this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm david eades. as 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. rising casualties in afghanistan — fighting gets worse, along with the danger from coronavirus. what is facebook doing about misinformation during the pandemic and the coming presidential vote? we ask the boss.

cyclone amphan brings destruction to parts of india and bangladesh — we'll hear from the red crescent as they try to support those affected. hello and welcome to all of you, both here in the uk and those of you joining us around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. first of all, i want to bring you the latest bulletin from the world health organization as it has recorded its biggest daily spike in covid—19 cases since the start of the pandemic. 106,000 new infections have been reported in the past 2a hours and, with figures like that, no surprise the who is warning there is still a long way to go before the crisis is brought under control. that said, across europe

a number of countries are looking to revitalise their tourism industry, while trying to keep everyone safe. greece plans to start its tourist season on june 15, with international flights from the 1st ofjuly. france currently allows only essential travel from abroad. it hasn't said when its foreign tourist ban will be lifted. spain has started loosening 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 has this report from the northern resort of lake como. 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 tranquility 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. it isa it is a desperately difficult juggfing it is a desperately difficult juggling act, isn't it? in this social distancing world, what would we have done without social media? facebook has seen a big increase in the use of its services which include instagram and whatsapp since the beginning of the pandemic. that's also increased concerns about the influence of the company and its handling of issues such as misinformation and fake news. our business editor, simonjack, has been speaking exclusively to facebook‘s founder and chief executive, mark zuckerberg. what does home in your family look like during this virus? home—schooling? look like during this virus? home-schooling? we have two

girls, one who is four and one who is two, so not quite school—age yet but, yeah, i am sure it is celtic like everywhere else. are the permanent changes that you perceive from this and what do you think that your company ‘s role has been during the crisis? we focused on three main areas, one is to respond to acute health crisis. the second is helping people stay connected with people they ca re care about in the 30s economic recovery is the right now we're seeing a lot of pain small businesses and a lot of people are staying home and that means millions of people are losing jobs and i think anything that we can do to help small businesses survive. gives some crazy person started telling people to inject bleach or saying that silver would be a

good way of keeping the virus at bay, what is the facebook algorithm response to that? things like saying that something is improving the cure for the virus when in fact it is not, we will take that down. another example which i know has been very prevalent in the uk has been 56 misinformation, which has led to some physical damage of 56 infrastructure so we believe that is leading to imminent risk of physical harm, we ta ke imminent risk of physical harm, we take down the content. there are hundreds of thousands of pieces of content like that. we have a us election coming up and there was a princeton survey thing that facebook is the biggest purveyor of misinformation in the us. do you think that facebook can influence the way that people vote ? influence the way that people vote? we have learned a lot since, since 2016 about politics online and there are many different threats we have tried to mitigate. for example, one big area, that we were

behind on in 2016 but now we are quite advanced at, is identifying and fighting these co—ordinated information campaigns coming from different actors around the world, whether it is rush hour or iran 01’ whether it is rush hour or iran or in some cases china. in 2016, this was a new tactic and there will continue to be issues and countries will continue to interfere and we will see issues like that so it isa will see issues like that so it is a little bit of an arms race in that way but i certainly think that our systems are a lot more advanced now and i think anyway more advanced than any other company or governments around the world andi governments around the world and i feel governments around the world and ifeel confident governments around the world and i feel confident about our ability to help protect the protect ready asset integrity of the upcoming elections. — — i feel confident about our to help protect the integrity of the upcoming elections.

in afghanistan, the united nations is warning civilian casualties at the hands of both the taliban and the government's security forces are on the rise. the un is calling for a reduction in violence as the country tries to grapple with the spread of the coronavirus, warning afghanistan is facing the pandemic in an already fragile state and that more people may die of hunger than the disease. there are also fears that the peak of the virus may still be weeks away. as it stands, afghanistan has officially seen fewer than 200 deaths, but the figures are way below what's thought to be the real situation. 0ur chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, has more. a fight on two fronts, a hospital underfire in a fight on two fronts, a hospital under fire in kabul last week as they battle against the deadly virus, a time of body armour and face masks. trying to protect themselves against this new enemy. we have spoken to doctors across the country. there is not enough of ppe to keep them safe. a doctor in kabul, back at work after recovering from covid—19, did not want to be identified.

translation: there is a big crisis at the moment. we have lost three good doctors this week because of covid—19 and they were in contact with the patients suspected of having it. the reason they died? they did not have good enough ppe and sadly they are not amongst us and sadly they are not amongst us today. there is a coronavirus crisis now in afghanistan. a house in morning. this man lost his brother, a businessman, a sister and his brother, a doctor, the first to be tested for covid—19 by a system which felt the entire family. translation: i told the doctor that if my brother ‘s test was positive, why didn't you call us? they told me they made a

mistake. then they tested all of us but after 13 days of waiting, my first brother died. then another brother and sister died and we still have not got oui’ died and we still have not got our test results after 1.5 months. he took to facebook to vent his fury, shaming senior officials into helping him. the government says it is doing what it can. they are absolutely right. people have died because of no testing equipment and our health infrastructure was not designed to cope with a hyper event like the coronavirus pandemic. his quarters by surprise. a nation in the midst of violence and fighting. there is a lockdown, but it is not strict in a country where millions live hand to mouth, hunger is seen asa hand to mouth, hunger is seen as a deadlier threat. many

already hurting. translation: i'm not scared of coronavirus but i am afraid of hunger. coronavirus will not kill us but we will definitely die from hunger. in some mosques, they keep a safe distance in the muslim holy month of ramadan. in others, they believe only god can save them from their enemies. this invisible enemy may already be spreading fast, next door to iran, the region ‘s epicentre, but there are not enough tests to know. for now, in this emergency hospital close to taliban frontlines, the old wall still ta kes taliban frontlines, the old wall still takes the heaviest toll. doctors treat victims of violence. the disease is not expected to reach its peak for a month or more and many worry that the worst may be yet to come.

lyse doucet, bbc news. 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. mumbai yogita limaye joins us now. joining me now with the latest is azmat ulla who is the head of the bangladesh office for the international federation of red cross and red crescent societies. they are saying this is the super cyclone, the west to hit the area for 20 odd years, how severe has it been? it has been very severe, just as it made la ndfall very severe, just as it made landfall a few hours ago in bangladesh, the intensity was slightly lessened but still a

super cyclone. there were tidal surge is recorded in the western coast of anger — up to 15 feet and the team on the ground is doing a lot of assessment right now, damage assessment, and we understand that embankments have been breached and trees have been felled and there were also a lot of buildings damaged. what is really unusual about this cyclone is that it has penetrated all the way up to the central to slightly northern part of the territory and you can still hear, as i sit here in the dark, i can still hear the wind gusting. sit here in the dark, i can still hear the wind gustingm seems that the evacuation of so many people has worked, essentially. you are talking about damage rather than loss of life and injury? yes, the loss of life and injury, those reports are still coming in. we have no confirmed reports as yet but so far, what i've heard is that maybe ten lives lost

right now, but these are yet to be confirmed. the red crescent volu nteers be confirmed. the red crescent volunteers have been very, very active, working with authorities evacuating people to this cyclone shelters ahead of this cyclone. you bring up an important point here because you have very tried and tested operational ways of dealing with these issues and, yet of course, with the coronavirus crisis, that throw so many of those up in the air. how are you managing? once the cyclone was noted in the bay of bengal a few days ago, the authorities have a policy of linking covid prevention and evacuation to cyclone shelters, and the volu nteers cyclone shelters, and the volunteers have all got masks, sanitisers, soaps for people going into cyclone shelters and

authorities are hoping —— opening many more thousands of shelters to maintain social distancing. this has been a very fiercely intense exercise because there is a scarcity of shelters when a major title search would occur. so this has been so generally well done and it has been very difficult, but we would like to see what the assessment report says. so they have been doing the best and it is imperative that life—saving comes first from the title search. yes, of course worrying nonetheless for all of your staff as well. it is a super cyclone, it is notjust going to fizzle out. it is heading on to fizzle out. it is heading on to india. what is the prognosis for the next few days? yes, i think teams on both sides of the border are actively doing damage assessments, from the bangladesh sided has died down

now, but as i said, it was quite unusual because it penetrated all the way inland, with generally known to have happened in the past. for example, all the way inland i heard there were damaged houses and uprooted trees and damaged electrical pylons. we are going to have to leave you there, but the best of luck to you there. thank you very much indeed for talking to us. you are watching bbc news. let me bring you the headlines this hour. european union tourism ministers have failed to reach common agreement on reopening borders as concerns grow about the economic impact of prolonged closure. in afghanistan, the united nations is warning of rising numbers of civilian casualties from conflict at the same time as the country is strugglig to deal with coronavirus. the world health organization says latin america is currently the epicentre of the pandemic. attention has largely

been focused on brazil, which has one of the world's highest number of infections, behind only the united states and russia. brazil has authorised the use of two anti—malarial drugs to treat covid—19 despite the absence of any firm evidence that they work. rich preston has this report on how the rest of the continent is coping with coronavirus. 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 6,000 deaths, police use drones to look for those breaking quarantine rules in the capital, bogota. but they're a little more sophisticated than that. the drones are also 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. translation: it gives us an approximate body temperature and directs the case to a national system so it can be attended to. colombia's neighbour 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 theirjobs safely. translation: there are already many infected workers, many dead. we don't have the security to survive this pandemic here whilst working with covid—19 patients. meanwhile, in neighbouring bolivia, the country's health minister has been detained 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's 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. to michigan in the united states 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 o'brien has more. man over loudspeaker: 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 global pandemic, it's really important that to the best of our ability, we observe the best practices to keep ourselves and our families safe. we're going to 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 only just 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 almost wonder is god punishing... that's the thought you go to.

the rebuilding just kind of finished up from the last flood. so how do you get enough strength to do that again? itjust 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 o'brien, bbc news. just staying in the us for a moment. donald trump's former personal lawyer, michael cohen, is due to be released from prison on thursday as authorities try to reduce the number of inmates because of the threat of covid—19. he was jailed last may. he pleaded guilty to campaign finance fraud and lying to congress. he admitted paying off two women who claimed, before the last presidential election, that they'd had affairs with mr trump.

it's expected that he'll serve the rest of his 3—year sentence at home. if you have ever had the chance to attend a wrestling match in mexico, lucha libre they call it, you will have witnessed something which straddles sport, entertainment and huge passion. of course, almost all professional sport has been suspended due to the global lockdown. and while some sports may be returning, for others 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 life without it. but the arenas are empty now, the fans ordered to stay at home. hijo and galeno practice in the ring alone, two brothers who feel like caged lions. translation: i'll be honest,

i had a kind of panic attack. i told my mother i can't take it anymore. i felt dazed, i felt like i didn't fit in anywhere. i imagine we've all lived through it because we've been here in mexico for about 60 days. they come from a family of wrestlers, their stories told on the walls of this gym. both of them hoping that in time, they'll be able to create some stories of their own. translation: once this is over, i hope everything returns to normal because i miss being in the ring. you don't know how much i miss hitting wrestlers 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. let me tell you, when it does

come back, it is something to see, even if it is only once. it is worth seeing it once. the business news is coming up in just a moment. 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 — clears to brighter skies in all but the far north, where we've got some fog, actually, through shetland, some coastal mist elsewhere. and it could stay dank and grey here for much of the day. a look at the temperatures — they are 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 that 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 with the latest business headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. a $650 billion company, 3 billion users, and one man in charge — we ask facebook boss mark zuckerberg if he simply has too much power. plus, as greece pledges to reopen for tourism next month, we assess the chances of a summer holiday this year abroad or at home. 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.

and the impact that has on businesses well. first, we start with facebook. it has seen usage of its services, including instagram and whatsapp, soar since the coronavirus pandemic sent much of the world into lockdown. around 3 billion people worldwide now use at least one of its services. that's also increased concerns about the influence of the company and its handling of issues such as misinformation and fake news. our business editor, simonjack, has been speaking exclusively to facebook‘s founder and chief executive, mark zuckerberg. he asked him whether, as the controlling shareholder, it was right for one human being to have so much responsibility. i actually said publicly that i don't think that anyone individual or company should be making so many decisions about important values of a society like free expression and safety. we've taken like free expression and safety. we've ta ken a lot of

actions on that front and just recently we established in independent oversight board and is starting off with a group of 20 experts, who all, folks like formerjudges, former prime minister of denmark, academics, journalists, leaders from nonprofits, people who come from countries around the world and have the diversity of experiences but all have a commitment to understanding of freedom — free expression and human rights. this oversight board will make it so that people in the community can appeal, if they make we are making a decision incorrectly on content, and the board will have the final binding say. so if they say needs to come down on is to stay up, at that point, it doesn't matter what i think or what the other folks on the team think. this independent board will get to make that decision. so, i do

think there needs to be some, some, additional governance beyond just our company making all the decisions which is why we are taking steps like that. i think that is very important. i don't know what you are worth, about $80 billion, why is it so important to you to stay in charge with a grip on the company with its development when it has its role and responsibility in the way it is moderating humanity? well, i think that being the founder of a company, i have been able to help build something that first of all, many people around the world like using. they would not like it any less if you sold some shares or change the voting structure, they would still like it. shore, and i have sold many shares and i've committed to giving 99% of my wealth away over the course of my lifetime through the initiative for

family and philanthropy that i've set up and we have given a lot of money away through that and that is under way. look, there are things that we are able to do because i control the company and can take a longer term outlook than other sort of shorter term shareholder driven companies will not be able to do. i think we would have sold the company earlier onto yahoo and who knows what would have happened then. when mobil was emerging, started off with a website and our mobil is by far the biggest way to use the service and around the time of ipo, there was huge pressure and we have not built the business up around mobile yet and i said we need to get the experience right and that would take a couple of years which means the business would not do well for a few years, but i think that was the right thing over the longer term and that definitely ended up being true. i think it would have been very hard for a lot of other companies to make

decisions like that. that is mark zuckerberg shouldering a mountain of responsibility. let's turn to the saga of former renault nissan boss carlos ghosn, who fled japan at the end of last year while awaiting trial for alleged financial wrongdoing. us authorities have arrested a former special forces soldier and his son wanted byjapan on suspicion of helping mr ghosn make his dramatic escape. mariko oi is in singapore. this story just goes this storyjust goes from incredible to more incredible, mariko oi x yellow indeed, david, everything about this case comes as a surprise somewhat, doesn't it? those men, who appeared in court in the united states, theirfather and son, and their names are michael taylor and his son, peter. what we found out from the court appearance is that they and another man arrived in japan with a large black boxes which appear to be for musical

equipment but they were then used for him to escape from japan, callas goes on, they we re japan, callas goes on, they were issued an arrest warrant and then they were arrested on wednesday and we understand they are being detained as us prosecutors say they pose a risk of flight before japan formally thinks that extra distant —— extra distant —— extra —— extradition. earlier this month, prosecutors in turkey also charge seven people over callas goes on's escape and he himself is still in lebanon as we know and he was charged on financial misconduct which he denies back in 2018 and he made the dramatic escape from house arrest at the end of last year. —as arrest at the end of last year. — as carlos ghosn.

greece's prime minister has pledged that the country's tourist season will kick off next month, with hotels reopening on june 15 and international charter flights to popular locations resuming injuly. it comes after eu ministers agreed last week to do whatever it takes for the quick and full recovery of european tourism. easier said than done, of course. but with widespread travel restrictions and quarantine rules in place how likely is a summer holiday in 2020? joining me now is martin alcock, director of the travel trade consultancy. martin, good to see you, thank you forjoining us. everybody wa nts to you forjoining us. everybody wants to get out during lockdown, i get back. is there really their desire to travel? good morning everyone. i think we can probably all sympathise without feeling, everyone is desperate to get out. the assumption we are working on is

that they will certainly be recovery of travel this year, this summer, but i think we will see the distribution of the recovery very, very uneven. it will be an uneven resurgence in domestic terrorism as opposed to international, europe versus opposed to international, europe versus more opposed to international, europe versus more long haul destinations and if you look at different age brackets and demographics, different people will start to take holidays at different times but we are very hopeful we will start to see that pickup as early asjuly, actually. it is difficult to plan anything at the moment, different countries are different countries are different views and the eu talks a good game but cannot decide on a common platform which all countries may work together. i just which all countries may work together. ijust wonder, at this stage, is there evidence that people are saying they need a holiday and they have to book it, help me, get me on, to travel agents and the like?” think there is, certainly anecdotal evidence that domestic bookings are picking up domestic bookings are picking up and if you try to book a

holiday rental in the uk for the month of august, you would struggle to get anything at the moment. the announcement a couple of weeks ago that measures were considering, the government were considering easing the restrictions as early asjuly, easing the restrictions as early as july, that has easing the restrictions as early asjuly, that has started to promote that. international travel i think is harder. it needs this political situation to be resolved. there are many mixed messages coming up from all governments, talk of averages, 1a day quarantine for some countries are not others and that needs to be resolved. i guess getting to a destination is only one part of it, isn't it? it is the experience of going through an airport, arriving at a hotel or airport, arriving at a hotel or a resort, customers are asking questions like will be pool b open, restaurants open, what will be welcome be like when i get there? they need more than 20. and the experience of the travel. the flight itself.

emirates have just kicked travel. the flight itself. emirates havejust kicked back into gear but it is a restricted, regulated offering, isn't it? yes, that is right, again, all of the airlines and airports and regulators are working hard to come up with new protocols to get passengers through airports but you can imagine the busy airport, busy during some of the best of times, trying to enforce things like social distancing and trying to add in things like medical testing on arrival, they are all going to delay passengers transiting through airports. it will make the experience very difficult, particularly thinking about vulnerable passengers or people with families. nothing will be straightforward, will it? thank you very much indeed. let's stay with tourism because with foreign travel this summer looking uncertain, many people are planning trips closer to home. a boom in ‘staycations' could bring in some vital cash for local tourism businesses, as our consumer affairs correspondent sarah corker reports from yorkshire, in the north of england.

rural retreats, isolated destinations, many arguably ready—made for social distancing. on the edge of the north york moors, is clamping site is hoping to benefit from a bump in bookings as uk holidays become the only option for many. yeah, we would like to open nowjust because, you know, it is a huge area, social distancing is not a problem. after a quiet spring season, caroline is starting to hear from customers making tentative summer plans in the hope that lockdown will be relaxed in the coming months. we have already had bookings starting to come in. we have an awful lot of enquiries coming in as well, particularly over the last few weeks is obviously the weather

gets nicer and people start to, you know, look ahead. we are optimistic that things will start to pick up really quite quickly once we are able to open. with foreign travel off the table for now, holiday let's and camping sites in places like yorkshire and the la ke places like yorkshire and the lake district stand to benefit from britain scaling back holiday plans. we are expecting a boom, to be honest. it's a beautiful county and a beautiful county and a beautiful country and many choose uk as a holiday destination and it's on our doorstep and in the absence of international travel, doorstep and in the absence of internationaltravel, get doorstep and in the absence of international travel, get out into the countryside, coastline and cherish what is on the doorstop. when it is safe and right to do so, restrictions must be eased it is notjust big, summer getaway is affected, popular spots for day trips across the uk have also been shot for weeks and there is, though, a growing number of organisations is that they can make social distancing work. among them, english heritage,

he managed over 400 historic sites. we think there are ways in which we can encourage visitors to come here, to feel co mforta ble visitors to come here, to feel comfortable in doing that and for staff to do that as well. what are the pinch points in places where people will pass by and handle things and have a good safety regime in that. but it is also very much about not overburdening the experience, making people feel comfortable, reassured, and able to relax, because that is why they have come. there is no question that the tourism industry has taken a massive hit from coronavirus. visit britain says the loss ru ns visit britain says the loss runs into billions of pounds but with us all forced to swap faster lighter — — barcelona for brighton, it is hoped that a steak asian may save not only the great british holiday but also many hundreds of businesses across the uk — at staycation. sarah corker, bbc news. you are watching bbc news.

the headlines this hour: european union tourism ministers have failed to reach common agreement on reopening borders as concerns grow about the economic impact of prolonged closure. several member states called for increased financial support for the tourism sector. in afghanistan, the united nations is warning of rising numbers of civilian casualties from conflict at the same time as the country's hospitals are struggling to deal with the rapid spread of the coronavirus epidemic. now, it's time for coronavirus explained where we take a more in—depth look at one particular aspect of the pandemic. today, the particular challenge for people with a particular medical condition. here's my colleague lucy hockings. today we are looking at whether people with diabetes are more

susceptible to developing complications from covid—19, and if so, why? data has been collected about patients as we move through the pandemic, much of it is yet to be published and peer reviewed. early research gathered during the outbreak in wuhan suggests around 20% of the hospital admissions for covid—19 were for people with diabetes. another study from china reported around 7% of people who had diabetes and contract covid—19 died of the disease. that compared to 2% of those in the general population who contracted the virus, suggesting people with diabetes would suffer more severe complications. today we have new data published here in england that found that one third of those who had died with coronavirus had type 2 diabetes, but researchers caution the connected risk factors like obesity might explain some of the link. let's discuss that link with diabetes

further. i am joined discuss that link with diabetes further. iam joined by discuss that link with diabetes further. i am joined by a professor at london university diabetes centre is in sweden, and a professor, a metabolic medicine physician in the diabetes conservation research centre in dublin. very good to see you both. why do you think people with diabetes might be more at risk of covid—19? people with diabetes might be more at risk of (avid-19? it is well known that people with diabetes are more susceptible to infection, certainly looking back on previous coronavirus epidemics, people with diabetes, particularly type ii, didn't do very well if they contracted those types of coronavirus. it is a problem that has been recognised in the past, it is well—known that people with diabetes are susceptible to infections and don't farewell with them. so thatis don't farewell with them. so that is the background to this. it probably isn't surprising

that in this case with covid—19, many people with type 2 diabetes in particular has suffered greatly, and u nfortu nately, suffered greatly, and unfortunately, the fatalities amongst that group of the population have been high. doesn't seem now as well that we initially thought covid—19 was a respiratory illness but that now in fact might be circulatory, and could that help explain this link to diabetes? that is right. our intensive care specialist are telling us that when they try to treat patients with covid—19, it behaves in a different way than other people with acute respiratory distress syndrome. it appears that it is the blood flow around the lungs that are impaired. of course if the disease do this and you are already treating patients with diabetes, be that type 1 diabetes, be that type 1 diabetes or type ii diabetes which also impairs the blood flow around the lungs, it makes sense why people with diabetes are at much higher risk. as

type 1 diabetes or type ii diabetes more susceptible, do we know? it is actually the data you referred to published from the uk today that shows that both patients with type one and type two are at risk. it appears that people with type 1 diabetes are three times the increased risk, while people with type 2 diabetes at least twice the increased risk. so therefore both are at risk, and therefore, our advice to these patients need to reflect these patients need to reflect the new information. does the evidence also show that people with diabetes who then get covid—19 tend to also have more severe symptoms, and we know why would be? certainly, the data as you pointed out an introduction is still working its way through to the peer review journals, so i its way through to the peer reviewjournals, so i think most of what can be fairly confident about at this stage

is still coming out of china in terms of the published literature. whether or not patients are presenting with more severe symptoms of covid—19 isn't entirely clear, but you certainly would anticipate that because people with diabetes are more susceptible to the adverse consequences of covid—19, that they would be more likely to present with symptoms and not be asymptomatic as we know a very large proportion of the general population is. what are your thoughts on that, about why they might be more susceptible? is it to do with what you were explaining about the blood vessels around the lungs? i think that is part of the relation, but we also must remember that people with diabetes are the higher risk of any infection because their immune systems are impaired. but you also have this other complication that comes together with diabetes, for example, obesity, previous cardiovascular disease, but

also, age. and we can see that the patients that have all of these that does together, the older people who have diabetes and also have heart disease or hypertension are even further increased risk. so it is about understanding this and not one factor on its own that explains the entire phenomenon. how has that been for people with diabetes living under lockdown conditions with all of this data coming in, knowing they are potentially more susceptible. it must be a very frightening time for some people? it is very frightening. we talk to our patients, they tell us that public messages that comes out has not been coherent. we haven't been good enough at communicating with our patients. and therefore, many people have been frightened. other people have actually found that being in an environment where they can control everything, where they can control their diet or control what food they eat has

actually been a positive. so it has not been universal that everybody is suffering where everybody is suffering where everybody finds it very hard. there are some examples that have worked in people's favour. but in totality we need to improve the information in the is why the research is so critical that is coming out, andl critical that is coming out, and i really want to commend our colleagues that are doing this very difficult research and trying to get information out to the public quickly as possible. hearing that about the importance of information, i know you have been involved in the app that is used for covid symptoms. tell us about your involvement in that. yes, we launched something called the covid symptoms study in the uk initially at the end of march and then in the middle of april in the us and at the end of april in sweden and so far we have enrolled i think about 3.6 million participants across those three countries. the data provided incredible insight

into the symptoms and risk factors of covid—19, one that has been well publicised has been some thing that is the loss of your sense of smell and taste, which really does help define covid—19 from other diseases, when you mix that with a sore throat and feed and these kind of things. there has been a great deal of data that has come out of this very large international study, the covid symptoms study. i think the media public health and effort from that data, which is that we have been able to put together dynamic maps that show where covid—19 is likely to be emerging within these different countries, which does give the hospitals about a five to seven day advance warning of an increase of admissions, only in the uk there has been shown. a nice powerful early warning of covid—19 hotspots within the countries. of course all the other data that we have in 50 or 60 million dating —— data

entrance have now made has led to some really interesting findings around the patterns for example of the different symptoms, which ones tend to go together, and if they go together, and if they go together, to have adverse outcomes? that is one example ofa outcomes? that is one example of a piece of research that has just been submitted for publication tomorrow in fact.l very important question, if you area very important question, if you are a patient with diabetes would have to be around medication. are there any links around the medication that patients are taking and covid—19, any advice that you have there? there has been a very controversial issue because of course the first rule in medicine is always do no harm, and initially, there was a move that patient's medications were reduced because we were concerned that some of these medications may make people more susceptible. i think as more evidence is emerging, it is becoming clearer that we need to treat people with diabetes with the medications we have and to the

best of our and their ability. so the mood is now that we need to try and get better control, not because we have evidence yet to show that that makes a difference for covid—19, but we have certainly got the evidence that it reduces heart attacks and reduces strokes and reduces other complications of diabetes. what we are also concerned about is while we are focusing on covid—19, we should not forget that diabetes is a killer, that also makes people's quality of lives much less. we need to treat this as a chronic disease and continue to treat it the best we can. concerns grow with several

member states calling for increased. another had laid out plans to their tourism in the following weeks. you are watching bbc news. 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 some 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 — clears to brighter skies in all but the far north, where we've got some fog, actually, through shetland, some coastal mist elsewhere. and it could stay dank and grey here for much of the day. a look at the temperatures — they are 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 that 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.

good morning. welcome to breakfast, with charlie stayt and naga munchetty. our headlines today: time is running out to implement an effective coronavirus test, track and trace plan — a warning from nhs leaders that delay risks "severe consequences." scotland's first minister is to announce details of how it will begin easing its lockdown — currently the strictest in the uk. as schools in england prepare for the return of more pupils, we'll find out how nurseries have been looking after the very youngest children during the pandemic. temperature screening at heathrow airport as passengers