this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. a leading epidemiologist has warned the country is at "a critical moment" in the coronavirus pandemic, with many students preparing to travel to universities. several more areas of england — including leeds and middlesbrough — have been added to the government's watchlist of places with high

rates of coronavirus. they'll be closely monitored and restrictions may be re—imposed. government departments in england are told to get civil servants back into offices as quickly as possible following the coronavirus lockdown — but unions describe the government's attitude as "outdated". the government announces more than seven million worth of funding to help some of the world's most vulnerable communities deal with the impact of the coronavirus. india confirms more than four million cases of coronavirus — making it the third country in the world to surpass that mark, following the united states and brazil. president trump declines to condemn russia over the poisoning of the opposition leader alexei navalny — who's in a coma in a german hospital. experts there say they have evidence he was attacked with a soviet—era

nerve agent. it is interesting that everybody is always mentioning russia and i don't mind you mentioning russia but i think china at this point is the nation that you should be talking about much more so than russia. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. a leading epidemiologist has warned that the country is at a "critical moment" in the coronavirus pandemic, with many students preparing to travel to universities for the new academic year. dame anne johnson — from university college london — said data showed the highest number of detected infections was in

younger people. the government's scientific advisory body, sage, says outbreaks linked to universities are "highly likely". more areas of england — including leeds and middlesbrough — have been added to the government's watchlist of places with high rates of coronavirus, as andy moore now reports. leeds is the latest city to become an area of concern for public health england. there will be an increased monitoring of cases and potentially more restrictions further down the line if the rate of infection does not fall. the local council says that there is a growing number of cases in young people aged 18 to sa. other places are in a similar position. we are in a situation where we are being watched quite closely by public health england and the department of health and offered additional help and support if we need it, but at this point in time, we are yet to see the rates translating into additional hospital admissions or situations in care homes. the places added to england's public

health watch list are leeds, south tyneside, corby, middlesbrough and kettering. in other areas, restrictions are being eased — in greater manchester, except bolton where infection rates are still high, and west yorkshire and lancashire. skating rinks and bowling alleys will be allowed to reopen on tuesday in these areas in line with the rest of the country, but there will still be a ban on social gatherings. it is social gatherings of a different type in universities that is causing concern for government scientific advisers. they believe that the beginning of the autumn term will almost inevitably lead to significant outbreaks. the fact that many students will not show any symptoms will make those outbreaks more difficult to pinpoint and they believe the biggest risk will come when students head home for the christmas break. they are going to be travelling, potentially to other parts of the country which may not necessarily be seeing outbreaks at that point in

time. and, of course, they may be carrying the infection with them and potentially infect more elderly relatives who might be more severely at risk. the scientific advisory group sage says wider testing is needed. it also says universities should consider providing special accommodation on campus to isolate students who test positive. andy moore, bbc news.

if we see sufficiently bad practice, public health is in danger, we will ta ke public health is in danger, we will take everything we legally can to stay out of lockdown. if we go into some lockdown or severe restrictions from central government, we will damagejobs in from central government, we will damage jobs in mental from central government, we will damagejobs in mental health so it is something we are determined to avoid so we got a range of new measures coming in locally, a bunch of actions that i think will keep us out of lockdown. what sort of behaviour is it, you said you were out with the fire brigade in recent days, what sort of behaviour is causing the problem? , is at the customers being too casual or a

business is not obeying the rules?” think it's both, obviously customers are in charge of their own behaviour but at the end of the day it's the venues but at the end of the day it's the venues that have to police that and what we saw during the successful eat out campaign, we saw restaurants come back to life which is great but we saw sometimes queues of two hours deep outside restaurants, huge numbers of people bunched together, ta bles numbers of people bunched together, tables way too close together, we saw a number of establishments putting profits before people and that's what we are on the lookout for tonight. we are going to penalised any establishment that puts profits before people, we are going to look after public health and try hard to stay out of any central government action that will damage our economy. are you worried that will put the police in a potentially volatile situation, if they are becoming glorified public health enforcement officials? in the

old days, council due to have public health inspectors and it doesn't seem to be many of those these days but that puts the police and the kind of role that they are just not used to performing. —— in the kind of role. it will be our public health people and environmental people that are visiting establishments with a police escort. we know how to handle these things sensitively and when necessary firmly, but we don't want to put the police and any difficult predicament, we will be handling it effectively but ultimately, ourjob is to look after people, to limit the spread of this virus and keep our economy and jobs on track and if that means closing down places with bad practices, then we'll do that. you've been a very successful entrepreneur before you entered politics in the north east of england but before that you would a city trader. do you think the office—based life has now changed for good? do you think we have to rethink our economy in terms of

the impact this pandemic has had that it is making changes that many companies will just now is making changes that many companies willjust now not want to reverse ? companies willjust now not want to reverse? it's a really good question. truthfully, nobody knows the answer to that. i've read on this subject probably more than anyone. i don't know the answer. the following points are all true, the nature of working has changed forever and a lot of people will work from home and working from home is far more effective than we ever imagined, but it's also true that people need offices. businesses need places for people to meet, people miss the social interaction and if you want to train people, if you wa nt to you want to train people, if you want to coach people and if you want people to grow, they need to be around others, so we're going to see around others, so we're going to see a balance between offices are still existing and people working from home, but what we find in the short term as a binary shift towards working from home that is crippling, its crippling city

centres, it's definitely bad news for loads of businesses, forjobs, for culture and we need to find a way of getting that back quickly because we may lose some of these businesses and jobs forever. civil servants in england have been urged to return to their desks, as part of a drive to get people back to work following the lockdown. the government has urged officials to "take advantage" of the return of schools this month, amid warnings some cities have become "ghost towns" as people work from home. analysis of mobile phone data last month suggested only i7% of uk workers had returned to the office. our political correspondent nick eardley explained the government's proposal. they want to see people, where possible, back in offices because firstly they think it's good for the workforce, that it helps people come up with ideas and things like that, we know that if you have a chat

with your colleagues it can sometimes be beneficial, but more importantly i think it's about the economic impact of people not being in offices. if you go into central london at the moment, the houses of parliament, whitehall, it's deserted. it's a lot quieter than it normally is and i think there's a feeling in government that they need to lead by example so by urging civil servants back into the office on a rota system, not getting everybody back at the same time but getting people in maybe two days a week, another group of people another two days, they can lead by example and encourage others to do the same. this is a really divisive subject because whilst there are some people who think it's a great idea, there are others who feel quite different and the unions already this morning say that they think this is the government trying to encourage people to do something that they have left behind. working from home is now a thing and it's going to continue to be one. earlier i spoke to dave

penman, the general secretary of civil servants union, the first division association. he said that companies and organisations have shown over recent months that they can operate effectively when employees work from home. i think they are pretending if we think this is actually about efficiency, of course there are issues around how people communicate with each other in the workplace. the last six months has demonstrated in both the public and private sectors that organisations can work very effectively whilst a significant number of staff are working remotely and whilst it is not for everyone, not all work can be done remotely, not everyone thrives in that environment, and the civil service, 25% of staff have always been at work. the idea that you solve this issue by some kind of top—down target, a finger in the air target from the prime minister, just does not reflect the reality of how worke is organised or how it has been transformed over

the last six months. in terms of the practical aspects of this, there is evidence that an increasing number of people are now returning to their workplaces and those figures have been steadily rising. i guess some people who work for private sector companies, maybe local government, in other sectors of the economy would say, it's not unreasonable to expect the civil service to do what we're doing as well. it's about what works and civil servants have been working very effectively. the numbers were about a quarter all along because of the nature of what some people were doing. they have been rising, people have been coming back, we've been working with employers on the plans to return people back to work. that's a reasonable approach that recognises a permanent change in working patterns and also wanting to bring people back for further purposes where that make sense but that's not what we've got, we've got a permanent revolution in how people work. if you look at the private sector

and the city of london, you're not telling me that if it wasn't effective and efficient for them they would be calling their staff back in, and they're not, and so what the government are doing is virtue signalling, using the civil service not because it's more efficient way of operating but because they want to send a to the private sector. they are dreaming about a world of work that has quite frankly gone and rather than dreaming up staff rotas for the civil service, they should be planning for that because the economy is shifting and changing. travellers returning to scotland from portugal will now have to self—isolate for iii—days. the country was added to the quarantine list after a rise in infections there and comes after wales imposed its own restrictions yesterday. nothing has changed for people who live in england and northern ireland. these holiday—makers were on one of the last flights back to glasgow from portugal before the quarantine was reintroduced. we we re we were disappointed that scotland have to quarantine but england don't, it seems ridiculous. people

are going to fly into england now and drive home. we knew that we were taking a risk anyway so we only lost a day, it is annoying but i'm just glad we made it home in time. we we re glad we made it home in time. we were supposed to come back on saturday but we had to pay an extra £100 to come backjust in case so we had to come back. france has registered its highest daily infection rate of covid—19 since the start of the pandemic. the latest figures, in the 2a hours from thursday to friday, show almost 9,000 new coronavirus cases. transmission is mainly among young people, which means hospital admissions aren't nearly as high as what they were back in march. the increase is partly a result of more testing, but there are concerns after 12 million children in france went back to school this week. officials on the greek island of corfu have warned its tourism business will be badly affected if england imposes quarantine on people returning from greece. last year, around 40% of the 1.6 million tourists to visit the island were british.

since july, they've started returning, but now there are fears that could change, if the numbers in greece go up and england changes the rules on quarantine. bethany bell reports from corfu. tourists are back on the sunbeds at this corfu resort. many of these people are english. for the last few days they have been worried about whether they would have to self—isolate for 1h days when they return home. that salvation but on thursday, england decided not to impose a quarantine on people returning from greece and, for now, they can relax. we're quite relieved, really, because i can't quite make sense of the quarantining because, quite frankly, we could be bringing the covid over here, as opposed to greece being the reason for the covid spreading. it is obviously a concern because, when we get back, if we do have to isolate, you have

more concerns with yourjob, for instance, and the kids not going back to school. i think they've spent a lot of time off school at the moment. england's decision is a relief for local hotel owners too. last year, almost half the foreign tourists in corfu were british, although many other nationalities come here as well. the president of the corfu hotel association says he waits in suspense each week to see what the government in london decides to do. hopefully they will keep their borders open, without any quarantines, and british people will continue to come to corfu. as this year we have been very dependent on them, and they have saved part of our season in very, very hard times. we are very grateful. it is notjust the hotels that are suffering, it is bars and restaurants too. these streets would normally be packed with people. the locals are relieved that at least some holiday—makers have been able to return, but corfu is

missing its tourists. fewer visitors mean much more space on the island's beaches but, for the sake of the economy, locals are hoping things return to normal soon. the headlines on bbc news: a leading epidemiologist has warned the country is at "a critical moment" in the coronavirus pandemic, with many students preparing to travel to universities. several more areas of england — including leeds and middlesbrough — have been added to the government's watchlist of places with high rates of coronavirus. they'll be closely monitored and restrictions may be re—imposed. government departments in england are told to get civil servants back into offices as quickly as possible following the coronavirus lockdown — but unions describe the government's attitude as "outdated". the uk government has announced more

than £7 million's worth of funding to help some of the world's most vulnerable communities deal with the impact of the coronavirus. some of the cash will be used for remote health care access for patients in nigeria. the science minister, amanda solloway, said something as basic as ppe would make a big difference to the countries affected. i can't emphasise enough how significant ppe would be, it would transform the way people are able to work and carry out their day—to—day life and the things that we do seem very basic to us and very fundamental, but something like ppe is going to have significant impact overseas where we are using it. let's speak to ben margetts, director of on call africa, a charity which aims to improve access to health care in ruralzambia. any additional money is welcome, of course it's going to

be for those at the sharp end. can you give us an example in zambia what sort of challenges they are facing in trying to deal with corona—mac? challenges they are facing in trying to deal with corona-mac? yeah, absolutely. . we worked on the southern province in zambia and it is one doctorfor 16,000 southern province in zambia and it is one doctorfor16,000 people southern province in zambia and it is one doctor for 16,000 people so if you put that in the context of the uk, that's where we have one doctor to around 360 people, think about how overstretched the health system is in the uk, you can imagine the impact in zambia. and also the diverse nature of the way people are living here. although there is one doctor to 16,000 people, most of those doctors are within urban areas but a lot of the population live in rural communities with rural health centres, and staff nurses at those health centres, many don't have access to power so you can go into a

health centre, speak to the nurse and when they are attending a birthday often use the torch on their phone so they are often underequipped and under resourced. volu nta ry underequipped and under resourced. voluntary health workers have a low level of training and support to carry out essential services like malaria and tb, hiv, services that have to continue despite covid being here and so the challenges are the lack of resources to deal with covid but also the impact that has on other services vital to people here. amanda solloway was talking about the importance of ppe which was a huge issue and lots of countries are laid on the pandemic. what's the supply like ina laid on the pandemic. what's the supply like in a country like zambia? is it relatively easy to access ? zambia? is it relatively easy to access? it's not, no-mac. we managed to procure some for the

doctors at the hospital in livingston but it was a challenge and as far as i'm aware, other ngos have supplied it, so there is some coming into the country but not enough and it has really been focused on doctors and hospitals working specifically on covid boards so it is no protection for people who might not have sick—mac. there is no ppe for nurses in rural health centres. in terms of being able to maintain things like restrictions and ensuring testing is effective, it must be quite difficult in a country like zambia. i think the ministry of health have done a greatjob with the resources available but their capacity is very limited so getting an accurate picture of where covid is in

the country is difficult. to be able to see trends and changes rather than actual numbers. we are dealing with the £7 million which is a relatively small amount of money and will be targeted and specific things. what do you think the international community can do most usefully to help countries like zambia and other parts of south —— africa? help countries like zambia and other parts of south —— africa ?|j help countries like zambia and other parts of south -- africa? i think the support that comes has to be in a coordinated way. i think there is a coordinated way. i think there is a danger that the support to be fragmented and given to different ngos that are working in silos, and making sure there is enough money invested in rural communities in zambia and the countries around it as well. i think often the focus is heavily on urban areas and rural communities can

get forgotten. president trump says he's seen no proof that the russian opposition leader, alexei navalny, was poisoned with a nerve agent. he added that he would look into what happened to mr navalny — who's in a coma in germany. alexei navalny supporters claim he was poisoned on the kremlin's orders, which raised russia denies. germany says a novichok agent was used — similar to the one that almost killed a former russian spy and his daughter in salisbury two and a half years ago. that assessment received support from some trump administration officials, including the head of the white house national security council. president trump, who had been criticised for not speaking about the case earlier, said that he would study the evidence. i don't know exactly what happened. i think it's tragic, it's terrible. it shouldn't happen. we haven't had any proof yet,

but i will take a look. it is interesting that everybody‘s always mentioning russia — and i don't mind you mentioning russia, but i think probably china, at this point, is a nation that you should be talking about, much more so than russia. he went on to say that no—one has been tougher on russia than him, but he stopped short of criticising president vladimir putin, which has been a constant pattern throughout mr trump's presidency. india has confirmed more than four million cases of coronavirus — making it the third country in the world to surpass that mark, following the united states and brazil. dr ramanan laxminarayan is director of the centre for disease dynamics, economics and policy in delhi. he's been explaining how the virus has been spreading through the country. the first cases were mostly in urban areas where people are living cheek by jowl areas where people are living cheek

byjowl and things areas where people are living cheek by jowl and things transmit areas where people are living cheek byjowl and things transmit quickly but over a period of time the disease has also spread to rural areas, and you have to remember that most of india lives in rural areas where health care facilities are poon where health care facilities are poor, testing facilities are not great and for a while it is going to be an unsustainable epidemic in rural india but it will show up in the form of hospitalisations where these are possible and obviously a very large caseload as well. sir mo farah has broken a 13—year—old record for the longest distance run in one hour. at a diamond league event in brussels, the four—time olympic champion ran more than 21.3 kilometres. that breaks the ethiopian haile gebrselassie's distance by 45 metres. protesters from the environmental campaign group extinction rebellion have blockaded printing presses in england to stop some papers

reaching newsstands today. they accuse the newspapers of failing to "report on the climate emergency". 63 people have been arrested. earlier a spokesperson from the group explained why they were there. we feel the british media are being complacent about the most substantial threat britain has ever faced. the un secretary general said u nless faced. the un secretary general said unless you start cutting emissions, we face a crisis, so we have had the crisis and the government's response is to pour thousands of pounds into the economy so what we have is borrowing money from future generations to help destroy them so we feel it is so desperate that we had to make a dramatic statement. joining me now from the protest taking place in hertfordshire is our correspondent, leigh milner. how much

destruction did it cause? well, a lot overnight but i've got to say it's incredible just how quickly a scene can change because just moments ago this was a com pletely just moments ago this was a completely filled with police cars, ambulances, fire engines, protesters, everyone was here and as you can see behind me, the clean—up operation has gone under way, the police tape which was stretched across these trees has been removed and over my shoulder you can almost see a handful of the protesters that have been here overnight. it has been a long night for them, we're being told by the police that they arrive here about ten o'clock last night with activists also protesting at two other printing presses, one in merseyside and the other near motherwell and north lanarkshire, all owned by rupert murdoch. when officers arrived, they saw vehicles guarding this entrance and is also locks made of bamboo which theyjust

got rid of. at the moment they have just dismantled that and taken that away. as a result there were delays this morning and getting national newspapers, delivered across the country to both shops and newsagents the sun tweeted it was an attack on the sun tweeted it was an attack on the free press, i view also echoed by home secretary priti patel, branding the demonstration, as she says here, "an attack on democracy". extension rebellion accuse the newspapers of failing to report on climate change. this morning in a tweet, they said the disruption was needed to expose newspapers with their constant manipulation of the truth. as you can see, everybody has cleared, the clean—up operation has gone under way on the protesters are no longer here.

this is bbc world news. the headlines... france has registered its highest daily infection rate of covid—19 since the pandemic began. the latest figures, in the 2a hours from thursday to friday, show almost 9,000 new coronavirus cases. russian scientists have presented the first report on their coronavirus vaccine. the report published in the lancet medicaljournal says every participant developed antibodies to fight the virus and had no

serious side effects. hundreds of people have joined anti—lockdown protests in melbourne, as tensions rise over the state's handling of the pandemic. at least 15 people were arrested as some demonstrators clashed with police. one of the world's most successful footballers, lionel messi, has agreed to stay at barcelona, ten days after insisting he wanted to leave. the striker said he didn't want to drag the club into a court battle. now on bbc news, click reveals the discovery of one of the largest collections of material belonging to the so—called islamic state group ever found on the internet. this week: the largest cache of terrorist content ever discovered online. but why is it so hard to take down? unfurling the latest phone. and, stand—up comedy in lockdown: