tom burridge, bbc news.nded his investigation into ties between russia and the trump presidential campaign team in 2016. his comments follow mr trump's decision friday to commute the prison sentence of a former adviser, roger stone, who was found guilty last year of obstruction, witness tampering and lying to congress. pierre bertrand reports. writing in the washington post newspaper, robert mueller said he felt compelled to respond to claims that his investigation was illegitimate, his motives improper, and that roger stone was a victim. in commuting stone's 40—month sentence, donald trump insisted that his long—standing ally had been treated unfairly as part of what he's termed a political witch hunt. roger stone was treated horribly. roger stone was treated very unfairly. roger stone was brought into this witch hunt, this whole political witch hunt, and the mueller scam, it's a scam, because it's been proven false. and he was treated very unfairly. just like general flynn is treated unfairly. but in his o

tom burridge, bbc news.covid—19 in vietnam and spent more than two months on life support in a hospital in ho chi minh city is on his way home. doctors gave 42—year—old stephen cameron a 10% chance of survival, in a country that has recorded no official coronavirus deaths. alexandra mackenzie reports. he had only recently arrived in vietnam to work as a pilot for vietnam airways. stephen cameron is thought to have contracted covid—19 on a night out in ho chi minh city at the end of march. the case attracted much media attention because in vietnam, the number of coronavirus cases is below 400, and there were no registered deaths. the 42—year—old from motherwell spent more than two months on a ventilator. there were few critical patients, so he was treated by the country's top clinicians. but stephen, whose face has been blurred in this hospitalfootage, had multiple complications. my friend craig was told by the foreign commonwealth office i had a 10% chance of survival, so he planned for the worst. so he gave

tom burridge, bbc news.ernment has again insisted that spain is a safe country for tourists, but the rate of new infections is continuing to rise in some areas. in the worst—hit parts of the country, partial lockdowns are being reinstated. and in the capital, madrid, the authorities have announced the compulsory wearing of face masks everywhere, at all times. 0ur europe correspondent gavin lee has the latest in barcelona tonight. it has been four days since britain announced its quarantine rule and, in that time, there has been a noticeable difference on the ground with far fewer people arriving from flights from the uk and the british resorts are much quieter. spain is lobbying the british government to overturn the decision and here in catalonia, cases continue to rise and we have been looking at some of the factors worsening the situation here. the call for the sick and the anxious at a covid testing centre in the suburbs of barcelona. five weeks after the state of emergency was lifted here, cases are on

tom burridge, bbc news.exciting afternoon in prospect as the first test between england and west indies reaches its conclusion in southampton. west indies need 200 runs in their second innings to win the match. butjofra archer has already taken early wickets for england. at lunch, west indies were 35—3. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news throughout the day. the next news on bbc one is at 5:35pm. bye for now. good afternoon. i'm holly hamilton with your latest sport. thank you for joining with your latest sport. thank you forjoining us. we start with cricket and it's lunch on the final day of england's first test against the west indies. we can go live to the ageas bowl in southampton where henry moeran joins us with the latest. henry, we knew it was all going to be starting on a knife edge. how has it been this morning? we have seen a lot of wickets. it has been a dramatic morning with five wickets falling. england have set the west indiesa falling. england have set the west indies a

tom burridge, thank you.ntacts of people with coronavirus were identified in the first four weeks of the test and trace the first four weeks of the test and tra ce syste m the first four weeks of the test and trace system in england. in recent weeks the health secretary has said it's the public‘s cyclic duty to follow instructions from contact tracers. more details from our health correspondent, richard galpin. the test and trace system at pant running for a month now is a vital tool in this long battle with coronavirus. by finding as many people as possible who have been in close contact with someone who has been infected and getting those people to self—isolate, is cutting the number of new infections. today's figures show in total 130,000 people have now been reached who otherwise could have been spreading the virus unwittingly. progress is also being made and getting test results back within 2a hours. and today there is clear evidence of the lockdown, alongside other message such as contact tracing, are h

here's our transport correspondent tom burridge. en route to france by train.l is still pretty quiet. but in a week from now, people travelling on this route back into england won't have to quarantine, and for this lot, that's good news. it will make a tremendous difference. we were over there recently, we came back and we had to quarantine for two weeks. i am going down to paris today. i am working down there, so the quarantine relaxing is big for me because, obviously, i'm back at work. most foreign trips during the pandemic were put on hold. the quarantine added uncertainty and bookings really dried up. that really killed the passenger traffic. we were running at significantly lower levels than we have through the previous years. this is the opportunity for people to get moving again. the quarantine will still apply to people travelling to england from countries like the united states, where the virus is still not under control. but the government's blanket quarantine, in place forfour weeks, will disappear for arrivals from more than 50 amber or green low r

tom burridge, bbc news. has named jean castex as his new french prime minister, following the sudden resignation of edouard philippe. just hours after mr philippe‘s resignation, it was announced that the law court of the republic, which deals with claims of ministerial misconduct, would open an inquiry into the way his government has handled the pandemic. from paris, lucy williamson reports. france's republican guard offers little protection from politics, at the prime minister's residence today, power was transferred at arms length. no handshake allowed to mark the fresh start for president macron‘s government or its new postcard look. —— posts coronavirus look. the new prime minister described as a new swiss army knife. jean described as a new swiss army knife. jea n castex described as a new swiss army knife. jean castex was propelled to the front line of french politics after yea rs front line of french politics after years in the shadows as a senior civil servant and assistant to former president nichol

let's speak now to our transport correspondent tom burridge. we will refocus on travel abroad. ough what the government has said so far this morning, this isn't quite what we we re this morning, this isn't quite what we were expecting? the government is going for a real change of approach in its travel quarantine. over the last almost four weeks, we have had a near blanket travel quarantine. the only country for which people coming from their is exempt is the republic of ireland. it has basically applied to all uk arrivals, two weeks self isolation. the government is going for a different system. it is one where as holiday—makers and people thinking about potentially booking a holiday this summer, we are thinking about which countries will be exempt, the government is saying that more than 50 countries will be exempt now. really, it will be a system where maybe you could look at the red countries, for example, the united states, the higher risk countries. this is exactly the type of approach that people in the aviation sector and travel sector more broadly have been calling for

tom burridge, bbc news. that spain is a safe country for tourists, but the rate of new infections is continuing to rise in some areas. in the worst—hit parts of the country, partial lockdowns are being reinstated, and in the capital madrid the authorities have announced the compulsory wearing of face masks everywhere at all times. our europe correspondent gavin lee sent this report from barcelona, one of the worst—affected cities in spain. the call for the sick and the anxious at a covid testing centre in the suburbs of barcelona. five weeks after the state of emergency was lifted here, cases are on the rise again. albert thomas is waiting his turn. his girlfriend tested positive this morning. i work near to the beach, so close to the beach, and yet, a lot of young people without masks, drinking. it's close—to—close, face—to—face. and for me, it's the problem, the young people don't understand how this covid increase. young catalans have been blamed by the regional government for accelerating the spread, sho

our transport correspondent, tom burridge has the latest.t of reach for many, now that the uk government advises against all non—essential travel to the whole of spain. today, jet2 scrapped its flights and holidays there over the next 12 days. sam and josh can't quarantine for two weeks when they get home, so their holidays to spain are off. since the new restrictions that have come in and the need to quarantine, it's financially unviable for me to take an additional two weeks off of work, unpaid. i've worked through the whole of lockdown and this was, like, you know, my little treat to myself. the confidence to travel is vital, if more people are to holiday abroad this summer. but today, the prime minister sounded the alarm about the situation in parts of europe. let's be absolutely clear about what's happening amongst some of our european friends. i'm afraid you are starting to see, in some places, the signs of a second wave of the pandemic. and we all remember what happened last time. it's absolutely vital, therefore, that we make the nec

our transport correspondent tom burridge reports.houldn't you travel abroad 7 now, there is clarity that anyone heading off on the eurotunnel won't have to quarantine in either direction. it will make a tremendous difference. we were over there recently. we came back and we had to quarantine for two weeks. i've got to go to paris today. i'm working down there, so the quarantine relaxing is big for me, because obviously i'm back in work. soon, people arriving from 59 countries and 1a british overseas territories won't have to self—isolate, although half those countries have restrictions when you arrive there. for those desperate to sell holidays abroad, it's a rare piece of good news. customers that i've spoken to are like, yeah, we'd be happyjust to go on a flight to spain. doesn't have to be that far, it's just to get away and go on holiday that customers are wanting. in a week's time, if you travel to low—risk european countries like spain, italy, france and germany, you won't have to self—isolate in either direction. greece is als

tom burridge, bbc news.ealth has just released the new number of deaths, and the increase that has been reported in the last 2a hours. the total number of uk debt has risen by 137, to a total of 44,131. with me now is our politicaljessica parker. —— our political correspondent. 0nce again, the nations of the uk not aligned on this lifting of quarantine for certain countries. we've had this list in the last hour 01’ so. we've had this list in the last hour or so. the countries that, should people from england choose to visit over the summer, they won't have to self—isolate when they come back, but as things stand, it willjust be for england. we heard earlierfrom the first minister in wales and the first minister in scotland, both describing the process leading up to this announcement as shambolic. we expect to hear more about what they plan to do in the coming days. it is possible they will largely or to some extent follow the kind of list the uk government has set out, but highly critical of the process. nic

tom burridge, bbc news.e? and the queen was evidently very grateful — timothy received a letter from the royal household thanking him for his effort. we can speak to timothy and his mumjo from their home in billericay now. good morning to you both. good morning. timothy, what made you think of the queen? why did you do this for her? well, i do actually know lots of people who are older than me and stuff, so ijust thought, one of them was the queen, andl thought, one of them was the queen, and i might as well make it for you. and i thought when it went to the queen, it might be quite special, and a few days ago i got a reply, and a few days ago i got a reply, andl and a few days ago i got a reply, and i was very quite whoo and excited, unhappy, really, that she had enjoyed it. and what did the reply say, what did say in your letter? actually it isjust next to me just here, so i can read it out if you want. we can have a look! dear timothy. the queen wishes me to write and thank you for your kind letter and fo

our transport correspondent, tom burridge, gave us more details about the government's plans to ease holiday—makers returning to the uk. the government is going for a real change of approach here in its travel quarantine, so over the last nearly four weeks, we've had a near blanket travel quarantine, so the only country for which people coming from there is exempt is the republic of ireland. so it's basically applied to all uk arrivals, two weeks self—isolation when you come into the uk. now, the government is going for a very different system and it really is one i think... i know, as holiday—makers and people thinking about potentially booking a holiday this summer, we're thinking about which countries will be exempt but, actually, the government is saying that more than 50 countries will be exempt now. really, i think it will be a system where maybe you can look at the red countries, the countries which won't be exempt, for example, the united states. those higher—risk countries. this is exactly the type of approach that people in the aviation sector, people in the travel sector m

tom burridge, bbc news.l talk to our chief political correspondent jonathan blake at westminster. but first tom burridge, our transport correspondent, is at stansted airport. tell me the latest you are hearing in the briefings you are getting earlier in the day. i think there is yet another dramatic twist to this this evening. it is that the government now has changed its travel advice to the spanish islands, the ca nary travel advice to the spanish islands, the canary islands and the balearic islands to bring in line with what they announced on saturday. they had something in for all of mainland spain but now they have said all nonessential trained to all of spain should not go ahead. that is really significant because if you just look at how the biggest tour operators in the uk, reacted to the change in travel advice to the mainland, they scrapped holidays until august, until the middle of august in early august in both cases and really now both cases will be sitting down in crisis meetings looking at that

with spain about introducing bridges with the islands so there could be some kind of exemption —— tom burridgediscussions barely seen, we are not expecting anything imminently and this would, obviously, add to the confusion if, after a few days, suddenly the advice changes again. so that could well be a problem for the government. it does show how complicated all of this is. yesterday, no apology for coming from the government. they said they had nothing to apologise for. that they had made it clear, as they come out of mukden, some measures will be is, but they can be put back in place if the government thinks it is necessary “— place if the government thinks it is necessary —— coming out of markdown. and they felt to protect the united kingdom, to prevent the possibility ofa kingdom, to prevent the possibility of a spike in cases here, that this was the action they had to take, even though the obviously fully understand the huge disruption that is going to because —— coming out of lockdown. one of the few people who knew in advance that this quarantine would be brought in was the transport s

here's our transport correspondent tom burridge. en route to france by train.unnel is still pretty quiet. but in a week from now, people travelling on this route back into england won't have to quarantine, and for this lot, that's good news. we were over there recently, we came back and we had to quarantine for two weeks. i am going down to paris today. i'm working down there, so the quarantine relaxing is big for me because, obviously, i'm back at work. most foreign trips during the pandemic were put on hold. the quarantine added uncertainty and bookings really dried up. that really killed the passenger traffic. we were running at significantly lower levels than we have through the previous years. this is the opportunity for people to get moving again. the quarantine will still apply to people travelling to england from countries like the united states, where the virus is still not under control. but the government's blanket travel quarantine, in place forfour weeks, will disappear for arrivals from more than 50 amber amber or green low risk countries. countri