this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. ministers in the uk look at proposals to get the economy restarted — including easing some measures of the lockdown. in spain, the country has begun to ease its strict lockdown rules — adults have been enjoying their first outdoor exercise in seven weeks. rolls royce prepares to cut thousands ofjobs due to coronavirus — a decision on the exact number will be made by the end of the month. the uk government pledges over £76 million to the most vulnerable in society during the pandemic. this funding will help charities, support survivors of domestic and sexual abuse. it will support vulnerable children and their families. and it will support victims of modern slavery.
an experimental drug is authorised by us officials for emergency use on severely—ill coronavirus patients. and uk prime minister boris johnson and his fiancee johnson and his fiance carrie symonds name their baby boy — and include a tribute to the two doctors who treated mrjohnson while he was in hospital with coronavirus. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. the uk government is studying proposals aimed at getting the economy restarted, including easing some the measures of the lockdown. the prime minister will set out plans next week, but today the communities secretary said the risks still remained high.
elsewhere, the spanish government has relaxed its own strict lockdown measures allowing people outside for the first time in seven weeks. from monday, face masks will be compulsory on public transport throughout the country. roll—royce has warned it may have to cut thousands ofjobs from its uk work force after aircraft manufacturers were forced to cut production during the pandemic. the engine maker employs 52,000 people worldwide with 23,000 in the uk. at today's downing street briefing, the uk government announced a multi—million pound package of measures to support vulnerable people in society — including rough sleepers and victims of domestic abuse. and, more than 6,500 people have signed up for a trial to see if blood plasma from coronavirus survivors can help treat patients in hospital with the virus. it comes as 621 more people have
died in the latest 2a hour period — that's those who have tested positive for coronavirus and died in hospitals, care homes and the community. the total number of uk deaths stands at 28,131. let's get the latest with this report from our political correspondent chris mason. this is what relative liberation looks like right now. being able to throw junk into a skip. in manchester this afternoon, the prospect of a trip to the reopened tip had people queueing to get in. just can't wait to get rid of the stuff. before it piles up any more. with a green bin at this time of the year, there's a lot going on in the garden and it gets full of waste all the time and we need to start emptying them as soon as possible. but today's government news conference told us that a loosening of the rules could be based around the fact that the virus finds it harder to spread outside than inside, but... that moment has not yet come and members of the public watching this afternoon should continue to stick to our message which is to stay at home. the government has proudly talked up the huge expansion in its capacity to test, but the next colossal challenge, as restrictions are eased,
is tracking and tracing new outbreak so they are contained, including via an app for us to use. clearly we want to have very quick tests and we do not want to be asking contacts to stay isolated for a long period of time if the initial person who triggered the alarm, so to speak, actually turns out not to have covid, so there is a speed issue. it's also an issue that not everybody will be able to operate a digital system. today, the government announced it had delivered its1 millionth food package to help those who are shielding, not leaving home at all. there are 1.8 million people in england alone in this situation. i wonder what long—term plans there are to help those people out, notjust in terms of the provision of food, but also their mental health and their general well—being? well, for the shielded, one priority is to ensure that those who want to move off our food boxes onto privileged access
from the supermarkets can do so and the supermarkets are doing great work in increasing their capacity to do delivery services. medical, economic and societal challenges posed by this virus remain vast. 0ne positive has been delivered almost overnight though. the long—held aspiration to eradicate rough sleeping. ministers now want to ensure as few people as possible turn to a life on the streets after lockdown. it won't be easy. it's undoubtedly ambitious. chris mason, bbc news. as we've been hearing, the uk government has set aside £76 million to help support the most vulnerable in society, including victims of domestic violence, vulnerable children and victims of modern slavery. we can discuss this now with the labour mp and shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, jess phillips. shejoins us from birmingham. i spoke to the charity refuge about
an hourorso ago i spoke to the charity refuge about an hour or so ago and they welcomed the announcement of the £76 million. presumably labour will do the same? of course, we were calling for this and we have been calling for this for some weeks now. i wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. we have to be careful, it is being trialled it is £76 million for domestic abuse, because i think that is the thing the government have felt their feet most closest to the fire during this crisis, but it is notjust for domestic abuse, it is for a whole range of vulnerable people. but of course, this should always be welcomed. we did sending introduction it was for victims of domestic abuse, and modern slavery. in terms of domestic abuse, how difficult is it to find out what is going on at the moment when front doors around the country are closed
and locked 7 doors around the country are closed and locked? it is very, very difficult and there is a real concern that pose the easing of the lockdown, we are going to see an even bigger spike we have seen during the crisis. people will finally be able to speak freely, have moments to themselves. it is increasingly difficult for social workers, domestic violence workers, for anyone who is trying to reach and access people who they are worried about on the hardest end of society. it is increasingly difficult to find ways to speak to those people safely. are you satisfied with some of the measures we know are in place including the emergency call system where people can emergency call system where people ca n press emergency call system where people can press the digits 55 and the provision of hotel rooms, is that enough? i have been calling for the provision of hotel rooms since about six or seven weeks now. still, we are waiting for that to happen. there is a huge amount more to do
than just make announcements. there isa than just make announcements. there is a huge amount of detail to go over, which we will do. rossi 55, i must say, you have to press a 55 at the point they ask for your address and it works on a mobile phone. it won't work if you press it straightaway. the pharmacies are coming online to offer safe places. ina time coming online to offer safe places. in a time of crisis, we find innovative ways to reach people but the pressure on the system is going to be huge for a very long time. you talk about in a time of crisis, innovative ways, after the crisis is over, would you expect these innovative measures to stay in place ina innovative measures to stay in place in a permanent way? absolutely. if every cloud has a silver lining, i think that some of the innovations we are seeing, the way that we were, the way we work with vulnerable people as well will hopefully persist past this. but what we
cannot do is just put our foot on the pedal during a crisis and then think like we are going to see, like with homelessness. we might have got people off the streets temporarily, but homelessness had doubled in the last ten years and we cannot go back to business as usual. i have some of the measures that have been put in place, whether it is technological 01’ place, whether it is technological or different social policy that has been realised as necessary during this crisis, will last long into the future because vulnerable people are vulnerable, no matter what the rest of us are doing. jess phillips from the labour party, thank you. people in spain have been allowed outside to exercise for the first time in seven weeks, after one of the strictest lockdowns in europe. the spanish prime minister said that facemasks will be mandatory on public transport from monday. here's damian grammaticas. 0nto empty streets, tentatively, spaniards began emerging today, released from 48
days of confinement. adults first, allowed out to take a walk, to exercise for the first time in weeks. until now, the only acceptable reasons for leaving your home were to buy food or go to the chemist. this is fantastic. it's amazing. the first time i ride with my bike this morning, it was incredible, really incredible. it's the fresh air in your face. then, at ten in the morning, it all changed. adults back indoors so the elderly could have two hours to themselves. and, after midday, children. spain is giving different age groups specific time outdoors to limit the chances the most vulnerable can catch the virus. with this relaxation, spain's government is dipping a cautious toe in the waters to see what happens. if virus cases continue to trend downwards, there will be more easing in the coming days.
if they surge up again, well, then then lockdown will come back. damian grammaticas, bbc news, valencia. staying in the uk, rolls—royce says it will probably have to make thousands ofjob cuts, as part of plans to deal with the impact of coronavirus. our business correspondent katy austin told me what this announcement could mean for the uk aviation industry. rolls—royce is an engineering giant and one of its big products is engines for aircraft. rolls—royce employs around 23,000 people in the uk, that's about half of its global workforce, and big sites here in this country include derby, where it's got two sites there. now, what we're really seeing here is the knock—on impact trickle down from the global hit to the aviation industry that we've seen during the covid—19 pandemic where airlines basically can't fly, well, not very much anyway, and that has a knock—on effect where plane makers have them shut down some of their production. and then you go down the supply chain and you get people
like rolls—royce who make plane engines, well, they're having to cut back too. what is the government promising to do, if anything? the government was asked about this at the downing street briefing this evening because this has been another bad week for aviation. we have seen two big airlines who operate out of the uk, british airways and ryanair, have both said that they are going to cut a lot ofjobs. so it has really been a bad week. rolls—royce's. .. it is not an announcement. we understand up to 8,000 jobs could go. that is another blow at the end of a bad week and the government has just emphasised really that it has already provided a lot of support to business across the board. it hasn't promised anything specific for the aviation sector yet. but today robertjenrick, the communities secretary, did say that the chancellor and the business secretary would look at future demands if more help could be provided.
here in the uk, thousands of people have registered to take part in a trial that uses blood plasma from people who've recovered from coronavirus, to treat sick patients. it's one of the latest trials in progress aimed at tackling the virus. 0ur health correspondent, catherine burns reports. could this golden liquid be an effective treatment against coronavirus? it's not an expensive new drug, but blood plasma, freely given by survivors. jo is donating after her whole family got coronavirus. her husband was ill enough to need hospital treatment. i'm somebody that would not have donated purely because i'm quite terrified of needles and giving blood. but everybody needs to do their bit. the idea is simple. donors need to have had coronavirus and fully recovered. the liquid part of their blood, plasma, contains antibodies produced by their immune system to recognise and fight the virus. researchers say when this is given to critically ill patients, it gives
them some instantaneous immunity. so far, about 150 recovered coronavirus patients in england have donated their plasma, enough to treat another 150 critically ill people. now the intensive care consultant running the trial is looking for patients to give the plasma to. so far he is still waiting, because he's not seeing as many seriously ill people with coronavirus now. it's a good thing that the pandemic, there is a semblance of control of the pandemic here, so i'm actually both happy and feel that we are ready if the second wave happens, yeah. he hopes that if this trial works, we will have an effective treatment against coronavirus. catherine burns, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news... ministers in the uk look at proposals to get the economy restarted — including easing some measures of the lockdown. in spain, the country has begun
to ease its strict lockdown rules — adults have been enjoying their first outdoor exercise in seven weeks. rolls royce prepares to cut thousands ofjobs due to coronavirus — a decision on the exact number will be made by the end of the month. we can go to our newsroom in salford to get all the sports news from sarah mulkerrins. hello, i'm sarah mulkerrins with the bbc sport. the former england captain, sir bill beaumont, has been re—elected as the chairman of world rugby. the 68—year—old defeated his former deputy, the ex argentina skippei’. agustin pichot. the bbc‘s rugby union correspondent, chris jones, has more. at one point it looked like this race was going to go right down to the wire, but in the end, beaumont has won with a little bit to spare. a clear mandate by 28 votes to 23.
the support he had from the six nations and from the region of europe are really meant that he had a foothold in this election campaign right from the start. pichot ran a dynamic and passionate campaign. he's taken to social media to congratulate beaumont. he says it wasn't to be for him. but beaumont has said in a statement, that this is not a time for celebration. the hard work really does start now for beaumont, he's got a lot on his plate in the short, medium and long term to try and guide rugby union through the turbulence of the covid—19 situation. and in the medium and long term, to try and create a truly global sport. beaumont has to get people on side, the southern hemisphere, the unions, the likes of australia, argentina, new zealand and south africa were squarely behind agustin pichot. he has to convince them now that his vision and he has to make sure that all the stakeholders, northern hemisphere, southern hemisphere, clubs, unions are aligned behind him. can he force through the changes he hasn't been able to force
through in the last four years? that's his ultimate challenge, but he does have a mandate now to try and take rugby union into a new era between now and 202a. the us women's football team have had their legal bid for equal pay rejected by a court, with the judge dismissing the players' claims that they were underpaid compared to the men. they had filed the lawsuitjust before the world cup last year, where they won the trophy for the fourth time. they had been seeking $66 million in damages, but a judge has ruled that only their case for unfair treatment in travel, accommodation and medical support can go ahead. well, they have been having their say on social media. the striker and co—captain, megan rapinoe has tweeted, "we will never stop fighting for equality". as did fellow co—captain, alex morgan, saying, "although disappointing to hear this news, this will not discourage us in our fight for equality".
i would say that us soccer has, kind of, made their points obviously and i don't think they've won on the public opinion side, but certainly on the legal side, i think if you speak with legal experts that there has been an acknowledgement throughout this that the actual legal case from a player perspective had some different holes and i think they were pointed out in the ruling. which, ithink, should be said that the players say they plan to appeal. right, that is all your sport for now, we'll see you again soon, goodbye. access to women's sexual health services, and in particular abortion, have been severely impacted by the lockdown. many clinics around the world have closed due to safety concerns. and their future, with dwindling funding and income because of the economic crisis, is uncertain. with me is katherine 0'brien of the british pregnancy advisory service. and also i'm joined by sarah 0nyango from the international planned parenthood federation.
catherine, to talk about northern ireland, part of the united kingdom, it isa ireland, part of the united kingdom, it is a territory in which abortion was only recently legalised, but i understand women from northern ireland are still having to travel across the irish sea to britain to get abortion services, why is that? it is baffling to us as to why women in northern ireland are having to make this journey when, as you say, abortion had been decriminalised in northern ireland since october 2019. regulations for services were laid by parliament in march. yet, every week around five women are still being forced to make this journey. this is at a time of a global pandemic when we are being told to stay at home to protect our health. because of the fact that flights are grounded at the moment, these women are making overnight ferryjourneys to england, effectively spending 48
hours travelling on public transport in order to access health care that they should be able to receive in northern ireland. what kind of services have you launched in response to this? we have established a helpline for women from northern ireland and we are able to provide abortion medication by post to some women in extreme circumstances, who are under ten weeks of pregnancy. however, the reality is there is no provision for women over ten weeks of pregnancy. those women will still be forced to travel to england, yet there is no legal impediment to services being set up. i think, you legal impediment to services being set up. ithink, you know, obviously there has been a political argument about abortion within northern ireland for a very long time. but one would hope that at a time when women's health is at riskjust by
nature of them having to step on a ferry, he would hope the department of health would realise this is a public health emergency and not a political football. i public health emergency and not a politicalfootball. i should public health emergency and not a political football. i should just explain to viewers, we are hoping to re—establish contact with our other guest, the line has gone down. but i would like to continue to talk to you, when you talk about sending abortion medication, is it as simple as putting it in the post, do you have to send it in person, what are the practicalities of how that works? in england, wales and scotla nd works? in england, wales and scotland we are able to send abortion medication to anyone who is clinically suitable for these pills to be sent to her in the post. in northern ireland, unfortunately that is not the case. pills in the post can only be sent in very exceptional circumstances. that is where there will be a real risk to a woman's life or health if she was forced to travel for care, so these are often
women with underlying medical conditions who have been told they have to shield during the current pandemic. it could be women who are suicidal and unable to access care. in one week we were aware of two women who attempted suicide because they could not access abortion care in northern ireland. talking about that abortion care in northern ireland, is the lack of provision related to the lockdown of the fact that abortion has onlyjust been legalised? while regulations have only recently come into place in march, abortion has been decriminalised in northern ireland since october 2019. services could have been being set up since october last year. it is very difficult to understand what the barrier to care is. is it a case of commissioning, for example? there is no political will, it seems, to roll out services. it has not been
prioritised, even though, as i say, five women making thatjourney every week, is incredibly risky, especially during this current time. catherine, thank you very much. i think in the last two seconds we have re—established contact with sarah. iam have re—established contact with sarah. i am glad you are back and i am sorry sarah. i am glad you are back and i am sorry you could not hear what catherine 0'brien had to say. but if ican catherine 0'brien had to say. but if i canjust catherine 0'brien had to say. but if i can just ask you a question about abortion services, what is the situation as you understand it in the developing world ? situation as you understand it in the developing world? we work in many countries around the world, about 150 countries, including many in the developing world. with the outbreak of covid, we have had ongoing challenges. outbreak of covid, we have had ongoing challengeslj outbreak of covid, we have had ongoing challenges. i am afraid, i am so ongoing challenges. i am afraid, i am so sorry ongoing challenges. i am afraid, i am so sorry both to you sarah and
oui’ am so sorry both to you sarah and our viewers, because the line has not been stable enough. i am really, really sorry about that. an experimental drug developed to treat ebola has been approved for use on coronavirus patients in the united states. a recent clinical trial suggested the drug shortened recovery time for people who fall seriously ill with the virus. here's david willis on the latest developments from the us. could it prove a game changer? remdesivir is an antiviral drug that appears to help severely ill coronavirus patients recover. announcing that federal regulators had approved emergency use of the drug, president trump said it also had the backing of his medical experts. an important treatment for hospitalised coronavirus patients and it's something i spoke with dr hahn and dr fauci, i spoke with deborah about it, and it's really a promising situation. earlier this week, the government's infectious diseases expert revealed
that a clinical trial had shown that remdesivir could block the virus and help patients recover more quickly. the data shows that remdesivir has a clear—cut significant positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery. manufactured by the californian pharmaceutical company gilead, remdesivir failed as a treatment for hepatitis and ebola, but tests showed that it shortened the recovery time for coronavirus patients by more than 30%, or an average about four days. neither a vaccine nor a cure, it is none the less the most promising treatment to date. after weeks under lockdown, large parts of this country are finally, tentatively starting to reopen. texas has reopened its beaches, but restaurants and shopping centres have been ordered to limit their capacity to 25%
for two more weeks at least. the united states remains the global epicentre of the coronavirus, a million cases and counting and more than 63,000 deaths. medical experts are warning that by reopening their economies too quickly, some states could run the risk of sparking a second wave of the pandemic. president trump ended his 32—day white house lockdown by flying to camp david for a weekend of talks with his advisers, all part of an attempt to kick—start the american economy ahead of elections later this year. meanwhile, the hunt for a cure for the virus goes on. david willis, bbc news. the republic of ireland will begin a phased lifting of its lockdown restrictions in just over two weeks, the country's prime minister leo varadkar has announced. small social gatherings outside will be allowed from 18th may,
and larger shops will open. it's hoped cafes and restaurants will re—open by the end ofjune. museums and places of worship will follow in mid—july, and children will return to school in september. the indian government has made it compulsory for all public and private sector employees to use a smartphone app designed to trace people who may have been infected with coronavirus. the move comes as delhi starts to ease some of its lock down measures in lower—risk areas. the app, called ‘bridge to healthcare', was launched last month. it alerts users who have come in contact with people later found to be positive for covid—nineteen. privacy campaigners are concerned about how the collected data might infringe people's privacy. in venezuela there have been prison riots over a lack of food and water as nationwide coronavirus quarantine rules forbidding prison visits kick in. at least 46 people were killed in the incident at the los llanos jail in portuguesa state. riots in the unsanitary and ovecrowded prisons of latin america have been increasing in frequency as governments introduce containment
measures to help slow the covid—19 outbreak. borisjohnson and his fiancee carrie symonds have named their baby boy wilfred lawrie nicholasjohnson. the names are a tribute to the couple's respective grandfathers and two doctors who treated mrjohnson while he was in hospital with coronavirus. now it's time for a look at the weather with nick miller. hello. skies have threatened rather than delivered many showers today. if you've seen a bit of sunshine, the garden's been a nice place to be. spring in full swing of course right now and for part two of the weekend tomorrow, high pressure in control for much of the uk but there will still be a few showers breaking out. maybe for some of us, a greater chance tomorrow of capturing one than today. this weather front towards the south—west of england will produce a bit of patchy, light rain in places. and in fact, that's the case as we go on into tonight, as the cloud increases as the weather front gets closer. and where we have seen some showers today across northern and eastern scotland, north—east england, they will slowly fade as we get on into the night. most overnight it is dry with clear spells, temperatures fall a little lower than this in more rural spots
but most of us just about avoiding a frost as we go into the morning. sunday will start dry with a fair amount of sunshine around but cloud is going to build and some showers will break out. towards northern and eastern scotland once again, a few for northern ireland, northern england, especially east of the pennines. it will take some time but from north wales, the midlands to east anglia in the later in the afternoon a chance of showers here could be heavy. and all the while a lot more cloud compared with today in south—west england and south wales, maybe some patchy light rain from that. temperatures in the mid teens for most of us. it will feel cooler for most in scotland tomorrow where you have the showers especially in the north and east. they will continue on here into the evening. and we could well see as we get into sunday night a spell of rain across parts of yorkshire and lincolnshire which will gradually clear on monday, just leaving a few showers. whereas most places on monday will be dry, a mixture of cloud and some sunny spells around. the wind willjust start to pick up across parts of england and where is coming in from the east. that will cool thing is particularly
across eastern counties. and as we get beyond monday to tuesday, that weather system towards the south—west brings new life and brings in a spell of heavy rain here and particularly toward south—west england. some uncertainty about exactly where it is going to sit before it fizzles out later on tuesday and just about gone by the time we get into wednesday. as high pressure builds back in. but it does bring the chance of seeing a bit of rain towards southern, south—western parts of england and south—west wales on tuesday. drier, though, on wednesday, and throughout the week for much of scotland and northern ireland it is looking dry with a mixture of cloud and sunshine. but where you are starting the week with a bit of rain, from mid week on it is looking mainly dry.