this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the uk government insists england's schools are safe to open to more children at the beginning of next month. it is the case that it is extremely unlikely that any school is likely to be the source of a covid—19 outbreak and if, for any reason, there are risks, then we can take steps to mitigate them. britain pledges 84 million pounds to help accelerate the work of vaccine programmes. spain records fewer than 100 death in the past 2a hours — for the first time since the lockdown began. barack obama launches a second 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 are doing. a lot of them aren't even pretending to be in charge. and in south africa — how the ban on buying alcohol and cigarettes for the last seven weeks, has played into the hands of criminal gangs. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. uk cabinet minister michael gove has rejected criticism of the government's plans to get some children back to school in england. he's insisted having a limited number back, with social distancing,

will be safe. the uk government has pledged 84 million pounds to help accelerate the work of vaccine programmes. it comes as the number of daily deaths dropped to 170 — the lowest since the day after the lockdown began. for a second time — the former us president barack obama has criticised donald trump's administration's handling of the coronavirus crisis. 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". the italian prime minister, giuseppe conte, has admitted that his country is taking a ‘calculated risk‘ by rolling back lockdown measures from next week. and in spain — a further 87 deaths have been reported in the past last — that's the first time that number has been below 100 since the lockdown began there. we'll have more on all those latest development in a moment

but first this report from our political correspondent jessica parker on the political row in england over the planned re—opening of schools. back to school in denmark looks like this. lots of hand and small groups kept apart, being taught by one it isa kept apart, being taught by one it is a government model follows closely but is a staggered return for primary schools in england safe? the truth is that you can't guarantee that the teachers won't catch covid—19, that is the truth. none of us can guarantee that any of us none of us can guarantee that any of us will be entirely free unless perpetually imprisoned in their own homes, so we have to make sure that people are as safe as possible and

in any widespread understanding of the word, skiing, for a limited number of children with social distancing, is a safe environment. warning as well that you can't keep the school and economies locked up forever. but some councils like liverpool and hartlepool say that i gene is too soon to reopen the gates. so could some areas do things differently? there was a lack of consultation on that 1st ofjune date and it is slightly inflexible to say that it must happen by then because there are different issues in different areas. listen to people locally, work with them and i think we can find a solution, but it is the way it is being done which is creating this reaction, particularly here in the north, whether infection remains high. labour wants more information on the science and says ministers must deliver on a school testing programme but whilst children are at low risk of becoming ill from coronavirus, how much to be

carried? we have seen in countries where schools remain open is that there has not been big outbreaks in school and were as has been it has been associated with events were a lot of people gather, not in regular classrooms. it is usually an adult that has had the infection and spread it. keeping their distance in denmark, the plan for england is conditional on the science. schools in wales will not reopen aren't in the first and may not restart until after the summer in scotland or northern ireland. but two weeks for england. a deal has been stuck with the drugs firm astrazeneca to mass—produce a coronavirus vaccine being developed by oxford university — if it's proved to work. uk business secretary, alok sharma, praised the work being done by scientists in britain, to try to find a successful vaccine, at today's downing street briefing. the speed at which oxford university

has designed and organised its complex trials is generally unprecedented. imperial college are also making good progress and will be looking to move into clinical trials by mid june, larger scale trials due to begin in october. so far, the government has invested £47 million in the oxford and imperial vaccine programmes. today i can announce an additional £81; million of new government funding to help accelerate their work. this new money will help mass—produce the 0xford vaccine so that if current trials are successful we have dosages to start vaccinating the uk population straightaway. the funding will also allow imperial to launch phase three of clinical trials for this vaccine later this year. i can also confirm that with government support oxford university has finally finalised a global licensing

agreement with a company for the commercialisation and manufacture of the oxford vaccine. this means that if the vaccine is successful the company will work to make 13 million doses make 13 million doses available by september for the uk. that will be part of an agreement to do 100 million doses in total. the uk will be first to get access and we can also ensure that, in addition to supporting people who are in the uk, we are able to make the vaccine available to developing countries at the lowest possible cost. the daily death toll from coronavirus in spain has dropped below 100 for the first time in two months. according to the country's health ministry, 87 people died on sunday. that brings the total number of deaths to 27 thousand 650 people. 0ur correspondent guy

hedgecoe is in madrid. despite that good news, state of emergency in the country could well be extended to the end of next month? yes, that is right. the prime minister has said that he wants to extend the state of emergency, which is the legal framework that allows them to keep the lockdown in place. he wants to extend that at least another month and he is going to go to parliament this coming week, on wednesday we are expecting a vote there, and we will find out whether 01’ there, and we will find out whether or not he will be able to extend that state of emergency for another month. the feeling is likely but there has been increasing opposition to his handling of the crisis and it has been increasingly difficult for him to get these extensions through the state of emergency. what are spaniards able to do at the moment? how much regional disparity is that?

it depends where you are. there is a huge disparity geographically because different parts of the country are being affected very differently by covid—19. madrid is very much the epicentre and so the restrictions here are pretty much still in place. you can go out and do some exercise, children are allowed out once a day, but madrid is behind many other parts of the country. around half the country has moved into phase one of a three phased lifting of restrictions just if you days ago, so that means that in those areas you can go and have a meal and you can go to a bar or restau ra nt meal and you can go to a bar or restaurant but you can only be served on tables outside. you can meet in gatherings up to ten people. you can go to certain shops and businesses. but a lot of the

restrictions are still very much in place. the government is underlying that this is a very gradual lifting of restrictions. coming up to summer, to some of restrictions. coming up to summer, to some very of restrictions. coming up to summer, to some very vital for spain, whatare summer, to some very vital for spain, what are hoteliers and the tourism industry saying about this? they understand and are worried about this. tourism is very important and is worth more than 10% of gdp for spain. this is the season that things pick up for tourism, particularly around the mediterranean coast. many hotels are being allowed to operate but there are restrictions. common areas in hotels are not open and you cannot mingle in the foyer. a lot of hoteliers are hoping that in the coming weeks, through to the end of june, we will see things going pretty much back to normal, certainly around the mediterranean

south coast, so that people can have something like a normal holiday and so something like a normal holiday and so the tourist sector is not as heavily affected. thank you. the former us president, barack obama, has strongly criticised the trump administration over its response to the coronavirus pandemic. it's unusual for a sitting president to be rebuked by a predecessor, but mr obama said the pandemic had shown that those in charge don't know what they're doing. 0ur washington correspondent david willis sent this report. 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. the world is yours now. 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're doing. a lot of them aren't 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 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. the uk is likely to have a slow economic recovery from the coronavirus shutdown — that is the warning from the head of the country's public sector finance watchdog. the head of the office for budget responsbility, 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. israel has sworn in a new unity government led by prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his former rival benny gantz. it ends the longest political crisis in the nation's history. lawmakers in the knesset formally approved the three—year coalition government. mr netanyahu vowed to push on with controversial plans to annex large parts of the occupied west bank. the afghan president ashraf ghani and his rival abdullah abdullah have signed a power—sharing deal, ending months of political uncertainty. the deal sees mr ghani remaining as president while both men will choose an equal number of ministers. mr abdullah will lead peace negotiations with the taliban, should they get underway. india has extended its coronavirus lockdown for another two weeks until the 31st of may.

however some restrictions have been eased. 0ffices can work with staggered business hours. and shops have been allowed to open with a limit on customers. there have been more than ninety—thousand coronavirus cases and almost two—thousand—nine—hundred deaths in india. 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—19 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. the headlines on bbc news... the govenrment insists that it is safe to reopen schools in england — as some children are expected to return at the beginning of next month. as the uk's daily figure for coronavirus deaths drops to 170, the government pledges 84 million pounds of funding to help accelerate the work of vaccine programmes. spain records it lowest death toll since it began its lockdown —

just 87 people died from the virus in the last 24 hours. footage has emerged of the prime minister of belgium getting the cold shoulder from health care workers. sophie wilmes visited saint peter hospital in brussels of saturday. but some staff used the occation to express their opinion about the government's handling of the coronavius outbreak — turning their backs on her ministerial car as she arrived. people are still being urged to stay away from tourist destinations and follow the lockdown rules for each part of the uk. staff at the lake district national park in cumbria say they found some people trying to camp overnight and others returning to their second homes — neither of which is allowed under the current lockdown measures in england. our news correspondent andy gill is in the peak district. this is dove stone's

reservoir near 0ldham, the very popular beauty spot. a couple of days ago the local police asked people to consider other destinations because, shortly after the restrictions were lifted, people flocked here. there was double parking on the roads leading to the reservoir. of course, people are allowed to travel to beauty spots, but the fear is that if so many people come that will make social distancing really difficult. they have tried to do something about it, the car park pay machines are suspended so that people aren't touching them. the message is not getting through to some. in shropshire last night, a rave of 70 people was broken up by police and they said they were shocked that people would care so little what their conduct might lead to. the labour party has accused the uk government of "tragically" letting down care home workers by allowing people to be discharged from hospitals into homes without being tested for covid—19. the party's deputy leader, angela rayner, said this meant the virus was "seeded

into care homes". the cabinet office minister, michael gove, said there were "big lessons" to be learned but insisted the government had ta ken "significa nt steps" to improve the situation. in south africa, the coronavirus has prompted the authorities to take an unusual step for the last 7 weeks there's been a ban on selling alcohol and cigarettes. health experts say the new "prohibition" has helped reduce crime and injuries but some argue the ban is playing into the hands of criminal gangs, and damaging south africa's fragile economy. 0ur africa correspondent andrew harding reports from johannesburg. patrolling the dark streets ofjohannesburg — south africa's police trying to enforce much more than just the lockdown. they've spotted a woman with something in her hand. could she be selling cigarettes? she's bundled into the van.

the sale of cigarettes and alcohol is now strictly prohibited here, and the security forces are cracking down hard, in response to what many see as a pointless, counter—productive new law. well, 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're reducing public violence and keeping hospital beds free for coronavirus patients. but the ban is also fueling organised crime. these schoolchildren are now selling contraband cigarettes on behalf of powerful gangsters. these people are quite scary, are they? yes. 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'd rather have a properjob? exactly. as for bootlegging, it seems like everyone's 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 the lockdown. what would happen to you if you were caught? the police, if they can catch me they'd put me in the jail. are you afraid of that? yes, i'm afraid. because my kids, who can look after my kids? and those who aren't breaking the new law are in danger of going out of business. in the stunning wine lands around cape town, dozens of vineyards are going bust and thousands of workers losing theirjobs. it's already difficult for young people to get work. for older people, it's even

more difficult for them because there isn't going to be jobs to apply for. and then there's this. seven million litres of beer are 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. we've got used to spending much of our lives staring at screens in recent years. now we're becoming rapidly accustomed to staring through them, too. demand for protective screens in shops and offices is booming during this pandemic — and manufacturers are struggling to keep up. here's our business correspondent, katy austin. clear plastic sheets being cut and shaped into protective screens — these will end up on reception desks. this office furniture manufacturer

near dudley is getting ten times the normal orders for screens. staff are back from furlough, making 700 a week. more and more businesses are starting to get back to work and they want to do that safely, which has triggered a huge amount of demand for the kind of protective screens that they make here. the company's boss says offices will start to look very different. ‘normally, you would have screening of this height to provide a separation between the space, now people need to extend that to provide a more practical barrier. but the rush for see—through screens has caused a shortage in transparent acrylic — many businesses could have to wait months. is it possible that everybody who wants a plastic screen will get one now? in simple terms, no. we will be exploring all sorts of alternative materials, but there is a limited supply

of acrylic, and that is being used up very quickly. everybody is looking for screens. for weeks, this firm in leicester has rushed to make visors and supermarket screens. but now other types of business, from taxis through to warehouses being in need of them. but materials from europe are not made quickly enough. demand has been at least ten times the usual market and that causes troubles. customers are wanting deliveries now because businesses are opening and, with that, we are unfortunately in the position that we cannot supply generally for four weeks. the supply is being monitored. we have been talking to government every day for weeks. we have been monitoring supply change in the industry. we are looking at specific items and the general supply of raw materials, to make sure the government and ourselves

are up—to—date with what is available and where. as the economy gets back into gear with safety at the fore, this could just be the tip of the iceberg. katy austin, bbc news. in the last few weeks we've seen all too clearly that — while covid—19 can infect anyone — being poor increases the risk of catching it. so, you might think that the developing nations of the caribbean are more vulnerable to the disease than other, richer parts of the world. in fact, the death toll there has been miniscule compared to europe, asia and north america — with just 84 fatalities across 20 nations. 0ur cuba correspondent will grant reports. the cuban government hasn't changed its message from the start. "don't leave home unless it's strictly necessary," says this doctor in a village outside havana, and lists the symptoms of coronavirus one more time.

they also do shoe leather epidemiology, two—person teams of medics going door—to—door with a clipboard. the survey helps the authorities map the state of health of the town and anyone showing symptoms of covid—19 is closely monitored. it's largely worked. cuba had no coronavirus fatalities on one day last week. and it's been a similar success story across the caribbean. most island nations locked down early to ensure the outbreak stayed within the capacity of their healthcare systems. when the first cases came, the leaders acted very decisively, so, by and large, responded within a week or two of each other with lockdowns. almost in all cases before the first death and in some cases before the first case. the caribbean has established protocols for zika and other infectious diseases, and has ten laboratories carrying out extensive testing and contact

tracing for coronavirus. and these labs have been doing a fantastic job and turning around results, sometimes within hours, almost always within a day. so you're able to identify persons, you're able to do the contact tracing, so that is the sine qua non for executing a containment strategy and the caribbean was very well prepared. the caribbean is also used to disaster management, like in late 2017 when hurricane irma wreaked havoc across the region. although coronavirus isn't a hurricane or an earthquake, there were parallels in preparing for it which certainly saved lives. nowhere in the world is as dependent on tourism as the caribbean. it's the region's economic lifeblood and without it, many island nations would go under. but as a cautious, gradual reopening beckons, the region's authorities face a difficult balancing act. talk to me in a month and see

if i am just as happy, because coming out of this first wave and also trying to have a foundation for economic viability, while saving life, like i said, is the hardest challenge in my career. the caribbean‘s covid—19 response may have been simple but it's been effective. with just 84 coronavirus—related deaths in 20 different caribbean nations, the results speak for themselves. will grant, bbc news. the demolition of the national theatre in albania's capital tirana has led to ugly clashes between protesters and police. activists and actors staging a sit in were dragged away by police before the 81—year—old building was flattened. the controversial works are part of plans to redevelop the city. albania's prime minister, edi rama, said no one will stop

the transformation of tirana. it was eurovision last night — but not as we know it. the competition was cancelled because of covid—19 but replaced with a special programme, featuring every song that should have been performed live in rotterdam. so that meant no cheering crowds, no endless scoring and no "nul—points". 0ur 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