this is bbc news with the latest headlines. 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as quickly as possible following the coronavirus lockdown — but one union has described the government's attitude as outdated. france records its highest rise in coronavirus infections since the start of the pandemic. extinction rebellion activists have

delayed the distribution of several national newspapers after blocking access to three printing presses owned by rupert murdoch. 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 a lwa ys it is interesting that everybody is always mentioning russia. i think china is a nation that you should be talking about much more so than russia. and at 2.30 philippa thomas hears

from people around the world about their extraordinary experiences during the pandemic and how covid—19 has this changed their lives. good afternoon. the government is being warned that the country is at a "critical moment" in controlling the spread of coronavirus — as thousands of students prepare to return to university. dame anne johnson — from university college london and a member of the government's scientific advisory group — says she is particularly concerned by a rise in infection rates among young people. in leeds, people have been urged to socialise "sensibly and responsibly" this weekend, after the city was added to a government watchlist of areas with high rates of infection. our health correspondent richard galpin reports. it is amongst young people now that there is mounting concern about coronavirus infections. although the

virus has less impact on that young they can spread it to other people. soon thousands of students will be travelling to start winter term at university. they will be travelling toa university. they will be travelling to a part of the country that may not necessarily be seeing outbreaks and they might be carrying infection with them and may potentially infect elderly relatives who may also be at risk. now councils regarded as hotspots are ramping up preparations to get young people to take risks more seriously. more young people tested positive and they are spread around the city. it is now clear that the pattern is changing and a very strong message going out from as, to avoid having further restrictions put on as, everyone has a responsibility. leeds is already being seen as a coronavirus hotspot.

it has been added to the watch list of areas of concern. that list is growing. south tyneside, middlesbrough, corby, kettering, norfolk, are also now on the list after increases in cases. it isa after increases in cases. it is a particularly big challenge the country faces as winter approaches, ensuring young people stick to the rules to prevent infections rising will be critical. speaking earlier, dame anne johnson from university college london said it wasn't surprising that we were seeing an upturn in cases among young people in the uk. this is indeed a critical moment and what is happening in leeds if you look at the data across the country from phe we are seeing the highest number of infections, or at least detected infections in younger people aged 28—29 and also going up

to 45 euros. on the one hand the good news is we are not at the moment seeing the uptick in cases in hospitals and in deaths. but that reflects with the transmission is going on. it is young people who are probably all pleased to come out of lockdown and see friends and family more, probably they have availed themselves more of those things rather more than the older people who have protected themselves more. it is not surprising the spirit are seeing an upturn. let's speak to nico pantu who runs grimm tattoo studio in leeds. what kind of an impact will it have on you if leeds were to have to go through another local lockdown?“ leedsis through another local lockdown?“ leeds is to go back into a locked out for us it would be catastrophic. i think out for us it would be catastrophic. ithinki out for us it would be catastrophic. i think i speakfor out for us it would be catastrophic. i think i speak for every studio when i say that the stability and the cleanliness of a studio is top priority for all of us. we have the

equipment needed to ensure that every customer and every worker is safe. i can see every customer and every worker is safe. | can see someone every customer and every worker is safe. i can see someone behind you wearing a mask and a visor. talk me through what safety measures you have in place. it is my friend, he is still wearing protective gear. you started your business in 2018. obviously the last six months have been very difficult for you. talk me through how business has been over the last month or so. it has been a real struggle because we did not know what was going to be, how it was going to be, if the government is going to support as. there had been uncertain times. nobody knew what was going to be, if the business was going to survive, if we we re business was going to survive, if we were going to be back, when we were going to be back, and as you know, it took as out of phase three of the opening, and that really put us down. do you feel safe to stay open if cases in leeds are on the rise,

and they do seem to be? honestly, as and they do seem to be? honestly, as a tattoo studio, we have always been working with hand sanitiser, dettol, it kills coronavirus and keeps safe, we feel safe to stay open, even if cases are rising up, we would probably not do face tattoos and close to the mouth and things like that. you have been able to take on new staff since reopening? what will happen to those staff if you do have two then close your tattoo parlour once more? obviously, because i have an assistant now, because it has been extremely busy with a very open, we have literally people missing as, and getting tattoos because we kind of act as a psychologist as well, and if there is to be another lockdown, honestly ido is to be another lockdown, honestly i do not know what is going to

happen with them because i do not know if i would be able to keep the business open again. what are people getting tattoos of these days? what is the thing that people are wanting, the most popular thing that people want tattoos? the get personalised things, wet as sea pa rents, personalised things, wet as sea parents, get lion cubs, i did one recently, memorial as well, fashion as well because there is lots of customers getting tattoo for the sake of having a tattoo and being pa rt sake of having a tattoo and being part of this new trend. and the customers that come in are not worried about covid—19, coming into your salon? obviously this is a well discussed the subject every day? based on our equipment and what they

see in the shop because it is clean, very safe and everything, they are not put off. honestly, new customers, their first not put off. honestly, new customers, theirfirst time in not put off. honestly, new customers, their first time in a tattoo studio, they do get put off by our gear. it looks a bit weird but opposite we need to be safe. yes, it looks like pictures gear, doesn't it? thank you for talking to us. doesn't it? thank you for talking to us. have a good day. the government is urging civil servants in england to return to work in the office. in a letter seen by the bbc, it wants 80% of civil servants to be at their workplace at least once a week by the end of the month. but unions have described the government's attitude as outdated. our political correspondent nick eardley has more. if you months ago this was unthinkable, but now this is a

common sight. many people have got used to working from home. now, ministers want that to change, encouraging more of us to think about returning to the office. the government is seeking to lead by example with the head of that civil service seeing government staff should be back where possible quickly. mark sidwell writes that the prime minister believes increasing the number of people in the office and the amount of time those people spent in the office will be hugely beneficial for our workforce. in a letter to permanent secretaries he adds, the prime minister is also clear that getting more people into work in a covid—19 secure way. . . by by the end of the month ministers wa nt by the end of the month ministers want for and five civil servants backin want for and five civil servants back in the office some of the time, using a rota system to limit numbers. there is a warning that if

it is not a return to the office many businesses may close. work as a driver of footfall in city centres. you might see a huge range of closures and redundancy as a result. the government has had some success in getting people back into city centres. eat out to help out saw 100 million meals claims, ministers say protecting 2 million jobs. million meals claims, ministers say protecting 2 millionjobs. some say that workplace has changed forever and ministers should spend more time preparing for the consequences. the government is using a civil service not because it is more efficient but because they want to send a signal to the private sector. they are dreaming abouta to the private sector. they are dreaming about a form of work that has quite frankly gone. in scotland, wales, northern ireland, the message are still to work from home where possible but in england the government is hoping that more people can be persuaded back to

their workplace. france has registered its highest daily infection rate since the start of the pandemic. show almost 9000 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. infection rates have risen. almost 9000 between thursday and friday is the highest we have seen at any point throughout the pandemic. it is a very worrying record. if you look

backin a very worrying record. if you look back in march at the height of the pandemic, at the strictest point of the lockdown, there were 7500 daily infection rates. this is a sharp increase in daily new infections. that is partly because of a sharp increase in testing as well. we are seeing more realistic view of that figure we are also picking kidnap in france are lots more people who are possibly not showing a fifth of. it is just showing a more realistic view of the situation. more younger people are spreading the virus. they are people are spreading the virus. they a re less people are spreading the virus. they are less likely to suffer complications. we are seeing a more realistic picture but it is a worrying trend we're seeing across europe a sharp rise in infection

rates. india has confirmed more than four million cases of coronavirus — making it the third country in the world to pass that mark, following the united states and brazil. dr ramanan lax—min—arayan is director of the centre for disease dynamics, economics & policy in delhi — he's been explaining how the virus has been spreading around the country. the first cases were mostly in urban 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 poor, testing facilities are not great and for a while it is going to be an invisible 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.

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. freya cole reports. chanting for their freedom which these people say has been taken away from them. it is not safe. it is not smart. it is not lawful. it is selfish for people to be out there protesting. the only protest we should be engaged in, the only fight we should be engaged in, is against this virus. it did not take long before things turned ugly. more than a dozen people were arrested. in some cases there was violence. melbourne is coming to the end of its second six weeks lockdown.

covid—19 cases have fallen dramatically, 89 new cases in the last 2a our. the restrictions are set to end next week but the premier has not ruled out an extension. human rights matter. divisions are growing deeper between anti—lockdown protesters and those wish to comply. travellers returning to scotland from portugal now have to self—isolate for 14—days. the country was added to the quarantine list after a rise in infections there. wales imposed its own restrictions yesterday. there is no change for travellers returning from portugal who live in england and northern ireland. 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 of 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. 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, we 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 the 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. bethany bell, bbc news, corfu. the headlines on bbc news. this several more areas of england including leeds and middlesbrough have been added to the government's watch list of places with high rates of coronavirus, they will be closely monitored and restrictions may be reimposed. government departments in england are told to get civil servants back into offices as quickly as possible following the coronavirus lockdown. the union has described the government's attitude is outdated.

president trump says he hasn't yet seen proof that the russian opposition leader, alexei navalny, was poisoned with a deadly novichok nerve agent. germany — where mr navalny is being treated in hospital — says it has "proof beyond doubt", and is asking the russian our correspondent, nomia iqbal, reports from washington. alexei navalny‘s supporters claim he was poisoned on the kremlin's orders, which 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. latest covered 19 figures, in scotla nd latest covered 19 figures, in scotland 149 new cases in the last 24 hours, no reported deaths of people who tested positive in the last 28 days. 68 of those cases in greater glasgow, clyde, that health

board area, and increased restrictions are set to be reviewed on wednesday, la narkshire, restrictions are set to be reviewed on wednesday, lanarkshire, new cases there, the health board indicating that restrictions could be imposed there as well because of the recent rise. in wales we have had one person testing positive for coronavirus who has died bringing the total number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in wales to 1597. public health wales said total number of cases in the country has increased by 77. and figures for the uk. a further eight people who tested positive for coronavirus in england, sorry, have died in hospital, bringing total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in england to 29,604. we will bring you more on those figures as we get them here at bbc news. there have been clashes between police and anti—immigration this protestors outside dover harbour.

the a20 was blocked in both directions due to demonstrations against allowing migrants to seek asylum in the uk. a rival protest organised by the kent anti—racism network is also taking place. they say they want to show "solidarity" with refugees and migrants. 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." sixty—three people have been arrested. earlier a spokesperson from the group explained why they were there. the government's response. what we

have got borrowing money from future generations to help destroy them. it is so desperate we felt we had to be a dramatic statement. this an image of a nhs worker with a face mask and screen visor is one screen visor is one of the hundred winners of this year's portrait of britain award. the picture was captured on shift at the whittington hospital during the pandemic. the pictures celebrating the faces of modern britain will be displayed on digital screens at airports, rail stations and high streets across the uk. congratulations for being one of the winners. it is a wonderful portrait. look at the face of that nhs worker. you are wondering what he is

thinking and what hardships he has been through during the height of the pandemic. yes, very much so. as an outsider i went in and i spoke to lots of people. that picture really does sum up, because they all are working in such difficult circumstances and wearing this protective uniform which gives them a feeling that they are under threat and they are in danger, which obviously they are. that picture there is someone called ryan, he is about to go into one of the rooms, so he has put it all on, make sure it is all working, then he goes to do this stuff he has got to

do in the room. it is quite an intense thing that they have to do. this i was worried about being there. when i got there the professionalism and the way the people there were reacting put me at ease. before i got there i was worried about it. it was nothing compared to what they had to do. physiotherapists for example in intensive care, taking out thejunk from peoples lands, that is dangerous. taking out the stuff from people's lungs. helping the people they are there to help. it is quite something that they have done. before you walked into the hospital did you know what you wanted to

achieve, what story you wanted to tell, or did you go in with an open mind? i went with an open mind. what i was trying to do, i was thinking a bit like a seed bank, collect peoples stories, so at a later date when we have forgotten about it and it has been washed over as much as we can, those peoples stories were not forgotten. i went in to try to photograph everybody from top to bottom. the consultants who had been there for years, through to the porters, housekeepers and nurses. i photographed quite a lot of people. i will be turning it into a book at some point with all proceeds going to the hospital. it is interesting how know one particular person really spoke for everybody. everyone had their own experience. some people were really in the thick of

it. some people were not. the thing that bound them all together was the passion that they had for putting people in front of them. i wasn't not looking for anything in particular. i wanted to be more of a translator and more of a facilitator to get their story out. i was not trying to tell my story. i was not trying to tell my story. i was not trying to tell my story. i was not trying to put anything of mine on them but just trying trying to put anything of mine on them butjust trying to get from them butjust trying to get from them what they thought about it and what it meant to them. if anyone wa nts to what it meant to them. if anyone wants to see these photos and the other one is how do they do so? portrait of britain top uk. that has got all the winners. great photographers. lots of good stuff there. also my instagram site, that

will have all the information about the book about a month when it is coming out. thank you. this now it's time for a look at the weather. the sunny spells and scattered showers will continue. we will keep that generally cool feel for the second half of the weekend. showers dominating in parts of england and a rash of them then north—east of scotland. given the fact they are showers, winds are slowly going to ease, it will be quite a chilly

night. more showers across england and wales. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: a leading epidemiologist has warned the country is at "a critical moment" in the coronavirus pandemic, with many students preparing