this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. plans are dropped to get every primary school pupil in england back into the classroom before the end of term — because of social distancing concerns. we know it would be good to get children back in school as and when we can, but it is not easily done and we must be listening to the teachers and head teachers having to do this in practice. there's been a fall in the weekly number of deaths in england and wales — but there have still been 64,000 more deaths than would normally be expected during the time of the coronavirus epidemic.

# you sacrifice your life so i can be free... more than 6000 people pay their respects to george floyd — whose death in police custody in the us sparked protests around the world. a private funeral service takes place later today in texas. prince andrew is accused by a us prosecutor of trying to "falsely portray himself" as eager to co—operate with the investigation into the convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein. moscow is easing many of its coronavirus lockdown restrictions — despite the city recording over 1,500 cases a day. britain is about to pass a significant landmark in energy production — at midnight it'll be two months since any coal was burned to generate electricity. we'll be looking at the future of the fuel.

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. the plan for all primary school pupils in england to go back to school before the end of term has been dropped by the government. the education secretary gavin williamson is expected to confirm the decision in parliament later today. 0ur education correspondent sean coughlan has more. pupils in reception, year one and year six began returning to schools in england from june 1st. there have been differences in what schools have been able to offer and figures published later today will show how many families took up places. since the proposal was announced to bring back all primary pupils for four weeks before the end of term, head teachers have challenged the practicalities of accommodating them while expecting children to stay in small groups that would require twice as many classrooms. whatever the ambition, school has said they simply do not

have the space to fit everyone in at the same time. ministers said plans to open to all years would only go ahead if it were feasible and they have now accepted that it is not. it means that many pupils already out of school for 11 weeks, will now be missing lessons until september. the head teachers‘ union, the association of school and college leaders, welcomed the change, saying the government had promised something that was undeliverable. ministers are expected to say that schools will now have flexibility over how many pupils they can teach and that in the year groups that have returned, increasing numbers of parents are confident about sending back their children. but there will be concerns, particularly for disadvantaged pupils, about the long—term costs of being so long out of school. 0ur education correspondent elaine dunkley has been at a school in barnton in cheshire this morning.

it's been a very difficult time for families, parents wanting to know whether they should send them to school or not, it has been a very difficult time for families to know what to do and lots of parents have said they are right home trying to work and they also have children, the big thing is how long this is going on for and lots of parents we re going on for and lots of parents were not expecting it to go on for this long. this has been a sticking issue for the government when they announced that children in reception, your one and g6 would be going back there was opposition from some teaching unions and some local authorities about safety concerns. the school was meant to be coming back today but on friday the head teacher had to phone parents and say do not bring students back because there were concerns about the r number in cheshire. the government has said this is not scrapping the plans, it is taking the pressure off

schools and allowing head teachers to lead the way forward. but lots of children will not have been in school since march 20 and may not be going back until september, that is a lot of time out of the classroom. teaching unions have said this was never really going to be something they could deliver, coronavirus has radically changed how costumes operate so no radically changed how costumes operate so no more radically changed how costumes operate so no more than 15 children ina operate so no more than 15 children in a class, staggered breaks and lunchtimes and the government has had to accept that for all children in primary schools to come back for a month before the end of summer term is unrealistic. the plan. since scotla nd term is unrealistic. the plan. since scotland and northern ireland is to openin scotland and northern ireland is to open in august, schools in wales are due to open onjune on june the 29th. figures for coronavirus deaths in the uk have been released in the past half hour. about 64,000 more people than usual have died during the pandemic, according to the office for national statistics. to make sense of it all, i'm joined by our head of statistics robert cuffe. give us the overall picture? that

64,000 is the total number of people who have died more than we would have expected since the pandemic started. in the most recent week, there has been about annexure i600 deaths, every week is contributing fewer and fewer deaths to the excess total. in the last week, and these most total. in the last week, and these m ost rece nt total. in the last week, and these most recent figures are for england and wales, we have seen just under 10,000 deaths in england and wales, less tha n 10,000 deaths in england and wales, less than half of what we saw at the peak, so it is coming right down, it is down on the previous week but still not quite back to normal, we are still about 1600 or 1800 deaths above what we would expect at this time of year. so the messages we are going in the right direction, almost back to normal but still definitely not there. —— so the message is that we are going in the right direction. and these figures only go up to may the 29th. what is the picture care homes? in every setting we are still

seeing the number of covid deaths declining, the number of deaths overall declining but still seeing an overall declining but still seeing a n excess overall declining but still seeing an excess of deaths in care homes, we saw just an excess of deaths in care homes, we sawjust under 4000 deaths in ca re we sawjust under 4000 deaths in care homes in the week to the end of the 29th of may, sorry, 2500, almost a third more than you would expect, and most of that is deaths attributed to covid—19. we are seeing extra deaths of people dying at home but a different picture in hospitals, the number of deaths we are seeing is roughly what you would expect at this time of year. there was an analysis last week which said that maybe some of these deaths, deaths have been exported, almost, from hospitals, people dying in care homes or homes rather than hospital, hospitals are back to normal, there are still covid deaths but not more than you would expect, but at care homes and at home we are still seeing more deaths than you would normally expect. what about the

different regions? there has been a lot of discussion about the r rate in the north west of england, in the south—west of england. in the north west of england, in the south-west of england. if the direction of travel going up or down? that is what the r rate tells you. in every nation and region in the uk it is falling, but there is a difference in the number of deaths in different regions. in the north—east of england we saw the highest number of deaths per head of population that we, that was nearly five per hundred thousand people, thatis five per hundred thousand people, that is the highest, but most regions in england are in the region of three, four or five regions in england are in the region of three, four orfive per 100,000. you may be have outliers in london and the south—west where it is below two, but the numbers of deaths, not small every week for every person, people are not at imminent danger of dying in the north—east because the

rate is highest there, and the pattern each week is that the biggest driver of risk is not where you live but how old you are, most of these deaths are in people over the age of 75, the vast majority. of these deaths are in people over the age of 75, the vast majoritylj don't the age of 75, the vast majority.” don't know if you head the statistician who joins us yesterday, he gave a statistic which is imprinted in my memory, for the over 90s imprinted in my memory, for the over 905m imprinted in my memory, for the over 9osjr10,000 imprinted in my memory, for the over 90s jr 10,000 times more imprinted in my memory, for the over 90sjr10,000 times more likely to die of coronavirus that people under the age of 50 —— they are 10,000 times more likely. it's really hits home. i and a fan of the professor, he has a great ability to communicate the numbers. —— i and a fan. we are used to seeing doubling 01’ fan. we are used to seeing doubling or chipping in rates, but this difference between the children going back—to—school compared to those over 75 or over 90, it is absolutely huge. thank you very much, robert cuffe, our head of statistics. in the united states, a private funeral service

for george floyd will take place in his home city of houston later today. thousands of people have been paying their last respects to mr floyd at a memorial service. here's our correspondent jane o'brien for several hours, a steady procession of mourners filed past the coffin of george floyd. the vast majority never knew him, but they all felt a deep connection to the man who has become a catalyst in america's struggle with race. it doesn't really hit home until you see it for yourself. just to see his senseless body sitting in a casket, you know, knowing he was helpless, no—one was there to help him with the police knee on his neck, it'sjust — it's horrendous. to witness a person who went through a situation that was, you know — unfairly his life was removed from him,

just being a part of the history meant a lot to me. this is the last public gathering in honour of mr floyd before the private funeral. just being here and thinking about my brother. he is a gentle giant who had his life taken away when it should not have been. he should be here speaking on behalf of somebody else right now. former vice presidentjoe biden has met with the family but won't attend the service. in minneapolis, meanwhile, the city where george floyd was killed, the white police officer charged with his murder appeared in court via video link. derek chauvin was remanded in custody and bail was set for $1.25 million. and in washington, lawmakers took a knee as they discussed legislation that would make it easier to prosecute police officers accused of misconduct. a majority of americans, black and white, now say that police reform is an essential first step towards social justice for african—americans. there is certainly momentum. and as george floyd is laid

to rest, real hope that change will come. jane 0'brien, bbc news, houston. meanwhile, the man likely to become president trump's democratic rival joe biden has rejected calls to defund us police departments, following the move by the democrat—run minneapolis city council to dismantle its own police force after the death of george floyd. president trump has accused mr biden and the democratic party of being controlled by the radical left and of having no choice but to back the movement. but this is what mr biden told cbs news. no, i don't support defunding police. i support conditioning federal aid to police based on whether or not they meet certain basic standards of decency and honourableness, and in fact are able to demonstrate they can protect the community and everybody in the community.

and later in the programme we'll be talking to the playwright bonnie greer and chad williams, a professor of african american studies, about their experiences of protests against racism in the 1960s. let's turn to the coronavirus pandemic, and the russian capital, moscow, has started lifting many of the restrictions imposed to control the virus, despite a stubbornly high number of new cases in the city each day — around 2,000 per day for the past fortnight. a strict permit system is ending, allowing people to move freely around. 0ur correspondent in moscow, sarah rainsford, sent this update. well, this was quite a surprise for many muscovites, a radical change in what is being called the self isolation regime here. suddenly the mayor came out yesterday and said self isolation was over. people out on the streets today, free to go where they want, to see who they want,

to do what they want, for the first time in a very long time. people driving cars as well. until now you needed a permit to use your car. you could only go out twice a week if you go to the shops. a huge amount of restrictions, a strict lockdown. and suddenly it ended, basically. there are changes happening today. we still have to wear masks on the streets. that is supposed to be mandatory. but if you have a look behind me you will see that many people don't actually wear the masks. most of them using them to support their chins. you have to wear gloves if you head into shops, which are already open. so things are starting to change and today as well, hairdressers opening, the cemeteries too opening for business as well. a big change is happening very quickly and being promoted by a mayor who until now had been extremely cautious because the infection right here still remains pretty high.

returning to the uk's handling of the easing of the lockdown, and with most pubs and restaurants across the uk closed since march the 20th, the hospitality sector has been deeply hit by the coronavirus pandemic. pubs and restaurants in england have been preparing to reopen from the 4th ofjuly, but it's now being suggested ministers won't publish new guidance today as expected, and number ten is distancing itself from reports venues could possibly open sooner. so far across the uk, hospitality businesses have experienced a dramatic loss in trade, with many closed altogether and others only offering takeaways or home deliveries. there is no firm date yet for when scotland, wales and northern ireland will allow the reopening of pubs and restaurants. boris johnson's top team is meeting this morning. 0ur assistant political editor norman smith joins me from westminster. what is going on with the decisions about the hospitality industry, as far as you can tell? there is an urgent desire to try to kick—start

the hospitality industry because of the hospitality industry because of the potential job the hospitality industry because of the potentialjob losses, it remains in lockdown, particularly amongst younger workers. but getting it open again is problematic for two reasons, one is the current two metres social distancing rule. boris johnson has asked the scientists to look at it, sage have been looking since may to see whether the two metre distance can be reduced, because as things stand it makes it pretty much mission impossible for many pubs, clubs and restaurants to open because it is not commercially viable to have a two metre distance. if you reduce it to one metre it is game on, and other countries have one metre, so france, where we know they have opened outdoor cafes anyway, they have a one metre rule, germany has a 1.5 metre rule, spain and italy, the worst affected countries, have a two metre rule. we need that to change before you can

expect to see any significant easing in the hospitality sector. the second issue revolves around outdoor opening, clearly the rate of infection is massively reduced outdoors. the hope is to give more ofa outdoors. the hope is to give more of a green light to pubs, clubs and cafes to be able to operate in the fresh air, not indoors. that will require some tweaks and changes, so for shops it will require a change to planning laws to enable shops to set up stalls on pavements, at the moment i think they had to get a licence from local councils which can cost money and take time, similarly many pubs will want to set up similarly many pubs will want to set up marquees in the garden so they are prepared for when it tips down, i think there are restrictions on that too on how long they are allowed to have marquees. there was allowed to have marquees. there was all sorts of nitty—gritty which needs to be iron out before we will get to any easing in the hospitality sector, which at the momentjuly the

4th still looks realistically like the earliest date, i think. thank you, norman. michael kill is the ceo of the night time industry association. he's been advising the government on reopening venues and we can talk to him now. hello, good morning. good morning. can you do it, can you open injuly the 4th? do you want to open?” don't think anybody out there does not want to open, the challenge is opening safely and ensuring the opening safely and ensuring the opening in a position where it is viable to open. the industry as a whole has been put under immense financial pressure and there are still lots of things to work out, according to our landlords, we talk about commercial rents, we still have an immense amount of challenges to be ironed out. the gentleman earlier said the two metres social distancing guide is one of the

biggest hurdles we have, particularly for the late—night, nightclub venues. the open spaces, as you rightly say, where there is fresh air, it will be a bit easier. we need clarity and a strong, clear pathway in terms of communication. we have had the 22nd ofjune mooted, and the 4th ofjuly, we need to understand what is going on and had some time to prepare. are you looking at france, south korea, what they are doing with clubs, pubs and they are doing with clubs, pubs and the rest of it? very much so. i don't think there is anyone out there not monitoring what is going on internationally. they are managing it? yes, there are different methods, i recently saw a report which suggested that was a track and trace method for the festival and events sector. the biggest challenge at the moment, as

you can appreciate, is social distancing. we build our businesses and social engagement, such that the two metre distance in venues, sometimes people are not able to remodel. some of the clubs have the opportunity to give it a go at reduced capacity, but still some challenges. g1 for government to adopt a one metre guide, which is what the who recommends, for social distancing? as i had stated before, if it is right and safe, i would see the benefits of reducing it by one metre to the one metre who guidance, but that still has some challenges. we need to understand the exact

timeline. we work within a task force at the moment and we are working very hard on guidances. they are only considerations, they will not do the absolute job of delivering exactly what is needed, there is still lots of work operators need to put in, particularly around the own venues, so it is quite bespoke. it will a lwa ys so it is quite bespoke. it will always make a big difference and lots of people feel more comfortable but there will still be businesses not able to open. thank you very much, michael kill. let's return to the global anti—racism protests that have followed the killing of george floyd in the united states. this is what the uk prime minister boris johnson had to say about it — in a video and article for newspaper the voice, he's urged a peaceful struggle against racial injustice.

joining me now from london is the playwright and commentator, bonnie greer. and i'm alsojoined by professor chad williams, the chair at the department of african and african american studies at brandeis university in boston. thank you both for talking to us. good morning. bonnie greer, let me ask you about what boris johnson said in that video? is britain much less racist than it used to be? well, when people say things like that, and people have said things like this to me a lot in the last week, and the subtext is that we are better than the us, right? no. and i think that is what the people in the street are saying, and he should listen. boris has said some things in the past that were unkind, that we re in the past that were unkind, that were hurtful, that were racist, and

he festival should begin any speech he festival should begin any speech he gets on the subject with an apology for his past mistakes and a personal vial to do better, that is how i feel. you are referring to older articles where he has talked about watermelon smiles... and letterboxes. he is the leader... sorry to interrupt you, he says those comments are taken out of context. he should stand in front of us context. he should stand in front of us and say those things were taken out of context, this is the context, thatis out of context, this is the context, that is all, it takes one address and it heals, and he needs to do that. you were involved in the protests in the 1960s, how does what we are seeing protests in the 1960s, how does what we are seeing now compare? protests in the 1960s, how does what we are seeing now compare? back then we are seeing now compare? back then we didn't have the intergenerational involvement, we didn't have the interethnic involvement and we didn't have social media, of course. so it is a lot different now.

because of that, i feel very hopeful. i think people are listening to each other more. first i was listening to each other more. first iwasa listening to each other more. first i was a little nervous because some of the stuff looked exactly the same and the people who profited and learned from what we did were, frankly, the police. but now i think young people especially are much more open to different generations, different ethnicities, different people saying black lives matter, we we re people saying black lives matter, we were not open to white people saying anything like that, so so it is a good thing to see and i feel very helpful because of that. let me bring in chad williams, picking up on that last point from bonnie greer, do you feel white people have stepped up in the last few days since the death of george flight? | few days since the death of george flight? i think that remains to be seen, there is a lot of history of white involvement in black protest

movements, dating back to the abolitionist movement when allies we re abolitionist movement when allies were certainly a significant part of the civil rights movement in the 19605, the civil rights movement in the 1960s, but time and again we are seeing white allies not step up to the plate, our disappointment, not putting themselves at risk and quite frankly retreating back to the safety of their white privilege. so while i am indeed encouraged by the amount of white people that have become involved in this protest movement, people of all races and ethnicities becoming involved in this movement, i think we need to continue to hold them accountable and make sure that lessons and mistakes of the past are not repeated. is there anything you would identify as new or novel with these protests in particular we did not see during early periods of protest? i think there are many

significant differences, some of which were touched upon by bonnie. but being cautious not to leap into the future and make predictions, and certainly there are important lessons and characteristics we can draw from the past, but i think what we are seeing draw from the past, but i think what we are seeing now draw from the past, but i think what we are seeing now is really a complete rejection of the state on both a national and global scale, even the most basic needs of its citizens, in this case the needs of black citizens in particular. obviously the context of the fact we are in the midst of one of the greatest public— health crises since the earliest 20th century, one of the earliest 20th century, one of the greatest economic crisis since the greatest economic crisis since the greatest economic crisis since the great depression, compounded by a crisis in leadership in moral accountability. which is certainly

highlighted and incredibly pronounced in the case of the united states, i see this as the natural progression of three years of the trump administration. the vice sorry to come in and i will bring bonnie in na second, it is notjust the last three years. there was racial inequality under barack 0bama, the killing of black people by white police officers. absolutely, and i think this speaks to how deeply ingrained white supremacy is in the structures of american society, particularly in the realm of policing, the justice system, but i think what we are seeing now is truly unprecedented, again the multiracial, multiethnic, multi—generational characteristic of these protests speaks to a particular moment we are in which has really been characterised by increased racial discord, hyper

nationalism, proto— fascism. and i see lots of the anger and the rage spanning multi—generations, multiethnic groups, speaking about the politics and the moral direction that this country and this world, quite frankly, finds itself in. go ahead, bonnie. righteous eight, with respect, one of the tragedies of being young is people did not think it happened before, that they have invented it and they had somehow discovered something new. this is the story of the united states and has been from its founding. all right, we didn't know a lot but there have always been a pricing on things happening in the city, my father fought in a segregated army, those guys came back from world war ii and demanded open housing, they change, they got an executive order

by truman in 1949 to desegregate the army, 0k, it took until 1974 it to happen but they did that, there have been people marching and there has a lwa ys been people marching and there has always been something going on, there is nothing new. what is new is we have the ability to speak to each other through technology in a much faster way, we can analyse the situation much more quickly and i hope what becomes new is that young people pick up the ball and move, don't reinvent the wheel, because lots of things have been done, let's move it forward and not think that this is new, because it is not new. but what is new is that this is playing out in the middle of a pandemic health crisis which is disproportionately affecting black and minority ethnic people?m disproportionately affecting black and minority ethnic people? it is very ha rd to and minority ethnic people? it is very hard to tell a young person who is not being sick that your going to infect other people, this is just human nature, it is very difficult.

i see people in the matches with masks, i see people handing out had sanitiser, i see people doing about —— i see people in the marchers with masks. that is incredible but it is very hard, part of being young is thinking you are invincible and what i say to people here is remember this infection infects our community, we are the victims, our elders have suffered enough, don't ta ke elders have suffered enough, don't take them out too. thank you both, i appreciate your time. thank you, bonnie greer and professor chad williams. lawyers for prince andrew have rejected claims by us prosecutors that he has not co—operated with the inquiry into sex offenderjeffrey epstein. in a statement, they said the prince has offered help on "at least three occasions." us authorities have challenged him to prove his offer to be interviewed as a witness is serious. sean dilley has more. prince andrew has been under intense pressure to co—operate with us authorities,

who want to talk to him about his friendship with the late convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein. he was asked in his newsnight interview last november whether he would co—operate. at that point he seemed unsure. i'm...|‘m...|‘m not... and i would have to take all the legal advice, um, that there was before i was to...to do that sort of thing, but if push came to shove and the legal advice was to do so then i would be duty—bound to do so. but when he withdrew from royal duties more than six months ago, he said he would answer questions from any appropriate us law enforcement agency. his lawyer spoke out for the first time yesterday after a leakfrom the us revealed a formal request to uk authorities. in a statement they said:

in response, the us prosecutor in charge of the investigation, geoffrey berman, said: that's an offer a lawyer for some ofjeffrey epstein's alleged victims says he should now take up. prince andrew is not going to be able to draw this out forever. every day that goes by has been putting more pain on the victims. so it's time for him to step up and say, "here's the date, here's the time, here's the place when i will answer any and all questions from the department ofjustice." us authorities say the duke will not be extradited

to america, but if he does not voluntarily respond to their formal legal request he could be forced to answer questions in a uk court. sean dilley, bbc news. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines... plans are dropped to get every primary school pupil in england back into the classroom before the end of term because of social distancing concerns. it would be good to get children backin it would be good to get children back in school as and when we can but it is not something that is easily done and we must listen to the teachers and head teachers, who are having to do this in practice. there's been a fall in the weekly number of deaths in england and wales, but there have still been 64,000 more deaths than would normally be expected. more than 6,000 people

pay their respects to george floyd — whose death in police custody in the us sparked protests around the world. a private funeral service takes place later today in texas. prince andrew is accused by a us prosecutor of trying to "falsely portray himself" as eager to co—operate with the investigation into the convicted sex offender, jeffrey epstein. moscow is easing many of its coronavirus lockdown restrictions — despite the city recording around 2,000 new cases a day for the past fortnight and britain is about to pass a significant landmark in energy production. at midnight, it'll be two months since any coal was burned to generate electricity. german authorities have appealed for more information as they continue their investigation into the disappearance of the british girl, madeleine mccann, from a holiday resort in portugal in 2007. 0ur correspondent gavin lee is in praia da luz, where madeleine

went mising 13 years ago, and gave us the latest on this new appeal. we have more clarity overnight in this international appealfor information about christian b, who is linked to the disappearance of madeleine mccann. hans christian walters, the prosecutor, has given an interview in which he has said all the information they have leads to the belief that madeleine mccann is dead. he acknowledged they haven't found a body. he also said they haven't had strong evidence. he wouldn't go into details of what information they had but he also said there is a strong belief in this connection with christian b, the convicted child sex offender, who is in prison serving a sentence for drug dealing and rape. he said there is not hard evidence. it's not enough to go through a trial in court, hence this appeal. they want to have information, he gave a bit more detail to say anyone who has seen the movements over this 12—year period

around praia da luz, the two properties, the two cars they have released information on — the volkswagen camper van, the jaguar car. he said he also believes there are more victims, irish, american, british victims who may not have come forward in the ‘90s. he is now asking them to do so. he reiterated they have had several hundred calls in germany since that appeal. we know in the uk there have been 400 calls with information, with e—mails. so far not enough, we are told, with hard evidence and they have not interviewed the suspect either. not unusual in germany but we're told that will take a few more days after they have gathered this information. the plan to get all pupils in england back in the classroom before september is being abandoned. thank you for your many messages about this. this primary school teacher were saying how frustrated she was. the initial plan showed a lack of thought beyond the short on a long—term strategy involving every

child should have been in place from the beginning. now is a real opportunity to put something into place to save the futures of every child put something into place to save the futures of every child. katie says, i am genuinely disappointed and sad for pupils and families. elizabeth carson says it isa families. elizabeth carson says it is a huge relief, this decision as chair of governors to a primary that has welcome back hundreds of children. all the people coming back was never feasible safely. had engaged schools earlier this would never been suggested. michelle and james say i think parents and teachers need an apology. they said it was not feasible and were attacked for it. earlier i spoke to mary bousted from the national education union. it isa it is a complex system. we can get education up and running but it may not be education as we know it. we need real government leadership to do this. we will play our part.

the profession will play its part. it has done throughout this crisis, educating pupils at home and in school and it will continue to do so but it needs investment and leadership. we cannotjust rely on dilapidated school buildings packed full of peoples, which parents will not send children back to that scenario. we need real national cohesion, thought and planning and we will play our part in that. with me is gemma deakin and her daughter, alana, who's aged 10. good morning to you both. good morning. morning. also, i'm joined by mark topps who has three daughters, two of them of primary school age. hello, can you hear me 0k? yes, i can. how do you react to the decision? i said i would not be sending alana back to school till september. i could not see how it

was possible to expect primary school children to social distance. i know the size of the primary school and how many classrooms they have and i could not see it being possible. i said from the beginning i would not send her back till september at the earliest. what do you think will be the difference come september? i will reassess for myself. if i get closer to september and didn't think it is safe i will have conversations with the school and they prefer to keep alana at home, home schooling. untilwe know that places have dramatically reduced in our area, that places have dramatically reduced in ourarea, ijust that places have dramatically reduced in our area, ijust don't know where we will be. what would it ta ke know where we will be. what would it take for you to feel that it is safe, for your daughter to go back to school? what do you need to hear or see? i need to see led to paces that i know for a fact that our nearest hospital, which is three

miles away, has almost a third of their deaths in our local area at that hospital. i know there are parents whose children attend another school, they are key workers, they have been going to the school from the beginning, since the shutdown and they are in contact with the virus. until i know that the death rates have come down locally, i am the death rates have come down locally, lam not the death rates have come down locally, i am not happy to send her back. how do you feel, alana, about not going back to september, maybe later? well, i will miss my friends but i am fine and staying here if it means i will not catch the virus. have you been seeing your friends outdoors in local parks or whatever? not really. even though we are allowed to do that now in england, up allowed to do that now in england, up to six people from different households, if i've got that right. they have changed so much. you have

not been doing that at all. we have not, unfortunately, i not been doing that at all. we have not, unfortunately, lam not been doing that at all. we have not, unfortunately, i am still working from home and we do not have an opportunity to go out during the week. last weekend was not the best weather wise. we have not done that just yet. tell us about what you feel about the u—turn from the government. i completely agree with it. originally i signed a petition which i know now has over 700,000 signatures. for me, i manage a care home. at the time we were not receiving testing for residents and staff. my wife and children moved out of the family home 13 weeks ago. i have not seen my children in those 13 weeks. to send them back to school, for me, i was not going to do that because there is still no testing and care homes. they are not getting hold home testing on a regular basis. i do not think it is

safe. i think we need to see more being done to put into place to protect children. also teachers need testing. they are out and about in the community the same as everyone else at the moment. more measures need to be put in place. you say you have not seen your children for 13 weeks. they are not in contact with you. we know that the risk of an under 15—year—old dying from covid—19 is under 15—year—old dying from covid-19 is 10,000 under 15—year—old dying from covid—19 is 10,000 times less than someone over covid—19 is 10,000 times less than someone over 90. we are told children can spread it, they can be asymptomatic but the risk is low. what would it take for you to feel your children would be safe to go back? for me, we need more measures. definitely teachers need to be tested. they had been at home for

the last few weeks, to supermarkets, out and about. in parks, possibly meeting friends. your worry is that teachers might pass it to the children. i think it is both ways. children can pass it onto the teachers who take it back home to their families. the children can be carriers, passing on to add a key workers and spread it further.” carriers, passing on to add a key workers and spread it further. i am interested. you work in a care home. we are told by matt hancock that has to be available for everybody and pair homes. what is the situation? have you had any yet? we got our tests last week. we got the results back and they were all negative, which is great news. how many people in yourcare home? which is great news. how many people in your care home? 13 residents. no one tested positive? no. it was a

great relief, knowing the measures we have put into place are working and we are all covid free is great news. we had tried to rebut other test but had been told they are not eligible for retesting at this stage. thank you, all of you, very much. thank you for coming on, alana. jenna good luck with that home schooling. is it going all right? it is testing at times that we are doing 0k. mark, thank you very much for talking to us. really it. thank you. more on the decision from the government not to get all primary school pupils back before the summer holidays start. mark says it is the right decision. ireland had a plan from september. i was going to read some of my fan, i cannot find my

glasses. bear with me. some of my fan, i cannot find my glasses. bearwith me. need some of my fan, i cannot find my glasses. bear with me. need to do the same for secondary schools. surely waiting another four to five weeks extra will increase the chances of a successful september start plaskett says, garden centres, shopping centres and purpose, it seems everything else is more important than to find a way to get children back into school. parents cannot just children back into school. parents cannotjust go out during the day and browse. what are other countries doing? why do we have to be different at every stage in the pandemic? 0n the day of george floyd's funeral, a controversial confederate statue has been removed from its public plinth in louisville, kentucky. there had been several attempts over recent years to remove the statue ofjohn breckinridge castleman, who served as a major in the confederate army. a courtjudge gave the go—ahead for its removal on friday. it comes amid media reports that the us secretary of defence

is open to renaming army bases named after confederate leaders of the american civil war. the bases are all in states which fought for the right to uphold slavery in the nineteenth century. the uk and japan are set to begin post—brexit trade talks today. negotiators will hope an agreement will be reached before the end of the year, when the transition period with the eu is set to end. but what about the uk's negotiations with the eu? the fourth round of trade talks ended friday with both sides saying little progress had been made. the executive vice—president of the european commission, margrethe vestager, says it's very difficult to see what the next steps can be in the brexit negotiations. we have these negotiations in the midst of not only the health crisis but also an economic crisis. what it

will take even under such extraordinary circumstances to find agreement actually is quite difficult to say right now. that being said, of course, from our side we do our best to find an agreement in line with the political declaration that was the starting point of these negotiations. north korea has said it will cut all official communication lines with south korea, including the hotline between the two nations' leaders. the move appears to be in response to propaganda leaflets being flown over the border in balloons by north korean defectors in the south. 0ur seoul correspondent laura bicker told me more about the leafleting. i have been out to some of these kind of organised events where they putting usb sticks with information about the latest news, sometimes with dramas from south korea. they sometimes put little parcels together with rice but they also include anti—north korean regime leaflets, some of which are particularly unkind to himjong un. they are launched in these huge

helium balloons and a float over the dmz and into north korea. for years, it has been a bone of contention. in 2018, when kenjong un and president men matt moon met and there was a period of detente, the two made an agreement. now the last campaign was held on may the 31st and it seems to have angered north korea, leading to this cut in ties, this severing in communication. it is notjust one hotline, it is three, all the main communication routes. now we're back to a situation where north and south korea talk to one another. you asked what is really going on. that is the critical question. because this may be about a bigger pyongyang plan.

they may be prodding, needling seoul in the hope of escalating tensions, to de—escalate and get something bigger in return. what? we do not know. the only thing pyongyang has said if this is the first stage, so we are all wondering what is next. britain is about to pass a significant landmark in energy production tonight — it will be two full months without burning coal to generate power. just a decade ago, more than forty per cent of the country's electricity came from coal. 0ur chief environment correspondent, justin rowlatt reports. this is why britain can survive so long without coal. last year, the world's biggest wind farm was completed off the yorkshire coast. a single rotation of this giant turbine can power the average home for an entire day. the falling price of renewables is part of a fundamental shift in the economics of energy. what we have seen is essentially a halving of costs in a very short timescale, like,

in the last five years or so. just four uk power station still use coal. britain's biggest, drax in yorkshire, plans to stop burning the stuff completely by next march. these days, most of the electricity the plant produces comes from these — compressed wood pellets imported from america. because trees take up carbon dioxide when they grow, and because new trees are planted when the forests are harvested, it means drax's net emissions had been reduced dramatically. —— have been. we here at drax decided that coal is no longer the future. we get about three ships a week that bring wood pellets into the uk. the use about 7 million tonnes of wood pellets a year. it's been a massive undertaking. the result of all of that is we have reduced our co2 emissions from more than 20 million tonnes a year to almost zero. the coal era is not yet over, mind you.

elsewhere in the world, particularly in china and some other developing nations, governments actively support the industry. but here in britain, the last coal plants are expected to close within five years. during the coronavirus pandemic, international travel has virtually come to a halt. and today's quarantine restrictions make it even more difficult. so what is it like to fly at the moment? 0ur europe correspondent jean mackenzie has taken a number of flights while reporting on coronavirus for us. and documented herjourney back to london last week — before she would have been subject to the uk's quarantine rules. here's her story.

i have really found airports the most dystopian of all the places during covid. access to terminal one. it's like the airport is literally gathering dust. for safety reasons, we kindly ask all passengers to keep at least one metre distance. they keep playing these audio messages saying you have to stay at least one metre away from the other passengers. there are no other passengers. so we're at the wrong terminal and that is not uncommon to arrive at an airpport and find out that the terminal that your ticket says your flight leaves from is in fact closed. so everything is shut, all the normal duty—free shops and cafes, completely closed up. they are places that you remember and are used to being so busy. it just clashes completely with what your experience of something was before.

for each flight, the whole cabin is carefully disinfected. trains departing, please hold on to the handrails. this is one of the busiest airports in the world normally. again, it is completely shut up. so every single seat on this flight is taken, we think, so it is just impossible for people to keep their distance. if you are in a confined space, sitting next to people for a long period of time, you can't move. finally arrived in london. what should have been a couple of hours from vienna, probably took eight. so we are at the end

of a long journey. a museum in cambridge has taken life in lockdown to a new artistic level by reimagining how some of the subjects in its paintings would be protecting themselves during the pandemic. the ‘masterpieces 2020' edition at the fitzwilliam museum features five well—known portraits with added protective masks. they're now being sold as cards to support the museum during its closure. thank you for your messages about primary schools in england now not going back before july. primary schools in england now not going back beforejuly. tina has said, i wish to be a different voice regarding school closure. the people would look at the science, the risk to children under 14 years is one in 5 million for that one child has died from coronavirus in the uk but at least two children and 14 women had been murdered during uptown and

child abuse at home has been escalated. the coronavirus risk is so escalated. the coronavirus risk is so low for children and they must go back to school and nursery. joanna gosling will be with you next. you are watching bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello again. if you have an allergy to grass pollen, it is worth mentioning today across most of england and wales today the levels are high or very high. today we are looking at a lot of cloud, large amounts of cloud floating around at times. there will be some sunny skies developing and we've also got rain coming into the north—west, courtesy of a clutch of weather fronts. high pressure is still clinging on by the skin of its teeth today but that will change from tomorrow as low pressure starts to take over. this afternoon a chance you can start to see an isolated shower across southern scotland, northern england, through the midlands and down towards central southern england but it will be

isolated. at the same time thicker cloud will bring some rain in across northern ireland and western scotland. temperatures today, 10 in the north and 19 in the south. this evening and overnight, weather fronts continue to push eastwards and southwards, taking the rain with them in doing so. there will still be a lot of cloud around, some clear spells and temperature wise, falling to between 7 and the north and 13 in the south. so tomorrow, once again we pick up that weather front. some of the rain on it will be heavy as it continues its descent, pushing south eastwards. 0ne moves east, the second south—east. tomorrow, like today, there will be a lot of cloud around and some sunny breaks but some perky showers in the south east quarter, some of which will be heavy and thundery. disappointing for this stage injune, 11 to 16 degrees. wednesday into thursday, we have low pressure dominating the weather and it is intensifying as it sinks that bit further south. you can see from the isobars it will be windier than the

next couple of days. as we move through thursday there goes the weather front with low pressure pushing steadily southwards, taking its rain with it. showers follow one behind. some rain getting into the north of england, southern scotland, eventually northern ireland. it's the far north that will hang on to the brighter conditions with some sunshine and highs up to 14. by friday we still have the same area of low pressure weather front. remember it went south, well, it's coming north again. we also had the weather front draped across the north of england and southern scotland and northern ireland with some rain. driest in the north—east.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. plans are dropped to get every primary school pupil in england back into the classroom before the end of term, because of social distancing concerns. we know it would be good to get children back in school as and when we can, but it is not easily done and we must be listening to the teachers and head teachers having to do this in practice. around 64,000 more people than usual have died in the uk since the coronavirus outbreak began — new figures show. more than 6000 people pay their respects to george floyd, whose death in police custody in the us sparked protests around the world. a private funeral service takes place later today in texas. moscow is easing many of its

coronavirus lockdown restrictions — despite the city recording around 2000 new cases a day for the past two weeks. britain is about to pass a significant landmark in energy production — at midnight it'll be two months since any coal was burned to generate electricity. we'll be looking at the future of the fuel. 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. the plan for all primary school pupils in england to go back to school before the end of term has been dropped by the government. the education secretary gavin williamson is expected to confirm the decision in parliament later today. instead schools will be given

flexibility over whether or not to admit more pupils. there had been warnings from headteachers that it wasn't practical. 0ur education correspondent, sean coughlan, has more. pupils in reception, year one and year six began returning to schools in england from june 1st. there have been differences in what schools have been able to offer and figures published later today will show how many families took up places. since the proposal was announced to bring back all primary pupils for four weeks before the end of term, head teachers have challenged the practicalities of accommodating them while expecting children to stay in small groups that would require twice as many classrooms. whatever the ambition, school has said they simply do not have the space to fit everyone in at the same time. ministers said plans to open to all years would only go ahead if it were feasible and they have now accepted that it is not.

it means that many pupils already out of school for 11 weeks, will now be missing lessons until september. the head teachers' union, the association of school and college leaders, welcomed the change, saying the government had promised something that was undeliverable. ministers are expected to say that schools will now have flexibility over how many pupils they can teach and that in the year groups that have returned, increasing numbers of parents are confident about sending back their children. but there will be concerns, particularly for disadvantaged pupils, about the long—term costs of being so long out of school. 0ur education correspondent, elaine dunkley, is at a school in barnton in cheshire this morning. it's been a very difficult time for families, parents wanting to know whether they should send them to school or not, it has been a very difficult time for families to know what to do

and lots of parents have said they are at home trying to work and they also have children, the big thing is how long this is going on for and lots of parents were not expecting it to go on for this long. this has been a sticking issue for the government. when they announced that children in reception, year one and six would be going back there was opposition from some teaching unions and some local authorities about safety concerns. the school was meant to be coming back today but on friday the head teacher had to phone parents and say do not bring students back monday because there were concerns about the r number in cheshire. the government has said this is not scrapping the plans, it is taking the pressure off schools and allowing head teachers to lead the way forward. but lots of children will not have been in school since march 20 and may not be going back until september, that is a lot of time out of the classroom. teaching unions have said this was never really going to be something they could deliver,

coronavirus has radically changed how classrooms operate so no more than 15 children in a class, staggered breaks and lunchtimes and the government has had to accept that for all children in primary schools to come back for a month before the end of summer term is unrealistic. the plan for scotland and northern ireland is to open in august, schools in wales are due to openjune 29. in the united states, a private funeral service for george floyd will take place in his home city of houston later today. thousands of people have been paying their last respects to mr floyd at a memorial service. here's our correspondent jane o'brien. for several hours, a steady procession of mourners filed past the coffin of george floyd. the vast majority never knew him, but they all felt a deep connection to the man who has become a catalyst in america's struggle with race. it doesn't really hit home until you see it for yourself.

just to see his senseless body sitting in a casket, you know, knowing he was helpless, no—one was there to help him with the police knee on his neck, it'sjust... it's horrendous. to witness a person who went through a situation that was, you know — unfairly his life was removed from him, just being a part of the history meant a lot to me. this is the last public gathering in honour of mr floyd before the private funeral. just being here and thinking about my brother. he is a gentle giant who had his life taken away when it should not have been. he should be here speaking on behalf of somebody else right now. former vice presidentjoe biden has met with the family but won't attend the service. in minneapolis, meanwhile, the city where george floyd was killed, the white police officer charged with his murder appeared in court via video link.

derek chauvin was remanded in custody and bail was set for $1.25 million. and in washington, lawmakers took a knee as they discussed legislation that would make it easier to prosecute police officers accused of misconduct. a majority of americans, black and white, now say that police reform is an essential first step towards social justice for african—americans. there is certainly momentum. and as george floyd is laid to rest, real hope that change will come. jane o'brien, bbc news, houston. now let's turn back to the coronavirus pandemic, are starting to see confirmed cases and deaths fall following strict lockdown restrictions, others

are still seeing figures rise. brazil has more than 700,000 cases that are known about and more than 37,000 deaths. several other countries in latin america are seeing widespread outbreaks, including peru, which has 200,000 cases and 5,000 deaths, and mexico, which now has 120,000 cases and 14,000 deaths. in russia, infections are rising rapidly, with 476,000 cases and more than 6,000 deaths. moscow has had some 2,000 new cases in the city every day for the past fortnight, but despite this, lockdown restrictions are being eased in the capital. 0ur correspondent in moscow, sarah rainsford, sent this update. well, this was quite a surprise for many muscovites, a radical change in what is being called the self isolation regime here. for the past ten weeks or so. suddenly the mayor came out yesterday and said self isolation was over. people out on the streets today, free to go where they want, to see who they want, to do what they want, for the first time in a very long time. people driving cars as well. until now you needed a permit to use your car.

you could only go out twice a week if you go to the shops. a huge amount of restrictions, a strict lockdown. and suddenly it ended, basically. there are changes happening today. we still have to wear masks on the streets. that is supposed to be mandatory. but if you have a look behind me you will see that many people don't actually wear the masks. most of them using them to support their chins. you have to wear gloves if you head into shops, which are already open. so things are starting to change and today as well, hairdressers opening, the cemeteries too opening for business as well. a big change is happening very quickly and being promoted by a mayor who until now had been extremely cautious because the infection right here still remains pretty high. around 64,000 more people than usual have died in the uk since the coronavirus outbreak began. the figures from the office

for national statistics also show less than a fifth of deaths registered in the last week of may involved covid—19, the lowest proportion since the lockdown was imposed. to make sense of it all, i'm joined by our head of statistics robert cuffe. the trend a square? the right direction, you see it in all nations of the uk. the total number of people dying in the uk is coming down to normal levels. this red line is the total number of deaths we see in any given week. from march onwards you can see it spiked and now it is coming down with a bit of a bubble around the bank holiday. this is the average, what you would expect to see... there has been a massive difference since the epidemic took off, all those extra

deaths. that is how we get to 64,000. we would not expect to see that many deaths. you can be pretty confident it is mainly due to the coronavirus. moving on the right direction but not back to normal just now. different stories in different areas, what do they latest figures show? across the uk, in different regions of the uk, the trends are going in the right direction. moving downwards, coming back to normal. in some parts of the uk, pretty close to normal now. maybe in london and in the south—west. we are not seeing as many deaths due to the coronavirus, the lowest areas, one or two per 1000 people in a week. in the north—east, the most deaths per head of population due to five per 100,000. most are three, four, five

per 100,000 people per week. we should be mindful this is not the biggest driver of your risk of dying from coronavirus, it is age. the number of people dying over 75, accounting for more than three quarters of the covid—19 deaths. you can count the number of deaf people under the age of 15 on one hand. some differences in the death rate across the uk but it is not the biggest driver of risk. returning to the uk's handling of the easing of the lockdown, and with most pubs and restaurants across the uk closed since march the 20th, the hospitality sector has been deeply hit by the coronavirus pandemic. pubs and restaurants in england have been preparing to reopen from the 4th ofjuly, but it's now being suggested ministers won't publish new guidance today as expected, and number ten is distancing itself from reports venues could possibly open sooner. so far across the uk, hospitality businesses have

experienced a dramatic loss in trade, with many closed altogether and others only offering takeaways or home deliveries. there is no firm date yet for when scotland, wales and northern ireland will allow the reopening of pubs and restaurants. the british prime minister boris johnson's top team is meeting this morning. 0ur assistant political editor, norman smith, joins me from westminster. what is the latest? is it true they are pulling back on pubs and others reopening on the 4th ofjuly, and also we have the situation with schools as well. the cabinet is meeting in virtual form and are expected i think to sign off on the plan for nonessential retail, shops like clothes shops, shoe shops, department stores to open from june 15. in terms of pubs, clubs and restau ra nts, 15. in terms of pubs, clubs and restaurants, that is going to have to wait a bit yet primarily because

of the two metre social distance rule still in place. many pubs and clu bs rule still in place. many pubs and clubs thinks this makes their feasibility of opening a nonstarter because i think the capacity for many of them would be so dramatically reduced it would not be viable financially to reopen. but we know boris johnson viable financially to reopen. but we know borisjohnson has asked sage to re—examine the two metre row, they we re re—examine the two metre row, they were asked to do that in may so we should see a conclusion pretty soon i think. 0ther should see a conclusion pretty soon i think. other european countries do not have a two metre rule, germany has1.5, not have a two metre rule, germany has 1.5, france has one. if that was relaxed, it would be much easier to reopen pubs, clubs and restaurants. the other aspect which is going to have to be fine tuned is enabling those cafe is and restaurants to be able to operate outdoors because everything we know about this virus

suggests it is much less transmissible outdoors. to operate outdoors on pavements and the like you need to get a license, need local authority approval so there would have to be a change in the planning laws to enable that to take place swiftly, easily and cheaply. probably still a way to go before we get to restaurants and cafe is an pubs being allowed to open again. alex proud owns a gallery, and three ca ba ret restau ra nts a nd nig htclu bs in london and brighton. hejoins me now. thank you forjoining us, what is your reaction to the suggestion that july four might not be viable?” your reaction to the suggestion that july four might not be viable? i am shocked and appalled. yet again an extraordinary lack of leadership from our government, from boris johnson. 0ur sector employs 2 million people. it is vanishingly

rare to catch the disease outside. two metres rather than one because boris had to compensate for his failures earlier, literally no one else has two metres in the world. if i walk around the parks in great britain at the moment, pretty much no one is listening anyway. the whole thing is a farce. we contribute 15 million to the economy. unless the government gets a firecracker going on this, we will see vast parts of the business closed down. you talk about being able to be outdoors and if i was not spreading so much, but your own nightclubs, spreading so much, but your own nig htclu bs, ca ba ret restau ra nts, which are of course indoors and rely on people being close together, that is why people go. is the of the situation rather than the well, the reality is indoors and echoes

environment. no, the sector is covered by licensing those banishment laws. we are very —— licensing laws. we are more used to that than the retail outlets are. better filtration systems because we have two, better cleanliness, health and safety in our kitchens is high. we are able to adhere to regulations as long as they are sensible. can you see how it would be viable to be able to go to a nightclub and maintain two or one metre distance? my maintain two or one metre distance? my suspicion is we need to start opening restaurants with one metre distancing and rapidly see if, as some people think in cities like london, once we have hit the 20% rate of people having had the virus, it seems infections drop off, we

need to research that more. we can open entirely on one metre, it isn't going to make money but it is better than nothing, two metres is absurd. we have extraordinary filtration systems, we have all the sanitisers dart briefly, do you think your business can survive if this goes on much longer? it is getting increasingly difficult. the main way the government needs to help us is the government needs to help us is the time out on rent. they, the government, promised to protect us from landlords. they did not. you will see vast amounts of businesses going out of business because they have not been protected on rent. that is the single biggest issue, we need a national time out on rent more than anything because that will cause businesses first. secondly, we need to be allowed to reopen. the public trust us, we have been looking after them for years. why

don't we trust people to be grown—ups and be sensible rather than treating us all like children? the headlines on bbc news: plans are dropped to get every primary school pupil in england back into the classroom before the end of term, because of social distancing concerns. new figures show that around 64,000 more people than usual have died in the uk since the coronavirus outbreak began. thousands pay their respects to george floyd, whose death in police custody in the us sparked protests around the world. a private funeral service takes place later today in texas. most people arriving in the uk will now have to self—isolate for 14 days, as part of the government's plans to slow the spread of covid—19. there are some exemptions to the scheme, 42 in all, but most travellers

will have to provide their contact details, or risk being fined. we can now speak to aviation analyst and former virgin atlantic and eurostar communications director, paul charles. he is also the spokesperson for the quash quarantine — a group of 500 travel and hospitality firms. there was the prospect of legal action over the quarantine which it seems has now been dropped because ofa seems has now been dropped because of a private assurance from the government. what has happened? we had driver assurances from senior government sources that travel corridors will come into effect on the 29th of june. corridors will come into effect on the 29th ofjune. we trust those sources. we are confident they are going to happen. it is not clear yet how those travel corridors might work or which countries would be included, but it is certainly as far as we are concerned a significant step. however, we need to see the government now say this publicly so that travel and hospitality firms can plan accordingly forjune 29 onwards. it is enough for the

industry to have dropped the prospect of legal action? it is enough of a reassurance and trusted source that we are prepared to reassess our options at the moment. we are not ruling out taking action, we are still taking soundings among members of the group as to whether we mightjoina members of the group as to whether we mightjoin a class action climb in some way or indeed join the coin by british airways, ryanair and easyj et, by british airways, ryanair and easyjet, so it is a possibility still. indeed there is still a huge amount of anger among the companies we represent about how quarantine has been introduced and no visibility as to when it will end. still, we believe travel corridors will start on june 29. you are putting a lot on trust. you are confident that the person or people have told you this, you trust that, you do not know how many countries

will be involved in the travel corridor, so how much have you been told about the progress of the plans and how much in terms of countries might be involved? we understand borisjohnson is might be involved? we understand boris johnson is now might be involved? we understand borisjohnson is now taking this very seriously and it is quite likely there will be some form of announcement. we have been told mainly this week that i cannot guarantee that obviously, we are waiting to hear more from the government on that. in terms of the corridors, i think it is quite likely, certainly based on how the trajectory of coronavirus has been moving elsewhere in the world, i think it is quite likely this could bea think it is quite likely this could be a pan—european corridor. if you had one country might say spain, opened up between the uk and spain, there is nothing to stop tourists travel by hire car from example from spain to holland and across europe. it would make sense to open up europe as a whole in the first wave of the travel corridor system rather

than just of the travel corridor system rather thanjust one of the travel corridor system rather than just one or two countries. it will be interesting to see how they do it but that is the detail that our source says they are definitely working on right now. let's hope your source comes out and says it publicly and we will all be clear on what is happening! more now on the global anti—racism protests that have followed the killing of george floyd in the united states. this is what the uk prime minister borisjohnson had to say about it in a video and article for the black newspaper the voice. he's urged a peaceful struggle against racial injustice. the death of george floyd took place thousands of miles away in another country, under another jurisdiction. yet we simply cannot ignore the depth of emotion that has been triggered by that the spectacle of a black man losing his life at the hands of the police. in this country and around the world, his dying

words, i can't breathe, have awakened an anger, widespread, undeniable feeling of injustice. this country has made huge strides. i remember the 19705 and the horror of the national front. i remember the 19705 and the horror of the nationalfront. i i remember the 19705 and the horror of the national front. i truly believe we are a much, much less racist society than we were. in way a nyways, racist society than we were. in way anyways, we are far happier and better. —— many ways. we must frankly acknowledge there is so much more to do in eradicating prejudice, creating opportunity and the government i lead is committed to that effort. so i say, yes, we are all right to say black lives matter. britain is about to pass a significant landmark in energy production tonight — it will be two full months without burning coal to generate power. just a decade ago, more than 40% of the country's electricity came from coal. 0ur chief environment correspondent,

justin rowlatt reports. this is why britain can survive so long without coal. last year, the world's biggest wind farm was completed off the yorkshire coast. a single rotation of this giant turbine can power the average home for an entire day. the falling price of renewables is part of a fundamental shift in the economics of energy. what we have seen is essentially a halving of costs in a very short timescale, like, in the last five years or so. just four uk power stations still use coal. britain's biggest, drax in yorkshire, plans to stop burning the stuff completely by next march. these days, most of the electricity the plant produces comes from these — compressed wood pellets imported from america. because trees take up carbon dioxide when they grow,

and because new trees are planted when the forests are harvested, it means drax's net emissions have been reduced dramatically. we here at drax decided that coal is no longer the future. we get about three ships a week that bring wood pellets into the uk. the use about 7 million tonnes of wood pellets a year. it's been a massive undertaking. the result of all of that is we have reduced our co2 emissions from more than 20 million tonnes a year to almost zero. the coal era is not yet over, mind you. elsewhere in the world, particularly in china and some other developing nations, governments actively support the industry. but here in britain, the last coal plants are expected to close within five years. i'm joined now by agneta rising who is from the world

nuclear association. thank you forjoining us, a big landmark in the uk, no coal used in electricity supplies for over two months. looking more broadly at the breakdown of electricity suppliers from the start of the year, renewa bles from the start of the year, renewables 30% generated electricity, fossil fuels 35%, nuclear 18%. is nuclear being squeezed out now as we head for a non—carbon future? squeezed out now as we head for a non-carbon future? absolutely to have a low carbon future it is more essential than ever. because we have heard and the treaty demands, of course it is not so... nuclear is quite flexible and has sort of save the day by being able to act flexibly and reduce generation. we see that nuclear is needed because

thatis see that nuclear is needed because that is a baseload that everyone will need because you need something that follows demand. what governments are looking for and all people is a future where we have low—carbon. there are facts that support that nuclear is absolutely needed. when we look at the example of the drax power station in this country that was in our report there and how to switch to wood pellets for production of electricity to call -- for production of electricity to call —— from coal, reducing dramatically emissions, how much of the game changer is that for the nuclear power suppliers when it comes to a low carbon alternative? we need all low carbon alternatives we can get because the task to decarbonise deeply into the society all electricity and energy use, we

need them all. what society needs to look at is to have a situation where you have a reliable and resilient system. biomass can be one of those, and wind and solar, but we cannot to this without nuclear. nuclear you can this without nuclear. nuclear you ca n store this without nuclear. nuclear you can store it if you are at the site for several years, run a nuclear plant to a 12—18 months and can do it flexibly. france has been doing this since the 19805. germany has also been... i hear what you are saying of the different elements of one picture, but would you say that nuclear is a shrinking part of the picture compared with where we were before and what the trajectory used to look like? for instance, in scotla nd to look like? for instance, in scotland in 2017 37% of electricity was nuclear and that has now

com pletely was nuclear and that has now completely changed. if we look to the uk specifically, it is a nuclear that has saved the whole uk in being able to have low—carbon out of the production and generation as well as being able to switch off all this call that is already switched off. if we look further into europe, you will see nuclear is a key proportion of the electricity in the whole of europe. it supports 1.1 millionjobs and it is also, as i said before, operating flexibly and resilient in the way that you can use it as national, you have a supply chain thatis national, you have a supply chain that is within the country and supplies lots of jobs. that is within the country and supplies lots ofjobs. if we look at the global world as well, 55 reactors under construction around

the world, four new countries. nuclear is expanding and increasing from last year. i think the uk, there is much more to do to get a low carbon future with a system cost thatis low carbon future with a system cost that is low. when the system cost is low that is good for consumers and taxpayers. now when we have a situation where governments have to look for recovery, economic growth, we will definitely see we need to have the jobs, local we will definitely see we need to have thejobs, localjobs, make investments in infrastructure and at the same time have the transition to low—carbon. that is where we see nuclear has a role to play and can help governments in this situation. hello this is bbc news with joanna gosling. the headlines: plans are dropped to get every

primary school pupil in england back into the classroom before the end of term because of social distancing concerns. around 64,000 more people than usual have died in the uk since the coronavirus outbreak began new figures show. more than 6,000 people pay their respects to george floyd, whose death in police custody in the us sparked protests around the world. a private funeral service takes place later today in texas. moscow is easing many of its coronavirus lockdown restrictions, despite the russian capital recording around 2,000 new cases a day for the past two weeks. prince andrew is accused by a us prosecutor of trying to "falsely portray himself" as eager to co—operate with the investigation into the convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein north korea has said it will cut all official communication lines with south korea, including the hotline between the two nations' leaders.

the move appears to be in response to propaganda leaflets being flown over the border in balloons by north korean defectors in the south. 0ur seoul correspondent, laura bicker, told me more about the leafleing. i have been out to some of these kind of organised events, where they put in sometimes information about the latest news, sometimes with dramas from south korea. they sometimes put little parcels together with rice. but they also include anti—north korean regime leaflets, some of which are particularly unkind to kim jong—un. they are being launched in these huge helium balloons and being flown into north korea. for years it has been a bone of contention. in 2018, when kim jong—un and president moon met, and there was a period of detente, the two made an agreement. part of the agreement was that this leafleting would stop over

the military demarcation line, over the dmc. the last campaign was held on may 21. was held on may 31. it seems to have angered north korea, leading to this cut in ties, the severing and communication. it is notjust one hotline, it is three. it is all the main communication routes. now we're back to a situation where north and south korea cannot talk to one another. but you asked what is really going on, and that is critical question. because this may be about a bigger pyongyang plan. they may be prodding, needling soul, in the hope of escalating tensions they may be prodding, needling seoul, in the hope of escalating tensions to de—escalate and get something bigger in return. what? we do not know. the only thing pyongyang has said is this is the first stage, so we are all wondering what is next. lawyers for prince andrew have rejected claims by us prosecutors that he has not co—operated with the inquiry into sex offenderjeffrey epstein. in a statement, they said the prince has offered help

on "at least three occasions". us authorities have challenged him to prove his offer to be interviewed as a witness is serious. sean dilley has more. prince andrew has been under intense pressure to co—operate with us authorities who want to talk to him about his friendship with the late convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein. he was asked in his newsnight interview last november whether he would co—operate. at that point he seemed unsure. i'm...|‘m...|‘m not... and i..i would have to take all the legal advice, um, that there was before i was to...to do that sort of thing, but if push came to shove and the legal advice was to do so then i would be duty—bound to do so. but when he withdrew from royal duties more than six months ago, he said he would answer questions from any appropriate us law enforcement agency. his lawyer spoke out for the first time yesterday after a leak from the us revealed a formal

request to uk authorities. in a statement they said: in response, the us prosecutor in charge of the investigation, geoffrey berman, said: that's an offer a lawyer for some ofjeffrey epstein's alleged victims says he should now take up. prince andrew is not going to be able to draw this out forever. every day that goes by has been

putting more pain on the victims. so it's time for him to step up and say, "here's the date, here's the time, here's the place when i will answer any and all questions from the department ofjustice." us authorities say the duke will not be extradited to america, but if he does not voluntarily respond to their formal legal request he could be forced to answer questions in a uk court. sean dilley, bbc news. democratic presidential nominee joe biden has rejected calls to defund us police departments, following the move by the democrat—run minneapolis city council to dismantle its own police force in the wake of the protests over george floyd's death. president trump has accused mr biden and the democratic party of being controlled by the radical left and of having no choice but to back the movement, but this is what mr biden told norah o'donnel from cbs news after meeting george floyd's family. it is hard enough to grieve but it is much harder to do it in public,

it is much harder with the whole world watching you. they are an incredible family. his little daughter was there. i think what has happened here is one of those great reflection points in american history for real, in terms of civil liberties, civil rights and just treating people with dignity. do you support the fund and the police? no, i don't support defunding the police. i support conditioning federal aid to police based on whether or not they meet certain basic standards of decency and honour bonus and are able to demonstrate they can protect the community and everybody in the community. community and everybody in the community. tens of thousands of people around the world have been protesting against the death of george floyd. for many, it has reminded them of the issues they face in their own countries, including their own personal experiences of racism. bbc minute's kashjones reports. i'm greatand i'm great and i'm i'm greatand i'm hard being a i'm great and i'm hard being a black new zealander. george lowe did not

deserve to die. even though we weren't physically in the us, our hearts is. we just want to be treated decently. many of you have seen treated decently. many of you have seen the video in the us of a white policeman kneeling on the neck of george floyd. i can see thousands of people protesting against police brutality and racism.” people protesting against police brutality and racism. i wanted to find a way black communities around the world have taken to the streets. tens of thousands of new zealanders have come out in support of the black lives matter movement. growing up, iwas black lives matter movement. growing up, i was called the n word, i was discriminated against i was picked on by police. we are benefactors of black culture in so many ways so i think we have an extra obligation on top of the basic humanitarian want top of the basic humanitarian want to stand up for injustice. nick is originally from america, but now lives in berlin. get out and do

something. she organised a march to the us embassy. here in germany i came for school and i was told that to constantly perform pieces about the injustices that african—american space, they put me in a box as if it was a bad thing. seeing that video of george floyd triggered a lot in me and it has really hindered my ability to sleep and that is why i decided to organise the event. ability to sleep and that is why i decided to organise the eventm france, some have drawn similarities between the death of george floyd and another man. the 24—year—old died in 2016 after he was detained by french police. an official report indicated decided —— died of heart failure possibly caused by an underlying health condition, but another autopsy requested by his family that it was likely he suffocated and died when police restrained him face down. the officers who detained him were cleared by a police investigation,

but his case became a rallying cry against police brutality in france. i decided tojoin their manifestation because i felt it was the perfect moment for me to go and help my brothers and sisters, against institutional racism that ourdear against institutional racism that our dear country france try so hard to hide. there was also big protest in london, where alia was marching. idid in london, where alia was marching. i did feel triggered, it made me think of instances in the past where i have experienced racism. it was very powerful walking and marching with people who are not of the black community, knowing that you have the support from other humans who are from different ethnic backgrounds, religions. it was so empowering. seeing the multiple videos of black people being beaten for no reason by the police has triggered so many emotions in me and i can relate to it on emotions in me and i can relate to itona emotions in me and i can relate to it on a personal level. i feel like

iamat it on a personal level. i feel like i am at such a disadvantage because of the colour of my skin. this is so wrong because i was born this way, there is nothing i can do about it. we just want to be treated equally. during the coronavirus pandemic, international travel has virtually come to a halt. today's quarantine restrictions make it even more difficult. so what is it like to fly at the moment? 0ur europe correspondent jean mackenzie has taken a number of flights while reporting on coronavirus for us. she documented herjourney back to london last week. i have really found that the most dystopian of all the places during covert. exit terminal one. for safety reasons we kindly ask all

passengers to keep a one metre distance. they keep playing these audio messages and we need to keep one metre away from other passengers. there are no other passengers. there are no other passengers. so we are at the wrong terminal, and that is not uncommon to arrive at an airport and find out that the terminal that your tickets as your flight leaves from is intact -- is in as your flight leaves from is intact —— is in fact closed. so, everything is shot, all the normal duty—free shops and cafe is completely closed up. the places that you remember and you are used to being so busy, it just clashes completely with what your experience of something was before. after each flight, the whole cabinet is carefully disinfected. trains departing. please hold on

handrails. this is one of the busiest airports in the world normally and again it is just com pletely normally and again it is just completely shut up. so every single seat on this flight is taken, we think, so it isjust impossible for people to keep their distance. you are ina people to keep their distance. you are in a confined space, sitting next to people for a long period of time, you can't move. finally arrived in london. what should just be a couple of hours from vienna has probably been about eight. so we are at the end of a long journey. so we are at the end of a long journey. returning to the uk's handling of the easing of the coronavirus lockdown, with suggestions schools may now not reopen before september, and pubs and restaurants in england are not certain what date they'll

be allowed to reopen. let's discuss this now with linda bauld, professor of public health at the university of edinburgh. i'm alsojoined by emma mcclarkin, chief executive of the british beer and pub association. welcome, both of you. what are your thoughts, linda, on the distance that we have in this country, because a lot of people say reducing it from two metres to one would make a lot of difference. the who says one metre, other countries are using one metre, other countries are using one metre, other countries are using one metre or 1.5 metres. why is it two metres here? it depends on how cautious you want to be. we know a lot about how this virus travels and a paper that was published in the la ncet last a paper that was published in the lancet last week, a big meta—analysis, shows that anything within one metre is very risky, one metre is triple two metres even better. you have half risk compared to one metre. it is a cautious

guideline. the question is, the challenge is how do you make that work in indoor spaces that are opening up again? emma, what difference does that distance make to your industry? for pubs, social distancing will provide us with a major challenge, but we asked some members who are assessing their individual premises right now how much of your pub could you open and how much of your pubs than would be able to open indoors with the two major social distancing will in place? major social distancing will in place ? only major social distancing will in place? only a third of our pubs will be able to operate our pub viably at two metres, as as opposed to one metre, that would bring in 75% of pubs being able to reopen and rejoin the economy. it makes a significant difference in terms of how we can operate and reopen as a sector. what are your thoughts on that, linda? it

isa are your thoughts on that, linda? it is a huge difference in economic terms, but you have already spelt out there is a difference in risk. it comes down to a policy decision. from a public health perspective, the ideal thing is that we would retain some elements of protecting ourfamilies retain some elements of protecting our families and communities and not mixing indoors for many months until we we re mixing indoors for many months until we were three tests, but that is not viable. governments have to balance the risks of an economy which is then heading into a worse recession, not just then heading into a worse recession, notjust emma's sector, but other sectors, with trying to keep infection rates to a minimum. there isa infection rates to a minimum. there is a political decision. from a public health perspective, the greater the distance the more we are able to protect people from coming into the virus —— into contact with the virus. the latest information from the who as they now believe the transmission of the virus is very

unlikely from asymptomatic patients, which is a real change. if that is so, and based on the evidence you have seen, do you believe it to be so, that would make a huge difference, wouldn't it? it would. what i would say is if you look at some of the studies, around one in five cases with people to have then developed antibodies don't have any symptoms. that is a significant number of people. we have known for sometime that in terms of shedding, thatis sometime that in terms of shedding, that is far greater from people who have symptoms. this virus is still very young, the virus is developing all the time, that information is interesting, but i wouldn't say it is the final message from science on this. there is much more that we need to know about this virus. what about people routinely wearing ppe to go to the pub, if that were to make a difference in terms of

getting businesses back up and running? we are working with the government guidelines on how we can create that safer socialising environment, and a safe workplace. when we reopen the pubs we have to bring our staff back in and they have to comfortable. if ppe is recommended by the government, we will implement that within our pubs. we are already looking at how we can reduce the contact between our customers, but also the interaction between our staff and create a safer socialising environment within those government guidelines. we are waiting for the government to release those guidelines, we hope we will receive that this week, together with the tape we can reopen. we're working extremely hard to make sure we are going above and beyond high hygiene levels to make sure we can create that safe environment. what is the economic future for your sector if things don't go back —— back up and running soon? we need to find a pathway

forward to support a great british pubs in order for them forward to support a great british pubs in orderfor them to keep surviving. there will be many pubs put at risk and hundreds of thousands of jobs. those jobs put at risk and hundreds of thousands ofjobs. those jobs will remain at risk the longer we remain closed. we are hopeful we will get a date, see a path to reopening an builder to attack gradually over time, building the confidence with our consumers to come back in and be pa rt our consumers to come back in and be part of experiencing the pub again. linda, on the issue of schools, the government had said that all people is primary schools would be back before the summer. they are now saying not. what do you think is behind the turnaround, is it scientific evidence? absolutely not. schools reopening, children we know can be at risk, but a very low risk. it is not a risky thing to do broadly to reopen some schools. what is behind this change is that the logistics of telling the whole population to stay at home are

straightforward. then stop moving. the logistics of opening things up again, including cutting class sizes in half, that is a big task for schools. it doesn't matter what sector of the economy you pick, there is a significant preparation task and government needs to recognise it will take time for things to get back to normal. recognise it will take time for things to get back to normatm recognise it will take time for things to get back to normal. it is ha rd to things to get back to normal. it is hard to get your head around the priorities, when we could be in a situation where pubs opened for schools, the children's commissioner this morning saying it doesn't seem right for theme parks to be open before schools. no, and i agree. one of the things i have been most concerned about is the loss of education. a know home—schooling has been going on, but as a parent, it is no replacement for getting children into the classroom. i would like us to see schools prioritise, absolutely, but clearly we have to ta ke absolutely, but clearly we have to take the unions, school governors,

the head teachers and local authorities with us on that. it is absolutely a joint effort. emma, what are your thoughts on the long tail as we start to come out, because as you have described clearly, so many people, individuals, businesses in this country, are going to be harmed going forward, and that will carry a heavy toll in terms of every aspect of life, mental health, financial, everything that we know. it is extraordinarily difficult for us to remain closed and the survivability of businesses even just to get through the closure of our pubs is going to take an awful lot to survive this moment. we will need continued support from the government for the sector as we rebuild that trade and customer confidence again to come back into the pub and tilt it back up. we will need the support from the government if we are able to maintain our pubs and keep them open. we are so much more than an economic player, this

is above and beyond businesses, this is above and beyond businesses, this is adding social value to our communities, and everybody is missing the great british pub. we are missing back on activity and we add so much to our social fabric and the culture of the united kingdom andi the culture of the united kingdom and i hope we will be able to get back to the great british pub very soon. back to the great british pub very soon. thank you both very much for joining us. german authorities have appealed for more information as they continue their investigation into the disappearance of the british girl madeleine mccann from a holiday resort in portugal in 2007. 0ur correspondent gavin lee is in praia da luz, where madeleine went mising 13 years ago, and gave us the latest on this new appeal. we have more clarity overnight in this international appeal for information on christian b. the

regional prosecutor has given an interview in which he says all the information they have leads to their belief that madeleine mccann is dead. he acknowledged that they have not found the body. he also said that they haven't had strong evidence. he wouldn't go into details on what information they had, but he also said there is a strong belief in this connection with christian b, this convicted child sex offender who is in prison serving a sentence for drug dealing and rape. he says there is hard evidence. it isn't enough to go through a trial in court, hence this appeal. he gave a bit more detail to say anybody who has seen his movements over this 12 year period here around praia da luz, and his two ca rs, here around praia da luz, and his two cars, the volkswagen camper van and his jaguar car. he two cars, the volkswagen camper van and hisjaguar car. he also two cars, the volkswagen camper van and his jaguar car. he also believes there are irish, american, british victims who have not come forward in the 905 and he has asked them to come forward. he also reiterated they have had several hundred calls in germany since that appeal. in the

uk there have been 400 calls with information, but so far not enough ha rd information, but so far not enough hard evidence and they have interviewed the suspect, either. not unusual in germany. we were told that will take a few more days after they have gathered this information. a murder investigation has been launched after two sisters were found dead in a park in london on sunday. police have said nicole smallman and beeba henry had been celebrating a birthday with a group of about 10 people on friday evening. they were both reported missing the next day when they did not return home. a museum in cambridge has taken life in lockdown to a new artistic level by reimagining how some of the subjects in its paintings would be protecting themselves during the pandemic. the ‘masterpieces 2020' edition at the fitzwilliam museum features five well—known portraits with added protective masks. they're now being sold as cards to support the museum during its closure.

it is so strange how our perspective has changed that it doesn't look to order any more! -- old any more. now it's time for a look at the weather. it is very difficult to describe in a summary it is very difficult to describe in a summary what the weather will be doing for the rest of the week. it will change from day to day, but broadly speaking, there is no real return to summer weather on the horizon, we will be under the influence of low pressure and a weather front which will occasionally print spells of rain. in fact, one weather front is moving into the north—west of the uk, so wet weather across scotland, northern ireland, and some of that wet weather will move into the north

west of england, the lake district and parts of yorkshire, as well. at times it could be quite heavy. to the south of that it will be a mostly dry night. around 10 degrees, i think of the overnight tonight. wednesday, weather fronts will move across the uk, generally speaking it will be cloudy most of the time, and occasionally we will see burst of heavy rain, probably not last and particularly long, just a couple of hours at most. temperatures will be around 16 or 17 degrees. later in the day, weather will improve in western areas. come thursday, the weather system will sink further south. the wind direction will change and it looks as though it is england and wales that gets most of the cloud and the spells of rain on thursday, whereas scotland and northern ireland gets the best weather on thursday. the low pressure, which will be driving our weather for the rest of the week and into the weekend, it will be stuck in the bay of biscay. that means

that weather fronts will be circling around and into towards the centre of that low. 0ne around and into towards the centre of that low. one such weather front is almost going to come back in on itself and sweep into southern parts of the uk, so on friday, it is the site they could have heavy rain, whereas the best weather will be in the north. also what will happen with this low pressure spinning around is it will draw in some warmth, a current of warm and humid air, and push that in the direction of the uk. yes, often cloudy, yes the threat of rain, but those temperatures are expected to rise over the coming days. goodbye.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. plans are dropped to get every primary school pupil in england back into the classroom before the end of term, because of social distancing concerns. we know it would be good to get children back in school as and when we can, but it is not easily done and we must be listening to the teachers and head teachers having to do this in practice. around 64,000 more people than usual have died in the uk since the coronavirus outbreak began — new figures show. more than 6000 people pay their respects to george floyd, whose death in police custody in the us sparked protests around the world. a private funeral service takes place later today in texas. moscow is easing many of its

coronavirus lockdown restrictions — despite the city recording around 2000 new cases a day for the past two weeks. britain is about to pass a significant landmark prince andrew is accused by a us prosecutor of trying to "falsely portray himself" as eager to co—operate with the investigation into the convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein. britain is about to pass a significant landmark in energy production — at midnight it'll be two months since any coal was burned to generate electricity. 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. the plan for all primary school pupils in england to go back to school before the end of term has been dropped by the government.

the education secretary gavin williamson is expected to confirm the decision in parliament later today. instead schools will be given flexibility over whether or not to admit more pupils. there had been warnings from headteachers that it wasn't practical. 0ur education correspondent, sean coughlan, has more. pupils in reception, year one and year six began returning to schools in england from june 1st. there have been differences in what schools have been able to offer and figures published later today will show how many families took up places. since the proposal was announced to bring back all primary pupils for four weeks before the end of term, head teachers have challenged the practicalities of accommodating them while expecting children to stay in small groups that would require twice as many classrooms. whatever the ambition, school has said they simply did not have the space to fit everyone in at the same time. ministers said plans to open to all years would only go ahead if it were feasible and they have

now accepted that it is not. it means that many pupils already out of school for 11 weeks, will now be missing lessons until september. the head teachers' union, the association of school and college leaders, welcomed the change, saying the government had promised something that was undeliverable. ministers are expected to say that schools will now have flexibility over how many pupils they can teach and that in the year groups that have returned, increasing numbers of parents are confident about sending back their children. but there will be concerns, particularly for disadvantaged pupils, about the long—term costs of being so long out of school.

around 64,000 more people than usual have died in the uk since the coronavirus outbreak began. the figures from the office for national statistics also show less than a fifth of deaths registered in the last week of may involved covid—19, the lowest proportion since the lockdown was imposed. to make sense of it all, i'm joined by our head moving in the right direction, you see it in all nations of the uk. the total number of people dying in the uk is coming down to normal levels. this red line is the total number of deaths we see in any given week. from march onwards you can see it spiked and the may bank holiday. this is the average, what you would expect to see... we were tracking closely. there has been a massive difference since the epidemic took off, all those extra deaths. that is how we get to 64,000.

we would not expect to see that many deaths at this time of year. you can be pretty confident it is mainly due to the coronavirus. moving on the right direction but not back to normal just now. figures show us? across the uk, in different regions of the uk, the trends are going in the right direction. moving downwards, coming back to normal. in some parts of the uk, they're pretty close to normal now. maybe in london and in the south—west we are not seeing as many deaths due to the coronavirus, the lowest areas, one or two per 100,000 people in a week. in the north—east, the most deaths per head of population, five per 100,000. most are three, four, five per 100,000 people per week. we should be mindful this is not

the biggest driver of your risk of dying from coronavirus, it is age. the number of people dying over 75, accounting for more than three quarters of the covid deaths. you can count the number of deaths in people under the age of 15 on one hand. some differences in the death rate across the uk but it is not the biggest driver of risk. returning to the uk's handling of the easing of the lockdown, now let's turn back to the coronavirus pandemic, while some countries are starting to see confirmed cases and deaths fall following strict lockdown restrictions, others are still seeing figures rise. brazil has more than 700,000 cases that are known about and more than 37,000 deaths. several other countries in latin america are seeing widespread outbreaks, including peru, which has 200,000 cases and 5,000 deaths, and mexico, which now has 120,000 cases

and 14,000 deaths. in russia, infections are rising rapidly, with 476,000 cases and more than 6,000 deaths. moscow has had some 2,000 new cases in the city every day for the past fortnight, but despite this, lockdown restrictions are being eased in the capital. well, this was quite a surprise for many muscovites, a radical change in what is being called the self isolation regime here. for the past ten weeks or so. suddenly the mayor came out yesterday and said self isolation was over. people out on the streets today, free to go where they want, to see who they want, to do what they want, for the first time in a very long time. people driving cars as well. until now you needed a permit to use your car. you could only go out twice a week if you go to the shops. a huge amount of restrictions, a strict lockdown. and suddenly it ended, basically. there are changes happening today.

we still have to wear masks on the streets. that is supposed to be mandatory. but if you have a look behind me you will see that many people don't actually wear the masks. most of them using them to support their chins. you have to wear gloves if you head into shops, which are already open. so things are starting to change and today as well, hairdressers opening, the cemeteries too opening for business as well. a big change is happening very quickly and being promoted by a mayor who until now had been extremely cautious because the infection right here still remains pretty high. in the united states, a funeral service for george floyd will take place in his home city of houston later today. thousands of people have been paying their last respects to mr floyd at a memorial service. here's our correspondent jane o'brien. for several hours, a steady procession of mourners filed past the coffin of george floyd. the vast majority never knew him, but they all felt a deep connection to the man who has become a catalyst in america's struggle with race.

it doesn't really hit home until you see it for yourself. just to see his senseless body sitting in a casket, you know, knowing he was helpless, no—one was there to help him with the police knee on his neck, it'sjust... it's horrendous. to witness a person who went through a situation that was, you know — unfairly his life was removed from him, just being a part of the history meant a lot to me. this is the last public gathering in honour of mr floyd before the private funeral. just being here and thinking about my brother. he is a gentle giant who had his life taken away when it should not have been. he should be here speaking on behalf of somebody else right now. former vice presidentjoe biden has met with the family but won't attend the service.

in minneapolis, meanwhile, the city where george floyd was killed, the white police officer charged with his murder appeared in court via video link. derek chauvin was remanded in custody and bail was set for $1.25 million. and in washington, lawmakers took a knee as they discussed legislation that would make it easier to prosecute police officers accused of misconduct. a majority of americans, black and white, now say that police reform is an essential first step towards social justice for african—americans. there is certainly momentum. and as george floyd is laid to rest, real hope that change will come. jane o'brien, bbc news, houston.

meanwhile, democratic presidential nomineejoe biden has rejected calls to defund us police departments, following the move by the democrat—run minneapolis city council to dismantle its own police force in the wake of the protests over george floyd's death. president trump has accused mr biden and the democratic party of being controlled by the radical left and of having no choice but to back the movement. but this is what mr biden told norah o'donnel from cbs news after meeting george floyd's family: it is hard enough to grieve but harder to do it in public. his daughter said that it is going to james rowe, i think he is. in terms of civil liberties, civil rights and treating people with dignity. —— daughter said he was going to change the world. i support conditioning, federal aid to the police if they meet decent standards of honour. and demonstrate they can protect everybody in the community.

returning to the uk's handling of the easing of the lockdown, and with most pubs and restaurants across the uk closed since march the 20th, the hospitality sector has been deeply hit by the coronavirus pandemic. pubs and restaurants in england have been preparing to reopen from the 4th ofjuly, but it's now being suggested ministers won't publish new guidance today as expected, and number 10 is distancing itself from reports venues could possibly open sooner. so far across the uk, hospitality businesses have experienced a dramatic loss in trade, with many closed altogether and others only offering takeaways or home deliveries. there is no firm date yet for when scotland, wales and northern ireland will allow the reopening of pubs and restaurants. the british prime minister boris johnson's top team has been meeting this morning. 0ur assistant political editor norman smith joins me from westminster. norman, so many different aspects obviously now to this as we come out of lockdown and the choices and decisions are taken as to what opens one. schools are a key factor on

that. what have they decided this morning, are they still talking? we will have to wait until the afternoon press conference. we might get some inkling of some of the measures are allowed. —— announced. we are expecting nonessential shops, some of them to open from monday, clothes shops, shoe shops, department stores. in terms of pubs and restaurants, ithink department stores. in terms of pubs and restaurants, i think that still might bea and restaurants, i think that still might be a way off because clearly borisjohnson might be a way off because clearly boris johnson wants to might be a way off because clearly borisjohnson wants to try and get them open because of fears on the impact of the hospitality sector if they remain on permanent lockdown for much longer. the difficulty issue we walked into the scientific advice at the moment, this suggestion there has to be a two metre social distance between people. many bars, restaurants and clu bs say people. many bars, restaurants and clubs say quite simply even if they we re clubs say quite simply even if they were allowed to open they could not operate with two metres because financially it would not be viable to open up. one metre and it is game

on. borisjohnson to open up. one metre and it is game on. boris johnson has to open up. one metre and it is game on. borisjohnson has asked the scientists to take another work, —— my another look at the two metre rule, they are doing it since may. the second difficulty is much is going to have to be conducted outdoors. there are going to have to be some changes there as well because for shops at least a —— to operate outdoors, there will need to bea operate outdoors, there will need to be a change the planning laws. and bars, operating in gardens, licences for that too. hoops and hurdles before pubs, clubs and restaurants can get going again. on schools, the minister was talking this morning about the prospect of theme parks

being opened before schools being open. she thinks children have been overlooked and not enough effort has been taken by the government to make sure schools are in a position to open. what is the latest from the government on the prospects for schools? bluntly, the government have basically said it is over to you, schools. 0pen when you can. some have successfully managed to get back, reception, year one and year six, they might manage to get back all their children by the summer but many will not. there are serious concerns about the educational impact that will have for many children, who have already had 12 weeks out from school, losing another 12 weeks until september, thatis another 12 weeks until september, that is nearly six months out of the school year, a huge chunk. 0n that is nearly six months out of the school year, a huge chunk. on top of that, it impacts on the ability of the government to get parents back to work. if they cannot get the children back to school, arrange

childcare, it obviously makes it very ha rd childcare, it obviously makes it very hard for them to return to the workplace. more broadly, the difficulty which schools are facing in creating a covid—19 safe environment seems to me likely to be replicated by many businesses and public places, entertainment spaces. places where people gather. we are probably going to have to redesign those spaces to make them covid—19 safe. many of the difficulties schools are facing are likely to be replicated more broadly and that it seems to me is likely to slow down the pace of any easing in the lockdown. the headlines on bbc news... plans are dropped to get every primary school pupil in england back into the classroom before the end of term, because of social distancing concerns. new figures show that around 64,000 more people than usual have died in the uk since the coronavirus outbreak began. thousands of people pay their respects to george floyd, whose death in police custody in the us sparked protests

around the world. a private funeral service takes place later today in texas. the uk and japan are set to begin post—brexit trade talks today. negotiators will hope an agreement will be reached before the end of the year, when the transition period with the eu is set to end. but what about the uk's negotiations with the eu? the fourth round of trade talks ended friday, with both sides saying little progress had been made. the executive vice—president of the european commission, margrethe vestager, says it's very difficult to see what the next steps can be in the brexit negotiations. we have these negotiations in the midst of not only a health crisis but an economic crisis. and what it will take even under such extraordinary circumstances to find agreement actually is quite difficult to say right now. that being said, of course from our side we do our best to find

an agreement in line with the political declaration that was the starting point of these negotiations. lawyers for prince andrew have rejected claims by us prosecutors that he has not co—operated with the inquiry into sex offenderjeffrey epstein. in a statement, they said the prince has offered help on "at least three occasions" — us authorities have challenged him to prove his offer to be interviewed as a witness — is serious. sean dilley has more. prince andrew has been under intense pressure to co—operate with us authorities who want to talk to him about his friendship with the late convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein. he was asked in his newsnight interview last november whether he would co—operate. at that point he seemed unsure. i'm...|‘m...|‘m not... and i..i would have to take all the legal advice, um, that there was before i was to...to do that sort of thing,

but if push came to shove and the legal advice was to do so then i would be duty—bound to do so. but when he withdrew from royal duties more than six months ago, he said he would answer questions from any appropriate us law enforcement agency. his lawyer spoke out for the first time yesterday after a leak from the us revealed a formal request to uk authorities. in a statement they said: in response, the us prosecutor in charge of the investigation, geoffrey berman, said: that's

that is an offer a lawyer for some ofjeffrey epstein's alleged victims says he should now take up. prince andrew is not going to be able to draw this out forever. every day that goes by has been putting more pain on the victims. so it's time for him to step up and say, "here's the date, here's the time, here's the place when i will answer any and all questions from the department ofjustice." us authorities say the duke will not be extradited to america, but if he does not voluntarily respond to their formal legal request he could be forced to answer questions in a uk court. sean dilley, bbc news. a murder investigation has been launched after two sisters were found dead in a park in london on sunday. police have said nicole smallman

and beeba henry had been celebrating a birthday with a group of about 10 people on friday evening. they were both reported missing the next day when they did not return home. we urgently need to hear from anybody who was around fryent country park from about 7pm on friday. we know on friday, bibaa was celebrating her birthday with friends and family and anybody who saw anything suspicious, please get in touch with us or anonymously via crime stoppers, to assist us in what is a murder investigation. it's a year since a wave of protests broke out in hong kong against the chinese government's plans to bring in an extradition law. months of clashes followed. some activists marked

the anniversary with this small demonstration — though there was no repeat of last year's violence. the situation may have calmed, but the differences remain, as our correspondent steve mcdonell, who covered the original protests, now reports. a year ago, a summer of rebellion was triggered after hong kong protesters tried to stop a much—hated extradition bill. the longer it took the government to back down on a proposal to allow for people to go before courts in mainland china, the more the crisis escalated. both activists and police turned to increasingly violent and drastic methods. you can see how serious things are becoming. now we have to move because the police are coming. fight forfreedom! the movement became broader, calling for a complete democratic overhaul. the violence has increased here every week in hong kong. oh, yeah, it really surprised me that the level of violence is increasing rapidly, and they think it's ok. annie kwok runs a small restaurant.

after she offered support to the police, she lost most of her young customers overnight. hong kong is now a divided city, with businesses colour—coded by activists as supporting one side or the other. i don't mind them having protests, just not in a violent way or not damaging hong kong and complies with the law, and it's peaceful and safe. winter and the coronavirus brought quiet, but not detente. beijing is again cracking down, with a patriotic education revamp, criminal penalties for anyone abusing the national anthem, and security legislation potentially making certain speech or protest action punishable by decades in prison. i would be lying to you if i did say i have absolutely no concern, but right now, we're still fighting for democracy. i would say hong kong people are awakened to our powers, to our rights.

we pushed back, we tried to fight back. sometimes we succeeded, sometimes it's not so successful. this is the spirit of hong kongers. they defeated the extradition bill, but are no closer to universal suffrage. in just a few decades, hong kong is due to become a chinese city like all others. the central government seems determined to hasten the process, making more, not less tension most likely in the years to come. steven mcdonnell, bbc news, beijing. let's take you live now to hong kong... where this candle—lit march is taking place, to mark a year since the first of a long series of protests against china's plans to allow suspects to be extradited to the mainland to stand trial. the organisers claim 1 million people attended that first march, a year ago to the day — later events were marked by clashes with riot police. the territory's chief executive carrie lam eventually withdrew the legislation,

but the protests had by then transformed into a wider, pro—democracy movement. today's events have been peaceful — we'll keep you up to date with developments as they happen. let's get more now on the protests after the death of george floyd, and on the day of his funeral, a controversial confederate statue has been removed from its public plinth in louisville, kentucky. there had been several attempts over recent years to remove the statue ofjohn breckinridge castleman, who served as a major in the confederate army. a courtjudge gave the go—ahead for its removal on friday. it comes amid media reports that the us secretary of defence is open to renaming army bases named after confederate leaders of the american civil war. the bases are all in states which fought for the right to uphold slavery in the 19th century. a museum in cambridge has taken life in lockdown to a new artistic level by reimagining how some

of the subjects in its paintings would be protecting themselves during the pandemic. the masterpieces 2020 edition at the fitzwilliam museum features five well—known portraits with added protective masks. they're now being sold as cards to support the museum during its closure. this is bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with tomas. not much change over the next few days, often cloudy with spells of rain. some sunny spells. very difficult to describe in a summary what the weather is going to be doing for the rest of the week because it will change from day to day. broadly speaking, there is no real return to summer weather on the horizon. under the influence of low pressure and weather fronts

occasionally bringing rain. 0ne weather front of moving into the north—west of the uk, wet weather across scotland, northern ireland and some moving into the north west of england, lake district and parts of england, lake district and parts of yorkshire as well. at times heavy, to the south of that a mostly dry night, around 10 degrees overnight is the low. wednesday sees weather fronts moving across the uk, cloudy most of the time. occasionally bursts of heavy rain, probably not lasting long, a couple of hours at most. temperatures around 16—17. later in the day we will see weather improving across western areas. come thursday, weather system seeking south, wind direction changing, england and wales getting most of the cloud and a spells of rain on thursday whereas scotla nd a spells of rain on thursday whereas scotland and northern ireland gets the best weather on thursday.

driving our weather for the rest of the week and into the weekend stuck in the bay of biscay, weather fronts circling around in towards the centre of that low. 0ne circling around in towards the centre of that low. one such weather front coming back in on itself, sweeping into southern parts of the uk. on friday, the south could have some heavy rain here whereas the best weather in the north. also what will happen with a low pressure spinning around here, drawing up some warmth, current of warm and humid air pushing in the direction of the uk. yes often cloudy with the threat of rain and no prolong sunny spells, but temperatures expected to rise over the coming days.

that hello this is bbc news

with joanna gosling. the headlines: plans are dropped to get every primary school pupil in england back into the classroom before the end of term because of social distancing concerns. around 64,000 more people than usual have died in the uk since the coronavirus outbreak, began new figures show. more than 6,000 people pay their respects to george floyd, whose death in police custody in the us sparked protests around the world. a private funeral service takes place later today in texas. moscow is easing many of its coronavirus lockdown restrictions, despite the russian capital recording around 2,000 new cases a day for the past two weeks. let's cross to edinburgh now and the daily briefing there by the scottish government.

i will start as i always do with an update on some of the key statistics in relation to covid—19. update on some of the key statistics in relation to covid-19. as of nine o'clock this morning, there have been 15,000 653 positive cases confirmed through our nhs lab, that is an increase of 14 cents yesterday. a total of 1011 patients are currently in hospital with or suspected covid—19. that represents a total decrease of 31 from yesterday, including a decrease of 14 and the number of confirmed cases currently in hospital. a total of 21 people last night were in intensive ca re people last night were in intensive care with confirmed or suspected covid—19, and that is a decrease of three since yesterday. i am also able to confirm that since the 5th of march, a total of 3820 patients who had tested positive for the virus and acquired —— required hospital treatment have been able to leave hospital, and we wish them

well. in the past day, seven deaths we re well. in the past day, seven deaths were registered patients confirmed through a test as having covid—19. the total number of deaths in scotla nd the total number of deaths in scotland under that measurement is now 2422. of course, tomorrow we will have the weekly reports, which includes confirmed and suspected cases of people dying from this virus. after two consecutive days of reporting zero deaths, to's figure of seven is not what we would have wa nted of seven is not what we would have wanted to hear, but i think it is important to stress that it is not a surprise either, as we have consistently said, we know there is a week lag, so the number we reports on tuesdays are normally cantos we report on sundays and mondays. —— weekend. today's figure, though an

increase in the last two days is nevertheless, they want to stress test, a further indication of a clear downward trend in the number of people who are losing their lives to this virus, and that of course is clearly welcome. we know, however, that this will be no consolation whatsoever to people who are grieving these lost lives. the figures i have just grieving these lost lives. the figures i havejust read out are not just statistics, they represent individuals who are being mourned and grieved by many, so once again i wa nt to and grieved by many, so once again i want to convey my deepest condolences to anyone who has lost a loved one to this illness. i also wa nt to loved one to this illness. i also want to express again my thanks to health and care workers. the whole country is so grateful to you for everything you continue to do. during what is carer's week, i want to thank our unpaid carers. this pandemic is demonstrated again the importance of what you do, but it has also, i know, created additional stress and anxiety for many of you,

thatis stress and anxiety for many of you, that is why the health secretary unlike some additional help for young carers on sunday, and it is why we are paying an additional coronavirus carer‘s allowance at the end of this month for those who receive carer‘s allowance. we have also helped carers centre is to work remotely, so help advice and support are still available online or on the phone to all carers across the country. that support is notjust available to people who have been ca re rs available to people who have been carers for several months or years, it also applies to people who have had to take on caring responsibilities as a direct result of this pandemic. i would recommend to any carer, including any new carer, that if you need advice or some practical help, even if you just need a friendly word, you can search for your local carer centred on the care information scotland website and get in touch with them. help is available for you if you need it. finally, my thanks once again to all of our carers for

everything that you do. your efforts made an enormous difference to those that you care for, to all of their loved ones, and to the wider community and the whole country and all of us are grateful to you for that. i want to highlight briefly to further issues today. firstly, i can confirm that we will publish initial data in relation to our test and protect system tomorrow. that information will include how many positive cases have been identified so positive cases have been identified so far through test and protect, and how many of those have had their contacts traced. at this stage it will be national data, although we do intend to break down regionally in the weeks ahead and add more detail to it. the data will reflect the early stage of test and protect. the one point it is important to note is that the figures we published tomorrow will not com pletely published tomorrow will not completely match our daily testing figures that we publish at this

daily update, because they will also include results from the drive—through centres that are situated in various parts of the country. the covert update i give tomorrow will be delivered in parliament just before first ministers questions, so that may be too short to explain to new figures in detail tomorrow, but i will say more about them later in the week. for now, i want to stress that if you have symptoms of the virus, and let me remind you that is a new, continuous cough, fever or other loss or change in your sense of taste or smell, if you experience those symptoms, you should immediately take steps to book a test. please don't wait to see if you feel better first. do it straightaway. you and your household should isolate immediately. you can book a test at nhs informed doctor scott or by phoning nhs 24 on oh

800028 0816. if you don't have symptoms picture are contacted to say you have been in contact with somebody who has tested positive, please do follow the advice you are given on self isolation. i can't stress enough that the willingness of all of us to fully cooperate with test and protect and the weeks —— in the weeks and months to come will be vital to our efforts to keep the virus suppressed as we try to restore some normality to everyday lives. the second issue i want to cover relates to the impact of covid—19 on people from our minority ethnic communities. public health scotland's preliminary analysis of data from scotland which was published towards the end of may, doesn't appear to show the people from ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected by covert in terms of its impact on their health, but these are preliminary findings and they are

finding is based on limited data. we know that studies in other parts of the uk and around the world have provided different results to that. we also recognise that people from ethnic minorities could also be disproportionally affected by the economic and social impacts of covid—19 as well as by its health impacts. the scottish government has allocated more than £500,000 to organisations that work directly with ethnic minority groups across scotland, but we knew that we may well need to do more. for that reason, and establishing a new expert reference group made up of academics and other advisers. that group will consider the evidence of covid—19 in scotland to assess the impact of the virus on minority ethnic communities, in areas where covert is having a disproportionate effect they will also make recommendations on policies and

approaches to mitigate that. it is essential at any time to listen to people from ethnic minority communities, to ensure that the policies we adopt and implement don't have disproportionate and adverse consequences. it is, however, especially important at this time, and i hope this expert reference group will ensure that our response to covid—19 takes full account of the needs and the experiences of our minority ethnic communities. finally, beforei experiences of our minority ethnic communities. finally, before i hand over to the chief medical officer, i wa nt to over to the chief medical officer, i want to end by emphasising once again our key and very important public health guidance. right now, you should still be staying at home most of the time and you should still be meeting fewer people than you would normally. if your life feels like it is getting back to normal, ask yourself why that is the case, because it shouldn't be yet getting back to normal. if you do meet people from another household, stay outdoors and you must take two metres at least a part. don't meet

up metres at least a part. don't meet up with more than one other household at a time, and to meet more than one day and please keep to a maximum of eight people in any group. wash your hands thoroughly and often. take hand sanitiser if you are out of your home. please wear a face covering when you are in shops or on public transport or in any enclosed space where physical distancing is more difficult. avoid touching hard surfaces and energy due touch make sure you clean them regularly and thoroughly. as i said a few months ago, if you have symptoms, and you continuous cough, fever, loss or changing your sense of taste or smell, you must get tested and followed the advice on self isolation. above all, if we all remember each and every day that the decisions we are taking as individuals have a big impact on the health and well—being of all of us, then we will all do the right thing and make it more likely that we get through this crisis more quickly. my

thanks to all of you forjoining us today and continuing to do the right thing, because as the figures that i have read out today show, it is making a difference, and for that reason we must stick with it. i will hand over to the chief medical officer who has information on the science surrounding covid—19 before moving to questions, as normal. today, i want to update you on some of the work being conducted by scientists in a research community in scotland. specifically, i want to speak about the cutting edge work to understand the genetics of the virus that causes covid—19 and how this is being used to understand how spread in scotland. i looking the gene sequences of the virus, this work is able to identify the subtle molecular differences between different viral isolates from people who have been infected. this allows scientists to create family trees for the virus so it can be tracked in time and in place. this allows us

not only to visualise how the virus spreads, but how it evolves over extended periods. crucially, it also allows us to check the pcr testing we used to diagnose the infection remains faithful to identifying this particular virus. use of this next—generation sequencing technology has allowed us to identify at least 112 separate introductions of covid—19 across scotland that ultimately led to sustained community transmission. it has identified viral lineages with no clear link to travel at the very early stages of the outbreak in scotland, suggesting that there may have been earlier introduction to scotland and community spread even before the first cases emerged. in this respect, the emergence of continental europe as the global epicentre of the epidemic appears to have been the main source of the particular lineages we have established in scotland. this work has enabled us to understand the pattern of spread associated with the sports conference that took place in edinburgh at the end of

february. beyond the eight cases already known to be associated with this outbreak, there are three other cases with the genotype that might be linked to this lineage. of those three cases, two of them are more closely associated with samples taken from other cases, identified in other countries and have been discounted has been directly linked to the conference. the third show similarities to those associated with the conference, but no direct or indirect link to the conference has been established. also similarities with the viral lineage thatis similarities with the viral lineage that is found in continental europe. however, this particular sub—lineage of the virus has not been detected in scotland since towards the end of march. this suggests that the actions taken by the in team to manage this outbreak were successful in curtailing it spread and have led to the eradication of this particular viral lineage with no evidence of any wider outbreak associated with that in scotland since that time. this new technique

helps inform our learning and our future approaches to different types of outbreaks of infectious disease, whether it is clusters, or a pandemic. we will continue to work collaboratively with the experts to further develop our understanding and inform our approaches to managing covid—19 in the future. what that demonstrates is that our scientific community in scotland is very much at the forefront of these global efforts to understand and combat covid—19. that should be a source combat covid—19. that should be a source of pride, albeit in difficult circumstances, for all of us. i will move straight to questions. glenn campbell from bbc scotland.” move straight to questions. glenn campbell from bbc scotland. i wonder if you can explain why more than 200 people with coronavirus have died in

scotla nd people with coronavirus have died in scotland having picked up the virus in hospital wards that were supposed to be covert free, and how you would explain their deaths to their relatives? every death from this virus, wherever they happen and whatever the individual contracted —— contacted —— contracted the virus, is a real regret. my condolences and sympathies are with the families. the health secretary is about to answer a question in the scottish parliament, and that question is specifically about this type of infection, where infections are potentially picked up by people in hospital. she will give some figures this afternoon in parliament. previously, she has given figures on the number of patients that may have affected. 0ne point to be very cautious about, and

nature is understood, and i would make this point in response to your question, is that it is really important, and what gregor has been talking about is also important in this context, because somebody is diagnosed with having this virus in a hospital, whether that is a patient or member of staff, it does not automatically and necessarily mean that they contracted the virus in hospital. they may have picked it up in hospital. they may have picked it up in the community or been incubating it when they came in to hospital. what we have to go through isa hospital. what we have to go through is a process of these figures, and additional scientific work, so we understand better the extent to which infections among patients or those working in hospital whether it was contracted in hospital or elsewhere. that is another application of the kind of science gregor has been talking about today.

i would caution about using these numbers, it does not necessarily mean that all of these infections we re mean that all of these infections were contracted in a hospital. we have much more work to do before we can understand that and draw more definitive conclusions about it stop i will hand to gregor. it is important that we continue to learn how this virus spreads. we know already from the evidence and —— accumulating that this is a virus thatis accumulating that this is a virus that is easy to spread within institutions and indoor environments, particularly where there are vulnerable people and particularly where there are a lot of movements around about that institution. it is really important that you understand whether these infections you refer to where infections you refer to where infections that were communicated within that institutional environment, or whether they were brought in from outside sources, if people were incubating the

infections at the time. one way to do that is to look at these family lineages i spoke about. that can then help us to understand how these particular virus families spread not only in the communities, but also spread from person to person within a hospital. this isn't a new technique. this is a technique which we are applying in relation to how we are applying in relation to how we manage infection outbreaks in other scenarios, but we are using specifically now to understand better this virus and how it spreads from person to person. all of this is really important because it is important we understand patterns of transmission so that in future we can try to break those chains of transmission. both in terms of the figure glenn quoted there and some of the information that i know the health secretary will be discussing in parliament later, it would not be accurate right not to say that we are certain that all of these cases of the virus were cases where the

infection was contracted in hospital. we don't know enough yet to draw that conclusion definitively. so anybody who said that that was the case would not be accurate and how that was being interpreted, but there is work ongoing for us to further understand that. there is a lot of work across government on this whole issue on infections that are picked up and spread within hospital settings. are there any particular geographical areas of scotland that are currently causing you concern regarding the r numberand causing you concern regarding the r number and how is that shipping your thinking ahead of the possible relaxation of other lockdown measures? there is no part of the country that i would say is causing me greater concern than any other pa rt me greater concern than any other part of the country. the overall picture with covid—19 continues to

cause me concern, although as i have talked about in the last few days, we are seeing all of the indicator is now going on the right direction. we have spoken before about the difficulties given some of the confidence intervals that you then start to deal with in trying to regionalise the r number within scotland, because the smaller the area you are looking at, the smaller the number of cases, the smaller the number of deaths, although every death of course is a tragedy, so therefore your degree of uncertainty around that gets greater, which is why we are reporting the r number now on a scotland wide basis, although we look very carefully at all the indicators across the country. in all parts of scotland, all of this is going on the right direction, but i would suppose

caution on two points. firstly, and people are used to hearing me say this, that progress while it is very real and looking sustain, it is still fragile. viruses can quickly flare up again and run out of control, which is why we need to stick with the measures that are helping us to suppress it. the second point of caution i would say is simply that our current understanding of that r number, which was last reported last thursday, predates the phase one changes we made, so we haven't yet had long enough to see what the impact of the changes i announced just over a week ago to allow more outdoor activity will be. hopefully, there will not be a negative impact of those, but we need to take time to do that. we will publish the latest estimate of the r number on thursday. we published every thursday.

scotla nd scotland has buy first minister with a daily briefing. she said to have been seven deaths of the last day in scotland. prior to that there were two consecutive days with no tax. she said that the reason for that would be the fact that it was the weekend and the result is a lag in the number of recorded deaths, but still there is a clear downward trend. the welsh government is changing its advice on face coverings. triple triple layered face coverings are being introduced today. the widespread use of non—medicalface today. the widespread use of non—medical face coverings by healthy people in the community setting is not yet supported by the who. however, they did recommend that governments encourage the public to wear three layer non—medicalface public to wear three layer non—medical face coverings in

specific settings in circumstances where other more effective measures are not possible. the welsh government is following that advice and recommending that people in wales where three layer face coverings in situations where social distancing is not possible. the most obvious example is public transport, where more than about 15% of capacity is likely to mean that two metres social distancing is not possible. a home—made or purchased three layer face covering might reduce transmission from one person to another if made, worn, handled and removed or disposed of properly. some face coverings could be washable and reusable. this is only the case for non—symptomatic people, in terms of the wearing of non—medicalface in terms of the wearing of non—medical face coverings. people who are symptomatic must continue to self—isolate for seven days and get

a test. wearing a face covering cannot be an excuse for ignoring social distancing measures. maintaining social distancing wherever possible is a more effective measure than wearing a face covering. today, we will publish the advice from our technical advisory group that underpins our decision in making this recommendation. 0n underpins our decision in making this recommendation. on another matter of interest, today is the first time that we will publish data on contact tracing here in wales. the wales wide nhs wales test, trace, protect service has now been in operation forjust over a week. a single digital platform to assist or contact tracing teams will be available from later today. it has been a positive start to contact tracing in wales, with 651 identified contacts, of whom 619 have so far been successfully

contacted. thank you, happy to take questions from the media team and the first question today is from james william is bbc wales. can i ask a couple of follow—up questions? that advice, that new guidance sta rts that advice, that new guidance starts from today, immediately? just to be clear, you are not suggesting people should use a scarf or a home—made face covering from an old sock or something? you're saying at three layer face covering is what people should be using? would you be advising people to always carry one on them outside of the house just in case they are unable to socially distance? people... this is for

those situations where they know they will not be able to effectively socially distance. in our shops, when i go out and do my weekly shop, ifind when i go out and do my weekly shop, i find that people follow the rules, that the shops themselves are making sure they don't have lots of people going in, clearly mark one—way system, and people know about not going past each other. the chief medical officer, that the momentary passing people a shop is not the risk that we need to cover. you shouldn't expect to wear, the recommendation doesn't suggest going into supermarkets is a setting where you would need to wear that covering. goodbye from me, i will leave you with the weather. not much change in the weather front over the next few days. 0ften cloudy weather with spells of rain, but also a few sunny spells. it is very difficult to describe in a summary

what the weather will be doing for the rest of the week, because it will change from day to day. broadly speaking, there is no real return to summer speaking, there is no real return to summer weather speaking, there is no real return to summer weather on speaking, there is no real return to summer weather on the horizon. we will be under the influence of low pressure and a weather front that will bring spells of rain. what —— one weather front will bring wet weather to the west of scotland, northern ireland, and some of it will move into the north west of england. at times it could be quite happy. to the south of that, it will be mostly dry night, ran 10 degrees the overnight low. wednesday itself sees weather fronts moving across the uk. generally speaking, it will be cloudy most of the time and occasionally we will see bursts of heavy rain, probably not lasting very long, a couple of hours at the most. temperatures will be 16 or 17 degrees. later in the day, the

weather will improve across western areas. come thursday, the weather system will sink further south. the wind direction will change and it looks as though it is england and wales that gets most of the cloud and spells of the rain on thursday, where scotland and northern ireland will get the best of the weather on thursday. the low pressure, which will drive weather for the rest of the week and into the weekend, it will be stuck in the bay of biscay. that means the weather fronts will be circling around and in towards the centre of that low pressure system. one such weather front will almost come back in on itself and sweep into southern parts of the uk. 0n sweep into southern parts of the uk. on friday, it is the sort that could have some heavy rain, whereas the best weather will be in the north. also what will happen with this weather system is it will draw up some warmth, warm and humid air, and it will be pushed into the direction of the uk. yes, often cloudy and,

yes, the threat of rain, but temperatures are expected to rise over the coming days. goodbye.

we've learnt our lesson — following pressure from teachers — the government drops plans to fully open primary schools in england this term. the change of mind has sparked concern about the long—term impact on children's education and wellbeing. it's a long time to try and recreate the structure that schools give you, and i think without that, a lot of kids and a lot of families will struggle. i do think that children should start coming back to school gradually, because we've got to get back to normality, some sort of normality. we'll be asking what this means for children — and their parents. also this lunchtime... around 64,000 more people than usual have died in the uk since the coronavirus outbreak began — but the weekly figures are improving remembering george floyd — after a memorial service to the man whose death sparked protests across the world — a funeral