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 of next month. is the case that it is extremely unlikely it is the case that it is extremely unlikely that any school is likely to be the source of a covid—19 out rate and if for any reason there are risks than we can take steps to mitigate them. a deal to produce doses of a potential vaccine as the uk's daily figure for coronavirus deaths drops to 170 — the lowest since lockdown began in march. spain records fewer than 100 death in the past 2a hours for the first time since its lockdown began. brazil now has the fourth largest

number of confirmed cases in the world — in the last 2a hours, nearly 15,000 new infections were recorded. 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. the uk government says it's confident that children and teachers will be safe under its plans for schools in england to open to more pupils next month. cabinet office minister michael gove said that while it was impossible to completely eliminate the risk of contracting coronavirus — it was extremely unlikely that a school would be the source of an outbreak.

the number of daily deaths in the uk dropped to 170 in the last day — the lowest since the day after the lockdown began — though there is generally a lag at the weekends in the reporting of deaths. for a second time — the former us president barack 0bama 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 vicki young on the political row in england over the planned re—opening of schools. could this be what primary schools in england look like in a fortnight?

in denmark, pupils are put into small groups with one teacher and kept apart. it's a model the government's suggesting here, but many teachers and parents want to know whether it's safe. none of us, none of us can guarantee that anyone will be entirely free, unless effectively they're perpetually imprisoned in their own home. and therefore, what we need to do is to make sure that people are as safe as possible, and in any widespread understanding of the word, schooling for a limited number of children with social distancing is a safe environment. but some councils, like liverpool and hartlepool, say earlyjune is too soon to reopen the gates. labour wants more information. what gavin needs to do, the education secretary, is publish the science to why they're making the decision they're making now, and ensure there is a testing and tracing

which he promised yesterday that on the first ofjune that would be available, but at the moment we've not seen any evidence that they can provide that, they haven't got the staff in place they said they needed to have the tracing, so testing and tracing and isolation is really important to tracking the virus. schools in wales will not reopen on the first ofjune and may not restart at all before the summer in scotland or northern ireland. some parents think england should take the same approach. valerie brooker lives in surrey and has two daughters. she thinks it's too soon to go back to school. my youngest brownwen, she has asthma, she's on two inhalers. charlotte, she has full on learning difficulties, and she has had pneumonia when she was five years old. i don't want her getting a second bout of pneumonia. it's just not viable, i don't want bronwen unknowingly coming home and passing the virus. she might be a carrier. children rarely become seriously ill from coronavirus.

less is known about how they might transmit it. teaching unions have quizzed government scientists, and some are reassured. critically, are teachers and other staff in schools at greater risk than if they were returning to other professions? and that was the key bit of information — they are not at greater risk as teachers and other people in school, and for me that was a very significant moment in allowing us to be able to say, let's start planning even more carefully to open our schools, which were already open, to more pupils and more students. it will be huge logistical challenge, but the government believes schools can be made extremely safe, and with scientists warning that we could be living with this virus for a long time, they think it would be very damaging to keep children out of the classroom indefinitely. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. 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. the 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 complex trials is unprecedented. imperial college are also making good progress, and we will be looking to move into clinical trials by mid—june, with a larger—scale trial planned to begin in october. so far, the government has invested £47 million in the oxford and imperial vaccine programmes, but 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 oxford 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 clinical trials of a vaccine later this year.

i can also confirm that, with government support, oxford university has finalised a global licensing agreement with astrazeneca for the commercialisation and manufacturing of the oxford vaccine. this means that, if the vaccine is successful, astrazeneca will work to make 30 million doses available by september for the uk as part of an agreement of over 100 million doses in total. the uk will be first to get access. we can also ensure that, in addition to supporting people in the uk, we are able to make the vaccine available to developing countries at the lowest possible cost. the number of coronavirus deaths in spain has fallen below a hundred for the first time since before the country entered lockdown in mid—march. the head of emergency health centre has welcomed the news but warned there is still a danger of a second wave of infections. despite the fall in the death rate,

spain's government has decided to extend the nation's state of emergency for another month and our madrid correspondent, guy hedgecoe, explains why. the prime minister has said he wants to extend the state of emergency, the legal framework that allows him to keep the lockdown in place. he wa nts to to keep the lockdown in place. he wants to extend that for at least another month and he will go to parliament this week and on wednesday we expect a vote in parliament and we will find out whether or not he will be able to extend that state of emergency for another month. the feeling at the moment is that it is likely but there has been increasing opposition to the handling of this crisis. it has been difficult for him to get these extensions to the state of emergency. the mayor of brazil's largest city, sao paulo, says the health system is close to collapse as demand grows for emergency hospital beds to deal with coronavirus cases. bruno covas said the city's public hospitals had reached

90% of capacity. brazil now has the fourth largest number of confirmed cases in the world. there have been more than 15,000 deaths and over 233,000 confirmed cases. more than 89,000 have recovered. i spoke to doctor marcelo kalichsztein in rio and asked him how he was coping with the rising infections. my my hospital is dealing with a new serious case that we have never seen before and from some days it starts to overflow with patients and now we have more than half of our capacity of critical ill patients with coronavirus confirmed. and more than half of them are on icu. it is a difficult disease because we are learning through the disease. at

university we studied many situations that we would put four is but now we need to study every day, ona but now we need to study every day, on a daily basis, to be up—to—date and giving the best care to our patients. other patients you see, they mostly older people? most ages are older or younger people with a comorbidity. the biggest risk factor we have found in our cases, our series of cases and most of the deaths, more than 85% of them in our hospital are people older than 80. you know that brazil was like

president has been against a lot of social distancing measures. has his policy had a direct impact on your work or admission of patients? social distancing is important to secure our health system against the effect of the coronavirus. but brazil is a poor country and some people need to work ona country and some people need to work on a daily basis to bring money home. it is a very difficult decision to make. we support social distancing. i asked decision to make. we support social distancing. iasked my decision to make. we support social distancing. i asked my parents are my patients to stay home and not go out but we know that for some people and some part of the population it

is impossible and brazilian people used to be a happy people but we are changing the way of living a lot and we are using masks. we used to see them in china and never thought about using that but now everybody is using masks, it is obligatory, law in my city. so we have changed oui’ law in my city. so we have changed our way of living a lot, although even with the president saying what he says. the people are very concerned about that. they say let's go out, let's work but most of the people who can make social distancing, they do that. israel has sworn in a new unity government led by prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his former rival benny gantz.

under the power—sharing deal mr netanyahu will serve for another 18 months before mr gantz takes over. it ends the longest political crisis in the nation's history. mr netanyahu vowed to push on with controversial plans to annex large parts of the occupied west bank. he said israel wanted unity as the country battled coronavirus. leaders of some of the largest councils in england have appealed to the government for emergency financial support — to prevent them becoming insolvent during the pandemic. the county councils network says that without a five billion pound income guarantee, many non— essential services will have to be cut. here's our political correspondent alex forsyth — and a warning her report contains some flashing images. emergency food parcels for the vulnerable, prepared and packed by staffordshire county council. i don't know how many thousands we've done. across the country, councils are providing a range of extra support, often adding pressure to budgets. for those on the receiving end, these are essential services.

like chris, self—isolating for his health and grateful for the help. i would have had to starve, literally, because i've got nobody. who can you call on to just magically appear with food ? for councils in staffordshire, like elsewhere, the increasing costs of this crisis are coupled with a drop in income. parking charges often suspended, leisure centres and tourist attractions closed, and there is fear about a fall in business rates and council tax if people can't afford to pay. the county council here welcomes extra government funding, but says it has still left a gap. the cost to the county council is probably about £50 million at the moment, and the government have given us £38 million. 0ur council finances will be stretched. they're manageable at the moment, and we've had additional costs that the government should fund. so far, the government's given an extra £3.2 billion to councils in england, and last week a further £600 million for councils to pass on to care providers.

but there's demand for more. at the start of this crisis, councils were told by the government to spend what it takes, but there's growing concern they will be left out of pocket. many want the government to guarantee it will cover the costs of their lost income, because some fear they'll simply run out of money, and that could have a real impact on some crucial services. take social care — already under strain, exacerbated by this pandemic. private providers who rely on income from councils say, with budgets tight, the extra government money is not getting through to them. there was not nearly enough money. we have seen one home close already, i think there will be others that are teetering on the edge now. this is a result of underinvestment by successive governments for a period of nearly two decades. the government says, as well as extra funding during the crisis, councils have had more money overall to spend in the past year, and a spokesman said they continue to work closely with councils as the pandemic

progresses and any concerned about their future financial position should contact the ministry for local government. those running the services many rely on say they do need a short—term fix, but also a long—term funding solution. alex forsyth, bbc news. in south africa, no—one has been able to buy alcohol or cigarettes for the last seven weeks as part of its coronavirus lockdown. health experts say the measures have helped reduce crime and injuries, allowing the police and hospitals to focus on tackling the virus, but critics argue its playing into the hands of criminal gangs and damaging a fragile economy. 0ur africa correspondent andrew harding reports from johannesburg. patrolling the dark streets of johannesburg, 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 is bundled into the van. the sale of cigarettes and alcohol is now strictly prohibited here. well, this is how south africa's new prohibition is being enforced — the 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, that by restricting alcohol, they're 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? 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 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 her job 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. and then there's this.

7 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. in afghanistan, bitter political rivals president ashraf ghani and abdullah abdullah have finally agreed to share power again. the two had been at loggerheads for months following last year's disputed general election, just as they were after the poll in 2014. but this time, there is the added complication of the coronavirus and a recent surge in taliban violence. 0ur south asia editor anbarasan ethirajan reports. every day, afghans pray for peace, more so every day, afghans pray for peace, more so in the past few months. the country has been battling the twin threats of the teller man and the

coronavirus. the brutality of some of the recent attacks claimed by the is group have shocked even this war—torn nation. people were in disbelief when newborn babies and nursing mothers became the target. all of this happened amid a bitter dispute over who won last year's presidential election at last, some hope as the wrangling political rivals say they have reached a deal. mrghani will remain rivals say they have reached a deal. mr ghani will remain president, but his rival, abdullah abdullah, will get to choose half the cabinet. translation: today is a historic day for afghanistan. afghans have proven that they are committed to their national interest, with common thinking, we have shown that without the mediation of international friends, we can reach a fundamental solution in a reasonable way. mr abdullah, who complained of

widespread fraud in the election, will now lead peace negotiations with the taliban, should they get under way. he says the political unity marks a new beginning. translation: given the situation that existed, reaching the political agreement was not an easy one, because the views were very different. but, with god 's help and for the benefit of the country, a big step was taken, because instability was not in afghanistan's interest, and could have plunged afghanistan into crisis. but the deal is not without controversy. a former vice president was accused of ordering the torture and rape of an opponent and has been made and marshall in the afghan army. mr ghani appears to have accepted the bitter pill to avert a political crisis turning into a civil war. that agreement came after a lot of pressure from the us, which threaten to cut off $1 billion in aid to afghanistan. for now, much—needed

political unity seems to have been achieved. the leaders are aware that any fallout would ultimately benefit the taliban. health ministers from around the world are meeting online for the who's annual world health assembly. representatives from all 194 member states meet every year to decide on global health priorities. the covid—19 pandemic will of course be top of the agenda. there will be questions about how the outbreak got to this point, with over 4.6 million peopled infected globally, and over 313,000 deaths. our global health correspondent tulip mazumdar has more. the world health organization is facing pressure over the covid—19 pandemic. the us is the who's biggest single donor, but last month, president trump withdrew funding and launched a blistering

attack on both the who and china. had the who done itsjob, to get medical experts into china, to objectively assess the situation on the ground, and to call out china's lack of transparency, the outbreak could have been contained at its source, with very little death. the who did get teams into china to work alongside chinese officials in january and february, and says since it was first alerted to the outbreak, china has shared crucial information, which has helped other countries prepare. founded in 1948, the world health organization's goal, both then and now, is ensuring the highest attainable level of health for all people. it works on a wide range of life—saving programmes, from mass vaccination campaigns to sounding the alarm when international health emergencies hit. but it is just an advisory

body. it doesn't have the power to enforce or compel countries to share information. now, at this year's world health assembly, there are calls to give the agency more powers, with who inspectors able to go into countries at the start of outbreaks and carry out independent investigations. the big challenge without breaks is that no country wa nts to without breaks is that no country wants to have one. every country wa nts to wants to have one. every country wants to deny it is there and every country wants to deny it is there and every cou ntry wa nts to wants to deny it is there and every country wants to play down deaths. right now, countries are required to notify if there are some emerging pathogen in their country, they are supposed to notify the who within 24 hours of this. so this would be an extension of that, to actually have who as an international mission and investigate the origins of this. representatives from 194 countries, who are meeting virtually this year, will also consider calls from the eu, the uk, australia, new zealand and others for an international review of the global response to the pandemic. another thorny issue at the meeting is likely to be around

taiwan, which has been praised for a very successful response to the pandemic, but is banned from attending because china and the un doesn't recognise it as an independent state. there will also be renewed calls for equal access to vaccines against covid—19 once they are developed, for all nations, rich and poor. footage has emerged of the prime minister of belgium getting the cold shoulder from healthcare workers. sophie wilmes visited st peter hospital in brussels on saturday, but some staff used the occasion to express their opinion about the government's handling of the coronavius outbreak, turning their backs on her ministerial car as she arrived. 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 pinister, edi rama, said no—one will stop

the transformation of tirana. more on our website. you are watching bbc news. lancashire police have begun a murder investigation after a suspected shooting near a supermarket in blackburn. officers were called after reports that a woman, believed to be a 19—year—old, had been found unresponsive after gunshots were heard at around 3:00pm this afternoon. no arrests have been made and police are appealing for witnesses to come forward. and we will be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers, the broadcaster and psychotherapist lucy beresford and john rentoul, who is chief political commentator at the independent. that is coming up after the headlines at 11:30pm. now it's time for a look at the weather, with ben rich. hello. there is some wet weather and some warm weather in this weather forecast. first, most of the wet

weather will be found across the northern half of the uk. further south, it will be largely dry, and quite widely it will become very warm for a time around the middle of the week. the end of the week will feel a bit different. it will be cooler, windier and more unsettled for all of us. now, you can see frontal systems which will be pushing across northern areas over the next few days, bringing cloud, yes. this cloud producing some outbreaks of rain, but it is to the south of those frontal systems that things will turn increasingly warm and increasingly sunny for just about all of us. by wednesday. but as far as monday goes, some rain to start off across northern scotland. that will increasingly become confined to the northern isles. the north of the main lens will brighten up, with some sunshine. we will see quite a lot of cloud persisting across southern scotland, north—west england and northern ireland. patchy rain here which could become heavier from the west into the afternoon. further south, some spells of hazy sunshine. it will be a breezy day, quite a windy one, actually, across northern scotland. as far as the temperatures go, well, 18 degrees in aberdeen, 17 in belfast, but a

high—end of 24 across some parts of south—east england. now, as we go through monday night into the early pa rt through monday night into the early part of tuesday, we will see more splashes of rain at times across northern ireland, northern england and scotland. some clear spells further south, but look at those overnight temperatures. 11, 12 degrees the minimum values for some. so very started tuesday morning. again we see a lot of cloud across northern areas, with some patchy rain at times. it is likely to be quite misty and murky for some of these western coasts, as well. further south and further east that's where we see the best of the sunshine, and once again the highest of the temperatures, 25 degrees looks likely in london by this stage. now, as we move into wednesday, high—pressure family firmly in charge for the week. these frontal systems being held at bay for the time being, so i think wednesday is going to be the sunniest day of the week, even northern ireland and scotland brightening up by this stage. the exception— shetland here, it will hold onto a lot of cloud, some splashes of rain. temperatures topping out at about nine degrees. further south, though, i have 27 degrees is possible. now, things do

change for the end of the week. we could see some thunderstorms breaking out on thursday. it turns windy for all of us on friday, with some rain times. and by this stage it will feel a bit cooler. hello. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment — he first the headlines. 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. a deal to produce doses of a potential vaccine as the uk's daily figure for coronavirus deaths drops to 170 and spain records fewer than 100 death in the past 24 hours for the first time

since its lockdown began. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are broadcaster and psychotherapist, and john rentoul chief political commentator at the independent. tomorrow's front pages, starting with the daily mail runs with the government's suggestion that 30 million brits could get a vaccine by september. the i leads on workers unions claiming the ‘prime minister‘s safety inspections at work don't exist‘. ‘getting back on tracks‘ is the metro‘s headline — as 70% of rail services are restored tomorrow. the times says that tough quarantine plans for holidaymakers could scupper summer travel plans. the telegraph‘s headline is ‘risk of virus spreading in schools