this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm lewis vaughan jones. north korean state media report kim jong—un attending an official event, apparently quashing rumours of his ill health. american authorities authorise the drug remdesivir as an emergency treatment for covid—19. the canadian government announces a plan to ban assault rifles in the wake of last month's mass shooting. and the british government claims success in coronavirus testing — but the opposition questions the numbers.

the north korean leader kimjong—un is reported to have appeared in public for the first time in nearly three weeks. an absence ending that from that international rumours about his health. the country's official news agency said he had opened a fertiliser plant near the capital, pyongyang. let's speak to the bbc‘s laura bicker in seoul now. good to see you, we now have pictures of kim jong—un. good to see you, we now have pictures of kim jong-un. yes, he is smiling, he is cutting a ribbon at a fertiliser plant in sunchon which is just north of the b beyond yang. and certainly he appears —— north of the p on yang. he seems very much alive and well at the moment. —— pyongyang. certainly it sparked rumours that he may have had a heart operation, he may be gravely ill, there were headlines that he was even dead or in

headlines that he was even dead orina headlines that he was even dead or in a coma. when it comes to reporting north korea it is extremely difficult, we are reporting on a country that we can't get into, reporting on a country where sources are very thin on the ground. we are a lwa ys thin on the ground. we are always very careful but it did seem always very careful but it did seem that others across the world when it came to headlines went with various wildly speculative headlines, however kim jong—un does appear to today certainly in state media be very much alive. we have seen be very much alive. we have seen those still photographs from the state media, still no moving footage, just talk us through the process when you get information like this out of north korea, what other sources that you are looking at and what else corroboration are you looking for? when it comes to the state media pictures we are looking to see if they are recent, looking to see who is with him, looking to see whether it matches anything else going on around the country, it has certainly been taken on the first of may which

isa taken on the first of may which is a national holiday, it is labour day so they do say he was there to celebrate that, so you are looking for various kind of hint that it may be something to pin down and figure out what is real and what is not. separating fact from fiction when it comes to north korea comes to sources. the south korean government had reiterated, they had downplayed any reports that he was gravely ill, they said there was no unusual movement in the north, it does seem that on this occasion they had been proved correct. i think many of the rumours came from one single source report here at a website in seoul, by the newspaper daily nk, which quoted a source in an old saying he had a heart operation was recovering. but somehow ballooned into international headlines that he was gravely ill. it doesn't mean that he hasn't been ill, it doesn't mean that he hasn't had a heart operation, what it

does mean is that he is back in state media after 21 days. laura, i know your reporting has been very cautious over the last few weeks, and we appreciate that, thank you. president trump has confirmed that the us food and drug administration, the fda, has authorised the emergency use of an experimental anti—viral drug, remdesivir, as a treatment for coronavirus. a recent clinical trial suggested the drug shortened recovery time for people who fall seriously ill with the virus. as we head into the weekend, more than 30 us states are at least partially re—opening their economies. president trump, who is keen on getting the us economy started again, insists the drug will make a difference. i am pleased to announce that gilead 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 hospitalised coronavirus patients, and something i spoke with dr khan and dr fauci, i spoke with deborah about it. it is really a very promising situation. we have been doing work with the teams at the fda, nih and gilead for spearheadhing this private—public partnership to make this happen very quickly. our north america correspondent david willisjoins me now. david, what is this drug are meant to be able to do? this drug remdesivir is said to help patients who are suffering with the coronavirus to recover faster. there was a trial conducted involving about 1000 patients and it showed that those who took this drug had their recovery, normally it would be about 15 days, pared

down to 11 days. that is a 31% difference, and it is seen by medical experts here as potentially very significant. if no other reason than for the fa ct if no other reason than for the fact that it suggests to them that a drug is capable of blocking this virus. it is a modest breakthrough, but it is all we have at the moment, it's not a cure, it's not a vaccine, and there is however a lot of hope being attached to it. i should point out however that it was previously studied, this particular drug, as a potential treatment for the ebola virus, but it failed to show any significant benefit in that regard. we are of course some way off a vaccine for the coronavirus. as you rightly point out though this isn't a vaccine, and it doesn't prevent people from getting ill in the first place, doesn't keep people out of hospital, so it isa people out of hospital, so it is a relatively narrow window of people that it can help, but

welcome nonetheless if it does help. and donald trump they're talking about in context of reopening the us economy, and in fact states are reopening now. they are, more than 30 states reopening, somewhat cautiously, a patchwork quilt of states reopening across this country, for example in taxes, they are reopening shopping malls, libraries, museums there, but limiting the capacity for the next couple of weeks at least to 25% of normal. healthcare facilities such as dentists and vets and other places in ohio are being reopened, but very cautiously indeed as well there. but there are concerns that some of these states could be reopening their economies to quickly, and the chief medical expert here, doctor anthony fauci has warned that if there isn't more

caution with all of this, there could be a second wave of the coronavirus which could be all the more deadly than the first one. this of course, this country is the epicentre for the coronavirus globally, more than1 million the coronavirus globally, more than 1 million cases and the coronavirus globally, more than1 million cases and more than1 million cases and more than 63,000 deaths at the moment. thanks david, david willis there in los angeles. canada has banned 1500 types of assault rifle with immediate effect. it comes after the country's worst mass shooting in nova scotia last month, which left 22 people dead. prime ministerjustin trudeau said the victims and their families deserved more than just thoughts and prayers. these weapons were designed for one purpose and one purpose only—to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time. there is no use and no place for such weapons in canada.

wendy cukier is president of the coalition for gun control in canada. thank you very much for your time. i presume you very much welcome these developments? yes absolutely, it brings canada more in line with industrialised countries, of course we are also calling for a national ban on handguns, it remains to be seen whether legislation is introduced to do that as well. just on the outcome of the people who aren't familiar with the level of gun control in canada, just briefly and in layman ‘s terms, what is legal and illegal at the moment? so canada is clearly better in terms of its legislation than the united states, but falls far behind countries like the uk, australia, new zealand. so right now hunting rifles require a license but there is no registration, there is no record of who wants those guns, the conservatives not only

discontinued registrations but they deleted the records on seven millions rifles and shotguns. handguns are supposed to be restricted weapons which means people are only supposed to have them if they are members of gun clubs in good standing or serious collectors, but we now have 1 million legally owned, which makes it very clear that those regulations have not been... strictly applied. and when it comes to military assault weapons, there were bands introduced in 1977 of fully automatic ‘s, there were additional guns that were prohibited in 1991, and 1995, but it left big loopholes and one of the biggest loopholes was that the ar—15, which has been used in mass shootings around the world, was still sold as a restricted weapon, and the ruger mini 1a which was used at the massacre at polytechnic as well as the shooting in norway was sold as

a hunting rifle. sorry to interrupt, on those holes, which is what i want to do is clearly ask you, because there are certain types of assault rifle that will be banned, what do you think the chances are of further legislation for the remaining types of guns? well we have legislation introduced last year to strengthen the licensing and sales management system, it simply hasn't been implanted yet so we are waiting for the regulations to accompany that. there is massive public support, about 66% of canadians want to see a national ban on handguns, and thatis national ban on handguns, and that is the peace that is still a question mark. thank you for talking us through that and explaining the current situation and what you hope to happen, wendy, thank you.

stay with us on bbc news, still to come: australia says it's been so successful in stopping the coronavirus pandemic that it's time to speed up a review of its lockdown. 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 where they fall 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 have been fighting for for so long. it was 7am, 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: the north korean leader, kim jong—un, is reported to have made his first public appearance in almost a month. the report can't be independently verified. us health authorities have given emergency authorisation for use of the experimental anti—viral drug remdesivir as a treatment for covid—19. 0pposition parties here in the uk have questioned whether the government actually hit its target of 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of april. the health secretary,

matt hancock, said more than 122,000 had been carried out, but labour said that figure lacked transparency and clarity because it included 39,000 tests that had been mailed out and not returned. 0ur health editor, hugh pym, reports. a very quiet stansted airport, especially for a friday, but there was activity — virus testing a car park, 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. the health secretary said that was comfortably achieved. this unprecedented expansion in british testing capability is an incredible achievement. but it's not my achievement, it is a national achievement. 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 in order to be able to get back to work. 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's the only way they can be counted, as it is harder to track them when swabs are sent back to the labs. it's 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 , the police came and told us they'd run out of tests and we should go home and try again tomorrow. for me the frustrating thing was i'd accessed the test of the priority, as a prioritised key worker. testing is one thing but contacts need tracing of any one who ahs 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. and up will be used alerting people someone they've been with has tested positive. they are then told to self—isolate and report any symptoms. the testing figure itself is not a strategy, we need a contact tracing strategy. that's what will be crucial in breaking the chain of transmissions. 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. mayday protests have also taken place in the us, with activists staging a demonstartion in new york's times square over workers' rights and economic support for those in lockdown. the action saw protesters call for greater support for those in rented housing, with rent payments due on the first of the month. unemployment claims in the us have reached 26.4 million, leading to fears that those on low incomes will be unable keep up with payments and may face eviction. for more on this lets

speak to diane yentel, president of national low income housing coalition. she is in washington. thanks for being with us. rent is due today for lots of people. do you have any idea of how many people could be badly affected here? well, we have some, but rent is due today and millions of renters can't afford to pay. even before covid—19 came to our country, we had about 10 million of the lowest income renter households, so about 25 million people, who were very low income and paying at least half of their income towards rent each month, and many were paying much more. when you have such limited income to begin with and you're paying 50, 60, 70% of it to keep a roof over your head, you're always one financial emergency away from eviction and potentially homelessness. and for many of these renters, the coronavirus is that financial emergency.

their losing jobs, they're losing hours, their losing wages... given all that, given it is such a huge economic blow to so many people, what are you calling for, how on earth do you try and fix it? you keep people housed, and the way you do that is first you prevent elections, the last thing we needin elections, the last thing we need in the midst of a pandemic is for more people to become homeless, so we're calling for a national moratorium on evictions and foreclosures. there are some moratoriums in place. at the national level those moratoriums cover about 30% of renters, so there are a lot of renters left unprotected. we believe at the very least at the federal government in the midst of a pandemic can assure each of us we won't lose our homes. but the eviction moratoriums alone aren't enough because eventually those moratoriums will be lifted and back rent will be lifted and back rent will be lifted and back rent will be owed, and we don't want to create a financial cliff these renters will fall off at

that time. are you asking for the federal government to basically subsidise and guarantee those back payments? that sounds like a big ask given the political climate. well, it is a big ask. we are asking for $100 billion in rental assistance to ensure the lowest income people remain sta bly lowest income people remain stably housed during and after the pandemic. we will see how that goes. thank you very much auto talking us through that. a hugely worrying time for so many people, but we appreciate your time. thanks for having me. 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 the story. australians cheerfully returning to one of sydney'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 but 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 play equipment. officials there have become the first to lift restrictions and lifting limits on gatherings. the easing of strict social rules still comes with a warning. 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, the main one being increased use of its new contact tracing app. civil liberties groups expressed privacy concerns, but authorities say safeguards are in place and a large take—up is key to a coronavirus—free future. 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 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 at a pivotal moment as it tries to open the country back up while avoiding a secondary wave 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 those jobs. usually european labourers are hired, but the coronavirus outbreak has cut off the flow of those coming to do the hard, physical labour 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's 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? i would have said, "no, thanks!" but no, honestly, it's fine. like i say, 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 gojust 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. a reminder of our top story: the north korean leader, kim jong—un, has appeared in public for the first time in nearly three weeks, ending an absence that prompted international rumours about his health. the country's official news agency said he'd opened a fertiliser plant near the capital, pyongyang. get me on social media: you can reach me on twitter,

i'm @ lvaughanjones. i'm lewis vaughan jones i'm lewis vaughanjones and this is bbc news. bye—bye. hello there. well, you probably noticed over the last couple of days the weather has been a bit unsettled with lots of showers. certainly friday no exceptiont to that theme. you can see the extent of all those showers moving across the uk, and they brought with it some dramatic skies. a double rainbow spotted around the southend—on—sea area of essex, and a little bit further south in sussex we had this dramatic bolt of lightning coming from one of the storm clouds with some hail mixed in as well. over the next few hours, showers moving eastwards across england, only slowly clearing here. the showers will then tend confined to the north—east of scotland, where it will stay cloudy all night. temperatures 3—7 degrees. now, as far as the weekend goes, we are going to see an improvement in the weather.

spells of sunshine and for quite a few of us, it will stay dry. showers around, particularly across the north and east, but with lighter winds, it will feeljust a little bit warmer. here's the area of low pressure that's been bringing the showery weather over the last couple of days. it's tending to move its way further eastwards, but we start off with an area of cloud and a bit of rain tied in with a very weak low. that low weakens further but as we go into the afternoon we start to see some cloud develop and the cloud will tend to develop where we see north—westerly winds bashed together with more northerly winds. this is a convergence zone. across some eastern areas of scotland, eastern areas of england, that is the area you are most likely to see showers popping up during the afternoon. elsewhere, it is a largely dry picture. as i say, with lighter winds and more sunshine to go around, it's going to feel warmer. temperatures for most of us around 1a and 18 degrees celsius. in many respects, sunday looks like a similar kind of day.

a dry morning foremost with some sunshine. perhaps a bit cloudier towards the south—west, and perhaps into the afternoon, we could start to see some showers developing and if they do pop up they can be slow—moving in nature and some can be on the heavy side as well. temperatures for most between 1a and 18 degrees celsius. heading into next week, well, high pressure looks set to take up residence towards the north—east of the british isles, but towards the south—west, low pressure lurks, and we will have a north—east/south—west split of weather. cloud increasing, probably rain as well, but the further north and east you go, the drier the weather stays.

this is bbc news, the headlines:

the north korean leader kimjong—un has appeared in public for the first time in nearly three weeks, ending an absence that prompted rumours about his health. the country's official news agency said he'd opened a fertiliser plant. there was no mention of where mr kim had been. the united states government has authorised the emergency use of an experimental anti—viral drug, remdesivir, as a treatment for the coronavirus. the food and drug administration said it was reasonable to believe that the benefits of the treatment outweighed the risks for patients hospitalised with severe covid—19. canada has announced an immediate ban on 1,500 types of military—grade assault weapons. the move was a campaign pledge by prime ministerjustin trudeau — however, officials in his party were divided and the action was delayed.