this is bbc news — with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk — and around the world. the uk passes another grim milestone — more than 30,000 people have died from coronavirus — the prime minister says he's working hard to tackle the crisis, and dismisses criticism from the labour leader. at every stage, we took the decisions that we did, we were governed by one overriding principle and aim, and that was to save lives and aim, and that was to save lives and to protect our nhs. the uk was slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow on tracing and slow on the supply of protective equipment. boris johnson acknowledges an "epidemic" in care homes — and says he bitterly regrets it. germany will lift some lockdown restrictions — with top flight football to return behind closed doors

and more shops to reopen. president trump backtracks, saying he won't now disband the coronavirus task force — we'll have the latest. and — as the uk gears up to commemorate the 75th anniversary of v—e day, when the war ended in europe — plans for a permanent monument, to remember the caribbean volunteers who helped the war effort. 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. let's start with the uk prime minister, boris johnson, has held out the prospect of the uk beginning its "exit" from lockdown, as soon as monday — but has been forced to concede

failings in key elements of the government's coronavirus strategy. at prime minister's questions, the labour leader, sir keir starmer pressed the prime minister on why testing numbers had fallen back and why the uk had the highest official coronavirus death toll in europe. there have been a further 649 coronavirus deaths recorded in the uk — taking the total past the 30,000 mark. boris johnson admitted, there was a virus epidemic in care homes and what he called an "enraging" shortage of personal protective equipment. meanwhile, the german chancellor, angela merkel, says shops will start to re—open and football matches will re—start, but social distancing will remain. in the us — president trump backtracks on disbanding the coronavirus task force, but says it will shift its focus to reopening the economy. more on all those stories to come — but our first report this evening, is from our political editor, laura kuenssberg. small clusters of commuters. westminster quiet, basks, sometimes.

but not lonely any more. one new normal has begun. weeks after the keir starmer the labour leader, the first of his weekly chance to put the prime minister under pressure. i am looking forward to it and i am glad to see he is back in parliament. how are you going to handle the new labour leader? with borisjohnson back at work, back at the dispatch box, too. i would like to welcome the prime minister back to his rightful place in the chamber. but no hiding place from the rising coronavirus toll, now tipping 30,000. that's now the highest number in europe. it is the second highest in the world. that is not success or apparent success, so can the prime minister tell us how on earth did it come to this? he is right to draw attention to the appalling statistics not just in this country, but, of course around the world. at this stage, i don't think that

international comparisons and the data is yet dare to draw all the conclusions that we want. comparing different countries' statistics is difficult, but it is not irrelevant. and every number is another heartbreak. just nine members of ron beard's family bade farewell to him at a tiny funeral this afternoon. he passed away in hospital last week after contracting the virus in his care home, where the family was told there was no infection and they say staff had no protective kid. ——there was no infection and they say staff had no protective kit. my mum, sadly, had to go to the car park and say goodbye to her dad through the window, which was pretty heartbreaking ——there was no infection and they say staff had no protective kit. for her after having been by his bedside. along. i think that's been one of the hardest things for the family to deal with, not being able to hold his hand in times when he needed it and i know especially from my mum and her sisters, knowing

that he died alone after they had been at his side for so long was the particularly heartbreaking thing to come to terms with. the priest did an amazing job and it was a wonderful sendoff, albeit slightly strange. his last song as the curtains closed was you'll never walk alone. what was happening behind closed doors in care homes, now very much in public and political view. deaths in care homes continue to go up, 12 weeks after the health secretary declared we are in a health crisis. i have to ask the prime minister, why hasn't the government got to grips with this already? there is an epidemic going on in care homes which is something i bitterly regret, and we have been working very hard for weeks to get it down. in the last few days, there has been a palpable improvement. there is no consistent evidence that situation is improving. the prime minister suggested some lockdown measures could ease from monday. we will want, if we possibly can,

to get going with some of these measures on monday. in a sparse chamber, mrjohnson sometimes looked around for cheerleaders who were not there. in this new contest of opposites, in the end, it is one on one. 0ur political correspondent, jessica parker, is in westminster for us. jessica, a difficult day for the prime minister acknowledging the epidemic and care homes, failings on ppe, and testing again following way beneath that 100,000 target. yes, of course, we didn't have the latest testing figures at prime minister's questions earlier. they emerged during the downing street press conference this afternoon, where, as you say, we learned that the number of daily tests now down to 69,163, so some way of daily tests now down to 69,163, so some way below that 100,000 a day marker that matt hancock, health secretary, set out and reached at the end of april, as he said he wa nted the end of april, as he said he wanted to do. but it has petered off

since then. also, as you say today, yes, there was some challenging questions for boris johnson, yes, there was some challenging questions for borisjohnson, and when he was asked about the care homes, when he was asked about personal protective equipment, when he was asked about the fact that the uk now has the highest death toll in europe, he did have some explaining factors to talk about around that's come talked about what the government was doing, but he didn't pretend that there wasn't a problem in those areas. so as you say, when he talks, for example, about care homes, he said he bitterly regret at the epidemic going on when he talks about personal protective equipment, he said he found some of it and reaching to see the difficulties that there had been, but also talked about ramping up a domestic supply fell so, yes, some admissions of challenges and problems that the government has faced at the dispatch box today from boris johnson government has faced at the dispatch box today from borisjohnson as he was taken on by kier starmer, of course, the relatively new labour leader who is trying to take quite a forensic approach into the government's handling of coronavirus. jessica, in terms of

reopening from a lot of pointers to next monday, but we don't know the exact details in any sort of way of what that is actually going to entail, and it needs to marry up with scotland, for example, where we we re with scotland, for example, where we were hearing it's more or less going to stay the same for the next three weeks. yucca made of it necessarily needs to come i think there has been an expression from different parts of the country that they want to move in step, but nicola sturgeon has said, the first minister for scotland, said that she will do what is right for scotland as she gets scientific advice. but you are ready to go ahead to sunday when boris johnson is expected to lay out this road map for what might come next, and whilst ministers have been very clear that the way out of lockdown will be very gradual, very cautious, what they have been deliberately less clear about, because they don't wa nt to less clear about, because they don't want to distract from the stay at home message, they want some flexibility, i think, home message, they want some flexibility, ithink, to home message, they want some flexibility, i think, to look at the data as it comes in. they haven't wa nted data as it comes in. they haven't wanted to talk too much about the details of what that might look like. i think a broad details of what that might look like. ithink a broad picture details of what that might look like. i think a broad picture that seems to be emerging, although, i would caveat that by saying that i

think these things are subject to change, is an effort to just start to prod the economy back to life, so robert, the community secretary today, for example, saying that the construction sector should try to get back to work where it is safe to do so, grant, the secretary has talked about a staggered work time in order to make the public transport system safer for people to use. so, close there is the sorts of things that ministers are looking at, but i think we will have to wait until sunday to find out exactly what the plan might be. all right, just a programme at westminster for us just a programme at westminster for us thank you. both ministers and health experts agree that any way out of the uk's lockdown will require a scaling up of testing capacity. well, today the government announced that it had carried out just over 69, 000 tests, some way short of its self imposed target of 100 thousand tests per day. yet, the prime minister has doubled this target, promising to increase capacity to 200,000 tests per day by the end of this month. but as our health editor hugh pym reports — care home managers are still complaining about how difficult it is to get their residents tested.

a busy testing station today, run by military personnel, and there is a range of essential workers wanting to know whether or not they have the virus and whether it was safe to get back to work. i'm a nanny. i have to make sure before i go back to work. i have four children to look after, and i have to make sure that i am fine. i'm working at the moment, so i'm still working. it's important for me to obviously be safe for myself and family. i'm a teacher, a primary teacher, and i've been feeling a bit up and down, and been sort of concerned, if i am now thinking of whether we might go back to work. the government has greatly expanded the list of people eligible to be tested over the last few weeks, using drive—in centres and sending out home test kits, and there's been a big increase in laboratory capacity to analyse the swab samples. a week ago, just over 80,000 tests were provided, and the next day, that figure went

above the government's 100,000 a day target. since the weekend, it's fallen back to below 70,000 yesterday — it's not clear why that happened. this is the entrance to fairfield residential home. for care homes, it's vital to get residents tested if they have symptoms, so they can be kept separate from others. but at this home, they've tried several times to order tests for those who are unwell, and have had no response. i'm very angry, and somewhat frustrated when i hear the ministers telling us that everyone in care homes can be tested. the government believes that the testing has happened, however, on the ground, it's such a big logistical proposal, people can't do it. and it's been argued that there is no way for care staff to get fast—tracked through the online booking system. the government has made very clear announcements about the fact that health and care workers should have access, all health and care workers should have access to testing, and, yet the system that it's built,

doesn't have that prioritization in—built. hospital leaders say, even with the extra capacity, it's still difficult to get nhs staff tested quickly if they need it. there's not much point in having a test that takes up to five days to turn around if actually the individual member of staff is then spreading infection in the meantime. we absolutely need to ensure that every member of staff who is showing symptoms can get a test quick enough, and that is not happening at the moment. the department of health says tests were now available to more than 25 million people, and there had been a rapid increase in capacity allowing tests for more workers who need them. hugh pym, bbc news. germany has been ahead of the pack in dealing with coronavirus — now angela merkel is trying to navigate the way out of lockdown. the chancellor has reached an agreement with regional leaders on relaxing restrictions — social distancing will stay until intojune, and face coverings must be worn in shops and on public transport. and professional football will resume later this month.

this was chancellor merkel. translation: we are now at a point where we can say we have achieved the aim of slowing the spread of the virus and protecting our health system from being overwhelmed, and we can do this because citizens have lived their lives responsibly throughout this virus. they have committed to the restrictions, thereby saving the lives of others. a little earlier our correspondentjenny hill fleshed out some of the detail in that announcement. this country is in a good position. the infection rates have been steadily falling. there is hospital capacity to spare, but that's put angela merkel under pressure from the leaders of germany's 16 states, who desperately want to restart their local economies. at that meeting today, and we are told it was indeed very stormy, they agreed that they can open shops, restaurants, hotels, albeit with strict social distancing measures, and that germany's professional football league, the bundesliga can resume matches although they must be held behind closed doors.

now, there are important caveats. people here can't simply go out now and meet up with whoever they'd like to. they still have to wear face masks on public transport and in shops and the authorities will continue to test and contact trace aggressively. but, additionally, angela merkel today wanted significant concession from those regional leaders in the form of an emergency brake, and what that means is that should infections rise above a prescribed limit anywhere in this country, the local authorities will be required to immediately re—impose restrictions. you know, polls suggest that the majority of germans have rather supported angela merkel's pretty cautious approach so far. today, she said that germany had put the first phase of the pandemic behind it, but warned that a long battle with the virus still lies ahead. that was jenny hill that wasjenny hill in berlin for us. in the last hour, president trump has back tracked, in part,

on his administration's announcement that country's coronavirus task force was set to be disbanded. the president told reporters that he hadn't realised how popular the task force was until he publicly spoke about winding it down. we could wind it down sooner, but i had no idea how popular the task force is until actually, yesterday, when i started talking about winding it down, i got calls from very respected people saying "i think it would be better to keep it going commenced on such a good job. " it's a respected task force. i knew it to myself i didn't know whether or not it was appreciated by the public, but it is appreciated by the public. you look at the job we have done everything, and supplies, on everything, . everything,. that was the president and the last little while. it comes as the secretary of state, mike pompeo, said again that there was mounting evidence that the virus originated from a wuhan lab. the us secretary again is returning to the claim we heard before. what speak to

joe rubin, a former assistant secretary of state in the 0bama admistration. he's now a democrat political adviser. welcome to the programme, let's start off with what we heard from mike pompeo, again returning to these claims that it came from a wuhan laboratory. your take on what we keep hearing from the trump administration. well, clearly, the trump administration is trying to deflect, and today commits a very grim day. we need to also talk about how between the united states and the united kingdom, 100,000 civilians have died. today is the day where we marked that from pope and 19. and instead of taking it seriously here at home, the trump administration is trying to blame china for its failure to prepare. it's also critical to remember that throughout january and february, it's also critical to remember that throughoutjanuary and february, the trump administration was praising china, saying that china was transparent, sending protective equipment to china, not getting access to the labs in china. now,

all of a sudden, there is a new villain to blame, so is trying to work his way out of this box by blaming china. we were just playing with the president has been saying about the task force, 2a hours, they we re about the task force, 2a hours, they were talking about ago, they were talking about winding it down, what was your gut reaction when you heard about the thought of winding this unit down in the middle of a pandemic? well, i didn't know whether to laugh or to cry, quite frankly, because the way the president has been mismanaging this task force and that the whole response that make you kind of wonder at a certain point whether or not it's doing enough good for the american people. but, clearly, the response was one that said we are still taking this seriously as americans, but president trump, also come i think he rebuked in a way vice president pens who may have gotten vice president pens who may have gotte n off vice president pens who may have gotten off message inside, "well, we are writing it down, time to go back to normal." 0n the president doesn't wa nted to normal." 0n the president doesn't wanted to be seen like he is not taking good care of the coronavirus

and taking it seriously. that's an off message for him, so he wants to at least appear like you still taking it seriously, but i have no doubt that they have been clamping down on science, and on preventing the task for its members from congress, that's very dangerous, not quite sure what type of task force we will have going forward to protect america. i mean, the president would argue that he is into an with public opinion in terms of getting back to work, jobs, all of getting back to work, jobs, all of that concern, but how dangerous do you think these moments are with that big push that's going on in the united states with the president of course at the forefront of it to get the economy back up and running and states reopening? well, he is really out of tune, actually. poll after poll show that the majority of americans want to stay in place i serve for local government in maryland, we are consistently engaging the federal government, the cou nty engaging the federal government, the county government, trying to make sure that we have a plan, and there is really no clear plan. the

president is sending money to the states but not giving clear guidance, certain states avoid the guidance, certain states avoid the guidance that he has given, americans are nervous, and we may very well see a second wave as epidemiologists are predicting, then what? we will have to come back home again and not really be any better off months from now than we are today. that visit yesterday, we saw the president, he wasn't wearing a mask, at a plans, despite the signs around the factory. there were handshakes when he arrived there in arizona. where do you think that leaves the basic messaging to the american people two you are on your own. and he is basically telling the american people beware, it clearly advised that he doesn't take seriously the guidelines that his own administration and scientific experts have been given, and he is modelling very dangerous behaviour, putting american lives at risk, and telling americans that they can do

things that are got us in the problem in the first place. remember them a little more than two months ago, he was saying this would disappear by spring, we have it under control, nothing to worry about, now we have 100,000 dead between the united states in the uk over1 million between the united states in the uk over 1 million americans between the united states in the uk over1 million americans infected, and no clear plan, and the president is saying don't worry about it, it will disappear again. is saying don't worry about it, it will disappearagain. his credibility is shot on this, and he is demonstrating in active very bad modelling for how to keep us safe here in the country. just a final thoughts, because a week or so ago, there was all that internal polling being reported within the white house that was saying it wasn't going well to see the president making the assurances that he did on detergent and all the rest of it, and now we see these moves around the coronavirus task force, but i have a final thought to ask you. does it feel that in a sense, the federal government has given up on its efforts, given that the president, only yesterday, was talking about and acknowledging that there will be large number of deaths going forward. yeah, we have fact

free administration right now, that is denying science and is preventing the american people from getting the kind of support that we need in order to be safe. it feels very surreal because the president is saying that things are ok, we struggle back to work, when our numbers of death rate continue to decline and it's going to occur across the country, different locations that happened bennett's peak so far, so it's very much out of step. it's just what happened in february and early march when it comes around that fear again that we will have a similar type of wave of massive infection rates and deaths, and it's going to cause the president to go back to that previous model of let's say you are on your own and then i will come in and say i had nothing to do with the problem that you are now experiencing. joe rubin, we have run out of time, but thank you so much for your time joining out of time, but thank you so much for your timejoining us on today because my programme. we will take a

break ina because my programme. we will take a break in a short while, one more story to bring you though, first of all, because the neck neck street artist banksy has been prolific during the lockdown. adding a facemask to his parody of the girl with a pearl earring for example or the image of rats running riot in a bathroom. 0vernight he's turned his attention to the nhs. to show his appreciation he's created a new picture and is showing it at the university hospital southampton. 0ur arts editor, will gompertz, has more. could this be a rare sighting of the elusive street artist, banksy? undercover, making a special delivery to university hospital southhampton. wow. it's certainly his handiwork. it was hung late last night and unveiled this morning. it depicts a young boy kneeling down, wearing dungarees and a white t—shirt. the wastepaper basket in front of him has two discarded old superheroes. instead, he's playing with his new model figure, a new superhero, an nhs nurse with a flying cape and arm pointing forwards, like superman. she is on a mission. the idea of the hospital's

management and banksy was to thank the staff of the nhs generally for everything they are doing. so, did it go down well? just the proudness of it. the actual realising that we are thought of and respected. for years now, we've not been, now, with everything going on in this current climate, people are seeing us where we should be. we're superheroes. it's such a nice reward for all the staff that have been working really hard throughout this. we've had members of staff be unwell themselves, and, obviously, all of our patients, and we've just pulled together and got on with our work. why then did the hospital want to work with banksy? he has really captured the emotion behind the way that the country's recognising the nhs at the moment. certainly, since we've been talking about it this morning, people recognise him, they understand where he's coming from, and they are really appreciative that he's made southampton the place to recognise the nhs. the plan is for the painting to stay here until after the lockdown, at which point it will be sold off at auction with the proceeds

going to nhs, which will come specifically to this hospital here. it might go for up to £1 million, maybe even more if there's a shredder in sight. will gompertz, bbc news, southampton. time to bring you a few more stories in terms of coronavirus, because the in russia president putin has laid out his plans to begin easing the locdown across the country. it's been announced that residents will be allowed to leave their house for walks in the first stage of 3 point plan. it comes as ten thousand new infections from covid—19 were confirmed in one day — making it the fourth day in a row where the infection number has risen above 10,000. spain's permit minister has implored his poem and not to let the state of emergency there. he says doing so would be a big mistake. the prime minister wanted to be extended for another 15 days beyond this weekend, but opposition politicians have

accused the government of distorting the facts. let me show you these pictures that are coming to us. the duke and duchess of sussex — have marked their son's first birthday, by making a video of meghan reading to archie. that's funny, i distinctly heard rabbit sounds. come in all the duck is wading through the swamp. no! the rabbit is hiding! it shows her, telling the story of ‘duck! rabbit!‘ — while the family are in lockdown in los angeles. it was posted by save the children as part of the charity's campaign, to raise money for families struggling due to the pandemic. one of the pioneers of electronic music — florian schneider, who co—founded the german group kraftwerk — has died. he was 73 and had cancer. kraftwerk burst onto the international scene in 1974 with the album autobahn. their robotic look and electronic sound had a profound influence on popular culture,

and on musical genres from rock to hiphop. schneider — who left kraftwerk in 2008 — also developed i will be back with more headlines here injust a moment i will be back with more headlines here in just a moment or two. that evening. it's been a warmer day today, and the warmth will continue today, and the warmth will continue to build for many. —— over the coming few days. but, by the time we get to the weekend, changes afoot. so, even for eastern coastal counties tomorrow will be a warmer day on friday, but by that time we get to saturday afternoon, across the north of scotland in particular, there will be a blast of arctic air moving its way southwards, right across the uk by sunday, so it will really feel different, almost like winter has returned from i should imagine. but, for the rest of this evening and overnight, it stays largely clear, quite chilly asked actually in eastern areas, and as quite so as last night. a few showers actually to hold our temperature up. if there is a little mist and fog first thing, it will clear quite quickly, and then, once

again, there will be plenty of dry and settled whether under this area of high pressure. however, those showers are making inroads on these weather fronts, so there will be an increased chance of showers over the coming few days. i would like —— i wouldn't like to rule out the odd onejust wouldn't like to rule out the odd one just about anywhere come tomorrow afternoon, but more likely tomorrow afternoon, but more likely to be across western fridges of wales, england, up into northern ireland and scotland. so, more cloud in these areas, not everywhere will catch a shower, but the afternoon, given the heat and the strength of the may sunshine now, they could turn out to be heavy with the odd rumble of thunder. when temperatures are expected to be higher than those today, notably, ithink are expected to be higher than those today, notably, i think i'm are expected to be higher than those today, notably, ithink i'm in eastern and coastal counties. friday, very similar in that there will be a lot of dry, bright weather, hazy sunshine, but a difference for scotland. the weather front with us by that stage. so it will be rather cloudy and damp at times here. there could be the odd sharp shower, just about anywhere. actually come as we see temperatures rising into the low 20s in many parts of england and wales, the odd shower around elsewhere northern ireland. similarly so on saturday,

the heat will build the showers, and they could turn heavy infantry, at they could turn heavy infantry, at the same time, in the north, we are getting that cold plunge of hearing, such as 7—8 for the far north of scotland, whilst we hold onto that heatin scotland, whilst we hold onto that heat in the south. but during saturday evening and into the night, that cold air will push our weather front right the way south, and behind it, yes, the real chance of some snow, even at lower levels for northern scotland. so it feel much colder by day on sunday, a drop of some 10 degrees are a temperatures, but feeling colder still when you add on the effect of that strong northerly wind.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the uk passes another grim milestone — more than thirty thousand people have died from coronavirus — the prime minister says he's working hard to tackle the crisis, and dismisses criticism from the labour leader. at every stage as we took the decisions that we did, we were governed by one overriding principle and again and that was to save lives and again and that was to save lives and to protect our nhs. the uk with slow into lock down and slow on testing and tracing and slow on supply of protective equipment. germany will lift some lockdown restrictions — with top flight football to return behind closed doors and more shops to reopen. president trump backtracks,

saying he won't now disband the coronavirus task force. and — as the uk gears up to commemorate the 75th anniversary of ve day — plans for a permanent monument, to remember the caribbean volunteers who helped the war effort 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 here's gavin. today linda siliga got the green light to restart germany football. that is after announcement from

angela merkel. games look sexy resume again behind closed doors and no doubt to the interest of other top divisions including the premier league. here is the report. the main stand is called the yellow wall but it will not look like this again for a while. and less than a month we will see football's new normal. games and empty grounds will start in germany in late may. its reward for a country that so far has been a front runner and containing the virus. this is still a timeline that is fraught with risk. in germany right now there is still a lot of infection in the country and you still have that risk of transmission and amplification of transmission. since players came back to training here and has not been easy. he found himself high—fiving his team—mates and has since been suspended. across

the club ten players already has tested positive for the virus. fixtures behind closed doors called ghost games in germany but not all germans want football back like best. many think tests should be saved only for key workers and the league says it needs less than 1% of germany's testing capacity to for fill the seats and. like the rest of europe its finances are under strain. might be respected wa nted are under strain. might be respected wanted to come back. they understand it is the lesser of two evils because not having any football until the pandemic is over is going to be disastrous for football and we might not have any clubs left by them. most teams have nine games

left but the biggest victory of all will be getting them all played. so german football set to resume later this month then but will the premier league be following suit? according to the league managers association chief executive, richard bevan, the english top flight might be cancelled, if clubs do not agree to play in neutral venues. the league has been suspended since the 13th of march too, because of the coronavirus pandemic. but a vote is set to take place on monday on proposals for a return to football behind closed doors in june. the proposal though needs 1a out of the 20 clubs to vote in favour for it to be adopted. brighton are one of the clubs "not in favour" of using neutral venues because it may affect the "integrity" of the competition. wearing protective masks during ring walks, and a ban on using spit buckets could be the conditions for a return for boxing in the uk, according to the british boxing board of control. the sport is gearing up for a behind—closed—doors return in the uk injuly, after being shut down in most countries across the world as a result of the pandemic. the next major fight scheduled to take place in the uk is dillian whyte's bout with alexander povetkin for the wbc interim heavyweight title at manchester arena

on the 11th ofjuly. referees and trainers in the fighters' corners will also be required to wear protective masks. 0rganisers of the epsom derby and 0aks, are hoping to hold the classic races behind closed doors — also on the 11th ofjuly. jockey club racecourses, the track's owner, has submitted an application to epsom and ewell borough council — also asking for all saturdays injuly and august to be approved for "flexibility". racing in britain is suspended indefinitely because of the coronavirus pandemic and any resumption would depend on government approval. mcc members won't receive refunds for subscriptions this year, despite the chance of seeing cricket at lord's being "increasingly remote" all cricket has been suspended until at least the 1st ofjuly, with the new hundred tournament delayed until next year. the 18,000 members have been told their annual fees were the "bedrock" of the club's finances. lords was due to host england's test matches

with the west indies and pakistan and a ‘day/night‘one—day game with australia. that's all the sport for now. thank you very much. the coronavirus lockdown has resulted in the fastest decline in carbon emissions ever recorded — that's because of the falling global demand for transport and energy. now the government is being urged to ensure that progress in tackling climate change continues, once the epidemic is over. 0ur chief environment correspondent, justin rowlatt, reports. and how about you, lauren, i know you're working on mark's announcement this morning. yes, doing lots of announcement things. we're all getting used to new ways of working and socializing. here's a little cheers. cheers. even hen parties have been online in the age of coronavirus. this global lockdown has given us cleaner air and quieter streets as well as the biggest cut in carbon emissions ever recorded. since lockdown, kelly has been

running her team from home. no more three hour car and commute every day. we have all become experts at working from home. they will have more productive employees while working from home, therefore you can enable them to do that more often. and when you do go to work, perhaps you will choose not to drive. the mayors of london and manchester today said they would set more road space aside for cyclists to help us all get to moving while maintaining social distancing. it is just the kind of initiative borisjohnson's advisors on climate change are recommending. today, they urged that any attempt to kick—start the economy has to help us all move towards lower carbon lifestyles. we are going to have to re—examine our priorities across all of the economy, and the government will have to lead us through the recovery phase. let's make sure that we think about the climate

priorities as we do that. these are sensible steps that will make the economy more resilient in the future, and that's something we should be thinking about right now. he says we need to invest in making homes more energy—efficient and decarbonising our transport and energy systems. but are we ready to change the way we live and work? susan advises the government on the psychology of behavior change. when wuhan happened, we all thought, we could never do that. but what we have seen is that we did do exactly that. the overwhelming majority adhere to very challenging advice, especially for people in crowded conditions, and have sustained it over many, many weeks. so, it does show that people can be adaptable when they can see why they need to change their behaviour. lockdown has given us a glimpse of a cleaner, greener world, but we do need to get the economy going again. the challenge will be doing that in a way that locks in some of the low carbon habits we have all been learning. everyone do this, everyone do this for the camera! justin rowlatt, bbc news, london.

let's pick up on some of those issues raised byjustin, nd take a look at costa rica in central america. it has been praised by sir david attenborough — for taking a lead in the fight to tackle climate change. so — has coronavirus blown that stategy off course — given the impact it's having on economies around the world. well a short time ago, i spoke with the president of costa rica, and asked him about the challenge of continuing his ambitious climate strategy. it is a complex scenario but not an impossible one and we need to keep moving in that direction. actually as mentioned in the previous pieces you show to your audience, it is actually an opportunity, a possibility for changes of behaviour for new businesses to grow, more sustainable businesses and coronavirus though it has been a threat to health around the world

also has proven how resilient we are as a global society, in order to change the way we behave. and that somehow gives me hope. the coronavirus similar to climate change are both global threats but coronavirus is more, let's say evident and given the depths and know what is going on. let me ask about practicalities, tourism is so important to costa rica and such a key sector and against the financial clout to do the things you want to do on the environment given the restrictions on travel and tourism which is likely to last months into the future, does that pose a risk to the things you actually want to do? it does. but the thing is we need to move forward in the right direction. for example, we're launching an initiative globally on tourism to have accurate portables for

travel and hotels and restaurants to make tourism possible once again and make it secure for everyone. that is possible to do as we have shown with telework and other behaviours. at the same time, we cannot use this threat of coronavirus as an excuse to say let's stop our work on climate change. that was the president of costa rica speaking to me a short while ago. let's return to the uk because we are still waiting to hear government plans to begin easing the lockdown next monday. you will hear more on those details. let's turn our attention now to some of the people who have already been breaking guidelines. bbc podcast ‘the next episode' has been speaking to young people in the uk about why they're choosing to go against the rules. i'm joined now by the podcast‘s presenter, linda adey. this is absolutely fascinating. tell me that sort of things that you have been looking at in terms of what these young people have been doing.

we have spoken to a number of different people and unfortunately not everyone is adhering to government guidelines and we suspect people get doing things like going for walks and parked and many live in separate households and they say they will often meet together for walks and that they are not doing that any more many comic nanny said he will continue to meet friends we spoke a friend called adam who described himself as quite active and says he often goes out to play football with up to eight friends at a time and again people who are not in his own household so breaking rules in that way. one last one we spoke to a music producer who said he is producing music in a studio so varied reasons why people are breaking rules at the moment. you have been passing on exchanges to the authorities looking at all of this and we will play that and a moment or two but in terms of those

conversations, where they telling you why they were flouting the rules ? you why they were flouting the rules? there is a number of reasons why ranging from things like mental health to wanting to have physical interaction with people. what i did ask with this podcast knowing that death toll is rising will it make you stop? and then he said no. we played a clip to an x police officer and he had this to say...

interesting that response. but the government have long known that is actually a particular group of concerned, actually a particular group of concerned , young actually a particular group of concerned, young people in this lockdown but i suppose a lot of questions that pose is about the messaging because it is whether they have understood the message, ignoring the message or thinks it does not actually apply to them? the message was very clear, clear throughout the conversation we had with him which was keeping to government guidelines does help to save lives and that is just at. thank you very much for taking us through. many of us are struggling with our "lockdown hair'" because hairdressers and barbers are closed. but a bbc investigation has found some are flouting the rules in the uk. colin campbell has found some barber shops which have been offering appointments, despite the risk of breaching social distancing restrictions.

barbers, like many businesses, they have been banned from opening, to stop the spread of covid—19. but we have discovered not all are adhering to the lockdown laws. hi, i'm trying to find somewhere to get my haircut. five o'clock, is that 0k? five o'clock, to the shop, yeah? yeah. we have to sit down in the kitchen because i want to be private, i don't want anybody to see you because it will be a problem for me. just phoning to see if you would be willing to cut my hair? what, today? yes, please. i've got a customer. i am busy till saturday, only sunday. i am busy today, tomorrow. sunday, i'm free. so, obviously they are seeing quite a few clients. that is interaction with quite a few different people who also may therefore have been interacting with other people, and this alljust gives any person who may be infected and asymptomatic the opportunity

to spread the virus quite rapidly. only a few of the barbers i spoke to showed any real concern for the dangers posed by the virus. do you want me to wear a mask or take any other safety precautions? i don't care. for me, i don't believe in this coronavirus or whatever. for me, it doesn't matter. responding to our investigation, celebrity hairdresser nicky clarke told me he was disappointed but not surprised. well, i think it's wrong. the fact of the matter is that they are not putting into place anything that could even justify their behaviour. in total, i phoned 50 barbers. 19 agreed to cut my hair. 12 declined. 19 didn't answer my call, but many who did admitted they had increased their prices, seemingly cashing in on the crisis.

for those responsible barbers abiding by the law, now financially suffering, there is understandable frustration. it just makes me angry, to be honest. the fact that people are still profiting from this... yeah, itjust makes me really angry. really angry. controlling the virus has taken the hard work and sacrifice of many. it is the irresponsible actions of a few that could jeopardise that. colin campbell, bbc news. one aspect of covid—19 that medics are trying to understand, is why it affects people so differently. for many, the symptoms are mild, but for others the virus is much more serious. and some people struggle to shake off the symptoms for many weeks — leaving them exhausted and anxious. more details from our health correspondent dominic hughes. i have suspected coronavirus. what i was not prepared for wasjust excruciating leg pains.

it has been seven weeks now. that feeling of being so diminished and so weak. it came back on week four. in the fifth week of being ill, my partner had to call out a&e. week seven i relapsed again and had my third wave. for six weeks now, felicity, aged 49 and from london, has been living with suspected coronavirus. david, 42, and living in bristol, has also spent almost two months suffering relapses. this is where i have all my stuff. i make sure i'm keeping cutlery and bowls separate. david's world has shrunk to this room, self isolating to protect his wife and baby daughter. eating and sleeping here, separate from my wife for the last seven weeks. it's hard work. butjust when he thought he was getting better, he'd relapse and he's not alone. just knowing that people like me, i guess, who have experienced these waves on and off,

because when i first relapsed, when it first got worse, it was quite a scary experience, because i thought that you don't know whether that means you are going down, down, down, so it is quite scary to get worse after you thought you were getting better. when i was really ill, i was going on my hands and knees, up and down the stairs... felicity has also struggled to shake off covid—type symptons and the weeks of illness have taken their toll. this entire experience of being sick and trying to recover has been mentally overwhelming. the hardest part was, having got through the first ten days of being very sick and thinking i was getting better, things later getting much, much worse. i was experiencing such horrific abdominal pains that i wasjust calling out injust extreme agony. neither felicity nor david have been tested,

but both were told by doctors they probably had the virus. they've also been reassured they are no longer infectious, but recovery has been slow. even the slightest uphill slope is a real struggle since being ill. so much about the coronavirus is unknown, including why some experience relatively mild symptoms, lasting a few days, while otherwise healthy people are left struggling for weeks. in many patients with other diseases who are recovering from an acute illness, you do tend to see this kind of waxing and waning effect as you are slowly getting better and you have good days and bad days. there's some evidence to suggest that the prolonged features are the body's response to infection rather than the infection itself persisting in their bodies. the first week i started to keep a diary of the symptoms i was experiencing. david and felicity hope they are now finally recovering. a return to normalfamily life. my wife would bring my daughter to the window.

it was lovely. i'm going to give you squidgies soon! dominic hughes, bbc news. the indian government has launched a massive operation, to bring back its citizens, stranded outside of the country due to coronavirus. the first stage has just started — and it includes flying back about 15 thousand people from 12 countries. india plans to use aircraft and naval ships to repatriate hundreds of thousands of peope, in total. here's yogita limaye. the first flights coming in are bringing people and from the middle east up to the middle of the made the government has said it is expecting to evacuate as many as 200,000 people from countries like singapore, the us the uk as well as the middle east. lots of migrant workers who are particularly stuck

in the middle east. they will charge fairto in the middle east. they will charge fair to these passengers. at a slightly lower rates than what they ordinarily would have paid by coming back through flight. ships have been sent to the maldives to get indians stranded there. they have laid out an intricate procedure on how these passengers will be screened and what happened to them. there will be screening before they board the aircraft and only people who are asymptomatic after that will be taken on board the flight. 0nce asymptomatic after that will be taken on board the flight. once they land here in indiana they will be screened again. everyone who asymptomatic will be taken to a medicalfacility asymptomatic will be taken to a medical facility but even those asymptomatic will be taken to a quarantine facility where they will be capped for about 1k days. after that if they test negative for covid—19 on the will they be

released to go back to their own homes. on friday britain will commemorate the 75th anniversary of ve day when the war ended in europe. the contribution of thousands of men and women from the caribbean who served is to be marked with a permanent monument. sian lloyd has spoken to some of those involved — her report was filmed before the coronavirus restrictions. albert jarrett, aged 18, one of around 10,000 people who left the caribbean to join the war effort. we were needed at this height of the war. our services were needed. and we were very anxious to give our service to the country that protected us, because we were british citizens and this was our mother country, we were told. the place they set sail for was very different to home, on board ships that were cramped and uncomfortable. in those days, ships had to move in convoy because if they are not in convoy, don't forget, the german u—boat is

going to get rid of them. and for that reason, 23 long days on the sea before we get here, and we came here and i remember when we got to bristol, i saw the promised land! what was known at the time as a colour bar had restricted recruitment to the armed forces, but by 1941 advertisements in newspapers invited people from the west indies tojoin the raf. the contribution and sacrifice of all those from the caribbean who have and continue to serve the country will now be commemorated here at the national memorial arboretum. the campaign to raise the half a million pounds needed is being led by a former serviceman. up until now, a lot of people have had the perception or misconception that all people of colour, shall we say, did in the war was dug trenches.

that's not the case. a lot of people were pilots, navigators, engineers, the lot, and they won a lot of gallantry medals for their service. but that story has not been told nowhere near as widely as it should be. so this monument will tell that story. clay models give a sense of how the finished sculpture will look. an imposing nine metres wide and carved from stone, it features palm trees and four bronze figures to represent the different branches of the armed forces. i am so pleased about it, because it seemed so shocking to me that this government have never done nothing to show any appreciation. one of the few surviving veterans of the second world war, 95—year—old albert hopes he will see a monument during his lifetime. sian lloyd, bbc news.

that is just about it from me, thank you so much for watching. next step is outside source. good evening, it has been a warmer day today and the warmth will continue to build from many over the coming few days. by the time we get to the weekend, change is afoot. for coastal counties it will be a warmer day on friday but by the time we get to saturday afternoon across the north of scotland and particular there will be a blast of arctic air moving its way south where it's right across the uk, by sunday so it will feel very different, almost like winter has returned i should imagine but for the rest of this evening and overnight it stays largely clear and quite chilly actually and eastern areas and further west we have more cloud and a few showers to hold our temperature up. if there is a little nest and fog first thing it will

clear quickly and plenty of dry and u nsettled clear quickly and plenty of dry and unsettled weather. however and those showers are making inroads on the weather front so there will be an increase chance of showers over the coming days. just about anywhere content tomorrow afternoon. up into the northern island and more cloud in these areas and not everywhere will catch a shower but in the afternoon given the heat and the strength of the centre now it could turn out to be happy with the odd rumble of thunder. and an eastern coastal counties, friday very similar in that there will be a lot of dry and bright weather and hazy sunshine and a difference and scotla nd sunshine and a difference and scotland and we have a weather front with us by that state. rather cloudy and damp at times here and there could be the odd sharp shower as we see temperature is rising into the many parts of england and the odd

shower. similarly sale on saturday. it will turn heavy and tender and at the same time and the north we get the same time and the north we get the cold wind appearing set seven or eight at the far north of scotland asa eight at the far north of scotland as a hold on to the heat in the south. 0vernight and to the the cold airwill south. 0vernight and to the the cold air will place the weather front right the way south and behind that a real chance of snow and lower levels and northern scotland so it will feel much colder by day on sunday. feeling colder still when you add in the effect of the strong northerly wind.

this is 0utside source on bbc news for viewers in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. germany has unveiled plans to reopen europe's biggest economy. restaurants, schools and professional football have all been given the green light to re start as lockdown restrictions are lifted. another grim milestone. the number of deaths in the uk has tipped past 30,000. the prime minister defends his handling of the pandemic but admits to some failings in care homes.