this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines. a moonshot — the government defends its ambition of reaching ten million coronavirus tests a day but scientists question whether it's achievable. the so—called operation moonshot to deploy mass testing will allow people to lead more normal lives and reduce the need for social distancing. talk of aiming for the moon is all very well, but actually it's a distraction from the concrete problems we have in the here and now. any social gathering in scotland will be limited to six people, from no more than two households, as fears grown about infections there. the eu says it has serious concerns about the government's plans to override parts of the brexit

withdrawal agreement, as the two sides meet in london. the roof of a school bus is sheared off in a crash in hampshire. three children are in hospital with serious injuries. and wildlife is dying out at a rate never seen in human history according to a stark new report from the world wide fund for nature. hello. good afternoon. the health secretary matt hancock has defended the government's ambition to carry out millions of coronavirus tests every day. leaked official documents show that the prime minister's so—called "moonshot" programme aims to carry out three million tests

a day by december, and up to ten million early next year. experts have expressed concerns about laboratory capacity and say the technology for rapid tests doesn't yet exist. it comes as the number of positive tests jumped 43% in one week, at the end of last month. dominic hughes reports. is mass testing for coronavirus the key to opening up the economy, and is it even possible? these are the questions being asked in the wake of borisjohnson‘s plan that would see perhaps 10 million tests per day by next spring, with results delivered in minutes. we are developing new types of tests which are simple, quick and scalable. they use swabs or saliva. they can be turned round in 90 minutes, or even 20 minutes. the so—called operation moonshot, to deploy mass testing, will allow people to lead more normal lives and reduce the need for social distancing. for instance, it could mean theatres

and sports venues could test audience members on the day and let in those with a negative result. but there are real doubts over whether the plan is even realistic. the current system is already struggling to deliver around 175,000 tests a day. experts say the practicalities of testing millions of people shouldn't be underestimated. you are thinking about a football stadium that has approximately 70,000 people who may wish to attend. you may well have people queueing from early in the morning for an evening football match, simply to get 70,000 people tested and through the gates without having crowding outside. there is also the cost involved. documents linked to the british medicaljournal suggest a price tag of around £100 billion. even some of those involved in advising government believe the idea is flawed. i think talk of aiming for the moon is all very well, but actually it's a distraction

from the concrete problems we have in the here and now. there is a pattern that each time the government has failed on testing, it's announced something yet more ambitious in the hope of distracting us from the present problems. wash your hands, cover your face. this new government campaign is a reminder that basic hygiene is still the key to stopping the spread of the virus, and while mass testing technology does exist, it's not yet been rigorously assessed. avoiding false negatives — tests that wrongly indicate you are free from the virus — will be crucial. the latest figures on testing illustrate some of the challenges faced in the here and now. more than 9,800 new people tested positive for covid—19 in england in the week to september the 2nd. that's an increase of 43% in positive cases on the previous week — the highest weekly number since test and trace was launched at the end of may. whatever happens with what the government is calling its moonshot testing plans, they are unlikely to be in place much before the spring.

that raises the prospect the new guidelines on socialising — the rule of six — and maybe even something more restrictive, will still be with us at christmas and beyond. dominic hughes, bbc news. our health editor hugh pym gave me the latest on the government's plans to increase testing capacity. what the government is saying is that this is relying on a new generation of testing. we heard from matt hancock there in dominic's piece, based on rapid results, saliva tests and so on, which are now being trialled. and they could deliver the means for doing something quickly for someone going into work or going to a theatre, or a football stadium, or whatever. it does seem very, very difficult to envisage how this will come on as rapidly as they want it to do, and how it will work when there are so many problems with people getting tests at the moment, reporting difficulties getting something close to home, being sent miles from their home or not getting a test at all.

i think the interesting thing from the leaked documents in the british medicaljournal, and other things we have heard today, is that the prime minister really feels very strongly, achievable or not, that this is a way forward, back towards some sort of normality. there is other data out today as well that reminds us just how far behind an awful lot of other health conditions have fallen because everybody has been so focused on coronavirus? yes, once the covid pandemic developed in march, and the severity of it was known, the nhs cleared the decks right around the uk so that there was room for covid patients. but a lot of routine, non—urgent surgery, procedures and appointments were cancelled. and now we are beginning to see the backlog in recent data. this is from nhs england and shows that more than two million people were waiting then, more than 18 weeks, that's the target, for a non—urgent operation, a hip or knee replacement, that sort of thing. that is more than half

the total waiting list. we haven't seen a number like that since records began in 2007. 83,000 of those were waiting more than a year. to put that into perspective, it was only 2000, back in february. nhs england do say they are making progress on bringing back diagnostics. there are more cancer patients being seen than in march. but certainly there does seem to be a long way to go. just to let you now that later this afternoon at 1630 we'll be answering your questions on coronavirus. we'll be speaking to virologist and lecturer in global health dr elisabetta groppelli. send your questions using the hashtag #bbcyourquestions or email us on yourquestions@bbc. co. uk. the number of people allowed to meet up in scotland has been cut to six

from two households amid concerns about the coronavirus pandemic accelerating. first minister nicola sturgeon announced the measure at lunchtime. it comes as a new contact tracing app called protect scotland became available to download. james shaw is in glasgow. so, ithink so, i think the new measures nicola sturgeon is talking about take effect immediately? that's right, what nicola sturgeon said in a scottish parliament earlier on this afternoon was that she wanted people to start following these new guidelines straightaway even though they won't actually come into law until monday, so it includes this measure reducing the number of people you can meet together either indoors or outdoors down to sex and additional measures which are a bit different from england, regarding hospitality venues, clubs, restau ra nts, hospitality venues, clubs,

restaurants, cappers, people moving around, customers and staff will have to wear masks and also a delay in plans to open up some areas for example theatres, live events, spectator sports, all those changes are put on hold and what nicola sturgeon said was she knew that these developments would be hard to hear but she said they were necessary. “— hear but she said they were necessary. —— six. hear but she said they were necessary. -- six. to help reduce transmission but also to simplify the rules as much as possible this new limit will apply both indoors in houses, pubs and restaurants, and also outdoors including in private gardens. there will be some limited exceptions for example for organised sports and places of worship and also any children under 12 who are pa rt of also any children under 12 who are part of two households meeting up won't count towards the limit of six people. it's perhaps significant

that the measures in scotland bring it quite closely into line in some respects with england but there are several important differences, so the six people meeting in scotland can only be from two households. that doesn't include children under 12. but in england, they can be from a number of more households but the thing to take away from this is scotla nd thing to take away from this is scotland and england are slightly more aligned now than they were before these changes. yes, indeed, thank you very much, james, in glasgow. we will talk about these new changes, scotland, england, exactly as james was saying. the exchanges come into happenstance on monday. the revd professor gina radford; she was the deputy chief medical officer for england until 2019 and is now a vicar in devon, who's been

advising the church of england about covid guidance guidance for churches. a good afternoon to you. in terms of the broad picture, if i may, because we've had the changes in scotland announced only today, fresh changes in england from monday, your thoughts about the impact that this is having on everyone's lives, but also whether these changes are appropriate? i think unfortunately these changes were inevitable because you just have to see what's been going on in the last few weeks in terms of the numbers of cases. particularly the sharp rise in cases. and it's notjust the cases in terms of the actual positive rate of all the tests done. it's also the fa ct of all the tests done. it's also the fact that this is now across the country, so not localised for a few areas. we are seeing a much more general increase in the number of positive increases. so the government had to do something and i think what you are seeing is an

appropriate response limiting social gatherings to no more than six and just reminding us all about the importance of the basic message of hand hygiene, face masks and social distancing. yes, i'm interested whether you think there should have been even greater emphasis on that for the last few months, because at the very beginning of this, it feels like a long time ago, that really was all we heard about, hand washing, over and over again. that message got lost, not touching your face, all the things we talked about so much. with your medical background, is that something which can't be talked about enough?” think you are right, we all need to be reminded about it. having said that, you have to find that right balance whereby you are not going on about it so much that people start switching off. it is a bit of a balancing act one needs to do, but the bottom line is for the foreseeable future the mantra of

hand washing, facemasks and social distancing has to be part of our life and needs to be second nature for all of us. and in terms of the role you occupy now, as i understand it, churches are allowed to open but they don't have to open. i know there's a lot of variation depending where you live. what is your feeling about those churches that haven't felt able to open at a time when people really might need them or might like them? i think you'll find the majority of churches are open, at least there is a church locally that's open. but i think we also need to be very mindful of the different contexts in which some of oui’ different contexts in which some of our churches have elderly congregations or local circumstances whereby the local priest and the parishionersjust whereby the local priest and the parishioners just feel this isn't the right time to open. but it's not

just about coming into the church building for services. we have all been doing various things like services, live screening services, ensuring people have access to worship, and all the sort of community pastoral care. that's been going on all the time. so, you know, the opportunities for people to worship and to have that pastoral support exists, just in some areas it isn't the right time or expelled locally is not the right time for that local church to open yet. yes, i'm sorry we can't talk about that longer. very interesting to have been with us but perhaps we'll speak again. many thanks. i'm afraid we must turn to other matters. it's a busy day in relation to brexit, as well. the eu says it has serious concerns about uk moves to override parts of the brexit withdrawal agreement.

emergency talks are taking place between eu officials and the cabinet 0ffice minister michael gove. the goverment says it's trying to protect the internal market and the northern ireland peace process. joining me now from westminster is our political correspondent, jessica parker. my my goodness, some of these meetings going on today, jessica, that's where you would want to be a fly on the wall. you certainly won't and two sets of meetings going on today. scheduled one is about the future relationship with the european union, trade talks between michel barnier and the uk market boss negotiator lauder frost, but also his unscheduled emergency talks on interpretations of the past. the withdrawal agreement, the agreement signed, sealed and delivered with the eu all about the terms of divorce. it's afterwards you are saying the government produce these plans to essentially hand ministers powers to modify parts of that agreement. they say to ensure that

should talks not resolve certain issues, the internal market can remain free and flowing in the uk and the peace process can be protected as well, but it's caused major discomfort in european union circles and also amongst some conservatives as well. we've already had some criticism from former conservative leaders theresa may and sirjohn major and this afternoon in the house of lords, lord howard was the house of lords, lord howard was the latest to stand up and landmass the latest to stand up and landmass the government. my lords, does my learned friend simply not understand the damage done to our reputation for probity and respect for the rule of law by those five words uttered by his ministerial colleague in another place on tuesday? words which i never thought i would hear uttered by a british minister, far less a conservative minister. how can we approach russia or china or

iran when their conduct falls below internationally accepted standards, when we are showing such scant regard for our treaty obligations? he was referring thereto something the northern ireland secretary said in the house of commons earlier this week which raised some eyebrows and the temperature of the trade talks going on, saying that, yes, these plans the government were putting forward would break international law but only in a very limited and specific way. what on earth is going on here? well, some people suspect there is some sabre rattling from there is some sabre rattling from the government, trying to provoke the government, trying to provoke the european union to come to terms with them and one conservative mp suggested to me earlier that that had succeeded because of his emergency talks now are going on between the joint committee, michael gove and his counterpart in the european commission talking about the withdrawal agreement this

afternoon. i think that meeting will have concluded a short while ago. 0thers have concluded a short while ago. others might say this is an honest attempt to make sure there is a safety net should the talks not resolve various issues around this, but certainly the two talks are very much linked to each other because brussels has said if they feel the uk is not honouring what has come in their view, been agreed in the past, that's going to make forging a future relationship a very difficult one. all right, jessica, thank you very much, for now. let's stay with us. with me now is our reality check correspondent, chris morris. a man well versed in everything going on in brussels as well and, my goodness, here we are, extraordinary times, the mood is fascinating, chris, and two separate meetings today. as jessica said, one process designed to look at what we've agreed in the past and how you implemented and the other about what we might negotiate in the future. let's look first at the joint committee, this essentially is the

committee, this essentially is the committee which are supposed to implement the withdrawal agreement, the divorce deal which took us out of the european union. it's got various parts to it. there's the financial settlement, the divorce bill, which took time to negotiate, how will that be paid? citizens' rights, gibraltar, various things are looking at, and one of the other things they are looking up, is resolving disputes. if there is a dispute about how to implement, its this committee which is supposed to do it, but it's got special responsibility and that's what's releva nt responsibility and that's what's relevant this week for the northern ireland protocol. ithink relevant this week for the northern ireland protocol. i think that's the most important part of what the joint committee is doing and obviously this publication of the internal market bill has thrown a cut amongst the pigeons because it shows the interpretation of how you implement the withdrawal agreement is very different. —— cat. that difference of opinion has been there for quite a long time. back in march i think it was, michael gove told mps he sees the joint committee as

an opportunity to develop the protocol, in other words, an opportunity to develop the protocol, in otherwords, perhaps changed a bit which is what this legislation is trying to do. the eu's position has always been very firm, the withdrawal agreement is 110w firm, the withdrawal agreement is now an international treaty, and you cannot change it unilaterally, so that's what that meeting here in london today has been about. yes, and the emergency talks as we've been saying, regular talks, nonemergency talks going on involving michel barnier and david frost. yes, we've heard more about those in the last few months, the negotiations on the future relationship, this week is the eighth round of those talks. to begin with, they were held because of covid—19 remotely on video link which didn't help things but even 110w which didn't help things but even now they have become face—to—face i think it's common knowledge they haven't exactly been going swimmingly. it's worth remembering what these negotiations are about. we talk about trade talks, the centrepiece, and we know what the problems are there. the issue about

fisheries, state aid, the amount of government support that can be given to businesses, but it's notjust about that but about things like security cooperation for example. what we have done previously has been done within the eu, how would you please for example exchange information? all that is wrapped up in these talks and that's the problem that if the emergency talks say implementing what we've already agreed is going badly it's going to make it far more difficult to agree in the next few weeks, really, on this whole gamut of issues in these negotiations on the future relationship, so that's why the two have become intertwined and why it's important they are not trying to play one off against each other, but they are importantly linked. yes, absolutely. we will talk again soon, i'm sure. thank you very much, chris morris. three children have been taken to hospital with serious injuries after a school bus hit a railway bridge near winchester in hampshire. the roof of the bus was sheared off.

0ur correspondent duncan kennedy is there. duncan. jane, the bus hasjust been cleared from the tunnel and you can see the full extent of the damage. this is a double—decker bus, it looks like an open deck tourist bus and the roof, as you said, has been com pletely and the roof, as you said, has been completely sheared off. the workers here, the emergency services, are making it secure before they tow it away for fuller investigation. it was packed with children at the time of this incident this morning including children on the top deck who which is where most of the serious injuries took place and the police are now questioning the driver of this double—decker bus. there was nothing left of the top deck of the bus. sheared off after hitting a railway bridge. the bus had more than 70 children on board. many on the top deck.

those on board said the impact sounded like a massive bang. among those on the upper deck was 14—year—old zoe. we suddenlyjust hit the top of the tunnel, because it's a double—decker bus, and it all fell in on the top. i'm not sure what happened down the bottom, i think they were all ok, but on the top it all fell in on top of everyone. there was glass everywhere and everyone started screaming. children have spoken of screams and panic when the vehicle hit the brick built bridge. the bus slowed down to let a car go through and then the bus went in and the roofjust got ripped off and the window smashed and dust came in through the windows, smoke, and lots of people were screaming and like, worried they'd die. police say three children were seriously hurt, though not with life—threatening injuries. 12 more sustained minor cuts and bruises. officers say they've spoken to the driver, who was not hurt. that bus doesn't fit through the bridge. i can't think that a bus route would have been drawn to take it through a bridge that is too low

for the bus. all the pupils went to the henry beaufort school in winchester. the head teacher said she was relieved that more people weren't hurt. well, the head teacher also said counselling was available for any other students involved and she herself didn't want to speculate on the cause of this accident. if you look at the bus behind me you can see upstairs all the twisted polls, some of the seats have been damaged and children spoke of this huge bang when the bus hit the bridge, com pletely when the bus hit the bridge, completely taking off that roof. the bus itself will be taken away by a truck in the next few minutes, it's being secured right now, but the police themselves have said many of the children here have had a lucky escape and they want to find out why this bus was on this route and went under this bridge that was clearly too low for the circumstances. duncan kennedy, thank you very much with the latest in winchester in

hampshire. following that bus crash earlier this morning. the time is edging up to 25 minute passed two. sad news to bring you from the world of the arts and entertainment. the death has just been announced the dame diana rigg. across stage and screen, film and television, as well, a long career. the avengers, alongside patrick magee, and diana rigg is appearing on our tv screens even now because she is in the new series of all creatures great and small which you might‘ve seen on channel five, so still working right up channel five, so still working right up until the end. she has died at age of 82. her daughter, rachel stirling, went on to be an actress, as well. a long family line in the way of the arts, that's all we have

been told at this stage. the news announced in the last few moments. the death of dame diana rigg at the age of 82. and we will doubtless talk more about her long career over the course of the afternoon. now we turn our attentions to climate change. a tax on frequent flyers and banning cars from city centres are among the climate change solutions members of the public have come up with, as part of the uk's first citizen's assembly on the environment. more than 100 people looked at the changes needed to cut greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. 0ur science correspondent rebecca morelle has more. 0ur planet is heating up fast, with greenhouse gases causing temperatures to rise. now the uk's first climate assembly has a plan to tackle this. launched by sir david attenborough,

the assembly brought together people from across the country to give their views on combating climate change. this report covers every aspect of our lives. it recommends stopping the sales of the most polluting cars. forfood, the suggestion is that we reduce the amounts of meat and dairy we eat by up to 40% and the assembly members don't want to ban air travel, but they do say taxes should increase the further and more often we fly. leah, a student, and ibrahim, a gp, both took part. obviously we are a representation of the people and it's very important that the government listens because, as it's going now, climate change is a big issue and there's going to be big effects in my lifetime. there are also lots of little contributions that each person can do on a day—to—day basis, and i would like to think that everyone, as they look

at this report, will say, "right, how can i as an individual improve my carbon emissions?" energy was also looked at, and offshore wind farms got the biggest backing, while protecting forests and planting trees was also widely supported. the report has a vision for a greener future and will now be submitted to parliament. it should reveal which policies may or may not receive wider public support. rebecca morelle, bbc news. let's talk to someone part of that people's assembly. hello, mark. i'm very interested to hear how this all worked and how engaged you work with the world of climate change and all thoseissues the world of climate change and all those issues before you took part in this. before i took part in it i was aware that it was an issue, but i didn't really do much about it

myself apart from the usual recycling side of things but when the latter came to the door offering the latter came to the door offering the chance to do it, i had to grab it with both hands because i realised you don't get a chance like this to shape your children's and grandchildren sutures so ijust had to go for it. how intense was it? you had only six weeks and you were given masses of information that you then had to diejust and think given masses of information that you then had to die just and think about and come up with ideas? that's right. 108 assembly members and all the experts from around the country in theirfields the experts from around the country in their fields and they absorbed the information and we got a chance to go back to them and ask them more questions and then we got around in small groups of 12 around the table and we came up with what we think would be solutions and we could recommend and push back towards the government to say this is what we recommend we do. it's a

recommendation. how much optimism do you have that some of these issues will be taken on board and followed through? i'm very optimistic to be honest. i've been part of a launch this morning and we heard the committee members talking and they all seem to be fully on—board with wanting to take things forward so fingers crossed we will get some great things out of it. if people feel overwhelmed by the topic, what would you say are the simple things perhaps we can all do to try to play oui’ perhaps we can all do to try to play our part? i think you've just got to try to be completely conscious of everything you consume, because one of the big points i found, in participating, every single thing that we consume affects the climate. we've just got to not be as wasteful any more and i think that's the first thing, not to be as wasteful. that's something to live by. thank you very much. i'm sorry we can't

talk longer but great to have you with us. thank you very much indeed. he was one of the 108 people involved in that climate assembly. we were just pause and catch up with the weather prospects now. we are beginning to see a bit more cloud developing from the atlantic, the best of the sunshine towards the south—east of england. these are the temperatures by the early evening, a little bit cooler than it was yesterday especially across northern areas where the windsor picking up a bit and rein a setting in the north—west of scotland. it stays wet actually overnight, some rain possible further south but generally speaking, it should be fair elsewhere. wince continuing to freshen especially across the northern half of the uk. quite a bit warmer here than it was last night. that wet weather continues in the north—west of scotland. we will see that band of rain, heavy over the hills, moving down across scotland, northern ireland, eventually into cumbria, the recipe men in wales still dry at this moment, deborah is making 20 degrees. coolerfurther

north with some heavy blustery showers across northern parts of scotla nd showers across northern parts of scotland and the winds gusting at 45 miles an hour. should be warmer as we head further into the weekend, but for scotland and northern ireland, a bit more rain. hello, this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines: plans for a huge increase in covid testing in britain — 0peration moonshot hopes to do ten million daily tests by early next year. many scientists are sceptical. the so—called 0peration moonshot to deploy mass testing will allow people to lead more normal lives and reduce the need for social distancing. any social gathering in scotland will be limited to six people from no more than two households, as fears grow about infections there. the eu says it has serious concerns about the government's plans to override parts of the brexit

withdrawal agreement, as the two sides meet in london. the roof of a school bus is sheared off in a crash in hampshire — three children are in hospital with serious injuries. sport now and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, good afternoon. the return of fans to scottish sports stadiums has been delayed until october 5th at the earliest. first minister nicola sturgeon has pushed it back by three weeks, due to a rise in covid—19 cases. two scottish premiership test events — aberdeen v kilmarnock and ross county against celtic — will go ahead on saturday as planned with up to 300 spectators at each, but any further pilots will be judged on a "case to case basis". rule changes in england which now limit events to a maximum

of 1000 spectators has forced cambridge united to move their league two opener behind closed doors. their match against carlisle on saturday at abbey park was due to hold 2,000 fans. but with just half that number now allowed in, the club has cancelled all tickets in the interest of saftey and fairness. horse racing faces a £300 million loss if spectators aren't allowed back — that's according to the head of the racecourse association. the return of fans to sporting events in england is under government review once again because of rising coronavirus infection rates. the sport's already suffered several hundred job losses and fears for more serious disruption come after health officials told doncaster racecourse to cut short the test event there, and stop fans from attending the final three days of its st leger meeting. spectators were allowed forjust one day, before a retrurn to behind closed doors racing — and the government's new cap of a thousand spectators at sporting events will cause further challenges the bigger sites will find it harder

than the smaller sites. we are about to finish the flat season in the next eight to ten weeks. we are going to do a jump season where traditionally the crowds are smaller in the winter. for some smaller sites, a thousand is probably workable for that. for the big sites, it will be much more difficult because we rely so heavily on revenue, hospitality attendees. four time world champion sebastian vettel is going to race for aston martin in formula one next season — that's the team currently known as racing point. he leaves ferrari after six years and will partner lance stroll whose dad owns the team. vettel believes he can build something special with them and says his only motivation is to race at the front of the grid. serena williams says she's looking forward to facing her friend victoria azarenka in the semifinals of the us open, after surviving a scare to keep her hopes alive of a record equalling 24th grand slam title.

she lost the opening set to bulgaria's svetana pironkava before making it through to the last four. serena says she feels like she's getting stronger as the tournament goes on and is getting better at dealing with what her opponents have in mind. some of these matches, you know, you're playing serena, so it's like, close your eyes and hit as hard as you can add it doesn't matter. so i have to adjust to that. and i start to adjust to that later on. i'm like, ok, now you know what's going to happen. so now ijust have to go into matches knowing that this is going to happen and just kind of adjust to that area. i saw it earlier. and azarenka was in great form in her quarterfinal, dropping just one game against elise mertens — the 16th seed. azarenka's a two—time grand slam champion but is unseeded in new york. she says she nearly quit the sport before the pandemic because of personal reasons, but eased into the last four by winning in just over 70 minutes. there'll be commenatry on the women's semi—finals on bbc radio 5 live tonight.

and plenty of excitement around the men's draw too. with novak djokovic gone, what an opportunity for one of the players outside the so—called big three to win a slam. the top seed left is austria's dominc thiem — yet to win a major. he beat alex de minore in straight sets. he faces daniel medvedev next. some breaking rugby news this hour. an eight team tournament involving the six nations as well as fiji and georgia has been announced. a friday night clash between ireland and wales in dubin will kick off the autumn nations cup, which will be played over four weekends in november and december. group a will include england, ireland, wales and georgia. whilst france, scotland, italy and fiji will be in group b. that's all the sport for now.

good afternoon, you're watching bbc news and we will talk more about the news that came through just in the last few minutes. in the last few moments, it's been revealed that the actress dame diana rigg has died at the age of 82. a long and remarkable career. she became famous for her role as mrs peel in the tv show the avengers and more recently starred in game of thrones. she had a long career in the theatre as well. sarah campbell looks back on her life. diana rigg, with a little help from a stuntman, as emma peel in the 60s tv series the avengers. clever, cool and cat—suited, she was a new kind of heroine. but she wasn'tjust physical. she was also pretty well equipped intellectually. she was as clever as a man at computers. she was very self—sufficient.

diana rigg had been brought up in india and then at a yorkshire boarding school. you're full of surprises, contessa. so are you, mr bond. she was a bond girl in on her majesty's secret service, the only one to get the spy to the altar, though she was shot dead shortly afterwards. theatre of blood with vincent price proved she could do camp comedy. you'll find we've made several slight alterations in the text and one rather large. will i be interfering with his majesty's obligations? i sincerely hope so. and nell gwyn in a morecambe and wise christmas special sealed her popularity. but will you love me when i'm old and ugly? of course i do. why is it that men can't spend ten minutes alone with an actress without mentioning love? she was a formidable stage actress, notably at the national theatre. her finest performance was as the murderous greek tragic hero medea. pick up this sword and creep

towards the starting line. is she mad and whiles indeed? she appeared in greek tragedy opposite helen mirren. i pray you, sir, take patients. and in shakespeare's king lire opposite laurence olivier. no, george, darling, you telephoned me. because to was contemporary drama like the bbc‘s mother love. plans must be accelerated down to make an episode of doctor who written especially for her starring her daft, rachael stirling. she resurrected the yorkshire accent of her childhood. i cannot bear to look at sick people. i have known a great many at sick people. i have known a great ma ny clever at sick people. i have known a great many clever men and i have outlived them all. you know why? because i

ignored them. and in game of thones she played the sharp tongued queen of thorns. no, you are a dragon. diana rigg, a distinguished actress whose career stretched over more than half a century. dame diana rigg who has died at the age of 82. let's speak to the actor simon callow good afternoon, thank you for speaking to us all swiftly here on the bbc. your thoughts on the life and long career of diana rigg. yes, indeed. it was a unique career as you have rather brilliantly said. it was a rare actress who has been an absolute sex symbol and television superstar but who is also —— has also played a long list of roles, all of which she brought this very particular kind of wit, of

wonderfully droll, dry quality. she was a wonderfully entertaining person, you know. an evening with diana was a wonderful time, filled with gossip and sharp, sharp, clever remarks. she was a brilliant woman. was she very good fun to be with? that the impression you're giving. very much so, yes. but not, you know... laughter and working right up until the very end because people listening to you might realise that she is in creatures great and small which is airing right now. yes, it is, i have to say, a big shock that she is gone. nowadays, she has gone early. people do not diet that age nearly as much as they used to and i would expect her to have many, many more yea rs of expect her to have many, many more years of wonderful performances. did you actually get to work alongside

her as well as having all those fun evening is that you talked about? no, i neverdid, but evening is that you talked about? no, i never did, buti evening is that you talked about? no, i never did, but i often met her socially and, in fact, i interviewed her once. it was the very first interview that i ever did and we we re interview that i ever did and we were getting on very well during the interview and then out of her handbag rolled a tampon and itjust electrified us both. she carried on boldly through the interview. she was just not a woman who could be easily faced, i can tell you. given that you interviewed her, and i know actors get asked this all the time, but could you judge whether she preferred film or theatre? did she have a preference? i don't believe she did. but she had a wonderful mid—career renaissance. it was the almeida theatre where she was, as it

were, rediscovered and jonathan kent and particularly ian mcdiarmid encouraged her to play a huge range of roles and she was spectacularly versatile, absolutely remarkable actress and, you know, that was lucky because it doesn't always happen to people to get a second wind like that. she had started with the royal shakespeare company, she was a classical actress really through and through but would do anything to which she brought, as i feel, these wonderful qualities of wit and kind of penetration. whoever it was who said she was very sharp intellectual was absolutely right. it's funny you mention that, i was lucky enough to see that production of who's afraid of virginia woolf, a long and gruelling players anyone knows, but it was a fantastic performance and really reminded you that she was just as capable on stage as she was on screen. absolutely, absolutely. she wasjust a complete and rounded actress. she

was a wonderful embellishment to our profession. what did she think of the fact that her daughter followed in her footsteps, the fact that her daughter followed in herfootsteps, rachael the fact that her daughter followed in her footsteps, rachael stirling? she was delighted. probably not at all surprised either. rachel is keeping the torch burning for her, as it were. simon, thank you very much forjoining us this afternoon. many thanks for your reminiscences of meeting the remarkable dame diana rigg. her death has been announced at the age of 82. it is quarter to three. as universities and colleges begin their academic year, the government has set out new guidelines to try to prevent coronavirus outbreaks. the guidance — for england — says face to face tutoring should be used only for priority courses, and that students shouldn't return home in the event of a local rise in cases. dan johnson reports. this is the normalfun of the freshers fair.

new city, new friends, new things to sign up for. all part of the university experience, which will be more difficult this year. there is a direct appeal for students to stick to the rules. please, for the sake of your education, for your parents‘ and your grandparents‘ health, wash your hands, cover your face, make space and don't socially gather in groups of more than six now, and when term starts. six is the limit for social gatherings, so no big house parties, but accommodation blocks are more complicated. the guidance says classroom teaching is safe, mixed with online learning. cambridge has announced all students it accommodates will be tested weekly, regardless of symptoms. there is a warning that is of limited use. if there is an indication that a local health protection team is working with a university because there has been a case, the likelihood of you finding more cases than is higher. so the really important message here is be guided

by the health professionals, by the health protection teams, as to when that is a useful intervention. students who get ill are being urged not to return to their home towns and risk spreading the virus further. exeter has signed a contract for rapid testing of those with symptoms. we hope that by having a testing programme alongside all those other effects, it will enable us to get as close as possible to a proper exeter experience, and we hope that our students who come this year will end up with the same sort of memories on the same sorts of opportunities are students who came in previous years. memorable it will be, one way or another. there is recognition that so many young people moving and mixing will produce more cases. but there is reassurance, too, that the risks are currently limited. in society, and community at the moment, the number of cases is still very low. there are outbreaks in various places and rising rates, but the chances of a person going to university and having coronavirus this week

and next week, probably, a very, very low indeed. at the moment, the risk is extremely low. face masks, social distancing and re—jigged timetables will limit numbers to keep campuses say. it will be what happens beyond lectures that determines the impact of student life on the next stage of the pandemic. tim quine is the deputy vice chancellor at the university of exeter. very good afternoon. good afternoon. these new guidelines are only out today and you must be very close to older students returning. there enough time for you to digester and act on all of this? well, fortu nately, act on all of this? well, fortunately, dfe has been in dialogue with us over the development of the guideline so we have been able to feed into that. through the russell group in exeter‘s case, we have been able to give feedback and in response to sage reports, to identify areas

where we have concerns, where we think we can go beyond what was in initially imagined, so we are already well advanced in our university approach to making sure we can deliver this core mission of the university about education while fulfilling our priority which is to keep our students, our staff and really im porta ntly keep our students, our staff and really importantly our communities safe as we possibly can. of course. does that mean that a large proportion of your teaching will have to be online? yes, we have a three track approach to making sure that we can address really high quality education with this safety. 0ne round culture in the community, one round rest mystic magnets, and one round rest mystic magnets, and one round rest mystic magnets, and one round testing and tracing. the regulation risk, we have a risk pyramid. we have moved quite a lot of our activity, i learning and

teaching online. in a major investment, over the summer, teaching online. in a major investment, overthe summer, in teaching online. in a major investment, over the summer, in a project we cold enhance, because we think the process of putting more of our teaching online will actually called enhance a lot of our teaching and make the resources more accessible to also cannot fit around the normal timetable. students can go to work at their own pace and it will significantly allow us to use life teaching time which will still bea life teaching time which will still be a very integral part of teaching here ina be a very integral part of teaching here in a more interactive way so that the delivery of curriculum of a standard lecture will now be ca ptu red standard lecture will now be captured in a podcast or in a recorded lecture and the face—to—face time will be more focused on discussion and answering student questions about things they have not understood or throughout the assessment, so i think it will bea the assessment, so i think it will be a different experience. it will have a major component that will be digital, but i think it will be a stunning experience and, obviously, it will still be the same great

lecturers involved in teaching, the same academics doing their work. do you and to all the staff feel a degree of pressure to get that online side of things right and get it engaging because their students are paying thousands of pounds a year and some of them might think, yeah, what may paying for your? we we re yeah, what may paying for your? we were really keen to make sure that were really keen to make sure that we had a good understanding of what stu d e nts we had a good understanding of what students are looking for in the quality and the navigation of online environments, so part of the investment we have made over the summer was to recruit over 100 of our current students to be what we call digital learning analysts and they are giving us advice on the quality of the experience, how they are finding the navigation of our virtual learning and we have also taken on about 18 recent graduates who are digital learning developers

working alongside academics to perch the digital resources up, so we feel they are well attuned to the needs of stu d e nts they are well attuned to the needs of students and that takes some of the load off academics because they have done an amazing job over the summer. not only have they been preparing for this year but they have also marked around 60,000 scripts online because wiese switched our entire assessment programme to be online rather than cancelling it or any other approach that we could have taken. well, all the best for the new academic year. thank you very much, the deputy vice chancellor there at the university of exeter. a new report by the wwf says wildlife populations have fallen by more than two thirds in less than 50 years. the report warns that nature is being destroyed by humans at a rate never seen before and that what it calls a catastrophic decline, shows no sign of slowing. our environment and rural affairs correspondent claire marshall reports.

wildlife is dying out at a rate which has never been seen before in human history, according to today's report. from the arctic to the warm seas of the caribbean, to the gardens of britain, it's happening faster than all the predictions and its global. the living planet report carried out every two yea rs assesses more than 20,000 creatures all around the world, species in all groups of animals on every continent are being lost. what we have seen is a wholesale destruction of some of our most important natural assets in the space of one human lifetime, 50 years. and this is a trend only increasing and accelerating and that's why we have to stop now and start to address it. intensive agriculture is one of the key drivers. these are huge banana plantations in ghana and it's a monoculture. wildlife is being driven out, so people around the world can eat the fruit whenever they like.

it's the same story elsewhere. in the amazon, a football pitch of rainforest is lost every minute, cleared as grazing for beef cattle and to plant soy which goes into animal feed. and a third of the food produced in the world for human consumption is lost or wasted. but it is possible for food to be intensively produced working with nature and that's what's happening here in wiltshire. it's a very good hunting ground for birds of prey. david butler's farm isn't organic, but still a haven for wildlife. the grey partridge, here filmed in a different location, has declined by 85% since 1970 but is thriving on his farm. it's a nice wildlife habitat. he believes agriculture has to be balanced with nature. if we have no fertility in our soil, if we have poor air quality, if we have poor water quality, then we are not going to have high yields of crops and we are not

going to have healthy animals and healthy food and that directly feeds through to people. 0il pours from a tanker shipwrecked off mauritius last month. this is about people destroying systems that we ourselves depend on, rather than just wildlife. humans are managing nature for their own benefit, whether it's for grazing animals orfor building on and it's having a dramatic impact all over the world. scientists say we can see this now by the pandemic we are living through. research suggests the emergence of covid—19 could be linked to bats. we are fairly confident that the driving forces which have led to the spread of that virus came through a combination of expansion into habitats, illegal wildlife trade, the removal of wildlife, and we are going to see those threats increase, so we've had a clear warning that impacts on wildlife overseas directly affect us at home.

but the report says we can stop and even repair the damage, but it will need unprecedented conservation action and radical changes in how we produce and consume food. much more coming up after 3pm. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. for much of the country, is staying dry through the rest of the day. there is cloud coming in for north—western parts of the uk, turning wetter as well. cooler than it was yesterday. these are the temperatures as we head into the early evening, particularly chile across the northern half of the uk with the breeze picking up a bit and we have that rain in the north—west as well. through the night, we will see that wetter weather continuing across the north—west of scotland and many other areas will be dry. for better cloud around overnight in the wind continues to freshen particular across the northern half of the uk, so it will not be as

pulled as it was last night, a significant change for eastern scotla nd significant change for eastern scotland in the north—east of england. into friday, a weather front and an area of low pressure brings wet and windy weather to the northern half of the uk. further south still dominated by high pressure so it is dry and that pattern will continue into the weekend as well as we will see in a moment. this band of rain moves down across scotland, northern ireland, heavy rain over the hills in the west. eventually that pushes into cumbria through the afternoon of the rest of england and wales still dry at this stage, some sunshine at times and temperatures perhaps making 20 degrees. coolerfurther north where it is windier as well, heavy, blustery showers in northern scotla nd heavy, blustery showers in northern scotland with wins gusting to 45 mph. that weather front takes rain southwards across northern parts of england and wales and then it peters out. the next weather system is sweeping in from the atlantic and, again, that will mainly affect the northern half of the uk where we start saturday with some showers in northern and western scotland. that gets swamped by thickening cloud, the wind is picking up, north—western area turning wetter

once again. england wales again look mostly dry, sunshine at times and temperatures sneaking up to 21 celsius. through the rest of the weekend, a spell of wet and windy weather on saturday night for scotland, perhaps northern ireland, and then more rain on sunday pushes up and then more rain on sunday pushes up towards the north—west of scotland, threatening flooding as well. elsewhere, though, increasing amounts of sunshine, wind is beginning to drop a bit and tebbit was responding to the sunshine maybe even into the mid 20s across the centre of england but it will likely get hotter still as we head into early next week. i weather front still loitering in the north—west of the uk, an area of high pressure across continental europe and we will tap into some of that heat and see temperatures rising everywhere next week and briefly in the south—east to produce could reach 30 celsius.

this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines. 0peration moonshot. the government defends its ambition of reaching ten million coronavirus tests a day, but scientists question whether its achievable. the so—called 0peration moonshot to deploy mass testing will allow people to lead more normal lives and reduce the need for social distancing. talk of aiming for the moon is all very well, but actually it's a distraction from the concrete problems we have in the here and now. social gatherings in scotland will be limited to six people from no more than two households, as fears grow about infections there. the eu says it has serious concerns about the government's plans to override parts of the brexit withdrawal agreement, as the two sides meet in london.

the roof of a school bus is sheared off in a crash in hampshire. three children are in hospital with serious injuries. the actress dame diana rigg, famous for her role in the avengers and james bond, has died at the age of 82. hello. good afternoon. the health secretary matt hancock has defended the government's ambition to carry out millions of coronavirus tests every day. leaked official documents show that the prime minister's so—called "moonshot" programme aims to carry out three million tests a day by december, and up to ten million early next year.

experts have expressed concerns about laboratory capacity and say the technology for rapid tests doesn't yet exist. it comes as the number of positive tests jumped 43% in one week, at the end of last month. dominic hughes reports. is mass testing for coronavirus the key to opening up the economy, and is it even possible? these are the questions being asked in the wake of borisjohnson's plan that would see perhaps 10 million tests per day by next spring, with results delivered in minutes. we are developing new types of tests which are simple, quick and scalable. they use swabs or saliva. they can be turned round in 90 minutes, or even 20 minutes. the so—called 0peration moonshot, to deploy mass testing, will allow people to lead more normal lives and reduce the need for social distancing. for instance, it could mean theatres and sports venues could test audience members on the day and let

in those with a negative result. but there are real doubts over whether the plan is even realistic. the current system is already struggling to deliver around 175,000 tests a day. experts say the practicalities of testing millions of people shouldn't be underestimated. you are thinking about a football stadium that has approximately 70,000 people who may wish to attend. you may well have people queueing from early in the morning for an evening football match, simply to get 70,000 people tested and through the gates without having crowding outside. there is also the cost involved. documents linked to the british medicaljournal suggest a price tag of around £100 billion. even some of those involved in advising government believe the idea is flawed. i think talk of aiming for the moon is all very well, but actually it's a distraction from the concrete problems we have in the here and now. there is a pattern that

each time the government has failed on testing, it's announced something yet more ambitious in the hope of distracting us from the present problems. wash your hands, cover your face... this new government campaign is a reminder that basic hygiene is still the key to stopping the spread of the virus, and while mass testing technology does exist, it's not yet been rigorously assessed. avoiding false negatives — tests that wrongly indicate you are free from the virus — will be crucial. the latest figures on testing illustrate some of the challenges faced in the here and now. more than 9,800 new people tested positive for covid—19 in england in the week to september the 2nd. that's an increase of 43% in positive cases on the previous week — the highest weekly number since test and trace was launched at the end of may. whatever happens with what the government is calling its moonshot testing plans, they are unlikely to be in place much before the spring. that raises the prospect the new guidelines on socialising — the rule of six — and maybe even

something more restrictive, will still be with us at christmas and beyond. dominic hughes, bbc news. 0ur health editor hugh pym gave me the latest on the government's plans to increase testing capacity. what the government is saying is that this is relying on a new generation of testing. we heard from matt hancock there in dominic's piece, based on rapid results, saliva tests and so on, which are now being trialled. and they could deliver the means for doing something quickly for someone going into work or going to a theatre, or a football stadium, or whatever. it does seem very, very difficult to envisage how this will come on as rapidly as they want it to do, and how it will work when there are so many problems with people getting tests at the moment, reporting difficulties getting something close to home, being sent miles from their home or not getting a test at all. i think the interesting thing from the leaked documents in the british medicaljournal, and other things we have heard

today, is that the prime minister really feels very strongly, achievable or not, that this is a way forward, back towards some sort of normality. there is other data out today as well that reminds us just how far behind an awful lot of other health conditions have fallen because everybody has been so focused on coronavirus? yes, once the covid pandemic developed in march, and the severity of it was known, the nhs cleared the decks right around the uk so that there was room for covid patients. but a lot of routine, non—urgent surgery, procedures and appointments were cancelled. and now we are beginning to see the backlog in recent data. this is from nhs england and shows that more than two million people were waiting then, more than 18 weeks, that's the target, for a non—urgent operation, a hip or knee replacement, that sort of thing. that is more than half the total waiting list. we haven't seen a number like that since records began in 2007.

83,000 of those were waiting more than a year. to put that into perspective, it was only 2000, back in february. nhs england do say they are making progress on bringing back diagnostics. there are more cancer patients being seen than in march. but certainly there does seem to be a long way to go. susan michie is a professor of health psychology and director of centre for behaviour change at university college london. very good afternoon. good afternoon. this is a huge ambition on behalf of the government. what do you make of it? i have concerns about it. one of my concerns is about raising expectations, that probably won't be fulfilled, we had expectations raised by a world—class beating up many months ago, millions of pounds are spent on it, and that's got nowhere. and the other problem is how it's being solved is the numbers

that are going to be done and the numbers aren't the issue. the issue, as ever with testing, is who is being tested, where are they being tested, and also how do you interpret the results? these test results are going to have what's called false positives and negatives, people who think they are not infectious but actually are, and also those who aren't infectious to think they are, and then have to isolate. we need much more information. these technologies have not been developed yet. they haven't been evaluated in the way vaccines and medication has, and we can't have a situation where we have these incredibly extravagant promises and an abstract way, to make people feel better, and distract from the total failure of the current test, trace and isolate system which everybody knows is, at the moment, our best

way of getting out of this pandemic. so why do you feel, if you think that's the best way of doing it, why is there not be political will and drive behind that to make it work to the best of its ability? many scientists have been asking that question because over the last few months, as it's been obvious, every stage of that system is not delivering, the government have been told by many quarters that the contracts and the funding should go to those who have got the expertise and the trust, which is the local public health and primary care setup. we are joined public health and primary care setup. we arejoined up, we share data, and already we've shown we are the only ones who are getting the results needed. so then the question is why the government not to that? carrying on giving these eye watering amounts of money to private contractors and organisations and companies that don't have a track record and doing this, and they are doing badly and are not trusted and

the conclusion that i think people are coming to is that it seems to be ideology is driving policy and practice, not science. and not what is going to be best in terms of the pandemic. i mean, we are told the prime minister is absolutely convinced of this idea could work in the sense if you can get mass testing you really can get society up testing you really can get society up and running again, if you could mass a test perhaps people are going into a music venue, that music venue could thrive and survive in right now it has an economic cost. that's one tiny example. is there any truth in the notion that big testing on scale could help things get up and running? we have the same message about the app. the app is going to save the situation. it was going to get us out of a pandemic. you know, look where we are with that. i think what needs to really be thought about is trust. we absolutely need

to trust the government in terms of the way forward in this pandemic because the trust has got to be built up because otherwise it undermines adherence and we do need people to adhere to the advice that's being given out and i don't think this sort of pr distraction kind of announcement of plans that have come through a consultancy company, it hasn't come from the experts, the public health professionals, the scientists. it's come through a consultancy company. it seems to be more about public relations and presenting in a good light, rather than collectively tackling the problems we face. why not try to put everything to make the test, trace, isolate system work, because that's what's going to stop the nhs being overwhelmed? that's what's going to save lives and build trust, make what we have work before going on to try to do

something even more ambitious. for now, thank you very much indeed. thank you. just to let you now that later this afternoon at 16.30 we'll be answering your questions on coronavirus. we'll be speaking to virologist and lecturer in global health dr elisabetta groppelli. send your questions using the hashtag #bbcyourquestions or email us on yourquestions@bbc.co.uk. the number of people allowed to meet up in scotland has been cut to six from two households amid concerns about the coronavirus pandemic accelerating. first minister nicola sturgeon announced the measure at lunchtime. it comes as a new contact tracing app called protect scotland became available to download.

james shaw is in glasgow. the restrictions that she is talking about are very similar to the ones that we know about in england already. so a maximum of six people from two households meeting together either indoors or outdoors, a couple of refinements compared to what's happening in england. so nicola sturgeon said if hospitality settings, so cafes, pubs and restaurants, people moving around, that's customers and staff, would have to wear masks. there will be some exceptions to these rules for things like funerals and weddings, essentially nicola sturgeon saying it is unfortunate that these tightening measures have to happen but it is, as she sees it, a necessity. i can confirm that we intend to change this so that a maximum of six people from two households will now be permitted to meet together. to help reduce transmission but also to simplify the rules

as much as possible, this new limit will apply both indoors in houses, pubs and restaurants, and also outdoors, including private gardens. there will be some limited exceptions for example for organised sports and places of worship. also any children under 12 who are part of two households meeting up won't count towards the limit of six people. now, one more positive development, need contact tracing up which is now up and running, last time i checked, 150,000 people had downloaded it so far today. the actress dame diana rigg has died at the age of 82. she became famous for her role as emma peel in the tv show the avengers, and went on to appear in on her majesty's secret service and game of thrones. she also played many classical roles in theatre. sarah campbell looks back at her career.

diana rigg, with a little help from a stuntman, as emma peel in the ‘60s tv series the avengers. clever, cool and cat—suited, she was a new kind of heroine. but she wasn'tjust physical. she was also pretty well equipped intellectually. she was as clever as a man at computers. she was very self—sufficient. diana rigg had been brought up in india and then at a yorkshire boarding school. you're full of surprises, contessa. so are you, mr bond. she was a bond girl in on her majesty's secret service, the only one to get the spy to the altar, though she was shot dead shortly afterwards. theatre of blood with vincent price proved she could do camp comedy.

you'll find we've made several slight alterations in the text and one rather large. will i be interfering with his majesty's obligations? i sincerely hope so. and nell gwyn in a morecambe and wise christmas special sealed her popularity. but will you love me when i'm old and ugly? of course i do. why is it that men can't spend ten minutes alone with an actress without mentioning love? she was a formidable stage actress, notably at the national theatre. her finest performance was as the murderous greek tragic hero medea. pick up this sword and creep toward the starting line of pain. is she mad and wild indeed? she appeared in greek tragedy opposite helen mirren. i pray you, sir, take patience. and in shakespeare's king lear opposite laurence olivier. no, george, darling, you telephoned me. there was contemporary drama

like the bbc‘s mother love. plans must be accelerated. nothing must interfere. an episode of doctor who written especially for her starring her daughter, rachael stirling — she resurrected the yorkshire accent of her childhood. kindly do not claw and slobber at my crinoline. i cannot bear to look at sick people. i have known a great many clever men. i've outlived them all. you know why? i ignored them. and in game of thrones she played lady 0lenna, the sharp tongued queen of thorns. no, you're a dragon. diana rigg, a distinguished actress whose career stretched over more than half a century. dame diana rigg, who has died at the age of 82. earlier i spoke to actor simon callow

who knew dame diana rigg. she was a wonderfully entertaining person, you know, an evening with her was a wonderful kind of evening filled with gossip and sharp, sharp, clever remarks. she was a brilliant woman. what she very good fun to be with? that's the impression you are giving. very much so, yes, yes. working right up until the end because people listening to might realise that she is in all creatures great and small which is airing right now. i know, it is, i have to say, a big shock that she is gone and nowadays she's gone early. i mean, people don't die at that age nearly as much as they used to and i would have expected to have many, many more years of wonderful performances from her. did you actually get to work alongside her

as well as having fun evenings you talked about? no, i never did, buti often talked about? no, i never did, buti ofte n m et talked about? no, i never did, buti often met her socially. in fact, i interviewed her once, the very first interviewed her once, the very first interview i ever did. we were getting on very well with the interview and then out of her handbag rolled a tampon... laughter she carried on boldly through the interview. she was not a woman who could be easily fazed, i can tell you. given that you interviewed her, i know actors could asked this all the time, but could you judge whether she preferred film or theatre? did she have a preference? i don't believe she did but i think she had a wonderful mid—career renascence, at the almeida theatre when she was rediscovered. jonathan

kent and ian mcdiarmid encouraged her to play a huge range of roles and she was spectacularly versatile, absolutely remarkable and that was lucky because it doesn't always happen to people who get a second wind like that. she started at the royal shakespeare company, classical actress, through and through, but thrilled to do anything to which she brought all these wonderful qualities of wet and penetration that whoever what said she was sharp intellectual it was absolutely right. it's funny you mention that, i was lucky enough to see that production of who's afraid of virginia woolf? and that's a long and gruelling play as anyone knows, but it was a fantastic performance and really reminded you that she was just as capable on a stage as she was on screen? absolutely, absolutely. she was just complete rounded actress, a wonderful

embellishment to our profession. what did you think of the fact her daughter followed in her footsteps, rachael stirling? she was absolutely delighted, you know, probably not at all surprised either. rachel is keeping the torch burning for her as it were. and that was the actor simon callow remembering dame diana rigg who has died at the age of 82. the eu says it has serious concerns about uk moves to override parts of the brexit withdrawal agreement. emergency talks are taking place between eu officials and the cabinet 0ffice minister michael gove. the goverment says it's trying to protect the internal market and the northern ireland peace process. joining me now from westminster is our political correspondent, jessica parker. my my goodness, these are fraught times? yes, a lot going on today and

i think we are now in the period this afternoon when we are waiting and lauder frost, for the uk site, michel barnier arrived for the talks short while ago to talk to david frost about those future talks on various different levels with officials, but the two had negotiators meeting face—to—face at the moment. there have been some unscheduled talks which are now over between michael gove and his european commission counterpart and one days been looking at is what's already been agreed in the divorce settlement, the withdrawal agreement. that's where a lot of attention has been this week after the government published plans that would potentially hand ministers powers to modify parts of that agreement should downing street say, asa

agreement should downing street say, as a safety net, should talks not resolve certain issues, they say this bill will help keep the internal market free and flowing and protect peace in northern ireland. of course, they've been accused of overwriting an international treaty potentially, which has caused disquiet in the european union circles hence today's emergency talks, but also disquiet on the conservative benches as well and we've heard for some pretty senior people in the conservative party. theresa may and sirjohn major had criticised the government over this. today in the house of lords, lord howard also criticised the government. my lords, does my learned friend simply not understand the damage done to our reputation for probity and respect for the rule of law by those five words uttered by his ministerial colleague in another place on tuesday? words which i never thought i would hear uttered by a british minister, far less a conservative minister. how can we approach russia or china

or iran when their conduct falls below internationally accepted standards, when we are showing such scant regard for our treaty obligations? so strong words there from lord howard. the third conservative leader to criticise the government on this matter. he was referring to words from brandon lewis, the northern ireland secretary, who earlier this week in the house of commons in a remarkable admission said what the government had planned would break international law but only ina would break international law but only in a limited and specific way. the government doesn't seem particular put off by the criticism it has been under, pushing ahead with this bill next week. it will be up with this bill next week. it will be up infront with this bill next week. it will be up in front of the house of commons. there are conservative mps who are pretty unhappy about it, not all of them necessarily will stick their head above the parapet and rebelled,

and some are hoping that this bill can be softened a little bit going forward so it doesn't cause quite so much discomfort but, downing street very much insisting it's a safety net, there to protect the united kingdom. some suspect ministers are doing a bit of sabre rattling here trying to bring the eu to the table but others wonder whether there are those within the government or conservative backbenchers who would be happy with the idea of not reaching agreement on a future trade and reverting to wto terms. it will be interesting over the next few hours to hear what's gone on in these two sets of talks today and whether there has been progress or whether there has been progress or whether things have gone backwards. yes, let's see what emerges in the coming hours. thank you very much for now, jessica parker, at westminster. three children have been taken to hospital with serious injuries after a school bus hit a railway bridge near winchester in hampshire. the roof of the bus was sheared off. 0ur correspondent duncan

kennedy was at the scene. the bus is under the bridge behind me and the roof was completely sheared off. it was a double—decker bus and it's likely most of those serious injuries were among children on that a project. police say they are now questioning the driver involved. there was nothing left of the top deck of the bus, sheared off after hitting a railway bridge. the bus had more than 70 children on board, many on the top deck. those on board said the impact sounded like a massive bang. among those on the upper deck was 14—year—old zoe. we suddenlyjust hit the top of the tunnel, because it's a double—decker bus, and it all fell in on the top. i'm not sure what happened down the bottom, i think they were all ok, but on the top it all fell in on top of everyone. there was glass everywhere and everyone started screaming. children have spoken of screams and panic when the vehicle hit the brick built bridge.

the bus slowed down to let a car go through and then the bus went in and the roofjust got ripped off and the window smashed and dust came in through the windows, smoke, and lots of people were screaming and like, worried they'd die. police say three children were seriously hurt, though not with life—threatening injuries. 12 more sustained minor cuts and bruises. officers say they've spoken to the driver, who was not hurt. that bus doesn't fit through the bridge. i can't think that a bus route would have been drawn to take it through a bridge that is too low for the bus. all the pupils went to the henry beaufort school in winchester. the head teacher said she was relieved that more people weren't hurt. the head teacher also said that support is available for all the stu d e nts support is available for all the students involved and she didn't wa nt to students involved and she didn't want to speculate about the cause of this accident. duncan kennedy there

in winchester. let's just pause and ta ke in winchester. let's just pause and take a look at the weather prospects. we are beginning to see a bit more cloud developing from the atlantic, the best of the sunshine towards the south—east of england. these are the temperatures by the early evening, a little bit cooler than it was yesterday especially across northern areas where the windsor picking up a bit and rein a setting in the north—west of scotland. it stays wet actually overnight, some rain possible further south but generally speaking, it should be fair elsewhere. winds continuing to freshen especially across the northern half of the uk. quite a bit warmer here than it was last night. that wet weather continues in the north—west of scotland. we will see that band of rain, heavy over the hills, moving down across scotland, northern ireland, eventually into cumbria, the rest of england and wales still dry at this moment, deborah is making 20 degrees. cooler further north with some heavy blustery showers across northern parts of scotland and the winds gusting at 45 miles an hour.

should be warmer as we head further into the weekend, but for scotland and northern ireland, a bit more rain.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: 0peration moonshot — the government defends its ambition of reaching ten million coronavirus tests a day, but scientists question whether it's achievable. social gatherings in scotland will be limited to six people, from no more than two households, as fears grow about infections there. the eu says it has serious concerns about the government's plans to override parts of the brexit withdrawal agreement, as the two sides meet in london. the roof of a school bus is sheared off in a crash in hampshire. three children are in hospital with serious injuries. and the actress dame diana rigg, famous for her role in the avengers and james bond, has died at the age of 82.

sport and for a full round up, over to the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. the return of fans to scottish sports stadiums has been delayed until fifth october at the earliest. first minister nicola sturgeon has pushed it back by three weeks, due to a rise in covid—19 cases. two scottish premiership test events — aberdeen v kilmarnock and ross county against celtic — will go ahead on saturday as planned with up to 300 spectators at each, but any further pilots will be judged on a "case to case basis". rule changes in england, which now limit events to a maximum of 1000 spectators, has forced cambridge united to move their league 2 season opener behind closed doors. their match against carlisle on saturday at abbey park was due to take place in front of 2,000 fans. but with just half that

number now allowed in, the club has cancelled all tickets in the interest of saftey. horse racing faces a £300 million loss if spectators aren't allowed to return — that's according to the head of the racecourse association. the sport's already suffered several hundred job losses and there are fears for more serious disruption after doncaster racecourse was told by health officials to close its doors for the final three days of its st leger meeting.

some of these matches, you know, you're playing serena, so it's like, close your eyes and hit as hard as you can and it doesn't matter. so i have to adjust to that. and i start to adjust to that later on. i'm like, ok, now you know what's going to happen. so now ijust have to go into matches knowing that this is going to happen and just kind of adjust to that earlier. staying in the us, the nfl will be the last major sport in the country to return, since the covid—19 outbreak, with the defending super bowl champions kansas city chiefs hosting the houston texans tonight. it's the first game since february. the league's introduced strict health and safety protocols, including the wearing of masks in the bench area. it's been left up to the 32 teams and local officials to decide if it is safe to allow spectators into their stadiums. there will be around 17,000 at the arrowhead stadium in kansas city, which is less than a quarter of its capacity

and the players are getting used to the new procedures. getting tested every day, you know, having the lock is spaced out, different schedules, having a bubble where we watch films, you know, we have our own material things and towels and things like that, and eve ryo ne towels and things like that, and everyone else has been following the protocol so it's been going well. that's all from me for now. 0n the website, there's the latest from this afternoon's premier league manager news conferences ahead of the new season which gets going this weekend, plus live updates from stage 12 of the tour de france where slovenia's primoz roglic is the overall race leader. i'll have more a bit later. that is all your support for now. thanks very much. see you later on in the day. let's bring you a couple of lines coming out of those brexit meetings. we've been talking about that a lot today. and some pretty strong words coming out from the eu

commission. they are saying that if the brexit bill were to be adopted would constitute an extremely serious violation of the withdrawal agreement and of international law, very strong comments. also the commission saying it doesn't accept the argument that the aim of the d raft the argument that the aim of the draft bill is to protect the good friday agreement. in fact, it takes the view that it does the opposite. it says, overall, the uk, talking about possibly mending the withdrawal agreement of course, which is signed, the eu commission says on brexit the uk has seriously damaged trust between the eu and the uk and it is now up to the uk government to re—establish that trust. so very strong words coming out there. one final item in relation to all of this, we have two separate brexit conversations going

on today, of course, but the commission saying withdrawal agreement contains a number of mechanisms and legal remedies to address violations of the legal obligations which are contained in the text. it says the european union won't be shy using these. so mechanisms and legal remedies to address any violations and the european union won't be shy in using them, but a very strong words around them, but a very strong words around the whole issue of trust. they are saying the uk government is broken trust and it is up to the british government, the uk government, to re—establish that trust. we have been hearing from several really very senior members of the conservative party who expressed a lot of concern about this idea and we've been hearing from michael howard, the former leader of the party, and from sirjohn major, former prime minister among others expressing concern, so there is very strong comments coming out in the last few moments from the eu commission. we will doubtless have

more reaction to that and more from westminster and from brussels in the course of the afternoon. a minute's silence has been held at the site of the stonehaven train derailment, in which three people died last month. an interim report released this morning found the accident in aberdeenshire was caused when the train struck rock and gravel washed onto the tracks. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon has been at the crash site today. this is a very remote location and engineers had to build 900 metres of road and bridge to get specialist equipment onto site. but this morning, just over four weeks after this crash occurred, in a slow and delicate process, the first of those two engines and four carriages, which derailed were lifted. it comes on the day when network rail released the interim report which says the crash was caused by the train hitting a pile of washed

out rock and gravel. there was of course very out rock and gravel. there was of course very heavy rain in the hours before the crash occurred and network rail admits the impact of climate change on the network is accelerating faster than previous assumptions. it says it needs to get better at predicting and reacting to extreme weather events at a local level. it says it also has to look closely at the earthworks, the cuttings, the embankment around the network itself. the areas most at risk of failure from slippage are being targeted for action but network rail says in this report it is not economically viable to strengthen all substandard track—side slopes. strengthen all substandard track-side slopes. lorna gordon in aberdeenshire. a huge migrant camp on the greek island of lesbos was all but destroyed in a fire on tuesday night — now a second one has wiped out what was left. what was last week the only shelter for more than 12,000 refugees is now a wasteland. mark lobel has the latest.

hundreds of unaccompanied children leave for greece's mainland from theirfire ravaged camp on the island of lesbos. just as new fires began destroying parts of the camp that had been spared the initial onslaught. the greek government says the original fire was caused by protesters after 35 residents who had tested positive for coronavirus were isolated. strong winds then fanned the flames in a tinderbox where families crammed into a space meant to house just a quarter of the 13,000 men, women and children who were placed there. these new fires at europe's largest refugee camp have opened up old wounds. after afghanis, syrians and iraqis headed for a new life in europe, a deal struck four years ago with turkey has was meant to offer accommodation there. but the problem was pushed onto greek shores is the closest destination. and now look.

the truth of the matter is that people on the greek island welcome the refugees years ago but after so many years of continuous flows, there has been a lot of fatigue in local communities. the german government is under pressure at home to a urgently house more migrants. demonstrators in berlin and frankfurt insist there is room. translation: the situation is such that the people there could simply come here to live normal lives instead of having to go to hell. that's why we are here, we are saying the city of frankfurt has a room and so does germany. and now another challenge. as the coronavirus pandemic pushes the problem of migration further into the open. could it also make it more difficult for economically strapped countries to open their borders and keep the pandemic at bay? mark lobel, bbc news. more than a year after fire ravaged the cathedral

of notre dame in paris, tourists have been welcomed back into its crypts. visitors will have a chance to view an exhibition about the building's history. restoration work paused during the pandemic, but specialists around france have been working on art and furniture saved from the fire. as universities and colleges begin their academic year, the government has set out new guidelines to try to prevent coronavirus outbreaks. the guidance — for england — says face to face tutoring should be used only for priority courses, and that students shouldn't return home in the event of a local rise in cases. dan johnson reports. this is the normalfun of the freshers fair. new city, new friends, new things to sign up for. all part of the university experience, which will be more difficult this year. there is a direct appeal for students to stick to the rules. please, for the sake of your education, for your parents‘

and your grandparents‘ health, wash your hands, cover your face, make space and don't socially gather in groups of more than six now, and when term starts. six is the limit for social gatherings, so no big house parties, but accommodation blocks are more complicated. the guidance says classroom teaching is safe, mixed with online learning. cambridge has announced all students it accommodates will be tested weekly, regardless of symptoms. there is a warning that is of limited use. if there is an indication that a local health protection team is working with a university because there has been a case, the likelihood of you finding more cases then is higher. so the really important message here is be guided by the health professionals, by the health protection teams, as to when that is a useful intervention. students who get ill are being urged not to return to their home towns and risk spreading the virus further. exeter has signed a contract for rapid testing of

those with symptoms. we hope that by having a testing programme alongside all those other effects, it will enable us to get as close as possible to a proper exeter experience, and we hope that our students who come this year will end up with the same sort of memories on the same sorts of opportunities are students who came in previous years. memorable it will be, one way or another. there is recognition that so many young people moving and mixing will produce more cases. but there is reassurance, too, that the risks are currently limited. in society, and community at the moment, the number of cases is still very low. there are outbreaks in various places and rising rates, but the chances of a person going to university and having coronavirus this week and next week, probably, is very, very low indeed. at the moment, the risk is extremely low. face masks, social distancing and re—jigged timetables will limit numbers to keep campuses say. it will be what happens beyond lectures that determines the impact of student life

on the next stage of the pandemic. the headlines on bbc news: 0peration moonshot — the government defends its ambition of reaching ten million coronavirus tests a day, but scientists question whether it's achievable. social gatherings in scotland will be limited to six people, from no more than two households, as fears grow about infections there. the eu says it has serious concerns about the government's plans to override parts of the brexit withdrawal agreement, as the two sides meet in london. we have a few more details about that story because the statement has been issued by the eu, it seems to express more than serious concerns, some very, express more than serious concerns,

some very, very strong language and amongst what's just been put up here on the website, the vice president saying that the timely and full implementation of the withdrawal agreement which the prime minister borisjohnson agreement which the prime minister boris johnson and the agreement which the prime minister borisjohnson and the government agreed to and which the uk houses of parliament ratified less than a year ago is a legal obligation. the european union expects the letter and spirit of this agreement to be fully respected for violating the terms of the withdrawal agreement would break international law and undermine trust and put at risk the ongoing future relationship negotiations and there have been some very, negotiations and there have been some very, very strong words. that's a lengthy statement but there has been some brief and very strong words coming out of that meeting this afternoon and the eu talking about the uk government breaking trust and saying it is up to the government to try to restore that trust following on from that emergency meeting, which, on the

british side, involve the cabinet officer michael gove among others but a very, very strong words coming out of that and huge disquiet there. putting it politely on the part of the eu. doubtless much more to come on that, more political reaction and perhaps more from brussels as well, but some very strong words about the fa ct but some very strong words about the fact the british government signed up fact the british government signed up to that withdrawal agreement and is expected to abide by it. so further reaction to that as soon as we get it. a new report by the wwf says wildlife populations have fallen by more than two thirds in less than 50 years. the report warns that nature is being destroyed by humans at a rate never seen before, and calls it a catastrophic decline,

shows no sign of slowing. our environment and rural affairs correspondent claire marshall reports. wildlife is dying out at a rate which has never been seen before in human history, according to today's report. from the arctic to the warm seas of the caribbean, to the gardens of britain, it's happening faster than all the predictions and its global. the living planet report carried out every two yea rs assesses more than 20,000 creatures all around the world, species in all groups of animals on every continent are being lost. what we have seen is a wholesale destruction of some of our most important natural assets in the space of one human lifetime, 50 years. and this is a trend only increasing and accelerating and that's why we have to stop now and start to address it. intensive agriculture is one of the key drivers. these are huge banana plantations in ghana and it's a monoculture. wildlife is being driven out, so people around the world can eat

the fruit whenever they like. it's the same story elsewhere. in the amazon, a football pitch of rainforest is lost every minute, cleared as grazing for beef cattle and to plant soy which goes into animal feed. and a third of the food produced in the world for human consumption is lost or wasted. but it is possible for food to be intensively produced working with nature and that's what's happening here in wiltshire. it's a very good hunting ground for birds of prey. david butler's farm isn't organic, but still a haven for wildlife. the grey partridge, here filmed in a different location, has declined by 85% since 1970 but is thriving on his farm. it's a nice wildlife habitat. he believes agriculture has to be balanced with nature. if we have no fertility in our soil, if we have poor air quality, if we have poor water quality, then we are not going to have high yields of crops and we are not going to have healthy animals and healthy food and that directly

feeds through to people. 0il pours from a tanker shipwrecked off mauritius last month. this is about people destroying systems that we ourselves depend on, rather than just wildlife. humans are managing nature for their own benefit, whether it's for grazing animals orfor building on and it's having a dramatic impact all over the world. scientists say we can see this now by the pandemic we are living through. research suggests the emergence of covid—19 could be linked to bats. we are fairly confident that the driving forces which have led to the spread of that virus came through a combination of expansion into habitats, illegal wildlife trade, the removal of wildlife, and we are going to see those threats increase, so we've had a clear warning that impacts on wildlife overseas

directly affect us at home. but the report says we can stop and even repair the damage, but it will need unprecedented conservation action and radical changes in how we produce and consume food. a tax on frequent flyers and banning cars from city centres are among the climate change solutions members of the public have come up with, as part of the uk's first citizen's assembly on the environment. more than 100 people looked at the changes needed to cut greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. 0ur science correspondent rebecca morelle has more. 0ur planet is heating up fast, with greenhouse gases causing temperatures to rise. now the uk's first climate assembly has a plan to tackle this. launched by sir david attenborough, the assembly brought together people

a plan to tackle this. this report covers every aspect of our lives. to give their views on combating climate change. it recommends stopping the sales of the most polluting cars. forfood, the suggestion is that we reduce the amounts it is that we reduce the amounts. it recommends stopping the sales of the most of meat and dairy we eat by up to 40% and the assembly members polluting cars. leah, a student, and ibrahim, a gp, both took part. don't want to ban air travel, but they do say taxes should increase the further and more often we fly. obviously we are a representation of the people and it's very important that the government

listens because, as it's going now, obviously we are a representation of the people and it's very important that the government listens "right, how can i as an individual improve my carbon emissions?" what is exciting is it does not look alarming, it looks like a sensible set of steps overall. the report has a vision for a greener future and will now be submitted to parliament. it should reveal which policies may or may not receive wider public support. wildfires are still burning out of control along parts of the west coast of the united states. the governor of the state of oregon has said they could bring about the greatest loss of life and property in the state's history. in california, smoke and ash have turned the sky a dark orange. three people are known to have died in one county.

tim allman reports. this is san francisco in the middle of the day. the city by the bay almost unrecognisable. look at the golden gate bridge. the same colour as the dark orange sky surrounding it. smoke and ash blocking out the sun making it feel like the end of the world. 11.15. crazy. 11.15 in the morning. and it's like the middle of the night almost. they are saying it's coming all the way from oregon, which is hundreds of miles away. it looks like the apocalypse right now. it's like night time in the daytime. in los angeles, the sky is a more normal colour but the smoke is still there. a hazy mist enveloping most of the city and this is the reason. just one of the fires burning out of control here in california and also further north.

this was a trailer park in the town of medford, oregon. there's not much left of it now. the fire has ripped through it. destroying property, destroying lives. sheriff is coming through going, "level three, get out. get out". and, yeah, grabbed some papers and stuff. this is it. this is what i've got. what you are wearing right now? this is what i've got. i'm so sorry. for oregon, this has been described as a once in a generation event and it's a similar story for neighbouring states. this fire season is unprecedented. the flames continue to burn. tim allman, bbc news. archaeologists in mexico have unearthed more than 100 mammoth skeletons at a construction site

for mexico city's new airport. bison, camels and horses have also been found. experts say that the animals — who lived between ten and 25 thousand years ago — are likely to have become trapped in the mud of an ancient lake. now, here's a new concept from japan that might have you on the edge of your seat — the transparent toilet. now, here's a new concept from japan that might have you on the edge of your seat — the transparent toilet. this unusual new public toilet block has been erected in a park in tokyo. the glass cubicles are almost completely see—through but thankfully, the walls turn opaque as soon as you lock the door. just in case you were wondering — it doesn't need any further debate, does it? time now for a look at the weather. hello there. for much of

the country of stays dry to the rest of today. more cloud coming in from the atlantic and north—western parts of the uk is turning colder as well. cooler than yesterday. these are the temperatures as we head into the early evening, particularly chile across the northern half of the uk with the breeze picking up a bit and the rain in the north—west as well. through the night, we will see the wet weather continuing across the north—west of scotland, many other areas will be dry. a fair bit of cloud around overnight and the wind continuing to fashion, particularly across the northern half of the uk, so it won't be as cold as last night. significant change for the north—east of england and eastern scotland. friday, a weatherfront, low— pressure scotland. friday, a weatherfront, low—pressure to the north bringing wet and windy weather to the northern half of the uk. further south, high pressure so it is dry and the pattern will continue into the weekend, and we've got this band of rain moving across scotland, northern ireland. heavy rain over the west. the rain pushing into

cumbria through the afternoon. england and wales, dry at the stage with some sunshine at times and temperatures making 20 degrees. further north where it's cooler windier as well. 45 miles an hour. the weather front takes the reins southward across northern parts of wales and then peters out. the next weather system sweeping in from the atla ntic weather system sweeping in from the atlantic and that's mainly going to affect the northern half of the uk. where we start yesterday, some showers in northern and western scotla nd showers in northern and western scotland getting swamped by thickening cloud, the wind picking up, and the turning letter once again. england and wales looks generally dry, some sunshine at times and temperatures at 21 celsius. through the rest of the weekend, a spell of wet and windy weather on saturday night for scotla nd

and northern ireland in continental europe. we are going to tap into the heat. briefly, in the south—east, temperatures could reach 30 celsius.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the eu demands the government withdraw its plan to override parts of the brexit withdrawal agreement, calling it an extremely serious violation of international law. the european commission warns it's ready to take legal action against the uk, and said the government's plans had damaged trust between them. operation moonshot — the government defends its ambition of reaching ten million coronavirus tests a day — but scientists question whether it's achievable. the so—called operation moonshot to deploy mass testing will allow people to lead more normal lives and reduce the need for social distancing. talk of aiming for the moon

is all very well, but actually it's a distraction from the concrete problems we have in the here and now. social gatherings in scotland will be limited to six people — from no more than two households — as fears grow about infections there. the roof of a school bus is sheared off in a crash in hampshire — three children are in hospital with serious injuries. wildlife is dying out at a rate never seen in human history — according to a stark new report from the world wide fund for nature. the actress dame diana rigg — famous for her role in the avengers and james bond — has died at the age of 82.

the eu has demanded the government withdraw its plan to override parts of the brexit withdrawal agreement, calling it an extremely serious violation of international law. the european commission said it was ready to take legal action against the uk, and said the government's plans had damaged trust between the two parties. it follows emergency talks between the two sides this afternoon. in a statment issued in the last half hour, the european commission said... in response, the uk attorney general said...

joining me now from westminster is our political correspondent, jessica parker. you jessica parker. cannot imagine a more vociferous response you cannot imagine a more vociferous response from the eu. we have been waiting for white smoke this afternoon after these emergency talks between michael gove, the cabinet office minister and his eager counterpart from the european commission and certainly from the european commission perspective these talks do not seem to have alleviated their concerns at all and instead the rcn they will not be shy of using legal action if the uk does not withdraw these plans by the end of this month. if ever any hope these talks would calm things down that doesn't seem to have happened. we haven't heard directly from michael gove but perhaps we will hear from the michael gove but perhaps we will hearfrom the government michael gove but perhaps we will hear from the government shortly as did the interpretation as to how

those talks have gone but what is important to remember is while they have been discussing how to interpret the past and differences there there have been talks about there there have been talks about the future relationship with the european union, particularly trade talks. michel barnier has been meeting with lord frost this afternoon and the eu has made it pretty clear that if the uk doesn't, in their view, one of the past, then it will be very difficult to forge a future relationship. the transition period ends at the end of this year on december the 31st. the uk has been following eu regulation since we left the european union earlier this year and will end at the end of this year and will end at the end of this year and will end at the end of this year so ever trade deal isn't in place we would revert to world trade organisation rules so that is what is at stake here so what is crucial is to hear from those trade talks once they have concluded this afternoon to see whether any progress has been made or what has been going on elsewhere in terms of

this argument of what the uk government is trying to do, whether it has impacted the trade talks to the extent there has been no progress this week to the extent things may even have backwards. but there is anxiety is well within the conservative party. yeah, downing street has been trying to say that what they are trying to do with this bill that was published yesterday is to ensure that you should talks not resolve certain issues around northern ireland and internal market trade that ministers will have the power to ensure they are trade is free and flowing to protect the peace process, an argument the european commission is not accepting. ministers have been very open, brandon lewis the northern ireland secretary seeing what they plan to do in terms of handing ministers those powers could break international law potentially but what we have had from the government this afternoon is their view, while it isa this afternoon is their view, while

it is a difficult circumstance, the uk parliament is sovereign, but it has caused great discomfort among certain people in the conservative party, very senior people, theresa may and sirjohn major both criticised the government and in the house of lords this afternoon lord howard the former conservative leader voiced his disapproval as well. my lords, does my learned friend simply not understand the damage done to our reputation for probity and respect for the rule of law by those five words uttered by his ministerial colleague in another place on tuesday? words which i never thought i would hear uttered by a british minister, far less a conservative minister. how can we reproach russia or china or iran when their conduct falls below internationally accepted standards, when we are showing such scant regard

for our treaty obligations? whether conservative rebellion is brewing, i spoke to a number of mps today who are pretty unhappy with the plans but of course boris johnson has an 80 strong majorities of d oze ns johnson has an 80 strong majorities of dozens of mps would need to rebel against the government to vote down the spill. what some conservatives are hoping is the government might soften its position, and end the bill to some extent to make it more palatable to them, but i think downing street looked to be pressing ahead as planned. the bill is going to be making its way through parliament at the beginning of next week with a second reading and there are conservative mps who are perfectly happy with what the government is trying to do. thank you. let's speak to our correspondent in brussels, nick beake. this is a fast story and as the european commission has published

that statement giving an alternate and to the uk to withdraw this proposed legislation we have had a statement from the government saying it is important to remember the fundamental principle of parliamentary sovereignty, essentially saying that parliament is in charge when it comes to domestic law and can pass legislation which is in breach of the uk's treaty obligations. how is that likely to go down in brussels? you are right, this is very fast moving, and the statement we have had from the european commission in the past half hour is scathing of the past half hour is scathing of the british position. beforehand the powers that be in brussels were talking about serious concerns. they have really gone up another level. ifi have really gone up another level. if i take you through some of the detail of the statement he made after the meeting between michael gove and one of the vice presidents of the commission, the statement

says that if this were to be adopted this would be an extremely serious violation of the withdrawal agreement and of international law and says it wants the uk to withdraw this proposal by the end of this month, seeing the british government need to do a u—turn on this and it says the eu is aware that there are legal remedies to address these violations and it will not be shy in doing so and we know late last night the remaining 27 member states of the remaining 27 member states of the eu were given this legal opinion and they said there are various options you can take so the ball is in the eu's court. how to respond to this beyond the strongly worded

statement. with me now is our reality check correspondent, chris morris. so, lots going on, bit of a sense of crisis in uk—eu relations, and now two different high—level meetings in london on the same day. chris is here to explain. you have the joint committee which has been beavering away for several months which is about implementing what has been agreed in the past and thejoint committee what has been agreed in the past and the joint committee is what has been agreed in the past and thejoint committee is important because it is looking at for example the deal which took us out of the european union which is the withdrawal agreement, the divorce bill, if you like, and that is about several things, not just bill, if you like, and that is about several things, notjust northern ireland, it is about the financial settlement, it is about how that money gets paid to the european union, it is about protecting the rights of citizens, eu citizens in the uk and uk citizens in europe and the uk and uk citizens in europe and the focus at the moment certainly is about northern ireland and the implementation of the northern ireland political because that is

the debt where both sides said there is work to be done. we know we have seen today the cat being thrown among the pigeons. the eu seeing withdraw that before the end of this month or we reserve the right to ta ke month or we reserve the right to take legal action against you but the government has put out its own statement from the cabinet office this afternoon saying we respect the established principle of international law that you stand by your treaty obligations but it emphasises it is important to remember the fundamental principle of parliamentary sovereignty so it is saying in the end parliament is sovereign. the problem with that is that there is a very clear argument to say you have signed an international treaty. you cannot see it was a previous government. it was this government that saved the withdrawal agreement including the northern ireland protocol into law and less than a year later it seems to be seeking to change some of the

details. at the same time as this real crisis is going on about something signed i year ago there are trade talks going on about our future relationship. how is what is happening in one sphere going to impact on those? i think quite significantly. we have had the negotiations on the future relationship, being led by michel barnierfor relationship, being led by michel barnier for the relationship, being led by michel barnierfor the european relationship, being led by michel barnier for the european union relationship, being led by michel barnierfor the european union and by david frost for the united kingdom. there have been eight round of talks so far and the eighth round is taking place this week but it has been overshadowed by the release of the details of the single market legislation. the main thing these talks are trying to do asserted to future relationship for trade before the end of this year because if there is no free trade agreement, evenif there is no free trade agreement, even if it is only a basic one, we will be trading with our biggest trading partner from the 1st of january with no formal trade agreement, but it is also about things like co—operation on internal

security. as members of the eu begins to freely exchange information on things like numberplates or suspects being wa nted numberplates or suspects being wanted in various countries. all that information was exchanged and police on both sides value that but you need an agreement to work out how that data is going to be exchanged and the problem is that the row over the northern ireland protocol and the single market bill really blows up, and the bubbles are right up there, the letter is about to come of the saucepan, all this other stuff gets put into question, thatis other stuff gets put into question, that is the difficulty. there are going to be cool head seeing we have to work with each other in the future because we are next door neighbours that this is a very difficult moment in that process. thank you. the health secretary matt hancock has defended the government's ambition to carry out millions of coronavirus tests every day. leaked official documents show that the prime minister's so—called "moonshot" programme aims to carry out three million tests a day

by december, and up to ten million early next year. experts have expressed concerns about laboratory capacity — and say the technology for rapid tests doesn't yet exist. it comes as the number of positive tests jumped 43% in one week, at the end of last month. dominic hughes reports. is mass testing for coronavirus the key to opening up the economy, and is it even possible? these are the questions being asked in the wake of borisjohnson's plan that would see perhaps ten million tests per day by next spring, with results delivered in minutes. we are developing new types of tests which are simple, quick and scalable. they use swabs or saliva. they can be turned round in 90 minutes, or even 20 minutes. the so—called operation moonshot, to deploy mass testing, will allow people to lead more normal lives and reduce the need for social distancing.

for instance, it could mean theatres and sports venues could test audience members on the day and let in those with a negative result. but there are real doubts over whether the plan is even realistic. the current system is already struggling to deliver around 175,000 tests a day. experts say the practicalities of testing millions of people shouldn't be underestimated. you are thinking about a football stadium that has approximately 70,000 people who may wish to attend. you may well have people queueing from early in the morning for an evening football match, simply to get 70,000 people tested and through the gates without having crowding outside. there is also the cost involved. documents leaked to the british medicaljournal suggest a price tag of around £100 billion. even some of those involved in advising government believe the idea is flawed. i think talk of aiming for the moon is all very well, but actually it's a distraction from the concrete problems we have in the here and now. there is a pattern that each time the government

has failed on testing, it's announced something yet more ambitious in the hope of distracting us from the present problems. wash your hands, cover your face... this new government campaign is a reminder that basic hygiene is still the key to stopping the spread of the virus, and while mass testing technology does exist it's not yet been rigorously assessed. avoiding false negatives — tests that wrongly indicate you are free from the virus — will be crucial. the latest figures on testing illustrate some of the challenges faced in the here and now. more than 9,800 new people tested positive for covid—19 in england in the week to september the 2nd. that's an increase of 43% in positive cases on the previous week — the highest weekly number since test and trace was launched at the end of may. whatever happens with what the government is calling its moonshot testing plans, they are unlikely to be in place much before the spring. that raises the prospect the new guidelines on socialising — the rule of six — and maybe even something more

restrictive, will still be with us at christmas and beyond. dominic hughes, bbc news. just to let you know that later this afternoon at 1630 we'll be answering your questions on coronavirus. we'll be speaking to virologist and lecturer in global health dr elisabetta groppelli. send your questions using #bbcyourquestions or email us on yourquestions@bbc.co.uk the number of people allowed to meet up in scotland has been cut to six from two households — amid concerns about the coronavirus pandemic accelerating. first minister nicola sturgeon announced the measure at lunchtime. it comes as a new contact tracing app called protect scotland became available to download. james shaw is in glasgow. the restrictions that she is talking about are very similar to the ones that we know about in england already. so, a maximum of six people from two households meeting together either

indoors or outdoors, a couple of refinements compared to what's happening in england. so nicola sturgeon said in hospitality settings, so cafes, pubs and restaurants, people moving around, that's customers and staff, would have to wear masks. there will be some exceptions to these rules for things like funerals and weddings, essentially nicola sturgeon saying it is unfortunate that these tightening measures have to happen but it is, as she sees it, a necessity. i can confirm that we intend to change this so that a maximum of six people from two households will now be permitted to meet together. to help reduce transmission but also to simplify the rules as much as possible, this new limit will apply both indoors in houses, pubs and restaurants, and also outdoors, including private gardens. there will be some limited exceptions for example for organised sports and places of worship.

also any children under 12 who are part of two households meeting up won't count towards the limit of six people. now, one somewhat positive development, the new contact tracing app which is now up and running, the last time i checked, around 150,000 people had downloaded it so far today. the actress dame diana rigg has died at the age of 82. she became famous for her role as emma peel in the tv show the avengers. more recently she appeared in game of thrones. she also played many classical roles on stage. sarah campbell looks back on her life. diana rigg, with a little help from a stuntman, as emma peel in the ‘60s tv series the avengers. clever, cool and cat—suited, she was a new kind of heroine.

but she wasn'tjust physical. she was also pretty well equipped intellectually. she was as clever as a man at computers. she was very self—sufficient. diana rigg had been brought up in india and then at a yorkshire boarding school. you're full of surprises, contessa. so are you, mr bond. she was a bond girl in on her majesty's secret service, the only one to get the spy to the altar, though she was shot dead shortly afterwards. theatre of blood with vincent price proved she could do camp comedy. you'll find we've made several slight alterations in the text and one rather large. will i be interfering with his majesty's obligations? i sincerely hope so. and nell gwyn in a morecambe and wise christmas special sealed her popularity. but will you love me when i'm old and ugly? of course i do. why is it that men can't spend ten

minutes alone with an actress without mentioning love? she was a formidable stage actress, notably at the national theatre. her finest performance was as the murderous greek tragic hero medea. pick up this sword and creep toward the starting line of pain. is she mad and wild indeed? she appeared in greek tragedy opposite helen mirren. i pray you, sir, take patience. and in shakespeare's king lear opposite laurence olivier. no, george, darling, you telephoned me. there was contemporary drama like the bbc‘s mother love. plans must be accelerated. nothing must interfere. an episode of doctor who written especially for her starring her daughter, rachael stirling — she resurrected the yorkshire accent of her childhood. kindly do not claw and slobber at my crinoline.

i cannot bear to look at sick people. i have known a great many clever men. i've outlived them all. you know why? i ignored them. and in game of thrones she played lady 0lenna, the sharp tongued queen of thorns. no, you're a dragon. diana rigg, a distinguished actress whose career stretched over more than half a century. a tax on frequent flyers and banning cars from city centres are among the climate change solutions members of the public have come up with, as part of the uk's first citizen's assembly on the environment. more than 100 people looked at the changes needed to cut greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. our science correspondent rebecca morelle has more. our planet is heating up fast, with greenhouse gases causing temperatures to rise.

now the uk's first climate assembly has a plan to tackle this. launched by sir david attenborough, the assembly brought together people from across the country to give their views on combating climate change. this report covers every aspect of our lives. it recommends stopping the sales of the most polluting cars. forfood, the suggestion is that we reduce the amounts of meat and dairy we eat by up to 40% and the assembly members don't want to ban air travel, but they do say taxes should increase the further and more often we fly. leah, a student, and ibrahim, a gp, both took part. obviously we are a representation of the people and it's very important that the government listens because, as it's going now, climate change is a big issue and there's going to be big effects in my lifetime. there are also lots of little contributions that each person can

do on a day—to—day basis, and i would like to think that everyone, as they look at this report, will say, "right, how can i as an individual improve my carbon emissions?" energy was also looked at, and offshore wind farms got the biggest backing, while protecting forests it is not generated by a group of boffins in a room coming up with recommendations to government, this is real people dealing with real issues and coming up with practical suggestions. what is exciting as it doesn't look alarming, it looks like a sensible set of steps overall. the report has a vision for a greener future and will now be submitted to parliament. it should reveal which policies may or may not receive wider public support. rebecca morelle, bbc news.

official figures officialfigures are official figures are starting to be released on coronavirus at this time of day. the uk has recorded 2919 confirmed cases of covid—19 and that is compared with 2659 a day earlier. that has gone up by about 250 in the previous 24 hours. those are the latest figures we have from the government. i would like to go back to that issue of the public‘s recommendations for changes that can be made in order to help the environment. phillip dunne is the chair of the environmental audit committee and joins me now. people will be wondering what sort of force those suggestions have.

what was unusual about the set of recommendations was that it was put together by ordinary members of the public relatively randomly selected. the obviously have to have some interest but it is not a special interest but it is not a special interest group, it is not a bunch of activists or people with vested interest, this is a snapshot of uninformed public, so from that point of view i think it gives a perspective which we do not normally get in parliament. we get approached as individual mps by lots of people but not in quite such a well—informed way so i think it will provide a degree of focus on issues of what the public like to think about the different measures which member is like mine will be pressing the government to make to move the agenda forward to achieve zero carbon britain. they seem to be

fairly radical in some of their proposals. one woman said she is a frequent flyer and she wants regulations to stop her from flying so much, is that people are asking government to make restrictions in order to help the planet.” government to make restrictions in order to help the planet. i think what was interesting to me was that there was also a very strong desire for fairness, fairness between generations, fairness between people living in urban and rural areas, generations, fairness between people living in urban and ruralareas, and also it was important that there should be a cross—party consensus. they did not want this to become a political football. they see they did not want this to become a politicalfootball. they see it they did not want this to become a political football. they see it as being an issue above politics. once it comes to parliament and we have to make legislation that you cannot ta ke to make legislation that you cannot take politics out of it but the fact the public are prepared to consider issues which might not necessarily be in the best personal interest but they realise that in the interests of the community and the planet as a

whole was an interesting perspective. was there anything they found that surprised you?” perspective. was there anything they found that surprised you? i was quite surprised by the degree of support for onshore wind. i represent a very rural area. onshore wind in the west of england has been hotly contested in the last 20 years or so so hotly contested in the last 20 years orso soi hotly contested in the last 20 years or so so i thought the fact there was a wide acceptance for that was quite encouraging unsurprising. we are going to have to leave it there. thank you so much. now it's time for a look at the weather. we are beginning to see a bit more cloud developing from the atlantic, the best of the sunshine towards the south—east of england. these are the temperatures by the early evening, a little bit cooler than it was yesterday especially across northern areas

where the winds are picking up a bit and rain setting in the north—west of scotland. it stays wet actually overnight, some rain possible further south but generally speaking, it should be fair elsewhere. winds continuing to freshen especially across the northern half of the uk. quite a bit warmer here than it was last night. that wet weather continues in the north—west of scotland. we will see that band of rain, heavy over the hills, moving down across scotland, northern ireland, eventually into cumbria, the rest of england and wales still dry at this moment, temperatures making 20 degrees. cooler further north with some heavy blustery showers across northern parts of scotland and the winds gusting at 45 miles an hour. should be warmer as we head further into the weekend, but for scotland and northern ireland a bit more rain.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... the eu demands the government withdraw its plan to override parts of the brexit withdrawal agreement, calling it an extremely serious violation of international law. the european commission warns it's ready to take legal action against the uk, and said the government's plans had damaged trust between them. operation moonshot — the government defends its ambition of reaching 10 million coronavirus tests a day — but scientists question whether its achievable. social gatherings in scotland will be limited to six people — from no more than two households — as fears grow about

infections there. the roof of a school bus is sheared off in a crash in hampshire — three children are in hospital with serious injuries. wildlife is dying out at a rate never seen in human history — according to a stark new report from the world wide fund for nature. the actress dame diana rigg — famous for her role in the avengers and james bond — has died at the age of 82. more now of the demand from the eu that the uk government withdraws its plan to override parts of the brexit withdrawal agreement, calling it an extremely serious violation of international law. the european commission said it was ready to take legal action against the uk, and said the government's plans had damaged trust between the two parties. it follows emergency talks between the two sides this afternoon. in the past few minutes, the uk government have had this to say.

they said parliament would not be acting unconstitutionally in enacting the uk internal market bill. joining me now is david herszenhorn, chief brussels correspondent for politico. good afternoon to you, thank you so much forjoining us on bbc news. so, a scathing response from the european commission. does this surprise you, or where you expecting this? no, this is quite a strong

statement, exceptionally strong, but it is not a surprise. the eu is rather taken it is not a surprise. the eu is rather ta ken aback by it is not a surprise. the eu is rather taken aback by this aggressive effort to breach the withdrawal agreement. you know how ha rd withdrawal agreement. you know how hard everyone worked, including borisjohnson hard everyone worked, including boris johnson last year, hard everyone worked, including borisjohnson last year, to get hard everyone worked, including boris johnson last year, to get that withdrawal agreement done so that there would be a brexit with a deal. the uk got out of the eu as promised, as agreed, onjanuary 31, so this is really being seen as quite a provocative betrayal of all that work that was done last year. as you mentioned before, the eu has put out this strong statement, not only calling it a breach of trust but very poignantly saying it is now up but very poignantly saying it is now up to the uk government to restore that trust. if that trust isn't restored, it is hard to see how they make much progress in negotiations over the future relationship and a future trade deal. and yet you had the immediate response from the government, which was essentially to say that the uk parliament is

sovereign. there is no question it is, but i would ask, looking at that statement as you read it, ok, but will the sovereign parliament of the united kingdom violate international law? it has the ability to do so, there is no question parliament can legislate, but there are ways that any government can take action unilaterally. this is a proposal to do so. that would in fact violate international law that would break the agreement as the eu understands it was made last year, and what they have warned on the eu side, they will use all the remedies available to them, obviously that is a potential legal fight down the line. i don't think anyone wants to be in that nor is there time to hash that out before the december 31 deadline for the transition ending. but in fa ct for the transition ending. but in fact the uk can act in a sovereign fashion. that doesn't mean there sovereign actions are all legal.” wonder what you think of the european commission's tactics here? because threatening legal action, putting down an ultimatum of that has to be a change of policy before

the end of the month, it gives the uk government no way of backing down gracefully. well, in fact there is not much else they could do, right? what can they say if in fact they are faced with a situation where there would be a clear breach of the withdrawal agreement as it was devised by both sides? again, some crucial aspects of it, we know boris johnson personally negotiated with leo varadkar, then prime minister in ireland, so for the eu not to respond would be seen as an extraordinary display of weakness. there is no question they had to do this. there isn't a whole lot of room for manoeuvre. as you say, a lot of tough talk going on, underlying all this of course are the very hard negotiations over a free trade agreement. very, very serious disagreement still on concrete things, like access to fisheries, like the so—called level playing field, the eu insisting it can't necessarily do a deal with the uk like the one it did with canada, because canada is not located right

next door. so will there be these kind of protections for the eu and its businesses to know that regulation will not be so much more lax in the uk, that eu businesses are ata lax in the uk, that eu businesses are at a competitive advantage, but these are core disagreements. playing out in a different meeting, with michel barnier, those talks are not going well and each one related to the other. i don't think we can see this as disconnected. so if this breach of trust isn't resolved, in some ways you might say this is a tactic by borisjohnson's government to provoke the eu a bit, bring out this tough response in hopes that as they resolve that they gain some momentum for the trade talks, but at the same time it could very well poison these talks. i think the eu is also mindful that this proposal, this law, is not uncontroversial within the uk itself, there are folks in northern ireland who are very upset about it and the commons

will likely debate these internally. you will see mps in the uk talking out against any proposal for the united kingdom to violate international law. that will be an internalfight on international law. that will be an internal fight on the british side. what we have seen in the past is the eu then step back, we had years of this, whether eu steps back and lets britain carry out its internal fight, its internal dispute. the difference here is there isjust fight, its internal dispute. the difference here is there is just not a lot of time. december 31 it's really right around the corner. at that point, the transition is over and if there is not a deal on the future relationship, the uk is out without protections, having to fall back on wto rules. obviously some people excited to see that happen. maximum sovereignty for the united kingdom, but a maximum sovereignty for the united kingdom, buta real maximum sovereignty for the united kingdom, but a real risk. very good to get your thoughts, thank you so much.

let's go back to our top story, and the new rules set out in england and scotland, restrictng the number of people gathering indoors and outdoors, to six. these new rules have led to many questions about what that means for our day to day lives. to answer your questions, i'm joined by dr elisabetta groppelli, a virologist and lecturer in global health at st george's university of london. good afternoon to you. we have got lots of questions, as you can imagine, the rules are changing yet again, so people wanting to know what they mean for their personal circumstances. let's kick off with this question from michael, who asks what to the new restrictions mean for children's parties? are they effectively cancelled ? for children's parties? are they effectively cancelled? right, well, in england children are part of the accounting when it comes to the rule of six. so parties can go ahead, only if there is a maximum of six

human beings of any age. so this applies obviously from both indoors and outdoors. larger numbers are only allowed if already there is a household larger than six, or if there is a household plus a bubble, but this also means that if for example there is a birthday party coming up, the household that already has two adults and four children, basically they cannot have any other guests and they will have to celebrate by themselves. so not a com plete to celebrate by themselves. so not a complete ban on them but certainly the rule of six applies to that. ok. this question from amanda. she says my son is 13, he is now part of a bubble at school, he and his friends are all in the same class all day, does this mean they can get together outside of school, for example sitting next to each other at the cinema, or do they still need to socially distance outside of school? right, so very much the guidelines are about where we are, and so

children are at school, they can form groups large of six full stop however outside, groups larger than six, even if it is the same people, cannot be formed for social reasons. the exception is for example they can go and play sport together if they are part of a trading setting. very much the accent here is allowing school interactions take place and work interactions, however very much limiting anything else, which means social interactions, evenif which means social interactions, even if it is the same people. and that sort of principle applies in england, scotland, in all the four nations effectively? for the groups of the rules of six, there are some slight differences when it comes to scotland, but yes, in scotland it is

up scotland, but yes, in scotland it is up to six, sorry, up to two households going up to six, but the rules in terms of school are very similar. ok, thank you. darren has contacted us, saying surely testing those without symptoms is just as higha those without symptoms is just as high a priority as testing those with? he goes on, it is those without symptoms who are most likely to be spreading unknowingly. this is interesting, isn't it, following on from the press conference yesterday, and what we were talking about yesterday, about the feasibility of mass testing, and the desirability. absolutely, so currently in the uk you can get a test only if you have symptoms. science and virology actually tell us that viral spread can occur up actually tell us that viral spread can occurup to actually tell us that viral spread can occur up to three days before symptoms even start. however, we have also seen that people are the most infectious, so able to transmit the virus, when they do actually

start developing symptoms. and this has been interpreted used for actions in different ways in different countries, and the uk, possibly because it has been quite experienced challenges since the early days of the pandemic, and there challenges, still that you can to the idea of you are most infectious when you have symptoms, and therefore we are giving the priority to testing those. i have to admit, asa priority to testing those. i have to admit, as a vest, that hope that testing people, people who are coming into contact with someone who is positive but they do not have symptoms yet, actually will be able to get a test soon. so that is what you would like to see? yeah, very much so. i think the science does tell us that transmission can occur before or without symptoms, and it might not be the majority of the events, and it is ok that we need to

prioritise, but if capacity does increase that much that has to be taken into consideration. a question, in light of the new six person restriction, what impact will it have on bars, cafes and restaurants? bars and the hospitality industry are still allowed to be open. however, rule of six, it means that groups of up to six, it means that groups of up to six people can go to pubs and restau ra nts, six people can go to pubs and restaurants, but then these groups have two behave independently to stop they cannot mix or interact socially, and this will be i think not only self disciplined, so the people who go into pubs and restau ra nts people who go into pubs and restaurants but also the pub landlords having to enforce this, maintaining the distance are not mixing within the groups. so again, we can go to the pub but we need to be careful about the numbers, and up to six, or we can sort of go in a larger number, if that is what

household is. ok. ian asks, in the absence of shielding, and with increased restrictions now in place, how should clinically extremely vulnerable people protect themselves? so, at the moment in the uk and also this doesn't change from monday, you do not need to shield according to the previous guidelines and the previous advice. however, even though shielding is still deemed not necessary at the moment, which is honestly a good thing, this might change, and it is certainly one of the first key things we will have to change if transmissions keep increasing. but at the moment it seems like the uk government is confident that not only the situation right now but the measures that are going to come into place on monday will make shielding not necessary , monday will make shielding not necessary, at least for the moment. most important i would ask people

who have received the vulnerable letters are still allowed or able to get local volunteers to support. so it is about allowing people in vulnerable positions to make a decision for themselves and be also benefiting from these services. thank you. amanda asks, how long will the rule of six have to be enforced for it to make a significant difference to reducing the spread of the virus? and she is asking that question that is being asked by so many today, is christmas cancelled? right, ok. how long is a really legitimate question but a very difficult one to answer. so, with the previous experience earlier in the year when it came start making restrictions and applying restrictions, we have always needed to actually have, wait at least

three orfour to actually have, wait at least three or four weeks before we actually saw a nice change in the trend of new infection or hospitalisation, so it is likely that certainly two or three weeks would be necessary, but more like three weeks, to see if the change in the trend. however, we also need to ta ke the trend. however, we also need to take into consideration that we are going into a very risky season, which is autumn, when we know that all the respiratory viruses are likely to spread, and so with it will also be a higher risk for the coronavirus, and therefore most likely when it comes to thinking beyond four weeks, and thinking about christmas, it is likely that these measures about socially distancing and the rule of six will still be in place for a few months. as far as christmas cancelled? i think we will be allowed to celebrate in some way, but possibly not as well as we did in 2019. ok, thank you for that. and finally a

question from james, who asks, given that 17 to 21—year—olds are responsible for the latest surge, how safe is it for university stu d e nts to how safe is it for university students to arrive from all corners of the country? yes, the start of the economic year all the time is notorious for resulting in all sorts of infections, and respiratory viruses, and obviously this year there is also the risk of the coronavirus. the most important thing is actually that the students follow a bsolutely thing is actually that the students follow absolutely the rules before coming to university, so they have actually minimised potential exposure to the virus. of course then when they come on campus, the universities have been quite busy in the past few months to make university life covid—secu re at the past few months to make university life covid—secure at all sorts of levels. but of course university life happens on and off campus, so it is very important, and

the students will absolutely be on top of symptoms, contact tracing and will take responsibility about keeping themselves safe and therefore keeping everybody else say. lots of very useful advice, thank you so much. three children have been taken to hospital with serious injuries after a school bus hit a railway bridge near winchester in hampshire — the roof of the bus was sheared off. our correspondent duncan kennedy was at the scene. the bass is still under the bridge behind me, and you are right, the roof was completely sheared off. it was a double—decker bus. it is most likely most of those serious injuries were among those children on the upper deck. the police say they are now questioning the driver involved. there was nothing left

of the top deck of the bus, sheared off after hitting a railway bridge. the bus had more than 70 children on board, many on the top deck. those on board said the impact sounded like a massive bang. among those on the upper deck was 14—year—old zoe. we suddenlyjust hit the top of the tunnel, because it's a double—decker bus, and it all fell in on the top. i'm not sure what happened down the bottom, i think they were all ok, but on the top it all fell in on top of everyone. there was glass everywhere and everyone started screaming. children have spoken of screams and panic when the vehicle hit the brick—built bridge. the bus slowed down to let a car go through and then the bus went in and the roofjust got ripped off and the window smashed and dust came in through the windows, smoke, and lots of people were screaming and, like, worried they'd die. police say three children were seriously hurt, though not with life—threatening injuries. 12 more sustained minor cuts and bruises.

officers say they've spoken to the driver, who was not hurt. that bus doesn't fit through the bridge. i can't think that a bus route would have been drawn to take it through a bridge that is too low for the bus. all the pupils went to the henry beaufort school in winchester. the head teacher said she was relieved that more people weren't hurt. the head teacher also said that support was available for all the stu d e nts support was available for all the students involved, and that she didn't want to speculate about the cause of this accident. duncan kennedy reporting there. each year in the uk, around 6,000 people die by suicide. the who estimates the global figure to be almost 800,000 every year. the scale of the problem is enormous. but there's still a lot of stigma, and this stops people talking about it openly. on world suicide prevention day, we hear the stories of three people who came close to suicide, but decided they wanted to live.

as soon as you see or hear that word suicide, jesus, people panic around you. it is nice to talk about it, just knowing it is not going to hurt anyone. talking about it, it does make it smaller. i struggled to relate to the tragedy of my life. i didn't have any feelings, apart from humour. did i wa nt to feelings, apart from humour. did i want to kill myself? ijust wanted everything to stop. what stopped me was my sense of humour. this is ridiculous. and the dog was something to look after. one, two, three, four. like so many

people, childhood wasn't easy. i would make myself get easy, like, so i wouldn't cry. i would hit myself, things like that. i didn't know it was called self—harm. things like that. i didn't know it was called self-harm. at 20, i overdosed. i was found by my family. they were, and are, fantastic. as soon as i'd done it, i was fighting. i wanted to live. did everything i could to stay awake. it came from my heart, the desire to survive. i felt it in my whole body. for the first time in my whole life, i did actually reach out. i picked up that phone. i said to her, i want to die, i don't want to do what i'm doing, please don't let me die. she stayed with me, we made a deal, we had to

ring each other throughout the night. she kept me safe through to that morning. i can't even remember her name. do you actually want to die, or is it you just want to get away from the pain? there are many battles to fight in this war that is mental health. protect yourself and push ahead. i now have a degree in history and politics. i am alive!” feel quite proud of myself. one foot in front of the other. do the right things. allow yourself to love yourself. one foot in front of the other. the stories of tj, sally—ann, and sam. this film was produced by the organisation living words. you can watch a longer version of all their stories at livingwarriorsfilms.com. and if you are experiencing

emotional stress, help and support is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline a minute's silence has been held at the sight of the stonehaven train derailment. an interim report found the accident in aberdeenshire was caused when the train struck rock and gravel washed onto the tracks. lorna gordon has been at the crash site today. this is a very remote location and engineers have to build 900 metres of road and a bridge to get specialist equipment on site, but this morning, just over four weeks after this crash occurred, in a slow and delicate process, the first of those two engines and four carriages, which derailed, were lifted from the tracks. it comes on the day where network rail release that interim report, which says the crash was caused by the train

hitting a pile of washed out rock and gravel. there was of course very heavy rain in this area of the hours before the crash occurred, and network rail admits the impact of climate change on the network is accelerating faster than previous assumptions. it says it needs to get better at predicting and reacting to extreme weather events at a local level. it says it also has to look closely at the earthworks, the cuttings, the embankments around the network, the network itself. the areas most at risk of failure from slippage are being targeted for action but network rail says in this report it is not economically viable to strengthen all the substandard track—side slopes. more than a year after fire ravaged the cathedral of notre dame in paris, tourists have been welcomed back into its crypts. visitors will have a chance to view an exhibition about the building's history.

restoration work paused during the pandemic, but specialists around france have been working on art and furniture saved from the fire. now it's time for a look at the weather. for much of the country, it's staying dry through the rest of the day. there is cloud coming in for north—western parts of the uk, turning wetter as well. cooler than it was yesterday. these are the temperatures as we head into the early evening, particularly chilly across the northern half of the uk with the breeze picking up a bit and we have that rain in the north—west as well. through the night, we will see that wetter weather continuing across the north—west of scotland and many other areas will be dry. a fair bit of cloud around overnight, as the wind continues to freshen, particularly across the northern half of the uk, so it will not be as pulled as it was last night, a significant change for eastern

scotland in the north—east of england. into friday, a weatherfront and an area of low pressure brings wet and windy weather to the northern half of the uk. further south still dominated by high pressure so it is dry and that pattern will continue into the weekend as well as we will see in a moment. this band of rain moves down across scotland, northern ireland, heavy rain over the hills in the west. eventually that pushes into cumbria through the afternoon, the rest of england and wales still dry at this stage, some sunshine at times and temperatures perhaps making 20 degrees. cooler further north where it is windier as well, heavy, blustery showers in northern scotland with winds gusting to 45 mph. that weather front takes rain southwards across northern parts of england and wales and then it peters out. the next weather system is sweeping in from the atlantic and, again, that will mainly affect the northern half of the uk where we start saturday with some showers in northern and western scotland. that gets swamped by thickening cloud, the wind is picking up, north—western areas turning wetter once again. england and wales again look mostly dry, sunshine at times and temperatures sneaking up to 21 celsius. through the rest of the weekend, a spell of wet and windy weather on saturday night for scotland, perhaps northern ireland, and then more rain on sunday pushes

up towards the north—west of scotland, threatening flooding as well. elsewhere, though, increasing amounts of sunshine, wind is beginning to drop a bit and temperatures responding to the sunshine, maybe even into the mid 20s across eastern england but it will likely get hotter still as we head into early next week. a weather front still loitering in the north—west of the uk, an area of high pressure across continental europe and we will tap into some of that heat and see temperatures rising

this is bbc news, i'm reeta chakrabarti. the headlines the eu demands the government withdraw its plan to override parts of the brexit withdrawal agreement, calling it an extremely serious violation of international law. but the government insists parliament is sovereign — and can pass laws which breach the uk's treaty obligations. operation moon shot, the government defends its ambition of reaching ten million coronavirus tests a day, but scientists question whether its achievable. the so—called operation moonshot to deploy mass testing will allow people to lead more normal lives and reduce the need for social distancing. talk of aiming for the moon is all very well, but actually it's a distraction from the concrete problems we have