this is bbc news. the headlines. the reproduction number of coronavirus transmission across the uk has risen above one — as the daily number of confirmed this is bbc news. cases hits the highest level i'm reeta chakrabarti. since the middle of may. the headlines... tougher lockdown restrictions the reproduction number for more areas of england — of coronavirus transmission from 15th september, across the uk has risen above 1. no inter—household contact will be allowed in birmingham, sandwell and solihull. we‘ve got to be very concerned indicating a faster spread of the here in the west midlands, we are disease. tougher lockdown restrictions basically seeing a doubling of the are expected in more rate of the virus of the last seven areas of england — because of a jump days, so action did have to be taken in coronavirus cases. one of the top areas on the list to stop that increase. is expected to be birmingham. people in the city are braced. the government announces that a new covid19 contact—tracing app will be launched in england it's strange, because we've already got lost they make are used to the and wales later this month lockdown, come out of the lockdown, the uk economy grew by 6.6% injuly, and now it feels like you're probably going to go back into it as say official figures, but it remains well. at least we are prepared this far below pre—pandemic levels. time. the government announces that a new covid—i9 contact—tracing app will be launched in england and wales later this month. the uk economy grew by 6.6% injuly,

say official figures, but it remains far below pre—pandemic levels. thousands of migrants are still being left to sleep in the open after their camp on the greek island of lesbos burned down. and coming up... this year's great north run will take place this weekend — but with a very different look. hello, good afternoon. coronavirus infections have increased in recent weeks in the uk and are rising steadily, according to new estimates. data released by the government's scientific advisory group has confirmed that the reproduction number, or r value, of coronavirus transmission across the uk has risen above 1, meaning the epidemic is growing. meanwhile, the uk's largest study

of coronavirus infections has found the number of cases is now doubling every week. tougher lockdown restrictions are expected to be announced for birmingham shortly — following a sharp rise in coronavirus cases. the city currently has the second highest infection rate in england. meanwhile, wales will follow england and scotland and ban indoor gatherings of more than six people from monday. groups of up to 30 will still be allowed to meet outside, unlike other parts of the uk. and facemasks will now be mandatory in shops and in other enclosed public spaces. with more on the uk's rising r number, i've been speaking to our health correspondent, james gallagher. the important thing is that the five different data sets are telling us the same thing, that cases are going up the same thing, that cases are going up in the country. they are going up in the country. the r number, specifically, the number of people each affected person passes it on

to, if it is below one then the epidemic is shrinking because you're passing it on to progressively fewer people. if it is above one, is increasing. by the first time since late march, we are back above one in the united kingdom as a whole. and we also know that cases are doubling every seve n we also know that cases are doubling every seven or eight days. is that measuring the same thing, basically? it's not just measuring the same thing, basically? it's notjust the r number that affects the doubling time. that figure comes from a completely different study, a team at imperial couege different study, a team at imperial college london. they randomly select it hundred 50,000 people and send them swabs in the post, and they posted it back, in order to get a sense of how much coronaviruses out there. they are showing that yes, it is increasing. their number is higher than the official number from sage. and they come with a doubling time of around a week. it is

important to stress that this is not the same as where we were in march. we are at half that pace at the moment, according to these studies. let's take a look at birmingham, where fresh restrictions could be announced soon. the latest weekly figures show the city has one of the highest infection rates in england — with around 80 cases for every 100,000 people. other parts of the west midlands — including solihull and sandwell — may also be included in the measures. here's our health correspondent, anna collinson. fears have been growing that coronavirus is once again spreading. now, new restrictions are expected to be announced for birmingham and other parts of the west midlands. the city had avoided tightened measures a few weeks ago. the council hoped that that would be a wake—up call, but cases have continued to rise. i think it would bea continued to rise. i think it would be a good idea, but i think they have to be absolutely clear that

they have to protect business this time as well. it's strange, because we've already got used to the lockdown, come out of the lockdown, and now it feels like we are public going to go back into it as well. at least we are prepared this time. don't go to work, but catch buses to work, then don't catch buses to work. it is all confusing. the conservative mayor for the west midlands ensures that measures won't be as restrictive this time around. everything is back to where it was in the dark days of march and april. this is about the cause and appropriate action for that cause. we will protect as much is possible to return to life normally as possible. bolton currently has the highest rate of new infections in england, with hundred and 60 cases. the average is 60. —— i60.

england, with hundred and 60 cases. the average is 60. —— 160. many in that age group are frustrated that they are being blamed. most young people work in the retail industry, the hospitality industry, and just general customer facing industries. of course never to come into contact with more people and have a risk of the virus. newcastle and gateshead council have confirmed they will be placed on the government watch list, which is due to be announced later today. the leader of my council has written out to every single resident, so a letter should be with many of our residents today, by tomorrow at the latest. we have written to every business as well. we have got some great businesses in gateshead that are working with us. but, actually, reminding everyone... thereof also concerns about sunderland and south tyneside, with

hospitals suspending visiting. places on the hot spot lest a given extra measures. some people are being directed to site to hundreds of miles away. we are spoken to a man in scotland he was told to travel to northern ireland. the rise in covid—i9 cases has not yet translated to a significant increase in hospitalisations or death, but it is hoped that people will think twice about what they get up to this weekend ahead of tighter measures being introduced on monday. 0ur correspondent, phil mackie, is in birmingham. yes, just the few first few coming through. the west midlands mayor giving an announcement, from next tuesday there will be no enter household meetings allowed indoors in those three areas that would be talking about. birmingham,

particularly, but also at solihull and sandwell, which are two neighbouring authorities. the numbers there aren't quite so high but have been going up in a similar level. there will be some exemptions to that. i haven't got the details to that. i haven't got the details to that, as i say. those announcements are being made as we are talking in a different room across the city. but it follows a doubling of positive cases in the past week. and, actually, a quadrupling over the past couple of weeks, particularly here in birmingham. a lot of this is down to household contact. they haven't been able to trace many of these are brea ks to able to trace many of these are breaks to workplaces or pubs, etc. it's really people meeting indoors, family gatherings, parties, unlicensed events which have caused that dramatic increase. so the current level of cases per hundred thousand people per week is around 80 at the moment. it was well below 20 at the beginning of august, and it has been tripping up now. that curve has really taken an upsurge. i understand from talking to some of

the leaders of the local authorities around here that they were have gone further, they were wondering whether oi’ further, they were wondering whether or not for instance to enforce a close—down of some of the pubs and bars and close—down of some of the pubs and bars a nd restau ra nts close—down of some of the pubs and bars and restaurants at certain times of the night. they didn't do that, but that is something that could happen unless those numbers stabilise and begin to come down over the next week. 0bviously, they wa nt to over the next week. 0bviously, they want to keep businesses open, they wa nt to want to keep businesses open, they want to keep businesses open, they want to keep schools and universities open, their trying to manage the outbreak that is going on at the moment without adding too many extra restrictions. but the concern is really with those numbers going up. and we know there is a lag between cases and hospital admissions and then, sadly, deaths, and what we are seeing is that although they are still very low, the number of people being admitted to hospital is roughly doubling as well, and people admitted to

ventilators are beginning to rise, too. because there is a lag, there is are also going up as well. the department of health and social care says a covid—i9 app will be launched across england and wales on september 24. ahead of the roll—out, businesses including pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and cinemas are being urged to ensure they have nhs qr code posters visible on entry so customers who have downloaded the new app can use their smartphones to check—in. our technology correspondent, rory cellanjones, has more. the original app, which was shelved basically back injune, was based on a different kind of method. it didn't use the apple and google toolkit which was made available to lots of countries as long as they concentrated on privacy, and that made it very difficult. it didn't work properly. so that was shelved.

they went down this new route, far more privacy—focused, but it is taken quite a long time to get there. and this time there is a much more of an emphasis on these qr codes enabling people to log their details when they're out and about. so, exactly how is it going to work? well, once people have downloaded this app, if they get close to someone who later reports a positive test, they will then get an alert telling them that they too need to self—isolate. but, also, they'll have this ability to scan a qr code when they visit a pub or restaurant and that will keep a record of who has been there, and then if someone at that place registers positive it will be easier to contact people and tell them what they need to do. wales is to follow england and scotland in banning indoor gatherings of more than six people from monday. face coverings will also become compulsory in enclosed public spaces.

0ur wales correspondent tomos morgan reports from cardiff. as coronavirus numbers increase across areas of the south wales valleys, so the measures to curb the disease. facemasks are now recommended across the local authorities, but from monday they will be mandatory across the whole of wales, in shops and public indoor spaces. today, for the first time then lineker since thing started to improve, when 20 out of 100,000 people in wales were suffering from coronavirus, we have reached a threshold where we think in a precautionary way requiring people to wear face coverings will help us to wear face coverings will help us to clamp down on these bikes that we are seeing in some parts of wales and prevent us from having to take even more intrusive action in the future. it is a significant change in welsh government policy. they have until now stuck to two metres

social distancing is the main deterrent against the virus. it's a welcome decision here, but one that has also raised questions about why the devolved nations couldn't have been more invite from the start. the devolved nations couldn't have been more invite from the startlj think it's ridiculous. they're not sticking together. everyone is doing a different thing. it's no wonder this is not going away. why is it different in one country than in another? we are all going through it, everyone has got coronavirus in different areas, so i should wales be different to england? also announced today is a limit to six people from four different households meeting up indoors from next week. but they will be no change on the limit of 30 meeting up outdoors. children under 11 will not be part of either of those restrictions. from monday, also in scotland, the role of sick supplies but from two households, and that's from both indoor and outdoor spaces with children of 12 not part of the total. in england, gatherings of up

total. in england, gatherings of up to six people, inside and out, becomes illegal from to six people, inside and out, becomes illegalfrom next week to six people, inside and out, becomes illegal from next week with some exemptions. in northern ireland, six people from two households can meet indoors and the maximum number of people meeting outside has been halved from 3215. after a steady decline with a varied approach, it seems that as the threat of a second way becomes more ofa threat of a second way becomes more of a reality so does the chances of a morejoined of a reality so does the chances of a more joined up of a reality so does the chances of a morejoined up approach of a reality so does the chances of a more joined up approach to restrictions between the four nations. let's speak now to vaughan gething, welsh minister for health and social services. good afternoon. i wonder if we could just tackle that point of face coverings and why they are being brought in now? we heard the first minister they're saying that it is because of a rise in cases, but some would argue that if you introduce them earlier you wouldn't see such rising cases? that is what the

evidence shows about the rising cases, but as a precautionary measure. if you are back to the summer, when we successfully suppressed coronavirus here in wales and in many parts of the uk, we did that without mandating policy on face coverings. what's changed is that there has been a gradual breakdown in social distancing, and that indoor contact is the main driver of the increases we are seeing, particularly in some of our valleys. that's the reason for the increase. but very face coverings, having reached that threshold, it is time to introduce this is a mandatory policy in wales. you call ita mandatory policy in wales. you call it a precautionary measure, but it's a precaution you could have taken earlier? the evidence was we were sick cecily suppressing coronavirus throughout the summer. and you see that from the figures on a regular basis, a few weeks ago wales had co mforta bly basis, a few weeks ago wales had

comfortably the lowest rate of coronavirus of any of the uk nations. but we are at a point of seeing it move in another direction. it's why we have taken this decision today, and it's all in accordance with the plans we set up over the summer, our coronavirus control plan, of how we go about taking these sorts of decisions. but you can see the other nations are moving towards face coverings being made compulsory in shops and so on, and i echo to a certain degree some of the confusion that we heard there in thomas morgan's report of people asking why are there such different roles in the different nations? if you could see these things going on in the other nations, why did you act sooner? there are a couple of things. the context of the disease is slightly different in each of the different nations, to we made choices that were right for wales. the second point, we have always wa nted the second point, we have always wanted to have a coordinated and regular conversation between the four nations in the uk. we think that's best achieved through cobra

meeting on a regular and predictable basis, that is where we are. we are now looking lineker in a position with the rise where we are introducing this is a mandatory policy, but in public wearing a face covering isn't the only reason to suppress the control. crucially, the number of contacts we have indoors of people from different households, that's what's driving the increase. that's what's threatening our local position, and may make more lockdown measures a thing that we may have to consider and implement in the future to keep people safe. this is happening on a day that we know now there's going to be this contact tracing app introduced in wales and england on september 2a, and that will be very much for when people go out, won't it? this is not about indoors, is it? this is not going to

hospitality venues, pubs and restau ra nts a nd hospitality venues, pubs and restaurants and so on. what difference you hoping this will make? it's an addition to our tracing service. and of course it will work indoors, so if you're in someone's home it may give you an early warning as to where that is. but we know that... the addition will be useful for those people who download the app, the addition or ability to check into different places. if there is an outbreak in a venue you places. if there is an outbreak in a venue you have been in, it could be very useful having a diary of where you have been rather than needing to remember it. but it is in addition to our contact tracing service. andy good news here in wales is we have a strong and successful record of contact tracing, and republish for the first time this week how quickly we co nta ct the first time this week how quickly

we contact race. we get to 92% of our contacts within the first 24—hour is. we get to 79% of their contacts within the first 2a hours as well. so it's a good system, high performance in terms of contact tracing, also very quick, and the app will help us deliver more successfully in the future. thank you very much. dr bharat pankhania is an epidemiologist and senior clinical lecturer, at university of exeter medical school. good afternoon. we purchased in the last few minutes that birmingham's going to face restrictions from next week on meetings indoor gatherings of households. do you think that this is a good precautionary measure to take? we've got no other choice. the rising tide of cases is happening across the country now as we enter the autumn months, and we've got no choice. i fear that the

our number in birmingham, manchester, are other bigger cities, with similarly show an increase. what we ought to be doing, to be honest, is collecting data. so you have a look for the number of cases in yourarea, see have a look for the number of cases in your area, see that the case numbers are going up, and then act, and act so fast that you don't have to have lockdown is. that would be perfection. the feeling seems to be that the number of cases is going up because of households transmission, so people meeting indoors in people's houses. does that feel right to you? well, it's not only indoors, households. ithink right to you? well, it's not only indoors, households. i think when we started off with it out to help out in pubs and similar places, that too has probably been a focus of

transmission of infection. then, of course, as we now enter the autumn cooler months, people are more indoors, and they will be socialising indoors. so what has happened from somebody now is the gradual dropping of the guard, and as you drop the guard you have an increasing circle of people you are interacting with. infection happens. we need to reduce the circle of people we interact with and reduce the numberof people we interact with and reduce the number of people that we interact with at home and social settings. i'm also very concerned about long train journeys, long underground network journeys, and the push to go back to the offices. we need to balance it and not necessarily force people onto transport and crowded offices. so talk there about people letting their guard down. how fearful are you that's going to be harder to ask them to lift their guard more? very hard. very hard because we have slipped up with our messaging and

we've also been pretty inconsistent with our messaging, and our messages have been very complex. so all of those things, put together, i can already sense that people are saying i'm not going to listen. and we heard a few minutes ago about the wearing of masks. again, we don't get that public health message that you must wear the mask, and you must wear it properly. and this is how you wear a mask properly. we need to get those public health messages out as soon as possible because october, november, december are worrisome months for us. it is inevitable that there is going to be a tussle between the needs of public health and the needs of the economy to get people working again, and people need to work for their own health. do you think that there is still quite a lot of work to be done to get the balance right? a lot of work. the unfortunate thing is that we are not working together. i've

always felt that if we work together, the businesses and the health, and we worked out a suitable plan with health at the front and business also as our main interest we can do it better. so, as i say, give you an example, what is wrong with working from home as well as not getting infected? why are both... why force people back to offices if they work can be done at home? we will have to leave it there. the rise in coronavirus infections has sharpened concerns over the safety of leisure events, as governments renew warnings about the spread of the virus. public health officials in southampton have ordered the cancellation of the international boat show which was due to open in the city today. the new restrictions on social gatherings are also having an impact on lettings, as duncan kennedy reports.

it's meant to be the showcase for the british boating industry, but last night it was cancelled. 230 exhibitors had been the micro—set up here hoping to sell millions of pounds worth of boats over the next few days. not any more. this was about us and them supporting the boat show. devastated. just for everyone. fairlie line yachts, based in northamptonshire, employs 250 people and had dozens of clients lined up. but when the council said the show could break the new role of sex, that meant the event was called off. this legislation that comes on monday is for me about teenagers party it's not about grown—ups trying to run businesses. 20,000 people were expected at the show, many turned up today and i has been turned off. are you aware the show has been cancelled? i don't know. i

haven't heard about it. they cancelled it last night. really? because of coronavirus. i didn't know that. the local council said it was too high risk as other areas of britain were seeing coronavirus spikes. we are seeing in areas like leicester and liverpool how quickly the situation can change a low rate toa high the situation can change a low rate to a high rate, and therefore i think it would be risky to have this event over ten days for southampton. i absolutely understand that people will be incredibly disappointed about that decision being made so close to the event. but this isn't just about the cancellation of two boat shows. this affects the whole boating industry, which now makes around £1.5 billion for the british economy and employs something like 30,000 people. and a new role of sex goes for beyond boats. —— rule of

six our businesses are based on accommodation that seats 1a, and outside catering that relies on weddings and big groups. without that, we have no trade now. from weddings to water sports, the new counter coronavirus measures are changing personal and business lives. fighting a disease while keeping the world open is a dilemma that won't yet go away. the economy grew by 6.6 % injuly, the third month in a row that activity increased as lockdown restrictions were eased. but it has still only recovered just over half the output lost because of anti—virus measures. there are warnings of a sharp rise of unemployment when the

government's scheme ends next month. paul dales is chief uk economist at capital economics, hejoins me now. how do you view this glimmer of good news on the economy? it has certainly been in impressive turnaround so far, so injust certainly been in impressive turnaround so far, so in just three months we have reversed about two thirds of that 25% plunge in gdp that we endured during the coronavirus lockdown, but u nfortu nately i coronavirus lockdown, but unfortunately i think the best of the recovery is probably behind us. the easiest bet is probably behind us. and from here on in the recovery is going to be longer, slower and harder. and it's been the easiest bit why? well, that's to do with the businesses that have opened up. the economy contracted sharply when businesses were closed down, so when you reopen those businesses you get

a big step up in activity as well. but we are now in the situation where the majority of businesses are already open, so there is less scope for these big step ups in gdp. what effect do you think the withdrawal of thejob retention effect do you think the withdrawal of the job retention scheme is going to have? i think that is very worrying. so we have been in the situation where employment has been frozen at a very high level and it is now going to be defrosting gradually over the next few months. so by the time the furlough scheme ends at the end of october, i think we will be well on the way to having another 1 we will be well on the way to having another1 million we will be well on the way to having another 1 million people we will be well on the way to having another1 million people unemployed, and the unemployment rate rising from about 4% to 7%, so, other things being equal, that will certainly put the brakes on the speed of the economic recovery. and the other thing that is looming is the other thing that is looming is the future of our trading relationship with the eu. yes, i

think that is another headwind. regardless of what happens on the 3ist regardless of what happens on the 31st of december, between now and then the negotiations i suspect are going to put an extra break on the economy by hampering business investment. it's just one economy by hampering business investment. it'sjust one more big uncertainty that businesses have to deal with. so, put uncertainty that businesses have to dealwith. so, put all that together, we don't think the uk economy will get back to its precrisis levels until about the beginning of 2022. so there is a long way to go yet to get back to where we were. that is a gloomy assessment. are there any sectors of the economy where you are more optimistic? well, yes. some sectors are probably got back to their precrisis level. the retail sector being one of them. and that's because the retail sector benefited from as actually all being locked up during the lockdown, because it

meant we were spending money on restau ra nts meant we were spending money on restaurants or cafes or entertainment or holidays, instead we spent it on things like food and online shopping. so the retail sector is one of the comparative winners here. unfortunately, on the other end of the spectrum, there is the accommodation and restaurant sector, which is still struggling. it is some 40% below where it used to be. so there is a very big spectrum here of winners and losers, so it some sectors will win but u nfortu nately so it some sectors will win but unfortunately others will be losers for quite some time. go to talk to you. thank you very much. the uk has struck its first major post—brexit trade deal after signing an agreement in principle with japan. the international trade secretary liz truss says it's an ‘historic moment'. our economics correspondent dharshini david has the latest.

the first deal to be signed in the brexit era, and it's with the world's third largest economy. big sigh of relief across the business community. they are welcoming this deal, saying, "look, it does mean that we know that 99% of goods sold from the uk into japan would attract tariffs or extra charges." and, also, even though this deal is very similar to the one that exists already between the eu and japan, there are some additional benefits. for example, when it comes to digital trade, or financial services, and indeed on cracking down on things like music piracy. so, you know, sighs of relief, and you can see why. the international trade secretary, liz truss, was very keen to celebrate this deal this morning. well, this is an excellent deal for the united kingdom. it goes significantly beyond what the eu have agreed. it's our first as an independent trading nation. and what i would describe that as is a british shaped deal. it has particular benefits for the tech industry, for the creative industries, for food and drink. what we've also agreed is a pathway to the transpacific partnership,

so that will also give the uk access to a much wider market. across the pacific. but how big are those benefits? well, ultimately, rita, we are talking about 0.07% of gdp and 15 years. a tiny fraction of what we stand to lose if we forego our current relationship with the eu, and the majority of benefits to trade will go to japan — a key reason why they have been keen to sign this deal. so, a big moment, but perhaps more symbolic than economic. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. temperatures today are similar to yesterday. that rain heading into northern england and north wales and continue to peter out as the head southwards of the night. to the north for the blustery showers blowing into scotland and northern ireland, the northern parts of the uk cooler than it was last night.

side. left on that band of cloud. thing away and endeavour to fudge and following the england and wales, sunshine and showers for scotland and northern ireland before the cloud increases later and the winds pick up again later. temperatures tomorrow, 15 in the central belt, 21-22 in tomorrow, 15 in the central belt, 21—22 in the south—east of england. rain overnight for scotland and northern ireland. elsewhere, more sunshine arriving on sunday and that will give temperatures to boost particularly in england and wales, the mid 20s in the east. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: the reproduction number of coronavirus transmission across the uk has risen above 1, indicating a faster spread of the disease. tougher lockdown restrictions for more areas of england — from 15th september, no inter—household contact will be allowed in birmingham,

sandwell and solihull. the government announces that a new covid—19 contact—tracing app will be launched in england and wales later this month. the uk economy grew by 6.6% injuly, say official figures, but it remains far below pre—pandemic levels. thousands of migrants are still being left to sleep in the open after their camp on the greek island of lesbos burned down. we'll start with the cricket — england have made a strong start to the first one day international against australia at old trafford, having taken four wickets so far. the first courtesy of jofra archer who bowled david warnerfor 6, cleaning him completely and taking

the top of off peg. and the second wicket was taken by mark wood, who got aaron finch out with his first delivery of the day, caught byjos buttler and wood hasn't stopped there, he's taken the wicket of marcus stoinis too when he was on 43, and a few minutes ago marnus labushane went too — adil rashid with the wicket so australia, who don't have steve smith because he took a knock to the head in training yesterday, are 109 for 11th in the 21st over. serena williams says she'll definitely play at the rescheduled french open later this month after her latest bid for a record equalling 24th grand slam was ended by victoria azarenka in the semifinals of the us open. the belarussian nearly retired from the sport before the pandemic, in part due to a custody battle over her son, but she's been in fantastic form over the past few weeks, and she might have lost the opening set but she battled back to win the next two to get her first ever win over serena at a grand slam, having lost the previous ten encounters. i mean, it is obviously

disappointing, but at the same time i did what i could today, i feel like at other times i have been close and i could have done better and today i felt like i gave a lot and, yeah, i'm definitely going to be going to paris. it feels more, more fun this year, more fulfilling, more... ..pleasant for me. yeah, it feels nice, nicer. and azarenka will play the 2018 champion and fourth seed, naomi osaka, in the final tomorrow. osaka beat americanjennifer brady in three sets earlier. there were big statements surrounding the black lives matter movement at the start of the new american football season. one team, the houston texans, stayed in the dressing room during the national anthem whilst the kansas city chiefs, who went on to win the match, did line up with one player

taking the knee. as you can see, once both teams had taken to the field, all the players did gather together, as phrases such as "we must end rascism" and "we believe black lives matter" were shown on the big screen. it's really not about the flag, it's about making sure that people understand that black lives do matter and that there is a systemic racism problem in this country, and so that's what our players decided to do as a team. that was something we spoke about twice, and as a team they decided to do it. i think the guys wanted to be very respectful of each other. fans have returned to formula one for the first time since march with second practice underway for this weekend's tuscan grand prix. the ferrari—owned mujello circuit is hosting a formula one race for the first time. almost 3,000 fans have been allowed into the circuit in italy. mercedes‘ valtteri bottas topped

the timesheets in first practice just four hundredths of a second quicker than red bull's max verstappen. and with england number one charley hull missing the second women's major of the year due to a positive coronavirus test, it's down to georgia hall and mel reid, leading the charge, and they're tied 9th at the ana inspiration tournament at mission hills in califiornia. this is canadian brooke henderson, who's one of the main contenders, on 4 under, two shots off the leader, america's nelly korda. both are aiming to win a second career major and will have to do it in temperatures which are expected to soar to 45 degrees celsius this weekend. that's all the sport for now. it's six months since the world health organization declared the covid—19 outbreak a global pandemic. in total, there have been over 28 million official cases around the world. the death toll associated with the disease is now

over 900,000 people. our correspondents in the world's three hardest hit countries — the us, india, and brazil — report now on the situation where they are. we start with nada tawfik in new york. six months in, and the united states is still struggling to keep infection rates down in certain places. the mid west has been the hardest hit recently with iowa, north dakota and south dakota the latest hotspots. here in new york, the state once most affected, the infection rate has stayed below 1% for more than a month. it has allowed for an easing of restrictions. now, health officials are warning americans not to become complacent as a second potential wave looms, and there has been increased scrutiny over the president's handling of the crisis. president trump admitted that he downplayed the threat to the public as early as february to avoid panic. india now has consistently

the highest number of new coronavirus cases and deaths in the world every day. back in march, it was one of the countries that had imposed quite a stringent lockdown relatively early, and in those initial months it had seemed as though this had at least slowed the spread of the virus. but health experts say not enough was done then to aggressively track and test, and that's why the country has not been able to curb the spread of covid—19. its graph remains on an upward trend and it is growing steeper as the economy opens up further. earlier this week, metrorail systems were opened up in cities across the country. later this month, gatherings of up to 100 people will be allowed. schools and universities remain closed and international travel still has not been allowed. here in brazil, the transmission rate has started to slow and the death toll has started to fall but it has been a long time coming because, for months, more than 1,000 people were dying each day,

and much of the criticism has been pinned on presidentjair bolsonaro, who from the very beginning has tried to downplay the virus. meanwhile, regional governments have imposed quarantine and closed public spaces and schools. but the mixed messaging has been criticised. people not knowing which guidelines to follow. now restaurants and bars have started to reopen, but scientists have cautioned against, saying that the worst is over here in brazil. now, the headlines have been very much focused on brazil. this is the largest country in the region. but other countries are suffering also. in argentina, they are seeing cases rise and, in peru, they have registered the highest per capita death toll of almost any other country in the world. so, six months on, how are the world's leaders managing the virus? well, a recent study suggests that countries led by women had systematically and significantly better outcomes in

managing the virus. well, we can speak now to the lead researcher, supriya garikipati, who is associate professor in economics at university of liverpool. looked at the evidence and findings. the key finding was that female led countries had systematically and better covert outcomes and are results on deaths are stronger than the results on cases, so this tells us that the female lead countries may have been equally hard hit by the virus but they managed the fatalities better so this became a performance indicator. so which countries were you looking at? we looked at about 200 countries

because there were other countries we could not find data for, and out of that we found 10% of them were female led countries. this was a very small sample size so we could not use the normal statistical techniques we could employ because of the difficulties with small sample sizes, so we decided to match female lead countries with similar male lead countries, and the similarity came from a range of demographic and economic variables, so we did a first base model using demographic variables that seem to match up a transmission of the virus and for managing the fatalities from the virus, and these would be elderly population and population density. we also considered gdp per capita. this provided us with a like for like comparison so these 20

countries were matched with 20 male countries were matched with 20 male countries then we had extensions to our model. we wanted to understand whether these results were robust so we did a number of different checks including other variables like health expenditure, trust among citizens and gender norms, so the heartening thing was, even after we did all that, the results seem to be fairly robust. you are looking at countries that were successful including germany under angela merkel, new zealand and, denmark, taiwan and finland. whether aspects of their political leadership that made the difference? yes, we believe so. we did some tests, some other tests remain to be done. for instance, we found that female

leaders were more decisive than male leaders were more decisive than male leaders when making up their minds to lock down their economies. it seemed that female leaders were very clearly focused on saving lives but male leaders may have been divided between saving lives and saving their economies which resulted in sending mixed signals. not only did female leaders were decisive but they actually communicated their strategy very clearly. we will have to leave it there, very good to talk to leave it there, very good to talk to you. let's return to the united states now where ceremonies are underway marking the 19th anniversary of the september 11th attacks on new york and washington. president trump and the first lady are at a ceremony in shanksville pennsylvania where one of the hijacked planes crashed in a field after passengers tackled the hijackers.

we are coming up to a minute's silence that will be observed. good morning and welcome to flight 93 national memorial. my name is stephen clarke and i have the honour of serving as the superintendent at this very special place. the national park service is honoured and deeply humbled to service the steward of this 2200 acre memorial dedicated in the memory of a0 amazing heroes. on this day, 19 yea rs amazing heroes. on this day, 19 years ago, the passengers and crew members of flight 93 bonded together and prevented their hijacked aeroplane from reaching its intended target, washington, dc. amir18 minutes flying time from the sacred

ground behind me which today marks the final resting place. they sacrificed that morning saved an u ntold sacrificed that morning saved an untold number of lives. since that september day, the special people have always been remembered as heroes to america and around the world. the passengers and crew members at flight 93 continue to be a testa m e nt members at flight 93 continue to be a testament to the best of humankind, showing incredible strength and resilience in response to an unprecedented set of challenging circumstances. we remember and again today, on this special day, come together once again to honour them. mr president, our first lady, secretary bernhard,

welcome back to this very special place. secretary chow represents the department of transportation are members of congress, our township, county, state and federal officials, and the many flight 93 ambassadors here with us this morning, welcome. to so many who are unable to be with us this morning and who are watching the ceremony remotely from around this nation and from around the world, welcome. please know you are all with us in spirit. and to the families of flight 93, though say this morning and those unable to attend, we honour your loved ones‘ sacrifice and we will be eternally grateful. it is truly powerful that

we can come together on this day as a nation, pause and take the time to honour those we lost on the morning of september the 11th here at flight 93 at the pentagon and in new york. i would invite you all to please stand for the pledge of allegiance. please remain standing following the pledge for a moment of reflection led by the reverend who served as the chaplain for the fbi pittsburgh division on september 11 and continues to serve in this role today. i pledge allegiance to the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one

nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. please remain standing. let us pray. as we gather here, 19 years has passed since the sacrifice of those we remember today. with them to all the agencies and people involved and we also pray for those who have become ill from being here and those who as time has passed have also died simply by doing the investigation. we commit to your care all the families who lost someone that day, whose life was forever changed, and whose life was forever changed, and whose faith was deeply challenged. those of us who were present know in

our hearts something of that pain and suffering. as the years pass, many of the families here and throughout the world, no one ever gets over it, but by your almighty help, get through it. and so we commit this different kind of gathering to you, and we ask in all our hearts that you will bless and sanctify this place that all who visit experience something of your love and presence, that it is a homely place where mingled with the sadness there is a feeling of victory and the eternal knowledge that all are forever more in your presence and share in your resurrection life. and made these words of the prayer remain in our hearts. a circle us, 0 god, keep hope within and despair without,

circle us, 0 god, keep peace within and keep turmoil out. circle us, 0 god, keep calm within and keep storms without. circle us, 0 god, keep strength within and keep weakness out. in your most holy name weakness out. in your most holy name we pray, amen. ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. about this time, 19 years ago, a0 individuals, mostly strangers, were coming to the realisation and formulating a plan that they needed to ta ke

formulating a plan that they needed to take action. by this point in the morning, many aboard flight 93 were aware that the world trade centre and pentagon had been struck by airliners. galvanise with this information, the strangers came together in this national moment of uncertainty. their choice to make a difference that morning has continued to resonate with people around the globe. it is fitting that we ta ke around the globe. it is fitting that we take this moment to pause and remember those individuals who unknowingly sacrifice their own lives and save the lives of cou ntless lives and save the lives of countless others at 10:03am when united airlines flight 93 impacted the earth. the site of the impact is now marked with a boulder. as we

reflect this morning on the a0 passengers and crew members, i welcome my former colleague, mary jane hartman, who recently retired as the chief of interpretation, education and visitor services here at flight 93 national memorial to lead the reading of the names. as each name is red, both retired fbi special agents and respected senior tea m special agents and respected senior team leaders for the pittsburgh and clevela nd team leaders for the pittsburgh and cleveland divisions of the evidence response team on september the 11th, will ring the bells of remembrance in their memory.

christian adams. lorraine g. bay/ todd m. beamer.

alan anthony beaven. mark bingham. deora frances bodley. sandy waugh bradshaw.

marion r britton. thomas e burnett jr. william joseph cashman.

you‘re watching the ceremony being held in pennsylvania attended by president trump in the first lady to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the september the 11th attacks and that voices reading out the names of the passengers and crew of flight 93 where they tackled the hijackers and prevented a much greater atrocity potentially happening in washington, soa potentially happening in washington, so a day of great poignancy and remembrance across the united states.

for quite some time. go to talk to you. thank you very much. remembrance across the united states. hello, temperatures today similar then yesterday. that rain, heading into northern england and north wales. continuing to peter out as it heads southwards overnight. further north, some blustery showers blown into scotland and northern ireland. northern parts, coolerthan it was last night. still on the mild side. not much rain left on the ground of cloud as we head into saturday. soon moving away. a fair bit of sunshine moving into england and wales. some sunshine and showers for scotland and northern ireland, before the cloud increases later. temperatures tomorrow, making 15 in the central belt. maybe 22 in the south east of england. some rain overnight for scotland and northern ireland. threatening some flooding. elsewhere, much more sunshine on sunday. that will give the temperature is a boost, particularly in england and wales. mid 20s in the

east. this is bbc news. the headlines... tougher lockdown restrictions for more areas of england — from 15th september, no inter—household contact will be allowed in birmingham, sandwell and solihull. the reproduction number of coronavirus transmission across the uk has risen above1 indicating a faster spread of the disease. the government announces that a new covid19 contact—tracing app will be launched in england and wales later this month. the uk economy grew by 6.6% injuly, say official figures, but it remains far below pre—pandemic levels. borisjohnson will try boris johnson will try to reassure his government this afternoon.

thousands of migrants are still being left to sleep in the open after their camp on the greek island of lesbos burned down. hello, good afternoon. tougher lockdown restrictions have been announced for birmingham — following a sharp rise in coronavirus cases. the city currently has the second highest infection rate in england. it comes as data released by the government‘s scientific advisory group has confirmed that the reproduction number, or r value, of coronavirus transmission across the uk has risen above 1, meaning the epidemic is growing. speaking in the past hour, west midlands mayor, andy street, announced tougher restrictions in the birmingham area, with a ban on people socialising with people

outside their own household. he announced that the new ban will apply to the whole of birmingham, as well as sandwell and solihull. the ban will take effect from tuesday 15th september, but residents have been advised to avoid household mixing before then as it has been identified as one of the drivers of transmission. let‘s speak to our news correspondent phil mackie who‘s in birmingham. last time we spoke, the details were just coming in. just bring us up to date. yeah, i've just come off with the west midlands mayor, the chief co nsta ble of the west midlands mayor, the chief constable of the west midlands. the headlines are that if you are one of the1.6 headlines are that if you are one of the 1.6 two headlines are that if you are one of the1.6two1.7 million headlines are that if you are one of the 1.6 two 1.7 million people who live in birmingham, solihull and sandwell you can‘t mix indoors or outdoors next tuesday, unless of course you are in a household bubble with a particular person who is vulnerable and needs to be in that

bubble with you. it‘s quite a big measure affecting a lot of people, and it‘s because the numbers in those three boroughs of the city of birmingham have gone up very quickly. the level of cases per 100,000 people is currently around 80 in birmingham. 60 in solihull, a0 and sandwell. those cases have really gone up in the last week. they have been going up since august, but even really going up in the last week. it is not that social events and parties around the bank holiday weekend may be responsible for that increase that is happening at the moment. ian ward, the leader of birmingham city council, has said that he ask for help from the military to get more feet on the streets carrying out the door to door testing so they can get on top of this particular outbreak. the positivity rate for birmingham‘s really high, 6.8%. of the people being tested, 6.8% are testing positive at the moment, typically

around 3% elsewhere in the country. it is coming down in sandwell at the moment as well. but it is a big measure, although obviously elsewhere in the country, as well as here, they will be additional measures coming into place from monday. it is going to be a really tough task, particularly in birmingham where there are 1.2 million people, to get on top of this outbreak, especially as they need help to carry out their testing that‘s going on. they have announced that‘s going on. they have announced that there will be new testing site opening up in the city of the next few days. khalid mahmood is the birmingham mp for perry barr, hejoins me now. good afternoon. more restrictions coming infor good afternoon. more restrictions coming in for people from next tuesday, other people are being advised to start taking precautions

in terms of mixing. is that something that you back? absolutely. after the summer, we had a certain prime minister adviser going off to durham, andl prime minister adviser going off to durham, and i think a prime minister adviser going off to durham, and i thinka lot prime minister adviser going off to durham, and i think a lot of people then thought, "is it worth taking these roasters seriously? people had been lockdown and wanted to go out. and then there was certain inducements by the government to go to restaurants and other areas. that quite rightly would have picked the economy up, but i think we took the eye off the ball and there was a huge amount of mixing and people getting together, and what we didn't to do is keep that discipline that we had at the start. now we have to reinforce that discipline again. but one of the ideas behind it out to help out, apart from keeping the economy going, was that that will happen in venues where there was social distancing, and social distancing could be policed by the business owners. and that is the problem with private gatherings, isn‘t it? there is no one to check

what people are doing. therefore, it is also difficult for the police to e nforce is also difficult for the police to enforce that, because got a certain numberof enforce that, because got a certain number of police. there is a shortage of police and they couldn't be everywhere. there are certain establishments that the police did visit and try to control that, but they can't be everywhere. and i think also, we need to have better testing. we need to have... we haven't got to that, we haven't got enough people. the armed forces are not there to support us. we haven't got the right volunteers to do that. we also need proper information. words in birmingham are in excess of 20,000 people, and what we need to do is get information of which of those are starting to get higher levels of infection so we can start to look at that and address those issues. do not have that level of information? at the moment, we don't. we have constituency —based level of information of infections, but we don't have broken down into

certain words. and what we need from government is those postcodes that we need to address those issues. how prepared are your constituents do you think to start tightening up ain? you think to start tightening up again? because you suggest they let their guard down over summer. how prepared are they to go back to a more limited way of living? i'm sure people will be very responsible because they know at the end of the day it affects them, it affects them and their loved ones and could mean the loss of life, and certainly long—term disability if that is not the case. so people are very aware of this. i think, what we need to do now is support them, get the right messages across and support them to say, "look, messages across and support them to say, " look, we've messages across and support them to say, "look, we've got to get back to that discipline again, and it's important for all of us do that." and the other news today is the contact tracing app, which will come out in england and wales from september the 2ath. you‘ve called for more testing. you would welcome this, presumably? i will welcome it if it works. i want things to happen

properly, and not just if it works. i want things to happen properly, and notjust to have media announcements not backed up by proper technology. what we want to ensure is that the technology is safe to use. there are issues currently i understand with people's information and how that would be stored and kept. sol information and how that would be stored and kept. so i think we need to get those things right, and the problem with government announcements with all of these test and trace being big announcements with not a sufficient amount of detail to put that through. and i have in this case they got the detail right. thank you very much indeed. coronavirus infections have increased in recent weeks in the uk, according to new estimates. the government‘s latest r number is between 1 and 1.2 which means the epidemic is growing. earlier, i spoke to our health correspondent james gallagher. the important thing is that the five different data sets are telling us

the same thing, that cases are going up in the country. the r number, specifically, the number of people each infected person passes it on to, on average, if it is below one then the epidemic is shrinking because you‘re passing it on to progressively fewer people. if it is above one, is increasing. for the first time since late march, we are back above one in the united kingdom as a whole. and we also know that cases are doubling every seven to eight days. is that measuring the same thing, essentially? it‘s notjust the r number that affects the doubling time. that figure comes from a completely different study, from a team at imperial college london. they randomly select it hundred 50,000 people and send them swabs in the post, and they posted it back, in order to get

a sense of how much coronavirus is out there. they are showing that yes, it is increasing. their number is higher than the official number from sage. and they come with a doubling time of around a week. it is important to stress that this is not the same as where we were in march. we‘re at half that pace at the moment, according to these studies. the department of health and social care says a covid—19 app will be launched across england and wales on september 2a. ahead of the roll—out businesses including pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and cinemas are being urged to ensure they have nhs qr code posters visible on entry so customers who have downloaded the new app can use their smartphones to check—in. joining me now is professor christophe fraser, advisor to the uk‘s test and trace programme and part of oxford university‘s big data institute. so this app will perform two

functions, it will be a contact tracing app and allow you to leave your details at every hospitality venue you go your details at every hospitality venue you go to? correct. we have talked a lot about the contact tracing function. so the app will keep an anonymous record of people you have been in contact with so that if they become diagnosed you receive a notification, but they will also keep a record of what locations you have visited, when you scar ina locations you have visited, when you scar in a qr code, so that if there is an outbreak associated with that location you will also receive a notification that you have been exposed. and that is really important, as we go into this increase, they r number being greater than one, there is nothing inevitable i think about this trend continuing. if, with a combination of keeping up social distancing

roles and doing as much as possible with contact tracing, we can make a difference at this stage. so this is a very welcome difference at this stage. so this is a very welcome announcement difference at this stage. so this is a very welcome announcement about the imminent release of the covid—19 app. so what proportion of the population needs to download this app for it to make a real difference? so, we've been monitoring in recent work, might tea m monitoring in recent work, might team at oxford university together with google, we‘ve been monitoring realistic epidemics and realistic settings. whatever the uptake, it a lwa ys settings. whatever the uptake, it always adds to the manual contact tracing being done by phone. because some contacts get notified a little bit quicker and some don‘t recall. so the capacity to extend the effect

of the current test and trace and add to it. of course, the more people that use it, the better. but there is no threshold. so, as it is in reduced, as you download it and introduce it, you‘re always going to be helping to reduce the infection rate for months ahead. sorry to cut in. will this app be able to identify contacts that you don‘t know. someone you might be standing next to at a bus stop, for example? yes, absolutely. that‘s the idea. both you and the other person have the app installed. you both keep a record of each other. it's important to say that data stays on your phone. earlier on, there was a lot of discussion about privacy. this system, supported by google and apple, nature that that data is really kept anonymously on your phone and you receive a notification if you are the person you are next to on the bus, our next two in the

cafe, gets it, you will get the notification. but that occurs with notification. but that occurs with no sort of violation of privacy and without you having to recall those details. so people listening to this will recall the app that was being trialled on the isle of wight earlier in the summer that didn‘t work. if this were going to work? it's work. if this were going to work? it‘s different because the app on the isle of the isle of wight actually had a good adoption and a good user experience, and the interaction with the population was really good. but it wasn‘t... it was developed independently from apple, and wasn‘t supported by apple in terms of being able to work when iphones were asleep. this one was developed based on google and apple‘s redesigning their core operating system, and the apps we

have seen working in quite a few european countries. so they sort of technical problems which centred really around this problem of privacy have been resolved. also, the new thing is that it is very integrated. it gives you a local risk assessment every day and is very integrated with the testing system. the original app... widespread testing wasn‘t available. we now have an established testing framework. but, from a user perspective, you can order your test, and the app will respond accordingly as soon as a test result is available. 0k, good to get your views on that. wales is to follow england and scotland in banning indoor gatherings of more than six people from monday. face coverings will also

become compulsory in enclosed public spaces. our wales correspondent tomos morgan reports from cardiff. as coronavirus numbers increase across areas of the south wales valleys, so do measures to curb the disease. facemasks are now recommended across the local authorities of rhondda cynon taf and neighbouring merthyr tydfil. but from monday they will be mandatory across the whole of wales, in shops and public indoor spaces. today, for the first time since things started to improve, we‘re back with 20 out of 100,000 people in wales suffering from coronavirus. we have reached a threshold where we think, in a precautionary way, requiring people to wear face coverings will help us to clamp down on the spikes that we are seeing in some parts of wales, and prevent us from having to take even more intrusive action in the future. it is a significant change on welsh government policy, who have, until now, stuck to two metres

social distancing as the main deterrent against the virus. it is a welcome decision here in pontypridd, but one that has also raised questions about why the devolved nations could not have been more unified from the start. i think it is ridiculous. the countries, they are not sticking together. everybody is doing a different thing and they shouldn't, it's wrong. there is no wonder this is not going away. why is it different in one country to another? we are all going through it. everyone has got covid in different areas, so why should wales be different to england? also announced today here is a limit of six people from four different households meeting up indoors from next week. there will be no change on a limit of 30 meeting up outdoors. children under 11 will not be part of either of those restrictions. from monday also, in scotland, the rule of six applies, but from two households, and that is for both inside and outdoor spaces, with children under 12 not part of the total. in england, social gatherings of more than six people,

again inside and outside, becomes illegalfrom next week, with some exemptions. while in northern ireland, six people from two households can meet indoors. and the maximum number of people meeting outside has been halved from 30 to 15. after a steady decline, with a varied approach to easing restrictions across the uk, it now seems that as the threat of a second wave becomes more of a reality, so does the chances of a more joined up approach to restrictions between the four nations when it comes to tackling the spread at home. the headlines on bbc news... the reproduction number of coronavirus transmission across the uk has risen above 1. tougher lockdown restrictions for more areas of england — from 15th september, no inter—household contact will be allowed in birmingham, sandwell and solihull. the government announces that

a new covid19 contact—tracing app will be launched in england and wales later this month. as we‘ve been hearing, tougher lockdown restrictions have been announced for birmingham — following a sharp rise in coronavirus cases. a short while ago our news corresondent, phil mackie, spoke to the west midlands mayor, andy street — and asked him about the restrictions... we‘ve got to be really concerned here in the west millions. we basically seen a doubling of the rate of the virus over the last seven days, so action did have to be taken to stop that increase. is there any reason, we‘ve had lots of speculation about why it has picked up speculation about why it has picked up in urban areas like the west midlands, young people, households, transmission? there are a number of thoughts about why the increase has come so rapidly, but it does seem this whole question about transmission within households is

particularly important. and that's why the measure that have been in and really focus on that. so we are trying to be precise in terms of the cause and the solution to it. there was some amber lights flashing about birmingham two weeks ago. why is it taken until now? might some people say you could have acted sooner? the reality is that cases increased but then were stable. and that was not substantially out of line with neighbouring authorities. so what has actually happened is there‘s been a very rapid and recent increase, and this is decisive action very quickly. now, the rise in coronavirus infections has sharpened concerns over the safety of leisure events, as governments renew warnings about the spread of the virus. public health officials in southampton have ordered the cancellation of the international boat show which was due to open in the city today. the new restrictions on social

gatherings are also having an impact on lettings, as duncan kennedy reports. it‘s meant to be the showcase for the british boating industry, but last night it was cancelled. 230 exhibitors had set up here hoping to sell millions of pounds worth of boats over the next few days. not any more. this was about us and them supporting the boat show. devastated. just disappointed for everyone. fairline yachts, based in northamptonshire, employs 250 people and had dozens of clients lined up. but when the council said the show could break the new rule of six, that meant the event was called off. this legislation that comes on monday is for me about teenagers party it's not about grown—ups trying to run businesses.

20,000 people were expected at the show, many turned up today unaware it had been turned off. are you aware the show has been cancelled? i don't know. i haven't heard about it. they cancelled it last night. really? because of coronavirus. i didn't know that. the local council said it was too high risk as other areas of britain were seeing covid spikes. we are seeing in areas like leicester and liverpool how quickly the situation can change from a low rate to a high rate, and therefore think it would be risky to have this event over ten days in southampton. i absolutely understand that people will be incredibly disappointed about that decision being made so close to the event. but this isn‘tjust about the cancellation of two boat shows. this affects the whole boating industry, which now makes around £1.5 billion for the british economy and employs something like 30,000 people.

and a new rule of six goes for beyond boats. the rule is going to prove quite difficult, and our business is based on an outdoor seafood cafe, outside catering that relies on catering and big groups, and without that we have no trade now. from weddings to water sports, the new counter coronavirus measures are changing personal lives. fighting the disease while keeping the world open is a dilemma that won‘t yet go away. a 30—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of the attempted murder of a police officer in newquay. devon and cornwall police say the officer was seriously injured and sustained a number of burns to his

arms and legs following the assault this morning. he‘s been taken to hospital with severe injuries that are not believed to be life—threatening. the man remains in police custody. the uk has struck its first major post—brexit trade deal after signing an agreement in principle with japan. the international trade secretary, liz truss, says it‘s an ‘historic moment‘. our economics correspondent dharshini david has the latest. big sigh of relief across the business community because 95% of goods would attract charges or tariffs. even though this deal is very similar between the one that exists between the eu and japan, there are some additional benefits when it comes to financial services and cracking down on things like music piracy. so sighs of relief, and you can see why. this trust was very keen to celebrate this deal this morning. this is an excellent

deal for the united kingdom. this morning. this is an excellent dealforthe united kingdom. it go significantly beyond what the eu have agreed. it is our first as an independent trading nation. and what i would describe that as it is a british shaped deal. it has particular benefits for the tech industry, the creative industries, food and drink. what we also agreed isa food and drink. what we also agreed is a pathway to the trans pacific partnership. that will also give the uk access to a much wider market across the pacific. but how big are those benefits? we are talking about 0.07% of gdp, a tiny fraction of what we stand to lose if we forego our current relationship with the eu. and the majority of benefits to trade will go to japan, a key reason why they have been keen to sign this deal. so, a big moment, perhaps more symbolic than economic. the prime minister will speak to conservative mps later today —

remotely — about the internal market bill. asked if this showed downing street was alarmed by disquiet on the tory benches, the prime minister‘s official spokesman said it was an opportunity for "further engagement." joining me now from westminster is our political correspondent, leila mathoo. how would you assess the mood at the moment? there is certainly concerned. it is definitely fair to say that. there are a number of mps who have talked publicly about their concern that this internal market bill does breach international law. and there was widespread concern that the government was freely admitting that. many of the concerns centre around the reputational damage done to the uk if the country seem to be breaching international law in this way. how then, mps say, could uk go on if it is seen as breaching it. parliament does have the right to make laws that breach international treaties, and they

have talked about it being a specific and limited breach of international law. they think it is necessary to do so because they want to protect, they say, the integrity of the uk and secured the northern ireland police thiem peace process. this is an argument that is rejected by the eu. they say the government is going back on the brexit withdrawal agreement that has been signed with the eu last year. and they have given the government until they have given the government until the end of the month to withdraw these contentious parts of the internal market bill. but michael gove, the cabinet minister who was in charge of the brexit negotiations, said yesterday that he was very negotiations, said yesterday that he was very firm, he would not, he told the eu, be withdrawing those parts of the legislation. so as it stands that legislation does proceed as planned into the commons next week. now, there are some conservative mps that have tabled an amendment to this bill. that is clearly something thatis

this bill. that is clearly something that is perhaps prompted boris johnson to get in touch with his mps this evening to reassure them about what is contained in this bill. but there is an amendment already down. that will be debated in the coming weeks. but i think it is fair to say there is disquiet. whether that tra nslates there is disquiet. whether that translates into an actual rebellion, votes against the government, we will have to see, because remember the government has a very big majority, very different to the climate where we were used to those knife edge brexit votes all those months ago. the economy grew by 6.6 per cent in july, the third month in a row that activity increased as lockdown restrictions were eased. but it has still only recovered just over half the output lost because of anti—virus measures. but the size of the economy remains far below pre—pandemic levels, and there are warnings of a sharp rise in unemployment when the government‘s job retention scheme ends next month. here‘s our economics correspondent, andy verity.

july was the month when this month prohibited activity was finally allowed again. just as banning and drinking and eating out sank the economy from april to june, lifting the ban helped activity recover, jumping by 1a0% in july. construction companies on sites like this one in birmingham‘s business district were running at a quarter of normal capacity in the spring, but now its staff are back from furlough. i think the local businesses really appreciate seeing the construction industry at the forefront of the recovery and the bounce back. it's palpable, the city is going back to life and it is being led by the construction industry. but in construction, as with the rest of the economy, extraordinary growth injuly is still nowhere near enough to make up for the extraordinary shrinkage of

activity. the economy is bouncing strongly, but the line on this chart shows it is fairly recovered half of the output it lost. it is really going to take the balance of this year and left before we can recover the ground that is lost. so 2020, we are still going to have an economy that could be one tenth smaller, 10% smaller, than what we had in 2019. and that has implications forjob prospects and the wealth and opportunity for the many people in this country. as people left home and flocked to campsites in record numbers over the summer holidays, they were blissfully unaware that employers anticipating the end of the furlough scheme in october were giving notice that they plan to make more than 300,000 people redundant. the government is now being warned that if it doesn‘t extend its furlough scheme to protect the worst hit sectors, many more people will lose theirjobs. we need a recovery plan now. we need the same spirit of consensus that brought about the

rescue plan now for a recovery plan. ijust got to rescue plan now for a recovery plan. i just got to be rescue plan now for a recovery plan. ijust got to be honest, what‘s been proposed at the moment is totally inadequate. we will lose skills, capacity, we will put families at risk. birmingham's shopping district is quieter than normal, and across the country to bounce back is already slowing down. at the furlough scheme ends and job losses rise, the worry is that people will have much less money to spend. slowing the economy further and risking a second wave of economic illness. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with darren bett. temperatures are similar to yesterday. rain coming in across scotla nd yesterday. rain coming in across scotland and northern ireland, heading into northern england and north wales, lightened by the evening and petering out as a head southwards. to the north, further blustery showers blowing into scotla nd blustery showers blowing into scotland and northern ireland and the northern parts of the uk cooler

thanit the northern parts of the uk cooler than it was last night. further south, on the mild side. not much rain left on that band of cloud, soon moving away, then a fair bit of sunshine following the england and wales. england and wales for sunshine daesh england and northern ireland before the winds pick up later. temperatures tomorrow 15 in the central belt and 21 or 22 in the south—east of england. rain overnight for scotland and northern ireland, threatening flooding, elsewhere more sunshine arriving on sunday and that will give temperatures abused particularly in england and wales, the mid 20s in the east. —— temperatures a boost.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... tougher lockdown restrictions for more areas of england — from 15th september, no inter—household contact will be allowed in birmingham, sandwell and solihull. the reproduction number of coronavirus transmission across the uk has risen above 1, indicating a faster spread of the disease. the government announces that a new covid—19 contact—tracing app will be launched in england and wales later this month. the uk economy grew by 6.6% injuly, say official figures, but it remains far below pre—pandemic levels. borisjohnson will try to reassure conservative mps this afternoon who are concerned about his plans to override parts of the brexit withdrawl agreement in relation to northern ireland. thousands of migrants

are still being left to sleep in the open after their camp on the greek island of lesbos burned down. good afternoon. we‘ll start with the cricket. mark wood and adil rashid have taken two wickets each to put england on top in the first one dayer against australia at old trafford. the first wicket came courtesy ofjofra archer who bowled david warnerfor 6, cleaning him completely and taking the top of off peg, and the second was taken by mark wood, who got aaron finch out with his first delivery of the day. and wood didn‘t stop there — he‘s taken the wicket of marcus stoinis too when he was on a3 caught byjos buttler. and adil rashid has since dismissed marnus labuschagne and alex carey. no steve smith for the aussies either because he took a knock to the head in training yesterday —

they are 162 for 5 after 32 overs. serena williams says she‘ll definitely play at the rescheduled french open later this month after her latest bid for a record equalling 2ath grand slam was ended by victoria azarenka in the semifinals of the us open. the belarussian nearly retired from the sport before the pandemic, in part due to a custody battle over her son, but she‘s been in fantastic form over the past few weeks, and she might have lost the opening set but she battled back to win the next two to get her first ever win over serena at a grand slam, having lost the previous ten encounters. i mean, it‘s obviously disappointing, but at the same time i did what i could today,

i feel like at other times i have been close and i could have done better and today i felt like i gave a lot and, yeah, i‘m definitely going to be going to paris. it feels more, more fun this year, more fulfilling, more... ..pleasant for me. yeah, it feels nice, nicer. and azarenka will play the 2018 champion and fourth seed, naomi osaka, in the final tomorrow. osaka beat americanjennifer brady in three sets earlier. there were big statements surrounding the black lives matter movement at the start of the new american football season. one team, the houston texans, stayed in the dressing room during the national anthem whilst the kansas city chiefs, who went on to win the match, did line up with one player taking the knee. as you can see, once both teams had taken to the field, all the players did gather together as phrases such as "we must end

rascism" and "we believe black lives matter" were shown on the big screen. it‘s really not about the flag — it‘s about making sure that people understand that black lives do matter and that there is a systemic racism problem in this country, and so that‘s what our players decided to do as a team. that was something that we spoke about twice, and as a team they decided to do it. i think the guys wanted to be very respectful of each other. fans have returned to formula one for the first time since march for this weekend‘s tuscan grand prix. valtteri bottas topped the timesheets for mercedes in both practice sessions. several drivers found it tricky driving at the mugello circuit in italy for the first time. second practice was suspended twice — first after lando norris crashed his mclaren and then when racing point‘s

sergio perez tangled with kimi raikkonen‘s alfa romeo. that‘s all the sport for now. i‘ll have more for you throughout the afternoon. let‘s return to the news that the uk has struck its first major post—brexit trade deal after signing an agreement in principle with japan. the international trade secretary, liz truss, says it‘s an historic moment. i‘m joined by sir david warren, former british ambassador to japan. do you agree with the assessment that it‘s a historic moment? do you agree with the assessment that it's a historic moment? it's good that we secured the trade deal with japan, it‘s a very important trading partnerfor this with japan, it‘s a very important trading partner for this country, the third largest economy in the world, it‘s been an important export market for britain for decades and it‘s very important source of inward

and this trade deal, which is your correspondence said, draws heavily on the eu japan trade deal, which we we re on the eu japan trade deal, which we were pa rt of on the eu japan trade deal, which we were part of untiljanuary, will be important continuity for trade and investment flows between our two countries. how important is it the japan? it's important forjapan in terms of japanese companies who have invested in the uk who will benefit from the reduced tariffs on car parks, rail parks which are all part of the deal, it‘s important for japan also symbolically that they and britain, two of the largest economies in the world, it will signal their commitment to continued free trade, liberalisation of trade, and it‘s important forjapan because the british government are making very positive noises about britain becoming part of what used to be called the transpacific partnership and has a longer name which is for

each trading relationship which the japanese have spent a lot of time salvaging after president trump pulled out of. but how big are the benefits if we are told they add up to 0.0% of gdp in 15 years? benefits if we are told they add up to 0.096 of gdp in 15 years? the benefit seem to be pretty slight over that time. we are talking about less tha n over that time. we are talking about less than one tenth of a percentage point of british gdp, the impact on the british economy will not be great, our exports to japan are £15 billion a year, the department for international trade are talking about these expanding by 15 billion about these expanding by 15 billion a year but that is over a long—term profile, so the economic benefits will not be brilliant and we have to compare the benefits we get from this deal with having no deal at all and being outside the eu. we already

know as the economist told us that the benefits of losing access to our major export market, the european union, are greater than the benefits we will get even from the trade deal of this nature. people will look at this deal with japan, good as it is, being marked by the government as a historic moment, but they will say, is there any reader across to doing trade deals with other countries and setting the eu to one side, there had already been a deal between the uk andjapan. had already been a deal between the uk and japan. it was a ready—made deal. it will be much harder to stop these things from scratch, is on to? that is a very fair assessment. trade deals are not easy to do. this deal is positive and it has been done quickly but it requires concessions on both sides. trade deals such as the one the government wa nts to deals such as the one the government wants to do with the united states

will require much more effort and are infinitely more complex. even joining the transpacific partnership which the japanese attach a lot of importance to us doing, and they have political reasons, that will not be straightforward as well. one of the elements of the transpacific partnership is the investment protection arrangements which are so complex and problematic from the point of view of other trade deals, the arrangements under which investing companies can challenge state regulations. when they form pa rt state regulations. when they form part of eu us trade discussions, we will not get into the transpacific partnership without signing up to that dispute settlement arrangement and that will prove politically controversial. trade deals are very political and the concessions which countries have to make to secure what they want impinge directly on companies and people‘s political

interests. would you say this comes ata interests. would you say this comes at a politically opportune moment for the government given the tussle is going on with the eu? it's good news for the government that they have secured this deal. it is symbolically important and it acts as some commentators have already indicated as a positive philip in the direction of trade generally, but all eyes will have to be on what the deal is between the uk and the eu and the japanese government and japanese companies investing in the uk will also be focused on that. the big car manufacturers and electronics manufacturers, the major investors from japan are looking to see what deal we get with brussels. frankly, they are worried about the prospect of there being no deal, thatis prospect of there being no deal, that is bad news notjust for british companies but foreign companies investing in britain. that is the price they believe the british government should have its eyes on, proper trade deal with

brussels. very good to get your thoughts, thank you so much. one of the government‘s own departments has breached health and safety legislation after it failed to do enough to limit the spread of coronavirus in the workplace. a whistle—blower from the department for work and pensions‘ office in leeds has told the bbc staff feel it‘s an unsafe place to work, particularly as increasing numbers of people are returning to the building. the department says it‘s actly quickly to address the problems, as luxmy gopal reports. this imposing building in the centre of leeds is home to government offices, including the department for work and pensions. an inspection has found that its employees aren‘t being protected enough from the risk of covid—19 after a serious breach of health and safety law. a whistle—blower from the department has contacted the bbc. to protect his identity, he‘s played here by an actor. i feel let down by such a big business that can‘t ensure the safety for its staff when millions rely on the dwp for

correctly implementing legislation. the highly critical report sent by the health and safety executive to the dwp in late august said... during his visit, the inspector found two—way walkways barely more than a metre wide and still staff, including a manager, ignoring social distancing. e—mails leaked to the bbc show there have been cases of covid—19 within the office. the biggest civil service trade union safety inspection findings are worrying for the 1,500 employees at leeds dwp. it was a very scathing report and, really, a government department should not be receiving reports of that nature. we are extremely concerned for our safety, for the safety of our members. the health and safety report said while most of the building‘s dwp staff were working from home, the number coming into the office was continually increasing as more and more staff and new recruits were being brought in.

the whistle—blower told us that‘s partly to cope with increasing demand for universal credit and partly due to the government‘s new message encouraging people back into the workplace. we are seeing signs of strength in the uk economy, but unquestionably it will require people to have the confidence to go back to work in a covid secure way. people i‘ve spoken to are nervous about a return. they and i feel itjust isn‘t safe enough yet to go back. a dwp spokesperson said... the department has until tuesday to prove to inspectors it‘s doing enough to keep its workers safe from coronavirus. luxmy gopal, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news...

tougher lockdown restrictions for more areas of england — from 15th september, no inter—household contact will be allowed in birmingham, sandwell and solihull. the reproduction number of coronavirus transmission across the uk has risen above 1. the government announces that a new covid—19 contact—tracing app will be launched in england and wales later this month. attempts are continuing to find shelterfor almost 13,000 migrants who remain stranded after their camp on the greek island of lesbos burned to the ground. france, germany and the netherlands have offered to take in a small number of unaccompanied children. eu officials have promised to rebuild a camp on the island for the migrants, but the suggestion has met with opposition from local people. bethany bell reports. sheltering in a cemetery in the olive groves, these migrants have been sleeping

rough for three nights ever since the refugee camp where they were living was burnt to the ground. humaira from afghanistan said the fire started at night. suddenly, we saw that the tents are going to burn. we did not bring anything with ourselves — just our blanket. wejust run. the police are not letting migrants leave the area. not even when their children are sick. ok, but here is problem. you must go back. so they are stuck with little access to food or medical care. excuse me, we are not animal, you know? we are human. these migrants have got nowhere else to go, so they are just sitting by the side of the road. some of them have built little

shelters out of blankets but conditions are pretty grim. there is no running water and it is very difficult to wash. i have five children and we are living here in a very bad situation because at night it is very cold and we have nothing. i am so scared here in moria, every time the panic attacks are coming to me. i‘m in a bad position. my babies are little, all my babies, every time is sick. we need help, please. the greek authorities say they have secured tents to house the homeless migrants, but locals on the island are strongly against plans to build a replacement camp. the migrants want to leave and the islanders want them to go but, without european agreement, solutions remain difficult. bethany bell, bbc news, lesbos. it‘s the biggest half

marathon event in the uk, raising millions of pounds for charity every year, but this weekend the great north run will look very different. the event was cancelled because of the coronavirus, so now a virtual version will be held with 16,000 people taking part all over the world. alison freeman reports. it was warm when i did it. it‘s quite hilly, particularly when you‘re in a robotic suit, because i notice every little bump and slope, and i was pregnant, 16 weeks pregnant, so a combination of all of those factors did make it tough. every year, there are amazing stories of bravery and overcoming adversity, and claire lomas‘ great north run journey is one that stands out. paralysed from the waist down, she completed the course in a robotic suit in 2016. but in the year the a0th race was meant to be run, things are going to be a little different.

there is a downloadable app and, when you run, it measures your distance, and then you get messages, sting comes on and says you can't stop the great north run, and alan shearer, seb coe, steve cram, paula radcliffe have alljoined in, and the support, just to say to people run 13 miles wherever you are. claire‘s one of 16,000 people around the country and the world taking part in the virtual race. we spoke to a few of them to find out why. andy might win the prize for the most beautiful location for his great north run. i've been living the last 20 years, working and living here in colombia, so i'm in the andes, the foothills of the andes around me here, so i thought running the great north run in colombia with these headphones on, listening to geordies egging you on, was going to be the maximum of strange, so i went for it. gavin‘s reasons for taking part in southampton are a little closer to home. a virtual great north run was a fantastic way for me to potentially motivate myself.

i weighed nearly 21 stone, struggled to walk a mile, let alone do anything else. covid probably made the decision for me, a, because of the health implications and, b, because we were due to have a baby injune. and in buckinghamshire, ian‘s fundraising doesn‘t just depend on his running performance. if i double my target, the beard that has grown during lockdown will disappear. it might not be the experience everyone had hoped for, but they are going to give it their all. i will miss the crowds because there's nothing like actually being at the great north run, and it's making me want to go back again. really good luck on sunday, and well done on all your fundraising as well. yeah, good luck everyone. great, lovely stories. alison freeman, bbc news. the home of britain‘s war—time leader, sir winston churchill, will reopen to the public on monday after a multi—million pound restoration of some of the national trust property. the work was only possible thanks to those who knew churchill and the house,

and matt taylor has been to meet one of them. this wall over here is exactly as i remember it. nonie chapman‘s relationship with chartwell spans six decades. the old—fashioned typewriter and the switchboard which is exactly as it was. the office here was a hive of industry. and all the sounds you remember at the time. absolutely, you can hear the typing going on in the background. after starting work at chartwell in the early 1960s, nonie went on to play an important role supporting the family working alongside his wife after sir winston died. winston used to love to feed the golden orfe in the pools. and i used to have to collect the live bait he fed them with. and one of myjobs once a week — i used to take these big tin boxes of films, big film reels, with me to the station. i think it was on a friday.

and i would collect the new films which would be shown at the weekend. her experiences helped the national trust unlock some of the secrets and stories behind hundreds of items acquired and soon to be on show here. so this is winston churchill‘s study. it is one of the most important rooms in the house and this is where he would spend hours of his time. amongst others, a beautiful painting of blenheim palace where he was born. a speech box which housed the notes that would inform the words that would inspire a nation. this is one of the most important objects in our whole collection. it charts visitors to chartwell between 192a and 196a. with over 700 signatures, it is a who‘s who of the early 20th century. among the signatories are charlie chaplin, and my favourite is a lesser—known figure — a gentleman called fabian von schlabrendorff. he was a member of the german

resistance who was informing churchill in the lead—up to the second world war and visited chartwell afterwards. and he was actually involved in an assassination attempt on hitler. so a really interesting individual. volunteers have given up 6,000 hours of their time to help with the project. their research, as well as new items to the house, have really put the essence of churchill back into chartwell, but what better resource did the national trust have than the people who knew him best? lady churchill was, i adored her, she was a wonderful character, a very strong character. and i often used to think, it amazed me, how two such strong characters must have lived together in such harmony. the atmosphere was fantastic. it was such a happy atmosphere. lady churchill loved flowers. there were always flowers everywhere, log fires burning, you could just go where you wanted to. everybody was happy here.

now the weather with darren bett. we have seen more cloud streaming into england and wales today, still warm when the sun comes out, but across the atlantic over to canada we have the stream of cloud coming over the atlantic and that is mainly making a beeline into scotland and northern ireland. we have seen rain here and that rain band on that weather front slowly moves its way southwards in behind it to the north sunshine and blustery showers arriving in scotland and northern ireland. what is left of the main is across northern england and north wales and ahead of it temperatures in the south—east where we see the best of the sunshine 20 degrees or so. that band of rain move southwards most of the rain peters out. to the north clearer skies, more of these blustery showers blowing into scotland and northern ireland. it will be cooler than it

was last night but fairly mild across england and wales where we have that area of cloud. as we head into this weekend though most of the cloud will come into scotland and northern ireland, rain for a while although the weather should improve during sunday. the england and wales a lot of dry weather here, spells of sunshine, it will warm up as well. this is the bigger picture is across northern england and north wales and ahead of it temperatures in the south—east where we see the best of the sunshine 20 degrees or so. that band of rain move southwards most of the rain peters out. to the north clearer skies, more of these blustery showers blowing into scotla nd blustery showers blowing into scotland and northern ireland. it will be cooler than it was last night but fairly mild across england and wales where we have that area of cloud. as we head into this weekend though most of the cloud will come into scotland and northern ireland, and afair into scotland and northern ireland, and a fair bit of sunshine. showers for northern parts of northern ireland. temperatures similar to those today, pleasant in the sunshine. but wet weather arrives in northern ireland and into scotland overnight. that may well bring the risk of localised flooding. as we head into sunday that rain gets pushed up into the north west of scotla nd pushed up into the north west of scotland where the rain adds up in the highlands. sunny skies

developing elsewhere, wince easing, and with the sunshine temperatures should get a boost, the mid 20s across eastern parts of england, but warmer weather on the day early next week. we have a weather front flirting with the north—west of the uk but we tap into this heat moving up uk but we tap into this heat moving up from iberia across france and into the uk. the many places on monday, dry and sunny, patchy rain across the far north—west of scotla nd across the far north—west of scotland perhaps into northern ireland as well but across england and wales this temperatures mid 20s and wales this temperatures mid 20s and we could be close to 30 degrees in the south—east of england.

this is bbc news. the headlines... tougher lockdown restrictions for more areas of england — from 15th september, no inter—household contact will be allowed in birmingham, sandwell and solihull. the reproduction number of coronavirus transmission across the uk has risen above 1, indicating a faster spread of the disease. the government announces that a new covid—19 contact—tracing app will be launched in england and wales later this month. the uk economy grew by 6.6% injuly, say official figures, but it remains far below pre—pandemic levels. boris johnson will try to reassure conservative mps this afternoon who are concerned about his plans to override parts of the brexit withdrawl agreement in relation to northern ireland. thousands of migrants

are still being left to sleep in the open after their camp on the greek island of lesbos burned down. good afternoon. tougher lockdown restrictions have been announced for birmingham — following a sharp rise in coronavirus cases. the city currently has the second highest infection rate in england. it comes as data released by the government‘s scientific advisory group has confirmed that the reproduction number, or r value, of coronavirus transmission across the uk has risen above 1, meaning the epidemic is growing. speaking in the past hour, west midlands mayor,

andy street announced tougher restrictions in the birmingham area, with a ban on people socialising with people outside their own household. he announced that the new ban will apply to the whole of birmingham, as well as neighbouring sandwell and solihull. the ban will take effect from tuesday 15th september, but residents have been advised to avoid household mixing before then as it has been identified as one of the drivers of transmission. our reporter phil mackie has been in birmingham this afternoon... if you‘re one of the 1.6 two 1.7 billion people, you can‘t mix with any other household indoors or outdoors from next tuesday, unless of course you are in a household bubble with a particular person who is vulnerable and needs to be in that bubble with you. it‘s quite a big measure affecting a lot of people, and it‘s because the numbers in those three boroughs in the city of birmingham have gone up very, very quickly. the level of cases per 100,000 people is currently around 80 in birmingham, 60 in solihull, and a0 in sandwell. those cases have

really gone up in the last week. they have been going up since august, but they have really gone up in the last week. it is not that meetings and social events and parties around the bank holiday weekend may be responsible for that increase that is happening at the moment. ian ward, the leader of birmingham city council, said that he asked for help from the military to help, get more feet on the streets carrying out the door to door testing so they can get on top of this particular outbreak. the positivity rate for birmingham‘s really high at 6.8%, so of the people being tested 6.8% are testing positive at the moment, particularly around the country that is below 3%. so that is of some concern. it‘s high in solihull, it‘s coming down in sandwell at the moment as well. it's in sandwell at the moment as well. it‘s a big measure, although obviously elsewhere in the country, as will be the case here on monday, they will be additional lockdown measures coming into place. it is

going to be a really, really tough task, especially in birmingham where there are1.2 task, especially in birmingham where there are 1.2 million people, to get on top of this outbreak, especially as they need help in terms of volu nteers as they need help in terms of volunteers to carry out the kinds of testing that will be going on, they‘ve they‘ve also announced that there are new testing sites being opened up in the city in the next few days. scientists advising the government say that coronavirus infections are beginning to spread more rapidly across the uk. for the first time since march, the r number — which measures how many people one patient infects — is above 1. with me now is health correspondent, james gallagher. just remind us about the rate? yeah, we are is have to go back to what on earth it is. it is a really important number. what it does is it tells you how many people on average each person who is infected parses the virus on to. if the our number is ten then someone passes the virus on to ten other people. if the are

is below one, that means the epidemic is shrinking, because you‘re passing it on to progressively fewer people. when it goes above one, that means it is increasing. it means cases are starting to go up. in fairness, wherever you look, you can see that. if you look at the daily nhs testing data, you see a trend of cases going up. if you look at the ons study, that shows cases are up. if you look at the app, where nearly a million people are logging their symptoms every day, natures cases are going up. we are very definitely in the new stage of the pandemic in the uk, where we are dealing with rising cases ready for the first time since lockdown. how variable that is the ra across the country? it must be varying to a certain extent, or it would be having these local restrictions. clearly, yes, there are hot spots. you talk about birmingham there, bolton. it‘s been leicester before. but i was speaking

to some officials quite close to this earlier today and they say you can‘t think this is just about hotspots now, this is something that is widespread and happening up and down the united kingdom. there is a widespread rise in coronavirus cases. you can‘t think of it or while there are hotspots, it‘s not just hotspots. there is a skew towards cities rather than countryside, but it‘s something you need to be thinking about across the whole of the uk. and that is why, if you think back to just a couple of days ago, we had the rule of six. it is not a lockdown, it is a new series of national policies. but people will be forgiven, i‘m guessing, for being a bit confused about this. yes, that important figure of six indoors and outdoors, the people still going to work. being encouraged to go to work. and go back to school and university?m was comes down to the big question

with coronavirus. it‘s going to be the massive question that we face as we go into what some scientists think is going to be a difficult winter, of how do you balance tackling the violent macro virus versus tackling the violent macro virus versus having a society getting on with our lives. somewhere in between the two, you have to decide what you wa nt to the two, you have to decide what you want to do. do you want to shut down society up until the point we have a vaccine, a rule of one, but nobody wa nts to vaccine, a rule of one, but nobody wants to live in a world like that. so what you have to do is make difficult decisions, and that is why some places are still opening in some places are still opening in some places are closing. thank you very much. wales is to follow england and scotland in banning indoor gatherings of more than six people from monday. face coverings will also become compulsory in enclosed public spaces. our wales correspondent, tomos morgan, reports from cardiff. as coronavirus numbers increase across areas

of the south wales valleys, so do measures to curb the disease. facemasks are now recommended across the local authorities of rhondda cynon taf and neighbouring merthyr tydfil. but from monday they will be mandatory across the whole of wales, in shops and public indoor spaces. today, for the first time since things started to improve, we are back with 20 out of 100,000 people in wales suffering from coronavirus. we have reached a threshold where we think, in a precautionary way, requiring people to wear face coverings will help us to clamp down on the spikes that we are seeing in some parts of wales, and prevent us from having to take even more intrusive action in the future. it‘s a significant change on welsh government policy, who have, until now, stuck to two metres social distancing as the main deterrent against the virus. it‘s a welcome decision here in pontypridd, but one that has also raised questions about why the devolved nations could not have been more unified from the start. i think it is ridiculous.

the countries, they are not sticking together. everybody is doing a different thing and they shouldn't, it's wrong. there is no wonder this is not going away. why is it different in one country to another? we are all going through it. everyone has got covid in different areas, so why should wales be different to england? also announced today is a limit of six people from four different households meeting up indoors from next week. but there will be no change on a limit of 30 meeting up outdoors. children under 11 will not be part of either of those restrictions. from monday also, in scotland, the rule of six applies, but from two households, and that is for both inside and outdoor spaces, with children under 12 not part of the total. in england, social gatherings of more than six people, again inside and outside, becomes illegalfrom next week, with some exemptions. while, in northern ireland, six people from two households can meet indoors. and the maximum number

of people meeting outside has been halved from 30 to 15. after a steady decline, with a varied approach to easing restrictions across the uk, it now seems that as the threat of a second wave becomes more of a reality, so does the chances of a more joined up approach to restrictions between the four nations when it comes to tackling the spread at home. let‘s returnn to our top story. tougher lockdown restrictions have been announced for birmingham — following a sharp rise in coronavirus cases. let‘s speak now to dr nicole andrews —— a lecturer in health and social care at newman university in birmingham. thank you forjoining us. how tough is this for people in birmingham to have to cope with? i think we can't underestimate the situation of covid in birmingham. as a diverse and very complex city, the fact that this condition can be rampant throughout the city and the need for this

immediate lockdown shows how serious it is for birmingham. as a city with such a diverse population, lots of different needs. we have to think about protecting our most vulnerable citizens of the city, and this lockdown comes at a time when we really need to think about moving forward and thinking about keeping eve ryo ne forward and thinking about keeping everyone safe. so how do you keep people safe if it‘s not through a lockdown, as difficult as that will be for people, particularly those who don‘t have big houses and outdoor space to enjoy? definitely. definitely, i think we can also underestimate how difficult lockdown was for some people in our communities. however, when we think about lockdown, i think what we also need to think about is the consistency in the approach to lockdown, particularly for lockdown in birmingham. when we think about the nature of the city, it is a very vibrant, very diverse city. so, for instance, ina vibrant, very diverse city. so, for instance, in a couple of weeks‘ time, if not now, they will be a

swathe of people coming to birmingham to come and study at some of our fantastic universities. again, this is the movement of covid around the city, bringing potential covid cases to a city that is already at risk of this particular condition for many vulnerable people. so i think when we are thinking about the lockdown, and when we are thinking but how best to keep a safe, i think we need to think about a more cohesive and a less contradictory approach, not meeting people within a household while at the same time sending children and young people to school and public transport, encouraging people to go back to work, and encouraging thousands and thousands of people tojoin encouraging thousands and thousands of people to join our fabulous city inafew of people to join our fabulous city in a few weeks kind of sense a mixed message. are you saying people should be not going to school and not going to work to make that message consistent? because that would be even more of its great draconian step. definitely, buti think there needs to be consistency. it's think there needs to be consistency. it‘s very difficult to say to people

that maybe you can‘t meet with family members in your home, thinking about the size of families and the dynamics of families, yet at the same breath we are encouraging people to catch the bus to go to work. so i think if you‘re going to try and encourage people to take covid very seriously, because it is something we have to take seriously, we have to think about how the m essa g es we have to think about how the messages given to communities so they respond appropriately. but i'm people smart enough to understand that we don‘t want to go back to the biggest level of lockdown that we saw earlier in the year, because we need to keep the economy going. there‘s a new what‘s in there that people are surely sensible enough to understand, aren‘t they? people are surely sensible enough to understand, aren't they? definitely, but i think it goes beyond the idea people being sensitive enough. people understand that covid can be transmitted, but if you have to go to work and you have to travel on public transport and you‘re wearing a mask, you have to rely on everybody on the bus wearing a mask and everyone upholding social distancing. so i think we have to

move from individuals and this idea of common sense to a societal view, because everyone has to work together to try and reduce the situation. maybe that's exactly where you have hit the nail on the head, by saying that society has to respond, that means as individually. doing the right thing. how sensible, how desirable is it to have sanctions in place, finds in place, to effectively compel people to do what they‘re asked to do? to effectively compel people to do what they're asked to do? well, i think it‘s very difficult for us to talk about fines and sanctions, for criminalising people for going about their business, when often, and i don‘t think it is just me that sees this, the messages can be very conflicting. to criminalise peoples behaviour is actually a very dangerous precedent to set. rather, what we have to talk about is how we can engage in a genuine conversation with people, communities to talk about safeguarding themselves and others in a way that does not seem

punitive or seek to penalise people. i think that‘s a very dangerous place for us to start talking about health and health care, when we start talking about fines etc, because on one hand we tell people to go the micro stay home and on the other we encourage them to go out. so where do we put this discourse, how to be shaped to encourage people to ta ke how to be shaped to encourage people to take better care of themselves andindeed to take better care of themselves and indeed others? thank you very much. the headlines on bbc news... tougher lockdown restrictions for more areas of england — from 15th september, no inter—household contact will be allowed in birmingham, sandwell and solihull. the reproduction number of coronavirus transmission across the uk has risen above1 — meaning the epidemic is growing. the government announces that a new covid—19 contact—tracing app will be launched in england and wales later this month. the rise in coronavirus infections has sharpened concerns over the safety of leisure events,

as governments renew warnings about the spread of the virus. public health officials in southampton have ordered the cancellation of the international boat show, which was due to open in the city today. the new restrictions on social gatherings are also having an impact on lettings, as duncan kennedy reports. it‘s meant to be the showcase for the british boating industry, but last night it was cancelled. 230 exhibitors had set up here hoping to sell millions of pounds worth of boats over the next ten days. not any more. this was about us and them supporting the boat show. devastated. just disappointed for everyone. fairline yachts, based in northamptonshire, employs 250

people and had dozens of clients lined up to spend their money on vessels like these. but when the council said the show could break the new rule of six, that meant the event was called off. this legislation that comes on monday is for me about teenagers gathering to party it's not about grown—ups trying to run businesses. 20,000 people were expected at the show, many turned up today unaware it had been turned off. are you aware the show has been cancelled? i don't know. i haven't heard about it. they cancelled it last night. really? because of covid. i didn't know that. the local council said it was too high risk as other areas of britain were seeing covid spikes. we've seen in areas like leicester and liverpool how quickly the situation can change from a low rate to a high rate, and therefore think it would be risky to have this event over ten days in southampton. i absolutely understand that people will be incredibly disappointed about that decision being made so close to the event. but this isn‘tjust about the cancellation of two boat shows. this affects the whole boating

industry, which now makes around £1.5 billion for the british economy and employs something like 30,000 people. and the new rule of six goes for beyond boats. this catering company can‘t make money with groups that small.m this catering company can‘t make money with groups that small. it is going to prove quite difficult. our businesses are based on an outdoor seafood cafe, accommodation that sleeps ia, and outside catering that relies on weddings and big groups, and without that we have no trace now. from weddings to watersports, the new counter coronaviruses are changing businesses and personal lives. fighting a disease were keeping the world open is a dilemma that won‘t yet go away. the economy grew by 6.6 % injuly, the third month in a row that

activity increased as lockdown restrictions were eased. but it has still only recovered just over half the output lost because of anti—virus measures. but the size of the economy remains far below pre—pandemic levels, and there are warnings of a sharp rise in unemployment when the government‘s job retention scheme ends next month. here‘s our economics correspondent, andy verity. july was the month when this once prohibited activity — drinking and eating in pubs and restaurants — was finally allowed again. just as banning drinking and eating out shrank this part of the economy from april untiljune, lifting the ban helped activity recover, jumping by 1a0% injuly. construction companies on sites like this in birmingham‘s business district were running at a quarter of normal capacity in the spring, but now its staff are back from furlough in a sector where activity soared by 18%. i think the local businesses really appreciate seeing the construction industry at the forefront

of the recovery, of the bounce back. it is palpable, the city is coming back to life, led by the construction industry. in construction, as in the rest of the economy, extraordinary growth injuly is nowhere near enough yet to make up for the extraordinary shrinkage in activity from april to june. the economy is bouncing strongly but the line on the right of the chart shows it has barely recovered half of the output it lost. i think it will take the balance of this year and next before we recover the lost ground. for 2020, we will still have an economy which could be one tenth smaller, 10% smaller, than what we had in 2019, which has implications forjob prospects and the wealth and opportunity for many people in this country. as people left home and flocked to campsites in record numbers over the summer holidays, they were blissfully

unaware that employers, anticipating the end of the furlough scheme in october, were giving notice that they planned to make more than 300,000 people redundant. the government‘s now being warned that if it does not extend furlough to protect the hardest—hit sectors, many more will lose theirjobs. we need a recovery plan, the same spirit of consensus that brought about the rescue plan now for a recovery plan, and i have to be honest, what is being proposed at the moment is totally inadequate. we will lose skills and capacity, put families at risk, consumer spending will go down. like other city centres, birmingham‘s shopping district is quieter than normal and across the country the bounce back is already slowing down, strong though it is. the concern is that as the furlough scheme ends and job losses rise, many more people will have much less to spend, slowing the recovery further and risking a second wave of economic illness. andy verity, bbc news. britain has signed its first major

post—brexit trade deal with japan. the agreement will significantly reduce tariffs on pork and beef exports to japan — but represents an expected boost to the uk of less than 0.1% of gdp. however, the international trade secretary liz truss says it‘s an "historic moment". well, this is an excellent deal for the united kingdom. it goes significantly beyond what the eu have agreed. it's our first as an independent trading nation. and what i would describe it as is a british—shaped deal. it has particular benefits for the tech industry, the creative industries, for food and drink. and what we've also agreed is a pathway to the transpacific partnership, so that will also give the uk access to a much wider market across the pacific. borisjohnson is due to hold a conference call with conservative mps in the next hour — amid growing anger about his plans to override part of the brexit withdrawal agreement. a number of backbenchers have

threatened to try to amend the proposals when they reach parliament next week. mrjohnson says the changes are necessary to protect the unfettered flow of goods between northern ireland and the rest of the uk. our political correspondent, leila nathoo, says many conservative mps are unhappy with the government. it is only fair to say that there is concern. there are a number of mps that have talked about their concern that have talked about their concern that this internal market bill does breach international law, and there was widespread concern that the government was freely admitting that. many of the concerns centre around the reputational damage done to the uk if the country are seen to be breaching international law in this way. how then could the uk mps go on to have other countries abide by the rule of law if we ourselves are breaching it. the government is clear that they think parliament does have the right to make laws that breach international treaties, and it talked about it being a specific limited breach of international law. they think it is necessary to do so because they want to protect, they say, the integrity

of the uk and insecure the northern ireland police the micro peace process. there is an argument that is rejected by the eu, who says the government is going back on the brexit withdrawal agreement that has been signed with the eu last year. and they have given the government until the end of the month to withdraw these contentious parts of the internal market spell, but michael gove, the cabinet minister who is in charge of the brexit negotiations, said yesterday that he was very negotiations, said yesterday that he was very firm, he would not, he told the eu, be withdrawing those parts of the legislation. so, as it stands, that legislation does proceed as planned into the commons next week. now, there are some conservative mps who have tabled an amendment to this bill, that is clearly something that has perhaps prompted boris johnson to clearly something that has perhaps prompted borisjohnson to get in touch with his mps this evening to try to reassure them about what is contained in this bill. but there is

already an amendment down, that will be debated in the coming weeks. but i think it is fair to say that there is disquiet, whether that translates into an actual rebellion, votes against the government, we will have to see, because the government now has a very big majority, very difficult to the climate where we we re difficult to the climate where we were used to those knife edge brexit votes all those months ago. a 30—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of the attempted murder of a police officer in newquay. devon and cornwall police say the officer was seriously injured and sustained a number of burns to his arms and legs following the assault this morning. he‘s been taken to hospital with severe injuries that are not believed to be life—threatening. the man remains in police custody. attempts are continuing to find shelter for almost 13,000 people who remain stranded after their camp on the greek island of lesbos burned to the ground. france, germany, and the netherlands have offered to take in a small number of unaccompanied children. eu officials have promised to rebuild a camp on the island

for the migrants, but the suggestion has met with opposition from local people. bethany bell reports. sheltering in a cemetery in the olive groves, these migrants have been sleeping rough for three nights, ever since the refugee camp where they were living was burned to the ground. this woman says the fire started at night. suddenly we saw that the tents are going to burn so we didn‘t bring anything with ourselves, just our blanket. yes, we just run. the police are not letting migrants leave the area. not even when their children are sick. here is problem. you must go back. so they are stuck with little access to food or medical care. excuse me, we

are not animals. we are human. these migrants have got nowhere else to 90, migrants have got nowhere else to go, so they are just sitting by the side of the road. some of them have built little shelters out of blankets, but conditions are pretty grim. there is no running water and it is very difficult to wash.|j grim. there is no running water and it is very difficult to wash. i have five children and we are living here in very bad situation, because at night is very cold and we have nothing. it is so scary. every time the panic attacks is coming to me. i am ina the panic attacks is coming to me. i am in a very bad position. my baby is little. every time he is sick and we need help please. the greek authorities say they have secured tents to house the homeless migrants. but locals on the island are strongly against plans to build are strongly against plans to build a replacement camp. they migrants wa nt to a replacement camp. they migrants want to leave and the islanders want

them to go. but without european agreement, solutions remain difficult. now, the weather with darren bett. hello, temperatures are similar to yesterday. rain over scotland and northern ireland. that rain heading into northern england and north wales. continuing to peter out as a head southwards across the night. further north, blustery showers flown into scotland and northern ireland. the northern parts of the uk, it is probably a bit cooler than it was last night. it‘s clear they make are still on the mild side. not much rain left in that band of cloud. as we head into saturday morning, soon moving away and then as soon thiem bit of sunshine. before the cloud increases later and the wind picks up again later, too. temperatures tomorrow making 15 in the central belt. 22 celsius in the south—east of england. flooding

threatened in the highlands. elsewhere, will see much more sunshine on sunday. that will give a boost in england and wales, mid 20s in the east.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... tougher lockdown restrictions for more areas of england — from 15th september, no inter—household contact will be allowed in birmingham, sandwell and solihull. we have got to be very concerned here. we have seen a doubling of the rate of the virus over the last seven days so action did have to be taken to stop the increase. the reproduction number of coronavirus transmission across the uk has risen above 1, indicating a faster spread of the disease. the government announces that a new covid—19 contact—tracing app will be launched in england and wales later this month.

the uk economy grew by 6.6% injuly, say official figures, but it remains far below pre—pandemic levels. boris johnson will try to reassure conservative mps this afternoon who are concerned about his plans to override parts of the brexit withdrawl agreement in relation to northern ireland. thousands of migrants are still being left to sleep in the open after their camp on the greek island of lesbos burned down. it‘s six months since the world health organization declared the covid—19 outbreak a global pandemic. in total, there have been over 28 million official cases around the world. our correspondents in the world‘s three hardest hit countries — the us, india and brazil — report now on the situation where they are. we start with nada tawfik in new york. six months in, and the united states is still struggling to keep infection rates down in certain places.

the mid west has been the hardest hit recently with iowa, north dakota and south dakota the latest hotspots. here in new york, the state once most affected, the infection rate has stayed below 1% for more than a month. it has allowed for an easing of restrictions. still, the city is one of the few places in the nation with a complete now, health officials are warning americans not to become complacent as a second potential wave looms, and there has been increased scrutiny over the president‘s handling of the crisis. president trump admitted that he downplayed the threat to the public as early as february to avoid panic. india now has consistently the highest number of new coronavirus cases and deaths in the world every day. back in march, it was one of the countries that had imposed quite a stringent lockdown relatively early, and in those initial months it had seemed as though this had at least slowed the spread of the virus. but health experts say not enough was done then

to aggressively track and test, and that‘s why the country has not been able to curb the spread of covid—19. its graph remains on an upward trend and it is growing steeper as the economy opens up further. earlier this week, metrorail systems were opened up in cities across the country. later this month, gatherings of up to 100 people will be allowed. schools and universities remain closed and international travel still has not been allowed. here in brazil, the transmission rate has started to slow and the death toll has started to fall but it has been a long time coming because, for months, more than 1,000 people were dying each day, and much of the criticism has been pinned on president jair bolsonaro, who from the very beginning has tried to downplay the virus. meanwhile, regional governments have imposed quarantine and closed public spaces and schools. but the mixed messaging has been criticised. people not knowing which guidelines to follow. now restaurants and bars

have started to reopen, but scientists have cautioned against, saying that the worst is over here in brazil. now, the headlines have been very much focused on brazil. this is the largest country in the region. but other countries are suffering also. in argentina, they are seeing cases rise and, in peru, they have registered the highest per capita death toll of almost any other country in the world. the chancellor, rishi sunak, has been urged by a cross—party group of mps to consider targeted extensions to the coronavirus furlough scheme. the coronavirusjob retention scheme, which has supported millions of workers temporarily laid off because of the pandemic, is due to end on 31 october. some fear that could lead to mass unemployment. joining me now are two business owners, adam cozens, co—founder of perky blinders coffee, and rowena howie, owner of revival retro clothes

shop in central london. adam, how has it been since lockdown began at the end of march, how has your business coped ? began at the end of march, how has your business coped? strange times. we have had a real seesaw. we are based in east london, we have four other shops but we supply into central london as well as having a popular online coffee by post that is available. what has changed for us is we have seen a significant drop in commuters so coffee shops are based as kiosks and rely on commuters but the others are residential so on the outskirts of london in walthamstow and we have seen an upturn in business there we re seen an upturn in business there were people are not travelling to work. we have seen a drop in

commuters but a raise in those working from home effectively and coming out to see us. central london has been so quiet at times. how much of what adam has said resonates with you? it is still really quiet now. it may not be the ghost town it was six weeks ago but footfall is significantly down. that is making running a small business really difficult. how creative if you try to be, what have you tried to do to keep things going? we have been trying everything. small business owners are the most resilient people i know and we have tried everything from improving our online sales through to creating virtual events through to creating virtual events through to creating virtual events through to looking at the partners to work with. we also make our own range of clothing in london locally and we have been looking at how we

can trade that. the upcoming brexit looming deadlines are also a challenge and possible no deal is making it hard to even set up wholesale agreements and thinking about your import and export in the future. never mind the bottom line but you must miss the buzz of having people coming in and out which is what a coffee shop is all about. we certainly are. having said that i spent quite a lot of time supporting staff in the shops as well and while i was staff in the shops as well and while iwas in staff in the shops as well and while i was in the shops people were stopping for longer to have conversations. we saw a drop in footfall but an increase in spend. we have had to diversify what we we re we have had to diversify what we were selling in shops. we took out tables. there was an increase in people making, home—brewing with coffee, so an increase in coffee sales in coffee beans being taken

home. more conversations, people have been supporting us locally, and we have enjoyed the residence we have in the area. how important has the fellow scheme been for you? our business could not have got through without it and i was really glad to bring the whole team back to work at the beginning of august. there was an initial reluctance, the result was not to use public transport. we had to see who could walk or cycle. so it would take a few weeks to help people find their groove. but since coming back and without footfall down, there is not the amount of business, and we have had to put one memberof business, and we have had to put one member of staff back on furlough already. how important has it been for you, and do you need to —— do you need it to continue beyond the 3ist you need it to continue beyond the 31st of october? the scheme has been

extremely useful to us. at the early stages before furlough was brought in we were well aware that there would be a risk to the number of hours that staff would get, so we already had plans in place. we have had everybody return to work now. in fa ct, had everybody return to work now. in fact, we have increased the number of staff since then. the furlough scheme has been able to give us confidence in the business, give me confidence in the business, give me confidence in the business, give me confidence in the business, i have been updating staff through video messaging on a regular basis, giving them... advising them on what the government guidelines are. the furlough scheme has given us the confidence and ability to be able to offer some staff who were suffering with anxiety around the interaction they would have to have, but a perfect balance of that. without it would be a real challenge. we may

not have been able to retain staff the same way we have done and we have been able to come to the point we are with a lot of confidence in the business. you talked about how creative and resilient small businesses are, how they have to be. what fully put in place in case this scheme is not extended beyond the end of october? one of the biggest problems throughout lockdown was doing endless scenario planning when you really didn't know what would happen. what really helps assess as much information as possible to be able to plan. i would like to know if... what will happen with the furlough scheme in the future and is a small business in central london we are a destination shop. people happy come with us but they will normally combine it with something else, so the importance of attractions, culture, the arts in central london, all of those are

uses of the furlough scheme so all together notjust my uses of the furlough scheme so all together not just my business uses of the furlough scheme so all together notjust my business but altogether it really affects us whether furlough will be continued for any or some businesses. lots of people like you no doubt needing an a nswer fairly people like you no doubt needing an answer fairly soon from the chancellor but for the moment we appreciate you talking to us. let‘s get more on our top story. tougher lockdown restrictions have been announced for birmingham, sandwell and solihull following a sharp rise in coronavirus cases. we can speak now to the conservative mayor of the west midlands, andy street. why have you had to take these measures in birmingham? it will come asa measures in birmingham? it will come as a blow to a lot of people, particularly families. you're right. no one would wish to do this but equally we have seen a very swift

and sharp increase in the number of cases. in birmingham of the infection rate has doubled in the last week and in solihull it has actually moved up fivefold so we are determined to act with government to address this very swiftly. the simple messages, the quicker we respond, the quicker we can come out of the measures and continue to drive down the virus. what are people been doing too because this virus to increase rapidly? the choice of the measures are about household restrictions, and the reason for that is trying to understand what lies behind this increase in the number of infections. it looks as though it has been passed on in the household setting. so the thinking is very much it‘s very understandable, when you are at home, you are not alert to restrictions as you are when you are in an office setting or

transport setting, so it is that household transmission we are trying to drive down. restriction say you cannot bring other households and to use or indeed visit other households. how do you explain to people that they cannot mix in groups of more than six? and they can‘t mixing households in birmingham and solihull but they can go to work, in fact encouraged to go to work and school and use public transport? the answer is looking at how this has been spreading. there is very little evidence that the source of the increase is actually in work settings or indeed in public transport settings. if you think about it, that does make sense because all work environments are very strictly prepared to be covid safe and are actually inspected, as

indeed as —— is our transport network so we are very certain you can still go back to work safely and if you were, for example, get to a workplace where you are not confident in your report back, it will of course be inspected so it is with those provisions that are there to make the workplace say. you have some extremely good and popular universities on your part of the country. you have got thousands of stu d e nts country. you have got thousands of students coming back or coming death of the first time. how you manage that? they are coming from lots of different households in different parts of the country and that will bea parts of the country and that will be a big problem. it is certainly a challenge. 80,000 students will come to the region. the universities, though, have made thorough preparations. they will move into their own group whom might be like a

surrogate household for that period, and if you think how well our schools have prepared, there was so much concern about that some weeks ago, but our schools have made incredible provisions and most of them are operating safely, so we are taking comfort and it‘s possible to put the educational setting into a safeway. when people in birmingham look at the experience of nearby city leicester and how protracted those restrictions were, what is your advice for how to get through it? there is some encouragement from leicester that they have seen restrictions released. but it took a while. it was rough on those caught up while. it was rough on those caught up in it. i'm not questioning that but at least it has seen that restrictions can turn the numbers down, that is the story, but my simple message would be, it is everyone‘s responsibility to follow this new guidance because it is only

by every single individual doing their bit that all the community will eventually come through this so the message is clear, we have all got to do our bitjust as we did in the early part of the summer when we saw the virus which is very swiftly across the west midlands after a very difficult start so it‘s a collective responsibility in which every citizen must play their part. the headlines on bbc news... tougher lockdown restrictions for more areas of england — from 15th september, no inter—household contact will be allowed in birmingham, sandwell and solihull. the reproduction number of coronavirus transmission across the uk has risen above 1, meaning the epidemic is growing. the government announces that a new covid—19 contact—tracing app will be launched in england and wales later this month. in many asian communities, people look to matchmakers

to find them partners from similar backgrounds. the tradition is popular in britain‘s large south asian community, but is it too tough on women? there are calls for men to be more open—minded when it comes to these so—called rishtas, or introduction marriages. anisa kadri from the bbc‘s asian network has been looking into it. 23—year—old tasneem is british bangladeshi. her mum is on the lookout for a husband for her daughter. all that matters to me is your happiness. while they are both open to herfinding someone on her own, in the asian community, families are often involved in trying to find a good fit from a similar background, but tasneem says it can be tough being a woman. i think girls are just inherently expected to compromise any of their desires, wishes. she is studying medicine and recently tweeted about a marriage proposal she received conditional on her becoming a gp because the prospective groom‘s mum was worried about her working too many anti—social hours. my mum was offended

by what she suggested and said, i think my daughter can be anything that she wants, and she ended up rejecting the proposal, so i tweeted about that and it got quite a lot of attention. the boy's family's first concern is my daughter's skin colour. they said it's too dark. i used to be upset about it before, but now i‘m really proud of my skin colour. we are living in the uk, and our mindset is still backwards. so if there are all these issues in the asian community when it comes to introduction marriages and matchmaking and rishtas, why do you still want that as a possibility for your daughter? because it's hard. when you see your family and friends, it is societal and cultural pressure. this matchmaker from reading sets up 20 couples a year from the pakistani

community. men are in a position where they can demand more than women. if a where they can demand more than women. ifa man where they can demand more than women. if a man is divorced he can still find a woman who is single. if he has got children he can still find a single woman whereas the divorced women with children, it's very unlikely she will find a man who is single and quite young. you try and explain to them why it is ok for the men are not the women and it all boils down to what people will say. she says many of the men do not wa nt to say. she says many of the men do not want to woman even a couple of years older. don't say no just because the person is old. tasneem just wants to bea person is old. tasneem just wants to be a role model for her sisters.

nadia akhtar is the founder of mmm dating and she organises muslim speed dating events in london. shejoins us now. iam sure i am sure when it was possible to meet in those numbers. what experience do you have of this matchmaking system ? experience do you have of this matchmaking system? it's quite varied but i definitely found that with our mail participants it was what they wanted, not necessarily the other way round. often in our fence are more open to age or that your background or if they were married before or not but with the men there was more set criteria to do with culture or their parents or other influences. -- events. how do

you cope with that level of scrutiny? if someone comes along with the check list as we were hearing, even coming down to the colour of your skin? ! work on personal level as well. —— goodness. it's personal level as well. —— goodness. it‘s important to work. we need to focus on ourselves notjust the others. another thing we focused on was saying to ladies, it is not a bad thing that eliminates your process of not wanting that mindset for yourselves as well. so trying to bea for yourselves as well. so trying to be a positive spin on it but it‘s very ha rd to be a positive spin on it but it‘s very hard to work on a higher level with parents if they are not coming to the events themselves and the grandparents and bringing their influence on board. how much more freedom is there for women if they

are using yourapp freedom is there for women if they are using your app and coming along to dating events when they were possible rather than having an entire family poking around in the matchmaking process? we did upper chaperones but one participant came at their own as well. —— offer. there was no pressure to say yes. but often within three seconds of meeting people the male and female participants engaged whether there was that potential attraction or mutual connection, if you like. so it‘s a mixed variation. mutual connection, if you like. so it's a mixed variation. you might have different advice for south asian men compared to women, what would you say to both groups when they are trying to find a marriage partner? i would really advise different avenues. be it through the

matchmaking process as well or the app. it‘s a numbers game. but keep trying and keep an open mind and also work on your own self, your own personal development, notjust on focusing what the other‘s person is, you‘re looking for a long lasting relationship not just you‘re looking for a long lasting relationship notjust something that ticks your boxes from the outset. sometimes you just know, don‘t you? thank you very much for talking to us. some breaking news from the department of health. they say that the total number of new coronavirus cases recorded in the uk on friday, today, was 3539, making it the highest daily figure since the 17th of may, so quite a few months have elapsed since we saw a figure of that magnitude, 3539 cases recorded

today. it‘s the biggest half marathon event in the uk, raising millions of pounds for charity every year, but this weekend the great north run will look very different. the event was cancelled because of the coronavirus, so now a virtual version will be held with 16,000 people taking part all over the world. alison freeman reports. it was warm when i did it. it‘s quite hilly, particularly when you‘re in a robotic suit, because i notice every little bump and slope, and i was pregnant, 16 weeks pregnant, so a combination of all of those factors did make it tough. every year, there are amazing stories of bravery and overcoming adversity, and claire lomas‘ great north run journey is one that stands out. paralysed from the waist down, she completed the course in a robotic suit in 2016. but in the year the a0th race was meant to be run, things are going to be a little different. there is a downloadable app and, when you run, it measures your distance,

and then you get messages, sting comes on and says, you can't stop the great north run, and alan shearer, seb coe, steve cram, paula radcliffe have alljoined in, and the support, just to say to people run 13 miles wherever you are. claire‘s one of 16,000 people around the country and the world taking part in the virtual race. we spoke to a few of them to find out why. andy might win the prize for the most beautiful location for his great north run. i've been living the last 20 years, working and living here in colombia, so i'm in the andes, the foothills of the andes around me here, so i thought running the great north run in colombia with these headphones on, listening to geordies egging you on, was going to be the maximum of strange, so i went for it. gavin‘s reasons for taking part in southampton are a little closer to home. a virtual great north run was a fantastic way for me to potentially motivate myself. i weighed nearly 21 stone,

struggled to walk a mile, let alone do anything else. covid probably made the decision for me, a, because of the health implications and, b, because we were due to have a baby injune. and in buckinghamshire, ian‘s fundraising doesn‘t just depend on his running performance. if i double my target, the beard that has grown during lockdown will disappear. it might not be the experience everyone had hoped for, but they are going to give it their all. i will miss the crowds because there's nothing like actually being at the great north run, and it's making me want to go back again. really good luck on sunday, and well done on all your fundraising as well. yeah, good luck everyone. great, lovely stories. alison freeman, bbc news. now the weather with darren bett. we have seen more cloud streaming into england and wales today. still

warm weather sun does come out. let me show you over the atlantic, over to canada. we have the stream of cloud of the atlantic, making a beeline into scotland and northern ireland. we have seen rain here, that rain band is slowly moving southwards, and behind it to the north sunshine and blustery showers arriving in scotland and northern ireland and what is left of the rain is across northern england and north wales. and head of the temperatures in the south—east making 20 degrees or so. that band of rain move southwards and most of it peters out. to the north of that clearer skies, all of these blustery showers blown into scotland and northern ireland where it will be cooler than it was last night but still fairly mild across england and wales where we have the area of cloud. as we head into this weekend though most of the club are coming to scotland and northern ireland. went for a while although the weather should improve over sunday. the england and wales, dry weather, spells of sunshine, it will warm up as well.

this is the bigger picture for saturday and that is all that‘s left of that week weather front. a few drizzly showers to begin with and a fair bit of sunshine following into many parts of the country. showers the northern parts of northern ireland and scotland, increasing amounts of cloud in the breeze freshening again later on in the day and temperatures tomorrow similar to today, pleasant in the sunshine. but wet weather arrives across northern ireland and scotland overnight. that may will bring the risk of localised flooding. as we head into sunday, that rain gets pushed up into the north west of scotland where the rain continues to add up in the highlands. sunny skies developing elsewhere and the wind is easing and with the sunshine temperature should get a boost, making the mid 20s across eastern parts of england. but warmer weather on the way next week. we have a weather front flirting with the north—west of the uk but we tap into the seat moving up from iberia, across france and into the uk. on monday, dry and sunny. patchy

rain across the far north—west of scotla nd rain across the far north—west of scotland and northern ireland, so not as warm here, but across england and wales those temperatures in the mid 20s and we could be close to 30 02:59:12,340 --> 2147483053:06:21,337 degrees in the south—east of 2147483053:06:21,337 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 england.