this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the children's commissioner for england calls for teaching unions and the government to ‘stop squabbling' over plans for primary schools pupils to return to the classroom. the whole kind of debate descended into what i would call a squabble, and the positions have really become entrenched, and i fear that actually, the best interests of children, which is what we are all meant to be looking out within this debate, are being overlooked. as one of the strictest coronavirus lockdowns begins to ease, people in italy will be able to travel both internally, and in and out of the country, from the beginning ofjune. but despite looser travel restrictions in england, a warning to day—trippers not to visit rural and coastal areas this weekend amid fears the number of infections could rise.

us democrats back a new three trillion dollar relief package, but republican senators and president trump say they'll oppose it. the german bundesliga is back. it'll be the first major european football league to restart later, with matches held in empty stadiums. and could sniffer dogs be trained to detect coronavirus? a new government—backed trial begins in the uk. hello and welcome. you're watching bbc news. i'm shaun ley with the latest on the coronavirus outbreak in the uk and around the world. stay with us. the uk government and teachers‘ unions should "stop squabbling"

and agree a plan to reopen schools in england safely. that's the message from the children's commissioner for england, who says disadvantaged children are losing out from schools being closed for so long. teachers‘ leaders met the government's scientific advisers yesterday to seek assurances over safety, but have not yet agreed on how schools should open. the government has set out plans to begin a phased reopening of primary schools in england from the ist ofjune. there are no current plans to open schools in the rest of the uk. the public is being urged to "think twice" before heading to england‘s beaches and country parks this weekend, despite the easing of lockdown rules. councils in beauty spots are worried that a surge in visitors could result in a rise in coronavirus infections. meanwhile, in a major step to re—open its economy, italy has announced plans to lift its strict travel restrictions. from the 3rd ofjune, travel will be allowed to and from the country, as well as between regions.

in the united states, president trump has said the country will reopen "vaccine or no vaccine", as he announced an objective to deliver a coronavirus jab by the end of the year. he calls it operation warp speed. football fans in germany, and around the world, are eagerly awaiting today‘s resumption of the bundesliga. it‘s the first top flight european league to restart since coronavirus forced the suspension of play across the continent. all games will be played behind closed doors. more now on those comments from the children‘s commisioner for england, anne longfield, who has urged the government and teachers‘ unions to ensure schools open as quickly and as safely as possible. i have been really disappointed over the last week, as the whole kind of debate descended into what i would call a squabble, and the positions have really become entrenched, and i fear that actually, the best interests of children, which is what we are all meant to be looking at

within this debate, are being overlooked. i don‘t think we are ever going to get to the stage, without a vaccine, that this is going to be 100% safe, but i think what we can see from where schools have stayed open, and in other countries, and indeed, with nurseries that have stayed open around the nhs hospitals, it can be managed. proper testing as well, and proper monitoring, is absolutely essential. our political correspondent jess parker is here. good morning, jessica. this all got quite nasty mid week, didn‘t it, when the education secretary gavin williamson suggested that the teachers‘ unions were scaremongering? yes, he did use the word scaremongering in the house of commons, and i subsequently asked him who he was specifically referring to, but he did not want to explore that area too much. perhaps aware that, as you say, this row has rumbled on over the past week. the context, of course, is, boris

johnson set out his road map for easing lockdown, a conditional road map with lots of ifs in there, but the plan for england, a staggered return for primary schools, years one and six from earlyjune. unions say they have safety concerns for their members, teachers, and they wa nt their members, teachers, and they want more information, and they have this meeting yesterday with government scientists and left saying that whilst it was a step forward to have this meeting, they felt that there were some more questions than answers at this stage. let‘s listen to what the national education union‘s kevin courtney has said to the bbc this morning. the government says that schools will only open on during the first of certain tests are passed, and we are not clear what those tests are. we think they are around the r rate, but we are not clear what number they think they have to have to safely reopen schools. what we know from denmark is that when they reopen their schools, and a much better way than our government is proposing, we think, having studied it, even then, the went up further

when they opened schools. —— the r rate went up further. there is some research attached from nurseries, backing up her argument that it nurseries, backing up her argument thatitis nurseries, backing up her argument that it is possible to do this without putting teachers and children at risk ooh yes, she is saying that you cannot eliminate risk, but you can control it. the government say that they have put out detailed guidance and talked about measure schools can take to make the environment safer. things like staggered break times, a limit to class sizes with no more than 15 children, and this idea of protective bubbles, so making sure that one class of 15 children does not end up mingling with another class of 15. all measures to try and halt the possible transmission of the virus in school environments. i think and longfield, who was appointed by the government to stand up appointed by the government to stand upa appointed by the government to stand up a children‘s rights, i think she is trying to bang heads together, and say government, unions, teachers

all need to get round the table and talk, because the children really matter here, and she is particularly concerned about vulnerable children, saying it is important that children do get into school as quickly as possible. unions say they are not against the idea of getting children back into school, but they want to be sure it is safe. jess parker, thank you very much. italy has said people can travel in and out of the country from the third ofjune. it‘s a significant change in a nation that imposed one of the world‘s most rigid coronavirus lockdowns, and suffered significant loss of life. more than 31,000 italians have died of covid—i9 since late february, but the infection rate has fallen quickly. our reporter freya cole has more. italy is opening up. preparations are under way to welcome people back to the mediterranean for the start of the european summer. but there is still a lot of uncertainty. with the measures that will be imposed, according to rumours, because we still do not know what they will be,

we risk having 30-3596 fewer umbrellas. tourist operators are planning as much as they can. everything could change if there is a second wave of infection. but from june the 3rd, the government plans to reinstate free movement around the country. holidays will be allowed, and encouraged. translation: in two months, we have only had two overnight stays. this gives you an idea of the situation. the newly published government decree also reveals plans to open italy‘s borders. but it is unclear what restrictions will be put on international travellers. already at airports in rome, thorough cleaning is taking place. as well as temperature checks at customs. it isa temperature checks at customs. it is a gradual process. from monday, beauty salons, shops and restau ra nts monday, beauty salons, shops and restaurants are allowed to open, but business looks very different.

ta bles business looks very different. tables must be two metres apart, and there is more cleaning than ever before. translation: the challenge is huge, so translation: the challenge is huge, so big it is hard to quantify, but most of all, there is uncertainty. but we are used to working hard, rolling up our sleeves, and providing the best for our customers. italians have waited more than two months to share their love of food with others, but the new era will come with new traditions. switzerland, germany, and austria are starting to relax border restrictions this weekend. along with france, they are hoping to fully reopen later injune. from today, friends and family members divided by the border closures will be able to meet again. but tourists and shoppers are still barred from crossing the frontiers. the four countries, all members of the schengen open—border zone, shut their borders in march in a bid to control the spread of the coronavirus. our correspondent bethany bell

is in vienna for us. bethany, saturday. lovely weather, by the look of the scene behind you. atime by the look of the scene behind you. a time when people would want to move freely. it must have been a frustrating few weeks for people in austria and those other countries? it has been very frustrating for people, but certainly here and in several other countries, there have been quite significant steps taken over the last few weeks to try to ease those lockdown is. here in austria, for example, cafe is in restau ra nts austria, for example, cafe is in restaurants opened yesterday for the first time. i had my first cup of coffee in a vienna cafe for a couple of months. so there is the sense that things are beginning to ease up. we had italy over night saying that it would allow travel to and from italy as ofjune the 3rd, and we know that on monday, more

businesses will be allowed to open there, and people will be allowed to move around within their region. also, we have had conditions around a few borders in europe easing up, germany, for example, and austria and switzerland have eased the situation for people wanting to cross, families, for example, although it is not completely open yet. tourist visits are still not allowed. but step—by—step, very cautiously, governments are trying to restart europe‘s economy again. how much political damage has this caused to the idea of a kind of common europe? it isa common europe? it is a complicated question. we are seeing countries at the moment with, for example, if you take the question of border controls, we have had guidance from the european commission, but it has been individual groups of countries that

have taken decisions, bilateral decisions, in some cases, to try to ease the conditions based on infection rates. you hear of different things from different people in different countries. you cannot say there is one attitude towards europe, but certainly in italy, there has been resentment that perhaps there was not enough help from europe early on, although now, steps are being taken to try and deal with that. it is a crisis in so many ways, politically and economically, and this is still very, very early days in terms of this. bethany bout in vienna, i'm glad you enjoyed the coffee! thank you very much. —— bethany bell. in england, "stick with the rules and don‘t take risks" — that‘s the message from the health secretary matt hancock during the first weekend since lockdown restrictions were eased. local councils are warning people to stay away from beauty spots and beaches, fearing a surge of visitors will lead to an increase in infections. it comes after scientists

revealed the infection rate across the uk has risen. john mcmanus has the latest. in southwold in suffolk, they are hoping for visitors this weekend, so long as they follow the distancing rules. they don‘t want to see a repeat of these scenes from march. with warm weather on the way and the resumption of travel in england, resorts across the country are worried that day—trippers may bring more thanjust worried that day—trippers may bring more than just their suntan lotion. but ministers in london say they trust the public‘s common sense. this weekend, with the good weather, and the new rules, i hope that people can enjoy being outside, but please, stick with the rules, keep an eye on yourfamily, and don‘t ta ke an eye on yourfamily, and don‘t take risks. meanwhile, there has been another 384 deaths from covid—i9 across the country, bringing the total to nearly 34,000. the travel ban

remains in force outside england, and the welsh and scottish governments have already warned tourists to stay away. bosses in cornwall and devon have joined tourists to stay away. bosses in cornwall and devon havejoined them, urging visitors to give their beaches and beauty spots a miss, and it isa beaches and beauty spots a miss, and it is a similar message for brighton to whitby. and the authorities in scarborough are notjust worried about the virus. they pointed out there will be no lifeguards on their beaches, or indeed, on any across the uk. and there is a worrying development. the overall rate of infection has crept up to between 0.7 and one. if it goes above one, it means the virus begins to spread again. there are geographical variations. london has a lower rate than wales and northern ireland, and it is thought the uptake may be down to hospitals and care homes rather than the wider community. —— the up tick. this weekend, the rac says it expects 15 million leisure journeys to be made by car, but if there is a further rise in the infection rate, the brakes may come on again in the

next few weeks. the ceo of visit cornwall, malcolm bell, joins us now. that is the tourism authority there. good to speak to you again, malcolm. thanks for being with us. normally at this time of year, you would be fighting off visitors, or at least trying to control the numbers and get the roads flowing and all the rest of it. it must be a very different picture this weekend, but is there any sign yet that the easier the lockdown —— the easing of the lockdown rules allowing people to travel anywhere in england is having an impact? yes, we had an u nfortu nate having an impact? yes, we had an unfortunate incident on thursday when somebody came down from leicester with a kayak, went out to sea, and was actually very lucky to be rescued by the rnli. that actually incurred the rnli having to be very close to the lifeboatman. so oui’ messages, be very close to the lifeboatman. so our messages, think twice, but this is about getting out to have exercise, getting out to the great outdoors and have some fresh air, somewhere different. you don‘t have to travel that far to do that. most

people shouldn‘t travel more than half an hour, and our maximum, to have a great day in the lovely early summer have a great day in the lovely early summer weekend. you say that, but the government has said from luton this wednesday, you can travel anywhere in england. do you think that message has perhaps either not been properly communicated or was the wrong message at this time? well, i think there was also the message made clearly about the prime minister about, use some common sense, and i think what we did not wa nt to sense, and i think what we did not want to do was put a hard limit on it of 20 miles or 42 minutes or whatever. so i understand that wider message of, in a way, trusting the british public to use some common sense, and as we say, think twice. if you come down and spend all your day coming down, travelling 3—4 hours to the coast, first of all, many of the toilets aren‘t open, the lifeguards are not on the beach, and we are saying, really that is a call to stay out of the water or stay very much within your abilities. but also, the pubs, fish and chip shops,

ice cream staff are not open. it will be great to see you back when we are open fully, but at the moment, it would actually be a limited experience, particularly if you travel a long way. we have also got half a million people in cornwall that will be out and about, so cornwall that will be out and about, so the message is, please don‘t come. go so the message is, please don‘t come. go somewhere more so the message is, please don‘t come. go somewhere more local, come back later on when you can. what estimate have you made about the damage that has been done to cornwall‘s economy thus far in the lockdown? i appreciate that kind of march is not the peak time for cornwall, but there are still visitors who come almost every weekend of the year? there are, and to the end of this month, we had about 300 million, things move on. we expect to get going again in june, and we are up to about half £1 billion worth of economic damage, and july and august are obviously pretty critical to us, but we are pretty critical to us, but we are pretty full then anyway, so we can‘t

make up the losses we have already made. unlike other sectors, we are also to to take the pain to get on top of this malcolm bell, hope it is all worth it in the end. thank you for joining all worth it in the end. thank you forjoining us. saying, really don‘t visit cornwall just now. after weeks of misery for football fans, top flight action returns in europe in a few hours time when the german bundesliga resumes. games will be devoid of fans, with strict regulations in place. that will include modest goal celebrations and players not shaking hands after the final whistle. officials from other european countries will be watching closely to see if the safety protocols work. let‘s speak to our correspondent jenny hill who is in dortmund. she will also be watching. borussia dortmund entertain schalke this afternoon. what has been the public reaction, jenny? it's a very interesting question. you know, football is back, but the immediate difference is already clear. it is just a few hours to kick off. not a fan in

sight. of course, they are not allowed into the stadium for the so—called ghost games. there will be no cheering echoing around the arena, no fans coming through the turnstiles, and interestingly, polls suggest that the majority of germans we re suggest that the majority of germans were not really in favour of the bundesliga resuming so soon, which is astonishing in such a footballing nation. it will be very different the rest of this season, very different for the players, of course, who will be playing to those empty stadium. there are questions about their match fitness. they have just had a two—month enforced break from pretty much all training, and very different for teams too, expected to quarantine for a week before they play the matches, expected to stick to the social distancing rules by and large off the pitch, of course. there are big questions about whether this season might not have to be broken off again already. again already, might not have to be broken off again already, players and staff at some clubs have tested positive. others have been seen breaking

social distancing regulations. a coach has had to stand down temporarily because he nipped out of the team hotel to go and buy a tube of toothpaste. jenny hill, there at the borussia dortmund stadium. i know you will be watching. let‘s see what the score and the atmosphere is like, if any! thank you very much. so what‘s the future for large scale events? will large scale music festivals, and other major sporting events ever be the same again? we‘ll be putting your questions to two guests working in the events industryjust after 3 o‘clock bst, that‘s 4 o‘clock gmt. get in touch with the hashtag #bbcyourquestions on twitter, or you can email yourquestions@bbc. co. uk. democrats in the us house of representatives have passed a three trillion dollar stimulus bill. if enacted, it will be the largest fiscal boost to the american economy so far, all because of the coronavirus pandemic. the bill made it through a narrow vote in the house, with 14 democratic representives breaking

ranks to oppose the plan. the proposed so—called ‘heroes act‘ would see the direct payments being sent to households in the us increase to as much as $6,000. a third of spending would go to the budgets of state and local governments, governors have warned they have been significantly depleted by the virus. the bill includes a raft of other pledges, including $3.6 billion to fund voting—by—mail in november‘s presidential election. the bill will face an uphill struggle to pass the republican—controlled senate. senior republicans have already dismissed the proposals as a ‘liberal wishlist‘. but house speaker nancy pelosi has rejected their calls to ‘wait and see‘ before committing to new spending. now some of the members say, let‘s ta ke now some of the members say, let‘s take a pause. let‘s take a pause? do you think this virus is taking a

pause? do you think the rent takes a pause? do you think the rent takes a pause? do you think the rent takes a pause? do you think that putting food on the table or the hunger that comes if you can‘t takes a pause? i listen to what speaker pelosi told your conference to go big. instead of going big, it seems you went crazy. this is a political messaging bill that has no chance of becoming law. that situation in the us, house of representatives. let‘s turn to greece now, where beaches are beginning to re—open from today for locals as lockdown measures begin to ease across the country. the country went into lockdown six weeks ago after the first coronavirus—related death was recorded. social distancing measures have been put in place on the beaches, and even umbrellas are having to be distanced. greece‘s prime minister kyriakos mitsotakis has said that he hopes international flights could resume from 1stjuly. dimitris moraitis is the owner of the moraitis beach resort in athens and joins me now.

dimitris, good morning to you. hello! good morning! how has it been? it's a good day, an unusually hot day, close to 40 degrees. the people are on the beach. it is very nice, as you can people are on the beach. it is very nice, as you can see people are on the beach. it is very nice, as you can see at the back. there are quite strict rules, are on there? how have your team been applying these? we follow the rules. we would only lose our umbrellas. if somebody comes on the beach and brings his umbrella, the beach bars will only take away. if people follow the rules, we have good results now. there were reports people were queueing very early this morning to get on the beaches, because they wanted to ensure they would get a space, because presumably, as we can see behind you, it‘s nothing like as busy as it would normally be allowed to be. yes, as you know, we are very lucky,

because here in greece, we have a lot of kilometres of beach, and there is no problem. i mean, we can keep a distance very easily. this beach here, it is a marathon bay. here is exactly the position of the marathon battle, and now, we have another battle with the coronavirus! yeah, absolutely. and now, we win! you win. it is great news you have one, but how important is it going to be for you to get tourists back during the summer? when i raise the question because the british, for example, have said that anyone who leaves the country this summer will have to quarantine in britain for two weeks after they come back, and forfamilies particularly two weeks after they come back, and for families particularly who love going to greece and the islands, love coming to your beach, it is a big price to pay if they come for their two—week summer holiday and have to stay at home for another two weeks. are you worried it might put them off? i mean, for sure, we lose may andjune,

them off? i mean, for sure, we lose may and june, and we hope forjuly. you have also in your country much better results. and then, it‘s going to be not so thick. i mean, the plane is the problem, and if you travel in good health, you will leave with good health. here it is very safe. the temperature and everything helps to solve the problems. dimitris, thank you very much. good luck with everything, and it‘s lovely to see the beach back to life again. nice to hear you. stay safe. thank you, you too. scientists in britain have begun a trial of sniffer dogs to see if they can be trained to detect the presence of coronavirus before symptoms appear. the clinical trial is being boosted by half a million pounds of investment from the uk government with the hope that if the scheme works, each dog would be able to screen around 250 people an hour. dogs are already able to sniff out diseases such as cancer, malaria and parkinson‘s. truly man‘s best friend!

you are watching bbc news. now, time for a look at the weather prospects. here is chris. hello there. for many of us, quite a cloudy start to the day, but we have seen some cloudy start to the day, but we have seen some breaks in the cloud. for example, in ripon, north yorkshire, the rising sun just example, in ripon, north yorkshire, the rising sunjust getting underneath this layer of cloud to give a beautiful sunrise. a bit further north in northumberland, berwick—upon—tweed looking like this for a time this morning. plenty of sunshine coming through here. for most of us, pretty cloudy. we pick up most of us, pretty cloudy. we pick up on that cloud on the satellite picture. you have some weather fronts around today encroaching into the north—west of the country, where the north—west of the country, where the thickest cloud will be, bringing with it a few patches of rain. now, the rain has been quite patchy in nature across northern and western scotla nd nature across northern and western scotland that time this morning. a little damp weather skirting into

the north of northern ireland too. otherwise, a dry start to the day. increasingly, as we head into the afternoon, cloud will thin and break up, and we will see sunshine coming through across england and wales. the best of it works across the east midlands into east anglia, but most of us will see sunshine at times. staying cloudy in northern ireland, and the cloud quite reluctant to break in scotland. there will be occasional sunny spells coming through here in the afternoon. temperatures up to 15—17 today for most. during this evening, rain will move into northern ireland quite quickly before spreading on into western scotland later on in the night. england and wales will tend to turn claudia as the night goes by, so a relatively mild night compared with recent ones. temperatures between 6—9 for most. looking at sunday‘s charts, you can see rain and an area of low pressure working into the north—west of the country. southeast stays largely dry and bright. so on sunday, the weather charts look like this. northern ireland starting off with

some rain, which will be quite extensive and spread into scotland, where it will be heavy at times. further south, the early morning cloud will again tend to thin and break up with spells of sunshine coming through, and it will be a warmer day in the sunshine, temperatures reaching around 20—21 towards the south—east, about 15 in northern ireland and scotland. looking at the weather charts into the early stage of next week, an area of high pressure drifts towards the near continent, and as that happens increasingly, we will start to get wins coming in from the south or south—east. that will bring us warmer weather. indeed, towards the middle of the week, ten bridges will be pushing into the mid 20s for some. that‘s your weather. —— temperatures will be pushing into the mid 20s.

hello and welcome to the programme which normally hosts round table discussion, debate and argument between some of the uk‘s leading columnists and the foreign correspondents who file thir stories for the folks back with the dateline london. well, we‘ve kept the table and two of my guests are imagining their knees jammed under it. eunice is a portuguese journalist and academic. jeffrey kofman is an emmy award winning broadcaster who was the us network abc‘s man in london. and our woman of the world is lyce doucet,

the bbc‘s chief international correspondent. iama i am a woman of w one now! grounded in london she may be, but always alert to the world beyond. this week in the uk, boris johnson changed the government‘s coronvirus tune: stay at home is now stay alert. according to pollsters, only a third of people think they know what it means. the first ministers in scotland and wales say whatever mrjohnson means, they prefer the old message, thank you very much, and are sticking with it. so, for now at least, it‘s the disunited kingdom. let me ask, how different has this week been for you? did you notice anything? did it feel different when these restrictions were eased slightly? not really. i am lucky enough to work from home so i stayed in my little haven