this is bbc news. the headlines... travel company tui launches an investigation into claims that some passengers were ignoring coronavirus guidance on a flight from a greek island linked to 16 covid—19 cases. 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. calls for next summer's gcse and a—level exams to be put back — to make up for teaching time lost during the lockdown. the government's month—long "eat out to help out" scheme ends today —

but some restaurant owners want it to be extended. iraq and afghanistan to europe — we look at the impact the move had on the whole of the continent. the charge on single—use carrier bags is to be extended to all shops in england — and the cost is to double to ten pence. and coming up, bbc weather looks at the impact of covid—19 on our climate in 2020. from extreme heat in the arctic, to a drop in emissions, that's in half an hour. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the travel company tui has launched an investigation after at least 16 cases of coronavirus were linked to one of its flights

from the greek island of zante to cardiff last tuesday. some passengers have accused cabin crew of failing to challenge those on the plane who were not wearing face coverings. the 193 passengers and crew on board are now being asked to self—isolate for a fortnight. caroline davies reports. sunshine getaways to the island of zante. an appealing prospect to many uk holidaymakers, but for some, they were hoping for. 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 face masks. many of them were wearing them around their chins, underneath their noses, they were taking them off to talk to fellow passengers and walking down the aisles with their mask off to speak to others.

at least 16 cases of covid—19 have so far been linked to the flight. all passengers on board have been told to self—isolate. the airline that ran the flight, tui, have said... but this isn't the first time holiday—makers returning to the uk have had symptoms. last week, local health officials in plymouth said a group of 18— and 19—year—olds had also tested positive. zante itself has introduced its own restrictions, including closing restaurants, bars and clubs and cafes, at midnight and banning more than four people at restaurant tables, advice shared on the foreign office website. it's raised questions about whether there should be localised quarantine for certain high—risk regions rather than entire countries.

if there is enough evidence to suggest that it's a hot spot and that the social distancing measures cannot be maintained adequately, then there is a case for people not to mix in those destinations. it's not currently the government policy to enforce quarantine for regions, islands or cities. as uk holiday—makers return home, public health officials are keeping a close eye on new infections. caroline davies, bbc news. joining me now is simon calder, travel editor at the independent. news about this flight from zante has taken a while to come out, hasn't it? it was actually last tuesday. what do you think went wrong on this flight? clearly it is i was going to be a challenge for any member of cabin crew who is on a late evening flight from the party island like a beef that of indeed za nte island like a beef that of indeed zante which has a lot of exuberant young people and very clearly the rules seem to have been flouted by a

significant number of people on this flight significant number of people on this flight and given the infections that we now know about, that's extremely concerning. however, i must say, i have been on about a dozen flights since lockdown was lifted and on every single one the cabin crew have been scrupulous about making sure that people know what the rules on masks are in the mask wearing has been, i think, masks are in the mask wearing has been, ithink,100% masks are in the mask wearing has been, i think, 100% apart from of course very young children who are exempt. there is also an exemption for people with medical things. but, since this story broke, i have been sent all kinds of pictures of people not complying including one extraordinary flight this weekend from gatwick to corfu in which the passenger who i won't identify but i can demonstrate exactly what they we re can demonstrate exactly what they were doing, using a face mask as an eye shade and just going to sleep like that which isn't, of course, the idea. having said that, it is, you know, to relaunching a full

investigation. they have expressed a little bit of surprise that it has taken so long for this to go out and say there was no complaint made at the time during the fight of indeed immediately afterwards. yeah, it's not a good look, simon, i wouldn't stick with that one. is the answer to all of this perhaps more testing at airports when passengers arrive? certainly, the government has made it absolutely clear that it does not regard testing is being a particularly useful tool for avoiding quarantine, the 1a days that people going on from say france or spain must spend at home, but certainly people who are in favour of testing, and bear in mind that heathrow testing is all ready to go to survival, they say look, if you tested everybody off that flight, then you would probably have identified that there was a problem much more quickly, and, indeed, i have been trying to find out from public health wales when exactly they realise that all these cases we re they realise that all these cases were coming from a single flight. i

have still not been given that information, but they have said that some of the people on the flight won't even know about the high infections there until tomorrow, which will be a week after the flight. which will be a week after the flight. some people are nervous about flying at the moment, simon, and they, because one of the reasons as they think when you're on the plane the air, it was like the same airforthe plane the air, it was like the same air for the whole flight maybe three hours or something for greece and you are sharing that same air with all the but actually the areas change every few minutes? yes. the airline industry is absolutely desperate for people to understand how they have got so—called high efficiency particulate air filters in place and that they are effectively, they say, operating theatre grade and the air gets change very frequently and the air flows tend to be from top to bottom rather than going around the cabin, however anybody who remembers the olden days when he used to smoke on aircraft will remember that

certainly there was... the filters didn't appear to be that efficient, and there was a great deal of concern about it, and however you dress it up, there is always going to bea dress it up, there is always going to be a dim risk involved in taking a flight because aviation and social distancing simply do not move... do not compute. they are mutually exclusive in this particularflight, there were only two empty seats, so it shows how packed it was. having said that, i believe the risks are still relatively low, and assuming everybody complies with the rules it should be overwhelmingly the likelihood that you will get to your destination perfectly happily and of course anybody who has got any symptoms of coronavirus shouldn't be going anywhere near the flight of indeed other people. simon calder who promises not to wear his mask over his eyes again. simon calder, travel editor at the independent. many thanks for being with us.

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 have a "mountain to climb" to prepare for exams after months away from the classroom. the government has insisted exams will go ahead next year. tony bonsignore reports. it's only been a few weeks since this year's students got theirfinal grades but what to do about next yea r‘s exams? it's a question that is already testing politicians. labour's answer, delay gcses and a—levels in england until at leastjune, to make up for lost teaching time. we really feel it's important that we put young people first when planning for next year's assessments, and that means giving them as long as possible for teaching and for learning to take place, to make up for the disruption they've already suffered in the school year we've just had and while i hope there won't be disruption

in the coming year, i think we've got to accept it's quite possible there may be periods when children have to be out of school again for a time. it's far too early to be saying you're going to postpone things or cancel things as the labour party seem to be saying, that's the wrong approach. what we should actually be doing at this moment, is focusing on getting schools back in the saddle, running again, so that young people can resume their education. 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's already consulted on pushing back exams but hasn't yet made a decision. but how do teachers and pupils feel? there really isn't a very good reason for year 11 students to do quite so many exams. and if we were able to thin that out a little bit then that would, you know, already start to solve part of the problem. i have worked hard during lockdown but i do feel i haven't reached my full learning potential without a teacher present. i do feel i lack confidence going into year 11 regarding my exams

so i would like the idea of the exams being pushed back until the end of the year. i think delaying the exams could actually end up prolonging the inevitable. it's already a very stressful year for us and it could actually end up just adding more unneeded stress on year 13. 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. the government is expected to announce tomorrow that simon case will be the new cabinet secretary. mr case is the current downing street permanent secretary, and previously the duke of cambridge's private secretary. he replaces sir mark sedwill, who is due to step down as head of the civil service next month. our political correspondent, nick eardley told us more about simon case. number ten isn't officially commentating on this but sources have confirmed that there will be a meeting tomorrow where borisjohnson will officially reveal

the name, but we widely expect it we widely expect it to be simon case, someone who's fairly young for the job, quite frankly. he is a1, he's been a civil servant since 2006. as you say, he worked for the duke of cambridge and was made boris johnson's permanent secretary in may. the wider context for this is a fairly radical shake—up going on at the moment of the civil service. in the last few weeks we've had a number of senior people, permanent secretaries of various departments, the old cabinet secretary sir mark sedwill as well, announcing unexpectedly they would stand down and now borisjohnson has got someone who he's fairly close to. the eat out to help 0ut scheme ends today. it's been enormously popular,

with more than 64 million discounted meals dished up in 84,000 restaurants and cafes across the uk. the idea was to help the hospitality industry get going again after the lockdown. the 50% discount applied monday to wednesday throughout august up to a maximum of £10 per person — and there have been calls for it to continue — as our business correspondent katy austin now reports. trade has been sizzling this august in the olive cafe in bournemouth. its owner and chef credits the eat out to help 0ut scheme for being fully booked monday to wednesday. trade is well up onjuly. people are more comfortable coming out, eating, and enjoying themselves. we do our best to make them happy. happy with their half—price breakfast were this family. so we have done breakfast, dinner, breakfast, dinner, so, yeah, four times now. so we had to book all the restaurants before we left home to be able to get the availability. they are not the only ones who have taken advantage more than once. over the course of august, yeah, probably ten times. industry body uk hospitality says a third of bars and restaurants have yet to reopen. this is our outdoor terrace and

it has just been busy like this pretty much constantly... the boss of this african restaurant nearby says the scheme has helped him recoup some of his lockdown losses but he says it needs to return. give september that breathing space, let the schools open, and then 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 has 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 is not the case everywhere, though. location is key in determining how successful the past month has been for businesses. pub giant greene king has 3,000 pubs and restaurants. it says while it has seen a benefit overall, city centre venues lacking the usual office workers and tourists are struggling. a lot of our businesses were 50,70, 90% up year on year.

london, our 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 doesn't plan to extend the scheme but said it is helping the sector in other ways too. this london cafe is one of a large number carrying on their own half offer in september. it still needs a boost following a terriblejuly. now we are 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 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 interests in eating out will still be on the menu come the autumn. katy austin, bbc news.

scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, has admitted feeling more anxious today than at any point over the past two months after the number of new coronavirus cases in the country reached its highest daily level since the 16th of may. she said officials were paying particular attention to outbreaks in glasgow and lanarkshire, which account for more than half of the 160 new infections, and she urged people to continue to adhere to government guildelines. we are, right now, in a very fragile situation. the transmission of the virus is increasing again. we can keep it under control if we all do the right things to help test and protect do its work, but it would not take much, right now, for this virus to get a grip of us again. every single one of us has a responsibility to try to stop that happening, so i am appealing to everybody today watching to continue to do the right things and i am appealing to all of you to spread that message

as widely as you possibly can. nicola sturgeon. the latest government figures show there were 1,406 new confirmed coronavirus cases reported across the uk, in the latest 2a hour period. 2 deaths were also reported, of people who'd died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. that takes the total number of deaths across the uk to 41,501. the headlines on bbc news... travel company tui launches an investigation into claims that some passengers were ignoring coronavirus guidance on a flight from a greek island linked to 16 covid—19 cases. labourn calls for next summer's gcse and a—level exams to be put back to make up for teaching time lost during the lockdown. the government's month—long "eat 0ut to help 0ut" scheme ends today — but some restaurant owners want it

to be extended. nearly a month after the massive explosion that devastated beirut, lebanon has appointed a new prime minister—designate. he's mustapha adib, a 48—year—old diplomat and former ambassador to germany. mr adib spent his first day making a symbolic visit to the part of beirut which was worst affected by the huge explosion at the port. he's promised to implement reforms immediately. the country is on the verge of bankruptcy and there's huge anger with the political establishment. his appointment comes ahead of the second visit in a month by france's president, emmanuel macron, who will again press for political reforms. a commercial flight has made history flying from israel to the united arab emirates, after the two countries agreed to normalise relations. it touched down in abu dhabi and carried an israeli delegation onboard, as well as us aides who helped broker the agreement. with more on the improved relationship between the two

countries, here's out middle east correspondent, yolande knell. flying into the history books. ll—971 arriving in abu dhabi directly from tel aviv. top us aidesjoin israeli officials for their talks with the uae on opening up embassies, travel and trade. but i'm trying out a 30—second israeli test for covid—19 which is already set to be used at abu dhabi airport. this start—up has done a deal with a firm in the uae. that is where we translate the smell of the molecules into a digital signal. high-tech is one reason why the gulf state now wa nts one reason why the gulf state now wants israel as a friend, not an enemy. covid free. i have been

hoping for israel to become a part of the middle east and become closer and create a wave to unify ourselves around health, around innovation. and create a wave to unify ourselves around health, around innovationm recent yea rs, around health, around innovationm recent years, ministers from israel have visited the emirates. the two countries are both strong military powers that fear iran's regional ambitions. behind this is in recognition on the part of the uae that israel has certain capacities that israel has certain capacities that could become very useful if both countries became threatened. if the region suddenly went to a much more dangerous level of escalation. chanting. but palestinians called the normalisation agreement a stab in the back. iwill tell the israeli side they could have it

normalisation with all 22 arab states, they still have the military occupation alive, and until they decide to get that beat off our neck they have not made progress one iota. with direct contacts now allowed, some young and the lattes and israelis chat online. as relations flourish with the uae, israel hopes that more arab states will soon follow its lead. bbc news, tel aviv. police searching for missing diplomat richard morris say they have found a body in alice holt forest in hampshire. richard morris was last seen running in alton on the 6th may. formal identification has not yet taken place, but the 52—year—old's family have been notified. hampshire constabulary said the death was not being treated as suspicious.

mr morris was the uk ambassador to nepal for four years until last year, and before his disappearance he was announced a position to fiji. the former president of india, pranab mukherjee, has died aged 84 after testing positive for covid—19 earlier this month. he was admitted to hospital three weeks ago where he developed a lung infection. he had been in a deep coma and on ventilator support. mr mukherjee was the 13th president of india between 2012 and 2017. almost 900 thousand migrants arrived in greece back in 2015. today, those numbers are much lower. but the flow of people coming from turkey into greece, continuing through the balkans towards western europe, has picked up once more. the eu's borderforce, frontex, says the balkans route is now the most active route for migrants, with more than 9000 people making the journey in 2020,

up 70% since this time last year. many migrants make the difficult journey from northern greece into north macedonia, then serbia and on to bosnia, before reaching western europe. as part of our series looking back at 2015 and "the week that changed europe", our chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, begins herjourney in the northern greek city of thessaloniki. these young men are mostly from afghanistan, waiting to jump these young men are mostly from afghanistan, waiting tojump on a train, jump and a chance to move further north and to give up, the chance to move to a better life. but so too are the police. police guns,

police comes, we run. game of cat and mouse at this stop, this morning the police win. 0ften and mouse at this stop, this morning the police win. often do. 17—year—old sabir is from pakistan. how many times have you tried to jump how many times have you tried to jump ona how many times have you tried to jump on a chain? we are six times, seven times. each and every one of them, they try to hang on them, because the problem is here, police and immigration, but's why, the people leave this area. their next destination, greece's border with north macedonia. five years ago, thousands took this route through a tiny border village, a gateway to western europe through the balkans. look at these fields now. this boulder is short. but migrants are now showing up again, in smaller but growing numbers. these men werejust pushed back by border guards in north macedonia. and we came across an afghanfamily north macedonia. and we came across an afghan family waiting in the su nflowers, an afghan family waiting in the sunflowers, trying for a sixth time

to sneak through. we try to go because the greece government they grow both hungry so what do we do? we cannot go to afghanistan, that is our problem, so we try to go to another countries. the welcome has gone cold in this little village. in southern greece, and scenic islands, the need as much the same. a camp built five years ago to house hundreds of migrants now spills across the hills. thousands living

in squalor, losing hope. asylum cases will ever be settled. we weren't allowed to enter the camp. residents filmed for us. this man shows as their food, bread gone mouldy. he fled syria with his family. there are far fewer rivals in greek shows now. look at how close turkey is! it's in touching distance of greece, and they share a land border too, so... this year when tensions rose between turkey and europe, turkey sent more migrants towards greece. it could do it again. but right now, it's greece's actions which are also causing concern. these videos appear to show migrants being pulled by the greek coastguard out of greek waters back towards turkey, in breach of international

law. we obtained this material from groups monitoring traffic in the 18 c, and the un says it has also documented multiple cases. we are out there sending a that greece has borders, the european union has borders, the european union has borders and illegal crossings will not be tolerated but we do so in compliance with international law. life of migrants gets tougher under greece's conservative government. they insist greece won't be a gateway to europe again, and no much of europe thinks the same. bbc news, samos. 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. 0ur 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. you know, not long ago the supermarkets were issuing around