this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm maryam moshiri. a former top us vaccine official turns whistleblower to tell congress — lives have been lost unnecessarily, and the outbreak will only get worse, without a plan. ifear i fear the ifear the pandemic i fear the pandemic will get worse than be prolonged. in england — accident and emergency visits fall by more than half since the pandemic started — to the lowest level since records began. born to surrogate mothers in ukraine — dozens of babies left stranded — as their biological parents from around the world, can't fly in to collect them. these are the 35 babies born

here in ukraine that parents all around the world. and — the philippines prepares to ease lockdown restrictions — as the new threat of a typhoon, causes tens of thousands to leave their homes. hello and welcome to the programme — we start with the latest developments on the coronavirus outbreak in the uk, and globally. the number of people confirmed to have died from covid—19 rises stands at just over 300—thousand, with 1.5m people recovered. scientists at the world health organisation say nearly a quarter of a billion people in africa could catch

coronavirus in a year. they predict between one hundred and fifty and one hundred and ninety thousand africans could die from the virus. in england 1 in 400 people is infected with coronavirus — that's according to a survey of 11,000 people in households. this means about 148,000 people in england could be currently infected. and there's some good news for fans of english football. the government says it's "opening the door" for professional football to resume in june. that's of course if they've reached their goal of containing the virus. but first, we begin with the damning warning from a whistle—blower and leading virus expert — that the united states faces its darkest winter in modern history, if the country fails to improve its response to the coronavirus pandemic. dr rick bright told a congressional committee that a resurgence of the virus — combined with seasonal flu — could cause unprecedented

illness and deaths. nada tawfik reports. scenes of protests continue across america as governments try to strike a balance between protecting public health and reopening the economy. this one in michigan by militia group demanding an end to the lockdown highlights the partisan gulf of the pandemic. the bitter divide was at the forefront of lawmakers minds in washington as rick bright, the administration's former top vaccine researcher turned whistle—blower, arrived at the white house hearing to testify. mask on and gloves off, the ousted official calmly disinfected his space but refused to sanitise the criticism of his superiors. he said that the administration did not take critical steps at the start of the crisis, ignored warnings and even now, lack a centralised and coordinated plan to respond. without better planning, 2020 could be the darkest winter in modern history. first and foremost, we need to be truthful with the american people.

americans deserve the truth. the truth must be based on science. we have the worlds greatest scientists, let us lead, let us speak without fear of retribution. president trump is bragged about his performance. president trump has bragged about his performance. on his way to mix personal protective equipment, he hit back against doctor bright. i watched him and he looks like an angry, disgruntled employee who, according to some people, did not do a very good job. on his tour of the facility which distributes masks, president trump chose not to wear one himself while he is eager to highlight the efforts to combat the virus, his reelection strategy includes a quick reopening. the president of the united states, donald trump. he may not be able to hold packed rallies, but he needs to drive voter turnout in the pivotal state of pennsylvania to repeat his victory in 2016.

thank you, all that social distancing, look at you people all spread out six feet, that's pretty impressive. but we like it the old way better, don't we? in wisconsin, also a swing state, no social distancing in place at this bar. it's what happened when word got out that the state supreme court overturned the stay—at—home order. when the coronavirus first hit, the message was for communities to come together by staying apart. but months on, the country is more divided than ever with its battle against the virus. here in the uk, there are concerns that tens of thousands of seriously ill people in england are not seeking help because of fears that they might catch the coronavirus in hospital — or be a burden on the national health service. the starkest illustration of this is the drop in visits to accident and emergency departments — which are down by more than half since the outbreak began. here's our health editor hugh pym.

plenty of staff and not many patients. it's got a little busier here in a&e in recent days, but not much. like many other hospitals, they saw an astonishing drop in the number of patients coming through the doors last month. april here was busy from a covid—19 perspective, dealing with sick patients. it was all very calm, controlled and safe, but we were busy from that perspective, but we saw a real drop—off in demand of other types of patients that we usually see. normally, assessment cubicles in a&e would be pretty busy, but right now all these ones along here are empty. they are for non—covid patients. it's a sign of how different things are right now. the worry is that people who might need urgent care are staying away because they are scared of catching the virus. the message from all hospitals — we are open for business and patients who need treatment should come in. if you are concerned about having a stroke, a heart attack, perhaps cancer, do come forward, and at the same time, the nhs

will be redesigning the way in which services are offered to keep them safe. the latest figures for england show that a&e visits fell by nearly 57% in the year to april. the monthly total was below 917,000, the lowest since records began. there are no comparable figures yet from other parts of the uk. the number coming in for routine operations fell by nearly a third in the year to march. it was about the same in scotland. all non—emergency surgery was postponed because the nhs needed to clear beds for coronavirus patients, but that has left others, like helen, frustrated. she was told she needed a hysterectomy urgently in february. it didn't happen and she hasn't heard any more. if something is deemed urgent, it's deemed urgent for a reason. i think there are an awful lot of people who have various conditions that are being put at great risk of further

damage due to these precautions being taken. jane has been waiting since february for a gall bladder operation, and, again, hasn't been told when it could happen. i understand that in this current situation that, you know, i'm not a priority. i understand that fully. it does concern me. i'd like to get it over and done with, really, you know, so that i feel it won't build up again and there won't be any further problems. nhs leaders have now told hospitals to restart non—urgent operations and procedures, but all patients who are asked to come in will be instructed to self—isolate for 1h days beforehand along with members of their household. a reminder of the continuing concern about the possible spread of the virus. a new blood test, which can detect whether someone has been infected with coronavirus, has been given the go—ahead for use in england. the antibody test has been developed by the swiss drug company roche.

frontline workers will be the first to use it. scientists have called the move a very positive development. but it's not clear yet whether antibodies actually protect against a new infection. here's our medical correspondent fergus walsh. it is what millions of britons want to know. have they already had coronavirus? now it is possible to find out for sure, with a blood test. it has to go through lab analysis. this can be done by hand, like here at imperial college london, or in an automated process, like a new highly accurate antibody test, approved for use in the uk. if you get infected with coronavirus, your immune system starts to produce antibodies. these become part of your immune system's memory. so if you get exposed to the virus again, they should attack it. but how much protection they will give and how long that immunity will

last is unclear. for some coronaviruses, we know that protection can fade and we know from experiments many years ago, for example, that it is possible to re—infect individuals with the exact same coronavirus, may be a year later, even though they developed antibodies to start with, so we have to be careful to assume that any antibody will last for a long time. roche says it can provide hundreds of thousands of its antibody test to the uk each week. pharmacies and health clinics could be involved in collecting blood samples. i anticipate that it will be rapidly rolled out in the days and weeks to come, as soon as it is practical to do so. i also anticipate that the focus will be on the national health service and on carers in the first instance. there are several other types of antibody test which only require a finger prick of blood. some of which are being trialled by nhs staff.

despite buying 3.5 million of them, the government concluded none was accurate enough. this is another way of testing for antibodies. you prick your thumb... and then apply a blood spot to this piece of card, which is then sent off to a laboratory for very and then apply a blood spot to this piece of card, which is then sent off to a laboratory for very sophisticated analysis. that dry spot blood test is being developed at imperial college london. it is planning to send out 100,000 home testing antibody kits once they are proven to be accurate and easy—to—use. the swab goes to the back of your throat... remember, it is a swab test like this which will show if you are currently infected with coronavirus. so this remains crucial in preventing the spread of the virus. in ukraine at least 35 newborn babies have been left stranded after coronavirus

restrictions prevented them being claimed by their parents. the babies, who were born to surrogates, are being looked after by a team of nannies and nurses in a hotel room in kyiv. ukraine closed it's borders in response to the coronavirus pandemic, making it nearly impossible for their biological parents to come from around the world to claim them. jonah fisher sent this report. in a hotel on the outskirts of ukraine's capital, we found the lost children. so, if you just go and have a look in here. these are the 35 babies born here in ukraine, their parents all around the world. they're being looked after, you can see the nurses looking after them. but desperately sad.

they're on their own, because ukraine closed its borders in response to the coronavirus. it stopped the babies, born to surrogates, being claimed by their biological parents. we've got chinese babies, italian babies, spanish babies, british babies. surrogacy is a big and legal business here in ukraine. it cost about £40,000 for each of these babies to be carried by a ukrainian woman. but the surrogates have now gone and the babies must stay in this hotel room, cared for by nannies like 0lga. "we feel so sorry for them," she says, "we know that no one can replace their parents." some have overcome the virus restrictions to reach their babies. this is the emotional moment when a couple from sweden were handed their twins ella

and louis by the surrogate mother. they only made to it ukraine after an anonymous donor stepped in and paid for a private jet. to sit here and have them in ourarms andjust like, we made it... yeah. i don't know, it's incredible. it's incredible. their next challenge is to get home. the hotel newborns are less fortunate. they must keep waiting for life and love to really begin. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: thirty six million americans have now lost theirjobs — we look at how women are at risk in the coronavirus economy, and why they're doing more at home.

"the pope was shot. the pope will live." that is the essence of the appalling news from rome this afternoon that as an italian television commentator put it, terrorism had come to the vatican. the man they call the butcher of lyon went on trial today in the french town where he was the gestapo chief in the second world war. winnie mandela never looked like a woman just sentenced to six years injail. the judge told mrs mandela there was no indication she felt even the slightest of remorse. the chinese government has called for and all the effort to help the victims of a powerful earthquake, the worst in the country for 30 years. the computer deep blue has tonight triumphed over the world chess champion garry kasparov. it is the first time a machine at the feet are a reigning world champion in a classical test match. america's first legal same—sex marriages have been taking place in massachusetts. god bless america!

this is bbc news, the latest headlines. a former top us vaccine official has turned whistleblower to tell congress — lives have been lost unnecessarily, and the outbreak will only get worse, without a plan. in england — accident and emergency visits have fallen by more than half since the pandemic started — fallen by more than half to the lowest level since records began. parts of the philippines — including the capital manila — were due to start easing lockdown restrictions this week but the country now faces a new challenge. tens of thousands of people have been evacuated with typhoon vongfong forecast to approach the country's most populous island, luzon, after making la nfall in the province of eastern samar on thursday. for more, i'm joined by howard johnson who's at manila bay.

this typhoon is looking like it's going to wreak havoc when it's going to wreak havoc when it reaches the philippines. yes, but we are seeing at the moment is it moving up towards this main island and it is on the southern tip at the moment and you can see behind me, people are very relaxed about it approaching. it has weekend in the last 12 hours or so, it is now packing winds of around age of 15 kph last night nostrand hundred 55 kph and on social media, we have seen images of it ripping up roofs of buildings, trees, and people making their way into it and it is dumping a lot of rain and there is fear that there will be landslides and also flooding and people here will be waiting around 1pm local time or is expecting to be heading minella

this big city here in the philippines. and this is happening as the philippines has his own battle with the coronavirus. at the moment, this country is going through a lockdown process and as you said, it was do to ease some of those restrictions and parts of the country, manila will actually remain under lockdown until the end of may, but what we're seeing is a tricky situation that we are dealing with with people who were escaping this typhoon, going to evacuation centers what the authorities are saying is that social distance inside the center so temperature scanning people before they go in, they're giving the masks and also they're opening up more churches and schools to create more space for people. if you just look over to my left ear, you can see the bay of manila at the moment, there were some 20 ships, cruise ships from the waters around here and

repatriating filipinos and that is been put on hold as they await this storm. many of the ships of going out to sea to prevent the ships from bashing into one another when the heavy rain and winds come to this area later today. the first cases of coronavirus have reached the world's largest refugee camp, in cox's bazar bangladesh. the camps are home to more than 800 thousand rohingya muslims, who fled persecution in myanmar. officials are now trying to trace anyone who might have come into contact with those who have the virus. 0ur south asia correspondent rajini vaidya nathan reports. for weeks, the world's largest refugee camps been in lockdown. now, the news they been dreading — coronavirus has officially arrived. officials say two cases were identified in the camps — 0ne rohingya refugee and a local bangladeshi. both were taken to a

nearby health facility. for the refugees who live in the cramped and congested dwellings where social distancing is tough, there's fear. translation: we are very afraid of coronavirus. the camps are crowded. i'm worried that many people could die from covid—19. health care facilities in the camps are basic, with no ventilators. charities are expecting the number of cases to skyrocket. it's very difficult to say but, given the cramped hygiene and the slow testing that we have, it could be anywhere in the thousands, hundreds, and it is very likely we will see an explosion in cases in the camps in the coming days. officials are currently trying to trace hundreds of others who may have come into contact with the two confirmed cases. the rohingya, who fled persecution in myanmar, now face a new deadly threat

in the form of coronavirus. we often talk about those on the ‘front lines' of the coronavirus crisis, meaning medical personnel. but that also includes jobs like pharmacists and grocery store workers. the majority of these essential jobs are held by women. these same women are taking on more responsibilities at home than their male partners. this gender inequity existed before the pandemic of course, but it's been made worse during the crisis, as katty kay reports. slowly, americas open some doors. shopping malls in texas, hair salons in georgia, even tattoo parlors in tennessee. but until someone opens schools and childcare centers, millions of women cannot go back to work. 6096 of the job loss was women but now, women are being told that we are going to

reopen the economy go back to work, but they've lost childcare, the public schools andi childcare, the public schools and i reopening for the most pa rt and i reopening for the most part and and i reopening for the most partand so, and i reopening for the most part and so, there's going to ta ke part and so, there's going to take care of the children. so i do not think we have actually thought about what reopening the economy like for women who desperately need to go back to work, they need that economic, they need that income for their families but we make no provision for how they're was to do that. women do not die as often as men do from covid—19. they there the foot soldiers in the battle against it. more than two thirds of grocery store and fast food check out staff are women. 0ne store and fast food check out staff are women. one third of jobs held by women are seen as essential. it almost 70% of america's health care workers are women. doctor megan is one of them and emergency physician in rhode island. she is overwhelmed by juggling patients and two children at home. the first difficult part is that as an er doctor, my day todayis is that as an er doctor, my day today is not standard. some days i work a morning or

daytime shift, sometimes a working evening, sometimes are working evening, sometimes are working overnight and with covid—19, there is even more unpredictability and i will get called in at the last minute, re called called in at the last minute, re ca lle d off called in at the last minute, recalled off last minute and so, trying to balance teaching of my kids and making sure they just don't spend the holidays day sitting in front of the screen, has been really tough. for some working women, the coronavirus is change things in positive ways. in canada, the freelance writing just as fit in around her two young kids. when the pandemic hit, her husbands clinic was closed and he lost income. for my work was pretty invisible before, now it is much more central and i need to have my time with my children being able to interact, which is been a shift for them. she enjoys new status but you can already see that her husband's office will open before her children school does. putting herjob back in the supporting role. during

world war ii, millions of american women surged into the workforce, taking jobs that men had left behind. after the war, the men needed thosejobs back and the women were fired. washington is littered with statues of dead were heroes. dead men were heroes. you have to hunt really hard to find even one statue of a woman, but in this new battle america is relying on its women, will it remember how essential they we re remember how essential they were once this pandemic is over? and before we go —— applause has rung out once again across the uk tonight for our carers and keyworkers, for the 8th week in a row, take a look. (applause)

if you want to know more about any of the stories we are watching from bbc news, in particular about the coronavirus, we have very full page of stories on the front page of stories on the front page of stories on the front page of the bbc news website. plenty of data, facts, figures and stories regarding the coronavirus pandemic and where you are.

you can reach me on twitter — i'm @bbcmaryam hello. well, it's fairly chilly out there at the moment, but nowhere near as cold as the last couple of nights. last night in northern ireland, it was down to minus six degrees celsius, the coldest may night there in nearly 110 years. this morning, most major towns and cities will be generally above zero, but it is cold air that's sitting on top of us at the moment. you can see the pale blue colours there. the really cold air‘s to the north of us, but we're certainly in that chilly air mass. we'll have to wait before the warmer air from the southern climes arrives, and that's not going to happen for a few more days. so, the forecast for friday morning, well, early hours of the morning shows some clear weather, but also patchy cloud. temperatures in norwich close to freezing. that does mean a ground frost outside of town, but more generally speaking, we're talking around 4—6 degrees. so, a bright start to the day.

i wouldn't go as far as saying it's going to be a sunny day on friday, but it is going to be a bright one. there'll be some scattered clouds, and actually in the north of the country at times, it will cloud over and there will be a little bit of fleeting rain. now, temperatures are just starting to rise a little bit now. in fact, we're expecting around 17 degrees in the south of the country and around 13 degrees for our northern towns and cities. and friday and towards the weekend, we'll start to see high pressure building in from the south. this is actually going to help to introduce some slightly warmer air from the southern climes, so day—by—day those temperatures will be creeping up just that little bit. saturday's actually going to be very similar to friday, so sunny spells across the uk and some spots of rain in the very far north of scotland and the northern isles and the northern highlands. so, temperatures around 17 degrees again in london, but perhaps rising a little bit across the north of england there, 16 for yorkshire, 16 for glasgow and edinburgh. and then saturday night into sunday, we are going to see a change in western scotland and northern ireland. in fact, southwesterly

winds will blow in cloud, moisture and a fair bit of rain, so it could be quite wet here second half of the weekend. around 15 degrees expected in the lowlands and in belfast, but to the south of that in london, those milder southwesterlies, temperatures will get up to around 20 degrees. and indeed, you can see those temperatures climbing as we head into next week. in fact, next week, the indication is that temperatures could hit the mid—20s, so again it's going to feel more likejune. that's it from me. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. the headlines: a whistleblower and virus expert has warned that the united states faces its darkest winter in modern history if the country fails to improve its response to the coronavirus pandemic. dr rick bright told a congressional committee that a resurgence of the virus could cause unprecedented illness and deaths. in england, accident and emergency visits have fallen by more than half since the pandemic started. there are concerns that tens of thousands of seriously ill people are not seeking help because of fears that they might catch the coronavirus in hospital or be a burden on the health service. a group of more than 35 babies born to surrogate mothers in ukraine have been left stranded because their parents are unable to collect them due to coronavirus restrictions. ukraine closed its borders after the corona outbreak, now, on bbc news, hardtalk.