welcome to bbc news, i'm mike embley. our top stories: the biggest one—day increase in worldwide covid—19 cases, according to the who. cyclone amphan, one of the most powerful south asian storms in decades, kills at least 15 people in bangladesh. a state of emergency in parts of michigan, heavy rain has caused two dams to collapse. european countries puzzle over re—opening tourism. we meet the hoteliers hoping to salvage the season. the balance between welcoming visitors back here and the risk of a second wave is what italy and every other country is now trying to strike.

hello to you. there are now at least 5 million confirmed cases of coronavirus across the globe, according to the world health organization, of the 106,000 reported in the past 2a hours, more than two thirds are in just four countries: the united states, russia, saudi arabia and brazil. the number of cases officially reported in brazil alone is more than 270,000. it's thought there are probably, in fact, many more cases and officials are warning the outbreak is nowhere near the peak. brazil's government has now authorised the use of anti—malaria drugs to fight covid—19, even though they have no proven benefits against the virus. two days ago president trump claimed he was taking them too. more generally, you can see the number

of infections worldwide is rising steadily with the who warning the crisis is far from over. this was their director—general speaking in geneva. in the last 2a hours there have been 106,000 cases reported to the who, the most in a single day since the outbreak began. almost two—thirds of these cases were reported in just four countries. dr ashish jha is director of harvard university's global health institute. he gave us his reaction to the warning from the who. we are, you know, early days, unfortunately, in this long pandemic. and even if everything goes very well and we have a vaccine sometime next year, we are going to have many, many more months of many more cases. so, unfortunately, we are still early in this very long journey. some countries have done a very good job, south korea is hailed as a model and rightly so. i think countries like germany and others have done a very good job, whereas the us has been quite a lagger and moved

very slowly on testing. and it's been puzzling to me because it's such an obvious thing to do from a public health point of view, why some countries have been slow on this. we are really thinking about the northern hemisphere as they go into the fall and winter months. i think there is good reason to believe we will have a second peak, there is good reason to believe it could be substantially worse than the first peak we just experienced. and it will coincide with the influenza season, which already stresses hospitals and the healthcare system. so we really have to spend the summer months preparing for what will be probably a large number of new cases of covid—i9. and if we prepare, i think we will get through it. if we don't, we're going to be in a lot of trouble. doctor ashish jha from harvard university. a major cyclone has been moving across parts of bangladesh and eastern india, making the challenges of staying safe during the coronavirus pandemic much more difficult. at least 15 people have died, more than 3 million people were forced to leave their homes,

mostly in bangladesh before cyclone amphan hit. coronavirus restrictions have been hampering the relief efforts, as our correspondent in mumbai, yogita limaye, reports. the might of the storm has left a trail of destruction. amphan has plundered its way through the indian state of west bengal, neighbouring bangladesh also in its path. hunkered inside, even those used to seeing cyclones every year are stunned by the fury. i have never seen something like this ever in my life. it went on continuously for three hours without any signs of slowing down. from inside my home, i could hear tin roofs flying around, i could hear trees getting uprooted. 0n the shores, sea water surged in, along with heavy rainfall, it has caused flooding in many areas. over the past two days, relief workers have moved millions to safety, but this year the coronavirus crisis is an added fear. social distancing, difficult in cyclone shelters. for these people, it's hard to imagine what they will go

home to once the storm passes. it will be the poor who will be affected. these are poor districts inhabited by poor people with tin roofs and asbestos roofs and it is equally devastating, they will lose property. and as it crosses over to bangladesh, more homes, more lives, in its deadly path. yogita limaye, bbc news, india. from asia we turn to michigan, where two dams have collapsed after days of heavy rain. 10,000 people facing historic levels of flooding have been evacuated from their homes in central michigan. the high waters are also threatening a dow chemical facility. the company says it has

shut down the plant. the governor has declared a state of emergency for the affected areas. the bbc‘s jane 0'brien has more. evacuate the area. the moment a rain swollen river breached a dam in midland county, michigan. one of two catastrophic failures in the area that sent water pouring across fields and towns. so often in recent years, disasters have been measured by records broken — and this was no exception. more than seven inches of rain, causing historic flooding in a state already reeling from the coronavirus. while we're in the midst of a public pandemic, it's really important that to the best of our ability, we observe the best practices to keep ourselves and our family safe. we're gonna get through this. it is a tough time to be sure, but we are going to get through this. john anglia, a midland youth pastor, has onlyjust recovered from the last major flood three years ago. now he and thousands of other residents have been told to evacuate their homes. i feel we've almost forgot about covid. you know, we went from staying home, staying safe,

to leave your home, the safest place is not in your home. so this one kind of supersedes the first one. john, do you everfeel or do you everjust think, god, how much more can people actually take? for me, i've had to rely a lot on my faith and you kind of almost wonder is god punishing. that is what you go to. the rebuilding just kind of finished up from the last one. so how do you get enough strength to do that again? it seems near impossible. president trump says he is monitoring the situation, praising first responders just hours after accusing the state of voter fraud and threatening to cut funding. meanwhile, the water continues to rise, prompting fears that the worst is yet to come. jane 0'brien, bbc news.

well, let's get more on this now. mark bone is chairman of the midland county board of commissioners and he joins us from michigan. thank you for your time. i imagine you have way much to do at the moment. what is the latest situation? you're very welcome. the latest situation is it's good news. the water was supposed to go to 38 and at 35.05 feet there is still a lot of damage and people have lost homes, but we are now in the rebuilding mode and trying to make things right instead of the mode of wondering what's going to happen. so at least we are on the downside of the slope. the amount of rain you had, was that unusual? yes, very unusual. we have had maybe one other time that happened and that happened to be in

2017. it was very unusual, we had over seven inches of rain. admire, what happened when the dams failed? what happened when the dams failed ? dams failed? what happened when the dams failed? they, well, they failed. so, we had one dam 90, they failed. so, we had one dam go, water came down a series of dams and water came down and it puts down the next dam of the sa mford dam. puts down the next dam of the samford dam. that let go and that was probably 45—50 minutes afterwards the first dam fail that that let go and then that was when everything rushed into midline, our town. and it seems the houses were gone, com pletely the houses were gone, completely gone. are you confident you managed to get all the people in time? we are very confident. we are going to start checking tomorrow, but we are confident there were no lives lost and no injuries. we think we had a very good plan

in place. the eap, emergency evacuation plan, and i think we did a good job on that. and just quickly, mark. dow chemical had locations in midland, it's a very large company, are there safety concerns? i have worked with dow chemical and we were back and forth on everything dow has and forth on everything dow has a handle on things and luckily the water stayed lower than expected. i think we are in good shape barring the losses, the businesses that have been lost. there is a lot of hardship but no lives lost and no injuries. mark bone, thank you so much for talking to us. 0k, thank you very much. most european nations have been grappling with the mammoth task

of reopening countries to tourists, while trying to keep everyone safe. greece has said it plans to start its tourist season onjune the 15th, with international flights operating from the first ofjuly. the uk's foreign office still advises against all but essential overseas travel, but all the major european destinations are now gradually relaxing their lockdowns. france currently allows only essential travel from abroad. it hasn't said when its foreign tourist ban will be lifted. many beaches are now open but sunbathing still banned. spain has started loosening its restrictions on a region—by—region basis. in italy, beaches, restau ra nts a nd bars will gradually open from june, along with all airports. mark lowen reports from northern italy, where the resort of lake como hopes to welcome tourists. perfection isn't shared, at least not for now. the jewel of lake como glitters in the stillness, but italy hopes to lure tourists back from two weeks' today, when it lifts restrictions to visitors from europe and drops its quarantine. the tranquillity is breathtaking, but the economy is starved.

lake como was set for a record year — george clooney‘s villa here helping to pull tourists. but then the virus hit this region, lombardy, the hardest in italy. tourism councillor luca leone has watched as every visitor who had booked has cancelled until at least august. now hotels are planning to extend the season to try and save it. that means he will keep his one open right through until january, hoping the rooms fill up as confidence returns. to the british tourists, the first they arrive on lake como at the end of the 18th century, so we're now ready to welcome them again, like we've always done in the past, and for us it's not a question of working with them but it's to share our feeling with them, our soul, our heart with them, because they started tourism for us and we want them to be back, as soon as possible. local businesses need them badly. italy is expecting a recession this year of almost 10%.

having imposed a national lockdown before any other country, italy is now unlocking fast, bringing forward the lifting of some measures, desperate to salvage its tourism season and the economy. but the balance between welcoming visitors back here and the risk of a second wave is what italy and every other country is now trying to strike. at the local market, restarting today, there is little to keep them busy. traders want the custom back, but not the possible side effects. translation: i don't think the tourists will come back quickly. they and we are scared that the infections rise again. translation: the italian government is making a mistake. we here in the north were worst affected by the virus. the south wasn't, so why not open there first, where they're not afraid? it was shelley who wrote, "lake como exceeds anything i ever beheld in beauty."

this place is poetry, but it wants an audience. mark lowen, bbc news, lake como. do stay with us on bbc news. still to come: we go behind the scenes at south africa's newest soap opera, filmed under lockdown conditions. this morning, an indian air force plane carrying mr gandhi's body landed in delhi. the president of india walked to the plane to solemnly witness mr gandhi's final return from the political battlefield. ireland has voted overwhelmingly in favour of gay marriage. in doing so, it has become the first country in the world to approve the change in a national referendum. it was a remarkable climax to what was surely the most extraordinary funeral ever given to a pop singer. it has been a peaceful funeral demonstration so far, but suddenly the police are teargassing the crowd.

we don't yet know why. the prelaunch ritual is well—established here. helen was said to be in good spirits, butjust a little apprehensive. in the last hour, east timor has become the world's newest nation. it was a bloody birth for a poor country, and the challenges ahead are daunting. but for now, at least, it is time to celebrate. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the world health organization has reported the biggest rise in new coronavirus infections in a single day — with growing numbers in poorer countries. cyclone amphan, one of the most powerful south asian storms for decades, has killed at least 15 people in bangladesh china's "two sessions" is a key event in the country's political calendar. it's where delegates from china's top legislature, the national people's congress and the country's main political advisory body gather

to discuss the main political topics. to tell us more about this is shirley lin who is a professor in world politics at the miller centre of public affairs at the university of virginia. she is also a member of the founding faculty of the master's programme in global political economy at the chinese university of hong kong. you could say it is a rubberstamping body, both today and tomorrow, but there is a lot of meaning to the meeting because it was delayed for more than two months because of the pandemic and we will need to see in this deteriorating relationship between beijing and washington whether there is any positive gesture to help this deterioration of relationship. 0r this deterioration of relationship. or simply a warning of the risk. 0n the on whether there would be any specific response to trade and investment tensions in the south china sea, east china

sea. and of course on technology competition which is already heightened in the last few days. so these other things will be looking for. in addition to policy statements of taiwan and hong kong, is the president inaugurated her second term. and what are the chances of meaningful movement on those issues? unfortunately my personal prediction is that china's strategy will remain unchanged, that xi jinping will wa nt to unchanged, that xi jinping will want to consolidate the party at home and expand influence abroad. on taiwan in particular, we've seen the president's morning for a second term, a very tough line on china. you don't think the chinese will respond to that?” think it will be very interesting to ask how xi jinping will respond to it.

because taiwan represents the more anti—china party. so there is no likelihood that xi jinping will not respond forcefully however taiwan has not changed its position whereas xijinping has not changed its position whereas xi jinping has and can make a decision on whether to be more accommodated or simply stay hardline and threaten and marginalised taiwan internationally. let's get some of the day's other news. two men wanted on suspicion of helping the former nissan boss escape from japan have been arrested in the united states. carlos ghosn fled while on bail awaiting trial after being charged with under—reporting his income and misusing company funds. he has denied any wrongdoing. cameroon‘s president, paul biya has addressed the nation for the first time

since coronavirus was detected in the country on sixth march. mr biya urged people in cameroon to remain calm, trust the government and join the fight against the disease, in a broadcast on state tv. san francisco has opened its first official camp for homeless people, just steps away from city hall. officials are calling it a ‘safe sleeping village'. there are designated spots to ensure social distancing between tents. the city had already been using empty hotels to provide shelter. san francisco had a major homelessness problem, well before the coronavirus pandemic. rolls—royce is cutting 9,000 jobs — most of them in the uk. the engineering company makes most of its money from plane engines, and is warning it will take several years for the airline industry to recover. unions have accused the company of "throwing workers under the bus." but rolls—royce says the impact of the pandemic "is unprecedented." this according to the world health organization, latin america is currently

the epicentre of the pandemic. rich preston has the latest from the continent. lockdowns from the continent. remain in place across lockdowns remain in place across much of latin america as it tackles the spread of coronavirus. in columbia which has around 17,000 cases in over 600 deaths, police used drones to look for those breaking quarantine rules in the capital, bogota. —— columbia. they are a bit more sophisticated than that. police are looking for people with a fever and if it spots someone with a high temperature, it sends the location to a control room so a sends the location to a control room so a medical team can be dispatched to find the person and test them for the virus. translation: it gives us an approximate body temperature and directs the case to a national system so it can be attended to. to the south, peru has the second highest death toll from covid—19 in latin america. in the capital lima, a protest by these hospital

workers demanding more protective equipment, saying they haven't been given the tools they need to do their jobs safely. translation: there are all the —— already many infected workers, many dead. we don't have a security to survive this pandemic here while working with covid—19 patients. meanwhile the neighbouring bolivia, the country's health minister has been detained on suspicious activity relating to corruption, 170 ventilators ported to treat covid—19 patients at a cost of $27,000 each when the real price should have been less than half that. the spanish firm which makes the machines says they were sold via a third party. in chile, which is reported more than 500 deaths, there is concern about the environmental impact of the pandemic. it is one of latin america's biggest with deuces of rubbish but little is recycled. what is usually has to be taken to central drop—off points but people under lock down, few

people under lock down, few people are doing that. translation: the drop in recycling has been shocking and you can see it here in particular, at this collection centre, the quantity of material was impressive every time we came here. now it stopped severely. it's caused a drop and work for some recycling staff pushed them to go directly to people's houses. translation: the clean points are closed so there is demand for people to come up and pick up for people to come up and pick up at individual homes. as countries across latin america continue to tackle the spread of coronavirus, the long—term impact remains unclear, with hospitals badly affected, food shortages reported in some areas and income from tourism all that wiped out, there are fears the virus will leave its mark on the continent long after it's been beaten. so many industries are facing a long road to recovery. tv production and soap operas as well, of course — but in south africa, a group of actors saw stringent restrictions as an opportunity to start a new, online ‘soapie' they shot themselves at home.

it's proving popular — it's already in its third season. sync clap, standing by. and. . .action! so when the president announced the national lockdown, i kind of sat at home and i thought to myself, "well, wwhat happens to the soapies?" so in my head, i was like, "why don't we just create a soapie on our cellphones?" lockdown heights is an online 'insta—vela', which is a telenovela that we are specifically showcasing on social media platforms and is really bite—sized eipisodes which ranges between from 9—12 minutes. i'm in lockdown! i'm supposed to be in the house — we all do!

what happens is we send scripts out to those and each actor shoots from home on their cellphones, the individual parts of the scene of which they are edited together and it comes across, when it comes together, it comes across as people are in the same space. and obviously you've got to do whatever you can to get the shot. oh, look at this. this is my tripod. wow, girl, you dangerous. get out of my way, what are you doing? i would literallyjust call out actors that i know, friends, people i've worked with in the past and theyjust excited. everyone was like, keen to go into a space they do not know. i can't believe you tried to steal from me, thanis. i'm sorry, i didn't know what else to do. let me just call him and set it up so we can finally be done... your mess. it gives us an opportunity

as artists to stay creative during this period, for us to collaborate with one another and just to create something that's fresh and new because we are moving into a format that we haven't explored before. i can't stop thinking about how it felt when i kissed him. well, i...am right here. my message to all of the actors and even the crew out there that has been affected by the covid—19 virus within this space is always stay creative, always look for opportunities for creative ways storytelling, of characterisation, of shooting. innovative ways of storytelling are going to be unravelled and shows like lockdown heights are here to pioneer that kind of innovation. and...cut! that's it for now. there is much more on the news international and national on the bbc news website.

and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i'm @bbcmikeembley. thank you for watching. hello there. although we've seen a little sea mist around and some fog for shetland, for the vast majority, wednesday was a sunny day, and it was the warmest day of the year so far in scotland, england, and in wales. the high temperature was in england, 28 degrees celsius. but for all, it will feel a little fresher today, notably in the north and west. and that's because of a weather front that's been meandering its way eastwards. and then, behind that for friday, an unseasonally deep area of low pressure, which means rain but also very windy weather. with the trees in full leaf, that's a concern. so look let's look at the progress of this weather front, which will give some rain, as you can see, as it crosses northern ireland and scotland. not as much for england and wales, and it mayjust be a few sharp but potentially torrential downpours

across southern and eastern parts through the morning before it clears to brighter skies in all but the far north, where we've got some fog, actually, through shetland and coastal mists elsewhere. and it could stay dank and grey here for most of the day. and looking at temperatures, they're several degrees down from yesterday — still 26 possibly in london with that residual warmth. and then, as we go through the evening and overnight, that low pressure starts to escalate, it makes its presence felt. so some rain for many, perhaps a few sharp showers again to start the day in eastern areas, and a very warm night. but clearly, the concern is the amount of rain. and for the north—west of scotland, we could have 100mm of rain in the coming few days as that low pressure stays close by. so for all, a much windier period of weather on friday as that rain clears, lots of showers rushing through. but those winds do escalate through the day — well, morning, really — into the early afternoon, up to gale—force in the north and the west. you can see those gusts

of wind, but even 30s and 40s further south, which is very unusual in may. so clearly a concern for that. we'll be keeping you updated on that. and as a result, even though temperatures in the high teens or low 20s, it will feel cooler because of that strong wind and rain which willjust continue for, as i say, the north—west highlands. but gradually through the weekend, the showers will reduce in number. the winds ease in the south as a ridge of high pressure tries to return at least to southern parts of england and wales. but a very different—feeling weekend for most of us, and still with that low pressure to the north into the beginning of the new week, as well, we still have the potential — at least for the weekend — for some unsettled weather.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the world health organisation has reported the biggest global rise in new coronavirus infections in a single day — 106,000. there are at least 5 million confirmed cases worldwide. the head of the un agency says he is particularly concerned about the rising number of cases in lower— and middle—income countries. at least 15 people have died as cyclone amphan, one of the most powerful south asian storms for decades, ripped across parts of bangladesh and eastern india. dramatic pictures showed high winds and heavy rain lashing coastal areas. nearly three million people have been evacuated and there's been widespread damage. floodwaters have continued to rise in the us state of michigan where two dams were breached on tuesday after record rainfall. officials say water levels in the city of midland could reach an historic high. one of the dams was rated unsatisfactory by the state two years ago.