this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the british government says there is little international evidence of coronavirus being transmitted in schools as they push ahead with plans for all children in england to return full—time to the classroom next month: the evidence we have a some on the one hand, very low transmission, and also that the risks to children from covid are very low. absolutely it will be safe for children to be back in schools. police in hong kong have arrested the prominent pro—democracy activist and media tycoonjimmy lai for suspected collusion with foreign powers. a surveillance aircraft is deployed over the english channel — more than 600 migrants have arrived in the uk in small boats from france in the past four days. are you 0k? are you all right? are you 0k?

0k! where are you from? syria! syria? there've been violent clashes in belarus as alexander lukashenko is declared the landslide winner of the country's general election. and a metal detectorist says he was left "shaking with happiness" after discovering a hoard of bronze age artefacts in southern scotland. the find included a complete horse harness and sword. hello, and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world — and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. here in the uk, government ministers are insisting there is little evidence that coronavirus is transmitted

in schools, as they push ahead with plans for all children in england to return full—time to the classroom next month. the uk education secretary, gavin williamson, has suggested that an upcoming study will support the government's position on reopening schools. borisjohnson, who's expected to visit a school later, is understood to have made it clear that schools should be the last to shut in any future local lockdowns, after businesses like shops and pubs. the association of school and college leaders has said there is an absence of clear guidance from the government, and it was "losing patience" with ministers' failure to have a back—up plan in the event it's not possible for all children to return next month. schools in scotland are getting ready to go back, with some children returning tomorrow. leigh milner has this report. schools in england were preparing to welcome children back into the classroom before the summer holidays. that plan failed. but the prime minister insists things will be

different in september. and his education secretary, gavin williamson, says research to be published later this year, makes clear there is little evidence the virus is transmitted at school. the children's commissioner for england supports a return to the classroom, if the correct safety measures are put in place. i would like to see testing and tracking very, very often within schools, so that's something which i think has to continue to improve. with face masks, i wouldn't want us to leap into that, but if it's something that makes people feel safer, then i think so be it. in addition, the association of school and college leaders union has suggested a week—on, one week—off timetable to limit social interaction, if there are local lockdowns. for these parents soaking up the sun in yorkshire though, september can't come soon enough. ask my son's opinion and he's really, really happy to go back to school in september. so, if he's happy, i'm happy.

i think it's a good idea because the break was quite big. they should have gone back in after september, you know, at september, after the holidays, but i think it was totally pointless taking them back before just for that short period of time. in scotland it's time to pack a pencil case, with teachers preparing classrooms for pupils arriving back tomorrow. that is the plan too in northern ireland later this month, and in england and wales at the start of september. but will it prove to be that straightforward 7 or will more testing or trade—offs, like closing bars and restaurants, be required? leigh milner, bbc news. the health and social care minister helen whately says the priority is to get children back to school. the evidence we have is, on the one hand, very low transmission and, also, the risks to children from covid are very low. so absolutely it is safe for children to be back in schools. our national priorities to get children back in school this autumn.

although parents and teachers made huge efforts to keep children's education going during the lockdown period, it'sjust not the same thing as children being in school. geoff barton is the head of the teachers' union, the association of school and college leaders. thank you forjoining us. are you convinced, at this point? we are definitely convinced about the lower risk rates for children and young people in terms of transmission between them and also with adults and school. that's really not the argument. we are expecting all children will be able to go back to school when term starts on the next few weeks. what we are saying is that what we also know is that that movement of young people through the community is likely to lead to increased virus infection. so, what is the plan be? if it were the case, like in leicester, when there was a lot done and they had to close the schools, if that happens, what

happens? good leadership is notjust about rhetoric or moral duty, it is also scenario planning that reassures pa rents also scenario planning that reassures parents and people working in schools that we have done the thinking through, particularly for those winter months when the government says we will have exams running as usual. what if some children can't do their exams? on their behalf, we should be thinking, what is the plan be? dig up and position might be that all focus has to be on plan a, and making it work. they have support from members of sage, some lines from the president of the royal college of paediatrics and child health, and a member of the sage advisory group, saying that children are very minor players, when you look at the risk benefit analysis in children going back to school, that needs to happen? absolutely, they have support from scientists, parents, from people like me. i run a trade union. i think this is an example of where we

are trying to do more detailed planning for the future than the government batteries. and i think we are doing, half of children and young people because the government tobacco view appears to be that all children will be at school in every scenario. is that really the case? if it weren't the case, could we keep more children in school than we have been able to do previously? what are the lessons to learn about blended learning, using technology, some children in school and some not? none of it is disloyalty to ask those questions, it is good leadership to ask what if something different from what might have been planned happens, let's make sure we are prepared for it. that will reassure pa rents are prepared for it. that will reassure parents and the people working in schools. are you doing that at a union level? we are saying to our members that every context is different, we had 22 buses coming every day in a school where i was the head. if you can only have half children in one week and half next week, and this is simply a

hypothesis, what would that mean in terms of transportation? the fact the government worker won't engage and that seems deeply unhelpful. it isa and that seems deeply unhelpful. it is a government that is good on the big rhetorical statements, but really is not rhetorical statements that will help people, it is the detailed planning. surely the point the government batteries making is that closing schools or limiting education is a last resort, and other steps in reducing the r rate, there are a lot of steps between a and z, and closing schools is essentially z, so those things should be prepared for, but not the closing of schools? absolutely understood. but when leicester had to close schools, can we do better than we have done previously? what have we learned from that? we mustn't be in denial about it. if you do have to close schools, and

nobody is saying we should do, but if you did have to do, what can we do to make sure more children and young people stay in learning, particularly those that will feel they are being disadvantaged by this yea r‘s they are being disadvantaged by this year's exams. they are being disadvantaged by this yea r‘s exams. can they are being disadvantaged by this year's exams. can we make sure we have done better when the autumn exams and the summer exams come round? thank you. police in hong kong have arrested the prominent pro—democracy activist and media tycoonjimmy lai for suspected collusion with foreign powers. jimmy lai was detained along with his two sons and four other people in the early hours of the morning on suspicion of breaching the new national security law. he is the most high profile person to be arrested so far under the act. and earlier police in hong kong say they've arrested a further 9 people on suspicion of violating the new law. and, in further escalation of tensions between the us and china, beijing have announced sanctions against 11 americans in response to washington's sanctioning of ii hong kong officials, including the territories chief executive, carrie lam.

claudia mo is an opposition legislator on hong kong. she explained whyjimmy lai arrest is not surprising. the arrest ofjimmy lai, is deja vu in hong kong, because police have done it at least a couple of times on other charges, previously. but this time the fact that they are using the new security law, it tells you that they are really targeting this publishing tycoon of ours, who has been very blatantly pro—democracy. it is a warning signal, also, that the local and foreign media who are stationed in hong kong should learn to behave, or there could be such a theatrical raid on your newsroom if they think it is necessary.

it is worth pointing out to viewers that are maybe not as familiar with hong kong, that it has in the past had a flourishing free press? hong kong used to bejournalistic hub in the whole of asia, and they are telling us that the fourth estate of society doesn't really matter. we all knew that ideological control is of paramount importance to beijing, and so they are reining in public opinion, and hopefully they can also, in a way, rein in international comments on what has been happening to hong kong, they think official propaganda could gain the upper hand. but it's not going to work

like that any more. what happened today, so full of theatrics, the way that they raided the apple daily headquarters, tells you that the official propaganda, this orwellian approach to a modern society, they think it is going to work. it is just preposterous. this is a complete departure from civilisation. the reaction from hong kong, they are saying it is shocking and terrifying. but the reaction from beijing, one prominent journalist from china has said that this demonstrates that hong kong authorities are not scared of us sanctions, and he also predicts the hong kong public will move towards the china mainland position. is it possible to get a sense of

where the hong kong public stand on recent development is? i think it will generate more antipathy amongst the people, because in hong kong we do appreciate the journalistic media in particular. and this highhandedness is getting the government nowhere. it will just make people feel that the carrie lam government, and the boss in beijing, are telling hong kong people, "i am the law", and they can do whatever they want. in the year 2020, that is not going to work. the scare tactics are not going to work. an inflatable dinghy carrying around 20 migrants has been met by the border force in the english channel this morning. more than 600 people have reached the uk on small boats since thursday. the immigration minister chris philp says he'll meet french authorities tomorrow to demand stronger

measures from them. following calls from the home office for support from the royal navy the ministry of defence says a royal air force atlas aircraft has been flown to support border force operations in the channel. they say the surveillance aircraft is an initial offer of assistance. our correspondent simonjones is on a boat in the channel and sent this update. we took to the water just after five o'clock this morning and, initially, it was much rougher than it is now, where it is pretty calm at the moment. as we were heading out, mid—channel, we heard from the coast guard that they thought potentially a boat carrying migrants had set off from the north of france. and then the skipper with binoculars or something coming towards us. it was a boat carrying migrants. as they got closer, i tried to speak to them. are you ok? are you all right? 0k?

0k! where are you from? syria! syria? how many people? so, they say they are from syria, they say they are ok. i can see there are some women on board, the majority are men. where are you going? where do you want to go? their destination is dover, obviously. so, at the moment they are motoring through the channel. at the moment, the boat seems to be safe. well, we shadowed that a boat for around an hour. there was no sign of the border force initially, we saw a spotter plane go above us, and then after about an hour a border force vessel came out to meet the boat. it took the people on board the border force boat and they have now been escorted back to dover. i think pressure is growing on both sides of the channel for something to be done about this.

because these crossings are extremely dangerous. i think it will be a crucial week for the british government. priti patel, the home secretary, is coming under increasing pressure from her own mps, being told by their constituents that the government mako doesn't seem to be getting a grip of this and sorting this out. we also have the immigration compliance minister, chris philp, who is going to travel to paris to speak to his french counterparts. britain's big idea is that more needs to be done to turn his boat around at sea. this is controversial because there are potentially safety issues and the french have seemed reluctant to do this, saying that they fear that migrants could threaten to jump overboard. i the meeting in paris will be heated and difficult, what we could see is britain saying that it will give more cash to france to increase patrols in northern france and stop

the boat setting up in the first place. speaking this morning, the conservative minister helen whately called the number of migrants crossing the channel a ‘worrying' development. we are seeing an unacceptable number of migrants coming across the channel at the moment. it's a worrying situation, in fact. it's a dangerous journey to take, and it also involves migrants paying people smugglers to take them across. we need to bring this to an end. the home secretary is determined that this shall not be a viable route to the uk. and my colleague, home office minister chris philp, is going to be in paris later this week to talk directly with the french government about working together to stop this transit. australia has reported 19 deaths from the coronavirus in 2a hours, the highest for a single day so far. all the deaths were recorded in the state of victoria which is now entering its second week of a strict lockdown. more lockdown measures are being relaxed in wales from today, as gyms, swimming pools and leisure

centres reopen their doors. wales will also become the first part of the uk to allow children to return to indoor soft play areas. our correspondent tomos morgan spent the morning at a play centre in newport. well, unfortunately i'm not able to go on the slide because... well, as much as i would like to as a parent myself, i'm being told i can't because adults will still need to socially distance in soft play as they reopen today, even though children won't have to do. the welsh government made the announcement that children under ii no longer need to socially distance, but adults will need to do so. this company has 13 soft play centres across the uk. wales is the first of the uk nations to allow people to go back to soft play centres. it will look a little bit different. there will be a few less toys to play with, things that are difficult to clean like those ball pits. they will be open, although, as you can see, there will be different procedures in place, bubbles for the adults to set in.

as a soft plays begin to open, there are a number of other areas of the economy also opening today in wales. obviously been a tough few months — frustrating, as well — within the fitness industry here in wales. getting a sweat on outdoors, which has been the norm in wales the past few weeks. that is until today. we've implemented this box system to allow members to be three metres apart, people's physical and mental health... you know, this period has only highlighted the importance, you know, the fitness industry plays in that. being reserved in the the easing of lockdown is probably the sensible thing to do during this time, but it's a fine line. and, you know, certainly, the benefits that the fitness industry can have on individuals in terms of keeping them fit and healthy and safe... you know, that's something that has to be a priority going forward. they get sanitised in the morning and then they get completely

changed at lunchtime. the welsh government says that there's such a low risk of children passing on the virus that those under 11 years old don't now need to socially distance. so, much to the delight of some toddlers' parents, one sector of the economy that will be opening today — and before england — are play centres. we thought they'd let the schools go back first of all, and then open the play centres, not this way round, so it has following in the footsteps of the other uk nations, as well, is the hospitality industry, which reopened inside last week to the welsh public. cos of the size of my venue, there's no way, given the guidelines issued by welsh government on restaurants reopening, that i could have anyone sat inside. so with those struggling for space, cardiff council have blocked off a section of the city centre so that more customers can sit safely and enjoy a meal. with no local lockdowns yet since restriction eased,

the welsh government say their more reserved approach has been guided by science. that clear advice was to do one significant intervention at a time so you could understand, if there was an upswing in coronavirus, where it would have come from, and shut off that particular additional easement. that deliberately cautious approach, keeping people safe, has been welcomed by people in wales. three in four people support the approach of the welsh government. as those chasing the pump are able to do so again, and children also have another avenue to expel some energy, normality begins to return in wales — and across the uk, just at different paces. pa rents parents will be able to come into the soft play areas, but they will be limited because the parents need to socially distance. page, you are

the assistant manager. there are far fewer toys he had on the children would normally be able to play with. talk to us about the procedures you have had to put in place to make sure things are safe for the children and adults? obviously with everything going on, we have increased the amount of sanitation. normally we would have a lot more sensory normally we would have a lot more sensory toys, drums, maracas, xylophones, but they are much more difficult to sanitise, with the children sticking them in their mouth. we have reduced the amount of toys we have got. we are left with the big items we can sanitise more regularly. but it's not the same as it was. you are not putting a booking system in place. you are saying it is going to be first—come, first—served. tell us a bit about the measures you are putting in, in terms of time wise, and limits on numbers on here? we have limited to 23 tables. the capacity is less than half what it usually is and it is a 90 minute time for children and adults. everybody will be given a designated table so we can control

when people are coming end, when people are leaving and it gives us time to sanitise that specific table when they leave. the slight difference is that wales is ahead of the other uk nations. but with all the other uk nations. but with all the other uk nations. but with all the other sectors of the economy, we have usually been behind the other countries. so this came as a bit of a surprise for you. how was that? mixed feelings. obviously we were very excited to be back in work. we feel like there wasn't enough time to get things prepared, if i'm honest. we were given just over a week while other sectors have had three weeks. but we are more than happy that we have everything in place to open safely. and looking forward to having children back ain? forward to having children back again? can't wait, so excited. page in the funky monkey. soft play reopening, gyms and pools also reopening, gyms and pools also reopening, but they will look quite different to how they did before lockdown.

state media in belarus says the incumbent alexander lukashenko, has been declared as the winner of sunday's presidential election with 80% of the votes. at least one person has died and 3,000 people have been detained in clashes between anti—government protesters and police. russian president vladimir putin has congratulated mr lukashenko on his victory, but poland's president, mateusz morawiecki, has called for an extraordinary eu summit on yesterday's election. earlier i spoke to our correspondent sarah rainsford who has been following the story. well, alexander lu kashenko was always going to win by a landslide according to the official results. he has never lost an election since 1994. so, this was never in doubt. the preliminary results gave him almost 80%. the official results that came out just an hour or two ago have given him just over that, given his chief rival, svetlana tikhanovskaya, just under 10%. her campaign team have dismissed the results, and say they do not accept it. they have claimed the actual result is almost entirely

the reverse of that. they pointed to the huge queues at polling stations across belarus on sunday as primarily svetla na tikhanovskaya supporters, who flocked to polling stations to vote for change. i think this was never really about the official results. this was always about the response to them from opposition supporters. what we saw last night were big, big pr°tests, big processions of opposition supporters in the streets, and then clashes with bela russian police. do you expect those to go on, or do you expect that to have been a momentary display of rage that will be intimidated back off the streets by the brutality of the response? no, i think this is an absolutely critical moment in belarus. this kind of clash has not been seen before on this scale. i think this is absolutely

very important. i think it is important that opposition forces, opposition supporters, have always said that they will continue protests every single evening until, they say, they achieve their goal, which is defending their vote for svetla na tikhanovskaya. i think the leader of belarus, alexander lu kashenko, has vowed he is going nowhere. he says he will not give away belarus. and he has said that those who want to push the country into chaos, as he put it, will meet a very tough response. pthese are unprecedented times. remember that this is a man who has led the country for 26 years. and i think these elections have been extremely unusual, in the way that opposition forces have united for the first time to demand change. whether or not and how that comes, i think those are very big, open questions. i do think these protests will go on. breaking news coming from lebanon, the justice minister

breaking news coming from lebanon, thejustice minister has published a letter presenting her resignation. she is citing the beirut blast and the process. she is the third government minister to resign in the course of the past week. as you know, as well as i do, the process on the streets of beirut have been intensely anti—government. a sense that government negligence was involved in leaving the chemicals in the port that caused the blast that killed and injured so many people last week. wearing a face covering outdoors will be compulsory in some parts of paris from today. several other cities including nice and lille have also implemented similar measures. last week, french scientific advisers warned the country was at risk of losing control of covid—19 at any time. we can now speak to geoffroy boulard, mayor of the 17th district of paris.

thank you forjoining us. hello. what do you think of this new rule on face coverings in paris? is it something you support?|j on face coverings in paris? is it something you support? i think the wearing of facemasks in summer, traffic, outdoor public spaces, is absolutely necessary. the police department are in agreement with the 17 districts, which made wearing of masks in public places mandatory. i make the call to tourists and residents to respect this obligation, as well as social distancing. and are the public following the instruction and respecting the regulation? if not, how are you enforcing it?|j

respecting the regulation? if not, how are you enforcing it? i think we need more systematic covid—19 screening campaigns, test, tracking and individual lockdown is to be efficient. yes. meanwhile, on the face coverings, are you enforcing that, or are you leaving it to the public, to be public spirited enough to do as they are told?|j public, to be public spirited enough to do as they are told? i think it is necessary. we need to protect the population, people. and this regulation applies to tourist areas and busy shopping streets. france's tourism industry has badly suffered. are there a lot of people in the museums and galleries in the centre of the city? yes, the situation of

tourism in the paris area is bad, because chinese and americans did not come. a 50% drop of the number of visitors to the louvre, eiffel tower and versailles. we saw 15 million visitors in 2020, versus 50,000,02019. million visitors in 2020, versus 50,000,020 19. we wish you all the best in enforcing your new regulations around face coverings and in getting your tourists back.

hello this is bbc news with carrie gracie. the headlines: the british government says there is little international evidence of coronavirus being transmitted in schools as they push ahead with plans for all children in england to return full—time to the classroom next month: to the classroom next month. police in hong kong have arrested the prominent pro—democracy activist and media tycoon, jimmy lai for suspected collusion with foreign powers. a surveillance aircraft is deployed over the english channel — more than 600 migrants have arrived in the uk in small boats from france in the past four days. there've been violent clashes in belarus as alexander lukashenko is declared the landslide winner of the country's general election. one in three uk employers expect to make staff redundant this summer — a 50% jump compared to three months ago.

the research by the chartered institute of personnel and development and recruitment company adecco, suggests 38% of firms in the private sector plan to make redundancies, compared to 16% in the public sector. ben thompson is our business presenter. tell us more. yes, morning to you, quite a stark move upwards from what we saw the last time this this survey we saw the last time this this survey was we saw the last time this this survey was done. the last time it was done suggesting that fewer firms we re was done suggesting that fewer firms were preparing to make redundancies, but we know a lot has changed. many businesses are now considering what their future looks like and how many staff they need. and government plans to wind down the furlough scheme, whereby the government is paying a proportion of salaries, thatis paying a proportion of salaries,

that is due to end in october. many firms are having to make stark decisions about the staff that they can decisions about the staff that they ca n afford decisions about the staff that they can afford to keep on. as you said, one in three firms saying it will make redundancies between now and september. as they adjust to a new reality. while some of the restrictions may have been lifted, we are being encouraged to go out and spend, the reality is things have not gone back to how they were immediately. it will take a long time for the economy to get back up to speed and firms are having to make tough decisions about the staff that they need. it is worth bearing in mind tomorrow on tuesday we will get the official unemployment figures that will show what the uk jobs markets looks like and on wednesday we have the official growth figures, expected to confirm that the uk is officially in recession. many firms are having to work out how they can adapt, maybe

shrink the size of their business to ride out the worst of the recession and perhaps inevitable that many say we will need fewer staff to do that. thank you. more now on the arrest of the prominent hong kong media owner, jimmy lai who has been accused by police of suspected collusion with foreign powers. the un human rights office said it is concerned by the arrest. one of the leaders if hong kong's pro—democracy movement is the activist, joshua wong. hejoins us now. thank you for talking us to. jimmy lai's arrest what does it mean for you. it has been generated by the authorities and it will imply how hong kong people will continue to fight forfreedom, hong kong people will continue to fight for freedom, but beijing hong kong people will continue to fight forfreedom, but beijing never tries to listen to our voice. the

chge thatjimmy lai colluded with foreign powers, do you understand what this collusion with foreign powers element of legislation, what it covers and how people like you or a media owner like him, how you can avoid this charge? beijing never provided a definition of collusion with a foreign force, that is just providing a loose definition. even perhaps from a perspective of beijing can't interfere with bbc or cnn, but they recognise that collusion with a foreign force. i think now forjimmy lai, will he be detained without confirmation or be extradited to mainland china or facing a life sentence. that question is obviously up with that needs to be put to others and we will endeavour to do that, although it is worth saying at this point we

haven't had an acceptance from the hong kong or chinese governments on this. but turning to things that are within your scope, the freedom of press that hong kong has typically enjoyed, we have seen obviously swroefr night pictures of police going into a media office, searching that i a is if, arrest —— that ais if, searching —— office, searching people. does that worry you? today is the end of hong kong's press freedom. more than a hundred police officers went into echo news without getting authorisation or notification to notice human rights lawyer who represented jimmy lai and police were sent to the headquarters and they even searched on the material of the journalists, which shows no respect. especially when

reuters, afp and associated press hoped to enter the building to show footage of how the police entered the building. the policejust allowed the local media to enter and refused the requests of foreign media. for an activist like yourself, this environment, climate in relation to media freedom must be something that worries you in terms of your coverage of your activities, because you need the media to get your voice out and that of others. we hope to have our voice heard around the world, but when international media are being banned from covering any press conference 01’ from covering any press conference or when police conducted a home search at the headquarters of echo daily, only local media are allowed

to enter. what will be the destiny of hong kong diss depts? —— dissidents. the mainland haven't talked to us, but the representative of the global times newspaper had said that the arrest ofjimmy lai is a demonstration that hong kong authorities are not scared of us sanctions. of course, last week, the chief executive of hong kong, carrie lam was sanctioned but the chinese view is hong kong is not scared of sanctions. do you want to see greater sanctions against hong kong authorities from the outside world, 01’ authorities from the outside world, or do you think the sanctions are self—defeat something or do you think the sanctions are self-defeat something since national suppression law is implemented in

hong kong, none of the local politicians who local here call on sanctions, including me. the political crisis must be solved by reform. if beijing has no intention to win back the trust of the local community, they will can't to escalate the crackdown and the tension. but i hope to remind beijing that wolf warrier diplomacy should not be the way out. for people like yourself, speaking up as you do, do you feel it is safe for young people like yourselves to carry on being in hong kong on hong kong soil, or do you think that it is time for some of your group to follow the example of other democracy activists and to leave hong kong? protest in hong kong is not safe any more. but even conducting interview with foreign media like the bbc is not safe any more. but even the risk that we

take, i still continue to conduct this interview to put the global spotlight on hong kong and let the voice of hong kongers be heard to the last minute. thank you. when 700,000 children in scotland begin a phased return to school this week, things will look somewhat different. there will be one—way corridors, hand—washing stations and extra classrooms. alexandra mackenzie has been hearing from pupils on how they feel about returning. hi, i'm layla, i'm 11 and i'm going into s1. layla was upset that she didn't get to finish primary school with her friends. but she's now excited about her first day at high school and getting back to her studies. well, i'm actually quite good at english and things, so i don't feel i've missed too much on that, because i'm quite confident in that. but definitely maths,

i need to revise some things! hi, i'm eddy, i'm 16 and i'm going into ss. eddy said he found it difficult to motivate himself to do schoolwork during lockdown, but also has concerns about returning to the classroom. going back is definitely a step in the right direction, but i don't know about spikes happening everywhere, if it's just going to be another case in inverclyde, one kid is going to have it and give it to the rest of the school. that is what i'm quite worried about, because i've got my gran, who is in shielding, so i need to be keeping it in mind for her. i need to keep her safe. so that's what i'm worried about. at their school, inverclyde academy, preparations are well under way. there's going to be a bit of a cleaning station here as well? yes. every classroom will be equipped with a sanitiser and a cleaning station for the children to use as they enter, and they will have the opportunity to wash down their desks and their chairs. all the classroom desks

and chairs have been organised so that all of the children are facing the front. they can sit close together, that's fine, because they've sanitised their area, as long as they are facing the front of the classroom. and the teacher's workstation will be down here. obviously the teacher must maintain the two metre distance. we have measured it out, so there is no child within close proximity to the teacher. if the teacher wants to come up and work with the child, iam going i am going to first year. emily can't wait to see her friends again. we haven't seen each other for so long, we will be so happy to see each other. we will talk for hours on end and it will be great. hi, i'm rachel, i'm 15 and i'm going into ss. rachel is worried she won't be fully prepared for her higher exams next year. i think because we haven't sat

the exams in fourth year, that going into fifth year and then sitting highers will be a bit of a shock, and i don't know how i'm going to cope with it, because it's obviously a lot harder than doing your nat 5s. hi, i'm andrew, i'm 12 and i'm going into s1 this year. lockdown has been an uncertain and difficult time for many. andrew wrote a poem to help him express his thoughts. as we move towards the end of the year, and lockdown restrictions ease further, i have two questions. what will the future hold? and will anything ever be the same everagain? this week, all of these young people will return to school. for the first time since march, they will sit alongside their classmates. some excited, some nervous. and many are unsure of what to expect. alexandra mackenzie, bbc news, greenock.

this is a concern globally. let's get the perspective from australia. kristine macartney is a paediatrician and infectious disease specialist ? she is director of the australian national centre for immunisation research and surveillance which has produced a study examining the transmission of coronavirus in schools and childcare centres in new south wales. thank you for talking to us. now what did your study discover? hello, thank you for having me. we did a study in the fist first part of the school year in australia, which was january through to april. across the whole of the state of new south wales, there is around 1.8 million attending around 7,500 schools and child care. it was through the time that our first child care. it was through the time that ourfirst epidemic child care. it was through the time that our first epidemic wave. we only saw 25 settings, 15 schools and ten child cares, where someone

attended, a staff member or a child, who was infectious with covid—19. what we did was track the secondary transmission, so the number of secondary transmission, so the number of secondary cases transmission, so the number of secondary cases that occurred in each of those schools and child care teams. when you tracked them, what did you discover, how did it spread? well, it spread at a very low rate in almost all of the schools. so only five secondary cases across 15 schools. that turned out to be less than one per every 200 close contacts and we had many hundreds of contacts. in child care settings, we had 10 child care settings, nine had no transmission of the virus. but we had one outbreak in one centre, which is a reminder that the virus can infect anyone of any age and anyone can pass it of. do you think

our viewers can draw conclusions about general education and child ca re about general education and child care settings? around the world or do you there is something specific about your findings?” do you there is something specific about your findings? i think our findings have to be seen in context. we had a relatively mild first wave. never more than around 200 cases a day and it came under control fairly quickly. but you know what we really learned from this is that the response of the health system and the community is critical. so children did attend schools through most of this. we did have to implement distance learning in the height of the cases. but we learned that if you can do those basics, the testing, tracing isolating, implement the different measures into schools around social distancing, hygiene, environmental cleaning, all of these things act together and when the context is

right, we can have children attending school, but low transmission. predicated on the health response, the educational experts' response and the community. thank you. the headlines on bbc news: the british government says it's a national priority to get children back in school by autumn, insisting there is little international evidence of the virus being transmitted in schools. prominent pro—democracy activist and media tycoon, jimmy lai, has been arrested by police in hong kong for suspected collusion with foreign powers. a surveillance aircraft is deployed over the english channel — more than 600 migrants have arrived in the uk in small boats from france in the past four days. "don't kill granny" —

that's the message going out in preston in the north of england after a spike in cases there, especially amongst young people, prompted extra lockdown measures. the police hope the slogan will help them to enforce the new measures — which includes a ban on meeting people from outside of your household. judy hobson joined officers on the beat on saturday night. saturday night, and the streets of preston are quieter than usual, but pcjulie stewart and her team still have their work cut out. your hands are sanitised... i'm coming in here to look at licensing objectives and seeing whether those are being adhered to, but also the covid measures — whether people are socially distancing, whether they are from the same household. bars are asking people to book ahead, but some owners are cancelling bookings for large groups. they say keeping people safe is a priority. how are you finding the new measures that are in place? do you understand them?

yeah. i think as alcohol was involved it can be quite challenging at times but, to be honest with you, most people are being very good and very cooperative. the latest lockdown rules were announced for preston late on friday, but bar owners say enforcing these rules is almost impossible. it's very difficult. we use due diligence — ask people for identification, ask whether or not they live in the same household — but proving it can be quite difficult. julie's colleagues are checking another venue. footage allegedly taken inside switch was shared on social media last week, amid concerns it had reopened as a nightclub — which is against the rules. the club claims the footage is fake, and tonight officers say they're satisfied they are following guidelines. i found that, as advertised, it's been running as a bar, not as a club. there's social distancing. there's not very many people in. there's plenty of space for them, they're all sat down. well, it's midnight. normally preston city centre would be heaving now but,

as you can see, it's still quite quiet. what the police have said about this evening is that they've been impressed with how the venues are enforcing these new lockdown measures. workforces have changed — the way they run and operate has totally changed — and i believe they're doing a brilliant job. they've tried their best and i'm really proud of them. so how are the customers behaving? guys, you won't get in unless you're with your social bubble... almost half of positive cases here are in people under 30. the local authority believes the main cause of the spike has been gatherings in pubs and homes. i'm just meeting my mates, so obviously i've asked them if they've got symptoms of covid and they haven't, so if they're safe then i'm safe. i'm sure it's not a problem. are you from the same household? we're all from the same uni. in the seven days to august 4th, there were 61 new cases in preston — twice as many as the week before. this is a high—risk area but you're happy to come out. yeah, as long as we are away...

like, we're keeping to the rules — we're two metres away from other people — so we're not bothered about...anything, really, you know? like, we're young, we're trying to have fun. we don't want to get, like, depressed, stuck in our rooms all by ourselves. yeah, it's been a long few months, as well. exactly. as the night wears on, there's less social distancing. it's very difficult to enforce. just by repeating those messages we'll hopefully get the message across, but we're not going to get that message across to everybody. any changes to these latest measures will be announced by friday. judy hobson, bbc news. broadway, one of the best known symbols of new york city, has been shut down since march. theatre owners and producers believe shows won't resume until next year — with many smaller theatres following suit. samira hussain reports on how performers, set designers, stage managers and musicians are dealing with the prospect of a year without work.

broadway, the beating heart of american theatre, but the coronavirus pandemic has delivered it a shock. on most nights, audiences would pack into any one of the venues here to take in a show, but in this city that never sleeps, new york city's stage to the world has gone dark. mean girls, the musical adaptation of the film by the same name, has been running on broadway for two years. hundreds of people labour behind—the—scenes to make shows like this come alive on stage. people like holly coombs who was working until the moment she was told to stop. the day that it got announced, it kind of really hit, like, oh, wait, i really need to make a plan, i don't know what my plan is. i don't know how i'm going to pay rent untiljanuary. her weekly unemployment checks pay the rent. she uses her savings to buy food while trying to find another job off—broadway.

everyone goes through career changes in their life. one day i probably will not do this any more, but i did not foresee that happening in my 30s. i am optimistic but i will be heartbroken, of course, if the shows that are currently on broadway can't come back. violinist katie kresak went from performing eight shows a week in the orchestra of a broadway musical to performing in her bedroom. collaborating with other musicians virtually has been keeping her busy but broadway was her dream. you have to keep going because, i mean, this is the thing — my whole life is built around playing the violin and writing music and making this something that i share with other people. so i think it's not something that i really want to let go of. even for performers with decades of experience, broadway's closure has been just as painful. judy kuhn is a four—time tony nominee.

the thing that's so unique about live performance is it's a communal experience. it happens once, that particular night with that particular audience and those particular performers. the curtain on broadway is meant to rise again at the beginning of next year but while the country is in the grips of a pandemic, it's hard to see people flocking into the city to sit together for a live performance. so until they can, the theatres will remain dark. samira hussain, bbc news, new york. now we are going to go to a primary school in essex, because the prime minister, borisjohnson, has been there today and he is visiting st joseph's school in essex, because he wants to make the point, in an echo

of his education secretary, that there is little evidence of the virus being transmitted in schools. this is a heated topic, with some leaders saying there is a lack of clear guidance from the government and some saying the benefits of being back in school outweigh the risks. others worrying about the test and trace programme and whether it is adequate to schools re—opening next month. of course that is england, schools in scotland re—open as soon as tomorrow or england, schools in scotland re—open as soon as tomorrow or wednesday. the safety of pupils in classes very much an issue of the moment. we will get more on that in the next hour. a metal detectorist has said he was ‘left shaking with happiness' after discovering a set of bronze age artefacts in a field in the scottish borders. mariusz stepien was searching

with friends when he found the bronze objects buried about half a metre underground. a complete horse harness and sword was uncovered and experts have said the discovery is of ‘national significance'. one happy man with his work there. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. hello, the current heat wave is set to last for several more days. the next few days dominated by hazy sunshine. hot and next few days dominated by hazy sunshine. hotand humid in next few days dominated by hazy sunshine. hot and humid in england and wales. turning more humid in scotla nd and wales. turning more humid in scotland over the next few days. but that heat and humidity will kick off some big thunder storms, with localised down pours that will lead to localised flash flooding. looking at the picture today, hot and humid, top temperatures of 35 celsius in

south—east england and it is england that will see the best of the morning sunshine. further west, for west england and wales, a bit of cloud and thunder storms become widespread for a time, before moving into northern ireland. elsewhere a few storms in southern scotland and we could see a shower pop up just about anywhere across england as temperatures surge into the 30s. tonight, tomorrows become widespread in northern ireland and will move north into scotland, bringing more humid air here. but these are the temperatures heading to bed. another uncomfortable night in london, with temperatures at 25 celsius at 11pm. on tuesday, thunder storms affecting scotland. the cloud break up and sunny spells developing. it will feel hot and humid in england and wales. turning more humid in scotla nd wales. turning more humid in scotland and the top temperature around 35 degrees. but again we

could see some thundery down pours just about anywhere. more storms for wednesday. scotland, england and wales seeing most. northern ireland into the fresher air and having the greatest chance of staying dry on wednesday. top temperatures again into the mid 30s. our remarkable run of very hot weather continues. towards the end of the week some changes in the weather. low pressure ta kes changes in the weather. low pressure takes firm hold and bands of thundery rain will push north. towards the end of week we will see more heavy down pours widely and the rain will be torrential at times, bringing localised flooding, but later in the week some fresher air will move in and it will feel less humid.

this is bbc news withjoanna gosling with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. borisjohnson says england's schools are safe for children as the government plans for pupils to return full—time to the classroom next month: i think it's very important that everybody works together and to ensure that schools are safe in their secure and i'm impressed with their secure and i'm impressed with the work that schools are done with unions to ensure that schools are safe to go back in september. police in hong kong have arrested the prominent pro—democracy activist and media tycoon, jimmy lye , for suspected collusion with foreign powers.

——jimmy lai a surveillance aircraft is deployed over the english channel after more than 600 migrants arrived in the uk in small boats from france in the past four days. are you ok? are you all right? are you ok? 0k! where are you from? syria! syria? there have been violent clashes in belarus as alexander lukashenko is declared the landslide winner of the country's general election and a metal detectorist says he was left "shaking with happiness" after discovering a hoard of bronze age artefacts in southern scotland. the find included a complete horse harness and sword.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world — and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. here in the uk, government ministers are insisting there is little evidence that covid—19 is transmitted in schools, as they push ahead with plans for all children in england to return full—time to the classroom next month. the education secretary, gavin williamson, has suggested that an upcoming study will support the government's position on reopening schools. borisjohnson, who's been visiting a school in east london is understood to have made it clear that schools should be the last to shut in any future local lockdowns, after businesses like shops and pubs. the association of school and college leaders has said there is an absence of clear guidance from the government, and it is "losing patience" with ministers' failure to have a back—up plan in the event it's not possible for all children to return next month. schools in scotland are getting ready to go back, with some children returning tomorrow. leigh milner has this report.

schools in england were preparing to welcome pupils back into the classroom before the summer holidays. that plan failed. but the prime minister insists things will be different in september. and his education secretary, gavin williamson, says research to be published later this year, makes clear there is little evidence the virus is transmitted at school. the children's commissioner for england supports a return to the classroom, if the correct safety measures are put in place. i would like to see testing and tracking very, very often within schools, so that's something which i think has to continue to improve. with face masks, i wouldn't want us to leap into that, but if it's something that makes people feel safer, then i think so be it. in addition, the association of school and college leaders union has suggested a one weekon, one week off timetable to limit social interaction, if there are local lockdowns. for these parents soaking up the sun

in yorkshire though, september can't come soon enough. asking my son's opinion and he's really, really happy to go back to school in september. so, if he's happy, i'm happy. i think it's a good idea because the break was quite big. i think they should have gone back in after september, you know, at september, after the holidays, but i think it was totally pointless taking them back before just for that short period of time. in scotland it's time to pack a pencil case, with teachers preparing classrooms for pupils arriving back tomorrow. that is the plan too in northern ireland later this month, and in england and wales at the start of september. but will it prove to be that straightforward ? or will more testing or trade—offs, like closing bars and restaurants, be required? leigh milner, bbc news. our political correspondent, jonathan blake, is at westminster. so, jonathan, the government going on the offensive this morning tv show people that it is going to be

0k. show people that it is going to be ok. yes, and that is the message that the government is very clearly trying to ram home in the days and weeks going up to the academic year particularly as the westminster government is concerned in england but in other parts of the uk as early as tomorrow in scotland, in wales, and in northern ireland in the coming days and weeks of what the coming days and weeks of what the government is keen to do is to avoid aviva and of what we had early on in the year when the government wa nted on in the year when the government wanted some people is to return to school —— a volleyed a vivant. —— avoid a re—run. what happened in the previous year when i had to backtrack. five outweighed by the risk of keeping children away from school for long periods of time and in many cases obviously schoolchildren won't have been to schoolchildren won't have been to school for many months now since the restrictions were put in place. to

this low the spread of coronavirus. we can hear from the this low the spread of coronavirus. we can hearfrom the prime minister who has been visiting a school in upminster this morning to see similar measures that have been put in place ready for pupils to return and he has been explaining more about why he believes the time is right and it is safe for people to come back. the way we're trying to manage the over the pandemic is to have local measures in place, local test and trace to introduce restrictions where that's necessary, but as we've all said, the last thing we want to do is to close schools. we think that education is the privacy for the country and that is simple social justice. the country and that is simple socialjustice. kevin williamson has said this morning that an upcoming report is going to support the government's position opening schools. one is that the poll going to be published? and if it is so reassuring and it is ready why not

just put it out? ——, we believe that is the study by public health england which has been trying to assess the scale of circulation of coronavirus among school pupils and staff with a study over the summit will be published at some point later this year but gavin williamson has clearly seen some of the evidence gathered of a summary, leading him to say that based on that, an extensive study as he described it, the risk is very low, but there will be questions i am sure as you suggested from parents and perhaps even school leaders, head teachers, and others about the nature of that evidence and why it isn't in the public domain if the government is using it to back up its arguments that it is safe for pupils to attend to school. that will be one of the questions for the government. there will also be questions in the days and weeks running up to the opening of schools

about the safety in terms of hygiene about the safety in terms of hygiene about how workable it is to have all pupils back in the guidance that the government issued four schools in england earlier on the summer. questions to about testing, whether that should be done regularly in schools. that said, there is broad political consensus that getting children back in school is quickly impossible and as safely as possible is the right thing to do. thank you, jonathan. police in hong kong have arrested the prominent pro—democracy activist and media tycoon, jimmy lai , for suspected collusion with foreign powers. jimmy lai was detained along with his two sons and four other people in the early hours of the morning on suspicion of breaching the new national security law. he is the most high profile person to be arrested so far under the act. the un human rights office says it's "very concerned" with the arrest. earlier, police in hong kong tweeted saying they've arrested nine people on suspicion of violating the new law.

and, in a further escalation of tensions between the us and china, beijing has announced sanctions against 11 american nationals including senators ted cruz and marco rubio, in response to a similar move by washington on 11 senior officials, including hong kong's chief executive, carrie lam. joshua wong is one of the leaders of the pro—democracy movement in hong kong. he warned thatjimmy lai's arrest won't be the last. today's is the end of hong kong's press freedom. more than 200 police stave into the headquarters of apple daily news without getting the authorisation or any notification to notify the human rights lawyer to sentence jimmy notify the human rights lawyer to sentencejimmy lai and notify the human rights lawyer to sentence jimmy lai and with how lawyers and police were sent to the apple daily headquarters and they even searched on the material of the journalists, which shows no respect, and especially when reuters, afp and

associate fresh hope to enter the building to cover or to shoot some footage about how police stormed into the building police just allowed pro—beijing local media to enter but refused all of the request of foreign media. state media in belarus says the incumbent alexander lukashenko, has been declared as the winner of sunday's presidential election with 80% of the votes. at least one person has died and 3,000 people have been detained in clashes between anti—government protesters and police. russian president, vladimir putin has congratulated mr lukashenko on his victory, but poland's president, mateusz morawiecki has called for an extraordinary eu summit on yesterday's election. our correspondent sarah rainsford has been following the story. well, alexander lu kashenko was always going to win this vote by a landslide according to the official results. he's never lost an election since 1994, so this was never in doubt. the preliminary results gave him almost 80%.

the official results that came out just an hour or two ago have given him just over that, and given his chief rival, svetlana tikhanovskaya, just under 10%. now, her campaign team have dismissed the results. they say they do not accept it. they have claimed the actual result is in fact almost entirely the reverse of that, and they've pointed to those huge queues at polling stations across belarus on sunday as primarily svetlana tikhanovskaya supporters flocked to polling stations to vote for change. i think this was never really about the official results, though. this was always about the response to them from opposition supporters, and what we saw last night were big, big pr°tests, big processions of opposition supporters in the streets, and then clashes with bela russian police. an inflatable dinghy carrying around 20 migrants has been met by the border force in the english channel this morning. more than 600 people have reached the uk on small boats since thursday.

the immigration minister chris philp says he'll meet french authorities tomorrow to demand stronger measures from them. following calls from the home office for support from the royal navy — the ministry of defence says a royal air force atlas aircraft has been flown to support border force operations in the channel. they say the surveillance aircraft is an initial offer of assistance. our correspondent simonjones is on a boat in the channel and sent this update. we took to the water just after five o'clock this morning and, initially, it was much rougher than it is now, where it is pretty calm at the moment. as we were heading out, mid—channel, we heard from the coast guard that they thought potentially a boat carrying migrants had set off from the north of france. nobody was sure where it was. and then the skipper with binoculars saw something coming towards us. it turned out it was a boat carrying migrants. as they got closer, i tried to speak to them. are you ok? are you all right? 0k?

0k! where are you from? syria! syria? how many people? so, they say they are from syria, they say they are ok. i can see there are some women on board, the majority are men. where are you going? where do you want to go? their destination is dover, obviously. so, at the moment they are motoring through the channel. at the moment, the boat seems to be safe. well, we shadowed that a boat for around an hour. there was no sign of the border force initially, we saw a coast guard spotter plane go above us, and then after about an hour a border force vessel came out to meet the boat. it took the people on board the border force boat and they have now been escorted back to dover. i think pressure is growing on both

sides of the channel for something to be done about this. because these crossings are extremely dangerous. i think it will be a crucial week for the british government. priti patel, the home secretary, is coming under growing pressure from her own mps, being told by their constituents that the government doesn't seem to be getting a grip of this and sorting this out. we also have the immigration compliance minister, chris philp, who is going to travel to paris to speak to his french counterparts. britain's big idea is that more needs to be done to turn these boats around at sea. this is controversial because there are potentially safety issues and the french have seemed reluctant to do this, saying that they fear that migrants could threaten to jump overboard. i think the meeting in paris will be heated and difficult, what we could see is britain saying that it will give more cash france and stop the boats

setting off in the first place. the prime minister was also asked about migrants crossing the english channel. he said the uk must look at the legal framework for those who have arrived in the uk illegally. we've got a problem, which is that there are people who want to come from around the world to this country because obviously it's a great place to be and there's no doubt that it would be helpful if we could work with our french friends to stop them getting over the channel, and... what's going on is the activity of cruel and criminal gangs who are risking the lives of these people taking them across the channel, you know, a 50 dangerous stretch of water in potentially unseaworthy vessels. we want to stop that, working with the french, make sure they understand that this isn't a good idea, this is a very very bad and stupid and dangerous and criminal thing to do but then there isa criminal thing to do but then there is a second thing we have got to do,

and that is to look at the legal framework that we have, that means that when people do get here, sam, it is very, very difficult then to send them away again, even though blata ntly we've send them away again, even though blatantly we've come here illegally. we need to look at both of these. we need to look at the means by which they're coming in, we need to stop them working with the french, we need to stop them from getting across the channel, but number two we need to look at the legal framework that we have, all the panoply of laws that an illegal immigrant has at his or her disposal that allow them to stay here and we need to look at what we can do to change that. we can speak now to bridget chapman from kent refugee action network — a charity that provides help and support to asylum seekers and refugees. welcome, thank you forjoining us. how many have you been helping? that isa how many have you been helping? that is a really difficult question to answer. because of lockdown and

because of restrictions we are working with you than normal, but, i mean, over the past couple of years there have been people coming in on thing is i would say that we have worked with around 50 people that made the journey that way. and what has happened in recent months because there is obviously now a much closer focus on this because of the numbers. we have seen a rise in numbers. this is unusual. we solve a visor numbers in 2015. we are seeing a different method in coming now and thatis a different method in coming now and that is mostly because we have spent a lot of money fortifying the port of calais. we have got a spell of good weather at the moment and if you are i were making a dangerous journey across water we would wait for good weather, but also the situation in calais for people is really dire. they are having tents, food and water confiscated and they are ina food and water confiscated and they are in a diff spurt situation so all of that is coming together to mean that we are seeing a rise in numbers

making the journey in this way. we saw about early and our reporters spoke to someone about that will come across and it seems they were mainly coming from syria. whether the people that you are seeing coming from? mostly we are seeing people from iran and iraq and they are mostly kurdish from those countries so a group that is a minority in both of those countries and has a tough time. what do you think about the what the government is saying now about trying to stop these boats coming across, calling on fans to do more, also potentially looking at the navy getting involved to have boats potentially even toeing some of these small boats back to france and stopping them coming here? i don't think this is the right approach. we have a proud tradition in this country of helping people in need. front already takes four times as many asylum applications in the uk does. —— france already takes four times as

many asylum applications than the uk does. britain really names to step up does. britain really names to step up and it is pretty shameful to me that we are talking this way about fellow human beings. —— britain really needs to step up. in kent which is obviously where you are on the ground what is the local reactions the migrants coming?” would say it is really mixed. this area has seen would say it is really mixed. this area has seen some would say it is really mixed. this area has seen some tough times over the past few decades. there is a lack ofjobs, you know, there aren't enough doctors surgeries, the lantern of school places, and a lot of people have kind of fallen for the lines that the reason for those things is that there are migrants coming in and that it is not the case. “— coming in and that it is not the case. —— there are not enough school places. so there is a significant and vocal minority that are very anti—refugees and migrants but my organisation couldn't do the job that it does without the hundreds of people we get giving up their time on their money to help us do the work that we do and i would say that

actually, the majority of people in kent have empathy and are able to find a place in their hearts to help people in a desperate situation. and the people that you work with particularly other young mind events. what ages are you working with? what is the youngest migrant that you have seen? —— young migrant. the youngest that we have worked with his 1a or 15 but people do come in younger than that but they wouldn't come into the service that we offer but these are children, and they are children just like any children anywhere when you meet them. they are just exactly the same and they deserve to be given a fair chance. bridget chapman from kent refugee action. thank you very much. the royal navy survey ship hms enterprise has arrived in beirut in the last hour from cyprus.it will start to work with

the lebanese armed forces asap to survey the damage done to the sea bed as a result of last week's explosion at the port. that explosion left a 43 metre, 141—feet deep crater. it has been recorded as having the power of a magnitude 3.3 earthquake and it was triggered after a huge amount of the many and night traits caught fire and exploded to catastrophic effect, so that royal

navy ship then i'll to examine what needs to be done to try to restore the port which is key to the well—being of the country, a country which exports around 83% of all that it uses so it is really going to have a very immediate and damaging impacts on the lives of the population, the fact that that port is out of operation. —— a huge amount of ammonium nitrate caught fire. so the uk is deploying the boat and also offering medical support and military intelligence capabilities amongst other aid that is being offered. of course, lebanon is being offered. of course, lebanon is going to need a huge amount of aid and support after that explosion that has affected so many lives. australia has reported 19 deaths from the coronavirus in 2a hours, the highest for a single day so far. all the deaths were recorded in the state of victoria which is now entering its second week of a strict lockdown. more lockdown measures are being relaxed in wales

from today, as gyms, swimming pools and leisure centres reopen their doors. wales will also become the first part of the uk to allow children to return to indoor soft play areas. our correspondent tomos morgan — spent the morning at a play centre in newport. well, unfortunately i'm not able to go on the slide because... well, as much as i would like to as a parent myself, i'm being told i can't because adults will still need to socially distance in soft play as they reopen today, even though children won't have to. the welsh government made the announcement that children under 11 no longer need to socially distance, but adults will need to do so. now, this company has 13 soft play centres across the uk. wales is now the first of the uk nations to allow people to go back to soft play centres. it will look a little bit different. there will be a few less toys for children to play with, things that are difficult to clean

like those ball pits. they will be open, although, as you can see, there will be different procedures in place, bubbles for the adults to sit on. as a soft plays begin to open, there are a number of other parts of the economy also opening today in wales. obviously been a tough few months — frustrating, as well — within the fitness industry here in wales. getting a sweat on outdoors, which has been the norm in wales the past few weeks. that is until today. we've implemented this box system to allow members to be three metres apart, people's physical and mental health... you know, this period has only highlighted the importance, you know, the fitness industry plays in that. being reserved in the the easing of lockdown is probably the sensible thing to do during this time, but it's a fine line. and, you know, certainly, the benefits that the fitness industry can have on individuals in terms of keeping them fit

and healthy and safe... you know, that's something that has to be a priority going forward. they get sanitised in the morning and then they get completely changed at lunchtime. the welsh government says that there's such a low risk of children passing on the virus that those under 11 years old don't now need to socially distance. so, much to the delight of some toddlers' parents, one sector of the economy that will be opening today — and before england — are play centres. we thought they'd let the schools go back first of all, and then open the play centres, not this way round, so it has caught us by surprise. following in the footsteps of the other uk nations, as well, is the hospitality industry, which reopened inside last week to the welsh public. cos of the size of my venue, there's no way, given the guidelines issued by welsh government on restaurants reopening, that i could have anyone sat inside. so with those struggling for space, cardiff council have blocked off a section of the city centre so that

more customers can sit safely and enjoy a meal. with no local lockdowns yet since restriction eased, the welsh government say their more reserved approach has been guided by science. that clear advice was to do one significant intervention at a time so you could understand, if there was an upswing in coronavirus, where it would have come from, and shut off that particular additional easement. that deliberately cautious approach, keeping people safe, has been welcomed by people in wales. three in four people support the approach of the welsh government. as those chasing the pump are able to do so again, and children also have another avenue to expel some energy, normality begins to return in wales — and across the uk, just at different paces. parents will be able to come into the soft play areas, but they will be limited because the parents need to socially distance.

page, you're the assistant manager here. there are far fewer toys he had on the children would usually be able to play with. talk to us about the procedures you have had to put in place to make sure things are safe for the children and adults? obviously with everything going on, we have increased the amount of sanitation. normally we would have a lot more sensory toys, drums, maracas, xylophones, but they are much more difficult to sanitise, with the children sticking them in their mouth. we have reduced the amount of toys we have got. we are left with the big items we can sanitise more regularly. but it's not the same as it was. you are not putting a booking system in place. you are saying it is going to be first—come, first—served. tell us a bit about the measures you are putting in, in terms of time wise, and limits on numbers on here? we have limited to 23 tables. the capacity is less than half what it usually is and it is a 90

minute time for children and adults. everybody will be given a designated table so we can control when people are coming end, when people are leaving and it gives us time to sanitise that specific table when they leave. we're hoping for a gradual turnover of tables. the slight difference is that wales is ahead of the other uk nations. but with all the other sectors of the economy, we have usually been behind the other countries. so this came as a bit of a surprise for you. how was that? mixed feelings. obviously we were very excited to be back in work. we feel like there wasn't enough time to get things prepared, if i'm honest. we were given just over a week while other sectors have had three weeks. but we are more than happy that we have everything in place to open safely. and looking forward to having children back again? can't wait, so excited. page in the funky monkey. soft play reopening, gyms and pools also reopening, but they will look quite different to how they did before lockdown. wearing a face covering outdoors will be compulsory in some parts

of paris from today. several other cities including nice and lille have also implemented similar measures. last week, french scientific advisers warned the country was at risk of losing control of covid—19 "at any time." corinne menegaux, director of the paris convention and vistors bureau, says these measures are important. it doesn't impeach you in any way to visit get to the streets or do your life as usual, it's just a little constraint that we'll get the habit with. i think we're going to live with that for a few months anyway because it's not finished. so we're just in the mood of may be happening to learn how to live with that and that would be the case also for travel —— travellers and tourists who come to paris. but of course we don't have as many tourists as we had before. the opening of frontiers with europe helped a little because of course we've got people coming from foreign countries that are close to paris and france. i think in a way the sanitary measures and, of course covering

faces and things like that, as well as develop the caring attitude charter and things like that. i also raised to reassure others that we can protect them but obviously they won't be the same numbers as we had before but i think we need to get some figures and wait till the end of the summer which is a good thing for others in terms of tourism but i think the main issue will be how will those be in september, till the end of the year. so according to the revelation of the situation of the business travellers as well as the leisure travellers. hear hello. this is bbc news. the headlines... borisjohnson says england's schools are safe as his government aims for pupils to return full—time

to the classroom next month. police in hong kong have arrested the prominent pro—democracy activist and media tycoon, jimmy lai for suspected collusion with foreign powers. a surveillance aircraft is deployed over the english channel. more than 600 migrants have arrived in the uk in small boats from france in the past four days. there have been violent clashes in belarus as alexander lukashenko is declared the landslide winner of the country's general election. and a metal detectorist says he was left "shaking with happiness" after discovering a hoard of bronze age artefacts in southern scotland. the find included a complete horse harness and sword. lebanon sjustice minister has resigned following the explosion at the port in beirut which killed more than 200 people and injured more than 7000 last week. marie—claude najm is the third government minister to resign. she follows in the footsteps of the information minister manal abdul samad and environment minister

damianos kattar, who both officially tendered their resignation yesterday. a cabinet meeting is being held later today and there have been calls for more demonstrations during the session. violent protests took place over the weekend, amid mounting anger that the government allowed amonium nitrate to be stored at the port for six years. meanwhile, the governor of beirut, says that more than 200 people are now dead after tuesday's massive explosion. the head of the world bank has told the bbc that ‘radically transparent‘ systems are needed to deliver financial aid for lebanon if the money pledged is to benefit the people directly. paul hawkins reports. more anger on the streets of beirut. the lebanese people desperate for political change, but the government doesn‘t seem to be listening, so the demonstrators want the world to make them listen. any money to rebuild the country, they say, must come with conditions attached

to get rid of corruption and cronyism. the 15 donor countries agree. at a meeting, they have pledged a total of $297 million in aid. qatar is the biggest single donor country with $50 million. while the eu has pledged $35 million, on top of the $39 already promised. the us has also pledged $15 million. on a humanitarian basis we have to do it. we have to do it. you‘d almost say, how does a country survive such a tragedy? this was at a level, i‘ve people over there, they say this is at a level that we have never seen before. but how easy will it be to get lebanon‘s leaders to change the system? we have to put systems in place that are radically transparent, inclusive, meaning reaching the people and with good government, with good government is with all the anticorruption measures you can imagine in place.

i think today's meeting of the friends of lebanon, the voices were of support, of solidarity, people understand that we need provide humanitarian assistance. but at the same time, most governments have also said that we need profound changes and that is what we are asking. but many lebanese remain sceptical about whether their government is listening or not. let‘s return to ministers insisting that there‘s little evidence that coronavirus is transmitted in schools, as they push ahead with plans for all children in england to return full—time to the classroom next month. one school is staying open throughout the summer. roger farley is the head of westminster primary academy in blackpool, which, with the help of staff who‘ve

volunteered their time, has remained open. thank you forjoining us. what is happening in your school?l thank you forjoining us. what is happening in your school? a lot of staff are coming in and out, running activities. they are running with the park rangers, the magic club. it is not just the park rangers, the magic club. it is notjust teachers doing it and it is notjust teachers doing it and it isa is notjust teachers doing it and it is a community effort. it enables a lot of children to keep in contact with school and friends. it gets out the house and of the streets really. how many children are coming along? on monday, wednesday and friday we can cope with at least 30. in general between 30 and 50 children each day. we are limited by guidelines on social distancing. each day. we are limited by guidelines on social distancingm it more about activities and learning through the summer? it more about activities and learning through the summer7m it more about activities and learning through the summer? it is a bit of both really, isn‘t it? if you

are doing activities you are learning. learning to read and write or do activities or socialise with each other. what these children —— as these children have not been in school since march, so perhaps they have lost their ability to share. sorry, i thought he had stopped talking. picking up on what you are saying, really interesting about socialisation and how over that period, kids will perhaps have lost some of their social skills and how important that is to keep that going. obviously, the bigger debate at the moment is what happens in terms of covid in september. what would you say schools, parents and kids should look out for to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible? in all the schools i am aware of, they have all worked

together closely, including local authority schools to make sure we are consistent in what we do regret making sure the schools are clean, there are different rotors, there is enough space in classrooms. it is checking they are happy with what is being put on. in blackpool and most of lancashire they are on it by looking at guidelines on making sure they can fit in with it. scheduling different start times were different and times and lunchtimes are differently keeping the general —— isa differently keeping the general —— is a general i on welfare. just being sensible, really. you have been operating with limited numbers of kids. do you think it is feasible to have everybody back and for it to be covid safe? when we started we had between 20 and 30 children coming back and we have increased

that to 120, 130 following current guidelines. as long as you follow the guidelines and cleaning is in place and children do what adults tell them, they have been really good at obeying instructions. if i good at obeying instructions. if i go near reception children, they say, do not break our bubble. it is about being very aware and you do not spread it. thank you very much for joining not spread it. thank you very much forjoining us. no problem, thank you. when 700,000 children in scotland begin a phased return to school this week, things will look somewhat different. there will be one—way corridors, hand—washing stations and extra classrooms. alexandra mackenzie has been hearing from pupils on how they feel about returning. hi, i‘m layla, i‘m 11 and i‘m going into s1. layla was upset that she didn‘t get to finish primary school with her friends. but she‘s now excited about her first day at high school and getting back to her studies. well, i‘m actually quite good at english and things,

so i don‘t feel i‘ve missed too much on that, because i‘m quite confident in that. but definitely maths, i need to revise some things! definitely. hi, i'm eddy, i'm 16 and i'm going into ss. eddy said he found it difficult to motivate himself to do schoolwork during lockdown, but also has concerns about returning to the classroom. going back is definitely a step in the right direction, but i don't know about spikes happening everywhere, if it'sjust going to be another case in inverclyde, one kid is going to have it and give it to the rest of the school. that is what i'm quite worried about, because i've got my gran, who is in shielding, so i need to be keeping it in mind for her. i need to keep her safe. so that's what i'm worried about. at their school, inverclyde academy, preparations are well under way. there‘s going to be a bit of a cleaning station here as well? yes. every classroom will be equipped with a sanitiser and a cleaning station for the children to use as they enter, and they will have

the opportunity to wash down their desks and their chairs. all the classroom desks and chairs have been organised so that all of the children are facing the front. they can sit close together, that‘s fine, because they‘ve sanitised their area, as long as they are facing the front of the classroom. and the teacher‘s workstation will be down here. obviously the teacher must maintain the two metre distance. we have measured it out, so there is no child within close proximity to the teacher. if the teacher wants to come up and work with the child, they can do that for a maximum of 15 minutes. hi, i'm emily, i'm 12 years old and up going into first year. only the first years will start back at inverclyde on wednesday. emily can‘t wait to see herfriends again. we've not seen each other in so long, so we'll all be like, pure happy to see each other. and we'lljust talk for hours on end and it'lljust be great. hi, i‘m rachel, i‘m 15 and i‘m going into 55. rachel is worried she won‘t be fully prepared for her higher exams next year.

i think because we haven‘t sat the exams in fourth year, that going into fifth year and then sitting highers will be a bit of a shock, and i don‘t know how i‘m going to cope with it, because it‘s obviously a lot harder than doing your nat 5s. hi, i'm andrew, i'm 12 and i'm going into s1 this year. lockdown has been an uncertain and difficult time for many. andrew wrote a poem to help him express his thoughts. as we move towards the end of the year, and lockdown restrictions ease further, i have two questions. what will the future hold? and will anything ever be the same everagain? this week, all of these young people will return to school. for the first time since march, they will sit alongside their classmates. some excited, some nervous. and many are unsure

of what to expect. alexandra mackenzie, bbc news, greenock. a group of conservative mps and peers has written to the home secretary expressing ongoing concerns regarding cross channel illegal immigration. the 23 mps and two members of the house of lords say they are grateful for the positive dialogue they have had with ms patel and say they welcome the news that the government plans to introduce new legislation to curb abuse of the asylum system. but they argue that the current surge in illegal immigration must be addressed urgently and radically through stronger enforcement efforts . that is the coast of the police boat and the home secretary has been on board today. the letter also calls for the government to refuse to sign up to any future agreement similar to the dublin iii regulation

which sets rules for where asylum applications should be made in the eu. instead, they say the government should seek a bilateral treaty with france which would see people intercepted on boats, and those who land illegally in the uk, returned to france directly. that is something the government is a p pa re ntly that is something the government is apparently looking at using boats to try to prevent people from leaving france and coming to the uk. earlier, priti patel said the government was working to make the channel crossing unviable but the government faces legislative, legal and operational barriers. she put that out on twitter. there she is. we can see her on the boat. one in three uk employers expect to make staff redundant this summer — a 50% jump compared to three months ago. the research by the chartered institute of personnel and development and recruitment company adecco, suggests 38% of firms in the private sector plan to make redundancies,

compared to 16% in the public sector. our business presenter ben thompson says this is quite a stark change from what we saw last time this survey was carried out. during the course of this pandemic a lot has changed. it means many businesses are considering what the future looks like and how many staff they will need to deliver it. we know that uk government plans to wind down the furlough scheme, that job retention scheme, whereby the government is paying a proportion of salaries for workers who are not able to work, that is due to come to an end in october. many firms are having to make pretty stark decisions about the staff they can afford to keep on. one in three fans now saying it will make redundancies between now and september. —— fans. while some restrictions may have

been lifted, we are all being encouraged to go out and bend again. things have not gone back to how they were. —— and spend again. fans are having to make tough decisions. on tuesday the official unemployment figures will give us the latest snapshot of what the uk jobs market looks like and on wednesday we get the latest official grace figures. expect it to confirm the uk is officially in recession. —— growth. many companies will work out how to adapt and ride out the worst of the recession. many are saying they will need fewer staff to do that. a metal detectorist has said he was ‘left shaking with happiness‘ after discovering a set of bronze age artefacts in a field in the scottish borders. mariusz stepien was searching with friends when he found

the bronze objects buried about half a metre underground. a complete horse harness and sword was uncovered and experts have said the discovery is of ‘national significance.‘ earlier we heard from emily freeman, who‘s the manager of the treasure trove unit in scotland. she told us about the moment she realised the hoard was something worth getting excited about. i wish i could say i was excited straightaway but these are objects that actually i had never seen before and he had never seen before. we sent the images over to some specialists to have a look at and it came back that they thought they we re came back that they thought they were bronze age. knowing that he had stopped digging are still getting signals, that is when it became very excited because we knew there were still material in the ground and that means a lot of potential excavation to discover more about why it was buried in the first place. it was probably then we realised what we had was 3000 years old and that is when you start to

get excited. let's talk a bit more about the horde and what we can learn from it. dr matt knight is a curator of prehistory at national museums scotland. how excited are you by this?” cannot describe it. it is the sort of find you dream of coming into the museum and the chance to see it and know we can excavate it and learn as much as we can from it is an unbelievable opportunity. we cannot commend the way the detector is behaved. the expert we heard from, it took her a little while to realise how exciting it was. for those of us who are not experts at these things explain why it is so exciting? the first pieces that were discovered where bronze horse harness fittings, of a tide i had

said he never seen before from scotland. —— of a type. they are incredibly rare in britain. as the horde was excavated further, we discovered an array of really intricate bronze objects, some of which are paralleled only in europe but there is also organic preservation of a kind you can only dream of. this is 3000 year old wood and leather that has been preserved to the extent we can see how horse harness and buckles and rings were all connected and it gives us really clear insight into the crafts of the people living at this time and also the way horses were harnessed, these we re the way horses were harnessed, these were the first horses in britain, so were the first horses in britain, so we can get really clear insight into these sorts of things. he paid tribute into the way it was handled. i think he camped at the site for

three weeks to ensure it was not disturbed. has that been an issue before? once something was found, it was not protected in such a way.” think part of this is his enthusiasm and dedication to the horde. when this stuff comes up, it is important it is protected. this was exposed, valuable material that had not seen the airfor 3000 years. it is important it was protected and guarded from the elements and from any other intrusive behaviour, such as animals. there were a lot of sheepin as animals. there were a lot of sheep in the field. so by him staying overnight and us being there 12 hours a day working on this was all part of preserving as much information as we can from this discovery. very quickly, what have

you learned? discovery. very quickly, what have you learned ? you discovery. very quickly, what have you learned? you have learned about the way horses were harnessed but what more does that tell you about the way of life at that time? the bronze pieces of harnessed gear. we have to work backwards from modern ideas to establish this. this is a way of us identifying craft and also aspects of connections with the wider world beyond scotland at this time. thank you very much. he sounds like a really incredible character. thank you very much. hundreds of volunteers in mauritius havejoined efforts to stop a huge oil spill from reaching the island‘s pristine beaches. they have been creating large net barriers stuffed with straw and plastic bottles. 1,000 tonnes of oil spilled from a japanese—owned ship which ran aground two weeks ago. tanya dendrinos reports.

this coastline of the scene of an ecological disaster. people doing everything they can to stem the impact. volunteers had come to the south—east of the island to do their pa rt south—east of the island to do their part for their country. people are coming in with shovels to pick up the oilfrom the coming in with shovels to pick up the oil from the shore. they are trying to contain the spillage and they are putting how to donate. because hair is a great absorbent for oil. the bulk carrier had around 4,000 tonnes of fuel aboard when it ran aground on a coral reef just off the indian ocean island on the 25thjuly. it‘s believed more than 1000 tonnes of oil has now leaked into the water. the operator of the stranded japanese tanker offering a public apology

but concerns have been raised over the time it‘s taken for action. you know, it‘s only the last three days since the oil started leaking that people have actually been taking action. before that, the government really hasn‘t done too much to actually control the situation and obviously it‘s been hard because nobody‘s really, nobody really knows what‘s going on. and already the impact is severe. greenpeace warning animal species are at risk with potential for dire consequences for the mauritian economy, food security and health. this oil is so deep inside mangroves, in between rocks, under trees, inside the lagoon, that it‘s not something that‘s going to be easily fixable to get all of it out. so it‘s going to be a very challenging process. on friday, the prime minister declared a state of emergency and appealed for help. france has sent a military aircraft with pollution control equipment, with japan dispatching a team to help with the effort. tanya dendrinos, bbc news.

broadway, one of the best known symbols of new york city, has been shut down since march. theatre owners and producers believe shows won‘t resume until next year — with many smaller theatres following suit. samira hussain reports on how performers, set designers, stage managers and musicians are dealing with the prospect of a year without work. broadway, the beating heart of american theatre, but the coronavirus pandemic has delivered it a shock. on most nights, audiences would pack into any one of the venues here to take in a show, but in this city that never sleeps, new york city‘s stage to the world has gone dark. mean girls, the musical adaptation of the film by the same name, has been running on broadway for two years. hundreds of people labour behind—the—scenes to make shows like this come alive on stage. people like holly coombs

who was working until the moment she was told to stop. the day that it got announced, it kind of really hit, like, oh, wait, i really need to make a plan, i don‘t know what my plan is. i don‘t know how i‘m going to pay rent untiljanuary. her weekly unemployment checks pay the rent. she uses her savings to buy food while trying to find another job off—broadway. everyone goes through career changes in their life. one day i probably will not do this any more, but i did not foresee that happening in my 30s. i am optimistic but i will be heartbroken, of course, if the shows that are currently on broadway can't come back. violinist katie kresak went from performing eight shows a week in the orchestra of a broadway musical to performing in her bedroom. collaborating with other musicians virtually has been keeping her busy but broadway was her dream. you have to keep going because, i mean, this

is the thing — my whole life is built around playing the violin and writing music and making this something that i share with other people. so i think it‘s not something that i really want to let go of. even for performers with decades of experience, broadway‘s closure has been just as painful. judy kuhn is a four—time tony nominee. the thing that's so unique about live performance is it's a communal experience. it happens once, that particular night with that particular audience and those particular performers. the curtain on broadway is meant to rise again at the beginning of next year but while the country is in the grips of a pandemic, it‘s hard to see people flocking into the city to sit together for a live performance. so until they can, the theatres will remain dark. samira hussain, bbc news, new york.

thank you for your company this hour. you are watching bbc news. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. hello. the current heatwave is set to last for several more days to come. as far as the weather goes, the next few days dominated by hazy spells of sunshine. hot and humid for england and wales, turning more humid in scotland over the next few days as well. the heat and humidity will also kick—off some big thunder storms, localised torrential downpours that will likely lead to flash flooding from the heaviest and most intense of the storms. looking at the weather picture today, hot and humid. top temperatures around 34, 35 across south—east england. again england will see the best of the morning sunshine. further west, for west england and wales, quite a bit of cloud around. thunderstorms become quite

widespread for a time before moving on into northern ireland. elsewhere, a few storms in scotland later in the day and we could see thundery shower pop—up just about anywhere across england, as the temperature surge once again into the 30s. as we go through this evening and overnight, the storms become widespread in northern ireland and will move their way northwards into scotland, bringing more humid air overnight. these are the kind of temperatures as we are heading to bed. another uncomfortable night‘s sleep ahead for london. temperatures 25 celsius at 11 o‘clock in the night. for tuesday, we will see their thunderstorms from the word go affecting scotland, moving northwards with time. early morning cloud tending to break up. sunny spells will develop. again it will feel hot and humid across england and wales. turning more humid in scotland. the top temperature around 34, 35. again we could see thundery downpours break out just about anywhere. some of them will be torrential. more storms to come as well for wednesday. again scotland, england and wales seeing theirs but northern ireland into the fresh air. probably having the greatest chance

of staying dry on wednesday. top temperatures again into the mid 30s. a remarkable run of very hot weather continues. towards the end of the week, there will be changes in the weather pattern. low pressure takes firm hold and we will see bands of thundery rain pushing northwards. towards the end of the week we are more likely to see heavy downpours, quite widely across the uk and again the ring —— rain will be torrential at times, bringing the risk of localised flooding but ultimately later in the week we will see fresh atlantic air moving in and it will start to feel less humid. that is the latest weather.

this is bbc news. the headlines... borisjohnson says england‘s schools are safe for children to return full—time to the classroom next month. i think it‘s very important that everybody works together to ensure that our schools are safe and they are, they‘re covid secure. i‘ve been very impressed by the work that the teachers have done working with the unions to make sure that all schools are safe to go back to in september. the home secretary goes on patrol with police in dover — after more than 600 migrants arrived in the uk in small boats from france in the past four days. are you ok? are you all right? are you ok? 0k! where are you from? syria! syria?

police in hong kong have arrested the prominent pro—democracy activist and media tycoon, jimmy lai, for suspected collusion with foreign powers. there have been violent clashes in belarus as alexander lukashenko is declared the landslide winner of the country‘s general election more lockdown measures are being relaxed in wales from today, as gyms, swimming pools and leisure centres reopen their doors and a metal detectorist says he was left "shaking with happiness" after discovering a hoard of bronze age artefacts in southern scotland.

good afternoon. the prime minister says education "is the priority for the country", as the government continues to push ahead with plans for all children in england to return full—time to the classroom next month. borisjohnson, who‘s been visiting a school in east london also said schools are the "last thing" the government wants to close as part of any local lockdown restrictions. the education secretary, gavin williamson says there is little evidence the virus is transmitted in schools. the association of school and college leaders has said there is an absence of clear guidance from the government, and it is "losing patience" with ministers‘ failure to have a back—up plan in the event it‘s not possible for all children to return next month. schools in scotland are getting ready to go back, with some children returning tomorrow. our political correspondent jonathan blake is in westminster. over to you, jonathan. well, i think what is clear from what the prime minister and others in government have at westminster are saying is that they are absolutely adamant that they are absolutely adamant that primary and secondary schools should open at the beginning of the

academic year in england in early september and stay open, only closing as a last possible result. and the prime minister has been visiting a primary school in east london this morning talking about his opinions on why it‘s safe for schools to the open, why peoples can come back en masse now and why that is the best thing for pupils in the long run. the way we are trying to manage the covid pandemic is to have local measures in place, local test and trace to introduce restrictions where that‘s necessary, but as we have all said the last thing we want to do is to close schools. we think that education is the priority for the country and that is simple socialjustice. there are, nevertheless, questions

for the government about whether it is safe for schools to reopen en masse and how exactly it is going to work. the education secretary has said that according to an extensive study that is very little evidence that coronavirus is transmitted in schools but the government hasn‘t come forward with its evidence to back up that assertion yet, saying it will be published later in the year. there is guidance to schools and year. there is guidance to schools a nd exa ctly year. there is guidance to schools and exactly how to manage full attendance of pupils that was published back in july, attendance of pupils that was published back injuly, but we are hearing from some unions that schools and education leaders are having to draw up their own contingency plans in the absence of what they believe to be comprehensive enough guidance from the government, and then there‘s the question of testing, whether the system of testing and tracing people who have come into contact with those who have tested positive for coronavirus is reliable enough yet to ensure pupils can return to school safely, and one of those voicing concerns in that area is the mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham. i agree with the government that it

has to be a top priority to get kids back into school. they have had huge disruption this year, haven't they? i think we've got to make every arrangement possible so that people can have that peace of mind. but it does point then at the test and trace system. it is not yet good enough. i'm saying to the government, look, we need to work together to get this system right over august so that we can give that confidence to those parents. children ever turning to school at different points of cuts in different points of cuts in different parts of the uk. some in scotla nd different parts of the uk. some in scotland going back to school tomorrow but in the run—up to schools opening in england at the beginning of september we can expect to hear more from the government about why they believe it is safe for children to go do so in order to reassure pa rents for children to go do so in order to reassure parents and teachers to an extent that it is safe and more of that argument that it is more damaging to children in the long term and keep them off school and expose them to the risk of

coronavirus, which ministers would have us believe is comparatively low. jonathan blake, thank you very much. the home secretary priti patel has visited dover this morning as migrant crossings continue on the english channel. ms patel was seen on a poice boat on the english channel morning. a group of conservative mps and peers have written to her calling for the arrivals to be dealt with ‘urgently and radically through stronger enforcement efforts‘. ministers are said to be drawing up plans — ahead of a meeting in paris tomorrow — where they‘ll be demanding stronger measures from the french authorities. following calls from the home office for support from the royal navy — the ministry of defence says a royal air force atlas aircraft has been flown to support border force operations in the channel. they say the surveillance aircraft is an initial offer of assistance. our correspondent simonjones is on a boat in the channel and sent this update. we took to the water just after five

o‘clock this morning and, initially, it was much rougher than it is now, and it‘s pretty calm at the moment. as we were heading out, mid—channel, we heard from the coast guard that they thought potentially a boat carrying migrants had set off from the north of france. but nobody was quite sure where it was. and then the skipper of the boat with his binoculars saw something coming towards us. it turned out it was a boat carrying migrants. as they got closer, i tried to speak to them. are you ok? are you all right? 0k? 0k! where are you from? syria! syria? how many people? so, they say they are from syria, they say they are ok. i can see there are some women on board, the majority are men. where are you going? where do you want to go?

their destination is dover, obviously. so, at the moment they are motoring through the channel. at the moment, the boat seems to be safe. well, we shadowed that a boat for around an hour. there was no sign of the border force initially, we did see the coast guard spotter plane go over above us, and then after around an hour a border force vessel came out to meet the boat. it took the people on board the border force boat and they have now been escorted back to dover. i think pressure is growing on both sides of the channel for something to be done about this, because these crossings are extremely dangerous. and i think it‘s going to be a crucial week for the british government. priti patel, the home secretary, is coming under growing pressure from her own mps, being told by their constituents that the government doesn‘t seem to be getting a grip of this and sorting this out.

we also have the immigration compliance minister, chris philp, who is going to travel to paris to speak to his french counterparts. britain‘s big idea is that more needs to be done to turn these boats around at sea. this is proving controversial because there are potentially safety issues and the french have seemed reluctant to do this, saying that they fear that migrants could threaten to jump overboard. so i think the meeting in paris will be heated and difficult. what we could see, though, is britain saying that it more cash to france to try and increase patrols in northern france and stop the boats setting off in the first place. the prime minister was also asked about migrants crossing the english channel. he said the uk must look at the legal framework for those who have arrived in the uk illegally. we‘ve got a problem, which is that there are people who want to come from around the world to this country, because obviously it‘s a great place to be, and there‘s no doubt that it would be helpful if we could work

with our french friends to stop them getting over the channel, and be in no doubt, what‘s going on is the activity of cruel and criminal gangs who are risking the lives of these people taking them across the channel. you know, a pretty dangerous stretch of water in potentially unseaworthy vessels. we want to stop that, working with the french, make sure that they understand that this isn‘t a good idea, this is a very, very bad and stupid and dangerous and criminal thing to do but then there‘s a second thing we have got to do, and that is to look at the legal framework that we have that means that when people do get here, sam, it is very, very difficult then to send them away again, even though blatantly they‘ve come here illegally. we need to look at both of these. we need to look at the means by which they‘re coming in, we need to stop them, working with the french, we need to stop them from getting across the channel, but number two we need to look

at the legal framework that we have. all the panoply of laws that an illegal immigrant has at his or her disposal that allow them to stay here and we need to look at what we can do to change that. the children‘s and young people‘s commissioner scotland has called on the scottish government to apologise over this year‘s exam results chaos, and to change the methodology for calculating grades. with no exams sat this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the scottish qualifications authority applied a methodology that saw grades estimated by teachers downgraded. ina in a quarter of cases grades were lowered. bruce adamson, is scotland‘s children and young people‘s commissioner joins us from edinburgh. so, you say you want an apology but would that change anything for the kids that were affected? there needs to be an apology and a significant change. children had the right to an

education that develops them to their fullest potential and part of thatis their fullest potential and part of that is recognising their achievements and over four months ago in the lockdown started and exams were cancelled they were promised a fair assessment and teachers were asked to do on a valuation assessment that took into account preliminary exams, coursework, and their knowledge of how well they youngest would achieve and to have those marks downgraded in so many cases, the 425,000, a quarter of children had their max then graded based mostly on their performance of their school in exams in previous years, it‘s unfair to those people so the first thing we need is an apology from government we have started to see that now with the deputy first manager recognising the deputy first manager recognising the anger and promising to come back to parliament tomorrow with changes to parliament tomorrow with changes to the system so we need that recognition that children and young people have been disadvantaged here ina people have been disadvantaged here in a system that fairly assesses and recognises their achievement. scottish labour say that h should be

returned to teach a‘s predictions. you agree? i think the teachers predictions... we asked teachers in good faith to make an assessment of children‘s ability and where they we re children‘s ability and where they were doing. that has to be the starting point. there maybe some children that disagree with those estimations and we need a process for them again but there should have been the starting point and certainly they should be no more detriments so that no child‘s raiders downgraded in the starting point for the system needs to be those assessments because we trust the children, they know the children best, and viability of seen the work... just to be absolutely clear because obviously the teacher‘s predictions were the starting point and then when they went to the methodology they will changed do you agree with labour that they should be the start and the end point and that teachers projections are it... there may be somewhere those estimations need to be challenged because they don‘t properly reflect what the young people think so young people need access to appeals as

well but the deputy first minister is going back to parliament tomorrow in what we would be expecting to see is an in what we would be expecting to see is an announcement in what we would be expecting to see is an announcement that the process. change to properly recognise children‘s achievements. change to properly recognise children's achievements. the issue with taking completely the teachers predictions on board was that the fa ct predictions on board was that the fact that it would have meant much higher results than had previously happened and that has been the concern. nicola sturgeon said when she spoke on the day about the results that‘s actually pushing them down meant that they were still higher than they would have been across the board normally, but not by any wear nike the margin that the teachers predictions had. we have had overfour months now teachers predictions had. we have had over four months now to come up with the methodology. it was really concerning that the sqa was so late in kind of sharing the methodology from my observation and the fact that children primarily from schools that children primarily from schools that traditionally haven‘t done well, that haven‘t had the support

in more deprived areas, if he is experiencing poverty have historically done worse isn‘t something that we should be looking in. in fact, something that we should be looking in. infact, this something that we should be looking in. in fact, this recognition in the system of assessing children holistically and looking at how well they could have achieved is the best way of looking at it. restricting them based on previous exam success is the wrong bottle and what it does is the wrong bottle and what it does is entrenches some of these inequalities that have existed. exams are a problematic way of assessing children‘s achievements and there has been a big difference between schools, particularly those schools that are experiencing poverty, children experiencing poverty, children experiencing poverty, so actually this was an opportunity this year. we asked teachers to do was to assess children holistically, buckle all of their coursework, look at how well they have done and recognise their achievements, to then take that away from young people and they sit on exams which are not a good measure, historical performance is not a good measure of assessing children‘s achievements that we need to respect

children‘s right to have the education development to the fullest potential in a fair process that recognises their achievement, as done by teachers. thank you very much indeed forjoining us. please adams, children and young people‘s commissioner, scotland. the headlines on bbc news... borisjohnson says england‘s schools are "covid secure" as his government makes plans for pupils to return full—time next month. the prime minister says the government will look at stricter measures to deal with migrants crossing the channel — as the home secretary visits border staff in dover prominent pro—democracy activist and media tycoonjimmy lai has been arrested by police in hong kong for suspected collusion with foreign powers. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, who is it?

that afternoon. thank you we are going to start with what was a dramatic finish... battled his way toa dramatic finish... battled his way to a top of the leaderboard in san francisco and at one point there was a seven way tie at the top that he produced a flawless finish round of 64, finishing two putts clear of a group including... so the wait for the major goes on for casey afterwards. said he was on cloud nine. when i woke up today i was like, this is where i was meant to be, this is where i feel very co mforta ble, be, this is where i feel very comfortable, this is where i want to be an eye on a much scared from it. i was scared, the last few holes would have been a little different that you want to be in this position. great win for him. james anderson says he had no intention of retiring from test cricket. england‘s record wicket keeper is 38

now is a speculator as part of the territory and plus were not being at his best in the first test against pakistan has not helped but he is ignoring the movements. pakistan has not helped but he is ignoring the movementsm pakistan has not helped but he is ignoring the movements. ifi keep bowling the way i have this week the opportunity to the tie will be taken out of my hands but, you know if, for me i am still hungry to play the game and! for me i am still hungry to play the game and i just for me i am still hungry to play the game and ijust want... i think the frustration for me this week has been the just after one bad game... you see whispers go round and i don‘t think that‘s really fair. you see whispers go round and i don't think that's really fair. i'm going to leave the spot there so i can hand back to you joanna. thank you very much and i going to hand back to nicola sturgeon let‘s cross to edinburgh —— where nicola sturgeon is speaking.

more generally, the events of the past fortnight have shown how fragile scotland‘s position is. past fortnight have shown how fragile scotland's position is. we have also seen in aberdeen how that can change. they can literally change in an instant and it will change in an instant and it will change if we drop our guard so for that reason, whenever you are out and about, please continue to think about your own actions, notjust in aberdeen but wherever you happen to be in the country. let me remind you that no more than three household should be meeting together indoors at any one time in each other‘s homes and in places like bars and restau ra nts. homes and in places like bars and restaurants. it is important to recognise that that household limit applies in places like bars and restau ra nts just applies in places like bars and restaurants just as it does on your own home, and people from different household should be staying physically distant from each other at all times, and, again, that is something we advise strongly if you are ina

something we advise strongly if you are in a bar, just as we do if you are in a bar, just as we do if you are meeting other households in your own house. and each of those should be thinking about a recent behaviour, and all of us asking the question, have you been a bit more relaxed about things like physical distance and when you are meeting up with friends recently,. are we creating more bridges that will allow this virus to spread, to travel to us from another householder from another household chores, because if we are doing that andi chores, because if we are doing that and i think it is inevitable that many of us will have dropped our guard that little bit, and now the time is to recognise it and to try to rectify it because the fact is, we‘ll still need to be really careful right now and aberdeen is very ha rd careful right now and aberdeen is very hard proof of that fact. nobody‘s life, while our lives have retained... the gained a bit of normality in recent weeks, nobody‘s life should be feeling absolutely normal at the moment, whom it is still presently know that it is highly infectious so all of us have

a big role to play in trying to keep it under control, and one reason why thatis it under control, and one reason why that is so important is that by suppressing and hopefully eliminating the virus is so important is that it is the best way of ensuring that schools can be open and then stay open safely. that has to bea and then stay open safely. that has to be a priority for all of us and it is very much a priority for government. earlier this morning i visited west calder high school in west lothian to see for myself the preparations that they are making full reopening this week. like many schools across the country, they are having a phased return. tomorrow is an in—service day for staff. wednesday the students in secondary yea rs one wednesday the students in secondary years one to three and sunday as the stu d e nts years one to three and sunday as the students in secondary years one to six and then from friday all stu d e nts six and then from friday all students will be in school full—time, and i think it is worth saying that for students and staff school will feel different to how it was before. they will, for example, bea was before. they will, for example, be a lot more hand washing. some

schools will have staggered starts and lunch breaks. at west calder, for example, lunches have to be ordered on an app and collected at lunchtime. the staff, long young people are not required to keep two metres apart in schools but teachers and other staff are required to keep that distance. i know that they will be nerves and anxiety for children, pa rents be nerves and anxiety for children, parents and young people this week andi parents and young people this week and i think that is entirely understandable. hopefully, induction days that i know are happening in many schools will help young people to get used to the changes into being around each other again, but fundamentally, all of us know that the reopening of schools is essential for children‘s education, personal development, and indeed for their general well—being happiness, so their general well—being happiness, so what we‘re doing is trying to ensure that the reopening is safe and effective. i was really impressed and reassured this morning by what i saw of the preparations at west calder, and i know these preparations are being repeated in schools right across the country and i‘m very grateful to everyone,

teachers, teaching assistants, and local authority workers and all school staff who are enabling schools to safely reopen. there are three other quick points ijust want to make in to schools. the first is that although schools can reopen from tomorrow, this reopening doesn‘t yet apply to unregulated indoor activities for school children, for example some indoor play of activity clubs and some faith related education such as sunday schools and addresses. —— sunday schools and addresses. —— sunday schools and addresses. —— sunday school are madrasas. the second is about public transport. we know that reopening will put additional pressure on our road network. we asked people to help the transport system by only travelling if you need to win by working at home where you can but if you do need to travel please walk, cycle, or wheel to work wherever that is possible, and if you need to use

public transport or if you need to drive which will be the case for some people, think about whether you can make your journey some people, think about whether you can make yourjourney outside the peak times. the continued need for physical distancing on public transport as schools reopened and a small business activities resume will put more pressure on transport services so the travel safe del max safe campaign is intended to help you think about ways in which you can help with that. peoples and indeed parents who received their sqa results last week. we‘ll make a statement in parliament tomorrow about the steps we intend to take to address concerns about this year‘s results, and at the heart of that we won‘t be making steps to ensure that every young people get a grade that recognises the work they have done. let me be clear about this. in a very difficult and unprecedented

situation, we took decisions that we thought on balance with the right ones and we took them with the very best of intentions. these were broadly the same decisions that have been beached for england and wales as well, but our concern was to make sure that they provide young people got were as valid as those they would have got in any earlier perhaps lead us to think too much about the overall system and not enough about the individual people. and that has meant that too many stu d e nts and that has meant that too many students feel that they have lost out on grades that they should have had, and also that that has happened asa had, and also that that has happened as a result, not of anything they have done, but because of a statistical model an algorithm, and in addition that burden has not fallen equally across our society, so fallen equally across our society, so despite our best intentions i do acknowledge that we did not get that right and acknowledge that we did not get that rightandi acknowledge that we did not get that right and i sorry for that, but consider doing what some politicians sometimes do and dig our heels in we are determined to acknowledge that

and put it right. and i have of course deeper questions that we will need to dissolve the longer term about the impact of exams on the attainment gap and on the difference between exams and teacherjudgment. but the most immediate challenge is to resolve the grades awarded to peoples this year. as i said, we will set out our approach tomorrow to the scottish parliament but let it be clear that we will not expect every student who has been downgraded to appeal. this situation is not the fault of students. it should not be on students to fix it. it is on us and we will set out tomorrow exactly how we intend to do that. these are the two main issues i wanted to cover today. obviously we will talk a lot more about both of these issues and obviously others as the week progresses. before i hand over, first of the health secretary and then to the chief medical officer, let me just close by reminding people again are five rules that we all must follow to stay as safe as possible. face

coverings in enclosed spaces, avoid crowded places, clean your hands and had services regularly, to me to distancing remains the overall removal and self—isolate and book a test if you have symptoms. it will comply with these five golden rules then we will collectively reduce the risk of this fibre spreading, so i encourage everybody to do that and to do that regularly because it is in the interests of all of us —— the risk of this virus spreading. thank you very much for them live listening and they will hand over now to the health secretary and then the chief medical officer and then as always we will take questions from the media. thank you very much first minister. i want to touch briefly on the next steps for care home visiting which we announced over the weekend. outdoor visiting, which has been in place for one visitor since the beginning ofjuly, and from today be extended to up to

three visitors from no more than two households. the safeguards and conditions that must be met for this to happen abbott is the home concerned must be covid free for 28 days, there must be a risk assessment and protocol in place that has been agreed and approved by the local health protection team, the local health protection team, the home must be fully participating in the wortley care home testing programme, and from this week they must also be fully participating in using the care home safely huddle tool using the care home safely huddle tool, designed to ensure that homes have all the stuffing and the voter and the other measures in place that we know that they need to. of course at this point we know that regrettably and importantly none of this applies to care homes in aberdeen city, where visiting remains prohibited except in exceptional circumstances such as end—of—life. i also want to

introduce indoor visiting for by one dedicated visitor and to do that homes as homes as well as meeting the criteria i have just set out will need to develop a clear plan that carries a risk assessment, arrangements for staff availability and physical distancing, increased cleaning regimes, and that plan must be approved by the local director of public health, it will also take account of the prevalence level of the virus and the local area. i hope that homes who meets the criteria will be able to complete the steps and receive the necessary approval dependent of course on the prevalence of the virus by august the 24th. finally, we are working towards reintroducing the range of services directly to homes that were there before the pandemic. services like podiatry, i care, dentistry, that have been by and large provided

ata that have been by and large provided at a distance up until now. and also the opportunity for residents who, before the pandemic, were regularly leaving the care home to visit family and friends. all of that i know you understand requires very careful consideration to ensure that we do it ina careful consideration to ensure that we do it in a safer way as possible and balance the benefit of course to resident with the risk of contracting the virus, so the work is under way to take specialist advice on the critical safety measures and requirements that would allow us to do this and to do it as safely as we can, and as we move towards that i will of course keep everyone involved updated. i know this has been and remains a very difficult time for residents in our ca re difficult time for residents in our care homes and for their relatives and of course for the staff and i am very grateful to everyone for their patients and their hard work in all of this. i want to see as great a

return to normality as we can mallet down or manage but we must do it very safely and i know everyone appreciates that. today i wanted to touch on an area i am concerned about as a gp and medical officer. we have said the nhs has been open for those who require it. we have work to phases two and three of the route map stop i have made a lot of changes in light of new covid—19 risks to keep people as safe as possible. i want to thank my colleagues across primary care for their superb job they have done. i still hear from gps that they are not seeing some of the types of patients they would normally see. for a small number of people, symptoms of lung cancer may be developing unrecognised and there

are still fewer people seeking help for this than i would expect that this might be because the symptoms appearsimilarto this might be because the symptoms appear similar to covid—19 or people might be uneasy about seeking help or burdening services. please do not ignore this. contact your gp commend being assessed and treated when required and as soon as possible will hugely improve your chances of a good outcome. if you or someone you know has been experiencing a persistent cough, unexplained weight loss or continued shortness of breath, please make sure you use the nhs, contact your gp or nhs 24. this is especially important if you have unusual symptoms like blood when you path, an unusual pain in your chest when you breed. to support gps in decision—making when checking patient similar to temp covid—19, a

report has been published. it provides a framework on the next steps gp should take when patients present for specific symptoms. we hope this will help between covid—19 symptoms and those with potentially more serious conditions like lung cancer. it is of little comfort that since my statement in april we have seen a since my statement in april we have seen a significant increase in referrals generally to pre—covid 19 levels. throughout this pandemic, we have been clear that vital cancer treatments and emergency, maternity and urgent care continue and nhs boards have worked hard to provide vital cancer care. there have been changes in treatment plans to minimise risk. these decisions for

not have been taken lightly. any decision will be guided by clinical evidence and risk and discuss between patient and clinician carefully. if you or someone you know has been experiencing a persistent cough for longer than anticipated or continued shortness of breath, we have symptoms you are concerned about please make sure you use the nhs and contact the gp on nhs 24. the city you get these checked out, the better.” nhs 24. the city you get these checked out, the better. i will move on to questions now. glenn campbell from the bbc. we will get the details to my back can you give us a little more today. does your announcement mean a system of moderation will no longer apply? will students get a great of moderation will no longer apply? will students get the grades that teachers said they were worth? do you still have confidence injohn swinney as education secretary? yes, idid. i swinney as education secretary? yes, i did. i want to focus today on the

substance of the issue and rectifying the most important thing for me and the most important thing for me and the most important thing forjohn swinney as well. the reasons he will understand, in particular as a journalist, i am not going to go into the detail because we will set out to parliament as is appropriate tomorrow. we want to address this and we will address this ina address this and we will address this in a way that means young people get the grades they feel they have worked for and and and secondly we will not put the onus of that on young people. we are the ones with the best of intentions and in a difficult situation, where there was no clear right or wrong way to do this, we accept we did not get it right and the onus will be on government to fix this and we were set out the detail of how that will happen tomorrow and i will not go into any more detail of that right now. i do not want to focus on the

politics of this. obviously, parliament can do that over the course of the week and that is perfectly legitimate. i will make two points. firstly, the one i alluded to already. there is no decision that government anywhere, or very few decisions governments anywhere have had to make over the past few months that have been easy. we are all making tough decisions in circumstances none of us want to be in and are farfrom circumstances none of us want to be in and are far from ideal. circumstances none of us want to be in and are farfrom ideal. we circumstances none of us want to be in and are far from ideal. we were not always get those right and that is not because we do not try to get them right but we are in unprecedented circumstances. i think it is really important, and i have said it all along, when we make a mistake or not get things right, we are big enough to say that not do what politicians, all of us in more normal times tend to do, which is dig our heels in and defend things. this an and completely unprecedented

situation. —— this is a completely unprecedented. we will try to get it right in future. it is not trying to be party political because i do not think this is. what i am effectively doing is illustrating that with the reality. governments everywhere are grappling with these issues and the approach that was taken to result in scotla nd approach that was taken to result in scotland this year is broadly the same approach as his take on england and wales as well. the illustration of this not being party political is in england it is a conservative government, in wales a labour government, in wales a labour government with a liberal education minister. we are all in the same boat and we are all trying to do the best things in difficult circumstances. a—level results will come out later this week. scotland has been the first to confront this and we are saying we did not get it right. i want to say again to young

people, i am sorry for that. as i said, when results came out last week, this is a big moment in your lives and i am sorry some of you have had anxiety this week and we will put it right for you and that is the commitment i am giving today. some say the education secretary has failed and he should get. you say you have confidence in him. why is he the right person to fix this mess? i believe he is. the point i'm a democrat i would just ask people. opposition parties will take the decisions they want to take. that is legitimate. i have been an opposition politician in the past andi opposition politician in the past and i will not get into that here. these are debates for parliament to having the proper way. the point i have made and i am not going to repeat it at length, there are different governments in different parts of the uk or lead behind

different parties. actually they have all taken broadly the same decision. it will be for other governments to decide if they want to stick with that or decide to do something different. this is not about a particular party or a particular government, it is about all of us trying to make difficult decisions as best we can. i only speakfor decisions as best we can. i only speak for my own government. i am accountable for my own government. when we get things wrong, i want to be able to stand here and acknowledge that and put it right. fundamentally, particularly in this time of crisis, maybe we can learn a bit for the future as well. i think thatis bit for the future as well. i think that is better than digging in our heels and trying to defend a position we think in our hearts to me had had an opportunity to think about it and see the impact on young people we did not get right. i will ta ke people we did not get right. i will take the approach of the deputy first minister and i hope that is the one that young people affected and the families will see as the

right approach to take. good afternoon. first minister, overthe weekend, are you satisfied that people in scotland had been conforming to the new rules? looking towards wednesday, how likely is it a lockdown in aberdeen will be lifted? second a lockdown in aberdeen will be lifted ? second question, a lockdown in aberdeen will be lifted? second question, if i may come as scotland began to unlock some parts of the hospitality industry introduced two hour slots forfood industry introduced two hour slots for food and drink. industry introduced two hour slots forfood and drink. the industry introduced two hour slots for food and drink. the slots industry introduced two hour slots forfood and drink. the slots meant that people who might be happy to stay in one place could continue socialising till a second or perhaps a third venue. given the situation now, particularly in aberdeen, which he welcomed pubs in the industry perhaps reconsidering that approach? —— would you welcome? perhaps reconsidering that approach? -- would you welcome? these arrangements have to be kept under

review. we need to assess the impact and whether they are having the desired effect of stopping the virus is spreading. i will talk about this later in the week. we will introduce guidance for the hospitality industry to give a stronger legal basis. they will look at some of the ways in which we can best support the hospitality industry to stay open and stay open safely. in relation to... you asked me, over the weekend, have people been complying? by and large the majority of people are trying to comply. this is not natural behaviour for any of us. we are all finding it hard. i speakfrom us. we are all finding it hard. i speak from my own experience as an individual but also from what i observed will stop some of what we are finding hardest, and it is true for me, is physical distancing because it does not come naturally

with people you know and love and i used to being around. i think we all had to make an even greater effort to do the right thing, however difficult it is because we all know how important it is. there will a lwa ys how important it is. there will always be a minority people who more flag ra ntly always be a minority people who more flagrantly breached guidelines. i would say to them. and think about the impact you are having on other people. this is a classic example on the difference between individual behaviour and collective behaviour. if, as an individual, you take part in extreme dangerous sport where there is always a risk, that risk is to you. right now, if you are breaching the regulations, the risk is to everybody. if you help to spread the virus let you do not know it is someone who is valuable patches that virus because of the risks you have taken. it may sound a bit cliched that everything we do

right now impacts on everybody else. all of us had to stop and think about individual responsibility is to everybody around us. that is my plea to everybody as we continue to try to navigate our way through this. lastly, on the situation in aberdeen, i am this. lastly, on the situation in aberdeen, iam not this. lastly, on the situation in aberdeen, i am not going to pre—empt the decision we will reach on wednesday. we said we would review the restrictions in aberdeen on a seven the restrictions in aberdeen on a seven day basis and we will do that on wednesday. i would reallyjust repeat what i said last wednesday when we first introduced these restrictions, we will not keep them in place longer than we deem necessary because i don‘t want any pa rt necessary because i don‘t want any part of the country to be living under these restrictions. having done it, we had to make sure we do it long enough to get the cluster and outbreak under control. —— we have to make sure. i will not rule out the possibility that we may have to extend for a further seven days a

me get beyond wednesday. i will outline on wednesday that further conclusions we reach when we had taken into conclusions we reach when we had ta ken into account conclusions we reach when we had taken into account all the evidence and data as part of that decision. —— we have taken. and data as part of that decision. -- we have taken. first minister, following on from what you said about exams, do you now accept that judgment of the people who everyone agrees know the people is best, and thatis agrees know the people is best, and that is the teachers? i have always trusted teachers. i will not go much further into the detail thatjohn swinney will set out tomorrow because it is important and right that that is set out to parliament. we asked the sqa to have a system of awarding qualifications to young people this year that recognised their work young people had done obviously but also made sure we had

a set of results that were credible and maintained standards. i do not attach any blame to the sqa for this. this is the responsibility of ministers. the sqa has done that. looking at the whole system approach, we have perhaps not thought enough about the impact on individuals. i have become more acutely aware of something i am not prepared to countenance, which is the impact on a young person, particularly in one of our more deprived communities. the conclusion they may be reaching out no matter how hard they work and how seriously they take education, the system is stacked against them and i am not prepared to have that outcome. i also understand that whatever the intentions, and these were the best of intentions about the whole system, if you are an individual young person, who now face his or has faced the prospect of having to

appeal, you feel it is nothing to do with you. if you ended up in a group of people where judgment was accepted without question or people who will have to justify it without appeal is down to an algorithm. i accept the fact that feels deeply unfair. we have tried to balance difficult considerations here and i suspect there will always be people who take one view or the other. i am not prepared as first minister, i know the deputy first minister feels this as well, to have this year‘s cohort of peoples, particularly those from deprived communities because this leads into next year‘s whole of people thinking hard work at school does not count. there is a bigger issue here than the one we initially tasked the sqa with. that is the one we are determined to fix and it will be set out in more

detail tomorrow. on the issue of schools, we are hearing more about the concerns of teachers ahead of schools reopening this week met many saying they had not been given enough time to prepare. one said 87% of members feel anxious. i was wondering if you share that anxiety and what can be said or done at this late stage to reassure them?” and what can be said or done at this late stage to reassure them? i am not going to say i share anxiety of a teacher. i am not going to be in a school this week teaching young people. it would be wrong of me to try to pretend i understand exactly how a teacher feels. i understand try to pretend i understand exactly how a teacherfeels. i understand it ina how a teacherfeels. i understand it in a sense it is not surprising to me that teachers and pupils and their parents will feel a sense of anxiety this week because school has not been to mexico some teachers will have been helping to keep hubs open during the course of lockdown

but for the vast majority of pupils, pa rents but for the vast majority of pupils, parents and teachers, there has been no normal schooling for a five month period. given the circumstances, it is not going to be an anxiety free experience for anyone. we continue to talk to teachers unions about additional steps we might be able to ta ke to additional steps we might be able to take to reassure teachers as time goes on. the guidance we have put in place for the start of the school term has been very carefully worked through and informed by scientific advice. when i was in west powder high school this morning, i was extremely impressed by a range of things, the basic arrangements they have in place from welcoming people bank, checking well—being, staggered lunch breaks, clear signage

everywhere, including to help teachers keep a physical distance from each other and pupils, through to the use of technology, to facilitate the new way of working in school but also to support any young person who may be off school if they have symptoms of covid and are self isolating. we will continue to work with and support teachers to feel confident as they go back in the arrangements that are in place. we will make sure there is surveillance in place. if there are other things teachers say to us to help build that reassurance, we will continue to consider that carefully. overall, the importance of getting young people back to education cannot be overstated. schools have worked really ha rd to overstated. schools have worked really hard to support people through lockdown. the unhappiness has been negative for young people. to get them back into full—time education has to be a priority.

gregor may want to say a word about guidance in place and how we had come to these assessments. they are not complacent about this and i hope you get a sense from listening to me every day. i am not complacent about any aspect of covid. of all of the cases, the 19,000 or so cases we have had in scotland, less than 1% of those had been in the end of 15 age group and around 2% had been in the under 20 age group. —— the and 15. younger people who do get covid have a milderform of 15. younger people who do get covid have a milder form of the 15. younger people who do get covid have a milderform of the illness. that gives some assurance that we are not complacent and we will do everything to build confidence of pa rents, everything to build confidence of parents, pupils and teachers. teachers are often parents as well with families and they have concerns about their own wider network. we ta ke about their own wider network. we take this extremely seriously. the

guidance has been carefully thought through and worked out by our scientific advisor, the group on education and children‘s issues. the group comprises public health experts and also experts in education and on children‘s issues as well. they have been examining evidence not only from our experience in this country but actually from around the globe, drawing on centres of expertise, such as the european centre for disease control and some of the learning they have from other european countries, which helps to guide the return of children into education. the guidance that has been produced is very comprehensive. it draws on a wide evidence base, which is now available. as the first minister has already outlined met we know from my experience, particularly in this country, that covid—19 tends to be a much less severe illness, in children in fact,

a mild illness which appears to be less easily spread and is less easily transmissible between children as well. using that and other evidence bases, both in relation to the reflection of the wider community prevalence rates as well, the group is very confident that the guidance supports the safe return of children into education in this country. that afternoon. as you said, there would have been 231 cases in the grampian area with 157 in some way linked to the cluster in aberdeen. are you going to tell us the background of other cases that have been identified in the health board area? how likely is an extension of lockdown in aberdeenshire at this stage?” extension of lockdown in aberdeenshire at this stage? i want to say more about the 70 or so cases

we have seen in aberdeen over the last few weeks that are not thought to be part of this cluster. i cannot give you all the detail on them right now because they are still being looked at but they are closely being looked at but they are closely being looked at semi can understand if there are any patterns which cause any additional concern and we will update as necessary on that. the issue of aberdeenshire is one which has been under review on an ongoing basis by the incident management team. their view at the moment is there is no need to extend restrictions in aberdeenshire. if they change that based on what they are learning about the outbreak or how the outbreak develops, we will not hesitate to take appropriate decisions. we have not at this stage come to the conclusion that is necessary. hopefully, and we can never be sure they will not be wider transmission or transmission out of aberdeen city here, but the more the

restrictions we put into place are complied with, the more we can minimisei complied with, the more we can minimise i hope any wider spread of this and that is what fundamentally is the point of these restrictions. ididn't is the point of these restrictions. i didn't think it will come as a surprise to doubt myself and members of my team in regular dialogue with clinicians in aberdeen and public health scotland over the course of the weekend as it kept a careful and watchful eye on the figures that we re watchful eye on the figures that were emerging each day. further analysis still needs to be done in relation to some of these cases. the reports i am getting back from the incident management team and the clinicians in aberdeen in relation to that are at this point in time, they do not believe there is evidence of sustained community transmission in either aberdeen city or in the wider shia at this moment as well. clearly it is an area we need to keep very close eye on and remain vigilant over the next few

days, just to see exactly what gradually appear each day. the incident management team is meeting again today and i expect a full report from then after that. you say you are hoping to build on the trust of pa rents you are hoping to build on the trust of parents that school is returning this week. we have heard from some who are still sceptical about sending their kids back. you are expecting a full return to school by this time next week. for parents who perhaps are still unsure and may choose not to send their children to school, will they be judged choose not to send their children to school, will they bejudged or penalised better i was wondering to keep a parent who had been shielding up keep a parent who had been shielding up untila keep a parent who had been shielding up until a couple of weeks ago, is there any extra guidance or support for them or any guarantee that if the child picks up coronavirus at school, they were not bringing home to pa re nts ?

school, they were not bringing home to parents? gregor will say a word or two about parents who have been in the shielding category. i do not wa nt in the shielding category. i do not want anyone to see this as some kind of adversarial stand—off between pa rents of adversarial stand—off between parents and government and parents and school. we all want to build confidence. we are going to leave that news briefing from nicola sturgeon. an apology from nicola sturgeon. an apology from nicola sturgeon over the exam results last week in scotland that saw nearly a quarter of all the recommended results for scottish pupils downgraded. she said they did not get that right. she said sorry, they are determined to put it right. that is not the fault of students and is on us. the one o‘clock news coming up. now it‘s time for a look at the weather. some of us might be waiting for a refreshing shower or thunderstorm. they will be very hit and miss over

the next few days. in the short term most of us will not get these storms. most will be in the west of the uk. locally, they could be torrential. they have been breaking out across south—western parts of england into southern wales. you can see some clouds affecting western parts of the uk. towards the east and south—east where you have sweltering heat, at most you‘d get an isolated thunderstorm. generally speaking it is a case of hot sunshine once again and for their next few days. the showers and thunderstorms will be more widespread in other areas as well. this is what we are expecting tonight. the storms march northwards. northern ireland will catch a few storms as well. very warm evening. temperatures in the mid 20s across the south—east of england and 21 degrees in liverpool. here is tuesday morning. heavy

showers and storms are still rambling across parts of scotland. thunderstorms breaking out but generally speaking it is northern areas, areas where we have not seen the extreme heat. temperatures tomorrow up to around 34 celsius. most will get the odd shower and scattered clouds. here is wednesday. heavy showers across parts of scotland, a few breaking out locally in the south stop wednesday is the day when we could see some showers locally where we have had the heatwave but generally speaking it does seem to be the west and north of the uk. towards the second half of the uk. towards the second half of the uk. towards the second half of the week on a thursday and friday, with a cm or widespread area of clouds, showers and thunderstorms drifting in from the south. —— as we will see. chances of encountering a thunderstorm is more likely. chances

rise as we go through the course of the week. temperatures persisting in the week. temperatures persisting in the south east for much of the week. that is it. goodbye.

back to school for the new term. borisjohnson insists schools are on target and safe to take students back full time next month i think it‘s very important that everybody works together to ensure that our schools are safe, and they are, they are covid secure. i‘ve been very impressed with the work that the teachers have done, working with the unions to make sure that all schools are safe to go back to in september. we‘ll be live in westminster shortly. the other stories this lunchtime: in scotland pupils go back from tomorrow — as nicola sturgeon apologises over exams — saying ‘we didn‘t get it right‘ the home secretary visits border patrols deployed to monitor migrants crossing the channel — as britain says it wants to work