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. and learning to live

with the virus in spain, as the country also sees a resurgence of new infections. bahrain has agreed to normalise its relations with israel, further eroding the arab world's boycott of the jewish state. president trump tweeted the news after phone conversations with the leaders of the two countries. he said: another historic breakthrough today! our two great friends israel and the kingdom of bahrain agree to a peace deal —— the second arab country to make peace with israel in 30 days!‘ he also posted this joint statement that says bahrain and israel have agreed to establish full diplomatic relations. for decades most arab states have boycotted israel,

insisting they'd only establish ties after the palestinian dispute was settled. but these pictures are from last month when the united arab emirates broke with that tradition, and agreed to normalise its relationship with the israelis. a palestinian official has described the bahraini deal as a betrayal. the bbc‘s tom bateman is injerusalem. get to see you. thank you for talking to us. tell us a little about about the reactions that are coming. this is very much a white house led initiative, or a white house broker—dealer. this comes month ahead the us election and announced by donald trump, it was his son in law that has been leading this initiative to try to

get these states to formalise their ties with israel. the first of the countries to do so under the trump administration, the uae last month, becoming the third arab country to formalise its ties with israel and now, it is bahrain. it is smaller than the uae but very significant because it is a part of the historic ambition of israel to gain regional recognition from its arab neighbours and that is always been impossible in the past because of the deadlock oi’ in the past because of the deadlock or nonexistent peace process with the others and those led from the past couple of decades said that there would be no normalisation, no formal normalisation until israel ended its occupation of palestinian territory until there was a palestinian state would under the initiative, but other palestinians

say that that is falling apart and they see this as a betrayal, but at they see this as a betrayal, but at the same time, the israelis, the americans are championing this thing that this is a move towards peace in the middle east. as for bahrain, singular bit less, they see this as a move towards a just and comprehensive peace between israel and the palestinians. what could be behind this change because bahrain is an ally to saudi arabia which is a regional powerhouse but they don't seem to be making any overt moves in this direction. what is behind this was yellow the big strategic point here is that president trump from the start of his presidency, wanted to pull right back from what was seen to pull right back from what was seen as to pull right back from what was seen as president obama's tilt towards the iranians through the nuclear deal that he put in place. between world leading nuclear powers and the iranians, that always

infuriated the states like saudi arabia, and of course a long time enemy of the iranians. donald trump sees enemy of the iranians. donald trump sees this positioning completely reversed import of the nuclear deal and then the swarming of ties, to warm up relations between the gulf states and the israelis, they have a common enemy that they believe in the iranians and the sea that strategy come to life in some ways before the us presidential election, but it is notjust about that, is about the economics of the region that israel is the security superpower of the middle east and the benefits those countries like the benefits those countries like the uae and bahrain to have relationship with israel and the uae has a very powerful weapons that they want to buy from the fighter jet, there was always off the table

u nless jet, there was always off the table unless there was normalisation with israel in there some that say that may be a possibility. there is mutual interest for this to happen and the people that feel the most sidelined by all of this are the palestinians. many factors at play here. migrants on the greek island of lesbos have been protesting on the streets demanding the freedom to travel on to mainland europe. more than ten thousand migrants were left without shelter this week after europe's largest refugee camp was gutted by fire. protesters approached riot police cordoning off the road out of the moria camp. 400 unaccompanied children from the camp are to be taken in by eu countries. the european commission says the destroyed camp will be rebuilt, a plan strongly opposed by authorities on the island. 0ur correspondent bethany bell is on lesbos: many migrants are sleeping and living rough after the camp burnt

down and they are on the sides of roads, some are sleeping in cemeteries are under the trees. he has also been supplied with food and supplies but sanitary conditions are grim and there's little to no running water and it is very difficult for people to wash themselves. people here have been holding protests, migrants have been marching up and down demanding freedom to move to other parts of europe away from lesbos and away from greece. freedom, not food, one person said. we want to go somewhere else. we want europe to help us. the local creek secure also want the migrants to go somewhere else. they say that lesbos has borne the brunt of europe's migrant crisis for too long and at the moment, in agreement with the eu looks very difficult.

i'm joined now by gerald knaus. gerald knaus helped devise the eu—turkey refugee deal. he 5 author of a book called what kind of borders do we need'. we can speak to him now from berlin. thank you for taking time to talk to us. thank you for taking time to talk to us. that situation, what are your thoughts on what he does come to now? well, what we are seeing now is the complete loss of control with people without a home and out in the street and unable to charge their phones and take care of the children. wilson served by the biggest humanitarian crisis is, people have been warned, there been cou ntless people have been warned, there been countless reports, and yet nothing was done. people who have arrived mainly last year in autumn, many of them have been on the island for more than a year and squeezed together in the quarantine because

of the epidemic in their unable to ta ke of the epidemic in their unable to take care of themselves, to do social distancing into wash and there's a panic of some of them contracting the virus. this was predictable and what is worrying is that the right enclosures are not being drawn from this because the ideas of building new camps and people being kept on the islands, or on this case, lesbos, will be increased tensions even further. tell us about the situation of rebuilding the camp. could we see this drama play out? were these thousands of people be stuck here in this island definitely? remember when the eu that reached an agreement when it people arrive on the islands, there will be a process to determine where they would go from the island, if they would be safe in turkey, there would be

returned to turkey if they were not safe in turkey, they would receive refugee status and stay in europe, they would move to the mainland. at that time there was relocating refugees from increased other european countries. now, this is all broken down. the turks are no longer talking about migration with the creeks, they are not taking back anyone since early march, the agreement is gone. so, the big question is what is exactly the point of keeping these 12,000 people in an island where they are frustrated from years of being neglected and whether there is a lot of attention no accommodation. if these people cannot be returned a nyways. these people cannot be returned anyways. the suspicion that one must develop is that they are there under better conditions to send a very simple and brutal message, which is stay in afghanistan, stan trickey, sta n stay in afghanistan, stan trickey, stan lebanon, because it is better

there for you than inside the european union. that is notjust immoral and it breaks the european commitments of the human rights convention and it, of the villagers of lesbos and it is not clear how long they will have to stay. 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 13—hundred 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. for more on why this is happening now we can speak to dr nina 0akley a research scientist for scripps institution of oceanography. thank you very much for coming on to talk to us. just, talk to us a little bit about the factors that are behind the severity of these viruses. —— fires. it is the most acreage burned and a fire season in

modern history and we're still not through the fire history possibly another month or two before we can expect sufficient rainfall to bring down the fire risk. and it's not just one but several factors contributing to why we are seeing this now and will continue to see things like this in the future. the factor of climate change are just going a lot of attention right now does not cause the wildfires, but really stack the odds in favour of these large and destructive fires that we are seeing and so, we are already experiencing and projecting to see more with higher temperatures on average, more extreme heat waves, dry conditions in more severe drought in these factors contribute to the drying of vegetation, making it easier to ignite was stressing the vegetation that makes it more susceptible to insect attacks that can kill the vegetation. it is

allowed to build up of fuels and many of california's wildfires are ignited either directly or indirectly by human activities. this includes things like power lines, campfires they get control, fireworks, equipment operation, off—road vehicles in california has seen an increase off—road vehicles in california has seen an increase in population in general over the past few decades. ifi general over the past few decades. if i can just general over the past few decades. if i canjustjump in there, you're talking about this factor that climate change may not be about causation but correlation in the human activity that you're describing, you live in california yourself. you have seen the damage that the fires of done. talk to us about the connection that you see between that damage when people can actually do now to limit this kind of incident. it's tough to speak as a climatologist and what can be done. there are a lot of social political and economical factors that can impact what is feasible in

fire management. but from a climate change perspective, the top of the conversation, desired temperatures on average with more extreme heat waves, more severe drought and all to continue to create these conditions making them favourable for wildfires from atmospheric perspective. there's also a drying of the spring and fall seasons and so, since most, we do have a very rare lightning event, most of our wildfires are ignited by these human activities and the increase in population at the wildland urban interface. it creates a greater potential for these fires. we will leave it there for now. thank you very much forjoining us and to stay safe out there. stay with us on bbc

news, still to come: ceremonies are held in the usa to mark the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines. bahrain says it is normalising relations with israel, in a move that further erodes the arab world's boycott of the jewish state. 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 again. that appears to be backed up by the latest daily figures for the last 2a hours which show the highest number of new infections in almost four months. 0ur 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. france's prime minister has said it's particularly worrying that the number of hospital admissions for coronavirus in the country have gone up for the first time in weeks. these images are from a hospital in marseilles, the city has become the epicentre of the epidemic in the country. after a special cabinet meeting, jean castex said it was clear that the virus was spreading more and more and would be around for several months. he said local authorities

would be given more powers to tackle specific outbreaks. spain was among the european countries intially hardest hit by the covid pandemic. the country brought in strict lockdown measures, and for a while they seemed to be working. cases dropped and life began to return to normal. but, as in many other countries, recent weeks have seen a resurgence of new infections. guy hedgecoe reports from madrid on the measures being taken. for 7—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 are 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. today marks 19 years since the world stood still, and watched two hijacked airliners crash into the twin towers of the world trade centre. ceremonies took place across the us today to honour the almost 3,000 the days 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. to stay with us on bbc news.

hello there. some of us will get a reminder of summer or early next week but before then, there's been more rain to come its memory for scotla nd more rain to come its memory for scotland and northern ireland, you can see scotland and northern ireland, you can see this stripping of cloud stretching across the atlantic and thatis stretching across the atlantic and that is been bringing some rain down across scotland and northern ireland and parts of england and it is on that weather front there, but that weather front is moving at high pressure, s0 weather front is moving at high pressure, so it is weakening in the rain is becoming lighter and more patchy or, narrower line of rain moved for the south of an eye. binds to the north, clear skies with quite a few showers but a quarter night from other parts of the uk. module for the south, double figures especially were we keep that cloud around. it is into the weekend, most of the client will be with scotland

and northern ireland, love the rain will be on saturday night and should improve during sunday. for the south across england and wales, and in the entrance weekend more sentient as well at this temperatures will be rising too. we start with a fair bit ascension on saturday and this is band of cloud present one or two showers loitering down to the corner of england and some shows across scotland, northern ireland before the clouds of her later in the wind sta rts the clouds of her later in the wind starts to pick up as well with did not far away. the scriptures are quite healthy for the time of year that this luncheon will make you feel quite pleasant as well. but the wind will strengthen later on in the day we have some wet weather for parts and northern ireland in particular into scotland overnight, threatening some flooding, more rain to come on sunday and the main rain heading northwards up to scotland with the could be a months worth of rain in the coming few days. more sentient and elsewhere across the uk is that wind starts to drop later on when the sunshine will be higher, we're looking at the mid 20s in the

afternoon. most likely early next week when in constant to europe and france is moving its way northwards in the england and wales but still of the front nurturing towards the southwest, threatening a bit of rain but it will be quite as warm here, high temperatures in the east, but it is across england and wales that will seek temperatures widely into the 20s or so and we could be closer to monday or tuesday will begin to the southeast of ink the before trans cooler by wednesday. —— before it turns cooler.

this is bbc world news.

the headlines. bahrain hasjoined the united arab emirates in agreeing to normalise relations with israel. hamas — which controls the gaza strip — has issued a statement, saying the move does grave harm to the palestinian cause. there have been protests by migrants stranded on the greek island of lesbos after europe's biggest refugee camp was gutted by fire. they're demanding to be allowed to travel on to mainland europe. 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 again. more than half a million people in the us state of oregon are fleeing deadly wildfires raging across the pacific northwest. hundreds of homes have been destroyed. at least ten people have died. you are watching bbc news.

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's 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 is just 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 so 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. “ as —— as long as they are still open for some this local cafe owner's some 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 who have not yet presented and 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. hugh pym, bbc news.

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 and the spread of coronavirus changes in some way, it looks unlikely that these restrictions can be eased anytime soon. that wasjames that was james shaw reporting. —— that was james shaw reporting. 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. earlier, the first minister of wales, mark drakeford explained why the regulations were changing. in relation to young children and meeting indoors, our evidence is that in young children do not pass on the virus to others in the way that adults do and they don't suffer from coronavirus and the way that

older people do as well and it was not proportionate to prevent them from meeting with older family members endorse. 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. we have long had evidence here that the virus does not spread in the fresh airand in the virus does not spread in the fresh air and in the sunlight in the way that it does indoors and it was not proportionate to prevent people from getting together outside while the weather is still making that possible. there is more than one form of harm from coronavirus, isn't there? there is of course the dry term for people that catch it but there is also the social and emotional harm from families not being able to meet one another. it is only in quite recent weeks that in wales we have been able to move toa in wales we have been able to move to a position where extended families can get together in a

single extended household. while we are having to never down the numbers that can meet indoors at any one time, we wanted to limit the damage that would do to children and to widerfamily that would do to children and to wider family members from over restricting their ability to dictate together. the virus in many parts of wales remains effectively suppressed and that is why you see different regimes in different parts of the united kingdom because the level of coronavirus is different in different parts, too. we were hearing there from the first minister of wales mark drakeford. the number of new coronavirus cases in the uk is now at its highest level since the middle of may 3539 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. six 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. 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. borisjohnson has been speaking to conservative mps this evening in the wake of growing disquiet about the government's proposals to override part of the brexit withdrawal agreement. the decision to table new legislation has provoked anger from some senior tories and a stinging response from the eu which has demanded the uk drop the plans by the end of the month. 0ur political correspondent leila nathoo explained what went on at that meeting between the prime minister and his mps.

there was some concern about there being no questions allowed on this zoom meeting with various tory mps as to understand it had technical difficulties at the start but the whole point it seemed to be that the prime minister was reaching out to his backbenchers after announcing that the government would introduce this legislation, the internal market bill as it is known which the government admitted would breach international law because it would allow britain to override part of the processed divorce deal which is an international treaty agreed last year. so there has been some concern among conservative backbenchers. plenty are concerned about the reputational damage to the uk if it is seen to be breaking international law or acknowledging that is going to be the case. and there is the legislation that will be brought into the comments next week and we already know that some conservative backbenchers have tabled an

amendment to that decision to try to give parliament a say over those contentious measures rather than them being wrapped up in the bill as a whole. clearly there is a row brewing. borisjohnson a whole. clearly there is a row brewing. boris johnson and a whole. clearly there is a row brewing. borisjohnson and downing street was telling us that boris johnson was stressing that the government was committed to the arrangements for northern ireland which is the contentious matter that we re which is the contentious matter that were in the brexit deal but the ministers described this new legislation as a safety net saying it has to protect the integrity of the uk and the peace process in northern ireland after the and of the transition period. but we will have to see whether there is a big battle in the comments next week. the rebels if there are any will need big neighbours because this is not like the old days of brexit when the government maturity was a knife edge. there is no huge maturity so the rebels will need to amass doubles in their ranks if they are going to defeat this. but at the moment the government shows no sign of backing out even in the face of

the ultimatum from the eu to withdraw the measures by the end of the month. that is our political correspondent leila nathoo. meanwhile, the uk 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. 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 economy 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 bounceback. 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, even 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 now know by the end ofjuly, the economy staged a half bounceback 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, withjohn 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 totally inadequate. the government itself 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. it offers some extra benefits for uk digital firms it offers some extra benefits for uk digitalfirms and it offers some extra benefits for uk digital firms and food exporters. 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. faisal islam, bbc news.

you are watching bbc news. now, it's time for newswatch. hello and welcome to newswatch with me samira ahmed. coming up, as the prime minister appears again at a downing street press conference, is the bbc giving the government too much of a free hit on its response to the pandemic or too much of a hard time? i'll be putting those questions and more to the bbc‘s head of news output, gavin allen. in the early stages of covid—19, we became used to the daily sight of boris johnson appearing at a lectern at number ten flanked by chris whitty and sir patrick vallance. he was back there on thursday for the first time sincejuly to imprint this message in the nations' minds. —— back there on wednesday. in england from monday, we are introducing the rule of six.