this is bbc news, i'm simon mccoy. the headlines: a warning that nhs staff are having to stay off work because they can't get coronavirus tests. the government says it's dealing with the issues. we've now carried out over 20 million tests for coronavirus in this country. as we expand capacity further, we are working round the clock to make sure everyone who needs a test can get a test. unemployment hits a two year high — with young people particularly badly hit by the pandemic‘s economic fallout. a lifeline for some small businesses as the high court rules some insurers should have paid out over lockdown. on the road to recovery — the first picture of poisoned russian opposition leader alexei navalny in his hospital bed surrounded by family. and 80 years on, remembering ‘the few‘ — the raf pilots who took to the skies in the battle of britain and saved this country from invasion.

hospital bosses in england have warned nhs staff are having to stay off work because they can't get coronavirus tests. nhs providers said health workers with symptoms are being forced to remain at home as they wait for tests — and that's putting added strain on the service as it gears up for winter. they want doctors and nurses to be treated as a priority. the health secretary matt hancock says officials are working round the clock to fix operational problems, amid widespread reports of people across england struggling to get tests. richard galpin reports. the town of oldham in north—west england has one of the highest infection rates in the country, but people wanting tests are being turned

away at sites like this because of a lack of capacity. the frustration palpable. i'm doing myjob! he's had a high temperature, he is supposed to be in school. what do you want me to do, leave him out of school, for indefinite? i've been trying for the last two days, the message, the system is currently unavailable. that's for the last two days. and what is happening here in oldham has been replicated across the country. critically, the nhs itself is now being affected by the shortage of tests. doctors, nurses and other staff in nhs england who think they may have coronavirus symptoms are unable to confirm if they have been infected. as a result, some are now staying away from work when potentially it's not necessary. we are absolutely at full pelt in the nhs at the moment, trying to recover the services where treatment was understandably but unfortunately delayed because of coronavirus a few months ago.

we are trying to get through those cases as quickly as possible and we simply cannot spare members of staff, waiting for test. not being able to come into work. and this lack of testing capacity is also impacting schools which have only recently reopened. already there have been some outbreaks. without sufficient testing, these cannot be spotted in time to prevent the spread of the virus. my year four teacher was sent home last wednesday because of coronavirus symptoms, persistent cough. no tests available wednesday, he kept trying to book during the day and he was given the same places some of my parents were suggested to go to like aberdeen and llandudno. apart from them being miles away they are also in scotland and wales and we are in lancashire. he managed to get a fairly local test on thursday after trying and trying again. according to the latest figures, the number of tests processed per day is getting close to the maximum capacity of 243,817.

the latest figure for process tests is 227,465. the lack of testing capacity is partly because the big laboratories built to help deal with the epidemic are struggling with the level of demand. and there are reports of staffing shortages. i think we almost have a perfect storm of events that have come together to almost essentially crash the testing system. i think there is a surge in demand, i think capacity is very different, stated capacity is different from actually how many tests can be run on a given day, it's very worrying that we seem to be in a situation now before, really, we have come into autumn and winter, where we have maxed out the number of tests we can do in the country. the government insists the majority of tests are available within a ten mile radius. and that public health england

is working night and day to bolster testing capacity. everyone in this house knows we are doing more testing per head of population than almost any other major nation. and i can update the house that we have now carried out over 20 million tests for coronavirus in this country. as we expand capacity further, we are working around the clock to make sure everyone who needs a test can get a test. the government has also suggested that demand from people who did not have symptoms was partly to blame for the current shortages. richard galpin, bbc news. our political correspondent, chris mason, is at westminster. so the government says they are doing their best to cope with this but frankly, they are not coping. there are not. the simple reality, as you say, is that at the moment demand is outstripping supply and the capacity of the system to turn out to tests, either to testing centres or through the post, and

then, crucially, process those results quickly and get the results back to those who fear they might have the virus. matt hancock has been facing sustained questions in the commons this lunchtime over and over again, the commons this lunchtime over and overagain, mps the commons this lunchtime over and over again, mps explaining and talking through anecdotes from constituents who have been asked to travel vast distances across the country to get tests or asked to wait ages for results. and mr hancko's argument is firstly to acknowledge, yes, there is a problem that has been for a while, secondly, promised to resolve it within a matter of weeks, as he described it, but their language than he was using just a week or so ago, but also to emphasise the government strategy here, and the emphasis is all about privatisation, social care, for instance, and those who are in hospital. —— prioritisation. and the application of that prioritisation is that if you're sitting at home

and your daughter gets a cough and everything other than that is basically all right, and you request a test and it gets ages that takes ages to get one or get it back, basically, you're at the back of the queue and there is a good reason because people higher up the queue have got more pressing medical needs. the reality is that means a huge number of people frustrated and a huge number of people who can point directly to a government failing, particularly given that they are emphasising how important testing is. borisjohnson was doing this just testing is. borisjohnson was doing thisjust a week testing is. borisjohnson was doing this just a week or so ago, how important rapid testing is in allowing us to lead is close to normal lives as possible as we head into the autumn and winter, with every expectation that the demand thatis every expectation that the demand that is already apparent outstripping supply continues to rise. we talk about the issue of testing, and have since the pandemic started, but the nhs are saying doctors and front line staff are getting test, that's a problem. absolutely. regular stories now of gp surgeries and practices having to

close because staff are in self isolation. of course, being in a self isolation is a necessary step but keeping it a short as possible if that individual has not got the virus is crucial, for obvious reasons, but making sure those tests can be turned round incredibly quickly is essential to that. we had all that stuff last week about operation minnesota, is the government is calling it, this vastly ambitious plan crank up testing hugely, just a matter of months. —— operation moonshot. i was doing some sums earlier on and the original target around operation moonshot would involve seven times the current testing being done. the government says its right to be ambitious and you have to set ambitious and you have to set ambitious targets to aim for something a try and meet the target, and the government will point to targets it set in the past and met evenif

targets it set in the past and met even if it hasn't met them quite in the timeframe it hoped to, but if you're stuck at home right now and you're stuck at home right now and you don't know when you will be released and you think you're probably negative or maybe you're worried your positive but you don't know, you will hear this kind of medium ambition and raise an eyebrow, i suspect. medium ambition and raise an eyebrow, isuspect. i medium ambition and raise an eyebrow, i suspect. i think the government is conscious of the moment that in the coming covid challenge, getting testing right and improving it rapidly in terms of the experience that any of us might encounter if we ask for one, is absolutely crucial. it's a bit noisy there, i keep expecting to hear a builder behind you or something!” think a bit of road works are going on, they seem to have a knack for knowing what we are talking on the telly! don't theyjust? thank you very much, see you later. tougher restrictions have come into force in birmingham, solihull and sandwell, to try to stop the spread of the virus. it means people are banned from meeting others who aren't part

of their household — or support bubble — in their homes or gardens. kathryn stanczyszyn reports. ( for many in the west midlands, life is changing again. after a rapid rise in coronavirus cases, different households within three council areas must no longer mix at home. birmingham has been on a knife edge in terms of greater restrictions for weeks. now, authorities say residents must stick to the new rules or risk fines and maybe a future lockdown. from today, the entire city as well as the neighbouring boroughs of sandwell and solihull, 1.6 million people in total, must not spend time in each other‘s homes or gardens. the exception, if you are a lone adult in a support bubble. it doesn't affect schools, workplaces, or social settings like parks and restaurants. i think it's necessary. even though it is quite sad, but i understand why the decision has been made. anything that keeps this pandemic at bay is a good thing. you can go into a pub and mix but you cannot do it in your own house. i don't know.

i think they don't know what they're talking about, to be honest with you. not many muslim people will go to a pub to meet their family. it is a bit confusing, you can go shopping, eat out, but you can't meet in the garden. there has been some confusion here in the uk's second biggest city about why it's ok to meet people in social settings like pubs and big public open spaces like this, but not at home. public health officials say the data clearly shows the main culprit when it comes to transmission is domestic settings. what we are seeing in the majority of cases where we are able to identify transmission is that this is because people have gathered behind closed doors, often for a celebration. most recently i have seen three children in different families and the actual way they caught it from each other was a child's birthday party. that is where the transmission is happening at the moment. and it is childcare that will throw up one of the biggest issues, with people back to work and schools subject to virus closures. liz martin has been looking after grandson seth so her daughter can teach. that's no longer an option. yesterday was their last

game in the garden for what could be some time. if she wants to work, we have got to break the law because we can't think of any other way. we've been very careful. we are very careful. we've still got to get through this and live and i can't bear the stress on not only my daughter and her husband, but the children as well. all three areas will ask government for an exemption for specific childcare issues in a letter today. for now, it's more tough times for some when they were just getting back on their feet. kathryn stanczyszyn, bbc news. tighter restrictions will be enforced in dublin over the coming months to try and curb the spread of coronavirus. a five—tier system will be introduced to determine which areas will be subjected to such measures across the country. the current rank is level two, meaning most businesses will stay open and small numbers can gather to attend sporting or arts events.

in the irish capital, where cases are more prevelant, only up to six people from two households will be able to meet. pubs in the city will also remain closed when some others across ireland will be able to reopen from the 21st september. small businesses have been thrown a lifeline after the high court ruled some insurers should have paid out for losses caused by the lockdown. when firms had to close their doors in march, many looked to their insurance to cover them. but some found their claims rejected, with insurers arguing their policies were never meant to include such restrictions. nowjudges have ruled the clauses in some policies should have meant they were covered. kevin peachey reports. like thousands of other owners of small firms, anna and robin smart thought their business interruption insurance policy would cover them for coronavirus—related losses. but when their insurer refused to pay out, their photography firm literally needed rebuilding. our best bet to save our business was to remove ourselves from our business premises and build a studio at home, which would reduce our costs down massively,

so that hopefully we can trade through whatever‘s coming next. insurers had argued that these policies were not meant for blanket measures such as a government—imposed lockdown. the debate led to a test case in the high court, but nowjudges have given hope to many businesses who thought they would lose out. i am hoping that we get to that point of being able to move forward, progress our claim and just get on with things, because the stress that we are under — not us, collectively, businesses at the moment — is absolutely immense. with these businesses desperate for clarity, the iso—page judgment is not entirely clear cut, but groups representing policyholders are delighted. i think it is a resounding success for policyholders. this is why we brought the claim, we have been vindicated, it was the right thing to do for hundreds of thousands of businesses. they will now have a lifeline, i hope, to making an insurance

recovery from their insurers. insurers say more work is needed before drawing the debate to a close. needless to say, it has been an unprecedented event for the insurance industry. overall, firms have been paying out on claims to those customers who do have covid cover, they have paid out over £900 million. they are going to be sitting down with the lawyers and looking very carefully at this judgment indeed. the businesses affected can expect contact from their insurer in the next week, although for some, it is too late. with insurers facing a bill of many millions of pounds, they may look to appeal against the decision. that should be fast tracked, but that could mean a further wait before people like the smarts are put fully in the picture. get a picture, that will be good for instagram. kevin peachy, bbc news. the uk unemployment rate has risen to its highest level for almost two years. young people were particularly badly—hit, with 16 to 2a—year—olds suffering the biggest drop in employment compared with other age groups. the number of people in that age group without a job rose by 156,000 in the three months

tojuly, according to data from the office for national statistics. let's take a closer look at the figures — the red line on this graph shows how the rate of unemployment for 16—24 year olds has increased. 13.4% of them are out of work. the blue line shows the overall unemployment rate for the uk — which has grown to 4.1%. and since the coronavirus lockdown began in march, some 695,000 uk workers have disappeared from the payrolls of british companies. the chancellor rishi sunak said "helping people get back into, or finding new work" was his "number one priority". labour leader sir keir starmer, addressing the tuc conference by video link, as he is self—isolating, called for an extension of part—time working as furlough comes to an end, with rewards for employers who keep people on, though he gave no detail of these rewards. let's get more reaction now from kate bell, head of economics at the trade union congress. shejoins us from south london. all seem to be agreed that something

needs to be done as filo lines. —— is furlough unwinds. there is consensus that we do need a more targeted scheme, a job training at upskilling scheme would provide training to people who have gone back to work some of the time and importantly, would provide training for those working less than half the normal working hours. and we hope the chancellor has looked at today's figures and realise how important is to stop the possible tide of massive unemployment that could be coming down the track. should this be unconditional? we've heard arguments saying that if businesses are unable to get through this period perhaps they weren't fit enough for normal times. we think there should be a test that does require a business to show that it's got some kind of continued viability, and the requirement to bring people back to work some of the time is of course pa rt work some of the time is of course part of the test. we actually think

it should come with other strings attached, too, we think businesses who take up this government support should be setting out fair pay plans, should set out plans to pay the tax in the uk, and shouldn't be making redundancies or paying dividends while they use the scheme. and at the back of everybody‘s mind's and at the back of everybody‘s minds of course is the thought that at some stage this will have to be paid for. what we should be really worried about paying for is the cost of mass unemployment, we know that other states people's lives and communities, and ultimately leads to fewer people paying taxes and that's what the government budget relies on. the government can't afford not to act now. what we are seen is that particular sectors have been very badly hit in the last few months. today's figures are showing really worrying signs in kind of accommodation and food services, so that restaurants and what's called admin and business support services, and that's probably around the closure of offices, so we are seeing real difficulties in particular sectors, but we think we need a

scheme that looks a kind of individual businesses and says, what happened to them and how can they get support? because we want to see people going back to work right across the economy. the chancellor rishi sunak was widely applauded for the initial furlough scheme. rishi sunak was widely applauded for the initialfurlough scheme. do rishi sunak was widely applauded for the initial furlough scheme. do you think he still gets it? we hope so. we worked with the translator help deliver that first furlough scheme, we know it save jobs, our message today as we are willing to work with you, we are willing to put in place the support that willing to work with you to put in place and support that families desperately need. former conservative mp charlie elphicke has been jailed for two years at southwark crown court for sexual assaults against two women. let's speak to our correspondent, sangita myska. i have to say, the judge i have to say, thejudge in i have to say, the judge in this case was excoriating in her sentencing remarks today as she

handed charlie elphicke that two year sentence. she described him as a sexual predator who had abused the trust of women who had worked for him and went on to say, women are entitled to feel safe at work and these women were not to say. she went unanswered, you, charlie elphicke, suggested this was something they wanted and enjoyed, it was not. she then told him he would serve half of that sentence in prison and the other half would be served on licence. she went on and said, your behaviour was an abuse of power because you had influence over these women, and she told him he had told the court a pack of lies, not just the court, she said, to his family and also to other parliamentarians. in a quite surprising move, charlie elphicke then within minutes issued his own statement. he said that he continued to deny the charges and that he was going to start legal proceedings to

overturn the conviction. you probably remember that charlie elphicke's wife is somebody called natalie elphicke, she took over his seatin natalie elphicke, she took over his seat in dover and is currently sitting mp. she, two minutes later, issued her own statement in which she said that her now estranged husband had not faced a fair trial. she claimed the court had been on a mission to disgrace him, in effect, and that she now would be standing by him in order that he could have that conviction overturned. i want to say, we also had some very powerful victim impact statements from the two women that charlie elphicke had abused. those women, the first was assaulted in 2007 and she worked for him, and then nine yea rs later she worked for him, and then nine years later in 2016 he assaulted a second woman. in one of the victim

impact statements, the first of his victims said, i will never be able to convey the emotional and mental impact on me. he is still a large pa rt impact on me. he is still a large part of my life, she said, and he broke my spirit, something i did note that was possible. —— he stole a large part of my life. she noted she had experienced a significant increase sense of caution when working with men and that she now no longer enjoyed things she's too as a result of that assault. thank you very much. humanity is at a crossroads and we have to take action now to make space for nature to recover and slow its "accelerating decline" — that's according to a report by the un convention on biological diversity. it sets out what it calls "urgent transitions" that could slow

the ongoing decline in nature. these transitions also provide the basis for an agreement that 196 nations are expected to sign up to at the un biodiversity conference in china next year. our science correspondent victoria gilljoins me now. how are humans doing at the moment when it comes to protecting nature? not welcome is the overall message from this report. it's a grim, stark warning about our unsustainable relationship with nature, which can bea relationship with nature, which can be a difficult thing to kind of get a grip on, but there are some big numbers in this report. for example, we used, in terms of biological resources , we used, in terms of biological resources, so things like deforestation, we use about 1.6 planet's' worth of biological resources between 2011 and 2016, and it essentially sets out the fact that we are pushing nature too far, encroaching too much on habitats and not protecting places that host important species in dive —— biodiversity. we are producing too much pollution and their actions are

contributing to climate change. so as well as that stark warning about our unsustainable relationship with the natural world, what this report are set out to do is lay out a kind of ambitious to—do list in advance of ambitious to—do list in advance of this meeting next year, the un a biodiversity conference next year, which postponed because of the pandemic, to propose a framework which will put us in a path to allowing nature to recover by 2030. it's all very depressing, particularly when you watch david attenborough‘s programme on extinction, we are looking at losing many species, and the trouble with to—do lists is that is what they tend to remain. this is it, this is kind of the essential issue with the un, in that there is no, there's nothing legally binding within that framework. it is a set of targets that the nations sign up to, and member nations signed up to 20 biodiversity targets ten years ago that the un says will now not be met, none of those will be met in

full. but what we are hoping there was that with the pandemic, this is a really bitter and unpleasant irony, because covid—19 is understood to have originated in wildlife, it was a spill—over of a wildlife, it was a spill—over of a wildlife disease in humans that was pushed by our own actions, the un is now hoping that we have woken up, at this point, select 2020 will be a real turning point to get us back on that path to realise our health and the planet's house our will on the same, that we cannot be healthy without a healthy planet, and that is what these eight transitions are all about, about setting us back on all about, about setting us back on a more sustainable path in agriculture, fishery, protecting habitats, but also being more connected with nature, making more space for nature even in our most urban and densely populated environments because that's better for ourair environments because that's better for our air quality, the air we breathe, the water we drink, and connecting people back with nature so that we can see its value. they really don't pull any punches, the

un convention on biological diversity says, our health and lives really depend on this. not being flippant, but apart from mismanaging a global pandemic is there anything we are doing doing any for nature? it does look like a grim picture. but there are some notes of optimism in this report, some of the number suggested that we can, it is within our suggested that we can, it is within suggested that we can, it is within our grasp to do better. one of the things they point out is that deforestation rates are continuing to fall, conservation action, so human caused conservation has actually prevented some species from this being altogether in the last decade, and they calculated that around about 500 billion us dollars every year is spent on potentially environmentally damaging policies, so that's fossil fuel subsidies and agricultural subsidies that actually enhance what they call the overuse of pesticides and fertilisers, and

that's an order that we can produce a lot of food and keep up with that demand and keep the fossil fuel based engine of our economy is going, but what they're saying is that, you know, that's a huge amount of money, so we could sort of change the direction of those financial resources and puts them towards more environmentally sustainable and conservation actions protecting natural habitats, but also renewable energy, the things that will turn the engine of our economies but in a more sustainable way. thank you very much. a signing ceremony takes place at the white house today at which israel will agree to normalise relations with the uae and bahrain. the move, brokered by president trump, marks a historic shift in relations between israel and the two gulf arab countries. but it comes amid a crisis at home for the israeli leader. let's head to washington now and speak to ambassador dennis ross, a former special assistant

to president obama, among many senior roles for the us government. nice to be with you. as i said, benjamin netanyahu nice to be with you. as i said, benjamin neta nyahu has nice to be with you. as i said, benjamin netanyahu has a lot of problems at home so this will look good for him and of course, president trump could do with some positive coverage at the moment, as well. i think it's true that this is a political win for both, for a benjamin netanyahu, he gets to point out that his basic approach to the region seems to be validated by the fa ct region seems to be validated by the fact that both the uae and the bahrain are normalising relations with israel, though it is worth noting that there was a price for this and that was that he could not proceed with the annexation of territories that were allotted to israel under the trump peace plan, and his base is not happy with that, but the country as a whole obviously supports this, but the country as a whole is also preoccupied very much with covid—19 and its consequences and the fact that the country is about to go on a three—week lockdown. in the case of president

trump, he has not had any real success is to point to in foreign policy, so here is one that he can point to, and the reality is this is an important development in the region. it sends a message that, psychologically, countries can proceed to normalise with israel and they don't have to wait for the palestinians, and there is a message for the palestinians, you can't freeze the situation and deny the ability to deal with problems we do need to deal with and we can benefit from working with israel. the palestinians need, i think, to look in the mirrorand palestinians need, i think, to look in the mirror and think about what the imprecations are for them to stop everyone is looking in the mirrorand stop everyone is looking in the mirror and seeing them left behind with this, aren't they? i think with the palestinians they are being left behind but at the same token, they're not going anywhere. can they take advantage of it? one thing the emirates did in their deal was to create linkage, meaning, they said, no normalisation

if there is annexation. they tied what they did to the palestinians. yes, it was preventing a negative, but others could take this and say, we'll take a step towards is real but here is a step we need them to ta ke towards but here is a step we need them to take towards the palestinians. the palestinians have to be open to that, they should not be going to other arab states your thinking about at least partial states to israel and presenting a menu of steps that could be a benefit to them. if the palestinian situation remains the same, it's a fantasy, it will not happen. what is critical, i think, for the palestinians is, take advantage of the fact that the uae established linkage here and there isa established linkage here and there is a possibility for them, they can use this as a leather to achieve things that are important to them. -- is things that are important to them. --isa things that are important to them. —— is a lever. things that are important to them. -- is a lever. how important is this to president trump himself? he was

not involved in discussions, i don't think if you asked him to describe the details of what was achieved, i don't think you could describe all that. having said that, clearly those doing these agreements wanted to curry favour with the administration if from once to be related, this is good for him. but by the same token, in the uae and bahrain, this is a way to send a message to the democrats, we are promoting peace, that is message that will be well received. so i think the president'sadministration gets credit for responding to what is really a uae initiative and crossing a historic threshold here, but by the same token, i think all parties probably have multiple reasons for doing what they have done. crossing a threshold, this is the first signing between an arab country and is realfor 26 the first signing between an arab country and is real for 26 years, the first signing between an arab country and is realfor 26 years, we are looking at year. we are, but let's keep it in perspective, egypt and jordan were in a state of war,

they had fought wars with israel, now we are looking at countries that are far removed from israel, no common border, never been in a state of war, never fought any wars against them, the legacy is profoundly different and so you can't really put it in the same category as the earlier peace agreements. on the other hand what you can say is, these agreements will actually be characterised by real peaceful relations, meaning real peaceful relations, meaning real commercial relations, probably real commercial relations, probably real tourism, cooperation when it comes to health and probably food security and water, issues that are actually very important for these countries in the region and certainly, israel has a lot to offer in that respect. it will come back to the message that the palestinians, the messages, arab states are going to act in their own interests, they‘ re not states are going to act in their own interests, they're not going to ignore palestinians but by the same token they won't allow palestinians token they won't allow palestinians to freeze the region and deny anyone else taking steps that they see as being necessary for their national

interests. the key thing for the palestinians is to recognise, you can ask these states at least to reach out to the israelis and say, will take these steps but here's what we require you to do towards the palestinians, but these should be pragmatic and commensurate with what the states are doing with israel. thank you for your time. hello, this is bbc news. good afternoon. the secretary of state with responsibility for sport, oliver dowden, will meet senior officials this week to discuss the return of fans. after last week's decision to restricted pilot events to 1000 spectators after a rise in covid cases, the government said plans for further returns would be reviewed. a number of bodies have voiced concern that without spectators, the future of some sports would be in jeopardy. in the latest rugby union test event, around a thousand fans were at kingsholm last night, to watch gloucester‘s premiership rugby match against harlequins. they were all socially distanced in groups, with refreshments served

in their seats and gloucester‘s chief executive, lance bradley, says it was proof that more fans can return safely to stadia. i prepared a report on last night night's match. from our point of view, the organisation of the game went very well. the fans did exactly what we wanted them to do and we believe we showed it was quite safe to have 1,000 fans in, so the next phase is to get more fans and as quickly as possible. we very much hope we will be allowed another pilot test for our final home game of the season at the beginning of october. meanwhile the managing director of silverstone, stuart pringle, says the racetrack needs to get all fans back for next summer's british grand prix. he says this year has been incredibly damaging and without a full house next year, the future of silverstone itself hangs in the balance. i don't want to run with a reduced audience next year because it will

simply make us lose more money quicker. and we cannot sustain that. our balance sheet is not robust enough and we need to get back to normality. when the government talk about very positive progress with vaccines and a very expansive testing regime, i hope that one or other or a combination of the pair will see us back to full capacity at the british grand prix in 2021 because if we are not there, silverstone will be in a dire place and we will not be alone. forumla one's bosses will not investigate lewis hamilton's decision to wear a t—shirt highlighting police brutality at sunday's tuscan grand prix. the shirt read "arrest the cops who killed breonna taylor", the black woman who was shot eight times in her home in kentucky by us police in march. the sport's governing body, the fia, had been considering whether the message broke any rules, but told the bbc that an investigation has been ruled out. aston villa captainjack grealish has signed a new five—year deal to stay at the club. the midfielder, who made his first appearance for england

against denmark last week, says he is delighted to make the commitment. he had been linked with a move away from villa park this summer but the new contract will keep him there until 2025. the england players who were offered contracts for the women's hundred this year, will be able to take up the same deal next summer. the 100—ball cricket competition was due to start injuly, but it was postponed because of the pandemic. the ecb said players had the option to roll over their contracts with the same team on the same pay, or sign with other teams from next month. i think it was the best way to move forward with the contracts. one of the things we are looking to create more and more in women's cricket is betterjob security, obviously making it a more financially viable option for more people than just england—contracted players. it offers some kind of income security to those girls who got offered contracts last year. there was a lot of talk about it.

i think it is the fairest way to move forward next season. meanwhile, the england and wales cricket board is set to cut 62 jobs because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. chief executive, tom harrison, said the game will lose more than £100 million this year, a figure which could rise to £200 million next year. that's all the sport for now. there's been fewer than 100 covid—19 deaths in a week in the uk for the first time since march. 8,996 deaths were registered in the uk in the week of 11th september. that s below the five year average and also down on the previous week. 83 of these deaths mentioned covid—19, the lowest figure since the 13th march. let's take a look at these figures in more depth. with me, the bbc head of statistics. good news on the face of it in these

figures. it has taken a long time to get to this point, for five weeks to get to this point, for five weeks to get up to the peak of 9500 deaths per week and four months to come back down again. we can show that again when we look at the chart. you can see on the far left—hand side, red area is the covid death. you almost cannot see the figures for march. and then it suddenly shoots up march. and then it suddenly shoots up but it took a long time to come back down below 100, as the figures did in that week to the end of september. the broad trend we have seen since there is a slow but steady decline, finally coming down below 100 deaths per week in september. these look a bit out of date. yes, these are for almost a fortnight ago and since then we have had this sudden sharp spike in cases. these figures cover really my first week of holidays and before

the holidays i was talking about, is the holidays i was talking about, is the rise in cases down to more testing consummate but now we know there are definitely more cases. we have really moved to a nail stage where these figures are not as good for monitoring the trend and we may be need to turn to the daily figures that the government use each day. let's talk about the more up—to—date figures, what can we expect? there isa figures, what can we expect? there is a lot of concern out there. we are seeing a rise in cases and trying to understand from other sources what that is telling us and these daily death figures do not ca ptu re these daily death figures do not capture every death but they are good at spotting the trends and they look like they are flattening out. they are far below where they were early in the summer and in the spring. we are seeing on average about 12 deaths announced everyday, but that is flattening out. and the

scientific advisers to the government are saying realistically we should expect that only to go in one direction. in the winter with flair which was maybe less infectious, vaccinations available, we would expect to see between seven and 20,000 extra deaths in the course of any given winter, depending on whether it is a good or bad season. coronaviruses more tra nsfera ble bad season. coronaviruses more transferable and there is a higher fatality rate. we should expect to see more comedy numbers will increase, not the same terrifying rate that they did in march or april muscle they are saying we should be realistic. the bbc‘s highest paid star, gary lineker, has agreed to take a salary cut of nearly a quarter, but he'll still earn more than £1.3 million a year. the announcement came as the bbc published its annual report. ata time

at a time of huge suffering and hardship across the country basically these salaries are quite a bad look for the bbc and the list of published names which includes hours shows a lot of people paid a lot of money and in some instances, huge pay rises for additional work. many individuals especially but not exclusively men have taken pay cuts and many other individuals, especially but not exclusively women have had pay rises and it is worth saying that the overall increase in pay which is reflected in the salaries as gone up by1 million but thatis salaries as gone up by1 million but that is below inflation so it is a real terms cut and it is largely about addressing the issue of the outcry over the gender pay gap at the bbc. the bbc said it wanted to eradicate that by 2020, it has failed, 6.3%, so much below the national average of 17.3% i think it is, and the top three salaries today entailed four women. a lot of these

province for the bbc arise from the fa ct province for the bbc arise from the fact it has a hybrid model, part public sector, part market, where a lot of people who are paid a lot of money at the bbc could in more money if they left the bbc and i think thatis if they left the bbc and i think that is an important point to get across. the bbc has in its annual report made very clear it has huge progress in iplayer viewing and the success of the sounds are but it has this huge challenge to attract the attention and money of a generation raised on all different things and the optics of these salaries make that challenge a little bit harder. the shortlist of six authors for the uk's most prestigious literary award, the booker prize, has been announced. the shortlist features four debut novelists, while hilary mantel, who had been tipped for a record third win for the mirror and the light, did not make the list. the topics covered by the six nominees are wide—ranging, including stories about climate change, the hardship of life in zimbabwe, dementia, and the women soldiers of 1935 ethiopia. writer, editor and publisher margaret busby is the chair of the 2020 judges. shejoins me now.

iam sure i am sure everybody asks you this, how difficult is it to whether that list from 100 city to down to what you got now? as you can imagine, it is not easy and it certainly has not been easy in the circumstances. we have had to read in this year with the lockdown and not necessarily being able to read actual copies of books but reading the majority of submissions as pdf on the screens. so it has had its challenges and we had to get through some 162, i think, titles altogether and we came down to a shortlist of a dozen. it is 13 titles. and now we are at this six titles for the shortlist. because it has been difficult

because there many more than six books or 13 or, you know, scores, that actually reconnected within different ways as individualjudges we would have come up with different lists if we were putting together individual lists. but these are the books that we collectively decided to focus on all the —— that grabbed our attention and you have to remember, we are judging our attention and you have to remember, we arejudging books, not authors. it is not a question of who the writers are. what their reputation is, whether they are from this country or whether they are from other countries, we arejudging individual books and so that is the basis at which we arrived at this shortlist. in my introduction, i mention some of this —— these themes and they are very varied. do you get and they are very varied. do you get a sense that each year there is a theme, if you like, an underlying theme, if you like, an underlying theme to many these books?”

theme, if you like, an underlying theme to many these books? i never judged before so i don't know how it co m pa res judged before so i don't know how it compares with previous years. there are themes that people are concerned with that are connected with the world we are living in and changes happening in the world, whether it is climate change, the environment, or societal changes. i think each judge brings to the process their own concerns, their own connection with the themes and with the writing, i think you have to bear in mind as well that we are actually looking for good writing, notjust worthy themes, so it is a combination of all those things that made us come to this shortlist of six and! made us come to this shortlist of six and i think they are all very different, as you say, and they are all books that deserve to find a wider readership. we meet a man struggling with racism, eavesdropping on a woman travelling

across india, it is about the storytelling as well. it certainly is. there are ways that each of the writers approaches their stories which are gripping in different ways and inevitably we have to put all those elements together and say, what does this book do for us as a reader, as a collective of readers and these are the ones that we chose. it is not to say that they we re chose. it is not to say that they were not other titles that we all did connect with or admire. we would love to be able to keep them in the running, as it were. but we had to come down to six from 13, from 162, and unfortunately, say goodbye to many once we admired along the way. but that is the nature of prizes.” know you cannot tell me, but have you got a favourite? no, no! you read books, you reread books, and

sometimes you change your opinion or it expands, you never know what is going to happen every time you read a book and i certainly will be rereading all these books before we get to the final decision. when will that be? talk is through the timeline. i think we are talking about november to have a winner. i think it might be the 17th.” about november to have a winner. i think it might be the 17th. i am sure we will be talking to you before then and on the night as well. really good to talk to you and thank you very much for your time. the headlines on bbc news... a warning that nhs staff are having to stay off work — because they can't get coronavirus tests. the government says it's dealing with the issues unemployment hits a two year high — with young people particularly badly hit by the pandemic‘s economic fallout

to scotland now, and nicola sturgeon has said she has spoken to the health secretary matt hancock about the backlog in testing processing and hopes to see an improvement in the next few days. the first minister was speaking at her daily coronavirus briefing. asi as i said yesterday, i have a concern about the capacity constraints within the uk wide system and for scotland in recent days just to be clear, this has system and for scotland in recent daysjust to be clear, this has not been an issue of access to testing slots, and regional testing centres or mobile testing units, but instead it has been one of access to sufficient lighthouse laboratory processing and it is this that has led to a backlog in the system and longer turnaround times for tests than we want to be the case. as this isa uk than we want to be the case. as this is a uk wide system, we are not able to resolve this on our own and the issues are impacted by demand

elsewhere in the uk. to that end, i had a conference call, a constructive conference call last night with matt hancock, the uk health secretary and dido harding, head of the uk testing system, to seek firstly assurances that scotla nd seek firstly assurances that scotland is and will continue to get their access to the uk wide laboratory capacity and also discuss how we can resolve these issues. i hope to see improvement over the next few days but i will of course continue to provide updates. more than 400 pupils at a school in somerset are self—isolating after two students tested positive for coronavirus. children at bishop fox's school in taunton were told to stay home after a student in year 7 — and another in year 11 — were infected. a statement on the school's twitter account said a deep cleaning process would be undertaken at the school before students return next week. soaring rates of alcohol abuse in england are placing too much pressure on addiction services,

according to the royal college of psychiatrists. the number of people drinking high—risk levels of alcohol has almost doubled since the start of the pandemic — and the college says deep cuts made to addiction services mean patients could miss out on treatment. the government says it has increased public health spending by £3.2 billion this year. two women have lost their court of appeal challenge against the government over controversial changes to the state pension age. nearly four million women born in the 1950s have been affected by reforms that raised their state pension age from 60 to 66. the women argued this was unlawful discrimination, and that they were not given adequate notice of the changes, but their claim was dismissed. the department for work and pensions said the decision to equalise state pension age for men and women has been supported by successive governments over the past 25 years. the russian opposition leader alexei navalny has posted a picture on his instagram from a german hospital, where he is recovering from a suspected novichok poisoning. here it is, he is surrouded by his family. he said: i can still hardly do anything myself — but yesterday i was able to breathe

on my own. mr navalny‘s supporters believe his tea was spiked at tomsk airport on 20 august. he became ill during the flight, and the plane made an emergency landing. in early september, the german government said navalny had been poisoned with a soviet—style novichok nerve agent in an attempt to murder him. and yesterday, germany's government said that laboratories in france and sweden have now reconfirmed german tests showing that the poison used on mr navalny was novichok. a spokesperson for alexei navalny also said he plans to return to russia when he's better. earlier, we heard from our berlin correspondent damian mcguinness. he has been in a clinically induced coma for weeks and then he was on mechanical ventilation, was not able to breathe on his own and this is the first time today that he has communicated directly with the public since he fell ill on that internal flight from russia at the end of august and it is a big step

because experts here say that the poison that he was given and that has been proven by german officials and swedish and french officials now, independent laboratories, three of them, have proven this, was a severe poison. now, officials and medical doctors here say that he is doing much better but they cannot rule out any long—term damage, but certainly this picture of him, surrounded by his family as you say, his wife on the right—hand side and two younger people who look like his children, they are wearing masks and we cannot confirm it for definite, but i think it is his children, they are all incredibly cheerful and you can tell that from the picture and this is good news for his family, his supporters and for himself obviously, because having suffered an attack like this, it was not clear whether he would survive, first of all, and whether he would come out of this,. of all, and whether he would come out of this. the broader political implications are huge because this has created a huge row,

a big risk politically, between berlin and moscow and indeed the european union and moscow because european officials here have said that the kremlin needs to come up for an expedition for what has happened and kremlin officials have accused european governments of meddling and say they should not interfere in russian internal affairs and the nation tells russia had to carry out investigations, there is a growing political row but this initial post is good news for the supporters of navalny because it shows he is on the road to recovery. that was damien mcguinness in berlin. "never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few" — the immortal words of winston churchill as he paid tribute to the raf pilots who, exactly 80 years ago, took on the might of the luftwaffe, and saved britain from invasion. the last of those young men, john hemmingway who is now 101, has told the bbc what it was like to be part of that select band.

robert hall has the story. they'd been expecting it for days, the final mass attack by hitler's luftwaffe ahead of an invasion. up for an expedition for what has happened and kremlin officials have hundreds of bombers would target london and the southern counties whilst fighters were waiting to trap the raf and wipe it out. exhausted young men who had fought and watched friends die for two months scrambled back into their cockpits. it would be about there. it was enough to turn you all over and do all sorts of things. and if you were fighting, you would be pressing this button as well. john hemingway is the last of winston churchill's ‘few‘. now, 101, he'd already been shot down twice by september 1940. we were all in our early 20s, i was 20.

we just didn't care. there was no right or wrong. the war was on, we were pilots. we were going to fight them all the time. not that we were brave or anything, but there was nothing else. the world was at war, and you couldn't go somewhere and say, "i am at peace, i don't fight wars." as the planes weaved in a web of smoke trails over kent, the few relied on the many. the fitters who endured the bombing of airfields and got them back into the air, the spotters, plotters and radar operators who steered them towards their next mission. by the end of september 15th, the tide had turned. german losses had been twice that of the raf. the invasion would be cancelled. at dozens of airfields, the spitfires and the hurricanes came home.

the main skill was luck, you had to be lucky. no matter how good you were, for instance my boss, dickie lee, was the best pilot i've ever seen. but he was shot down and killed. so he had no luck. i had bags of luck. i couldn't do that. but here i am. like so many events this year, battle of britain day will be a quiet affair, but this light show at the uk's first—ever radar station in norfolk is a reminder that we celebrate and remember a true team effort. robert hall, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather. good afternoon. it is a warm

september story out there for many of us and in fact if you take a look at this picture, you could say it is picture postcard perfect out there. very nice indeed. the high pressure is going to stay with us for one more day before drifting to far east but it is allowing this warm air coming all the way out of africa. a very coming all the way out of africa. a very warm coming all the way out of africa. a very warm afternoon to come. there are weather fronts on the charts as you can see under has been some rain to come —— rain around. it has been pushing its way through scotland through much of the morning and early afternoon and we will see an improving picture later on. a little bit offair improving picture later on. a little bit of fair weather cloud. may be a few isolated the sunshine across eastern england. we could see 30 degrees plus in one or two isolated spots. as we go through the evening and overnight, we are going to see a little more cloud and i know the leeway and start to kick into

scotland. betsan powys is of cloud. a relatively mild start to wednesday —— bits and pieces of cloud. but as we move into wednesday, we are conscious not to see the signs of a change. another area of high pressure pushing in but the pressure of the height of the north now will allow this north—easterly flow to develop across the country, dragging in some cooler rare on those exposed north sea coasts. more cloud into scotland, northern ireland and northern england as we go through the day. the best of the sunshine on wednesday looks likely to be across england and wales. factor in the strength and direction of that wind and it will feel cooler. further south, highs of 25 or 26. the drive theme will continue into thursday but that wind direction will continue to push its way south and you will notice the difference right across the country on thursday. largely dry wood sunshine coming

through but 15 to 21 is pretty much where we should be for this time of year. that dry theme is said to continue into the weekend and we will see those temperatures a little fresher than they have been of late. if you have not already got the message as we head into the weekend, we keep the dry story going but turning a little:. —— a little cooler.

this is bbc news. the headlines... a warning that nhs staff are having to stay off work because they can't get coronavirus tests. the government says it's dealing with the issues. we've now carried out over 20 million tests for coronavirus in this country. as we expand capacity further, we are working round the clock to make sure everyone who needs a test can get a test. anything that is slowing down our testing system is a concern to me, but we absolutely —— be absolutely assured that we are paying very close attention to this. unemployment hits a two year high, with young people particularly badly hit by the pandemic‘s economic fallout. a lifeline for some small businesses as the high court rules some insurers should have paid out over lockdown. on the road to recovery — the first picture of poisoned

russian opposition leader alexei navalny in his hospital bed surrounded by family. an urgent warning for humanity to slow the ‘accelerating decline‘ in nature as species head towards extinction. and eighty years on, remembering ‘the few‘ — the raf pilots who took to the skies in the battle of britain and saved this country from invasion. hospital bosses in england have warned nhs staff are having to stay off work because they can‘t get coronavirus tests. nhs providers said health workers with symptoms are being forced to remain at home as they wait for tests — and that‘s putting added strain on the service as it gears up for winter. they want doctors and nurses to be treated as a priority. the health secretary matt hancock says officials are working

round the clock to fix ‘operational‘ problems, amid widespread reports of people across england struggling to get tests. richard galpin reports. the town of oldham in north—west england has one of the highest infection rates in the country, but people wanting tests are being turned away at sites like this because of a lack of capacity. the frustration palpable. do yourjob! i'm doing myjob! he‘s had a high temperature, he‘s supposed to be in school. what do you want me to do, leave him out of school, for indefinite? i‘ve been trying since the last two days, i‘ve got a message here, says, the system is currently unavailable. that‘s been the last two days. and what is happening here in oldham is being replicated across the country. critically, the nhs itself is now being affected by the shortage of tests. doctors, nurses and other staff in nhs england who think they may have coronavirus symptoms are unable to confirm if they have been infected. as a result, some are now

staying away from work when potentially it‘s not necessary. we are absolutely at full pelt in the nhs at the moment, trying to recover the services where treatment was understandably but unfortunately delayed because of covid a few months ago. we are trying to get through those cases as quickly as possible and we simply can‘t spare members of staff, waiting for tests, not being able to come into work. and this lack of testing capacity is also impacting schools, which have only recently reopened. already there have been some outbreaks. without sufficient testing, these cannot be spotted in time to prevent the spread of the virus. my year four teacher, he was sent home last wednesday due to covid symptoms, a persistent cough. there were no tests available wednesday, he kept trying to book during the day and he was given the same places some of my parents have been suggested to go to, like aberdeen and llandudno. apart from them being miles away they are also in scotland and wales

and we are in lancashire. he managed to get a fairly local test on the thursday after trying and trying again. according to the latest figures, the number of tests processed per day is getting close to the maximum capacity of 243,817. the latest figure for processed tests is 227,465. the lack of testing capacity is partly because the big laboratories built to help deal with the epidemic are struggling with the level of demand, and there are reports of staffing shortages. i think you almost have a perfect storm of events that have come together to almost essentially crash the testing system. i think there is a surge in demand, i think capacity is very different, stated capacity is different from actually how many tests can be run on a given day. it's very worrying that we seem

to be in a situation now before, really, we have come into autumn and winter, where we have maxed out the number of tests we can do in the country. the government insists the majority of tests are available within a ten mile radius, and that public health england is working night and day to bolster testing capacity. everyone in this house knows we are doing more testing per head of population than almost any other major nation. and i can update the house that we have now carried out over 20 million tests for coronavirus in this country. as we expand capacity further, we are working around the clock to make sure everyone who needs a test can get a test. the government has also suggested that demand from people who did not have symptoms was partly to blame for the current shortages. richard galpin, bbc news. our political correspondent chris

mason gave me this update. at the moment, demand is outstripping supply, and the capacity of the system to churn out tests, either to testing centres or through the post, and then, crucially, process those results quickly and get the results back to those who fear they might have the virus. matt hancock has been facing sustained questioning in the commons this lunchtime, over and over again, mps explaining and talking through anecdotes from constituents who have been asked to travel vast distances across the country to get tests or had to wait ages to get results, and mr hancock‘s argument especially technology, yes, there is a problem and has been for a while, secondly, to promise to resolve it within a matter of weeks, as he described it, which is rather loose language and he was using a week or so ago, and also to emphasise the government strategy here, the emphasis is all about privatisation. ——

privatisation pulls up to 100,000 tests are going to social care, and a good number to hospitals, too. that broke the emphasis is prioritisation. and the provision of that prioritisation is that if you‘re sitting at home and your daughter gets a cough and basically every thing else is a right and if you take ages to get a test or get it back, you‘re at the back of the queue, there‘s good reason for that because people higher up the queue and gota because people higher up the queue and got a more pressing medical need. but the reality is that means a huge number of people are frustrated and a huge number of people who can point directly to a government failing, particularly given that they are emphasising how important testing is, borisjohnson was doing thisjust important testing is, borisjohnson was doing this just a week or so ago, homebut and was doing this just a week or so ago, homebutand proper was doing this just a week or so ago, homebut and proper testing is in allowing us to lead as close to a normal life as possible as we head into the autumn and winter with every expectation that the demand which is already about the outstripping supply continues to rise. we talked about the issue of testing since the pandemic started, but in terms of what nhs providers

are saying, they are saying, its doctors and front line staff who are not accessing tests, and that‘s a problem? absolutely. regular stories now of gp surgeries, practices having to close because staff are in self isolation. of course, being in self isolation. of course, being in self isolation. of course, being in self isolation is a necessary step but keeping it as short as possible if that individual has not got the virus is also crucial, too, for obvious reasons. making sure those tests can be turned round incredibly quickly is essential to that. we heard all that stuff last week about operation moonshot, as the government is it, this vastly ambitious plan to crank up testing hugely in a matter ofjust a handful of months. i was doing some maths on the back of a notepad earlier on, and by my reckoning, the original target around operation moonshot would involve a 57 fold increase in the amount of testing that is currently being done. plenty and the government‘s side would say it‘s

right to be ambitious and you have to set ambitious targets for the system, the structures, to aim for something and try and meet the target, and the government will point to targets that it‘s set in the past and has met, even if it is not met them quite within the timeframe it hoped to. but if you‘re stuck at home now and you don‘t know when you will be released and you think you‘re probably negative, or maybe you‘re worried your positive but you don‘t know, you will hear this kind of ambition and raise an eyebrow, i suspect also i think the government is very conscious at the moment that in the coming because it might challenge, getting testing right and improving it rapidly in terms of the experience that any of us terms of the experience that any of us might encounter if we ask for one, is absently crucial. with me now is samantha roome — her daughter developed a fever last week. i think you got three children in all, let‘s start with what happened to the seven—year—old last week? yes, the sort of nightmare started

last week, my seven—year—old daughter developed a mild fever, she had cold symptoms, coming home from school, so that evening i straightaway got on the computer to book a test. i‘ve booked a test in the past over the summer, no problems at all, but this time there was nothing apart from some drive insights several hundred miles away, no home test at all. i thought that‘s fine, something will probably appear tomorrow morning, i kept trying all night, got up really early, there is a pressure to get a test because you‘ve got to have it within five days and there is obviously you have to self—isolate for a long time. there was nothing still in the morning. then, eventually, something appeared in oldham, which is approximately six mile round trip. your impetus had comejust as i bristol, are due? yes, so clearly, that‘s not suitable for a seven—year—old. so that‘s not

an option. i started to investigate private tests at that point, my husband and i run a small business and the thought of self isolating, not being able to work for 14 days, was quite stressful. started investigating that but constantly checking the page, i would come back inafew checking the page, i would come back in a few hours, kept refreshing, kept logging back in. eventually i did geta kept logging back in. eventually i did get a test for the next day, she‘d been off school already, and thankfully, the following day, the test ca m e thankfully, the following day, the test came back negative. but then, after that, more problems arose, and thick family, my seven—year—old son got a fever. —— a big family. i had to do the whole thing again, in fa ct, to do the whole thing again, in fact, the computer was keeping me out, wasn‘t even letting me get as far, saying there was nothing, try again ina far, saying there was nothing, try again in a few hours. so again, i

was sat at the computer the entire day, and eventually got something the next day, and it was only by luck, 20 spaces appeared at the same place, at the same venue, bristol airport, minutes away. got an appointment for him so he got tested the next day, is a weed open self isolating in that time. —— we had all been self isolating. and this weekend it came back negative, they pretty much got colds. and then my eldest also got a fever, as did i. so the whole thing again, all day. if you don‘t spend all day on the site, i don‘t think you would get a test also whenever i see a test appear, there is only about 20, and i‘m pretty sure there‘s more than 20 people in the bristol area that need a test. and when we have gone to get a test. and when we have gone to get a test, there has been no one there. and i know it‘s a load capacity thing, butjust... and i know it‘s a load capacity thing, but just. .. it‘s

and i know it‘s a load capacity thing, butjust... it‘s been very stressful a nd thing, butjust... it‘s been very stressful and frustrating, we are still awaiting results, we are still self isolating, not able to go to school or work. that‘s what‘s been happening. and this is a frustration, as far as your concern, you‘re following the rules. frustration, as far as your concern, you're following the rules. exactly. and obviously, we want to follow the rules, but i can see how, you know, if you‘re keeping your kids off school for what is, in essence, a cult, and i appreciate you have to make sure it‘s just a cold, cult, and i appreciate you have to make sure it‘sjust a cold, i can see maybe people are just tempted to give up. if you think about it, for ourfamily, it‘s give up. if you think about it, for our family, it‘s taken at least three days between getting your symptoms and getting a result, and actually more than three days for me and my son, so between is all that‘s 15 days of self isolating, just by following the correct process. if you look at it like that, it‘s almost pointless, having a test, because you‘ve got to isolate for 14 days if you don‘t have a test. so it‘s crazy. and it‘s very stressful,

andi it‘s crazy. and it‘s very stressful, and i don‘t see why the system is so, why and i don‘t see why the system is so, why resources and i don‘t see why the system is so, why resources aren‘t in place right now when we have had quite a few months of this awful pandemic to sort it out. and what about other pa rents‘ sort it out. and what about other parents‘ reaction to this? at school, you hear another child has gone home with the sniffles, you think immediately, i‘d better go and find out what‘s going on. why are people on the phone to use to say, is it, isn‘t it? —— where people on the phone to you? actually, they weren‘t. as parents, your kids get fever is all the time, especially when they start back at school. mine had just had a swimming lesson, you know, they pick up everything. these a res know, they pick up everything. these ares are know, they pick up everything. these a res a re pretty know, they pick up everything. these ares are pretty commonplace. so i can only say that the situation, where you have to take to admit weeks of, is going to happen all the time unless you can get test. and like i said, in the summer and to

get a test myself twice, and got them the same day, there were offering appointments well into the evening and i could see there are loads of appointments being built. but now, obviously, then back to school, the tests are not there. what you think when you see matt hancock, the health secretary, stand up hancock, the health secretary, stand up in parliament and say, it is working to capacity, working through the night, that coal with the frivolous requests, which is, reading between the lines, pretty much what he saying? —— didn‘t pull with frivolous requests.” much what he saying? —— didn‘t pull with frivolous requests. i am pretty flabbergasted by the government‘s response, as i say, everyone is we‘ve had months to plan for this. kids going back to school was not a surprise. lab capacity, i‘m a scientist myself, we have —— we run chemicals business, sadly, we don‘t offer any testing kits! i know you can get capacity with planning, you can get capacity with planning, you can sort it out. and if you know

you, you‘ve got to get it has, to be faced with that big sign on the computer screen saying, try again in a few hours, there will be some appointments, no home kits, nothing, you‘ve got no reassurance you can get testy, it‘s very stressful, and i think because the government have said they are going to be prioritising the economy, but that‘s with the suffering with the absence of testing, my children have not been able to go to school, and i‘ve not been able to work and is a small business owner that is not great. so already, it‘s impacting, and were only in the second week of term. you‘ve got more patients than i‘ve got! i'm not sure i've got patients. and they are right, are they? the first two and come back negative, we are awaiting the third but i‘m sure it‘s the same bug, they are healthy. thank you forjoining us.

tighter restrictions will be enforced in dublin over the coming months to try and curb the spread of coronavirus. most businesses will stay open and small numbers can gather to attend sporting or arts events. in the irish capital, where cases are more prevelant, only up to six people from two households will be able to meet. pubs in the city will also remain closed when some others across ireland will be able to reopen from the 21st september. small businesses have been thrown a lifeline after the high court ruled some insurers should have paid out for losses caused by the lockdown. when firms had to close their doors in march, many looked to their insurance to cover them. but some found their claims rejected, with insurers arguing their policies were never meant to include such restrictions. nowjudges have ruled the clauses in some policies should have meant they were covered. kevin peachey reports. like thousands of other owners of small firms, anna and robin smart thought their business interruption insurance policy would cover them for coronavirus—related losses. but when their insurer refused to pay out, their photography firm

literally needed rebuilding. our best bet to save our business was to remove ourselves from our business premises and build a studio at home, which would reduce our costs down massively, so that hopefully we can trade through whatever‘s coming next. insurers had argued that these policies were not meant for blanket measures such as a government—imposed lockdown. the debate led to a test case in the high court, but nowjudges have given hope to many businesses who thought they would lose out. i am hoping that we get to that point of being able to move forward, progress our claim and just get on with things, because the stress that we are under — not us, collectively, businesses at the moment — is absolutely immense. with these businesses desperate for clarity, the 150—page judgment is not entirely clear cut, but groups representing policyholders are delighted. i think it is a resounding success for policyholders. this is why we brought the claim,

we have been vindicated, it was the right thing to do for hundreds of thousands of businesses. they will now have a lifeline, i hope, to making an insurance recovery from their insurers. insurers say more work is needed before drawing the debate to a close. needless to say, it has been an unprecedented event for the insurance industry. overall, firms have been paying out on claims to those customers who do have covid cover, they have paid out over £900 million. they are going to be sitting down with the lawyers and looking very carefully at this judgment indeed. the businesses affected can expect contact from their insurer in the next week, although for some, it is too late. with insurers facing a bill of many millions of pounds, they may look to appeal against the decision. that should be fast tracked, but that could mean a further wait before people like the smarts are put fully in the picture. get a picture, that will be good for instagram. kevin peachy, bbc news.

the unemployment rate has gone up to four point one percent — with young people among the hardest hit. a further 156,000 people aged 16 to 24 were added to the jobless jobless figures in the three months tojuly. many fear worse is to come — when the government‘s furlough scheme ends next month. our business correspondent sarah corker reports. (vt next) so, how close is this to the city centre? on the bus, like 20 minutes. the coombes family from liverpool are job hunting. michael and karen both lost their work in retail. they are dropping daughter isabella off at university in manchester. she is looking for bar work while she studies. the economic fallout from coronavirus is affecting every generation. this is the first time i‘ve ever been without a job. you remain optimistic but it gets tough, it gets really hard. michael was a senior retail buyer for a big fashion brand. he was furloughed in march and made redundant injuly. you begin to question yourself, you go, ok, i have a lot of passion for what i do, a lot of experience,

but do i need to retrain? am i in the wrong industry? like many young people, isabella is struggling to find a job in hospitality as hours are cut. just over the last couple of months i was applying for two to three barjobs a day, just through hospitality websites, you might hear back from one or two of them. even then they still cannot guarantee the hours, i mean, they arejust, you know, there is nothing really there. the unemployment rate, the blue line on this graph, grew to 4.1% in the three months tojuly, up from 3.9%. but just look at the rise in youth unemployment. now at 13.4%, the red line here. since march, nearly 700,000 jobs have been cut and as the furlough scheme winds down, coming to an end in october, more companies are now setting out their plans for redundancy. i think it will get worse before it gets better. i personally feel it will peak because everyone is nervous and you want to survive this

so if we survive it, you can grow afterwards. today, labour renewed its calls for the furlough scheme to be extended or replaced. for millions of workers, for towns and cities under restrictions, itjust isn‘t possible to get back to work or reopen businesses. that isn‘t a choice. it is the cold reality. of this crisis. so it makes no sense at all for the government to pull support away now. and the government has hinted there could be more targeted support for certain sectors once the furlough scheme ends. throughout this crisis i have not hesitated to act in creative and effective ways to supportjobs and employment, and will continue to do so. there are some positive signs. as the economy opened up, job vacancies in the three months to augustjumped by 30%, but competition for roles remains fierce.

sarah corker, bbc news. i‘m joined by maja gustafsson from independent think—tank the resolution foundation. and also by ellen webb who was furloughed in april, and consequently made redundant from her pajob injune. she‘s since applied for more than 100 roles. how‘s that going? how's that going? it's really tough and it doesn‘t get any easier. everyday i am applying to jobs and some of them, i feel like everyday i am applying to jobs and some of them, ifeel like i‘ve applied to previous weeks ago, and it‘s becoming more difficult. a lot of employers are getting more particular about their needs, so the pool of jobs is actually particular about their needs, so the pool ofjobs is actually getting narrower and narrower.” pool ofjobs is actually getting narrower and narrower. i think it was april one to report on furlough, when that happened, what was the process you thought would happen in the coming months?” process you thought would happen in the coming months? i kind ofjust thought like everyone else i would go back to work in a month or two, and basically, every month i would

get a phone call from our hr manager, saying, really sorry, it‘s not going to be this month. you know, and then another month will go by. i would just kind of weight by the phone waiting to hear about anything. but it was the same phone call each time. and this is a familiar story? absolutely. we have seen the people on furlough are actually showing up as unemployed now in the data, so before, during summer, people looking at and implement in activity rates in the economy, were looking at the number of irish people work, not unemployment, because people were unfurlough. now with the news that's coming out, we see that people are actually showing up as unemployed, not inactive, not working though hours but being employed, but actually showing up as unemployed, and this was as we had earlier driven by young people, mainly. why is that? is it because businesses

are realising they won‘t have the money to bring them back into the office? we are seeing that operating at full capacity, sectors like hospitality is a retail and leisure, there are so hit by lockdown and evenif there are so hit by lockdown and even if the economy is reopening, they can't go back to just full capacity, so there are still struggling and with the furlough scheme set to end this month, we don't know what will happen, we don't know what will happen, we don't have certainty on what will come after. so there is a bit of pre—wind down unemployment spike now. so we will see what happens when the scheme ends, but right now we are seeing unemployment go up and thatis we are seeing unemployment go up and that is mainly driven in sectors like hospitality and retail that have been especially hit by lockdown. alone, we in this business talk about unemployment rates in figures but you are on the front line. what‘s it like? how many calls are you putting out, what response are you putting out, what response are you putting out, what response are you getting, and how do you keep going? on a daily basis, i at least

reach out to about two or three recruiters, e—mail wise, and i will make a few calls. i‘m applying to jobs on first may, at least ten a day, even if there was that i perhaps already applied to. —— i‘m applying tojobs perhaps already applied to. —— i‘m applying to jobs on perhaps already applied to. —— i‘m applying tojobs on linkedin. you just have to keep going, i had to get a job eventually, it has to happen, you have to keep going. pretty demoralising, though, isn‘t it? massively. and this is a real problem with this, though, isn‘t it? it has a real effect on people time and time again, they get nothing for all this effort. definitely. and we are seeing that, if you become unemployed, there might be long term scarring effects to your wage, to your progression levels later in

your progression levels later in your career, and the longer you stay unemployed for, the more likely in the more deep these effects will be. we are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, even though this is a huge hit to the labour market, we are seeing the vacancy rates are up slightly, there are slightly more job stop lighter than they were at the peak of the lockdown. but this is a very challenging situation to be in and there aren‘t a lot of things you can do, we really need government support to create more jobs and to have a sectoral support system when the furlough scheme ends. and of course when the furlough scheme was announced for many people, and i suspect you at the time, you so that‘s good, i‘m going to be safe, but you won‘t. —— you thought, that‘s good. going to be safe, but you won‘t. —— you thought, that's good.” going to be safe, but you won‘t. —— you thought, that's good. i thought for sure that being furloughed, that would just be... it would be sorted into the economy could bounce back. so having that dreaded phone call made, my heart sank and i knew that

this was just made, my heart sank and i knew that this wasjust going made, my heart sank and i knew that this was just going to be the worst, challenging time to come. and unless the chancellor does something, it‘s a pretty ha rd the chancellor does something, it‘s a pretty hard end to this, isn‘t it? and it‘s coming soon. a pretty hard end to this, isn‘t it? and it's coming soon. it is coming soon. so what we really need to do now is ensure that people aren't going from being employed and being unfurlough to being unemployed, and we need support for people who have already become unemployed to get and keepa already become unemployed to get and keep a newjob. so if the furlough scheme ends now that it's going to be an abrupt end and we'd be expecting a lot of people to become unemployed, so that's why it's important that there something coming after and is ongoing support even going into this autumn, the crisis can last for quite a long time and people need to be supported, this is a need to be supported, this is a need to be supported throughout the whole thing. you've just got to keep going. i know, fingers crossed! we will do that for you. i wish a happy outcome, and thank you so much for

telling us about it. thank you very much, both. the former conservative mp charlie elphicke has been jailed for two years at southwark crown court for sexual assaults against two women. he was convicted injuly of one count of sexual assault in 2007, and two further counts against a second woman in 2016. the bbc‘s highest paid star, gary lineker, has agreed to take a salary cut of nearly a quarter, but he‘ll still earn more than £1.3 million a year. the announcement came as the bbc published its annual report. our media correspondent david sillito is here. inevitably, there is the focus on salaries, but this is the moment the bbc takes very much so. a salaries, especially the top ones, always interesting to see, who is being paid and who is being paid most. next year, the highest paid person at the bbc on the seller list, remember, it only covers people whose salaries are made public,

there are all sorts of complexity is about people who work for independent production companies whose salaries are not made public, but next year, zoe ball will be the highest—paid bbc star in this list because she has gone up to £1.36 million, and with that 23% cut, we made a quick calculation, its 1.35 million for gary lineker, said zoe ball will next year be the highest—paid. ball will next year be the highest-paid. and that's important, the gender pay gap has been the story of the last couple of years and the bbc made certain promises about that. that was the thing that stood out. the first time these figures were brought out, it was a three to one split, male to female, and many women so they thought they we re and many women so they thought they were doing the same job as the person sitting next to them and were being paid considerably less. there have been big changes, many men have seen pay cuts, and many more women in the top 20 list, and in the top eight now, it‘s four men and four women, not quite equal, it‘s about a

sort of 55, 45, but certainly they change from that 75—25 split a few yea rs change from that 75—25 split a few years ago. the audience are the important ones, there has been criticism of the bbc in the past about being obsessed with a younger audience, but it‘s clear the younger audience, but it‘s clear the younger audience is going elsewhere at the moment. i love going through these figures, there are a fascinating snapshot, it‘s the chance we get to see what is going on. there are never the changes, year—to—year, people have habits and they don‘t change those habits a great deal, but you can see the direction we are going in. if you compare someone aged between 16 and 34, the figures have gone down. if you are over the age of 55, it is 12 hours, 55. it is a huge, huge difference. people over the age of 55 are the big consumers. it is starting to come down as well with them. and also there is a

geographical divide, which i find fascinating. the smallest users of bbc television, northern ireland and london. london because lots of young people and also very big ethnic diversity the, people who are not watching traditional bbc television. the south of england, this is a bsently the south of england, this is absently fascinating, the actual watching of bbc tv has gone up this year. it is the only area that has actually gone up. during this pandemic, the iplayer has come into its own. absolutely, gone right up. an interesting figure is bbc three, which cause has gone online only, but over the last year it went up... this is a lot of minutes i am going to be talking about, 88 million minutes a month. , a week —— they are reaching that 16 to 34 audience better than they were a year ago. and that is being done through the

iplayer. but the difference is the amount viewing on the iplayer corresponding with the decrease in what we call the traditional television, linear television. and also radio for instance. the reach has gone below 50% for the 16 to 34—year—olds. a lot of thought going into bbc sounds. the world is changing and the media is changing and this is a fascinating snapshot. i thought the bbc was supposed to be cutting. the headcount, staff count, has gone up, so to has senior managers and the new director—general said he is going to have to do something seriously about this and the bbc has got less money, 170 million less this year and also with coronavirus, commercial reve nu es with coronavirus, commercial revenues have gone right down. so there are serious financial issues, soi

there are serious financial issues, so i think that headcount is going to go down next year and they certainly have their eyes on senior managers. david, thank you very much. sport and now a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. the secretary of state with responsibility for sport, oliver dowden, will meet senior officials this week to discuss the return of fans. after last week‘s decision to restricted pilot events to 1000 spectators after a rise in covid cases, the government said plans for further returns would be reviewed. a number of bodies have voiced concern that without spectators, the future of some sports would be in jeopardy. in the latest rugby union test event, around 1,000 fans were at kingsholm last night, to watch gloucester‘s premiership rugby match against harlequins. they were all socially distanced in groups, with refreshments served in their seats and gloucester‘s chief executive, lance bradley, says it was proof that more fans can return safely to stadia. we prepared a report on last

night night‘s match. from our point of view, the organisation of the game went very well. the fans did exactly what we wanted them to do and we believe we showed it was quite safe to have 1,000 fans in, so the next phase is to get more fans and as quickly as possible. we very much hope we will be allowed another pilot test for our final home game of the season at the beginning of october. meanwhile the managing director of silverstone stuart pringle says the racetrack needs to get all fans back for next summer‘s british grand prix. and there‘s been a significant development in letting fans into grounds as the uk‘s only indoor sport pilot event faces cancellation due to a rise in virus cases. ticket sales for the newcastle eagles test event due to take place this friday in front of around 800 fans have been put on hold over fears the north east could be heading for a local lockdown. it is infinitely harder when you have got to put a multitude of

different breaks in place to make something happen. one—way systems and all sorts of things going on at our venues. so to have done all of that work and then be in this situation is... the whole thing is very bad timing anyway but it feels like it is bad timing and punishing. meanwhile the managing director of silverstone stuart pringle says the racetrack needs to get all fans back for next summer‘s british grand prix. he says this year has been incredibly damaging and without a full house next year, the future of silverstone itself hangs in the balance. i don‘t want to run with a reduced audience next year because it will simply make us lose more money quicker. and we cannot sustain that. our balance sheet is not robust enough and we need to get back to normality. when the government talk about very positive progress with vaccines and a very expansive testing regime, i hope that one or other or a combination of the pair will see us back to full capacity at the british grand prix in 2021 because if we are not there, silverstone will be in a dire place

and we will not be alone. forumla one‘s bosses will not investigate lewis hamilton‘s decision to wear a t—shirt highlighting police brutality at sunday‘s tuscan grand prix. the shirt read "arrest the cops who killed breonna taylor" — the black woman who was shot eight times in her home in kentucky by us police in march. the sport‘s governing body, the fia, had been considering whether the message broke any rules, but told the bbc that an investigation has been ruled out. aston villa captainjack grealish has signed a new five—year deal to stay at the club. the midfielder, who made his first appearance for england against denmark last week, says he is delighted to make the commitment. he had been linked with a move away from villa park this summer but the new contract will keep him there until 2025. it‘s been confirmed that andy murray has been given a wildcard for the french open, which starts a week on sunday. he was a finalist at roland garros four years ago but he hasn‘t

appeared there since losing in the semifinals in 2017. murray is currently ranked number 110 in the world, after last year‘s hip surgery. that‘s all the sport for now. i‘ll have more for you in the next hour. let‘s return to our top story — the health secretary, matt hancock, has said the goverment is working hard to fix operational challenges in the coronavirus testing system, which have left people with symptoms unable to access tests. overwhelming demand for appointments has meant many workers, including healthcare staff, have had to self—isolate, preventing them from returning to work. matt hancock addressed mps in the commons a little while ago. we are doing more testing per head of population than almost any other major nation. and i can update the house that we have now carried out over 20 million tests for coronavirus in this country. as we expand capacity further, we are working round the clock to make sure that everyone who needs a test can get a test.

the vast majority of people who use our testing service get a test that is close to home and the average distance travelled to a test site is nowjust 5.8 miles down from 6.4 miles last week. but the whole house knows that there are operational challenges and we are working hard to fix them. we have seen a sharp rise in people coming forward for a test, including those who are not eligible and, mr speaker, throughout this pandemic we have prioritised testing according to need. over the summer, when demand was low, we were able to meet all requirements for testing, whether priorities or not, but as demand has risen, so we are having to prioritise once again and i do not shirk from decisions about prioritisation. they are not always comfortable, but they are important. the shadow health secretaryjonathan ashworth said britain is at ‘a perilous moment‘. let‘s get the view

from munira wilson — the health spokesperson for the liberal democrats. good afternoon to you. how powerless a moment do you think we are at? very perilous. i am really concerned. testing has to be the focus of our fight against this pandemic, the world health organization has been saying that since the beginning of the year. and the fact that now we just simply do not have the capacity to keep public demand as people... children are back at school, people are going back at school, people are going back to work, it is very worrying indeed. we are seeing case numbers rising and trained to be able to test people so that we can trace their contacts and isolate those people to keep people safe so that people to keep people safe so that people at home can get —— get on with their lives are so many are desperate to do. what do you say to those who say there is too much asking for frivolous tests going on? it grates with me that the secretary of state is blaming the public. the

messaging from the government has been farfrom messaging from the government has been far from clear and messaging from the government has been farfrom clear and until very recently matt hancock himself was saying that if you are concerned, go and geta saying that if you are concerned, go and get a test. there are people concerned now because children are back at school and i need to follow their school guidance and check whether they have coronavirus or something less sinister before they can send their child back—to—school. and the same is true for health care professionals working in our nhs. the other thing i would says i have been told by some officials that a p pa re ntly been told by some officials that apparently people are being advised when they are being contacted by the contact testing —— tracing service rather, that some people are being mistakenly advised if they are in contact with someone who has tested positive that they should also go and geta positive that they should also go and get a test and that is not correct and i do not know whether thatis correct and i do not know whether that is human error or a error in the protocols. but clearly there is a range of reasons why people who

should not be perhaps getting a test are getting a test but the solution to all of this is we need adequate capacity in the system because demand is only going to go up as we go into the winter months and more and more people are back at school and more people are back at school and back at work. what about the argument for prioritising the nhs front line workers who themselves are struggling to get tests at the moment? nhs workers, we have said for a long time, should be getting regular testing, as should those in ca re regular testing, as should those in care homes and indeed the health secretary believes he has rolled it out to care homes but i know again from my own constituency that people in care homes are not getting regular testing. it is unfortunate if he does have to go to some sort of rationing or prioritisation mechanism because people who are displaying symptoms or are concerned that they may have covid need to be accessing tests now. mps across all

sides of the house of commons have been hearing from constituents across the length and breadth of this country that it is almost impossible to get tests close to them, home tests are few and far between and some are being asked to game the system to be able to get a test, as i have found in my own constituency. what seems to have exacerbated this problem is children going back to school. that is right and quite understandably a lot of schools have got protocols and guidelines in place to keep their staff and other students safe and healthy and already i am hearing from head teachers in my own constituency that they are concerned that if staff absences continue to rise because people are having to self—isolate but cannot get tests, they may find themselves having to shut schools down and we all know what happened last time. home—schooling was a disaster for many parents and if parents are trying to work, we know home—schooling has a detrimental impact on many children‘s well—being and learning and we cannot go back to that. testing is absolutely

pivotal and the government has got to stop focusing on these... its moonshot target and focus on the here and now. forget world beating, we just need a functional test entry system here and now, today, for pupils, parents, teachers and everybody else who needs to access a test now. thank you forjoining us this afternoon. more than 400 pupils at a school in somerset are self—isolating after two students tested positive for coronavirus. children at bishop fox‘s school in taunton were told to stay home after a student in year 7 and another in year 11 were infected. a statement on the school‘s twitter account said a deep cleaning process would be undertaken at the school before students return next week. small businesses have been thrown a lifeline after the high court ruled some insurers should have paid out for losses caused by the lockdown. when firms had to close their doors in march, many looked to their insurance to cover them. but some found their claims rejected, with insurers arguing their policies were never meant to include such restrictions. nowjudges have ruled the clauses

in some policies should have meant they were covered. the hospitality insurance group action is one of the campaign groups backing the financial conduct authority‘s case. it says thousands of uk hospitality businesses should now be able to receive pay—outs as a result of thejudgement. sonia campbell is from the law firm, mishcon de reya, which represents the group, and we can speak to her now. the smile on your face says it all. how many businesses is this actually going to affect? i think it has the potential of affecting tens of thousands of businesses, if not more. thejudgment thousands of businesses, if not more. the judgment was thousands of businesses, if not more. thejudgment was really unprecedented, we have never had anything like it can from the issues it is covering and i think it is a landmark victory for uk businesses. in many respects because although there may not be cover for some policyholders, where we are now compared to six months ago, when

insurers were saying across—the—board there was no cover for any policyholders for the pandemic, we are now in a very different position and i think we have had a comprehensive result on many policies, where policyholders may well have insurance coverage and should be recovering under their insurances. this is not the end of it. they will presumably appeal.” think we don‘t know as insurers are going to appeal but i think that insurers are seeking further time to consider whether they would like to apply for permission to appeal. i think if they do want to go down that route, this is the kind of case of national importance where the court is likely to allow an appeal and the supreme court may well hear it. there may well be a leapfrog from the high court which obviously had two eminentjudges, one of whom isa

had two eminentjudges, one of whom is a court of appealjudge anyway, so this may well end up in the supreme court for final clarity on all of these issues. basically the argument was you have insurance for anything that stops your business, here comes along a pandemic and the insurance companies say, that is not covered. yes, certainly that is a way of looking at it because businesses were claiming under disease clauses and they were being faced with defences saying no, your losses caused by the government lockdown measures, not the disease in yourarea. lockdown measures, not the disease in your area. specific cases in your area did not cause your business to be interrupted for conversely under such a government action type cover, they were being met with defences about, really, this is caused by a disease, not the government action and so there are different defences being circulated, being ventilated by the insurance and i think that what the court has done in its judgment which is obviously really

extensive and needs to be considered carefully by all parties is set in quite clear terms for many policyholders there is cover, so many disease clauses will respond, some hybrid clauses will respond, some hybrid clauses will respond, some insurers won‘t have to pay claims on their policies but that is the matter of looking at policies as against the ruling from today.” describe this as a lifeline, there are some people tonight who will have a proper night‘s sleep after months of worry. i think that is right but we are not at the end of the road yet. as i say, this is a hugely compared to where these businesses were six months ago when they were told that they just businesses were six months ago when they were told that theyjust had no cover. i think the judgment today will give so many businesses real hope that they can recover and there can “— hope that they can recover and there can —— insurances and this will be a real lifeline to many and i now hope that the insurers who have a very clearjudgment in that the insurers who have a very clear judgment in many that the insurers who have a very clearjudgment in many cases on certain policies do the right thing and start paying these claims,

irrespective of whether they want to seek permission to appeal. there is nothing to stop them now putting their hands in their pockets and paying some of these claims. their hands in their pockets and paying some of these claimsm their hands in their pockets and paying some of these claims. it is really good to talk to you. thank you for your time. the russian opposition leader alexei navalny has posted a picture on his instagram from a german hospital, where he is recovering from a suspected novichok poisoning. here it is, he is surrouded by his family. he said: i can still hardly do anything myself — but yesterday i was able to breathe on my own. mr navalny‘s supporters believe his tea was spiked at tomsk airport on 20 august. he became ill during the flight, and the plane made an emergency landing. in early september, the german government said navalny had been poisoned with a soviet—style novichok nerve agent in an attempt to murder him. and yesterday, germany‘s government said that laboratories in france and sweden have now reconfirmed german tests showing that the poison used on mr navalny was novichok. a spokesperson for alexei navalny also said he plans to return to russia when he‘s better.

earlier, we heard from our berlin correspondent damian mcguinness. he has been in a clinically induced coma for weeks and then he was on mechanical ventilation, was not able to breathe on his own and this is the first time today that he has communicated directly with the public since he fell ill on that internal flight from russia at the end of august and it is a big step because experts here say that the poison that he was given and that has been proven by german officials and swedish and french officials now, independent laboratories, three of them, have proven this, was a severe poison. now, officials and medical doctors here say that he is doing much better but they cannot rule out any long—term damage, but certainly this picture of him, surrounded by his family as you say, his wife on the right—hand side and two younger people who look like his children, they are wearing masks and we cannot confirm it for definite,

but i think it is his children, they are all incredibly cheerful and you can tell that from the picture and this is good news for his family, his supporters and for himself obviously, because having suffered an attack like this, it was not clear whether he would survive, first of all, and whether he would come out of this. the broader political implications are huge because this has created a huge row, a big rift politically, between berlin and moscow and indeed the european union and moscow because european officials here have said that the kremlin needs to come up for an expedition for what has happened and kremlin officials have accused european governments of meddling and say they should not interfere in russian internal affairs and the nation tells russia had to carry out investigations, there is a growing political row but this initial post is good news for the supporters of navalny because it shows he is on the road to recovery.

"never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few" — the immortal words of winston churchill as he paid tribute to the raf pilots who, exactly 80 years ago, took on the might of the luftwaffe, and saved britain from invasion. the last of those young men, john hemmingway who is now 101, has told the bbc what it was like to be part of that select band. robert hall has the story. they‘d been expecting it for days, the final mass attack by hitler‘s luftwaffe ahead of an invasion. the plan was straightforward. hundreds of bombers would target london and the southern counties whilst fighters were waiting to trap the raf and wipe it out. exhausted young men who had fought and watched friends die for two months scrambled back into their cockpits. it would be about there. it was enough to turn you all over

and do all sorts of things. and if you were fighting, you would be pressing this button as well. john hemingway is the last of winston churchill‘s ‘few‘. now, 101, he‘d already been shot down twice by september 1940. we were all in our early 20s, i was 20. we just didn‘t care. there was no right or wrong. the war was on, we were pilots. we were going to fight them all the time. not that we were brave or anything, but there was nothing else. the world was at war, and you couldn‘t go somewhere and say, "i am at peace, i don‘t fight wars." as the planes weaved in a web of smoke trails over kent, the few relied on the many. the fitters who endured the bombing of airfields and got

them back into the air, the spotters, plotters and radar operators who steered them towards their next mission. by the end of september 15th, the tide had turned. german losses had been twice that of the raf. the invasion would be cancelled. at dozens of airfields, the spitfires and the hurricanes came home. the main skill was luck, you had to be lucky. no matter how good you were, for instance my boss, dickie lee, was the best pilot i‘ve ever seen. but he was shot down and killed. so he had no luck. i had bags of luck. i couldn‘t do that. but here i am. like so many events this year, battle of britain day will be a quiet affair, but this light show at the uk‘s first—ever radar station in norfolk is a reminder that we celebrate and remember a true team effort.

robert hall, bbc news. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with louise lear. good afternoon. it is a warm september story out there for many of us and in fact if you take a look at this weatherwatchers picture, you could say it is picture postcard perfect out there. very nice indeed. the high pressure is going to stay with us for one more day before drifting to far east but it is allowing this warm air coming all the way out of africa. a very warm afternoon to come. there are weather fronts on the charts as you can see that there has been some rain around. it has been pushing its way through scotland through much of the morning and early afternoon and we will see an improving picture later on. a little bit of fair weather cloud. may be a few isolated the sunshine across eastern england. we could see 30 degrees plus in one

or two isolated spots. as we go through the evening and overnight, we are going to see a little more cloud and i know the leeway and start to kick into scotland. bits and pieces of cloud. a relatively mild start to wednesday. but as we move into wednesday, we are conscious not to see the signs of a change. another area of high pressure pushing in but the pressure of the height of the north now will allow this north—easterly flow to develop across the country, dragging in some cooler rare on those exposed north sea coasts. more cloud into scotland, northern ireland and northern england as we go through the day. the best of the sunshine on wednesday looks likely to be across england and wales. factor in the strength and direction of that wind and it will feel cooler. further south, highs of 25 or 26.

the dry theme will continue into thursday but that wind direction will continue to push its way south and you will notice the difference right across the country on thursday. largely dry with sunshine coming through but 15 to 21 is pretty much where we should be for this time of year. that dry theme is said to continue into the weekend and we will see those temperatures a little fresher than they have been of late. if you have not already got the message as we head into the weekend, we keep the dry story going but turning a little cooler.

this is bbc news i‘m ben brown. the headlines... a warning that nhs staff are having to stay off work because they can‘t get coronavirus tests. the government says it‘s dealing with the issues. we‘ve now carried out over 20 million tests for coronavirus in this country. as we expand capacity further, we are working round the clock to make sure everyone who needs a test can get a test. unemployment hits a two year high — with young people especially badly hit by the pandemic‘s economic fallout. a lifeline for some small businesses as the high court rules insurers should have paid out over lockdown. an urgent warning for humanity to slow what‘s called an ‘accelerating decline‘ in nature with species heading towards extinction. a new chapter for the middle east — the united arab emirates and bahrain

prepare to sign a peace deal with israel at the white house. radio 2‘s zoe ball is set to become the highest paid bbc presenter as the corporation publishes its annual report. hospital chiefs in england say nhs staff are having to stay off work because they can‘t get coronavirus tests. nhs providers say health workers with symptoms are being forced to stay at home as they wait for tests — and that‘s putting added strain on the service as it gears up for winter. they want doctors and nurses to be treated as a priority. the health secretary matt hancock says officials are working

round the clock to fix what he called ‘operational‘ problems, amid widespread reports of people across england struggling to get tests. richard galpin reports. the town of oldham in north—west england has one of the highest infection rates in the country, but people wanting tests are being turned away at sites like this because of a lack of capacity. the frustration palpable. do yourjob! i'm doing myjob! he‘s had a high temperature, he‘s supposed to be in school. what do you want me to do, leave him out of school, for indefinite? i‘ve been trying since the last two days, i‘ve got a message here, says, the system is currently unavailable. that‘s been the last two days. and what is happening here in oldham is being replicated across the country. critically, the nhs itself is now being affected by the shortage of tests. doctors, nurses and other staff in nhs england who think they may have coronavirus symptoms are unable to confirm if they have been infected. as a result, some are now staying away from work when potentially it‘s not necessary.

we are absolutely at full pelt in the nhs at the moment, trying to recover the services where treatment was understandably but unfortunately delayed because of covid a few months ago. we are trying to get through those cases as quickly as possible and we simply can‘t spare members of staff, waiting for tests, not being able to come into work. and this lack of testing capacity is also impacting schools, which have only recently reopened. already there have been some outbreaks. without sufficient testing, these cannot be spotted in time to prevent the spread of the virus. my year four teacher, he was sent home last wednesday due to covid symptoms, a persistent cough. there were no tests available wednesday, he kept trying to book during the day and he was given the same places some of my parents have been suggested to go to, like aberdeen and llandudno. apart from them being miles away they are also in scotland and wales and we are in lancashire.

he managed to get a fairly local test on the thursday after trying and trying again. according to the latest figures, the number of tests processed per day is getting close to the maximum capacity of 243,817. the latest figure for processed tests is 227,465. the lack of testing capacity is partly because the big laboratories built to help deal with the epidemic are struggling with the level of demand, and there are reports of staffing shortages. i think you almost have a perfect storm of events that have come together to almost essentially crash the testing system. i think there is a surge in demand, i think capacity is very different, stated capacity is different from actually how many tests can be run on a given day. it's very worrying that we seem to be in a situation now before,

really, we have come into autumn and winter, where we have maxed out the number of tests we can do in the country. the government insists the majority of tests are available within a ten mile radius, and that public health england is working night and day to bolster testing capacity. everyone in this house knows we are doing more testing per head of population than almost any other major nation. and i can update the house that we have now carried out over 20 million tests for coronavirus in this country. as we expand capacity further, we are working around the clock to make sure everyone who needs a test can get a test. the government has also suggested that demand from people who did not have symptoms was partly to blame for the current shortages. richard galpin, bbc news. our health correspondent nick triggle is here.

we heard they are the government say, 20 million tests carried out so far, sounds like a lot, i think more than many of our european competitors, in fact. than many of our european competitors, infact. but than many of our european competitors, in fact. but still massive demand and a lot of people finding they cannot get a test. yes, this issue has been rumbling on for a couple of weeks and it‘s now clear it‘s pretty widespread across the country. the government is carrying out about 200,000 tests a day, double what was being done in early june, but it‘s clear it is still not enough. demand has risen so much. in many ways this should have been expected, schools going back, society reopening. the government has been quite fine with some of its messaging now that it does not want people who have not got symptoms coming forward for tests. it is running adverts during the summer encouraging people to come forward for tests and thinks too many people are now, not always appropriately come asking for tests. there is a new lab opening up in a couple of weeks which the government says will

make a big difference and increase the testing capacity by 50,000, an increase of about a test. but it‘s clear, as we are now entering the season when respiratory viruses to thrive, there is going to be more cases, meaning more demand for testing to stop so there are concerns behind—the—scenes that we will always be playing catch up. you mention a new lab, laboratory seem to be the key problem here, not enough laboratory capacity, people are wondering, why isn‘t the government enlisted more labs? there must be hundreds of laps around the country they could be using about potentially. there are, it's a good question. they are relying on a five mega labs across the country that can mega labs across the country that ca n process mega labs across the country that can process tens of thousands of tests a day, but there are also a lot of university labs, some private labs, which are, to some extent can be used. at some people are suggesting, why don‘t we reach out to these smaller labs and quickly increase capacity? but clearly, there also needs to be staffing and

infrastructure put in place, so the government is trying to increase that, but whether it will manage to do that enough to keep pace with demand is another question. nick, thank you. some reaction now from the shadow health minister, whojoins us, thank you for being with us. the government saying this is problem of partly at least excess demand, people seeking a test are not eligible for a test? they say that but we not really seen any evidence to support that. government advice has been pretty clear, that if you are displaying symptoms, you get a test. i don‘t think that people will be seeking a test if they don‘t have symptoms. he was going to spend hours every day refreshing website being sent hundreds of miles around the country does get a test they don‘t need? i think it simply a case that the system isn‘t working as well as we would like in the government really need to explain properly what is going on here. you

say people travelling hundreds of miles, i know there have been anecdotal stories about that, but at the same time, matt hancock has told mps the average distance travelled toa mps the average distance travelled to a test site is actually down from 6.4 miles to 5.8 miles. i don't know what he bases this figure is on, but the a chevy every mp who spoke in response to the question brought by john ashworth to date —— virtually every mp who spoke on the question stay on the testing fiasco gave an example from someone in their constituency being asked to travel hundreds of miles for a test, if they can get a test at all. so this is not a nice little problem, it is happening up and down the country, there something seriously going wrong with the computer system. effort with this is not an isolated problem was that there is something seriously going wrong with the testing sites. they need to explain why this has happened because if there is an increase in demand, it‘s something that could have been anticipated when kids are going back to school, people are going back to work, they should have that extra capacity in readiness for that.

having said all that, there have been, i think of a 20 million tests, as we were saying, and actually, more tests carried out in the uk than in many other big european countries like france and spain and so on. of those 20 million tests, there is several million that have actually gone missing and we don‘t really know where they have ended up, and other the government had boasted about testing capacity of 274,000 every day, we know, actually, that there is only about 225,000 testing process. so there is actually spare capacity in the system of 150,000 on the government‘s own figures, so it really is an incredible situation that they have not been able to match up that capacity with the demand. so something is not right here and we need to be much more candid about what the problem is. 0k, candid about what the problem is. ok, we‘ll leave it there, thank you very much indeed, many thanks for your time. we havejust got

very much indeed, many thanks for your time. we have just got the light uk coronavirus case numbers, and —— latest uk case numbers, and its rise... it has topped 3000 several days, it was 2621 yesterday, so just several days, it was 2621 yesterday, sojust under 3000 several days, it was 2621 yesterday, so just under 3000 yesterday, but it‘s gone back over 3000, which is clearly containing for the government, 3105 the new delhi total of confirmed cases of covid—19. effect the new daily —— the new daily total of confirmed cases. tougher restrictions have come into force in birmingham, solihull and sandwell, to try to stop the spread of the virus. it means people are banned from meeting others who aren‘t part of their household — or support bubble — in their homes or gardens. kathryn stanczyszyn reports. for many in the west midlands,

life is changing again. after a rapid rise in coronavirus cases, different households within three council areas must no longer mix at home. birmingham has been on a knife edge in terms of greater restrictions for weeks. now, authorities say residents must stick to the new rules or risk fines and maybe a future lockdown. from today, the entire city as well as the neighbouring boroughs of sandwell and solihull, 1.6 million people in total, must not spend time in each other‘s homes or gardens. the exception, if you are a lone adult in a support bubble. it doesn‘t affect schools, workplaces, or social settings like parks and restaurants. i think it‘s necessary. even though it is quite sad, but i understand why the decision has been made. anything that keeps this pandemic at bay is a good thing. you can go into a pub and mix but you cannot do it in your own house. i don't know. i think they don't know what they're talking about, to be honest with you. not many muslim people will go to a pub to meet their family. it is a bit confusing,

you can go shopping, eat out, but you can‘t meet in the garden. there has been some confusion here in the uk‘s second biggest city about why it‘s ok to meet people in social settings like pubs and big public open spaces like this, but not at home. public health officials say the data clearly shows the main culprit when it comes to transmission is domestic settings. what we are seeing in the majority of cases where we are able to identify transmission is that this is because people have gathered behind closed doors, often for a celebration. most recently i have seen three children in different families and the actual way they caught it from each other was a child‘s birthday party. that is where the transmission is happening at the moment. and it is childcare that will throw up one of the biggest issues, with people back to work and schools subject to virus closures. liz martin has been looking after grandson seth so her daughter can teach. that‘s no longer an option. yesterday was their last game in the garden for what could be some time. if she wants to work, we have got to break the law because we can't

think of any other way. we've been very careful. we are very careful. we've still got to get through this and live and i can't bear the stress on not only my daughter and her husband, but the children as well. all three areas will ask government for an exemption for specific childcare issues in a letter today. for now, it‘s more tough times for some when they were just getting back on their feet. kathryn stanczyszyn, bbc news. tighter restrictions will be enforced in dublin over the coming months to try and curb the spread of coronavirus. most businesses will stay open and small numbers can gather to attend sporting or arts events. in the irish capital, where cases are more prevelant, where cases are more prevalent, only up to six people from two households will be able to meet. pubs in the city will also remain closed when some others across ireland will be able to reopen from the 21st september.

the headlines on bbc news... a warning that nhs staff are having to stay off work because they can‘t get coronavirus tests. the government says it‘s dealing with the issues. unemployment hits a two year high, with young people especially badly hit by the pandemic‘s economic fallout. a lifeline for some small businesses, as the high court rules insurers should have paid out over lockdown. more on the economic fallout from coronavirus now. the uk unemployment rate has risen to its highest level for almost two years. young people were particularly badly hit, with 16 to 24—year—olds suffering the biggest drop in employment compared with other age groups. the number of people in that age group without a job rose by 156,000 in the three months tojuly, according to data from the office for national statistics. let‘s take a closer look at the figures — the red line on this graph shows how

the rate of unemployment for 16—24 year olds has increased. 13.4% of them are out of work — the blue line shows the overall unemployment rate for the uk, which has grown to 4.1%. and since the coronavirus lockdown began in march, some 695,000 uk workers have disappeared from the payrolls of british companies. paul dales is chief uk economist at capital economics, hejoins me now. some pretty grim reading on those figures, but as is not entirely surprising. it is certainly grim reading for the younger members of the population, but actually, overall, i think these figures are quite encouraging. that may sound odd but that‘s because we know over the last few months the government‘s furlough scheme has been unwinding, andi furlough scheme has been unwinding, and i was braced for quite a big jump and i was braced for quite a big jump injob and i was braced for quite a big

jump in job losses, and i was braced for quite a big jump injob losses, a biggerjump than we have seen. so it‘s the moment, most of the people on the government‘s furlough scheme that have not come off it i‘ve actually gone back to their previous job, which is really encouraging. —— most people that have now come off the furlough scheme have gone back to their previousjob. that furlough scheme have gone back to their previous job. that said, furlough scheme have gone back to their previousjob. that said, the next few months will be really crucial and by the time this furlough scheme ones are completely at the end of october, the unemployment rate will be rising at a much more rapid rate we have seen today. so it will get worse before it gets better? i think that is the correct way of putting it, yes. we had a first wave of unemployment when the lockdown began, back in march, and then that was suppressed by the furlough scheme which kept many people in theirjobs. but now i feel we are going to get a second wave of unemployment is that scheme continues to unwind. and we think that will result in the unemployment rate rising from just over 4% now to about 7% by the middle of next year.

that‘s a pretty large proportion of the workforce. i suppose one of the key questions is, if you look into your crystal ball, how long is all of this going to last? in other words, how deep and long is the inevitable recession going to be? the recession has been extremely deep. the gdp has fallen by 25%. i think the recession itself, technically, is actually over the because we now know the economy is growing, but what‘s important is, when will we get back to the precrisis level before the lockdown? and we think it probably will not happen until early 2022 at the earliest. so it tookjust two month to open up that 25% hole in the economy and i think it will take place used to fill it back up again. keir starmer has been talking today about firms found rehiring, but

firing and rehiring them on lesser contracts, if you like, and companies trying to rationalise the pandemic as a pretext. do you see evidence of that? not within the data as yet, the unemployment rate before the crisis was 3.9%, its now 4.1%, in the grand scheme of things, that‘s an incredibly low level. so so far we have not seen the worst of it. but i wouldn‘t be surprised. businesses have been hit with an incredible decline in revenues, so it makes sense that they have to assess their costs a nd sense that they have to assess their costs and labour costs from a lot of businesses is the biggest single cost. so i do think we will be in a case for more people lose their jobs, even those who retain their jobs, even those who retain their jobs probably aren‘t going to see their wage rise at the rates of 2% or 3% or even 4% that some people enjoyed over the last few years. so

i think whatever happens, it‘s going to bea i think whatever happens, it‘s going to be a tough time for the labour market tough time for the uk economy for a couple of years yet. briefly, if you would, how are we comparing with other european countries on this, in terms of, obviously these unemployment figures are pretty bad, but are we essentially with countries like spain, france, germany, italy, so on? there's not a huge amount of difference, those countries also had a furlough scheme is which have supported employment committee. but one thing i would say is that i think the uk‘s recovery from recession is going to be a bit longer than in europe and i think that‘s partly due to brexit, and whatever brexit dealer no deal you get, in the meantime, the uncertainty will hold back the uk‘s recovery relative to that in europe. thank you, paul. small businesses have been thrown

a lifeline after the high court ruled some insurers should have paid out for losses caused by the lockdown. when firms had to close their doors in march, many looked to their insurance to cover them. but some found their claims rejected, with insurers arguing their policies were never meant to include such restrictions. nowjudges have ruled the clauses in some policies should have meant they were covered. kevin peachey reports. like thousands of other owners of small firms, anna and robin smart thought their business interruption insurance policy would cover them for coronavirus—related losses. but when their insurer refused to pay out, their photography firm literally needed rebuilding. our best bet to save our business was to remove ourselves from our business premises and build a studio at home, which would reduce our costs down massively, so that hopefully we can trade through whatever‘s coming next. insurers had argued that these policies were not meant for blanket measures such

as a government—imposed lockdown. the debate led to a test case in the high court, but nowjudges have given hope to many businesses who thought they would lose out. i am hoping that we get to that point of being able to move forward, progress our claim and just get on with things, because the stress that we are under — not us, collectively, businesses at the moment — is absolutely immense. with these businesses desperate for clarity, the 150—page judgment is not entirely clear cut, but groups representing policyholders are delighted. i think it is a resounding success for policyholders. this is why we brought the claim, we have been vindicated, it was the right thing to do for hundreds of thousands of businesses. they will now have a lifeline, i hope, to making an insurance recovery from their insurers. insurers say more work is needed before drawing the debate to a close. needless to say, it has been an unprecedented event for the insurance industry. overall, firms have been paying out on claims to those customers who do have covid cover, they have paid out

over £900 million. they are going to be sitting down with the lawyers and looking very carefully at this judgment indeed. the businesses affected can expect contact from their insurer in the next week, although for some, it is too late. with insurers facing a bill of many millions of pounds, they may look to appeal against the decision. that should be fast tracked, but that could mean a further wait before people like the smarts are put fully in the picture. get a picture, that will be good for instagram. kevin peachy, bbc news. two women have lost their court of appeal challenge against the uk government over controversial changes to the state pension age. nearly four million women born in the 1950s have been affected by reforms that raised their state pension age from 60 to 66. the women argued this was unlawful discrimination on the grounds of age and sex, and that they were not given adequate notice of the changes. the court of appeal unanimously dismissed the claim.

the former conservative mp charlie elphicke has been jailed for two years at southwark crown court for sexual assaults against two women. he was convicted injuly of one count of sexual assault in 2007, and two further counts against a second woman in 2016. a signing ceremony will takes place at the white house in the next hour at which israel will agree to normalise relations with the uae and bahrain. the move, brokered by president trump, marks a historic shift in relations between israel and the two gulf arab countries. but the palestinians have condemned the deals, describing it as a stab in the back. let‘s talk now to our washington correspondent, gary o‘donoghue. and this is important for donald trump, isn‘t it? he will claim it, has already claimed it, is a diplomatic triumph. but just has already claimed it, is a diplomatic triumph. butjust put it in perspective, what does it mean in

terms of middle east peace?m in perspective, what does it mean in terms of middle east peace? it is a diplomatic triumph, i don‘t think there‘s any doubt about that. bear in mind, you have to look back quite a long way to any kind of normalisation of relations between israel and any other arab country, back to egypt and jordan decades ago. so this is a big step forward, with these gulf states are now starting to engage in diplomatic and commercial relationships with israel, excuse me. so the president is pleased about that, as you can imagine, and will be, i think, is one thing that in a big way. in terms of the wider israel and palestine conflict, it has been condemned by the palestinians as a black day. there is some doubt, i think about the extent to which actions on the ground in the west bank and gaza could derail these deals in the longer run, for example, the annexation question in the west bank, israel says that is still on the table, bahrain, for example, says, we are entering into

the table because that is no longer going to happen. so there are some potential flash points. going to happen. so there are some potentialflash points. but the white house essentially is going around the palestinians, attempting to bring pressure on them by getting other arab states to break that sort of pan— arab unity that said, we will not deal with israel while the occupation continues and we will not countenance any kind of change in that relationship. well, now at some of them are. and we are going to have a big signing ceremony on the white house lawn, 700 guests, i think a big photo opportunity that donald trump will love, i guess, head of november‘s election. donald trump will love, i guess, head of november's election. yes, there will be 700 guests, we are told, on the loan. they have been asked to wear masks but they‘re not being told to wear masks that will being told to wear masks that will be interesting. the curious thing we will see is the signing ceremony, i know you‘ve been to plenty of them over the years, the key thing is, what does the handshake look like? we are not going to be able to tell whether or not a lack of a handshake

means in these circumstances, so we will see exactly what the body language is like between various leaders here, of course. but a lot of the detail of these agreements, particularly the one with bahrain, was only concluded a week ago. a lot of the detail is still to be hammered out and drawn up, and i think a lot of people will be looking for that when it finally emerges, to see exactly how far these countries are prepared to go towards one another. and of course, the white house now also talking about potential other arab countries coming in to this sort of arrangement, talking to people like oman, some talk about sudan, even. and of course, the big prize would be to persuade saudi arabia to do that. all of which the americans believe will notjust put the pressure on the palestinians to deal, but of course will also isolate iran further in the region, which is a significant central aim

of us foreign policy. all right, we will be back with you later, the ceremony gets under way about five o‘clock our time. the bbc‘s highest paid star, gary lineker, has agreed to take a salary cut of nearly a quarter, but he‘ll still earn more than £1.3 million a year. the announcement came as the bbc published its annual report. our media correspondent, david sillito, is here. he‘s been wading through it, and i‘m sure there‘s lots of facts and figures, but i guess the big story tomorrow will be gary lineker taking a pay cut? ever since the bbc was told to publish its stars‘ salaries, there is have always been whatever is interested in. gary linekerfor the last couple of years has always been the highest—paid star on this list, it doesn‘t mean he is the highest paid at the bbc because it is complicated, if you are, for instance, making drum or employed by bbc studios, the bbc‘s commercial arm that makes programmes, your salary does not appear in this list.

-- if salary does not appear in this list. —— if you‘re making drama. but he‘s been on this list for the last couple of years and remains there, 1.5 million, part of 23%, takes him to about 1.35 million. so next year he will be the second highest paid star because someone else has had a big increase after taking over the radio to breakfast show, zoe ball, isi.36 radio to breakfast show, zoe ball, is 1.36 million, so it will be a woman who is the highest paid brexodus star at bbc next year. —— highest—paid breakfast staff. last year when the figures came out there was a three to one ratio of men to women and many men were being paid much more than women, and there has been a great deal of upset and also reducing of male salaries over the last two or three years, so now not quite 50—50 but it‘s like a 55—45 split. and in the wider scheme of

things, the bbc of course facing a lot of challenges, streaming services like netflix and so on, a new director general, but there is no evidence in the report, isn‘t there, but audience figures, eye balls there, but audience figures, eyeballs and use? how are they?” love going through the fine detail, this is a fine snapshot as to what eve ryo ne this is a fine snapshot as to what everyone is doing, how much of bbc services are they actually watching? the big figure i always look for is what our 16—34 —year—olds doing. bbc tv, the average 16 to 34—year—old is now watching around hours a week, not a lot. over the age of 55, it‘s hours. you can see the difference, the bbc is reaching older people. only one area in which viewing has gone up, the south of england, eight hours 25 to eight hours 47, as far asi hours 25 to eight hours 47, as far as i can remember. everywhere else, it‘s going down. so you can see the bbc serves very well older people

and people in the south of england, enjoying watching lots of bbc tv, and struggling in other areas and seeing those numbers going down. so this is a major issue for the bbc and its got massive competition with new competitors, netflix, amazon, whatever, they were just not part of the picture five or six years ago. so there is a lot of scope for the bbc having to change to address this issue, and also, the new director—general, tim devi, said he‘s about money, —— tim davie said he‘s about money, —— tim davie said he‘s concerned about money. the headcount has gone up because all regional organisation have got to ride two courses at the same time, they got to keep their old markets, linear tv happy, you can‘t reduce bbc one, there would be uproar, but you‘ve also got to try and reach this new market, he said there would be staff cuts, especially bbc managers. thank you very much indeed.

now, the weather with louise lear. despite rain moving through the far north of scotland most of us are seeing some pewter. is sunshine. it is glorious out there at the moment and once again temperatures responding. it is warming in scotland, in the high 20s further south. as we go through the evening, a few isolated showers and conditions turning a little misty and murky. a freshening northerly wind into scotland as well. staying mild through the night across the south—east. indications of the wind changing direction. it is this north—easterly flow that‘ll become more of a source to our weather story over the next few days. more cloud into scotland, northern ireland and north—east england on

those exposed coasts. chili with some rain. the best of the sunshine further south. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: a warning that nhs staff are having to stay off work because they can‘t get coronavirus tests. the government says it‘s dealing with the issues. unemployment hits a two year high, with young people especially badly hit by the pandemic‘s economic fallout. a lifeline for some small businesses, as the high court rules insurers should have paid out over lockdown. an urgent warning for humanity to slow what‘s called an accelerating decline in nature with species heading towards extinction. a new chapter for the middle east. the united arab emirates and bahrain prepare to sign a peace deal with israel at the white house. radio 2‘s zoe ball is set to become the highest paid bbc presenter, as gary lineker accepts a pay cut. that and more in the

bbc‘s annual report. the russian opposition leader alexei navalny has posted a picture on his instagram from a german hospital, where he is recovering from a suspected novichok poisoning. here it is, he is surrouded by his family. he said: i can still hardly do anything myself — but yesterday i was able to breathe on my own. mr navalny‘s supporters believe his tea was spiked at tomsk airport on 20 august. he became ill during the flight, and the plane made an emergency landing. in early september, the german government said navalny had been poisoned with a soviet—style novichok nerve agent in an attempt to murder him. and yesterday, germany‘s government said that laboratories in france and sweden have now reconfirmed german tests showing that the poison used on mr navalny was novichok. a spokesperson for alexei navalny also said he plans to return to russia when he‘s better.

let‘s go to berlin — damien mcguinness is in berlin for us. remarkable to see him sitting up in bed with his family around him, very different from that picture we saw of him as he was taken off the plane in russia and taken into an ambulance. clearly very seriously ill indeed. yes, that is right. we see his family jubilantly looking ill indeed. yes, that is right. we see his familyjubilantly looking in that picture. on the right—hand side of the photo, his wife and on the left—hand side, his children. they are very left—hand side, his children. they are very happy at the remarkable progress he has made. in that statement, the first public concert —— committee made since falling out, he said his progress has been remarkable and he is amazed and he seemed very happy indeed. the idea he is off mechanical ventilation and

he is off mechanical ventilation and he can breathe independently, that was the case yesterday, and this is remarkable progress because it was only last week he was in a medically induced, and given that german officials and now french and swedish la bs officials and now french and swedish labs have also concerned that it was a very labs have also concerned that it was a very severe labs have also concerned that it was a very severe knowledge arc nerve agent that was used, doctors are impressed really because this is not a given that he would recover at all. they cannot rule out there will be some longer term effects but so far, from what we can tell from this statement and what doctors have been saying so far and from the reaction of his family and supporters, this seems to be good news for alexei navalny and his recovery... his path to recovery does seem remarkable so far. his spokesperson saying when he is better he will return to russia and sort of saying, i am surprised anyone would doubt that. and yet you

would doubt that, having been poisoned by novichok, whether it was on president putin‘s orders, it looks like some sort of state actor carried out that poisoning and it will take an act of courage for him to go back to russia. yes, that statement is quite defiant. a spokeswoman said as you say she was surprised that people kept asking her, will he return? she said of course he is going to return, it was never put the question really. he a lwa ys never put the question really. he always wanted to return to russia and carry out his work there. his supporters say that he is in danger because he has already been the target, they say, of a number of attacks, including another source of poison, so you would see this as quite a defined action. it is not as you say... it is not really clear who is behind this. experts say that because this is novichok, which was developed first of all in the soviet union and is a very complex chemical to use, it does point to some sort

of connection at least to a state actor. now there is no evidence of far that this was directly ordered from the top in the kremlin, that is certainly one option which is supporters believe, but even the other options that somehow russia as a country where novichok can be used, even if it was not a direct orderfrom a state used, even if it was not a direct order from a state actor or the kremlin, that is also not good news, the fact that an opposition leader can be subjected to that sort of poisoning does not speak well of the russian state right now. either way, it is not a great look for russia. that is clear, that is what we do not. i think the other thing to bear in mind of course is the political integration is of this case. germany and other eu cases —— countries now have said russia needs to fully investigate this and russia has reacted quite assertively to this and accused the west of arrogance, saying that western countries should not tell russia how to carry out internal investigations. the end

result of all of this, if russia is not seen to be investigating this thoroughly, could well be some sort of targeted sanctions or in the extreme case could be the pipeline thatis extreme case could be the pipeline that is being built into the baltic sea between russia and germany, that could even be put on hold. some quite severe critical and economic implications could still happen in the future really, even if alexei navalny gets better. thank you so much. to scotland now and nicola sturgeon has said she has spoken to the health secretary matt hancock about the backlog in testing processing and hopes to see an improvement in the next few days. the scotland first minister was speaking at her daily coronavirus briefing. as i said yesterday, i do have a concern about the capacity constraints right now with the uk—wide system. and for scotland in recent days, this has not been an issue of access to testing slots at regional testing centres or mobile testing units, but instead it has been one

of access to sufficient lighthouse laboratory processing. and it is this that has led to a backlog in the system and longer turnaround times for tests than we we want to be the case. as this is a uk—wide system, we are not able to resolve this on our own and the issues are impacted by demand elsewhere in the uk. to that end, last night i had a constructive conference call with matt hancock, the uk health secretary, and dido harding, head of the uk testing system, to seek assurances that scotland will continue to get fair access to the uk—wide laboratory capacity and discuss how we can resolve these issues. so i hope to see improvement over the next few days, but of course i will continue

to provide updates. more than 400 pupils at a school in somerset are self—isolating after two students tested positive for coronavirus. children at bishop fox‘s school in taunton were told to stay home after a student in year 7 and another in year 11 were infected. a statement on the school‘s twitter account said a deep cleaning process would be undertaken at the school before students return next week. the uk is facing a ‘looming addiction crisis‘ with millions turning to alcohol to cope with the pandemic, a report warns today. the number of people drinking at ‘high risk‘ levels has doubled to almost 8.5million since february, according to the royal college of psychiatrists. doctors are worried excessive drinking during the pandemic will have a major toll on the health of the nation for years to come. dr adrian james is the president of the royal college of psychiatrists,

which has conducted the research. we have been talking throughout this crisis about the wider health implications, that it delays to cancer ca re implications, that it delays to cancer care for example, but this is another really worrying long—term health concern. yes, it is, and we have seen a doubling in the amount of hazardous drinking, that is very bad for your mental health, bad for your physical health, and it also has a knock—on effect in terms of yourfamilies, your has a knock—on effect in terms of your families, your ability to work, so it has a huge effect on all of us. when you talk about problem drinking in this context, how much of that is serious heavy drinking, but how much of it is actual alcoholism, do you think? is it difficult to tell? there is a grey area between the two. the most important thing is that these are people who are getting into a pattern of drinking, both in terms of the amount, the frequency, the

effect that it has on their lives, where they really do need to take action and some of those people will be able to take action themselves, they will have an honest discussion with themselves, maybe with those around them, and say, i have got to cut down the amount each time i drink, the frequency that i am drinking, and take action, but many people will not be able to take that action themselves and they need additional help, which is why we feel that the government need to invest this time and addiction services that are so badly needed and if they do not invest now, people will actually find themselves in general hospital, costing money and have a poor outcome for them. why not invest in services now that can actually help people to make the changes that actually most people wa nt to changes that actually most people want to make? the figures are pretty startling, pretty worrying, a doubling almost as i say. what do you think other factors driving it. is it you think other factors driving it. isita you think other factors driving it. is it a combination, depression, loneliness, a lack of structure in people‘s day because of lockdown? is

it anxiety about the future? unemployment? we know that levels of depression, and of anxiety, have gone up during the pandemic people report that their well—being is worse and people turn to the thing thatis worse and people turn to the thing that is nearest to them, thinking that is nearest to them, thinking that it will actually be a solution when in fact it causes more problems in the end. there will be some people who have been directly affected by covid, they might have lost somebody close to them and they might have had it themselves, there is also all the indirect effects, so having lost yourjob, worries about money all future loss ofjob and also feeling more isolated, so the sorts of things you might do, you might meet with people that can support you, that has been that much more challenging for all of us, so people unfortunately turn to drink and need to actually do something about it. and briefly you talk about more spending being needed on addiction services, what sort of services are we talking about? these

area services are we talking about? these are a range of services so that you can go to outpatient appointment, have day treatment or even inpatient stay. addiction services have lost a lot of their funding, stay. addiction services have lost a lot of theirfunding, a stay. addiction services have lost a lot of their funding, a quarter of it, in the last five years and we wa nt it, in the last five years and we want the government to re—establish that, at least at the level of five yea rs that, at least at the level of five years ago, but we actually need to have an honest discussion with the nation really about addictions and we really need to have a long—term funding settlement, actually across the whole of mental health. we need action now. good to talk to you. thank you so much for your time today. humanity is at a crossroads and we have to take action now to make space for nature to recover and slow its ‘accelerating decline‘. that‘s according to a reportjust published by the un convention on biological diversity. it sets out what it calls urgent transitions that could slow the ongoing decline in nature.

our science and environment correspondent victoria gill has more. it is land, it is forest, it is agriculture, it is the ocean, it is pollution. time is running out to repair the damage we‘re doing to the natural world — that‘s the message from the un‘s convention on biological diversity. its latest report calls for urgent action to slow and eventually stop what it describes as nature‘s accelerating decline. covid—19 has taught us clearly the relationship between human action and nature, so we need to change our production patterns, our consumption patterns. human encroachment into the wildlife, into the forest. the picture this report paints is of an unsustainable relationship between humans and nature. howling. but there are some

notes of optimism. conservation in the last decade has prevented some species from dying out. and action on a global scale, the un says, could help stem the tide. there is a lot that has to be done, but it can be done. so next year, in kunming, china, we will have the un biodiversity conference where governments are expected to adopt global commitments to putting nature on a path to recovery by 2030. this will mean that every country will need to make commitments to protect habitats, to produce food more sustainably and eat a more sustainable diet. that we‘ll have to reduce pollution so that we and wildlife can have clean air and clean water, and we‘ll have to make more space for greenery and nature, even in our most urban environments. there used to be a main road that went through this park, with lots of cars, pollution, and we have turned it into a new green space.

green space really softens places, makes it much nicer to live, improves the air quality. we really need to connect people back to that nature, as well, so people really value its function. in years ahead, countries will set out to repair the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but without making space for nature as we rebuild, the un says we risk leaving a damaged planet for future generations. the shortlist of six authors for the uk‘s most prestigious literary award, the booker prize, has been announced. the shortlist features four debut novelists, while hilary mantel, who had been tipped for a record third win for the mirror and the light, did not make the list. the topics covered by the six nominees are wide—ranging, including stories about climate change, the hardship of life in zimbabwe, dementia, and the women soldiers of 1935

ethiopia. douglas stuart made the shortlist with his debut novel shuggie bain — hejoins me now. congratulations. first of all, as a debut novelist, it is quite an accolade to get on this list. thank you, yes, it is really sort of overwhelming and i am thrilled and full of gratitude. as a debut novelist, you wonder if your book is even going to be published, so it is really wonderful. for those who have not read it, tell us a little about your novel. yes, shuggie bain is a love story between a working—class mother in 1980s and her youngest son. the main character in the book, agnes, is descending into addiction after her husband brutally abandons

her and as the city is sort of disintegrating under the thatcher government. it is her youngest son who stays by her side the longest and it is a very sort of intimate portrait of these souls, trying to sort of survive when the chips are down. i worked in 1980s glasgow, sort of survive when the chips are down. iworked in 1980s glasgow, it was my firstjob down. iworked in 1980s glasgow, it was my first job inside, down. iworked in 1980s glasgow, it was my firstjob inside, radio clyde. tell us how autobiographical this book is. i think it is incredibly autobiographical. it is a work of fiction, not a memoir but i grew up in glasgow in the 1980s and diane the son of a single mother who lost her battle against addiction. when i write about alcoholism or what it meant to feel a sense of alienation or loneliness, i write that for sort of from the inside. tell us about the shortlist. what do you make of it? hilary mantel not included. is that a bit of a surprise? i am he -- i am a huge fan

of hilary mantel. i have not read this latest book. but i am... i think it is a really refreshing and diverse shortlist and i am proud to bea diverse shortlist and i am proud to be a scottish author on the list, a british author, and i think you know it sort of reflects how the world has gone through a lot in the past year, to see so many new voices on it, i think. what is it mean to you as an author? it is great to be published, let alone be shortlisted. presumably, it is a massive boost for sales whether you win or not?” don‘t know yet but i have not processed that at all. i only got the news this morning and so i am still sort of digesting it all. i am incredibly proud. i feel a still sort of digesting it all. i am incredibly proud. ifeel a little bit like the characters in the book are real people to me and so this is are real people to me and so this is a lovely way to sort of honour them. and then ijust feel proud. as well. when i was on the longest, it felt

like i was in the quarterfinals and idid not like i was in the quarterfinals and i did not want to get kicked out. this feels great! you were talking about addiction and how a lot of the focus is on that and our last interviewee was from the royaljust psychiatrists, talking about the massive increase in alcohol addiction during the pandemic at the number of people turning to alcohol has pretty much doubled actually during the pandemic. how concerned are you that what you talk about in the book is actually becoming very prevalent at the moment in this country, more and more prevalent and there are not in us addiction services to help those people?” there are not in us addiction services to help those people? i am incredibly concerned. i think it is great that we are talking about it but the truth is that there are some any people struggling with addiction every single day and we do not necessarily always see and here from them. part of the reason i wrote shuggie bain was i felt like when i was looking sort of at my childhood and 1980s glasgow, it was not

necessarily that i felt voiceless about that but it was that i wanted to sort of put as honestly as possibly on the page what life was truly like and as the son of a mother who lost her own struggle with addiction, you know, there is an awful lot of shame around addiction and poverty and society almost wants you to keep it at home and not share it. and when you do keep it at all, it is impossible to get adequate help for it. i wanted to really sort of expose that. and 40 yea rs to really sort of expose that. and 40 years on, how has glasgow changed, your home city, you talk about the tough times of 1980s glasgow under thatcher‘s government? how has that city being transformed would you say in the few decades? glasgow has always been a dynamic city. even in the 1980s, it was not just about people struggling, and it is great to see a city that is so cultural and has so much energy going through such a rejuvenation. but i also think it is telling that

in the uk we have about a third of children living on or below the poverty line and so not only in glasgow but there are so many places in the country and in the united states where people are just sort of being left behind by progress. great to talk to you and thank you so much. i look forward to reading the book and congratulations for making that shortlist. fantastic news. well done deal. let‘s take you live to the white house where a signing ceremony is taking place in which israel has agreed to normalise relations with the uae and bahrain. israel agreeing to normalise relations with the united states —— united arab emirates and bahrain. the palestinians have condemned the move, describing it as a ‘stab in the back‘. there is a signing ceremony that sta rts there is a signing ceremony that starts at five o‘clock our time. we will bring that to you live on bbc

news. "never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few" — the immortal words of winston churchill as he paid tribute to the raf pilots who, exactly 80 years ago, took on the might of the luftwaffe, and saved britain from invasion. the last of those young men, john hemmingway who is now 101, has told the bbc what it was like to be part of that select band. robert hall has the story. they‘d been expecting it for days, the final mass attack by hitler‘s luftwaffe ahead of an invasion. the plan was straightforward. hundreds of bombers would target london and the southern counties whilst fighters were waiting to trap the raf and wipe it out. exhausted young men who had fought and watched friends die for two months scrambled back into their cockpits.

it would be about there. it was enough to turn you all over and do all sorts of things. and if you were fighting, you would be pressing this button as well. john hemingway is the last of winston churchill‘s ‘few‘. now, 101, he‘d already been shot down twice by september 1940. we were all in our early 20s, i was 20. we just didn‘t care. there was no right or wrong. the war was on, we were pilots. we were going to fight them all the time. not that we were brave or anything, but there was nothing else. the world was at war, and you couldn‘t go somewhere and say, "i am at peace, i don‘t fight wars." as the planes weaved in a web of smoke trails over kent, the few relied on the many.

the fitters who endured the bombing of airfields and got them back into the air, the spotters, plotters and radar operators who steered them towards their next mission. by the end of september 15th, the tide had turned. german losses had been twice that of the raf. the invasion would be cancelled. at dozens of airfields, the spitfires and the hurricanes came home. the main skill was luck, you had to be lucky. no matter how good you were, for instance my boss, dickie lee, was the best pilot i‘ve ever seen. but he was shot down and killed. so he had no luck. i had bags of luck. i couldn‘t do that. but here i am. like so many events this year, battle of britain day will be a quiet affair, but this light show at the uk‘s

first—ever radar station in norfolk is a reminder that we celebrate and remember a true team effort. robert hall, bbc news. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with louise lear. good afternoon. despite some rain moving through the far north of scotland most of us are seeing some beautiful september sunshine. it is glorious out there at the moment and once again temperatures are responding. it is a little warmer in southern scotland, than yesterday, highs of 21—23, high 20s further south. maybe one or spot 30 seeing degrees plus. as we go through the evening, a few isolated showers and then conditions turning a little misty and murky. more cloud and a freshening northerly wind into scotland as well. staying mild through the night across the south—east but around 9—11 in the north—east of scotland,

indications of the wind changing direction. it is this north—easterly flow that‘ll become more of a source to our weather story over the next few days. more cloud into scotland, northern ireland and north—east england on those exposed coasts.

this is bbc news. i‘m ben brown. the headlines... the government says it will take "a matter of weeks" to resolve problems in the coronavirus testing system following a warning that nhs staff are having to stay off work, because they can‘t get tests. we have now carried out over 20 million tests for coronavirus in this country. as we expand our capacity further, we‘re working round—the—clock to make sure everyone who needs a test can get a test. unemployment hits a two—year high, with young people especially badly hit by the pandemic‘s economic fallout. i wouldn't be being honest with people if i pretended that it was always going to be possible for people to return to the job that they had. a lifeline for some small businesses as the high court rules insurers should have paid out over lockdown.