to supply them. the constraints are that these systems are stretched in many countries to deliver the services. it on the other hand, parents and communities are unable or unwilling to seek the services because they are scared to move out of their homes. maybe in various stages of lockdown and they can't move out of their homes. they also fearfor going to can't move out of their homes. they also fear for going to health facilities and getting exposed to people with covid—19. so there are many factors at play. my recommendation to the parents is that as soon it's feasible, as soon as the social restrictions are lifted please go out and seek vaccinations for your kids who missed vaccines.

thank you so much. india has extended its nation wide lock down for another two weeks but an official said some districts in lower risk areas will have some ‘considerable relaxations‘. the country has been under quarantine for nearly six weeks now. from mumbai, yogita limaye reports. small triumphs are celebrated. this man has recovered from covid in the southern state of kerala. thanks for everything! more populus than canada, the region had india‘s first coronavirus infections in march. but it curbed the spread and its strategy is giving hope to the rest of the country. our idea was to trace as many people as possible in the shortest possible time, and in the intial 4—5 days, we were able to trace 1,254 persons. once we identified all of them, the next strategy was to ensure home quarantine

in the strictest possible sense. but each grave is a reminder that, for many parts of india, the threat is farfrom being contained. and it doesn‘t even allow goodbyes. a four—month—old baby girl, laid to rest from the arms of strangers. dozens are losing their lives every day. and while the real scale is hard to assess, doctors say covid would have spread a lot more quickly if india had not imposed a lockdown relatively early. checkpoints like these have been set up in cities around the country. people are only allowed to go out to buy essential items, and you could even get arrested for violating the lockdown, which is perhaps one of the most stringent in the world. for the first time in the history of india, the government halted trains. flights, interstate buses, public transport have all been stopped too. that‘s left millions of daily wage earners without money

for food or shelter. this is a queue for lunch in delhi nearly 3km long, a common sight now in many parts of india. shaik mufazul worked as a labourer. now he‘s living on the streets with his family. "on the days they distribute food, we eat. "otherwise, we go hungry. "they‘ve taken away our lifeline. "it feels like we‘re dying slowly," he says. the lockdown has been extended further, but what‘s the way out of it eventually, i asked who‘s chief scientist. as we go out of lockdown, it has to become the first of all, phased, and released after lockdown, and many countries are now putting in place systems of how they would do that, and the monitoring with testing is going to be extremely important. so, at any time, if there is a lot of red flags that things are not looking so good, then, again, more strict measures may have to be put in place.

migrant workers will be sent home, the government says, but with a mass of people to transport, for many, the uncertainty continues. yogita limaye, bbc news, mumbai. us democratic candidatejoe biden has flatly denied sexually assaulting a former staff assistant nearly 30 years ago. mr biden‘s former aide, tara reade, was one of eight women who came forward last year to accuse the former vice president of sexual harassment. here is joe biden speaking on us television about the allegations. i am saying unequivocally it never, never happen, and it didn‘t. it never happened. do you remember her? do you rememberany types of complaints that she might have made? i don‘t remember any type of complaint she may have made. it was 27 years ago, and i don‘t remember nor does anyone else that i am aware of. and the fact is, that i don‘t remember.

i don‘t remember any complaint ever being made. stay with us. her good evening. we‘ve seen plenty of turbulent skylines throughout the last couple of days and some hefty downpours to go with them, but, equally, a little bit of sunshine in between. however, those hefty showers will continue to keep coming, as we go through the rest of this evening, and it‘s all down to this area of low pressure. now, that will meander a little bit further eastwards, away from the british isles through the weekend, allowing a decrease in the activity, the shower activity, but, certainly, some torrential downpours this evening, with hail and thunder. and the heavy downpours prolonged in the north will continue elsewhere. these showers will become less frequent. and under the starry skies, it

will turn quite chilly once again. which means that saturday morning will dawn on a cool but quite bright night, and we are hopeful that this weekend, we will see fewer showers, the winds will be later, so a little bit more sunshine around, it will feel warmer. but it won‘t be completely dry, certainly not closer to the area of low pressure. so for those areas of northern scotland, across northern england, probably with the northwesterly breeze coming down through the cheshire gap, there will be showers around, i wouldn‘t like to rule them out. it‘s a northerly breeze as well, despite being lighter across the north of scotland, it will limit the temperature to about 9—10d. so quite a few heavy showers around still into the afternoon across the scottish hills, into the north of england. 1—2 elsewhere can‘t be ruled, out northern island, for example, but by and large, there will be fewer than there have been in recent days, and it will feel a little bit warmer, but you can still see those showers continuing into the evening. and overnight, into sunday morning, again, under the starry sky, itwill turn chilly. we could be close to price levels in the glens of scotland, for example, with a little bit of mist and fog around, but what we will find on sunday is, again, there is a risk of a few

showers, a chance of a few showers, not as many as recent days. and probably a little bit more cloud coming into the south and west as well, so hazy rather than sunny here, still, with light winds, temperatures should get into the mid to high teens. there could just be a few outbreaks of rain tied in with that week weather front that‘s coming in, it‘s trying to come in from the southwest, it‘s coming into high—pressure. now, that high—pressure will move in across many northern areas, keeping the rain or the weather fronts at bay, but in the south, it does look as if we are in for some more rain on tuesday, but it looks then to clear away by wednesday. as ever, there‘s more on the website. bye— bye.

this is bbc world news.

the headlines. the uk government announces it has exceeded its target of 100 thousand daily tests for coronavirus. the health secretary says it‘s been a national effort. it helps remove the worry, it helps keep people safe, and it will help us keep people safe, and it will help us to unlock the lockdown. tens of thousands ofjob cuts are looming —in what‘s been called "the worst crisis in the history of aviation". the island window seat or two and half feet away from each of them, not two metres, there is no way you can have social distancing in an aeroplane tube. a three kilometre queue for food. as india extends its lockdown for another two weeks. and in the uk, risk of death from coronavirus is twice as likely if you‘re from a poorer urban area, say new official figures. as we‘ve been hearing the government‘s reached its target of testing 100,000 per day,

on the last day of april.