this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. police in the uk declare a "major incident" in birmingham city centre — after number of people are stabbed in the area — one local bar worker said there was an escalation of violence i have always seen quite a lot of fights and drunken commotions, but there was nothing quite like tonight. this is the scene live in the centre of birmingham, where we're expecting an update from the police shortly. tougher coronavirus restrictions have come into force in bolton, the area which now has the highest infection rate in england. a coronavirus lockdown in the australian city of melbourne i have always seen quite a lot of fights and drunken commotions, but there was nothing

quite like tonight. the uk's chief brexit negotiator david frost says the government is not "scared" of walking away from trade talks. and california declares a state of emergency after record heat waves lead to more wildfires. 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. let's bring you some developing news from the uk — west midlands police have declared a major incident after a number of people were stabbed in the centre of birmingham in the early hours of the morning. police and paramedics were called to reports of a knife attack, with further stabbings then being reported.

we're expecting to hear a news conference from police in the next few minutes. but first, let's hear from a woman who works in the area our correspondent phil mackie is in birmingham. do you have any more details? we have just heard that one person died and that violence last night, which seems to have taken place in a number of different locations, beginning and a place called arcadian centre, which is near the 93v arcadian centre, which is near the gay quarter, the chinese quarter of birmingham, but also spreading into different locations across the city centre. i visited some of those locations, and there are police cordons up, and also police tents, presumably forensic officers are carrying out further investigation. we note that besides the one person who died, there were multiple stabbings, but we are waiting for more details from west midlands police and ambulance service and the next 20 minutes or so. is it any

indication yet as to why there is a flare—up of violence happen? indication yet as to why there is a flare-up of violence happen? not yet. according to eyewitnesses, there was an unpleasant atmosphere around midnight last night and the arcadian centre, lots of groups of people or more squaring up to one another, and it seems to have started out as a number of separate fight. interestingly, the police and crime commissionerfor fight. interestingly, the police and crime commissioner for west midlands bobby at this news conference shortly. he has been warning of some of the potential for public disorder. he says because of pent up frustrations among younger people because of covid—i9, people out of work, losing theirjobs, prospects are fading away. it be interesting to hear what he says, and also to get a little bit more detail as to what caused that. we have had no reports of gunfire, but when i scratch my eyewitnesses she says she thought she heard gunshots.

questions will be asked to try to piece together a night of extreme violence in birmingham last night. for the moment, thank you. we will be back with you once a news conference gets under way in birmingham. we can speak now to the labour mp for birmingham ladywood — the constituency in which the incident took place — shabana mahmood. thank you for being with us. can you tell us anything more about what happened? we are hearing that it now seems one person died in this. the information is going to be a press conference from west midlands police... in birmingham. iam conference from west midlands police... in birmingham. i am deeply concerned, and use that somebody has died... all of the victims caught up in that there is we are going to

have to leave that, because i like to you is not very good at the moment, but thank you for being with us. we will try to talk to you again after that news conference. tougher coronavirus measures are being imposed in bolton in greater manchester because of a rising number of cases. the infection rate is now the highest in england. the increase is being driven by a spike among younger people. simonjones has this report. "everyone in bolton must play their part". that's the plea from the local council as tighter restrictions are introduced. the infection rate has risen to 99 cases per 100,000 people per week, the highest in england, with people aged between 18 and 49 accounting for 90% of cases. residents are now being told to only use public transport for essential purposes and not to mix with other households in any setting — indoors and outdoors — unless part of a support bubble. although some restrictions are being lifted elsewhere, a ban on people from different

households meeting indoors remains in most areas of greater manchester. the evidence suggests that it's still the home and gatherings in the home where we are seeing the most community transmission. let's be honest, people behave differently in the home, it is not as regulated as a public space, and that's why the restrictions are still there. the aim is to avoid a more draconian local lockdown, like the one seen in leicester injune, but there is a growing list of coronavirus hot spots. in leeds, students are about to return to their studies, and officials are worried young people are becoming complacent. other areas added to public health england's watchlist are south tyneside, middlesbrough, corby and kettering. last week, restrictions on visiting other households were reintroduced in glasgow. extra testing is being promised in problem areas, but the think tank, the health foundation, is warning that the public don't think official coronavirus guidelines are clear enough, especially about who they can meet and where. simon jones, bbc news.

australian officials have extended the strict coronavirus lockdown in melbourne. the city is at the centre of australia's second wave of infections, and has already been under lockdown for six weeks. the premier of the state of victoria said the measures would remain until at least the 28th of september. earlier, our correspondent phil mercer said the move wasn't a surprise. this will add to the frustration of five million people in australia's second most populous city, who are facing even more time, essentially, in protective custody at home. what this means is that hundreds of thousands of workers and schoolchildren will remain at home. and the state premier, daniel andrews, saying that these very strict measures are needed in order to head off the risk of a third wave of infections. if you look at the statistics around australia, this is a country that since the pandemic began,

ben, has had around 26,000 known coronavirus cases, more than 750 people have died. three quarters of those known cases have been in victoria, and 90% of the fatalities. so, victoria very much at the epicentre of australia's coronavirus emergency, and the state government down there saying these tough measures are needed so that eventually the city of melbourne can emerge from hibernation, can emerge from that lockdown. and is there general popular support for those measures, do you think? i think there is a mixture of frustration, uncertainty and fear. the mandatory wearing of face coverings is still in force. so, many people in melbourne are very nervous about the future, and, of course, many of them asking exactly when will things get back to normal, and what will that normal look like? now, the authorities in victoria are saying that some of the restrictions will be eased

in a week's time. the curfew will be slightly amended to make it a bit later that people in melbourne can be out, but what they are saying, the state government, ben, in the weeks and months to come, those restrictions will only be significantly lifted when the number of new daily coronavirus infections goes down into single digits. so, at the moment, we had 63 new cases reported in victoria overnight, so it would seem that the state still has a long way before it gets to anything resembling what life was like before the pandemic. the foreign secretary has said he wants to see people return to work in towns and cities in the uk to try to revive the economy. dominic raab said it was important to send a message that we need to get britain back up and running. but labour has said it's extremely concerned about the government's position, and that leadership and a strategy are needed. 0ur political correspondent

nick eardley has more. i think it is increasingly becoming the big priority for the government, trying to figure it out, after it got schools in england but, how to turn people back to offices across the uk, partly because they think it would be good for the workforce, but also partly because in many city centres and many business districts, the economies have just completely nosedived over the last few weeks. this morning, we got a very stark warning from the foreign secretary that that needs to happen to protect the economy. it is damaging to the economy. we have seen lockdown, a muscle strengthening of the economy. we are trying to bounce back as strong as possible. the bank of england suggests 18% growth in this quarter alone. we have seen some good news this week, amazon investing in seven 7000 newjobs.

so, the important thing is, we all need to do a bit more remote working in the future, but it does make a difference. the economy needs to have people back at work, unless, and this is really important, unless it isa and this is really important, unless it is a good healthy reason why it shouldn't happen, or unless the employer cannot put in place of the covid—19 secure workplace that we all knew. but employers are doing that, andl all knew. but employers are doing that, and i think it is important to send the message that we need to get back up and running, the economy motoring on all cylinders. there are questions about that, one of them as a health application. we know that government experts have warned that we could be reaching the limits of what can be opened up safely, and potentially if you start opening offices at the same time as schools, you could see an increase in the number of cases of the virus. there is also a question about whether there is enough for your students, and some of the opposition parties in the uk are raising the question about whether the government has explained enough about why people need to be back at work in the

office, anyway, but how that is going to look and how it is going to be safe. have a listen to neighbour's shadow home secretary. we have supported the gradual reopening of the economy, but i am extremely concerned about the government's position on this, because there has to be a very strong, robust strategy of communication in which people have confidence, and if that doesn't exist, then people will not go back to the office. but i think we have to the office. but i think we have to be very clear, firstly, this is not to return to work. people have been working from home throughout the pandemic. many people, our key workers, have been out working throughout our not have that ability to stay at almost well, so it is a return to the office rather than a return to the office rather than a return to the office rather than a return to work. but what we cannot haveis return to work. but what we cannot have is people setting with the sack, for example, if they want to go back to the office, or people who had previously been shielding feel they had been forced into it. we need leadership from the government, a real strategy about how this can

be achieved that people can have confidence and to move forward. that is labour's view. there are different guidelines in different parts of the uk as well, and it is worth remembering that scotland, wales and northern ireland, the message are still very much to work from home where possible. we have had a message as well on the subject of brexit from the chief british brexit negotiator, lord frost, and it isa brexit negotiator, lord frost, and it is a pretty tough message from the eu. we are not as great and we will not blanc. yeah, every public intervention from the chief negotiator basically saying that the uk isn't going to become what he calls a client state of the european union. remember, the uk left the eu, britain and the transition period for very little changes. at the moment, they are trying to negotiate a long—term trade deal, and two of the sticking points are facing and whether the uk has to stick to european rules when it comes to state aid. that is something that the uk government is making

com pletely the uk government is making completely clear that it doesn't wa nt to completely clear that it doesn't want to do, it is a pretty strong rhetoric from david frost this morning, also saying that in the past the uk government has blinked when it was up against the wall with europe. very much the government trying to send a message that it is not prepared to do that again, but on the european side they are saying, compromise needs to come from all sides, and we have heard this before. we can go back to birmingham for that news conference on the violence overnight. a press conference about to get under way. we are hearing from the police that one man was killed and several others suffered injuries ina killed and several others suffered injuries in a series of stabbings in birmingham. and the police confirming they have launched a murder investigation. a man has died and another man and a woman have

suffered serious injuries, the police are saying. five others have also been entered. so, one death and saving injuries altogether, it appears. so, we arejust saving injuries altogether, it appears. so, we are just seeing they are the police are preparing for that news conference in birmingham. and clearly there will be a lot of questions about how that a series of stabbings began, what was the cause of it? where exactly it happened and what the repercussions might be. we know from eyewitnesses that a large number of people who are out and about in the city centre of birmingham last night, and for some reason, violence flared very serious violence and a number of different areas of birmingham city centre. so, we are going to be hearing from the police in just we are going to be hearing from the police injust a moment. you can see them preparing for that news conference, superintendent steve graham from the west midlands

police. also nathan hudson from the west midlands ambulance service, and david jamieson, the police and crime commissioner as well. they are going to be talking about what happened in birmingham city centre there. and as i say, our latest information from the police is that there is one fatality, one person has died. seven others have been injured, two of them with serious injuries. it seems they are not quite ready to begin this news conference, but we are hoping for some more details. let's have a listen in. we will be doing the interview one at a time for you. unfortunately... and then david

jamieson will conclude for us. we will take a few questions and see how it goes. we will start with the chief superintendent. good morning, and thank you. i'm here this morning to give you some information on a series of incidents that took place and around birmingham city centre last night. just after 1230 last night, police received reports of a stabbing incident in constitution hill, just to the north of the city centre. shortly after, a number of other incidents reported in livery street, then coming down to the city centre, and then into hurst street. at each of those incidents, a number of stabbings took place. as a result of stabbings took place. as a result of that, i am sorry to say that one person has died of the injuries that they received. two other people remain in hospital critically injured, and are still being worked

upon as a result of the injuries that they sustained during that attack. five other people received relatively minor injuries, to have been discharged from hospital, and all of whom were treated for relatively minor injuries. given the fa ct relatively minor injuries. given the fact that we are still in the early stages of the enquiry, i hope you appreciate i can't go into the details of those people who have been injured, and clearly in terms of the fatality. what i can do is reassure you all that they are going to be supported, and theirfamilies will be supported by specially trained officers. as a result of this, we have launched a murder enquiry. clearly, we are still in the early stages of that enquiry, but what i can say is that we are treating all full of those incidents asa treating all full of those incidents as a lengthy series. we are searching for one suspect and enquiry to identify an interest that suspects are ongoing. given the nature of the fact we are talking about a city centre, there is extensive cctv footage to review. at

this stage, we are unable to release any of the imagery, but as soon as we can, we will do so, because what we can, we will do so, because what we are going to do is make an appeal to anyone who was in the area at that time to help us trace and identify the suspects. if you are an birmingham city centre last night, sometime between 1230 and 230 in the morning, and the areas described, all the way down from constitution hill to hurst street. if you saw anything, please come to the police. if you are taking any sort of social media photographs, if you have any video footage, please contact us and we will make arrangements via the west midlands police website for you to submit that evidence so that we can review it along with all of the other cctv that we are currently trawling through. clearly, this could be a significant task, and so i would ask people to be about us whilst we do that. there are significant efforts taking place as

i speak to trace the subjects, and all that we will say is that we have got a significant number of highly trained detectives reviewing the cctv and reviewing all the other evidence that is going to be gathered from the scene. the fort since i have described are all cordoned off, and it will be subject to significant forensic searching was clearly, our main objective at the moment is to identify the subject, and are best way of doing it will be to gather and secure all the evidence the scene. at the same time, because we haven't caught the offender ship, i know that may be some people will be nervous. what i will say is that it is a significant uniformed police presence both arms and on arms within birmingham city centre today, so if people are coming to birmingham city centre, i would say to them, don't be afraid, but be alert. clearly, with all the stuff we have gone on with the pandemic, people are more wary of social distancing, but if you see

people coming and approaching you who are you are not happy with, then please do give them a wide berth. but what we are not seeing at the moment is birmingham is not a safe place to be. birmingham city centre, there will be pubs, bars and restau ra nts a nd there will be pubs, bars and restaurants and shops, they will remain open. that is why we are putting an increase in the present in the city centre to reassure people who are coming to work in those places, and people who may be visiting and those who live in the city centre as well. so, before i hand over to mrjamieson, i would just say to anyone, we will need your help, but we don't need your help and trying to approach of the subject might be. leave that to the police. you can help us as if you saw anything, contacts via the website, and there will be details and how you can upload the information into our enquiry room. before i hand over to mrjamieson, does anyone have any questions? one witness and talked about gunshots

being fired. there is absolutely no suggestion of guns being used. the injuries are consistent with people being attacked by knives. those were the reports came in, and there is absolutely no suggestion of gunfire. in terms of the scenes, what about irving street? ok. it has come from the north to the south. any suggestion that particular parts of the community were being targeted? no. people will know that hurst street is part of the gay community and night—time economy, but there is no suggestion that this was in any way shape or form motivated by hate. and people will know that arcadian centre is not where the gay community go to enjoy a night like normal, so i will say again, there

is no suggestion this was a hate crime. at this stage, there is no suggestion gangs were involved. some of the people who are victims of this attack are not connected with gangs. at this stage, we can't find a particular motive, but it does appear to be random in terms of the selection of the people who would attack. any idea if that is connected? any idea if that is connected7m any idea if that is connected? it is way too early to say whether that life is connected with our enquiry. what i think it does suggest is a comprehensive nature of our enquiry, but already we have got people going down change. we have that level of detail shots taking place, which will hopefully reassure the people that we are doing everything we can do to better trace the offender and any weapons that might have been used. there is a suggestion... can

you give us an idea of what it was like? inaudible clearly, it was a saturday night in brittany ‘s second city. there no suggestion these incidents were connected to people squabbling over ta bles connected to people squabbling over tables are not being able to get a booking. in relation to this incident, no arrests have been made as yet. but you are looking for one significant person? correct. we are hearing reports that there are two large groups involved. can you give us any more details about that? and also do have information about where

the person who loves us?|j also do have information about where the person who loves us? i don't wa nt to the person who loves us? i don't want to go into the detail of the other person was killed,, so what we wa nt to other person was killed,, so what we want to make sure it is the families of all the people are reassured that they know the information first, if that makes sense. we will be releasing details of that later on in the day as the enquiry progresses. in terms of the group disorder you describe, again, there is no suggestion that... it is a dreadful thing to say, but it might bea dreadful thing to say, but it might be a regular saturday evening disturbance, there is no suggestion thatis disturbance, there is no suggestion that is connected, but we are not ruling anything out. it will be fully investigated. we are not going to those sorts of details yet. is it being considered that this may be terror related? there is absolutely no suggestion are told that this is a terror —related. this is being treated as a homicide being

investigated by west midlands police. this went on for over two hours. wind the police arrive? just an amount of this is a news conference from the police in birmingham. you are watching bbc news. for those of you that know the city centre, this is a relatively unusual route to go from constitution hill to hurst street. there was no suggestion that people had seen him running out, but area searches were made at the time, so enquiries and searches were made, but unfortunately the subject wasn't caught still hasn't been.” but unfortunately the subject wasn't caught still hasn't been. i have a description of the subject, is it any suggestion that these attacks we re any suggestion that these attacks were at random? addressing your second point, it does appear to be a random attack, because we haven't found any links between the victims either and their nature or where they were socialising. in terms of they were socialising. in terms of the description, we are not going to

lose that as yet, so we are still interviewing a number of witnesses and reviewing the cctv, and more detail will come out from this in relation to the subject in due course, but at the moment, we want is for people to submit their cctv, and if they have got anything to add, contact us via the website. i can confirm the subject was male. you said several subjects have been discharged. off the top of my head, i don't know. sorry. you have got a lone individual attacking people at random on a busy saturday night, who is still at large. so, how can we say to people that birmingham is safe and sound ? say to people that birmingham is safe and sound? that is the opposite of safe and sound. we have got a significant presence of uniformed officers both armed and unarmed within the city centre should the subject be cited, or any subjects or

people behaving like that so that they could respond to that, and we also have a significant enquiry on to trace and identify him, as you said, earlier on. you asked about it now, that reflects the level of the investigation we have got going on. i don't want to go into too many details, but there are all sorts of lines of enquiry is going on to identify and trace such subject, but people should be assured that we have got a significant presence. as a suspect previously known to the police? we don't know who the suspect is, so i don't know one way or another. i haven't got those details to hand, but it was over a two hour stretch from roughly half past midnight to 2:30am.

thank you chief superintendent. i am david jamieson, the police and crime commissionerfor the david jamieson, the police and crime commissioner for the west midlands, andi commissioner for the west midlands, and i am very sorry that we are here today on a sunday morning reporting on ita today on a sunday morning reporting on it a dreadful events that happened last night here and at the centre of the premier. can i firstly say that our thoughts today are particular with the families of those, certainly the person who has died, and those people who are injured, and of course the victims and other people may have been traumatised by the events last night. also, can i say a word of thanks to the police. as ever, when there is violence, it is the police who are running towards the problem and is not away from it, and i do commend the officers that were there last night doing their work, as they

a lwa ys last night doing their work, as they always do come on a saturday night, keeping us all say. and i also commend the hospitals and the ambulance service as well for the work that they have done as well. i note that the enquiries will be very thorough, and i appreciate the reasons why thorough, and i appreciate the reasons why more thorough, and i appreciate the reasons why more data cannot be given at the moment. i am sure the chief superintendent will be passing out detail to the media as it becomes available, and as a becomes appropriate within the context of the enquiries. police will be taking tough action and we will be reviewing this with birmingham city council, as well, as to any further measures that may need to be taken in the city centre. we are well used on our friday and saturday night to activity, but i think what is different is the randomness of this particular event, but also a number of other events

happening as well, the amount of