Relief chief. Thank you for joining us. The brutal impact of coronavirus lockdowns on the Global Economy is becoming clearer with the release of new Financial Data. The numbers only reflect up to the end of march as most restrictions were being put in place. Let us start with the Worlds Largest economy, the United States, which has recorded more than 60,000 dead. 4. 8 conomy has shrunk since the start of the year. That is the largest drop since 2008. New numbers from germany show its gdp is expected to contract by more than 6 this year, plunging the country into its deepest recession in half a century. And the economic heart of africa, nigeria, has been granted a 3. 4 billion loan from the imf. That is the funds largest ever aid package for a single country. All of this as the International LaborOrganization Warns that 1. 6 billion workers in the informal economy are in danger. Nearly half the global workforce. 2 billion workers of the world, about 1. 6 billion have suffered massive damage to their ability to earn a living and to support themselves and their families. If they are not able to go out and work for a day and earn income day by day, their family will not eat that day. There is no social protection. The u. S. Economy is falling deeper into one of its most severe recessions in recent times. It is reversing years of financial expansion. The crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic is only going to worsen. 4. 8 decline of gdp between january and march, representing the largest decline since the 2008 recession. Consumer spending, which accounts for 70 of gdp, dropped to an annualized rate of 7. 6 . Just ar, this is preliminary estimate. Analysts expect the eventual number to be far higher. The economic lockdown only accounted for a few weeks. Secondquarter gdp figures from to june are april expected to register a decline of 40 with some Financial Institutions predicting much much worse. The white house is still clinging to the hope of a vshaped recovery. Pres. Trump there is a tremendous feeling of optimism. Transiting into, but it is a very transitional period. The Fourth Quarter is going to be fantastic. Reporter reopening the economy to soon and facing a deeper recession is a risk. Whether the u. S. Is capable of widespread testing and tracing, which allows people to. O out and work reserve at the petrol at the federal reserve, Jerome Powell about to do all he can. We are doing all we can to help families whether this period. We continue to use our tools to ensure the recovery will be as robust as possible. Reporter Interest Rate cuts and trillions of dollars of spending by the fed have injected liquidity into the system along with the stimulus passed by congress, markets have been reassured. It rose after gdp figures were announced. Money is not reaching those in need. Unemployment is projected to reach 20 in june. There are increasing calls for bolder action to help those who find themselves without money for rent, mortgages, health care, and food. Live now from washington, more on the developments. Meetingt trump has been industry executives at the white house. What did he have to say about the disastrous news about gdp and the u. S. Death toll . Trump stillesident maintaining a degree of optimism, saying the Third Quarter will be a transitional one. The figures for this particular quarter are lower than people expected, showing a pretty substantial drop. The largest decline in gdp since the recession in 2008. This is only covering a few weeks of the lockdown. The full impact of the lockdown and the blow it struck to the u. S. Economy is going to become more apparent in the second and Third Quarters, looking to declines in the gdp of 40 . President trump is talking up the Third Quarter as one that will be a transition, leading, he maintains, to a brilliant Fourth Quarter. He is still talking up an economy that he believes can recover substantially within the next eight months. Some dispute this same the actual blow to the u. S. Economy and what will happen is something that will not be easily turned around in the last financial quarter of the year. Is good newsthere coming from a new antiviral drug that it could be good for treatment of covid19. It could be cleared for emergency use after promising results. What else do we know about this . One must approach it with caution. The trial was a limited one involving over 1000 patients. What it did find was that the patients who were given quicker orresponded quicker got better 11 more times than those who were not given the antiviral agent. Certainly there is a degree of optimism about it as a treatment, certainly not as a vaccine. Ebolaug itself was for and never really succeeded in that particular field. What it is designed to do is stop the virus from copying itself, leading to a quicker healing time in patients who have contracted coronavirus. One of the countrys top medical authorities, dr. Anthony fauci, see if this with great cautious optimism. Improvement does not seem like a knockout, but it is a very important proof of concept. What it has proven is that a drug can block this virus. A british medical publication released its findings on remdesivir today as well. Not seeing the same degree of optimism. N trials in china but it is very early days. The fda is likely to grant an emergency release of the drug to be able to expand the trials and see whether it will help in the care of coronavirus victims. Thank you. Let us go to europe. The number of coronavirus related deaths in the u. K. Has jumped more than 26,000 after the government included care home numbers for the first time. Continued lockdown is raising worries for the health of the economy. More now on the situation across europe. Despite five weeks of lockdown, the u. K. Reaches a grim milestone. The death toll from coronavirus is now the second highest in europe behind italy. The man standing in for boris johnson, himself still recovering from coronavirus, says this is down to the fact that deaths outside of hospitals were not being recorded in the daily figures until now. We have recorded an additional 3811 deaths in total. To say thosent additional deaths were spread over a period from the second of march to the 28th of april. They do not represent a sudden surge. Raab faced a grilling for Prime Ministers question time when most mps took part virtually. Sarmerion leader kier wanted to know why there were so many people dying of coronavirus in care homes and shortages of protective equipment for frontline workers. On monday the Prime Minister said many were looking at our apparent success. As the first secretary agree these latest figures are truly dreadful . Asked when theso government would announce a strategy for lifting restrictions. Raab said it was too early. Thinkmany is having to twice about easing up on their measures because of the risk of a second spike. Reporter germanys economy minister says he expects growth to shrink this year by 6. 3 , meaning the countrys deepest recession since the second world war. Output is predicted to rebound by more than 5 next year. Merkelsnds on angela government being able to gradually lift lockdown measures. From wednesday, germans have to wear a mask when entering shops, which began to open last week. Nose and mouth coverings are already compulsory on public transport, but while this kind of travel is permitted, International Trips are very much off the agenda. Cabinet decided Global Travel restrictions are going to be upheld until june the 14th. This is a decision we have had to take because we are not at the point to be able to offer safe travel. Recorded apain has daily coronavirus death count below 404 the sixth day in a row. Below 400 for the sixth day in around. Prison in sierra leone after a case of coronavirus was confirmed. Says police and Security Forces were able to get the riot under control. The inmate who tested positive has been taken out of the prison for treatment. The Afghan Government is releasing prisoners to stop the virus spreading in overcrowded jails and overwhelming hospitals. Decades of conflict and political instability mean the Health Care System will struggle to cope. Rare of life during the pandemic. These are Prisoners Released on wednesday. In the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in afghanistan. They are being given another chance by special decree issued last month. It is practical necessity for the cashstrapped government. It cant afford covid19 to spread in overcrowded jails. They released other prisoners, too. The government is trying to reduce the number of prisoners because those in prison are in terrible condition because of coronavirus. The prison is very crowded. Reporter no matter the circumstances, they are glad to get an opportunity for freedom and potentially a new life. I have been through so much misery inside the prison. I have not seen my son who was born after i was jailed. I will not get involved in crimes again. The prisonutside walls, a country under lockdown. Decades of war and political infighting. Afghansn a quarter of are unemployed. Saving, the focus is on life over livelihood. To keep ourselves safe we must stay at home and not go out. If there is important work to do, we should take all the precautions. When we come home, wash our hands and keep ourselves away from areas infected. Reporter precautions that seem even more critical when a Health System suffering from shortages of ventilators, testing centers, and staff, may struggle to cope with a major upper of the virus. Still to come, protesters target banks and set fire to cash machines two nights in the low in a row in lebanon. And from panic buying to pouring milk down the drain. How changes in the Food Supply Chain are causing a catastrophe in the u. K. Dairy industries. We have a taste of winter heading toward the southeast of australia. Some of these parts could see what whether for a time and some weather for a time. Low temperatures. April snow a possibility. Into the start of the new month, wetter weather. Southern parts of queens land could see rather wet weather as we go through friday and toward the weekend. Melbourne will struggle to get to around 12 celsius. North of that, drier and brighter parts of queensland. Perth around 25 degrees celsius. Clearer weather in tunisia. Meanwhile, wettermeanwhile, wetr pulling away from japan. One or two showers through thursday into friday, northern parts seeing winter weather. Turning increasingly wet for northern parts of honshu friday. Welcome back. Here is a reminder of the top stories. As the United States passes 60,000 coronavirus related deaths, new Financial Data shows the impact the crisis is having on its economy. Recession since 2008 with gdp contracting 4. 8 . Germany and nigeria have also suffered major blows. The u. K. Has the secondworst coronavirus related death toll in europe after italy. The number of deaths climbed to more than 26,000 on wednesday after care home deaths were included in the count for the first time. To libya now, where Khalifa Haftar has announced a ceasefire for the month of ramadan. Earlier, at least one person was killed and several others injured during an attack on a Health Complex east of tripoli. Libyas u. N. Recognized on haftars forces. Haftar ended peace talks with the u. N. Recognized government, whose forces have been advancing on his fighters for two weeks. Haftar is announcing the ceasefire to coincide with ramadan. What other motives could he have to pick now . Reporter many people in the western camp led by the theynment same say cannot trust haftars announcement. They cannot take this for granted. Turned down many ceasefire proposals in the past. This comes only a few hours after haftars forces launched an attack on the government in the vicinity of the city past. Of a major stronghold for haftars forces. Comes this is very significant. Here,ing to many people it indicates the defeat of haftars forces. They want to have an opportunity to regroup and rearrange their plans, at least to maintain their position in and around the capital, tripoli. Afterer, this comes several suffered in cities and strategic towns along the highway linking the capital, tripoli, to the tunisian borders and the western quarter of the country. Overmes after the backlash haftars announcement that he has a popular mandate to the country. It seems turkish involvement in the military cooperation with the government has changed the balance of power in favor of the government. That is why haftars forces are trying to maneuver to gain more time so that they can rearrange their plans on the ground. Tripoli. Latest from thank you. Jazeera ave told al plane carrying prominent officials from the United Arab Emirates flew to the sudanese capital on tuesday. Sources say emma brady ti delegation emira was meeting sudanese officials to discuss military support for Khalifa Haftar. Sudanese officials have denied any meeting taking place. Brazils Supreme Court has blocked the appointment of a family friend of the president as chief of the countrys federal police. He was appointed after bolsonaro fired his predecessor. That prompted the Justice Minister to quit, accusing the government of unlawfully interfering with police affairs. Brazil has reported more than 5000 deaths and over 73,000 coronavirus infections. Bolsonaro dismissed criticism of his handling of the outbreak, saying even though his name is messiah, he cannot prevent coronavirus deaths. What do you want me to do . I do not do miracles. Mean fresh product which would normally go to restaurants are being thrown away. The u. K. National Farmers Union has predicted a National Catastrophe in the dairy and Beef Industries and some are already feeling the hit. Farmer ever wants to have to do this. Thousands of liters of milk poured away. A farmer who makes awardwinning cheese. The calf becomes the cow, the cows produce the milk, you are feeding those counts. , amazingthis wonderful product, this gorgeous milk we make into cheese as well. We are having to literally dump it. It is ready to be sold. We are throwing it away. Family are among thousands of u. K. Farmers who have had their income slashed because of the pandemic. Some dairy wholesalers and dairy wholesalers andd processors have delayed payments or cut prices. Hospitality orders have fallen sharply. While some production lines can be stopped, cows still need to be milked. The restaurants, hotels, are not taking the dairy. Reporter the issues surrounding the issues surrounding the dairy industry are illustrating the complexity in the wider Food Supply Chain. Critics say it is wrapped up in so much red tape it is hard for suppliers to redirect their produce when needed. Supermarkets saw a big uplift in sales at the start of this crisis. But about a third of what we consume in the u. K. Reduce outside the home. Shut,estaurants and food could have put it out of business, but it was able to change the way it works. Are weere thinking, what going to do now . We decided to do home deliveries. I think our first night we did 20 orders. Second night, 400. Within five days we were doing 800, 900 orders every day. Leaders in the u. K. Are warning for a catastrophe unless action is taken. Farmers are known for coping with the unpredictable, finding solutions in the worst seasons. They are now hoping they can just weather this storm, too. The Lebanese Central Bank governor has defended his organizations role during the economic crisis. Protests against lebanons deepening financial crisis have turned violent in tripoli. More now from beirut. At bank branches, people line up to withdraw as much of their savings as they can. Informal restrictions have been in place for months and access to dollars stopped, fueling public anger. Banks say they face a liquidity crisis. Through the central bank they have been lending money to the state, which is almost bankrupt. Bank we did not spend the money. The central bank does not have culpability for oversight. This is against the central bank and its governor. Reporter the governor defended himself after the Prime Minister indirectly accused him of trying to topple the government by engineering the collapse of the local currency. Decadesth lebanons in worst financial crisis in decades, it is a struggle for power. You see poor people on the street, you see the central bank, you see the government. Protesters anger is targeting the banks and the government, which has yet to prevent a plan present a plan to save the economy. Foreign reserves are dwindling. We need to dismantle government monopolies that have been the channel through which Government Spending are done. In thethe highest debts world. We have 175 . Half of it is due to electricity. This problem should be solved, opening those sectors to competition. Reporter some think privatization would not just and corruption, but it would be more profitable instead of draining government funds. Structural reforms are what International Donors have been demanding. The United Nations and the arab league are reiterating the need for reforms in lebanon. It seems changes in the structure of the state is what will unlock billions of dollars in assistance. Some arab nations and western nations do not seem willing to give blank checks to a government controlled by hezbo announcer on this episodede of earth focus, Ocean Acidification caused by Global Warming is dramatically affecting marine life. In california, partnerships are forming between cocommercial fisheries, scientists, and Community Members to helelp the endangered abalone adapt and survive. [slide projector clicking] different announcer earth focus is made possible in part by a grant from anne ray foundatia