and being hit. i like being hit. for now, the lockdown in mexico continues. no word yet as to when wrestling can resume. the thrill of the fight, the roar of the crowd still a distinct dream. tim allman, bbc news. this is bbc news. a very warm welcome if you're watching here in the uk, there is more on the news on pbs in america or around the globe. i'm mike embley. national and international on our top stories: the bbc website. the biggest one—day increase and you can get in touch in worldwide covid—19 cases, says the who. protests in peru — with me and most health workers tackling covid—19 demonstrate over a lack of personal protective of the team on twitter — equipment. i'm @bbcmikeembley. cyclone amphan, one of the most powerful south asian storms stay safe. hello there. for decades, kills at least 15 although we've seen a little sea mist around and some fog people in bangladesh. for shetland, for the vast majority, wednesday was a sunny day, and it was the warmest day a state of emergency of the year so far in scotland, in parts of michigan, england, and in wales. heavy rain has caused the high temperature two dams to collapse. was in england, european countries puzzle 28 degrees celsius. over re—opening tourism. we meet the hoteliers hoping to salvage the season. the balance between welcoming visitors back here and the risk but for all, it will feel

a little fresher today, of a second wave is what italy notably in the north and west. and every other country is now and that's because trying to strike. 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. hello to you. with the trees in full leaf, that's a concern. there are now at least 5 so, look let's look million confirmed cases of coronavirus across at the progress of this weather the globe, according front, which will give to the world health some rain, as you can see, organization. as it crosses of the 106,000 reported northern ireland and scotland. in the past 2a hours, not as much for england and wales, and it mayjust be more than two thirds are in just four countries: a few sharp, but potentially the united states, russia, torrential downpours across southern and eastern saudi arabia and brazil. parts through the morning before it clears the number of cases to brighter skies officially reported in brazil in all but the far north, some fog, actually, alone is more than 270,000. through shetland, coastal mist elsewhere. could stay dank and grey it's thought there are here for most of the day. probably, in fact, many more temperatures, they are several degrees down cases, and officials are warning the outbreak from yesterday — still is nowhere near the peak. 26 possibly in london with that residual warmth. as we go through the brazil's government has evening and overnight, now authorised the use that low pressure starts to escalate, it makes its presence felt. of anti—malaria drugs to fight covid—19, even though they have some rain for many, perhaps a few sharp showers no proven benefits again to start the day

against the virus. in eastern areas, two days ago, president trump and a very warm night. claimed he was taking them, clearly, the concern too. is the amount of rain. for the north—west of scotland, we could more generally, you can see have 100mm of rain in the number of infections the coming few days worldwide is rising steadily — as that low pressure stays close. the who is warning the crisis for all, a much windier period is far from over. of weather on friday as that rain clears, lots of showers rushing through. but those winds do escalate through the day — well, morning, really — this was the director—general into the early afternoon, speaking in geneva. up to gale—force in the last 2a hours there have in the north and the west. been 106,000 cases reported those gusts of wind, but even 30s and 40s to the who, the most further south, in a single day since very unusual in may. the outbreak began. almost two—thirds of these cases were reported in just four countries. so, clearly a concern for that. we'll be keeping you updated on that. dr ashish jha is director and as a result, even though of harvard university's global health institute. temperatures in the high teens or low 20s, it will feel cooler he gave us his reaction because of that strong wind to the warning from the who. and that rain, which willjust we are, you know, early continue for, as i say, days, unfortunately, in this long pandemic. the north—west highlands. and even if everything goes gradually through the weekend, showers will reduce in number. very well and we have a vaccine winds ease in the south sometime next year, we are going to have many, as a ridge of high pressure many more months tries to return at least to southern parts of england and wales. a very different—feeling weekend for most of us, of many more cases. still with that low pressure to the north into the beginning of

the new week, as well, so, unfortunately, we still have the potential — we are still early in this at least for the weekend — very long journey. some countries have done a very for some unsettled weather. 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. as we were saying, the world health organization

says latin america is currently the epicentre of the pandemic. rich preston has the latest from the continent. lockdowns remain in place across much of latin america as it tackles the spread of coronavirus. in colombia, which has around 17,000 cases and over 6000 deaths, police used drones to look for those breaking quarantine rules in the capital, bogota. but they're a little 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 medical team can be dispatched to find the person and test them for the virus. this is bbc news, the headlines: the world health organization has translation: it gives us reported the biggest global rise an approximate body temperature in new coronavirus and directs the case to a national system so it can infections in a single day — 106,000. be attended to. there are at least 5 million confirmed cases worldwide. the un agency is particularly colombia's neighbor to the south, peru, concerned about the rising number has the second highest death toll from covid—19 of cases in lower and middle—income in latin america. in the capital, lima, countries. a protest by these hospital workers demanding more protective equipment, at least 15 people have saying they haven't been died as cyclone amphan, given the tools they need to do theirjobs safely. one of the most powerful south asian storms in decades, rips across parts of bangladesh and eastern india. high winds and heavy rain are lashing coastal areas

and there's been widespread damage. nearly 3 million people translation: there are already many infected have been evacuated. workers, many dead. we don't have a security floodwaters have forced to survive this pandemic here while working the evacuation of around 10,000 with covid—19 patients. people in the us state of michigan, where record rainfall breached two dams on tuesday but officials have told us river meanwhile in neighbouring levels in the city of midland have bolivia, the country's not reached the highs they feared. health minister has one of the dams was rated 'unsatisfactory‘ been detained by the state two years ago. on suspicion of corruption over the alleged purchase of these — 170 ventilators bought 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 has reported more than 500 coronavirus deaths, there is concern about the environmental impact of the pandemic. it's one of latin america's biggest producers of rubbish, yet very little is recycled. what is usually has to be taken to central drop—off points.

but with a population under lockdown, 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's dropped severely. it's caused a drop in work for some recycling staff and has pushed them to go directly to people's houses. translation: the clean points are closed so there's demand for people to come 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 but wiped out, there are fears the virus will leave its mark on the continent long after it's been beaten. rich preston, bbc news. 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. 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." 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 and 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. on 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 thatched huts and 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. heavy rainfall in michigan has caused two dams to fail,

flooding homes and businesses in midland county. 10,000 people have been evacuated, though no injuries or deaths have so far been reported. michigan's governor, gretchen whitmer, has declared a state of emergency. we heard just now from mark bone, who chairs the midland county board of commissioners. the latest situation is it's good news. the water was supposed to go to 38 foot and ended at 35.05 feet. there's still a lot of damage and people have lost homes, but we're now in the rebuilding mode and trying to make things right instead of the mode where we're wondering what's going to happen. so at least we are on the downside of the slope. and it comes to something when the river cresting atjust over 35 feet is good news. the amount of rain you had, was that unusual? yes, very unusual. we've had that maybe one other

time and that happened and that happened to be in 2017. but it was very unusual, we had over seven inches of rain. and mark, what happened when the dams failed? what happened when the dams failed? they, uh, well, they failed. so, we had one dam go, the edenville dam first. so when that went, water came down — there's a series of dams — and water came down and then it pushed on the next dam, the sa mford dam. and then when that let go, that was probably 45—50 minutes afterwards, after the first dam fail that that let go. and then that was when everything rushed into midland, which is our town. and it seems the houses were just gone, completely gone. are you confident you managed to get all the people out in time? we are very confident.

we are going to start checking tomorrow, but we're confident there were no lives lost and no injuries. we think we had a very good plan in place — eap, emergency evacuation plan, and i think we did a good job on that. and just very quickly, mark. dow chemical of course, headquarters in midland, a vast company, a multinational company with a controversial history. are there safety concerns? no, i have worked with dow chemical today and we've back and forth on everything dow has a handle on everything and luckily the water stayed lower than expected. but i think we are in pretty good shape barring all the losses, the businesses that have been lost. there's a lot of hardship but no lives lost, no injuries. mark bone there. donald trump's former personal lawyer, michael cohen, is due to be released from prison on thursday as the authorities try

to reduce the number of inmates because of the threat of covid—19. he was jailed last may after pleading guilty to campaign finance fraud and lying to congress. he admitted paying off two women who claimed, before the last us presidential election, that they'd had affairs with mr trump. it's expected he'll serve the rest of his three—year sentence at home. 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. shift the this is bbc world 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.

most european nations have been grappling with the mammoth task of reopening their tourism industry, while trying to keep everyone safe. greece plans to start its tourist season on june the 15th, with international flights from 1july. the uk foreign office still advises against all but essential overseas travel — but all major european destinations are now gradually relaxing 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 is still banned. spain has started loosening restrictions on a region—by—region basis. in italy beaches, restaurants and 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 untiljanuary, 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 are 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 the 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—effect. 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. the state of the uk government's plans for a trace and testing system to control oubtreaks of the virus has been debated in the commons between the prime minister borisjohnson and the labour leader sir keir starmer. the prime minister said he was confident it would be operational from the first ofjune despite the doubts expressed by some experts, as our health correspondent sophie hutchinson reports. every day, thousands of new coronavirus infections are still being reported in the uk. tracking the virus down and isolating the infected is widely believed to be the best way

to control the pandemic. but today in parliament, the labour leader questioned why there had been such a delay in setting up a track and trace system. in the united kingdom, despite two million tests having been carried out, there has been no effective tracing in place since march 12, when tracing was abandoned. that's nearly ten weeks in a critical period without effective tracing. that's a huge hole in our defences. we will have a test, track and trace operation that will be world beating and, yes, it will be in place, it will be in place byjune 1. there will be 25,000 trackers, they will be able to cope with 10,000 new cases a day. those trackers will help to trace the contacts of people who have the virus. they will use phone calls, texts and e—mail to alert anyone who has recently met up with an infected person and give them advice. we spoke to one of the new recruits, a graduate. he asked to remain anonymous.

he started work three days ago at his home computer, but described a chaotic system with barely any training. i had one day in the classroom, that 90—odd people in a group with one teacher. whenever we ask questions, he would try, but the main answer was wait for the coming days, you'll get an e—mail or something. right now, i am just sat scrolling through netflix. a lot of people are chilling on games. people say we cannot complain, we're getting paid, which is very true, but at the same time, it is like why would they set us up doing this, if we arejust sat around waiting? it is not very productive at all. but even if the government does get the 25,000 new tracker recruits up and running in 11 days, there are still questions about whether this app, intended to trace the contacts of those infected will be ready any time soon. sophie hutchinson, bbc news.

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 telenoveala which we are showcasing on social media platforms and is really bite—sized

eipisodes which ranges between 9 and 12 minutes. i'm on lockdown! i'm supposed to be in the house — we all do! what happens is we send scripts out to those and each actors shoots at home on their cellphones, the individual parts of the scene which are edited together and it comes to cross, 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!

almost all professional sport was suspended due to the global lockdown. everything had to stop to make sure the virus didn't spread. sport is slowly returning in some countries, most notably australia and germany. but for some the wait goes on, as the bbc‘s tim allman explains. in mexico, wrestling isn't just a sport. it's a way of life. lucha libre or 'free fighting' is part of the culture here. colourful, violent, thrilling — many couldn't imagine 00:24:27,151 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 life without it.