this is bbc news with the latest headlines. labour calls for next year's a—level and gcse exams in england to be pushed back to help pupils cope with the impact of coronavirus. the government says it's too early to decide. our first priority must be to give the students every possible chance to demonstrate their learning, attainment and potential. it is far to early to be saying we're going to postpone things or cancel things, as the labour party seem to be saying. i think that is the wrong approach. what we should actually be doing at this moment is focusing on getting our schools back in the saddle, running again, so young people can resume their education. airline tui has been accused of ignoring its own coronavirus travel rules, after nearly 200 passengers on a flight from zante to cardiff

are told to self—isolate, after at least 16 of them test positive for coronavirus. the government is launching its drive to get workers in england back into the office, amid fears of the impact of empty city centres. after 64 million half price meals served in august, the eat out to help out scheme ends today with many businesses calling for an extension. the cost of plastic bags in england is to double to 10p, and all shops will have to charge for them. and coming up at 09:30, it's your questions answered. we'll be speaking to two health experts about why the the number of coronavirus cases are rising, but the number of deaths are low. do send in your questions to us on bbc news.

good morning. labour has called for next summer's a—level and gcse exams in england to be delayed by up to two months, to allow pupils more time to catch up on lost teaching time after schools were closed during the pandemic. the shadow education secretary kate green said pupils in years 11 and 13 had a "mountain to climb" to prepare for exams after months away from the classroom. ministers have insisted exams will go ahead next year, whatever the timings, and say it's too soon to make any decisions about a delay. our political correspondent helen catt reports. it has only been a few weeks since this year's students got theirfinal grades, but what to do about next year's exams is a question that's already testing politicians, and it's one they're under pressure not to flunk. labour's answer, delay gcses and a—levels in england

until at leastjune to make up for lost teaching time. it says otherwise pupils will have a mountain to climb. an idea that's worthy of consideration. our concerns about it are that if you're going to push the exams series back, you can't really push back the dates for the publication of results because that would have a difficult knock—on effect for universities, colleges and employers. quual, which sets the rules for exams in england, has made some changes to what students have to do for subjects such as english literature and geography, to allow more flexibility. and it has already consulted on pushing back exams, but hasn't yet made a decision. the reality is, we want to get schools back and we want students to be sitting their exams as normal next year. the precise timing and the approach of that will be something that obviously the department for education, quual and others will decide, working with schools. it is far too early to be saying you are going to postpone things or cancel things, as the labour party

seem to be saying. i think that is the wrong approach. what we should actually be doing at this moment is focusing on getting schools back in the saddle, running again, so young people can resume their education. the scottish government is also consulting on possible changes to highers and nationals. whatever decisions are made, the pressure is on for plans to be put in place quickly so that pupils know what they are working towards. helen catt, bbc news. with me is our political correspondent, tony bonsignore. tony, the pressure is on to move quickly. what is your instinct, despite the messages coming out from the government, about where the exams will end up happening? interesting listening to george eustice, the cabinet minister, this money, his take on it was it is far too early to take the decision at this stage but you can also see why labour are putting pressure on here. on the one hand, they are saying that if the decision has to be made, it is better it is made now, given all the implications for marking, universities, employers, and it also

gives them the opportunity to keep the focus on what happened with gcse and a—level results this year. they are making the point that it was a fiasco and that should be avoided. but it is notjust labour putting the pressure on. you have got the chair of the education committee, robert halfon, saying that really, that decision by the government and by quual in particular, the exam regulator, needs to be made by october. he is pretty pessimistic, he thinks there is only a 50—50 chance of exams going ahead at all next year because there is so much uncertainty, particularly because we don't know what will happen with coronavirus. and presumably as well, we have seen that hasn't been criticised for various u—turns so they don't want to bed in a position they don't want to bed in a position they will have to change in the coming months. know and they will say that they've got to get this right, that will be the argument and thatis right, that will be the argument and that is why george eustice argued todayit that is why george eustice argued today it is far too early. it is not just about delaying exams potentially. it is about making sure that the courses are right, that stu d e nts that the courses are right, that students get enough support, that

the whole package is right and that is something i had heads of schools talking about this money, saying actually delaying exams is only one small part of this. what we need is a proper strategy to make sure that stu d e nts a proper strategy to make sure that students get educated and get their exams, whatever happens, even in the worst—case scenario. exams, whatever happens, even in the worst-case scenario. and of course we have talked about political pressure but there will be many voices weighing into the debate, as you have said, head teachers and teaching unions and pupils will have a view as well. a lot of to be heard. varies and you can sense why and understand why quual are taking their time on this. what they and their time on this. what they and the government desperately want is to avoid what has just happened, that kind of last—minute disaster of results and blaming it on the algorithm and everything that went along with it. but they know there's along with it. but they know there's a lot of interested parties. for example, universities, one question that has come up is, does this mean results day is delayed? if it is, can you realistically keep result stay the same and if not, what does that mean for employers and most

importantly for universities? there area importantly for universities? there are a lot of people with a stake in the. tony, thank you very much. as tony said, lots of questions. we can speak now to the labour mp and shadow education secretary, kate green. she joins us from central london. thank you forjoining us. outlined what labour is calling. yellow yes, so we what labour is calling. yellow yes, so we have said we think that the exams should be pushed back next summer exams should be pushed back next summer to the summer term. we want them as late as possible, commensurate with enabling marking and result stay and for universities and result stay and for universities and colleges to carry out their admissions processes but we really feel it is important that we put young people first when planning for next yea r‘s young people first when planning for next year's assessments. that means giving them as long as possible for teaching and learning to take place, to make up for the disruption they have already suffered in the school year we have just had, have already suffered in the school year we havejust had, and while i hope there won't be disruption in the coming year, we have to accept it is quite possible that there may

be periods when children have to be out of school again for a time. so we think it is really right that the priority should be giving young people all of the focus we can to have as much teaching and learning as possible before they are assessed next summer and that means we are suggesting pushing back the exam date. i am sure a lot of people will agree with the idea but what we are hearing this morning is the practicalities are much more challenging. we heard earlierfrom the former head of ucas, dealing with university admissions, that if you suddenly want all the marking done, it is not going to be done for an extra month or six weeks beyond where it would normally be done which throws the whole university application process into chaos. they just won't have time to look at the results and work out who has places and accommodation and so on. well, the first thing i would say is of course, the university admissions process has been an utter chaos this year because of the fiasco of the exa m year because of the fiasco of the exam results that we had earlier in august. this proposal that we are putting forward gives much more time

properly to plan how we can manage a later exam session and still have time for results and marking and admissions to take place. i would have thought, in fact, i am very sure that universities would say, " if sure that universities would say, "if you give us longer to plan, we can make much better arrangements", thanif can make much better arrangements", than if you go right up to the why and we have the kind of incompetent chaos we have seen with this year's a—level and gcse results. i don't pretend this is simple. there are not ideal solutions in the situation we're in but i know to say is the government minister has apparently just said that it is far too soon to be thinking about this strikes me as utterly irresponsible. we need to be doing the planning now, the contingency planning and it is a com plete contingency planning and it is a complete abnegation of their responsibilities and government ministers are going to allow things to go to the wire again eczema which creates huge distress for students, as we saw the other day, and even more chaos for universities. what do you make of some of the other proposals coming forward, i heard a teacher this morning saying that perhaps we need to look at longer

hours in schools for some of the key pupil groups, perhaps shorter holidays and longer terms? are you looking more widely than just pushing exams back? well, i don't think you can use just one measure to address the disruption that we have seen two pupils‘ learning and may see more of and i think other things need to happen, for example, the catch up funding the government has made available needs to be fully available to 17 and 18—year—olds who are sitting post—i6 exams and currently it is not fully available so currently it is not fully available so that is one thing we would certainly prioritise. i think there are other measures that you can look at, having a greater choice in the curriculum, so students can focus on subjects in more detail, and not have to feel that the curriculum is too broad to fit in in the time available but where all the subjects can be completed. i‘m wary of things like extending the school day or the

term because i know how hard teachers and school staff have been working and they need a break and so do students. but i think it is really important that we have more investment in digital only because whether or not children are going to be in school, the work they can do at home is so important. we know the government because ‘s own laptops programme did not reach all the children it should have and certainly did not reach all the disadvantaged children who don‘t have access to digital learning and thatis have access to digital learning and that is going to be really important as we go into this very uncertain year ahead for their learning. —— the government‘s own laptops programme. thank you forjoining us. word saying on the topic we will be speaking at around 10am to the chair of the education select committee, robert halfon. the government is launching its drive to get workers back into the office, amid fears of the impact of empty city centres. the campaign is set to promote the positive impact of working alongside colleagues rather than remotely from home.

i m joined now by paul nowak, deputy secretary general of the tuc. thank you forjoining us. what do you think of the government‘s campaign to tell some workers it is time to get back in the other is? we know it is time to get the economy back on track anti—get life back into the town and city centres but i think we need more than spin and a glitzy advertising campaign, trying to scare people back into work. what we need from the government is a credible plan that will give people the confidence to return to work. we know millions of people have worked throughout the crisis, whether they work in factories or public services and many people are keen to return to work but the picture is going to be mixed across individuals and across different circumstances. what the government needs is a credible plan underpinned by solid proposals to give people confidence it is safe to give people confidence it is safe to return to work. when you say a credible plan, what do you think is not credible about what is being proposed at the moment? at the moment, there are three key things

we can do. first, we need to dramatically step up the test and trace programme. matt hancock has promised mass population testing, but it has not been delivered and i think that is a crucial component. i think that is a crucial component. i think the key thing is employers being required to publish the risk assessments they are legally obliged to carry out to prove the workplaces are safe, to carry out to prove the workplaces a re safe, to to carry out to prove the workplaces are safe, to publish them on their websites, so customers and staff alike can have confidence they have done the right thing. but the government also need to put in place support for those who can‘t go back to work, people who may be shielding or vulnerable or people who have childcare issues. it is not going to be straightforward for lots of individuals. the government needs to put more effort into those credible plans, rather than trying to grab headlines. ultimately, this is about giving people confidence that their journey into work is going to be safe, their workplace is going to be safe, their workplace is going to be safe and that the covenant has got their back. on the issue of workplace and travel safety, do you feel that people are being asked to

return to places of employment that are not covid secure or as clean and tidy as they ought to be to prevent people getting infected ? tidy as they ought to be to prevent people getting infected? one of the key things that government developed alongside trade unions and employers was guidance for employers in every sort of workplace, from bars and restau ra nts sort of workplace, from bars and restaurants through to offices. central to all of those bits of guidance was the need for employers to carry out a proper risk assessment and put in place plans to make sure the workplace was covid secure. i can guarantee you, you make sure the workplace was covid secure. i can guarantee you, you can go to secure. i can guarantee you, you can go to the website of some very large employers and those risk assessments have not been published and even where they have been published... you are saying they have not been published but is there evidence these things have not been done?|j think we have seen outbreaks in food processing plants in particular, where employers have not published the risk assessment and clearly have not put in place safe systems of work which is why it is really important there is a legal obligation on employers to do the right thing and publish the risk assessments. but if you think about

public transport, we now know there isa public transport, we now know there is a requirement in england for people to wear face masks on public transport and i think the travelling public need to have the confidence that those regulations are going to be enforced. that is one of the things that the rail and bus unions in particular have pressed with ministers. let‘s make sure people know what the rules and regulations are and that they are properly enforced. thank you forjoining us. one of the uk‘s biggest airlines, tui, has been accused of ignoring its own coronavirus travel rules on a flight carrying seven passengers who‘ve since tested positive for covid—i9. all 193 people on the flight have been told to self—isolate with some other passengers now reporting symptoms. stephanie whitfield was a passenger on the flight. she spoke to bbc breakfast about her experience. it was quite scary, to be honest. as soon as we boarded we realised that many of the passengers hadn‘t really been

educated about the wearing of facemasks. many of them were wearing them around their chins and underneath their noses. they were taking them off to talk to fellow passengers and walking down the aisle with their mask off to speak to others. and was anybody raising concerns about that on the flight, and what were the cabin crew doing? the cabin crew, obviously they were offering a limited cabin service due to the pandemic. so they weren‘t as present as perhaps they might have been on a normal flight or during normal times. but they did raise it with a couple of people. but i was sat next to a gentleman who had the mask around his chin for the duration of the flight. cabin crew did not raise it with him. so what was the response of — obviously you are a bit distressed, knowing what you know now about that flight. have you developed any symptoms since coming back? i know a number of people have tested positive for the virus and everybody from that flight has been told to self—isolate.

yes. we‘ve developed very mild symptoms and we‘re taking a test tomorrow. my husband and i decided during the flight that we would self—isolate anyway regardless of government advice. we decided that prior to the news breaking. we‘re glad now obviously that we did. we‘re hoping we‘ve just got a cold at the moment. but as i said, we are taking the test tomorrow just to be on the safe side. the latest concerning that tui flight. in a statement, tui said it was their policy that all passengers comply with covid protocols "for the duration of the flight" including wearing face masks. it said that the safety and well—being of passengers and crew was its highest priority. and at 9.30 this morning, we‘ll be answering your questions on why coronavirus cases around the world are continuing to rise, but deaths remain relatively low in comparison to earlier in the pandemic. we‘ll be speaking to

the consultant medical virologist professor chris smith, and the professor of public health linda bauld. you can email your questions to yourquestions@bbc.co.uk or tweet them to the hashtag bbc your questions. two men have been arrested at stansted airport under the terrorism act. raf typhoon fighter jets were scrambled to intercept a plane arriving at the airport from vienna. the pair were detained shortly after the flight landed around 7 o‘clock last night. essex police say their enquiries are ongoing. more than 20 people are in hospital with carbon monoxide poisoning after attending a rave in an underground bunker in the norwegian capital, oslo. police say the party was discovered by chance when a patrol came across a group of young people who appeared confused. officials believe the poisoning was caused by portable generators.

the first commercial flight from israel to the united arab emirates the summer and autumn of 2015 saw hundreds of thousands of migrants from syria, afghanistan, iraq and many other countries make their way to europe. many of the migrants were hoping to find shelter from war and terror and looking for new opportunities for a better life, but thejourney was difficult and dangerous. mass migration led to profound changes in the receiving countries‘ economic, social and political. it‘s been five years since germany opened its doors to hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers, and angela merkel‘s decision still divides opinion today. our berlin correspondentjenny hill was in munich in 2015, as migrants began to arrive. she‘s been back to meet some of those who came to germany to find refuge. applause. "we can do this", said angela merkel. it‘s five years since germany opened its doors and its arms to tens of thousands of people. many more would follow,

hoping for the same warm welcome. i was proud of germany because germany did not hesitate to help the refugees. carmen, who speaks arabic, was among the many volunteers who came to munich station to help. when we look back and the situation today, all the doomsday scenarios did not become true. we could not have closed our doors. and it brought change to every part of germany. in abensberg, a conservative bavarian town, they had to accommodate and integrate around 200 refugees. translation: i still think it was a bit much for someone to sit in berlin and say we could manage, knowing full well it was up to each and every local mayor to have to manage. if other eu countries had shared the burden, we would not have had this level of political tension. if i could turn back time, i would ask much more of europe.

instead, anger, fear in the german streets, fuelled by high—profile migrant crime, the sexual assault of women in cologne, or the terror attack on a berlin christmas market. as angela merkel battled a backlash, the far right flourished. it is now an established part of german politics. but during that time, mohammed, who arrived in 2015, built a new life. he learned german, got a job, had a family. translation: it is like my home. everything is good. we have residency, like normal people. we have work. it is a good country and we have good neighbours. i like it a lot. but the story is not over — not for those still trying to come to europe, and not for those we met in this specially—built refugee home on the edge of the city. javid tells us he was 16 when he arrived in germany.

he is 21 now and still waiting permission to stay. "i don‘t want to leave," he tells us in german. "my future is here." what we witnessed here in 2015 was extraordinary. the euphoria, the drama, the anger have now faded, but you can still feel the consequences of that moment. it changed politics, it changed society, and many of the people who arrived back then have begun to put down roots and they too will shape this country‘s future. we can speak now to nour al—baarini, a syrian migrant who moved to birmingham under the uk‘s resettlement scheme in 2016. thank you forjoining us. take us back because it was quite some journey that caused you to leave syria back in 2012. thank you so

much. thejourney syria back in 2012. thank you so much. the journey started syria back in 2012. thank you so much. thejourney started basically when the war began in syria in 2011. by when the war began in syria in 2011. by the end of 2011, i had to move with my family to jordan, by the end of 2011, i had to move with my family tojordan, just seeking a safe place for us. from 2011, i was thinking that i was in a safer place but actually, i wasn‘t, for some personal issues. however, we got offered from unhcr in 2014, we got offered from unhcr in 2014, we had the first call, specifically the 29th of december 2014, and they told us that we had been offered a settle m e nt told us that we had been offered a settlement in the uk. personally, i did not believe that. it was like a dream for me and my family, of course. by the end of 2015, beginning of 2016, january, i arrived in birmingham with my

family, my brother and my sister, and since then, that is when my journey started, basically. and you have gone on to do great things, you are doing a masters in business analytics, working towards a phd, but clearly, many refugees who come on these journeys have an extremely challenging time and it must be odd to arrive in a country that you don‘t know and to rebuild a life. exactly, i had one of the challenges that i personally face was speaking english. of course, i am that i personally face was speaking english. of course, iam in that i personally face was speaking english. of course, i am in england so english. of course, i am in england soi english. of course, i am in england so i have to speak english, if i wa nt to so i have to speak english, if i want to go into the city, if i want to go to the market, to worker anything. since then, i had to teach myself english. i was spending 12 hours every day, for three months straight, in order to be ready to join the university and be ready for

everything that is going to happen later in the future. and how where you received? later in the future. and how where you received ? we later in the future. and how where you received? we hear a lot about people feeling uneasy, fearful and unsure about refugee programmes and people coming into the country from far away. what reception did you get in birmingham? in birmingham, basically, when i arrived at birmingham airport, i got lots of support, lots of help from many people, especially refugee action, who were responsible for us when we came here and they helped us with lots of things. they put us on the right track to be where we are now. and how much do you feel people you meet, ordinary people can understand the situation of refugees? can you say that again? how much do you feel ordinary people that you meet understand the situation of refugees? i know many people, i have

met lots of people who understand the situation. there are other people as well you don‘t have a clear vision about what refugees can do or what they are doing at the moment. thank you forjoining us. secondary school pupils in scotland have to wear face coverings in corridors, communal spaces and on school buses from this morning. they won‘t have to wear them in classrooms though, as connor gillies reports. masks in hand and ready for school. it‘s probably going to help us all in the long run. it probably should have been introduced from the start, like from day one. there‘s quite a few pregnant teachers are so it is helping out. and people with underlying health conditions so in the long run it does help everyone else. this new guidance for scotland comes into force today — secondary pupils and staff will be required to wear face coverings in corridors where it‘s hard to stay apart. but there can be exceptions

on medical grounds and there will be still no need for coverings in classrooms. the other big change is on school buses. children over five years old will have to wear a mask just as they would on a regular bus or train. young people returned to schools here in scotland earlier this month with no requirement for physical distancing among pupils and no requirement forface masks. however, during this evolving crisis, the world health organization has updated its guidance to suggest that children over the age of 12 should now wear a mask and that has played a huge part in scotland making the changes it has done today. schools in northern ireland will mirror scotland. in england, secondary pupils in areas under local lockdown will need to cover their faces in communal areas on return this week, but head teachers in any school can introduce the measure if they wish. in wales, it‘s up to local councils and schools to decide. the goal across the country is to prevent this,

the very images officials are trying to avoid. we would like to see smaller class sizes and more physical distancing rather than face coverings in the classroom. but ultimately, if the level of infection increases outside of schools, then face coverings in the classroom will have to be looked at potentially somewhere down the line. and that is the unpredictable reality when dealing with such a volatile virus. connor gillies, bbc news. the charge on single use carrier bags in england is to double from 5p to 10p from next april, and all shops will have to charge for them. the government says it‘s part of a renewed drive to be greener, and cut unnecessary waste. our chief environment correspondent justin rowlatt has the details. at the moment, the 5p levy only applies to single use carrier bags in large stores, those employing more than 250 people.

but, from next april, the charge will double and will apply in all shops. the government says the initiative aims to protect sea creatures by reducing plastic pollution in the ocean. it claims that since the charge was introduced in 2015, there has been a 95% reduction in plastic bags sales in major supermarkets. you know, not long ago the supermarkets were issuing around 7 billion carrier bags a year. that has now been reduced by 95%. now we want to extend this approach to other retailers as well, who between them probably issue at the moment over 3 billion bags a year. we think we can have a similar impact to reduce further the issuing of plastic bags and extend what has actually been a very successful policy, supported by the public. but environmental campaigners dispute that. they say we‘re just buying billions of thicker so—called "bags for life" instead. the environmental campaign group

greenpeace says the government should go further and set targets for reducing all single—use plastics by supermarkets. this is just a small step when we should be taking big strides. we know the scale of our plastic pollution crisis. the government is well aware of the kind of action they need to take, including on things like bags for life, which contain more plastic. but ultimately, if we‘re going to make people, customers, you or i, pay more, surely producers, the people who make the plastic in the first place, should be paying more as well, and that‘s what we want to see from the government as soon as possible. but the move has been welcomed by the association of convenience stores, which represents small retailers. it says the charge is an effective way of reducing plastic waste. justin rowlatt, bbc news. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with carol. hello again. today is a bank holiday

everywhere except in scotland and it could turn out to be one of the coolest, if not of the coolest late august bank holiday on record. what we have at the moment is cloud building. we started with some sunshine with through the day the cloud will continue to build. it will flatten out. where we had some time to start, more cloud in the afternoon. they will still be some brightness. temperatures 13 to 18 degrees. below par for the time of year. you can see this weather front which is meandering in from the atlantic. it will eventually bring some rain across parts of western scotla nd some rain across parts of western scotland and northern ireland overnight. only 6 degrees in newcastle overnight, ten in cardiff. tomorrow we start off with variable amounts of cloud, sunny skies, the weather front continuing to push east, and the odd splash of rain. temperature —wise, 14 in lerwick to highs of 19 temperature —wise, 14 in lerwick to highs of19 in temperature —wise, 14 in lerwick to highs of 19 in the south. a little bit milder.

hello this is bbc news. the headlines: labour calls for next year‘s a—level and gcse exams in england to be pushed back to help pupils cope with the impact of coronavirus — the government says it‘s too early to decide. the airline tui has been accused of ignoring its own coronavirus travel rules, as nearly 200 passengers on a flight from zante to cardiff are told to self—isolate, with a number of them testing positive for the virus. the government is launching its drive to get workers in england back into the office, amid fears of the impact of empty city centres. after 64 million half price meals were served in august, the eat out to help out scheme ends today, with many businesses calling for an extension. and the cost of plastic bags in england is to double to ten pence — and all shops will have to charge for them.

sport, and for a full round up from the bbc sport centre, here‘s holly hamilton. good morning. england will be announcing their test squad for september‘s series against australia later — and it‘s not going to be easy, with a wealth of batting talent on show during their second t20 against pakistan. they won by five wickets, led by captain eoin morgan with another match winning knock, as they made their highest ever t20 run chase on home soil. alex gulrajani was watching. the perfect drama for your sunday afternoon. high scoring, late finish, and an english victory to crown it off. it went down to a final over in a match that had it all. it started at a canter, pakistan played an attacking brand of cricket from the off. the boundaries flowed with relative ease. commentator: 50 up for babar azam. it‘s gone high!

a target of 196 for england looked daunting. to beat pakistan with that score would be a record. opening pair tom banton and jonny bairstow made inroads to give their opponents some headaches. so pakistan turned to shadab khan and he turned england in a spin. bairstow the first to go and bantam not too far behind. eoin morgan picks up the baton and got them back on track. dawid malan chipped into. there was time for a brief england wobble, of course, as three wickets fell in quick succession, but england had done enough. malan guided them home to victory. yeah, awesome. when you are batting the top three, you don‘t really get many opportunities to win games and finish them off, especially when you‘re chasing 190, so to be there at the end was a great feeling. it would have been nice if there were a few more people on the ground, but yeah, it was a great feeling either way.

tomorrow these two sides will meet again as england‘s albeit different summer of cricket continues. alex gulrajani, bbc news. we understand that the england and wales cricket board are going to review the situation regarding delia bushell, who‘s an ecb director, after she resigned from thejockey club when an independent inquiry upheld allegations agains her of bullying, racist comments and the circulation of offensive material. more on that story on the bbc sport website. lewis hamilton says he understands the frustration of fans watching him win practically every race — but he claims it‘s different when you‘re in the driver‘s seat. victory in the belgian grand prix was his fifth in seven races this season, and he‘s just two wins shy of michael schumacher‘s record of 91. but he admits he got pretty bored with watching schumacher‘s dominance in the early 2000s. hamilton is also set to equal the german‘s seven world titles. he dedicated his win to the actor chadwick boseman,

who died on friday. there was also a tribute to the black panther star at celtic park, where christopherjulien scored the last of celtic‘s goals in a 3—0 win over bottom side motherwell. that takes them up to third in the table, six points behind leaders rangers, but they have two games in hand. lyon‘s dominance in the women‘s champions league continues. they comfortably beat wolfsburg to win it for a record seventh time, and make it five in a row, sara bjork gunnarsdottir with their last goal in a 3—1win. among those celebrating was england‘s lucy bronze, who‘s now played her last game for lyon. she said she couldn‘t see their achievement being beaten. the first tennis grand slam starts today — but already the us open has been hit by coronavirus. french player benoit paire has been withdrawn after he tested positive. he‘s been in new york for the best

part of two weeks and had two negative tests when he first arrived, so it looks as though he contracted the virus while in the bio—secure bubble in new york. there have been many high—profile withdrawals from the event, due to fears over travelling to the united states, with rafael nadal and ash barty among those not taking part. sixteen—year—old coco gauff is playing — and she says it doesn‘t matter that fans can‘t attend. i have more matches under my belt with no fans than i do with fans, so i think that, to be honest, it willjust take me back to when i first started on tour, and not too many people at my matches. i‘m still going to compete just as hard regardless, whether there are fans or not. that is all the support for now. more throughout the day. rachel, back to you. holly, thank you very much. now on bbc news, it‘s time for your questions answered

we‘ve been asking you to send in your questions on why coronavirus cases around the world are continuing to rise, but deaths remain relatively low in comparison to earlier in the pandemic in many places. with me to answer some of them is professor chris smith, who‘s a consultant medical virologist at the university of cambridge. and linda bauld who‘s a professor of public health at the university of edinburgh. great to have you both with us. we might as well just great to have you both with us. we might as welljust dive straight in. linda, let me start with you. a question that has come in from karen davis duncan in portsmouth. do you think, she says, that the covid—19 virus has weakened slightly as less people are dying from it, but the number of people getting it has increased? the number of people getting it has increased ? the idea number of people getting it has increased? the idea that somehow the virus itself has changed, linda? that is a very good question. there

isa that is a very good question. there is a lot of speculation about this. we know there are tests which are looking at how viruses mutate. that is not uncommon. there is not any strong evidence this virus is getting weaker at the moment. the reasons why we might see, for example, fewer deaths or not as many negative outcomes, are a few things. firstly, the testing capacity has increased. and also, the point at which we test people is probably earlier. early in the pandemic people might have had worse symptoms, they might have been tested later and that is why now, when people are getting their testing a little bit sooner, the outcomes are not as negative. that is the first thing. the second thing probably, and we do see this from some studies, in terms of viral load, but people are receiving or coming into contact less. that is because of social distancing or measures. the virus is not becoming less potent. we will have to monitor that through time. the changes we

have seen in deaths in hospital admissions are not due to the virus changing itself. chris, let me bring you in. i gather it is quite controversial, the suggestion that somehow the virus has mutated to become less severe. but viruses do do that, sometimes, do they? all viruses mutate. as they grow and produce more viruses they make genetic spelling mistakes in their genetic spelling mistakes in their genetic information. and they can, overtime, genetic information. and they can, over time, translate into a difference in the way the virus behaves. we know this very well with the flu, for example. the reason you need a flu jabs almost every year is because the flue continuously evolves as it goes through the population. these genetic changes do subtly change the appearance of the virus, so your immune system is less likely to recognise at the next time you encounter it. but the issue here with this coronavirus is, coronavirus —— with this coronavirus is, coronavirus — — coronaviruses with this coronavirus is, coronavirus —— coronaviruses do not mutate. these new one is adding a couple of genetic changes a month on average, which means it is barely

changed since the first viruses we detected in wuhan in china when all this began at the beginning of the year. so we are pretty comfortable the virus has not changed. what has changed is who is getting it, how we are picking it up and how we are managing the cases that do get it. that is probably accounting for the lower rate. probably because we are seeing a very big number of cases in younger people. and relatively fewer cases now in older people. and, of course, the risk is greater as you increase in age. ok, so the short a nswer to increase in age. ok, so the short answer to the question is now about the long answer is particularly interesting because lots of things at play. chris, let me stay with you and put in a question here about the figures. holy arnold has been in touch and says, why are covid deaths only recorded within 28 days of testing positive? does this mean that people who die of it, 30 days after testing positive, are not included? and if so, could that explain why death rates are going down? this has been a real headache.

as the belgian health minister put this, no one across the eu counts covid the same way. this means if we start looking across the world we see markedly different death rates and case rates. for instance, the soviet union, russia, rather, i've had a very high number of cases declared but relatively low deaths in comparison. it is a very specific definition of what constitutes a death from coronavirus. so initially in england we didn't want to miss any cases. so we had quite a broad definition. if you'd caught coronavirus, had a positive test but then you died in a car crash, for example, months later, you would still be counted as a coronavirus mortality. that has been revised down now to 28 days. but the problem is that if you end up in hospital for five weeks being ventilated, you would still be missed. it is very important we standardise this and that will take time because people

have got to go into the data, go through what happened, when, and then extract the clear message that is in there. that is going to take time and we don't have that fine detail for everywhere yet. linda, do you want to comment on that? that's absolutely correct, everything chris has said. in terms of the uk, the devolved nations have a 28 day definition for some time. england has now shifted. but you are also still able to get the 60 day data. you can find that, it is available. the big challenge is that there is now global harmonisation. the world health organization has not set a standard. it clearly is confusing for people. the reason we have seen a readjustment in england recently is because of the switch to 28 days asa is because of the switch to 28 days as a key measure. you can still see the data where people die over a longer period and it is still available. let's stay with statistics. richard harlow has been in touch. chris, are there any

statistics to show how many people have actually died from covid—19, and not just where have actually died from covid—19, and notjust where the person who has died happens to have the virus as well? this is what we have been hinting at here, which is that at the moment we are lugging deaths with a past diagnosis of coronavirus. —— logging. that does not mean coronavirus because that that person to die. they may have had something else going on as well. and because we need more time to extract the message and the signal thatis extract the message and the signal that is in there, that kind of information will be known but it is going to take time to extract it. there will of course be times when it is not known, when we just have to say, this person had coronavirus, they died. we will assume that is what killed them. but it's very difficult getting this right, which is why i think a lot of the time politicians have urged people, we have to have time before we put too much emphasis on these numbers right now, to get the numbers right. let's

move away from statistics and return to the issue of the number of deaths from covid—19 compared to other things. trying to put this in context. i was reading, for example, that that we keep talking about daily death rates, they are so low one might say now, they are lower than things like people dying daily from prostate or breast cancer. let‘s look at this. nick asks, how do the daily deaths linked to covid compare to other deaths? yes, there area number of compare to other deaths? yes, there are a number of data sources for doing that comparison. it‘s a really good question. yesterday there was only one death, for example, and i think that‘s important to emphasise. we have seen that in relation to reductions in recent weeks, which is very positive. but if you look at what we call excess deaths, deaths above the trend we would expect based on previous years, those data are available in scotland, for example, they are measured by the national records of scotland. what you can see is that we rose above

the threshold for normal excess deaths really substantially from about mid march until probably, i think, well into may. then we started to see it drop. so in recent weeks we have seen fewer excess deaths. then in fact we normally would have this time of the year. that means that covid is not having the impact it had earlier in the pandemic. butjust the impact it had earlier in the pandemic. but just to the impact it had earlier in the pandemic. butjust to provide some comparisons, now in the uk people are sadly dying from the things that people do die of in the uk, including, as you mentioned, 50 cases of prostate cancers —— cancer, 50 cases of breast cancer. do you smoking as an example, 200 people die every day from smoking in the uk. this year it is over 51,000. we have had over 40,000 deaths from covid from those recorded by what the common uses and from when i said national records of scotland we have a slightly higher figure. national records of scotland we have a slightly higherfigure. it is important to keep these comparisons

and realise that the good news now is for a few people are dying from covid or with covid. thank you. chris, moving on to where those deaths, will the fact they are smaller, are happening, peter black says, do we have any breakdown on the figures? for example, people‘s age or were in the country people have died in particular? yeah, we absolutely do. and lots of outlets you can find an easy way of looking up you can find an easy way of looking up what your region is doing both in terms of active cases right now, and also how many people are dying or have died in that particular area overtime. have died in that particular area over time. that data is quite well— known. quite well understood. and it's well presented. it is easily accessible. look covid deaths by region in the uk on the internet, it is well presented. chris, let's stay with you. we have talked a lot about figures in the uk and how the picture here looks. a lot of us travelling, it is summer holidays, and we have seen that infection in places like france and spain do seem

to be rising and causing some alarm. this is not reflected in the hospital right. what is going on there? yes, we think a number of factors are contributing to the increased in cases. the world health organization have put out a press statement saying that this is a combination of a reduction in public health measures, in other words, easing lockdown, so more people are moving around more of the time, more social contact, more opportunities to spread the virus. they also say this is down to people dropping theirguard. this is down to people dropping their guard. what they are getting at is that in certain sectors of society more people are choosing to disregard or interpret the guidelines more loosely, and this is leading to more cases. for instance, most of the case activity we have got at the moment is in younger people. and that's notjust this country. this is in many countries. if you look at the data for sweden, for example, in the 20 to 29 year age group, there are more cases in

that group and all other ages together. in ireland recently they we re together. in ireland recently they were showing that about two thirds of their cases are in the under 40 52. now covid is not an equal opportunities virus. discriminate against older people in terms of the mortality rate. if you shift the numberof mortality rate. if you shift the number of cases down into the younger end of the age demographic, which is what we are doing at the moment, then where the risk is proportionately a lot smaller, you will therefore see for each case a much lower risk of mortality. the average mortality rate for a person is about 0.64%. if you deal with someone is about 0.64%. if you deal with someone who is under the age of 50, it is fractions of a percent, much smaller than that. therefore, more cases but they are not necessarily translate two more mortalities. while we are on the issue of travel, one of the story around this flight from zante. one of the story around this flight from za nte. people one of the story around this flight from zante. people on board have been told to self—isolate because there have been some instances of

people testing positive. for those people testing positive. for those people travelling and worried about this, how easy is it to contract to runa this, how easy is it to contract to run a virus on a plane? do you have any sense of that? there have been a number of studies. the first thing i would say is that a plane is not a high—risk environment compared to, for example, an enclosed indoor place like a pub, where the ventilation... you might be in close contact with others. there are risks ona contact with others. there are risks on a plane. there have been studies which show variable infection rates. one study from china showed a family that went on a plane managed to pass the virus to several dozen others. but in contrast, another study on a plane that showed people wearing face coverings on the plane, one infectious couple didn‘t pass on the virus to anybody else on the plane. it does vary. the other thing i would say is that the ventilation on planes, the air circulates every three to five minutes, it is

changed. the ventilation is not necessarily a concern on a plane. i guess the other two points i would made —— make is that travel has changed. people are required to wear face coverings which provide some protection. the foreign office obviously recommends that we don‘t travel to many countries at the moment. but for people who are travelling there are simple things i can do to reduce their risk. hand hygiene, obviously, trying to move around the plane as little as possible, face coverings and crucially, following the guidance at the airport and on the plane. helpful advice. a final question, chris. we have talked about the fact the death rate is staying lower because of things like testing, treatment, lower viral loads. people saying that winter is coming and that that may make an impact. tell us more? there are a number of factors to consider. all viruses, with a few rare exceptions, spread better in winter. the reason they do thatis better in winter. the reason they do that is partly a weather phenomenon. if the weather is cooler, viruses

live longer in the air. but the most important factor is in the winter what do we do? we go indoors, keep the doors closed, keep the windows closed. we are more likely to spend ourtime closed. we are more likely to spend our time cooped up inside sharing with other people and that facilitates the spread of viruses. the reason people are concerned about the winter coming isn't just that there might be more cases of coronavirus, it is that they will be more cases of all viruses and crucial to being able to control coronavirus outbreaks is discriminating one type of infection from another. has this person got flu, have they got coronavirus? if you are muddying the waters more often, it means we are going to do more testing to find the positives. that just more testing to find the positives. thatjust makes more testing to find the positives. that just makes more more testing to find the positives. thatjust makes more work and it makes it more likely that we will overlook more cases of coronavirus. it puts more pressure on an already pressurised system. that is why people are trying to prepare as much as they can ahead of winter to have as they can ahead of winter to have a plan in place so that when the cold weather comes, we are not

caught out. ok. always great to have your combined wisdom. thank you both. the eat out to help out scheme ends today. it‘s been enormously popular, with 64—million half price meals dished up in 84—thousand restaurants and cafes across the uk. the idea was to help the hospitality industry get going again after the lockdown. the discount applied monday to wednesday throughout august, and there have been calls for it to continue — as our business correspondent katy austin reports. trade has been sizzling this august at the olive cafe in bournemouth. its owner and chef credits the eat out to help out scheme for being fully booked monday to wednesday. trade is well up onjuly. people are more comfortable coming out to eating and enjoy themselves. we do our best to make them happy. happy with their half—price breakfast on wednesday were this family, visiting bournemouth for a few days, and it is not

the first time they have used the discount. we have done breakfast, dinner, breakfast, dinner. so, yeah, four times now. we had to book all the restaurants before we left home to be able to get the availability, because it is so popular, yeah. they are not the only ones who have taken advantage more than once. over the course of august, yeah, probably ten times. by lunchtime, this pubjust out of town was filling up. it has been much busier than expected. the challenge has been getting the ordering right, obviously, and getting the team levels right, ok? but it feels good to have our pubs packed. especially after lockdown, you know, i did not feel that confident of actually going out, but this has encouraged us, you know? industry body uk hospitality says a third of bars and restaurants have yet to reopen. this is our outdoor terrace and it has been busy like this pretty much constantly. but back in central bournemouth, the boss of this south african restaurants says the scheme has worked.

he has recouped some of his lockdown losses. trade is record—breaking at the moment. it‘s a fool‘s bubble so we‘re not getting too excited about that, but monday, tuesday, wednesday are probably 100%. the week is up probably 50%. thursday has pivoted, so thursday is the new monday. slower weekend trade is not a problem for andy. social distancing means he could not cope with bumper saturdays. he says a vat cut has provided a further lifeline, but wants eat out to help out to return to avoid an autumn slump. give september that breathing space, let the schools open and bring it back in october and november where predominately, it is going to be the quietest part of the year — and that is where the biggest worry is. the boom in visitors and people on staycations that bournemouth have seen this summer helps to explain why restaurants and pubs in the town have seen such a big boost from the government discount scheme. that‘s not the case everywhere, though. location is key in determining how successful the past month has been for businesses.

pub giant green king has 3000 pubs and restaurants. it says while it has seen a benefit overall, city centre venues lacking their usual office workers and tourists are struggling. well, a lot of our businesses were 50,70, 90% up year on year. london, or central london, was about 30% down year on year. so it is pretty stark. i have called for government to think about maybe doing a similar scheme for city centres and for london. you know, we need to get people back into our city centres, and particularly into central london. the government does not plan to extend the scheme, but said it‘s helping the hospitality sector in other ways, too. this london cafe is one of a number carrying on a discount. trade has been tough since reopening so a half—price offer in september, funded by the landlord, is designed to lure more people back. now we‘re telling everybody

that we continue, so you can see people are extremely happy and i think it will help us a lot for the trade. and as well, we can are going to have a lot of people who are back to work in the offices. with the furlough scheme coming to an end in october, businesses like these hope people‘s interest in eating out will still be on the menu come the autumn. katy austin, bbc news. we‘re about to show you some astonising pictures of a little girl being pulled into the air by a giant kite. before we do, i can tell you that she only suffered minor cuts and bruises. it happened at a festival in taiwan. the three—year—old got tangled in the tail of the kite, and was then thrown into the air. she was eventually caught, and wasn‘t seriously injured. the incident is being investigated by the authorities in taiwan. now it‘s time for a look

at the weather with carol. plenty more to come out on our top story about exams in england. hello again. today is a bank holiday everywhere except in scotland. it could turn out to be one of the coolest if not the coolest late august bank holiday on record. what we have at the moment is cloud building. we started with sunshine but through the day the cloud will continue to build, it will flatten out. where we had some time to start, more cloud in the afternoon. having said that there will be some brightness. temperatures of 13 to 18 degrees. below par for the time of the year. you can see here too we have a weather front meandering and from the atlantic. it will eventually bring some rain across parts of western scotland and northern ireland overnight. these are the overnight lows. six in newcastle, ten in cardiff. tomorrow we start off with variable cloud. some sunny skies. the weather front

continuing to put eastwards. the odd splash of rain. temperature wise, 14 in lerwick, 19 in the south. just a little bit milder.

this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. here, the labour party calls for next year‘s a—level and gcse exams in england to be pushed back to help pupils cope with the impact of coronavirus. the government says it‘s too early to decide. it is far to early to be saying we're going to postpone things or cancel things, as the labour party seem to be saying. i think that is the wrong approach. what we should actually be doing at this moment is focusing on getting our schools back in the saddle, running again, so young people can resume their education. it's a complete abrogation of their responsibilities if government ministers are going to allow things to go to the wire again next summer. that creates huge distress for students, as we saw the other day, and even more chaos for universities. the first commercial flight from israel to