this is bbc news. i'm rebecca jones. the headlines — new restrictions announced for parts of the north west, the midlands and west yorkshire from tuesday to tackle rising coronavirus infections. the mayor of liverpool expresses his concern. a 500% increase in round about ten days is really not something that we expected, and it's something that really worries us. it comes as the government considers further nationwide measures for england, a so—called "circuit break" of short—term restrictions. the hope that we have as a nation of avoiding a full—blown national lockdown is that everybody comes together and follows the rules that are in place now. new figures suggest that,

on average, infections are rising by 6000 per day in england. care homes in england are to get more free protective equipment as part of new plans for social care to deal with infections. the 90—minute covid test that doesn't need a lab for analysis. cheering and applause. and a warm welcome for the return of gareth bale, who's set to sign on loan to tottenham from real madrid. further large areas of the north of england and the midlands are to face tighter coronavirus restrictions to try to tackle rising infection rates. the stringent measures

are in response to what ministers say are "major increases" in covid—19 rates. people in the north west — including merseyside, warrington, halton and lancashire — will face limits on socialising and a 10pm closing time for hospitality and leisure venues from next tuesday. there will be new restrictions on socialising with people outside your own household or support bubble in parts of the midlands such as wolverhampton. and similar measures will be enforced in west yorkshire, in bradford, kirklees and calderdale. the measures cover a wider area than had been expected. latest figures suggest an average of 6000 new cases a day in england between the 4th—10th of september. the uk's reproduction, or r number, is up to 1.1—1.4. that's up from 1.0—1.2 last week and is increasing evidence of a rise in coronavirus cases across the country.

jon donnison reports. in spennymoor in county durham, the fear is lockdown is coming back. from today, across much of the north east, people are now banned from mixing with other households indoors and pubs have been ordered to shut at 10pm after a rise in coronavirus cases. i think it should've been done a lot earlier than what it had been. definitely. but nobody adheres to it, all of the pubs are back open, the kids are running around the streets. you know, there's nothing in place. you very rarely see a policeman. sandra clayton runs the local sweet shop. she welcomes the new restrictions, but is worried any further measures could badly affect her business. it's very, very difficult. i only opened a year ago, and i've been closed for three months of that year. so, it'sjust...

..a matter of plodding on and seeing what happens. we have to do something to get rid of it. it's like fighting a war again something we can't see. just down the road, the cancer charity shop mark solen runs has also been hit hard. he agrees tighter local restrictions are needed, but says people are confused about all of the different rules. all of our volunteers, we're making them wear masks. but if you go into other shops, the staff don't have to. so, i think the public are looking at, "well, what do we need to do?" some people are, and some people aren't. i think that's the problem, it's mixed messages. the government has to say, "you have to do this and everybody has to follow it." and the north east is farfrom alone. this morning, the government anounced similar restrictions will be introduced from next week in parts of merseyside,

the midlands, west yorkshire and lancashire. the measures are in response to what officials say are major increases in covid—19 rates. unfortunately, there's no getting away from it, nearly every single borough and district in lancashire, it's spiking. the numbers are scary. and it does appear that it's getting out of control. and clearly something has to be done. the numbers don't lie. it's particularly the last two weeks that we've seen it start to increase significantly, since the schools have gone back, people going back to work, there has been a significant increase. so, while much of the talk today is of the possibility of a second nationwide lockdown across england coming, an increasingly large chunk of the country is already living under tighter local restrictions. jon donnison, bbc news. one of the areas affected is the borough of warrington. councillor russ bowden is the council leader. thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. i wondered first of all to you welcome these new measures? absolutely. we have worked in

partnership with government and public health officials for the last couple of days to look at what measures we could introduce here in warrington which would help to arrest the alarming increase that we have seen in covid cases. it's worth you reminding us what those measures will be. pretty much the same as we saw in the northeast. you will have restrictions on mixing households in your own home and restrictions on hospitality venues. they must be a 10pm close of those through 5pm the next day. —— five a:m.. and we are advising it is only essential use of public transport. why are the measures not being introduced until tuesday? i honestly don't know the a nswer tuesday? i honestly don't know the answer that question. i think that is my one element of discipline and about today's announcement. i think human nature is such that if you are told you have restrictions coming in the next four days, you probably have one last blow out over the weekend and obviously we are trying

to advise warrington residents to be sensible and to effectively apply those measures from today. so that is something you are rather concerned about over the weekend, is it? absolutely, yes. i think what we have seen throughout the covid—i9 situation is a people do need to act responsibly, and that's really what my call is to warrington people over this weekend. let's not abuse the current situation, less all take advantage of the fact that those restrictions are not going to come in until tuesday and let's still have a good weekend but behave. an act responsibly. what is compliance with the rules being liked up to now and looking beyond tuesday what will you be able to do if people don't comply with the new measures?” think warrington is done pretty well throughout the whole crisis, going back to march, and i continually think the people of warrington for their behaviour in the way they have stuck to the rules in general. i think inevitably there are those

people who don't want to adhere to the rules and of course enforcement isa the rules and of course enforcement is a really important part of any aspect of the law, notjust these particular regulations. so i think it's a case of us working with police and looking at our own enforcement powers especially over licensed premises and obviously trying to work with people of warrington and other agencies to ensure that we get the swiftest return back to normality. what enforcement powers has the council got? very limited and i would always say that the responsibility for enforcing the law it really comes down to the police, and they need to ta ke down to the police, and they need to take a proportionate response and obviously work within the resources they have got. i think from the council perspective, the second main issue would be the hospitality sector. we will be looking obviously at him as a sticking to the 10pm closing time but responsible licensees of premises are already working in quite strong covid—i9

secure regulations in terms of social distancing and in terms of the use of ppe and obviously around contact racing. i think it's important that we maintain that relationship with the hospitality sector here in warrington. he said he thought people of warrington it isa he thought people of warrington it is a pretty good job of obeying the rules. i wonder what your take is on why you have seen a rise in the number of infections.” why you have seen a rise in the number of infections. i think we have seen an increase over the last 7-10 have seen an increase over the last 7—10 days in opposite that's a real concern. 0ur public health officers look really closely at the context and look at the outbreaks and look at the information that we have got andi at the information that we have got and i think we do see a significant link between people in their 20s and 30s who were going back into the workplace but are also more likely to be outside socialising in their leisure time and so that's a key pa rt leisure time and so that's a key part of the measures that we have introduced by government. we work with government to devise and honestly we are hopeful that will arrest the increase that we are

seeing in terms of cases here locally. tricky time for you. we will leave it there. really good to talk to you. thanks for your time. let's take a look at the fresh restrictions imposed across england today. 0ur correspondent michael cowen sent this from liverpool. when matt hancock announced a raft of new restrictions today across parts of the north west, the midlands and west yorkshire, he said it was because cases were rising fast in those areas. the measures, which will come in on tuesday, are similar to those already brought in in the north east, namely that residents cannot socialise with those outside of their home or bubble in a private house or garden, hospitality venues will be table service only and be forced to close by 10pm, and public transport will be for essential use only, if you're going to work or school. now, early on in this pandemic,

places like liverpool, where we are now, did very well at combating outbreaks. but in the last two weeks, they've seen huge rises citywide that are no longer localised to smaller areas. local leaders here and across the region have welcomed these restrictions in the hope that it will stop further damaging economic restrictions further down the line. what remains to be seen is whether residents across the region will positively engage with a raft of new restrictions on their everyday life. the mayor of liverpool, joe anderson, welcomes the measures, but is encouraging residents to start following them from today. we do welcome them. disappointingly, we've got to wait until tuesday for them to be enacted here and across the north west, so disappointing in that regard.

but it was expected because our infection rates are higher than the north east. of course, with the north eeast restrictions being put in place yesterday, we expected similar for liverpool and the liverpool city region, but also the north west today. so, it was well predicted. i welcome them because we have a real concern here about the infection rates climbing high, that it has given us some anxious moments. we haven't been given any information as to why we are waiting until tuesday. i expected it to be from midnight tonight. the talk about the north east was the day before, and i think they were given round about 24 hours' notice before that come into effect. i'd much rather have seen, as i said, midnight tonight being the cut—off point. because what worries me is people actually going and carrying on as normal, if you like. or some people possibly having,

if you like, the last hurrah and going out, and if they've got the virus or are mingling with other people who have the virus, of course which means the infection rate climbs. we've got 100 people in hospital, around about 530 people infected with covid in the city and, as i said, we have real concerns and anxieties about the number spreading. and if it continues to spread, of course it means we'll face further restrictions. as i believe probably the whole country will in the next couple of weeks. that was the mayor of liverpool. in parts of the northwest such as wolverhampton there will be restrictions on its socialising outside of your bubble. let's get more from our correspondent phil mackie, who's in wolverhampton for us now. how was the news being received there? i don't think anybody is entirely surprised. the case numbers

for wolverhampton a week ago was as high as some of the areas that had restrictions already put in place. they went up a bit during the week and then went down a bit and that is positive because of the tests that have been taken and the results are not coming back so quickly. so the number of people who are now testing positive and wolverhampton is higher thanit positive and wolverhampton is higher than it was a week ago and that means that they have to stop people meeting. 90% of all cases that have tested positive in wolverhampton have come from this household meeting, people going to parties, barbecues, that kind of thing. that is what is causing the problem in wolverhampton and that is what they are introducing this restriction and in fact you will be aware that there are similar restrictions in effect in sandwell which is next door to birmingham and solihull is well. and what they are saying is if people are going to have to get use to if they have to bring those numbers down. interestingly i was on a call earlier on with the leader of the wolverhampton city council during which we learned that the number of people who have been tested in

wolverhampton has more than doubled ina wolverhampton has more than doubled in a week. it's gone up from 80 per 100,000 to 180 per one 100,000. but it's still not enough to meet the man because a menace by more than twice the amount there was last week so there are new walk—in centres opening and a new and open today and more will open over the next few days and into next week. but they are days and into next week. but they a re really days and into next week. but they are really concerned, i think that's what we have seen over in the west midlands, the north of england, the northeast and elsewhere is leading to more and more cases. thank you. as well as the widening of local restrictions, the government is considering tougher measures across england due to the rise in cases. the so—called "circuit break" would involve temporary measures such as restrictions on hospitality. the health secretary, matt hancock, said the government is "prepared to do what it takes" to protect lives and livelihoods, but that it wants to avoid a second full—scale lockdown. 0ur health correspondent

richard galpin reports. it was hoped pictures like these of patients in hospitals fighting coronavirus was something of the past. ready, steady, 90. but the number of hospitalisations is again increasing. at a much lower level than before, but still doubling around every eight days. the government now considering reintroducing nationwide restrictions for several weeks to try to slow down this second surge of the virus. we want to avoid a national lockdown, but we're prepared to do it if we need to. the hope that we have as a nation is that everybody comes together and follows the rules that are in place now. the rule of six, and then the local restrictions where they are, and the basics of hands, face and space. if these new restrictions are implemented in the coming days, it could hit the hospitality industry in particular. some parts may have to close, while bars and restaurants could have their opening

hours are limited. for those in this industry, even just raising this issue in public is already damaging. if you're talking about national restrictions on hospitality, every time ministers talk about national restrictions, it further dents consumer confidence. so, we can see a dip in footfall, we can see a dip in revenue for these businesses that are clinging on by their fingertips at the moment. all this, the labour party says, the result of the government's mishandling of the coronavirus crisis. particularly this, the crucial testing system for the virus, which is currently under considerable strain. the demand for tests three to four times greater than capacity. if those restrictions come in, i'm afraid it's because the government failed to fix testing and tracing. back in the summer, or before the summer, we were warning the government that as we head into autumn and winter, unless we have an effective testing and tracing system in place, we could be heading into a very bleak winter indeed. so, we didn't need to

be in this situation. the government would want schools to remain open if these new restrictions are implemented. but according to a snap survey by the school leaders union the naht, more than four in five schools in england have children isolating because they can't access a covid test, and a similar portion who can't attend because they're waiting for test results. in scotland, tougher restrictions have also been imposed in recent weeks, particularly in the glasgow area. the scottish government is watching carefully what's happening in england. across the uk, this is particularly the case in england right now, hospital admissions are rising. icu admissions are rising, too. and while this is particularly the case in england right now, this should sound a warning signal for us here in scotland, too. while in wales, searing criticism from the first minister of borisjohnson at this key moment

in the pandemic. in this most difficult week, there has been no meeting offered to first ministers of any sort. since the 28th of may, months ago now, there has beenjust one brief telephone call from the prime minister. now, i think that that is simply unacceptable to anyone who believes that we should be facing the coronavirus crisis together. and today, in the latest sign of how much the virus is affecting our lives, it's been announced the traditional new year's eve fireworks display has been cancelled. richard galpin, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent iain watson is in westminster. the circuit breaker. what is on the table? yes, this came about from a

meeting between the chief scientific adviser and the chief medical 0fficer adviser and the chief medical officer on wednesday and basically it was a rather grim prediction of the death toll going up from coronavirus by the end of next month u nless coronavirus by the end of next month unless the government was willing to intervene. as far as i'm aware, the chief scientific adviser argued that particularly strongly for stricter measures of the kind of things which are being discussed are the sort of things which we are already seeing a subpart of things which we are already seeing a subpa rt of country things which we are already seeing a subpart of country in any case, like the northeast in lancashire and merseyside today. so it would be extending nationally one crucial thing, this is where the circuit breaking analogy comes from and that is to try to break the cycle of transmission of the disease. mostly to be getting it from other people they know rather than in covid—19 secure workplaces or pubs. so restrictive he will not meeting those from other households either indoors or in their gardens and there will be some other for the restriction so as not quite clear

yet because no final decision has been taken and is not quite clear yet when we was simply see a curfew on hospitality venues such as restau ra nts a nd on hospitality venues such as restaurants and pubs or whether in fa ct restaurants and pubs or whether in fact they will be reduced to only serving takeaways. but there will certainly be some further restrictions. however, schools and workplaces would remain open because the government is keen not to damage the government is keen not to damage the economy more than is absolutely necessary. and we should say that the government does not see this as some kind of new national lockdown. if at as a way of avoiding a new national lockdown but there have a new national lockdown but there have been complaints as you have heard from the devolved administrations in scotla nd from the devolved administrations in scotland and wales about a lack of engagement and the welsh first minister saying there was a vacancy at the heart of the uk government that needed to be filled and today the labour leader echoes some of the concerns from scotland and wales and called for emergency government meeting. well, i'm deeply concerned by the rise in infection rates, as i think we all are, and equally concerned about the failure of testing.

and i think there's a real concern now that the government hasn't got sufficient control over what's going on, and so i think what the prime minister needs to do is convene a cobra meeting. that's what the first minister in scotland and wales have already asked for. that is urgently needed. but he now needs to take swift and decisive action at a national level to deal with this. we cannot afford to be slow. i want to be clear that if the prime minister does take action, the labour party will support it and do what we can. so he also said he would support swifter action if need be and again from our understanding, the government is looking at this circuit breaking initiative for perhaps 2—3 weeks and seen as a temporary measure to then try to avoid leading to a lockdown with the government does not want to do and it subsequently a way of trying to make sure that the virus is at least kept under control. good to talk to

you. scientists say a rapid coronavirus test has been developed which can accurately diagnose an infection within 90 minutes without needing a specialist laboratory. the device, which has been called a "lab on a chip", is already being used in eight nhs hospitals, and the government has ordered more. reeta asked our health correspondent james gallagher if this was a potential game—changer. well, the glory of this test is that i can do it, you can do it, anybody who can take a swab, put it up the nose or get a sample from the back of their throat can use this technology. now, what you do is once you have your sample, you put it inside a little cartridge, and the lead researcher at imperial college london explains how it works. this is the cartridge, and we take the test in the normal way.

it would be a swab which goes directly into a port within the cartridge. inside the cartridge, there are a number of chambers which have the reaction that would normally take place in a lab, but it all happens within the cartridge, so that is secure, put into a box and the box can sit in a&e, close to the patient and it means we can get the result within 90 minutes and potentially introduce treatment for the patient rapidly with more confidence than we could do before. this study which has been published compared this test against the standard laboratory tests which already take place and showed the accuracy is roughly the same. you asked a really important question — is this a game changer? you have to think quite carefully about how you use the test in order to be able to answer that. so, if you are a doctor and a patient comes into your hospital and they are coughing and spluttering everywhere and you need to know quickly is this a coronavirus patient or not? then it's incredibly useful. but if you're running the government's test and trace programme and are struggling with capacity and to keep up, then this is not your salvation. because each one of these boxes can

only perform 16 tests a day, that's if they are running 2a hours a day, so they are not going to be able to do the mass population screening the test and trace programme needs. amal clooney, the high—profile human rights lawyer, has resigned from her position as the uk's special envoy on media freedom in protest at the government's intention to breach international law through the internal market bill. in her resignation letter to the foreign secretary, dominic raab, she said she was dismayed by the bill, which the government admits would break international law, and stated, "it is lamentable for the uk to be speaking of its intention to violate an international treaty signed by the prime minister less than a year ago." she also added, "it's become untenable for me, as special envoy, to urge other states to respect and enforce international obligations while the uk declares that it does not intend to do so itself." free personal protective equipment

for care workers and a new role of chief nurse are among measures the government will introduce as part of a winter action plan for social care. it follows the government's announcement of an extra £500 million to help with infection control in care settings. the money will help to pay care workers theirfull wages when they're self—isolating and ensures carers only work in one care home. mike padgham runs four care homes in the north yorkshire region. he says more help is needed. in terms of being able to encourage staff not to come in if they've got symptoms, because they know they're going to get their full pay, that's a good thing. the challenge for us is that social care has always had a shortage of staff. if we can't get more agency staff in because they have to work in one particular home, and many of their staff are

self—isolating, where do we go in the future in social care? that's the difficult bit. we need more people that don't work in social care to come and work in our sector. at the minute, it is low pay. we have to address the pay so we can recruit more people. that's a fundamental issue. the infection control fund is a good start. but we have to overstaff the homes with agency staff, that doesn't help. let me bring you some news about increased covid restrictions in dublin. the iris cabinet has agreed to tighten restrictions in dublin because of rising levels of covid—19. for midnight tonight and for the next three weeks people are discouraged from leaving dublin u nless discouraged from leaving dublin unless it is for essential reasons. they are again being asked to work from home where possible and only to make essential journeys on from home where possible and only to make essentialjourneys on public transport. restaurants and pubs that serve food will for the next three weeks only be allowed to have guests outdoors or provide a take away

service. so those are new restrictions coming into force in dublin from midnight tonight. tiktok and wechat will be banned from us app stores from sunday, unless president donald trump agrees to a last—minute deal. last month, president trump called both social media platforms a security threat to the millions of americans who use them. the move comes as president trump has said tik tok must be sold to us buyers. our business correspondent michelle fleury has more from new york. from what we know, details of the deal that was being reviewed, the crucial thing was the ownership stakes. how much us ownership would be involved here? notjust by oracle, but by other us investors. the other area of contention, it appears, has been over access to the source code, the algorithm, what is considered tiktok‘s magic source, something that beijing has been

holding onto very tightly, changing export restrictions recently to make it harder, throwing sand into the gears, if you like, of this deal. the trump administration, it appears through the commerce department, is responding, and what we're understanding at the moment, because there is a briefing taking place right now with the us department of commerce, is that it is possible that some of the moves we're seeing today could be delayed if we see progress on this other front. but, again, it shows that the trump administration is raising the stakes in an already heated and contentious dispute between the world's two superpowers. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. good afternoon. a brisk breeze is blowing across parts of england and wales at the moment. we'll keep that into the start of the weekend, but for most, it's looking dry and settled with some sunny spells. so, through the rest of the afternoon, rather breezy there is just the chance of a shower down towards the south. so, through the rest of the afternoon, rather breezy across central and southern england, parts of wales, just taking the edge off those highs of 22 degrees.

further north, some good spells of sunshine, although thicker cloud will persist across northern scotland with the odd spot of drizzle. and actually that cloudy, murky weather could slide a little bit further inland as we go through tonight. at the same time, some showers start to show their hand across the channel islands. and as we go through tomorrow, those showers could well drift into southern counties of england, possibly south wales. for most, it's dry through the day with some spells of sunshine, although thicker cloud will continue to affect some parts of north east scotland. temperatures 17 degrees in aberdeen, 23 in london, rather cool for some of these north sea coasts. the wind in the south easing by sunday, and it looks dry for the vast majority.

hello, this is bbc news with rebecca jones. the headlines... new restrictions announced for parts of the north west, the midlands, and west yorkshire from tuesday, to tackle rising coronavirus infections. the mayor of liverpool expresses his concern. a 500% increase in roundabout ten days is really not something that we expected, and it's something that really worries us. it comes as the government considers further nationwide measures for england — a so—called circuit break of short term restrictions. the hope that we have as a nation, of avoiding a full blown national lockdown, is that everybody comes together and follows the rules

that are in place now. new figures suggest that on average infections are rising by 6,000 per day in england. care homes in england are to get more free protective equipment, as part of new plans for social care to deal with infections. the 90—minute covid test that doesn't need a lab for analysis. sport now, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's chetan. rebecca, thank you, good evening. gareth bale is at tottenham's training ground as he nears a return to the club he left seven years ago. he was greeted by spurs supporters as he was driven into the training complex earlier this afternoon. at 31, he's set to join on a loan deal having scored more than a 100 goals for real madrid, where he also won four champions league titles.

it is going to make the team better and bring a lot ofjoy. what he brought to the club, all the memories and goals, i can't wait... it is really exciting. i remember seven years ago when he went i was gutted. but you can't blame him, it was real madrid, really, but now he has come back, it is brilliant. he will walk in and everyone will look at him, he's a superstar. you can't deny it. he will lift us. that transfer we're waiting to be confirmed — one big deal has been completed this afternoon though. liverpool have officially signed spanish midfielder thiago alcantara from bayern munich. he posted an emotional farewell message to the german club and their supporters on social media earlier, and says leaving was the most difficult decision of his career. thiago won the champions league with bayern last season of course, as well as seven consecutive bundesliga titles.

before that he won la liga twice with barcelona. at 29, he's initially costing liverpool £20 million — liverpool are at chelsea on sunday. frank lampard's side have spent more than £200 million on players this summer following their transfer ban. jurgen klopp said this month that liverpool have a different approach during the pandemic compared to clubs owned by countries and oligarchs — a comment that lampard said amused him. the managers had a heated exchange on the touchline at anfield at the end of last season, but both say there are no hard feelings. i respect a lot of what he's doing. he's probably a really nice guy. but i don't know, because i don't know him privately, like he doesn't know me privately. and on the sidelines, we are quite animated and emotional, and sometimes we say a few words we wish we wouldn't have said a few minutes later. that's how life in football is. it's nothing more than

that. i got igota i got a huge amount of respect for him asa i got a huge amount of respect for him as a manager, what he's done with liverpool in the course of time is been there is incredible. that's on him, and the individuals, having that squad that they've brought in. there's nothing in it for me. the competitive nature of the 90 minutes can always slightly boil over in different directions. but the respect i have forjuergen klopp will never change. surn crouw andersen has won stage 19 of the tour de france. the dane broke away on his own with ten miles to go and held on to claim his second stage win at this year's tour. primoz roglic retained the leader's yellowjersey with no change in the top ten of the general classification ahead of tomorrow's time trial stage. elisa longo borghini has won the penultimate stage of the giro rosa. the italian held off dutch rider anna van der breggen, who leads the race after her compatriot annemiek van vleuten withdrew after breaking her wrist yesterday. that's all your sport for now.

just a reminder you can follow the latest from the us open golf on the bbc sport website. the leaderjustin thomas begins his second round in around an hour — he's on five under, one shot ahead of patrick reed and two ahead rory mcilroy. they'll all take to the course after 6pm. lee westwood has slipped well off the pace after a bad day, he's two over through 17. we'll have more on all that on sportsday, but that is all for now. let's return to the tighter restrictions that will come into force in lancashire, merseyside, parts of the midlands and west yorkshire after significant increases in covid—19 cases. blackpool has been excluded from the new rules. dr arif rajpura, director of public health at blackpool coucil, was asked why it escaped the same fate as the rest of lancashire — here's what he said. —— blackpool council.

we have got considerably lower rates in many parts of the north west. our rates are lower than half the north west average. so we have done really well in trying to keep those rates at a low level. generally people who have been following the guidance and also we have had our businesses comply. we have worked very closely with our businesses out there, particularly the hospitality sector, to make sure that all their covid—secure measures are in place. so together i think we have kept the levels low. i really don't want anyone to get depressed. —— complacent. just because we have not been putting into the measures, i think the key messages to people if please, please keep following the guidance around social distancing, handwashing, making sure that we are wearing face coverings where we need to, whether that's on public transport or in supermarkets. if we all continue to do that, then we will keep these levels at a low level.

israel has become the first developed country to return to a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus, after a surge in new cases. the restrictions are due to last for three weeks, and will cover the jewish holiday season. israelis are now banned from travelling more than 500 metres from their homes, and there are tight restrictions on the number of people allowed at indoor gatherings. the prime minister benjamin neta nyahu has warned that he won't hesitate to impose harsher restrictions if necessary. 0ur middle east correspondent yolande knell reports. getting ready for the jewish new year. and a new lockdown. crowded ultra—0rthodox neighbourhoods in israel are among the hot spots where covid cases have jumped, pushing the infection rate up to one of the highest in the world. synagogues are at the heart of religious communities.

we are only allowed to have sometimes ten, sometimes 20, depending on the regulations. but strict rules now mean few can gather inside. it's a remarkable time of the year, the most exceptional time of the year in thejewish calendar, and people are not going to be able to pray in their usual prayer areas, in their synagogues, they will not be able to be with family. soldiers have been drafted in to lead the battle against the virus. this is the new war room in tiber, an arab town. trained for very different security threats, israel's military is taking over testing and contact tracing. same system that goes with the missiles from gaza, the same people are working in assessment every day in order to bring all the information as quickly as we can to the city, in order to stop all

the sicknesses and the covid—19. stay at home is again the message here. but the new lockdown to deal with the public health emergency is only going to deepen israel's economic crisis. unemployment is at a record high. many businesses are failing, leading to mounting criticism of the government. this closure, i hope they are going to end this story once and for all. this new mother, who has already lost herjob, does not believe it will. it's going to be worse than now. it didn't work in the first time, it's not going to work in the second time. earlier this year, when israel's tight controls quickly stopped the first wave of covid—19, it was seen as setting a world example. now, as it heads into another painful shutdown, many countries will be hoping to avoid following its lead.

harvey weinstein has been stripped of his honourary cbe, following his conviction for rape and sexual assault earlier this year. the former hollywood film producer had been awarded the title for his contribution to the british film industry in 200a. he was sentenced to 23 years in prison in march. large fires have caused widespread destruction in one of the world's most bio—diverse areas. at least 15,000 blazes have been counted in brazil's pa nta nal wetlands. it's triple the number recorded in the same period last year — as mark lobel reports. fires crackling. the world's most enviable wildlife — up in flames. fires visible to astronauts in space, ripping apart one of the most biologically diverse habitats on earth.

flames spreading at record rates from often deliberate fires amidst a devastating drought — causing carnage, killing thousands of rare creatures, some at risk of extinction. sandwiched between the country's rainforest, vast grasslands and paraguay‘s dry forests, brazil's pantanal should be a haven for animals. there was one rescue to smile about. this armadillo pup, with burns to its body, seen fleeing from a fire. it's a race against time for others to save the wounded wildlife, catching jaguars and porcupines before it's too late. but it's also a sad story of creatures desperate to cool off, instead, consumed by the flames. environmentalists are blaming cattle farmers and ranchers, changing ocean temperatures have also contributed to dry conditions, as has accelerated deforestation in the amazon. all catastrophic news

for the world's largest wetlands, home to animals, birds and plants, that thrive off the annual flooding that usually follows torrential rains. translation: the rains we get in the state of matto grosso, including the pantanal, comes from the amazon. with increasing deforestation in the amazon, other regions in south america will also suffer, as we are seeing this year, this extreme drought has caused many more fires than we have ever seen. brazil's president has been accused of not doing enough to put out the fires in his country. he's depowered environmental groups and called them "a cancer", hitting out at accusations he's not doing enough. translation: brazil is the country that preserves the environment the most. some don't understand that. it's the country that suffers the most attacks from abroad regarding its environment.

but there's no doubt he is presiding over an ecological crisis, with economic development being prioritised over environmental protections, and now, for many residents of this former sanctuary, it's too late. mark lobel, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news... new restrictions will come into force for parts of the north west, the midlands, and west yorkshire from tuesday to tackle rising coronavirus infections. it comes as the government considers further nationwide measures for england — a so—called circuit break of short term restrictions. new figures suggest that on average infections are rising by 6,000 per day in england. now on bbc news, it's time for the film review.

hello, and welcome to the film review with me, mark kermode, rounding up the best movies available for viewing in cinemas and in the home. last year, the british feature rocks, which featured an ensemble cast of brilliant young screen newcomers, played to rapturous applause at the london film festival. now its opening in uk cinemas. rocks, what's p diddy and 50 cent — what's that all about? i want to be like p diddy and 50 cent. but you have to think about specifically, what kind of career? entertainment business. business, now you're getting it. what type of business? makeup.