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. in the uk, the opposition has raised questions about the government's claim that it has reached its target of achieving 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of april. labour says the figure includes 39,000 tests that were posted to people's homes, but not yet returned. the vast majority of victims

of covid—19 have been people who are elderly. so far, it seems that children are generally spared the worst effects of the illness. 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 mystery about the virus is the role of children. a small number suffer, 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, 3,500 children are being tested in a project led by the university of oxford. we know not many children are being admitted to hospital or becoming unwell with this illness, and that's fantastic, but it's important to understand how many children are getting the infection, albeit in a mild form, because they may potentially be transmitting it onto others and therefore become a source of spread within the community. so far, there's been very

little research into this. one of the largest studies, of 2,000 infected children in china, found 51% had mild symptoms, 39% were moderate, and just over 4% had no symptoms at all. but in iceland, a different kind of study found that of sas children under the age of ten, none of them had any sign of infection. so, what does this confusing research mean for schools? in denmark, where they've reopened, 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 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—i9. when it comes to reopening schools, there are no easy options. hours maybe can be staggered, class sizes kept smaller, but the central question remains — how easily do children spread the disease, especially if they're not showing any symptoms? and scientists, for the moment, do not have the answer. time and time again, you'll hear our political leadership saying that we are guided by best evidence. there has to be an understanding that sometimes that evidence, even though it's the best evidence, is pretty thin. despite that, switzerland reckons it's safe for under—tens to hug their grandparents. many scientists disagree, warning that with this new virus, there's still so much we don't know. david shukman, bbc news. now on bbc news, oil—rich venezuela has been in an ever—growing state of crisis since hugo chavez

died in 2013, and global oil prices crashed. last year, the world watched as millions of venus williams board across its orders, keeping a country whose economy and infrastructure are struggling to function. venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world, and was once the richest country in latin america. but 20 yea rs of country in latin america. but 20 years of a populous government, first led by hugo chavez and now nicolas maduro has left the country and ruins. people took to the streets to protest. inflation in venezuela is now the highest in the

world. the healthcare system has collapsed. more than 30% of the population doesn't have enough food, and many people don't have regular access to fresh water or electricity. by by the end of this year, it is expected that more than 6 million people will have left venezuela. around wendy % of the entire population.

for those left behind, what started asa for those left behind, what started as a crisis has become the new normal. 0lga martinez lives in the town of magic is in the north—west of venezuela she runs a shop from the front room of her house.

ten yea rs ten years ago, most venezuelans could afford to go to the supermarket and buy what they needed for the week. today, an estimated third of all venezuelans don't have access to enough food. for many of 0lga's customers, it is a daily struggle.

for those without cash, 0lga lets her customers barter with what they have.

to buy supplies for her shop, 0lga travels to the centre of machiques. in oil—rich venezuela, petrol used to be virtually free, but today, the oil industry is in ruins and petrol is scarce.

machiques used to be the ranching capital of venice whaler. but the farming industry was decimated when the government expropriated farms and turned them into state run collectives. with food in short supply, 0lga now grows her own food in her garden.

she also grows medicinal remedies. when hugo chavez was in power, he

poured money into a universal healthcare system, funded with money from the oil industry. but when global oil prices fell, the money dried up and the healthcare system collapsed. today, basic medicines like paracetamol are almost impossible to find. in the capital caracas, dc is trying to find somewhere she can buy her medication.

the state of venezuela's healthcare system is driving people like this woman to seek alternative treatments. for the past few months, she has been seeing a spiritual healer.

the healer she sees lives in atari, the biggest slum in caracas. she follows a uniquely venezuelan religion claims to heal people by channelling the spirits of the dead.

many hospitals lack even the most basic provisions, such as running water and cleaning supplies. half of all operating theatres have closed and thousands of doctors have migrated. if patients do decide to have an operation, they have to buy the surgical equipment the doctors need. in the absence of a functioning healthcare system, seeing a spiritual healer is a last resort for people desperate for any kind of relief. today is her third

appointment with irian.

the form and living standards in venezuelan has forced around the 10% of the population to leave the country since 2015. deisy‘s husband

and son are in chile. they sent her back a few dollars a month to help her survive.

in maracaibo, venezuela's second biggest city, life is returning to the seat —— streets. businessmen ruben fernandez has decided to invest in the food industry.

at the beginning of 2019, inflation and venezuela was over 1,000,000%. with social unrest threatening the presidency of nicolas maduro, he decided to relax a long—standing ban on the trading of dollars. it allowed some businesses to get going again, easing pressure on maduro. now more than half the country's business is carried out in dollars. ruben has just invested business is carried out in dollars. ruben hasjust invested in supermarketjeffery‘s.

food here looks plentiful. that's because it's now possible to import and sell using dollars. the public workers like doctors and

teachers who are paid in bolivars, $3 is equivalent for month ‘s pay, life is very different for those who can earn in dollars. the growing dice poorer is another major source. --di dice poorer is another major source. ——di aspirin. this year is estimated that $4 billion will be sent back family members abroad.

those with dollars can now shield themselves from some of the worst aspect of the crisis. years of underinvestment in infrastructure have left the country suffering from chronic electrical blackouts. in 2019, venezuela's main hydro—electric power station failed and much of the country was left without electricity for over a week.

0lga had electricity for most of her aduu 0lga had electricity for most of her adult life. now her grandchildren have to do their homework by torchlight. as 0lga tries to adapt to her new situation, many fear the worst is yet to come. during the week—long blackouts in 2019, hospital

generators failed. nurses had to pump ventilators by hand. young and old died. covid—19 has been detected in the country. without the medical resources to tackle it, it is feared venezuela could become the epicentre of the outbreak in latin america. 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 exception 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 feel just a little bit warmer. here's the area of low pressure that's been bringing the showery weather over the last couple of days. many 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 between around 14 and 18 degrees 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 between around 14 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 again for most between 14 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, so we'll have a north—east/south—west split to the weather. south—western areas, cloud increasing, probably rain as well, but the further north and east you go, the drier the weather stays.

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