now on bbc news, our world. anna holligan travels across europe to see how people the headlines: are getting on their bikes on his second day in hospital, and asks if the surge donald trump has tweeted a video thanking well—wishers, in cycling is the start and says he's making progress of a much bigger change but admits he still expects in the way we travel. from the bubonic plague to remain at the walter reed to tuberculosis, pandemics have medical centerfor a few historically changed the way more days to come. our cities are designed, and the coronavirus and in other news — despite international calls has been no different. coronavirus is a moment for calm, fighting has intensified in the disputed region of nagorno—karabakh in which every policymaker can with reports of civilians make a u—turn. being targeted. lockdown made our capitals quieter, greener, and we've armenia's president says the country is facing seen wildlife blossoming a "decisive moment" as it battle azerbaijan for control like never before. of the region. at least two people have died it's like a paradise for me now. you can see maybe tens and 25 people missing after of thousands of bicycles everywhere. powerful storm hit southern we are travelling around france and north—western italy. europe, meeting the people who are trying to implement the biggest changes in cities villagers have suffered damage we've seen in decades. three months ago, here, you had a lot of cars in nice. the worst flooding in in this path, 0k? now it's for bicycles. living memory. but this rapid shift towards pedal power has created a problem.

borisjohnson and the european i just went there and it commission president was empty, you know. ursula von der leyen issued there were no bikes. a statement on saturday agreeing to step up efforts could the pandemic see a shift to resolve the differences that to more environmentally exist in the brexit friendly modes of transport? trade talks. they acknowledged that significant gaps still remain. here's our political correspondent iain watson. or will we simply return to the way we were? they have agreed to keep 00:01:21,938 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 talking because the dutch bike lanes are the envy of the world. it's so much part of us. it is as if we are all born with a bike. like you take a shopping bag, you take your bike. but it wasn't always this way. maatje van putten was a dutch politician.

this is me and my son, 1976. "the netherlands‘ traffic is in europe the most dangerous for children." maatje was a key player in the movement that transformed dutch cities in the 1960s and ‘70s. the start was there in the ‘70s when people got alarmed about the figures of children on the way to school. the accidents — the numbers were so high that we had to do something, and that's how it begun. here, the action groups — and this is us — "we want a car—free sunday at least once a month" — that was in the oil crisis... in 1973, maatje launched a campaign called stop the child murder. we sat together and said that this can't go on. we have to do something. and so more and more actions were taken. we were blocking roads

in the rush—hour — people on their way home — drivers totally overtaken and surprised about mothers in a circle on the corner of the road, blocking it. and there you were, right at the front? maybe, yeah. me and this... maatje‘s efforts have been immortalised as the heroine of a new children's book. here we went through the tunnel, under the water, here in the — and then, on the other side, the police was there. the amount of space by the car traffic was so enormous that that was, well, eating up the space for cyclists and also pedestrians. the whole infrastructure of the netherlands was totally focused on — on, yeah, let's say, priority of cars. bikes was not an issue. today, amsterdam has 767 kilometres of cycle lanes and more bikes than people.

but even here, the pandemic is changing the way people get about. because of covid—i9, it didn't feel right to go by tram any more, so it was actually the right time to now get a bakfiets cargo bike. judith and johan hartog bought an electric cargo bike at the start of lockdown. we're not really going on a — on a vacation now, so, like a staycation, we stay in holland and we do a lot by bike now, so it's — you can put a lot of things in, you can get the bags and go out, like here in the park or maybe — and we're going to the beach by bike so it's easy for days — days off. could you have imagined having this, being this dutch mum, six months ago?

no, we would never have thought. so, yeah, it's fun. it's — it's different and it's also a bit cliched, but yeah, we like it — we love it. the pandemic has been a catalyst for many people here to invest savings they wouldn't otherwise have had. it's not only mobility anymore, you know, because it's also fun. they're singing in the bike and they have fun, you're in nature — it's a whole different way of going out. the netherlands already had world—renowned infrastructure but the coronavirus has still significantly shifted behaviour. cargo bike sales have gone up by 53% this year and the e—bike is now the most commonly sold type of bicycle. brussels, the capital of belgium. since march, it's built a0

kilometres of new cycle paths. i've been here for two weeks and then, all of a sudden, the world changed, so of course i decided that i want to, you know, take all the measures that i can to stay healthy. when brussels went into lockd own, vesseli na foteva decided cycling was the fastest, safest way to travel, and went out to buy a bike. ijust entered the bike shop and had an image of myself, you know, buying a beautiful bike and matching with the nice helmet. but i just went there, and it was empty, you know? there were no bikes. i wanted to order one, but they said that i need to wait at least two months to get the bike. so i said, "ok. no way. i cannot wait so much because, you know, the whole summer will be gone." a friend of mine, really by accident, told me

that she heard about this subscription—based service, where you can pay a monthly fee and get the bike at your home. so i told her that that's really cool. commuters make up the majority of those who've subscribed to this particular scheme, swapfiets. the dutch company is expanding into three new cities to capitalise on a spike in demand that came with covid. when it was already official that we are living in a global pandemic, i decided that i will avoid as much as possible public transport. so this is probably the main reason to decide to have a bike. but it's notjust commuters who are switching to two wheels. cycling traffic surged in brussels during the first week of the return to school, with a 75% increase compared to last year. milan was one of the first cities to embrace cycling

as a way to get its residents moving around again. this is one of italy's most polluted cities, and it's also in the heart of the region that was the epicentre of the outbreak in europe. pepino drali is one of italy's most famous bike manufacturers. now, at 92, pepino has been building bikes for more than 80 years.

and the crisis has meant an unparalleled pressure on pepino and his apprentice, alessandro... ..as the demand for their handmade bikes has soared. but pepino isn't convinced the boost in their sales is reflected in the number of actual cyclists on the streets.

are you hopeful that in the future, it will again be like it was when you were a boy? and there are many who hope pepino is right, that the surge in cycling is just a phase. claudio severgnini is slipping back into his old routine. he's been driving passengers around milan for more than two decades. that's incredible, so you have to cross the cycle lane to go into your taxi rank here? but the roads he knows like the back of his hand are being altered and he is worried about cars

being pushed out. claudio is concerned these bike lanes through the heart of his city have appeared too fast without enough consideration for cars. no? chuckles. it's already caused a lot of conflict. transforming the roads, making room for cyclists, involves taking sections away from the drivers.

and this side is also new? yes, that side is correct. the parking over side. on the pavement? oh, so now they park...? so not space. wow.

but there is an urgency in this part of italy, as everyone we meet has been touched by the pandemic. this time has forced reflection. for some, the changes are not going far or fast enough. most of milan's new bike routes are only temporary paintjobs. environmentalists are using the current situation to push for permanent infrastructure. coronavirus is a moment

in which, you know, every policymaker can make a u—turn, completely, and change their own cities. anna gerometta is an environmentalist and activist. she believes curtailing car use and backing bikes is an investment for a healthierfuture. climate groups have warned people living in polluted cities are more at risk of contract and lung infections like covid—i9. —— cities are more at risk of contracting lung infections like covid—i9. the failure to have the courage to change now, in a situation in which you have some time to prepare the people, can be really disastrous. this is a major concern for the people gathered here tonight. they are the critical mass and they are, you know, a movement that has been going on for years.

they ride every thursday night and they want to show our policymakers that citizens of milan really want a different kind of city. there are a few lanes that have been built but compared to the need and the necessity of this city and the will of people and the wish of the population of milan to have a different mobility and way to go around, they are really a drop in the ocean. it's a matter of a completely different quality of life. if you have a city where you — your air is so polluted that you get sick and your children get sick, that is an important topic that you, as a public, policymaker, you should be addressing. the regional government has so far spent 115 million euros

to stimulate cycling, but milan's urban planner told us many italians just aren't ready to get on the saddle. it's absolutely not true. probably the mentality of the politicians is too old and they are not seeing what the people really want, and their capacity of their own population and citizens to accept large changes with a very happy heart. the french capital is spending record amounts transforming the streets to try and make cycling a viable option for everyone. it's going to be so interesting to see how this massive investment in cycling is actually changing the way people are moving

around the city. it is like a revolution, you know, because before, we had a city with cars, only cars, and now we have a city with bicycles, with walking, with public transportation, but it is good for ecology. i know we have some problems but it is a priority for the next month to solve this problem, and i'm sure we can solve this. here, it's before. now, it's a new world. 0k! the most iconic change is here on the notoriously petrol—filled rue de rivoli. sections are now completely car—free. david belliard is the deputy mayor of paris. he's a green politician who has been pushing for these measures for years. three months ago, here, you had a lot of cars in this path, 0k?

now, it's for bicycles. the more you give space for bicycles, the more they use it. yeah, build and they will come, they say. yeah, look at that. it's like — it's a big traffic jam, you know? people here have been telling me how they went into lockdown and then came out to this — a whole new world. these types of changes normally take decades. because of the pandemic, there was an urgency, which meant they happened here overnight. cycling levels after the lockdown increased by 27% compared to last year. paris is in a big transformation, a big bang of mobility, but a big bang with public space. we will organise city to allow you to take your bicycle safely and we will change rules and we will make you more

bicycle path and we need to give back some space to parisians. it's a profound culture shift that's taking some adjusting. we saw cyclists being pulled overfor running red lights and cycling with headphones on. it's clearly not clear to everyone who has the right of way. which means for some people, it's time to go back to school. speaks french. this isjoel sick. he's an instructor at maison du velo cycling school.

since the coronavirus struck, the french government has invested 20 million euros in a push to get more parisians using bikes. these classes are now free to anyone in the city who wants to learn to ride. it's like a paradise for me now. you can see maybe tens of thousands of bicycles everywhere, so it is very becoming so popular. remy dunoyer is a bike mechanic. his repair shop in downtown paris stayed open through lockdown.

in response to the pandemic, the french government started contributing to the cost of bike repairs. we have a name for a new service which is out of the basement service. with dusty bicycles, like this one, or any other one, so we have a special service for this use in which we include help from the government — they have 50 euros to help people to fix those bicycles. sometimes they are very, very rusty and hard to fix so it is cheaper for the people to reuse this one than to buy a new one. while other businesses have been shedding staff or cutting down, remy has been hiring and opening new stores through the country. it was an opportunity for us to open a new city which is in strasbourg. we open a second one

in bordeaux, so two shops in bordeaux, one in paris and maybe soon a second one in paris and in strasbourg too. across europe, more than a billion euros has been spent and 2300 kilometres of bike lanes created since the pandemic began. reduced car use has seen pollution fall by 50% in some of europe's biggest cities. but whether this covid—related trend continues depends on the scale of the continued investment and how many of us are committed to keep cycling, changing cities possibly forever. hello there.

it's been a thoroughly wet night up and down the country and we continue with more heavy rain this morning, in fact maybe across western and southern areas, where we're likely to see more transport disruption, some further flooding in places. and it's here where the winds will be strongest as well. it's all tied in with this area of low pressure. you can see where the isobars are closest together across more western and south—western areas, and this is where we will have that weather front as well, bringing that heavy and persistent rain. now, the amber warning across south—west england and wales is likely to persist up until around midday today, so we could see further flooding here through the morning period, whereas further north, the amber warning across eastern scotland should expire early this morning as the rain begins to pivot away and push towards the west. so we should see a little bit of brightness appearing here as the day wears on. the heaviest of the rain will tend to be across northern ireland, down into wales, south—west england, across the south and south—east as well. but even here, the rain should start to move away as we head on into the afternoon.

central areas — lighter winds, some sunshine around and here, we will see some heavy, slow—moving showers. temperatures reach around 15 or 16, and it will be quite chilly across the south—east. into sunday night, it looks like those rain bands begin to spread away from the uk but we will continue to see lots of showers spiralling around the centre of the low. some lengthy clear spells in between and when that happens, it could turn chilly in one or two spots — generally 8—10 for most. low pressure still with us then as we head on into the new working week for monday. it will be slowly filling, which means it will be gradually weakening through the day, so conditions should slowly improve as we move through the week. but for monday, again, we will see scattered showers around, the winds not quite as strong, some of the showers that develop could be on the heavy side again. some could merge together to produce longer spells of rain. but in the sunshine, again, we could see 15 or 16 degrees, and that is where we could see some of the heaviest of the showers. as we move out of monday, i will show you our area of low

pressure, beginning to drift north. it opens a north—westerly wind across the uk which will drive in a few showers, but we should also see good spells of sunshine as well. so i think it's really a slow improvement as we move through the week. that low pressure system moving away. and if anything, by the end of the week, high pressure will start to build in, so that will settle things down.

this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. i'm james reynolds. our top stories: donald trump says he's doing well in hospital where he's being treated for coronavirus but expects to remain for the time being. you don't know, over the next period of a few days, i guess that's the real test, so we will be seeing what happens over those next couple of days. meanwhile, as more senior republicans test positive, we ask — was last week's unveiling of the president's supreme court nominee at the white house a super—spreader event? and in other news, civilian areas come under fire as the conflict in the disputed region of nagorno karabakh intensifies. at least three people are killed and more than 30 missing after storm alex hits