good afternoon. the health secretary matt hancock says the government made the right decisions at the right time, over the coronavirus lockdown, after a senior scientist who advises ministers said that lives would have been saved if they'd acted sooner. professorjohn edmunds, who's a member of the sage advisory group, said restrictions should have been imposed in early march, but scientists lacked enough information. richard galpin reports. the beautiful weather of recent

weeks broad thousands to the beaches. social distancing often difficult or simply not followed. so it is no surprise the so—called r number, the rate at which coronavirus spreads has now increased, according to some reports. one computer model shows that in some areas of england the rate is thought to be just below the figure of one, except in the south west, where it is estimated to be right on one end in the north—west, it is just above one, which means increased infections. also today there has been an admission of m ista kes there has been an admission of mistakes made back in march, on the decision when the country should have locked down. we should have gone into lockdown earlier. i think it would have been hard to do it and i think the data that we were dealing with in the early part of march and our situational awareness was really quite poor. and so i

think it would have been very hard to pull the trigger at that point, but i wish we had. i wish we had gone into lockdown earlier and i think that has caused a lot of lives, unfortunately. but this morning the health secretary flatly denied the lockdown had come too late. i think we took the right decisions at the right time and there is a broad range on sage of scientific opinion and we were guided by the science which means guided by the science which means guided by the balance of that opinion as expressed to ministers through the chief medical officer and chief scientific adviser. that is the right way for it to have been done. on top of all this it has become clear that there is disquiet in the key cities and towns of north—west england about the handling of the pandemic. they need much more local information on the spread of the virus and they are questioning the government decision on lifting the lockdown. you have been saying that the lockdown was

lifted too early in the north—west, do you think that actually having different measures in different parts of the country is the best way oi’ parts of the country is the best way or perhaps the only way go forward? lam not or perhaps the only way go forward? i am not calling for the north—west to break away and challenge government policy and do our own thing but we want to get back to a sense of greater national unity. we wa nt sense of greater national unity. we want a national approach that can be flexed to respond to local needs. the first thing is localised information, which basically allows some differential messaging about where it is necessary. the localised information helps and the second thing is, greater flexibility. the mayor of greater manchester is also questioning whether it is wise for the government to allow many shops to open on june the government to allow many shops to open onjune the 15th. richard galpin, bbc news. our political correspondent helen catt is here. the question for the government is when to get into the lockdown and

how to get out of it is always a tough balancing act. it is and there will be difficult judgments tough balancing act. it is and there will be difficultjudgments for the uk government to make and the devolved administrations in scotland, northern ireland and wales. this week borisjohnson is going to set out some of those next steps for england, the measures that you come into effect on the 15th of june. we know that is the date currently set for the reopening of the more nonessential shops. that is still not phase three of the road map, it is still not due to come in untiljuly and what we are expecting would be perhaps smaller changes rather than any grand unlocking. the other thing we are starting to get from downing street is a sense of may be starting to look beyond the immediate crisis and there are plans for borisjohnson to make a speech later in the summer setting out how the uk can recover. he has previously indicated that that is unlikely to be through a return to austerity and he was elected on a ma nifesto austerity and he was elected on a manifesto of investing. all of this stuff, from the small changes up to

the big vision future visions is dependent on the government been able to keep that infection rate down and carry on with that gradual unlocking process. helen, thank you. helen catt. the health secretary matt hancock has called on people not to take part in anti—racism protests because of the risk of spreading coronavirus. tens of thousands of people took to the streets across the uk yesterday, including demonstrations in cardiff, belfast, manchester and london. and — with more protests planned today, london's police chief cressida dick urged protesters to "find another way" of making their views heard due to the virus risk. chi chi izundu is in central london for us. what is the latest there? as you can see, i don't know if you can, just behind me there are a good few hundred people that have actually started to congregate ahead of the protest today which is due to start at two o'clock. like you say, dame cressida dick, the metropolitan

police commissioner has urged people to find a different way to protest, to find a different way to protest, to try and prevent themselves, their families and the police officers who have to manage the situation from catching coronavirus. yesterday, 1a police officers were injured at the end of the protest in central london, but the protests are not only going on in london, there are also people gathering in cities around the uk, including glasgow and nottingham. many thanks. chi chi izundu reporting there from central london. and in the united states, huge protests have continued in cities across the country at the killing in police custody of the black american, george floyd. crowds once again converged on the white house in washington dc. our north america correspondent aleem maqbool has more. nojustice! no peace! it was the biggest demonstration washington has seen since the killing of george floyd. but with none of the confrontation with security forces that we had seen previously.

they sent in the national guard, the national guard here on the streets, they were tear—gassing people, shooting them with rubber bullets, you know, really perpetuating police brutality and violence on the streets of washington dc. we're still getting arrested, we're still getting pulled over, we're still getting discriminated in everything in american life, so we got to fight, not for now, but for the future. we may be just outside the white house, but the sense we get through speaking to people here is that this has now gone beyond just getting the message across to donald trump. what people are telling us is that they have now really given up on him doing the right thing. instead, the focus has become changing the system, individuals and police departments. i have cried every day since i have been seeing the protest, out ofjust sheerjoy that finally, finally, the voices are being heard.

at the same time as the demonstration in washington, there was a memorial service for george floyd in north carolina, close to where he was born. these images associated with this will affect all of our lives for the rest of our lives. george floyd's body will now continue its finaljourney, but the reverberations of his death will be felt long beyond his funeral in texas on tuesday. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in washington. from tomorrow, outdoor weddings can take place in northern ireland with up to 10 people present as the gradual easing of lockdown continues. ceremonies are still not allowed in england, scotland or wales. chris page reports. abby and michael now know they will be getting married in a few weeks. ceremonies are being allowed outdoors in northern ireland, with ten people present. they didn't know if they would be

able to have a wedding when the lockdown happened. we were due to do our invitations that very week and we had sort of settled on our guest list and we were getting them prepared and then the news broke, we were in lockdown, so, the invitations never went out. so when it was announced that small outdoor weddings could go ahead, was that a big relief for you? you were so uplifted that day to hear it. i was. abbie was genuinely in a good mood, but when she got that good news, she was delighted. so they can't wait for the day itself. that is sort of what we are aiming towards now. and just having it quite rough and ready. we will get a few hay bales in for people to sit on! and abby and michael say having a small wedding will capture the essence of the occasion. it is us being able to declare our love for one another, make holy vows to god and just remain committed to one another for the rest of our lives. if you look at a wedding, essentially that is exactly what it is and because we are stripping away all the excess,

i think it adds emphasis to the romanticism, the sanctity of the event and in a way, i like that, you know? it is quite beautiful. chris page, bbc news. that's it. the next news on bbc one is at 6:50. bye for now. hello. you're watching the bbc news channel. sport now and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's jane. good afternoon. the 1000 guineas gets underway this afternoon at newmarket with "quadrilateral" the headline name. the horse is the daughter of the great unbeaten champion "frankel" and has won all three races in herfledging career. champion jockey oisin murphy goes for a double after he won the 2000 guineas yesterday on the ten to one shot, kameko.

but can he get a second classic victory in two days on millisle later? iam afraid i am afraid to dream that big. sport is for dreamers and people who work super hard and i was fortunate to get the call—up on this filly and the horse was actually trained in ireland and she could travel but the people couldn't really come with her, there are travel restrictions for people not animals, it has been tough to get her over here but she was top class last season. and i know it would mean an incredible amount if she could win the 1000 guineas. as protests against racism continue across the world, more and more sports stars are having their say. former philadelphia eagles defensive back malcolm jenkins returned to the city where he played for six years. he spoke at philadelphia's african—american museum. ican i can feel our eyes being opened,

evenif i can feel our eyes being opened, even if we had to shake her out of her slumber. i hope that my future grandkids will not have to deal with the same fight that my great grandmothers for it. i am hopeful that as we move forward from these moments, we must not make the great mistake to fall back asleep. world heavyweight champion anthony joshua described racism as a "pandemic" when he addressed protesters at a "black lives matter" march. the british fighter used crutches and was wearing a knee brace as a "precautionary measure" after a twinge in training. he read a poem and spoke in front of hundreds of people in his home town of watford. we can no longer sit back and remain silent and senseless, unlawful killings, slight racism of another human being based only on what,? their skin colour. we need to speak

out. we must not use a demonstration for selfish motives and turn it into rioting and looting. ufc star conor mcgregor has said that he's retiring from fighting. the irish mixed martial artist has retired before and then returned to fight again. this time he posted a picture of himself with his mother and says to her "pick the home of your dreams". the formula e race at home challenge comes to a climax today. yesterday's penultimate stage was won by championship leader pascal wehrlein of mahindra racing. britain's oliver rowland lies fourth in the standings after finishing second for nissan, the audi of kevin van der linde came third. you can watch the final round from 4—20 today on the red button and the bbc sport website. that's all the sport for now. many thanks. the head of the world bank has described the global economic crisis

caused by the coronavirus pandemic as a "catastrophe." speaking to the bbc, david malpass predicted the economic fallout could last for a decade and would adversely affet the world's poorest. our global trade correspondent darshini david has more. from the shutdown of factories in wuhan at the start of the year, to the closure of major tourism spots in venice and beyond, covid—19 and the measures taken to curb its spread have pushed the global economy sharply into reverse and those who can least afford it are paying the heaviest price. the poor around the world are in an unequal situation. they are getting hit harder. people in the poorer countries are being not only unemployed but unable to get any work, even in the informal sector, and that is going to have consequences for a decade. as countries like india grapple with the fallout, the bank says that 60 million more

people around the world could find themselves with less than $1.90 per day to live on top of the 730 million who already do so, risking lasting hardship. it is one reason why there has been a push to get back to business as usual in places like rio, despite concerns about rates of infection. translation: at the moment, i think it would be good to open because there are a lot of people withoutjobs. a lot of people are at home without being able to pay rent, water, electricity. there are a lot of people who have children at home and are not receiving anything from work and nothing from the government. so how are they going to the bills? but reopening tourism hotspots for shops will not be enough. somejobs will have been permanently lost. the bank says repairing the damage will need government and private sector support to the most vulnerable and to build an environment for job

creation in new industries. i am an optimist over the long run that human nature is strong and innovation is really powerful. the world is moving fast and the awareness of what people are doing in other countries has never been higher. but mr malpass admits the impact on some people's lives could last a decade and getting the right plans in place will be challenging. darshini david, bbc news. in the past week, brazil has overtaken italy in terms of deaths from covid—19, with 311,000 fatalities. on saturday brazil's health ministry said it would now only be reporting cases and deaths in the past 2a hours, not a total figure as most countries do. president bolsonaro said the cumulative data did not reflect the current picture and had it removed from the ministry website. katy watson reports from sao paulo.

there's no bigger contrast between rich and poor in this, the most unequal country in latin america. coronavirus is spreading fast here in brazil but it's these crowded neighbourhoods that are most affected. there's little opportunity to socially distance and with so many residents having lost theirjobs, no way to make ends meet either. hosangela works just one day a week now, her other employers let her go because they were scared. she's scared too. she needs to keep working to look after her grandson and her seven children, six of whom are now unemployed. it's hard to get enough food, hosangela tells me, there's no way she can provide like she used to. hosangela and more than a thousand other domestic workers are on a waiting list for this crowdfunding campaign called adopt a housekeeper. it gives domestic workers a personal care kit,

a food basket and some money each month to keep them going through the crisis. translation: the virus has been democratic in that it's affecting rich and poor. but the actions, the attitude and the lack of public policy have not been democratic. people were let go and told by their employers to come back after the crisis. but the majority of women are the sole breadwinners, they're single mothers, they pay rent, they don't have savings. while many have been left unpaid, others have had little choice but to carry on because their employers demand it. some of the children of these domestic workers have started a movement to make sure they're paid and remain quarantined. translation: in brazil, we still live in a slavocracy. domestic workers are seen as essential services, which is absurd. they can contract the disease just travelling to work and their families too. some people don't seem to understand that we're in a pandemic and everyone should stay

in quarantine for their safety. unregistered workers have been queuing up outside banks to take advantage of small government hand—outs. but millions are yet to receive the money. and for those lucky enough to even have a contract, most have had theirs suspended. so what happens next? translation: when this pandemic passes, what will happen? it's the domestic workers who will suffer the most. everyone is talking about bolsonaro, but i wonder sometimes is he really crazy? it's become such a political fight. he goes on about wanting to get the economy going again so it can flourish. the crisis has revealed some ugly truths in brazil, notjust a huge reliance on millions of unregistered workers, but also an unwillingness by many to value them. katy watson, bbc news, in sao paulo. let's get more now on the issue of regional lockdowns in the uk.

the labour mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham, has called for a greater role for england's regions as the strategy to contain coronavirus is devised. his appeal comes as the north west becomes one of the country's hotspots. let's talk to him now. we are told the r rate, the transmission rate, is above one in the north—west, is that your information? if so, why has it gone above one? it is my information on one of the ways of calculating the r number. there is a separate one that had it at 0.8 last week, so i think it is important to see bigger picture. there is a difference of view if you like amongst scientists, but it is clearly something that cannot be ignored. it is a significant development to see the cambridge modelling put the r rate in the north—west above one. modelling put the r rate in the north-west above one. why has it gone above one? personally, i think

the main reason is the lockdown was loosened too early for the north west of england and i said that going back three or four weeks ago when it first happened. we were a few weeks behind london and the south—east and consequently, i think it was wrong to change things at that point in time in the north west. i think also, we have seen awakening of the public health messaging in recent times is clearly thatis messaging in recent times is clearly that is not helping anywhere. so, that is not helping anywhere. so, thatis that is not helping anywhere. so, that is what i would say, but i must be clear, i was not calling a press briefing today to have a finger pointing exercise, trying to score points of the government, the point is we are what we are, why do we go from here? what can we do to help people and communities and get that number back below one? some are suggesting one way we could go forward , suggesting one way we could go forward, if the r number is above one in an area like the north west 01’ one in an area like the north west or in one in an area like the north west orina one in an area like the north west or in a particular city, is to have a local or regional lockdown. is

that a common sense idea? it seems to make sense, rather than looking down the whole country, you look down the whole country, you look down at the local hotspot. that is the problem with it, it seems to make sense, it is an obvious thing to suggest, but it is a bit too simplistic, because if you just think about it for a moment, one community under lockdown next door to what that is not, how do you enforce that? what happens to people who need to go to work who live within that community that is locked down? so many difficult issues fall out of it and myself and the mayor of the liverpool city region were saying it today, let's go at this differently, empower local communities with more information. there's very little information out there about how the virus is spreading in very localised settings. let's give people more information so that they can then change their behaviour on the back of that and at the moment there is a very significant lack of local

information and that, i think, is hampering our response to it. here is not giving you the information? are you saying the central government is not giving you the information or the scientists who advise the government? it is the government, because we are not receiving information from national testing, nor from receiving information from national testing, norfrom national contact tracing. so, we are not getting a flow of information from a national level to help us build that picture and what we are saying is that we need to get that picture. the way i describe it is, i do not think the paris is like a blanket over the country that affects different areas of the country differently, it is like a well wind that can move around very quickly. we need to inform the public about that because of they can see clearly what is going on in their community, it can help them to re—engage with the national public health messaging that the government puts out. that has been weakened in recent weeks for a whole host of reasons. i think we need to get people to reconnect with that public health messaging to stay at home wherever possible and i

think that is more likely to happen if they can see the real picture in their own community. you say it is harder to enforce a local lockdown, but the government has said they are thinking of that and in fact they did it in weston—super—mare, they are saying, and i hear what you say about it would not be perfect or easy, but maybe it would be better than nothing? as i say, the government is determined to go in that direction. of course we will work with them and what we have said todayis work with them and what we have said today is that in the spirit of trying to rebuild a sense of national unity, which i think we need through this, but if they are going to go down this path, i think the government would have to put in place at significant support for the communities affected. for instance, if workplaces that were to be closed, there would need to be a local furlough scheme so that people's wagers could be paid for the period of the local lockdown. i think councils would need help to get food to local communities, so there are big implications that fall out of it. we would prefer the government to go down a path of

working with communities, empowering them with more information, than a talking of a local lockdowns. because actually, it is a recipe to create confusion but also tension, if you have got one community under lockdown next to one that is not. we are think there are different ways of doing it. let me give you a specific example, schools. give more flexibility to head teachers to make a decision based on a local information. putting this arbitrary national date out there i think has been a challenge and has put pressure on head teachers and schools that really was not helpful at all. andy, i am afraid we have lost the line it to you, i am sorry about that. you have paused, as they say. but never mind, we got most of oui’ say. but never mind, we got most of our interview with you there. just speaking there about what he feels is the situation in the north west of england. as he was saying, according to some scientific estimates, the r rate, the transmission rate, in the north—west

is now above one. much more coming up is now above one. much more coming up in the afternoon. you are watching bbc news, thank you for being with us. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. hello, after the warmth and sunshine of last weekend, this weekend has been very different. it has been called, pretty windy. we have seen some rain at times. the winds will ease through the rest of the day. still some rain to come for central and eastern parts of england. quite showery in nature, the best of the bright weather to be found across western parts and those are your temperatures 7pm. as we head into the night, any remaining white weather in the east will continue to fizzle away, the winds will continue to ease end of the cloud breaks up across scotland and north—east england, it will turn into a rather cool at night. some parts of scotla nd cool at night. some parts of scotland could see a touch of frost. not as cold for parts of wales and the south—west where we keep more

cloud and the odd shower. the start of the week, not completely dry but drier than it has been through the weekend. brighter, too, for many with lighter winds put up this area of the high pressure across the azores extends its influence to what the british isles. you can see this ridge and the isobars and that shows that pressure is building. that will kill off much of the shower activity but i think there will still be some across eastern scotland, eastern england, maybe the odd one ireland and the chance for a heavy shower or thunderstorm across wales and the south—west of england. otherwise it is trite with patchy cloud and temperatures typically between 18 and 11 degrees. a bit coolerfor some of these north—east sea coasts. how do conditions developing into the afternoon, a small chance for a shower just about wherever you are and later in the day we saw see a frontal weather system approaching scotla nd frontal weather system approaching scotland and northern ireland and some outbreaks of rain and that will journey south eastwards as we head into the middle part of the week. we are expecting an area of low

pressure to develop some across the british isles. for when they will see showers as long as possible in. some of the rain could be on the heavy side for some are dry, brighter spells. at this stage, not especially windy but temperatures a little bit disappointing for the time of year, between 12 and 16, maybe 17 degrees. the winds are set to strengthen it was the end of the week, low pressure still with us but stressed that a little further south and more white lines and more isobars appearing on the chart. the breeze will pick up as we head into thursday and friday and there will be some rain at times, particularly in the south.

hello this is bbc news. the headlines. a member of the scientific group advising the uk government says the country should've gone into lockdown earlier. the health secretary insists the right decisions were made. thousands of people across the uk have demonstrated in solidarity with anti—racism protests in the united states. the head of london's police federation said the protests shouldn't have happened amid the pandemic. huge protests against the death of george floyd have continued across america — all of them peaceful. in washington, thousands gathered around the white house in the biggest protest there for days. the coronavirus pandemic is a "devastating blow"

for the world economy, according to the world bank. its president warned that billions of people would have their livelihoods affected by the pandemic. brazil says it will no longer publish total numbers of cases and deaths from coronavirus, after their death toll passes 311,000 now on bbc news... wuhan becomes the epicentre of a global pandemic, an event that will change everything as businesses fight to survive. wuhan. china's economic heartland. and the epicentre of a global pandemic. the city at the heart of a public health crisis in china is shutting its public transport to try to prevent the spread of the virus. in the spring of 2017, we set out to follow the fortunes