Top story: Masks compulsory on public transport from 15 June
Morning everyone. I’m Martin Farrer and these are the top stories this morning.
Britain’s test-and-trace system could take another four months before it is working properly, the Guardian has learned, raising concerns about how the country might cope with a second wave of coronavirus infections. Tony Prestedge, a banker drafted in to run the NHS scheme, told staff that the programme would be “imperfect” at launch and won’t be world class until September or October. Boris Johnson had said the “world-beating” scheme would be in place by 1 June. Official figures showed that there were 83% more deaths from dementia than usual in April as charities warned that reduced care and family visits during the crisis meant that sufferers were “just switching off”. A hospital doctor has resigned over Dominic Cummings refusal to quit as Johnson’s senior adviser over his lockdown car trip to Durham.
As the nation edges out of lockdown, face masks will be compulsory on all public transport in England from 15 June, which is the same day non-essential shops are likely to reopen. Passengers will also be able to receive alerts about congestion on trains and stations so that they can delay their journeys if possible. You can follow all the last coronavirus developments at our live blog or at a glance.
There’s more in our Coronavirus Extra section further down … and here’s where you can find all our coverage of the outbreak – from breaking news to factchecks and advice.
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‘Get off our necks’ – The streets of American cities may have become calmer but the battleground over the death of George Floyd looks set to move to the courts after civil rights groups said they would sue Donald Trump over the use of teargas to clear protesters for his Washington church photo op. The veteran black pastor Rev Al Sharpton delivered a powerful address at a memorial for Floyd in Minneapolis, saying he was killed by a “pandemic of racism” and warning white America to “get off our necks”. Floyd’s family wept as people raised their arms in the air and a singer broke into Amazing Grace. The New York Times says an opinion piece by Republican senator Tom Cotton which advocated for the deployment of the military against protesters “did not meet editorial standards”.
In Washington state, the death of a black man in police custody in March has been ruled as murder, while in California police responding to reports of alleged looting shot dead a man who was on his knees with his hands in the air. Follow all the developments in the US protests story at our live blog here.
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McCann hope – Police in Britain, Germany and Portugal have issued appeals for information about the strongest suspect ever identified in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in 2007. Circumstantial evidence has convinced detectives that a 43-year-old German child sex offender and rapist is their prime suspect. He has been known to police for years, and was convicted in Germany last year of the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2005, two years before Madeleine was snatched from a hotel room the same area. He is also known to have committed hotel break-ins. The breakthrough brings hope to Madeleine’s parents in their 13-year quest to find out what happened to their daughter.
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Given out – Geoffrey Boycott has been dropped from the commentary team for Test Match Special in what appears to signal the end of the controversial former England opener’s career at the BBC. Boycott, who was discarded by the BBC after assaulting his girlfriend in 1998 before being reinstated in 2005, has been left out of the TMS team for 2020 in a year which will see the corporation screen Test highlights fronted by England women’s player Isa Guha.
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Maritime heritage – The wreck of a German warship that sank off the coast of Kent in 1878 has been given heritage protection. The SMS Grosser Kurfürst sank “within minutes” with the loss of 284 men after it collided with another ironclad German ship while on a training exercise. The decision means the wreck, which is upside down on the sea bed, can be visited by divers but its contents will be protected.
Coronavirus extra
The outbreak in Brazil continues to worsen with another 1,300 deaths recorded yesterday. The country now has the third highest death toll behind the US and the UK, while cases in South Africa almost doubled on Thursday. The worldwide total is now nearly 390,000 with 6.6 million cases and the pandemic has prompted a leading economist and the UN’s environment chief to warn that it is an “SOS” signal for the human race. Astra Zeneca says it has doubled its capacity for producing a possible vaccine to 2bn doses and an Australian government taskforce has endorsed the anti-Ebola drug remdesivir for treatment against Covid-19. New Zealand could declare itself virus-free as early as next week after 14 days in a row without registering any new cases.
Today in Focus podcast
Guardian US reporter Kenya Evelyn looks back at the 11 days of protest that started in Minneapolis over the killing of George Floyd, but quickly spread across the rest of America and then the world
Lunchtime read: ‘Ed Sheeran is piggybacking on grime,’ says Wiley
He’s said it before, but this time he’s serious. Wiley, the godfather of grime, is retiring with what he says will be his final album because at 41 he can’t “fit in with kids” any more. After a tumultuous year, he explains his beef with Drake, Stormzy and “England’s golden boy” Ed Sheeran.
Sport
The way is clear for the Premier League to restart after the release of a provisional fixture list for the first three full match rounds of Project Restart. England’s leading rugby players face the increasing prospect of wage cuts and summer rugby as the sport battles to avoid financial meltdown because of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Chelsea are close to signing Timo Werner after holding productive talks with the RB Leipzig forward, who is set to disappoint Liverpool by moving to Stamford Bridge for £53m. The NBA is set to become the first major North American sports league to resume play after the league’s board of governors approved a 22-team format for restarting the season in late July at the Disney campus near Orlando, Florida. But the all-female W Series, which was to have provided support races at two Formula One grands prix this season, has been cancelled because of the pandemic.
Business
The European Central Bank has ramped up its response to the pandemic by pumping another €600bn (£539.5bn) of emergency financial support into the eurozone economy. The euro gained again on the pound in the wake of the news and sterling is now buying just €1.112. It is worth $1.259.
The papers
Many of the papers lead with the latest development in the Madeleine McCann case and feature pictures of the suspect on the front pages. The Mail says “Maddie suspect unmasked”, the Mirror has “Face of Maddie ‘killer’ suspect” and the Sun says “Paedo boast: I snatched Maddie”. The Express claims “Madeleine: police ‘know how she was killed’” and the i headline is “‘We think she is dead’”.
The Guardian has an exclusive on the pandemic – “Revealed: NHS test and trace not fully operational until September”. The Telegraph says “Face masks must be worn on transport from June 15” and the Times likes that story too: “Facemasks compulsory on public transport”. The FT splashes with “ECB delivers €600bn stimulus boost as it slashes growth forecast”. In Scotland, the Herald leads with “Care home testing: NHS boards will be named and shamed”.
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