this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. thousands of students across the uk are forced to self—isolate due to coronavirus outbreaks — the labour party calls on the government to promise students will be able to go home for christmas. students have been done over on their a—levels. they have been done over on freshers week. the government is now threatening to lock them up at university. and, very worrying for them, when they graduate they may be looking at long—term youth unemployment. as senior political figures mark national police memorial day in the uk — britain's top police official pays tribute to the sergeant — shot in south london on friday. if some good can come out of this terrible incident, it would be that more people understand a little bit about the challenges of police work

and see us police for who we are. armenia has mobilised its male population and declared martial law — as violence continues between the former soviet nation and its neighbour azerbaijan. president trump nominates the conservative judge, amy coney barrett, to fill the vacant seat on the us supreme court. and sir david attenborough attends a private viewing of his new documentary at kensington palace, hosted by the duke of cambridge. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world — and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here

and across the globe. thousands of students across the uk are being forced to self—isolate after a rise in coronavirus infections. the health secretary for england, matt hancock, has refused to rule out a ban on students returning home for the christmas holidays. the government says it's monitoring the situation closely. the bbc‘s political correspondent jonathan blake has more. it has been a hard start to university life for many this year. confirmed cases of coronavirus have meant many students are confined to their accommodation. there is a social side of university along with the educational side, and we are completely stuck here. so there's no freshers‘ week, no interacting with other people. all we have is online lectures. and i've been looking forward to moving here for years. i've worked very hard to get where i am. and... it's very annoying that, um... i just feel completely neglected, i guess.

in england, labour claims the government should have seen this coming, and has accused ministers of not doing enough to prepare. cases are rising, they say, and the situation is critical, warning it must not be allowed to continue unchecked. the shadow education secretary, kate green, has written to gavin williamson, saying he should consider delaying the start of term or pausing the arrival of students to allow improvements in testing capacity and remote learning. with little warning before they were asked to isolate, some students are worried about getting supplies. as for staying put over christmas, which the government hasn't ruled out, labour say that would be unthinkable. it's really difficult. i'm personally from near london, so my family is really, really far away. so it's not like they can just come and see me through the gate. we didn't have time to go to the food shops before security came in, so it's put us in a really, really difficult situation.

and just the lack of knowing what's going on, really, it's difficult. the department for education said it was monitoring the situation very closely and working with universities to ensure they were well prepared for the return of students, who, the government says, should follow the latest health advice just like the wider public. jonathan blake, bbc news. professor mark woolhouse, an epidemiologist at the university of edinburgh told the andrew marr show that scientists had modelled the effect of students returning to university. this situation, i'm afraid, has been entirely predictable. i mean, the first thing to say is students didn't start this current phase of the epidemic. this began way back in august in scotland, and the rest of the uk. and the students just got caught up in it. now, because university involves students coming in from many different parts of the country, and congregating in very close proximity, then it's inevitable there is going to be some spread among the student population. and that's what we are seeing. there was some very nice modelling done of this, by our colleagues

at the university of bristol. and what they showed quite clearly was that the risk areas were particularly first—year students in halls of residence, as well as face—to—face teaching. so this was very predictable, and it was modelled. earlier i spoke to jessica parker — who said the question about whether students will be able to come home for christmas is something the government are being urged to consider. students, some of them going away, leaving home for the first time and then arriving on campuses. there are cases of them having to self—isolate in their halls for two weeks. they are not getting the face—to—face teaching time, for obvious reasons that you would expect in normal circumstances because of coronavirus. so now there is a discussion about what should be done. should students get some sort of discount, for example? does there need to be more testing on campuses? and, as well, this issue over what happens at christmas. matt hancock, the health secretary,

earlier this week, not ruling out the possibility that students could be told not to go home. i'm not saying it is what the government wanted to do. there is a concern about passing the virus from generation to generation. but labour are very critical of the government's approach. the shadowjustice secretary, david lammy, has been speaking to the andrew marr show this morning. students have been done over on their a—levels, they have been done over on freshers' week. the government is now threatening to lock them up at university and, very worrying for them, when they graduate, we may be looking at long—term youth unemployment. it's important to get the students the kit so they can do their lessons virtually. universities have been doing loads to plan for their students, many are offering tests. they need support from the government. gavin williamson needs to come to the house tomorrow and explain what he is going to do to make sure that our young people can receive their education and virtually, probably, for many of them, and they can get the testing that they now deserve.

david lammy, there, for labour. so, what have the government been saying about this? well, the government says it is monitoring the situation closely. i think it will be quite interesting to see whether gavin williamson, the education secretary, does end up coming to the house at some point this week. you heard labour calling for it there. the chair of the education select committee, the conservative mp robert halfon has tweeted in the last hour he would like to hear a statement as well from the government as to what will happen next. it's worth pointing out it is a devolved issue. so, as well, people might want to hear from respective ministers in scotland, wales and northern ireland. but here is what the culture secretary, oliver dowden, had to say this morning. well, clearly, the experience is not as it would be, given this crisis. but we are doing that in order to reduce the spread of the disease and enable them to go back at all. and i think it's important for students not to have to give up a year of their life by not going to university. and they are going to university, and paying the fees accordingly. i think to what extent this issue becomes even more highly charged will depend on whether we keep

seeing more and more students heading to university, having to self—isolate, questioning, in some cases, whether they are getting value for money. so, i think this issue could run on into the next few weeks. the home secretary, the commissioner of the metrpolitan police and mayor of london have attended a wreath laying ceremony in stjames' park to mark police memorial day. the event is to remember all officers who've died on duty and comes just two days after the murder of sergeant matt ratana in croydon. the met police commissioner cressida dick paid tribute to sergeant rata na. matt was an extraordinary person. a real la rger—than—life character. so many people knew him in the police. he was a response officer, a neighbourhood officer. he worked on public order operations. i used to see him there. and he had a wonderful personality.

and he was very good at his job. he was very helpful, he was kind, he was friendly. what i perhaps didn't know quite so much was about his work in the communities. people in croydon and hackney, for example, they remember him so fondly as a really good police officer who could be very firm, and certainly was very good at investigating crime, arresting people and dealing with anti—social behaviour and that kind of thing. but also was involved in supporting people, and helping young people get away from crime. a really rounded character. and then he was a truly great sportsmen, and a leader in sports. so, sport, of course, takes you into all sorts of wider worlds. and, you know, he was a kiwi, a proud kiwi. but he lived in london all his life. he worked in london all his life,

played sport all over the place. he led sport as a coach and a captain. notjust rugby, he was a very good tennis player. so, those worlds, the sporting worlds and the london community world, perhaps i didn't know so much about. but as a police officer, so many people knew how good he was. he is going to be sorely, sorely missed. finally, it is police memorial day, and we are remembering the officers who have been lost. the police are under a lot of pressure at the moment, and they are bearing a lot of that pressure. is there anything we need to be thinking about, just generally, about improving the safety that they have when they do theirjobs? so, policing is a profession in which people expect to put themselves in front of other people. they see that as their duty. to protect people and to help people. and to, on a daily basis,

respond to completely unknown situations and assess risks, and manage that risk. and i think the main thing i would say is, if some good can come out of this terrible incident, in which we have had one of our officers murdered, it would be that more people understand a little bit about the challenges of police work, and see us police for who we are. you know, human beings who go to work to help people, to support people and to protect people. and matt was the epitome of that. civilians have been killed and injured during heavy fighting between armenian and azerbaijani forces in the disputed nagorno—karabakh region. armeniam troops have destroyed three tanks and accused azerbaijan of first launching an attack on civilian settlements. the president of the nagorno—karabakh region, which is mainly inhabited by ethnic

armenians, has declared martial law. the two countries have been in conflict over the area for decades, as tural ahmedzade — from the bbc world service — explained. well, the fighting, the war itself began with the break—up of the soviet union. armenia and azerbaijan were part of the soviet union. the war has not ended. there was a cessation of hostilities and a ceasefire in 1994, and the conflict was, for a large part, not frozen, but it wasn't full—blown war. for years now, tension has been building up. there was some hope, with the election of prime minister nikol pashinyan in armenia, but those hopes seemed to be dashed. this fighting is by far the most

serious we have seen since the ceasefire. or it has the potential to be. in 2016, there were clashes in april that resulted in the deaths of 200 soldiers from both sides. but this, the fighting now, appears to be taking place across a far bigger geographic area, and the volume of reporting coming from the front line appears to suggest that this could develop into something far more serious. you mentioned that the local government in nagorno—karabakh declared martial law. just recently, the armenian government has also declared martial law and full mobilisation. that means anybody above the age of 18 could be called in to fight. so it is very serious indeed. the russian authorities have called for a cessation of all of the fighting. along with turkey, they are the most influential regional actors. turkey, on the other hand, has declared full support for azerbaijan.

it also blames armenia for starting the fighting, but, you know, both sides blame each other for that. president trump has picked a conservativejudge — amy coney barrett — as his nominee to fill the supreme court seat left vacant by the death of ruth bader ginsburg. the decision has been condemned by democrats who say he is trying to force through a judge who would help to destroy public healthcare and abortion rights. donald trump's presidential rival, joe biden, says there shouldn't be a senate vote until after november's election. nomia iqbal reports. inside a packed rose garden, president trump confirmed who wants to see replacejustice ruth bader ginsburg. today it is my honour to nominate one of our nation's most brilliant and gifted legal minds to the supreme court. she is a woman of unparalleled achievement, towering intellect, sterling credentials and unyielding loyalty to the constitution.

judge amy coney barrett. applause. amy coney barrett's nomination was no surprise. she had been linked to the seat made vacant in 2016 when conservative justice scalia died. and with just a few words, judge barrett made it clear what to expect from a potential justice barrett. i clerked forjustice scali more than 20 years ago. but the lessons i learned still resonate. hisjudicial philosophy is mine, too. and this is what worries liberals. the mother of seven is described as a devout catholic, who, according to an article in 2013, said that life begins at conception. this makes her a favourite among religious conservatives, keen to overturn the supreme court decision that legalised abortion nationwide. she has also taken conservative positions as a judge on the court of appeals, on gun rights, immigration and health care.

butjudge barrett sought to reassure those who were critical of her. if confirmed, i would not assume that role for the sake of those in my own circle, and certainly not for my own sake. i would assume this role to serve you. i would discharge the judicial oath which requires me to administer justice without respect to persons. do equal right to the poor and rich. democrats don't want this to happen during the election, the same way the republican stopped them in 2016. in a statement, democratic presidential candidate joe biden focused on concern over health care. he said the senate should not act on the vacancy until after the american people select their next president. long after the controversy is over, and long after many who watched the ceremony have retired or even gone, amy coney barrett will be on the us‘s highest court, with her fellow conservative justices, making decisions about how americans live their lives.

that is why this pick is considered one of the most important decisions of donald trump's presidency. after the announcement, he spoke before flying to a rally in the key battleground state of pennsylvania. i think it's going to go quickly, i hope. but i think she's got a great future. she's brilliant. when the professor at notre dame, one of the most highly respected, said she is the best student he ever had, that means something. first in her class, and all of that. so it's a great honour. president trump knows that delivering a third conservative judge on the bench is something his supporters want, and before the election. amy coney barrett will be questioned by democrats and republicans in a series of hearings in the coming weeks. only 51 republican senators are needed to confirm her to the bench. and right now, the party has the numbers. nomia iqbal, bbc news, washington. the headlines on bbc news...

as thousands of students across the uk are forced to self—isolate due to coronavirus outbreaks, the labour party calls on the government to promise students will be able to go home for christmas. as senior political figures mark national police memorial day in the uk, britain's top police official has paid tribute to the sergeant shot in south london on friday. president trump has nominated the conservative judge, amy coney barrett, to fill the vacant seat on the us supreme court. more now on the coronavirus restrictions in the uk. new measures will come into force in swansea and cardiff, the two biggest cities in wales, from six o'clock tonight. in total, 1.5 million people in eight welsh local authority areas will be under local lockdown rules, half the population. earlier i spoke to dr simon williams, who's a senior lecturer and public health researcher at swansea university. i started by asking him

what he thinks people are making of these latest restrictions. i think it's mixed. probably the overall feeling is one of confusion and anxiety. that's something we found. we have been conducting research and generally over the past few months there has been a lot of anxiety about the prospect of having to go into a second lockdown. there is a mix, there is generally speaking a lot of faith in the welsh government. i think the adherence will be quite high but it is divided at the moment. it is there a sense of fatigue, do you think? we're hearing that from a lot of people, they have had enough these restrictions? i think so. there is an element of behaviouralfatigue. research suggests one of the main things about adherence is it is required that you have clear communication about what the regulations are. not so much the regulations being confusing to people but the fact

they are changing over time. this is something we did see back in late march and early april. people concerned if they did had to go back into lockdown, the motivation may not be there. do you think people are clear about the restrictions? are you clear about the restrictions? i think that is something we're definitely seeing. a recent survey suggested over half the population in the uk, including obviously wales, felt regulations were unclear. part of the difficulty now is piecing out what regulations mean for people in certain areas. 0verall at least half the population aren't clear. part of the difficulty is the change over time. one good thing, if you can call it a good thing about the national lockdown, initially is everyone was in the same boat and there was a sense of togetherness and social cohesiveness.

if people aren't clear about what the rules are, and we have seen in this research people suggesting they are following their own rules, if you like, ie common sense over what distancing should be and what appropriate measures should be taken. there is widespread confusion, definitely. one of the big issues at the moment is universities, students going back and being told to self—isolate in pretty large numbers. do you think it was a mistake for the government to say universities could reopen? i think it was unequivocally a mistake, for many of the reasons that have been discussed on the show and others. 0ne concern is over mental health related issues. our research found amongst young people in particular and those insecure and precarious jobs, lockdown is very difficult. for those students who are in confinement and quarantine, university can be a very isolating time of transition uncertainty and anxiety. so i think the move to have online only education for the first semester, at least, would have been the right course of action.

now to israel where thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the home of the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, to protest about his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. that's despite a nationwide lockdown that prevents large gatherings. police fined dozens of people for flouting the rules as paul hawkins reports. more anger on the streets ofjerusalem as thousands gathered on saturday evening demanding the resignation of their prime minister. they are unhappy with corruption charges brought against him, charges he denies, and his handling of the coronavirus crisis. even though organisers urged those taking part to stick to social distancing and wear masks, dozens were fined for flouting the rules.

the protests, coming a day after the country tightened its lockdown restrictions, aimed at stemming the surge of coronavirus cases. earlier in the day, there were long traffic jams as protesters from around the world converged on the city. coming from all over israel to say what they feel about the situation in israel right now. to save israel from becoming a dictatorship, to save democracy. i really fear that the old people of my society and the people around me and the people who are living here will not be able to express themselves, will not be able to live a normal life any more. but the prime minister insists the restrictions brought in a week ago are necessary. israel has the world's highest coronavirus infection rate per capita, which is why restrictions were tightened on friday. limits were placed on travel abroad and indoor prayers.

not that benjamin netanyahu has got everything he wanted. the israeli parliament, blocking his plan to limit large protests like this to 20 people or less within one kilometre of where they live. the pm calling parliament's move populist. this is a country struggling to contain the virus and a prime minister under pressure. to the political crisis in belarus, and the french president, emmanuel macron, has said president lukashenko must step down. mr macron praised the protesters who have taken part in rallies every weekend since the disputed election in august. the belarusian foreign minister has accused western countries of trying to sow anarchy. 0ur correspondent in minsk, jonah fisher, analyses if president macron‘s comments were likely to have any impact. it might make the demonstrators feel better about themselves when they go on protest today, but in terms of the big picture in belarus, which we have seen

for the last seven weeks since this disputed election, it changes very little. we still have large demonstrations taking place here, particularly at the weekend. there was going to be another very big one, we expect, this afternoon. but president lukashenko, the man who claimed victory in that disputed election in early august, shows no sign of either stepping down or being willing to open negotiations with any of the opposition figures who have emerged over the last several months. so, we have this effective impasse. president lukashenko seems to have the support of the security forces, of the military. he inaugurated himself earlier this week to begin a sixth term in office. the opposition, the demonstrators, they seem to be able to come out in very large numbers when they want to. we will probably see that again today. at the moment, there is no real strategy on the part of the opposition as to how they are going to translate that control of the streets, that huge crowd they are getting up demonstrations, into actualfurther pressure and further efforts to actually get president lukashenko

to think about a seriously stepping down. scientists at cambridge university in england, have developed a faster way of testing drugs to fight covid. it involves putting parts of human cells onto microchips, which allows them to watch the virus as it attacks. richard westcott reports. starting with human cells in a petri dish. this cambridge team has developed a new, quicker way of finding drugs to tackle covid. first they separate the outer layer or membrane of the cells because that is the bit the virus attacks first. then a unique device comes in. normally when you test drugs on cells, you have to wait for the results to come back. you look at the aftermath of what has happened.

by putting them on this microchip here, this team is able to see what is going on in real time, as it is happening. the chip monitors electrical activity. wait for it. this spike tells us when the cell gets attacked by the virus. the spikes mean the virus has successfully breached the cell's defences and got inside. by putting different drugs on the cells they can see which ones keep the virus out. you can also watch these attacks happening under the microscope. when you see these flashes of light, you are seeing the virus fusing with the cell membrane. that has an electrical field around it and when the virus is as it disrupts the membrane and we are able to measure that electrically endorses it optically. every pinprick of light is a virus attacking a cell. yes, exactly. this video shows flu attacking kidney cells but the technique works

just as well with coronavirus and they can use a form of the virus that is not infectious. this technology allows us to quickly test drugs against covid — may be some that are already developed or some new ones. the good thing about this new technology as we are using human membranes, so we don't have to maybe do some irrelevant experiments on animals and it is much more relevant to our systems if we develop a drug that works on us. the real goal is to find promising drugs are easily available and that we already know are safe for humans to use. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah. hello. it's another day of very mixed fortunes across the uk today. for some of us, plenty of sunshine around but there is more cloud around eastern counties of england in particular, with a brisk northerly wind around here. for scotland into the afternoon, cloud is tending to burn back towards the aberdeenshire coast. still quite gusty in the north and east, but for much of scotland

lighter winds and after that very cold start, some sunshine this afternoon. northern ireland and north west england also seeing dry and bright conditions which continue into wales, too. but look at those gusts of wind. 50mph for the likes of lincolnshire and east anglia, with a few drizzly showers. into this evening and overnight, the winds in east eventually start to ease away. we have more cloud and rain working in from the north—west. not as cold here as it was last night but still down into single figures for many of us first thing on monday morning. monday sees this band of patchy cloud working its way slowly eastwards but a much improved day for east anglia and the south—east. not as windy and temperatures between 1a and 19 degrees.

this is bbc news. the headlines: as thousands of students across the uk are forced to self—isolate due to coronavirus outbreaks — the labour party has called on the government to promise students will be able to go home for christmas. as senior political figures mark national police memorial day in the uk, britain's top police official has paid tribute to the sergeant shot in south london on friday. president trump has nominated the conservative judge amy coney barrett to fill the vacant seat on the us supreme court. if confirmed by senators, she'll replace the late liberal justice ruth bader ginsburg, resulting in a 6—3 conservative majority. armenia has mobilised its male population and declared martial law as violence continues between the former soviet nation and its neighbour azerbaijan. civilians are reported to have been killed during heavy fighting in the disputed nagorno—karabakh region.