in its coronavirus outbreak as the rate of infection drops to its lowest level since march. and we meet the residents of one british village who've been pulling together to help those in need during the coronavirus outbreak. hello. boris johnson is facing strong criticism for fully backing his close adviser, dominic cummings, over his journey from london to the north of england during the coronavirus lockdown. the british prime minister said mr cummings had acted "responsibly, legally and with integrity". in response, the opposition labour party has accused mrjohnson of treating the british people with "contempt". here's our political correspondent, iain watson. reporter: why did you not stay in your primary residence, mr cummings, as the government guidelines state? why did you go 260 miles across the country? dominic cummings‘s family travelled 250 miles away from his london home to isolate in durham when his wife already had coronavirus symptoms, citing concerns over childcare. though he faced something of a scrum here, the bbc maintained social distancing. but the prime minister held him close, and faced down calls for him to go. i think he followed the instincts of every father, and every parent, and i do not mark him down for that. i believe that in every respect he has acted responsibly, and legally, and with integrity. conservative mps have got in touch with us today, prime minister, because they say lots of their constituents are angry. they feel that allowing somebody who was already ill to travel 250 miles across the country breaches at least the spirit of your guidance. hand on heart, can you really say that this didn't breach the spirit of your guidance? what i can tell you is that i think when you look at the guidance, when you look at the particular childcare needs that mr cummings faced at the time, it was reasonable of him to self—isolate as he did, for 14 days or more, with his family, where he did. some conservative mps are saying, prime minister, that this defence that dominic cummings behaved responsibly — many of their constituents are angry about that, because it makes them feel as though they were irresponsible in following the guidelines and going to work close to theirfamily in this lockdown. they feel insulted by that. i can totally get why people might feel so confused and, as you say, so offended by the idea that it was one thing for people here and another thing for others. but really, having looked at what happened, having looked at his intentions and what he was trying to do for the good of his family, i really think most people will understand what he was doing. the uk was placed into lockdown with strict limitations on travel on 23 march. the last time that dominic cummings was seen before developing covid symptoms was in downing street on 27 march. durham police were made aware of reports that an individual had travelled from london to durham on 31 march, and the following day a police officer spoke to mr cummings's father at his father's request. dominic cummings then returned to work in london on 14 april. government ministers say dominic cummings and his immediate family were hunkered down at a property adjacent to his parents' home in durham. but the mirror and observer newspapers and the bbc have spoken to a member of the public who claims he saw mr cummings in the town of barnard castle, 30 miles away, on easter sunday, when the message was stay at home. he has now formally complained to the police. i am content that at all times throughout his period in isolation, actually on both sides of that period, he behaved responsibly and correctly. i'm told some government ministers are hugely frustrated that coherent messages on controlling the virus have been made more confusing to keep dominic cummings at number ten. so, do voters in county durham have clear views? i think when someone like him, who's obviously giving advice to the prime minister, doesn't adhere to the rules, it makes it even more confusing for the average person. other people have been in the same situation and they've managed. so why shouldn't he manage? we're all told to keep in, right? ten weeks i was in, and he's out. he's flouting the rules. it's all wrong. they should sack him. and the labour leader seems to share those views. this was a huge test of the prime minister, and he's just failed that test. he hasn't sacked dominic cummings, he hasn't called for an investigation, and he's treating the british public with contempt. if i were prime minister, i'd have sacked cummings. why are you guys not social distancing? dominic cummings seems secure in hisjob for now, but many mps are worried that faith in the government's guidelines is far more shaky. iain watson, bbc news. police in hong kong have fired tear gas and water cannon at demonstrators protesting against china's plans to impose a new security law. police say 120 people have been arrested, after the first mass protests since the coronavirus pandemic took hold in the territory. beijing says the legislation will improve people's lives, but campaigners warn fundamental freedoms are being eroded. china correspondent stephen mcdonnell reports. activists in their thousands are back on the streets of hong kong, ending the quiet of coronavirus. beijing has introduced new security legislation for the city. they are attempting to resist it. protesters say it elevates acts of dissent and government opposition to treason and sedition, potentially meaning serious jail time if you, for example, call for hong kong independence. we are worried that the chinese communist party make use of the evil law to further suppress hong kong people. following last year's summer of rebellion, more than 7,000 protesters have been charged with public assembly and rioting crimes. before the end of the year, they could be accused of trying to overthrow the communist party. but china's leaders say the law will mean a better atmosphere for business, and that it should be applauded rather than feared. translation: this targets a very narrow category of acts that seriously jeopardise national security. it has no impact on hong kong's high degree of autonomy, or on the rights and freedoms of residents. here in beijing, the national people's congress is under way. it is the most important annual political gathering for the chinese communist party. and this time round, china's leaders do feel like they've got a pretty good story to tell, with the handling of the coronavirus. and perhaps they thought this would give them cover to almost sneak through new security legislation, and that it wouldn't attract much attention. well, it's certainly attracting a lot of attention in hong kong. hong kong protesters know that, in the coming days, the legislation will pass through china's rubber—stamp congress. then, there is little they can do to prevent it becoming law. stephen mcdonnell, bbc news, beijing. let's get some of the day's other news. the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has appeared in court on corruption charges — the first serving leader in the country's history to be tried in a criminal case. arriving in court, he described the charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust as ludicrous. britain is reviewing how us sanctions will have an impact on the involvement of the chinese company, huawei, in its telecoms networks. the us announced sanctions limiting huawei's access to american technology earlier this month, citing security fears. injanuary, the british government resisted us pressure to ban huawei from contributing to its new 5g network. a severe storm described as a once—in—a—decade event is lashing coastal parts of western australia with heavy rain and abnormally high tides. winds of more than 100kph have left 50,000 homes and businesses without power, torn off roofs and brought down trees. the united states has suspended travel from brazil, which has emerged as the world's second largest hotspot for coronavirus cases. there are now more than 360,000 cases in the country and 22,000 people have died with the virus. the spike in numbers comes amid deep divisions in brazil, as freya cole reports. chanting flanked by security guards wearing masks, a barefaced president jair bolsonaro greets a crowd of adoring fans. a young girl is passed through for an embrace with the far—right leader who has repeatedly dismissed warnings about social distancing. all chant and sing this spontaneous gathering is one of several held over the last two months. the crowd represents those who support the president and his plan to keep brazil open instead of locking down. siren wails but the south american country has the second—highest rate of coronavirus in the world. field hospitals are inundated. these girls say their father is one of many in intensive care. translation: psychologically, he's very upset. one moment one person dies and another is discharged. he gets very angry. he's very afraid of dying because a lot of people are dying. more than 22,000 people have now died of the virus and the numbers are on the rise. lockdown measures vary from state to state but the country's leader is demanding restrictions ease in favour of the economy. freya cole, bbc news. turkey, which had one of the fastest growing coronavirus outbreaks in the world, says it is turning the tide. the growth in infections has dropped to the lowest level since the country's first case in march. and the authorities say a nationwide contact tracing system is one of the key weapons in the fight against the virus. from istanbul our international correspondent, 0rla guerin reports. how do you track a virus that sweeps unseen through a city? in istanbul, home to more than 16 million, the answer is — you don't waste a minute. right from the very beginning, we were ready for the covid—i9. this is where we pick up the calls. they've been contact tracing since day one when turkey's first case was diagnosed in march. the system is well developed from decades of tracking measles. it relies on tireless work by doctors and nurses. we, as a team, feel as if we are in a war because people forget to go home. they don't, you know, they don't know the time frames that they're working in. we say that, "0k, eight hours is completed," but they don't even care going home because they know this is a duty that they have to complete and before it spreads to anyone else. so 1,200 tracing teams fan out across the city. wejoined them in fatih, the heart of old istanbul. step by step, they track the virus. here, checking on two flatmates whose friend is covid positive. sumiah and nazli, both in their 20s, are tested on their doorstep... ..just a day after developing mild symptoms. translation: we follow foreign news, and when we first heard about the virus, we were really scared. but turkey has rallied faster than we thought, much faster than europe and the united states. well, the doctors are out of their ppe now. everything has been bagged up, it's going to be disposed of safely. they've taken the swabs and they'll be sent off to the lab, and the results will be back within 2a hours. and even if they test negative, they'll have to remain at home for another 1a days. we're keeping the virus out of the streets, that's very important for us. once we isolate them, you know, the virus stops spreading to theirfriends, to their relatives, to their co—workers. that seems to be working so far, along with widespread testing and partial lockdowns. the official death toll here is relatively low — around 4,300. international experts say turkey has managed to shield its people from a greater disaster. 0rla guerin, bbc news, istanbul. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: after a ramadan marked by lockdowns and social distancing, muslims around the world begin celebrating eid al—fitr. in the biggest international sporting spectacle ever seen, up to 30 million people have taken part in sponsored athletics events to aid famine relief in africa. the first of what the makers of star wars hope will be thousands of queues started forming at 7:00am. taunting which led to scuffles, scuffles to fighting, fighting to full—scale riot, as the liverpool fans broke out of their area and into the juve ntus enclosure. the belgian police had lost control. the whole world will mourn the tragic death of mr nehru today. he was the father of the indian people on the day of independence. the oprah winfrey show comes to an end after 25 years and more than 4,500 episodes. the chat show has made her one of the richest people on the planet. geri halliwell, otherwise known as 'ginger spice,‘ has announced she has left the spice girls. argh, i don't believe it. she's the one with the bounce, the go, girl power. not geri, why? this is bbc news, the latest headlines: the british prime minister has defended his top advisor over allegations he broke coronavirus lockdown rules. more than a hundred people have been arrested in hong kong, during protests against beijing's new proposed security laws. south african president cyril ramaphosa has warned that the country's coronavirus outbreak is going to get much worse. despite this, he has also announced that lockdown measures are to be eased from the beginning ofjune. earlier, i spoke about these messages from president ramaphosa with john campbell from the council on foreign relations. i think he is basically getting it right. i think we also have to remember that south africa is one of the very few african countries that actually has a functioning public health system. so that, in fact, the south african government and we outsiders actually have some notion about how widespread the disease is. that's one reason why south africa's total seems to be so much higher than it is in other african states where there is not nearly as much testing as there is in south africa. in south africa, there have been almost 585,000 tests done since the beginning of the crisis. the issue that ramaphosa has to deal with is that for a significant part of the population, following the work from home protocols, social distancing, is all but impossible. people who live packed in the slums, khayelitsha outside of cape town, the notion that they can work from home that they can maintain social distancing is really highly unlikely. 0n the other hand, in south africa, as in so many other parts of the world, if you don't work, you don't eat. i just wanted to ask about the messaging that the government has been putting out, and particularly the messaging around alcohol and cigarettes and how that's changed recently. yeah, the messaging has not been very good. for one thing, it's been contradictory and leading to a lot of confusion. the ban on alcohol sales and the selling of tobacco, when they were imposed, they were perfectly logical. the idea being that with alcohol sales, automobile accidents go up, taking precious beds in the hospitals. and of course, everyone knows cigarette smoking isn't good for your health. the difficulty is there was no real clear explanation as to why these bans were in place, and more or less immediately, a booming black—market developed in terms of alcohol and tobacco. there were also echoes of the old apartheid days when, particularly, there were efforts made to restrain black consumption of alcohol in the townships. so that particular restriction did not resonate well with most people. i was struck by how stark his message was to the people saying that this was going to get worse before it gets better. do you think that he's maintained the trust of the people, the confidence of the people in his handling of this coronavirus crisis? thus far, i think so, but it has been endangered by bad behaviour by the police. brutal enforcement of distancing, social distancing, for example. and the brutal behaviour by police and what appears to often be even ill discipline by the police has certainly undermined confidence in what the government is doing. now, ramaphosa has moved to try to do something about it. the question is whether he's moved enough and whether he's moved fast enough to actually have an impact on public opinion. muslims around the world have celebrated the first day of eid al—fitr. traditionally the three—day holiday is spent with family and friends. but with many countries still under coronavirus restrictions, it looks very different this year. sodaba haidare reports. islam's most sacred shrine, normally packed with worshippers, but not today. it's a different kind of eid, marked by lockdown and social distancing. reciting the call to prayer but not inviting people to the mosque. instead, urging them to stay at home and follow virtually. playgrounds normally crowded with cheerful children, but no—one insight. some normality, though, in countries like bangladesh, temporarily easing the lockdown in the capital to allow workers to travel home. and in afghanistan, a three day truce between the militant group taliban and the government, to enable people to celebrate in peace. 0thers marking the event in their own way. and france, muslims released balloons, hoping that next year it will all be different. and you can find much more about how people are celebrating the 3—day festival on our website, including a collection of pictures marking the event. that's all at bbc.com/news, or you can download the bbc news app. in the last few weeks we've heard stories from across the world about communities coming together to deal with the effects of the pandemic. it's been a particular challenge for people in rural areas, asjon kay reports from one small village in the south—west of england. it might look idyllic, but even here, lockdown is tough. people are frightened. people are scared and people are lonely, and we're in chaos. vicky is delivering food and medication to her elderly neighbours. waita minute,jim! jim is 87 and lives alone. morning, my lovely. without you, i couldn't manage. you are marvellous. every day, the most vulnerable people get a visit. the community's been so good with me, to me, and that's what kept me going, because it's been a hard, hard time. i think we're doing the things that we've been put off doing for a long time, which is get friendly with your neighbours, you know, and look out for each other. and it is an opportunity to right a few wrongs. there are elements within our village, within our societies that have been left out. now‘s a chance to actually look after them, look out for them. with no village shop, they've had to find other ways of getting food to the most vulnerable. there's now a hardship fund. so, 8kg of bananas. and this farming family has started delivering to those who can't get to the shops. you alright, luke? yeah, you? including the gypsy and travellers camp, where romany families like luke's have sometimes felt cut off in the past. how have the last few weeks improved the sense of community here? well, it's helped a lot. show them respect, they show you respect. help them out, they help you out, so to speak, so it's a bit like favour for favour. does it feel like it's a happier place to live these days? yeah, it is. there is an unexpected sense of renewal here, of connections being made. the ladies who normally decorate the church now make posies, delivered by local teenagers... "we are thinking of you and thanking you for all you do. love, the village." ..to key workers like abi, a covid nurse. it's lush. i love it. every week i get one, and it just means. .. yeah, itjust lifts me up, makes me feel good, and just that i'm not on my own in this. we're all together, we're all doing this together. what have you learned as a community? we're alljust looking out for each other. i think it's that sense of being covered and cared for and loved. sings by sharing their talents and working together, this village has managed to turn a threat into a fresh start. # nothing in the world will ever be the same...# jon kay, bbc news, piddlehinton, in dorset. a positive story amidst some very difficult ones. you can reach me on twitter, i'm @aaronsafir. hello there. we saw a top temperature of 23 celsius in the london area on sunday afternoon. bank holiday monday today looks warmer still further south, we could make close to mid—20s celsius across parts of the south—east. but generally, much of the country will be dry and sunny thanks to the influence of this area of high pressure. but through the day, these weather fronts will start to play a part in the weather across the north—west of the uk to bring outbreaks of rain and stronger winds. a fairly fresh start to the day today. we had temperatures in single figures in places, a little bit of early mist and fog across western areas, which will tend to burn away quickly through the morning. many places will be dry and sunny, england and wales, eastern scotland, but then western scotland, lots of northern ireland will stay windy and cloudy and wetter later in the day. the temperatures around the mid—teens in the north—west, closer to the low 20s and the mid—20s in the south—east. now, that band of cloud and rain across the north—west moves its way south—eastwards during monday night, tending to fizzle out, though, as it reaches parts of england and wales, just a few showers along it. but with more cloud cover generally, i think it should be a little less chilly with temperatures in double figures for most. now, as we move into tuesday, we've got high pressure with us once again. this area of cloud associated with that weather front will straddle central areas and push its way south—eastwards through the day, so i think england and wales could see more cloud around generally. a bit more sunshine, though, for scotland and northern ireland, but slightly fresher air mass here with temperatures into the low— to mid—teens. but again, despite the cloud across england and wales, the air is quite warm here, so still 20 to 25 or 26 degrees will be the high. high pressure still with us on into wednesday, we've got this feature which will bring thicker cloud, perhaps some patchy rain to northern ireland and in towards central and western scotland. but to the north of it, dry, little bit cooler with some sunshine to the south of it, plenty of sunshine for england and wales and, again, another warm day, 25 or 26 will be the high, closer to the mid—teens in the north. but that fresher air in the north gets pushed away northwards as high pressure changes its position, moves to the east of the uk and starts to draw up this warm, southerly wind from the near continent. that will drive the warmth northwards into scotland and northern ireland as we reach the end of the week, and it'll be very warm for england and wales with plenty of sunshine. this is bbc news, the headlines: the british prime minister has defended his top advisor, dominic cummings, amid a row over the aide's travel during lockdown. boris johnson says mr cummings "followed the instincts of every parent" and "acted with integrity," in seeking childcare with family members, after his wife had developed symptoms of the virus. in hong kong, thousands of people have been taking part in protests against china's plans to impose a new security law on the territory. more than 100 people have been arrested. beijing says the legislation will improve people's lives, but campaigners warn fundamental freedoms are being eroded. brazil's coronavirus death toll continues to rise steadily, with more than 600 fatalities reported on sunday. meanwhile, the us has imposed travel restrictions on foreign nationals who have been there. now on bbc news, dateline london.

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