This is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. The uk government urges members of the public to continue following lockdown rules. Its because one of its top scientific advisers has resigned after admitting breaking the guidelines on social distancing. Professor ferguson has obviously set out that he should have abided by the rules, it was a lapse, an error of judgment. And those rules on social distancing are very firmly still required. The german chancellor, Angela Merkel, is expected to announce the further relaxation of restrictions today including the return of bundesliga football. President trump is to scrap the Task Force Co ordinating americas response to coronavirus, despite a steady increase in infections and more than 70,000 deaths. You have people that are not going to stand for this,
and i understand them very well. And we are going to put out little embers and little fires and maybe some big fires, but we still have to go back to work. Climate experts say this year will see the biggest decline in Carbon Emissions ever recorded, because of the pandemic. And from russia with love the veteran sergeant inspired to fundraise for doctors families after seeing captain tom moores fundraising success. Hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. Were covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. First, a uk goverment minister has urged people to continue following the guidance on social distancing, after one
of the countrys top scientific experts, professor Neil Ferguson, resigned as an adviser because a woman described by the telegraph newspaper as his married lover visited him at his home during lockdown, twice. Security Ministerjames Brokenshire said the rules are still very much required, and that professor ferguson was right to accept hed made a mistake by not following them. In a statement professor ferguson said i accept i made an error of judgement and took the wrong course of action, adding i deeply regret any undermining of the clear messages around the continued need for social distancing. In germany, Angela Merkel is expected to announce more easing of the countrys lockdown restrictions, as the infection rate continues to fall. While in the us, President Trump has confirmed the White House Coronavirus task force will be disbanded, in spite of the persistently high number of cases. Meanwhile tens of thousands of students are returning to school
in the chinese province of hubei, where the coronavirus pandemic began last december. Lets get more from our Political Correspondent nick eardley, whos at westminster. Good morning. Ithink good morning. I think that issue of the death toll now being the highest in europe is bound to be one we hear more about today. Boris johnson in europe is bound to be one we hear more about today. Borisjohnson will be back in the house of commons for Prime Ministers questions in a couple of hours time and it will be the first time he has been up against new labour leader keir starmer. Labour have over the last few days being kind of increasing their questioning of the Government Strategy and talking about ministers being too slow on things like bringing in the lockdown, too slow on testing and ppe. 0ne bringing in the lockdown, too slow on testing and ppe. One of the questions that is being asked increasingly is why the uk has got to the point where the death toll is so to the point where the death toll is so high. Ministers dispute the way
some of the figures are being collated in Different Countries and say it is hard at the moment to compare the uk with those other countries. This is what security Ministerjames Brokenshire had to say this morning about the death toll. It is an absolute tragedy for anyone to lose a loved one and, you know, there will be im sure plenty of reflection and time, once we are through this terrible virus, to be able to look at actions that have been taken and to see what lessons can be learned, what mistakes have been made. And every government i think will need to do that and we are no exception to that. James brokenshire, security minister there. One other thing to look out for in the politics of this today, perhaps more questions on what the next steps might be. We know Boris Johnson will talk about potentially lifting restrictions to the lockdown, or certainly the strategy for that at end of the week on
sunday. Thats something labour have been pushing for and might bring up at Prime Ministers questions in a couple of hours. Thank you, nick ea rdley couple of hours. Thank you, nick eardley in westminster. Germany is expected to announce a further relaxation of lockdown restrictions today when chancellor Angela Merkel meets state leaders. The country has been in lockdown for six weeks, but theres growing pressure to reopen the economy as the infection rate continues to fall. The bundesliga is expected to get the green light to restart behind closed doors in may. It comes after weeks of shutdown imposed to control the spread of the coronavirus. The number of confirmed virus cases in germany now stands at more than 164,000. Meanwhile the total number of people who have died because of the virus has risen to almost 7,000. 0ur berlin correspondentjenny hill explained what measures are likely to be announced today. I think you can expect to see a fairly significant lifting of restrictions which have for now
governed german life for so long. Thinking of building, there is a bit ofa thinking of building, there is a bit of a sense of excitement here now. Small shops have been allowed to reopen for a couple of weeks and some children have gone back to school. There is good rates on the infection rate front, steadily declining and they dont appear to be impacted by some of the relaxations we have seen put in place, one of the reasons Angela Merkel wanted to wait until today to go ahead with further easing of restriction, she wanted to make sure there wasnt an impact on the infection rates. She is meeting with leaders of those 16 german states and they are champing at the bit to further get back to a kind of normality. They are worried about local economies. Some of them are so impatient they have already published their plans on what they wa nt to published their plans on what they want to do. She will have this meeting and by and large we expect the result to be that most shops will now be allowed to reopen and most children will go back to school before the Summer Holidays and there will be a gradual easing of
restrictions around hospitality, hotels, restaurants, bars and cafes will also start to reopen. The hospitality sector has been really climbing the walls in desperation because it hasnt yet been allowed to reopen. She is under a lot of pressure. I think she would have preferred a more cautious and unified approach to a timetable back to ordinary daily life. People will still have to wear face masks when they go on Public Transport and into shops. There will still be a ban on large gatherings, as well as a warning against International Travel for at least another month. The spanish Prime Minister, pedro sanchez, has told the countrys parliament that lifting the state of emergency now would be a big mistake. Hes asking parliament to extend it for another 15 days, but he doesnt have the majority to push it through. The measures have given ministers extraordinary powers. The government believes that easing the rules could risk a second wave of the virus. In america, President Trump has confirmed the White House Coronavirus task force is to be disbanded within weeks. Thats despite the number of new infections continuing to rise
and 70,000 deaths. Mr trump says a Different Group will replace it, focussing on reopening the us safely. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes reports. A rare trip out of washington for donald trump. After being holed up at the white house during the pandemic, the president toured a factory in phoenix thats making medical grade face masks. Like the executives he met, he chose not to wear one, only safety goggles. According to a sign in the facility, staff there are required to wear face masks. During his visit to arizona, a state which will be a key Battle Ground in novembers president ial election, mr trump confirmed that the Coronavirus Task force was winding down. The group has been co ordinating the us response to covid i9. Our country has to go back to being our country again. You have people that are not going to stand for this, and i understand them very well, and we are going to put out little embers and little fires,
and maybe some big fires, but we still have to go back to work. The coronavirus pandemic is farfrom being over in the us with about 25,000 new infections every day. A Trump Administration agency says that number could rise to 200,000 by the end of the month, with the daily death toll reaching 3,000. The sobering projection comes as more states are beginning to ease their stay at home orders, with people going back to work at some shops and nonessential businesses in about half the country. In an interview with abc news, mr trump acknowledged that more lives could be lost as a result of relaxing the guidelines. Its possible there will be some because you wont be locked into an apartment or a house or whatever it is, but at the same time, were going to practise social distancing, were going to be washing hands, were going to be
doing a lot of the things that weve learned to do over the last period of time, and we have to get our country back. Mr trump also noted that some people were dying because of the economic stress of the shutdown by abusing drugs or committing suicide. Horns toot. He said reopening the economy would not be perfect, thered be new outbreaks of the virus, but america had to get back to work. Peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. The first groups of students are returning to school in chinas hubei province, the epicentre of the global pandemic. Students who have exams coming up in the summer are the first to head back to school. Theyve all had to take a coronavirus test before returning, and there will be measures to ensure social distancing, including partitions in the school canteen. 0ur correspondent robin brant in shanghai has the details. A lot of it is about the University Entrance exam here. The much feared gaokao. That has been pushed back until early on in july and so the First Tranche of pupils
that are being allowed to return to schools in hubei and the city of wuhan, the epicentre of this outbreak, the First Tranche going back today are high school pupils, so they have another couple of months to prepare for that exam. Its hugely important. It determines the future of millions of teenagers here in china, so the focus is very much on them. There are around about 121 schools in wuhan that have reopened today. Its part of a staggered return in that city, in that province and, frankly, across all of china as well. No one is rushing back. We are seeing oldest students returning first, younger ones possibly later. I think those under ten might not go back at all this year, so they face the prospect maybe of six months of no face to face learning before they can go back to classrooms, possibly august or september. In a few months, demand for energy across the world has fallen off a cliff, which means a big drop in the emissions which cause Climate Change. Skies without planes,
roads without cars should lead to lower carbon levels. So will coronavirus inspire action on Global Warming or delay it . Here in the uk the committee on Climate Change has written to the british Prime Minister warning that the country must avoid lurching from the pandemic into a deeper crisis. Well speak to their boss in a minute, first Michael Cowan has this. A recent global poll of 20,000 people, including brits, found over 70 of adults think Climate Change is as serious as coronavirus. Over half of britons would support a green economic recovery as the uk emerges from this pandemic. With 41 of respondents saying they would avoid things like flying in the next year to limit their contribution to emissions. So, could you continue with some lockdown measures like not driving as much and stopping flying if it was to help Climate Change . But change is hard for us to commit to without concrete reasoning. If we need to pop out and walk to the shop round the corner and
support local business instead of driving to main supermarkets. Im more relaxed sitting here and doing nothing than jumping around more relaxed sitting here and doing nothing thanjumping around in airports. I dont think we will be going abroad for a long time, if we ever go going abroad for a long time, if we evergo again, to going abroad for a long time, if we ever go again, to be fair. Ive got family in United States and family in australia and in israel. I like keeping up with my family and friends and there is a certain amount of flying, of course. But i will have to think twice about how to do it. I was supposed to be flying on two separate occasions during this lockdown. Both of them i cant do, and because i cant do them, i feel like cant do, and because i cant do them, ifeel like i want to cant do, and because i cant do them, i feel like i want to go to these places more. But change is ha rd to these places more. But change is hard to commit to without concrete reasoning. I would love to be able to say of course people would carry on. Its so obvious its a good thing. Sarah lewis is a behavioural psychologist. If we think about the coronavirus
at the moment, that is really interesting because the motivation is very strong. The consequence is pretty immediate. You know, if you catch this you are in trouble. Motivation to avoid it is very strong and that is one of the reasons people have complied with the guidance so readily, is because we can really see the benefits. There is a real difference between compliance and commitment. And what you are talking about is will people be committed to this behaviour afterwards. At the moment, why would they be . No one has made it clear why they should continue this behaviour when they dont have to. One reason to continue is the impact we are already having on emissions. According to professor Cameron Hepburn at the university of oxford. Behaviour change has got us the biggest drop in emissions probably on record, between 5 and 10 at current estimates. But we have got to get emissions down to zero, so we need 100 reduction. And its likely that there
will be a lot of people who have lost theirjobs, or who are short on income. Building up the rest of the Renewable Energy infrastructure, the storage infrastructure, upgrading our electricity grids, putting in Electric Vehicle charging points, building e bike lanes, etc, all of these things that we know we are going to have to do. And if we have got to do this anyway, do it now. Change on this scale would be difficult and would require buy in from us as a society as well as a strong hand from government. But if we did manage to implement these measures, this devastating pandemic might, albeit unwittingly, create a pathway to a greener planet. Michael cowan, bbc news. If youre watching in the uk, we will be answering your questions on the Pandemic Impact on Climate Change. Thats at 3 30 this afternoon. Send us your questions to hashtag bbcyourquestions or email yourquestions bbc. Co. Uk the headlines on bbc news. The government urges members of the public to continue following lockdown rules after one of its main scientific advisers resigns after admitting breaking the rules on social distancing. The german chancellor, Angela Merkel, is expected to announce the further relaxation of restrictions later today after she meets the leaders of 16 german states. President trump is to scrap the Task Force Co ordinating americas response to coronavirus, despite a steady increase in infections and more than 70,000 deaths. A major Conservation Charity has warned that the 30 years of progress they have made in africa could be undone very quickly by covid i9. The chief executive of tusk, an organisation supported by prince william, has told the bbc that the pandemic has seen a rise in animal poaching. Heres our environment correspondent, claire marshall. Scouring the vast plains of north west province, south africa. I think were out on a call for a rhino that was poached. Nico runs Nonprofit Organisation rhino 911. And we hope the calf is still alive so that we can rescue it and take it to the orphanage. The calf is two months old. Her mother was found dead with her horn hacked off. Shes sedated, her eyes bandaged to make the journey less traumatic. Shes the fourth orphan theyve rescued in the last month. The pressure on africas wildlife is relentless and its getting much worse. The Tourism Industry has collapsed. Vast numbers of people are losing theirjobs and many are now starting to poach for food. People are desperate. People living on the breadline are