this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the uk prime minister, boris johnson, sticks by his top aide, over claims dominic cummings broke the lockdown rules by travelling hundreds of kilometres. i think he followed the instincts of every father and every parent, and i do not mark him down for that. but mounting calls for mrcummings to resign will overshadow today's cabinet discussions on lifting coronavirus restrictions. parents and teachers are told to prepare for the return of more pupils to schools in england from next monday, as planned. away from uk politics, police and protestors in hong kong clash over china's plans to impose

a new security law on the territory. greece is reopening its islands to domestic tourists, in the latest move towards ending its lockdown restrictions. and the us suspends travel from brazil for non—americans because of the high number of coronavirus cases. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world — and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. i'm annita mcveigh. here in london, there's mounting pressure on the prime minister to fire his key adviser dominic cummings for travelling

across the country during the coronavirus lockdown. conservative backbenchers, the opposition labour party and some scientists have condemned mr cummings' apparent flouting of the government guidance — with many accusing him of seriously undermining public confidence in measures to halt the spread of covid—19. borisjohnson says his adviser acted "responsibly, legally and with integrity". the cabinet meets this afternoon to discuss the latest moves to ease the lockdown in england. our correspondent, simonjones, reports. reporter: have you undermined the message, mr cummings? leaving downing street with the backing of the prime minister, but there are growing calls for dominic cummings to quit or be fired. he's accused of breaking lockdown rules by travelling to durham when his wife had coronavirus symptoms, so they could be close to other family members in case they needed help caring for their young son. 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. the uk was placed into lockdown on 23rd march, with strict limitations on travel. the government guidelines stated you should not be visiting family members who do not live in your home. the last time dominic cummings was seen before developing coronavirus symptoms was in london on 27th march. four days later, durham police said it was made aware of reports that an individual had travelled from london to durham. on 12th april, newspaper reports suggested mr cummings was spotted in the town of barnard castle, 30 miles from his parents' home. two days later, he was photographed back in downing street. but on 19th april, it's alleged mr cummings again travelled to the north east. number 10 says this is false. labourwants an inquiry. 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. the former conservative minister, paul maynard, tweeted: the concern is shared by one scientist who's been advising the government. if we undermine the unity between the population and the government, if people lose trust and lose adherence, if they stop complying with the 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. hypocrite! resign! dominic cummings was heckled as he returned home, but as the cabinet meets today to discuss plans to further ease the lockdown, ministers are facing the accusation that it's one rule for downing street and one for the rest of us. simon jones, bbc news. with me now is our political

correspondent, jessica parker. that cabinet meeting, jessica, happening at some point later today. but you know, inevitably, it's not going to be a focus on lifting the coronavirus restrictions, one imagines. there is going to be a huge focus on what is happening with dominic cummings. obviously what they are discussing in terms of easing the lockdown is really important, it's about bringing some schools back, so primary schools, year one and year six and reception as well from the ist ofjune, some face—to—face time for year ten and 12 head of exams next year and also we will hear more this week about social contact, how we can interact with one another, the reopening of nonessential retail shops as well. so really important stuff to families and the economy as well. but this row about dominic cummings is overshadowing things and i think clearly boris johnson is overshadowing things and i think clearly borisjohnson last night tried to address it head—on and say that he had had extensive conversation with mr cummings and

that he was satisfied that his chief aide had acted legally and with integrity. at one of the problems with that press conference is a lot of the questions that have been asked about mr cummings' trip to durham have not really been answered in detail, so was there this day trip to barnard castle while they we re trip to barnard castle while they were there over that easter weekend, did the family stop when they travelled from london to durham at a petrol station, for example, when one of them had covid symptoms? when did the prime minister know about this trip as well? these questions rolling on to today and be input to minister such as the education minister such as the education minister gavin williamson. the guidance is incredibly extensive and at the heart of that guidance is always the issue of safeguarding children. and making sure that children are always absolutely protected. and my understanding is, from what the prime minister said yesterday, and you saw it as i did, is that at every stage dominic cummings and his family followed the guidance.

at no stage did dominic cummings or his family break the law. if the prime minister was attempting to put those questions to bed yesterday he certainly hasn't done that and he has not quelled criticism from many sectors of society. we have had bishops, scientists, other politicians tell us more. scientists, other politicians tell us more. yes, as scientists, other politicians tell us more. yes, as you scientists, other politicians tell us more. yes, as you say, you have had criticism from various quarters including a few of the scientists on these committees that advise the government on its coronavirus response. one saying that boris johnson had effectively trashed the public message. we are talking about how cabinet is meeting to talk about easing the lockdown. the messaging is important because there was that very simple stay at home message and in england we have moved to the stay alert message, already a more complicated one, and things are probably about to get more complicated as the lockdown is eased

and boris johnson has complicated as the lockdown is eased and borisjohnson has acknowledged that. amongst the politicians criticising borisjohnson, the labour leader keir starmer, the liberal democrats and the snp leader, first minister of scotland nicola sturgeon. i think he's come to the wrong judgment. the reason why i think that matters is that the consequences are potentially so serious. as we go into the next phases of dealing with this crisis, as we start to lift lockdown restrictions and rely less on the letter of the law and more on guidance and appeal to people's good judgment, then trust in the advice we are giving and the reasons why we are giving that advice is really important. and people, if they get any sense that it is one rule for them and another rule for people in positions of authority, then that will become very difficult. the sacrifices people have made over these past few weeks are immense. there are also rumblings of concern

from conservative mps now. it is not a universal view of the conservative backbench, i've spoken to mps who don't think there is any need for dominic cummings to go but equally there is now a kind of growing handful of conservative mps who worry that the public message has been undermined, but also, as we have been hearing this morning on your programme, saying that they are hearing from their constituents who have made big sacrifices over the past few weeks and now feel there is a sort of double standard at play. borisjohnson said last night, or very much suggested that wasn't the case, that dominic cummings had stuck to the rules. but undoubtedly today he and his chief aide under a lot of pressure. ok, jessica, thank you very much. jessica parker there. we mentioned some of those scientists criticising the prime minister for scientists criticising the prime ministerfor his scientists criticising the prime minister for his handling scientists criticising the prime ministerfor his handling of the situation. joining me now is susan michie, professor of health psychology at university college london. she's on the independent scientific pandemic influenza group on behaviours, which passes

its advice to sage — the scientific advisory group for emergencies, which in turn has been advising government decision makers during the pandemic. thank you forjoining us. what is your view on what dominic cummings has done and what the prime minister has done and what the prime minister has said about what mr cummings has done over the last few days?|j should say i'm speaking here in my independent capacity. but to say that all along the behavioural science advisory committee has been publishing papers on principles of good communication, and those include being direct, honest and openin include being direct, honest and open in communication are people with respect, and very importantly having a sense of fairness and being equitable in what one is suggesting and how one is suggesting it. the concern here is twofold. one is it is about exceptionalism, that the

rules are there in order for people not to follow their instincts when they feel like it and it may take them into risky situations and in order to ensure that everybody is doing everything they possibly can to stop house to house and community to stop house to house and community to community transmission. so that's the first level of concern. the other level of concern is that this is primarily a public health crisis we are in. it may be a political crisis for individuals and indeed seeming to become for the whole government in terms of their response to the situation. but it's a public health crisis where the pandemic is coming down extremely slowly. it's still hovering around just under that letter are of one and what i hope is that the british public who have been magnificent in terms of rising to the challenge in

very difficult circumstances for a lot of people. —— r of one. and continuing to adhere to the rules so that we can get this pandemic under control and get back to the lives we all want to get back to. you are saying now that the public needs to essentially not listen to the prime minister, but to follow what they have been doing, the majority of people have been doing, for the past eight weeks or so, over the period of this lockdown, and staying at home to save lives? is that what you are asking people to do? i'm suggesting that people should obey the rules, and of course that any rule could be interpreted alongside other rules, in this case one that was developed primarily for those at risk of domestic abuse, to try and show that they are an exceptional case, to get some fuzziness around

the borders. if we all interpret the rules in the way that dominic cummings interpreted the rules, then we will see more transmission of the virus between households and between communities. to leave your house if you are ill or living with somebody who is ill to be in an enclosed space of a carfor who is ill to be in an enclosed space of a car for three or four hours, we know that viral transmission is hugely greater within an enclosed space, and with one infected person and two uninfected people, to be in a situation where you go from a community of high prevalence of the virus to a low prevalence of the virus to a low prevalence of the virus and to be planning under circumstances of virus and to be planning under ci rcu msta nces of two virus and to be planning under circumstances of two people being ill to hand over a child to elderly pa rents ill to hand over a child to elderly parents who obviously are at much more risk of the consequences of covid—i9 seems to not be a responsible thing to do even if one can find clauses developed for other

circumstances that could justify one's action retrospectively. so you think the justification that boris johnson gave yesterday for dominic cummings' behaviour in that it was about ensuring that his child could be looked after if he and his wife we re be looked after if he and his wife were both incapacitated at the same time and wooden be able to, you think that simply isn't enough justification —— wouldn't be able to. given the muddying of the message? had he gone to the prime minister or whoever in government is the appropriate person to go to, explain the circumstances, got agreement and that was then explained to the british public, i think that's a different matter. that is not what's happened. the story has been uncovered by journalists after the fact, it appears to have been rather not disclosed in a direct way. lots of

ministers have been jumping disclosed in a direct way. lots of ministers have beenjumping in to try and justify his actions. and so i think this is the problem. can i just pick up on that because we are almost out of time? i just want to ask an important question. do you feel now that scientists who stand alongside the prime minister and other members of the cabinet on a daily basis at the news briefing have been put in an incredibly uncomfortable position? we talk a lot about distancing. but should there literally be separate briefings now and not seeing scientists standing alongside politicians? i think that we are at a real risk of scientific and medical leadership being undermined by the lack of confidence in political leadership. so i think what you suggest is a very good idea andi what you suggest is a very good idea and i hope our chief medical officer and i hope our chief medical officer and chief scientific adviser take this suggestion very seriously and

have independent briefings of the press and independent briefings of the public. we have very good organisations who could host exactly such briefings. and then i think that would really help to build up trust and scientific medical leadership, which the country is crying out for. ok, professor susan michie, thank you very much for your thoughts on this today. greece will today reopen its islands to domestic tourists, the latest in a series of measures, ending lockdown restrictions. the country has had just 170 deaths from coronavirus, and its tourist industry has been badly hit by the pandemic. ferries to the islands will be operating for citizens at a 50% capacity. our correspondent bethany bell sent this update. greece is allowing people to go back to the islands today after around two months of people not being able to travel there without special permission. so that means that domestic tourists can now go to the

greek islands, people from mainland greece can go to their holiday homes and people on the islands can start gearing up for the tourist season. greece has not been very badly affected in terms of the number of cases of coronavirus, and it has had not very many deaths. of course, it's tourism season has been hit quite badly and that's crucial for greece cosmic economy. so what they are hoping to do is that they will open up in the next couple of weeks. by open up in the next couple of weeks. by midjune open up in the next couple of weeks. by mid june they are hoping to lift the quarantine measures and start allowing foreign tourists back. but people from countries where there are higher infection rates aren't welcome yet. but greece says that it will keep reviewing the figures from week to week and it hopes at least to get some sort of tourism season going this summer. bethany bell in

vienna. let's bring you some live pictures from germany. this is a federaljudge. the country's highest court is ruling on a case seeking reimbursement from volkswagen. vehicle outfitted with emissions cheating software. the court found that volkswagen has to pay damages to owners who purchased vehicles with manipulated diesel engines. this is germany's highest court for civil disputes and it has ruled that people who bought the cars in question are entitled in principle to receive damages. that case was brought by an individual and now has gone to this federal court, the highest court for civil disputes, ruling that volkswagen has to pay compensation to motorists who bought

vehicles with manipulated diesel engines during the emissions scandal. they have to get compensation. as global lockdowns start to be eased, here in the uk half of all drivers say they will walk more, and 40% say they will drive less, to maintain clean air even after the restrictions are lifted. i guess one leads on to the other. that's according to a survey of almost 20,000 people by the motoring organisation, the aa. so, will the lockdown mark a change in uk driving habits? joining me now is the aa's president, edmund king. hello, edmund, thank you for talking to us. tell us first of all about those key findings from your survey. it was quite interesting because we actually commented that the air was better, there was less congestion, and did people want to do anything after lockdown to continue with that cleaner air? and 82% generally said yes they would take positive action.

and i think some of the action they say they would take is a lesson from lockdown. people are staying more locally, they are walking in their locally, they are walking in their local vicinity, they are cycling more, and they are losing their car less. some of them have indicated that they would continue doing that after lockdown. there are also broader things that they talked about. some 26% said they would actually fly less. and also a substantial proportion said they would work from home more. and i think if there is one measure, if you like, that could help with congestion, both on the roads and public transport longer term, it probably is more people working from home. if a fifth work from home, it's as good as the school holidays in terms of lack of congestion on the roads and rails. so that would make a substantial difference.

really good intentions from people here, edmund, but what will it take ona here, edmund, but what will it take on a policy level to support those intentions and to turn them into something that lasts? you talk about people working from home, but for those who are going to go back to work, if for example, they feel it is not safe yet to travel on public transport, if they feel there aren't enough buses, trains in service, whatever, are they then going to drive instead? i think it will be difficult. one of the things in terms of walking from home we talked about is better investment in broadband —— working from home. it is not perfect for everyone. but also in our towns and cities, if you can't use public transport, if your journey is too long to walk or cycle, you will certainly have to drive at least part of thatjourney. so we have called for emergency park and cycle facilities on the edge of towns and cities so people could drive a certain distance, park up, and then walk or cycle. the transport secretary did mention that

in his briefing on saturday night. so it will need efforts like that. we have seen more towns and cities putting in more cycle lanes. that will help to give more confidence, particularly to the kind of novel cyclists out there. so it is a combination of things. but i think the main thing is behavioural wise, people have learned to live with their car people have learned to live with theircara people have learned to live with their car a little bit less, and certainly for those shorter journeys close to home where people have been walking in the main, they can continue doing that. ok, edmund king, president of the aa, thank you very much. thank you. china's foreign ministry office in hong kong has said that some actions during last year's pro—democracy protests were "terrorist in nature" and posed a danger to national security. the ministry's commissioner made a speech in the the last couple of hours about chinese plans to impose a new security law in the city. this weekend saw a fresh surge of protests, police fired tear gas

and water cannon at demonstrators. danny vincent has more. thousands of protesters young and old, they gathered in a central shopping district area. they planned to march across the city to show their opposition to a national security law that beijing has proposed. very quickly the police sprung into action. they were there and waiting. they raised flags and later they fired tear gas into the crowd. they confronted the crowd. and after that we saw somewhat of a cat and mouse game where the protesters would run down many of the narrow alleys in the centre of hong kong and protest and then the police would chase after them. now, there have been many protests in hong kong over the last year. i'd say this is probably the biggest one we have seen this year. it is certainly the biggest one we have seen since the outbreak of the coronavirus.

so this proposed law has managed to unite hong kong people willing to break the law, essentially. many were arrested, up to 180 the police say. people were also willing to break the social distancing measures that the government had into place to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus. and danny, it has been a relatively quiet few months. i use the word advisedly, after a year or so of pro—democracy protests. is there a feeling there that china wants this to be the final showdown, if you like, to impose its authority to get rid of what is known as one country, two systems? the official line from beijing is that one country, two systems is still very strong, it's a very important part of hong kong's basic law. if you talk to the protesters here, especially the younger protesters, they feel what they are experiencing

is perhaps the last fight for hong kong's way of life. people, for many years, have said that hong kong, the freedoms that hong kongers were guaranteed when the city was handed back to china, they have seen somewhat of a slow motion erosion of some of those rights. but the announcement that this proposal, which came from beijing, it happened so quickly, it caught many people by surprise, and most hong kongers now are quite fearful about what happens next. danny vincent. japan is preparing to lift the state of emergency that was imposed on tokyo and surrounding areas at the beginning of april, after a fall in the rate of infections. the state of emergency was lifted in other parts of the countryjust under two weeks ago. japan has succeeded in avoiding an explosive outbreak of the virus,

with the number of confirmed cases nationwide below 20,000, and confirmed deaths from covid—19 fewer than 1,000. so japan the latest of the countries we have been reporting about so far today lifting the restrictions to some extent. you're watching bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello again. some parts of the uk have not seen much rain at all during the course of may. and as we enter the last week of may, the situation isn't going to change too drastically either. today, mostly warm and sunny is the forecast. we do have a couple of weather fronts out to the west and they are introducing thicker cloud, some patchy rain and drizzle across northern ireland and also western scotland. but with high pressure in charge for most of england and wales, it's going to be fine and settled. so a lot of sunshine as we go through the course of the afternoon. a bit more cloud coming in from the west across scotland through the afternoon, as this weather front bringing its rain approaches.

it's going to be gusty this afternoon, not as gusty as the weekend, but the western isles could have gusts of a0 mph. whereas further south, we are looking at gentle breezes and highs of 25 degrees. through this evening and overnight here is our weather front continuing to move slowly southwards and eastwards, bumping into the high pressure and weakening, so it's more likely to be a band of cloud with some spots of rain, clear skies ahead of it and behind it and not a cold night. so, we picked that weather front up tomorrow, still moving into that high pressure, continuing to weaken all the time. and although we might start with some spots of rain across parts of northern england, possibly into the midlands, the south—west, it won't last. it will dry up and as this cloud sinks south it will turn the sunshine hazy. but behind it we are back into sunny skies for northern ireland, northern england and also scotland. temperature wise, average temperatures more or less for scotland and northern ireland, but high temperatures in the south, up to 26.

tuesday into wednesday, the high pressure establishes itself right the way across the land. a front coming in across northern ireland and western scotland, once again introducing thicker cloud, patchy rain and drizzle, and we will have an onshore breeze coming in along the north sea. but that aside, there will be a lot of warm or very warm sunshine with highs of 25 or 26 in england and wales, 16, 17 and 18 in scotland and northern ireland. as we head towards the end of the week, though, the high pressure moves further east allowing this flow of warm, or very warm air, across all of our shores. so, as we head through thursday and into friday the temperatures are going to continue to rise. and by saturday for some it will be into the high 20s.

hello, this is bbc news with annita mcveigh. the headlines.

the uk prime minister borisjohnson sticks by his top aide over claims dominic cummings broke the lockdown rules by travelling hundreds of kilometres. but mounting calls for mrcummings to resign will overshadow today's cabinet discussions on lifting coronavirus restrictions. parents and teachers are told to prepare for the return of more pupils to schools in england from next monday, as planned. away from uk politics, police and protesters in hong kong clash over china's plans to impose a new security law on the territory. greece is reopening its islands to domestic tourists in the latest move towards ending its lockdown restrictions. and the us suspends travel from brazil for non—americans, because of the high number of coronavirus cases. now on bbc news, the boss of a robotics company and a software entrepreneur fight to establish their start—ups