this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the united states gives emergency authorisation for use of the experimental anti—viral drug remdesivir as a possible treatment for covid—19. the uk government announces it has exceeded its target of 100 thousand daily tests for coronavirus. it helps remove the wary, and helps keep people safe and it will help us to unlock the lock down. inching back to life. while some us states are loosening their lockdown measures — others are facing strong resistance against stay—at—home orders. tens of thousands ofjob cuts are looming —in what's been called ‘the worst crisis in the history of aviation‘. and the uk's employs a new land army — the britons stepping in to pick crops — as coronavirus cuts off the usual european workforce.

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. we begin in the united states where, a short time ago, president trump confirmed that food and drug administration has authorised the emergency use of an experimental anti—viral drug, remdesivir, as a treatment for coronavirus. the measure is not the same as final approval, but the regulator said it believed the benefits outweighed the risks. a recent clinical trial suggested that the drug shortened recovery time for people who fall seriously ill with the virus. president trump, who is keen on getting the us economy started again, says the drug will make a difference. iam i am pleased to announce that it now

has a eua from the fda for remdesivir, you know what that is because that has been a hot thing also in the papers and media for the last little while. an important treatment for hospitalized coronavirus patients and something i spoke with the doctors and deborah about it. it is really a promising situation. we have been doing work with the teams at the fda, nih and gilead for this private public partnership to make this happen very quickly. doctor lina wen, served as health commissioner for the city of baltimore. she explains why the green light to use remdesivir is important. it is really significant that we at least have something in our tool box to treat this disease but we have to remember what it is good for. so far remdesivir is only studied in the use remdesivir is only studied in the use of extremely ill hospitalized

patients and it reduces their recovery time which is important that this is not a cure. this is not a vaccine, it is not a way to prevent getting covid—19 so we have to keep up the measurement, and other measures like social distancing to stop getting the virus in the first place and spreading it to other people. we have to prepare for a phased reproach sale as we re move for a phased reproach sale as we remove restrictions we may see an increase in cases and we may be prepared to increase those restrictions again and also have to have these other capabilities. we cannot do this in a vacuum, we have to have widespread testing and these other capabilities have to be in place in order for us to safely reopen society. let's move to the uk now. 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 —

when just ten thousand daily tests were being carried out and the government was facing criticism for failing to rapidly increase capacity. our health editor hugh pym reports: 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 increase 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. quite stressful. 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 had symptoms, whereas days before, the government had said tests could be booked online regardless of whether they were unwell. it's terrible, really. these people, they're are being treated as throwaway. i think. they are no longer productive, so they are not that important and it's an awful shame. 0ne nurse told us there was no nhs priority system and she was stuck in a long queue.

after two hours of waiting a policeman told us they'd run out of tests and we should try again tomorrow. i think for me the frustrating thing was that i access the test as a prioritised key worker. testing is one thing but slowing the spread of the virus is tracing contact with anyone who has tested positive. public health officials will phone or contact people the patient has met recently. the government says it's recruiting 18,000 staff to use it. an app will be used alerting people someone they've 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 and 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 and trying to control the virus going forward. there was a novel vote of thanks to the nhs today, in major cities including edinburgh they painted the postboxes blue close to hospitals in honour of the work done by front line staff. hugh pym, bbc news. i want to bring you a story that we are looking at from washington. the reuters news agency —— news agency says that us top health professional has been blocked by the white house from testifying to a congressional committee examining the response to the virus. "we have been informed by an administration official thatthe white house has blocked dr fauci from testifying," houseappropriations committee spokesman evan hollander said in an email. there have been previous arguments on whether he could speak and what forms he should be able to speak. there's a growing crisis in the aviation industry. 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.

joe biden has flatly denied sexually assaulting a former staff member nearly 30 years ago. in a tv interview, the presumptive democratic nominee for president said the incident ‘never happened'. tara reade claims mr biden, then a senatorfrom delaware, assaulted her in the halls of congress in 1993. the bbc‘s jane 0'brien has more. presidential nominee... after weeks of silence about an allegation of sexual assault that has dogged his campaign, former vice presidentjoe biden went on national television in an effort to clear his name and reassure voters. did you sexually assault tara reade? no, it is not true, i am saying unequivocally, never, never happened and it did not, it never happened. tara reade worked his senate office in the early 19905 when she said she filed a complaint against him. mr biden has asked the national archives to release any such documents. if there is a complaint

that's where it would be, that's where it would be filed. and if it's there, put it out but i've never seen it, no one has that i'm aware of. there have been other concerns about mr biden‘s behaviour to women. the 77—year—old has apologised for making some feel uncomfortable with his embraces and other physical contact. and he's being criticised for his treatment of anita hill who made allegations of sexual misconduct against clarence thomas during his supreme court confirmation hearings in 1991. but speaker of the house nancy pelosi says that she continues to supports mr biden for the democratic nomination. i want to remove all doubt in anyone's mind, i have great comfort level with the situation as i see it with all the respect in the world for any woman who comes forward with all the highest regard forjoe biden. republicans are already accusing democrats of double standards.

the question is whether mr biden has done enough to quell unease among the democratic voters he'll need to win the first presidential election in the me too era. jane 0'brien, bbc news. stay with us on news, still to come: we will not give up — as india's lockdown continues, the country's most famous composer — ar rahman — launches a charity single and he's been speaking to the bbc. nothing it seems big to withstand the force of the tornado. it would lead to renewed calls to help build better housing. internationally there have other protests. sweden

says it had not received any news of the accident. only lend radioactivity levels began to increase outside of russia where they forced to admit the accident. the millionaire is a great celebration, the end for a 12 year war, for a capital that they have been fine for so long. the power pass from the minority to the majority when africa after 300 years it reclaimed its last white colony. this is bbc news, the latest headline... the united states has given emergency authorisation for use of the experimental anti—viral drug remdesivir as a treatment for covid 19.

staying in america... more than 30 us states are at least partially re—opening their economies. that's after federal guidelines on social distancing expired at midnight last night. it's a high—risk test of whether the outbreak is contained enough for some parts of the country to begin edging back to life. our north america editorjon sopel is in the state of west virginia, and has this report. after six brutal weeks, west virginians have been given the all clear to resume normal life. richard will open his restaurant next week and is taking out a number of the tables to maintain social distancing. this popular spot is called the rabbit hole, but he fears that in opening too soon, west virginia may be going down one. we desperately need to reopen. and we need the income. we need people to get back to work, we need society back to where it had been, but i just am very fearful that this thing is going to come back and bite us even harder, and that is scientifically what it looks like it is capable of doing, it is not going away,

it is here, it is all around us right now. it seems fitting that today is may day, signifying growth of things blossoming but it also sounds out a warning and in america it is both with half the country deciding to stay closed and the other half preparing to reopen. in republican texas, despite having its worst day of deaths from coronavirus yesterday, the shutters are coming off today. and no one can doubt the economic hardships. this is a queue for food hand—outs, stretching miles. thejourney from prosperity to poverty has been lightning quick. i've got my grandson with me over here and he asked me what we are going to eat for breakfast and i said, i don't know what to tell you, whatever i can find. some people don't even, you know, they are shocked that they are in this line, they never thought they would be in a line of needing anything. and in states that remain closed, anger and resentment

is growing among some groups. these people stormed the democratic run state house in michigan armed to the tape. —— armed to the teeth. an ominous sign that some may be willing to take the law into their own hands. but the president is chief adviser, again, cancelling is caution. the concern i have is that there are some states or cities that are looking at that and kind of leapfrogging over the first checkpoint. obviously, you could get away with that, but you are making a really significant risk. harpers ferry 160 years ago was at the heart of the most divisive moment in america's history, the civil war. today too, america seems to be dividing, between those who increasingly see a stark choice facing the nation, between health or wealth.

some residents in the american city of los angeles took the streets friday and staged a protest against their state's lockdown measures, and stay at home orders. this demonstration is among others witnessed in the country as some residents have increasingly voiced their opposition to the restrictions imposed on them to stop the spread the virus. california, has more than 50,000 confirmed infections. we are getting reports that the north korean leader kim jong and we are getting reports that the north korean leader kimjong and has appeared in public for the first time in nearly three weeks. the country's official news agency said he had opened a fertiliser plant near the capital, pyongyang. the report can't be independently verified, but it's been carried by south korean media. seoul has played down speculation that mr kim was ill after he missed an important anniversary in mid—april. president trump declined to comment on the report — saying he would have something to say about mr kim at the appropriate time. australia has been touted as one of the success stories in the coronavirus pandemic. it's going so well — the country's prime minister says he will bring forward a review of its lockdown guidelines. some australian states are already easing their restrictions — but authorities are warning that

care needs to be taken to avoid a second outbreak. reged ahmad has more. australians cheerfully returning to one of sidney ‘s main beaches as it officially reopens. new south wales, the country's most popular state has accounted for nearly half the country's case number is that health officials say australia has now managed to flatten the curve when measuring new cases. today the national cabinet agreed to bring forward our consideration of the decision on relaxing restrictions to next friday. australians have earned an early mark through the work they have done and that decision will now be made on next friday. in the sparsely populated northern territory, cleaners disinfect plane equipment. officials there at the

first suit lift restrictions and lifting limits on gatherings. the easing of strict social rules still comes with a warning stop the message today is very much, these restrictions have been modified but see them for the privilege they are and also keep consciousness about what you need to do to mitigate the spread of covid—19. the australian government has set a number of conditions for easing national guidelines and the main one being increased use of its new contact tracing apt. several groups expressed privacy concerns but authorities say safeguards are and pray to my place and that safeguards area pray to my place and that safeguards are a key to the coronavirus free feature of. if we allow them back out into a more open economy and open environment without the protection of the covid—19 safe app to protect us to know who has been

in contact and how we can constrain and constrict the virus from getting to other people, we need that tool so we can open up to other people, we need that tool so we can open up the economy. reviving the economy like in many countries around the world is one of the australian government's main concerns. the pandemic has hitjobs and livelihoods hard. australia now is ata and livelihoods hard. australia now is at a pivotal moment as a chance to open the country back up with out a secondary rave of infections putting it back into lock down. the rest of the world is watching to see how it may be done. reged ahmad, bbc news. in the uk, a shortage of seasonal workers to help pick crops has led to a boost in british workers applying for thosejobs. usually european laborers are hired. but the coronavirus outbreak has cut off the flow of those coming to do the hard, physical labor needed to deliver the season's harvest. the bbc‘s sarah corker has more. they answered the call from farmers

for a modern—day land army. laid—off and furloughed staff up at dawn picking vegetables near thirsk in north yorkshire. in this group, there is a cleaner, a landscape gardener, an outdoor sports teacher, and nathan, a ski instructor, all out of work. it is physical, it hurts your back. i think you get used to it the more you do it. i mean, i definitely recommend it to anyone sitting at home watching netflix. this is nathanjust six weeks ago in the alps. when the ski resorts closed, his income disappeared. he was forced to swap his skis for this. if someone had told you that you'd be in a field in yorkshire picking asparagus, what would you have said to them? iwould have said, no, thanks. he laughs. but no, honestly, it's fine. it's probably one of the best things going right now. coronavirus restrictions have almost cut off the supply of workers from eastern europe, and most brits haven't previously

wanted to do this tough work. but, for sixth—former charles, this is his firstjob. it's a huge difference — to go just from having easy school life, straight into this sort of work. it's definitely a lot more difficult. i prefer this to working in a shop or something, because it's more active, obviously. across the uk, there is an acute shortage of more than 70,000 farm workers, and some of those who are packing asparagus here in north yorkshire responded to a post on social media. i quite enjoy it, coming out of the house to a different place, a different environment that is not with my brothers and sisters and just at home fighting. so far, recruiters say the appeal for workers has only resulted in hundreds ofjobs rather than the thousands needed later in the season. many more must sign up to stop the crops rotting in the field. sarah corker, bbc news, north yorkshire.

the music of oscar winner ar rahman has been the backdrop to hundreds of films including slumdog millionaire. with lockdown in india causing economic hardship india's most famous composer has gathered some of the country's biggest musicians for a charity single. take a listen. music. that is hum har nahin mengay — it translates to we will not give up. it's composed by ar rahman with lyrics by prasoonjoshi. proceeds will go to charity. ar rahman told us more about what lockdown in india was like. it is extraordinary, but i am happy. you see even the idea of seeing some

millions of poor people suffering, because some cannot eat tomorrow. but for people who are privileged they are inside almost like a holiday because you are getting full and getting rest and don't have tension of work so i have been living that life with family but the idea of seeing people suffering like migrant workers and everyone is doing their bets, the front—line workers and health officials, it is amazing so i do not want to belittle anyone, the government is doing theirjob i think. here we are dealing with human emotions and also concern about humanity because the mind is the main thing. the mind decides if he can do anything and it has to be kept well and focusing on that hope. please stay with bbc news.

hello there, you probably noticed over the last couple of days the weather has been a bit unsettled with lots of showers and certainly friday with no exception to that and the extent of all the showers moving across the uk and they brought with it some dramatic skies and a double rainbow spotted around the south and on the area of and further south where it's, we have a bolt of lightning coming through some storm clouds and there was hail as well. moving the way eastward across england and slowly clearing here but then the showers tend to become confined to the northeast of scotla nd confined to the northeast of scotland and it will stay cloudy all night. temperatures 3—7dc but as far

as the weekend goes, we will see improvements in the weather and there will be wea k low. weak low. as we go and with a very weak low. as we go into the afternoon we will probably start to see some cloud developing and cloud will tend to develop where we see northwesterly winds mashed together with northerly winds. there isa together with northerly winds. there is a convergence air and eastern areas of scotland and england there is the area where you are most likely to see a few showers popping up likely to see a few showers popping up in the afternoon. elsewhere it is a largely dry picture with lighter winds and more sunshine to go around, it will feel warmer. temperatures for most of us around

14-18dc. temperatures for most of us around 14—18dc. looking like a similar day with a dry morning for most and again into the afternoon we could start to see some showers developing but if they do pick up they will be quite slow moving and some of them will be on the heavy side as well. temperatures between 1a and 18 celsius. high—pressure is taking up presence towards the northeast but towards the southwest low—pressure lyrics. southwestern areas, cloud increasing and probably some rain around as well and the further northeast you go, the weather is drier.

this is bbc world news, the headlines...

the united states has approved the use of the experimental anti—viral drug remdesivir as a treatment for coronavirus. the food and drug administration said the potential benefits of the treatment outweighed the risks for patients hospitalised with severe covid—19. the uk provided more than 122 thousand coronavirus tests, passing the government's target, according to health secretary matt hancock. the figure includes home test kits counted when they were dispatched, which may not yet have been taken. the pandemic has plunged the airline industry into chaos, with passenger flight revenues all but wiped out. tens of thousands ofjob cuts have been announced in what's been called the worst crisis in the history of aviation. canada has banned 1500 types of military—like assault weapons with immediate effect. the move comes after the country's worst mass shooting in nova scotia last month, which left 22 people dead.