this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. former british prime ministers tony blair and sirjohn major call borisjohnson‘s brexit plans "shameful" as the government continues to defend plans to override parts of the withdrawal agreement. this is a collective will on the part of the government not just to prepare for the worst, but also to protect the internal workings of our united kingdom. that's responsible government. more than 30 people have died as wildfires burn in california, oregon, and washington, causing widespread pollution. there's fresh concern in the uk over the growing spread of coronavirus after more than 3,000 cases were recorded on consecutive days. teenagers convicted of terrorism

in england and wales could receive whole—life terms under sentencing reforms announced by the government. the afghan government calls for a ceasefire with the taliban as the first—ever peace talks between the two sides get under way in qatar. 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. two former british prime ministers have condemned plans by the government to override elements of the brexit withdrawal agreement using domestic law, something ministers have admitted will break an international treaty. boris johnson says the european union is threatening to impose a customs border in the irish sea,

separating northern ireland from the rest of the uk. but writing in the sunday times, sirjohn major and tony blair say "what is being proposed now is shocking, ..is irresponsible, wrong in principle and dangerous in practice". they go on to say "this government's action is shaming itself and embarrassing our nation. 0ur political correspondent helen catt has more. of course, these are two former prime ministers from different parties, one labour, one conservative. so it is striking that they have chosen at this point to come back together again, if you like, and they make this quite and they've also, in their letter, attacked the justification that boris johnson has given for taking this action. borisjohnson has said he needs to do it to protect the integrity of the uk and the peace process in northern ireland. they've said they disagree with that. they say the government's

action does not protect the good friday agreement, it imperils it. they've also poured scorn on the idea that this difference of opinion is something that's just come to light, saying that to claim now that the government has only just discovered this consequence is a nonsense, for it was the prime minister himself who negotiated it. thejustice secretary robert buckland this morning has been defending the government's position. he told the andrew marr show that with respect, these prime ministers haven't had to deal with the situation this government is facing. looking back at precedents, it's very difficult to find a moment like the one we face now. the united kingdom has never been in a position like this before. none of my predecessors and no previous government has ever had to extricate itself from an institution of which has been a member for 40 years. this is difficult stuff, andrew. i think it is right that we make provision for the contingency that if things do not go well, that we have a domestic law basis upon which to act. so that is the british government's position. what's the latest eu reaction to all this?

there's been a strong reaction from the eu and quite a lot of anger at the ratcheting up of tensions, although there has been a bit of ratcheting up on the eu side as well, michel barnier this week earlier suggesting that brussels may not grant the uk the right status to be able to export food to the eu once we've left the single market and the customs union. so there's been a ratcheting up on both sides. but what we've heard from the eu is that they could take legal action. the european parliament has said it is likely to refuse to ratify any trade deal if one is agreed if changes are made to the withdrawal agreement, and there is generally a real sense of anger. simon coveney is the irish foreign minister who was also on the andrew marr show this morning, visibly angry, actually, and he again expressed those concerns about what this does to how to how britain is viewed and for those other negotiations. the british government, in my view, is behaving in an extraordinary way, and british people need to know that because outside of britain, where this issue is being discussed

now, the reputation of the uk and britain as a trusted negotiating partner on important issues like this is being damaged in a very serious way. and we've been getting reaction from the opposition labour party. what are they saying? there has been some criticism of labour for perhaps not speaking up as much as it could on brexit. today there's been a strong article from its leader sir keir starmer, accusing the government of turning the clock back and reigniting old rows by going back to the withdrawal agreement and saying that it needs to get on with it and turn its attention to focusing on the coronavirus pandemic in the uk. he also sets out what labour's position will be on this bill that's going to go through the uk parliament starting tomorrow. he said that they will not vote for it if the government doesn't do something to fix these concerns. rachel reeves, a labour mp who speaks for the party on brexit issues, reinforced that. keir starmer cannot go through the division lobbies

this evening knowing that we are deliberately and consciously breaking international law. it's the wrong thing to do for our moral standing in the world, but it's also absolutely counter—productive in achieving what we want to achieve, and that is a free trade agreement with the european union. is any of this likely to change downing street's is any of this likely to change downing street's position? we know this is a government that does like to dig in. that legislation is still due to start the latest stage of its progress through parliament tomorrow, so it's unlikely that we're going to see them change course because of these. helen catt, our political correspondent. more than 30 people have been killed by wildfires that are sweeping through us west coast states, officials say. dozens of people are missing in oregon alone, with one emergency official saying the state should be preparing for a "mass fatality incident. kathryn armstrong reports. the city of portland, almost invisible under a thick layer of smoke — the result

of deadly wildfires that have been raging on the west coast for weeks. meteorologists on saturday said that the air quality here and in neighbouring states was the worst in the world, and warnings are in place in canada as the smoke travels north. so awfully kind of you guys. thank you so much. elsewhere in oregon, these residents are now relying on the kindness of strangers after having to flee their homes, unsure when they will be able to return and what they will find when they get there. to be honest, if we have to rebuild, we have to rebuild. if we don't have to rebuild, we still have so much clean—up to do because of the ash. because when we left, like i said, the last time we pulled out, there was almost two inches, so it is what it's going to be and i am just thankful that we are alive, we are together. oh, my god! and scenes like this are what they have escaped. this part ofjust one of the more than a dozen blazes in the state that firefighters are working to contain. oh, my god, babe. more than 900,000 acres have

burned in oregon this week alone — more than twice the average area burned over the last decade. officials are warning the death toll could rise significantly in the coming days. meanwhile in california, where some of the largest fires the state has ever seen have been burning, there has been some cause for optimism — a break in the hot, dry weather on saturday enabled firefighters to make important headway in containment efforts. the president is due to visit the state on monday to see first—hand the devastation the fires have caused. donald trump has said that western governors bear some of the blame for intense fire seasons in recent years, claiming that poor forest management has enabled the fires to spread. applause. his political opponent joe biden, meanwhile, has joined some state officials, including california's governor, in linking the current situation to climate change. he tweeted:

while the cause and strength of the fires remains open for debate, the arduous task of trying to contain them continues. it is hoped that in the coming days, parts of the west coast will see the first signs of rain in weeks, bringing some relief to a desperate situation. however, officials are warning that some fires are likely to continue burning until winter arrives. teenagers convicted of terrorism in england and wales could receive whole—life terms under sentencing reforms described by the government as the most radical in almost 20 years. currently, a life tariff can only be given to those over the age of 21, but ministers plan to reduce this to 18 for exceptional cases such as terrorism, as thejustice secretary, robert buckland, explains. i'm going to be reforming the law further to end the situation where just because you might be under 21, the law bars

the possibility of a whole life order, that is somebody serving all their term in prison. i think it's right to give judges that discretion, and later in the week i will be announcing more measures in a sentencing white paper that will finally give the country a sense of what i have worked on for the last 30 years as a professional barrister and as a part—timejudge, that i think sentencing can be better, can be smarter and can be more balanced, genuinely in the interests of public protection and also rehabilitation wherever appropriate. let's get the thoughts now of lord carlile, who served as the uk's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation from 2001 to 2011. let's pick up on thejustice secretary, saying that they are

delivering a system that he said is more equipped than ever to crack down on crime, which the public and confidence in to keep them safe. robert buckland is a good friend and i like robert buckland is a good friend and ilike him robert buckland is a good friend and i like him very much, but i'm very disappointed in him in relation to this proposal. it's completely unnecessary. judges have the full range of discretion available for 18 to 21—year—olds, as mrjustice jeremy baker demonstrated a few days ago when he gave a minimum term of 55 years to hashem abedi, one of the brothers responsible for the manchester bombing. there are very good reasons for having different rules for those under 21, as i would have thought would be recognised by every experienced prosecutor, defender, criminologist, teacher, pa rent defender, criminologist, teacher, parent who has had teenagers and so on. this is window dressing, i'm afraid, and it will not be acceptable, particularly to many

people in the house of lords who i believe willjoin me in voting against it. you say there are good reasons for differentiating on the basis of age. let me read to you what boris johnson basis of age. let me read to you what borisjohnson has said in today's sunday express, talking about hashem abedi's case and the case of the manchester arena bombing. he says if somebody plots to deliberately kill dozens of people, it doesn't matter if you are only 18 when you do so, we are going to re m ove only 18 when you do so, we are going to remove a loophole that lets some truly despicable criminals avoid such a sentence. well, as the father of many grown—up children, i'm surprised to hear that from boris johnson, frankly, because he is wrong. hashem abedi will not be considered for parole until he is at least 70 plus years old. the judge said to him, he may well never be released. but it is a fact that younger people tend to be more impressionable and there is a

possibility, only a possibility and there's not much sign it with hashem abedi, that he may think very differently by the time he is much older. the parole board is there to deal with this case. it does so on the basis of evidence and on the merits. it is led by skilled people, andi merits. it is led by skilled people, and i think this isjust a political act, and politics really ought to be kept out of sentencing as far as possible. i believe that this change will meet considerable political opposition. it might well get political opposition, but it might also get support from the public. well, i don't know what your evidence is of that. if you look at public opinion polling of sentencing issues, actually, the public have attended from time to time to be rather more lenient than the courts. you have to look at the guidance given tojudges by you have to look at the guidance given to judges by the sentencing council and the way in which judges exercise their discretion. and of

course, you have the court of appeal and potentially the supreme court to deal with mistakes made by the judges. so as i say, this is an entirely political gesture and not founded on any merits. i am disappointed in robert buckland for wanting to introduce this change. lord carlile, good of you tojoin us. there's fresh concern over the growing spread of coronavirus after more than 3,000 cases were recorded in the uk on consecutive days — for the first time since mid—may. it comes as the government sends an alert to care providers over growing concerns over an increase in covid—19 cases in care homes. in towns and cities across the uk last night, many people took the opportunity to enjoy a night out before new covid restrictions come into force tomorrow. here's simonjones. a busy saturday night in liverpool.

the last chance for large groups to meet before the so—called rule of six comes into force. in england, only six people will be allowed to get together in certain situations. this weekend, everybody is just going wild, which makes zero sense, but i think everyone is going wild because they want to have the last party because everyone is terrified of going into another lockdown. there's four people in our house and there's four people in her house, so there's been eight. the majority of people have got two kids. the majority of couples have two children, so it's preventing two families from getting together. coronavirus is not going to stop this weekend, it's still going to be here, so why wait till monday? if there's going to be a lockdown, do it now. in soho in central london, there is concern at the rate coronavirus is spreading. the r number has gone over one now. i think we are approaching this second wave that everyone is talking about. i think it will be quite a good thing. when you go to places like this, you do see big groups of people.

certain areas are not monitored like house parties, and that is down to responsibility for the host of the house party. hopefully, people listen. i don't know if they do, though. yeah, be sensible. from monday, police in england will have the power to fine people who don't stick to the rule of six. £100 for a first offence, doubling each time to a maximum of £3,200. the big question is whether police will initially try an approach of engagement or move straight to enforcement. in england, the rule of six will apply indoors and outdoors and in scotland, the six can only be from two households and young children aren't counted and in wales up to 30 can still meet outdoors. this is why the government is acting. there were 3,497 new coronavirus cases recorded in the latest 24—hour period. that means the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week isjust over 3,000. nine 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 each day, taking the total number across the uk to 41 , 623. in scotland, new cases diagnosed have hit a four—month high. the message from politicians — keeping coronavirus under control requires care and vigilance from all of us. representatives of the afghan government and the taliban begin their first formal day of peace talks in qatar later, following saturday's opening ceremony. the head of the government delegation, abdullah abdullah, said that one of the first issues to be discussed would be government calls for a reduction in violence and an eventual ceasefire. the taliban political chief, mullah abdul ghani barader, repeated that afghanistan should be governed under stricter islamic law. the bbc‘s chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in doha. after so many years of such horrific bloodshed, this really is a day of

history, isn't it? it is certainly a day of history. it has also been a day of history. it has also been a day of history. it has also been a day of deep emotion. everyone, whatever side they are on in this brutal war, has lost someone in this conflict. 0ne brutal war, has lost someone in this conflict. one of the negotiators on the government side lost his nephew who was in the afghan army in a taliban attack two weeks ago. the head of the thailand delegation lost his son and his brother in an attack a year ago, his son and his brother in an attack a yearago, and his son and his brother in an attack a year ago, and every time there is a year ago, and every time there is a personal loss, this has an impact on political opinion —— make the head of the caliban delegation lost his son. you hear about the edging for peace, but what doesn't matter as much as the words is what they are willing to do to make this possible. can they really close what are still significant gaps in their views on what the future for afghanistan should look like? what other significant gaps and what

would a possible peace deal look like? first of all, these are peace talks. that means silencing of the guns. this is the first agenda on the government side. they want to have a ceasefire. the taliban have been reluctant. they don't want to demobilise their fighters. they are worried that they will go away from the battlefield and not come back. they are a military organisation. it is part of their sense of who they are, which is why during the agreement they reached with the united states, they didn't talk about a ceasefire, they said reduction in violence. today we have been talking with negotiators on both sides to say, can you come up with a form of words? the government is proposing humanitarian ceasefire, in other words to ease the suffering of the people, not about politics, but about everyday lives. this will be the first stumbling block. then of course, what kind of political

system ? 0n the of course, what kind of political system? on the one side, the taliban so it is the islamic emirate of afghanistan. 0n the other side, it's the islamic republic of afghanistan, with a constitution. both sides want to say it is their political structure and that islamic law should prevail, so that has to be worked out too. and what are the extent of political freedoms? what about women's rights that have been achieved in the last 19 years? so in every process worldwide, it is in the details, and in afghanistan too. lyse, good to talk to you. many thanks. lyse doucet in doha. in greece, thousands of people from the moria migrant camp on the island of lesbos have spent a fourth night sleeping rough after it was burnt to the ground. the authorities are working to set up tents to rehouse them, but they face strong opposition from some greek islanders who want the migrants to be sent elsewhere. more than 10,000 people were left without shelter when fires devastated the camp last week.

greek authorities say the most vulnerable asylum seekers, including families, will be given priority housing. on saturday, police on lesbos fired tear gas during a protest by migrants. it was the second such demonstration since friday, sparked by anger over their conditions. shirin tinnesand works for the greek charity stand by me lesbos, which has been helping those affected by the burning down of moria camp. just describe the situation in lesbos. what is the state of these thousands of people who were in the camp that was destroyed by the fires and who are now trying to make sums of life for themselves? well, like you said, for the past four days a lot of these people have been living outside, literally on the road or by the road. in addition to not having

been provided with shelter, these people have not been provided with food either. it was only yesterday afternoon that the camp for families was opened. they were previously getting unaccompanied minors of the island. they came with buses to pick up island. they came with buses to pick up single african women, who were also brought into shelter, and yesterday they opened a facility for families. but actually, they haven't been receiving food. 0nly families. but actually, they haven't been receiving food. only a few ngos have been able to provide any emergency relief. as we speak, there is another demonstration happening in this area by women and children. are you saying that it is the greek authorities who should have done more to help these people?” authorities who should have done more to help these people? i think eve ryo ne more to help these people? i think everyone should have done more. this island is so crowded with ngos. in a

situation like this, you as an ngo have to step up and provide emergency relief. there has to be better communication between all the actors who are here. it is outrageous that in europe in 2020, people have been sitting on the street for four days without food or shelter, women and children who are days old. there has also been a lack of medical assistance. people still haven't been able to wash off the ashes from the fire. tell us about the fire. do we know any more about how these fires at the camp started? this was a camp already massively overcrowded thousands of migrants, but then it was devastated by the fire. our charity stand by me lesbos works in moria and a lot of our activities are refugee led and

coordinated. so in the middle of this, we were able to track the situation because we were receiving information and getting live coverage of it. the information i am receiving from the people who were on the ground when the fire started is that there were several fires. the fires were a consequence of riots happening inside the camp. the conditions were already outrageous even then, and these people had been locked up since march, said they had beenin locked up since march, said they had been in the camp for six months. but from what i understand, the trigger of it all was, the same day we receive the results of the covered tests for 35 people who had tested positive and being put into isolation, and some ngo workers had come to bring people who were related to those with the positive tests to put them into quarantine centres. and apparently, they had

not done this with enough tract or enough dialogue, so people felt like they were being arrested when they came to bring them to the quarantine centres. and this feeling of feeling u nsafe centres. and this feeling of feeling unsafe is what started the riot. that is the information i have received from the people who were on the ground when this happened. thank you for bringing us up—to—date. that was shirin tinnesand, an aid worker with the aid organisation stand by me lesbos, on the situation with the migrants in lesbos. the husband of nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, who was expected to appear in court in tehran today, says she has not been taken to court. her lawyer is currently at the prosecutors office trying to find out what is happening. last week the british—iranian mother, who is serving a five—year sentence in iran, was told she would be tried today on a new charge. she was arrested in 2016 after being accused of spying — which she denies. brazil's pantanal, the world's biggest tropical wetlands, is burning at record pace this year.

animal carcasses litter the dried—up swamps as drought—fuelled fires devastate the area. the wetland sits at the southern edge of the amazon rainforest and stretches from brazil into paraguay and bolivia. experts say more than 5.7 million acres have gone up in flames so far this year, threatening the world's largestjaguar population. you're watching bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather. hello. temperatures are set to climb over the next couple of days, a burst of september heat on the way. today is a bit warmer than yesterday. dry for many, the best of the sunshine towards the south and the east. but uo towards the north west of scotland, more rain in the forecast, potentially enough for some localised flooding and travel disruption. for southern scotland, northern ireland and northern

england, a windy day, gusts of 45 miles an hour. the highest temperatures are to be found across eastern england, where we will get up to 25 or 26 this afternoon. this evening, the rain will slowly peter out in the north west of scotland. there will be a lot of cloud and some patches of fog in one or two spots towards the south, and it will be a mild night. through monday and tuesday, temperatures in the south could get close to 30 degrees, but warming up further north as well. it will then turn cooler, but mostly dry from midweek onwards.

hello this is bbc news. the headlines... former prime ministers tony blair and sirjohn major call borisjohnson's brexit plans shameful as the government continues to defend plans to override parts of the withdrawal agreement. more than 30 people have died as wildfires burn in california, oregon and washington, causing widespread pollution. there's fresh concern in the uk over the growing spread of coronavirus after more than 3,000 cases were recorded on consecutive days. teenagers convicted of terrorism in england and wales could receive whole—life terms under sentencing reforms announced by the government. the afghan government calls for a ceasefire with the taliban as the first—ever peace talks between the two sides get under way in qatar.

now on bbc news, it's time for dateline london. hello, i'm shaun ley. welcome to the programme which brings together some of the uk's leading commentators and bbc specialists with the foreign correspondents who try to explain this country to those back home, filing their stories with the dateline: london. the coronavirus infection rate is rising in the uk. we'll discuss that and newly imposed restrictions, but we're devoting much of this week's programme to the global impact of the pandemic — in particular what it means to those countries without the economic resilience and comprehensive health services to see it through.

joining me this week: ian birrell from the mail on sunday and ned temko from the christian science monitor. and here in the studio, at a covid—safe distance, the bbc‘s special correspondent, clive myrie. more than 27.5 million people infected, 900,000 dead. on monday, india recorded its highest daily infection figure — close to 91,000. heroic efforts by scientists researching vaccines, the guinea pigs testing them and those treating the sick give us hope for the future. yet, as those figures demonstrate, the reality is that we are only nine months into a pandemic the world health organization says could be with us beyond next year. between april and june, india's economy shrank by a quarter. between the first and the second quarter, south africa's economy was down by 51%. ian birrell, let's leave those bigger countries for a moment