this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. doctors treating the russian opposition activist alexei navalny, who's in a coma, say he can be transported to germany. a series of massive fires in northern and central california force thousands from their homes. the us postmaster—general tells a senate committee that ballots in november's presidential election will be delivered — securely and on time. belarus opposition leader svetla na tikhanovskaya vows to "stand till the end" in protests over disputed elections.

russian doctors now say the opposition activist, alexei navalny, can be transported to germany for treatment. his supporters believe his release was delayed until no traces of poison could be found inside him. it could still be several hours before he leaves siberia. mr navalny became unwell after drinking tea at an airport cafe. moscow strongly denies he was poisoned. earlier the spokesman for the hospital where mr navalny is being treated, explained why the possible plans to move mr navalny had changed. translation: the relatives of the patient have made multiple requests for him to be transported. they are relatives, family members, and they, like other people, have been given all the information about his condition, the diagnosis, and they are ready to accept the risk of transportation. we have, therefore, decided not

to oppose transferring the patient to another clinic. it will be the one the relatives choose. applause. it will be the ones the relatives choose, once it is confirmed, it will except the patient. ——it will accept the patient. it will not happen immediately, but it will happen today. sergei goryashko is in moscow for us... good to see you. he can now be moved to germany, but his supporters are still suspicious about the delay, aren't they? yes, and there are questions why it took the whole day to make this decision to transport navalny to the hospital in germany and we are also unsure about when exactly this transportation will happen. now we've got information that's probably it will happen only early in the morning because there are some sort of things that need to be done in the hospital and then in

the airport. so, his supporters and his family think that the problem was the kremlin, they didn't want navalny to be transported so soon into the facility in germany abroad because they didn't want foreign doctors to know which poison has affected navalny, what happened to him, and what caused such a major organ failure with him. so they think that doctors decided to take this time, take this delay to make the poison disappear and only after that, they allowed navalny to be transported to a facility abroad. are there any details about his condition that have emerged that might explain this turnaround? well, there are very few details about what has happened to navalny and what has happened to navalny and what is his condition. doctors say that he's in critical condition, that he's in critical condition, that it's really a very serious for

him. but they don't suspect poisoning, doctors in russia, so they think navalny had some sort of major metabolic disorder or something like that, and it could be affected because of the low blood sugar, but his personal doctor doubts this, and they still suspect poisoning. we also know that navalny is still in a coma and probably we are hoping to get more details from german doctors when he will be transported. what has the response to this been throughout the day in russia and outside? well, as we have learned from a vladimir putin has told his european counterparts that navalny has fallen ill, so no information, no suspicious poisoning, nothing about that, just that he has fallen ill and that is it. we also know that there has been a very strong response from european

leaders like chancellor angela merkel, emmanuel macron, they were told that their very deeply concerned about navalny‘s states and wa nt concerned about navalny‘s states and want russia to hold a proper investigation into what happened to him. ona investigation into what happened to him. on a serious note, the kremlin will do that, because all of the story of different poisonings of different political leaders and journalists came to one and, there was just no investigation and no one has been held accountable. all right, thank you for that this evening. now let's turn to the usa, where wildfires continue to sear through the state of california, forcing thousands out of their homes and taxing the state's firefighting capacity. over 10,000 fire—fighters are battling the blazes, which have claimed the lives of at least six people and destroyed hundreds of structures. it all comes amid a heatwave and the coronavirus pandemic in the state. with more than 650,000 coronavirus cases, california has the highest number of infections in the us,

and some evacuees have said they are afraid to go to emergency shelters. well, in the last decade, extreme wildfires have become the new abnormal in callifornia. ——the new abnormal in california. it seems like every year re—ups the previous year in terms of pushing the envelope, in terms of how much fire we re seeing in the region. joining us from palo alto, california is michael wara. he is the director for the climate and energy policy program at stanford university. thank you very much forjoining us. just tell us a bit about what's unusual about these fires? well, we have had a number of factors kind of come together in a really dangerous and frightening way in california over the last couple of weeks, we had a very dry winter, so fuels were drying out faster than normal. then about a week ago, very unusual

lightning storms came ashore, a tropical thunderstorm struck northern california really outside of anyone's experience for august. there were 10,000 lightning strikes, that started 370 or so wildfires at last count, and a number of those fires kind of smoldered for a couple of days and then blew up a few days ago. i think the right way to describe it is that the bay area, a place where tens of millions of people live is, right now, kind of surrounded by wildfires that are mostly burning out of control, and resources a re mostly burning out of control, and resources are stretched very thin. i contributive factor i think is that we are still struggling in the united states with a century of fire suppression, and a build—up of fuels that have accompanied that as well. and how do we know, as you have said

before, that these fires are linked to climate change? well, i think the climate change footprint or fingerprint on these fires is sort of multifaceted. one aspect of that are the increasingly dry winters that we are having in california and an increased variability in the mediterranean climate that we have here where we are sort of swinging between too much water and too little water rather than sort of being more in the middle which is what was the case in the latter half of the 20th century. so that's a pa rt of the 20th century. so that's a part of the fingerprint. i think many people are scratching their heads as well about the tropical moisture that we've been experiencing in northern california. there is apparently more potential for lightning storms, thunderstorms this weekend, so that's a really unusual phenomenon that merits further study, like the spread of

tropical weather into what is typically a dry climate in the summer typically a dry climate in the summer in california, northern california. all right, michael, thank you for joining us. yelled my pleasure, thank you for having me on. let's turn to the situation in belarus — and opposition leader svetlana tikhanovskaya has called on her supporters to step up their strikes at factories across the country to try to force new presidential elections. belarus is facing its biggest political crisis since the break—up of the soviet union, with tens of thousands of demonstrators saying veteran leader alexander lu kashenko's re—election on the 9th of august was rigged. in herfirst interview since fleeing the country, the oppositon leader has spoken to the bbc‘s europe correspondent, jean mackenzie. ms tikhanovskaya insists that people voted for her as a symbol of freedom and expects the people of belarus to continue to stand up until they've achieved change.

do you want to be a leader in this time? you know the answer to this question. i am time? you know the answer to this question. iam not time? you know the answer to this question. i am not a leader by nature, and i've never been. so it's my mission now. i have to be, just... i'm like a symbol. they are shouting for their future, for their wish to live in a free country, they were shouting against the violence, they were shouting for their rights. but they voted for you. they voted for me not as forfuture president, butjust like a symbol of changes. can you tell me anything about what happened in those election offices and what choice you are given? i'm sorry, but i can't. not now. not 110w.

sorry, but i can't. not now. not now. do you fear for your husband, yourself? your children? it's not just, you know, the topic we have to discuss now, because, you know, it's my own story and what is more important is that situation in belarus. how do you feel when you see the reports of violence that have come out of the country in the last week? you know, i was really shocked. i didn't tell anybody, but i couldn't find a place, i was just crying. for a couple of hours when we saw the first pictures you know, i can't even believe that this police man who beat these people we re police man who beat these people were belarus shens, because i can't imagine the terrible russian people can be so cruel. at the moment, lukashenko is digging in. it doesn't look like

he's going anywhere. are you worried that the movement could fail? no, i'm not worried, because i believe in the belarussian people the same way they believed in me one day. and we have no right to step back now — because if not now, we will be slaves. and our people understand this and i'm sure we will stand till the end. have you heard from anybody in the kremlin over the last week? have they reached out to you? know. no. no. do you want to go back to belarus? absolutely, yes. it's my motherland and i adore my country andi motherland and i adore my country and i want to live there, and i will be back immediately when i feel safe

there. meanwhile, in belarus itself, the government of president lukashenko has begun criminal proceedings against opposition groups and striking workers. they are accused of trying to seize power illegally. the industrial action and protests continue. this is a group of relatives and friends of people who have been detained since the disputed election, forming a human chain to theirjail, and calling for their release. there have also been protests in suppor of president lukashenko — —— there have also been protests in support of president lukashenko — and our correspondent steve rosenberg went to see what was happening at one of them in minsk. i'm on victory square in the centre of minsk, and behind me, there is a rally taking place in support of alexander lukashenko. these rallies have been going on in the capital here from time to time. a couple of things strike me about it, the first thing is the numbers, it's much smaller than the antigovernment protests that we have been seeing here since the presidential election. the other thing, you don't hear at this reality

is the sound of car horns, drivers sound in their car horns as they are driving past, because the antigovernment rallies, there is a cacophony of car horns, drivers registering their support you don't hear that here. overhead with a big belarussian flag to try to give moral support to these protesters. there have been reports that quite a few of these rallies in support of the president are very organised, have been organised by the authorities to try to give a feeling that mr lukashenko does enjoy a degree of support in the country. steve rosenberg reporting there. now, joseph deangelo, the man known as the golden state killer, has been sentenced to life in prison. his sentencing marks the end of a crime investigation that began in the 1970's and attracted worldwide attention. deangelo was a californian police

officer during his 12 year spree of brutal crimes in the 1970's and 80's. he was arrested in 2018 after police tracked him down by using a genealogy website to match his dna to that recovered from several crime scenes. injune, the 74—year—old admitted to 13 murders in a deal meant stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we'll hear from the boss of the postal service in the us who says november's presidential ballots will be delivered in time, and on schedule. washington, the world's most political city, is today assessing the political health of the world's most powerful man. indeed, i did have a relationship with ms lewinsky that was not appropriate. in fact, it was wrong. in south africa, 97 people have been killed today in one

czechoslovakia must be free! russia is observing a national day of mourning for the 118 submariners who died on board the kursk. we are all with them now. they're within our hearts. the pope has celebrated mass before a congregation of more than 2.5 million people in his hometown of krakow. "stay with us, stay with us", chanted this ocean of humanity. "well, well," joked the pope. "so, you want me to desert rome?" this is bbc news, the latest headlines... doctors treating the russian opposition activist alexei navalny, who's in a coma, say he can be transported to germany. a series of massive fires in northern and central california force thousands from their homes.

a quick update now on a story which has been gathering headlines in america — whether the us postal service will be able to cope with the demand for postal voting for november's presidential election. donald trump has warned of the potentialforfraud — though his opponents say there's no issue there. let's speak to daniel lippman, a journalist at the website politico, who have been looking at this. thank you very much, daniel, for coming on. this was the first public appearance by lewes tojoy on what has become a major campaign issue. did he managed to allay any fears today? thank you did manage to delay some fears, but i think before a houston aquatic committee, and democrats still want him to rollback those changes that have led to all of these delivery issues in terms of

people not getting their medicines, even animals dying in the mail because they just get stuck even animals dying in the mail because theyjust get stuck in a postal sorting facility, so he is trying to do this public offensive to reassure people that their ballots will get to the election officials on time, but the caveats, you have to send them in early, because if you send them the day before, it's going to be hard for the postal service to rush them to election officials. democrats are seeing these proposed changes as a deliberate attempt to suppress voting. republicans are saying these are justified voting. republicans are saying these arejustified considering voting. republicans are saying these are justified considering the amount of cost cutting that's needed. think this issue will calm down a little bit now that the postmaster general has said that there won't be further changes? i think it has calm down a bit, because there's less of a public uproar, but we kind of have to keep an eye on this because dejoy

isa to keep an eye on this because dejoy is a major trump supporter and someone is a major trump supporter and someone who took the job only two months ago and has had a call with the president, he donated $2 million to trump and other republican causes just since 2016. i talked to one person who knows him, carolina republican operative where dejoy is from, he from, he said he loves trump to death and was very proud of the fact that he was one of trump's major fundraisers the fact that he was one of trump's majorfundraisers in the fact that he was one of trump's major fundraisers in 2016. the fact that he was one of trump's majorfundraisers in 2016. so, you don't want to have a politicized postal service that is something that happens more in a third world country, and trump has said that he wa nts to country, and trump has said that he wants to deprive the postal service of funding so that they have trouble processing the ballots. so this is something that's going to be alive issue for a while. well, despite those links that you've mentioned, what was notable in this hearing was that dejoy actually defended voting by mail, he said he supports the concept and he does so himself,

which is quite a contrast to donald trump who has attacked voting by mailand trump who has attacked voting by mail and cited fraud, albeit with little evidence. yes, dejoy did not mention fraud. the us post office has a postal inspection service made up has a postal inspection service made up of several thousand agents that prosecute crime through the mail. so they just have not prosecute crime through the mail. so theyjust have not seen that much of that ballot fraud, and in a country of 330 million americans, you would have to really try very hard to actually gather enough ballots from all over the country in terms of swing states, and most americans, they care about politics, but they are not willing to risk going to jailfor are not willing to risk going to jail for ten are not willing to risk going to jailfor ten yearsjust so are not willing to risk going to jail for ten years just so that they can getan jail for ten years just so that they can get an extra ballots for their chosen candidates, so, it is kind of a red herring, and it's meant to suppress the vote and make people more scared to vote by mail, but the erratic thing is that it's making it

harderfor erratic thing is that it's making it harder for republicans to convince their voters that it's safe to vote by mail them and many of their voters are elderly americans who don't want to go to the polls to contract coronavirus. all right, daniel, we will leave it there. thank you very much. thank you. it is "a battle of light against darkness." that is howjoe biden characterised the presidential election as he accepted the democratic party nomination to challenge donald trump for the white house in november. mr biden said his opponent had failed in his most basic duty — to protect americans from threats such as coronavirus.0ur north america editorjon sopel reports. # 0h, say can you see...# the democrats have managed to make a covid convention work, helped by a roster of big names — the chicks on hand to sing the national anthem. but, more particularly by the small names — ordinary americans with stories to tell. last night, it was brayden harrington, a kid with a stutter. it was really amazing to hear someone like me

could become vice pre... he stutters ..president. a condition joe biden overcame as a child, but has never turned his back on. i think the day i saw joe the clearest... the other aim this week has been to show that the party is united behind joe biden. these are the people lost out to him, gathering to say, with maybe slightly strained smiles, what a great guy he is. and all of us, whether you're progressive, moderates or conservatives, have got to come together to defeat this president. and that's been a driving force of democrat strategists here at this convention, presenting joe biden as empathetic, sympathetic, decent — and, yes, a counterpoint to donald trump. if you trust me with the presidency i will draw on the best of us, not the worst. i will be an ally for the light, not the darkness. it's time for us — for we, the people — to come together.

and make no mistake — united, we can and will overcome this season of darkness in america. this wasn't a policy heavy speech but clear differences on the environment, the economy, immigration and how to deal with the coronavirus outbreak were apparent. and 32 years after his first tilt at becoming a presidential candidate, joe biden could finally say these words... so it is with great honour and humility i accept this nomination for president of the united states of america. this is the nearest thing to audience reaction there has been all week. a pop—up, drive—in cinema in wilmington withjoe biden topping the bill. the fireworks switch from here to the republican convention next week. there will be no effort to rebrand donald trump, but there will be a concerted one to try to redefinejoe biden. the empathetic man of this week

will be depicted as weak, a prisoner of the left, nearly senile. it won't be pretty. jon sopel, bbc news, wilmington, delaware. president trump has been commenting on the democratic party convention, calling it shameful. he was speaking in the last hour to conservative activists at the council for national policy. over the last week, the democrats of the darkest, angriest, gloomiest convention in american history. they spent four straight days attacking america as racist and a horrible country that must be redeemed. joe biden grimly declared a season of american darkness, and yet look at what we've accomplished until the plague came in, look at what we've accomplished and now we are doing it again. applause

let's look at some of the day's other news... in libya the internationally—recognised government of national accord has ordered its forces to cease hostilities and said parliamentary and presidential elections should be held in march next year. for its part, the eastern—based parliament — backed by the rebel leader general khalifa haftar — have said their forces will also stop fighting. the united kingdom and the european union have accused each other of holding up the talks on their future relations. the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, said the negotiations appeared to be going backwards rather than forwards, and warned that an agreement seemed unlikely unless london stopped wasting time. his british counterpart, david frost, said progress would only be possible if the eu accepted what he called the reality of the uk's demands. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter, i'm @kacungira.

thank you very much for watching and stay here with us on bbc news. good evening. i'm sure many of you, just like me, were woken up by the strength of the wind first thing this morning, and it didn't let up throughout the day, did it? in fact, we've been literally awashed by weather watcher pictures showing the seas that have been whipped up into a frenzy, with gusts of winds in excess of 60 miles an hour along the coast. in fact, if we take a look at the gusts that we have throughout the day, quite widely, 60 miles an hour, but we did actually get a gust of wind recorded in the needles just over 70 miles an hour — unusual, really, for this time of year. now, that low pressure, well, it's going to gradually drift its way northwards, but we still keep the strong winds through the night. and we're still going to keep some showery outbreaks of rain. now, some of the rain's been really quite intense, fairly persistent through scotland over the last few hours,

and we are going to keep that going overnight. some sharper showers into northern england and northern ireland. so, there will be some showers driven in by some blustery winds through this evening and overnight. some clear skies. but because the wind direction is still coming from a south—westerly, not a particular cold night, temperatures holed up into the mid—teens. so, we start off on a mild note for saturday morning, quite a blustery one but the winds nowhere near as strong as today because the low is moving away, the isobars are going to open up. this little weather front here could enhance some showery outbreaks of rain into scotland and northern ireland to begin with. we could see some showers into northwest england and wales as well. but, really, if we draw a line from the bristol channel over to the wash, anywhere south and east of that, the showers should be fairly isolated throughout the day. a blustery afternoon, gusts of winds 30 to 35 mile an hour, but in terms of the feel of things, not quite as warm as the last couple of days. we should see highs of 22 degrees — that's 72 fahrenheit. a little bit cooler into the far

north, the wind now coming in off the sea here. now, on sunday, a better day for scotland. drier and eventually into northern ireland, as most of those showers tend to migrate a little bit further south and east on sunday. in terms of the feel of things, we're going to close out the weekend with highs of 21 degrees. now, let's take a look at what's in—store monday into tuesday. unfortunately, it doesn't make for great reading. it does look likely that it's going to stay wet at times and those temperatures a little bit disappointing for the final week of august.

this is bbc world news. the headlines: russian doctors of the opposition activist alexei navalny now say he can be airlifted to berlin for treatment. his supporters say he was poisoned. belarus opposition leader svetlana tikhanovskaya has called up their strikes at factories across the country to try to force new presidential elections. the man known as the ‘golden state killer‘ has been sentenced to life in prison. joseph deangelo confessed to 13 murders in a plea deal that spared him the death penalty. and the us postmaster—general has issued a pledge that ballots in november's presidential election will be delivered... securely and on time. you are watching bbc news.

thousands of british holiday—makers are racing to get home, before new coronavirus quarantine restrictions come into force, in the early hours of tomorrow morning. from aam, anyone returning from croatia, austria and trinidad and tobago, will have to self—isolate for two weeks, because of a rise in infections in those countries. new cases in croatia have increased in the last week, to 47.2 per 100,000 people with travellers from a number of other european countries already having to self—isolate, like france with 51.0 cases per100,000, and spain, with 145 cases per 100,000 people. by contrast the uk has 21.2 cases per 100,000. well our correspondent, gavin lee has more from the croatian city of split, a major tourism hotspot, on dalmatian coast. another friday, another part of europe where there is a fantastic scramble of thousands of british tourists trying to get home before four o'clock.

transport secretary grant shapps tweeted today that people should get used to unexpected announcements of quarantine, but the people here feel overwhelmed, panicking, saying they have not been given enough time. our team has been travelling around croatia trying to understand the situation for people and why the covid situation has become so bad. this is split, croatia's second city and its seaside party capital. there are more tourists here from the uk than from any other country. 56,000 british holiday—makers have chosen a post lockdown break along the dalmatian coast since the start of august. 17,000 are still in the country and many of them are scrambling to leave before the mandatory quarantine rules kick in. just getting into a taxi. lawrence manning is on holiday with his partner in dubrovnik. they were due to fly back on saturday but they are rushing to the airport this evening.

something like £350 to return, and we just had to pay, just over £750 for two singles back. further up the coast at this harbour, a group of students from nottingham trent university say they need to be back for the start of term, but they can't afford the ticket prices. we obviously don't have that much money saved up to get a flight home, because of the inflation of prices we are just really stuck here. because people have part—time jobs as well it is slightly annoying because now we have to take time off work so we doubt get any money to save up for uni. just give a sense of the frustration you must feel right now. back in the uk, david collins tells me he has booked a week away in croatia for a group of ten on sunday. those plans are up in the air. we might be able to change the flight for an alternative, but to when? whether this year, next year, whether we can still go to the same destination, can still be from the same airport, these are questions we don't know

the answer to at the moment. so what has gone wrong in croatia? back in may and june this country of 5 million people barely registered a single case a day. in the past week there has been a notable rise. 265 cases in the past 2a hours. the country's secretary of state for tourism claims it is a simple answer. it is true that we have several hotspots in croatia in recent days, but they are the result of noncompliance with epidemiological measures, mostly among younger people, in some night clubs and other gatherings. the uk isn't the only country to add croatia to the quarantine list. there are four other countries this week, and it is here in split where this concern that it is the epicentre, that people are not listening to social distancing advice, and that is why it has become a problem here. tonight airport authorities say they are working to put on extra flights out of the country to cope

with the numbers trying to leave. gavin lee, bbc news, split, on the dalmatian coast. sta travel uk — one of the biggest names for backpackers and young adventurers — has gone out of business. just over an hour ago, the civil aviation authority announced that the firm had ceased trading, resulting in the loss of 500 jobs in around 50 high—street agencies across the uk. the news leaves thousands of customers who are owed refunds uncertain about when they might get their money back. simon calder, travel editor of the independent, is outside sta's flagship store in central london. thank in central london. you forjoining us. just tell us thank you forjoining us. just tell usa thank you forjoining us. just tell us a little bit about why fca was one of the biggest names in the travel business. they got going almost 50 years ago. —— record to known as student travel australia, more recently the initial study for start the adventure. and it really

caught the backpacker revolution. they began by offering check tickets to stu d e nts they began by offering check tickets to students and to young people come about five years after got started, in us went bust and expended a great deal in the uk. since the internet became a good way to books like tickets, and has moved much more into a tickets, and has moved much more intoa ranging tickets, and has moved much more into a ranging tailor—made adventure trip for a wide range of travellers and until tonight dallas is core business but of course coronavirus has done terrible things to the travel industry and particular if you are a long—haul specialist. travel industry and particular if you are a long-haul specialist. as you are a long-haul specialist. as you say, this is not a great time for the travel industry. but not everybody is going bust. what went wrong at sta? you have got about 50 high st or wrong at sta? you have got about 50 high st oers, wrong at sta? you have got about 50 high st or mrs, this is the flagship store. very high rent to pay. anytime we have literally no money

coming in. just a whole series of demand for refund. clearly the pa rent demand for refund. clearly the parent company at the swiss—based firm had to look at the future and just decided that there was no chance of business coming back and anything like the necessary amount before it next year. add to that the fa ct before it next year. add to that the fact that australia, the main airline say said they don't will not be running into continentalflights run australia into the secnav abba 2021. in that amount if you are a backpacking company specialising in places, it doesn't give you many places, it doesn't give you many places to go. —— until the second half of 2021. very sad they have got under business. it is not a matter of people who are owed money by the company setting about their long process of getting rick back. —— it is now a matter. must be worrying time for several other businesses will thought i would expect any more casualties? unfortunately, we will see other casualties. it is simply

inevitable. since the start of the coronavirus academic, there has been very little business. it started coming back but the mainstream holiday trade around about the beginning ofjuly, but unfortunately in the uk we have seen and should have been reporting on the setting moves getting quarantine, impose on crozier today in austria and last week it was france. before that spain. that has generated so much uncertainty that people simply are not flying. it's a really tough times for the travel industry and for the excellent staff at sta and of course that thousands of people not trying to pick up the pieces. thank you, simon. tighter lockdown restrictions are being introduced for more people living in parts of the north west of england, to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. from midnight tomorrow residents in oldham, along with those in parts of blackburn and the pendle

district in lancashire, won't be able to socialise with anyone outside their own household, and they should avoid all but essentialjourneys on public transport. gatherings such as weddings and funerals are also being limited, to 20 people. but workplaces, childcare facilities and businesses, including restaurants and pubs, will remain open. our health correspondent, dominic hughes has the story. two of those, one of those and one of those. at the eatery cafe in oldham, they're just about holding on. open less than a year, it's been a baptism of fire. the last few weeks of additional lockdown measures have been especially tough. today's announcement means tighter rules around socialising in oldham, blackburn and parts of pendle — from midnight tomorrow, limiting contact to household members only. people can still shop and work, and the cafe can stay open. it's a relief that we're not going to go into a lockdown, but then there's the frustration because it doesn't make sense. people are confused.

i think some people just don't understand when a message comes out from the government, and it's not necessarily as clear as it should be. when they're coming out with these new restrictions, make it clearer, because either people don't understand it or they find a way around it. public health england produces a weekly watch list of council areas based partly on hotspots, seen here in darker red, which map spikes in the disease. oldham, blackburn and pendle remain at the top of the list. this is where the new measures are to be introduced. but some good news — infection rates in wigan, rossendale and darwen have decreased, so additional measures already in place have been removed, bringing them into line with the rest of england. sensible brokered agreement of the kinds we have reached today in oldham and wigan are the way to go. blanket lockdown is like we have had in greater manchester would cause real trouble from an economic point of view, and hardship for people. other hotspots keep developing.

in scotland 71 new cases have been reported in the last 2a hours, nearly half in the tayside area, home to a third processing plant where workers and their families are now self isolating. this factory in southampton will voluntarily close after workers became affected. in birmingham, additional measures are being discussed between local and national government after a sharp rise in infections. it all adds to a continuing sense of uncertainty. i think birmingham has done a really good job and yet there is still this concern so i think it is really worrying. i think it says a lot about the fundamental unpredictability of the virus. with winter approaching and obviously the virus still here, then, you know, it is inevitable, i guess. the measures introduced in towns in the north west of england are helping health experts understand what works and impact on people's livelihoods and well—being. the lessons learned here are likely to be applied in many other towns in the months to come.

dominic hughes, bbc news, oldham. the coronavirus crisis has caused concern among hundreds of thousands of people, who are in rented accommodation — worried about how they'll pay the bills with reduced incomes. well today the government's confirmed it's extending the ban on landlords evicting tenants who can't pay, in england and wales, until september the 20th. there had been calls from charities to extend the measures, which were due to be lifted on monday. here's our home editor, mark easton. as we emerge from lockdown, for tens of thousands of people in england and wales there is deep anxiety — notjust the virus, but of losing their home. covid cost david hisjob in high wycombe, and despite today's four—week extension to the ban on eviction proceedings, he still worries about paying the rent. well, we had guaranteed income, and now we don't. we do get some support from universal credit to help with things, but in all honesty it's not enough. itjust doesn't cover everything.

do you think you'll be able to stay in your home? it's difficult times. there is a possibility that we could end up losing our home. david's landlord has been understanding up to now, but like thousands in high wycombe, the terror of losing your income and then your home looms large. landlords, too, are worried they may fall victim to the financial impact of the virus. vikram daws advises many in high wycombe. landlords are going to have very real problems, because they themselves are running businesses so there is a lot at stake for the landlords who could, in turn, as a consequence, become homeless themselves. the eviction ban had expired on monday, but in a last—minute lllllllll ..jll llflr'. ll'l'll; —— ——— —— ———— —— —— —— the ministry has announced no eviction hearings will be listed until mid—september. hundreds of eviction cases are already waiting to be heard here at high wycombe county court. across england, the queue is thought

to be around 40,000 cases long, but social distancing means the courts can't operate at full capacity, so it could take more than a yearjust to get through the backlog, while more and more peoplejoin the wait for judgment. housing charities say while they are relieved the ban‘s been extended and pleased the required notice of an eviction‘s been increased to six months, this last—minute u—turn doesn't solve the bigger problems. this isn't a silver bullet, but it will help in the short term. there are still people at great risk of losing their homes as the economic impact of the pandemic comes in, and the government needs to make sure it uses the time it's now got to legislate on issues like no fault evictions that it's promised to do for so long. the eviction ban has been extended to march in scotland and northern ireland. in england and wales, ministers have given themselves one month to come up with an answer to stopping the virus threatening the roof over people's heads. mark easton, bbc news, high wycombe.

manchester united captain harry maguire has been arrested following an incident on the island of mykonos on thursday. the 27—year—old england defender is on holiday in greece. the syros prosecutor's office said on friday that "three foreigners" had been arrested following an alleged altercation with police officers in mykonos. our sports correspondent olly foster gave us more from old trafford. harry maguire is a huge figure here at manchester united and for england. but we know that he was arrested with two other british men. the club revealed this morning that he was fully cooperating with the greek authorities following an incident on the island. we have had in the last couple of hours a statement from the greek police, who said they had to intervene in an altercation at about midnight outside a bar, a fight between two groups of people and it was then that the three men rounded on one of the officers verbally and physically assaulting him.