the us speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, has repeated her warning that congress will veto a us—uk trade agreement if brexit undermines the good friday agreement — which secured peace in northern ireland. joe biden — the democratic presidnetial candidate — has voice similar concerns. the us states of alabama, florida, and mississippi have declared states of emergency after hurricane sally battered coastal areas. experts at the national hurricane centre said the storm had caused catastrophic and historic flooding to the region. the storm is now moving inland at a walking pace, exacerbating flooding. lamine diack — the former head of athletics‘ govering body — has been sentenced to four years in prison — two of them suspended — after being convicted of taking bribes to cover up positive drugs tests. he was also found guilty of delaying anti—doping procedures against russian athletes.

gavin williamson, the education secretary for england, has told mps that children should only be given a coronavirus test if they display the known symptoms. the government has announced that from today there will be a dedicated advice line for schools, nurseries and colleges if the event of a new case of the virus. our education correspondent elaine dunkley reports. these children are feeling fit and well and ready for school, but hertford manor primary has had a confirmed case of coronavirus. 43 children and 4 members of staff are at home, self—isolating. we've got a whole year of this, i'm convinced of that, and we need to have better testing, access to testing, so parents aren't pushed all over the country. results need to come back quicker. at the moment, we're seeing tests take as long as four days. i'm feeling absolutely fine. i'm showing no symptoms. mrs lawrence teaches children in year two and also does supply work. she's found getting a test difficult and is currently at home. it felt like fastest

fingers won the test. we tried on saturday night, we couldn't get anything. we tried on sunday morning, we had to go through the whole thing again. as a supply teacher, i wouldn't be earning any money at all. as a contracted teacher, i'm earning money, but i can't do the job that i want to do. this is the time of year when children catch colds and sniffles. the problem for parents is recognising when it could be coronavirus. the guidance to schools is a child should be at home if they have a new, continuous cough for an hour or three coughing episodes in 2a hours. a temperature and a change in taste and smell are also symptoms. people only with symptoms are the ones that should actually be doing the testing, so if a child and their contacts have been sent home, it's not that all those children that are sent home should be getting the testing. children have been back at school for just a matter

of weeks. parents are worried about the disruption. it is quite hard to keep up and quite hard to know what is right and wrong. generally, i think there is a feeling you have to get back to life. it can be very difficult at the minute. luckily, my wife is working from home just now, so we can do different drop—offs and pick—ups for the kids. the government has launched a new service for schools to report cases of coronavirus, but teachers are warning that it is testing which is vital to keeping schools open. elaine dunkley, bbc news. now on bbc news, philippa thomas hears from people around the world about their extraordinary experiences during the pandemic and how covid—19 has changed their lives. welcome to ‘coronavirus: your

stories‘, a programme about how covid—19 is changing lives around the world. covid—i9 is changing lives around the world. i am philippa thomas and this week, we are hearing about homelessness, about whole communities in desperate circumstances and the personal stories of two men who have managed to turn their lives around. mexico city, we will hear about the hundreds hundreds of people in rural guerrero state being forced from their homes by violent gangs and why that's making so many more vulnerable to violence. here in london we have a personal story from hersuk who feels the pandemic saved himself from homelessness and addiction because he was given a home of his own during lockdown. we will start in athens with michael somolis who works on the streets selling the greek newspaper shadir, which translates as life raft, but all around michael, he sees

evidence of the new homeless, grease, battled by the financial crisis, is seeing a new one. let me go back a bit mike will to tell your story. how did you come to be on the streets, how did you come to be homeless. because of the crisis, you must understand, until 2009, homeless people in athens, they had them with drinking, a problem with drugs and things like that. but after 2009, with the crisis, people like me, we lost everything and we ended up homeless, we are the new homeless people and in 2012, i had a truck, a lorry, a big glory, and i was working very well but somebody stole my truck. i went to the police and they found nothing so i lost my job and because of my age, it

was impossible to find a new job. you know, unemployment in greece, under 30 years old now, it's a very big, is very big and you can imagine all these people looking for a job and me, i couldn't find a job so i survived one year with the money i had in the bank and after that, i did stay homeless. michael, iwant to after that, i did stay homeless. michael, i want to go back to your previous life. you, i think, back to your previous life. you, ithink, had back to your previous life. you, i think, had travelled, studied, did you ever think something like losing your home could happen to you. no, i never thought, i never thought like everybody. i never thought we would end up homeless. never. and then the paper, shedia, what does that mean to you? my life changed completely, six years ago, when

i started working for shedia. and that's why i am smiling now. it wasn't only the money, it was the contact with people. because the people that support us because the people that support us and by that paper, very nice people, we wanted to help us and this changed my life completely. how is business now, selling the paper? it's not so good. it's a bit down because you must understand that people that don't have the money to buy a paper, and things are getting worse and worse every day. and that's a result of the coronavirus? yes, because many people, they don't have money anymore. people i knew, that they usually buy the paper, they stop and say, "hi, michael, i want to buy the paper," "but i have one or 2 euros in my pocket,", and i

know they want to do that. so it's hard for them and you. how have you found the last six months? well, actually, it was very bad but as you know, i live in a centre, in athens, in the mixed part of athens, with the mixed part of athens, with the measures to protect us. i feel very safe living in the centre because from the beginning, we have a shop, we have antibiotics, we have everything, masks, everything to protect us. but the problem is, we couldn't work and it wasn't very easy for us to survive without selling the paper. michael, you are witnessing a lot. you see a lot in your city. do you see more people becoming homeless because of covid? every day, new people, they come to the

shelter and they are asking for a place to sleep. that's why the shelter, it's full now. we cannot accept any more people. but it's getting worse, not every week or every year, it's getting worse every day. what's most important to you now in life, michael? selling the paper, i speak with a lot of people and this thing helped me to, you know, to live again. and i feel great. i to, you know, to live again. and ifeel great. i have a very good purpose now, to inform the athenians what's the situation now in the centre of athens. we are talking about 500m from the parthenon, 500m from the square. i live there, in the centre of athens, and i say to

the people, talking about shelters, soup kitchens, drugs, everything, and i'm very proud of that. because i show to the people that we are here, we exist. and for our viewers, what would you say that this whole experience has taught you, what have you learned?” think that the whole situation made me a better person, because i start caring for other people. people like me, and people, they live on the roads. you must try to understand how they feel and now i know how they feel, and that helps me a lot. and i think that's what the coronavirus due to a lot of people. many people, they start caring about your neighbour, other people you know, because

when i stay in the centre for five months, we were getting out for a few minutes and go back in. i had many phone calls from friends, if i need something, many people, they used to come with food, with clothes, with everything. what keeps you going, michael, day—to—day? what you going? surviving, life, it keeps me going every day. i am a survivor. michael samolis in athens. next, a different kind of homelessness. what happens if hundreds of people at a time. to flee their homes, to become internally displaced because of the fear of violence. well, if they flee to the same places, they become much more vulnerable to the risk of catching coronavirus. that's what's happening in the mexican state of guerrero. it's

perhaps best known for the city of acapulco but behind the glitter of that resort, there is darker story. nestor rubiano is darker story. nestor rubiano isa is darker story. nestor rubiano is a mental health expert working with doctors without borders, working with displaced people in guerrero. there is one going in guerrero, and there are several smaller groups fighting amongst them, taking control of the land and displacing people and so on but at the same time, there is no question at all on the whole guerrero. nestor, describe what it's like to be a villager in the state of guerrero with this violence around you, threatening you. surviving, for many of us, surviving every single day in the best way they can and situations can change very quick. in a couple of hours, you can be a safeway today and tomorrow, you just have to run away and leave

every single thing behind you. and i suppose that means even though, ina and i suppose that means even though, in a pandemic, we are not to crowd together, you will get people crowding together in whatever building they can be in. exactly, totally. totally. what else can you do with your family, if you have to move yourfamily and run family, if you have to move your family and run away, family, if you have to move yourfamily and run away, to run away, not escape to the situation. so you join, you can join an extensive family or friends or whosoever is going to provide the kind of support for you. you willjoin them. many of the small biz this, they just kind of many of the small biz this, theyjust kind of move. the groups are inside and the groups are inside and the groups are inside and the groups are fighting among them but they cannot get out and why, because the groups are controlling everything. let me ask you more about that control of people by violent groups. do you think that control has

increased because of covid—19? we are speaking about a specific state, which is guerrero, they have thousands of medical people who don't wa nt to of medical people who don't want to work with past consequences, and the economic situation has getting worse. it's such a desperate situation. you're telling me about a lot of people facing violence and now facing coronavirus as well so nestor, what are you trying to do to help? we are providing clinics, with primary healthcare. the minority of the people living here speak about medical conditions, most have chronic disease. one of the main ones is mental health disorders. and

what it shows is that people are facing not only a physical condition but also a mental condition but also a mental condition as a consequence of virus. do you struggle? do you feel u nsafe virus. do you struggle? do you feel unsafe even these double frets ? feel unsafe even these double frets? violence and the virus? we ca re frets? violence and the virus? we care about people in the health of the population and eve ryo ne health of the population and everyone knows. but we do not feel scared unless there is a fight and we are in the middle of it. do you think the outside world cares? there is so much on people's minds with this emergency, this pandemic. do they care about what is happening in guerrero was to mark i doubt that, to be honest. i don't want to generalise but what i can say is that the situation in mexico

and in some specific mexican states is getting worse and we need to do something. that is nest or ruby arno in mexico city. this is coronavirus your stories. a programme about how covid—19 is changing lives around the world. i'm philippa thomas and this week we are hearing personal stories about homelessness. herzog lives in london and was homeless for three years, addicted to heroin and on the streets. for the first time he is telling his story about how the pandemic gave him another chance, brought him back from the depths. he started by telling me what it was like. it was absolutely terrible. finding where to sleep, if you were going to eat. it was absolutely terrible. not having anybody to talk to or nobody to turn to

and have never experienced anything like that. i guess you saw things you never expected to see and witnessed things as well? yeah. many things. 0bviously when you think of homelessness, people seem to think drunks and druggies and to some extent that is true and in some extent it is not. but i saw how people were sleeping on the streets and some of the people were not. you ended up taking drugs. i did. it happened three years ago when i split from my wife and i was going through a bad patch in my life and the circle that i was

around, that circle of friends i was staying with were all drug users and i sort of got into it with them and found that it was helping me forget about my problems and forget about my problems and forget about everything in my life. and little did i do know that it would be the biggest mistake of my life. i can hear it is difficult to talk about it. what did that do to you, taking heroin? the only way i can describe it is it is like being imprisoned. heroin is a drug thatis imprisoned. heroin is a drug that is not something you can do one day and skip the other. it is not like that, you needed every day. and if you do not haveit every day. and if you do not have it you start going into physical withdrawals and, yeah, you would do anything to get it. commit crime, you know,

ta ke it. commit crime, you know, take money from somewhere, anywhere you can, really. yeah, it had a big hold on me at the time. the thing was, i did not know what i was getting myself into and that was the first time in my life i had taken drugs and unfortunately it was the wrong choice to take and then the pandemic happened and written went into lockdown. -- britain went into lockdown. someone found you, how did you get your chance? i always said to myself that i didn't want to do the drugs anymore because i had had enough. doing the same thing every day was just getting too much for me and i said to myself i need to find a

place where i can keep my head down and get away from it all. it so happened that i was sleeping at the hospital, the local hospital one night and there was a charity group coming around and they found me sleeping rough at the hospital and they said they could help and they said they could help and get me somewhere to sleep. i wasn't sure if it was going to happen because i have heard those sort of things before and nothing has really happened but they did follow through and the pandemic happened and they phoned me and said they had an emergency hotel if i would like to go. when you moved in, what sort of state where you win? they asked me when i got there ifi they asked me when i got there if i had any health conditions or alcohol use or drug use and i was open about it to them and said yes i am a heroin user and

they got me a nurse to see me they got me a nurse to see me the next day. they saw that i was ina the next day. they saw that i was in a bad state and they medicated me and that is how i ended up getting off the drugs. and you just said they brought you food so you didn't have to go out and you didn't have to worry about seeing the wrong people. i did not have to leave my room. i was just, people. i did not have to leave my room. i wasjust, you know, ifi my room. i wasjust, you know, if i wanted to i could have stayed in there all day. i had my own television, my own bathroom and they come to your door to give you breakfast lunch and dinner so you literally did not have to see anybody. you made some good friends there as well.” anybody. you made some good friends there as well. i met some really nice people there as well. the staff were friendly and they used to talk, even the security. they became friends as well. you had

somebody to talk to, i suppose, even just somebody to talk to, i suppose, evenjust a somebody to talk to, i suppose, even just a couple of times a day. they were also very encouraging and coming off the drugs because it gave me real motivation to do it because seeing people rooting for you, it just gives you seeing people rooting for you, itjust gives you a big boost that you are doing the right thing and going about things the right way. what do you think might have happened to you if this intervention had not come along? if this lockdown room and the help you got? honestly, i think i would be in prison by now and that is the honest truth. i would be in prison by now. do you ever worry now about it falling apart again? i know for a few months you have gotten a place and you have a home but is it still in your mind? it is. it

never leaves your mindful stop even now i am still afraid to go out and do not really go out anymore, i talk to who i need to talk to over the phone but the only time i go out is in the only time i go out is in the morning, first thing, seven o'clock, when the supermarket opens to do some shopping and then i am back indoors. i do not go out at all. because i still feel vulnerable and i don't want to see the people i used to see, and things like that. are you back in touch with your family and old friends? not as yet. it has only been six months and six months you may think is a long time but it is not really the right time yet. i am still

trying to get myself together and get my life together. i have taken the first big steph, coming off the drugs that make first big step, i have a place now and i have a job ijust need to get myself in the right place and show the people who i have sort of... disappointed because they all knew what i was doing but i was just too ashamed to admit it. nobody wa nts to ashamed to admit it. nobody wants to admit that they are on drugs or anything like that. but they know now and ijust wa nt to but they know now and ijust want to get myself in the right place and show them that i am no longer that person. this is who i am. it sounds like the pandemic has brought something good for you but it is still a process. you are still working at this. yes. definitely. definitely. the pandemic came

at the right... not in a bad way but for me, yes, something good came out of it. i think you're speaking in public about this for the first time, what would you like us to understand about being homeless? there is help out there. many people think there is not but there is and you have got to be willing to help yourself at the same time. i know, i have been there myself and this is the first timei myself and this is the first time i am speaking in public about this. but it is not the be all and end all. there is help out there but you have got to be willing to help yourself. and that is why i took the steps that i did and i knew that i wanted to change my life. he also wants to thank

the outreach workers from saint mungo's who helped him to turn his life around. i'm philippa thomas. thank you for watching coronavirus your stories. hello there. it will be a notably fresher start to the day, particularly across the southern half of the uk because the transition was taking place further north yesterday. but there will still be plenty of dry weather on offer, some good spells of sunshine will break for the cloud and make it feel pleasantly warm. we have seen the transition as we come behind this cold front through yesterday and overnight to slightly fresher air back to where we should be for the time of year. quite a brisk easterly wind blowing in the south. always a little bit more cloud close to the north of scotland with this weather front, and there could be some patchy fog elsewhere first thing, the first couple of hours after dawn there could be some dense patches, but then it clears the way. as should the low cloud near the north sea coast, and the misty low cloud we have had in southern and western areas for the last couple of days. the exception really to seeing that sunshine for most is the north and east

of scotland. and with the return of the sunshine elsewhere in scotland and northern england i think it will feel warmer than it did yesterday, but the 27 we had in the south not being repeated. more like 21, 22 which is where we should be for this time of year. and so under the clearest skies again through the coming night it's going to turn quite cool, and yes again the exception being northern scotland where we have those weather fronts close by. down into single figures quite widely in the countryside setting us up for another date with perhaps some patchy mist and fog again first thing. brisk wind in the south, but otherwise some good spells of sunshine. and even north as that weather front weekends at times it will be bright. 19 to 21 around about average for this time of year. and we keep that high pressure close by into the weekend particularly in the north. but this low pressure in the bay of biscay is giving us a little bit of a headache as it comes northwards it is likely to tighten the isobars. the winds will strengthen again, and possibly it's going to bring some showers close to southern parts of england in particular. so a keen breeze coming off

the north sea which will make it feel cooler. some low cloud as well plagueing the north sea coast. so here temperatures will be as high, but 19 to 22 further west. and then just the possibility of some showers, the question mark is how far north they will come into the southern half of the uk. they are still meandering around the area of low pressure into sunday as well. with that breeze coming off the north sea also risk a little bit more cloud around here, but still a good deal of dry and settled weather with high pressure largely in charge further north. as ever, there is more on the website.

i going welcome to bbc news — my name's mike embley. our top stories: donald trump says an effective coronavirus vaccine could be good to go within weeks, contradicting one of his own top health officials. i called him and he didn't tell me that, maybe he got the message confused, maybe didn't a nswer correctly message confused, maybe didn't answer correctly but we are ready to go immediate. hurricane sally makes landfall in america — causing catastrophic flooding — with winds exceeding 160km/h. fresh warnings for the uk from senior us politicians jeopardise the good friday agreement and there will be no trade deal. and maduro accused — a united nations investigation says venezuela's government ordered the torture