this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. in the uk, a warning that the country is at "a critical moment" in the pandemic as students prepare to return to universities. a flare—up of covid cases in france as rates of infection are now higher than at the height of the pandemic in march. a senior belarussian opposition activist takes refuge in poland, saying she's been forced to choose between jail and exile. 80 arrests are made as the uk prime minister condemns the actions of environmental activists who've targeted the media over the reporting of climate change.

hello, and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. we're covering all the latest coronavirus developments here in britain and globally. first, scientists in the us are predicting that deaths from coronavirus could double there before the end of the year, with up to 3000 deaths a day in december. the projection by the university of washington comes as india passed 4 million cases following a record surge. it's now the third country to pass that number following the united states and brazil. in europe, france registered 8975 cases in the 2a hours to friday, its highest daily infection rate for covid—i9 since the start of the pandemic. in the uk, new lockdown measures have been introduced in bolton in greater manchester after the infection rate rose to 99 cases per 100,000 people,

the highest in england. 0ur correspondent richard galpin reports. the new university year is approaching for students here in leeds, but the movement of thousands of students to universities could lead to a surge of coronavirus cases. and while a coronavirus infection has little impact on the young, they can then spread the virus to other people. i'm a bit worried about the population, that they might bring something with them cos they're from all over the uk and america and things, and we don't know if they're carrying it. as long as i limit my interaction and use my mask and stuff, i'm not really that concerned about spreading it to anyone else. but experts believe it's likely there will be significant outbreaks. this is indeed a critical moment. we are now seeing actually the highest numbers of infections, or at least detected infections, in younger people. and the universities are having

to put in place important measures to make sure they've got testing capacity and also thinking about how they teach their students. leeds is already on the government's watchlist of areas of concern, and officials here are worried young people are becoming complacent. whereas we were focusing more on specific communities at the beginning, it's now clear that the pattern is changing, and a very strong message going out from us to avoid having further restrictions put on us. the watchlist of hotspots like leeds is growing. south tyneside, middlesbrough, rossendale, corby, kettering and norfolk are also all now on the list after increases in cases. and this evening, bolton has announced a further tightening of restrictions.

people here being asked to avoid mixing with other households and only use public transport if essential, because, the council says, its infection rate is the highest in england. back in leeds, another busy day at flamingo's coffee house. social distancing vital, but the owner says people are still ignoring the rules. 99% of people want to do the right thing. people are getting fatigued from coronavirus. everyone, me included, we slip up a bit, it's hard to keep everything going and also there are some people that don't want to socially distance. and as long as that continues, then infection rates will not come down. richard galpin, bbc news. as we've been hearing, france has recorded its highest daily infection rate since the start of the pandemic. 0ur europe correspondent damien mcguinness is following the story. the rate of testing has shot up massively in france, so that means that a lot of people who are maybe not exhibiting symptoms are showing up as positive. so, we're getting a better idea

of the real situation, if you like, but undoubtedly the infection rates have also risen. so, it is a worrying new record because what we're seeing is this is almost 9000 daily new infections in the 2a hours, as you say, between thursday and friday. now, if you compare that to the figures at the height of the pandemic at the end of march, there we were talking daily infections about 7500. so, this is 1500 higher than the height of the pandemic when france was seeing one of the severest lockdowns of any country at all, so it's a very worrying sign. as you say, it's partly because of more testing, but it's also because these lockdown measures have eased up. so, people have got more contacts with each other, people are going back to work, people have also gone back to school this week. as a result of certain outbreaks, dozens of schools have had to close down. but because life is getting back to normal, it does mean that infection

rates are rising. the medical journal the lancet has published data on the phase one trial of the vaccine for covid—i9 developed by russia. russian researchers say early tests showed signs of an immune response and that every participant developed antibodies with no serious side effects. professor peter 0penshaw from imperial college london told us these findings are reassuring to some extent. i think this is a perfectly credible vaccine. it's based on a very similar sort of technology to the vaccine that's being developed in oxford and which has recently published some similar phase one results. so, i think the thing about this one is that they have been getting two doses separated by a few weeks of some very potent recombinant virus, which is called adenovirus, and they've inserted a bit of sars coronavirus into it

so that it generates a powerful immune response. a leading belarus opposition activist says she's taken refuge in poland after threats from the bela russian security forces. 0lga kovalkova recently spent ten days in jail. she's a seniorfigure in the belarussian 0pposition coordination council. she's not the first opposition figure to flee belarus since last month's disputed presidential election. speaking alongside the polish prime minister in warsaw, ms kovalkova condemned her treatment. translation: i consider everything that's happened to me in recent weeks to be torture. i received threats that i would be jailed for a very long time. when i fell ill in my cell, it wasn't doctors who came, but representatives of the authorities. they suggested that i leave the country, otherwise i would stay in prison for a very long time. yuri vendik from the bbc russian service has been following developments including todays protests. most of them, as far as we can understand, most of them went peacefully.

even though we do have reports of several people detained, in particular several students detained in minsk. and there are also reports that the chief executive officers of an it company are being arrested today. and that's one of the companies which first of all supported the opposition and that's one of the companies which publicly declared that they are considering moving out of the country after that crackdown on the opposition. but the main events, in terms of the protests, are of course planned for tomorrow, as already has become usual, for sunday, for 2pm local time, there is a huge — the opposition, of course, hopes it will be huge — a huge protest rally in minsk is planned. the russian authorities will of course be watching this with great interest on their doorstep. what do you make of the apparent role

that russia is playing? it's very interesting actually, and it looks like russia is playing a fairly balanced game in this case. 0n the one hand, they explicitly support lukashenko, of course. lukashenko meets the russian officials, the russian prime minister recently, and president putin has said that they are ready to support lukashenko even with the manpower, meaning sending police or even troops into belarussia if it's needed. but on the other hand, let me remind you that yesterday, svetla na tsikhanovskaya, the leader of the opposition, made a video statement in the united nations security council, and some of the observers say that that wouldn't be possible without the consent of all the permanent members of the security council, including russia. let's get some of the day's other news.

rescuers in beirut have found "no sign of life" in the rubble of a building destroyed in last month's massive explosion. a sensor detected possible signs of life on thursday, but after clearing 95% of the rubble, workers have not found the source of the reading. about 50 volunteers, including a team from chile, have been at the scene. police in the us city of portland have arrested 27 people after protesters marched through the streets and refused to disperse. the demonstrations, which began after the police killing of george floyd in minneapolis, have been going on for almost 100 straight nights. hundreds of mourners have attended the funeral in south africa of a 16—year—old with down‘s syndrome who was allegedly shot dead by police. nathanieljulies was killed on august 26 after going out to buy biscuits near his home in a johannesburg township. at least two police officers have since been arrested. britain's prime minister, boris johnson, has condemned environmental activists for preventing the delivery of millions of newspapers. extinction rebellion targeted

newspaper printing presses in england and scotland on saturday morning, accusing the media of failing to report climate change. the metropolitan police say they've arrested 600 people during a wave of protests in recent days. 0ur chief environment correspondentjustin rowlatt reports. what a turnout! it was late last night when vans containing dozens of extinction rebellion protesters blocked the entrances to three printing presses owned by rupert murdoch's news corporation. as well as this plant in hertfordshire, activists targeted presses in merseyside and in north lanarkshire. the protest meant delays delivering millions of newspapers this morning, including the sun, the times, the daily mail and the daily telegraph. we're here because we feel the british media and political establishment have been complacent about the most existential threat britain has ever faced. 72 people were arrested as police cleared the roads.

newspaper editors described the actions as an outrageous attempt to gag the press. the actions of these protesters are so absurd. these are the actions of totalitarian dictators and authorities throughout the world throughout history — shut down the message, attack a free press, which is exactly what they've done here. this is the fifth day of protests by the environmental campaign group. on tuesday, perhaps 3000 activists congregated outside parliament, blocking the roads. amongst them, the former archbishop of canterbury, rowan williams. there were clear guidelines about how this protest could be conducted, and one of the rules was do not go into the road. well, right at the beginning of the demonstration when the protesters first congregated here in parliament square, they were encouraged to come into the road and block the streets. there have been more than 600 arrests in london alone.

you're under arrest for criminal damage! and extinction rebellion says five more days of actions are planned. power to the people! justin rowlatt, bbc news, london. this is bbc news. the headlines — there's a warning that the world is at a critical moment in the coronavirus pandemic. cases continue to soar as schools reopen and businesses prepare to bring back more workers. a bela russian opposition activist says she was driven to the polish border by the security services and forced to leave the country. hundreds of people have joined anti—lockdown protests in the australian city of melbourne as tensions rise over the state's handling of the pandemic. at least 15 people were arrested. freya cole reports. chanting: freedom! chanting for their freedom, which these protesters say has been taken away from them.

in return, police form a barrier, pushing back against a crowd which has no regard for the coronavirus lockdown in place. it is not safe, it is not smart, it is not lawful. in fact, it is absolutely selfish for people to be out there protesting. the only protest we should be engaged in, the only argument, the only fight we should be engaged in is against this virus. it didn't 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—week lockdown. covid cases have fallen dramatically. there were 89 new cases in the last 2a hours. the restrictions are due to end next week, but the premier hasn't ruled out an extension. human rights matter! divisions are growing deeper — a bitter rift between anti—lockdown protesters

and those willing to comply. freya cole, bbc news. a hospital in jerusalem is carrying out what it says is a world first to support covid—19 patients. people who have recovered from the disease are volunteering to help those currently being treated. it comes amid a surge in cases in the region. here's our middle east correspondent tom bateman. in the sealed world of a coronavirus ward, the sick fill bed upon bed and fight illness alone. shuki knows how the isolation feels. he had the disease in april. now recovered, he's one of a small army volunteering to help those suffering now. i was looking at this together with my wife, and we said, that's what we've been waiting for, i guess. it's just a chance to give something back. hadassah hospital started

the trial last month, thought to be one of the first of its kind in the world. the volunteers are all survivors of the disease. now reassuring current patients, feeding them or helping them call relatives. foi’ under pressure nurses, it's been vital support. all the patients are very lonely. they have nobody inside. no family, no friends, no—one. only the staff, and the staff are dressed like aliens, so it's very important for them that someone can come, sit near to them and talk to them. the science is still unclear aboutjust how much or even how long people might have immunity from having had the virus, and that is why all the volunteers here wear exactly the same protective gear as the nurses. shuki says he knows the risks, but feels safe enough. he hopes the project can help others overcome the desperate isolation

coronavirus can bring. my assumption is that i'm geared up just like any other staff member and then i have another layer of protection, these antibodies, so worst case, i'm like anyone else that goes in. try to keep it simple and do whatever i can. tom bateman, bbc news, jerusalem. researchers are predicting that at least 550 mammal species may become extinct this century. a study published in the journal science advances says hundreds could be saved with targeted conservation. it also suggests humans are almost entirely to blame for wiping out species in the past. the study‘s lead researcher, tobias andermann from the university of gothenburg in sweden, told us how it came to its conclusions. the study started, or it's based on a very large literature of research where we basically went through all published evidence of extinct mammal species specifically.

and based on this fossil data, we could see at what time species went extinct in the fossil record, and based on that, we could reconstruct at what pace these extinctions have occurred in the past. there are a lot of species at the moment that are critically endangered or are very vulnerable to human impact. and all these critically endangered species, which there are hundreds, but some of them — the sumatran rhino or the bornean orangutan — they are essentially reduced to an almost nonviable population size. so, our human impact has not manifested itself only in causing extinctions in the past, but many, many species right now are at the very brink of extinctions. so, we have reduced them to small population sizes and are now facing probaly a huge accumulation of this extinction debt, which will unfold itself over the next few decades.

an excessive heat warning is in place in california this weekend. the temperature in los angeles is around a0 degrees celsius now, and officials are expecting up to 50 degrees in some parts of the state. neighbouring nevada and arizona are also on alert. the heatwave brings an increased risk of rolling electricity blackouts and fast—moving wild fires. from los angeles, david willis reports. these are the hazy, not to mention crazy days of what's shaping up to be one of, if not the, hottest summers on record. the last holiday weekend of the summer, traditionally the ideal chance for people here to frolic on the beach, but not this time. it's too dangerous. what's more, this is the eighth heatwave of its kind so far this summer. this time, however, the official warnings are as dire as perhaps they've ever been. as well as cautioning against what they call dangerously hot conditions,

with temperatures in many places reaching an all—time high, the national weather service is projecting inland temperatures of more than 100 degrees fahrenheit. that's around 38 celsius. higher, much higher in several places. some of these temperatures we just don't typically see. when we look at our forecast models, we're given an idea of what to say and what to predict for the highs. sometimes you scratch your head and go, "is this really accurate, is this really going to get that hot?" and we're talking about that type of temperatures. some of these temperatures could be all—time records set for any time of the year in south—west california. as a result, officials here are bracing themselves for another bout of wildfires. the last heatwave three weeks ago sparked some of the largest in california's history, two of which are still burning. drive—through coronavirus testing centres are closed over the weekend due to the blistering heat, and capacity is limited at cooling centres such as this one because of

social—distancing guidelines. some have headed to coastal areas where the weather is cooler. we had the fires up north, so we came down here to get out of the smoke. yeah. really? yeah. yes. and now know you've got the heatwave. it's a lot better than over there. what are you going to do to stay cool? 0cean. ocean, my friend. beer, shots of chilled whatever. like, i don't know, dude. high demand forair conditioning has prompted official pleas to conserve energy or once again face the prospect of power cuts. keeping cool in california has rarely been more of a challenge. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. when british squash champion lance kinder suffered a heart attack in his 60s, he was told he'd never be able to play again. but two decades later, he's now said to be the oldest competitive player on the planet. and since lockdown restrictions have eased, he's been able

to get back on the court. mike bushell went to meet him. # you make me feel so young...# this is how we might expect to find lance kinder passing the time as he approaches his 85th birthday next week. but hold the front page! # i'm such a happy individual!# lance has a world title to defend! there are squash balls to be hit again! thanks to the easing of lockdown restrictions, the man said to be the oldest competitive squash player on the planet is back on court again. 0h, wonderful! after a game of squash, you feel so alive. squash, i think, takes more out of you in a shorter period of time than any other sport that i know because of the movement on court, very explosive. so, the world champion is back on the court again.

at the moment, though, they're having to play sides due to covid—19 safety protocol, so this is a version of the game where they can only play on their own side of the court unless they're switching for service positions. whatever version lance is playing, he's already proven to be a game—changer. first of all, he only started playing squash in his mid—40s. purely out of vanity. i had what they term as a little bit of a belly. chuckles. over the next decade, he became the world number one for his age group and started to win title after title, until he hit a problem. i found that after 55, that was the end of your squash life. so... because there were no tournaments? that's right, there were no tournaments. so, lance worked with the game's governing bodies to set up new competitions for older age groups across the world. and despite suffering a heart attack in his 60s and being told he wouldn't be able to play again, he bounced back to win world more titles and now, the sport is booming for older generations. and, believe me, it makes such a difference.

i can remember when i had people who retired, they used to just sit down all day in their lounge and theyjust were bored to tears. but that's how they thought, because everybody else of that age group was doing exactly the same thing. lance has only been able to swim against the tide because of all of the off—court exercise he does. stretching is essential. all these little things make life so much easier on a squash court. anyone starting to play again should get checked by their doctorfirst, and lance and his competitors are only able to keep playing because of the general fitness they maintain to stave off the risk of injury. lance is surely an inspiration, surely. you look at lance and say, "well, why the heck should i pack up when, if he can, you know, i must be able to!" if i stay on my side of the court, a safe distance away, it is possible to see it first—hand, then, the skill, the speed and the technique

of the world champion over—80s. # and even when i'm old and grey # i'm gonna feel the way i do today...# now, i'd thought i was reasonably fit, and i am in the age category that in the past would've been hanging up their rackets by now. now i see the level i need to aim for over the next 30 years. in the corner! # you make me feel so young. # ooh, you make me feel so young...# there's just time to take you to colombia, where salsa has returned to the streets of the city of cali at a traditional open air festival. it's been allowed to go ahead, despite a surge in cases in colombia in an effort to reactivate the local economy. this year, of course, couples are keeping their distance from other dancers and masks are being worn. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @philippabbc.

thank you for watching bbc news. hello. we can sum the weather up this weekend as sunshine and showers. and the showers through saturday were most frequent across scotland, northern ireland and northern england. that focus shifts slightly as we head through sunday. still some showers around courtesy of this feature, but this time the focus is across england and wales. so, a drier day for scotland and northern ireland with some spells of sunshine. in fact, most of us will see some spells of sunshine through sunday, but we do need to watch out for those showers. most frequent through the morning across northern england into wales and the midlands. could be heavy, maybe even thundery. flooding their way south and eastwards, perhaps a few sharp ones down into lincolnshire and east anglia. as i said, many will be dry with some spells of sunshine, and lighter winds as well compared to saturday,

so if should feel a bit warmer, 16—20 celsius for many. a little bit cooler further north across scotland. then we see rain and cloud arriving into western scotland and northern ireland through the evening and overnight, slowly pushing its way eastwards. ahead of that, a lot of cloud spilling into southern scotland, northern england and north wales. where we've got the cloud and the rain, temperatures will easily stay in double figures, but where you've got some clearer skies, particularly further south, still in single figures. and we start the new week with a north—south split. so, wetter and windier to the north of the uk, drier and increasingly warm and humid further south. so, on monday, rain already across northern ireland and scotland will sink its way slowly south and eastwards, tending to fizzle out as it does so, but likely to see some rain into northern england, parts of wales, south west england, drier the further south and east you are, but with increasing cloud. and perhaps some gusty winds for a time across the north of england into scotland and northern ireland. but despite the breeze, the cloud and the rain, temperatures will still be in the high teens across the north of the uk and perhaps up to 20—21 celsius further

south and east. and we hold on to that plume of warmth as we had through tuesday. and for some on wednesday, although the temperature start to come down across the north of the uk. tuesday is a mostly cloudy day. the best of the brightness will be the further east you are. likely to see some rain into western scotland, maybe northern ireland, some patchy drizzle perhaps across the west of wales and south west england. but look at those temperatures, quite widely in the high teens to low 20s celsius. as we head through the middle part of week, we'll hold on to that warmth and humidity further south and then turning cooler elsewhere by thursday.

this is bbc news. the headlines: scientists are predicting that deaths from coronavirus could double in the us before the end of the year, with up to 3,000 deaths a day in december. the projection comes as uk heath officials express concern that cases could rise with students returning to university. an opposition activist from belarus says she was driven to the polish border by the security services and forced to leave the country. olga kovalkova said if she had not agreed to leave the country, she would have faced a long spell injail. uk prime minister borisjohnson has condemned as "completely u na cce pta ble" protests that disrupted deliveries of several national newspapers friday. activists from the extinction rebellion group blocked access to three printing works owned by rupert murdoch. 80 people were arrested during the demonstrations. civil servants in england are being urged by the government to return to work in their offices.