this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. are you going to resign, mr cummings? the uk prime minister, borisjohnson, stands by his chief advisor, rejecting calls for his resignation over allegedly breaking coronavirus lockdown rules. according to mrjohnson, dominic cummings was following instinct in travelling over 250 miles for childcare when his wife showed coronavirus symptoms. i believe that in every respect, he has acted responsibly and legally and with integrity. the uk labour party have responded

angrily to the developments. this was a huge test of the prime minister, and he's just failed that test. he hasn't sacked dominic cummings, he hasn't called for an investigation, and he's treating the british public with contempt. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, appears at the first day of his corruption trial. more than 100 are arrested in hong kong during protests against beijing's new proposed security laws. turkey, which had one of the fastest growing coronavirus outbreaks in the world, says it is turning the tide. hello and welcome if you are watching in the uk or around the world, and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. the uk prime minister has staunchly defended his top advisor,

dominic cummings, after it emerged he had driven more than 250 miles from his london home to county durham following the government's introduction of its coronavirus lockdown. borisjohnson said mr cummings had followed the instincts of every parent and acted with integrity in seeking childcare with family members after his wife had developed symptoms of the virus. the prime minister was responding to growing pressure from within the conservative party and beyond for his advisor to step down. here is our political correspondent iain watson. reporter: why did you not stay in your primary residence, mr cummings, as the government guidelines state? why did you go 260 miles across the country? dominic cummings's family travelled 250 miles away from his london home to isolate in durham, when his wife already had coronavirus symptoms, citing concerns over childcare. though he faced something of a scrum here, the bbc maintained social distancing.

but the prime minister held him close, and faced down calls for him to go. i think he followed the instincts of every father, and every parent, and i do not mark him down for that. i believe that in every respect he has acted responsibly, and legally, and with integrity. conservative mps have got in touch with us today, prime minister, because they say lots of their constituents are angry. they feel that allowing somebody who was already ill to travel 250 miles across the country breaches at least the spirit of your guidance. hand on heart, can you really say that this didn't breach the spirit of your guidance? what i can tell you is that i think when you look at the guidance, when you look at the particular childcare needs that mr cummings faced at the time, it was reasonable of him to self—isolate as he did,

for 14 days or more, with his family, where he did. some conservative mps are saying, prime minister, that this defence that dominic cummings behaved responsibly, many of their constituents are angry about that because they feel as though they was irresponsible in breaching the guidelines and going to work close to their family in this lockdown. they feel insulted by that. i can totally get why people might feel so confused and, as you say, so offended by the idea that it was one thing for people here and another thing for others. but really, having looked at what happened, having looked at his intentions and what he was trying to do for the good of his family, i really think most people will understand what he was doing. the uk was placed into lockdown with strict limitations on travel on 23 march. the last time that dominic cummings was seen before developing covid symptoms was in downing street on 27 march. durham police were made aware

of reports that an individual had travelled from london to durham on 31 march, and the following day a police officer spoke to mr cummings's father at his father's request. dominic cummings then returned to work in london on 14 april. government ministers say dominic cummings and his immediate family were hunkered down at a property adjacent to his parents' home in durham. but the mirror and observer newspapers and the bbc have spoken to a member of the public who claims he saw mr cummings in the town of barnard castle, 30 miles away, on easter sunday, when the message was stay at home. he has now formally complained to the police. i am content that, at all times throughout his period in isolation, actually on both sides of that period, he behaved responsibly and correctly. i'm told some government ministers are hugely frustrated that coherent messages on controlling the virus have been made more confusing to keep dominic cummings at number ten. so, do voters in county

durham have clear views? i think when someone like him, who's obviously giving advice to the prime minister, doesn't adhere to the rules, it makes it even more confusing for the average person. other people have been in the same situation, and they've managed. so why shouldn't he manage? we are all told to keep in, right? ten weeks of us in, and he's out. he's flouting the rules. it's all wrong. they should sack him. and the labour leader seems to share those views. this was a huge test for the prime minister, and he's just failed that test. he hasn't sacked dominic cummings, he hasn't called for an investigation, and he is treating the british public with contempt. if i were prime minister, i would have sacked cummings. why are you guys not social distancing? dominic cummings seems

secure in hisjob for now, but many mps are worried that faith in the government's guidelines is far more shaky. iain watson, bbc news. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg gave her assessment of the prime minister's decision to support dominic cummings. normally it is advisors who sort of chap themselves in front of politicians to soak up the damage. today we saw the prime minister really sort of chuck himself out there to defend his key aid and those close to him say that is partly because he was convinced by what mrcummings partly because he was convinced by what mr cummings explained to him about the reasons for his behaviour. but more importantly, i think it is because boris johnson but more importantly, i think it is because borisjohnson has come to really, really rely on dominic cummings. he is absolutely at the centre of the operation in downing street, and around here he is either seen as admirably ruthless, or by many, seen as admirably ruthless, or by any seen as admirably ruthless, or by many, many of his enemies, as relentlessly and somehow foolishly antagonistic. but, for the prime minister, whether back in the brexit referendum or during the general election and now his time in office, he has absolutely quarter what happens in downing street, and therefore he has made the decision, therefore he has made the decision, the calculation, that the loss of losing him would be greater than the

political damage of trying to keep him stop it of course, that means that the prime minister himself is very personally today doubled down on what many people see as a double standard. stephen reicher is a member of the spi—b, an expert advisory group on behavioural science which supports sage, who are the government's key scientific advisory body. i asked him how he felt at the prime minister's response to the dominic cummings accusations. dismay. this may, because i think we've been putting various pieces of advice to government, and the first is that, for there to be adherence to the measures to contain the virus, one of the most important things is trust. and you can't have trust if people have a sense of them and us, that there is one rule for them and a different rule for us. and i think, very clearly, dominic cummings might have dominic cummings, it might have been for all sorts of reasons, but dominic

cummings did violate the rules, and i think there is a very strong sense that in standing by dominic cummings, what we have been told as there is one rule for the government and another rule for the rest of the population. and my concern is not so much to do with dominic cummings. i am not particular bothered by what happens with dominic cummings. it is what happens with the rest of us. if we undermine the unity between population and the government, if people lose trust and lose adherents, if they stop complying with measures which have contained the infection, then all of us will lose out, because the infection will spike again and many more people will die. will this make you stop providing advice to the sage committee? i will continue providing the best advice that i possibly can in order to do the things that will help the public to pull together. 0ne help the public to pull together. one of the things which has been quite inspiring, i think, throughout this pandemic has been, if you like, the discipline and the good sense of the discipline and the good sense of the public. there was a while back, a few weeks ago there was a poll

which showed that 44% of the population were suffering from lockdown were still observing it. and because of the sacrifices that people were making, it was difficult. people were having real problems. they couldn't see their pa rents. problems. they couldn't see their parents. sometimes their own children were going hungry. but for the good of the population, people stayed at hearing. and that is what has put us in the positive situation we are now, where we can begin to think about exiting lockdown. and i think about exiting lockdown. and i think the important thing, the all—important thing, is we need to trust the public. i think the public hopefully, despite this, despite this... well, to put it mildly, this pick—up, have got the good sense to understand that we still need to show them sacrifices. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu has appeared in court at the start of his long—delayed trial on corruption charges, just days after he was once again

sworn in as premier. he is the first sitting prime minister in israel's history to go on trial in a criminal case. tom bateman reports from jerusalem. a giant of israeli politics heads for the defendant's bench. it was the day he hoped would never come. it began with protests — two camps, fans and foes. a country divided over benjamin netanyahu. we have a great prime minister. we love him can we support him, and we really believe this is a really stupid thing. when he's looking for all the reasons in the world to get away from it, and that's not going to happen.

grabbing a moment in a courthouse hall, he lashed out and at prosecutors, police and the press. translation: what's on trial today is the will of the people. it's delusional. flanked by his top ministers. prosecutors paint a picture of a pm obsessed with his image, doing favours for powerful media bosses to manipulate coverage, and another case is alleged she accepted a supply line of champagne and cigars. it has formed a backdrop to three deadlocked elections. his rival capitalised on the corruption claims, but has now joined him in government to tackle coronavirus. and judges ruled the israeli leader can stay on as pm while on trial. at court, shouts loud enough to be heard inside.

the prime minister's loyal supporters are out in force, and have covered the windows of the courtroom here, so that we cannot see what is going on inside. it is a criminal trial, but a deeply political event. in some ways, it feels like a fourth election campaign. his case has become a symbol for how two sides in israel see their country's future. this time, his fate lies in the hands of the judges, and not the people. police in hong kong have fired tear gas and water cannon at demonstrators protesting china's plans to impose a new security law. police say 120 people have been arrested after the first mass protests since the coronavirus pandemic took hold in the territory. beijing says the legislation will improve people's lives, but campaigners warn fundamental freedoms are being eroded. 0ur china correspondent stephen mcdonnell reports. activists in their thousands are back on the streets of hong kong, ending the quiet of coronavirus. beijing has introduced new security legislation for the city. they are attempting to resist it.

protesters say it elevates acts of dissent and government opposition to treason and sedition, potentially meaning serious jail time if you, for example, call for hong kong independence. we are worried that the chinese communist party make use of the evil law to further suppress hong kong people. following last year's summer of rebellion, more than 7,000 protesters have been charged with public assembly and rioting crimes. before the end of the year, they could be accused of trying to overthrow the communist party. but china's leaders say the law will mean a better atmosphere for business, and that it should be applauded rather than feared. translation: this targets a very narrow category of acts that seriously jeopardise national security. it has no impact on hong kong's high degree of autonomy, or on the rights and freedoms of citizens. here in beijing, the national people's congress is under way.

it is the most important annual political gathering for the chinese communist party. and this time round, china's leaders do feel like they've got a pretty good story to tellm with the handling of the coronavirus, and perhaps they thought this would give them cover to almost sneak through new security legislation, and that it wouldn't attract much attention. well, it's certainly attracting a lot of attention in hong kong. hong kong protesters know that, in the coming days, the legislation will pass through china's rubber stamp congress. then, there is little they can do to prevent it coming low. stephen mcdonnell, bbc news, beijing. as stephen mentioned, the china's annual national people's congress — the most important political event for the communist party — is under way in beijing. and in addition to the brewing tensions with hong kong over the proposed security law, this year's congress has also seen an escalation in beijing's war of words with the united states. china's foreign minister warned that

certain us interests are pushing for what he called ‘a new cold war‘ in their condemnation of beijing's handling of the coronavirus outbreak. natasha kassam is a china expert at the lowy institute and former australian diplomat in beijing. she joins us from sydney. natasha, i have been to some of these national peoples congresses. you don't necessarily get huge amounts of breaking news but you do find out what the communist party wa nts you find out what the communist party wants you to know. what are they telling you this year? the most important thing they are telling us this year is that there won't be a gdp growth target and that is really significant and something that reformers in china have pushed for many years, arguing that set gdp targets have led to unsustainable growth and they are prioritising gdp over everything else perhaps. so this year, to say that there will not be a target, they can't be sure exactly what it will be, they are

telling us that they don't know and thatis telling us that they don't know and that is really i think something to be noticed and it is quite surprising. they just be noticed and it is quite surprising. theyjust had their first economic contraction after four decades of growth. this is clearly new territory. it is. are we getting any sense of any potential new leadership to succession to xi jinping? ten years and you are out. is there any bringing forward of new generation of leaders after him? this is the subject of a lot of speculation and i think there have been some people that we have identified that could be groomed for future leadership potential, but certainly out of these two sessions the focus was very much on getting the focus was very much on getting the economy back in order, bringing hong kong into line, there is little to no reference to anybody who might be coming up in the ranks as a successor. when you talk about references to hong kong, the national peoples congresses not famed for debate, but has there been any airing of any dissenting views of the communist party, views that

they should be brought into line with the mainland ? they should be brought into line with the mainland? there are certainly a lot of dissent to be heard in hong kong, as you saw earlier. but within china, it is actually quite popular for hong earlier. but within china, it is actually quite popularfor hong kong to be brought into line. there is very little sympathy within the public. of course it is very hard for us to assess public opinion in any significant and accurate way within china, but ultimately, i think a lot of people within china have seen what happened last year in hong kong as unruly children who need to be brought into line, and it is really unfortunate to see what is happening to that city. in previous yea rs happening to that city. in previous years australia developed a strong alliance with china. is that now changed? it certainly wasn't an alliance. the only alliance australia has is with the united states, but we have had close economic relationship with china. australia and china have incredibly confirmatory economies and that he

needs to be the case. there is more friction than there has been in the past and we have seen public opinion in australia turn against china in the last two years. however, the two economies are closely entangled and i don't anticipate that painting in a very significant way. thank you so much forjoining us. thank you for having me. turkey, which had one of the fastest growing coronavirus outbreaks in the world, says it is turning the tide. the growth in infections has dropped to the lowest level since the country's first case in march. the authorities say a nationwide contact tracing system is one of the key weapons in the fight against the virus. from istanbul, our international correspondent 0rla guerin reports. how do you track a virus that sweeps unseen through a city? in istanbul, home to more than 16 million, the answer is — you don't waste a minute. right from the very beginning, we were ready for the covid—i9. this is where we pick up the calls.

they've been contact tracing since day one when turkey's first case was diagnosed in march. the system is well developed from decades of tracking measles. it relies on tireless work by doctors and nurses. we, as a team, feel as if we are in a war. because people forget to go home. they don't, you know, they don't know the time frames that they're working in. we say that, 0k, eight hours is completed, but they don't even care going home because they know this is a duty that they have to complete and before it spreads to anyone else. so 1,200 tracing teams fan out across the city. wejoined them in fatih in the heart of old istanbul. step by step, they track the virus, here checking on two flatmates whose friend is covid positive.

these women, both in their 20s, are tested on their doorstep. ahh! just a day after developing mild symptoms. translation: we follow foreign news and when we first heard about the virus, we were really scared. but turkey has rallied faster than we thought, much faster than europe and the united states. the doctors are out of their ppe now. everything has been bagged up and it is going to be disposed of safely. they have taken the swabs and they will be sent off to the lab and the results will be back within 2a hours. and even if they test negative, they'll have to remain at home for another 14 days. we are keeping the virus out of the streets, that is very important for us. once we isolate them, you know, the virus stops spreading to theirfriends, to their relatives, to their co—workers.

that seems to be working so far. along with widespread testing and partial lockdowns. the official death toll here is relatively low — around 4,300. international experts say turkey has managed to shield its people from a greater disaster. 0rla guerin, bbc news, istanbul. greece will reopen its islands to domestic tourism on monday, the latest in a series of measures ending lockdown restrictions. it closed its borders early and has had only 171 deaths from coronavirus. but greece's tourist industry, which makes up at least a fifth of the economy, has been badly hit by the pandemic, as quentin sommerville reports. the parthenon is a landmark, not just for greece, but the entire world. for the last few months, it, along with western civilisation, has been closed to visitors.

this week, it reopened. social distancing means new markings on these ancient stones. and new plastic defences on the ramparts. for greece, there is no greater symbol, but for now, this is mainly a symbolic reopening. on any given day, there would usually be 20,000 visitors here. today, barely 100. foreign tourists can return here without quarantine from the middle ofjune. for the moment, it's mostly locals. the fact that it is open makes me feel hopeful, but cautiously so. 0ur government reacted well and quickly and the results show. greece hasn't been overwhelmed by the pandemic, only 170 deaths. lockdown is easing here. the mainland's beaches are open and from monday, its islands will be too.

for now, tourists from high infection areas — the us, russia and the united kingdom — will not be allowed in, but that will change as the virus weakens, says the country's tourism minister. everybody has been under stress. i think this vacation process is a healing process, especially for this year. tourism is the bedrock of the greek economy. back at the acropolis, it is slow going. yanis hasn't had a customer in days. it's about time to accept that the world has changed and now we have to start learning new things. and one of them is to be able to understand that the acropolis some times in the year is going to be like this as well. the acropolis is a monument to endurance, a fitting place to take the first cautious steps out of the pandemic. quentin somerville, bbc news, athens. a "once—in—a—decade" storm is battering large parts of australia's west coast. tens of thousands of homes and businesses are without power

as phil mercer reports. weather forecasters warned that australia's entire west coast was at risk from a monstrous storm. it's the remnants of tropical cyclone mangga that is combining with a cold front to lash coastal areas with destructive winds, heavy rain and abnormally high tides. the weather bureau said the storm was dynamic and complex. satellite images have shown the scale of the threat. waves up to eight metres have been forecast. despite the temptation, surfers have been told to stay out of the water. thousands of homes are without electricity after strong winds brought down powerlines. residents have been urged not to go outside. properties have been damaged and roofs torn off buildings. perth, a city of 2 million people,

hasn't been spared. the wild conditions might not ease for another day. inland areas were blanketed by clouds of dust whipped up by the winds. australia is a land well used to nature's extremes, but, once again, its resilience is being tested. if you are watching in the uk... we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers henry mance, chief features writer at the ft, anna isaac, journalist at the wall streetjournal, and olivia utley, deputy leader writer and head of pr at the sun — that's coming up after the headlines at 11:30. you are watching bbc news. now, it's time for a look at the weather with stav. hello there. it has been an improving picture through the day. early morning cloud

continues to melt away the sunshine. tonight looks like it will be dry with light winds as high—pressure moves with light winds as high—pressure m oves a cross with light winds as high—pressure moves across much of the uk. you can see widespread clear skies into northern ireland, lots of scotland as well. fairly cloudy across the northern isles. with the lighter winds, we as guys, it could be a little chilly tonight. temperatures down for single figures, mist and fog developing. high—pressure is backin fog developing. high—pressure is back in the driving seat and these weather fronts will come into play later across the north—west. early mist and fog with clear away quickly and a sunny day for most. cloud and breeze will pick up past western scotla nd breeze will pick up past western scotland and rain will pile in here into the afternoon. temperatures around the mid teens because of the cloud, rain and wind. it should be very warm across the south—east. that band of cloud and rain across the north—west moves its way south eastwards as we head through the course of monday night. it will be

flying across central areas by the end of the night, and because there will be more cloud cover, temperatures may be in double figures for most. tuesday, high—pressure loudly dominating the scene by this weather front will go through central areas to ring that band of cloud. early anything on it. it will start to move south—east, skies brightening up behind it across scotland and northern ireland. a little bit fresher generally for tuesday, teens, but we still have that warm air mass across southern and eastern areas, 25 or 26 degrees and a bit more cloud around. a new weather front put into northern ireland on wednesday, this could bring further outbreaks of rain here. much of england and wales another dry and sunny day thanks to high—pressure and another warm one as well, closer to the mid teens for northern scotland. the air of high pressure will be shifting eastwards and start to draw up southerly winds

in the near continent that will drive the warm air northwards into scotla nd drive the warm air northwards into scotland and northern ireland so thursday and friday are warm across the board, low 20s in the north, mid— 20s further south. hello, this is bbc news. we will be taking a look at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment. first the headlines: reporter: are you going to resign, mrcummings? the prime minister, borisjohnson, stands by his chief advisor, rejecting calls for his resignation over allegedly breaking coronavirus lockdown rules. according to mrjohnson, dominic cummings was following instinct in travelling over 250 miles for childcare when his wife showed coronavirus symptoms. i believe that in every respect, he has acted responsibly and legally, and with integrity. the labour party have responded

angrily to the developments. sir keir starmer said, if he was prime minister, he would have sacked mr cummings. this was a huge test of the prime minister, and he's just failed that test. he hasn't sacked dominic cummings, he hasn't called for an investigation, and he's treating the british public with contempt. more than 100 are arrested in hong kong during protests against beijing's new proposed security laws. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are henry mance, chief features writer at the ft, anna isaac, journalist at the wall streetjournal, and olivia utley, deputy leader writer and head of pr at the sun. 0ne story dominates the front pages of tomorrow's papers, so let's start with