this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. president trump reveals he's been taking the drug hydrox—y—chloroquine as a preventative measure — he claims it can help coronavirus patients, though that isn't backed up by the science. the front—line workers many many are taking it. i happen to be taking it. i happen to be taking it. hydroxy corcoran? right now, yeah. the us renews its attack on the world health organization and china, over their response to the coronavirus pandemic. new symptoms to look for if you think you may have coronavirus in the uk a loss of smell or taste. but doctors say they should have been included weeks ago. india and bangladesh

are on high alert as super cyclone amphan powers towards them. and as english premier league clubs agree to start training in small groups from tuesday, we'll hear what some former players think about it. 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. first... president trump has said he's taking an anti—malarial drug as a precaution against the new coronavirus. mr trump, who's tested negative several times, said he'd been taking hydroxychloroquine for a week and a half as a preventive measure. the president has repeatedly promoted hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus treatment despite scientific evidence which says it does not have any therapeutic value against the virus.

a lot of good things have come out about the hydroxy. eight lot of good things and you would be surprised at how many people are taking it. especially the front—line workers before you catch it. the front—line workers, many many are taking it. i happen to be taking it, i happen to be taking it. i'm taking it. right now, yeah. a couple of weeks ago i started taking it. i've heard a lot of good stories. and if it's not good, i'm not getting hit by it. it's been around for a0 years firm but not for malaria, valukas, are taken. front—line workers to get a lot of doctors take it. i take it. i hope to not be able to take it soon because you know, i hope they come up with some answer. although there are trials under way to see if the drug has any value in treating or preventing covid—i9, president trump's use of it contradicts

official us advice. the food and drug administration cautions against its use saying it is ‘aware of reports of serious heart rhythm problems in patients with covid—i9, treated with hydroxychloroquine and hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have not been shown to be safe and effective for treating or preventing covid—i9. even american cable network fox news — which often takes a supportive position towards the president — reacted critically to his announcement. if you are in a risky population here and you are taking this as a preventative treatment to ward off the virus or any worst—case scenario you are dealing with the virus and you are dealing with the virus and you are dealing with the virus and you are in this vulnerable population, it will kill you. i cannot stress enough. this will kill you. lets cross over now to katty kay in washington. co., their president is taking an unproven drug. can hejust do co., their president is taking an

unproven drug. can he just do that? in italy you just told me they are eating tiramisu breakfast, there is the president taken hydroxychloroquine and the oval 0ffice hydroxychloroquine and the oval office will top i guess he can. i have to say there's quite a bit of skepticism about whether he's really taking this drug out there on the social media responses to this. he says that he spoke to the white house doctor about this and he floated the idea and the doctor seemed to say well, if you'd like to ta ke seemed to say well, if you'd like to take it you can give it a go. which isa take it you can give it a go. which is a kind of weird way for a white house doctor to respond given that we know there are potential problems associated with taking hydroxychloroquine especially for people overweight. there is something about this that is pretty odd. the president says that he's been taking it for a week and a half and asked why we did know about this he said well you didn't ask me. usually the president tells us exactly about what we believe that he wants us to know about himself. i think it's one of those moments where he suggested people and

themselves with clorox or bleach are disinfected and it will go down as one of the more serious pieces of medical advice that the president is giving people. we saw fox news react essentially saying do not copy what he's doing it can kill you, how have others reacted? i haven't heard a single doctor on any television network since this president revealed the news who had suggested that this is a good idea. the president says that he got the idea from some fellow in upstate new york who has had good results with it and is heard good results. you heard in that clip they are saying that he knows of lots of front—line doctors who are taking this. the president and the pastor sometimes say he's done delete i heard people is on xyz and people are never heard of them. why would you take this, because you hear some have a story about it when your own administration health officials and the food and drug administration are saying do not ta ke

administration are saying do not take this as a cure for covid—i9. and there is no evidence that it should be taken as a prophylactic to prevent you from getting covid—i9. i don't think the president himself, has entered suggested that once you ta ke has entered suggested that once you take hydroxychloroquine to prevent getting covid—i9. so why is he taking a? a very good question. when we expand beyond the presidents own self—medication or otherwise, other news, there is some early progress from one vaccine company and other states are beginning to open up. yes will stop this is also kind of interesting. let me give you a little of the politics of this, today the stock market rose 900 points. the dow rose 900 points. great news. the kind of news the president likes to celebrate, write? is because this has been this good news about maternal based in massachusetts that is already doing

trials. —— mike during our. they've had positive results vaccine to prevent people from catching covert. that should've been the big news of the day, right? yet now because of the day, right? yet now because of the hydroxychloroquine all of the news on the evening news bulletins is all about hydroxychloroquine and why an earth is the president taking this? contradicting advice and is this? contradicting advice and is this great role model and coming out of the white house? as to what could've been a really positive message the stock market is up because there is potentially good news about a vaccine. and stay here on bbc news and bbc world news for more on that we'll additionally have plenty more reaction 0ur reality check team has checked president hydroxychloroquine works. also at the press event, donald trump criticised the world health organisation — labelling it a ‘puppet of china'.

it came after the body's annual assembly — where the us‘s health secretary was the sole voice to criticise the global health body for its response to the pandemic — accusing it of ‘failures' that have costed lives. we saw the who failed in its core mission of information sharing and transparency when member states do not act in good faith. this cannot ever happen again. the status quo is intolerable. who must change and it must become far more transparent and far more accountable. transparent and far more accountable. for more on this let's speak to stephen morisson — director of global health policy at the center for strategic and international studies a washington—based foreign policy think tank. thank you forjoining us. why is the trump administration so hostile to the who? the president back in mid april decided to launch this assault upon who lumping it together with

china, accusing the who of becoming basically a tool or an agent of disinformation by china. and that the us was going to suspend review assistance to who. it's a reflection ofan assistance to who. it's a reflection of an effort to deflect blame away from the catastrophe that to happen here in the united states. it's a projection of the china hocks power within the white house going after china harshly and then striking a blow against multilateralism. with this assault upon who. who is a relatively weak institution is a member state organisation and has no inspection authority, no ability to really push its member states around. it's a convenient foil. it's tied to the electoral campaign here in the united states which is fraught. and of course who does make mistakes. it can be more accountable and more transparent. it's a little harsh to be accusing it of actually making the stakes that cost lives.

that was an escalation of rhetoric on the part of secretary azhar. calling its actions intolerable and that using the term failure multiple times in the speech. wanting to keep in mind, us has not stopped, has not terminated its funding to who or terminated its funding to who or terminated its funding to who or terminated its relationship. held that thought for a 2nd. what genuine criticisms can be made then of the who? it was too cosy with the chinese, it was too obsequious towards their chinese in that earlier period. it should have been a little bit more cautious and a little bit more distant. in the way that it behaved in that period. that's the major criticism, i believe in terms of the posterior list. in early january when the

pandemic was first being disclosed and people were racing around trying to figure out what is this, how dangerous is that is, how should we be thinking about this? they were far too respectable of the chinese in that period. in retrospect but that was in the midst of a storm. thank you so much. let's get some of the day's other news in spain, large portions of the country have moved to the next phase of the lockdown relaxation. groups of up to 10 people now free to meet, while bars and restaurants can open outdoor areas, as long as seating is at 50% capacity. separately, officials plan to introduce a basic income of about 500 us dollars per month for those most affected by the crisis. france and germany have proposed a european recovery fund worth more than half a trillion dollars. speaking after talks with president emmanuel macron, chancellor angela merkel said the bloc should act so countries get out of the coronavirus crisis "well and strengthened". the fund would offer grants to the countries

and regions hardest hit. the uk government has changed its guidelines for symptoms of the coronavirus. a loss of taste or smell is now classed as a main symptom in addition to a high temperature and a new, continuous cough. some doctors say that these symptoms should have been added weeks ago and hundreds of thousands of cases may have been missed as a result. our medical correspondent fergus walsh reports. we would spray some pepper spray into this hood, and if we could smell it, then the mask will have ——wasn't fitted properly. this person realised he had lost his sense of smell when he was being fitted with personal protective equipment. he kept on working and it was only days later when he had developed a fever that he was swabbed and found to have coronavirus. i couldn't smell it, after 20 or 25 sprays. clearly if you're walking around unaware that you are covid positive,

then you are a potential source of spread of the virus. so, i could have infected colleagues, i could have infected patients without knowing it. until today, the only coronavirus symptoms people in the uk were told to self—isolate with were a high temperature or a new and continuous cough. now, loss of taste or smell have been added, but that comes weeks after the world health organisation included them as symptoms. the who also lists tiredness, aches and pains, sore throat, diarrhoea, conjunctivitis, headache and skin rash as other possible warning signs. on the ist of april, this symptoms app from king's college london found that six in ten users who had tested positive for covid—i9 had reported a loss of smell or taste. researchers say the uk has been slow to act and so has missed

a huge number of cases. we're talking in excess of 100,000, maybe 200,000 cases, would have been missed, would have been out there infecting other people, increasingly r value, and i think this hasjust made the problem worse, caused problems in care homes and hospitals, that we will regret we didn't act earlier. loss of smell was added only after government scientists were sure it would help improve detection. how many cases of covid—i9 do you think have been missed as a result of not including this earlier on? the important thing was to work out if this would add any sensitivity to the diagnostic cluster we were using, and the answer is, it makes a small, very small difference, and we have therefore decided to do it. former love island star was another who is loss of taste and smell was her main symptom. a nurse, she later tested positive for covid—i9. it was very difficult for me

at the time because i didn't have anything to refer to, i didn't realise it was a symptom, and it was so severe, i could have literally drunk a cup of vinegar, the loss of taste and smell was so strong. adding loss of sense of smell as a key symptom should ensure fewer positive cases fall through the net — crucial if the epidemic is to be brought under control. fergus walsh, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come, bracing for the worst in brazil. the mayor of the country's biggest city says hospitals are on the brink of collapse. (tx breakfiller) this is bbc news, the latest headlines

president trump reveals he's been taking the drug hydroxychloroquine

as a preventative measure he claims it can help coronavirus patients, though that isn't backed up by the science. meanwhile, the us renews its attack on the world health organization and china over their response to the coronavirus pandemic. the health system in brazil's largest city, sao paulo is close to collapse as a result of pressure created by coronavirus, according to the city's mayor. brazil has the fourth largest number of cases in the world, and there's concern that many in brazil's cities — including the president — have defied lockdown rules on social distancing. katy watson sent this from sao paulo. "how many more people have to die for the government to take action? " the message from one of sao paulo's biggest favelas? marching to the governor's palace today, they tried their best to practice social distancing. no mean feat in this poor and crowded neighbourhood. "my cooking pot‘s

empty," shouts this man. people feel abandoned by the government in their hour of need. enough — the pandemic has become more about politics than disease. sao paulo residents have been in quarantine for nearly two months now, but there is no sign of it ending. the numbers keep rising, the situation is still not under control. the expectation is that tougher lockdown measures will be brought in in the coming weeks. but as the number of dead grows, more and more people are giving up on social distancing measures. on sunday, the mayor of brazil's biggest city warned that intensive care beds were fast running out, and he implored people to do their part in trying to flatten the curve. translation: it's difficult to believe that some would rather play a game of russian roulette with the population. the indifference to death is unseemly. it is a crime of responsibility.

a criticism that many direct at the president himself. jair bolsonaro once again spend the weekend railing against social distancing and flouting rules set by his own health ministry. in rio, the health system is at breaking point. field hospitals are filling up fast. so, too, are the morgues. doctors warn the next few weeks will be critical. i have never seen anything like it. i got covid—19 — i don't actually know anyone who hasn't been contaminated, but everyone has gone back to work. "stay at home," the favelas are asking people. rio's poor neighbourhoods are some of the most violent in the world. but covid—i9 is now a much bigger killer than crime. this weekend, rio's streets were still buzzing, despite a lockdown, but its beaches will be deserted for some time yet. katy watson, bbc news, brazil.

the first ‘super cyclone' in the bay of bengal since 1999 is bearing down on bangladash and the north east of india. forecasters say cyclone amphan has wind speeds in excess of 200 kmh with even stronger gusts. amphan is expected to weaken slightly when making landfall on wednesday. our correspondent yogita limaye in mumbai has the details. italy's prime minister had a meeting with the national disaster management authority, already on the ground preparing for evacuation from the indian state. in bangladesh were told that the first will be evacuated. which is just north of the delta. both of these countries are very experienced when it comes to dealing with cyclones. every yearfrom april until november we have storms developing in the bay. of course, this year it's an even more difficult process

because we are also dealing with a coronavirus outbreak. last year cyclone which hit orissa was a massive cyclone. but the loss of life was quite small compared to the devastation that was wreaked across it. 16 people were killed, about i million people were evacuated but imagine trying to evacuate that many people. when also trying to maintain social distancing, were trying to make sure that this doesn't cause a massive coronavirus outbreak. india's national disaster response team is talked about this is a difficulty saying that this is a dual challenge that the teams on the ground are facing. bangladesh is well being told that apart from the existing cyclone shelters they are trying to convert schools and any other durable structures to house people once they evacuated. so that everyone is not crammed into smaller places. of course, a massive evacuation

is expected to happen on tuesday the cyclone is expected to make landfall on wednesday. according to india's weather department they are expecting that the wind speeds will slightly reduce by the time and make landfall. but even then we are talking about very strong, very gusty winds. were talking about heavy rainfall in coastal areas and of course storm surges as well. let's get some of the day's other news. the prime minister of lesotho, thomas tha bane, has announced he will step down. the resignation follows months of pressure after he was named as a suspect in the 2017 murder of his ex—wife, lipolelo thabane. the eighty year old's current wife, was charged in connection with the killing in february. both have denied any involvement. a saudi air force lieutenant who last year shot dead three people at a naval base in florida had been in touch with a suspected member of al qaeda. that's according to us officials who said the fbi had found evidence of the link on the attacker‘s smartphones.

the incident last december in pensacola ended when he was shot dead. al-qaeda claimed responsibility a few weeks later. china has placed an eighty percent tariff on australian barley imports a move expected to further escalate tensions between the two countries. the new tax comes shortly after beijing suspended all australian beef imports. china's foreign ministry has denied reports that the trade restrictions have anything to do with beijing's displeasure over australia's support for an independent inquiry into the origins of coronavirus. english premier league clubs, have agreed teams can start training in small groups from tuesday with strict social distancing measures in place. any agreement on how to finish the season though is still some way off. let's remind you of what the table looked like when the sesaon was suspended in mid—march. as you can see liverpool were way out in front — with every chance of becoming champions for the first time in 30 years.

my colleague matthew amroliwala asked john barnes, liverpool and england star, and pat nevin, who played for chelsea and everton and scotland, for their insight. training groups, two metres apart, shooting, dribbling, lots of different you can actually do. coming back to train i don't think will cause that much of a problem. pat, what you think you welcome it or do you have some reservations? everyone's going to have some reservations going in. we cannot be completely risk—free. i don't think anybody in any job can be risk—free in a situation like that. however this is just preparation. we are trying to keep it as safe as possible in the way it's going to is now one player per quarter in the field. that's what they're doing just now. would we do that, we can do well apart as john says as well. we can pass balls to each other but it can be very strictly, very stringently overlooked. if we can get past this stage will step to the next date. nothing more than that, there is, we are going to start.

it's i—step. yeah, there are really difficult questions still to come. if we get to the point when we get to that point the matches resuming, in terms of the players, should it be they are decisions whether they play or the clubs? because there will be anxiety is undoubtedly among some of them. it will be difficult to be the players decisions because some will say yes and some will say no. where is the club will say yes were going to play because of the advice given by the experts and the government. and you're able to go back to work safely. it won't be 100% risk—free. there's going to be that risk. if your player that doesn't want to play they can actually say will knock on to play. but you, of course if you leave it to players and some say some say no what you do? but you can't force them to play. if the clubs then feel that it's safe to play, whatever it is then the clubs

will play that it's up to the individual players as to whether they want to take a chance. do state with bbc news. hello there on monday the temperature reached 25 degrees and over the next couple of days the heat will continue to build. the peak of the temperature is likely to be on wednesday. things start to break down a bit after that chance of thunderstorms on thursday before the turn cooler and when you're by the end of the week. chance of thunderstorms on thursday before we all turn cooler and windier by the end of the week. pretty mild out there at the moment away from northernmost parts of scotland. these are the temperatures by the end of the night, and as you can see, still a lot of cloud around. some outbreaks of rain, too. that rain continuing to affect the northern half of the uk mainly during tuesday morning. slowly petering out, many places becoming dry during the afternoon.

the cloud thinning and skies brightening. the best of the sunshine likely to be across wales, the midlands and southern england, where temperatures will peak at 25 or 26 degrees. but on the whole, it should be a slightly warmer day across the uk than it was on monday. and those temperatures continue to climb for wednesday. that area of high pressure is sitting over the uk. it's pushing the cloud and rain away, and we're going to be drawing up a gentle southerly breeze that will bring the heat northwards all the way from spain and france and move its way across the uk. northern areas start quite cloudy on wednesday. some rain to clear away from the northern isles, the cloud thins and breaks, and sunshine develops more widely. and in the afternoon, we're likely to find temperatures of 23 degrees through central scotland, 20 or so for northern ireland, the highest temperatures across the midlands to the south east of england, 27 or 28 degrees. things start to break down a bit on thursday. there's a bit of rain trying to come in from the west. that may not make it too far. these showers are likely to break out from the south east of england and heading towards the midlands, lincolnshire and east anglia, and they could be heavy and thundery. and that will knock the temperatures down. for many of us, it's still quite a warm day on thursday, just not quite as warm as wednesday.

and then things start to change more widely, i think, for the end of the week, because we've got this area of low pressure. it's winding itself up, the winds will be strengthening and this weather front will be bringing some rain. that's going to move its way eastwards across the uk during friday, but there won't be much rain for england and wales, and the more persistent rain soon sweeps away from mainland scotland. the winds, though, will be stronger. gales likely in the north west, and this is where we'll see most of the showers. otherwise, there'll be some sunshine, a cooler and fresherfeel, but still 21 in eastern england.

this is bbc world news.

the headlines: president trump has said he's taking an antimalarial drug as a precaution against coronavirus. mr trump told reporters he'd been taking hydroxychloroquine for a week and a half as a preventive measure. the us has strongly rebuked the world health organisation's response to the coronavirus pandemic, accusing it of costing many lives by failing to provide the information the world needed. the agency's director—general said they had sounded the alarm early and often. france and germany are proposing a european recovery fund worth more than $500 billion. president emmanuel macron and chancellor angela merkel said the fund would offer grants to the countries and regions hardest hit. police in myanmar have seized what's been described as south east asia's biggest ever haul of synthetic drugs. crystal meth and heroin were among the substances found in raids in northeast shan state.