india has now registered four million cases of coronavirus, with figures reaching record levels almost every day. among the world's most affected countries, the number of new infections is growing fastest in india by some margin. india is currently recording almost 82.000 new cases per day people in lebanon have observed a minute's silence a month after a massive explosion in beirut killed almost 200 people and left 300,000 homeless. rescuers are continuing to search in the rubble for possible survivors after some signs of life were heard on thursday. there's been condemnation of the appointment of the former australian prime minister tony abbott as an advisor to the new uk board of trade. he has previously been accused of homophobia and misogyny. downing street said that he negotiated a number of trade agreements while pm. they defended him.

now on bbc news, the week in parliament. hello again and welcome back to the week in parliament — the week when millions of children went back to school and mps returned to westminster after their summer break. this has been a wasted summer! the government should've spent it preparing for the autumn and winter. instead, they've lurched from crisis to crisis, u—turn to u—turn! but borisjohnson said his government was turning the tide. in spite of the negativity and the constant sniping from the opposition, we are seeing a country that is not only going back to school, but going back to work. also in this programme, jacob rees—mogg reveals his up—to—the—minute ringtone.

i wonder... laughter. the first prime minister's questions since july saw borisjohnson and sir keir starmer clash over schools, the pandemic and the economy. the labour leader focused his questions on the chaos over grades for students whose a level exams were cancelled due to the pandemic. there was an outcry when many students received lower—than—predicted grades, prompting the government to abandon the system and opt for grades based on teacher predictions. at question time, borisjohnson sidestepped a challenge to reveal when he knew there was a problem with the algorithm used to allocate grades. he either knew of the problem with the algorithm and did nothing, or he didn't know when he should have. so let me ask again. when did the prime minister first know there would be a problem with the algorithm? mr speaker, as you know

perfectly well, 0fqual made it very clear that the system in place was robust. 0fqual is an independent organisation and credit had to be given to their views. he accused keir starmer of undermining confidence in the return to school. i think you'll be a fine thing if today, after three months of refusing to do so, as pupils go back to school, it today, he finally be said that school was safe to go back to. come on! the prime minister isjust tin—eared and making as he goes along. the education secretary stood at that dispatch box yesterday and said and acknowledged that labour's first priority was getting children back to school. that's been our top priority at the despatch box.

—— that's been our top priority. i've said that many times at the despatch box. he knows very well, and he was just playing games. keir starmer said his own children had been at school but that didn't deter the prime minister. this leader of the opposition said absolutely nothing to oppose the method of examinations that was proposed and, indeed, they opposed — the opposed the teacher accreditation system that we eventually came up with. is he now saying that those grades are not right? or is he just captain hindsight, leaping on a bandwagon and opposing the policy that he supported two weeks ago? the problem is, he's governing in hindsight. that's why he's made so many mistakes. this is been a wasted summer. the government should've spent in preparing for the autumn and winter. instead, they have lurched from crisis to crisis, u—turn to u—turn. to correct one error, even two might make sense. when the government has notched

up 12 u—turns and rising, there can only be serial incompetence. will the prime minister take responsibility and finally get a grip? i take full responsibility for everything that has happened under this government, throughout my period in office and, actually, what has happened so far is that we have succeeded in turning the tide of this pandemic and, in spite of the negativity in the constant sniping from the opposition, we are seeing a country that is not only going back to school, but going back to work. hours before boris johnson highlighted the role of england's exam regulator in the chaos, 0fqual‘s chair told mps it was a "fundamental mistake" to think that the public would accept a system of calculated grades to determine a level results. the education committee heard that ministers had been aware of the risks. what you are really saying

in three words, if i had to describe it in a nutshell, is "not me, guv". is that a fair reflection of the statement? i think, as he made clear in the statement, we fully accept our share of responsibility for what has gone wrong this year. i have personally apologised to students and parents for what has been, as we recognise, an extremely anxiety— making incident. it has been disruptive to this year's candidates, it is been disruptive to higher education, it has been disruptive to the next year's candidates. thank you. you say in your statement that specifically. but specifically, is my summary of my statement accurate, in your view? what we would point towards is that the mistakes, that the fundamental mistake was to believe that this would ever be acceptable to the public. the prime minister has put the problems down to a "mutant algorithm". 0fqual said there'd been a public consultation on the principles of the algorithm. we, at the same time,

had set up a working group with technical representatives from the exam boards. the decisions taken were ours, but we worked with around 20 different technical experts across the exam boards and chose then the algorithm that seemed to produce the most accurate results. and at what point did the algorithm mutate? i don't believe the algorithm ever mutated. 0fqual‘s chief executive has resigned as the department for education's top civil servant has been sacked, but the education secretary is still in a job. gavin williamson came to the commons to explain and apologise. mr deputy speaker, the situation has, i know, cost a great deal of stress and uncertainty and i am deeply sorry that those who have borne the brunt of it have been students themselves. i can only apologise again for this. we took immediate action to provide certainty as soon

as it was clear that if we didn't, too many students would've received grades that did not reflect their hard work and their ability. he must now take responsibility for ensuring that a summer of incompetence does not descend further into an autumn of disaster and dismay. and any normal cabinet with a repeated failure to take responsibility would lead to his sacking, but this government talks of mutant algorithms. his situation is not even on a shoogly peg. a shoogly peg is a wobbly one. carol monaghan clearly surprised to find gavin williamson still in a job. back at prime minister's questions, boris johnson came under pressure from sir keir starmer and others to extend the furlough or job retention scheme, under which the government pays some of the wages of those laid off during the crisis. the scheme is due to close at the end of next month.

we all know thatjobs are under threat if the furlough scheme ends in october. the power to end this threat lies with the prime minister. will he do his duty and extend the furlough scheme, or are we going to return to levels of unemployment last seen under thatcher, with the resultant human misery? what we are doing is not only continuing with the furlough scheme, as he knows, until the end of this month — which is by far more generous than anything provided in france or germany, or ireland — but we will also, after that scheme elapses, we will get on with other measures to support people in work and, starting today, there is the kickstart scheme to help young people get the jobs that they need. that is in addition to a £160 billion package that we have spent to support the economy throughout this crisis. this government has put its arms around all of the people

to support them throughout the crisis. that is what we're doing and we will now help them get back into work. he will be is where as much as we want to see people back into work there are certain sectors, such as tourism, travel, hospitality and aerospace, where that will not be possible in the short to medium term. i encourage the prime minister to look at a targeted extension for those sectors, and also to look at a specific uk—wide scheme to help those so far have been excluded from the current schemes, including the newly self—employed. the prime minister said there were a number of schemes helping people. it is also very important that we get people back into the workplace in a covid—19 secure way and, unlike the leader of the opposition, we do absolutely everything we can to give them confidence that it is a good idea

to go back and an ounce of confidence, mr speaker, is worth a tonne of taxpayers' money. borisjohnson. time now for a brief look at some of the other goings on in the wider world of politics. the chancellor rishi sunak reassured recently elected tory mps there won't be a "horror show of tax rises with no end in sight" to pay for the costs of coronavirus. but if he is looking for cash—raising ideas, the treasury committee heard from experts who think he should widen the range of goods being taxed. i think it would be beneficial to try and think about about broadening the tax base because if we do not and simply rely on increases in rates, that will increase the distortion that already exist in the system. but doing that in the past has proved quite difficult. if you let that attempt in 2012 to charge vat on a broader range of products, that will create serious difficulties.

but... you are not suggesting that a pasty tax will get us out of this? that's a hell of a lot of pasties! that shows the difficulty of doing something small. you cannot tell a narrative of weight is important to tax pastors but not something else. —— you cannot tell a narrative of why it is important to tax pasties but not something else. a minister has defended a trial scheme to pay workers on low incomes in parts of north west england, where there are high rates of coronavirus £13 a day if they have to self—isolate. those who claim universal credit or working tax credit and cannot work from home can claim the money in addition to their benefits. could the minister tell us what was the evidence base for the decision that £13 a day would be sufficient to persuade low—paid workers to forgo their earnings and self—isolate? he did not answer it the first time around, perhaps he could answer it now. what was the criteria?

my lords, the evidence base and the criteria were our discussion with local authorities, with community leaders, on what would be an effective amount that would tip the balance on a personal decision to isolate. those personal decisions are, as i said earlier, extremely tough, and it was agreed with local infection teams and authorities that this was the kind of sum that would make a difference. ministers are under growing pressure to appoint a patients' safety commissioner in england. the call was led by the chair of a review that found many lives have been ruined because officials failed to listen to women given drugs and procedures that caused them or their babies considerable harm. i stand before you as a person who is shaken by the experience of personally listening to over 700 women and their families, families who were damaged by the healthcare system. their testimonies actually haunt me.

their bravery impels me. and it impels me to right their wrongs. she said there was widespread support for her report. the only cloud on the horizon is the department for health and social care, which simply does not get it. simply asking everyone as they are now to work together better in the future just simply will not work. the department for international development has formally merged with the foreign office. the newly anointed secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs came to the commons to answer an urgent question from labour. face it the new foreign, commonwealth and development office will deliver on this government mission to forge a truly global britain to defend all aspects of the british national interests and to project this country as an even stronger force for good in the world. can i thank him for that?

but the truth is this is a complete mess. it has made a nonsense of his own review. the integrated department has come before the integrated strategy, thousands of staff with world— renowned expertise have been treated disgracefully, holding meetings in recent weeks for senior civil servants who can't even answer basic questions about how this department is going to operate. and why? because the government was shamed by a footballer into supporting some of the poorest children in this world. it doesn't bode very well for a commitment to the poorest people across the planet. the snp raised reports the government might ditch its commitment to spend 0.7% of national economic output on overseas development. 0n the 0.7%, i am grateful for his assurances and the prime minister has made it very clear, but can i give him an opportunity to strengthen his own hand in these discussions that presumably that a trail of the manifesto commitment, were that come to pass, would be a resignation letter from the foreign secretary, because i don't see how anyone would possibly be able to pull that given that situation.

an offer dominic raab felt able to decline, although he has rejected reports that the government might drop its target. the former australian prime minister tony abbott confirmed that he's been in discussions with the uk government about a possible trade talks role. it would be a controversial appointment, as he's been criticised for his views on climate change, coronavirus and women. mps on the foreign affairs committee tried to find out more. you said that you applied for, been in discussions about a job with government ministers here. i think i would call it a role rather than a job. what is the distinction you are drawing? what is the role? give it a title or pay grade. again, i think that is better addressed to ministers in the government.

it is something which is not yet official. and i really don't think there's any more i can say until things have been decided. did they first approach you about this role or did you see an advert in the guardian? i'm just not going to go into this any further. can i get back to what you were invited to speak about, which is multinational diplomacy? is it possible to come in there, tom? very briefly. if it really is specific to the role of the foreign affairs committee and not something on a wider issue that mr abbott is not here to answer. it is an important question i want to ask. welcome, mr abbott. in 2012, you said that men are, by physiology or temperament, more adapted than women to exercise authority

or to issue command. can you tell us whether you stand by that view and will you have any difficulty accepting the authority of liz truss if you are working under her command at the board of trade? i'm not sure that i ever did say that, if you would like to privately provide the committee secretariat with your source, i would happily have a look at it but it doesn't sound like anything i have said. international trade questions on thursday offered another opportunity. the appointment of the sexist and homophobic tony abbott is also the appointment of a climate change denier, so does this indicate the government is moving away from any commitment in trade deals to maintain environment protection? if not, why have you put him in thejob? the reality is that those on the left of politics always are intolerant of anybody who doesn't agree with them but are prepared to defend anything from their own friends.

liz truss. this week saw a record number of migrants cross the english channel in small boats on a single day. on wednesday, more than 400 people took advantage of flat seas and reached the uk. the next day, the man who's been given the job of stopping the illegal crossings told mps on the home affairs committee it was an incredibly complex problem and praised the work of the french authorities. we have made a number of offers to the french for additional capability in terms of people and kit and we have provided significant uplifting for resources and we paid for drones, we paid for night vision equipment and we've offered use of aerial surveillance aircraft to the french. so there is a lot ofjoint working and it is delivering results. it is nowhere near the level we wanted to be and that is frustrating. it is frustrating for us and frustrating for the french. but it means in the region of 3000 interceptions

prevented, 3000 interceptions this year it prevented. they prevented 3000 people from crossing the channel this year. including yesterday, close to 200 just yesterday alone prevented from leaving the beaches of france. so it is delivering the results. one of the french mps has spoken about it on television. i've debated with him. he said his conversation with some of the people trying to get over, they say it is easier to work illegally in the uk and to live undercover, which clearly is not the case, but that seems to be a perception. under operation focal, a joint operation with the french, again, financed by the british taxpayer, this sort of misinformation should be dealt with, but it would appear that french members of parliament are party to putting around these misconceptions about how they're actually going to be looked after if they do make it to the uk. that is part of the problem, isn't it, that people are coming here on a false premise? i think that is absolutely correct and that way i see this operation delivering is that it is both an operation

—— that is part of the problem, isn't it, that people are coming here on a false premise? i think that is absolutely correct and that way i see this operation delivering is that it is both an operation in the traditional sense but also a behaviour change campaign which will be enabled as time goes on with a strategic communication effort. it is exactly the phenomenon you just described, the ruthless criminals are taking advantage of these migrants, some of whom who don't even want to come to the uk. we hear a lot of stories of migrants who are literally forced onto boats, no idea where they are when they get to the uk because the facilitators don't get paid until they do that last leg of the journey, so there is a huge misinformation campaign going on with the facilitators

who told him that the streets are paved with gold in the uk and anybody knows who's travel to france, it is a perfectly civilized country that has a fully functioning asylum system and what we find is when we deliver the migrants to the reception centres, they do claim asylum in france. to holyrood now, where the first minister has set out her government's plans for the next year. besides a guarantee of a job, education or formal training for young people, nicola sturgeon also announced that there would be a draft bill on a second independence referendum. this will include the government's preferred question that would be asked, and the timescale in which it believes the vote should be held. but at first minister's questions, she found herself like the uk's other leaders, under pressure over education. i know that the first minister doesn't like to be asked questions on record but the fact is that she deserves to be challenged of this. it was her that said education would be a number one priority. it wasn't us. it was her who said that

flagship education bill was needed to fix education, not us. it was her that said closing the attainment gap was what she wanted to be judged by and her record simply doesn't stand the test. not only am i willing and happy to have questions asked of me about my record and my policies and my plans, i'm happy to allow the scottish people tojudge that in an election. instead, we have ruth davidson, who wants to continue to be a politician but without the consent of a single person across this country. she is heading to an unelected parliament but has the brass neck to lecture the rest of us on scrutiny and accountability. there is no air mind cloak in the world that will cover up that hypocrisy. ruth davidson will join the house of lords next year. the scottish labour leader hopes to stay at holyrood but is facing internal calls to quit. he asked about a newly announced independent review of adult social care. so, first minister,

will you give a commitment today to appoint trade union representatives and representatives of care users to the review panel announced yesterday so that the voices of those who deliver care and those who receive it are at the centre of that review? we want to move on this quickly, which is why we have asked the independent review to give us a report byjanuary. i'm not sure whether richard leonard will still be standing in his place by then, we will wait and see. nicola sturgeon. now margaret thatcher famously said u turn if you want to, the lady's not for turning. but u turns are increasingly popular at the moment. newspapers have counted a dozen by boris johnson's government in his first year. and now, for us at the bbc, there's a u turn closer to home. will my right honourable friend join me in noting that the bbc are now going to broadcast land of hope and glory as it

should be heard ? they have as they put it reversed their decision. a description that in the context of anything to do with this government, they would characterize as a u—turn. can my friend give any reason for this curious inconsistency? i wonder... song plays. laughter. mr speaker, i of course apologise for any offence i may have given to the house but when britain first at heaven commands arose from the azure main, this was the anthem of the land and guardian angels saying this strain, britannia, rule the waves, britons shall never be slaves, and let's hope the bbc will recognise the virtues of britannia and this plan of glory.

the word perfect jacob rees—mogg. now, although the government wants people to go back to work, if they can, social distancing rules make it hard for mps to appear in the chamber. and there are other good reasons for working from home. conservative jonathan gullis was left holding the baby when the education committee continued its investigation into the exams chaos, challenging him to a little multi—tasking. baby amelia isn't the first to have fallen asleep during parliamentary proceedings. well, that was the week in parliament. thank you for watching, and staying awake. i hope you canjoin me on bbc parliament on monday evening at 11 o'clock for the latest from the commons and the lords. until then, from me, david cornock, bye for now.

hello there. it's going to feel rather cool this weekend, certainly for the time of year, and that's because of where our air mass is coming from — from the northwest on a brisk breeze. that's going to feed in some showers into northern and western parts of uk, but there will be some sunshine around too. the winds maybe not quite as strong as what we had over the last few days. low pressure to the north—east of the uk, high pressure to the south—west that's why we see these north—westerly winds, which will feed in showers from the word go across northern and western areas. some good spells of sunshine further east, mind you, but then we could see some longer spells of rain and more cloud pushing into northern ireland and then southwest scotland, northwest england, north wales through the day. some of these showers will be driving through the cheshire gap into the midlands.

temperature—wise, 18 degrees at best in the sunshine in the south—east, generally the low—mid teens further north. now, through saturday night, it looks like a weather front will move into western areas to bring more prolonged showery rains through northern ireland and across the irish sea into wales and the south—west of england. there could be odd shower elsewhere too, probably driest and clearest across south—east england and north—east scotland. but it's going to be another quite cool night. now, as we head on into sunday, you will see fewer isobars on the chart, so less windy, but we have had this weather front which would've been moving across the irish sea then pushing into england and wales during the course of sunday. that's going to enhance the shower activity for england and wales. there could be the odd heavy, maybe even thundery one. fewer showers for scotland and northern ireland, and more sunshine here. because the winds will be lighter, it might feel a degree or so warmer, a high of 19 degrees in the south—east. then, as we head on into next week monday, we see a new area of low pressure skirting to the north of the uk. that's going to bring some wet and windy weather to many northern parts of the uk. some of that rain getting into northern and western england and wales through the day, but not really reaching the south—east here. after a bit of a foggy start, it will tend to stay dry

with variable cloud and some sunshine. notice the temperatures creeping up, especially in the south, a high of perhaps 21 degrees. that warmer air mass will be with us as we move through tuesday and wednesday, as you can see with the deeper orange colours here. but it is short—lived — cooler air will make a return from the north by the end of the week. hello and welcome to bbc news.

i'm james reynolds. india has now registered four million cases of coronavirus. the country is currently recording almost 82,000 new cases per day — that's a five—day rolling average — compared with nearly 114,000 in brazil and just under 40,000 in the united states. but while india's struggle with the pandemic continues, it could also be part of the solution, as our correspondent yogita limaye reports from mumbai. another day on the covid frontline with no end in sight. dr sumit ray, who sent us this video, has been treating critical patients for months now. he's had to tell dozens of families their loved