good evening. the transport secretary grant shapps has insisted that life could be back to normal by christmas, as long as people stay alert to the potential threat from coronavirus. scientists had questioned the practicality of the government's vision set out by borisjohnson yesterday when he announced a further easing of lockdown restrictions in england. from today, councils in england will have new powers to close shops and cancel events to try to prevent future local outbreaks. our political correspondent nick eardley reports. just a few weeks ago,

streets across the uk were deserted. now, in many cases, life is starting to pick up. shops, cafes, pubs, all opening again. but coronavirus hasn't gone away. many things will look different for some time. in rochdale, extra precautions are being taken because of concern at the number of new cases. people are being told to limit the number of visitors to their home to just two, and being asked to wear face coverings in shops before it is made mandatory in the rest of england. targeted local action is part of the government's strategy. ministers say if it works, life could return to something like normal by christmas. it is possible we can get there, and the prime minister and i and others have spoken about it this week because we want to give people some

sense of direction, because a lot of people are running businesses or rely on the christmas period for example, and need to know if everything goes well, that this is our intention. the government is desperate to avoid another national lockdown because of the huge economic cost the last one had. so, from now on, in england, we'll see more targeted interventions designed to focus on individual areas, communities, even specific premises. from today, local councils in england have new powers. to close shops, close public spaces and shut down any event taking place if they think it will help curb the virus. in rochdale, the local council welcomes new powers. but... they thing that we need apart from getting the same message over time, is some money. to cope with all the extra problems that we are getting. this morning, one of the government's advisers said a return to life like it was before lockdown

is a long way off, despite the optimism in government. the view in rochdale... it is not going to be the same, nothing will be the same, shops and stuff, because you have to wear masks. potentially it could. but right now, rochdale isn't good on covid numbers. the government has warned it won't hesitate to introduce some restrictions again. but it hopes getting on top of local outbreaks could help life return to something more normal sooner rather than later. nick eardley, bbc news. one of the leading figures in the american civil rights movement, the congressman john lewis, has died aged 80. he was one of the organisers of the 1963 march on washington where martin luther king made his "i have a dream speech". former presidents from across the political divide have paid tribute to the civil rights icon. rajini vaidya nathan looks back at his life. john—lewis dedicated his life to

fighting racism. he marched alongside martin luther king and lived to see a black president. born in alabama in 1940, he grew up in an america that was deeply segregated. i would come home and asked my mother, my father, why segregation, my racial destination? they said, thatis my racial destination? they said, that is the way it is, don't get in trouble. but doctor king inspired me to get in the way, to get in trouble. asa trouble. as a student activist he became a close ally doctor martin luther king, fighting racial injustice with a message of nonviolence. he took pa rt a message of nonviolence. he took part in settings against whites only lunch counters, and was beaten by white mobs as he peacefully protested segregation on buses. you arrest me, you beat me, you throw me injail. what else can you do to me? we shall 0vercome. in 1963, lewis

was the youngest speaker on the march on washington where doctor king delivered his famous "i have a dream" speech. two years later they marched for voting rights from selma to wa nt marched for voting rights from selma to want galmarini, alabama. where they were attacked by police. —— montgomery. by the 50th anniversary of that march, he had become a politician known as the conscience of the us congress. it isa conscience of the us congress. it is a rare honour in this life to follow one of your heroes. and john lewis is one of my heroes. diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year, lewis was seen at recent protests after the killing of george floyd. we must keep their faith. floyd. we must keep theirfaith. keep floyd. we must keep their faith. keep our eyes on the prize. john lewis lived through many cha pters john lewis lived through many chapters of the civil rights movement. his matchup was simple. never give up. never give up. never give up.

never give in. john lewis who has died at the age of 80. the lawyer for a man who was arrested in north london while a police officer appeared to kneel on his neck, has called for a formal apology from the metropolitan police. 0ne officer has been suspended — and another placed on restricted duties. the police watchdog is investigating what happened. marcus cutain, who's 48, today pleaded not guilty at highbury magistrates‘ court to possessing a knife in public. one of bollywood's most famous actresses, aishwarya rai bachchan, has been taken to hospital after testing positive for covid—19 earlier this week. according to reports, she's being treated at a hospital in mumbai where her eight—year—old daughter, her husband and father—in—law are also patients. people who've been given credit notes for cancelled package holidays due to the covid—19 pandemic, are being reassured by the government that they will still be honoured — even if firms go bust.

the announcement covers breaks booked by uk agents both at home and overseas disrupted between march the 10th and the end of september this year. our business correspondent katie prescott has more. summer holidays, a distant dream for the hundreds of thousands of people who have seen them cancelled because of the pandemic. such as jennifer and john who were supposed to travel to las vegas to marry injune. like so many others, they are still waiting for a refund. we need that money to pay for the wedding that we have rearranged. so, we're just chasing them. we keep asking them, please, will you refund us? but they are saying there is a queue. £6,000 which is what ours cost is not a small amount of money to anybody. to normal people like this, especially as my partner has been furloughed for three months. travelers who see their holidays cancelled should get a refund within 14 days. given the sheer number

of cancellations that have happened over the past few months, many travel companies have struggled to meet that and so have instead been issuing credit refund notes for holidays at a later date. the concern is, though, if those companies go under, travellers would lose both their money and their holiday. the government is changing this, pledging to underwrite or refund credit note issued between the 10th of march and the 30th of september this year, for atol protected holidays cancelled because of covid—19. it gives consumers that confidence to accept these credit notes if they don't want to accept a refund. they can still get a refund if that is what they want. but it also gives companies the opportunity to encourage those customers to book with them in the future. but customers are advised to do their homework before accepting them over a cash refund. by accepting a credit refund note, you are locked in with that holiday company. when you come to rebook, you have to rebook with them. it means you can't shop around, you won't necessarily get the best price. we also know some tour operators

have increased prices for 2021. so, you may end up having to use the refund credit note and paying a bit more as well. the government won't say how much they expect the scheme to cost but as 12 travel firms have already gone under this year, the burden of paying for cancelled package holidays will fall on the taxpayer. katie prescott, bbc news. well, rain meant there was no play at the cricket today between england and the west indies. but in football, leeds united have been confirmed as this season's championship champions. the yorkshire side won promotion to the premier league last night. but when brentford suffered a 1—0 defeat at stoke this afternoon, it meant leeds — who play derby tomorrow — took the division title. lewis hamilton claimed the 90th pole position of his career as he qualified fastest for tomorrow's hungarian grand prix. despite the threat of rain, the six—time world champion set a track record time at the hungaroring in his mercedes ahead of his team—mate and championship leader valtteri bottas.

there's more throughout the evening on bbc news. we're back with the late news at 10pm. now on bbc one, it's time for the news where you are. hello. we have some big contrasts in the weather across the uk right now. the warmest weather will remain in the south—east of the country, temperatures are still hovering around the mid 20s. but wales, the north of england, you can see, overcast, satellite image here, and the radar superimposed, you can see outbreaks of rain moving through wales into parts of northern england. but also scotland and northern ireland. some sunshine here. looking at the picture, early evening, you might still be out and about, we have showers across scotland, particularly the north—west highlands, some decent weather for northern ireland, north—west highlands, some decent weatherfor northern ireland, around 16 at this stage, nice enough there in the north—east of england, the

la ke in the north—east of england, the lake district, lancashire, but wales, north midlands, peak district, into parts of yorkshire, still cloudy with outbreaks of rain. but in the south—east, that a fine, warm weather, around 25 degrees at six or 7pm. this evening, that weather front will move southwards and will turn wet in the south, so in the early hours of the morning, we are expecting some rain in places like cardiff, southampton, london, set norwich in for a bit of rain. mild, 16 degrees, the north of the country overnight with clear skies will turn fairly chilly, to produce five, six, seven outside of town. tomorrow, a very different day across wales in the north of england, clear skies, beautiful weather for liverpool, england, clear skies, beautiful weatherfor liverpool, hull, newcastle. the south of the country will be colder and cloudier, and probably some spits and spots of rain still affecting the extreme south—east there. in scotland, we are expecting showers on sunday. the

under sunday, we are expecting the high pressure to build of the atla ntic high pressure to build of the atlantic and that means the weather will start to settle down because of —— beyond sunday. that means it will bea —— beyond sunday. that means it will be a fine start to the week, light winds, plenty of sunshine, fair weather cloud building up, a really pleasa nt weather cloud building up, a really pleasant summers day to come, i think, for the start of the week. temperatures around 22 in london, a bit fresher in the north, round 17. indications are that we will keep the fine weather, southampton, beautiful conditions through most of the week. but in the north—west of the week. but in the north—west of the uk, it could turn a little more u nsettled the uk, it could turn a little more unsettled by the time we to wednesday. —— get to wednesday.

this is bbc news the headlines at seven. russia's ambassador to the uk rejects allegations his country has interfered in british politics, or tried to steal coronavirus vaccine research. i do not believe in the story at all, there is no sense in it. councils in england now have new powers to close shops, cancel events and shut outdoor public spaces to manage outbreaks of the virus. the veteran american civil rights leader and long—serving congressman, john lewis, has died at the age of eighty. eu leaders struggle to reach an agreement on a 750 billion euro economic recovery package to repair the damage done by the coronavirus pandemic. the uk government guarantees financial support for holiday makers seeking refunds for trips that that were cancelled