this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. borisjohnson sets out the next stage of the uk government's plans to ease the coronavirus lockdown in england, including a timeline for returning to workplaces. we are hoping for the best but planning for the worst, and it's in that spirit that we must carry on waging this long, hard fight against coronavirus. the nhs is to get an extra £3 billion ahead of the winter flu season, amid fears of a new wave of coronavirus infections. the key now is confidence. do the public have confidence in the measures the government has put in place? do businesses have confidence

in the advice that's been given? a new, quicker test for the coronavirus, using saliva, goes on trial, in southampton. now, it's captain, sir, tom moore, knighted by the queen, for his remarkable charity work, for the nhs. the uk prime minister borisjohnson has announced further steps to ease the coronavirus lockdown in england, offering a road map of measures that he says will return the country to "significa nt normality, possibly in time for christmas." from the beginning of next month, employers will have the power to decide whether they want workers to return to the office, and those heading back to work can use public transport as needed.

local meanwhile local authorities have been given the power to introduce their own regional lockdowns from tomorrow, if infection rates rise. more from our chief political correspondent, vicki young. the journey out of lockdown has been slow and cautious. now the government is mapping out the next stage for england, hoping to encourage us back on public transport. back to the office. and back to the shops. but even after all these months it's impossible to say whether life will be normal by november. even as we plan for the worst, i strongly believe we should also hope for the best. that means looking ahead with optimism. now, extending our plan to lift the remaining national measures. the prime minister's next steps for easing the lockdown in england include from august more people can return to the workplace, facial beauty treatments and indoor shows can resume and casinos can reopen. in september schools, nurseries and colleges will reopen on a full—time basis. from october, subject

to successful pilots, stadium events with audiences and other business events could be allowed. today we are publishing... there will be more cash for the nhs and councils will have extra powers to deal with coronavirus outbreaks in theirarea. guidance that people should work from home if they can will change from the beginning of august. we are going to give employers more discretion and ask them to make decisions about how their staff can work safely. whatever employers decide, they should consult closely with their employees, and only ask people to return to their place of work if it is safe. some companies have said to their workers that they don't need to be back in the office untiljanuary. are you now saying that employers should be doing more to encourage workers back in august? obviously it is not for government to decide how employers should run their companies.

what we are saying now is that if employers think it would be better and more productive for their employees to come into the office and they can work in a safe way then there should be discussions between the employers and employees. city centres like birmingham have been badly hit. fewer workers going to the office has left businesses struggling for custom. it is weird because birmingham, as we know, you come to birmingham and it is a vibrant place, everyone is crowded, hustle and bustle, knock into people and go, "sorry," and then carry on. none of that now. it will take a bit of time for people my confidence to come back and people understanding you can come, it is ok to come to town but you have to be cautious. if you rush it too much we will go back to where we were before and there will be spikes in infection because a lot of people think everything is finished and we have to be mindful of that. scotland and wales are

following a more cautious timetable than england. our advice is that you should stay at home and work at home if you are able to do so. i positively don't want people to be returning to offices in the way that we did before coronavirus happened. this pandemic has left leaders treading a precarious path between controlling the virus and kick—starting economic activity. borisjohnson always prefers an optimistic message. today he held out the possibility of life being normal by christmas, but even he warned several times that restrictions would be back in place if people didn't behave sensibly. the rules in england are relaxing again but there is no guarantee that everyone will feel confident about going back to the way things were. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. what about those local powers to impose regional lockdowns. let us speak to councillor izzi seccombe is the vice chair of

the local government association and conservative leader of warwickshire county council. good to have you on the programme. you get these new powers tomorrow. has the government talk to you about how they will work? we have been in contact with the government for some weeks now. this is, about through a dialogue with the local government association and with the pilot beacon status councils who are doing the test and trace. really trying to understand what we need to get this right, to keep our residents safe and to safeguard our communities. and keep down these outbreaks. so this dialogue that we have had has come forward with these outcomes that we have had today and we are confident that this will help us to look after our residents. as from tomorrow if you had an outbreak at a local rectory there you would feel confident you could go in there and shut it down? we would hope that we would not need to do that that there

would not need to do that that there would be a dialogue, there would clearly be some indignation —— indication of an upturn in cases. we wa nt to indication of an upturn in cases. we want to be working with that factory. but ultimately if we are finding that we have not got people who are willing to work with us, who are opposed or perhaps don't wish to ta ke are opposed or perhaps don't wish to take the action to reduce the virus, then we would have those powers. 0k, in the run—up to the leicester walked down, there was concern local authorities were not getting the right kind of data. —— lester down. has that changed ? right kind of data. —— lester down. has that changed? are you getting more postcode data ? has that changed? are you getting more postcode data? you are quite right, the data is not the same then as it is now. it is increasing and i think we are continually needing more data, it is absolutely powerful in trying to manage this virus to protect our residents. we're getting there. i think it is one of these

issues that we are learning every day, every week what more we need but data information, data sharing is critical and trying to get it down to a really small area would help us enormously in trying to manage as we see emerging cases coming forward managing those cases so coming forward managing those cases so they don't erect into more. you have got some rural communities there in warwickshire but do you worried this could become poetically divisive? because those areas that will need regional lockdowns will tend to be those that are more crowded, places that are poorer and perhaps those would be run by labour councils. i think i would hope that this would never be political because at the end of the day, local councils across the country have put huge efforts into protecting their residents. we have supported each

other in this endeavour and we will continue to support each other. our public health departments have contacted each other and shared good practice. in my own counsel, i have got urban areas as well is pick rural areas. there is the likelihood of outbreaks in any part of this. i think in many cases there are always going to be challenges. i would not wish this to be a portico football. i think it's absolutely vital that we all have the same endeavour which is to bring this virus under control, protect our residents. izzi seccombe thanks for talking to you, best of what would all. thank you. despite the prime minister's hopes for a return to normality by the end of the year, businesses in the uk remain cautious about the latest easing of lockdown measures for england, and warn that any mass return to work immediately is unlikely. the british chambers of commerce says companies still need "crystal clear official

guidance" on safety. here's our business editor simonjack. remember this? the daily commute, a fact of life for millions before lockdown. work from home if possible was the message until today. from august the ist employers will decide who needs to come in. are we ready to return? i walk to the office, i don't have to commute, take public transport, and the safety measures they have implemented, i feel comfortable with. i do feel comfortable going back to work and actually i signed up to it because i'm living alone, i have really wanted to go back to work. so yeah, i'm excited. i'm eager to go back to work because i miss the people and going on the tube when it is so crowded and during rush hour, that's not something i'm looking forward to. the employers group, the cbi, said this will be a delicate moment but a really important one for the economy. it's going to rely on confidence and health measures, so the huge investment that so many

businesses have been made in being covid—secu re, the conversations i've had with employers to ensure they are comfortable, transport, testing, it is not like flicking on a light switch, but it could mark the gradual return to work that prevent mass unemployment. as you can see we are sitting quite closely together. business attempts to be covid—safe will make a full return to work impossible. this was nadine's office in march. and this is it now. we have 28 members of staff in there before and the way that we have set the office space up now we can have nine as a maximum at any one period of time. it has been drastically reduced and it will be a phased return so that we can maintain that social distancing and keep everybody safe. today's announcement appears to put the responsibility, and some would say the power, back in the hands of the employers. but there will be a lot of questions from workers. what about public transport?

what about childcare? some will want to come back, some won't and some might not be able to. today's announcement, therefore, is a step towards normality but not a step change. many businesses depend on the office worker and their travel. upper crust, caffe ritazza, pret a manger and whsmith have together cut thousands of jobs. unions today accused the government of lacking leadership and passing the buck. but without a return to work, there may be precious few bucks to pass. simon jack, bbc news. the uk prime minister has promised an extra £3 billion of funding for the national health service, saying the nhs needs to be prepared for a possible fresh coronavirus outbreak in the winter. borisjohnson has also pledged to provide more ventilators and more protective equipment, as well as a bigger flu vaccination programme. here's our health editor, hugh pym. at the peak when covid—i9 was surging through hospitals there were fears the system would be overrun. but after a huge effort it coped.

the big question now, could it handle a second peak next winter at the same time as a flu outbreak? that's what the prime minister was addressing today, first with more nhs funding for england, which will mean extra for the rest of the uk too. some of the money will be used to keep the nightingale hospitals open right through until next march. that's for covid cases and other nhs work if needed. and there is a deal with private hospitals to help clear the backlog of non—urgent hospitals operations cancelled during the first months of the crisis. i'm glad you felt safe to come into the hospital today. here at london's royal free hospital more patients are coming back in for cancer clinics and being reassured there are strict infection control measures and it is both safe and essential they come in if required. but the chief executive told me that getting through the workload would be a major challenge. it's one of the biggest worries we have in the nhs of how we make sure the patients who have been waiting a long time get treated

as quickly as we can. and of course we are bringing patients back for their treatment according to their clinical need. but there will be an awful lot of patients who are still waiting. so the capacity is really important. there will also be an expansion of virus testing. this is seen as essential for finding out those who have the virus and then tracing their recent contacts to ensure they self—isolate. borisjohnson says he wants uk testing capacity to be 500,000 a day by october. right now it is around 3a0,000. but 203,000 tests are actually provided daily to be carried out. increasing capacity is clearly important but the capacity alone is nowhere near enough to ensure that we can stay on top of this virus, so what we are seeing with the track and trace system, for example, is gradual improvements in the number of cases that are reached and not much improvement in the number of contacts that are reached. widespread testing is vital

for local outbreaks to be spotted. today, public health england set out areas of concern. leicester and 0adby and wigston are listed as areas of national intervention, next blackburn and darwen and pendle of areas for enhanced support and then come seven others. a pop—up centre has been set up in barnsley to help monitor the spread of the virus. i think it is important for everybody to get tested if they can do because if you have the virus you shouldn't spread it around, you should keep yourself away. i think there will be a lot more local lockdowns, you know? i don't think it's ever going to go away. the government hopes new powers for local authorities in england to impose their own restrictions will remove the need for any further national lockdown. hugh pym, bbc news.

we have had more figures from the department of health in the uk that in the last 2a period there were 100 people who died in the uk after testing positive for covid—19, that brings the total number who have died to 45,233. on average in the last week, 83 people died every day, from coronavirus. globally, the rate of coronavirus infections continues to rise, in some of the world's most populous countries. in the last 24—hour reporting period, america, saw its biggest dailyjump to more than 77,000. 0verrall the us has more than three and half million cases. there's also been a record daily number of infections in india, with 35,000 new cases reported in the last 2a—hours.

it's only the third country to record one million overall, along with the us and brazil, where infections there have passed two million, and where more than 115,000 people tested postive, in the last 2a hours. a quicker, less invasive test for the coronavirus, is being piloted in southampton. thousands of people are having samples of their saliva analysed, rather than swab tests which many can find uncomfortable. if the four—week trial goes well, the entire city of more than a quarter of a million people, could be offered weekly tests. our medical correspondent, fergus walsh has the full details. right, so, take your pots, take the lid off. never has testing for coronavirus been so simple. lean your head forwards to get some saliva in the front of your mouth and then spit. jane, who is a nurse at a gp surgery and her three teenage children, are part of a trial in southampton involving weekly testing of saliva. it's an alternative to nose and throat swab tests,

which many find unpleasant. the swab test is quite invasive, especially if you're not feeling very well. if you've got a cough, it can really trigger a cough by putting something in the back of your throat, and so it is much, much easier to do. most people with coronavirus have no symptoms on the day they are tested. so, regular saliva sampling could be a way of detecting cases earlier. after months of home—schooling and lockdown, it might allow a return to normal life. yeah, very sensible. just to help get it over with, the pandemic, overand done with, to change lives. if the four—week trial is successful, then the whole of southampton — more than 250,000 people — could be offered weekly saliva tests, in a bid to prevent infections from spreading. it does seem that people become positive in their saliva before they even become positive

in the rest of their breathing tubes, the respiratory tract. so, if we're seeking to pick up this early spread, this may be the way forwards. if the trial here in southampton goes well, saliva testing could play an increasingly important role in controlling the coronavirus epidemic. weekly testing could be done in schools, care homes, or in hotspot areas to try to prevent outbreaks from getting out of control. another advantage of saliva sampling is speed. it takes just 20 minutes for this laboratory in surrey to get a result. compared to hours for a swab test. the key remaining question is whether the saliva test is accurate enough to be rolled out widely. even potentially nationwide, as a way of trying to end the epidemic here altogether. so, this saliva test has got the potential to be done

on a very large scale, in multiple locations, and can be done at speed. so, the sort of setting this could be done in could be almost like for a drive—through, you take the sample, you run the test, you have a result. so, this could revolutionise the way you actually carry out and do surveillance. it's negative. could, then, this be the way forward for us all, to have regular testing like jane and family? and perhaps a means of allowing us to abandon social distancing. fergus walsh, bbc news. london's metropolitan police has called footage posted on social media, showing a man being detained by officers on the ground with a knee across his neck, as extremely disturbing. get off my neck! police were called to a fight in islington, north london yesterday, and arrested a man on suspicion of affray and possession of an offensive weapon. 0ne officer has been suspended, and another placed on restricted duties.

tracy edwards crosses the line with the first—ever all—female proved to sale around the world. 30 years on, tracy now uses maiden to inspire girls dreams around the globe.“ this is that the actual book? and their weight the actual boat?m this is that the actual book? and their weight the actual boat? it is wonderful. but covid—19 has hit the funds of a charityjeopardising the project. both the sever tracy asked

some special friends project. both the sever tracy asked some specialfriends for project. both the sever tracy asked some special friends for help. i'm here to welcome you to this crowd funder. as you know children have been hard—hit by the virus and have impacted all their futures. what you may not know is that disadvantaged and vulnerable girls are most at risk for not being able to return to their education or having assets to it. but she is also selling her most personal possessions from maiden including her own metal from the epic voyage. until that is last night. i had an e-mailfrom someone, a lady, saying... i almost can't say this. sorry. and then i had an e—mailfrom this. sorry. and then i had an e—mail from an e—mail from this. sorry. and then i had an e—mailfrom an e—mailfrom a lady saying she will be donating £10,000 to the crowd funder, please don't

sell your metal. maiden isn't the only charity to suffer with the loss of income during covid—19. what tracy hopes is that her message and the message of helping girls all around the world will start bringing some of those funds back. it was determination the first propelled tracy and maiden. now it is inspiration needed to keep them on course. ducking kennedy, bbc news, in hampel. captain sir tom moore, the centenarian who's raised more than 32 million pounds for nhs charities, was knighted by the queen today.. 0ur royal correspondent, sarah campbell, watched the ceremony sarah. for such an inspiring individual, it seemed appropriate that he should be given a uniquely special investiture. the honour confirmed on him today really felt like a personal thank you from the queen. for such an inspiring individual, it seemed appropriate

that he should be given a uniquely special investiture. bagpipes play this was the first face—to—face engagement with a member of the public the queen had taken part in since lockdown began. beneath brilliant blue skies, and adhering to socially—distant guidelines, she used the sword which had belonged to herfather, george vi, to knight captain sir thomas moore. to meet the queen was more than anyone could expect. i mean, it was... never, ever, ever did i imagine that i could get so close to the queen and have such a kind message from her. that was really outstanding. it really was truly outstanding. and can you explain the message, what did she say? no! that's between you and her majesty? that's between the queen and i, yes. i've been really honoured that this should happen and i'm

thrilled that it did happen. and thank you everybody who subscribed to the funds. i really appreciate it. and thank you all very much. it all started with a family challenge to walk 100 lengths of the garden, to mark his upcoming 100th birthday. sir tom's journey captured the imagination of people around the world. the original target was to raise £1,000 for nhs charities. the final amount topped 32 million. of course, his family — including his daughter and two grandchildren — were here to support sir tom, and joined him as her majesty expressed her thanks for theirfundraising efforts. her majesty was truly interested. she asked to see us as a family. and to know that she is interested in what we've achieved together, it's memorable. i mean, we'll never forget it.

congratulations to sir tom and his family. stay with us, more coming. good evening. sunshine at this time of year is pretty strong so it doesn't take much for those temperatures to respond once we get it. and we certainly had it on friday with temperatures widely in the south—east corner around the mid to high 20s. beautiful blue sky and sunshine here but not for all of us. this weather front brought cloud and rain, and the rain was fairly slow moving. behind it, plenty of isobars driving in some showers to the north—west of the great glen. so, that is going to be the story over the next few hours. we will see cloud and rain slowly meandering its way into north of england and north wales. it stays relatively mild, even muggy, in the south—east corner where we'd seen friday's heat. so as we start off our saturday morning then, that cloud and rain slowly pushing its way steadily south—east.

again it is going to stay on the breezy side of the north—west driving in some showers. so, a day of mixed fortunes really. sunny spells and scattered showers for scotland and northern ireland, the rain will push its way slowly southwards. it's not in any rush at all and that means that east anglia, the midlands and down along that channel coast will again see some sunshine and some warmth. perhaps not quite as warm as today but temperatures peaking into the mid—20s. the question mark unfortunately is what's going to happen to the cricket? if you are following the second test, that weather front just sitting around the north—west, so there's likely to be some interruption to play, hopefully slowly improving as we go through the latter stages of the afternoon. so there it is — really not moving very far very fast. one thing that's interesting about it — it's a cold front. so as it does squeeze its way south and east, it will continue to introduce this fresher air from the north—west. so, you'll notice the difference with the feel of the weather across south—east england particularly on sunday.

it may well start off grey, dull, drizzly in places. slowly brightening up, we keep the risk of some showers driven on by that westerly breeze in the far north—west. a look at the temperatures widely into the mid to high teens. if we're lucky, we may well see 21 degrees but high pressure is set to build and start the week off on quite a quiet note. a good deal of dry weather before there is the risk of more cloud and rain pushing into the far north—west later on in the week. take care.

good evening. this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. borisjohnson sets out the next stage of the uk government's plans to ease the coronavirus lockdown in england, including a timeline for returning to workplaces. hoping for the best but planning for the worst. and it is in that spirit that we must carry on waging this long, hard fight against coronavirus. long, hard fight against coronavirus. the nhs is to get an extra three billion pounds ahead of the winter flu season, amid fears of a new wave of coronavirus infections. the key now is confidence. that the public have confidence in the measures the government put in place. that businesses have confidence in the advice that's been giving.

a new, quicker test for the coronavirus, using saliva, goes on trial, in southampton. in now, it's captain, sir, tom moore, knighted by the queen, for his remarkable charity work, for the nhs. fans could be able to return to stadiums in england from october, the prime minister announced today. stadium reopenings will be subject to coronavirus guidelines and the outcome of special pilots to test how crowd behaviour at sport events. this will include the world snooker championship at sheffield's crucible theatre from the 31st ofjuly and the goodwood horse racing festival — known as glorious goodwood — on august 1st.

well we can talk to two people involved in the arrangements. with me isjon barnett, managing director at goodwood racing course and also i'm joined by barry hearn, chairman of world snooker. john, let me start with you. you are piloting how people will return to outside stadiums. so you have got to get it right. no pressure. absolutely. and it's important to stress it is a pilot. and we are working very closely with the sports ground safety authority. and their supplementary guidance they've issued on social distancing in a sports ground environment. 0r issued on social distancing in a sports ground environment. or in our case, a race course. and it's been donein case, a race course. and it's been done in association with the dc ms and the racecourse association. we are very clear on what we got to do. and we got to make it happen in around ten days' time. you will be aware there was a lot of focus on the chilton festival and whether or not that was driving some of the

infections in the early stages of the pandemic. i suppose glorious goodwood is going to look very much different. yes, very different. first of all were a smaller course. we are at capacity we are talking about 25,000 people. cheltenham on a full day is 80,000. there is a huge difference there. and in terms of oui’ difference there. and in terms of our guidelines for the 1st of august, we are going to be at 5000 capacity. so that is 20% of our normal kind of, full capacity. you said just a little earlier that you've got to be ready. is there an enormous amount of work to do? it's a strange situation because the first for days, it's a five day festival, the first four days will be run behind closed doors as is normalfor be run behind closed doors as is normal for british race and at the moment. and then on the fifth day we will come into a new world where we will come into a new world where we will admit racing fans back onto the course for the first time. in that

sense, we've got a huge amount to do. and it is all about for us, getting a crowd. but also establishing trust with the local community again. in terms of making them feel safe. we got eight lot of measures that we are putting in place in to deliver that from staggered arrival times to avoid pinch points. there is a social point of contact that's being issued by the sports ground safety authority that effectively, as a fan you sign up to. along with cashless transactions, table service for drinks, a whole host of measures. barry, it's very different for you quys barry, it's very different for you guys of course, at the crucible. because you are in indoor facility. how are you going to manage the seating arrangements, first of all, in the auditorium? it's all built around government guidelines. social distancing rules are quite clear. we

are really dealing with notjust distancing rules are quite clear. we are really dealing with not just the numbers of course but we are looking at 250, 300 people out of there capacity at the crucible. so we can very much specify exactly the safety restrictions we want to put in for everybody. and frankly, we got quite a lot of experience already. we are stage behind closed doors very successful championship sleep. we became known as the safest place on earth. because we operated within a bubble. this is the next age on the road to recovery. a limited audience. hopefully, it won't be that long to go before we're back to normality. but there is a lot of lessons to learn on the way. i'm very proud that the world snooker trials are involved in this. because we will learn lessons during this trial period. but basically it's a logistical issue which if you apply common sense to it, shouldn't be a

problem to create a safe is an environment as possible. and that's certainly what we will be doing at the crucible. it is slightly different for you barry, we were talking tojohn different for you barry, we were talking to john about different for you barry, we were talking tojohn about outside stadiums in the applications are by, stadiums in the applications are rugby, cricket and football. for you, there are implications notjust for a sports but conferences and events and all sorts of business interests in this as well. because you will be indoors, won't you? and we know that coronavirus spreads more easily indoors and outdoors. the thing is, we've got to move back to normality at some stage. and we have to take those first steps. the whole economy is something we are on a bigger picture will be for the next ten years. we have to really establish consumer confidence. so to do that, we can't decidedly say anthonyjosh was fighting at wimbley stadium with 19,000 people. we understand that. but what we've got to do is show that we are capable

and to watch the numbers that, after we've staged events. there is of dispute cheltenham where how much to the park did that develop the virus, potentially for some but here we've got the track and trace with information about everybody on every seat. every seat got it metre, metre and half circle around it. it is complicated, it's not really revenue producing but what it does is it sets the tone for where sport will have to go, the levels of sport have to go through before people with confidence can return to normality. we are on the way but let's not get carried away. we are very fortunate that these departments have been fabulous, sheffield has been fabulous. we've now got to do the job to make sure that everybody is safe. and the numbers will tell us whether we can achieve that. and if we can and we can go forward and get back to normality maybe by october

maybe november the earliest. it will only be achieved in stages. i want to talk to you both about finances. under come back to you to talk about football. butjohn, under come back to you to talk about football. but john, put under come back to you to talk about football. butjohn, put into context for me if you will be financial hit on racing. you said that a five day programme you're only getting one day. what does that mean for the racecourse? financially, obviously, we are not the only industry that is suffering. you only need to say that, crowd numbers just suffering. you only need to say that, crowd numbersjust on suffering. you only need to say that, crowd numbers just on one—day 80% down of where we normally would be. very limited food and beverage spend because all the interior areas are effectively close. it's challenging but i would agree, this is all about reestablishing confidence. taking the learnings from the pilot and being allowed to move forward. and the pilot that we will run and i'm sure that chris will run and i'm sure that chris will run and i'm sure that chris will run will come at the findings will run will come at the findings will be shared with everybody. so that we can get to a point, will

find a new capacity limit that is safe. and ideally we can also make money again. coming back to football, as a former chair, we had the warnings about what can happen to football clu bs the warnings about what can happen to football clubs in the lower leagues. is it better to get 20, 30% back into the stadiums? then getting everybody back into the stadiums, you've just got to get some sort of level of support into football. it's important to start. lower league clubs, they are going to suffer. there is a way to statement here which we've got to learn from this virus as well. a lot of sports, too many football clubs run a poor business method. we've suffered as well but we are a company, we are a small, darts or snooker or boxing, we plan for the future. we make sure we plan for the future. we make sure we have reserved for rainy days. frankly other people don't seem to

run their business. and they're paying the price for that now. let's learn something out of this virus as well. in the meantime we got to look to work, with got to look to be innovative, creative, ha rd—working and we all get through this. it's not can be easy but i think there are lots of lessons to learn. i find it extremely motivated to take a disaster that we have. effectively we re disaster that we have. effectively were almost a version of world war iii, if you'd like against an invisible enemy. we have to pull together, we have to be sensible, we work hand—in—hand with the government, we don't take risks but we grow gradually. but there is a lot of lessons beyond just today's problem that we could all learn from in the future. that is the positive spirit we need. in a good place to leave it. thank you very much indeed. i wish you both every success with your respective sporting events. thank you. a massive chinese fishing fleet has

descended on the edge of the galapagos protection zone. it's threatening to decimate the archipelago's biodiversity. the galapagos islands are a unesco world heritage site in the pacific ocean off the mainland of ecuador. you'll be familiar with some of their endemic species — giant tortoises, iguanas, blue footed boobies... and the galapagos protection zone surrounding the islands is home to the largest shark biomass in the world, as well as sea turtles, manta ray, whales, dolphins, and many more. now take a look at this image. you can see the islands there. the mass of white dots on the edge of the galapagos protection zone is the chinese fleet. 265 fishing, cargo, refrigeration and processing vessels, squeezed between that narrow band of international waters between ecuador and the galapagos — a major migration route for those endangered species that travel through for breeding, feeding and to seek refuge. and there's also this.

waves of plastic waste of chinese origin washing up on the shores of the galapagos national park. this isn't a new phenomenon. last year 2115 chinese vessels were detected in the area. and you may have seen this from 2017, when the galapagos national park intercepted a chinese vessel carrying 6000 tonnes of dead sharks, some of them endangered hammerheads, in the biggest illegalfishing haul in galapagos history. earlier i spoke to norman wray, president of the galapagos governing council, and dr alex hearn, specialist in in marine protected areas and fish movements. i began by asking dr hearn about the boundaries of the protected zone. when the galapagos marine reserve was created back in 1998, it was the second—largest marine in the world. but when it was created, we didn't really understand the extent of the movement of the animals that we are trying to protect. and over the last 10—15 years, we've been tracking whale sharks, endangered hammerheads

and you're right they don't understand where the boundaries are. so we are finding that they are moving offshore out into the eez, out into international waters. so this is a big concern for us. and presumably, the sword of netting that they're putting down, it doesn't differentiate between different species. they are just sucking up everything. well, i think these are mostly long liners and yeah, if you are setting out thousand hooks on a line, any large sized fish the size of a large tuna ora sized fish the size of a large tuna or a blue shark or hammerhead is going to want to grab a piece of that bait. so that they are not very selective. has there been any representation to the chinese government? as i say, this is not the first time this has there been any representation to the chinese government? as i say, this is not the first time this is happened. government? as i say, this is not the first time this is happenedm 2017 when we have this incident with the ship that got into the main

reserve “— the ship that got into the main reserve — — put the ship that got into the main reserve —— put all the letters and claims in the international arena to talk to the chinese fleet into the chinese that it is forbidden the activity of industrial fishing fleets inside our marine reserves of galapagos. but at the moment i think there is a discussion of how we go forward to fight this global agreement that we are trying to boost around better protection of the marine reserves around the world. the objectives of the ferry by ferry that is going to be passed opportunity to protect our biodiversity. galapagos is protected for that. our bio diversity around the world but not only against the pressure and also the pressure of carbon chains around the open. right

now what we are facing is an example of the pressure of all these big fishing fleets are generating around all this work in the sea. we want to protect the biodiversity for the life of the planet but also for the future of food security around the world. from your research, do you know what sort of impact this fishing in recent years has had on the biodiversity in this area? well, yes, u nfortu nately, the biodiversity in this area? well, yes, unfortunately, we share populations not just yes, unfortunately, we share populations notjust with galapagos but with islands to the north of costa rica and we know that our animals moving back and forth between different marine reserves. and there has been a monitoring programme over the island showing that hammerhead sharks for example, their numbers are declined by almost 50% in the last 20 years. that's

despite the fact that moving between marine reserves was up but again the problem once you leave the marine reserve is that you are vulnerable to the hooks and the nets that are out there. it's such a magical place. it belongs to all of us. remind us, just how old the oldest tortoises there. the oldest land turtle, i think they live just about a years. something like that. these can reach a significant age. also can reach a significant age. also can the whale sharks, we think well sharks can reach up to 100 years old. the largest well sharks that we re old. the largest well sharks that were finding in the world are actually in the northern aisles of galapagos at the moment. these are long—lived species. and it'sjust incredibly upsetting to see them being pulled out of the ocean in such a way. indeed so. the french president emmanuel macron says the european union is approaching

a defining moment. the leaders of the 27 eu countries are face to face this afternoon in brussels, for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. all of them are wearing masks, none of the warm embraces that we normally see at the beginning of eu summit. the big issue on the agenda is the future of the recovery fund. in may, the european commission presented a 750 billion euro plan to help countries overcome the economic shock of the coronavirus. under that plan, 500bn euros would be distributed to the worst hit countries in the form of grants rather than loans, which would mean most of it is never paid back. all 27 members understand the seriousness of the situation. but there are four northern european countries — austria, denmark, sweden and the netherlands — who want reform in the southern european states, in the job market and on pensions, in return for the money that will be paid. also questions as to whether the money should come in the form of these grants,

rather than loans. there's also the naughty question of brexit and whether britain and the eu can agree a new trade deal. our correspondent gavin lee has more from brussels. well, there are many complications in this summit, the size of the recovery fund off the back of the coronavirus pandemic, the budget, the next seven years of funding, all of the european countries means the leaders have to put more money into the coffers, more from their pockets but first of all just getting into that building behind me, it's the first time leaders have set round a table together and they all came in 50 shades of different masks and colours and sizes. when they did sit down together, it's the first time they have had people in a room, there were about 30 or so. usually, these rooms have about 500 people in them. so the leaders distance themselves and actually a note as well, angela merkel the german chancellor had her birthday today choosing to be here for the importance of trying to sort out this collective fund to get europe's economy back going again. she was swapping presence

with antonio costa the portuguese ——presents prime minister as she gave him an old map of goa, he gave her a book about being in quarantine. i think she was also given some rose water oil by the bulgarian prime minister too. but onto serious matters when she arrived and told reporters, the few that were there, what her ambitions were, she was pretty straightforward. translation: we will need a lots of compromise from all sides to create something that's good for europe and that is good for the european people during this pandemic, but also a good economical response given the difficulties we are facing. that's why i am expecting very, very difficult discussions. we've heard a similar reluctant optimism from other leaders, the spanish prime minister pedro sanchez from the french president emmanuel macron as well. i think the sense we've got here, the big issue is the fact that

500 billion euros as part of this recovery fund to help economies goes to countries worst hit by covid in the form of grants and the so—called frugal four, austria, denmark, sweden, and the netherlands are still holding out, they have been holding out for weeks needing that they need some kind of guaranteed that this money they're going to spend if they are going to get involved at all and they want to keep the rebate. the big contributors that don't get much back from the eu in terms of what they put in for many years have argued for a rebate system. they are going to scrap that we actually believe that that is going to stay it is all quite complicated but i think it fair to say mark rutte doesn't sound very optimistic. we don't believe in this grant—based system and what we have said is that first of all crucial is to maintain the rebates at a sufficient level. secondly, we need reforms. so, if the south is needing help from other countries in terms of the crisis i understand because there is limited scope

to deal with that financially themselves, then i think it is only reasonable for us to ask for a clear commitment to reforms. we are told the mood inside at the moment is optimistic, pragmatic but hopes of any significant breakthrough whether they have agreed to a rescue package or agreed to a next budget said to be around one trillion euros, well that seems far off. they have had their cold fish plate for lunch, they have had the mackerel, the salmon, and cod. i think they're going to need more cream, more masks, and more gel because this is going to go into the night we are told and possibly another summit ahead. the most senior infectious disease expert in the united states, dr anthony fauci, has assured americans that the coronvarius pandemic will eventually be overcome. dr fauci told an online conference that the current situation in america looked bleak, but he said science would find a way to defeat the disease. i mean, we are going to get over this.

it seems we have been going through this very difficult period for the last five and a half, six months. and sometimes you gets so exasperated and run down by it that you think it's never going to end. it will end, it will end through public health measures and science, i can tell you, will come to our hopefully sooner rather than later, we're going as fast as we possibly can with the development of therapeutics, with the development of a vaccine which as you know we have been speaking about a while. we have got some pretty favourable results in early studies for vaccines. one of the candidates will be going into an advanced phase three trial by the end of this month by the end ofjuly, and other candidates will be entering advanced clinical trials as we get into the midsummer late summer and early fall. so we feel cautiously optimistic

that we are on the road, as bleak as it may sound right now, that we are on the road of getting this under control. the governor of georgia is suing authorities in atlanta to prevent the city from enforcing its requirement to wear masks in public. governor, brian kemp, signed an executive order earlier this week voiding mask mandates across the state saying atla nta's mayor, keisha lance bottoms, couldn't enforce the rule. our correspondent in washington, gary o'donoghue gave us further details, a little earlier. the governor believes it is a step too far in terms of government and government overreach to actually mandate these things which atlanta has done and a number of other municipalities in georgia has also done. yet he does believe it's a good idea and he in fact did a tour of the state himself encouraging people to wear masks, he just doesn't think that the local authorities should have the power to actually tell people to do it.

and in that is the whole argument of american society, really. to what extent is the individual subject to the power of the political authority? yeah, that's an important point you make, isn't it? it depends which side you stand on. but does it come back to politics? i mean, brian kemp was elected in 2018 with a major assist from president trump and we know of course that president trump doesn't like the mask mandate. so is this him sort of bowing to what the president wants? is that why we've got mixed messages? i think there's a bit of that although it's interesting, there is a real kind of splintering in approach between republican governors in the south. even those who are sort of firmly on donald trump's team, if you like it. so, some states down south have said "look, it is up to local municipalities to decide. we don't think there should be mandates but we are going to leave it to people to decide locally,"

such as florida where ron desantis, the vociferous trump—supporting governor of florida, he's taken that view. whereas brian kemp has taken this harder line that he doesn't believe there should be any kind of mandate at all. and it's difficult because the row in georgia now is against a backdrop of huge numbers of rising cases. they had, i think... well, they've had more than 3000 deaths, they've had 130,000 cases. they're rolling seven—day average is up hugely on just couple of months ago which is reflected across the country of course. we are seeing the rolling seven—day average now over 60,000 whereas four weeks ago, it wasjust over 20,000. the queen's grandaughter, princess beatrice, has married the property developer edoardo mapelli mozzi. a private ceremony took place in windsor this morning.

the couple's wedding had been due to take place in may but was postponed due to the pandemic. good evening. sunshine at this time of year is pretty strong so it doesn't take much for those temperatures to respond once we get it. and we certainly had it on friday with temperatures widely in the south—east corner around the mid to high 20s. beautiful blue sky and sunshine here but not for all of us. this weather front brought cloud and rain, and the rain was fairly slow moving. behind it, plenty of isobars driving in some showers to the north—west of the great glen. so, that is going to be the story over the next few hours. we will see cloud and rain slowly meandering its way into north of england and north wales. it stays relatively mild, even muggy, in the south—east corner where we'd seen friday's heat. so as we start off our saturday morning then,

that cloud and rain slowly pushing its way steadily south—east. again it is going to stay on the breezy side of the north—west driving in some showers. so, a day of mixed fortunes really. sunny spells and scattered showers for scotland and northern ireland, the rain will push its way slowly southwards.