tonight at 10:00pm, the start of a return to normality, as people in england are allowed to visit shops and pubs for the first time in months. cheers! drinkers were finally able to raise a toast, as long as it wasn't indoors. it's the first pint since christmas in a pub. it's still outdoors, but at least it's not raining. it's great, it's draft. draft beer — the first draft beer for six months! some had queued since dawn in england and wales, to visit their favourite stores. while there were much—needed haircuts, as barbers and salons took bookings for weeks ahead. we'll have details of all of today's changes. also tonight... grandpa, a master of the barbecue, and legend of banter. princes william and harry pay their own tributes to the duke of edinburgh.

a curfew�*s imposed in the us city of minneapolis after another shooting of a black man by police. the government orders an independent investigation, into david cameron's lobbying of ministers on behalf of a finance company. and, a "trailblazing" politician. tributes to shirley williams, who's died at the age of 90. and coming up in the sport on the bbc news channel... it's back—to—back wins for the baggies. west brom's faint survival hopes given a boost after they beat southampton 3—0. good evening. more lockdown rules have eased across the uk, with many businesses opening their doors for the first time in months. the most significant changes have been in england. restaurants and pubs can now

serve people outside, while all shops, hairdressers, beauty salons, gyms and outdoor attractions like zoos and theme parks, can also resume business. wales has also reopened stores, and remaining pupils have gone back to school. restrictions on travelling across the border have also eased. in scotland all students, except those who are shielding, have now returned to the classroom, as have pupils in northern ireland. the stay—at—home order there is also ending and being replaced with guidance to "stay local". here's our business editor, simonjack. opening up after five long months of lockdown. newquay zoo welcomed back customers on a day the government and business hopes will revive the animal spirits of an economy that's been slumbering. so, what does it feel like? like we've just got out of prison! laughter. amazing to be out. we've got more freedom to see people now, and you don'tjust feel—

so sort of cooped up, - really, so it's definitely a big weight off the shoulders. the zoo was on the edge of bankruptcy last year and had to close its sister site in devon, so today's visitors were very welcome. it's hugely important for us. all the way through, we've had people in, we've had the animals to look after and we've had no income to do that, so, having our guests back in today and having them here enjoying the zoo as well as bringing an income in, so that we can move forward again as a business, is fantastic. great news, too, for a very hard—hit hospitality sector. a cool outdoor terrace got a very warm welcome from customers. all: cheers! first draft beer for six months! it's just going to be lovely to get some proper fresh air and a bit of freedom. owner sally pickles says that it is an important first step on the road to recovery. the customers want us to be open, the staff are ready to come back, i think it's just something that we have to start, and just see what happens.

we just hope that this is us open and then in may we'll be fully open, and there'll be no looking back. today's clearly a massive moment for the national mood and for the economy, but remember 60% of hospitality venues have no outside space, and the ones that do may be running at a loss, so, what's next is key. the government says it doesn't want covid certificates or passports in everyday life, but hospitality chiefs worry they will be offered two different ways of losing money — half—empty venues without certificates, or full ones with them, but the additional cost and staff to check them. too cold for an outdoor swim? indoor pools and gyms can now reopen. different sectors will see different demand. it's been a cautious return at this holiday park. 600 people arriving out of a normal 3000 at this time of year. butjohn hyatt expects numbers to grow. this year what we have seen, even throughout the last few months, has been a huge amount of confidence

from our guests in the bookings and inquiries stage, where, either they've had their vaccine, they've got their vaccine appointment through, and almost the first or second phone call they are making to us is to preserve their holiday. there's a lot of confidence out there. we are a long way from an economy firing on all cylinders, but today has been an important step down what the government, customers and businesses hope is an irreversible road to recovery. simonjack, bbc news, newquay. shoppers have returned to high streets across england and wales, as nonessential stores were allowed to open for the first time in months. there were long queues from early this morning outside some shops. this from our business correspondent, emma simpson. it's been a long time coming. high streets emerging from hibernation. like manchester. over in liverpool, customers waiting to get inside. some, more patiently than others at this london store.

whatever the city, one store drawing the biggest crowds. this is nottingham. i do online shop but i prefer to be out and about and getting in there. looks like you've done very well today. yeah, yeah. do not show my partner this! have you missed it? 0h, absolutely. have you? yes. just nice to be out seeing lots of different people again. shoe fittings are back on, even outside. your feet are feeling a bit tight in those shoes now, aren't they? yeah. changing rooms are allowed again and fashion retailers have a whole new season for sale. i'm so relieved that we've got here. we've been closed for around eight months out of the last 13 and how can you run a business like that? luckily we have an online presence, so that has been really helpful. i don't know what would have happened if we hadn't been online. there is an awful lot of pent—up demand, and households have

squirrelled away more than £100 billion in savings over the last year. the hope is this will fuel a summer spending spree, but with a massive shift in online shopping, will stores still see the same number of people coming through their doors, as they did before the pandemic? some purchases, though, are just not the same online. yeah, it's my 21st birthday today, so looking for a bit ofjewellery to mark that date and remember it for ever, really. today is a big moment for retail, too. the boss of this chain told me she is optimistic, but shops will have to work harder to keep customers coming. there is a definite bounce back. we are going to see customers coming out and spending with us, and the long—term challenge will be to keep the footfall coming and the redevelopment of high streets is going to be critical going forward. some household names didn't make it.

this chain is in its final days. by lunchtime, this city centre was heaving. not everyone liked it. do you think it's too busy, then? yes, i do. it's not for us. n0~ _ but here's something we've all missed. i was getting quite desperate because i'm more brunette than blonde by this point! hiya, got any spaces? unfortunately not — we're booked up until the middle of may, now. - it has been demoralising. i want it back to normal now. we want to get back to normal, now, back on our feet and crack on, - and get everybody's hair done, get everybody out. _ it's not business as usual today, but it is one big step closer to normality. emma simpson, bbc news, nottingham. let's get more on today's changes in wales. hywel griffith is in cardiff for us. relief for many that things are finally beginning to get back to

normal. , . . , finally beginning to get back to normal. , . ., , ., , , finally beginning to get back to normal. , . . , ., , , ., normal. yes, certainly a sense that --eole normal. yes, certainly a sense that peeple are — normal. yes, certainly a sense that peeple are able. — normal. yes, certainly a sense that people are able, finally, _ normal. yes, certainly a sense that people are able, finally, to - normal. yes, certainly a sense that people are able, finally, to get - people are able, finally, to get back to business. certainly for the shops which in wales have been closed for 16 weeks. remember here they closed before christmas day. but wales as a whole is reopening. cross—border travel restrictions ending today, meaning people can see friends and family from much further afield. and the tourism industry, hugely important to the welsh economy, can now start taking bookings for the rest of spring and into summerfor a much bigger customer base. another important change, for the first time in 2021, all school pupils are able to have classroom teaching, so home—school is finally at an end. but not everyone is celebrating the stop bars and restaurants in cardiff city centre are still closed, no outdoor service for hospitality venues for another two weeks. another three weeks untiljim is here reopen. a reminder that the governments of the four nations of the uk are doing

things differently and each invoking different parts of the science to justify their decisions. who has got it right? may be the most important date in wales is may six, that's when in the senedd elections, voters here can pass theirjudgment on the pandemic. here can pass their “udgment on the andemic. , , ' . ' pandemic. hywel griffith in cardiff, thank ou. the latest government figures show there were 3,568 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period, with, on average, 2,744 new cases being reported per day in the last week. there are currently 2,862 people in hospital with covid—i9. 13 deaths were reported in the latest 2a hour period — that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—i9 test. on average in the past week, 3a deaths were announced every day, bringing the total across the uk to 127,100. more than 69,000 people have had their first dose of a covid

vaccine in the latest 24—hour period, bringing the total to almost 32.2 million, while more than 189,000 people had their second jab, meaning over 7.6 million people have now had both doses of the vaccine. our health editor hugh pym is here. yes, it is an easing and people are now able to do things they haven't been able to in several months. but we are not out of the covid woods yet. we are not out of the covid woods et. . �* , we are not out of the covid woods et. ., �* , ., ~' we are not out of the covid woods et. . �*, ., ~ ., yet. that's right. it will take a few weeks — yet. that's right. it will take a few weeks for _ yet. that's right. it will take a few weeks for government. yet. that's right. it will take a - few weeks for government scientists and advisers to assess the impact of this partial easing today. it takes a week or so for virus cases, if there are any spreading, to be detected. and there are five weeks between each stage of the lock down the england. there's actually some relief that if you go back to early march, when schools were reopening

around the uk, that there wasn't a big spike in cases. it had been thought with pupils going into schools and more movement in the community there would be more infections but that hasn't happened. at worst, cases have been levelling off and in some areas they have carried on falling. but some officials are concerned today a little bit that this illusion to people that things are back to normal, because if you go on the streets there are more people going into shops and more using public transport and outdoor hospitality, and of course it is not back to normal so caution is needed. as a reminder tonight of the threat still there, the news that in certain parts of south london there will be more surge testing of more cases of the south african variant. hugh pym, thank ou. princes william and harry have paid separate tributes to their grandfather, the duke of edinburgh. william described prince philip as an extraordinary man from an extraordinary generation. harry wrote of him as a master of the barbecue, and a legend of banter. here's our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell.

he was there for them at their moment of greatest anguish, walking with the young william and harry behind the coffin of their mother after her death in a road accident. and the bond between the grandfather and the grandsons on whom so many hopes rested, was a deep one. in his statement william says he feels fortunate to have had his grandfather's enduring presence to guide him through good times and the hardest days. he recalled the special memories his own children will have of their great grandpa, coming to collect them in his carriage. then william says this... harry speaks of his grandfather's unparalleled devotion to the queen. he'd been a man of honour and great humour, master of the barbecue, legend of banter and cheeky right to the end. harry finished by saying this...

in the houses of parliament, recalled early from the easter recess, politicians paid their tributes, led by the prime minister. though i suspect mr speaker, that he might be embarrassed or even faintly exasperated to receive these tributes, he made this country a better place. and we offer up this tribute. to the duke of edinburgh, for a lifetime of public service, the gold award. in the scottish parliament in edinburgh, tributes to the duke were led by the first minister, nicola sturgeon. and of course he faced the additional challenge of being the husband of a powerful woman at a time when that was even more of an exception than it is today. that reversal of the more

traditional dynamic was highly unusual in the 1940s, �*50s and �*60s, and even now isn't as common as it might be. a virtual session of the welsh parliament heard from the first minister, mark drakeford. to have lived such a life at the centre of world events, and in a way which made almost every experience of public rather than simply private interest, makes it even more remarkable still. and that was the life of the duke of edinburgh. and at stormont in northern ireland, tributes were paid across the political divide. he redefined the role of a royal, working with hundreds of different causes and organisations, with younger people, service, and driving british innovation at the centre of his efforts. i acknowledge that the queen

and prince philip and theirfamily were directly impacted by the conflict and regrettably endured sorrow and pain. yet having endured such personal loss, the royalfamily set about working towards advancing peace and reconciliation, and i have been witness to these efforts and their example of leadership myself in recent years. he had stepped onto the national stage before most of today's political leaders were born. today, they spoke out in their appreciation of him. nicholas witchell, bbc news. the government's announced an independent review, into david cameron's lobbying of ministers on behalf of the finance company greensill which collapsed last month. he's under scrutiny over the way he gained access to ministers when employed by the company. mr cameron says he broke no rules, but admitted he had lessons to learn over the way he'd communicated with members of the government. 0ur political editor, laura kuenssberg has more details. decisions made behind whitehall�*s closed doors effect millions of us and billions of pounds.

so there's big business in using contacts and conversations to persuade those with power to act. lobbying is allowed, but look who once warned it could go badly wrong. i'm talking about lobbying and we all know how it works. the lunches... as an eager opposition leader he was worried. the ex—ministers and ex—advisers for hire, helping big businesses find the right way to get its way. the concern�*s about him, though, now. there was no sign of the former prime minister at his 0xfordshire home today, but plenty of attention on his behaviour — texting the chancellor, e—mailing officials, arranging a drink with the health secretary. no sign of him in london, either, after his work promoting a bank that's now collapsed has been revealed. greensill capital was in this anonymous london office block and the boss here advised the government during

david cameron's time in charge, but the roles reversed, and at the start of the pandemic the former prime minister appealed to former colleagues to try to get greensill involved in emergency government—backed loans. one of those he tried to lobby told me it was "classic casual cameron". the former prime minister is adamant he didn't break any rules, but a senior lawyer has been appointed to investigate exactly what happened. and it has prompted a wider conversation about whether those rules really work at all. so what is allowed? when ministers leave office they are prohibited from lobbying government for two years. to take anyjob during that time, they have to tell an independent committee, who checks whether it is appropriate, to avoid the suspicion of reward for past favours or the risk of them improperly exploiting privileged access. but it's nearly five years since david cameron left office. are the rules tight enough? public office should not become the platform for private gain

and i don't really think former ministers and former prime ministers should be engaged in lobbying for particular commercial companies when they're lobbying their successors. labour claims the investigation might be a cover—up and is pushing for answers about how current ministers responded, but some tories also believe clearer rules are needed. lobbying is part and parcel of any democratic system. constituents, businesses, everybody is lobbying the government for things they want or things they think the government should do. the question is — when there are conflicts of interest, how do officials and ministers in government respond? there isn't nearly enough conversation about this. it's got much too casual. in theory, there is nothing wrong with trying to change the government's mind, but how that is done in practice matters to how those acting on all our behalf decide. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. there have been protests in the us city of minneapolis, after a young black man was shot

dead by police. minneapolis is where the trial of the officer accused of killing george floyd is taking place. in this latest incident, a 20—year—old man died after crashing his car, having been shot by an officer moments before. investigators say the police officer thought she was using her taser. 0ur correspondent, barbara plett usher, is live in minneapolis for us now. clive, city officials say that this shooting which may have been a tragic mistake could not have happened at a worse time given the tensions over the george floyd case. police who have been reinforcing their station all day after the protests that took place last night and the mayor of minneapolis has called a state of emergency and issued an orderfor a curfew called a state of emergency and issued an order for a curfew later tonight. the presidentjoe biden has spoken. he says he knows that the pain, the angerand spoken. he says he knows that the pain, the anger and trauma are real but it doesn'tjustify looting and violence. this is an evolving

situation. but here is the latest. these have become familiar scenes in a year of civil unrest over police violence, with every deadly encounter reigniting a smouldering anger. there's a stand—off between police and protesters here, smoke bombs have been fired, tear gas has been fired after a shooting, another police shooting of a black man in minnesota. that man was daunte wright, 20 years old, of mixed race. with the city already on edge over the trial of the george floyd killing, police moved quickly to release footage from the camera worn by the officer involved in the shooting. it shows that mr wright was pulled overfor a minor offence. that escalated when police decided to arrest him on a previous warrant. he tried to run. but then a fatal mistake, the police chief said.

the officer while struggling with mr wright shouts "taser, taser." during this encounter, however, the officer drew their handgun instead of their taser. ijust shot him. it is my belief that the officer had the intention to deploy their taser but instead shot mr wright with a single bullet. this appears to me from what i have down the office's reaction and distress immediately after that this was an accidental discharge. in the moments before this tragedy, mr wright's mother had been on the phone with him. a minute later i called and his girlfriend answered, she was a passenger in the car, and said that he had been shot. she put it on the driver's side and my son was laying there lifeless. and i said, "where are you?" and she said, "i don't know." during the unrest that followed, some shops were looted, a reminder of the property damage after george floyd's death last year. explosion. the prosecution is wrapping

up its case in that trial. there is concern about what sort of fall—out the verdict might trigger and questions about whether it will impact the way police officer in america. barbara plett usher, bbc news, minneapolis. the foreign ministers of all the g7 countries, including the united states, britain and france, have condemned an increase in russian troop numbers near its border with ukraine. the joint declaration comes as ukraine says another one of its servicemen has been killed in clashes with russian—backed fighters in the east. yesterday the kremlin said it wasn't moving towards war, but wouldn't remain indifferent to the fate of russian speakers, in eastern ukraine. the mother of one of two people killed in the terror attack in london's fishmongers' hall in 2019 has given evidence at the start of an inquest. jack merritt and saskia jones were fatally stabbed by a convicted terrorist at a prisoner rehabilitation conference. anne merritt said her son's death

was �*a tragedy�* but that his life had been �*a triumph�*. tom symonds has the story. the charity jack merritt worked for tried to help former criminals turn their lives around. saskia jones came to the event it held that day in fishmongers held that day in fishmongers' hall as a volunteer. in footage shown to the jury she seems to be enjoying taking part. happy to make conversation with this man, usman khan, released from prison after a terrorism offence. but hidden under khan's oversized jacket was a fake bomb belt, the inquest heard. when a break came, he slipped away to a toilet cubicle, taped knives to his wrists, stepped out and fatally stabbed jack merritt. outside in a cloakroom, saskia jones was stabbed in the neck. but people attending the event fought back, pursuing khan into the street, armed with a fire extinguisher and two ancient whale tasks which had been on display.

one had already had his hand slashed by a knife. on london bridge they brought him to the ground, shouting that he was a killer. seconds later, police arrived, shooting and tasering him. khan was still moving and the jury was shown pictures today from a police helicopter. officers were discussing whether his bomb belt was real. they were planning to move people who were down there in case they were at risk from an explosion. and they were issuing the code word for a major terrorist attack. eventually, more shots were fired and khan was dead. but the inquests began with a portrait of jack merritt, described as absorbingly intelligent, fiercely loyal, with a strong moral compass. the family of saskia jones said she would have wanted the process to be thorough. it will last nine weeks. tom symonds, bbc news at london guildhall. in a stark warning the world health organization says the coronavirus pandemic is still growing around the globe,

and has yet to reach its peak. among the worst affected countries is brazil, which has seen more than 100,000 new cases, as well as 4,000 deaths, in a single day. the government ofjair bolsonaro has been criticised for its lax response, with hospitals overwhelmed. mark lowen sent us this report from sao paulo. the cloak of darkness brings no respite when brazil's dead keep coming. in latin america's largest graveyard, night shift burials to clear the backlog. the agony of loss deepened by the snatched farewell, reaching for dignity denied. this is a nation buckling under collective trauma. there is barely time to grieve before the next one arrives. another number in more

than 350,000 dead. "my father died this morning," says willians. "he got covid in hospital. "i have no words for the pain. "other countries are recovering but in brazil it's getting worse. "if our president had bought vaccines earlier my dad "could still be here." with hospitals in most regions 90% full, they're putting beds where they can. an indoor arena, once alive with brazil's passion for sport, now a field hospital for virus victims. this country has become the global epicentre and a super spreader of the variant ravaging the young too. how does it feel to see younger patients here now? it's scary. the majority of those in brazil's intensive care wards are now under 40. many beds in the same family. like we have a mother, a father and a son and the son dies

and we cannot tell the father and the mother because they can get worse. a public health disaster was once dismissed by president bolsonaro as just a little flu. but this is the reality, as exhausted medics try to bring comfort to old and young. anderson, just 28, says he almost didn't make it. translation: when they couldn't | find my veins any more and they had to get access to a major artery and i couldn't breathe i thought it was the end. i think this is a failure of our government and our president. they should search their conscience and come and visit this hospital. the added tragedy of what is happening here is that it shouldn't have come to this. brazil has a generally good health care system and a strong record of national inoculation campaigns. this is not a story of ill preparedness.

it's one of mismanagement that has led this country to be crushed by the pandemic. outside hospitals, a nightmare ritual as anxious relatives wait to be summoned for news of their loved ones. for many, it's the worst, a roll call of the fallen to a virus of this shattered country could have controlled. mark lowen, bbc news, sao paulo. tributes have been paid to the veteran politician, shirley williams, who's died at the age of 90.

the liberal democrat peer was a leading member of the 19705 labour government, and one of the first women cabinet ministers. mark politics was in her blood. her mother was vera brittain, a famous writer and feminist campaigner. shirley williams joined the labour party in her teens and entered the house of commons in 1964. in a male dominated profession, she was often the only woman on the platform. she rose to a cabinet level when labour returned to power in 1974, and later as education secretary began to replace grammar schools with the comprehensive system. but she and others became disillusioned as the labour party moved to the left. too many have done something which is known as keeping your head down. well, the time has come when you'd better stick your head is up. in 1981, williams dramatically walked away from labour, one of the so—called gang of four who established the sdp,

promising to break the mould of british politics.