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.

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. an experimental drug developed to treat ebola has been approved for use on coronavirus patients in the united states. a recent clinical trial suggested the drug shortened recovery time for people who fall seriously ill with the virus. president trump has confirmed that the us food and drug administration authorised the anti—viral drug, remdesivir. heading into the weekend, more than 30 us states are partially re—opening their economies. elsewhere, the uk government says its hit the target of 100,000 coronavirus tests per day. but critics say the claims lack clarity as thousands of tests were sent to people's homes, and may not have been taken yet.

in spain, the government says some restrictions will be lifted on monday. prime minister pedro sanchez described it as a return to a new normality. australia is being touted as one of the success stories of the pandemic, the country's prime minister says a review of its lockdown guidelines will be brought forward. and the spread of the virus is said to be flattening. first, here's david willis on the latest developments in the us. could it prove a game changer? remdesivir is an antiviral drug that appears to help severely l coronavirus patient cover. announcing that federal regulators approved use of the drug. it is something a spoke with doctor felt she and

deborah about it, and it is really a promising situation. earlier this week, the government's infectious diseases expert showed a clinical trail could block the virus and help patients recover more quickly. the data shows that remdesivir has a clear—cut significant positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery. manufactured by the californian pharmaceutical company gilead, failed as a treatment for ebola, but shortened the infection time of coronavirus by about four days. need a vaccination or a cure, it is so far the most promising treatment to date. large parts of this country are finally, tentatively starting to reopen.

texas has reopened its beaches but restaurants and shopping centres have been ordered to limit their capacity to 25% for two more weeks at least. the united states remains the global epicentre of the coronavirus, 1 million cases and counting and more than 63,000 deaths. medical experts are warning that by reopening their economies too quickly, some states could run the risk of sparking a second wave of the pandemic. president trump ended his 30 day white house lockdown by flying to camp david for a weekend of talks with his advisers, or part of an attempt to kickstart the american economy ahead of elections later this year. meanwhile, the hunt for a cure for the virus goes on. 0pposition parties 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. john mcmanus reports. a moment of hope. dane hardwick hugging his partner after spending five weeks been treated for the coronavirus. his life, like so many others, saved by an nhs working at near full capacity. but with 27,510 people in the uk now having died with coronavirus, other families are grieving. this is 60—year—old delivery driver pete davies from their warrington who spent three weeks in hospital before the virus killed him. his relatives

described how they were given ppe so they could spend his final hours at his bedside. in the latest government briefing, matt hancock said his self—declared target of 100,000 tests per day had been met. self—declared target of 100,000 tests per day had been metli knew that it was an audacious goal but we needed an audacious goal, because testing is so important for getting britain back on our feet. but a closer examination of the figures paints a different. around one third of the overall figure our testing kits sent to people at home. another setting such as ca re home. another setting such as care homes. some will never be used or returned. we cannot test without contact tracing and the two have to be conducted together. furthermore, you need a strategy of who you are going to test and how you are going to test and how you are going to test, so there are a number of hurdles and furthermore to say we are testing when actually the tests have gone out in the post are not the same as having tests in the

laboratory done today. meanwhile, as the government in london considers how and when to lift the lockdown it's understood that one plan under consideration is that commuters might be asked to take the room temperature before leaving home. but a government source said that no final decision had been made. let's get some of the day's other developments. the irish prime minister, leo varadkar, has announced plans for re—opening the country's economy. he said the first of five phases would begin on the eighteenth of may, when small social gatherings would be permitted outdoors. if the virus is kept under control, the final stage will go ahead in august. the us women's soccer team has suffered a blow in its discrimination case against the national federation. a federaljudge in california dismissed their key claim, that they are under paid in comparison with the men's national team, saying they had knowingly chosen a different pay structure to the men. the judge said the women's case

for discriminatory travel conditions and medical support could go ahead. a spokeswoman for the players says they're shocked and disappointed, and planning to appeal. 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. here's our correspondent in seoul, laura bicker. kim jong—un is smiling, he is cutting a ribbon at a fertiliser plant in sunchon which is just north of the capital, pyongyang. in his first public appearance in state media since april 11. another photo shows him laughing and state media says all the participants broke into thunderous tears when he appeared. it brings an end to the rumours and wildly speculative headlines that he was dead or in a coma.

the south korean government continually played down rumours he was gravely ill. there was no mention of where he has been for the last 21 days or why he missed the april celebration for his grandfather — the country's most important day. he has vanished in the past. he vanished for a0 days in 2014 and reappeared with a cane. so far we have only seen a few stills but not moving pictures of kimjong—un. alistair coleman, from bbc monitoring has more on the images issued by north korea state media. there's 21 of them, most of them have got kimjong—un in some 01’ them have got kimjong—un in some or another. he is shown cutting a ribbon at the factory he visited back injanuary and

return to open a factory on international workers day and is there with his sister. and remind us why this is significant, because in going out and opening a factory and cutting ribbons under normal occasions would be particularly newsworthy. it would not, but it is headline news in north korea of course because it a lwa ys korea of course because it always is, but he missed his grandfather's birthday and that is one of the most important days on the north korean calendar, and he didn't show for that and that started the rumour mill that went as far as people saying he was dead. and that obviously doesn't seem to be the case now, with these photos of him up and about, but it doesn't, i suppose, answer any questions of what has actually been happening over the last three weeks. no, it doesn't stop the rumours were that he was on the east coast, he has actually showed up 50 kilometres north of pyongyang, so we have no idea where he has been. he could have been anywhere in the country, but

here he is near the capital. and this is probably a good lesson that caution is always the best approach when dealing with any kind of news from north korea. yes, because the media is so tightly controlled, they have only just media is so tightly controlled, they have onlyjust sent out pictures of this thing that happened on the first, it's the second now. we won't see video for another 2a hours, so we won't really be able to tell how fit and well he is until then, so things happen slowly and we do have to be cautious of north korea. and it is obviously part of your role, a fascinating job having eyes on this secretive state, a pretty frustrating job, i'd this secretive state, a pretty frustratingjob, i'd imagine, at times, just give us a glimpse of, what other kind of things you are looking for when you are looking to evidence and things like that to back up claims that are circulating? you always have to check background, details, you have to check who is there, there's all kind of things you look for, especially on the missile

test that we are seeing, what kind of muscles they are using, and what their behaviour is. we have two wait, we always have to wait 2a hours until we see video and that is when the real observations happen, but you have to be careful, you can't second—guess north korea. i have been caught up with them so many times. it happens to the best of us in korea watching. canada has announced an immediate ban on military—grade assault weapons. the prime minister, justin trudeau, said such guns had only one purpose, to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time, and there was no place for them. rich preston has this report. canada has one of the highest gun ownership rates in the world, around 35 guns per 100 people. activities like hunting and shooting are popular in many parts of the country, especially in rural areas. these new rules will make it illegal to sell, transport or use more than 1,000 types of

weapon, effective immediately. there is a two year amnesty period in which people who currently own these types of guns will be able to return them. it comes after the murder of 22 people in nova scotia at the end of april — canada's worst mass shooting. canada does not have a right to bear arms enshrined its constitution, unlike its southern neighbour, the united states. neither does it have a history of mass shootings like usa does. nevertheless, getting rid of these types of weapons was a campaign promise ofjustin trudeau in the 2015 election. we often hear the phrase, ‘semi—automatic weapons' being used, but what does it mean? well, it means guns like these, which look like they would be better placed in the hands of the military than your average citizen, usually with some kind of semi—automatic feature — meaning they can fire a load of bullets in a very quick succession. serious business and now illegal. 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. but the ban is controversial, a petition against it started in december has more than 175,000 signatures, and those opposed to the ban highlight that many of the weapons used in violent crimes were illegally owned anyway. they say the prime minister should do more to stop illegal guns coming into canada from the us, instead of targeting law—abiding gun owners. rich preston, 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 nomineejoe biden... after presidential nomineejoe biden. .. after weeks of silence about an allegation of sexual assault that has dogged his campaign, former vice president joe 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 it unequivocally, it never, never happened, and it didn't, it never happened. tara reade worked in mr biden‘s send office in the early 1990s when, she says, she filed a complaint against him. —— senate office. mr biden has asked the national archive to release any such documents. if there is any complaint, that is where it would be, that is where it would be, that is where it would be, that is where it would be filed but if it is there, put it out. but i have never seen it, no—one has, that iam aware never seen it, no—one has, that i am aware of. have been other concerns about mr biden‘s behaviour towards women. the 77—year—old has apologised for

making some feel uncomfortable with his embraces and other physical contact. and he has been criticised of his treatment of anita hill who made allegations of sexual conduct against clarence thomas during his supreme court nomination hearings in 1991. you are standing byjoe biden but... speak of the house nancy pelosi says she continues to support mr biden for the democratic nomination. support mr biden for the democratic nominationlj support mr biden for the democratic nomination. i want to re m ove democratic nomination. i want to remove all doubt and anyone's mind, i have a great comfort level with the situation, as i see it, with all the respect in the world for any woman who comes forward , for any woman who comes forward, with all the highest regard forjoe biden. let's go, joe! 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 will need to win the first presidential election in the metre era. —— metoo era. jane 0'brien, bbc news. you're watching bbc news. a reminder of our headlines:

us health authorities have given emergency authorization for use of the experimental anti—viral drug remdesivir as a treatment for covid—19. the north korean leader kimjong—un is reported to have made his first public appearance in almost a month. the report can't be independently verified. all around the world, many countries are beginning the slow process of easing the lockdown caused by the pandemic. schools, shops and restaurants are being gradually re—opened. but for some people, the process isn't happening fast enough, as was seen in may day protests across the globe. the bbc‘s tim allman reports. the pandemic is a health crisis, but it's an economic crisis as well. here in chile, police used tear gas and water cannon to break up may day protests in the city of valparaiso.

local media says dozens of people were arrested, demonstrators desperate for government help. similar protests took place in argentina — a socially distanced march through the streets of buenos aires. this is a country already deeply in debt, but these people say the poor must take priority. translation: we, the unemployed and able activists, —— and the neighbourhood activists, are here to say you can't go through quarantine if you are going hungry. the country's resources must be for the working people, not the imf. in south africa, the anger wasn't about a lack of food, but a lack of protective equipment. here at this hospital injohannesburg, frontline staff say they are being put in danger — a message sent to the country's president, cyril ramaphosa. you haven't come to

the nursing profession! are you waiting until there's death of nurses or death of our communities to start to responding actively to the nurses' plight with the necessary control? a huge peaceful demonstration took place in lisbon. once again, everyone kept well away from one another, but they spoke with a single voice. translation: our fight is not against the bosses but with all these redundancies, the crisis is very present and the uncertainty is real. we must fight so this pandemic can no longer cause redundancies, more insecurity and more hunger. more scuffles, more arrests in berlin, the ban on public gatherings greater than 20 people roundly ignored. may day during a global lockdown — the anger is clear to see. tim allman, bbc news.

turning now to spain, and the government there is expecting the nation's economy to shrink more than 10% this year. millions will lose theirjobs. the country's tourism sector is especially at risk as lockdown measures continue to keep would—be travellers at home. 0ur europe correspondent damian grammaticas reports from the spanish coast. spain, the second most visited country on earth, now as quiet as a desert island. this is high season, but in benidorm, the only footprints in the sand are those left by the seagulls. benidorm is a place built entirely on tourism. it has 65,000 hotel beds. no people. zero? zero. so the mayor presides over a wasteland — like a chemical agent has been

dropped here, he says. spain says it may allow hotels to reopen from mid may, but safety will be key. translation: this will come back. humanity will beat the virus. there will be a vaccine and hopefully, before long, normality. until then, we have to adapt. adapting means hotels will have to keep their restaurants shut, guests eat in their rooms, and no swimming. all public areas closed. so it's hard to imagine how spain can get back to the way things were. they should be here, and there should be people literally everywhere. paige dawson's family have had a bar here for 25 years. they'll only be allowed to serve one third as many customers as before. we've just got to weigh everything up, if it's worth us opening and we're going to be able to earn enough to keep going and make some profit. but we need the tourists to do that. also weighing up how it can

function, terra mitica theme park. meanwhile, of its nearly 400 staff, just four are working. all the rest have been furloughed. and even if these places can reopen, what might keep people away is fear. fear of coming here, farfrom home, away from the sanctuaries they've been in, travelling long distances with all the uncertainties that might bring. to try to keep travellers safe, soldiers disinfect the terminal at valencia airport. just one flight is leaving today. but the building is sterilised before and after the passengers go through. it makes you wonder whether mass tourism can really exist in the time of the virus. damian grammaticas, bbc news, in spain. 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 populous state, has accounted for nearly half the country's coronavirus case numbers, 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. 0fficials there have become the first to lift major restrictions, reopening parks, pools and lifting limits on gatherings. but the easing of strict social rules still comes with a warning. the message today is very much to territorians whilst these restrictions have been modified, see them for the privilege they are. also, keep a great level of 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 have expressed privacy concerns but authorities say safeguards are in place and that a large take—up is key to australia's post—coronavirus future. if we allow australians back out into a more open economy, a more open environment

without the protection of the covidsafe app, which enables us to know who has been in contact, how we can isolate those groups, how we can constrain and constrict the virus from getting to other people, we need that tool so we can open up the economy. and 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 attempts to open the country back up, while avoiding a secondary wave of infections that would force it back into lockdown, and the rest of the world is watching to see how it might be done. reged ahmad, bbc news. that is it. i will be back with the headlines in a couple of minutes but of course you can a lwa ys minutes but of course you can always get me online. you can reach me on twitter.

i'm @lvaughanjones. i'm lewis vaughan jones i'm lewis vaughanjones and this is bbc news. goodbye. 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 to become 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. there will be 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, then, 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 will probably 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. and across some eastern areas of scotland, some eastern areas of england, that is the area you are most likely to see a few showers popping up during the afternoon. but 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 1a and 18 degrees celsius. in many respects, sunday looks like a similar kind of day.

it's a dry morning for most 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 could be quite slow—moving in nature, and some could be on the heavy side as well. temperatures again 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, 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, the headlines: 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 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.