the headlines: independence day in the us has been overshadowed by another big increase in coronavirus cases. the president faces a tough re—election campaign and is eager to mobilize his political base. at the celebrations he defended the nations past heroes. and at the washington monument in the capital, protestors from the black lives matter campaign group and pro—trump make america great again demonstrators gathered in large numbers as a huge fireworks display was taking place. 200,000 people are back in lockdown in part of spain's catalonia region after a sharp rise in infections in segria, a zone that includes the town of lleida, some 150 kilometres west of barcelona. a major easing of the coronavirus lockdown has taken place in england, with many restaurants, and hotels able to re—open. pubs also opened for the first time in three months, but there are reports that social distancing became harder to enforce as the day wore on.

many of the uk's theme parks and resorts reopened on saturday, with significantly reduced capacity and social distancing measures in place. chessington world of adventures in surrey was one of them. 0ur correspondent katie prescott was there. a lot of things have changed about chessington now. there are social distancing markings on the floor, hand sanitising stations everywhere, and the staff are wearing face masks. but some things, like the queues, have not. if you want to go on one of these iconic rides you will have to wait about 60—90 minutes to do so because they have reduced the number of people allowed on and they have to be cleaned at regular intervals. in spite of all of this, in the main, people are just delighted to be out and about. it is actually my 40th birthday. happy birthday. thank you. what has the experience been like? so far we've have had a really good time. it is a bit strange. some bits are closed.

it is a bit surreal being out and about, but we've had a good time so far. it is liam's best friend's tenth birthday and they have gone on all the big roller coasters but he doesn't like them, so we have come on this gruffalo ride instead. so, yes, for a friend's birthday. has it been fun? has it been what you expected? yes, it has been really good. it has been a bit difficult with the children a couple of times with the cleaning and queueing up and things like that, but they are pretty patient with sweets, so it's really good. it's been terrible. no, it has. all the rides have been closed, a lot of them they ain't tested it, i ain't going to lie, but it ain't been a good day. i've been on three rides, i've been here since ten. a lot of time you are waiting in the queue and it weren't ready to go on. we've got it to ourselves. we're not used to the small amount of people. it's normally very busy. we come here for the whole holiday, the six weeks.

to see this it's empty, normally it's really busy. i think it is good they have hand sanitiser everywhere you go. before you go on a ride, when you get off a ride, i feel so clean. it is coming up to closing time at chessington world of adventures and they have had about a quarter of the number of visitors they would normally have on a summer's day, which is what they expected. they will be keeping a really close eye on visitor numbers over the coming months because it has been a very expensive period for the company, not least because they own a zoo. while they have been able to close the theme park, they have had to pay for the zoo's upkeep, so it is a crucial day for chessington and the leisure industry as we are waiting to see how people behave this weekend and whether they are really willing to come out and spend money. caty price got there. —— caty price

got there. now on bbc news: more than 25 million people go on cruises each year. as coronavirus spread, cruise ships suffered devastating outbreaks that resulted in thousands being infected and dozens dying. this is the story of three cruise ships which sail betweenjanuary and march of this year. itjust felt like a regular, relaxing vacation at first. they would each suffer devastating outbreaks of coronavirus, together resulting in hundreds of infections and the deaths of dozens of people. we definitely would have acted differently if we'd known what was happening. all three ships were owned by carnival, the world's largest cruise company. i think they let people on that ship when they shouldn't have. and how can cruising be made safe again? january 20, 2020, and nearly 3,000 passengers on the diamond princess are played off from the quayside

in yokohama injapan, about to leave on a 15—day cruise around south—east asia. for cruise veterans kent and rebecca frasure, it's a chance to see the sides. disneyland, hong kong, vietnam, taipei. but on february 1, on their way back to yokohama, everything changes when it's announced a passenger who had left the ship in hong kong six days earlier, has tested positive for the dangerous new coronavirus sweeping through china. it still was really unclear at that point if we were in some sort of danger. the ship returns early to japan and is boarded by health officials who start testing passengers. if you had a high temperature, you were taken aside and given the actual coronavirus test.

now back in yokohama, passengers are told by the ship's captain to stay in their cabins, as the virus starts to spread. 0h oh my god. during the first few days of quarantine, the number of those infected, both passengers and members of the ship's crew, starts to rise. by february 7, 61 people have been infected. during their enforced confinement, passengers are allowed out for only an hour a day. food is brought to their cabins.

so we got more news from outside the ship than from inside the ship. now, japan's ministry of health, labour and welfare has confirmed that three new coronavirus patients onboard the diamond princess, bringing the total number to 64. then, rebecca got the news they were fearing. we found out this morning from a reporter, um, that 41 more people had been tested positive for coronavirus. and, uh, came to find out i was one of those 41 people. an hour later, having packed a few clothes, rebecca is taken off the ship and into isolation in hospital. 0k. yeah. all right. i love you! see you. see you later. i remember seeing herwalk down the hallway when she left and turning the corner and didn't know when i would —

i would see her again. over the coming days, the ship becomes the single biggest source of new cases in the world outside wuhan, where the coronavirus had first started. you could tell what kind of day it was going to be, just by looking outside onto the dock. you could see the ambulances lined up. having completed his quarantine and showing no symptoms, kent frasure was finally allowed to leave the diamond princess. there's the ship. yeah. the nightmare is over. 30—something days on that ship. it would be another two weeks before his wife, rebecca, was able to leave hospital and the couple were able to travel back to the united dates.

there are known to have been at least 700 cases of coronavirus on the diamond princess, resulting in 13 deaths. and the reality is, that quarantining onboard a ship is one of the worst ways to control a virus. the rapid spread on the cruise ship i think is partly due to the high population densities, which actually facilitates a lot of contact of people onboard. professor rocklov has found that each infected person on the cruise ship was infecting as many as 15 others — that's four times the reproduction rate in wuhan. quarantining onboard a ship is probably one of the least effective quarantine environments. it would be much more effective to spread people out and try to isolate them.

we asked princess cruises to take part in this programme. they declined, but gave a statement. japanese officials have since said their plan was flawed, but that they did their best in a fast—moving situation. all over the world, the coronavirus is now spreading. by the beginning of march, the number of cases is approaching 90,000 in 58 countries. but many cruise ship companies are still setting sail. to those who have long been critical of the industry, a grim foretaste of what is to come.

as i learnt more about the apparent spread of this insidious disease, ship by ship i became more and more horrified by the plight of these passengers literally on potential death ships. the cruise industry is now one of world tourism's biggest success stories. according to the body that represents the industry, globally, it employs more than i million people and makes an economic impact of more than $120 billion a year. miami, florida, the centre of the cruise industry and the headquarters of carnival, the world's largest cruise line, owner of princess and eight other cruise companies. carnival corporation, more so than any other cruise company really had a front—row seat to how this virus operates. and so from that point on, it's difficult to understand how

cruising was able to continue to operate. princess cruises told our world: it's early march, 2020, and another princess cruise ship, the grand princess, with 2,500 people onboard, has been on a two—week cruise to the hawaiian islands. among the passengers is michelle heckert, who's travelling with her grandparents. she's been given a holiday as a graduation present. we were a little bit concerned, especially because the cruise ships are such contained spaces. but we were pretty confident in our ability to stay safe and to take the precautionary measures. itjust felt like a regular,

relaxing vacation at first. but all that changes when the authorities back in california are alerted that a male passenger who had been on an earlier cruise to mexico on the grand princess may have infected passengers who stayed on the ship for the hawaiian cruise. the captain came over the loudspeaker and we were told this would be our last meal in the dining rooms, we'd finish the remainder of the cruise in our rooms. it was a pretty scary time. princess cruises told our world: . out at sea, and other passengers are now starting to show symptoms that they too may have

caught the virus. off the coast of california, and a coastguard helicopterflies out to drop off testing kits and medical supplies, including gloves and face masks. with a number of infections increasing, the authorities seem reluctant to allow the ship to return to land. california has declared a state of emergency, and at first, the governor says it cannot dock. confined to their cabin as the ship awaits to be allowed to return, michelle and her grandparents are now making their own amusement and the best of the situation. 0nline origami, zumba, and tai chi. # i've got cabin fever... i ended up kind of writing some songs on my ukulele because i had brought my ukulele for the lessons that they were going to provide on the ship, since it was,

you know, a hawaiian cruise. # i've got cabin fever, oh... sings. on march 10th, four days later than scheduled, the grand princess is allowed back to land, to oakland. because of their possible contact with someone who had the virus, all 2,000 passengers from the united states will now be spending a further two weeks in quarantine at various military bases. injapan, the strategy was to keep everyone on board and to test everyone there and make sure everyone was quarantined in their rooms and remained on the ship. whereas in the case of the grand princess, once it was able to come into port, the strategy was really to get as many people off the ship as possible. this is an industry that has boomed. passenger numbers are up by more

than 30% over the last five years, attracted in part by ever—larger ships that are their own holiday destinations — the swimming pools, miniature golf courses, now even a ship with its own roller—coaster. but across the world, cruise ships were by now being refused access to ports and cities as fears increased that their ships might not be harbouring the virus on board, but actually spreading it when their passengers landed. by march 8th, when us health authorities were warning all americans to stay away from cruise ships, it begs the question why cruise companies continued to operate. march 8th, sydney, and another princess cruise ship, the ruby princess, has just dropped off passengers before embarking on a two—week cruise to new zealand.

it's late leaving, but there's no official announcement why. the ruby had docked that morning, so it wasjust — it was utter chaos. there were people and bags everywhere. queues. all we knew was that they'd some health issues on board. what the departing passengers didn't know is that the ship had informed new south wales health authorities that there'd been as many as 158 sick passengers on board. everybody was crammed in, cheek tojowl. they kept saying "everything's fine". princess cruises told our world: so on the ship when we set sail from sydney, there were 2,700 passengers and about 1,000 crew. it felt like the ship was packed.

six days into the trip, while visiting new zealand, it's announced the cruise is being shortened. because of the coronavirus, new zealand has introduced a ban on all international travel, including cruise ships. the ruby princess will be going back early to sydney. when we got turned around, everybody started to get a little bit nervous. 0n the last night in the main dining rooms, they have a conga line of servers and the restaurant staff, dancing around to music and it was like being in a high school disco. # hot, hot, hot! despite the celebrations, at least 100 passengers have fallen sick and several have been tested for coronavirus. but on march 19, all 2,700 passengers were let off the ship in sydney — even the ones that were awaiting test results for covid—19.

we got downstairs to collect our luggage. collected our luggage, and walked out. there were no temperature checks, there werent even passport checks. and we saw an ambulance pull up on the dock and at the time, we didn't think anything about it. it was like we were being rushed off the ship. flying back to london, the world now in the midst of a global pandemic. we got to sydney airport about 9 o'clock in the morning, breezed through check—in and security and when we went to board ourflight, again, no temperature checks. and then we got back to london heathrow. and it was while i was at the luggage collection that i turned my phone on for the first time since leaving sydney. i had notification after notification from people saying "were you on the ruby princess?"

we came straight home, pretty much locked the doors and didn't leave the house for two weeks while we got sicker and sicker. my cough got worse, as did my husband's, and we both started to ache. of the six of us that travelled together on the ruby princess, five of us got sick. elisa believes that she had covid—19, although she was never tested. 900 people on board that ship were from overseas, so to think that they disembarked in sydney, potentially with the virus, and then they travelled in taxis and ubers to the airport, got on other flights, travelled on aircraft to their home countries and, in the process, potentially infected hundreds of people. the ruby princess is not the only ship whose passengers and crew have been infected by the coronavirus, but the scale of those who fell sick

marks her out. the company should never have let the cruise go ahead. we definitely would've acted differently if we'd known what was happening and how it was spreading on the ship. the ruby princess stayed in australia — there were too many sick crew to leave — and by now, other questions were emerging. why had the authorities allowed the ship to disembark its passengers? and had they been given the full picture about the number of passengers that had been showing symptoms on board? there's been a real void of information, especially from the ship's operator, about exactly what happened on that ship. three weeks after the ruby princess docked, police raided the ship to seize its black box and question crew members.

police said they were investigating potential discrepancies as to whether the ship's owners had been transparent about the health of the passengers on board. this is a ship that was sailing when coronavirus had been declared a global emergency. they knew about the risk that these passengers faced and they did not disclose the risk to the passengers. apart from the police investigation, there's also a separate commission of enquiry to look into the actions of the ship, its owners and the various australian authorities. 0ne e—mail, from the general manager of the port authority, claims that when the ruby princess docked on march 8th, the ship had given conflicting information about whether there were six passengers on board. and when questioned on video

about the ship's later return to sydney on march 19th, the ruby princess's doctor said that if it had been her decision, she would not have let the passengers showing symptoms get off the ship until their test results had come back. vicky antzoulatos is acting for claimants seeking compensation. more than 500 passengers have contacted her from all over the world. i'll certainly be very interested to see whether there was an attempted cover—up of information by the ship's owners and operators so they could get in and out of sydney harbour very quickly. princess cruises told our world:

the authorities in new south wales admit that they made mistakes and that things should have been handled differently. in washington, senior politicians are now calling for carnival to release its own internal correspondence, what they knew and when they knew it. we need to know whether or not any relevant information was concealed or deceived. we need to know whether there was any deception or misleading information. for now, the future of cruising is uncertain. in manila bay in may, some of the world's largest and most luxurious ships were laid up as their filipino crews were quarantined. it's difficult to know exactly what cruising will look like when it resumes. the company has not yet announced

any procedures it will take to protect passengers and crew from covid—19. i think at a minimum, we can expect the same changes we're seeing on land. 0n carnival‘s website, while there's recognition of coronavirus, there's also bright optimism that cruising might soon be able to resume. these cruise lines need to heed the predictions and advice of those same experts, the scientists, to make their decisions data—driven, not profits—driven or investor—driven. princess was not the only cruise line to have ships whose passengers and crew had been infected, and the company says it's confident that it has acted properly.

research by the miami herald says that for the industry as a whole, more than 60 cruise ships were affected by the coronavirus pandemic, causing more than 3,000 infections and at least 80 deaths. i think it's going to change the face of the cruising industry for a long time. i don't know if i'll ever step on a cruise again. it may have been my last. because... i never want to get that sick again.

hello, the first half of the weekend was grey and breezy for most of us. the second half of the weekend is looking thoroughly windy, unusually windy for the time of year. expecting gales and places through the day ahead. it should be a bit of sunshine but also some showers. low pressure firmly in charge of the scene. this looks more autumnal than summer. lots of white lines you can see on the chart, isobars, with the wind is strong throughout the day. a frontal system bringing patchy cloud into the south—east first thing, which will clear quickly, and then a fair amount of sunshine. some showers as well, some of those will be really heavy. particularly across parts of northern england, northern england and scotland.

there could be the odd flash of lightning, the rumble of thunder mixed in. these are the wind gusts you can expect. the windiest weather of all across parts of ireland, scotland. gusts of 50—60 miles per hour and maybe stronger winds to the east of the pennines. that could cause disruption to travel, particularly for high—sided vehicles. it will feel relatively cool. as we head through sunday night, you can see further showers in the forecast, particularly across the northern half of the uk. it stays fairly windy. i think the winds will ease a little as we head into the first part of monday. and also it's going to be a slightly cooler, fresher night. temperatures in a few spots getting down into single digits. so on monday, we'll see low pressure sliding away towards scandinavia. high pressure starting to build in from the south—west, between the two, still fairly brisk winds across the country. these winds coming down from the north—west. so that's never going to be a particularly warm wind direction. but as you can see, not as many showers through the day on monday. a fair amount of dry weather

and some spells of sunshine. but those temperatures, 16—20 degrees, just a touch below what we might expect at this point injuly. now, tuesday looks like a dry day for most. patchy rain in the far north of scotland, otherwise a fair amount of dry weather. but it looks like more rain will work in from the west as we head towards the afternoon and evening. as temperatures again on the low side, 14—21 degrees. and as we head through the middle part of the week, wednesday into thursday, some further outbreaks of rain at times. and those temperatures just a bit below par.

this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: independence day in the us is overshadowed by another big increase in coronavirus cases — and president trump defends the nation's past heroes. we will not throw away our heroes, we will honour them and we will prove worthy of their sacrifice. and at the washington monument in the capital, fireworks lit up the fourth ofjuly night sky, as protestors gathered in large numbers. a major easing of the coronavirus lockdown in england, with pubs, restaurants, and hotels