this is bbc news. i'm david eades with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. a damning allegation from president trump's former national security adviser. john bolton claims the president asked china's leader to help him win re—election. rayshard brooks, shot in the back as he fled police in atlanta, georgia — the officer who killed him is charged with murder. the possible sentences for a felony murder conviction would be life, life without parole, or the death penalty. germany orders 7,000 people into quarantine after 400 workers test positive at a coronavirus outbreak at a large abattoir. a driving lesson

in history — we speak to the woman who was chauffeur to general de gaulle during his exile in london 80 years ago. hello and welcome to audiences across the uk and around the world. the image is of an american president pleading with his chinese counterpart to help him win re—election. in a new book called ‘the room where it happened', president trump's former national security adviser, john bolton, claims the president urged xi xinping to help, by ensuring china imported american crops, when they met at a summit last year. the department ofjustice is seeking an emergency court order to stop publication.

isa is a president lying? yes, he is and it's not the first time either. how would you describe his relationship with vladimir putin? i think that vladimir putin? i think that vladimir putin can play him like a fiddle. he is smart, tough and not faced with a serious adverse story here. it is not worried about donald trump. donald trump, as we say, sees himself as a dealmaker. what happened to the dealmaker in these situations? the president may be a superb dealmaker when it comes to manhattan real estate, dealing with arms limitation treaties dealing with strategic weapons and dealing with many, many other international security issues, i think is far removed from his life experience. when you are dealing with someone like vladimir putin, who has made his life understanding russia's

strategic position in the world, against donald trump, who does not enjoy reading about these issues or learning about these issues or learning about them, it is a very difficult position for america. as for the president himself? speaking to the us network, fox news, president trump said john bolton's attempt to publish the book broke the law. terrible, terrible thing that he did but he broke the law. very simple. as much as it is going to be broken, this is highly classified. this is highly classified. this is highly classified. this is highly classified information and he did not have approval. but he has come out now very loud and strong. let's get the latest from our north america correspondent, david willis. it feels like a battle royal shaping up again once again, jamming allegations laid up but the key in a sense is what sort

of impact it will have across the us —— damning allegations was a low good question, david and apart from the fact that the white house attempt to block the publication or the release of the book seemed futile, given the fact that so many extracts have been leaked to the newspapers and news media. many will be left scratching their heads and wondering well this actually have any impact on the president ‘s re—election campaign? true, we see a lot here that is unorthodox, a regular if you like, but we have seen a lot of that already, haven't we? played out in real time before our very eyes. is this any more unusual than what we have been used to over the last 3.5 years? certainly, the revelation from john bolton that the president attempted to lean on the

chinese premier, president xi jinping, trying to get him re—elected, but not perhaps for donald trump and his supporters really will not be worried that the president for example is saying that journalists the president for example is saying thatjournalists should be executed and sent to jail. extraordinary comments there. john bolton, fairly high profile compared to others are laid out allegations, he has been around a long time, a tough old not but he is also a bit of a maverick. 0nly tough old not but he is also a bit of a maverick. only the democrats will be saying, thanks very much, john. absolutely. he is a hardliner when it comes to foreign policy and somebody who advocated the invasion, the us invasion of iran and so on and very much a hawk when it comes to foreign policy. something that donald trump is very well aware of when he became, when he made

john bolton his third national security advisor. there are those on the left. 0ur criticising the publication of the book, including the house representative adam schiff he said thatjohn bolton, he declined of course to provide testimony to donald trump's impeachment enquiry, should have come forward at that time are given information that he had fingertips instead of saving it for this rather cosy deal. 'the room where it happened! deal. 'the room where it happened'. we will see if it gets published. thank you, david. a former police officer in the us state of georgia has been charged with murdering rayshard brooks, the african—american man shot twice in the back as he fled two white officers in atlanta. garrett rolfe, who was sacked from the force shortly after the killing, could face the death penalty if found guilty. he also faces 10 other charges. this report from our north america correspondent, nick bryant. it started out as a routine call — an african—american

reported asleep in his vehicle in the car park of a fast food restaurant in atlanta, georgia. what's up, my man? step out with me, please? yes, sir. rayshard brooks was asked by police to take a sobriety test. then he suggested he walk to his sister's home nearby. i canjust go home. i have my daughters there right now. my three — my daughter's birthday was yesterday. alright, mr brooks. blow, blow, blow, blow, blow... but, after he failed a breath test, the police decided to take him into custody. that is when a fight broke out in which he seized and fired one of the officers' tasers. stop fighting, stop fighting! you're going to get tased, you're going to get tased! during a brief chase, he pointed the taser at the officer, who responded by fatally shooting him in the back. tonight, prosecutors revealed shocking new details that garrett rolfe, the officer who killed rayshard brooks, had kicked him on the floor afterwards, and the other officer, devon brosnan, stood on his shoulders.

neither offered any medical help for two minutes. in announcing a felony murder charge against 0fficer rolfe, georgia's attorney—general showed a photograph of that kick, and stressed rayshard brooks did not pose a serious threat that justified the use of lethal force. the demeanour of the officers immediately after the shooting did not reflect any fear or danger of mr brooks, but their actions really reflected other kinds of emotions. faced with such massive and multiracial black lives matter protests, prosecutors are moving more swiftly to bring charges. what makes this case so especially alarming is that, even at a time of heightened racial tensions, a white police officer thought he could shoot an african—american in the back and then kick him on the ground afterwards. it will increase the already urgent demands for a major overhaul of american policing. nick bryant,

bbc news, new york. tomika miller, widow of rayshard brooks, has been speaking about how she felt hearing details of what happened to her husband. i was very hurt. i didn't imagine being there, 'cause i don't know what i would have done if i would have seen that for myself. but i felt everything that he felt, just by hearing what he went through. and it hurt — it hurt really bad. let's get some of the day's other news. the united states has pulled out of international talks aimed at finding a fair way to tax digital giants such as google, apple, facebook and amazon. the move increases the chances of washington imposing new tariffs on countries that were considering digital services taxes, including the uk. a new report warns that social media platforms like facebook and youtube may pose a health

risk, because they spread conspiracy theories about coronavirus. the study, from kings college in london, found that people who get their news from social media appear more likely to break lockdown rules. scotland's first minister is set to announce a further easing of the country's lockdown rules. the move is likely to set a date for when shops selling non—essential goods can reopen to customers. people are also expected to be allowed to meet in larger groups than the current limit of eight. there are different rules for all four nations in the uk. anti—racism campaigners appear to have won their fight to get a statue of the colonialist cecil rhodes removed from a college at oxford university. the governing body of 0riel college has voted in favour of taking it down. the monument has been the focus of a long—running campaign. several thousand people in north—west germany have been ordered into quarantine after a coronavirus outbreak

at a large abattoir. more than 650 workers have tested positive. authorities have also ordered local schools and nurseries to shut down again. 0ur reporter freya colejoins me. first of all, you better update us on first of all, you better update us on where we first of all, you better update us on where we are at first of all, you better update us on where we are at with this because many people are working there? it happened at a facility in gutersloh, in north—west germany, and not the first outbreak in an abattoir in germany and around the world but in this setting case, the owner of the plans have been taken out owner of the plans have been ta ken out routine owner of the plans have been taken out routine tests and 650 at the very least have returned at the very least have returned a positive result for covid—i9. the centre has now been temporarily shut down and workers told go home and quarantine along with anyone they have come in close contact with. thousands of other workers are still waiting to be tested or waiting for results so tested or waiting for results so that number is most likely

to increase. a spokesperson for the company has apologised and as you say local authorities have decided as a precaution it's best to close local schools and kindergartens. clearly, it something to do with the working conditions, where the workers also work and leave because it's not as if it is confined just to germany, is that? not the first in germany at least four other abattoirs where clusters have been traced back to the meat processing facilities, happening in the united states, in europe, in australia and the thing is, in western countries, abattoirs rely on cheap, migrant labour and in germany for example many are coming in from eastern european countries like romania are most likely on a temporary contract which does not have sick leave. they are most likely in staff accommodation, most likely overcrowded which makes it hard to self isolate. there are many issues at play

and because meat workers have been deemed essential key workers throughout this pandemic and forced to work in a factory where they cannot stay i— a factory where they cannot stay 1— two metres away, it is a problem. abattoirs are like an incubator for covid—i9. thank you very much. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: a warning from a leading theatre producer that some of the biggest productions won't reopen in london's west end this year. there was a bomb in the city centre. a code word known to be one used by the ira was given. army bomb experts were examining a suspect van when there was a huge explosion. the south african parliament has destroyed the foundation of apartheid by abolishing the population registration act, which for 40 years, forcibly classified each

citizen according to race. just a day old, and the royal baby is tonight sleeping in his cot at home. early this evening, the new prince was taken by his mother and father to their apartments in kensington palace. germany's parliament, the bundestag, has voted by a narrow majority to move the seat of government from bonn to berlin. berliners celebrated into the night, but the decision was greeted with shock in bonn. the real focus of attention today was valentina tereshkova, the world's first woman cosmonaut. what do you think of the russian woman in space? i think it's a wonderful achievement and i think we might be able to persuade the wife it would be a good idea if i could to get her to go up there for a little while. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: a damning allegation from john bolton: he claims president trump asked china's leader to help him win re—election. a white police officer who fatally shot an african—american man in the state of georgia has

been charged with murder. one of the world's most successful figures in theatre, sir cameron mackintosh, has said his productions will not return to the london west end this year. he says the decision was taken because of uncertainty about when the government would withdraw social distancing measures. sir cameron is the producer behind major shows as les miserables, mary poppins and hamilton. a new report has warned that the uk could see 400,000 job losses across the arts industry, as well as a $93 billion loss in annual revenue across the arts industry. the west end theatre company, nimax theatres, which owns six venues, is making some of its staff redundant. it's thought around 130 jobs are at risk. joining me now from new york is peter marks. he's the theatre critic for the washington post. thank for the washington post. you very much indeed fo|

joining thank you very much indeed for joining us. cameron mackintosh has really laid out the scale here, and a sort of sense of powerlessness about what to do about it. presumably there is no difference on the other side of the water. indeed, and actually, cameron's announcement was a welcome acknowledgement of reality, which has been absent on broadway. there is a sense of paralysis here, not knowing when or how theatre can start up when or how theatre can start up again. at the moment, it is shut down till september but nobody believes that it is going to be starting any time around then or even in the months following. i wonder this then, because while the theatre world, the creative arts industry can say, government, you have to tell us when we can start moving again, we all know thatis start moving again, we all know that is a very difficult thing to do because of the uncertainty, and president situation we are in. judgement

unprecedented. what can the editors do? what can productions do to bring an audience back again? there must bea audience back again? there must be a lot of creative thinking going on? yes, there is creative thinking going on, and a lot of that has to do with digital transmission of theatre, which is not exactly theatre, which is not exactly the same thing. you mentioned hamilton, and disney is going to start streaming a film version of the musical hamilton in earlyjuly, moving it up by about 17 months from its original release date, because there is such a hunger out there. but there are not a lot of alternatives for these large spaces, these 1500 seat theatre is that require 90% of the seeds to be sold to be make any money. there is no economy of scale that allows them to scale down and listen idea of people sitting six feet apart in those spaces just really doesn't fly

asa spaces just really doesn't fly as a solution, so we are in for as a solution, so we are in for a very long, difficult whole. it is the cliche, the show must go on. at the moment, that cannot happen. but can the industry go on under those circumstances? what on earth?|j know, circumstances? what on earth?” know, that is the question. i don't think that a solution has been come up with, and maybe thatis been come up with, and maybe that is why there has been so much silence from producers and theatre owners in this country. the stopgap measures that are being taken are in programming that, for smaller theatres that are trying to figure out, and possibly out for productions. —— outdoor. there is some indication the transmission of covid—19 is diminished outdoors and summers may be the prime time now for the other in this country. this isn't a very popular thing to say, but could there be a reality that the return to theatre means half the number of seats at twice the number of seats at twice

the price? that is a formula for absolute extinction stop there is just no way that this form can afford to charge any more than it has. i dare say that if anything, they have to figure out way to discount further because part of the problem is you have got to make yourforum, the problem is you have got to make your forum, the this live entertainment more desirable than people thinking they can watch movies on netflix or even theatre productions on netflix. those things are going to have to be overcome and it is not by charging more and i don't know that there is yet a consensus or even a good plan for how to reconfigure theatres to make them covid—19 acceptable. reconfigure theatres to make them covid-19 acceptable. a very difficult challenge indeed. thank you very much indeed.

president macron will travel to london today for ceremonies to mark the 80th anniversary of charles de gaulle's famous bbc broadcast urging the people of france to resist the nazi occupation. while general de gaulle was in the uk, a young english woman was his driver. now a 101—year—old, 0livia jordan told us how she came to be the driver for the french wartime leader. he was tall, good—looking... very impressive. he always made use of all that, and rather frightened people. sort of looked down at them, you know! very few british people spoke

french, and i was very lucky because i had had a french governess who spoke french to me. my french wasn't too bad then. it was a big, black car, looks rather impressive. nobody had smartcards in those days. and i sat in front and just... they used to say, take us to so—and—so, that sort of thing, and finally enough, i was fairly good at it. —— finally

—— funnily. i think he was a very good figurehead, but he was no good at organising it himself. i think his wife was rather better than him! she was sweet. i say it now, i rather enjoyed the war because of that. in that i had an interesting job, i knew exactly what was going on. and it was terribly exciting for me when he got rather better. some distant memories coming out there. this is a fossil that probably belong to a giant sea reptile that lived alongside dinosaurs.

it isa that lived alongside dinosaurs. it is a soft shelled egg that was discovered in antarctica a decade ago, but for years, scientists couldn't identify it and gave it the nickname 'the thing'. it has been suggested it could be a deflated egg. football is back in england. after a 100—day absence due to the coronavirus, the english premier league kicked off with aston villa taking on sheffield united. for all the hype, the opening match ended with a 0—0 draw. then continuing their form before the league shutdown, manchester city then easily defeated arsenal 3 goals to 0. before each game, players observed a minute's silence to remember those who have died in this outbreak. then just before kick—off, the players shifted the attention to another important issue — the black lives matter movement. in a moment of solidarity, players and referees all took a knee, a sign of respect that has been used across the world for george floyd, who was killed while in police custody

when an officer had his knee on his neck. and as you can see, all the players' names have been replaced with 'black lives matter‘ on the back of their shirts, again, as a sign of solidarity. 0ur sports editor dan roan was at the game in manchester. i was one of 300 people granted access denied. it will get some use to. it is a surreal experience watching a premier league game with no fans being able to hear the players talk and shout to each other, having to have temperature checks on arrival, and many watching at home on tv or listening on the radio will find it a very strange and surreal experience as well, perhaps on the premier league that they have grown to love. many others will be delighted that it has managed to find a way back into action. it is more notable tonight perhaps for the players taking a knee and reinforcing once again the sense that it these two great forces, the pandemic and protests across the world over racism, football has

finally found its voice. a lot of matches coming up as well. a letter written by both vincent van gogh and paul gaugin to a mutual friend has sold at auction for $236,000. in it, they describe living and working together in the french city of arles in late 1888. they also outline their visits to the city's brothels — to paint, of course. the letter will be one of a0 documents to go on display at an exhibition at the van gogh museum in amsterdam later this year. coming up in the business news: the environment has been one of the few areas to benefit from the global economic slump. but can we hold on to ourcleanerair as the world gets back to work? the un's energy experts are calling for massive global investment in everything from wind and solar projects to home insulation to cycle lanes to make sure 2019 was the peak in carbon emissions. we will be hearing from them

in a few minutes' time. hello there. it's been a very thundery week so far across the country thanks to the warmth and the humidity. and the next few days also look like we'll see more downpours. now, wednesday, we saw some pretty intense thunderstorms across parts of england. this lightning strike was captured by one of our weather watchers in leicestershire there. we also had some slow—moving downpours, which gave rise to a lot of rainfall falling in a short space of time, giving rise to some surface water flooding. some subtle changes to thursday morning. we've got an area of more persistent rain, which has been moving out to the near continent, and will push in to the midlands and south—east england to start thursday morning. it will be a muggy start for most, and we'll have further low cloud, mist and murk across some north sea coasts. now, as we move through the course of today, it looks like that area

of rain, some heavy bursts in it, will tend to move its way northwards, into northern england, parts of wales. much of scotland and northern ireland should see a fine day with some sunshine, bar the odd heavy shower towards the south. but it's southern wales and into central and southern england into the afternoon where we could see these further slow—moving, thundery downpours developing. these could be really heavy again, give rise to some flash flooding, and a lot of rainfall in a short space of time. now, it's going to be another warm and muggy day for most. temperatures reaching highs of 21 or 22 degrees, but always cooler along some north sea coasts. so these thunderstorms across the south of the country through the afternoon could cause some issues. stay tuned to your local radio, and to the latest weather forecast. as we move through thursday night, it looks like the thunderstorms will ease across the south. that rain will push its way westwards to parts of scotland and northern ireland by the end of the night, and we'll have quite a bit of low cloud, mist and murk across northern and eastern areas, so another muggy night to come. friday, quite a messy picture.

looks like we'll start off with that rain across the west, a lot of cloud around, but sunshine will break through into the afternoon. that will spark off some heavy, thundery downpours. this time, central northern and eastern areas perhaps look more favoured. again, it's going to be another warm and muggy day for most. then we see some big changes into the weekend. we lose the humidity and the thunderstorms into the near continent, and this area of low pressure will sweep in to bring stronger winds across the board, also a band of rain, which will move through saturday night into sunday. so windier, fresher conditions this weekend, with some rain at times. there'll also be some sunshine too.

this is bbc news with the latest business headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world: could carbon emissions be past their peak? energy experts call for massive investment in a sustainable recovery from the pandemic. plus, the money machine keeps on printing. the bank of england to pump another £100 billion or more into the financial system. we start with the environment. it's been one of the few areas to benefit from the global economic slump,

triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. carbon emissions have fallen sharply as much of the world's transport, construction and manufacturing ground to a halt for weeks on end. but how do we stop pollution soaring again as economies recover? today, the un's energy experts, the international energy agency, are calling for a sustainable recovery plan to make sure 2019 was the definitive peak in global emissions. the iea wants to see global investment of a trillion dollars a year from next year on everything from wind and solar projects to home insulation to cycle lanes. it's a vast sum on paper, but less than 1% of the world's economic output each year and the iea claims it would create or save around 9 millionjobs a year. joining me now from paris is dr fatih birol,

executive director of the unternational energy agency. doctor fatih birol, thank you indeed forjoining us in the early hours this morning. i wa nt to early hours this morning. i want to ask you first of all, do you simply see this as a great opportunity for an acceleration, and something you have been pushing for, for a good while? i think this is a once ina good while? i think this is a once in a generation opportunity because governments are about to make hugely consequential decisions about our future. consequential decisions about ourfuture. how? consequential decisions about our future. how? they consequential decisions about ourfuture. how? they are preparing recovery, stimulus packages, to boost the economy which we need dearly. how these economic packages will be designed, what kind of policies will be there will determine the future but also energy and

climate. as you mentioned, 2019 and 2020, emission numbers were not bad, especially this year, we expect figures to decline very steeply but there is a big risk that they will rebound with economic recovery and all of this gains will be lost. sorry to interrupt but how much risk is there, as much as we know, for example, the eu stimulus package, they are putting their green deal at the top of their priority list. if you want money to rebuild, it has to be going into green projects though it seems to be going in your direction? yeah, two things, first, risk is huge. when you look at the financial crisis in 2008, 2009, with all the same movie, the emissions declined but with

economic rebound in 2010, the increase was four times higher larger than the decline in the previous year. this is number one, the same as that scenario. coming to the eu, we are working with them and they are pa rt working with them and they are part of the recovery plan but the eu is only 8% of the global emissions. there is still 92%, china, india, africa, india and america, the plan encompasses the entire world and our policies help the economic growth and help create newjobs and they have to put the work ona and they have to put the work on a modern, resilient and cleaner energy future. so there is obviously a long time frame for this to work because as you say, as china begins to motor again, it is still dependent on

coal and that has not disappeared and some countries, even the uk, has had no coal for two months for power stations. there are some good stories, some bad. i'm the one is being positive and you are urging caution. how cautious do we need to be? we have to be extremely cautious. this decline this year in the emissions may be a once—in—a—lifetime opportunity to keep it there but we can only keep it there of the governments take the right actions, which are not costly by the way, and make 2019 as the peak emissions and put the world on a trajectory with the papyrus climate agreement. it's in the hands of the government —as in the hands of the government — as with the paris climate accord agreement. even

governments who do not believe in climate change at all, they need to put the policies we suggest, for instance, installation, just to boost the economy and create newjobs, evenif economy and create newjobs, even if they wouldn't care the climate quite peak c02, i wonder if we have had that. doctor fatih birol, thank you for joining doctor fatih birol, thank you forjoining us. let's go to asia now, where shares in massive chinese e—commerce retailerjd.com have begun trading in hong kong today. jd has been listed in new york since 2014, so this is a secondary listing. karishma vaswani is following that story from our asia business hub. secondary listing, insurance listing, karishma vaswani ? yeah, ithink listing, karishma vaswani ? yeah, i think it would be fair to say it like that and certainly that is the analysis around the reasons behind why china's e—commerce giant made this decision to debut on the hong kong stock market and to let audiences know, in the

first few minutes of trade, it jumped almost 6% on its debut and in hong kong it has clawed back some of the gains but still up. the firm as you say listed in the nasdaq and the insurance policy idea is because of the current tension between the united states and china and it's a hedge, potentially a hedge against any future delisting of any chinese companies in the united states. as we keep talking about on the programmes, chinese companies particularly in the tech sector are under greater scrutiny in the us because of these tensions between washington and beijing and many have chosen to list shares in hong kong also and as the vice president of jd.com retail arm told me, and as the vice president of jd.com retailarm told me, give this company access to a whole new set of investors. delisting in hong kong is important for the jd.com because this can

help us to not only promote our brand in the china area but it can also help those chinese investors, asian investing is to understand jd.com better and more clearer which can help is to gain trust from those investors. he was speaking to me about the firm 's decision to list in hong kong, coming against the backdrop of other chinese companies looking to list shares in hong kong and increasingly it is becoming a more attractive venue for chinese firms, partially because of the fact that in the united states, there are concerns that these companies are going to be under more scrutiny, especially as the case of a few companies that have shone the spotlight of many investors in chinese companies as to whether they

are being audited properly and those are the kinds of concerns we're seeing play out between beijing and washington and this is many analysts are saying thatjd.com has made the decision to list in hong kong stoplight seems to be working from the initial response. karishma, thank you. let's return to the uk now, where the bank of england announces its latest policy move in a few hours time. after a record 25% slump in britain's economy in march and april, it's widely expected to print billions more pounds to pump into the financial system. interest rates are already at virtually zero, 0.1%, but the bank has also warned it will consider taking them negative for the first time, although that's not expected today. joining me now is matthew 0xenford, europe analyst at the economist intelligence unit. thank you forjoining us, matthew, let's start with what we think will happen and that is pushing more cash into the

economy? absolutely. the bank of england began a £200 billion acid buying programme at the beginning of the crisis and there has been a sense that they may do more as the crisis wears on an economy to do poorly and after two embers of the monetary policy committee voted to do that in the last bank of england meeting in may it seems that jean bank of england meeting in may it seems thatjean will be the time that will continue that programme. to roughly what sort of sums, do you think? at least another £100 billion, that is what the mp3 members were looking at last time and it seems like the direction they will go. any indication that members of the committee will be saying that this far and no further, or is there for recognition they have to keep that option very wide open? the bank of england is basically trying to encourage very low borrowing rates with the government and the government can encourage fiscal spending,

they need to incur that to keep they need to incur that to keep the economy afloat during the period and that means buying government debt and making sure government debt and making sure government interest rates are low enough that they can continue to borrow, as they need to, to keep the economy alive. equal go tiny bit lower before going negative. why no move? the actual advocacy of negative interest rates may not be the best tool in this particular context. negative interest rates could stem it — a stimulate demand and stimulate lending but the reason businesses are not lending is because there is not enough demand because capital is too high and uncertainty around the pandemics are further lowering of interest rates is really only going to go so far in terms of actually stimulating the economy whereas buying government debt will allow fiscal policy to do that ina much allow fiscal policy to do that in a much more effective way. the danger is that if it looks like you can keep pumping money out there because interest rates are so close to zero, aren't we lucky, what a good

time to have that scenario? but of course the risks are huge?‘ lot of risk but a lot of risk comes from the pandemic itself and the response. if the economy, if we see that 20% decline in growth in april continue and not bounce back for the rest of the year, there is significant risk to the recovery and that is what driving the risk of financial risk rather than the bank of england response. matthew 0xenford, thank you forjoining us. ferries have continued to arrive and depart from uk ports during the pandemic, mostly filled with trucks and their drivers. passenger numbers have almost collapsed. now, as the summer holiday season approaches, ferry operator dfds is calling for clarity from the uk government on its controversial quarantine policy. 0ur transport correspondent tom burridge reports from the port of dover. we know we cannot rely on the british weather throughout the

summer so what will it be like on board a ferry if we travel abroad ina on board a ferry if we travel abroad in a few weeks time? from the moment you arrive in the port, to when you board the boat, you will stay in your car. you are effectively safe in yourcar in car. you are effectively safe in your car in your bubble but we need to come in contact through the security staff members of checking staff members of checking staff members you will see people wearing ppe, you will see extra sanitation in place and posters about two meet distancing as well. this demonstrates the key difference between travelling by train, plane, bus and by ship because on board there is a huge amount of space. 0nce out of your vehicle, you are directed to the toilets to wash your hands. when you board the ship and when you walk around, then he shall cover your face but if you get into an area like the restaurant and there is more space, well, it is up to you. and there will be even more space than usual. this boat can carry 1000 passengers.

but this summer, the maximum on—board will be about half of that. for now, it is mainly truckers and they are used to the rules. the face masks were e nforced the rules. the face masks were enforced last week so now dfds are forcing that we have to wear them all the time now. is that a good thing? is a good thing, yes. food is served, as you cross the channel and like everywhere else, you keep your distance from others. but by how much depends on where your boat is registered. these lines are one metre apart because thatis are one metre apart because that is the current french guideline for french distancing because this ship is registered in france and so it follows the rules there. this very company, like others, has lost money during the pandemic and they are desperate for clarity from the government on a question on many people 's minds. how

certain are you that people will be able to go on a summer holiday this year? we are not certain at the moment because the government has not made it clear how certain it is. we are hearing whispering people are confused as to whether they will be able to book or not and we would like the clarity to come out that people can book. despite the uncertainty, the firm is planning a full schedule throughout the summer. so there will be 27 crossings from dunkirk in calais, into dover, and 27 each day the other way. but, for the tourist traffic to pick up, the government will have to change its blanket advice against all but essential travel abroad and relax its travel quarantine. government sources have suggested that could come at the end of this month. then, summer holidays on the other side of the channel may happen. tom burridge, bbc news.

you are watching bbc news. thanks for being with us. a government minister has said the nhs coronavirus contact—tracing app is not a priority and may not be out by winter. the app, which has been trialled on the isle of wight, was initially expected to launch nationally weeks ago. it is still the government's intention to introduce it at some point. reductions in the cost of fuel, clothing and energy have pushed down the rate of inflation to its lowest level in four years. measured by the consumer prices index, which excludes housing costs, inflation fell to 0.5% last month from 0.8% in april. although the cost of food and drink did rise. downing street has confirmed that £900,000 is being spent to repaint the raf plane used by the prime minister in the colours of the union flag. borisjohnson had previously complained about the grey livery on the voyager,

which also provides transport for the royal family. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: a bombshell allegation from john bolton: he claims president trump asked china's leader to help him win re—election. a white police officer who fatally shot an african—american man in the state of georgia has been charged with murder. after nearly two months with no coronavirus infections, the chinese capital beijing is being placed under another lockdown. restrictions on movements have been reintroduced to try to contain a new outbreak, which emerged a week ago, and has been linked to the capital's largest wholesale food market. 0ur correspondentjohn sudworth looks at the latest theories about the origins of coronavirus, and what comes next for the authorities in beijing. wuhan — ground zero.

a city of 11 million people, through the streets of which an unseen, silent killer took its first steps late last year, and where the cemeteries hold the first to fall victim to its deadly effects. but six months on, the origin of this virus is still unclear. most scientists believe china's wet markets should be the focus. the virus, known to come initially from bats, was likely passed to humans, they say, via another species. do people in wuhan eat wildlife? "we don't have customs like that," he says. across town, though, this market, connected to some of the first virus cases, has been closed. wild animals were traded here, but the testing of samples has now ruled it out as the source.

but there is another theory. for more than a decade, wuhan has been at the forefront of a major project to collect bat viruses from remote chinese caves. as a result, there are few buildings in the world surrounded by as much controversy as this one right now, at the centre of the us president's accusation that the virus leaked from a lab. inside, researchers have been studying coronaviruses, and sometimes genetically altering them, to better understand, they say, how pandemics might arise. while the lab leak theory is dismissed by the chinese government and by some scientists as an outlandish conspiracy... we are told to stop filming. 0n state tv, the lab has dismissed the allegations of a leak. translation: this

is pure fabrication. we first received the sample on 30 december. before that, we didn't even know it existed. how could it have leaked from ourlab, when we never had it? scientists have looked at the structure of the virus itself, in particular, its protein spikes, which are unusually good for a coronavirus of this type at binding to human cells. this analysis by five experts in the field finds that it was not purposefully manipulated. ..a conclusion now widely accepted. to deny a possibility, when a scientist should always keep an open mind... but some scientists say it is flawed and based in part on accepting the lab's denials. one of those possibilities has to be

that this came out of a lab. you know, it's a possibility. we can't say it's not. and for my colleagues to say it's not, i'm a bit astounded, because you can't say a negative, and you know, certainly no—one's proved a negative here. china has been developing an origin theory of its own with state media and officials suggesting it may have come from elsewhere. it's an idea gaining traction in wuhan. "it came from the us," this man says. "they've tested the sequences. the us had it first." liu 0uqing, a former communist party official, died of coronavirus injanuary. 0n the banks of wuhan's east lake, i meet his son, liu pei'en. he's angry at china's handling of the outbreak, but says calls for an international inquiry offer little hope. translation: if china or the us investigate, the final result will come

from a group of politicians. it will be a report infected by politics. the origin of the virus is now meaningless to me. with wu han's lockdown receding into memory, the limits of science and the demands of politics may mean the biggest question is never answered — where did the virus come from? john sudworth, bbc news, wuhan. that is a big question. you don't need me to tell you... living during a pandemic is not easy. there's the fear of getting covid—19 of course, but also the isolation, the economic collapse, the sudden overhaul of our daily lives. how are our brains responding to the covid shock? we are processing this in fits and starts, i would say. in part, we are processing things very well

and we are adapting and people are coming up with all sorts of creative solutions to the many challenges of daily life and, in part, we arejust running really scared. we're looking over a cliff that we cannot see the bottom of it. and the uncertainty surrounding job losses, the economy, isolation and fear of getting the virus all lead to stress. when it's a stress that's ongoing, you are constantly aroused. your nervous system is going with the fight—or—flight syndrome, but there is no flight. you end up with your blood pressure higher than normal. it's much more difficult to process, cognitively even, and you find yourself distracted and worried and preoccupied, so all of these reactions are existing simultaneously in your body

and in your mind and you do not know and are trying to figure out how to sort all this out. and then there's the social isolation. we have never had to self—isolate like we have had today, and i do not think anybody alive has experienced something like this. prolonged self—isolation is definitely detrimental. we need people, we need human contact and, in the world where we do not have that, there is a risk for a number of disorders to become exacerbated. mood disorders, anxiety, depression and worry are all a function of prolonged social isolation. we can look at other pandemics and other epidemics and we can make predictions on how well we're going to do. the pandemic of 1918, eventually people started hugging again, holding rallies and shaking hands. 0ur memory of this will

fade as the risks fade. the brain at work. you are watching bbc news. hello there. it's been a very thundery week so far across the country thanks to the warmth and the humidity. and the next few days also look like we'll see more downpours. now, wednesday, we saw some pretty intense thunderstorms across parts of england. this lightning strike was captured by one of our weather watchers in leicestershire there. we also had some slow—moving downpours, which gave rise to a lot of rainfall falling in a short space of time, giving rise to some surface water flooding. some subtle changes to thursday morning. we've got an area of more persistent rain, which has been moving out to the near continent, and will push in to the midlands and south—east england to start thursday morning. it will be a muggy start for most, and we'll have further low cloud, mist and murk across some north sea coasts. now, as we move through the course of today, it looks like that area of rain, some heavy bursts in it, will tend to move its way northwards,

into northern england, parts of wales. much of scotland and northern ireland should see a fine day with some sunshine, bar the odd heavy shower towards the south. but its southern wales and into central and southern england into the afternoon where we could see these further slow—moving, thundery downpours developing. these could be really heavy again, give rise to some flash flooding, and a lot of rainfall in a short space of time. now, it's going to be another warm and muggy day for most. temperatures reaching highs of 21 or 22 degrees, but always cooler along some north sea coasts. so these thunderstorms across the south of the country through the afternoon could cause some issues. stay tuned to your local radio, and to the latest weather forecast. as we move through thursday night, it looks like the thunderstorms will ease across the south. that rain will push its way westwards to parts of scotland and northern ireland by the end of the night, and we'll have quite a bit of low cloud, mist and murk across northern and eastern areas, so another muggy night to come. friday, quite a messy picture. looks like we'll start off with that rain across the west, a lot of cloud around,

but sunshine will break through into the afternoon. that will spark off some heavy, thundery downpours. this time, central northern and eastern areas perhaps look more favoured. again, it's going to be another warm and muggy day for most. then we see some big changes into the weekend. we lose the humidity and the thunderstorms into the near continent, and this area of low pressure will sweep in to bring stronger winds across the board, also a band of rain, which will move through saturday night into sunday. so windier, fresher conditions this weekend, with some rain at times. there'll also be some sunshine too.

good morning. welcome to breakfast, with charlie stayt and naga munchetty. 0ur headlines today: beer gardens and lockdown in scotland. the first minister will announce whether coronavirus has been curbed enough to ease restrictions further. the oxford college at the centre of protests over a statue of colonialist cecil rhodes votes for it to be removed. travel quarantine and brexit on the agenda, as the prime minister welcomes the french president to london for a ceremony to commemorate the wartime alliance. good morning. thousands in the

tourism industry