as president for ever. two terms, it means forever. for this family, that's a worrying prospect. in a polling station that looks more like a clinic, they voted no to a new constitution, but with little hope of winning. after all, campaigning against the amendments has been banned. and the vote itself lacked independent observers. russia is going the wrong direction. the direction is to dictatorship. i think it is a sad day. there will be less political freedom. that's is very bad for us. i think, for putin, it is not acting in our best interests and he needs to step down. critics of the vote say that what's happening here is nothing more than a show, and here's one example.

even before polling began, copies of the new constitution were printed and published and available in the shops. it says here on the cover, "valid when the official results are announced." in other words, what that result was going to be was never in doubt. some russians believe that "putin forever" is a good thing. when an experienced politician is staying in power, especially in a country as difficult as russia, i think it doesn't hurt, if he is supported by the people and that's exactly the case. the president said he would never change the constitution to stay in power. well, never say never. so you could see more of this. only next time, it'll be the new constitution. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. that's it. now on bbc one, time for the news where you are. have a very good night.

hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are the deputy political editor of the spectator, katy balls and the senior online editor of the new statesman, george eaton. great to see you both. tomorrow's front pages, starting with. .. the international edition of the ft leads on arrests at annual marches in hong kong following the introduction of a new security law. the japan times also features that story and says that hong kong residents are calling on the japanese to help

safguard their rights and offer assistance, including allowing them to emigrate to japan. the i also looks at that story, adding that the uk government has offered the right to citizenship for three million people from the territory. the times quotes uk prime minister boris johnson, who said the law was a "clear and serious breach" of china's treaty with britain and hong kong. the metro leads with criticism of the uk government's reporting of coronavirus cases, amid warnings that further local lockdowns are ‘just days away‘. the telegraph takes a different angle on that story, saying that official figures suggest cases have fallen since lockdown restritcions in england were eased. meanwhile the guardian reports onjob losses in the uk, as 6,000 jobs are cut in one day. so let's begin... let's have a look at some of the

first additions. lovely to see you both. katie, start with the financial times. a story that has been dominating bulletins in the news agenda today. the situation and hong kong, we have seen arrest following those new security laws that have been imposed by china. we see the front page of the ft, somebody suffering from pepper spray there come a worrying development and what is already difficult situation in the relationship between hong kong and china. yes. a development that has had reverberations all across the world today. i think if you look at what is happening in hong kong, the security law which we prayed about previously, forced through a put into force on tuesday. and the protest a nd into force on tuesday. and the protest and under this law, not all the specifics of clear, but you can face up to a life sentence for protesting depending on how you do

it but the protesting. and also for criticism of the chinese government toa criticism of the chinese government to a degree. so it is a very worrying development and i think today the protest and response so that we have seen, but because it is in force the people are now facing different penalties than previous. it is something that clearly we will see on another front pages as enemies other countries are being asked to take a stand to side with china or take a stance run and run. are we clear on what these laws are? there is a lot of criticism they are in fact quite vague in terms of what it is that you could end up being in prison for. yes, they are quite vague. the headline offences which means what response you are, things like subversion, terrorism, threatening national security, as a nalyst threatening national security, as analyst and hong kong democracy activist have pointed out, a lot of

these charges are very familiar from these charges are very familiar from the life you see in china, which is of course a totalitarian state. and it is no coincidence that the chinese government is now importing some of these methods and using these laws to essentially prosecute people for what most people would consider legitimate process. now there are some hung congress to remain loyal to china, but there are many who see this as a breach of the promise of one country to systems that was made when hanover took place from the uk in 1997. the dilemma that hong kong pro—democracy activist face now is that you they stay and fight or do they go and go into exile and try and have political influence from abroad. into exile and try and have political influence from abroadm is this idea of do they stay or go thatis is this idea of do they stay or go that is picked up by the times with

this headline saying that britain is opening its doors to 3 million hong kong migrants. people who have an being given a five—year visa and also a path to british citizenship if they have british nationality overseas passports, and this could potentially lead to 3 million people leaving but a realistically, it seems improbable. i don't think there is much expectation of any government that 3 million hong kong gerts will take the uk up on this offer. virtually i don't think it is com pletely offer. virtually i don't think it is completely clear how simple this pathway is and it will take time. secondly, whether or not the hong kong will want to come here and i think george touches on it which is that ultimately lot people today say they want to stay and stand for what they want to stay and stand for what they think their country should be infora they think their country should be in for a democracy for and the question is it might be a gradual

thing in the coming months, perhaps yea rs thing in the coming months, perhaps years that it becomes unsustainable, it is hard to see beijing changing track there, but if you look at the prime minister's proposal today, something that has been touted previously but not granted by a uk prime minister, it is this offer of a partisanship, it is not straight to it, but it is to come here and then from there become eligible so it isa then from there become eligible so it is a unique offer and it is not just for those who have these overseas passports or are eligible. it is for dependents. it means the younger generation can also be eligible for an younger generation can also be eligible foran up younger generation can also be eligible for an up to 3 million people, and again, it is not something i think people expect most to do but the general public if you look at initial pollen, to look at this as a gesture. the idea that this as a gesture. the idea that this no limits have been placed on the number of people who could be admitted come is this more a

political reaction in that case by the british government and its condemnation of what china is doing? yes. in terms of the no limit, interesting. a few years ago when the government still had their net target, the target to get not migration down to below 100,000 a year, something like this would have seen very surprising but i think this move fits with the overall message abortion since government which consistently has been that we are leaving the u. —— overall message of boris johnson's government message. they see hong kong as a very economically dynamic region of the world and they believe this can be a benefit to hong kong but also a benefit to the uk. i also think it reflects the historical obligation that the uk government have felt in view of the hanover in 1997 and the agreement that was made in which they see the chinese new

national security light as a breach. interesting take on all of this from the japan interesting take on all of this from thejapan in interesting take on all of this from the japan in fact. which is talking about the many hong kong citizens we re about the many hong kong citizens were calling on japan about the many hong kong citizens were calling onjapan to be a little bit more serious about safeguarding their freedoms and about the human rights situation in china but of course as the paper picks up on, mainland china are the most important trading partners forjapan and vice versa so you have this situation where japan needs china but is also has this good relationship between shinzo abe and president trump so they find themselves caught between china and themselves caught between china and the us. yes, i think this picks up on the geopolitical dimensions of this and the political positions in several countries now find themselves in. i think forjapan, it is acute. if you look at their closest neighbours in trading partners, but japan is closest neighbours in trading partners, butjapan is being asked are you going to offer a support for

two a close relationship to hong kong. i think if you look atjapan and making an alliance of america, there is generally the rhetoric coming from america against china, i think it is hard anyway for a country to be on good terms of both china and america and an equal fashion. i think austerity rising means you tend to have to pick an alliance like that. and i think what is happening now and hong kong intensifies that. so it is one of the things i don't see how where there you can keep both on the side forfour there you can keep both on the side for four step there you can keep both on the side forfour step —— there you can keep both on the side for four step —— both there you can keep both on the side forfour step —— both on their good side. this move away from hong kong. let's have a look at the daily telegraph. a few interesting takes by different newspapers. the headline, coronavirus saying the infections are tumbling after lockdown has been to relax. george,

talk us through what the premise they are basing this headline on. these are the new figures we've had today on the infection rate in leicester and elsewhere. the point they are making is that even the less amicably onto lockdown, they are still seeing a decline when you look at the data over a longer period. the headline is quite confusing. 0ne period. the headline is quite confusing. one could almost read as suggesting that the file and affections numbers as happened because the lockdown has ended. there is no correlation between the two but it does reflect the fact that i think there was an expectation that there would be a spike in infections partly from the many protests we saw and just from the general and of social distancing and a sense that people were going beyond government advice come even before the rules were officially

changed. but i think there has to be a little bit of skepticism here. and it will probably come onto this but local councils are warning that they are not getting new testing data as early as they like and they had doubts over its accuracy. and we are still learning more things about this pandemic. certainly i think there has been elements of skepticism and caution here until we had a longer period but as ever it is about winning the risk of a new lockdown against the risk of higher infections. it states that the lesser restrictions are question and get the paper says the leicester lockdown was implemented when it's infection rate was 20 times higher than the country as a whole. also going on to suggest that potentially other lockdowns across the country may be necessary. yes. and local lockdowns, the government will like

cannot have local lockdowns, but it was interesting when borisjohnson first started talking about the great using of lockdowns we are heading toward from saturday that from now on local lockdowns would be something we might have to live with. seeing it first now here in leicester but one of the concerns is with the data being published today, you're excited to see what other potential hotspots for the virus are and will they have to hit in that direction as well. that is slightly encouraging, not leicester but it was 20 times and ask an average of the time at the lockdown if you look at areas like bradford and barnsley, they have gone down slightly the rate of reflection. there are still areas where i think you need to keep areas where i think you need to keep a watch on you cannot roll out of a local lockdown but it seems to be on a downward trajectory rather than upwards. but i do think local lockdown is something we will have to get use to. the government have called the strategy the waccamaw strategy. you just keep pressing them down rather than avoiding a

national lockdown. —— a whack a mole.