this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. as the uk's coronavirus death toll rises above 28,000 the prime minister describes preparations to announce his death when he was in intensive care for coronavirus. churches in germany reopen for sunday services with strict regulations in force and singing forbidden. a rare exchange of gunfire between north and south korea along the demilitarized zone, a day after kim jong—un‘s reappearance following

a mystery absence. warnings of a uk shortage of specialist renal support equipment as a fifth of coronavirus intensive care patients suffer kidney failure: the blood becomes very sludgy because the kidneys are full of little black vessels the kidneys start to fail. take he's so sweet. and a royal welcome — the duchess of cambridge shows her support for new parents and maternity staff with a virtual visit. 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 number of people in the uk

who have died from coronavirus has risen above 28,000 — the second—worst total in europe — and the british prime minister has spoken for the first time in detail about his experience of being in intensive care with the disease. speaking to the sun on sunday boris johnson said "contingency plans" were made to announce his death while he was seriously ill with covid—19...and that he was given a face mask and ‘litres and litres‘ of oxygen while he was in hospital. meanwhile it's emerged that more than 2,000 patients in england, wales and northen ireland admitted to intensive care with coronavirus also suffered kidney failure. those affected received specialist renal support treatment but that's led to a shortage in essential equipment. elsewhere, churches, mosques and synagogues in germany are opening today for the first time since the lockdown

there began in march. but, the number of worshippers will be restricted and singing is banned, as officials in germany say it can spread the virus. 2a hours since the north korean leader kim jong—un re—appeared after a three week absense, north and south korea have exchanged gunfire in the demilitarised zone between the two countries. well first, with more on that interview boris johnson has given, here's john mcmanus. coronavirus continues to take its toll on families across the uk. the country now has the second—highest death toll in europe behind italy. 28,131 people have now succumbed to the virus, and thousands more were left severely ill, including the prime minister. in an interview with the sun on sunday, borisjohnson said doctors had to administer litres and litres of oxygen, and at one point he wondered, "how am i going to get out of this?" he said the bad moment came when it was 50—50 whether they were "going to have to put a tube down my windpipe". in the end, mrjohnson didn't reach

the stage where he needed to use a ventilator. good morning. now back at work, one of the biggest issues he faces is how to leave the lockdown. a review is due on thursday. at the start of the restrictions, 1.8 million people in england were told to shield themselves as they were considered most at risk. they included those being treated for some forms of cancer, a or with diseases such as asthma and cystic fibrosis. at saturday's downing street briefing, the government indicated those restrictions could be reviewed as more evidence emerged. we do recognise that asking somebody to stay shielded for their own health protection for a very long period of time, and it may be several months, is quite a difficult thing for them to do. and regarding the next—most—vulnerable group of people, such as pregnant women and the over—70s, who've been following stringent social distancing measures, doctors, including the royal college

of gps, say that age shouldn't be the only factor in deciding who continues to self—isolate when the lockdown is eased, and they've warned the mental health of those staying at home should be considered. many european countries are now coming out of their lockdowns. the challenge for the government is to formulate a successful road plan for britain. john mcmanus, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent, jonathan blake is here. let's talk a bit more about that interview the is given, very frank interview the is given, very frank interview about what it was like for him in hospital. yes, and it's probably first—hand account of how bad things were for the prime minister, is to interviewed any detail since going into hospital and spending three nights in intensive care. despite the he was reluctant to go to hospital and the is doctors told him he needed to do so is looking back they were right to force him to go as he puts it talks

about getting fantastic here and all inspiring to see the medical teams at work. and of those three nice he spent in intensive care he said he was conscious throughout and fully aware of what was happening in that 50-50 aware of what was happening in that 50—50 moment you have described in the report, he said already thanks to have gone either way for him and he talks about the starting to think about how they would start to hundred presentation. he says it was a tough old moment, i would deny. gives you insight into the fight by mrof gives you insight into the fight by mr of those random preparing for the worse at that point. but he recovered and says about you never thought it was going to die. he describes a terrible buoyancy was only kept convincing him everything is in fact would be all right. people have asked how this whole experience might change the prime minister. his outlook on life, his approach to his job. minister. his outlook on life, his approach to hisjob. i do all he says about that is that he is driven out by a desire to stop other people suffering and also driven by an overwhelming desire to get the

country back on its feet. sticking points, some tough decisions for him and his ministers to make this week about announcing an easing of the lockdown. yes, there has been a clamourfor some clarity lockdown. yes, there has been a clamour for some clarity for some time about how we might leave from the slowdown we have been living with for several weeks into something more like life as normal, although there is no sense that the restrictions are simply going to be lifted overnight, far from restrictions are simply going to be lifted overnight, farfrom it. the words people tend to use the government is modifications. and we will hear from the prime minister government is modifications. and we will hearfrom the prime minister on thursday when the government is legally bound review restrictions that are in place how they will be changed or eased relaxed to allow more people potentially to get back to work and more businesses to open and perhaps a greater degree of social contact. do not have anything in away of detail and a lot of speculation plans being voted that we will hear from opponents on thursday what will happen. . —— here

from the prime minister on thursday. churches in germany are opening for sunday services for the first time since the country's coronavirus lockdown began in march. but strict safety guidelines will apply and singing will be banned to help stop new infections. germany is just one of many european countries that are gradually easing restrictions as the number of infections comes down, and portugal lifting its six—week state of emergency — although people are still being asked to stay at home where possible. damien mcguiness is our europe correspondent and joins us now from berlin tell us more about the church's reopening with restrictions. today is the first day sunday services can ta ke is the first day sunday services can take place in germany since the middle of march. not alljudges will start opening their doors to worshippersjust yet

start opening their doors to worshippers just yet because strict restrictions are needed. some churches already started services to be out how you can go along with these new rules because for example in some churches they are talking about having to go in one entrance and leave from another door, another exit. 0ther and leave from another door, another exit. other churches are thinking how much to spread out congregations because you still have to have distances between worshippers. as you said earlier, singing is not allowed to coat is not loud and forceful singing is quite a dangerous way to spread the infection and also numbers are going to be restricted of people entering churches. some churches are even registering people as the comment thatis registering people as the comment that is quite complicated. also synagogues and mosques are looking at how they can go along with new regulations and allowed to open. they have not opened just yet because there are also trying to figure out how best to protect worshippers. it is reallyjust one pa rt worshippers. it is reallyjust one part of the broader picture here in

germany were also two sectors reopening are trying to figure out how to do it in a safe weight and how to do it in a safe weight and how to do it's all going along with the new regulations which the government is in force in order to prevent another wave of infection sparking off germany. more than 2,000 covid—19 patients admitted to intensive care in england, wales and northern ireland have suffered kidney failure. they were given specialist renal support treatment — but that's led to a shortage of essential equipment. angus crawford reports. meet maurice marshall, before covid — singer and student... ..and now survivor. i was terrified, petrified. well, as i got into the ambulance, looked at the house, i thought, "say goodbye to the house, you're not coming back," because i was struggling to breathe. he spent 22 days on a ventilator.

the virus attacked his lungs and moved on through the body. my kidneys failed several times, so what people do fail to realise is that with covid, it's notjust about covid pneumonia, you know, you get a bit of a heavy—duty flu, or you have problems breathing, it does go for other internal organs. so when you're performing crt... the latest figures show more than 20% of those in intensive care suffer kidney failure. many needed specialist treatment. some with this kind of machine, delivering what's called renal replacement therapy. the virus can be seen within the very fine structures of the kidneys, and it also affects the stickiness of the blood. the blood becomes very sludgy, and because the kidneys are full of little blood vessels, it sludges up in the kidneys and therefore the kidneys start to fail. leading to a worldwide surge in demand for machines,

tubes, filters and fluids. this german factory has increased production, but there's a warning of severe disruption to supply in the uk. british doctors are having to use new techniques to conserve equipment. some patients are now sharing machines. the volume of kidney failure has reached the point that neither myself nor my colleagues have ever seen such a great surge in the incidence of acute kidney injury, and that is certainly putting stress on the system. but a word of reassurance too — these machines are only used in intensive care, not for the 30,000 or so people who need regular dialysis in the community. that service shouldn't be affected. dance music plays maurice in better times. # welcome to my world! now, bit by bit, rebuilding his health, thankful to friends,

family and medical staff, but also sounding a warning: this thing, it's vicious. it's non—discerning, it will go for anyone. we really do have to focus and not get lax about it, because that's when things will get worse again. angus crawford, bbc news. north and south korean troops have exchanged gunfire along the demilitarised zone which separates the two countries. that's according to officials in seoul. the south korean military says multiple bullets were fired from the north which hit a guard post, prompting troops to broadcast a warning and fire back. let's speak to the bbc‘s laura bicker, who is in seoul now. put this into context for us, how worried should we be about this incident? these incidents are rare. the last time there was an exchange of fire was 2017 north korean

soldiers made a dash across the south amid a hail of bullets. when it comes to the motivation behind this the south korean military is trying to find out was a act on behalf of the north or simply an accident? right now are south korean official has said he is assessing a low probability this was a deliberate act but they are still trying to contact the north to find out. his assessment is based on the fight for bullets were fired at the guard post that was not the optimum firing range and he says the weather was bad and there were no unusual north korean ship movements. but again that is one assessment not the final assessment of this time. the timing of this is what many people are worried about because it comes just 2a hours after kim jong—un made his reappearance after 21 day absence. in past the north has made deliberate provocations to the south to try to use it as leverage when it

comes to negotiations so some are concerned that might be going on but write no more details are needed. let's talk about coronavirus in south korea. the authorities there have been widely praised around the world for away they have had a bad break. what is the latest on the social distancing rules and regulations? when you say social distancing eye research libraries andi distancing eye research libraries and i know this will make a few people around the world veryjealous others there are sadly very few social distancing guidelines here. masks in public places are part of culture here and there are temperature checks that many places have been remaining opening. restau ra nts have been remaining opening. restaurants and ta pas have been remaining opening. restaurants and tapas bars will be no for the crisis and there was a time when many people scared the match stayed at home because the askedif match stayed at home because the asked if it was never today there are 13 cases and some of the highest it has been for the last few days.

we had zero locally transmitted cases on thursday. the majority of cases on thursday. the majority of cases are coming from overseas which are found at the airport., from the united states and those coming from europe are automatically given test and they must spend watching these important gene. the latest in a land for the prime minister today, is a formal announcement saying it is an end to the current social distancing guidelines are now the advice is keep washing your hands, just a very, very careful and now they're looking to reopen schools within the next few weeks. in the united states, the total number of coronavirus related deaths has exceeded 66,000.

there are now more than 1.1 million confirmed coronavirus cases. but despite the high numbers, president trump insists the country should start to open up. richard preston has this report. large parts of the us are slowly starting to open after weeks in varying state of lockdown. in texas, beaches have opened. for many, it couldn't come soon enough. it is so awesome to be out of the house, and in galveston, the beach is beautiful. we've just been desperate to get out of our houses and the beaches are one of our biggest things. it's really going to bring a somewhat sense of normalcy back. but authorities say they're still taking care. we're trying to dress as best we can, but our main goal is, you know, if we have a couple of thousand — couple of hundred thousand people down here, our main thing is we just want to get them home safe. in california's orange county, this beach is supposed to be closed, but thousands turned up to protest against the lockdown, arguing for their state

to open up. authorities in san francisco have extended the ‘stay in place‘ order until the end of may. i think it‘s a really smart decision, just to keep we feel so fortunate that our mayor has really — was the first one in the whole country, and she locked us down, put a shelter in place so early, and we‘ve really crushed the curve. thank you, thank you. new york city, and the subway will close down for four hours every morning so that every carriage can be disinfected. to make sure the transit workers are riding public are safe, the best thing you can do is disinfect the whole inside of the car, as massive a task as that is. the president himself has left the white house for a weekend at the presidential country retreat, camp david. he‘s keen for the country to open up, to be back in business again, conscious of an election on the horizon and an electorate in rising numbers of unemployment and with the economy suffering. military jets flew over several us cities on saturday, honouring health care and essential workers. 0ver new orleans...

..phoenix, arizona... ..and washington, dc... ..the might of the us military on show for a fight that is far from over. rich preston, bbc news. let‘s take a look at some of the other stories making the news. a bid by the united states women‘s football team for equal pay has been dismissed by a court, with the judge rejecting the players‘ claims they were underpaid compared to the men‘s team. the 28 women‘s national team players were asking for $66 million from the us soccer federation in damages under the equal pay act. a spokesperson says they plan to appeal the ruling. the government of the philippines has announced

a suspension of all commercial passenger flights to and from the country in order to help further contain the spread of the coronavirus. no official date for the end of the suspension has been announced yet, with thousands of foreigners remaining stranded in the country. a rugby league team from new zealand arrives in australia today — the first foreign nationals to be allowed into the country since it started easing its coronavirus restrictions. new zealand‘s vodafone warriors are the only overseas team to play in australia‘s national rugby league competition at the end of may. the players will go into quarantine for 1h days. iraq is suffering from a political and economic breakdown, but those aren‘t the only challenges as the country tries to come to grips with the coronavirus outbreak. shame and stigma means people are wary of admitting they‘re sick and are reluctant to get tested. 0ur middle east correspondent, quentin sommerville, reports...

thought it had nothing to learn from. and then came coronavirus will ta ke from. and then came coronavirus will take this ambulance is the body of a 72—year—old who died of covid—19. they have been turned away checkpoint at the checkpoint. fear of infection has made him untouchable. funeral rites are sacred here. and covid—19 is upending centuries of tradition and ritual. there is no last goodbyes of this mild. his family are tonight the right to wash the old man's body and wrapped him in a soap opera. for the most devout, this is a fate worse than death. instead, his funeral is left to strangers in the desert night.

the stigma of illness, quantity, runs dpa. baghdad is a partial and it is ramadan. the city is quiet but hardly in peace. you here want to admit having the disease and even get a test. the health directorate arrives in force. somebody has tested positive. this doctor, once the neighbourhood shutdown. —— once the neighbourhood shutdown. —— once the neighbourhood shutdown. it is in order to clear houses. after years of conflict and corruption, iraqis learnt to trust family first and

government last. the home is sacrosanct. this is intrusion. at this baghdad hospital the doctor has not been home to his family since the end of february. few of his patients came willingly. this 72—year—old is now recovering from the disease that she is still fragile. she is asking to go home. she sees herself as better than before. she‘s like to get out of the rcu. what might their more cloud is heavy but the official covid—19 iraq

in is low. trust the figures. —— futures. —— few trust the figures. the man is a friendly wave to rest, buried pet find metres deep. —— finally made to rest. without generations of his ancestors and without his family by his grace. for yea rs without his family by his grace. for years iraq has been ravaged with death but coronavirus is attacking something sacred. here in the uk, the duchess of cambridge has made a virtual bedside visit to some new parents during a special video—call to midwives. the duchess worked on a placement with the team at kingston hospital‘s

maternity unit in london last year, as part of her campaign to raise awareness of the importance of the early years. she took the time to talk to new parents rebecca and john. he is so sweet. congratulations. when did you happen? souma klassiker 10pm. yet not by goodness, you must be exhausted. gina brockwell is director of midwifery at kingston maternity unit — she‘s been telling the bbc about how the couple felt. this was that lady and her partner second baby and the duchess as a mother she can understand how it feels when you just had your baby. they can explain what was under

lockdown and having to have have their baby, max. you can reach me on twitter. april 2020 was quite exceptional, the sunniest april on record. many saw the driest april on record. this is a particularly brown map behind me and the reason is we had little rainfall for many parts of the uk in april. the darker the brown the drier it was.

looking at the charge behind me, there is a lot of cloud. -- chart. more significant rain today is likely when you start the day with clear skies and develop showers across northern england and scotland and parts of the midlands and east anglia into the afternoon. locally heavily and funded out was to come. those shows will persist into the evening and the small hours of monday. to decipher some drizzly rain across parts of england. very misty and murky but my with temperatures in double figures. northern scotland patchy thrust into monday. still a lot of cloud for naughty segment through monday morning and some probably before the showers promoted to the north sea. in the afternoon, dry and sunny weather across the board. still chilly along the north sea coast with highs of 11 or 12. 19 or 20 for

the likes of cardiff. towards the south—west it looks like this where the funds coming in overnight monday into tuesday will be more significant in terms of rain stopped the exact position is our biggest forecasting headache at the moment. ifinal forecasting headache at the moment. i final for that forecasting headache at the moment. ifinalfor that one? forecasting headache at the moment. i final for that one? the south—west of england and south wales there is a wet and windy and chilly day to come on tuesday. much cooler in cardiff and perhaps just a mid—teens. 0ur hotspots on tuesday probably somewhere in the scottish borders for there will be a lot of sunshine. we will lose that weight from the south—west sunshine becomes increasingly widespread and we will also see some warmth building as

this is bbc news, the headlines: as the uk‘s coronavirus death toll rises above 28,000 the prime minister describes preparations to announce his death when he was in intensive care for coronavirus. there are warnings of a uk shortage of specialist renal support equipment, as a fifth of coronavirus intensive care patients suffer kidney failure. doctors say a surge in demand has led to some patients having to share machines. churches in germany are reopening for sunday services for the first time since the coronavirus lockdown was imposed there in march. but strict regulations are in force and singing is forbidden. and the duchess of cambridge has shown her support for new parents and maternity staff with a virtual visit via video call.