this is bbc world news. find your gosling. —— i'mjoanna gosling. a memorial�*s opening in normandy to more than 22,000 members of the british armed forces who died after the d—day landings. the inspiration for it came from the veterans themselves. they wanted to have one single place where all the comrades who lost their lives serving under general montgomerie in 1944 serving under general montgomerie in 191m can be remembered together. the health secretary says thejune 21st decision on easing restrictions has become "more difficult" because the delta mutation which originated from india is 40% more transmissible than the kent variant. that does make life more challenging for everybody and you have seen the

case rates have risen a little, but the good news is that hospitalisations come the number of people arriving in hospital is broadly flat. borisjohnson will tell global leaders he wants the whole world to be vaccinated against coronavirus, by the end of next year. el salvador says it wants to be the first country to adopt bitcoin as an official curency. charities are warning that cuts to foreign aid are casting a shadow over the uk's influence at the g7 summit. hello and welcome to bbc news. a memorial to commemorate british and commonwealth serviceman who died on d—day is to be unveiled in normandy this morning. the monument honours more than 22,000 serviceman who died on this day exactly 77 years ago

and in the fighting that followed. 0ur correspondent hugh schofield reports. d—day, the normandy campaign. the thousands of british and commonwealth soldiers who died to liberate europe. it's here that future generations are going to come to honour their memory. part temple of remembrance, part cloister of contemplation, the british normandy memorial is a place of serene beauty. at its centre, a statue of three infantrymen caught in the grip of battle, and on its 160 columns, the names, ranks and ages of all those who were killed. as the years pass and the numbers of those who fought in the campaign dwindle, it is the fulfilment of a promise. the inspiration for it came from the veterans themselves. they wanted to have one single place where all the comrades who lost their lives, serving under general montgomery in 1944, can be remembered together. and i think they felt that with the passing of time

it was important there was a single place where people could come, to reflect, to think about what happened, to realise the importance of what happened in 191m and how it is still relevant today. the most glorious thing about the normandy memorial is the setting. on a hill, plumb overlooking gold beach. to the west, clearly visible off arromanches, the remains of the mulberry artificial harbour. and below us, the sands, where, on the morning ofjune 6th 1944, thousands of british and commonwealth troops came pouring off their transports. gold beach was at the centre of the landings — the americans on one side, the canadians on the others. here, british soldiers scored early success, but it was the start of a long and bitter fight through the lanes and villages of rural normandy. not till latejuly did the allies take the key city of caen, opening the way to paris. among those killed in the later fighting was desmond smallman—tew, who parachuted in as a signals

officer on d—day. his son michael was a boy at the time. he lives in france now and comes often with his children and grandchildren to visit the grave. i hero—worshipped him, really, when i saw all the stories in the letters and all of that that related what he had done. i will often think of him, even now, i think of him, and think what a wonderful job he did. but, i mean, he is one of so many when you think of all these others who were equally brave and who lost their lives. this year, because of covid, there is no d—day tourism. the hotels are empty. but the people of normandy haven't forgotten and the famous pegasus bridge over the 0rne canal is once again the scene of french re—enactors. british visitors will have to wait a little to see the beaches again and relive in their minds the excitement and the sacrifice of those terrible days. one thing is sure — when they do come, it is here at the normandy memorial

that they will gather. hugh schofield, bbc news, normandy. and hugh is in ver—sur—mer in normandy where today's events are taking place. yes, and the ceremony is getting under way, at the moment it isjust as service announcements talking about covid and how to respect the rules. in the next 20 minutes, as the timetable suggests, we should get the ceremony proper under way and there will be this live transmission going over to veterans who are gathered in staffordshire at the national arboretum. here the audience is pretty sparse, there are about 100 dignitaries led by the british ambassador in france and the french defence minister is here and then gather on the other side are

local people from the town of ver—sur—mer and it's been very important that they are associated with this and there is part of the national british memorial, a corner which is dedicated to french civilian victims of the campaign and there were many, largely caused by allied bombing. everyone i have spoken to in that last hour or so is seeing this place for the first time and they were as bold over as i was yesterday, it has been kept a well—kept secret, the media was not allowed in, it was only finished a few weeks ago, covid is keeping travellers a way so what everyone expected to be quite a small memorial with maybe a statue and a monument has turned out to be something far more and permanent. the craftsmanship in this limestone from burgundy and the engravings are superb and clearly makes this place destined to become the centrepiece

from now on all visits by british and others to the normandy beaches. whew, the beauty of it is awesome. thank you very much. many of the veterans and their families can't make the journey over to normandy this year because of the pandemic. many of them will watch today's ceremony at the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire — from where our correspondent graham satchell is for us. good morning, joanna. we are here in staffordshire, hugh has the weather and we have the rain to what you may be able to see behind me is a sea of umbrellas and under those there are around 100 veterans of the d—day landings and then around 300 or 400 family members who have come here to the national memorial arboretum because as we all know covid regulations mean they are unable to travel to france. they would normally be in france, it has become

something of a pilgrimage for the d—day veterans to remember not only what they did but their friends, their colleagues and band of brothers who died on the beaches and in the streets next to them. we are just getting introductions done at the moment to the ceremony which starts proper at 10:30am. you may be able to hear the music of the band of the yorkshire regiment and honoured guests have been introduced so far by martin bell, formerly of the bbc parish, lord richard dannatt, viscount montgomery, general montgomerie�*s some is here and that key focus is on the veterans. that memorial that is being unveiled in normandy today has been a long for a wish by veterans, it was a campaign they fought and raised money for and we are often

rebuffed higher up the chain, it was described to me, it has been a struggle to get this memorial unveiled today, a little frustration and disappointment that the americans have a memorial in normandy, the canadians have won and it has taken us 77 years to the date that the british unveiled there is but as you have seen from the pictures it is an extraordinary side and the names of the 26,000 british soldiers who gave their lives freeing europe will not be carved in stone forevermore. thank you very much, graham. many of the veterans have been unable to travel to normandy due to the pandemic and will be watching today's events at home. paul turner is vice chairman of the bristol and district normandy veterans. his father, ken turner, died last november. it had been his dream to go to normandy to see this memorial.

paul, thank you forjoining us. tell us what's going through your mind this morning. i’m us what's going through your mind this morning-— us what's going through your mind this morning. i'm thinking very hard about not only _ this morning. i'm thinking very hard about not only the _ this morning. i'm thinking very hard about not only the tragic _ this morning. i'm thinking very hard about not only the tragic loss - this morning. i'm thinking very hard about not only the tragic loss of- about not only the tragic loss of the major amount of lives on and during the d—day invasion but i am also thinking of the guys who survived and lived through to tell the tale, as they have done for many years and had pilgrimages reaching back to normandy to visit the headstones of their comrades so i'm thinking about the losses and the excitement of seeing this memorial that we in bristol raised thousands of pounds to have a bench there, there are only six benches on that memorial and one is dedicated to the

bristol normandy veterans and we raised thousands of pounds for that so we are excited to see this inauguration that we should have been there, we had a luxury coach but for veterans, widows and families and we would have been there in numbers today but sadly not to be. i there in numbers today but sadly not to be. , ., there in numbers today but sadly not to be. ., ., , ., ., there in numbers today but sadly not to be. , ., ., , ., ., ., to be. i spoke to one historian and tour guide — to be. i spoke to one historian and tour guide in _ to be. i spoke to one historian and tour guide in normandy _ to be. i spoke to one historian and tour guide in normandy earlier- to be. i spoke to one historian and| tour guide in normandy earlier and he said there are those 18 british cemeteries and going back to where they have their memories for the veterans has been a very personal journey, now with this new memorial that remembers everybody that died on the d—day landings in the days after being commemorated together, it will provide a focus and it's a reflection of how the time will be changing that direct link with what happened. i mentioned very sadly

yourfather happened. i mentioned very sadly your father passed away in november. i would like to talk about him a little bit and the personal memories he shared with you of what he experienced, what he endured. thank ou, i experienced, what he endured. thank you. i appreciate _ experienced, what he endured. thank you, i appreciate that _ experienced, what he endured. thank you, i appreciate that because - experienced, what he endured. t�*ia'ia; you, i appreciate that because that is obviously in my mind today because it was his dream to be there, he wanted to see the tomb of his tank crew that died in his tank onjuly the 15th. 0njuly the his tank crew that died in his tank on july the 15th. on july the 17th it was aerated and dad survived but carried a note of the tank that exploded around him and his neck for over 50 years because it was too close to the jugular nerve to be removed. for over50 close to the jugular nerve to be removed. for over 50 years it sat there that he would have loved to have been there today and he wrote a book, his memoirs and how he landed on gold beach, he was actually in an

american tank he was in the wrecking troupe, he would be going behind enemy lines, he tells the tale often of when he came round a corner to find a german tiger tank sat there with the crew having their cup of tea and he made haste away from the scene very quickly but he would have had no chance against a tiger in his wrecking tank that he had many a tale to tell along with all our veterans, we had meetings every month until march last year when veterans would attend and the stories they would tell would bring tears to your eyes are just so sad that dad will not be there today. he was 96 when he died and i think he was 96 when he died and i think he was 16 when he signed up.-

was 16 when he signed up. that's correct. was 16 when he signed up. that's correct- 80 _ was 16 when he signed up. that's correct. 80 years _ was 16 when he signed up. that's correct. 80 years of _ was 16 when he signed up. that's correct. 80 years of his _ was 16 when he signed up. that's correct. 80 years of his life - was 16 when he signed up. that's correct. 80 years of his life that i correct. 80 years of his life that must have _ correct. 80 years of his life that must have been _ correct. 80 years of his life that must have been dominated, - correct. 80 years of his life that must have been dominated, it i correct. 80 years of his life that - must have been dominated, it wasn't fair to say his entire life was dominated by what he experienced on d—day? dominated by what he experienced on d-da ? , . dominated by what he experienced on d-da 2 , . _, dominated by what he experienced on d-da 2 , . . dominated by what he experienced on d-da? , . ., dominated by what he experienced on d-da? , .,, d-day? very much so, which is why he not so d-day? very much so, which is why he got so involved — d-day? very much so, which is why he got so involved with _ d-day? very much so, which is why he got so involved with the _ d-day? very much so, which is why he got so involved with the bristol - got so involved with the bristol normandy veterans and when he died he was chairman of the bristol normandy veterans and he arranged trips back to normandy and lunches and dinners and trips to museums and all sorts of things, he was very much involved in the activities and involvement of the bristol normandy veterans for many years. it involvement of the bristol normandy veterans for many years.— veterans for many years. it will be a very moving _ veterans for many years. it will be a very moving day _ veterans for many years. it will be a very moving day for _ veterans for many years. it will be a very moving day for many, - veterans for many years. it will be a very moving day for many, i - veterans for many years. it will be | a very moving day for many, i note included. paul, thank you for joining us and we will have coverage of the memorial commemorations here on bbc news. the uk's prime minister is expected to call on fellow leaders at the g7

to pledge to vaccinate the world s population against coronavirus by the end of next year. boris johnson will tell representatives it would be the "single greatest feat" in medical history. world leaders are set to gather in cornwall in south west england on friday. the government is urging pupils in england to take covid tests before returning to school after the half—term break. it comes as the uk's health secretary warned that a "huge proportion" of the latest covid cases are in children. helena wilkinson reports. what's helped keep classrooms open has been a major testing programme which has been in place since march. schools and colleges have been testing pupils regularly. it's allowed them to identify asymptomatic cases and isolate them as quickly as possible. tomorrow, most children will go back after their half term break. writing in the telegraph this morning, the health secretary matt hancock said a huge proportion of the latest cases are in children, and that is why he and the education secretary

gavin williamson are urging secondary school pupils and college students to get a test before they return. the association of school and college leaders say they broadly support the measure but feel it has come very late in the day. if i wanted to get a test today, i tried ordering one last night and i won't get it for two days. this could have been a reminder we got a week ago or when the secretary of state was doing the rounds on wednesday. it feels like to embargo it and announce it the day before schools and colleges go back is a little bizarre. as testing continues, so too does the vaccination programme. a decision will need to be made about whether 12—15—year—olds should get the jab. according to the telegraph, children could start getting it as early as the summer. a government source told the paper that under current modelling, they would be ready to begin by early september at the latest.

ministers are waiting for advice from the uk's vaccines committee before making a decision. helena wilkinson, bbc news. lots going on in british politics today. 0ur political correspondent helen catt is here. the health secretary has been interviewed this morning, so many aspects of covid to talk about but let's start with the unlocking. when do we get the decision on what happens on the 21st ofjune? we should happens on the 21st ofjune? - should get that a week tomorrow, the 14th ofjune, at each stage of the road map the government has announced about a week before if the next stage would go ahead so we should find out a week tomorrow on that and that is why we are hearing so much this morning because at the moment everyone is waiting and watching the data to see what happens, the big unknown it has been the delta variant, that variant of

that first originated in india and how that is spreading in the uk and a few weeks ago the prime minister indicated that it might be something that could knock this unlocking of course, since then ministers have pretty consistently said they have seen nothing in the data yet to suggest the unlocking will not go ahead onjune the 21st but it all comes back to how that variant is spreading and how the vaccination programme is rolling out and how it is protecting against that variant and breaking that link between getting infected and ending up in hospital so a couple of things that are being pushed today, on the one hand you have matt hancock emphasising that parents of schoolchildren need to make sure their children are tested ahead of going back after half term because thatis going back after half term because that is the age group that the virus is circulating in at the moment. the other big unknown about this variant was how much more transmissible it

was how much more transmissible it was the previous dominant variant in the uk, the kent variant, and we got an indication on that from matt hancock. the best estimate of the growth advantage as we call it of the delta variant from sage is around 40%. 4096 so that does make life more challenging for everybody - and you have seen that the case rates have risen a little, but the good news is that hospitalisations, the number of people arriving in hospital, is broadly flat and the majority appear to be those who have not had a vaccine at all and only a very small minority are people who have had bothjabs, so the best scientific advice i have at this stage is that after one jab it's not quite as effective against the new delta variant, but after bothjabs it is, so that's why it's so important that we drive through these vaccinations and people come forward for their second jab.

the g7 summit next week, a government under pressure because of cuts to aid. it has been said about that? ., , , , that? the government under pressure on two fronts. — that? the government under pressure on two fronts. so _ that? the government under pressure on two fronts, so last _ that? the government under pressure on two fronts, so last year— that? the government under pressure on two fronts, so last year the - on two fronts, so last year the chancellor rishi sunak announced the uk would cut the amount it spends on foreign aid from 0.7% of national income to 0.5%, but tomorrow a group of conservative mps and others are trying to get that overturned, they hope to use a parliamentary mechanism to overturn that and that includes the former prime minister theresa may. this morning a letter has been sent to the prime minister signed by more than 1700 people from charities and ngos and academia with strong warnings about the impact of this cut. it says it will cast a shadow over the uk's ability to deliver at this year's g7 summit, if

the uk makes demands on other world leaders that will ring hollow, they say on the ground families are going hungry, girls are not going say on the ground families are going hungry, girls are not going to school, vaccines are expiring on shelves and it says it is not justified economically because forecasts suggest the economy will bounce back by the end of this year. another person of this view is the actor —— the activist and musician bob gerald. it doesn't make any sense. it doesn't make any sense economically, financially, politically, diplomatically, of course morally, or in the humanitarian consequences of it. and i'm very much afraid that something that we're told is temporary will become permanent, and that would be vastly damaging for britain's soft power, for its reputation, particularly at a weekend when we invite the world's most powerful leaders of the world's biggest economies to come here and talk about such matters with us. it seems remarkably maladroit and inept.

as you heard there, sir bob geldof announced —— acknowledged the government said the scot was temporary because of the conditions of the pandemic, a uk government spokesperson said earlier we are spending £10 billion in aid in 2021 and they said it was the seismic impact of the pandemic that forced the government to make this decision and went the fiscal situation allows they will return to spending 0.7% but we don't know when the government would consider that will be. matt hancock this morning suggested giving financial aid isn't the only way the uk can help abroad. i think it is reasonable at a time of enormous economic challenge as well as of course the health challenge, to take this action, and if you think about it... really? we have had a once in 300 years economic interruption

and there are so many things we can do to support the whole world to get world to get out of this, for instance the prime minister's leadership in driving for the whole world to be evacuated by the end of next year, which i hope we can achieve, a g7 agreement on, plus the oxford astrazeneca vaccine which is being delivered at cost, two thirds of that in low and middle income countries. those two things don't count within this technical definition of 0da but what does matter is we have to support the world to get out of this but we also have a very significant fiscal and economic challenge at home. we have to address both. of course those cuts in foreign aid have an impact and it goes back to parliament tomorrow, there may be a vote to overturn that and the conservative mps are cautiously optimistic that they have enough

numbers to do that. we optimistic that they have enough numbers to do that.— numbers to do that. we will talk more about _ numbers to do that. we will talk more about that _ numbers to do that. we will talk more about that now. _ one of the charities which has signed that letter to the government is save the children. it says cuts to the uk aid budget have caused "devastation" in the world's poorest communities. i'm joined now by kirsty mcneill who is the executive director of policy, advocacy and campaigns there. we have been hearing about concerns of the charities, the government position is that this is at once in 300 years situation which has caused significant fiscal challenge at home, once the economic situation changes the government will return to 0.7% foreign aid. how do you respond to that? we to 0.7% foreign aid. how do you respond to that?— to 0.7% foreign aid. how do you respond to that? we would say that lives are on — respond to that? we would say that lives are on the _ respond to that? we would say that lives are on the line _ respond to that? we would say that lives are on the line tomorrow - respond to that? we would say that lives are on the line tomorrow with | lives are on the line tomorrow with this vote. yemen, the world's worst

humanitarian catastrophe, humanitarian catastrophe, humanitarian aid keeps them alive through food and medicine and yet uk aid to yemen has gone down by 60%. syria, a generation of syrian children have learnt nothing but war yet the uk has cut aid to syrians by a third. south sudan, two thirds of people are food insecure and yet uk aid has gone down by a third, in country after country after country cou ntry after cou ntry after cou ntry we country after country after country we see lives are underlined. this is not an abstract political question but about saving lives. the government _ but about saving lives. the government says - but about saving lives. the government says it - but about saving lives. the government says it is - but about saving lives. the government says it is saving lives in other ways, it says it is still spending more than £10 billion on foreign aid this year the other part of the picture is what it's with vaccinations for covid and leading the campaign to try to get the whole world vaccinated by the end of next

year. world vaccinated by the end of next ear. ,, , ,., world vaccinated by the end of next ear. ,, , , ., ., world vaccinated by the end of next ear. ,, ., . .,, world vaccinated by the end of next ear. ,, ., . ., ,, year. support for vaccinations is incredibly welcome _ year. support for vaccinations is incredibly welcome that - year. support for vaccinations is| incredibly welcome that vaccines don't administer themselves so while it's fantastic news to see the government coming forward to shared doses, we need support for nurses and clinicians to getjabs into arms, in country after country the uk is stepping back its support when it should be stepping up its support. their argument that there is a pandemic so that makes the case to cut is not one recognised by their g7 partners. the uk is currently the only gc seven country scaling back aid during a pandemic, every other partner is maintaining or increasing precisely because we face this global health concern. the andemic face this global health concern. the pandemic has really led to the argument being made many times over about the importance of ensuring that everybody is in a good position on covid, the argument is often made

about charity beginning at home and while that is part of the picture, the global picture is also firmly in the global picture is also firmly in the mix on what needs to happen with the mix on what needs to happen with the vaccine to make everybody safe, but what would you say to those who will say that charity begins at home and the cuts that have been made in the foreign aid budget worth £4 billion a year will have an impact elsewhere but money is needed here because of the situation we are going through economically as well as with the health picture?- as with the health picture? charity does beain as with the health picture? charity does begin at _ as with the health picture? charity does begin at home _ as with the health picture? charity does begin at home but _ as with the health picture? charity does begin at home but it - as with the health picture? charity does begin at home but it mustn't| does begin at home but it mustn't end there because none of us are safe until all of us are safe and we see that with new variants reaching our source. currently in sub—saharan africa only 2% of people have the vaccines, there are doctors and nurses on the front line fighting this pandemic without protection, until we are all protected, none of

us including in the uk can get back to normal. . ~ , ., us including in the uk can get back to normal. . ~' , ., ., us including in the uk can get back to normal. . ~ , ., ., ., , here in the uk, the health secretary has confirmed people under the age of 30 in england will begin to be invited to book their covid vaccine from next week. matt hancock said the next step in the vaccine programme will bring the uk closer to the point where all adults would have ben offered a vaccine. more than 40 million people had had theirfirstjab, while more than 27 million are now fully vaccinated. the president of el salvador has told a bitcoin conference in florida that he'll make the crypto currency legal tender in his country alongside the us dollar. if congress backs his proposal, el salvador would become the first country in the world to formally adopt bitcoin. roger ver, the founder of bitcoin.com news website, says there are other better cryptocurrencies than bitcoin which will work as a global crypto currency. this is fantastic news for all cryptocurrencies in general but most of the world doesn't realise bitcoin doesn't work as currency any more, it is an absolute joke and i say that as the first person

in the world to start investing in this ecosystem. someone who bought my bitcoin surrey when they were less than $1 each. now others like bitcoin cash do a far betterjob working as a currency. they are all volatile because the market capture is still small but if you check out whybitcoincash.com, you can see why it can work as a currency for the whole world whereas bitcoin can only process three transactions per second. there is no way a network that can only process three transactions per second could ever become money for the whole world so i'm glad the president is interested in bitcoin, i hope it will spread to cryptocurrencies in general, but they're about a decade late on that one. this is fantastic for cryptocurrencies but bitcoin doesn't work as a currency any more. in a work as a currency any more. in a few minutes — work as a currency any more. in a few minutes at _ work as a currency any more. in a few minutes at memorial to british servicemen who died in normandy will

be unveiled. these pictures are coming live from ver—sur—mer were that memorial to those who died on d—day and afterwards remembered in one single place, 22,000 names are carved into stone in the beautiful new memorial there. also there is a service being held in the uk and staffordshire at the national arboretum and there will be many veterans and their loved ones who will be watching these events at home, this 77th anniversary of the d—day landings. 77 years on and that new memorial

has been