this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. britain is "on the edge of losing control" of coronavirus. a stark warning from one leading scientist following a sharp rise in cases in the united kingdom. 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. 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. dozens of people are reported missing in a wave of deadly wildfires in the us state of oregon. the big increase in people working from home is reviving smaller local high streets according to new research across england. hello and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world 7 and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. 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 10 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 that one infected person will pass the virus on to — on average, is thought to be between one 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 3—4 days. we need to make sure that children are at school and learning and we need to make sure that our economy is recovering and healing, and that's why we have to accept 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. 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. it is because of that household setting that the particular measures were put in place 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, though mainly in the workforce.

this has all been 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 don't self—isolate when they are told to, with fears that some are not taking the resurgence of the virus seriously enough. simon jones, bbc news. the number of new coronavirus infections in the uk, it's now doubling every 7—10 days and the latest figures show there were 3539 cases recorded in the latest 2a period. that means the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week is now 2,761. 6 deaths were reported of people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test, and that means on average in the last week, 11 deaths were announced every day, taking the total number

across the uk of people known to have died as a result of the pandemic to 41,614. so with infections rising and tougher restrictions being imposed — a report from the government's scientific advisers has suggested only 20 percent of people with symptoms — or in a household where someone has symptoms — fully comply with self isolation by staying at home. let's get the views now of sir mark walport, government chief scientific adviser in the united kingdom from 2013 to 2017. and is a member of sage — the government's scientific advisory group for emergencies. what is your sense of where we are? 0nly what is your sense of where we are? only at a sense where we have two batting the hatches, in terms of our behaviour and attitude to the virus? 0rare we in behaviour and attitude to the virus? or are we in the position where we have left but a little bit too late? the numbers speak for themselves. the numbers speak for themselves. the numbers speak for themselves. the numbers are going up consistently in the uk at the

moment. numbers suggests doubling about every second day. the number of patients in september is just over 1800. if we look across the channel, we can see the numbers in spain, we can see the numbers in france. earlier in the week, france had just over 9800 infections. they area had just over 9800 infections. they are a few weeks ahead, and the number of patients going into intensive care is increasing. it has increased by 93 people on wednesday. this is the time to act. again, if you look at belgium where they are managing to hold the numbers down, and they had a very severe initial phase, they are limiting numbers of social gatherings to about five people. the bottom—line is that this isa people. the bottom—line is that this is a widely distributed infection, it is across the whole of the uk. by every measure, the numbers are going up. you have raised quite an

important here about the numbers now and why that could lead to significant increases in hospital admissions. there is an issue about the development of the virus in individuals. they don't immediately need hospital treatment, but they may need it? there are two things to say. the first thing to say is that severe aspects of the infection develop in vulnerable people in the second week, at least, of the infection, so there is a lag. the other thing is that the infection is mainly in younger populations at the moment, but the reality is that young people are in contact with older people, and so it is only a matter of time before it spreads into much more vulnerable populations. we know that there are social factors, bame, minority groups are also more vulnerable to the infection. we know that birmingham is now going to be

subject to more severe restrictions than have been the case. up until the 8th of september, there were 1031 cases recorded in the seven days before that, and in the seven days before that, and in the seven days before that, the previous week, up days before that, the previous week, up to the 1st of september, 35.9 per 100,000. that went up to the equivalent of 90.3 per 100,000. that isa equivalent of 90.3 per 100,000. that is a dramatic rate of increase, isn't it? the so-called reproduction number which is how many people a single individual insects is going up, slightly higher than some estimates is 1.7. that means on average everyone person infects nearly two people. and at a doubling rate of every seven days, you can see how the numbers double. so the numbers go up very, very quickly

indeed, and that is why it is important to nip it in the bud as quickly as one possibly can, and that means that basically we have to keep people apart from each other because the fewer close contact, the fewer infections that are transmitted. if they have found that 20% of people that have symptoms don't self—isolate fully... sorry, forgive me, 80% don't. i have got that the wrong way round. it is much more severe. this is not only people with the symptoms, but their household contacts as well. so if people are not observing those, what seemed a relatively simple thing to understand, if you have symptoms, you have to self—isolate. if people are stewing that, if they are struggling to get tests, if they are showing resistance to the rules...

aren't doing that, we are in trouble, 0riente we? —— aren't we? firstly, an issue of lack of support to self—isolate. people need food, and if they haven't got someone to get that for them, that is a problem. there are financial issues. some people really need to work. there are, i think, less satisfactory explanations, is such as the perception that people aren't worried about catching coronavirus and perceiving it as a smaller risk thanit and perceiving it as a smaller risk than it actually is. and then there is the case of the absolute clarity of messaging. there are a number of factors and a number of things that needs to be done. we are seeing things like increased clarity in messaging which is why i think things like the rule of six is

pretty straightforward. but people do need help to get their food, for example, and there is the question of financial support to enable people to afford to isolate and make sure theirjob is protected if they are quarantined. and then there is, if necessary, enforcement. thank you very much. 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. i've been speaking to our political correspondent helen catt we can speak now to catherine barnard, professor of eu law

at the university of cambridge. rup are about what the government thinks the eu might do —— are you? what seems to have spooked the uk government is the threat by the eu that the uk will not appear on an approved list of third country providers on what are called sps products. if you look on the eu's website, there are a large number of countries that have been approved, which range from countries with might expect, like australia and new zealand, such tarmac and those you might not expect, like afghanistan. ifthe uk might not expect, like afghanistan. if the uk didn't move on some of theissues if the uk didn't move on some of the issues future regulation ship ——

relationship, the uk would not appear on this list and that is crucial for the northern ireland border. if we weren't on the approved list, it is possible, not certain but possible, the eu could say, sorry, we don't think that meets our standards. because there isa meets our standards. because there is a danger that that might cross the border into the republic, which is part of the eu and suddenly it could be sold anywhere else in the eu, we need to stop it getting to northern ireland. so there is something in a sense for boris johnson to be angry about but possibly both he and the eu are engaged in a bit of negotiation tactics here? i think your summary was really helpful, and i think what we might say is that although that seems to have been what caused the government's anger at the moment,

andi government's anger at the moment, and i should say it was always assumed we should go on that list of countries because by definition we we re countries because by definition we were already in alignment with eu rules, so therefore it would be obvious for us to be on that's less, what the internal market bill does, which is the bill that is published this week, focuses on the west east relations, not the east—west relations, not the east—west relations, so what it does is focus on the relations between northern ireland and great britain, not great britain and northern ireland. that is what might be affected by the eu's threats. but it looks like a game... it is a very high stakes game... it is a very high stakes game of chicken. and it is chicken over something that is so sensitive, namely the northern ireland border and all the implications that that has got for the good friday agreement. it is one of the reasons borisjohnson was so careful to renegotiate theresa may's version of

the northern ireland protocol to try and make it acceptable to the party, but at the moment, this is being used as a pawn in these very tense negotiations over the future trade relationships. is your instinct that they will find some way out of this disagreement because of the economic implications both for the eu and the uk? you might think that would be the right answer, but the economic sta kes a re the right answer, but the economic stakes are really high. we have seen a number of british trade steel organisations begging the uk and eu to come to an agreement because the economic implications are so serious. but they are not looking at this through the prism of economics but through the prism of sovereignty. and what they are arguing is that the uk is a sovereign nation are now and we should not be curtailed now in our

activities by anyway by the eu. the problem is geography and perfect that northern ireland has a border. there is a lot of trade that goes on between northern ireland and the south, so it is really important but that gets settled. the uk government wa nts to that gets settled. the uk government wants to assert this issue of sovereignty. 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 will 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 and 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. it is such an extraordinary moment here in doha. 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 taliban security guarantees. 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.

fires continue to wreak havoc across the us states of california, oregon, and washington, killing at least 15 people. dozens of people are missing and tens of thousands have been displaced. 3,600 square kilometers and many homes 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 safe 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 we're 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. businesses in commuter towns have recovered from the coronavirus lockdown more quickly than those in big cities, according to new research. joining me now is dr steve millington, who led the research for manchester metropolitan university. you looked at full and compared it in big city centres and some of the towns —— footfall big cities, people haven't returned to them in the same numbers as they did in the same period last year. smaller towns, commuter towns, neighbourhood centres, district centres, market towns, they are faring much better. they never lost as much footfall.

people aren't to go into work in the big city. they are kind of rediscovering what is on their local high street. i am looking at the figures reported, and you have got footfall falling on average at about 76% in big cities but 34% in the same period in smaller towns. it is not great in the big cities, especially in the longer term if we are talking about coronavirus continuing, but there is some room for some optimism about the future viability of a town high street?m isa viability of a town high street?m is a great opportunity for many locations now. people are finding out there are great services and great independent traders that they can great independent traders that they ca n a ccess , great independent traders that they can access, that they can walk to where they live. the opportunity and the challenge is for those centres to retain that and reinvent themselves as places where people can hang out, work, rather thanjust

places to go shopping because of the challenges to the retail sector. shopping is not really the future for many of our centres. but there is still reason to think there could be economic activity there is presumably people are not commuting the long distances they have got into the habit of doing over the last yea rs ? into the habit of doing over the last years? i don't want to speculate too much. i am in central manchester. there are lots of new office blocks here. they are going to be here for a long time. but certainly flexible working, more people working at home... may be flexible working will be kind of a resilient response for many businesses, where they can quickly send employees home. if they have but to go home, they need to use their local centre. local centres need to be appealing and have the right attractions to retain that kind of activity. in terms of the

range of activity, is it now as vibrant as it was, or is it till struggling to come back? in the footfall, there has been a slower recovery. it is not where it was, and let us not forget, the government set up a high street task force and that was to address these pre—existing structural challenges to the high street before the pandemic. the pandemic has accelerated some of those, like home delivery, online, retail, so we really need to rethink what our centres a re really need to rethink what our centres are for. we will have to leave it there. thank you very much. toots hibbert, frontman of the legendary reggae band toots and the maytals,

has died at the age of 77. one of jamaica's most influential musicians, he helped popularise reggae in the 1960s with songs like pressure drop, monkey man and funky kingston. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben. big differences in the weather this weekend depending on where in the uk you are spending it. in many places, largely dry and it will turn were particularly in the south. some are wet and blustery weather in the forecast. where you are closest to a band of cloud and rain, it is like a pipeline of moisture that is ploughing towards the north—west of the uk. that will bring some outbreaks of rain. for england and wales, largely dry through the afternoon with spells of sunshine.

a little bit breezy in the south but quite windy further north, the average wind speeds there, but we could see gusts of 40 or 50 mph exposed spots in northern scotland. 13 degrees at the top temperature here, 22 down towards the south—east of england. through this evening and tonight, much of england and wales will stay dry but for northern ireland, for scotland and the far north of england, we will see some heavy burst of rain spilling in, it will once again be quite windy overnight, temperatures of around 11, 12 or 13 degrees in most places. as we head into tomorrow, that pipeline of moisture i talked about, this frontal system will still be close to north—west scotland, still providing some outbreaks of pretty heavy rain — in fact over the north—west highlands, over some of the hills and mountains, we could see over 150 millimetres of rain, a met office yellow warning, the risk of some localised flooding and some transport disruption. rather cloudy from much of northern ireland and southern scotland, the further south you are across england and wales you'll see some sunshine, a bit warmer as well. 24 or maybe 25 degrees toward the south—east.

now, as we move into monday, we still have this frontal system up to the north but what we will really start to feel the effect of is some warmer air wafting its way up from the south. so, lots of dry weather on monday, the best of the sunshine of england and wales, more cloud for northern ireland and scotland with some patchy rain, but it will be warmer, 20 degrees in glasgow, perhaps up to 29 in london and for parts of the south on tuesday, it is possible it could get to 30 degrees, but it will turn cooler for all of us from mid week onwards.

this is bbc world news. the headlines... peace talks aimed at ending four decades of conflict in afghanistan are under way in the qatari capital, doha. representatives for the afghan government and the taliban insisted they were committed to stopping the violence. the us has helped to broker the talks. police on the greek island of lesbos have fired tear gas during a protest by migrants whose camp burned down on wednesday. efforts to build alternative accommodation for thousands of residents of the moria camp have been delayed by objections from local authorities. the british prime minister borisjohnson has warned that the european union could use an extreme interpretation of a key brexit deal to stop britain moving food to northern ireland. mrjohnson said the aim was to pressure britain to agree a trade deal on eu terms.