this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. our top story: concern that the uk could lose control of the coronavirus. police in england warn people not to treat today and tomorrow as a "party weekend" — ahead of restrictions on social gatherings coming into force on monday. it follows a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in the uk — with infections now doubling every 7 to 10 days. the first direct talks between afghanistan and the taliban take place in qatar. the afghans say they want to end the war. including men, women, minorities and victims of war, then both sides will be the peace heroes. boris johnson defends his

plans to over—ride parts of the brexit withdrawal agreement — saying the eu is looking to "carve up and divide" the uk. and dozens of people are reported missing in a wave of deadly wildfires in the us state of oregon. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world, and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. we begin in the uk. police have warned people not to treat today and tomorrow as a "party weekend", ahead of new coronavirus restrictions which come into force in england on monday. social gatherings will be limited to six people regardless of whether they take place inside or outside. infections across the uk are now doubling every seven to ten days.

simonjones reports. the last weekend before new widespread restrictions limiting the number of people we are allowed to socialise with come into force. the police federation is urging people not to make it a party weekend and this is why changes are coming. across the uk, the r number, the number of people one infected person will pass the virus on to, on average, is thought to be between 1 and 1.2, which means the coronavirus epidemic is growing, but from a low base. the prevalence is doubling every 7—10 days. pre—lockdown, r was around three and cases were doubling every three — four days. we need to make sure that children are at school and learning. we need to make sure that our economy is recovering and healing and that's why we have to accept that there needs to be a degree of restraint over social gatherings. because it has been in social gatherings, particularly in households,

that we've seen a significant increase in infection in some areas of the united kingdom and that's why we need to take action. in parts of the midlands, measures will go even further. more than 1.5 million people living in birmingham and neighbouring sandwell and solihull will be banned from socialising at home with other households from tuesday. birmingham now has the second highest infection rate in england. so what looks to be happening is that it has got into the community and is being passed around in household settings. a lot of work has been done as to where the transmission is occurring and it is because of that household setting that the particular measures were put in place were yesterday. in scotland, tougher restrictions on home visits came into force at midnight for people living in north and south lanarkshire. and in england, there is concern once again about care homes, with health officials reporting an increase in cases, but mainly in the workforce. this is all being described as a wake—up call. a key part of controlling coronavirus is testing and tracing

and the government is now considering fining people who do not self—isolate when they're told to, with fears that some aren't taking the resurgence of the virus seriously enough. simon jones, bbc news. i'm joined now by brian booth — chairman of the police federation in west yorkshire. thank you very much for being with us thank you very much for being with us this morning. what are your concerns? we have got the new regulations coming in and we do not have the police resources to properly police it. we are very busy, we are back to pre—covid police issues. adding the straw on the camel's back, we are not going to cope with demand come monday. are you expecting a significant rise in demand? what is the evidence for that? based on last time when the restrictions and guidelines gay men,

we we re restrictions and guidelines gay men, we were inundated with calls from members of the public, from neighbours —— came in. saying they we re neighbours —— came in. saying they were gatherings in the garden. more serious incidents are ongoing crime will take priority over calls for gatherings. this potentially can cause a lot of upset with the public thinking we are not taking this serious and it is not that my collea g u es serious and it is not that my colleagues are not taking it seriously, it is just they cannot keep up with a demand it creates. what was different this time is there is much more emphasis on being fined. we have one report of a night ofa fined. we have one report of a night of a house party in manchester which was broken up in the early hours of saturday morning. police said 30 people were there. the occupant they said told police he was unaware that there were any restrictions and he can understand why he couldn't hold his party. he ended up being, people we re his party. he ended up being, people were dispersed and he was fined.

that is the difference this time, there is a greater expectation coming from government, there will be enforcement. it is not politely telling people to do this, they are facing significant police action if they don't. my colleagues will a lwa ys they don't. my colleagues will always try and do their best but there is an element of where you have got to be realistic. the country has got to pull together with theirs and we have all got to ta ke with theirs and we have all got to take part. relying solely on the police to try and enforce this is not realistic. if you are telling us that we will go out and take that as a priority, which other priorities do you want us to drop. a road traffic accident, assaults and progress, burglaries in progress and prioritise these kinds of deployment. this is what we are saying to government, we are busy but you have got to prioritise for us but you have got to prioritise for us and my colleagues, what do you wa nt us and my colleagues, what do you want is to deal with first. what advice have your members in west yorkshire received from the police co nsta ble yorkshire received from the police constable and other senior officers

about how these new rules should be treated? at this moment in time we are still waiting for their guidance. like anything announced this government currently, we are waiting, sometimes many days after the legislation has come into effect, further guidance. this guidance has a long list of exemptions i don't —— i do not want to have my colleagues treating with members of the public unlawfully. we need to have a sound basis in law and we need to know what the law means and apply it fairly. thank you very much. residents in the uk city of birmingham are the latest to face tougher restrictions, after a rise in coronavirus cases. 0ur news correspondent kathryn stanczyszyn is there for us now. catherine, hello to you. you are in birmingham. there are significant restrictions coming into force for people in the city there. what has been the reaction? good morning. yes, it is notjust birmingham, it

is neighbouring sandwell and solihull, 1.6 is neighbouring sandwell and solihull,1.6 million is neighbouring sandwell and solihull, 1.6 million people affected by the new restrictions coming in from tuesday as well as the rule of six from monday. the reaction is that the rate is rising and something needs to be done about it but there are differing views about whether the right things are being done. public health officials here say that transmission rates seems to be across the board and age groups. we hear about younger people being responsible but there is an issue across age groups. they are seeing hospital admissions and intensive care admissions which they have not been seeing at all. still small numbers. but there is two to three week lag between the hospital admissions and they are worried about that. we heard from them where they are how they are also concerned that the data showing that a lot of that the data showing that a lot of that transmission is a carry —— is

within houses. is why these new guidelines and new laws being brought in from tuesday. it means households cannot go into each other‘s comms. you cannot host people into your home and visit other people unless you are in a support bubble with them, if you are a single adult living alone i need that practical and emotional support. what you can do is go and see those people in a pub or restau ra nt see those people in a pub or restaurant or a park. that was causing a bit of confusion yesterday. it is similar to other places, the north west has a similar system. it is notjust the idea of people transmitting it more in the home or prevalently, but pubs and restau ra nts home or prevalently, but pubs and restaurants have measures in place which people do not have in their own homes. that has caused a few raised eyebrows saying —— people saying it does not go far enough. 0ther saying it does not go far enough. other people are saying let's focus on smaller hotspots. the public

health advice is very clear that this needs to be coming down and it would be reviewed regularly and we could see further restrictions if those numbers do not go in the right direction. thank you. the first formal peace talks between afghan officials and the taliban are underway in qatar. us secretary of state mike pompeo is among those attending ? and has called it an "historic opportunity to end decades of conflict. the head of the afghan delegation, abdullah abdullah, said the two sides could only benefit from a peace deal. the current conflict has no winner through war and military means, but there will be no loser if the crisis is resolved through submission to the well of the people. we both sides, the islamic republic of afghanistan and the taliban movement, are accountable to god and we have to prevent the destruction in killing in our country. now, besides the national consensus,

we have a strong regional and international support for achieving peace and we have to make sure to not lose this unique opportunity. we have to trust god almighty and use this historic opportunity for achieving a durable and lasting peace. the taliban's spokesman stressed the importance of honouring existing agreements between the two sides. the islamic emirate of afghanistan, in the agreement of doha, we have... we are calling all those points that were in the agreement. and we also firmly request the other side to act according those things that have been agreed in the agreement so that we can have the process without any kind of problem. the us secretary of state mike pompeo called on both sides to seize the opportunity

to secure peace. today is truly a momentous occasion. afghans have, at long last, chosen to sit together and chart a new course for your country. this is a moment that we must dare to hope. as we look to toward the light, we recall the darkness of four decades of war. the bbc‘s chief international correspondent lyse douset is in doha and explained the significance of the talks. it is such an extraordinary moment here in doha. and such a long road to reach this. as we heard from secretary pompeo, the four decades of war. there is not a single afghan family on any side in this war which hasn't been touched by this devastating conflict. so as you heard earlier from dr abdullah abdullah who talked about how proud he was to open these historic face—to—face talks for the first time

on behalf of afghans. from the taliban, they spoke through their negotiator. there was a much more sombre message, talking about the need for patience in these talks. talking about their commitment to peace and that got him a round of applause from his taliban delegation. but as you mentioned, an emphasis too on what has already been agreed. and he is referring to the deal reached between the taliban and the united states in late february, here in doha. which commits the united states to leave, for all of its troops to leave afghanistan from next year in exchange for a taliban security guarantee. the taliban are very much emphasising that this was a deal that they made with united states. they still don't recognise the afghan government which they describe as a puppet.

borisjohnson has insisted his plan to over—ride parts of the brexit withdrawal agreement is needed to protect the uk against eu attempts to carve up and divide the country. writing in the daily telegraph, he accuses brussels of an "extreme interpretation" of what the deal said about northern ireland. last night, the prime minister had an online meeting with his mps and urged them to support his plan — despite the admission that it breaks international law. 0ur political correspondent, helen catt is here. welcome. what is the message the prime minister is trying to get across with his newspaper article and talking to his backbench mps? this is a toughening up of the language. this steady toughening up of the government because my position on this. this all relates to the deal that has already been done, the divorce deal which was signed and agreed by the eu and uk last october. there is one bit in it which deals with special

arrangements for ireland to make sure there is no hard border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland. while it was agreed in principle, the details of how that would work in practice were not nailed down. ever since there has been thisjoint nailed down. ever since there has been this joint committee working together to try and thrash out the detail of how that would actually work in practice. it has hit some sticking points. what borisjohnson the thing is he is characterising it asa the thing is he is characterising it as a serious misunderstanding has arisen about what both sides thought they had signed up to. he is characterising the eu's interpretation as extreme, he wants to pass a uk legislation that would change that uk —— withdrawal agreement and that is what would break international law and this is what is causing this big euro rate. michael gove is heading up those technical negotiations and the detail of that protocol as it's called woodwork. he said that the government is committing to implementing it, though.

the protocol is being implemented by us because we believe that it does secure northern ireland's position within the united kingdom. but it is the case that the prime minister has spelt out, that some of the actions of the eu have shown that they could be prepared, in extremis, to take certain steps which would threaten the integrity of our united kingdom. that is why we need to have this, the safety net, this long stop, which we do not wish to use. we do not intend to use. but if we have to, we will. because ultimately, our responsibility as ministers is to safeguard the security, the integrity and the economic life of all the citizens of the uk. boris johnson's article borisjohnson‘s article is very determined, tab thumping in tone. there are some interesting elements in it. he talks about this theoretical risk that the eu could carve and talk of locating food going from mainland britain to

northern ireland. how serious does the government think this is or is this a negotiating tactic designed to get the best possible deal in the eu trade talks? it is definitely putting down a markerfor the uk thanks this agreement meant and what it wants. the issue and the reason he is suggesting it would carve up the uk is because if you're not going to have checks on the border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland, then they have to be somewhere else and then does that become in the irish sea? so he is saying that the eu is interpreting as that and saying it would have to have a full trade body. if this committee, which is still meeting, can't agree together what the detail should be, he is saying this is what the eu says should happen. they said they would look of imposing full tariffs. having the ability to stop food going from great britain to northern

ireland. would that happen? who knows. that is the sort of theoretical thing. he is saying that is not a risk we can take in uk law and the we need to have our own safety net and this is what we are proposing. it would allow uk ministers to decide which goods have ta riffs ministers to decide which goods have tariffs put on them. in the end this will all be sorted out are not sorted out by the end of the negotiations on the trade talks. where are we? well this joint committee is looking at the detail of proposals, there are the trade talks that this has a bearing on. it has ratcheted up the pressure. you have the european parliament saying we might not ratify any trade deal that you have. trade talks, again, they are still going on. there are talks happening next week. the next formal round is a little bit later. so they are still talking and there are other issues that they need to iron out, fishing is a sticking

point that comes out. borisjohnson has set the timetable of needing to be done by october the 15th if there is to be a trade agreement in place. the eu has been looking at a similar timescale because there is a recognition that the transition period ends on december the 31st. recognition that the transition period ends on december the 31stm has to be ratified by the european parliament... it has to be in place by the 1st of january. so we are approaching the endgame for it. by the 1st of january. so we are approaching the endgame for itm will be a fair few weeks of... fires continue to wreak havoc across the us states of california, oregon, and washington, killing at least 15 people. fires continue to wreak havoc across the us states of california, dozens of people are missing and tens of thousands have been displaced. 3,600 square kilometers have burned in oregon over

3,600 square kilometres have burned in oregon over the past three days, nearly double the amount of land that burns in a typical year. california's governor has said the fires should end all doubt about the effects of climate change. commander bill ward from the madera county sheriff's office described the blaze burning in his area. so, ourfire, the creek fire, it started friday, last friday. so it has been going about a week now. but as of this morning, it is already up to 176,000 acres and only about 6% contained. so it's one of the worst fires we've seen around here. i've been working here for 2h years and it's definitely the worst fire i've ever seen. so in madera county, we have probably about 4000 people evacuated and then about 15,000 under warning, which is basically, you know, we've told them to be ready to leave at a moment's notice. so what our deputies are doing

is basically patrolling those areas to make sure that, you know, the looters don't come in and steal from the homes that are now abandoned. so we have been doing a lot of patrolling. we help with the evacuations. and we're just trying to keep the area right now. so we're hoping the fire slows down and doesn't spread as much. they are forecasting some weather conditions that may not be helpful. they are forecasting some conditions that might cause the fire to get started, you know, moving more quickly again. but were hoping not. we are hoping it slows down. cal fire are working on containment lines and even backfires. so at this point, what we're really hoping is the fire doesn't grow any larger. the greek prime minister has demanded the eu are involved in running a new migrant camp on the island of lesbos. it's being built after 13,000 people were made homeless following the devastating fire at moria camp earlier this week. 0ur correspondent bethany bell

is in lesbos and told me more about the conditions for the migrants there. after four nights sleeping in the open, people are tired. they are sitting by the side of the road, some have strung up blankets as a kind of protection from the sun, others are in the olive groves, some have even slept in a cemetery. sanitary conditions are grim. there is little to no running water available. very few toilets and people are having to struggle to wash themselves with little bottles of water. a few have made it to the sea and of course, this lack of hygiene facilities is a matter of great concern at the time of the coronavirus pandemic. the authorities say they are trying to build a new tent camp, but none of the migrants that we have spoken to say they want to go there and the local islanders as well say it is time these people were taken away from lesbos and on to mainland greece and into other parts of europe.

india has reported a record dailyjump in coronavirus infections for a second consecutive day. there were more than 97,000 confirmed cases on saturday. the rate of growth of new covid infections is faster in india than anywhere else in the world. the uk defence secretary, ben wallace, has dismissed speculation that the british army could mothball all its tanks as part of the current defence review. it was reported last month that modernisation plans could see the army invest in new technologies, with a greater focus on cyber—warfare. here's our defence correspondent jonathan beale. the british army currently has over 200 ageing challenger two tank. as the government conducts its integrated defence review there has been speculation they can be mothballed to save money. speaking ona mothballed to save money. speaking on a visit to the middle east, the defence secretary said the review

would mean taking —— like letting go of some old equipment to invest in new technologies. we are not scrapping all the tanks of the british army and the ones we will maintain, we will make sure that they are today, lethal and defendable. ben wallace said the review would see a shift with more british forces deployed all over the world. ina british forces deployed all over the world. in a man he announced a £23 million investment of the port. that has already been used to state british army training in the state and could be a new base for the royal navy‘s new carriers. he confirmed that raf typhoon jets would be based in qatar the 2022 football world cup. the raf is continued to target the group calling itself islamic state but with president trump now pulling out thousands of us troops from iraq and afghanistan, mr wallace said the world still needed american involvement. we are very keen that

the united states remains engaged, both in iraq and the region. the united states still plays an important role in enabling europe to protect its own citizens and a lot of the work we did together against isis and al-qaeda are enabled by the united states and that is really important for us. the integrated defence review is due to be completed in the autumn. despite concerns that it will lead to more cuts, the government insists it will properly equip the armed forces to meet the threats of the future. yesterday, america marked the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks,

remembering the lives lost on that day. in new york, two beams of light shone out over the city skyline, illuminating the space where the twin towers once stood. you are watching bbc news. let's get more now on the news that there is evidence that coronavirus is spreading in england faster than at any time since lockdown measures were eased. the r number — which shows the rate at which people are being infected — has risen above one for the first time since march. it comes as the number of new daily confirmed uk cases of the virus rose to 3,539 on friday — an increase of more than 600 on the previous day. joining me now is dr arthur hosie — senior lecturer in biological and biomedical sciences at staffordshire university. thanks very much for being with ours. when you look at what is happening with the figures, what conclusions do you draw?|j happening with the figures, what conclusions do you draw? i have

concerns when we look at the figures, the conclusions i draw is the viruses in the population and it is getting opportunities to spread around the population perhaps because people were interacting more indoors. another conclusion is perhaps we did not do enough during the summer months to keep the virus numbers down lower. if we had done, things might be easier now. we are where we are and we need to do what we can to suppress the virus spread across the population or people will suffer. well -- why are we in a position to do that, with the measures in place just position to do that, with the measures in placejust now? position to do that, with the measures in place just now?|j position to do that, with the measures in placejust now? i think the measures vary around the country and that is leading to confusion. what we must get better at doing is testing. accessibility to testing is not it should be. we need to get information about where the viruses to get local numbers and suppress the virus. the measures in

birmingham and elsewhere are appropriate. but perhaps we need to consider having a clear message so that people can understand what is expected in different settings. as you say, it has become very complicated. not least on the one hand we are trying to do two things, we are trying to get people back into places that in the longer term we wa nt into places that in the longer term we want them to be, skill, universities and the workplace. but at the same time protect people from being hospitalised and from dying the virus. it is going to be a trade off whatever you do, isn't it? the virus. it is going to be a trade off whatever you do, isn't mm the virus. it is going to be a trade off whatever you do, isn't it? it is a trade—off. there have been some risky political decisions made around the economy. i think it is important we don't see them as separate things. we —— like if we had got the virus more under control, the economy could recover ata control, the economy could recover at a greater speed than it is now. it is not necessarily a trade off

all the time. it is important that health is put to the foremost. we have to take the entire population weathers. there have been some m essa g es weathers. there have been some messages that has caused division between age groups. we need to accept between age groups. we need to a cce pt we between age groups. we need to accept we are all in this together and we need to do what we can to protect each other. you would be cautious of laying the blame, if it is the right word, it is a consequence of behaviour, of putting that emphasis on other groups in the population? yes, we need to be conscious of that. younger people are disenfranchised because of other events, more recently such as brexit, increasing house prices. that will lead to more division. we are not living in bubbles necessarily, we are all interacting a bit more and it will not stain the younger population so we must protect each other. it is notjust

the young people that are not wearing masks. it is right throughout society. so we must make sure we protect each other and more importantly when outbreaks occur that we don't just finger importantly when outbreaks occur that we don'tjust finger point. that we applaud what has been done to respond to that. we had about a month or so ago, we had a local outbreak. the local community responded and the virus numbers were very quickly brought under. that is a good thing and that should be applauded. that is a positive note to focus on. it is a reversible situation for you? yes. what we all do as situation for you? yes. what we all doasa situation for you? yes. what we all do as a society will impact on the r number. we do need leadership and clear public health messaging to make sure we can... it is something we can all do together and we can bring this virus under control. we can keep schools open and get people going back into university. but