this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the uk government defends plans to begin reopening primary schools in england from next month. it says there'll be measures to ensure the safety of children and teachers. it is the case that it is extremely unlikely that any school is likely to be the source of a covid outbreak and if, for any reason there are risks, then we can take steps to mitigate them. barack obama has launched a scathing attack on the trump administration's response to the coronavirus crisis. more than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they're doing. a lot of them aren't even

pretending to be in charge. uk prime minister borisjohnson acknowledges the new lockdown guidelines in england are more complicated than the previous message to stay at home, saying he understands people will feel frustrated with the new rules. the uk government is to spend millions of pounds on accelerating the mass production of a vaccine but the prime minister warns that one may never be found. the italian prime minister admits the country's taking a calculated risk by easing a number of lockdown measures from next week. # waterloo, i was defeated, you won the war... and a thank you for the music — abba's waterloo is named the greatest eurovision song of all time, by bbc viewers.

hello and welcome to audiences both in the uk and around the world. we're reporting the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic here, and globally. one of the uk government's most senior ministers, michael gove, has said he cannot guarantee safety for teachers returning to work in schools when they reopen, adding, "there is always, in any loosening of these restrictions, a risk of people catching coronavirus". it comes after some teaching unions said it wasn't safe for schools to return in england at the start ofjune. former us president barack obama has criticised his successor donald trump's handling of the coronavirus crisis for the second time during the outbreak. in an online address to graduating college students, he said it had revealed that many in the us administration "aren't even pretending to be in charge". and the italian prime minister, giuseppe conte, has admitted that his country is taking

a "calculated risk" by rolling back lockdown measures from next week. we'll have more on all the latest developments in a moment. but first let's hear what michael gove said about schools in england on the bbc‘s andrew marr show. the only way ever to ensure that you never catch coronavirus is to stay at home, completely. there is always, always, always, in any loosening of these restrictions, the risk of people catching the coronavirus. ..guarantee their safety and it sounds like from what you're saying that you can't really. a personal risk? the key thing is that we can make these workplaces are safe. you can never eliminate risk. our political correspondentjess parker explained why the return of children to schools in england is becoming a political row. the plan is at the moment for schools to reopen, of course some have stayed open

for the families of key workers, but to reopen on a wider basis for reception, year one and year six, a staggered return for primary schools, no return for secondary schools until after the summer. but unions have been raising concerns about whether the safety of teachers and students can be guaranteed and a range of measures have been outlined by the government in terms of what they want to see. you would have limited class sizes of no more than 15 children, the groups would almost be in a little bubble of their own, not mix, and you would have a staggered break times, more learning outside because the virus is less likely to transmit outside. unions had a meeting with government scientists on friday and emerged i would say dissatisfied with what they heard. the debate has gone on as to whether it is a safe. michael gove, the cabinet minister this morning saying that the safety of teachers can be guaranteed but he added, as you have been saying, that any loosening of restrictions, there was always a risk of people potentially catching the virus,

you could not have a completely risk—free scenario. the safety of teachers and schools is an issue that has been put to the deputy labour leader, angela rayner. we know from the science and experts that children can catch the virus and we believe they could transmit it, we're not entirely certain. we have to make sure that obviously the social distancing measures, where possible, are in place. we know that teachers have died as a result of catching covid and it is important that when we introduce more pupils into the classroom that we are able to test, track and traced whether bias is and take action to isolate it. we have seen different approaches from that different nations of the uk but now we're hearing different local authorities like liverpool and hartlepool advising they don't think there should be a return to schools and saying to parents not to send kids back so who do they listen to? and is important to emphasise the stay alert message and a return to school plan is for england, scotland, wales and northern ireland

can make their own decisions in terms of what they want to see and they are sticking with the stay at home message but now you have an added layer of complexity with some local authorities like liverpool saying that it's not something it is wise for the area. you have different r rates in different parts of the uk so it's complicated with just a couple of weeks to go before this earlyjune date. schools will have to make decisions as to who they listen to and of course you also have a slightly fragmented school system with some local authority schools, academies for example as well. parents will have to make decisions as well because they will not be fined if they do not send their children back to school so they are being left to make some kind of judgment as to whether they think it is safe for their family. we are emerging out of the lockdown slowly, cautiously, but it does create a more complicated situation and more decisions for individuals and families. that was jessica parker, our political correspondent.

the world health organisation's chief scientist says there is little evidence of the virus being transmitted in schools but that their guidance on reopening suggests it takes place in consultation with those involved. we do know that children are capable of getting the infection, studies have shown that when children live ina have shown that when children live in a house where an adult has the infection, they also have a risk of getting it like the other adults. but there is a lace data on how effectively they are able to spread it to others stratum of lesser data point what we have seen in countries where schools have remained open is they have not been outbreaks in schools and where there have been it has been associated with the events, not in regular classrooms, and often associated with an adult. the former us president barack obama has again strongly criticised donald trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying those in charge don't know what they are doing. he was speaking at a virtual graduation ceremony for high school students in the united states. our north america correspondent,

david willis, has more. class of 2020, this is for you... in the age of the coronavirus, this is what it means to come of age. graduation ceremonies, a rite of passage for youngsters here, now virtual rather than actual experiences. the future for those graduating more uncertain than at any other time in modern history. this star—studded televised event had as its keynote speaker the 44th president of the united states, and he was withering in his criticism of his successor‘s handling of the crisis. more than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they are doing. a lot of them are not even pretending to be in charge. since leaving office injanuary, 2017, barack obama has largely avoided criticism of his successor, although earlier this month, in remarks leaked to the media,

he was heard describing the trump administration's handling of the coronavirus pandemic as a "chaotic disaster". and trump has now gone after his predecessor, accusing him of acting improperly in the investigation that led to the prosecution of former national security adviser michael flynn. before obama spoke, the president posted a doctored clip from the film independence day, intended to show that he was vanquishing not interplanetary invaders but the coronavirus. trump's presumptive democratic opponent in november, joe biden, says it is all part of an attempt to deflect criticism from the administration's handling of the coronavirus crisis. but to the man who was biden‘s boss back then, the graduating class of 2020 has the ideal opportunity to change the political status quo. and all those adults that you used

to think were in charge and knew what they were doing, turns out, they don't have all the answers. a lot of them aren't even asking the right questions. so, if the world is going to get better, it is going to be up to you. barack obama says he intends to hit the 2020 campaign trail hard in the hope of unseating donald trump. the differences between them, both in substance and in style, could hardly be more stark. david willis, bbc news. borisjohnson has acknowledged frustration over the easing of the coronavirus lockdown in england. writing in the mail on sunday, the prime minister called for patience amid mounting criticism over the way restrictions have been lifted, and said he trusted the "good sense of the british people" to observe the new rules. mrjohnson has also warned that a vaccine for coronavirus may never come but says the uk is leading efforts to develop one.

the british government is investing £93 million to bring forward by a year the construction of a new vaccine manufacturing centre in oxford. it will have the capacity to produce enough vaccine doses for the uk population injust six months, if a vaccine is found. britain is likely to have a slow economic recovery from the coronavirus shutdown — that is the warning from the head of the uk's public sector finance watchdog. the head of the office for budget responsibility, robert chote, told the bbc it will take a long time for economic activity to return to normal. in practice, i think you are likely not to see the economy bouncing back to where we would have expected it otherwise to be by the end of the year, which is part of that assumption. but instead, a rather slower recovery and that will depend first on the pace at which public health restrictions are loosened but also of course on the way in which people's behaviour responds. so, if you allow people back into the workplace, back into shops, back into restaurants, will they actually go or will they feel too nervous?

so, you would expect i think a slower recovery than the v shape that you simply make for that assumption. the italian prime minister, giuseppe conte, has admitted that his country is taking a calculated risk by rolling back lockdown measures from next week. the country's daily death toll from covid—i9 has now fallen to its lowest since the 9th of march. mr conte said that there could be another rise, but the country could not afford to wait any longer. donna larsen reports. italy's wait is almost over. from monday, day—to—day freedoms will slowly resume, and by 3rd june, there will be even greater movement, such as domestic and international travel. but the process comes with a warning. translation: we are facing a calculated risk. to put it frankly, we know the contagion curve may rise again.

preparations are taking place across the entire country. beauty salons and shops can resume trade on monday. gyms and swimming pools will open on 25th may. cinemas and theatres will follow in mid—june. but measures must be taken to make sure people are kept as safe as possible. translation: we must accept the risk, otherwise we will never be able to start again. we should wait until a vaccine is discovered and distributed, but we can't afford this. italy has suffered immensely during the coronavirus pandemic. more than 31,000 lives have been lost — the third—highest total in the world. the rate of new infections has now dropped, providing a pathway to start opening up the country. the world's largest church is also opening on monday, after a weekend of deep cleaning.

a diluted chlorine solution was used to protect the 16th century marble. worshippers will be welcomed back to st peter's basilica, but numbers will be reduced as the church adapts to a new way of life. donna larsen, bbc news. israeli police say china's ambassador to israel has been found dead in his apartment in tel aviv. a police investigation has so far revealed nothing suspicious about the death of du wei, who only took up his post in february. the 58—year—old's wife and son were not with him in israel. in thailand, officials are allowing shopping malls, museums and fitness centres to open in a further easing of lockdown measures. but bars and clubs will remain closed. flights from overseas are not currently allowed. that means thailand's lucrative tourism industry is effectivley mothballed. our correspondentjonathan head is in bangkok and he's been

following developments there. i think they are still hoping there will be something of a recovery. the official tourism prediction is that they will lose two thirds of the a0 million tourists they were expecting which is about a fifth of the entire economy here, but there will hopefully be some kind of resumption but nobody can say when that will be. they have continually extended the ban on incoming flights, now extending until the end ofjune. the current government, were we are living under a state of emergency and we are ruled by the same people who led the recent military government, has taken a very hard line, saying categorically, deal with the disease first, everything else comes second. that is causing enormous amounts of economic hardship here. they are predicting one quarter of the workforce might lose theirjobs and the economy will contract by at least 7%. this is in a country where actually the covid—i9 numbers are strikingly low and although thailand was the first country to get a case outside of china back injanuary, they have kept the number of cases

to just over 3000 and only had 56 deaths — a completely different scale from what you see in europe and the us. but they have a limited health system here, as they do in most in most of the region, and they are very nervous possible second wave. even though you are seeing life is starting to return to normal, it's the second stage of the reopening of the economy today with shopping malls now allowing people in, it is under strict guidelines. they have to allow space for people, temperature checks, everybody is wearing face masks and the authorities are saying that if there are any more spikes at all, any increase in the covid—i9 numbers, which have been running at only one or two new cases per day recently, they will consider reimposing a lockdown. this is still a country very nervous of the possibility of a resurgence of the coronavirus, even though, on paper, it looks like they have been very successful. as you mentioned, the gradual easing of the lockdown but it is only partial, isn't it? quite a lot of places are very much closed still. yes, for example, you can

eat in a restaurant eat in a restaurant but the restaurants have to have such strict spacing, some of them near me literally only allowed one person per table, others have erected plastic see—through screens so diners can sit opposite each other. officials come round and inspect them. they cannot serve alcohol either. you are simply not getting a return to the way the economy was operating two or three months ago. the authorities are not allowing that. there is a whole range of other areas of activity. you can open fitness centres but only for limited activities. no kind of team sports are allowed. this is still a country which is very wary of completely restarting the economy. jonathan head reporting from bangkok. under normal circumstances, the process for testing the effectiveness of drugs can be extremely long and drawn—out. but of course these are not normal times. nearly 10,000 people from across the uk have now been recruited for the world's largest clinical trial into treatment for coronavirus and the first results could be out next month. katharine da costa reports.

in mid—march, after a week of struggling with fever and flulike symptoms, tim claydon from oxford took a turn for the worse and was rushed into hospital overnight. by that stage my breathing was really difficult, and every breath was deep, deep pain. it wasn't a sore throat, it was a deep pain. tim spent four days on a covid ward and was at times unsure whether he would pull through. i felt really, really ill, couldn't breathe, and it suddenly came to me that this is how you die. there is no drama, there is no big deal about it. you just stop. that's how bad it felt. you are no longer in control of your body. you can't breathe. there are no proven treatments for covid—19. researchers want to find out

whether existing medicines can help tackle the disease and reduce the number of deaths, something tim wanted to be part of. if i can do my little bit to help make life better for somebody else, hopefully i'm going to benefit out of it as well, but that wasn't the prime reason. this was more about contributing to the research effort. we are testing several treatments suggested by the expert panel... in just nine days a team at oxford university got their trial off the ground, and in seven weeks hospitals like thejohn radcliffe have enrolled nearly 10,000 patients, including children and pregnant women. it's very easy, and the trial is very simple, and we are really grateful for all the patients that take part in the trials, because they are developing evidence to inform future treatments. those who volunteer are given one of five existing drugs used for conditions including hiv and malaria. a sixth treatment, convalescent plasma, which contains antibodies

from recovered patients, is expected to be added in the next couple of weeks. the first thing to say is we're not expecting a single magic bullet, but we are hoping for a of drugs that might make modest differences but, by goodness, really important differences. if i had to predict, perhaps the first results might come out towards the back end ofjune, but a lot does depend on whether the epidemic fades a little over the coming weeks, which of course we all hope, and whether recruitment to the trial continues to be as impressive as it has been over the last month or so. experts think a second wave is possible at some point later this year. the results of this trial will help future patients battling covid—19. in south africa, the coronavirus has prompted the authorities to take an unusual step. for the last seven weeks, there's been a ban on selling alcohol and cigarettes.

health experts say the new "prohibition" has helped reduce crime but some argue the ban is playing into the hands of criminal gangs, and damaging south africa's fragile economy. our africa correspondent andrew harding reports from johannesburg. patrolling the dark streets of johannesburg, south african police trying to enforce much more than just the lockdown. they have spotted a woman with something in her hand. could she be selling cigarettes? she is bundled into the van. the sale of cigarettes and alcohol is now strictly prohibited here. this is how south africa's new prohibition is being enforced. police on the streets at night seeking out anybody dealing or carrying alcohol or cigarettes. it is a deeply controversial part of this country's lockdown.

the south african government says its prohibition is working and by restricting alcohol, they are reducing public violence and keeping hospital beds free for coronavirus patients. but the ban is also fuelling organised crime. these schoolchildren are now selling contraband cigarettes on behalf of powerful gangsters. these people are quite scary, are they? they are, they are very scary. they carry guns around, they can't trust anyone. do you feel ashamed of doing this criminal activity or do you think this is a stupid law? i feel ashamed, it's not ok. you would rather have a properjob? exactly. as for bootlegging, it seems like everyone is at it now. kitchen gin being distilled for sale in the suburbs. and home—brewed pineapple beer, the only source of income now for a mother of three who lost herjob because of lockdown. what would happen to you if you were caught?

the police, if they catch me, they could put me in the jail. are you afraid of that? yes, i'm afraid, because i can't... my kids, who would look after my kids? and those who are not breaking the new law are in danger of going out of business. in the stunning winelands around cape town, dozens of vineyards are going bust and thousands of workers are losing theirjobs. and then there is this — 7 million litres of beer being poured down the drain to clear a nation's clogged breweries. another unintended consequence of south africa's divisive coronavirus prohibition. andrew harding, bbc news, johannesburg. it was eurovision last night, but not as we know it. the competition was cancelled because of covid—19 but replaced with a pared down special programme. our arts correspondent, david sillito, reports. voiceover: from hilversum,

the netherlands, this is eurovision: europe shine a light. eurovision 2020 — no crowds, no voting and the only people on the live stage in the netherlands, three presenters, standing well apart. and the mood? reflective, rather than the normal eurovision exuberance. we do have a very special show for you. in spite of everything, it feels great to be here together, live across europe. this event, live from hilversum, replaced the show that should have been taking place in rotterdam's ahoy concert hall. that venue is now an emergency hospital. but all the contestants did get a chance to say hi, and play a bit of each song. # baby, i can't wait to know what do you think about me...# normally, the message of the satellite linkups is how much everybody likes the show. this time it was stay safe. the main thing is just to worry about people's health and,

once they get that under control, then people will always need music. stay home a little longer and stay safe because you're doing this for you and for everyone. smile and stay healthy. # my, my, at waterloo napoleon did surrender...# but earlier in the evening, there was a chance to vote in the united kingdon. the bbc‘s poll of the greatest eurovision song of all time was won, unsurprisingly, by abba and waterloo. and bjorn from abba also had a message for the eurovision audience. everybody knows why there could not be the usual eurovision final this year, but we hope this show will comfort you in some small way, knowing that it will be back next year. # love, shine a light in every cornerof my dream...# so, not eurovision but at least there was a reminder of a time when the uk last won. the big finale of the evening,

a rendition of katrina and the waves' love shine a light from 1997. # let our love shine a light in every corner of my dreams...# david sillito, bbc news. you're watching bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. good morning, we have quite a lot of cloud and some rain coming across northern ireland and scotland, brightening in england and wales with summer sunshine and what a glorious start it was in the far south coast. this was earlier this morning. for the next few days, the weather will become drier, sunnier and warmer and by wednesday temperatures could reach 27, are likely to be the hottest we have seen so likely to be the hottest we have seen so far this year, into the early 80s fahrenheit. but not that hot today, extensive cloud in the north and west of the country and thatis north and west of the country and that is rain bearing clouds. we have

had some damp weather this morning in northern ireland and scotland and a few patches working across wales and northern england. increasingly, this afternoon we have sunny skies in the south, suli breaks developing elsewhere in england and wales and most areas enjoying brighter conditions put at the rate will ease off for a time in scotland, some sunshine also —— the rain. 16 in aberdeen but in northern ireland, pretty cloudy and although in the rain eases for a time, more wet weather on the way towards the latter pa rt weather on the way towards the latter part of the afternoon and this evening to overnight, the rain spreads to scotland, parts of northern england, may be the midlands and wales, but wherever you are it is mild, temperatures of 9-11dc. are it is mild, temperatures of 9—11dc. for the week ahead, high—pressure slowly drifting eastwards and as it does, we start to draw up more southerly winds bringing warmerair to draw up more southerly winds bringing warmer air across the uk. monday has some warmer air arriving in the south with temperatures boosted. otherwise, in parts of

wales, northern england, northern ireland and scotland, quite a bit of cloud and we could see further outputs of rain at times. temperatures of 18 degrees in aberdeen, pleasant in the sunshine, and up to 2a in london and the south—east. on tuesday, more of us will have the dry weather and the sunshine and higher temperatures but still some rain affecting western scotla nd still some rain affecting western scotland with that weather front eventually staring out of the way. in the brighter moments in belfast, turning warmer, 18 degrees on tuesday but 25 in the south—east and it looks like wednesday will be the warmest day of the week with temperatures reaching 27 in the london area. by the end of the week, a bit more unsettled in the north—west with some rain returning here. that is your weather.

this is bbc world news.

the headlines... the uk government defends plans to begin reopening primary schools in england from next month. it says there will be measures to ensure the safety of children and teachers. it is the case that it is extremely unlikely that any school is likely to bea unlikely that any school is likely to be a source of a covid—19 outbreak and if for any reason there are risks, then we can take steps to mitigate them. barack obama has launched a scathing attack on the trump administration's response to the coronavirus crisis. the italian prime minister admits the country's taking a calculated risk by easing a number of lockdown measures from next week. borisjohnson says he understands people will feel frustrated at changes to the new lockdown guidelines in england.