i fé our countryw , ~ ~ § our country down = § our country down and reopened this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. new covid restrictions in the uk. more masks, less socialising and bigger fines for those who don't adhere to the rules. never in our history has our collective destiny and our collective health depended so completely on our individual behaviour. in a pandemic too full of grim milestones, the us passes another. 200,000 have now died. digital diplomacy. the first ever virtual united nations general assembly is underway. president trump used the opportunity to criticize china.

the world — and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. the united kingdom has reached ‘a perilous turning point‘ in its struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic. that's according to prime minister borisjohnson who has set out a series of new restrictions for england. he stressed that ‘significantly greater restrictions' will be brought in if new cases continue to rise sharply. mrjohnson had addressed parliament earlier in the day before explaining his decisions in a televised address to the nation a few hours later. iam i am deeply, spiritually reluctant to make any of these impositions or infringe on anyone's freedoms. but, u nless we infringe on anyone's freedoms. but, unless we take action, the risk is that we will have to go for tougher

measures later when the deaths of already mountain and we have a huge case load such as we had in the spring. so, will the latest measures introduced across the uk be enough to suppress the virus? our medical editor fergus walsh looks at the challenges ahead. how do you strike a balance between bearing down on coronavirus while keeping the economy moving? that is the challenge facing ministers. closing bars and restaurants at 10pm should reduce the amount of alcohol people drink in public, and so perhaps may make behaviour less risky. people will be a little bit more sober when they go home, which means they are less likely to engage in risky behaviours. they're perhaps more likely to put a face covering on when they get onto the bus or the tube. they may go home with friends, but the chances are it's not going to be in as large a group as they would be in the bar with. the latest reproduction or r number for the uk is between 1.1 and 1.4, which means that for every ten

infected people, they will be passing the people on to between 11 and 1a others. and the prime minister made clear that, unless r falls below one, then further restrictions are likely. it's thought that coronavirus cases are doubling roughly every seven days and are increasing among all age groups. hospital admissions are rising, too. yesterday, government scientists said that, left unchecked, we could see 50,000 cases a day by mid october and perhaps 200 deaths a day a month later. but they stressed this wasn't a prediction. but that would still be a fifth of the 1,000 daily deaths at the peak in early april. encouraging people to work from home again should mean fewer chances for the virus to spread on public transport and in offices. then there is scotland's decision

to ban most people visiting other households indoors, aimed at tackling a key driver of infection. we can expect this to have a significant impact because we know that this disease is spread from person to person, particularly in indoor environments where there isn't so much ventilation and there may be multiple people close to each other. but, on the other hand, there will be impacts on well—being, particularly amongst the most vulnerable, from not being able to see friends and family as much. one thing that has not been tried here is a night—time curfew. that was imposed in antwerp, in belgium, in latejuly and helped reduce an outbreak there, though cases across belgium are now higher than in the uk. earlier, the united states passed the milestone of two hundred thousand coronavirus deaths. the latest figures — compiled byjohns hopkins university — also show that almost six million

nine hundred thousand people in the us are confirmed to have been infected by the virus. worldwide, nearly one million people have died from coronavirus. the numbers in the us are high. they equate to just below 62 deaths per one hundred thousand people. this is the sixth highest rate of mortality from covid worldwide. that's six times higher than germany — a country lauded for tackling the pandemic well — which has a rate of 11.32 per hundred thousand. and if we look at china where the virus started, they have a rate of 0.34 deaths per 100,000. as with any country, the rate of death across the us varies widely. new york has been the hardest hit, with 33 thousand deaths and close to half a million cases. keep in mind that in march, president trump said if deaths were between 100,000 and 200,000, the country would have done a "very good job". last night, in swanton 0hio,

he told his audience the disease affects virtually nobody. we now know the disease. we didn't know it. now we know it. it affects elderly people, elderly people with heart problems and other problems. if they have other problems, that's what it really affects. that's it. you know, in some states, thousands of people — nobody young, below the age of 18. like, nobody. they have a strong immune system. who knows? you take your hat off to the young, because they have a hell of an immune system. but it affects virtually nobody. it's an amazing thing. by the way, open your schools. everybody, open your schools. here's what nancy pelosi, the democratic speaker of the united states house of representatives had to say about the loss of life in the us. this was preventable — not all of it, but much of it. and what could be lost in the future is preventable, too, if we embrace science.

science instead of politics. just look at the lives lost and multiply it. dr ali mokdad is a former senior cdc official and is now a professor of health metrics sciences at the institute for health metrics and evaluation. the ihme models for predicted covid 19 deaths have been used to inform the white house's response to the virus. thank you for having me. is it fair to say that in your modelling, you underestimated the rate in the death rate in the us was yellow yes we have. every time you have a model, we would impose mandates and we have

also assumed that states would not open up for business until they reach a certain level of infections and unfortunately, most of the states open prematurely and many are not going to dine back and imposing lockdown. gift make assumptions and you make very basic assumptions about behaviours of local administrations of the public that you say they have not done and that has led to a higher rate. do you see any sign of that changing? u nfortu nately, we any sign of that changing? unfortunately, we have seen the united states is that people are tired of lockdown and there is no more time for it and we look at mobility, it is coming in the wrong direction. we see only improvements and behaviours when they go up in places like california or texas. that then goes back to their old habits, unfortunately. and based on

modelling like yours with the predictions, that then informs the white house and government policy and if those numbers are lower than they take measures, there is a false sense of things are better than they are, so sense of things are better than they are, so an sense of things are better than they are, so an unfortunate sense of things are better than they are, so an unfortunate consequence of the assumptions and how do you change those assumptions and where do you think we are going further forward ? do you think we are going further forward? unfortunately for us, we make an assumption and we say when an assumption is, and people do not adhere to that assumption, that is u nfortu nate for adhere to that assumption, that is unfortunate for us. we can tell a scientist what needs to be done but u nfortu nately scientist what needs to be done but unfortunately in the united states, we are not being heard or ignored sometimes. so unfortunately, that is what happens. if the numbers much lower than what is actually. the message exactly the same from now on will but we are estimating towards the end of the year is a high number of deaths and we should be very careful, all of us, in terms of us, interns distinguish from each other

we are outside. thank you very much for coming on the programme and it's a lwa ys for coming on the programme and it's always complicated when talking about numbers and modelling and you spoke really clearly, so thank you very much for coming on. the united states registered its 200,000th death from the covid—19 to the us now. republican senator mitt romney has announced he will not oppose a vote on president donald trump's supreme court nominee. and in the past few minutes, president trump has said that he will likely make that announcement at 5pm eastern time on saturday. there's a strong likelihood that the republican majority to allow the process to take place before november's election. mr romney is a critic of the president, so democrats had hoped that he would join two other republican senators in opposing the nomination process happening before november's election. democrats say that the replacement for the latejustice ruth bader ginsberg should be picked by whoever

is the next president. that's the same argument republicans made in 2016, when they blocked president 0bama from nominating a new judge, merrick garland, in an election year. here's what mitt romney said when that was put to him. you know, ithink you know, i think at this stage, it is appropriate to look at the constitution and look at the precedent that has existed since the beginning of our country's history. and a circumstance where a nominee ofa and a circumstance where a nominee of a president is for a different party than the senate, then more often than not, the sender does not confirm. so, the decision was consistent with that. on the other hand, when there is nominee of a party that is in the same party as the senate, then typically they do confirm. so, the decision was consistent with that in the decision to proceed now with the president trump, nomination was consistent with that.

that could potentially have long—lasting consequences for the future of the united states. let's see what else is hitting headlines in the world now. there's been a big explosion in the south of lebanon, which security sources say has caused a number of injuries. a witness said blast made the ground shake beneath their feet. it's not yet known what caused the explosion. the south of lebanon is a political stronghold of hezbollah and its ally amal. the city of louisville in kentucky has issued a state of emergency ahead of a decision to be made by the state's attorney general in the case of the death of breonna taylor. the 26—year—old black emergency medical technician was killed during a botched police raid at her home in march. a grand jury is now deciding whether to indict the police officers involved in the shooting. nasa has formally outlined its 28 billion dollar plan to land a man and a woman on the moon by 202a. the artemis program will be

the first lunar landing involving humans since 1972. nasa's plans rely on congress releasing over three billion dollars for the agency to build a landing system. the united nations general assembly got off to a fiery start in new york — despite the fact that none of the world leaders had turned up in person due to the coronavirus. instead, the heads of state are delivering pre—recorded messages. president trump used his speech to ask the un to hold china accountable for how it has handled the coronavirus pandemic. nada tawfik reports. normally, new york would be heaving with people for the start of the un general assembly. instead, because of covid, the crowds have stayed away and the speeches have moved online. the secretary—general, antonio guterres, was one of the few to speak from the mostly empty general assembly hall. at a time when international

cooperation is most needed, he called for a global cease—fire and set efforts should be made to avoid a new cold war — one between the us and china. we are moving in a very dangerous direction. our world cannot afford a future for the two largest economies split the globe in a great fracture, each with its own trade and financial rules and internet and artificial intelligence capacities. president trump's prerecorded speech aired just as the us was nearing 200,000 deaths from the virus — by far the highest toll of any nation. with a re—election nearing, his speech was aimed at a domestic audience. we will distribute a vaccine, we will defeat the virus, we will end the pandemic and we will enter a new era of unprecedented prosperity, cooperation and peace. as we pursue this bright future, we must hold accountable the nation which unleashed this plague onto the world, china.

the chinese ambassador to the un reacted in real—time to the president. translation: china resolutely rejects the baseless accusation against china. his remarks introduced a rare speech from china's president xijinping. while washington has reduced its influence at the un and plans to leave the world health organization, china has been eager to fill the void in the leadership. translation: we should follow the guidance of science, give full play to the leading role of the world health organization and launch a joint international response to beat this pandemic. any attempt of politicizing the issue or stigmatization must be rejected. speeches by china and us laid bare the competing visions that have hindered progress here at the united nations. and with no in—person meetings and behind—the—scenes negotiations, it's doubtful this high—level week of the general assembly will contribute much to confronting the global consequences of the coronavirus,

let alone other key issues. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we meet the female tea pickers who've become the first on their plantation to go to university. more now on our top story — the new rules to tackle coronavirus in the uk. pubs and restaurants will be subject to a 10pm curfew from thursday. ben thompson reports from south london. that idea of closing pubs and restau ra nts that idea of closing pubs and restaurants may be an hour too early, may not seem like a significant move, but many places that we've spoken to say that could cost them up to half of their business and that is because not only would they lose a significant proportion of their evening business, there would also lose that lucrative setting for dinner. those diners that want to come in at 839

o'clock because we are told that these new rules from first day in these new rules from first day in the customers need to be off the premises and the doors locked by ten o'clock. that means that last orders, much earlier in the evening. but we know the night—time economy is considered to be high risk, as far as the virus is concerned because we are less likely to be adhering to social distancing rules if we have had a or two. this is bbc news, the latest headlines. new covid restrictions in the uk. more masks, less socialising and bigger fines for those who don't adhere to the rules. in a pandemic too full of grim milestones, the us passes another. 200,000 have now died. scientists are calling for a worldwide study on the long term effects of coronavirus, with some patients reporting symptoms that last for months.

a number of people have described debilitating persistent health issues after contracting the virus including ongoing fatigue and heart complications. i'm joined now by nisreen alwan — a public health doctor and epidemiologist from the university of southampton here in the uk. thank you for coming on the programme. thank you for having me. this is an issue that is overlooked, because we do not know much about this, but how could this potentially be unknown longer term effects? absolutely. this issue of covid—19 long—haul requires immediate attention from governments, public health agencies to measure this problem, but we see all the time is daily or weekly figures of deaths, of hospital admissions, lack of confirmed tests and we don't see any measure of mobility from covid—19

and so people who are ill for weeks or months from covid—19, many of them have been admitted to hospital and many of them have had the mild version of the illness and then they suffered symptoms and not being able to be back to their normal activity levels before the infection and some of them are off of work for a long time and many of them are not getting the recognition and the support that they need from the system and most of them were not tested to start with. people who have started the illness in march and april in the uk, they did not have testing unless they were admitted to hospital and so, the ca re admitted to hospital and so, the care varies and it's really important to quantify the problem and it is not only for the benefit of the people who are suffering from the problem but also to communicate how common the problem is, particularly novel with we have the second wave, you need to tell people that if you are young and healthy, yes, you're unlikely to get admitted

to hospital, but you may unable to go back to normal after normal activity for weeks or months after infection. and that is really interesting i know you do not want to focus on her too much, but you are recovering too aren't you? yes, i had covid—19 symptoms back in march and by the summer, i was looking around with me having the symptoms not going back to my normal health and with the public health doctor, this problem is not quantified it all and we need to measure, we need to measure recovery from covid—19. we need to follow up people, even a very simple follow—up, all of these people who are tested up, all of them for weeks afterwards and ask them are you back to your normal health and if you are not, these are the kind of people who need attention and research. these are the long haul people. fascinating stuff in the really

important issue to raise. thank you for coming up on the programme and good luck to you with your recovery. china has announced a significant new climate target a significant new climate target — today — it says it's aiming to become carbon saying it's aiming to become carbon neutral before 2060. president xijinping made the announcement at the un general assembly today, here's what he had to say. translation: humankind can no longer afford to ignore the repeated warnings of nature and go down the beaten path of extracting resources without investing in conservation, pursuing developing at the expense of protection, and exploiting resources without restoration. the paris agreement on climate change charts the course for the world to transition to green and low carbon development. it outlines the minimum steps to be taken to protect the earth, our shared homeland, and all countries must have decisive steps to honour this agreement. in sri lanka, tea is picked by women who live and work on isolated plantations — often in poor conditions. their children are given limited

access to higher education. but in a remote hillside plantation in central sri lanka, a group of girls has become the first in the estate to go to university.

we heard earlier in the programme that the us has moved past the grim milestone of 200,000 deaths from coronairus. president trump has made his first remarks on this in the past few minutes. i think it is a shame. i think, if

we didn't do it properly and do it right, you would have to and billion deaths, if you take a look at the alternatives. you could have two and million deaths, or something thereby. there would be a substantially more with all of that being said, we should not have had anybody come we that not the i not the i no and it a