Welcomed to hardtalk. Im stephen sackur. As the global effort to control covid 19 continues, so arguments about culpability for the spread of the virus intensify. And at the heart of the story, china, where the outbreak began. Did the Chinese Governments impulse to cover up the truth put the world in danger, or did beijing respond with admirable determination . My guest today is chinas ambassador in london, liu xiaoming. Is china the villain or the hero of this pandemic . Ambassador liu xiaoming, welcome to hardtalk. Thank you. Thank you to be with you again. We are delighted to have you on this programme at this difficult time. Let me start, actually, with a very simple, direct question. Do you accept that covid 19 has its origins in china . It was first discovered in wuhan, but i cant say it originated from wuhan. You know, according to many information, many reports, including bbc, it can be everywhere and anywhere. You know, it can be in aircraft carriers. It can even be found in t
England has seen the biggest relaxation of the lockdown since it was imposed 10 weeks ago. There has been criticism from some scientists that this is too much too soon. With the latest heres our Health Editor hugh pym. Enjoying new freedom in england today to meet outdoors in larger groups with social distancing. The rules in wales changed today as well. Scotland and Northern Ireland have already loosened the guidelines on meeting outdoors. So as the restrictions are eased, how will the authorities monitor the spread of the virus and try to keep it in check . A full testing and Contact Tracing system is seen as essential. As well as testing people, ministers say tracking down recent contacts of those who test positive will be vital to stopping the spread of the virus. Contact tracers have been appointed and the system launched, but already there are concerns. One contact tracer who wanted to be anonymous told us he had been given very little work since the launch last thursday. Weve he
Sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, heresjohn watson. The bournemouth manager eddie howe has been speaking about the added pressure he feels trying to keep his players safe, as the premier League Season gets closer to restarting. He says his team were feeling more vulnerable after, one of his team, goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale tested positive for corona virus earlier this week. If there are more positive tests within the squad, if there is any member of my staff fell ill or their family fell ill, you know, it would be. I family fell ill, you know, it would be. I would feel that responsibility personally and i think hell for me is always coming above sporting coming of a football so above sporting coming of a football so that a sort of where i am at. But im very keen to get back to work. Im very keen to get back to work. Im very keen to get back to work. Im very keen to play football again. Im very keen to play football again. Despite numerous proposals to help reduce
Likely to be in financial difficulty than home owners because of the pandemic, according to a new study. The report by the think tank the Resolution Foundation says many renters have seen their incomes fall. The government insists its taken action to support tenants, including banning evictions for three months, as our business correspondent, katy austin explains. Paying the rent has become too much for denny while her hair salon is shut. Her landlord has agreed to postpone two months rent, to be paid back in future. At the moment we owe april and may, and thenjune is due the 1st ofjune. I feel sick, actually. Because at the moment, now, thats obviously one of our biggest outgoings, the rent. Citizens advice estimates 2. 6 million tenants expect to fall behind on rent because of coronavirus, and the Resolution Foundation think tank says one in five private renters have been furloughed or lost theirjob. It says they are struggling with payments more than homeowners. Going into the crisi