tonight at ten — millions of people in parts of northern england will have tough new restrictions imposed from midnight to try to stop a rise in coronavirus cases. people from different households living in greater manchester and in parts of east lancashire and west yorkshire can no longer meet up indoors or in private gardens from tomorrow. we take this action with a heavy heart, but unfortunately it's necessary because we've seen that households meeting up and a lack of social distancing is one of the causes of this rising rate of coronavirus, and we'll do whatever is necessary to keep the country safe. it's a drastic and sudden move — we'll have all the details of who's affected. also tonight... hundreds of holiday—makers on spanish islands are asked

to cut their holidays short or make their own way home as a major tour operator cancels some flights. quarantine is extended for anyone who tests positive or has symptoms of covid—19 — they must now self—isolate for ten days instead of seven. new figures show england has had the worst rate of excess deaths in europe so far this year, with spain and scotland following close behind. donald trump suggests delaying november's us presidential election, claiming more postal voting could lead to fraud and inaccurate results. and another mission blasts off for mars. can nasa's aptly named robot perseverance land on the red planet early next year? and coming up in sport on bbc news, another newcastle united takeover bid falls through as the saudi—led consortium pulls out of a deal to buy the club.

good evening. in the last hour the health secretary has announced tough new restrictions for millions of people living in parts of northern england, amid a rise in cases of coronavirus. matt hancock says that from midnight people living in greater manchester and parts of east lancashire and west yorkshire will be banned from going to other people's houses — they cannot meet inside or in private gardens. he says the sudden move is part of immediate action to keep people safe. the details are still emerging, but it appears that shops, pubs and restaurants in the affected areas can remain open. sophie hutchinson has the latest. old ham, where cases of coronavirus have more than tripled in the past week.

people here and across greater manchester will be banned from visiting each other indoors as part of new restrictions to curb the sudden surge in cases. the same measures will apply to blackburn with darwen and in other parts of east lancashire, and in some areas in west yorkshire. the health secretary said the decision had been reached after high—level meetings with local officials today. we take this action with a heavy heart but u nfortu nately this action with a heavy heart but unfortunately it's necessary, because we've seen that households meeting up and a lack of social distancing is one of the causes of this rising rate of coronavirus and we'll do whatever is necessary to keep the country safe. a spike in coronavirus cases in places like trafford in greater manchester has led to tonight's decision. initially the virus seemed to hit teenagers there, according to public health officials. now it's adults, some with young families, and it's in the better off areas. it's a leafy

suburb so we've got lots of professionalfamilies, lots suburb so we've got lots of professional families, lots of teachers, social workers, doctors, nurses, and, you know, it's a very desirable area to live, and the areas we are seeing these positive cases in our in these households. # lets get back to... cases in our in these households. # lets get back to. .. testing is free, quick and vital... the government's new ad campaign a push to get more people tested, figures suggest two thirds of infected people are still being missed. but there is better news in leicester, which has seen a significant drop in infections after a month of local lockdown many will be wondering when restrictions might be eased. but despite falls in cases there were still 200 new infections this week, raising questions about the safety of the city. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. our correspondentjudith moritz

joins us now from manchester. this has all been announced in the past hour. it's going to come as a big shock to many people. yes, it is, ithink big shock to many people. yes, it is, i think it's the suddenness of the announcement which is such a shock. the data has been perhaps pointing this way for some time. the majority of those places on the list of the areas most affected by the coronavirus at the moment are in the north of england, but we are now talking about greater restrictions across a large part of the north, greater manchester, all of its ten boroughs from stockport to bolton, rochdale and all around this conurbation across in lancashire, blackburn, also burnley, hyndburn, pendle and rossendale, and in west yorkshire in bradford and kirklees and calderdale, the areas around huddersfield and halifax, so this is a sudden announcement tonight. people will find it hard to deal with, i think, people will find it hard to deal with, ithink, not least people will find it hard to deal

with, i think, not least because many of these areas are areas with significant muslim community populations, they are of course looking to celebrate ede tomorrow and this restriction has come in from midnight tonight —— eid. the restrictions are not as strict as in leicester recently but they do cover a much greater area so it's the number of people affected by it. the other thing to say to you is it's been a decision taken by central government, but it has been welcomed by people here, by leaders here, and taken in conjunction with them. andy burnham tonight, the mayor of greater manchester, has said that he welcomes it and in fact that he's asked all of the residents who come within his area in greater manchester, both young and old alike, to abide by these new restrictions. judith moritz with the latest from manchester, thank you. let's talk to our political correspondent chris mason in westminster. it's drastic, what more can you tell us? we were always told the brakes

could be slammed on as part of the gradual unlocking of the country. well, here it is, the biggest single example of it yet affecting millions of people with barely a couple of hours' notice until these new rules kick in at midnight. what i'm told this evening is that matt hancock the health secretary for england chaired what is known as the gold committee, that's the most senior representatives of politicians and officials in the english regions, they came to the conclusion this afternoon having looked at the data that they had to act immediately, quite striking in his interview tonight was that matt hancock three times rebuked some people in these affected regions for breaking social distancing regulations. he said, for that reason that was why this had to be done and it had to be done as quickly as possible. it wouldn't surprise me if we were to hear from the prime minister tomorrow about the prime minister tomorrow about the potential this could have around the potential this could have around the rest of england if there isn't a

willingness for people to follow the rules. the emphasis from government for the last couple of days now quite strikingly has been one of caution. it's only a fortnight ago the prime minister was talking about the prime minister was talking about the potential for things to the prime minister was talking about the potentialfor things to be back towards normality by christmas. we are not hearing that language now. it's caution every step of the way. earlier today we heard of a second european country being added to the list of those where returning britons will have to quarantine, a tiddler compared with spain, hearing from luxembourg, just 120,000 britons visit there each year, but again the sense the government is willing to, as i say, slam things into reverse. this virus has robbed us into reverse. this virus has robbed us of many things. it continues to rob us of any sense of certainty. chris mason with the latest on that breaking story, thank you. hundreds of british holidaymakers who've travelled with the tour operatorjet2 to spain's balearic and canary islands are being asked to cut short their holidays and come home. it follows the uk‘s decision

to impose a two week quarantine on british travellers returning from spain. jet2 — the uk's second largerst tour operator — says it's not sustainable to send empty planes to the islands to pick up passengers who are due to return from next week. they're asking them to come home on earlier flights instead. gavin lee reports from majorca. the holiday over, quarantine awaits for these british tourists leaving majorca this afternoon, but for hundreds of holiday—makers across the spanish islands, the journey has become even more complicated. "unfortu nately, following the latest government advice, your planned return flight is no longer going ahead." a message to come back early for the fordy family from carlisle, who've just started an 11—day, £3000 holiday in magaluf. they're angry with jet2. it's been a bit stressfuljust worrying like how... well, when they're going to get in touch with us because the rep's not been in the hotel either. so, i guess you're just waiting for a phone call to find out when you're going home. so it's put a bit of a dampener

on the holiday because you're in the middle of your holiday enjoying it. it's the uncertainty. do we need to pack our cases today to fly home tomorrow and what length of notice will we be given? have you tried to contact the company, jet2? they said not to. we would've — it said don't, that they were receiving a high volume of calls and not to. how ami how am i going to get home, what's it going to cost me? on the other side of the island the boy and family from lincolnshire were due to come back on thursday. we have six days left and we are forced to re—booking days left and we are forced to re— booking flights with jet2 days left and we are forced to re—booking flights with jet2 that are £300 more expensive than in my original flights. there's been no explanation, it's absolute profiteering. it was policing this? we understand hundreds of customers across the balearic and canary islands are in the same position. they've received texts and e—mails telling them the flight is cancelled, they'll have to take an earlier one. jake taylor —— jet2 says it's a fast—moving situation

and they cannot sustain sending empty flights since they can seal them at the weekend and bringing people back and if people choose not to getan people back and if people choose not to get an earlier one they say they'll have to book with another airline. britain's second biggest tour operator says it's working round the clock but at the moment it will only guarantee original flight bookings up until saturday. there was anger on the streets of magaluf can this afternoon, hotel and bar workers out of a job in the height of tourist season. it's really sad to see my colleagues leave, trying to see my colleagues leave, trying to getjobs like a supermarket or something like that, when they are artists, they are starving artists. it's really sad. people have no money, clubs have closed. i'm going to construction, no construction, i go to work in the field, no work. i go to work in the field, no work. i go even to take a recent job breaking rocks, not possible. you understand? we breaking rocks, not possible. you understand ? we live breaking rocks, not possible. you understand? we live from tourism. coronavirus cases across spain are still increasing, with more than

1200 cases in the past 2a hours, but there have been no new cases on the whole of the balearic islands and for those heading back from these shores with jet2, for those heading back from these shores withjet2, the advice is to check for updates. it will be an uncertain few days ahead. we have had a statement from jet2 this evening and in the statement they say they apologise for the inconvenience, they can reassure customers up until monday that they will get a flight stop after that there are difficulties. they say they are responding to the government sometimes with little or no information at all and on the specific claim made by customers that they are profiteering, they are asking them to rebook and charging more money, they are saying they are following that up this evening but clearly for a lot of people we are told now they are trying to rebook flights and there is chaos on other websites too as they try to work out now how they can get home. gavin in majorca, thank you.

new figures show that england suffered the highest rate of excess deaths in europe between the end of february and the middle ofjune. the office for national statistics compared the number of deaths with the five—year average. the death rate in england was 7.5% higher than in recent years — followed by spain and scotland. it comes as people who test positive for covid—19, or show symptoms of the virus, are being told they must now self—isolate at home for ten days, rather than seven. the change was agreed by all four of the uk's chief medical officers. here's our science editor, david shukman. it's a time of growing concern about a resurgence of the coronavirus and of all the ways to fight it, keeping away from others is one of the most effective. so if you think you've got the disease, wherever you live in the uk, you should now isolate not just for seven days, but for ten. government advisers say the extra time makes a difference. we were seeing a very nice decline and now it's looking like it might be taking off again. we need to look at

every measure we can which will mitigate that effect. this is a contributor, we think, to limiting the spread of the disease. there is still a lot we don't know about the virus, so extending the period of self—isolation is really about trying to stay on the safe side. from the moment you might catch the virus, you could become infectious three or four days later and then develop symptoms a couple of days after that. it's at that point you need to begin your self—isolation. scientists think you could be infectious in that time for up to nine days, so having a ten—day period of isolation is about trying to minimise the risks. this comes amid a series of outbreaks across europe. testing for the virus is now offered at the german border. masks are now mandatory in public places in spain — an effort to avoid another disaster like earlier this year. the office for national statistics looked at the average numbers dying over the past five years

to work out what are called excess deaths — how many more people than normal died at the height of the pandemic. france had a slight increase in deaths above average, but all the uk nations saw many more die. england, by this reckoning, lost most of anywhere in europe. paula greenhough was among them, a fitness instructor who died from covid—19 at the age of 55. her identical twin sister, karren, says the government was too slow to act. we should have gone into lockdown immediately. as soon as our government and borisjohnson was aware of the situation, we should have been in lockdown immediately. thousands of people, including my sister, are dead. these people would still be alive today if the government and boris would have acted on this immediately. the prime minister was asked if he was ashamed of the losses, how the uk had seen

so many people dying. we really owe it to them to continue our work in driving the virus down, and clearly this country has had a massive success now in reducing the numbers of those tragic deaths. it is absolutely vital as a country that we continue to keep our focus and our discipline, and we that don't delude ourselves that somehow we're out of the woods or that this is all over, because it isn't. on a day meant to highlight thousands of new police recruits, numbers of a more tragic kind are dominating instead and the virus still has the potential to claim more lives. david shukman, bbc news. here in the uk there were 8116 new confirmed cases of covid—19 in the latest 24—hour period. the seven—day rolling average is 737. you can see from the chart that cases have been rising

slightly in the past week, but scientists don't yet know whether that's because of more and better testing, or the beginnings of the resurgence seen elsewhere in europe. 38 deaths were also recorded in that same 24—hour period. that takes the total number of deaths in the uk to 115,999. on average in the past week, 64 people have died every day from coronavirus. if you want to know how coronavirus is affecting the area where you live you can find the latest information on the bbc news website. there you can see how many cases and deaths there have been by searching for your postcode or location. visit bbc.co.uk/news or the bbc news app. donald trump has called for november's presidential election to be delayed, saying he's worried about fraudulent postal votes. he made his claims on twitter, on the same day that the us economy shrank by 10% in the last quarter, the fastest rate since records began. 0ur north america editorjon sopel

sent this report from washington. at the ebenezer baptist church in atlanta, georgia, three former presidents gathered to bid farewell to congressman john lewis. a hero of the civil rights movement, and the man who came to be known as the conscious of congress over his fight for voting rights. the current occupant of the white house chose not to pay his respects, but his predecessor delivered the eulogy. but even as we sit here, there are those in power who are doing their darndest to discourage people from voting. even undermining the postal service in the run—up to an election that's going to be dependent on mail—in ballots, so people don't get sick. that's whyjohn crossed that bridge. it's why he spilled his blood. here at the white house, donald trump has also been speaking about voting, but not in a way thatjohn lewis would have approved of.

the president, in an unprecedented and incendiary tweet, suggested delaying november's election. but even during the civil war, in 1864, when the confederate forces were closing in on the capital, the election went ahead. the president's contention is that an increase in postal votes because of coronavirus would lead to fraud. i, donald john trump, do solemnly swear... the constitution that the president promised to uphold when he was sworn in states that his term will end after four years. so even if the election is delayed, and congress isn't going to vote for that, he'd have to leave on january the 20th of next year. but today, his secretary of state was equivocal on the election date, when he appeared before congress. can a president delay the november presidential election, mr secretary? senator, i'm not going to enter a legaljudgment on that on the fly. can a president delay a presidential election?

senator, in the end, the department ofjustice and others will make that legal determination. i don't think it's that hard a question, or one that should lead to any equivocation. this afternoon, the president visited red cross headquarters in washington. yesterday, coronavirus deaths passed 150,000. today saw a us economy on life support, with the most disastrous gdp figures in american history as a result of the pandemic. the president hoped this would be his winning card in november. it's possible that this call to delay the election is an attempt to change the subject. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. the uk's largest tour operator tui is set to close 166 high street shops — a third of its stores in the uk and ireland. the company says it's responding to the coronavirus pandemic and needs to cut costs. 70% of the 900 staff at risk will be moved or work from home. prosecutions and convictions for rape in england and wales have

fallen to a record low. new figures show it is taking far longer to decide whether or not to charge suspects. the victims commissioner, dame vera baird, says the statistics are "utterly shameful". the crown prosecution service says it's working hard to reverse the trend. our home editor mark easton has the details. in the year before lockdown, police in england and wales recorded 55,000 allegations of rape — one of the highest figures ever. in the same year, fewer than 1500 people were convicted following a rape case — the fewest ever recorded. the message it's sending to rapists is that you can basically rape with impunity, because your chance of seeing a day in court, let alone jail, is almost zero. courtney — not her real name — made an allegation of a serious sexual assault in 2016, but she says the detectives investigating the incident told her of their frustration at how crown prosecutors were setting the bar on evidence so high she felt

forced to abandon the case. they felt that the crown was trying to make it as dehumanising as possible for victims to continue their case, so they would drop out, so that they can look good in statistics, and that is verbatim what the officer told me. they basically have so underfunded the criminaljustice system that they just can't afford to prosecute the crime any more, so they can only cherry pick the ones that they are sure that they are going to win. police chiefs also pointed the finger at the crown prosecution service today, suggesting the cps were putting new demands on detectives. the officers tell me that the amount of information that they need to gather to inform a proper charging decision is much more than it has been in the past, and it takes longer. the process clearly isn't working. police in england and wales recorded 55,130 rape allegations last year. but in the same period,

2747 rape cases were referred on to prosecutors — the fewest on record. that year, the cps charged just 1867 people, and 11139 were convicted in the courts — again, the fewest on record. the data suggests around 97% of rape allegations never result in a conviction. the cps says it's working more closely with police, such as here in kent, as increasing amounts of evidence from social media and phone records complicates the preparation of rape cases. what we need to do is work with our partners in the police, area by area, force by force, to make sure we build a strong relationship at the start of these very serious criminal investigations, build strong cases together, and together drive the numbers up. today, here at the high court, campaigners have been arguing for a judicial review into whether prosecutors

have quietly raised the evidential bar in rape cases. but what is really at play is the collision of the dispassionate processes of the criminaljustice system with the intimate agony that results from the most emotionally devastating of crimes. mark easton, bbc news. a hospital worker has been left scarred and frightened for his safety after being seriously injured in a racially aggravated hit—and—run. the 21—year—old was walking to the bus stop after finishing work at southmead hospital in bristol. witnesses say a car was driven at him deliberately, before two men shouted racial abuse. sangita myska's report contains distressing images of his injuries from the start. this is the car that police say was deliberately driven at 21—year—old k, who's asked us not to use his surname. ijust remember, like, bleeding and people came to help me off... yeah, people came to help me off the wall i was on.

he'd finished work at a local hospital and was heading to the bus stop when he was hit. i just knew then straight away that i was proper damaged. because i couldn't walk straight away and i was bleeding from my head. after k was hit, witnesses say they saw two men run from the scene, shouting racial abuse as they went. the force of the attack has left k with serious injuries to his face and leg. his mother says it took a surgeon four hours to pick glass out of his face. the scars on my face are going to be there for life, so... so, i'm not really going to be recovered from this because obviously, like mentally as well, i'm traumatised by it now as well. i don't even know if it might happen again. avon and somerset police are treating the attack, which happened on the 22nd ofjuly, as a racially aggravated assault. this kind of attack, they say, is rare and ethnic minority communities in bristol need not fear

for their safety. k feels differently. it's just not pleasant at all. you shouldn't really, in your life, you shouldn't be like having to look over your shoulder all the time and just not feel safe. it shouldn't like that, so, yeah, it's definitely affected me and my family, and people around me in different ways. k says he will regain his confidence, but that it will take time. sangita myska, bbc news. let's take a look at some of today's other news. a former conservative mp has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two women. charlie elphicke, who represented dover until december, denied groping the women. thejudge said there was a very real possibility mr elphicke would go to prison. he'll be sentenced on 15th september. new laws come into effect tomorrow to ensure those who lose theirjobs while on furlough receive redundancy pay based on their normal wages, instead of the reduced rate. the government said some firms took

advantage of the current crisis to pay lower redundancy pay. jackson carlaw has resigned as leader of the scottish conservatives after only six months in the job. he succeeded ruth davidson in february but said today he didn't believe he was the best person to lead the case for scotland remaining in the uk. in australia there are fears a lockdown of melbourne may not be working, after the state of victoria reported its worst covid death toll and a sharp rise in cases. it's prompted the country's prime minister to say he would take "whatever actions are necessary" to bring the situation under control. 0ur sydney correspondent shaimaa khaliljoins me. until recently australia seemed to be dealing well with the virus. that's right, sophie. it's a very different picture now from that success story australia was regarded asa success story australia was regarded as a little over a month ago,

actually. 723 cases, a big blow to the people of melbourne, who are in their third week of their second lockdown. they were hoping it would have worked by now. but the situation is bleak in victoria. now there is a real concern with the rise of cases, with this trajectory, that the country could be headed into a second way. soldiers driving ambulances — a sign of how serious victoria's covid—19 crisis has become, as health workers raced to contain the spread of the virus. there were hopes that the outbreak may have peaked on monday, with over 500 infections recorded. but the latest spike in coronavirus numbers has surpassed that by nearly 200 cases. we have now been in this lockdown now for some weeks. and we are not getting the results we would hope for. and, as a result, the further measures that are taken are certainly necessary. they will come at an impact to the economy, and so it's important that we continue to work together to get on top of this. this meat processing plant

and the royal melbourne hospital have been identified as two of the many covid—19 clusters in victoria. authorities say they are concerned about people who turned up to work, despite showing symptoms, or waiting for test results. if you are a positive case, then you need to be at home and you need to be isolating. and that is a very important message. the state is also struggling to contain more than 80 outbreaks at care homes which have claimed dozens of lives in the past few weeks, including ten in the latest figures. they're getting neglected. it is so sad that they've been locked up three weeks in one room. get them out of the room, get them into another safe place. get them to a hospital. please, help. from midnight on sunday, every person in the whole of the state will be required to wear a mask or a face covering when leaving the house as concerns grow about rising cases across victoria. australia's second most populous city is halfway into its six week lockdown.

but it's unclear whether this will be enough time to contain an outbreak that only seems to be getting worse. shaimaa khalil, bbc news, sydney. nasa's new robotic spacecraft is on its way to mars in a mission to search for evidence of ancient life. it will take almost seven months to travel more than 300 million miles to the red planet. it's one of three missions currently trying to make it to mars as rebecca morelle reports. engine ignition, two, one, zero. . .and liftoff. the start of a mission... launching the next generation of robotic explorers to the red planet. ..that could finally answer the big question — was there ever life on mars? and that was to you. gone to close—loop control. the rover is called perseverance, and it's going to a region that was once covered by a lake.