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 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. and there are further concerns for the people living there. 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 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. nazaneen is a gary ratcliffe, the british iranian woman jailed nazaneen is a gary ratcliffe, the british iranian womanjailed in iran for spying —— nazaneen —— nazanin zagahri—ratcliffe has not been taken to court as was expected. iran's postponement of the hearing was said to bea postponement of the hearing was said to be a true political gain. speak about —— a cruel political game. 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 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 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.

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—i9 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, everyone isjust 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—i9 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. dr maria van kerkhove is the technical lead on covid—i9

at the world health organization. she says that the majority of people in the world are still susceptible to the virus. what we know is that this virus has quite a long way to go. if we look at the proportion of the population that actually still remain susceptible, only about 10% of the world's population has been exposed and has evidence of infection, which means that most people remain susceptible. we're seeing some worrying trends across europe. in a number of countries, we're seeing an increase in case numbers, which is partly due to increased testing, it's partly due to improved surveillance, but it's definitely heading in the wrong direction. so what we really need to focus on is bringing transmission under control, and we do have the tools that can put that in place.

the husband of nazanin is a gary ratcliffe, who was expected to appear in court today, says she has not been taken to the court. prosecutors are trying to find out what is happening. last week the british iranian mother, who is currently serving a five year sentence in iran, was told she would be tried today on a new church. she was originally arrested in 2016 after being accused of spying, which she denies. we havejust had a statement on this from the british government, the foreign office saying "we welcome the deferral of this groundless court hearing and we call on iran to make nazanin's release permanent so that she can return to her family release permanent so that she can return to herfamily in release permanent so that she can return to her family in the release permanent so that she can return to herfamily in the uk. so thatis return to herfamily in the uk. so that is the foreign office in london, welcoming the deferral of what they call a groundless court hearing against nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe. still waiting for clarification about whether the iranian authorities are pressing

further charges and whether there will be a new trial. authorities in melbourne have arrested more than 70 people for flouting strict stay—at—home orders to protest against lockdown restrictions. the protests came ahead of the partial easing of tough coronavirus measures in australia's second city, starting from midnight local time. victoria state accounts for 75% of cases in australia, but the recorded daily infections have been falling. night—time curfew will be shortened and more outdoor exercise will be allowed — but the stay—at—home orders will remain in place. 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 say afghanistan should be governed under stricter islamic law.

the bbc‘s chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in doha. she explained to me the potential sticking points in the talks. first of all, these are peace talks. that means silencing the guns. this is the first agenda on the government's side. they want to have a ceasefire. the taliban have been reluctant. they don't want to demobilise their fighters. they're worried that they will go away from the battlefield and not come back. and of course, they're a military organisation. it's 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've 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 a political system? 0n the one side, the taliban say 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 that "it's our 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 as we know in every process worldwide, it's in the details, and in afghanistan too. lyse doucet in doha. in the uk, 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 yea rs. 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. labour say increasing sentences for younger terrorist offenders

is "quite low down the list" of issues in a criminaljustice system that is in "complete disarray" due to cuts. and earlier i spoke to lord carlile, who served as the uk's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation from 2001 to 2011. he said he doesn't support this review from the government. 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, 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 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, 19 or 20 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. thejudge said to him that 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 of 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, and i think this isjust a political act, and politics really ought to be kept out of sentencing as far as possible. 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. i asked her to describe the situation on the island. 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 off the

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. 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. a group of mps has written to nhs trusts asking them to allow pregnant women to have a partner with them during labour and scans. the government has given guidance saying this should be permitted, but mps are concerned that some nhs trusts are still making women go through labour alone. earlier, conservative mp alicia kearns told us why she was organising the campaign. so when national lockdown ended, medical guidance to the government said it could now change so that all women across the country could have a partner with them for all their scans and for every

stage of labour. but unfortunately, even this week there's been a woman in the country who had to deliver a stillborn on their own. there are women going for scans and finding out they've had miscarriages on their own, and there are partners who are locked out of rooms when theyjust want to be there, protecting their loved ones. so i'm calling for all nhs trusts to immediately put in place government guidance and make sure no woman goes through this alone. i'm five months pregnant at the moment. the reason i'm fighting for this is that my trust immediately let me have a partner, so i haven't had any scans on my own. but women go into these scans excited, terrified. it's a real time of unknown, and you could walk in and walk away with the best news possible, i only had the scan yesterday, or you could walk away with the most devastating news when you could have when you could have been working to get pregnant for years. women are going into rooms where they have previously had a miscarriage, not knowing what they're going to be told this time, as i say, been divorced and having to deliver a stillborn on their own.

birth is traumatic. i remember when i was in labour, all seemed fine and one minute later i was being blue—lit into the emergency room. birth changes at speed and women have to be given the support, and partners deserve to be part of that and not cut out of the process. it's the biggest half marathon event in the uk, raising more than £25 pounds every year. this year's great north run is currently under way — although the race will look very different. earlier we spoke to colin plews, half way through his run. i have loved every minute. everyone is still coming to their windows and waving. it's smaller, but it's still the same. when i heard the news, i was absolutely gutted myself. a lot of charities were hit hard. they have done the best they can, so i appreciate that. a lot of the

smaller charities are really struggling, so i am pleading with people, if you are thinking of raising money, get out and do it, because they need it. you're watching bbc news. here in the uk, sue barker is leaving the bbc‘s a question of sport after 2a years, as part of a major shake—up at the programme. the former professional tennis player, who's 64, has presented the show since 1997, when she took over from commentator david coleman. team captains matt dawson and phil tufnell will also depart the long—running sports quiz show. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. hello, there is a burst of september heat on the way over the next couple of days. temperatures starting to lift through the rest of today. a warmer day than yesterday, a dry day for most,

but not for all of us. let's look back at the earlier radar picture. you can see where it's been wet so far this weekend across parts of northern ireland, northern england and particularly scotland. and the rain just keeps on falling across western and particularly north—western parts of scotland. there is a met office yellow warning in force for the risk of some localised flooding and travel disruption. elsewhere, a lot of dry weather around. fairly cloudy across parts of northern ireland, southern scotland. eastern parts of scotland should brighten up a little bit with some sunshine. the best of the sunshine today through east wales, the midlands, towards the east and the south of england. quite windy through this central slice, through northern ireland, southern scotland and northern england. gusts of around 45 mph. and temperatures a little higher than they were yesterday — 21, for example, in belfast. parts of eastern england likely to get to 25, maybe 26 degrees. through this evening and tonight, the rain will slowly peter out across the north—west of scotland. a lot of cloud still filtering in for many areas and some patches of mist and fog developing down

towards the south on what will be a relatively mild night — lows of 11—14 degrees. so, into tomorrow, a weather front still up to the north—west. that'll be bringing some patchy rain. not as wet across parts of western scotland, certainly, as it is at the moment. but for most of us, we start the new week on a very warm note. in fact, temperatures will approach 30 celsius. we haven't been up to 30 in september since 2016, but we may get there during tomorrow, particularly where we see the best of the sunshine across england and wales, towards the south—east. that's where we'll see values of 29, maybe 30 degrees. a bit cooler further north and west where we have more cloud and still some spots of patchy rain. we look ahead to tuesday — a similar weather story, still a bit of rain up to the north—west. some extra cloud creeping its way eastwards across england and wales with the odd shower. that might just suppress temperatures a little bit. i think we'll still get to around 28 or 29 degrees and a little bit warmer by this stage for parts of scotland and northern ireland. but from midweek onwards,

those temperatures will fall away. it will start to feel cooler, but for many of us, it will stay dry. that's all from me, bye for now.

this is bbc world news. the headlines... authorities in greece say all the migrants and refugees left without shelter after a fire that swept through their camp on the island of lesbos will be able to move into new accommodation this week. five days after the fire, 10,000 people are still living rough. voters across russia are casting their ballots in dozens of local elections that are seen as a big test for the ruling pro—kremlin united russia party. nearly 160,000 candidates are vying for seats in local parliaments. the afghan government calls for a ceasefire with the taliban as the first—ever peace talks between the two sides get underway in qatar. negotiators are working on an agenda. president trump has gone to the west coast of the united states where fires have now destroyed close to 5 million acres of land, including numerous towns. oregon and washington states are also badly affected.