after 100 days without football — premier league matches kick off in a few hours' time. but the games will be played behind closed doors with fans urged to watch on television at home. i shall be sitting in the lounge with the television on and a bottle of wine ready. we'll find out what games will now be like, forfans and players. the other stories this lunchtime: after his successful campaign about free school meals, england striker marcus rashford tells us there's more he wants to do, to help people in need: this is only going to be successful throughout the summer period, and then, we've bought ourselves an extra six weeks of time now,

to talk on and figure out what's next, and how we keep taking steps forward. inflation hit its lowest level forfour years in may — with the price of fuel seeing its biggest fall on record. the husband of a nurse who died after contracting coronavirus says his wife shouldn't have been allowed to work while she was heavily pregnant. and, one of the great snooker stars of the 1980s, willie thorne, has died at the age of 66. and in other sport later in the hour on bbc news, a twist in the newcastle takeover saga as an american businessman registers his interest in buying the premier league club.

good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. in a few hours time, the premier league will kick off for the first time since lockdown began. it's a moment millions of fans have been waiting for — but they'll have to stay at home to watch the rest of the season. all the games will be played behind closed doors. it is 100 days since we've had the top—flight game, and players have been training for the last few weeks. it comes as the england striker marcus rashford has vowed to continue speaking up for disadvantaged families — after he won the campaign for children in england to continue receiving free school meals over the summer. in other developments, the world health organisation has hailed the success of a drug trial by oxford university as a "lifesaving scientific breakthrough". dexamethasone is a cheap, widely available steroid which has shown

to be able to save the lives of seriously ill covid—i9 patients. we start with a look at how football is able to make a comeback this report from our sport correspondent andy swiss. ready for the big restart. matchday once again at villa park as football's 100 days of waiting is nearly over. this was the last time we saw the premier league. villa's game against leicester on march 9th. that was before the sport went into shutdown. now it's back with plenty of flags but no fans. the only ones inside here tonight will be projected on giant screens. i started to support aston villa... it is some a0 years since anne edwards missed a game at villa park but, like everyone this evening, she'll have to watch at home. i shall be sitting in the lounge with a television on, bottle of wine ready! all the family are villa fans. so in touch with the family and friends about it all.

but ijust really can't get my head round what it's going to be like. how much have you missed football over the past three months? just generally. 0h, terribly! life is so boring! while the premier league is finally back, and it is now frantically playing catch—up, the match here between aston villa and sheffield united, the first of 92 games injust six weeks. a finale to the season the like of which football has never seen before. premier league champions! manchester city. titleholders manchester city are also back tonight, against arsenal, but after such limited training, even their manager doesn't know what to expect. in germany and spain they have had, like, five or six weeks, and in the premier league, we have only had three weeks, three and a half. of course, we know it is not enough, but it is what it is. we are tired of screaming for help. we are tired of discrimination. but football is also addressing far bigger issues. a group of players have released this new antiracism message,

including raheem sterling. in training, teams have already shown their support for the black lives matter movement. it will be written on their shirts tonight, along with a badge to honour the nhs. it is really important to have black lives matter at this point, at this period of time, and what sport is doing, particularly football, around it, but also hand—in—hand with the idea that the nhs will be promoted on the shirts as well. alan hansen, a league championship winner. on the pitch the focus will turn to liverpool with their 30 year wait for the league title potentially over as soon as sunday, but for the entire sport, this extraordinary season is heading for an unprecedented finish. our sports news correspondent laura scott is here. hard to imagine what the experience is going to be like for players and

for fans is going to be like for players and forfans as is going to be like for players and for fans as well. exactly. you couldn't have predicted this some months ago. the fans will have to stay at home and they are being urged to do so. the broadcast experience will be different to anything we have had before. there will be some enhancements to what they will get. they have the option of having artificial crowd noise if they want it. if they don't, the noise inside the stadium will be quiet, you'll be able to hear the players and manager much more than ever before. there are some initiative some clubs are doing with fa ns initiative some clubs are doing with fans on big screens. some are having screens in the stands, and also some clu b screens in the stands, and also some club flags to bring the fan base into the stadium, but it will be incredibly different. and we have seenin incredibly different. and we have seen in lockdown the players have found their voice and they will be showing that tonight with their tributes to the nhs and the black lives matter movement. this is going to be football in a unique time, a hiatus of 100 days, but it will look and feel very different indeed.

and we'll hear more from marcus rashford and his interview with sally nugent later in this programme. meanwhile off the pitch, one of the premier league's biggest stars marcus rashford says he wants to do more to help those in need after winning a battle with the government to have a free school meal voucher scheme in england extended. at westminster, the government has been questioned about child poverty and has come under further criticism for its coronavirus policies. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley reports. the government has a growing to—do list with questions over its handling coming thick and fast. the prime minister and the pressure after being forced into a u—turn on free school meals in england. facing claims that he is out of touch with what the crisis means more people

around the country. last week the government was my own social mobility commission said 600,000 more children are living in poverty than in 2012. labour echoed fears from the watchdog that the current shutdown could make things even worse. they are really concerned that these projections were made before the impact of covid—19 and wa nt to before the impact of covid—19 and want to say that they expect that to push more families into poverty. it isa push more families into poverty. it is a serious issue. i'm sure that the prime minister would agree that an even higher child poverty rate would be an intolerable outcome from this pandemic. so, what is he going to to prevent it ‘s the government says its actions at the start of the crisis will help protect the vulnerable. 11 millionjobs protected by the coronavirusjob retention scheme, unlike anything done anywhere else in the world, £30 billion worth of business loans, and we intend to make sure that we minimise the impact of coronavirus

on the poorest kids in this country. not for the first time the prime minister accused labour of being unclear when it came to the return of schools but once again mrjohnson was pressed by opposition parties to do more. marcus rashford has shown more moral leadership in tackling poverty in a matter of days than this tory government has in the past decade of cuts. but, as he says, people are struggling all year round and more needs to be done. the snp wa nt and more needs to be done. the snp wantan and more needs to be done. the snp want an extra £20 a week added to the child element of universal credit. the response from the prime minister. this government has done everything we possibly can so far, to help families in need, to make sure that nobody is penalised for doing the right thing. there are significant questions facing the government in the next few weeks. how to get schools back in england, whether to relax the two metre rule, whether to relax the two metre rule, whether the guidance for people who had been shielding for months now can be changed. none of the answers

are easy. but some of these concerns that, after some high—profile u—turns, the government just that, after some high—profile u—turns, the governmentjust isn't on top of this crisis. the government ‘s decisions are under more scrutiny than ever. 0ur assistant political editor norman smith is in westminster. is that a continuing issue bubbling away at westminster, norman, the extent to which the government is managing to handle these crises? i'm sure many tory mps felt like pouring themselves a large gin and tonic and going few, after the u—turn by boris johnson, because it had become blindingly obvious to many of them that public sympathy lay overwhelmingly with marcus rashford and the government was just battering its head against a brick wall, but coupled with that relief, i think there is a nagging, grumbling on knees and disquiet, at the seeming lack of grip in downing street, the lack of leadership and

decision—making, and that is being shown not just in decision—making, and that is being shown notjust in the succession of u—turns we have seen but in two of the big covid questions looming ahead, won two metre rule and the other on schools and many tory mps saying on two metres, the prime minister just needs saying on two metres, the prime ministerjust needs to make a decision. the science is never going to be black and white. it is a judgment call and he needs to make it now, quickly, or else the british economy is going to be profoundly damaged. likewise on schools there isa similar damaged. likewise on schools there is a similarfeeling damaged. likewise on schools there is a similar feeling that there is a lack of a plan, how our school is going to get back in september? there is going to have to be some sort of movement, either to provide more classes, or more teachers, or to relax the class sizes, otherwise we are going to be in precisely the same position so it is not that tory mps are picking up pitchforks and marching on downing street, but there is a desire for the prime minister to start shaping events, rather than reacting to them. there's more evidence today

of the impact lockdown has had on the cost of living. inflation fell to its lowest level in four years last month, with the consumer prices index at 0.5%. but while the price of fuel saw its biggest fall on record, the cost of food increased. 0ur economics correspondent andy verity reports. it was a record drop in the price of petrol that drove inflation down to its lowest in four years. a litre of unleaded drop by 17% in may to an average of £1.06 a litre, cutting transport costs for those companies still doing business. the last time the cost of living rose by this little as four years ago and back then the reason was oil, and it was an then the reason was oil, and it was a n excess then the reason was oil, and it was an excess of supply then with the world producing far more than it needed. this time it has been a big cut in demand, with far fewer cars travelling and streets quiet, there is less need for oil, and therefore the price drops. while the price of

services rose, the average price of goods fell in may by 0.9%. behind those price falls by consumers is a world of pain for retailers. this upmarket boutique in central london has just reopened with steamy love clothing and social distancing in place. it survived lockdown by selling online but it has done barely one quarter of its normal business. a lot of retailers have heavily discounted stuff, we have had some product at 20 and 30% off, as we have not been able to sell as much during the season, so the first most important month, so we have to generate cash flow, so we have to do discounting. the cost of living is rising far more slowly than the bank of england ‘s 2% target so economists expect even lower inflation to come, leading the way for the bank to boost economic activity. i think the bank of england will prime the printing press once more, announcing more quantitative easing, perhaps £100

million, or even £150 billion, and i think that isjust million, or even £150 billion, and i think that is just going to be the start of it. the bank will have to do much more than that over the course of the next year, and will probably keep interest rates at near zero levels for the best part of five years. while inflation may have dropped to its lowest since 2016, lower pay for furloughed workers and self—employed people means that the average real wage after inflation now is less than it was a year ago. living standards had begun to improve before coronavirus struck and now, once again, they are falling. andy verity, bbc news. yesterday saw the highest number of daily confirmed cases globally since the pandemic began. infections in brazil are continuing to rise dramatically. nearly 35,000 new cases were reported yesterday, a daily record for the country. and more than 115,000 people have died in brazil with the disease. 0ur correspondent katy

watson is in sao paulo. grim statistics continuing to get worse. you mentioned the figures. we are looking at in the next few days brazil hitting 1 million cases of coronavirus. just last week, it surpassed the death toll, we are now looking at more than 115,000 deaths. every few days here in brazil there isa every few days here in brazil there is a new, grim milestone reached. but the government seems to do very little. jair bolsonaro, yesterday, one of his official said yesterday that the virus was under control. last week he encouraged people to go to hospital to see the empty beds, because of his continual playing down of the virus. the world health 0rganization still says that brazil isa 0rganization still says that brazil is a major concern, and of course, this is a moment of crisis in brazil, but we are seeing here in

sao paulo, in rio dejaneiro, shops continuing to reopen, and that is a major concern, right at the peak of the crisis or whether we have reached a peak or not, the country has started to open up once again. more than a thousand flights into and out of beijing have been cancelled, as officials in china try to contain a fresh outbreak of coronavirus. another 31 cases have been reported in the city. schools which had begun to re—open have been ordered to close again and residents have been urged not to leave. from beijing, stephen mcdonnell reports. beijing is now inside a huge coronavirus prevention bubble. it's very difficult for anyone to leave the city. you need to have completed a virus test over the past seven days. but limited testing capacity is being diverted to high—risk groups who are all prohibited from departing under any circumstances. 1,255 flights into and out of beijing were cancelled today.

all schools are now closed again. translation: when i got up this morning our dormitory manager said "you're going home today." how do i feel? i think it's good that i'm going home. translation: i'm leaving now because the outbreak is serious and i'm really afraid of being infected so i wanted to escape back home as soon as i can. the beijing outbreak has been traced back to the enormous xinfadi wholesale market which supplies 80% of the city's vegetables and meat. 200,000 people have visited there in recent weeks. they're all expected to report for testing, then go into home quarantine. in addition, hundreds of thousands of residents who live near the market aren't allowed to leave their housing estates. a key difference between this time and the initial coronavirus outbreak is that for the moment businesses and government departments are remaining open. the authorities are trying to isolate this cluster within key pockets of the population,

hoping to avoid a full blown second wave without having to shut down this city of more than 20 million people. stephen mcdonnell, bbc news, beijing. our top story this lunchtime. after 100 days without football — premier league matches kick off in a few hours' time — but the games will be played behind closed doors and coming up — back on track the visitor attractions preparing to re—open after lockdown. coming up in the sport later in the hour on bbc news, the 100 metre world champion christian coleman is provisionally suspended after missing a drugs test. the american could now miss the olympics next year. the footballer marcus rashford has said he wants to do more to help people in need, following his successful campaign

to persuade the government to extend the free school meals scheme in england to cover the summer holidays. the manchester united and england striker has raised more than £20 million during lockdown, to help feed disadvantaged children. he's been speaking to sally nugent about what else he'd like to achieve. when you heard the news, how surprised were you? yeah, i was obviously shocked. it's a big decision for someone to make. and, you know, i'm just grateful that the prime minister did change his decision. and, you know, he understood. and, you know, i spoke to him earlier on today and just thanked him for that. and, you know, it was a nice conversation to have with him and just that we understood each other. how did that chat go? and what does it...does he phone up and say, "hi, marcus, it's boris"?

no, it was just, obviously saying thank you for, you know, using what i've sort of built in a positive manner. and, you know, it sort of was just thanking each other, really, because he didn't have to do what he done and neither did i. so, you know, he wasjust grateful that someone had basicallyjust had an opinion and shared it with people and, you know, just been that voice for people that didn't really have the platform to speak out as much as they would like to. it's a nice feeling, but i'm just more happy that, you know, people's lives and, you know, people's summers especially are going to be changed for the better. and, you know, that was the important thing that i tried to change going into it. and, you know, coming out the end of it, now, it's something that, it's obviously a proud, proud moment. your mum, obviously, we talked at length about your mum the other night. what's she said to you about the decision? yeah, she's rung me about ten times today! no, she's just very happy.

and, you know, if someone when she was going through it, if somebody would have spoke out about it then, maybe the situation would have been different. and i think she's just happy that now people that are going through it, you know, people are aware of that now and they're going to try and help them as much as they can. so she's just happy that, you know, we're taking steps in the right direction. and when you started this campaign, i think it was only five days ago. who were you thinking of? were you thinking of your family or was there, you know, were you just thinking of, you know, the families of fans? who was it in your mind? just, you know, obviously, the areas that i've grew up in, i know a lot of different people and a lot of families that would have still been going through it now. it's not so much about my family any more because obviously the situation's changed. and ijust don't want people to go through the same things. and it's just important to understand where the place that i come from, my background.

and then it's quite simple, really, that the reason why i would try and help people that are in that situation. you now have a really powerful voice. you've achieved this incredible thing in such a short space of time. you have a platform, a lot of attention focused on you. what is your next focus? now you've done this, what's next? i think obviously this is only going to be successful throughout the summer period. and then, you know, we've bought ourselves an extra six weeks of time to sort of plan and figure out what's next and how we keep taking steps forward because i don't want this to be the end of it, you know, because there's definitely more steps that need to be taken. the husband of a nurse who caught coronavirus days before she died, has accused a hospital of behaving irresponsibly by allowing her to continue working

at the start of the pandemic, when she was heavily pregnant. mary ajjyapong, who was 28, died shortly after her daughter was delivered. in his first interview, mary's widower ernest has been speaking to our correspondent sima kotecha. come on, bubba. a year ago, mary encouraging her son aj to walk. yay! sometimes he will wake you up in the middle of the night and tell you, iwant mummy. and at that point in time, there is nothing i can say to him. she was just 28 and leaves behind a son and a daughter, who was delivered by emergency caesarean section just days before she died. she was very kind. she was very genuine. we know men are not perfect. everybody's not perfect. but mary was.

mary was a nurse at the lewton and dunstable hospital in bedfordshire. she was diagnosed with coronavirus in early april and died a week later. her husband says she shouldn't have been working at the hospital because she was heavily pregnant. this was before the government had issued guidance for expectant mums. when mary passed, i had a call from one of the junior reps and confidently told me that, ok, you know what, i actually met mary on the ward and i told her, mary, it's not safe for you. you need to get out of here. but she said she couldn't help it. she was helpless. the nhs trust responsible for the hospital says the first patient to have tested positive for coronavirus wasn't admitted onto her ward till after mary had gone on sick leave with pregnancy related problems.

while holding his newborn, ernest says he doesn't believe that was the case. we find it a bit difficult to comprehend, because even at the time mary was off sick, some of her colleagues were even self isolating. in a statement, the trust says, "we are extremely saddened to lose mary. we have carried out a full internal review into the circumstances surrounding her death, and we are confident that she received the best possible care and support from the trust." it also says, "we have sent our deepest condolences to mr boateng and are currently working through a number of issues he has raised." do you think that your anger that you're feeling at the moment, that you are perhaps taking that out on the trust? for me, i think mary was not treated fairly. her family has not been treated fairly.

and for that matter, i believe my voice is what i have now. mary, at her son's second birthday last year, dancing with her father, who died from suspected coronavirus five days before she did. sima kotecha, bbc news. as lockdown restrictions are gradually eased across the uk, theme parks, museums and other venues are working out how they can re—open safely.