tv BBC News BBC News May 10, 2020 4:00am-4:31am BST
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this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: it's a disaster — president trump's handling of the pandemic is slammed by his predecessor barack obama. brazil's world famous maraca na football stadium, now a coronavirus hospital as the country's death toll reaches 10,000. easing the uk's lockdown will only be done with "extreme caution", says the government — as many already ignore the stay at home advice to soak up the sun. and the pioneer of rock ‘n‘ roll, little richard dies aged 87.
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hello. we begin in the us, where former president barack 0bama has described the current government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic as an "absolute, chaotic disaster". mr 0bama was speaking on a conference call to rally supporters behind joe biden‘s run for president. in a leaked recording he says, "what we're fighting against is these long—term trends in which being selfish, being tribal, being divided, and seeing others as an enemy — that has become a stronger impulse in american life." he then adds: "it would've been bad with the best of governments. it's been an absolute chaotic disaster when that mindset of ‘what‘s in it for me‘ and ‘to heck with everybody else‘ is operationalised
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in government." 0ur north america coprrespondent peter bowes told me why mr 0bama's comments are significant. we haven't heard words like this, as strong as this from former president 0bama really since before president trump became president. he has pretty much stayed on the sidelines during the past three years of mr trump being in the white house. but we are a different time now and of course we're just six months away from the next presidential election and barack 0bama has endorsed his former deputy, joe biden, for the democrats as their candidate. i think this signals that president 0bama will not be quiet over the next six months. in fact, he is saying that he is going to do as much as he can to support his former number two, and the purpose apparently of this private conference call that he was having with his former colleagues was to encourage them to get involved in that campaign and to get behind mr biden. there is a kind of unwritten rule that previous presidents don't comment too much, too openly on what is happening with the current presidency, and we should stress again, this was not leaked comments, wasn't meant necessarily
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to be public. any response yet from donald trump? no direct response yet from donald trump, certainly nothing on his twitterfeed, which is often the forum any response yet from donald trump? no direct response yet from donald trump, certainly nothing on his twitterfeed, which is often the forum that he uses to express himself during times like this. we have had a comment from the white house, that he uses to express himself during times like this. we have had a comment from the white house, not really directly mentioning president 0bama, but saying that president trump's response to the coronavirus has been unprecedented and that he has saved american lives. i think what we can determine from what is happening here is that this will continue to be a major issue. in fact, president trump has said himself tht he would like, in a way, to see the coronavirus and his response to it to be something
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of a referendum in terms of his presidency and how he has dealt with this major crisis. let's get to the substance then of what barack 0bama was saying, criticism that we have heard, notjust from him, but echoed in other quarters around the us. yes, and it really goes to the heart, you could say, of the personality of president trump, and you are absolutely right — we have heard these kind of criticisms before, that some of the decisions made by president trump have focused perhaps more on his chances at the next election and specifically pushing some of the states to open sooner than they might have wanted to. in other words, to, as the critics would see it, ignore the fact that this virus is still spreading, but want to get business moving again. and the number ofjob losses as we have been hearing the last couple of days, absolutely unprecedented, the harm to the economy, and this was something of course that you have heard a lot from president trump about before coronavirus, how good the economy was doing, and he still says that he
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believes it will start coming back in the third and fourth quarter, he expects the economy to be doing quite well considering what it has gone through over the last few weeks. the brazilian president, jair bolsonaro has been criticised for riding a jetski on a lake as the national congress announced three days of official mourning for victims of the pandemic. it comes as the death toll in brazil surpasses 10,000, and the world famous maraca na football stadium in rio dejaneiro has been re—purposed as a coronavirus hospital. the health minister has been to visit the new facility which aims to provide around 400 beds in what is latin america's worst hit country. journalist gustavo ribeiro, from the brazilian report, has more on the public reaction to the pictures of president bolsonaro riding a jetski the day brazil has surpassed 10,000 deaths related to covid—i9. well, the reaction has been overwhelmingly negative towards bolsonaro.
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he has been facing criticism for a few days. on april 28, when asked about the rising death toll of covid, he said, ‘so what? what do you want me to do?‘ then, yesterday, he said that he was planning on doing a barbecue today in the presidential residence. he then ended up backpedalling and not hosting the barbecue. then, as you said a little while ago, he rode on a jet ski and met with a few people on a boat who were doing themselves a barbecue. he disrespected social distancing recommendations that his own health ministry said, and just talked to them very close to these people. and once again said that brazil should be more worried about reigniting the economy again and protecting jobs because if the economy tanks, mortality rates in brazil will rise. so his point, much research does say that when we have a big drop in gdp in brazil,
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we have people having less access to healthcare and having less access to healthy habits and more precarious job conditions that will indeed lead to mortality rates going up. brazil is one of the hardest hit latin american countries, talk me through the figures and what you make of them. well, the figures are massively understated. like you said, we have reached the 10,000 dead mark and that is only the official numbers because the truth is, we have not been testing enough. we have been testing
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1,600 people per million inhabitants which is 33 times less than spain has tested. in some states, the backlogs of tests of untested patients reaches almost 100,000 people. a lot of studies have estimated between two and 11.2 million people who may have already been infected. of course, those are estimates. but the truth is that there are signs everywhere to be found that the figures are understated. and the health minister himself said a week and a half ago that brazil was like a boat flying blind through the crisis. the british government says emerging from lockdown will be a gradual process. it comes as the prime minister prepares to address the nation on sunday evening, to set out the next phase in tackling the pandemic. the uk has the second highest number of confirmed deaths, after the us. british airlines have called for clarity — after being told that the government will bring in a 14—day quarantine for anyone arriving in the uk. here's our political correspondent ben wright.
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the balmy bank holiday weather brought people to the parks. in london, police tried to remind them of the rules. police radio while in leeds, the measures on social distancing were also being stretched in the sun. just walking to the car to get the dog's ball, people were just walking right close to you on the path, so you had to walk on the road to stay away from them. i think people are forgetting the seriousness of it all. i think we're getting to a point where we're finding it difficult being at home, but you can see why it's important to ensure that the lockdown continues for a little while longer. tomorrow, the prime minister will set out a road map for how england might leave the covid lockdown. and today, one of boris johnson's cabinet ministers said the government would proceed with extreme caution. importantly, it is true to say that moving beyond covid will be a gradual process, not a single leap to freedom. so, when we do emerge, the world will seem quite different.
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the aviation industry is one of many reeling from the impact of the current coronavirus restrictions. airlines in the uk say they have been told the government will bring in a 14—day quarantine for anyone arriving from any country apart from the republic of ireland. if this is the scientific advice, then absolutely we will accept that. the health and safety of our passengers is paramount, but this will have a, you know, significant impact on our sector. nobody‘s going to want to travel if they have to go into quarantine for 1h days. secretary of state, can you confirm that anyone flying into uk airports will be told to quarantine for 1h days from the start of next month? a lot of people will wonder why this wasn't done weeks ago. now we have a situation where, as we get the r number — the reproduction number — down in the uk and we begin to get things under control, and we now have the capacity, as we just discussed, in testing as well, it clearly then makes sense
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to look at what happens at the borders. i can't confirm is the answer. you will have to wait for the prime minister tomorrow night. the prime ministerfirst announced the current lockdown less than seven weeks ago. you should not be meeting friends. if your friends ask you to meet, you should say no. you should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home. you should not be going shopping except for essentials, like food and medicine. like everyone, boris johnson is weighing up risk — the need to protect the economy and people's liberty against the fear of a resurgent disease. ben wright, bbc news. to switzerland now — where the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the poverty faced by many people, in one of the world's richest countries. switzerland is famous for its private banks and luxury watchmakers but for weeks hundreds of people have been turning to food banks for vital supplies. rich preston has this report. as in many parts of the world,
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the coronavirus pandemic has hit poorer people the hardest. even here in switzerland, per capita the ninth richest country in the world. in geneva, this ice rink has been converted to a food bank. volunteers sorting basic supplies for those in need. on saturday, people began lining up at 5am. by the time doors opened at 9am, the queue was over a kilometre long. last week, organisers said 2,000 people had attended. swiss officials sayjust over 500,000 people in the country live in poverty, but the current crisis has exacerbated their problem, putting an immediate stop on many wages. translation: communities of workers in the domestic economy and catering have existed for a very long time. this crisis brings them out because they are people who are paid by their work immediately. so if there is a lockdown,
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people cannot go to work and they won't receive money. many of those in need are migrants working in restaurants, cafes and homes. translation: at the end of the month, my pockets will be empty. we have bills to pay, insurance, everything. so we will feel it at the end of the month. this food distribution is great because there is food for a week, which is a week of relief. switzerland's story isn't unique. but on one side of town, luxury watchmakers and jewellery shops, the offices of the united nations and the world bank, whilstjust a few kilometres away, hundreds queue up for basic food, bags of pasta, tins of soup. here, it is perhaps more stark. rich preston, bbc news. the self—proclaimed "architect of rock ‘n‘ roll" richard penniman, better known as little richard, has died of bone cancer at the age of 87.
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in a statement his lawyer said "little richard passed away this morning in tennessee — he was loved by his family and adored by millions". david sillito looks back at his life. # wop—bop—a—loo—mop alop—bom—bom. # tutti frutti, oh rutti.# little richard and tutti frutti — nothing had sounded quite like this before. and while it would be going too far to say he invented rock and roll, he was certainly one of the founding fathers. i wanted to sound different. me and the young kids, we was tired of all those slow tracks, we wanted to boogie. lucille, long tall sally, good golly miss molly, his run of hits became rock and roll standards. of course, in 1950s america, his songs often reached a bigger audience when covered by white artists. did you know that elvis presley and pat boone sold more of tutti frutti than i did? and then, in 1957, he quit music to become a preacher. the tussle between god and the devil's music was a lifelong battle. # lucille, baby,
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satisfy my heart. but he soon returned to the stage, and all around him — the beatles, the stones, james brown — you could see his influence everywhere. 0ffstage, his private life was even wilder. but those who worked with him remember him with warmth. what you saw on stage and television, he was that way offstage. he was the king of the one—liners. he would always make you laugh. he had a beautiful heart. all the rock and roll legend stuff aside, he was a good man. and his place in musical history — we'll leave the last word to the man himself. i'm the king of rock and roll! my, my, my, my, ijust had to do that and i feel so much better i got it out! # tutti frutti, oh rutti. # awop—bop—a—loo—mop
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alop—bam—boom. # little richard — richard penniman — who has died at the age of 87. this is bbc news. the main headlines this hour: the former us president, barack 0bama, has described his successor‘s handling of the coronavirus pandemic as "an absolute chaotic disaster". lockdown will only be eased with "extreme caution" says the uk government, as many defy the advice to enjoy bank holiday sunshine in the nation's parks. guiding a country out of lockdown may appear to pose more challenges than imposing one in the first place. but denmark seems to be making it work. it was one of the first countries to ease restrictions, after containing the virus early on, as jean mackenzie reports. go on, peer into the future. bank holiday beers, saturday mornings at the nail shop. this is life after lockdown.
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it's like normal life almost! laughter it's weird, such a little thing, like, getting your nails done, but, yeah, it feels nice. how does it feel... to be reopened? i'm so happy! but for now, tracy's only allowed two customers at a time. ijust wash my hands and keep my mask on, i feel super comfortable, actually. denmark locked down early, before they'd had a single death, and started reopening after a month. what gave you the confidence to start reopening? we didn't reach the max capacity of our health sector. we had a virus spreading that was slowing down, so this gave us the room for reopening business. and meeting friends again is allowed. though since these rules were relaxed, the infection rate has risen slightly, but not enough to pose a serious threat. the number of people who are infected is falling, and so the reopenings continue — shopping centres on monday, restaurants in a week.
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so much of this has been built around trust. the government trusts the people, so it's given them more freedom. and people completely trust the government and its strategy, so they're not afraid to get back on with their lives again. i know this looks very populated, but if you look closely, you don't see groups larger than ten. i was surprised, actually, by how much people streamed out and wanted to go out, and as you can see, are out and about, and i thought they would be more scared. but people are actually very compliant with the social distancing regulations. as far as we can see, it seems to work. so, this here is the antidote, really, to all this. one of more than a dozen testing centres, which have been set up in denmark since they started to ease the restrictions. they're testing people without symptoms, checking they're safe
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to return to work. you need to know, essentially, how many are infected and, thereby, how well do the measures that you introduce in the society, how well do they work and what can we do in the next step? this new normal feels surprisingly like the old normal. denmark has walked a tightrope to get here. can the uk and others make it across? gene mackenzie, bbc news, copenhagen. president putin has led russia's commemorations of the defeat of nazi germany in the second world war, 75 years ago. the traditional military parade was cancelled because of the coronavirus, as steve rosenberg reports. in the skies over moscow, a display of power... ..and patriotism.
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victory day is always the day russia showcases itself as a great nation. but this year, something was different. down below, red square was empty. no troops or military hardware. the main parade postponed due to coronavirus. russia is determined to make this a big celebration despite the pandemic. victory day is the country's most important national holiday, when russians remember not only the defeat of nazi germany but also the human cost of victory. president putin honoured fallen heroes and faced with a new threat — a virus — he called for national unity. "we know", he says, "that when we stand together, we are invincible." talking of invincible, in neighbouring belarus, president lu kashenko refused to cancel his victory day parade, despite belarus having one of the highest growth rates of coronavirus infections in europe.
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back in russia, they've gone to great lengths to congratulate all the veterans locked down at home. instead of sending a card, the army sent this local hero a rocket launcher to his front door. 93—year—old vladimir doesn't need a rocket launcher — all he wants is for the pandemic to end. "the war was terrible", he says. "but at least we knew how to defeat the enemy. "no—one knows how to beat this virus." russia is proud of its victory in the war. it's hoping it can win this battle too. steve rosenberg,
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bbc news, moscow. belarus has also been marking the anniversary of the end of the second world war in europe.it held the spread of coronavirus has left new york's streets virtually empty, and the faces of passers—by concealed by masks. in her new photoseries, mask smile, photographer laura fuchs has set out to show that people are remaining positive, and that much of a smile is seen in a person's eyes — even when you can't see their mouths. there was something really special about getting a smile from a stranger from behind the mask. my name's laura fewks and i'm a photographer in new york city. out for a walk on 34th st, new york city. going to see if i can get some people to smile through their masks for me. i approached people first, of course from six feet away, and i had my mask on so of course i have to kind of get their attention.
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and i ask them if, you know, if they don't mind if i take their picture and i explain that i'm doing a photo series of peoples smiling but with their masks on. so if they can stay where they are and allow me to capture their smile. and its been a really heart—warming to be able to let people know, you know, i can still see your smile, it's all in your eyes or your cheekbones. i think that so much of the smile is captured in someone's eyes and that's where you really connect. through this series i've wanted to communicate this overall strength of all people of all different backgrounds and ages and essential workers, non—essential workers, and to just show that people are remaining positive through this very difficult time.
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i will say i get rejected quite often when i go out taking these pictures, which i — is very understandable, people are scared right now, people haven't been to the barber, people are not usually wearing their best close and they don't want to be photographed or, for that matter, some people are grieving the loss of loved ones. so it's not a time for smiling for everyone. but for those people who do agree it's been an incredible interaction. so my friend here gave me a great masked smile, got some great smiles out here. stay positive man, 0k? i'll see you later. one of my favourite pictures that i've taken thus far was during the first — the first week that i started deciding this was going to be a project and i was going to start compiling masked smile photos. and i was walking towards the upper west side and i came across this mother and daughter, both wearing masks and playing in a puddle. it had just rained the day before and they were just really enjoying playing in this puddle in the rain boots together and i stopped and asked them for their smile and they gave me, as you can
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see in the picture, the brightest smile and then went skipping down the street together. so that was a particularly positive moment. there's more on all our stories on our website. you can also read this article written by one of the bbc‘s producers on how he used technology to stay in touch with his dying mother in hospital. she'd needed urgent surgery but had also been kept in isolation due to suspected covid—19. there's a guide to the technology he used to comfort her in her last waking moments at the bottom of the page. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter. i'm @lvaughanjones. with zoos and aquariums closed to visitors in countries across the world, some animals are getting the chance to explore. this japanese aquarium in yokohoma has shared these videos online of penguins doing their daily exercise around the grounds and getting the chance to meet neighbours, like seals. the aquarium also released footage of an otter being introduced to a beluga whale.
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they say the different activities help the animals and they hope the footage also entertains people in lockdown around the world. hello. it's hard to overstate just how different our weather will be by the end of sunday, certainly in the feel of things out there as it turns much colder across the uk. the cold accentuated by a strengthening wind as well. more cloud around, too, the chance of seeing a bit of rain. sunday begins with the cold air already in place in scotland, and then it surges south across the uk. cold arctic air coming our way, so very different from what we've had. now, these are the temperatures to start the day. already frosty across northern scotland, even a bit of snow lying to relatively low levels in some spots. icy in places, too. and early rain towards southern scotland and northern ireland
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will gradually clear away, and over scotland and northern ireland into the afternoon, it's sunny spells, a few wintry showers peppering northern scotland. cloud and some patchy spreads south across england and wales. a chance, too, of seeing a bit of rain just brushing the far south—east, sussex and kent in particular, maybe the odd heavy shower for the channel islands and the far south—west. now, the winds are picking up all the while as the cold air moves south, gusting 30—110 mph, even a bit stronger towards north sea coasts and through the english channel later in the day. and temperatures to end the day in the range mainly of 6—10 degrees celsius, feeling colder in the wind. and even towards the south,
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where you end the day still with temperatures towards the high teens, the cold air does move in during sunday evening. and it's largely clear overnight and into monday morning bringing one or two wintry showers towards some north sea coasts. and temperatures dipping away to give on monday morning a widespread frostjust away from some windier spots across parts of eastern and southern england. and on monday, there will be some sunny spells around, but still the brisk and cold wind, still a chance of seeing a few showers that could be wintry in nature towards northern and eastern scotland along some north sea coasts. temperatures look as if they've come up a little bit on monday, but particularly in that wind, it will still feel cold, and especially compared with what it's been like out there.
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this is bbc news, the headlines: president trump's handling of the pandemic has been described by his predecessor, barack 0bama, as "an absolute chaotic disaster". in a conference call with his former staffers mr 0bama accused the current administration of having a mindset of ‘what‘s in it for me and to heck with everyone else'. the british government says emerging from lockdown will be a gradual process, and the public should remember it's not a single leap to freedom. it comes as the prime minister boris johnson prepares to address the nation on sunday evening, to set out the next phase in tackling the pandemic. the self—proclaimed "architect of rock ‘n‘ roll" richard penniman, better known as little richard, has died. the legendary singer built his ground—breaking sound with a blend of boogie—woogie, rhythm and blues, and gospel. he died at the age of 87 after several years of poor health.
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