the city could be the first in the uk to have restrictions extended for an extra two weeks. it follows a spike in cases in the area in the last fortnight. we have to remain vigilant. we have to continue to do the basics, washing our hands and all that, plus we need to have local lockdowns and local whack—a—mole strategies where that's necessary. we'll be live in leicester with our health editor shortly. also this lunchtime... spending on infrastructure — the government plans to spend £1 billion on schools in england over the next decade. further easing of restrictions across the rest of the uk as schools in wales and high street shops in scotland reopen. planning to get away?

the government prepares to give more details on where we can go on holiday this summer. a socially—distanced chorus line. how choirs are trying to find harmony two—metres apart. and coming up on bbc news: lewis hamilton and valterri bottas will race in black cars this weekend, as mercedes shows its support to the black lives matter movement. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. leicester is preparing to be the first place in the uk to have an extended lockdown, after a surge of cases

in the past fortnight. the prime minister said the government is concerned about the situation there, and the move would mean that current easing of lockdown in england, including the opening of pubs and restaurants, starts from saturday. to help get britain back on its feet, boris johnson is announcing a major school building plan for england worth £1 billion over the next decade. that news comes as pupils in wales from all age groups start to return today. and, in scotland, further easing of lockdown is under way as more shops and outdoor attractions open up. more on all of that in a moment but first to leicester, where officials have been struggling to identify the cause of the fresh outbreak. our health correspondent richard galpin reports the coronavirus outbreak comes as a shock for people living here in this city, who have been looking forward to the next round of lockdown restrictions being lifted later this

week. instead, hundreds of new cases of the disease over the past ten days could result in a significant setback. sam is a pub owner here. this is one of the sectors of economy due be released from the lock down —— is lockdown on saturday. we really need to get the doors open and start driving money into our business because ultimately, with the government's intention to reduce the support on furlough time is ticking. we need to be in furlough time is ticking. we need to beina furlough time is ticking. we need to be in a position where we can safely open but also bring people back to work. many other businesses including hotels and bed and brea kfast including hotels and bed and breakfast could also be affected by the outbreak. authorities claim the government has been slow to help deal with the crisis with vital information only provided in the early hours this morning, confirming a return to lockdown is not required

but current restrictions will continue beyond july the 4th. this was not well received. i have looked at this triple and frankly it has been cobbled together very hastily. it is superficial and its description of laughter is inaccurate. certainly it does not provide us with the information we need if we are to remain restricted for two weeks longer than the rest of the country. -- description of laughter. we are concerned about leicester, we are concerned about any local outbreak. we are not out of the woods yet. it is important, we are making these cautious, calibrated steps. officials are claiming the number of cases is higher than originally thought although this is not confirmed. there are specific concerns about those most vulnerable. leicester has

a large population that is vulnerable through ethnicity, poverty or because of diabetes which is widespread in leicester. we know that patients like that get more infection, they get severe infection and they have complications. the key now is bringing the outbreak in leicester under control as quickly as possible. how long it would take is not clear. what has happened here is not clear. what has happened here is not clear. what has happened here is not likely to be a one—off. other coronavirus outbreaks are expected in the coming weeks and months in the country. our health editor hugh pym is at a testing centre in leicester. is this what we can all expect in the future if there are local spikes than a local lockdown is introduced. that is right. this will be the approach in the months ahead and the way government officials are putting it, it is the result of having a testing and tracing programme, that

you can identify quickly where there are local outbreaks and move to do something about it and very possibly thatis something about it and very possibly that is what is happening here in leicester. this mobile testing unit only arrived a couple of days ago, run by the army and another unit like it had moved in to try and do more intense testing to try and find out what is going on. it is the result of these pieces of work and more generally the latest testing data in recent days that has led public health officials to be concerned about what is going on. they will convey that to civic leaders, including the mayor, who we heard from earlier in a conference call which will begin in the next half an hour. backhaul will try to resolve what to do next. you had had there has been frustration among local politicians that they had not been told more but the data is very recent. then matt hancock will make

a statement to the house of commons later today about the general approach on dealing with local outbreaks and whether anything specifically is required here. the mayor said he had had one option being strongly considered was to extend the current restrictions around england for another two weeks beyond this weekend when the rest of england sees a bit more easing. if so, that would be the first localised approach we have seen and the outcome would be watched very closely. thank you. some pupils have returned to schools in wales for the first time in a month. as thomas morgan reports, the classroom experience to be very different from normal. after three months away, children in wales are back in school once again. but with social distancing measures in place, it's not quite how they remember it. it feels exciting but then

it's all so different. but i really liked the way how all the teachers were really welcoming us in the school. in an effort to minimise any potential spread of coronavirus, this primary in cardiff have set up outdoor learning. groups segregated off from one another with only certain teachers dealing with certain groups of pupils. and today isn't just about a return to education. we're still mindful that we need to do a lot of the wellbeing activities that we've planned. that's going to be our priority, making sure they understand what's happened and explaining that this is... it's very different how they're going to come into school and what they'll be learning. over the next three weeks, eight—year—old evan palmer will be going back for two days as it's a phased return here in wales with only a third of pupils in class at any one time. i don't want to go back to school. it's kind of like i want to but i don't want to because seeing your friends, playing football. seeing your teacher.

but doing homework at home, there's lots of distractions and stuff. doing it in school, easy, no distractions. just like across all the devolved home nations, it will be a blend of online home and classroom—based learning in wales. some children in england have already been back for the last four weeks. scottish schools will reopen on the 11th of august and some pupils will return in northern ireland in late—august. as well as restrictions on schools being lifted here today, the welsh government has just announced that from next monday, people from two different households can meet indoors. even though social distancing measures are slowly being relaxed in wales and across all the devolved uk nations, it's uncertain whether things like this outdoor learning may become the new norm for teaching in the future. but what is certain is that education in schools will certainly look and feel different come the next academic year. thomas morgan, bbc news, cardiff.

more now on the prime minister's pledge to spend £1 billion over the next decade — rebuilding dozens of schools across england. an extra half a billion has also been set aside for repairs. but unions say the cash is a small fraction of what is needed. in another development today, the government has said that parents in england could be fined if they do not send their children back to school in september because of fears about coronavirus. dan johnson reports. how do you inspire kids in draughty classrooms that are leaking, peeling, run down, even falling down? outdated buildings and crumbling corridors, many still holding asbestos, will also get more cramped as the number of secondary age pupils goes up in future. £1 billion will be spent across england over the decade, repairing, refurbishing, upgrading our schools. this is part of a ten—year programme

110w this is part of a ten—year programme now that we are launching. this initial chunk for the 50 schools is just the beginning. we are acutely conscious of the need to refurbish and repairand we conscious of the need to refurbish and repair and we see the advantage of putting in long term investment for the country. he knows this morning is only the start of dealing with the repair backlog and there are warnings much more needs to follow just to get every school up toa follow just to get every school up to a satisfactory standard. what we know from the national audit office three years ago is £6.7 billion was needed than, three years ago, to restore the school and college estate. this £1 billion is welcome but there is a lot to do to make amends for the underinvestment in the last ten years in education. two yea rs the last ten years in education. two years ago we were shown a school's a kiwi. there were 300 of these around the school building. there is money for urgent repairs now but this is a

long—term investment for long—standing problems and does not solve the question of how to get every child back to school in september if social distancing is in place. any money that goes into building schools where it is needed and repairs it is needed is a good thing. there is no party politics in this. the prime minister needs to be just as clear about what his planners were getting children back into school in september. what we have been lacking in the last few months is a plan for schools to get children back into schools as quickly as possible. this morning on the radio... unless there is a good reason for absence, they would be looking at the fact we would be imposing fines on families if they are not sending their children back. confirmation from the education secretary that the return to school would be enforced. parents, pupils and teachers are still waiting for details on how it will happen and they are unlikely to see the benefits of this rebuilding many.

the first 50 projects will be selected by the end of the year. our assistant political editor norman smith is in westminster. a big week for the government and two big announcements, starting with schools. the government has already had one crack at getting schools backin had one crack at getting schools back in june which had one crack at getting schools back injune which hit the buffers. they do not want the same to happen again in september. that is why we are now hearing tough language saying it is mandatory, compulsory, to send your child to school and if you do not you will be breaking the law and potentially face fines. i would not expect parents to be drummed through the courts but the government is trying to build up an expectation that all peoples will go back. it is notjust for the educational well—being of children but if children do not go back their fear is that parents will not go back to work and if that happens the economy will continue to flounder, just 2a hours until borisjohnson is

to unveil his multi—billion pound build, build, build programme for the critical infrastructure. getting schools back and parents back is crucial for the schools back and parents back is crucialfor the economic schools back and parents back is crucial for the economic lift. lots of talk up about the shake—up in whitehall. our top civil servant is now leaving his post. that might seem now leaving his post. that might seem a now leaving his post. that might seem a rather dry academic subject. it matters because whoever replaces him will be responsible for driving the whitehall machine for delivering government policy on the ground. the view of some of those around mr johnson as we need different civil servants. too many are hugely brainy, very good at analysing problems are not so good at making things happen. you need people who can project management who can negotiate projects if you are going to deliver on the big infrastructure building programme. critics expect

it is all about weeding out people who do not share mrjohnson‘s world of brexit and a point at three senior civil servants have now left in the past few weeks. shops with outdoor access in scotland have re—opened for the first time since march as more lockdown restrictions are eased. first minister nicola sturgeon is asking people to stay socially distanced and wear a face covering. she announced this morning that scotland has had its fourth consecutive day without any virus related deaths. our scotland correspondent alexandra mackenzie reports. unlocked for the first time in three months. from early this morning, people arrived in glasgow city centre. even in the rain they were happy to queue. we're quite excited. i've got four children, and we've got a serious shopper here who's grown out of all her clothes, so she really has been waiting since march, especially to get some summer clothes to wear. i have been ordering online, but i think it'sjust good to get

out and actually have the feeling of, i'm out again, i'd just like the freedom. a little bit scary, actually. i feel a little bit vulnerable. just glad i don't have my kids with me. but it won't be the shopping experience that we're used to. there will be strict social distancing in place. there will be a limited number of people allowed inside the stores, so we may have to get used to queues like these. now, face coverings aren't mandatory, but we're being strongly advised to wear one. harry runs an independent clothes shop. he's keen to get his business moving again, but wants to make sure his customers feel safe. there's people out there who are still very, very cautious, who still want to get back to some sort of normality. so what we've done is we've put into place, we've put in an appointment system between nine o'clock to 11 if people are still a bit scared, and then what we've done is we open to the general public

between 11 o'clock and five, and then another appointments system from five to six. the housing market will also start to be open from today, as will play parks and edinburgh zoo. scotland's first minister has urged anyone visiting shops today to do so responsibly and not squander the progress made against the virus. alexandra mackenzie, bbc news, glasgow. the government is expected to confirm later this afternoon that so—called travel corridors — also known as air bridges — will go ahead. it's the beginning of plans to relax restrictions for uk holidaymakers. in a moment, we'll speak to our correspondent damian grammaticas in southern spain but first our transport correspondent tom burridge is at the eurotunnel entrance in folkestone. well, simon, that train is about to head off to france. they are still running one service an hour here, it is still quite quiet, but people's confidence about booking a holiday abroad seems to be returning. on the eurotunnel this weekend, they had

three times the bookings that they did on the same weekend last year, and that's since the government on friday night announced that the rules were going to be relaxed. now, the government plans to have this traffic light system, so countries will be rated either green, amber or red. green will mean that the infection rate of the virus is significantly lower than here in the uk, amber will mean that there is a similar dynamic, but it will mean that you won't have to self—isolate for 1h days after you return from an amber country, but people travelling in from amber country, but people travelling infrom a amber country, but people travelling in from a red country will be subject to the quarantine rules. in terms of exactly which countries, we will find out on wednesday, but if you look at this list of countries, a lot of european countries will be on that list. we are expecting most of these countries to be on the list, certainly countries like spain, france, italy, big holiday destinations, almost certain to be on the list, but there is still confusion over the situation with both portugal and sweden. it is

probable that sweden won't be on the list, but some confusion over portugal still. we will have to wait to wednesday to find out about that. but long haul destinations are definitely not going to be on the list for now. certainly here at eurotunnel they are ramping up the service, they are getting ready to runa service, they are getting ready to run a full service of trains from monday. tom, thank you. damian grammaticas is in torremolinos. are they prepared there for a lot of people? they absolutely are, and anyone who does choose to come, remember, if these restrictions are lifted, because at the minute the foreign office advice is still only essential travel abroad, anyone who does will find a warm welcome. they will find at the airport there is no need to do quarantine here, spain lifted that a week ago. all you will have to do is go through a temperature check and fill out your travel details for the past few days and the coming few days. when you get here, then, you will find on the

beaches, they're open and ready, the sun loungers have been spaced apart, there are wardens on the beach keeping social distancing here. in the hotels, many of them are not open at the minute because they are waiting for those flights to resume before they will open up, and in the hotel is too, the ones that are open have procedures in place, they are limited numbers in swimming pool is. the restaurants at the same, many of them are open, but again, social distancing, and if you go outside in spain, you will have to wear a face mask anywhere there is people within a metre and a half, so different rules in different countries, everyone waiting for that announcement. damian grammaticas, thank you very much. it is 20 past one. our top story this lunchtime: leicester faces more time in lockdown. the city could be the first in the uk to have restrictions extended for an extra two weeks. and coming up — russia is announced as host of the next winter special olympics, despite the country's sporting ban.

and coming up in sport on bbc news, england captain joe root will miss next week's test against the west indies to be at the birth of his second child. pubs, museums and galleries are all preparing to reopen in some parts of the uk, but one activity has not yet been given the go ahead to restart anywhere, and that's singing. when a number of choirs were identified as coronovirus hotspots, there was a complete ban on communal singing. the government is now being urged to help find out if the science behind the ban stacks up. our arts correspondent david sillito reports. singing. wells cathedral, and an activity that is, these days, considered dangerous. singing. it's not the voice that's the problem. it's what might be carried on the breath. and how far that travels.

# hallelujah...# communal singing has, in recent months, become an online—only activity. put this down here. that's three metres there, is it? so what would a safe, socially distanced choir be like? one set of proposals being considered is to have three—metre gaps. and to limit the number of singers to six. and so we tried it out in the safety of the open air. singing. standing well back, it sounded beautiful to me. but the singers? i'm going to say it's going to be very difficult.

you're spending too much time trying to listen out for everyone else. so three metres really wouldn't work for you ? i don't think so. so what is a safe distance? and the answer to that is — no one really knows, which is why the government is being encouraged to help provide some real science. i spoke to declan costello, a consultant who specialises in the singing voice. there's been no documented studies. there's been no significant research studies looking at this in an objective way. so what you need to do is just measure the droplets coming out of the mouth and how far they go, isn't it? that's right. so we're measuring the amount of aerosol that comes out of the mouth or out of the instrument and, therefore, how does that compare with speaking or shouting, calling somebody over a canteen? the hope is that the go—ahead will be given soon for work to begin to allow us, once again, the chance to sing and listen together. david sillito, bbc news, wells.

more than half a million people worldwide have now lost their lives as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, while the total number of cases has passed 10 million. the us remains the worst affected country with more than 125,000 deaths, and many states seeing a spike in new infections. our north america correspondent peter bowes reports. applause. the us vice president attending a church service in dallas. texas is one of several southern and western states where record numbers of people are testing positive for covid—19. it's a huge setback for a region that once thought it had seen the worst of the outbreak. if we will but hold fast to him, we will see our way through these challenging times. we will restore our nation's health. we will renew our freedom. but this is a daunting struggle for the lone star state,

with governor greg abbott issuing a stark warning about the resurgence of coronavirus cases. covid—19 has taken a very swift and very dangerous turn in texas overjust the past few weeks. overjust the past few weeks, the daily number of cases have gone from an average of about 2,000 to more than 5,000 per day. at the same time, hospitalisations have increased from about 2,000 per day to more than 5,000 per day. it's a similar picture in florida, where officials blame a rush to socialise again after weeks in lockdown. the average age of people infected has dropped sharply, to 33, from 65 two months ago. pubs in the state have now been ordered to stop serving alcohol. the pubs was mostlyjust a matter of administration. there was no way to ensure compliance, because it was so widespread noncompliant that the secretary took

the action he did, and i said, do what you've got to do to ensure compliance. but at the end of the day, as much as you want to have... you see, my view is i'd rather have those places open, complying, because i think that's probably less risky than what a lot of the young people end up doing. in california, bars have been closed in seven counties, including los angeles. americans are once again being urged to wear face coverings in public, although president trump has resisted calls to make it mandatory. nancy pelosi, the speaker of the house, says masks should be compulsory across the country. and mr trump should set an example. withjuly the 11th approaching, usually a time for partying on the beach or at barbecues, the all—american holiday next weekend will be like no other. this is a country that's both weary and deeply worried about the days ahead. peter bowes, bbc news, los angeles. "god's little soldier" — that's how the islamic state

group has described the coronavirus. in iraq and syria, the outbreak has meant fewer troops taking them on. our middle east correspondent quentin sommerville reports. while coronavirus brought the world to a halt, in iraq and syria, a war has reignited. the islamic state group is resurgent. in the dead of night in syria's deir ez—zor, a convoy of kurdish—led special forces are on the move earlier this month. inside this house, is suspects, thought to be armed. 150 were arrested in this operation alone. many more are at large. is is back. the caliphate remains, says this graffiti. terrorising and extorting the people here.

and, like in its early days, is hitmen are murdering local officials. the people here live in fear. this man's son was murdered by thejihadists. translation: eyewitnesses said that a car started following them. it caught up with them, and then they were kidnapped. the next morning their friends organised a search party. they found their decapitated heads resting on the asphalt. the coronavirus and troop withdrawals mean there are fewer coalition troops on the ground. but in the skies, their warplanes have been busy. british, french and american aircraft have struck is again and again in the desert centuries. the coalition says it's killed dozens. where it once commanded cities and armies, is is now diminished, but it is again emerging from the shadows. its reach to the west is curtailed, but in iraq and syria, it is re—establishing its grip.

with the world distracted, the islamic state group has not rested. quentin sommerville, bbc news. while russia remains ostracised from world sport and banned from hosting major events, there is one global competition which will be going there. special olympics is the third part of the olympic movement, representing competitors with an intellectual disability — and sanctions don't apply. joe wilson reports. special olympic sport is for the 200 million people in the world with an intellectual disability. it's often aboutjoy. there are no world records. medals are shared across ability. the world anti—doping agency doesn't operate here. it's never yet needed to. when sweden withdrew from hosting the next winter games, there was a sudden gap. in stepped kazan, russia, so tarnished by doping, band pending appealfrom hosting global competitions by wada,

but special olympics can go there. aren't you lending credibility and integrity to a sporting regime that seems to the world to be toxic? we're lending credibility and legitimacy to a sporting regime that wants to welcome the athletes at special olympics. full stop. everywhere in the world, people with intellectual disabilities are treated inequitably, often oppressively and frequently brutally. if we waited for countries, for people, for individuals, for communities, to be perfect in order to go, we would have had no progress in this field. special olympics exist for people likejenny lee. the confidence she took from competing for britain at the last winter games still glowed when i spoke tojenny and her mum. it's my dream to do something to show other people who have a disability who have never done sport like this, because i feel like if i put myself out there,

i canjust show them,