this is bbc news with the latest headlines... the health secretary says thejune 21st decision on easing restrictions has become "more difficult" because the delta variant is 40% more transmissible. 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 at hospital is broadly flat. vaccinations are being opened up to the under—30s this week in the drive to offer covid jabs to all adults in england. borisjohnson will tell global leaders he wants the whole world to be vaccinated against coronavirus, by the end of next year. a two—minute silence has been held at the british normandy memorial

to honour more than 22 thousand members of the armed forces, who died after the d—day landings. may god bless our veterans, the families and all those who paid the ultimate sacrifice as a result of the operations around d—day and during the battle of normandy. around 100 veterans, who were unable to travel to france because of the pandemic, laid wreaths at the national memorial arboretum. the stars return to the red carpet, but some as just a hologram. that's the baftas, pandemic style. and is there an existential threat to foreign affairs reporting? john simpon is one of the distinguished guests on the media show, in half an hour, here on bbc news.

good afternoon. the health secretary, matt hancock, has said that the new �*delta' variant of coronavirus, first recorded in india, is about 40% more infectious than the version detected in kent. mr hancock said increased transmissability was making the decision on whether to lift all remaining restrictions in england on the 21st ofjune "more difficult", and that the government was "open" to a delay if needed. but he told the bbc that the number of people needing hospital treatment was "broadly flat", which means vaccines are working. our political correspondent helen catt reports. it's been nearly three weeks that people in england have been able to socialise more freely. it's not yet been decided if the remaining businesses can reopen in a fortnight�*s time, and the legal limits on how many people can meet up lifted. cases of coronavirus have risen, and the health secretary this morning confirmed that the delta variant, which first

originated in india, is significantly more transmissible than the previously dominant kent or alpha variant. the best estimate of the growth advantage, as we call it, of the delta variant from sage is around a0%. 40%? so 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, the number of people arriving at 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 both jabs. ministers had said they have seen nothing in the data yet to suggest june 21st could not happen, but mr hancock said he was absolutely open to delaying if required. there are some worrying signs in the community. we know that the new indian variant is definitely more transmissible, and there is some evidence that it increases your risk of going into hospital as well, so that is a concern. and there's also some early data

show, thanks to vaccination, we could have broken the link between disease and hospitalisations. but we just haven't got quite enough data. social distancing guidance is also being reviewed ahead ofjune 21st. the government is not ruling out keeping measures like wearing face coverings or working from home in place beyond then. menawhile, the vaccination programme will move onto the under 30s this week. labour says some areas need more help. we have got blackburn, bury, bolton in the north—west, wigan, where i live, seeing a rise in infection rate, particularly among young people, which is driving a lot of the transmission. we have areas that have run out of vaccine. we have front line health officials being ignored again by the government when they have requested help. ministers are concerned about the impact of children returning to school tomorrow after half term. this age group have made up a large proportion of cases, although they are less likely

to become ill. the government is urging parents to make sure their children test themselves tonight before they go back. helen catt, bbc news. earlier we heard from professor of medicine at the university of east anglia. paul hunter, who explained how the tranmissability of the delta variant, first detected in india, is calculated. it is not always easy, they look at how rapidly the infection is spreading in the community and how rapidly it is increasing, but of course when you have got a large proportion of the population who have already had vaccines, that does not always give you the right answer, so what you do is compare it to the alpha variant, the kent variant, and try and estimate how much more infectious it is, and the 40% figure is about where most people have been suggesting it is, a0—50% give or take, about what most of the estimates to date have

been coming outwith, but there is a big uncertainty around that. knowing what we know now, how likely is it that the restrictions will be lifted in england onjune 21? the health secretary said today it is making it difficult with the delta variant. on the one hand we have, numbers are low, they are increasing rapidly from one week to the other in percentage terms. that is a big worry because if that carries on for many weeks, we would end up with large numbers of cases. on the other hand, as the health secretary actually said, hospitalisation rates have been pretty flat, maybe a very slight uptick towards the end of last week, but nothing that looks dramatic. if cases are going up but hospitalisations are not going up, trying tojudge how much pressure it will bring is not actually

that straightforward. hopefully things will become a little bit clearer within a week. if hospitalisation rates remain flat, i think there will be substantial further easing of restrictions. possibly retaining the need to wear face coverings in public transport, maybe still encouraging people to work from home if possible, but if hospitalisations start to increase rapidly, then of course that would change the decisions and hopefully that will not happen and we will find out this time next week. we understand the aim is now to offer vaccines to all adults. what about the need to vaccinate children? they tend not to suffer too badly, some people think you should not vaccinate children to protect adults, do they? because of this ethical implications of that.

yes, and i think there is an element of truth in both those arguments, in principle vaccinating people, that doesn't actually give them any benefit, isn't generally something we would want to do. me getting you to have the vaccine to protect myself is not really ethically sound. and i think the evidence on balance is in favour of teenagers receiving the vaccine, i think the benefits to teenagers of vaccinations do outweigh the risks. i think under 11s, i think it is getting very uncertain, personally i suspect we will be offering vaccinations to teenagers but maybe not for young children younger than that.

the health secretary has also confirmed people under the age of 30 in england will 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 a0 million people had had theirfirstjab, while more than 27 million are now fully vaccinated. more than 1,700 charities, business people and academics have signed a letter to borisjohnson warning that the government's foreign aid cut means families are going hungry. last year ministers reduced foreign aid from 0.7% of national income to 0.5% — a cut of £4 billion. the government, which is facing a rebellion by conservative mps on the issue in the commons tomorrow, says it's committed to returning to higher levels of spending when the economy allows. one of the charities which has signed a 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. kirsty mcneill, who is the executive director of policy,

advocacy and campaigns there, explained what the cut would mean to the people who need it. we see that lives are on the line tomorrow with this vote. to make itjust very tangible, yemen, the world's worst humanitarian catastrophe, over 90% of children in yemen need humanitarian aid. that is the very aid that keeps them alive, food and medicine, and yet uk aid to yemen has gone down by 60%. syria, an entire generation of syrian children have known nothing but war, and 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, we see that lives are on the line. this is not an abstract question or a political one, it's one about saving lives.

the prime minister boris johnson will urge leaders at the upcoming g7 summit to commit to vaccinating the whole world against coronavirus by the end of next year. mrjohnson will lay out his plan at a summit of advanced economies in cornwall on friday — the first face—to—face meeting of the g7 since the start of the pandemic. the british normandy memorial for those who died in the d—day campaign has been officially opened in northern france, on the 77th anniversary of the allied invasion of nazi—occupied france. the names of nearly 22,500 servicemen and women are inscribed on 160 columns overlooking "gold beach" — one of the three british landing sites. hugh schofield, reports from the norman town of ver—sur—mer. it was a small gathering at ver—sur—mer, but the significance and the emotion of the moment were lost on no one. here at the normandy memorial, there's finally a place — and a place of great beauty — where, for future generations, british commemorations of d—day and the normandy campaign will have single focus.

because of covid, virtually no veterans were in france. instead, in rather less clement weather, many of them gathered at the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire and watched the ceremony via a live transmission, including a message from the prince of wales. i could only hope that this serves to commemorate all those whose lives were lost during the events ofjune 1994 and between d—day and the liberation of paris at the end of august 19114. —— june 19114. and in the morning, we will rememberthem. we will rememberthem. there was a two—minute silence to honour the 22,4112 names that are engraved on the columns of the memorial. and then, accompanied by the french defence minister, the british ambassador to paris, lord llewellyn, laid

a wreath to declare the memorial officially open. the memorial was only completed a few weeks ago. the press has been very deliberately kept away, and because of covid there are very few visitors in normandy at the moment who could spread the word. as a result, the scale and the beauty of this place have come to many as a monumental surprise. it's set on a hill looking down on gold beach, where thousands came ashore on d—day. for the veterans watching today, a fit place to remember their friends and comrades. there's lots of young lads, their memory, people like to remember them. i think it's wonderful, it's marvellous that they have put a show on like this 77 years after. the red arrows flew overhead in homage to the dead. the memorial becomes what it is destined to be — a place of contemplation and quiet memory. hugh schofield, bbc

news, in normandy. two teenage boys have been charged with the murder of dea—john reid, who was stabbed on monday. in total, five people have now been charged in connection with his death. the 14—year—old was killed in the kingstanding area of birmingham. west midlands police are appealing for more information from the public. the headlines on bbc news... the uk's health secretary says thejune 21st decision on easing restrictions has become "more difficult" because the delta variant is 40% more transmissible. vaccinations are being opened up to the under—30s this week in the drive to offer covid jabs to all adults in england. a two—minute's silence has been held at the normandy memorial to honour more than 22,000 members of the british armed forces, who died after the d—day landings. sport now — there was

drama at the azerbaijan formula one grand prix, which was stopped three laps from the end, after championship leader max verstappen crashed while heading for victory. verstappen was unhurt in the accident, which appeared to be due to a sudden puncture or tyre failure. the crash left mexican sergio perez, verstappen�*s team—mate, in the lead with seven—time world champion lewis hamilton second and sebastian vettel third. cricket, it's the 5th and final day of the first test between england and new zealand at lord's. new zealand have set the hosts england 273 runs to win. a short time ago, england were on 35—0 as they chase an unlikely victory. england and scotland are among a number of countries who play their theirfinal warm—up matches ahead of the european championship. while scotland are away to luxembourg, england face romania in middlesbrough this afternoon — at the same venue they beat austria 1—0 on wednesday. and the england manager

is in optimistic mood. the future for our team, when you look at the age of all of those players, it's really exciting. it means that we can play in different ways, and we have got the balance of the squad to play different systems and ourjob again, as always, is to prepare the team for each opposition, find the best way of playing for each opponent, and we feel better equipped to cope with different sorts of technical challenges as well. —— tactical challenges. roger federer says he'll decide later today if he should pull out of the french open in paris and rest his knee, ahead of wimbledon. federer, who recently returned to action after knee surgery, beat germany's dominik koepfer in the third round at roland garros, and is due to play his last 16 match tomorrow. i have to reassess the situation after the match and see in the morning how i wake up and how the

knee is, you know, feel the next morning, so from that standpoint, for me, it always goes like that, there is no difference after a match like this, but may be even more so after a match like this that has been long. and in rugby union, the england prop kyle sinckler has been called up to the british and irish lions squad for their tour of south africa. sinckler will replace ireland s andrew porter, who suffered an injury while playing for leinster on friday. he'lljoin up with the lions following the conclusion of bristol bears domestic season. the president of el salvador has told a bitcoin conference in florida that he'll make the cryptocurrency 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. aru na iyengar reports. miami, and a bitcoin conference generates huge interest not least because of this announcement

from the salvadoran president. next week i will send to congress a bill that will make bitcoin legal tender. in the short—term this will generate jobs and help financial inclusion. nayib bukele says that using bitcoin would make it easier and cheaper for salvadorans living abroad to send money home. about one quarter of el salvadorans live in the us, and last year they sent home nearly $6 billion in remittances. this involves costly fees. presidetn nayib bukele also says bitcoin will help attract investment and open up financial services to the 70% of the population who don't have bank accounts. it is a bold move — he is a young media savvy and popular leader who is keen to be seen as an innovator. his new ideas party took control of congress after midterm elections in february. he has made clear his intention to make his country truly sovereign.

bitcoin would be used alongside the us dollar, el salvador�*s formal currency, and the country will be partnering with strike. there are concerns over the viability of bitcoin as an alternative to traditional currencies. the bafta awards ceremony will be broadcast later on bbc one, celebrating the best on—screen talent and tv programmes of 2020. steve mcqueen s five—part series small axe leads the way with six nominations. i may destroy you, normal people and the crown are also in the running, as our entertainment correspondent colin paterson reports. small axe, large bafta hopes. sir steve mcqueen�*s bbc one series of stand—alone films telling black british stories has the most nominations at today's bafta tv awards. six, including shaun parkes, best actor for the mangrove episode.

he is thrilled the show has done so well. what can i say? it puts a smile on my face. but for some reason puts the pressure on as well, i don't really know why, it makes me more nervous. now, if you say you're nervous, that suggests to me that you do care about whether you win or not. well, of course, because there's this build—up, right? there's everyone around you wishing you well. but that said, fortunately, the show is there to watch, as in, we did that. you know, that's the most important thing. and that's what i have to tell myself when i get a little bit too nervous about what's going to happen at the weekend! your majesty. these baftas are rewarding the best tv of 2020, the year of lockdown when people binge—watched like never before. that's reflected here, with four nominations for the crown...

two women running the shop. that's the last thing this country needs. i how'd you smash your phone? and four for i may destroy you, michaela coel�*s female revenge drama. how are you doing? great, as long as i'm around people. while bbc three's word—of—mouth hit normal people is up for three, with paul mescal in best actor. cool thing to be able to say. i know that's quite a trivial way of putting it, but it's like... it's very cool. ..huge, yeah, it's a huge... i don't know, it's like, if i ever have grandkids it's like, remember when i was young, i was nominated for a bafta. like, it's so exciting. today's ceremony will be different from usual, taking place in a covid—compliant tv studio. nominees in the performance categories can attend but in what's believed to be an award show first,

those that can't make it have the option of appearing on the red carpet as a hologram. colin paterson, bbc news. we can speak now to co—host of this evening's baftas red carpet event — the tv and radio presenter, vic hope. it looks like you are pretty much ready, looking divine, how much are you looking forward to this, a real—life event for the most part? yes, me and stacey have been running around the red carpet, just like naughty schoolgirls, so excited to see people in the flesh first of all, and be all dressed up, but the people who have been inside our tv screens this last year and given our solace, connected us when we have been isolated, tv has been so important and so special, it has educated, informed, entertained, given us escape, so pity excited.

stacey dooley is your co—host, who are you particularly looking forward to seeing? i imagine some of the people you enjoyed watching most. michaela coel, hands down. i may destroy you is the best bit of tv i have ever seen in terms of the writing, acting, the way it is directed and also the conversations it starts and the subject that sometimes which are triggering but which need to be had. it may —— made me rethink a lot of things i knew about the world and about myself, good tv, same as a good beak —— good book, it is something you can lose yourself in but find yourself in, i may destroy you did that for so many people. i would love to see michaela coel as a rest of her team went for that, because it wasjust magnificent. that, because it was “ust magnificenti that, because it was 'ust magnificent. that, because it was 'ust mannificent. ,, ., ., magnificent. she has got quite a few nominations. — magnificent. she has got quite a few nominations, alongside _ magnificent. she has got quite a few nominations, alongside steve - magnificent. she has got quite a few i nominations, alongside steve mcqueen for small axe. you have hologram to cope with the people cannot make it, how will that work?—

how will that work? magic and technology- — how will that work? magic and technology. the _ how will that work? magic and technology. the virgin - how will that work? magic and technology. the virgin media | technology. the virgin media customers and our audience were not able to be here, we have managed to beam them onto the red carpet so that they get the full experience of the celebrities they love, the tv stars who have entertained them, they can ask questions to their favourite actors, directors, and we get to chat to them and say thank you for watching, and being there, and also it is a good chance to find out what they have been enjoying, because we also have the vision we get must see moment award, the only one voted for by the fans —— virgin media must see. whether it is talking to your families or scrolling on social media and cr, traction moments have got, we have been able to connect with the fans while they are at home, hologram them into these little outfits they have sparkly jumpsuits and them into these little outfits they have sparklyjumpsuits and elvis suits that they can wear, their head appears inside a hologram and we get to bring them to the red carpet. it

has been magical. have _ to bring them to the red carpet. it has been magical. have you - to bring them to the red carpet. it - has been magical. have you rehearsed it? we have — has been magical. have you rehearsed it? we have just _ has been magical. have you rehearsed it? we have just finished _ has been magical. have you rehearsed it? we have just finished the _ has been magical. have you rehearsed it? we have just finished the red - it? we havejust finished the red carpet and everyone has gone in, the awards will be happening later tonight, but it is all happening. i have been running around and am overwhelmed by all the activity and glitz and glamour, but it is all happening at it is really fun. tonight, 7pm, bbc one, you mustn't miss it, it will be great. goad miss it, it will be great. good .lu. , miss it, it will be great. good plus. thank — miss it, it will be great. good plug. thank you _ miss it, it will be great. good plug, thank you for _ miss it, it will be great. good| plug, thank you for reminding miss it, it will be great. good i plug, thank you for reminding of miss it, it will be great. good plug, thank you for reminding of the body. don't forget! —— reminding everybody. how many people will be there watching? it has to be socially distance.— there watching? it has to be socially distance. tonight it's 'ust the nominees fl socially distance. tonight it's 'ust the nominees and i socially distance. tonight it's 'ust the nominees and citation h socially distance. tonight it'sjust i the nominees and citation readers, presenters, myself and stacey are presenting the award for best entertainment programme. that will be exciting. a small stripped down close to audience, richard is hosting again, brilliant, very funny. when there is a smattering of

applause, ifeel like funny. when there is a smattering of applause, i feel like everyone are so appreciative of the television that has been really important to us over the last year i think we're going to really be showing as much appreciation as we can, despite being small in numbers, so hopefully there will be support and cheers and a good atmosphere. find there will be support and cheers and a good atmosphere.— there will be support and cheers and a good atmosphere. and from as well. a aood sin a good atmosphere. and from as well. a good sign that _ a good atmosphere. and from as well. a good sign that things _ a good atmosphere. and from as well. a good sign that things are _ a good atmosphere. and from as well. a good sign that things are starting . a good sign that things are starting to open up. we will not keep you any longer, thank you for talking to us. thank you so much, have a lovely day. now to something that's captured the imagination of millions of people across china. a herd of wild elephants that has been moving northwards(tx map)over a herd of wild elephants that has been moving northwards over the course of several months. they began theirjourney in a nature reserve in yunnan province and afterfive—hundred kilometres — they've now reached the outskirts of the city of kunming. tim allman reports. day after day, week after week, month after month, the elephants are on the march. 15 of them, heading northwards,

for reasons known only to themselves. occasionally, the smaller members of the group need a helping hand, or trunk, to get them on the way. translation: such a situation has happened for the first time - in history. it has never happened before, so everyone is thinking about the reasons. it remains to be further observed and studied. it is not entirely clear when their odyssey began but some suggest they set out as early as december, the animals forging a trail through the chinese countryside, occasionally straying into towns and villages, even helping themselves to something to eat as theirjourney progressed. translation: they like to go| to areas frequented by humans as there's plenty of food. the asian elephants take such areas as their habitats. the authorities have deployed thousands of people to evacuate homes, block off roads and try to lure the animals away from the local population but they have now reached a major city of more than six million people.

what they plan to do next is anyone's guess. tim allman, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather. england and wales will see more of the cloud. this building rate of high pressure, you can see the weather front bringing more cloud parts of england and wales, thick enough to squeeze out the order patching rain to the midlands, northern and eastern england, when the sunshine pops out, thatis england, when the sunshine pops out, that is likely to set off the 0rd heavy shower. temperatures, perhaps a degree or so down on yesterday. monday a similar story, variable clouds and good sunshine. through the afternoon, heavy showers developing across parts of england and wales. temperatures may be up.

22—23, we could see 20 in the central belt. through the week, the north—west corner will see thickest cloud, drier sunnier and warmer further south. hello this is bbc news. the headlines: health secretary, matt hancock, says the government is open to delaying the final lifting of coronavirus restrictions in england onjune the 21st because of the spread of the delta variant, first detected in india. 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 at hospital, is broadly flat. vaccinations are being opened up

to the under—30s this week in the drive to offer covid jabs to all adults in england. borisjohnson will tell global leaders he wants the whole world to be vaccinated against coronavirus by the end of next year. a two—minute silence has been held at the british normandy memorial to honour more than 22,000 members of the armed forces who died after the d—day landings. around 100 veterans who were unable to travel to france because of the pandemic laid wreaths at the national memorial arboretum. now on bbc news, the media show. social media, anti—social media, breaking news, faking news — this is the programme about a revolution in media. hello. the role of foreign reporter is one of the most glamorous in journalism. some of our most memorable moments

in the history of news came