We have seen different rates of infection, there are clear hotspots in heavily populated areas. Plus, outrage over the front page of a tabloid where the ex husband of harry potter author, j. K. Rowling defends hitting her. Hello and welcome if youre watching in the uk or around the world and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. As countries emerge from lockdown we are discovering the true cost of the corovirus pandemic. The uk has recorded its largest monthly contraction ever. Latest figures show the economy shrank by more than a fifth in april, as the country spent its first full month in lockdown. The slump of 20. 4 in Economic Growth is three times larger than the decline seen during the whole of the financial crisis 12 years ago. The uk is not alone. In germany the cabinet has just agreed another economic stimulus package, worth 145 billion dollars, to mitigate the fallout from the crisis. In the us, Consumer Confidence has perked up from the record lows of the past few months. But the Federal Reserve has warned of a further sharp decline in economic activity, and warned the us faced an uncertain recovery. In italy, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has been questioned by prosecutors after relatives of covid i9 victims demanded an inquiry into alleged government negligence. They argue virus hotspots should have been isolated earlier. Lets get more details now on the Economic Situation here in the uk. Our economics editor faisal islam has this report. The massive hit to the economy is no surprise when streets are silent. Shops are closed, factories are idle and tens of billions in sales dont happen because they cannot. But such a slump on this scale in one month isntjust a record, it was unimaginable and way beyond any normal scale. Marlow zoo is one example of a leisure attraction was shut down is seen in these numbers. April had easter this year so we were expecting about 70,000 guests to come here to enjoy the zoo and in the end we got nobody. Whilst we were expecting £1. 8 million in terms of visitor income for the month, we didnt receive anything so disastrous for us. In april, the first full month of lockdown, the economy fell byjust over 20 , losing a fifth of its value and it means since the lockdown began in march, the uk economy has lost a quarter of its value, that is the cliff on this chart, making the financial crisis in 2008 resemble a small blip. The question is where do things go from here . For a dynamic, Creative Economy we depend so much on human contact and we have been badly hit by this but we are also amazingly resilient and creative and we will bounce back. There was a report that came out a couple of days ago from the 0ecd, that group of industrialised nations, suggesting the drop in gdp for this year for the uk would actually be worse than for every other industrialised nation so we are in a very difficult situation as a country. In 0xfordshire, an airfield tens of billions worth of vehicles waiting for the showrooms to sell again. And in turn winning the car factories will be far from full tilt. So this is what those grim numbers look like in reality. Up and down the country, storage areas, airfields and ports full of unsold cars. In april, a 99. 7 fall in car sales. The challenge now, as lockdown starts to ease, is will it actually return to normal . Will these cars actually sell or is the economy fundamentally damaged . For the moment the government is focusing on a gradual reopening stuff for example, of the housing market. We are just starting to recover and i believe it will take until the end of the year to come close, whether we will even get there but i feel positive that there is enough people who want to move and if there is enough people who want to move then people will sell and people will buy. And there is much lost ground to make up in the gym is also with the added challenge of whether people will use them in a new normal. The fitness sector has proved before it is particularly resilient in a recession and i think we will benefit greatly from the tailwind provided by the pandemic. We have never seen a weaker month, the economy far from fighting fit. The question isjust how long the process of rehabilitation will take. Spurred on by protests against Police Brutality us governors, mayors, and City Council Members are moving to fundamentally change the way their Police Departments operate. In minnesotta where george floyd was killed three weeks ago the state is convening a special legislative session looking into its criminaljustice system. Boston is shifting three Million Dollars from Police Budgets to Public Health programmes and in louisville, kentucky citizens have voted to ban no knock police warrants. Today new yorks Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed an executive order requiring hundreds of the states Police Departments to implement reforms. If there is no trust, the police cant effectively police. The community is not going to allow the police to police. And there is no trust or there is a breach of the trust and that has to be restored and repaired. And the only way to do it is to get in a room, get to the table, joining me now from new york is activist Rashad Robinson whos president of the colour of change civil rights organisation. Welcome to you, thank you very much for being with us. What do you make of these reforms announced today by the new york state governor . 0ur apologies, we appear to have lost the sound there. We will try and reestablish it and try and go back to him shortly. In the meantime, senate here, the british Prime Minister says its absurd and shameful that a statue of Winston Churchill has had to be boarded up because of fears it may be vandalised. Last weekend, protesters daubed it with graffiti saying that churchill was a racist. Borisjohnson also warned people to stay away from protests because of coronavirus. Chi chi izundu reports. This has been a week of anger. Peaceful anti racism protests marred by violence and graffiti. This is now how the churchill statue outside parliament stands. 0ver fears todays march would result in more damage. The statue of Winston Churchill, who is a national hero, has had to be boarded up forfear of violent attack, and that, to me, is both absurd and wrong. You should not have a situation where people who are protesting on one basis are violently attacking the police or public property. A demonstration planned for tomorrow was brought forward to today because of concerns there could be trouble between people determined
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