this is bbc news. i'm mike embley with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the united kingdom becomes the first country in europe to record more than 30,000 linked to coronavirus. president trump keeps up his attack on china as he changes course on disbanding the coronavirus task force, saying he never knew it was so popular. president trump says the coronavirus pandemic is the worst attack ever on the united states, and points the finger at china. germany announces the way out of lockdown — more shops will reopen and children will begin returning to school. a public sign of appreciation for hospital staff from the world's most private artist. hello and welcome. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments

here in britain and globally. first, britain's prime minister has faced tough questioning in parliament over his government's handling of the pandemic. the uk is the first country in europe to record more than 30,000 deaths related to covid—19. borisjohnson also said he bitterly regrets the coronavirus crisis in uk care homes, figures show these deaths are still rising. angela merkel has declared an end to the first phase of the outbreak in germany. schools and shops are to re—open and top—level football matches will resume behind closed doors. president trump has described the effect of coronavirus on the us as worse than, the attacks on pearl harbour. he again criticised china for failing to warn the world about the virus in time to prevent a global catastrophe. beijing says the us wants to distract from its own handling of the pandemic. those are the main developments, but first, laura kuenssberg reports. small clusters of commuters. westminster quiet, masks sometimes. but not lonely any more.

one new normal has begun. weeks after keir starmer became the labour leader, the first of his weekly chance to put the prime minister under pressure. i'm looking forward to it, and i'm glad to see he's back in parliament. reporter: how are you going to handle the new labour leader, prime minister? with boris johnson back at work, back at the despatch 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's the second highest in the world. that's not success or apparent success, so can the prime minister tell us how on earth did it come to this? he's 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 there

to draw all the conclusions that we want. comparing different countries' statistics is difficult, but it's 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 his family had been told 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 for her after having been by his bedside for so long. 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 that we're in a health crisis. i have to ask the prime minister, why hasn't the government got to grips with this already? there's an epidemic going on in care homes which is something i bitterly regret, and we've been working very hard for weeks to get it down. in the last few days, there has been a palpable improvement. there's no consistent evidence that situation is improving. but 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's one—on—one. laura kuenssberg with that report. president trump has described the coronavirus pandemic as the worst attack ever on the united states, saying the global outbreak would not have happened if china had acted quicker. mr trump said the fallout from the pandemic had hit the country harder than the japanese bombing of pearl harbor in world war two, or the september the 11th attacks two decades ago. he added that it should have been stopped at source in china, but wasn't. joining me now from washington is anita kumar. she's a white house correspondent and associate editor of politico. welcome, thank you very much your time. people are pretty used by now to the president saying one thing, doing another, changing his mind pretty fast. does any of that

matter? what's the meet here, what's significant? he has been doing that for quite a lot, he's been doing that for the last 3.5 years. the big news is the president's announcement that his coronavirus task for was going to be disbanded. as you indicated, it is back on. today he said it is back on because he heard from a lot of public—health officials around the country that were very alarmed by that and really him to reconsider. where do you see the president's strategy going here? these right, the economy was doing really well, now it's been trashed. he's clearly very clea n, been trashed. he's clearly very clean, keen to point the finger at china, is that cutting it with the voters? those people are trying to figure out whether they can go back or not, and here in the us, there isa not, and here in the us, there is a patchwork of different laws and rules for them. despite everyone paying attention to what donald trump does, it's the governors of each state that has been making that determination so people

are trying to work out if they can be back out again so 15 states have been opening things up states have been opening things up and we're watching to see if will be new flareups in those states, and that will really tell whether those governors made a mistake, whether it was too early and what happens with the economy, which, you're exactly right, that is what president donald trump is focused on, he wants things to open up again, he's looking at his election in six months and he's seeing that needs to rebound. if there is a flareup of deaths in those states where the president has been pushing for reopening, taking away the lockdown restrictions, and lots of people in those states vote for of people in those states vote foertrump, of people in those states vote for mr trump, politically that's a real problem for him, quite apart from a tragedy for them. sure, it's a risk on both parts, a health risk for sure but also a political risk, and that's why partly he decided to have — it's the law, the states got to decide their own way, the president was clear he wa nted the president was clear he wanted the states and governors

to do that, he pushed the responsibility to them. some people close to the president had said to me, and close to his campaign, said that was a smart thing for him to do politically because then if something does happen, you can say these other people made that bad decision. yes, he would like into work obviously for health decisions and he wa nted for health decisions and he wanted to work for the economy, he to get the economy rebounding before the election. quickly, neater, how does this play for the election? the democrats have produced some significant campaign ads but joe biden can't campaign, the president can't do rallies but he has a pulpit everyday stop your right, it's a weird campaign because there no campaign because there no campaign events apart from those on the computer, the virtual events. the president is out, he's starting to travel, he took his first trip last week —— this week. he will be travelling and doing events at the white house. so he does get to get the message out every single day, wherejoe

biden doesn't as much. he's doing virtual events everyday and he's trying to do that —— get that attention but it's been quite difficult for him. anita kumar, thank you very much. thank you. (pres)germany has announced significant steps in easing germany has announced significant steps in easing its lockdown — shops and cafes will reopen, as well as a return to schools and football. but chancellor angela merkel, a scientist herself, seems cautiously optimistic, but has warned any spike in the virus will result in a return to strict measures. freya cole reports. cafes have reopened and people can sitand cafes have reopened and people can sit and enjoy at a distance. translation: it's a nice feeling to see how happy people are, the joy of living again. i'm really happy to go out again. the leaders of germany's i6 out again. the leaders of germany's 16 states have been eager to restart local economies, and now they can. translation: it is going forward. you have to see that oui’ forward. you have to see that our people want to work. shops,

restau ra nts a nd hotels our people want to work. shops, restaurants and hotels can open their doors, but residents are urged to wear a mask in public, and thei.5 urged to wear a mask in public, and the 1.5 metre distance rule should be maintained. germany has slowed the virus. 7000 people have died, but that figure is much lower than other european countries. new infection rates are also consistently low, but if that increases to more than 50 cases per 100,000 patients, the lockdown will return. but it would be isolated. translation: if the infection increases somewhere, we have an emergency mechanism, and then it not the whole country that has to be put in danger again. the national football league will also make a comeback, but stadiums will remain empty and players will be routinely tested. students will also return to class in stages, but

as for cinemas, theatres and early childcare centres, that's still a grey area in the gradual steps towards normality. freya cole, bbc news. the cruise ship at the centre ofa the cruise ship at the centre of a public enquiry into the spread of covid—19 in australia has entered philippine waters. the ruby princess willjoin a growing number of cruise ships anchored in manila bay in order to repatriate filipino crew, but strict quarantine measures, and the closure of airports, mean an estimated 10,000 other foreign crew members remain stuck on board ships. some have broken their silence to tell their story to the bbc‘s howard johnson in manila. the once broad blue expanse of manila bay now resembling a small city of towering cruise ships. more are arriving by the day because of the large number of returning filipinos who work in the cruise ship industry. but after 1a days of quarantine and testing on board these ships, they're slowly being able to disembark. but for thousands of foreigners still on board these ships, they don't know how or when they'll be able to return home.

so this is my cabin. this is where i spend about 22 hours of the day in. one of them is briton cassandra snowden. she's a children's entertainer on the royal caribbean ship voyager of the seas. she hasn't set foot on land for two months and has spent most of that time in self—isolation in her cabin. we've just been floating around the ocean — like, turned away from ports, ordered to ger out of waters. we are still doing strict social distancing. considering we disembarked our guests seven weeks ago, we haven't got off since. the philippine government had been allowing foreign nationals to leave through the country's main airport but, at the weekend, suspended all flights into the country for a week to reduce numbers in their quarantine centres. cassandra says the not knowing when they will be allowed home is taking its toll on her health. i think it's getting to a point where our basic human rights

are forgotten about. you know, we talk about this virus and how it kills people, but mental health does — and people want to go back to their mothers, their fathers, their husbands, wives, children. just... something needs to be done. and it needs to be done fast. we contacted royal caribbean, who told us they have already helped more than 12,000 crewmembers to return home. they say for those still on board ships in manila bay, charter repatriations will be put on as soon the philippine authorities clear the way. the philippine government says it will lift the ban on flights this weekend, offering a potential way out for foreign crew. howard johnson, bbc news, manila. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: how the outbreak in brazil and the president's handling of the crisis has provoked an angry reaction. i, nelson rolihlahla mandela, do hereby swear to be faithful

to the republic of south africa. after six years of construction and numerous delays, the channel tunnel has been formally opened by the queen and president mitterrand. but the tunnel is still not yet ready for passengers and freight services to begin. for centuries, christianity and islam struggled for supremacy. now, the pope's visit symbolises their willingness to coexist. roger bannister became the first man in the world to run a mile in underfour minutes. memories of victory as the ve celebrations reach their climax. this night is dedicated to everyone who believes in a future of peace and freedom.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the uk becomes the first country in europe to record more than 30,000 coronavirus deaths. president trump says the coronavirus pandemic is the "worst attack" ever on the united states, and points the finger at china. the venezuelan government has released footage it claims shows an american private security contractor confessing to helping organise a coup against president nicholas maduro. thirteen people, including two american citizens, have been arrested, accused of entering the country illegally from colombia last week. venezuela has described them as mercenaries hired by the opposition, with the support of the us, to kill mr maduro. the footage released by caracas appears to show american luke denham describe his mission. securing the sector. establishing our resistance.

bringing in planes, one of which included one to put mr maduro on and take him back to the united states. the footage also shows denham hold up what caracas claims is a contract between silvercorp, a private us security firm, and venezuelan oppsition leader juan guido. while carcas hasnt released the alleged contract in its entirety but tweets were sent by a since deleted twitter account named silvercorps us stating ‘strikeforce incursion into venezuela. 60 venezuelan, 2 american ex green beret‘ and earlier this week video emerged of silvercorp owner jordan goudreau describing a daring and amphibious raid against caracas. the us has denied any involvement, and us secretary of state mike pompeo has said te us will act to return any us citizens imprisoned abroad. we will start the process of trying to figure out if these

are infact trying to figure out if these are in fact are americans who we re are in fact are americans who were there and figure a path forward to get americans back and if the mr maduro regime decides to hold them we will do everything to get them back. giancarlo fiorella is a venezuelan researcherer for the online investigative journalism outlet bellingcat good to talk to you. what is for real as far as you can tell? what we know is real as far as we tell? what we know is real as faras we can tell? what we know is real as far as we can tell is that this is an operation that took place over the weekend. according to jordan goudreau, he and one of his cohorts left to boat with two groups of men sent to the country to attempt to arrest present maduro —— president. to

ta ke present maduro —— president. to take him out of the country and inside a rebellion that would eventually topple the current government. beyond that, a lot of back and forth between the opposition and the mr maduro government. we have seen videos, like the ones from luke denham. a lot of information not quite confirmed but we do know this is something that, if it was an operation that was carried out and the intention was to topple the government. if it wasn't for real, that would be quite an operation given that the army and security forces are still taking mrmaduro? security forces are still taking mr maduro? yes, and we also know that the venezuelan government was aware that this was under way, possibly as early as late march but certainly by a third, when they we re certainly by a third, when they were media reports thatjordan goudreau was in colombia and trying to organise rebel

forces, the authorities were fully aware that this plan was under way and so to launch this operation under maximum visibility obviously was a really foolish enterprise. what you make of the tweets, since deleted, they so explicit, so much of a smoking gun, they seem much of a smoking gun, they seem almost too good to be true. people making mistakes and sharing too much information but i do not think this is one. i went to sleep reading something saying there was another strike under way but not believing it could be true, because they would be admitting to an ongoing operation live on twitter but sure enough, the next morning it turned out to be true and there was a second boat intercepted and aborted to us

citizens, luke and aaron, and it was a surreal, absurd at times story. beginning to take place on sunday. clearly it will be back on this one. thank you so much. thank you for having me. in brazil there's growing pressure on president bolsonaro over what's been described as his ‘chaotic‘ response to the pandemic. south america's largest nation has seen 11a,000 cases and almost 8,000 deaths — with rates still increasing. but despite this and a health system under immense strain, the president continues to deny there's a serious problem. 0ur correspondent katy watson reports from the east of sao paulo — the country's worst—affected area. in brazil's favelas, coronavirus is seen as a rich man's disease brought in from abroad. but they know that the poor will suffer the most. death is ever present in these often violent neighbourhoods. covid—19 has become another killer, weaving its way into these narrow streets.

aline used to earn $5 a day as a cleaner. now, both she and her husband are unemployed, bringing up three little girls on hand—outs and donations. social distancing isn't an option here, and authorities aren't around to enforce any rules. they're angry with how their president's dealing with this crisis. translation: bolsonaro is wrong. he tells people to go to work, then people die. and then he'lljust say, "another one died. well, it's not my son." what he should say is, "stay at home." jair bolsonaro isn't dubbed the tropical trump for nothing. just like his american idol, he's been railing against lockdown. as crisis here escalates, so too does denial. yesterday, he said the worst was over. then came the biggestjump

in the number of deaths so far. jair bolsonaro got the top job because he promised brazilians angry with corrupt politics a change for the better. but with families in the amazon burying their dead in mass graves and public health systems on the verge of collapse nationwide, many former supporters feel they were fed a lie. state governors are ignoring the president, introducing quarantine and lockdown to protect the public. the man in charge of brazil's wealthiest state has become bolsonaro's biggest critic. when you have two viruses to combat, the coronavirus and bolsonaro virus, it's not time to discuss ideology, politics, campaigns or individual positions. it's wrong. this is the wrong way. the right way — to save lives, and to respect the science, to respect the medicine.

but in sao paulo's eastern suburbs, quarantine offers little opportunity. poverty makes sure of that. the most vulnerable are waiting in line for government hand—outs and in doing so, they are the most exposed. brazilians are confused. do they listen to their local politicians saying stay at home? or to their president saying get back to work? increasingly, rules are being bent here and ignored, and it couldn't come at a worse time for the country. even rio's most famous landmark has been enlisted in the fight against coronavirus. if christ the redeemer can't persuade devout jair bolsonaro to finally don a mask, nobody can. katy watson, bbc news, in sao paulo. a new painting by the street artist banksy has been revealed at a hospital in southern england. it's called game changer, and the work will be auctioned later with the money going to the nhs.

0ur arts editor will gompertz has been to see it. could this be a rare sighting of the elusive street artist, banksy? undercover, making a special delivery to university hospital southampton. 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 waste—paper 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, but now, with everything that's 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 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's 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're really appreciative that he's made southampton the place to recognise the nhs. the plan is to sell the artwork at an auction after the lockdown, with the proceeds going to the nhs, some of which will come to this hospital. it could fetch over £1 million. will gompertz, bbc news, southampton. a reminder of the main news on the virus. the number of deaths in the uk has passed 30,000. under questioning in parliament, his first appearance after the new labour leader, keir starmer, the prime

minister says he regrets the rise in deaths. that's it for now, thank you for watching. hello there. over the next few days, it looks like the temperatures are going to creep upwards. we could be looking at the mid—20s celsius across some southern parts of the uk, but we'll also have building humidity as well and that could increase the chance of some showers, some of which will be heavy and thundery. now, the pressure chart for thursday shows high—pressure largely dominating the scene, particularly towards the eastern half of the uk. further west, we'll have these weather fronts, but it will introduce more cloud and outbreaks of rain. so it could be fairly wet in one or two places during thursday morning, the patchy rain spreading northwards into scotland. and then further south, we should see some sunshine developing but a few heavy showers on into the afternoon. central—eastern parts of the country seeing the best of the drier and the sunnier weather. we could see highs reaching 23 degrees in the south, but up to 19 or 20 in the north too.

now, there could be some evening showers or thunderstorms across england and wales — into the midlands, certainly. these will tend to die off through the night. most places will be dry, but it will stay rather cloudy and damp across the north and the west of scotland. and a milder night to come as well, temperatures in double figures across central and southern areas. so, for friday, it starts off milder. so it's going to be a warmer day. bit more cloud around generally. certainly across the north and the west, we'll have further outbreaks of rain. certainly for northern scotland. elsewhere, some thundershowers will develop into the afternoon once again, particularly northern ireland, england and wales. look at those temperatures — up to 25 degrees across the south. now into the weekend, as we start to see some changes. for saturday, a cold front begins to push southwards across scotland. much colder air behind it, as the name suggests. some rain on it too. further south, it'll be another warm day with sunny spells but increasing chance of showers and thunderstorms. those temperatures, again, reaching the low to mid 20s in the south.

much colder in the north, as that cold front begins to slip southwards. and then during saturday night, it'll advance its way southwards right across the country, so by sunday, it's going to feel very different. unusually cold air for the time of year will make it feel very chilly indeed and we'll see some wintry showers across northern and eastern parts of the country, maybe even some settling snow across the north in scotland, even down to lower levels. that said, apart from a few showers, there will be some sunshine around. but look at these temperatures compared to what they expect for the next few days — ranging from 6 to 12 degrees.

this is bbc news, the headlines:

the number of deaths related to coronavirus here in the uk has passed 30,000. under questioning in parliament, his first appearance opposite the new labor leader, sir keir starmer, the prime minister said he "bitterly regrets" the crisis in care homes, where death rates are still rising. he said he intends to outline plans for coming out of lockdown this weekend. president trump has said the pandemic has hit the united states harder than the japanese bombing of pearl harbour or the attacks of 9—11. his secretary of state, mike pompeo, has again criticised china for failing to warn the world about the virus in time to prevent a global catastrophe. the german chancellor has come to an agreement with regional leaders on relaxing the country's lockdown. shops, hotels, and restaurants will re—open and football matches will re—open — although social distancing will remain. but restrictions could be re—imposed, if new outbreaks of the virus occur.