this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. uk government data shows the r number that measures how many people each patient effects has moved above once at the first time since march. tougher lockdown restrictions for more areas of england — no inter—household contact will be allowed in birmingham, sandwell and solihull after a rise in cases there. it's going to be very difficult for families. i can understand that they've got to try to curb it, but it's going to be a very hard thing. and there'll be fresh restrictions in parts of scotland too — people living in north and south lanarkshire will also be banned from meeting in each others' households from midnight tonight. the uk government announces that

a new covid 19 contact—tracing app will be launched in england and wales later this month protests in lesbos against conditions on the greek island with migrants demanding to be allowed onto mainland europe. and president trump says bahrain will normalise its relations with israel. britain's coronavirus epidemic is once more on the rise. for the first time since march — the r number for coronavirus infections has risen above the crucial level of one, meaning the virus is now spreading. that appears to be backed up by the latest daily figures which show the highest number of new infections

in almost 4 months. the r number estimates how many people will get the disease from one infected person. the figure now stands at between 1.0 and 1.2. in parts of the midlands — including the city of birmingham — it is much higher. and new lockdown restrictions are being imposed on more than a million people there next week. more on that in a moment. but first our medical editor fergus walsh reports on the rising coronavirus levels. coronavirus is on the rise, as is the demand for tests. it is notjust hotspots that are seeing an increase in cases. those tracking the epidemic say it's a wake—up call. sadly, i'm a lot less optimistic than i was even a few weeks ago. partly because of the very rapid and unexpectedly rapid increase in case numbers this last week, and also the reports of the difficulties that we are having a naturally providing enough testing facilities.

the swab goes right to the back of the throat... research from imperial college london is helping give a true picture of the epidemic by asking people to swab test themselves at home. this monthly survey acts like an early warning system for the prevalence of coronavirus throughout england. 150,000 volunteers do home swab tests. the results for the end of august showed there were 136 positive cases, sharply up in the previous month but still lower than when the survey was first carried out in may. 65% of those who were positive had no symptoms on the day they were tested, which underlines the importance of social distancing. across the uk, the r number is thought to be between 1 and 1.2 which means the epidemic is going, but from a low base.

it's thought the prevalence is doubling every seven to ten days. back before lockdown, r was somewhere about 3.0 and cases were doubling every three to four days, so we are in a much better position and back then. it behoves us all to heed the message, because with the virus turning up and robustly turning up, with the r being robustly above 1 but the prevalence still quite low, it is a chance for us to nip this in the bud. if you look at the number of patients with covid—19 in hospital, across the uk, that peaked at around 20,000 in mid april and then fell sharply for several months before levelling off. it is now above 800 patients and may be creeping up again. the challenge now is to try to get on with our lives while keeping the virus in check.

the number of new coronavirus cases in the uk is now at its highest level since the middle of may3539 cases have been recorded in the past 2a hours. the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week, is now 2,761. 6 deaths have also been reported, that's those who have died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. that means on average in the past week, 11 deaths have been announced every day. that takes the total number, across the uk, to 41,614. from next week 1.6 million people living in birmingham and neighbouring sandwell and solihull will be banned from socialising at home with other households. birmingham now has the second highest infection rate in england after bolton.

there's been a rapid rise in infections — they've doubled in just a week. laboratories processing coronavirus tests in the area are said to have been overwhelmed. 0ur health editor hugh pym reports. a new direction of travel for birmingham, sandwell and solihull. with a ban on people mixing with other households. and now in line with some of the parts of the country were coronavirus cases have escalated. there are people who think this is over... the region public mayor said the local infection rate was now a major concern. all the talk about the virus being less virulent than earlier in the year isjust not true. so for the sake of particularly the elderly members of the community, we have to turn this number around. there were mixed reactions after the announcement. fair enough, because it's a big city so there's more people here. so more people are going together, absolutely. they've got to try and curb it, but it's going to be a very hard thing.

for these families and households that have been doing stuff together before. i think more needs to be done, though. bars and clubs are still open, and as long as they are still up in the cases are going to keep rising. this local cafe owners is relieved he can stay open, but he says business has already been affected. the beginning of the week, when there were some mutterings that birmingham was potentially on the radar of the uk government, we noticed our sales and footfall dropping. since the big jump in uk case numbers became apparent at the weekend, health officials have been watching very closely to see if this results in more patients with covid—19 needing hospital treatment. at birmingham's major hospitals. that is now happening. hospital numbers have doubled in a week, and the chief executive told me he was very concerned. we cannot see any reason why

we are not expecting the numbers to double again next week, and quite probably the week after as well, because there will be a lot of people already exposed we have not yet presented to that are not aware they have been exposed yet. and that means a lot of distress for a lot of patients. around the country getting tested is still a problem for some. jack's son has symptoms, but after days of trying he still can't get a booking. i have been prepared to drive anywhere in the country where they send me in order to get that test, but the fact there are no tests available is incredibly frustrating. and it's also incredibly worrying. west midlands laboratories are said to be especially struggling with the workload, just when widespread testing with rapid results is badly needed. and hugh has more on the testing challenges birmingham faces where the military are also helping with efforts. it was just over a week ago when ministers said that there were operational challenges with the

testing system after reports that people were having to travel long distances to get tests. they said they would put it right by altering software. here we are in so getting reports that it may only be a minority of people but real frustration about trying to get online to book the tests, really struggling with that and then being offered these tests may be tens or dozens, or hundreds of miles away from where is convenient. the message from health leaders as it should only be people with symptoms 01’ should only be people with symptoms or members of their family with symptoms who tried to book tests, but i believe is a lot of confusion out there, and that's why there's this high demand. and birmingham their calling in the military for help with testing to boost that capability and referred there's problems with laboratories in terms of capacity to deal with that. but the hope is a term of the hope is, i emphasise that these new restrictions and part of the west

midlands will be try to hold those case numbers that day. it will be washed extremely carefully as will hospital numbers, and patients are going in with covid there will be watched and scrutinised over the next week or so. the uk government's long—awaited coronavirus contact—tracing app will be launched in england and wales later this month. 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. let's talk to ibrahim hasan, who's a lawyer and data protection expert. basically it is law stain on making sure that data can now speak to a also the director of action now training which helps organisation with data laws. welcome to bbc news,

i suppose helping organisations with data laws can be your in your element because there's a lot of people that are concerned about data privacy. let's just talk about an example for pubs and bar staff to begin with. what is the law for them, and what help is there for them, and what help is there for them understanding these privacy laws 7 them understanding these privacy laws? thank you. the law is set up within the general data protection regulation, and the requirement is very simple. the any organisation that processes personal information ensures that it is used for a lawful basis. 0nly used for the purpose for which it was gathered and kept safe and secure. the law as it stands at the moment in terms of covid is the organisations particularly in the hospitality sector have to keep the names, addresses and contact details of individuals visiting their premises and they have to keep that for 21 days. also the data protection legislation which requires it to be kept safe and

secure and only used for the purpose for which it was gathered. every organisation has these responsibilities. covid is new but data protection legislation is not and there's lots of help out there in the form of the information commissioners office that they are regulating this area, the rep that has useful guidance and useful tips that organisations particularly in the leisure sector can take advantage of to understand this legislation. what difference though is the amount of data that people are being asked to hand over here. are you concerned at all by the contacts tree sap about what people are contacts tree sap about what people a re really contacts tree sap about what people are really giving over? certainly in are really giving over? certainly in a better position than we were in april, if you remember there was a trial of the original contacts tree thing app which gathered lots of information about individuals including their location, their contacts and lots of other

information that was held in a central database maintained information that was held in a central data base maintained by information that was held in a central database maintained by the private sector on behalf of the nhs. there were concerns about what that information will be used for, how long will be held for and if they could be used for other purposes. but we have now in terms of this new app is it keeps the data on the individual‘s phone. it does not actually go anywhere it's much more privacy friendly and dealers are only triggered when an individual has been in contact with the person who has been tested positive for covid—19. in a much better position than before when there were really concerns about privacy and about compliance with data protection legislation. i would ask you about a situation i came to light, and it was a lady called lucy from warwickshire who publicly talked about how she had given over her details to the system you have detailed there to the bar staff and inappropriately one of the bar staff

contacted her for personal reasons. where does the law stand in terms of bar staff using that did inappropriately? it is simple, any organisation or individual gathering information for the purposes of contact tracing or indeed for any other specific purpose and then using it for unconnected purposes, in this case contacting individuals, thatis in this case contacting individuals, that is actually a breach of the gdp are for which there is monetary penalty on the part of the organisation, but also the individual themselves could well be could pending a criminal offence. it's really important the leisure sector very much makes their staff aware of the obligations under the legislation, and makes them understand that not only we are talking about fines for the organisation which could be up to 20 million euros, or 4% of annual turnover but criminal liability for

the individual as well. it's about training and awareness and making sure that information commissionerguidance is followed. thank you for talking us through all that and your time this evening. president trump has announced that israel and the gulf state of bahrain have agreed to normalise their relations. in a tweet he says ‘another historic breakthrough today! in the last few moments we've had some reaction to this from the palestinian authority and hamas group and have both condemned the agreement. we were following this closely in the last hour or so, talk us closely in the last hour or so, talk us through what we know regarding the steel that president trump has just tweeted about. it's very

similarto just tweeted about. it's very similar to the one with the united arab emirates was to establish normal relations with israel and that means diplomatic ties, make security links to have commercial interaction commercial flights and presumably tourism, business and all that sort of thing that would really integrate israel into the region which is what has been the goal of the trump administration and obviously israel for a long time as well. interestingly in this agreement that there were no conditions related to the palestinians, and so with the uae and said they had got a condition from israel that would stop plans to annex parts of the occupied land, so that they won through negotiations. they tied themselves to the palestinian cause and that way in this agreement there was not any condition, a mention of continuing to get copperheads of peace for the palestinians but nothing like the attem pts palestinians but nothing like the atte m pts by palestinians but nothing like the attempts by the uae and as you

stated the palestinians have now come out and rejected it or condemned it, and this is another setback for them because the consensus that arabs cannot make peace with israel was one of the strongest because the palestinians had and so this is the second arab state to break ranks on that. keen to get your reaction on this, the egyptian president has commented on this saying that he appreciates the important step of israel and bahrain establishing the public relations and said stability and peace and abilities in a way that has a just and permanent settlement of the palestinian issue. posting that on twitter. we will be getting reaction for this and both bahrain and the uae smaller in the region, what is their power base with this? they are to tiny kingdoms, they do not have a

border with israel obviously, never gone to war with israel. probably been the two gulf states it up in the most open, shall we say, but these covert ties that are been growing between israel and the gulf arab growing between israel and the gulf ara b states growing between israel and the gulf arab states largely because their mutual concern about the threat of iran. you may remember that bahrain was willing to host the trump administration's role of the economic part of it is really a palestinian peace plans. both of the states if you're going to choose states if you're going to choose states that would do this they would be the ones probably at the top of the list. not regional powers or heavyweights like saudi arabia which has made clear to president trump thatis has made clear to president trump that is going to hold the line on this, what used to be the arab consensus but not establishing relations with israel until there's peace with the palestinians but it's allowed air traffic overhead of the country between the united arab emirates and israel so in a way tacitly accepting what is happening

and not publicly opposing it. thank you very much for that. borisjohnson has boris johnson has been borisjohnson has been to get to conservative mps this evening. the decision to table need legislation has provoked angry responses from some senior tories. the eu's threatened legal action — but both sides have agreed to continue trade talks in brussels next week. earlier, the uk confirmed it had signed its first post—brexit trade agreement with japan — worth an estimated £1.5 billion to the british economy. let's get reaction to both of those elements of the story, we can cross live to westminster in our political correspondent is there. let's talk about this phone call, boris doing the rounds and chatting to the backbenchers. any idea of whether or not his reassurances have worked? definitely some concern about there being no questions allowed on this

zoom meeting with various mps, we understand it had technical difficulties at the start but the whole point seemed to be that the prime minister was reaching out to his backbenchers after announcing the government would introduce this legislation. the internal market bill as it is known as the government admitted would breach international law because it would allow britain to override part of the brexit divorce deal which is an international treaty agreed last year. so there has been some concern among the conservative backbenchers, we know plein air concerned about the reputational damage to the uk if it is seen to be the international law or seem to be acknowledging that is going to be the case. the legislation will be brought into the comments next week, we already know that some conservative backbenchers have tabled a met dynamic amendments that legislation to give parliament a say over those contentious measures rather than being wrapped

up measures rather than being wrapped up in the bill as a whole. clearly there's a route brewing, but boris johnson, downing street was telling us johnson, downing street was telling us that borisjohnson was stressing that they are committed to the arrangements for northern ireland, which is the contentious matter that was in the practice brexit deal —— brexit deal. it has protects the uk in the peace process in northern ireland we have to see if there's a big battle in the comments next week, the rebels if there are needs big numbers. not like the old days of brexit when the government majority was on a knife edge, there's huge government majority so there's huge government majority so the rebels will need to amass dozens in their ranks if they are really going to defeat the government on this but at the moment the government shows no sign of backing down even in the face of the ultimatum from the eu to withdraw the measures by the end of the month. the first post brexit trade

deal agreed with japan. talk us through that, it's worth a lot of money. certainly a symbolic deal agreed to, ministers ruled point to the fact that was agreed very quickly and just took a few months. plenty of sceptics that would argue that trade deals cannot be done in that trade deals cannot be done in that time, but here there is one between japan and that time, but here there is one betweenjapan and the uk. it is based loosely on the eu deal with japan come with some modifications to ta ke japan come with some modifications to take into account britain. that will be seen as an model, as a template going forward for other countries, but the expectation from the government is the trade resulting from this deal between both nations will amount to just over £15 billion, it's not that japan will actually gain more from this. but critics will point to the fa ct this. but critics will point to the fact that japan accounts for only a very small proportion of trade with the uk and nothing like the amount that will be needed to replace the

volume of trade that present us with the eu. in the percentage of the gdp that it would be for the uk. a symbolic trade deal but certainly not one that is a substitute for the eu. thank you, appreciate that update. (pres)as coronavirus infections begin to rise again — the question of how to ensure that schools can remain open across the uk are at the forefront of many people's minds. two big new research projects have got funding to investigate how the virus might be transmitted at school. branwenjeffreys has been to one of the schools taking part. at the school front door the first reminder of coronavirus, the risk their education will be disrupted again. but these pupils in bristol could help change that. taking a saliva test for the virus once a month, so cases without symptoms are spotted. if you do know that you have it,

then you can stay at home for, like, two weeks and make sure that you've fully recovered. at such a critical time, learning obviously our gcses, so keeping school open for our year right now is probably the best thing that can happen. the benefits are of testing like you know you can take precautions, you can quickly isolate, and help others stay safe. for the first time since march, all pupils are back. cases are rising in towns and cities across england. understanding any links is now urgent. we know remarkably little about transmission between children, because there's been so little testing in schools. and without that knowledge, a winter of disruption lies ahead, because so many of them may get the virus and not show any symptoms. this is the scientist hoping to find some answers. her team will test 4,000

pupils and 1,000 staff. here we are with a project that we have co—created with schools. at the moment, schools often don't know who has or has had the virus. we need to get increase our knowledge, in terms of the rate of infection in this age group, but also work with schools to be able to embed good health behaviours. the solution isn't solely in testing, it's in how testing is incorporated with other measures. already, some schools have been disrupted. for this head teacher, rapid test results mean keeping her school open. i love seeing children in school, and i love hearing them. i love hearing them learning, and so what i want is all the tools i can have to keep that going. i don't want to have to close the school, and i really don't want to have to ask children to learn from home again. research in schools across bristol

will help everyone by mapping infections in one city. hello there. some of us will get a reminder of summer early next week, but before then, there is a bit of rain to come. and it's mainly for scotland and northern ireland. you can see this ribbon of cloud stretching right the way across the atlantic. that's been bringing rain down across scotland, northern ireland, into northern parts of england and north wales as well. it's on that weather front there. but that weather front is moving into higher pressure, so it is weakening, and the rain is becoming lighter and more patchy, a narrower line of rain moving further south overnight. behind it, to the north, clearer skies. quite a few blustery showers coming into northern ireland and scotland, but a cooler night for northern parts of the uk. milder further south, double figures, especially where we keep that cloud around. but as we head into the weekend,

most of the cloud will be, again, for scotland and northern ireland. a lot of the rain, actually, will be on saturday night and it should improve during sunday. further south, across england and wales, mainly dry this weekend. some warm sunshine as well and those temperatures will be rising too. and we start with a fair bit of sunshine on saturday. there's that band of cloud producing one or two showers, loitering down towards the southeast corner of england. sunnier skies, scattered showers across scotland, northern ireland, before it clouds over later and the winds start to pick up as well, with rain not far away. these are the temperatures — quite healthy for the time of year. and in the sunshine, it will feel pleasant as well. but the winds will strengthen later on in the day. we get some wet weather for northern parts of northern ireland, and particularly into scotland overnight, threatening some flooding. more rain to come on sunday, the main rain heading northwards into the highlands of scotland, where there could be a months worth of rain in the coming few days. more sunshine elsewhere across the uk as the winds start to drop later on. and with the sunshine, temperatures will be higher. we're looking at maybe the mid—20s across eastern england on sunday afternoon. but some higher temperatures are likely early next week.

we've got high pressure across continental europe. it's been very hot across iberia, france. and that heat is moving its way northwards, particularly into england and wales. still got a weather front loitering there out towards the northwest of scotland, perhaps not far away from northern ireland, threatening a bit of rain. so it's not going to be quite as warm here. higher temperatures further east across scotland, but it's across england and wales that we'll see temperatures widely into the mid—20s or so. and we could be close to 30 degrees on monday and tuesday in the southeast of england, before it turns cooler, i think, by wednesday.

you're watching bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm babita sharma. uk government data shows the r number — which measures how many people each patient infects — has moved above one for the first time since march. tougher lockdown restrictions for more areas of england — no inter—household contact will be allowed in birmingham, sandwell and solihull after a rise in cases there. it's going to be very difficult forfamilies. i can understand that they've got to try to curb it, but it's going to be a very hard thing. and there'll be fresh restrictions in parts of scotland too — people living in north and south lanarkshire will also be banned from meeting in each others' households from midnight tonight. and president trump says bahrain will normalise

its relations with israel. after an hour boycott of the country. protests in lesbos against conditions on the greek island, with migrants demanding to be allowed onto mainland europe. welcome to bbc news. migrants on the greek island of lesbos have been protesting in the streets, calling for entry into mainland europe. more than 10,000 migrants were left without shelter this week after greece's largest camp was gutted by fire. they've spent the last three nights without shelter. protesters approached riot police cordoning off the road out of the moria camp. 400 unaccompanied children

from the camp will be taken in by the eu. the european commission officials say that the destroyed camp will be rebuild, a plan strongly opposed by authorities on the island. bethany bell is on lesbos for us. many migrants are sleeping rough after the moria camp broke down, camping on the sides of roads, some of them sleeping in cemeteries or under the trees in olive groves. some aid workers have been supplying them with basic supplies, but sanitary conditions are grim, there's little to no running water and it is very difficult for people wash themselves. people here have been holding protests. migrants have been holding protests. migrants have been marching up and down, demanding freedom to move to different parts of europe, away from lesbos and away from greece. read him, not food, one

person said. we want to go somewhere else. we want europe to help us. the local greeks are also want the migrants to go somewhere else. they say lesbos has borne the brunt of europe's migrant crisis for too long, but at the moment, and agreement by the eu looks very difficult. bethany bell with that report. alexander betts is professor of forced migration & international affairs at the university of oxford and joins me now. welcome to the programme. what is your assessment on what has happened on the island of lesbos? what happened in moria was a tragedy, but it was in avoidable tragedy. it's a failure of cooperation in europe and the grossly in dignified and appalling way in which refugees have been treated over the last five yea rs on been treated over the last five years on the greek islands. we have seen years on the greek islands. we have seen that the conditions in moria where complete the inadequate, dangerous, inappropriate, many

people did not have adequate shelter. the conditions, frankly, or worse than many refugee camps i have seen worse than many refugee camps i have seenin worse than many refugee camps i have seen in africa. this is europe in 2020. it is also a failure of cooperation across europe, a failure to locate people across the greek islands, which have in many ways become the warehouse of europe. many eu member states have said we have come in the past five or ten years, taking in many refugees, and we have just heard the authorities there saying 3000 children are going to be housed on mainland europe, but you are saying, i presume, that this is not going far enough. in that case, would you like to see happen? during the last five years, the european commission has put forward a lot of common says proposals. 0nce commission has put forward a lot of common says proposals. once they reach the council level, they got blocked, and behind that is the

dublin system, the cornerstone of the asylum system. it means at the moment, it is the first countries in which refugees arrive — invariably, greece and italy — having to deal with asylum claims and letting those refugees stay. it is countries further afield that can hide behind territories and water, those in northern europe and western europe, that block any relocation scheme or any kind of responsibility scheme as compulsory. it means those country further afield have to co—operate and say enough is enough and we have to share responsibility, and they have to bat back —— stop betting back the measures. are you asking for a compulsory measure to be put in place for the eu member states? it needs the number states to come together and say, this is europe, we have to respect the values that underpin the european union. this is a relatively

small number, if you refugees, people who have fled violence. we cannot leave them in the tragic conditions we have seen, we have to co—operate, come together, set of quotas and have a relocation scheme. in 2015, the european union agreed invisible to —— in principle to relocate refugees. it did not happen in a timely way. they've got to revisit that and look at this tragedy as a source of momentum to push countries to co—operate and realise is in the interest of human rights but it's also been they can make all of europe much better off if we co—operate rather than pushing refugees around europe like they are hot potato to be shifted and shunned. we will have to leave it there, betts, but we appreciate you being with us. —— leave it there, professor betts.

the uk economy grew by 6.6% injuly — as hairdressers, pubs and restaurants re—opened. it is the third month in a row that the econmy has expanded. but the latest figures show it is still almost 12% smaller than it was in february before the pandemic began. with more, here's our economics editor faisal islam. in spring, during the peak of the pandemic, the economy fell at a historic record. and now the figures show the opposite over the summer, as industries such as construction return to work. here the building of the tallest new office block outside london. you can see the numbers of people who are operating on the site, who are using the shops, the local amenities, and i think the local businesses really appreciate seeing the construction industry at the forefront of the recovery of the bounce back. but this has been like nothing else we have encountered. the economy normally grows by fractions of a per cent, not

nearly 7% in a month — as injuly. but the context is of course the switch off of a quarter of the economy, during the shut down. sincejune, a sharp rebound has only made up just over half of what was lost, still 12% lower than precrisis and the question is where it goes from here. so we know by the end ofjuly, the economy staged a half bounce back of the extraordinary pandemic shut down hit, and that recovery continued through august. but now in september, the situation is different, with the virus going back up, some restrictions having returned, the expiry of government support packages imminent and the return of post—brexit trade uncertainty. all of which raising serious questions about the sustainability of the recovery. even before today's additional shutdowns, major city centres — such as birmingham —

were struggling to return to normal, witj john lewis and other department stores closing. some leading conservatives and the former labour pm gordon brown today backing extending government support for jobs and businesses. we need a recovery plan now, we need the same spirit of consensus that brought about the rescue plan now for a recovery plan. i have to be honest, what is proposed at the moment is inadequate. government was today celebrating an agreement in principle with japan. the first major post—brexit free today deal which mostly replicates the existing terms with the world's third largest economy. elsewhere, another economic casualty of covid. the boat show in southampton cancelled even as the yachts were being lined up on the marina. the treasury is holding firm on ending the furlough scheme, even as the cash flow of many companies is sinking.

you're watching bbc news. still to come, we look at the cases rising in parts of europe. new restrictions are being brought in for those living in north and south lanarkshire, so people cannot meet those from other households indoors. similar measures are already in place in glasgow, east and west dunbartonshire, renfrewshire and east renfrewshire. 0ur scotland correspondent james shaw has more. the restrictions mean that you will not be able to visit another person's household. that is exactly the same as the restrictions that are in place in glasgow and surrounding areas already. they came in in glasgow about ten days ago. it means that around about 1.7 million people in the west of scotland will be living under these enhanced restrictions, and bear in mind also that nicola sturgeon announced yesterday that only six people from two households would be able

to meet, either indoors or outdoors. she wanted people to start living in that way straightaway, although it won't actually become mandatory until monday. so, very big changes in large parts of scotland, and at the moment, until the acceleration in the spread of coronavirus changes in some way, it looks unlikely that these restrictions can be eased anytime soon. 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. having a serious injury here is rare, but it does show, to remind the public, to remind us all, that police officers, they go 24 hours a day, seven days a week out to incidents,

they put their life on the line for the community, and we all perhaps need to remember that and afford them the thanks and respect that all the emergency services deserve for what they do for us on a daily basis. you're watching bbc news. from monday, people in wales must wearface masks in shops and other indoor public spaces. there will be a rule of six for socialising indoors, but children under 11 won't count. but unlike england and scotland, up to 30 people from different homes will still be able to meet outside. 0ur wales correspondent hywel griffith has the details. earlier, the first minister of reels is planed why the changes. are evidences young children do not pass on the virus to others in the wake

that adults do and they don't suffer ina way that adults do and they don't suffer in a way that older people do as well, and it was not proportionate to prevent them from meeting with olderfamily to prevent them from meeting with older family members indoors, to prevent them from meeting with olderfamily members indoors, so we are not including them in the rule of six there. and we don't have evidence in wales that the virus is being passed to other people when they meet outside in the open air, and we've long had evidence here that the virus doesn't spread in the fresh airand that the virus doesn't spread in the fresh air and the sunlight, and the way that it does endorse, and it wasn't proportionate to prevent people from getting together aside will the weather is still making that possible. there's more than one form of harm from coronavirus. there is the direct harm from catching it and there is the social and emotional harm from families not being to meet one another. it is only in quite... we have an able to move to a position where extended

families and get together in extended household. while we are having to narrow down the numbers that can be indoors at any one time, we wa nted that can be indoors at any one time, we wanted to limit the damage that would do to children and to wider family nevers from over restricting their ability to get together. the virus in many parts of wales remains very effectively suppressed. and that's partly why i think you see different regimes in different parts of the united kingdom because the level of coronavirus is different in different parts too. 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. 0ur 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 midwest has been the hardest hit recently, with iowa, north dakota and south dakota the latest hotspots. but 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 consistently has 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 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 started to fall, but it's 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've registered the highest per capita death toll of almost any other country in the world. kt katy watson ending that report. the french prime minister jean castex has said his government is not planning a new nationwide lockdown, despite a surge in coronavirus cases. authorities reported nearly 10,000 daily cases yesterday, the highest daily figures since the start of the outbreak. mr castex said he would fast—track testing for priority cases. and he said the quarantine period for people who catch the virus will be shortened to just seven days from 14, to better match "the period when there

is a real risk of contagion". let's turn our attention to spain, which has been one of the hardest hit countries in europe by the covid outbreak. the country brought in strict lockdown measures. and for a while, they seemed to be working. cases were down, and life started returning to normal. but, like france, there's been a big resurgence of new infections in recent weeks. guy hedgecoe reports from madrid on the measures being taken. for seven—year—old julia, this is a big day. a national lockdown followed by the long summer holiday have meant she is going to school for the first time in six months. 0ver eight million spanish children are going back to the classroom this month. they want to come back to school because they miss their friends, their teachers, so it's a nice moment for them. the return to school is being staggered according to age groups,

as part of efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus. it's just one of many new measures. children aged six and over must now wear face masks here at sagrada familia primary and in all schools across spain. i think what's going to happen is we're going to open the schools this week and probably start closing, opening, closing, opening, so it's going to be like an intermittance model. this second wave of the virus is affecting younger people more than the first wave. although infections have been rising steadily, the death rate has remained relatively low and hospitalisation rates are still well below the levels of march and april. the response to the recent resurgence of coronavirus in spain has been for local authorities to reintroduce restrictions in those areas that have been affected. for example, here in madrid

just a few days ago, the local government announced new limits on social contact in public spaces, such as bars and restaurants. my worry is that we reach autumn and winter, and then our behaviour change. we go more indoors, we meet with friends, family, we go to pubs, restaurants indoors, and this is a perfect place for virus transmission. after a tragic spring and a difficult summer, spain is desperately hoping for something like a normal autumn. guy hedgecoe, bbc news, madrid. more than half a million people have been forced from their homes in the us state of oregon, as firefighters try to contain wildfires running out of control. nearly 100 fires have been burning over the past few days. the affected area stretches 1,300 kilometres from portland in oregon to los angeles in california.

butte county is one of the worst hit regions in california. at least ten people have died and there are fears the death toll will rise. and in oregon, the damage is widespread. hundreds of homes have been razed to the ground. many people will be returning to nothing but charcoaled remains. freya cole has the story. in the suburb of salem in oregon state, the sky turned orange. a warning sign of the danger beyond the city's parameters. from door to door, police checked on residents, telling them to leave now before it's too late. three hours south injackson county, residents were urged to get out in a hurry — and it's lucky they did. all that remains of this neighbourhood are rows of homes in ruins. for some, the escape was frightening. it was unbelievable. i've never seen the flames so tall, and...

just, it was hard to imagine. evacuation centres across the state are filling fast. volunteers are doing what they can to cater for everyone. authorities say they've never seen conditions so brutal. the fires are fast moving, fuelled by dry land and fanned by strong winds. across the western states, more than 100 fires are still burning. the death toll is rising — and with no rain on the forecast, the disaster is far from over. freya cole, bbc news. staying in america. in the us, the police officer charged with the murder of george floyd, derek chauvin, has appeared in court in person for the first time.

protesters have gathered outside the familyjustice center in minneapolis, where the trial is taking place. mr floyd's death sparked sparked nationwide protests after a video was realeased showing the white police officer kneeling on his neck while he was pinned to the floor. today marks 19 years since the world stood still and watched two hijacked airliners crash into the twin towers of the world trade center. today, ceremonies took place across the us to honour the almost 3,000 people who were killed on 9/11. the day's events began with the unfurling of the stars and stripes from the pentagon — the site of the third aircraft collision. this was followed by events at ground zero. due to covid restrictions, the names of those killed were not read out live but instead pre—recorded and broadcast during the ceremony. finally, president trump addressed the crash site of flight 93, which crashed in a field in pennsylvania after the passengers resisted the hijackers. in the days and weeks after 9/11, citizens of all faiths, backgrounds, colours and creeds came together, prayed together, mourned together

and rebuilt together. the song god bless america became a rallying cry for the nation. we were united by our conviction that america was the world's most exceptional country. just want to bring you an update on the breaking news that we brought you a little earlier, this centres around the announcement donald trump made via a tweet that he posted that israel and the gulf state of bahrain have agreed to normalise their relations. that's the week he wrote. he said... we had a reaction to that about 40 mins ago from the palestinian authority and hamas, who have both condemned the agreement. we are also receiving more information, where we

are hearing from iran's parliament, saying the agreements between the two is the great betrayal of the islamic cause and palestinians. that's a tweet that came from the special adviser on international affairs to iran's parliament. and it said that the important leaders in the uae and bahrain must not pave the uae and bahrain must not pave the way for zionist schemes, so that reaction there. we also had interaction from egypt, saying this is indeed a historic moment and if they want to consider peace and stability in the region. that the latest there. also want to bring you a line of information that's coming to us from the reuters news agency. this comes from the dirt —— der spiegel magazine, about the russian opposition leader alexei navalny. they understand, from the doctors they have been speaking to, that the novichok used against alexei navalny, they say, was harder than previously thought. that coming

to them from special intelligence in germany. you are watching abc news. i'm —— you are watching bbc news. hello there. some of us will get a reminder of summer early next week, but before then, there is a bit of rain to come. and it's mainly for scotland and northern ireland. you can see this ribbon of cloud stretching right the way across the atlantic. that's been bringing rain down across scotland, northern ireland, into northern parts of england and north wales as well. it's on that weather front there. but that weather front is moving into higher pressure, so it is weakening, and the rain is becoming lighter and more patchy, a narrower line of rain moving further south overnight. behind it, to the north, clearer skies. quite a few blustery showers coming into northern ireland and scotland, but a cooler night for northern parts of the uk. milder further south, double figures, especially where we keep that cloud around. but as we head into the weekend, most of the cloud will be, again,

for scotland and northern ireland. a lot of the rain, actually, will be on saturday night and it should improve during sunday. further south, across england and wales, mainly dry this weekend. some warm sunshine as well and those temperatures will be rising too. and we start with a fair bit of sunshine on saturday. there's that band of cloud producing one or two showers, loitering down towards the southeast corner of england. sunnier skies, scattered showers across scotland, northern ireland, before it clouds over later and the winds start to pick up as well, with rain not far away. these are the temperatures — quite healthy for the time of year. and in the sunshine, it will feel pleasant as well. but the winds will strengthen later on in the day. we get some wet weather for northern parts of northern ireland, and particularly into scotland overnight, threatening some flooding. more rain to come on sunday, the main rain heading northwards into the highlands of scotland, where there could be a month's worth of rain in the coming few days. more sunshine elsewhere across the uk as the winds start to drop later on. and with the sunshine, temperatures will be higher. we're looking at maybe the mid—20s across eastern england on sunday afternoon.

but some higher temperatures are likely early next week. we've got high pressure across continental europe. it's been very hot across iberia, france. and that heat is moving its way northwards, particularly into england and wales. still got a weather front loitering there out towards the northwest of scotland, perhaps not far away from northern ireland, threatening a bit of rain. so it's not going to be quite as warm here. higher temperatures further east across scotland, but it's across england and wales that we'll see temperatures widely into the mid—20s or so. and we could be close to 30 degrees on monday and tuesday in the southeast of england, before it turns cooler, i think, by wednesday.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. bahrain says it is normalising relations with israel, in a move that further erodes the arab world's boycott of the jewish state. protests in lesbos against conditions on the greek island with migrants demanding to be allowed onto mainland europe. more than half a million people in the us state of oregon flee deadly wildfires raging across the pacific northwest. in the uk, the r—number, showing how many people each coronavirus patient infects — moves above one for the first time since march.