and around the world. the uk economy shrinks by a fifth in april, the first full month of lockdown. large swathes of the economy ground to a halt, in the sharpest contraction on record it is going to be tough for a few months, but we will get through it and we will bounce back very strongly, indeed. the governor of new york state orders police reforms, warning funding will be cut for departments which fail to tackle racial bias and excessive use of force. with brazil's death toll from coronavirus set to become the world's second—highest,

a warning that it's running out of intensive care beds. the situation in brazil is of concern. the situation in brazil is of concern. all 27 areas are affected. we have seen different rates of infection, there are clear hotspots in heavily populated areas. plus, outrage over the front—page of a tabloid where the ex—husband of harry potter author, jk rowling defends hitting her. 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. as countries emerge from lockdown we are discovering the true cost of the corovirus pandemic. the uk has recorded its largest monthly contraction ever. latest figures show the economy

shrank by more than a fifth in april, as the country spent it's first full month in lockdown. the slump of 20 point 4% in economic growth is three times larger than the decline seen during the whole of the financial crisis 12 years ago. the uk is not alone. in germany the cabinet has just agreed another economic stimulus package, worth $145 billion, to mitigate the fallout from the crisis. in the us, consumer confidence has perked up from the record lows of the past few months. but the federal reserve has warned of a further sharp decline in economic activity, and warned the us faced an uncertain recovery. in italy, prime minister giuseppe conte has been questioned by prosecutors after relatives of covid—i9 victims demanded an inquiry into alleged government negligence. they argue virus hotspots should have been isolated earlier. let's get more details now on the economic situation here in the uk. our economics editor faisal islam has this report.

the massive hit to the economy is no surprise when streets are silent. shops are closed, factories are idle and tens of billions in sales don't happen because they cannot. but such a slump on this scale in one month isn'tjust a record, it was unimaginable and way beyond any normal scale. marlow zoo is one example of a leisure attraction was shut down is seen in these numbers. april had easter this year so we were expecting about 70,000 guests to come here to enjoy the zoo and in the end we got nobody. whilst we were expecting £1.8 million in terms of visitor income for the month, we didn't receive anything so disastrous for us. in april, the first full month of lockdown, the economy fell byjust over 20%, losing a fifth of its value and it means since the lockdown began in march, the uk economy has lost a quarter of its value, that is the cliff on this chart, making the financial crisis in 2008

resemble a small blip. the question is where do things go from here? for a dynamic, creative economy we depend so much on human contact and we have been badly hit by this but we are also amazingly resilient and creative and we will bounce back. there was a report that came out a couple of days ago from the 0ecd, that group of industrialised nations, suggesting the drop in gdp for this year for the uk would actually be worse than for every other industrialised nation so we are in a very difficult situation as a country. in 0xfordshire, an airfield tens of billions worth of vehicles waiting for the showrooms to sell again. and in turn winning the car factories will be far from full tilt. so this is what those grim numbers look like in reality. up and down the country, storage areas, airfields and ports

full of unsold cars. in april, a 99.7% fall in car sales. the challenge now, as lockdown starts to ease, is will it actually return to normal? will these cars actually sell or is the economy fundamentally damaged? for the moment the government is focusing on a gradual reopening stuff for example, of the housing market. we are just starting to recover and i believe it will take until the end of the year to come close, whether we will even get there but i feel positive that there is enough people who want to move and if there is enough people who want to move then people will sell and people will buy. and there is much lost ground to make up in the gym is also with the added challenge of whether people will use them in a new normal. the fitness sector has proved before it is particularly resilient in a recession and i think we will benefit greatly from the

tailwind provided by the pandemic. we have never seen a weaker month, the economy far from fighting fit. the question isjust how long the process of rehabilitation will take. new york governor andrew cuomo has signed an executive order requiring hundreds of police departments across the state to implement a series of reforms to address the use of force, police bias and other issues that have triggered widespread anti—racism protests. mr cuomo said departments must "reinvent and modernise" to battle systemic racism and qualify for state funding. if there is no trust, the police can't effectively police. the community is not if there is no trust, the community is not going to allow the police to police. and there is no trust or there is a breach of the trust and that has to be restored and repaired. and the only way to do it is to get in a room, get to the table, let everyone say their piece and let's figure it out community by community all across the state.

let's speak now to mark griffith, director of the brooklyn movement centre, and long—time campaigner for police reform. he joins us now from new york. welcome to you. thank you very much for being with us. what do you make of these reforms? well, i mean, i mostly happy. we have been fighting for some of these for a long time. when i say we, i mean the brooklyn movement centre, police reform which isa movement centre, police reform which is a coalition from groups from throughout new york city that has come together, they have been fighting for these for quite a long time. because the political moment is right another government —— governor has political cover, we are happy. we have been fighting for two parts of that legislation that he announced. so, you know, i don't wa nt to announced. so, you know, i don't want to certainly don't want to disparage the progress we've made only say that there are... a lot

more has to be done. when we talk about changing what the police department looks like and how it treats black and brown people in this city and in this country, we recognise that this is just the tip of the iceberg. these are just small measures in what has to be a long—term sort of dismantling of the incarceration system and the policing system that we know today. andrew cuomo talked about the battle to fight systemic racism within the police force, he said they have to do that to qualify for state funding, so there are going to be measures where these police forces will have to prove they have changed, what they? well, so he says. i don't think that the bar is going to be all that high. it never has been for police departments in this country. usually the police departments and their unions get to dictate what the terms of the conversation are. so dictate what the terms of the conversation are. so what you're

seeing in this country is for the first time, some challenging of the way we have looked at policing in this country, and this assumption that what we need as far as public safety is more police, more law and order, and a recognition that that actually can contribute to unsafe streets and violence and actually death and destruction to black and brown people. so andrew comeau recognises being a breach of trust, he says that has to be restored clearly with you and with many other people, what specifics do you want to see now going forward? he has made this gesture, if you will. he said there is a commitment, what you actually want to see happen? well, so much more. for one thing, what we are talking about in new york city is disinvestment or defunding new york city police. that is not you know, we are talking about taking $1 billion away from a 6 billion

bloated budget and putting it towards programmes and restorative measures and initiatives in new york city that are actually going to keep us city that are actually going to keep us safe, they are going to protect us, they will keep us healthy and are us, they will keep us healthy and a re really us, they will keep us healthy and are really going to be doing thejob that police are often times asked to do but really have no business trying to do. so that's one thing thatis trying to do. so that's one thing that is immediately on the horizon, but as we go forward, the list of reforms, there are too many to mention, and what i would say that we are trying to do is to make sure that our police department are shrunk and that we systematically realign our resources and our values towards being neighbourhood safe in a way that doesn't necessarily include the police. thank you for your thoughts, thank you for being with us on bbc news. thank you. thank you, great to be here. police in hong kong have arrested 35 people during a demonstration commemorating the one—year anniversary of a major protest that

marked a turning point in the successful bid to stop an extradition bill. hundreds of people gathered at points across the city, including inside the sha tin new town plaza, which has previously seen violent clashes between protestors and police. public gatherings are currently banned in hong kong due to the coronavirus pandemic and armed riot police were seen calling on protestors to disperse, but the protests remained peaceful. 0ur reporter danny vincent has more. a year ago today, thousands of hong kong residents took to the streets. they were united in opposition againstan they were united in opposition against an extremely controversial law, an extradition bill which many people felt the rights of hong kong people felt the rights of hong kong people were slowly being eroded. today, the anniversary when tear gas and rubber bullets were fired at protesters, people across the city are gathering again, calling for freedom for hong kong. they are chanting and demanding change in the

city. chanting. year ago, chanting and demanding change in the city. chanting. yearago, many people who took to the streets were calling for five demands. tonight, some of the chance have changed. many people are now calling for hong kong independence. it's peaceful here tonight in this corner of the city, but the people have taken to the streets are taking a risk, because more than 8000 people have been arrested since this time last year, and they fear that the people that are here tonight could also perhaps be charged. danny benson in hong kong there. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: they play a central role in royal celebrations, how these horses are getting back in shape, for a more subdued queen's birthday.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines. the uk economy shrank by 20%

in april due to the coronavirus lockdown, the largest monthly contraction on record. figures due out shortly in brazil are expected to show that its death toll from coronavirus has now overtaken that of the uk, putting it second globally behind only the us. presidentjair bolsonaro has played down the dangers of the pandemic, replaced medical experts in the health ministry with military officials and argued against lockdowns to fight the virus. the world health organization says some intensive care units in brazil are at a critical stage. the situation in brazil is of concern. all 27 areas are affected. we've seen different rates of infection, there are clear hotspots and heavily populated areas. there are different impacts in different populations. we have seen the impact of the numbers. 0verall, populations. we have seen the impact of the numbers. overall, the health system is still coping in brazil.

dr eduardo gomez is associate professor at the college of health, lehigh university in pennsylvania and has been following the brazilian figures closely: welcome to you, thank you very much for being with us. ijust read out a whole list of things that are happening in brazil, not least that their president is being obstructive, some would say, in trying to sort out the situation, but in your view, what has gone wrong there? basically, what's gone wrong there? basically, what's gone wrong there? basically, what's gone wrong there is lack of political commitments, a national government commitments, a national government commitment to solving a situation. you have a president that hasn't seen the coronavirus is something serious. similar to what we saw with trump, he saw it as the flu, something that's not very serious. at the same time as you mentioned, he hasn't taken science seriously. fired his first health minister over disagreements over social distancing. the next one resigned over disagreements over medicine to be used, the response, and the current health minister does not

have any medical scientific background whatsoever, he is a generalfrom the background whatsoever, he is a general from the military, background whatsoever, he is a generalfrom the military, and this is showing signs that he is just not committed to listening to the scientists. if we think about doctor felty still being present of the trump administration, that certainly hasn't occurred in brazil. at the bus —— at the same time, we are com pletely bus —— at the same time, we are completely opposed to governors —— he is opposed to governors and lockdown. governors have pushed for a lockdown and staying at home and practising social distancing. this administration has been completely against that idea, and the idea that ball snarl has put forth is that we need to save the economy, that we need to save the economy, that we need to save the economy, that we need to go back to jobs. so that's been the biggest problem going on right now is sort of lack of science, lack of agreement with the governors on returning to the economy. so that has been complicating and worsening the situation in many ways in brazil. president bolsonaro does have many supporters though, many believe he is right to prioritise the economy, doesn't he? well, yes, absolutely.

he isa doesn't he? well, yes, absolutely. he is a lot of supporters, a lot of conservatives. so certainly he has a great deal of support. he hasn't been popular in general. he saw was a large following from a lot of people that do agree with him that the time has come to open up the economy. given that we are expecting this because to come out and show that brazil has the second—highest death toll the world now, what could he be doing to try and bring this under control, or is it perhaps too late? certainly come of the priority is to work with the governors and encourage people to stay home. brazil is entering the winter phase now, so more people will be... a virus will be spreading work, right now commit is critical that he works and agrees with the governors encouraging people to stay—at—home, to wear masks, he's gone in public without wearing a mask. just providing resources which is the centre lies universal health care

system. especially in rural areas. they do need ventilators, they do need more beds, need more staff working these areas. these are the critical things that the president needs to do at this time. doctor, thank you so much for your thoughts. you might thank you very much. here in the uk, the sun newspaper has said it did not intend to "glorify" domestic abuse, following criticism for publishing an interview in which the former husband ofjk rowling defends physically abusing the harry potter author. campaigners and members of parliament have called the sun's decision to publish the interview dangerous and irresponsible. but in response, the sun has issued this statement.... the sun has a long history of standing up for abused

let's talk to dame vera baird, she's the victims commissioner for england and wales. welcome to come of things very much for being with us. first of all, what you make of that headline? well, the headline, just so we don't lose it in the put out by the sun is "i slappedjk, and i'm not sorry." i'm afraid it is really difficult to find out where the disapproval is in that front page at all. there is a tiny paragraph about it that says see tonto of violent acts. but that isn't what catches the eye, i have to say experience shows that if the sun really to say experience shows that if the su n really wa nts to say experience shows that if the sun really wants to point the finger

and possibly offer their bad behaviour they know exact how to do and it hasn't dented today for i'm afraid what it's done instead is to amplify if not promote the lack of concern that this individual has for domestic abuse, and it's pretty well seen, isn't it? i'm not sorry, doesn't matter, it's irrelevant, domestic abuse is not an important matter. that i think is extremely worrying. particularly worrying that they thought there was a population in the uk that would agree with that and want to read what he said. there are some that would argue that putting this on the front page and exposing it shows this person perhaps what they are and highlights theissue perhaps what they are and highlights the issue of domestic violence. is there any part of five that you would agree with? i don't think so. the real problem is, isn't it, is that it the real problem is, isn't it, is thatitis the real problem is, isn't it, is that it is amplifying this guy's view will, that it really doesn't matter. how is that going to affect at this time of all times, you know,

when domestic abuse charities are inundated with concerns, with complaints, with police for help by people who are locked down, literally, with their abuser 2a hours a day. it will escalate as abuse does when it's concentrated, and as we well know in the uk, there are two women a week who are killed by domestic abusers. so what it has a be rifle-e?“ 55,222 efi whet {£35 3——