lot warmer, temperatures can as high as 19 celsius. this is bbc news with the latest headlines. the government defends its decision to allow students to return to university — despite several outbreaks of coronavirus, which have seen many confined to their rooms. labour demands assurances. students have been done over on their a—levels, they have been done over on freshers' week. the government has threatened to lock them up in university and when they graduate they could be facing long—term unemployment. it is 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. cardiff and swansea — wales' two biggest cities — preparing to go into tighter lockdown restrictions fom 6pm this evening with neath—port talbot, the vale of glamorgan and torfaen

also going into local lockdown tomorrow evening. police investigating the murder of sergeant matt ratana at croydon in south london on friday — have arrested a man on suspicion of supplying a firearm. president trump nominates the conservative judge, amy coney barrett, to fill the vacant seat on the us supreme court. more arrests at an anti—government protests in belarus, as protest leaders claim they will succeed in replacing alexander lu kashenko. and in half an hour here on bbc news, as fresh protests take place. global questions takes a look at the belarus crisis, where the stakes are high for president putin as well.

good afternoon. the government has defended its decision to allow hundreds of thousands of students to return to university. that's despite several outbreaks of coronavirus which have seen many students confined to their rooms on campuses. the culture secretary oliver dowden said today it's important that students didn't give up a year of their lives by not returning to their studies. but a member of the government's advisory body modelling the spread of the pandemic says the consequences of allowing students back have been ‘entirely predictable‘. danjohnson reports from manchester. so this is our saturday night, stuck in... staying in forfilm night is not exactly the fun freshers experience katy and max wanted. earlier in the week, we made plans to go out for the weekend, so, obviously, with students, you have lectures throughout the week and then lockdown came around yesterday, so every booking we made to go out

or every table we paid for, we had to cancel. seeing other unis go on nights out, they get to see their friends and family and go out drinking, what we should be doing, it is quite hard for us and even other accommodations that get to do it at manchester and, obviously, we can't. how's your saturday night? dylan and claudia were also trying to make the best of it. it is a bit scary, i feel like we are in... an apocalypse. an apocalypse, yeah. we're locked in. yeah, not allowed to leave. i've got one two—hour lesson a week and that's it, everything else is online, so itjust seems a bit pointless. this was only the second night of two weeks' isolation here but the voices of concern are growing. 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. some of these students are starting to wonder how they ended up in this situation, when the rest of us have

been told to work from home if possible and to limit the number of people we mix with. there were warnings that outbreaks would come and that would mean disrupted teaching. now, because university involves students coming in from many different parts of the country and congregating in very close proximity, then it is inevitable there is going to be some spread among the student population, that is what we are seeing. but there are no good alternatives, even if it means a tough start to term for some, with time behind bars rather than in them. universities say this action shows they have the plans in place to deal with cases. we are doing that in order to reduce the spread of 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. in scotland, more than 1,000 students are in isolation, with reports a few have left to go home against advice. there are questions about seeing family at christmas, with calls to enough testing in place to allow that safely. danjohnson, bbc news, manchester.

earlier i spoke to some students from manchester metropolitan university — locked down in their student accommodation. they told me this wasn't how they'd imagined their first weeks at university. it was not the experience we were expecting and now locked in here for the next 1a days and we are trying to get by, trying to learn about how we're going to do things again now. you have all been tested but i think none of you have got it. two days ago we all got tested because our flat, not our flat but around the building people are positive and we all got negative. we kind of all celebrated. now we have been told to self—isolate even though we are all negative in the household. i have some names of the flatmates.

rosie, india, hannah. rosie, in the corner. moving a bit. how are you finding it? it is not what you are expecting. are you concerned about the future now? if there are other outbreaks, this could really be the pattern of what your first year at university is going to be like. i was really looking forward to going to university but, on my course in particular, we only have three hours in university every week and that has all been moved online. a bit different to what we were all expecting but hopefully it will improve, eventually. who is on your left? hannah. are you thinking about maybe not pursuing this if it gets worse? would you be looking for a refund of yourfees?

realistically, you would expect someone to have the best learning experience ever. the university is trying to make it work in terms of education. but i personally am not interested in a refund because i do not see it as necessary. india. what about you ? are you satisfied with the lectures you are getting on zoom? is it working? well, i am studying drama and it is very difficult to do that online. i don't think personally it is very fair that i am paying the same amount as students in the past had paid for not the same experience. with acting and things like that, it is very difficult to do that online because it is something you need to do in real life, face to face. charlotte, you are the last one.

do you think the government was right to encourage you all to start university this year? a lot of people have been saying, with the migration around the country, all of you young guys travelling around, this was pretty predictable that there were going to be more waves of the virus. yes, i do think they should have done that. for me, it didn't really change my decision. i knew i wanted to go to uni this year and i didn't want, obviously, the virus to stop me from going to uni and getting an education and pursuing my career like i wanted to. final question, are you still having fun? yeah. we're really close, just staying indoors trying to have fun. and work, they said.

detectives investigating the shooting of sergeant matt ratana in croydon on friday have arrested a man in norwich, on suspicion of supplying a firearm. officers have also been searching properties in south london and close to the village of banstead in surrey. sergeant ratana was remembered this morning at the national police memorial day service and east grinstead rugby club, where he was head coach. tom symonds reports. police memorial day commemorates all of those who have died while serving but the killing of an officer is a particularly traumatic event. the home secretary and the mayor of london laid wreaths but the metropolitan police commissioner, dame cressida dick, was remembering an officer she had personally served alongside. matt ratana, she said, was extraordinary, firm but supportive of those needing help. 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. he was killed when shots were fired by a handcuffed suspect inside a secure police custody facility in croydon. cctv footage is crucial to understanding what happened. this morning, searches continued at a family home in south london and, overnight, police were also at a rural property in surrey. the connection between the two hasn't been made clear by scotland yard. matt ratana was as dedicated to rugby as he was to policing and, today, several clubs were remembering him, including east grinstead, where he was head coach. he wasn'tjust our coach. to the players, he was a role model, a mentor and often a father figure.

we are going to mourn him as a family member. and he's left a... he's left a big hole, to be honest. two families — rugby and police — will never forget their loss. tom symonds, bbc news. civilians have been killed and injured during heavy fighting between armenian and azerbaijani forces in the disputed nagorno—karabakh region. armenia has declared martial law and mobilised its male population. armenia says azerbaijan launched an attack on civilian settlements. the country's defence ministry says its troops have destroyed three tanks and shot down two helicopters. the azerbaijan ministry of defence has denied targeting civilians and said it had launched a counter—offensive against armenian shelling. the two former soviet countries have been in conflict for more than a quarter of a century over azerbaijan's breakaway area which is mainly inhabited

by ethnic armenians. the president of the nagorno—karabakh region has also now declared martial law. president trump has picked a conservativejudge, and mother of seven, 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 curb 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 he 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 potentialjustice barrett. i clerked forjustice scalia 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. cardiff and swansea — wales' two biggest cities are preparing to go into tighter lockdown restrictions — from 6pm this evening — with neath—port talbot, the vale of glamorgan and torfaen also going into local lockdown from 6pm tomorrow. police investigating the murder of sergeant matt ratana at croydon in south london on friday — have arrested a man on suspicion of supplying a firearm. now the sport.

michael hamilton started from pole position but was given a ten second penalty for doing practice starts in the wrong place before the race. that condemned him to finishing third. max verstappen was second. that closes the gap on hamilton to 44 points. the french open is under way. andy murray will play stan wawrinka earlier. dan evans is currently in action, playing kei nishikori. the school is 3—3 in the decider. victoria azarenka refused to hang around in the cold and the

wet and the rain when there match was delayed. they had to wait on court to see if the weather improved. she said it was ridiculous. her opponent didn't want to wait either, so they both walked off court. they did return. the tenth seed won in straight sets. two wins out of three for leeds united in the premier league. both goalkeepers were kept busy. this spectacular save from john lindstrom. patrick ba mford spectacular save from john lindstrom. patrick bamford secured the points late in the second half. sheffield united have yet to score in the premier league this season. sheffield united have yet to score in the premier league this seasonlj thought in the premier league this season.” thought the shape of the game, of the team, was good. we know how a display. we understand how they play, high—energy, high tempo. it was a really quick game. when it opens up, he had to take your chances and we have not. they

ultimately get punished by a fantastic goal and a great header. spa res fantastic goal and a great header. spares are 1—0 fantastic goal and a great header. spares are1—0 up. fantastic goal and a great header. spares are 1—0 up. all the highlights on match of the day to later. a shock upset as everton beat chelsea 2—1 in me women's fa cup quarterfinal. manchester city are 2-0 quarterfinal. manchester city are 2—0 up against leicester. the penalty has just given birmingham a 2-1 penalty has just given birmingham a 2—1 lead against brighton. rangers beat motherwell by 5—1. james tavernier scored twice from the penalty spot. rangers will remain top of the table regardless of

today's at the results. celtic are one up at home to hibernian early in the second half. valentino rossi was challenging the french mental victory in barcelona in the moto gp but he missed out with nine laps to go. but he missed out with nine laps to 90- -- but he missed out with nine laps to go. —— the french man for victory. the world road championships in italy draw to a close today. the last rate is the men's road race which is coming to a finish in the next few minutes. 162 miles the course. that is at the famous motor racing circuit. some pretty steep climbs ahead. that is

all a sport for now. does not look too hot. more now on the coronavirus restrictions in the uk. the two biggest cities in wales are preparing for lockdown, which begins later today. the new measures will come into force in swansea and cardiff, from six o'clock tonight. neath, port talbot, torfaen and vale of glamorgan will also have tighter restrictions imposed from 6pm tomorrow. it follows the first localised lockdown in wales, in the town of llanelli in carmarthenshire, which came into force on saturday evening. it means almost two million people in wales — or two—thirds of the population — will be under local lockdown rules by 6pm tomorrow. we can speak now to dr giri shankar, incident director for the covid—19 outbreak response at public health wales.

is it necessary and will it be effected ? is it necessary and will it be effected? it is necessary we believe because of the increasing numbers of cases, the rising rates in the local authority areas we have been monitoring for some time now. the measures are proportionate to the increase in number of cases and we do believe that after a period of time this will begin to show the effects we wanted to show. how long a set period of time? pretty much dependent on community compliance to these restrictions. we believe a three week period from when the restrictions come into effect when necessary for us restrictions come into effect when necessary for us to see visible reduction in the rates. will it be matched by saturation testing? we would want as many people as were symptomatic to get the tests. we are

aware there are some issues with the restrictions on testing availability. we are working closely with the welsh government to make full use of the domestic capacity. what does that mean? we are aware of certain issues and we are working hard. how many testing facilities deal had the moment? several places will go into lockdown tomorrow. how many will go into lockdown tomorrow. how ma ny tests will go into lockdown tomorrow. how many tests have you got? we have been consistently testing in the range of 10,000 individuals every single day. that testing capacity is a combination of testing capacity available here for us domestically, as well as capacity that is being made available as part of the uk wide arrangements. how many tests do

you need? it depends very much on the percentage of population that is showing symptoms. at the moment, we know there is not a backlog for cases in wales that we know some people have had to wait a couple of days longer than they would have wanted. we were speaking to a woman earlier, about an hour ago, whose mother was in a care home in swa nsea. mother was in a care home in swansea. she has dementia. she had four months without being able to see any of her family because of the initial lockdown and now this woman will not be able to see any of her family again either, even outside, two, three, four metres distance. do you think these restrictions are too tough? we understand the inconvenience, particularly for

families with loved ones in their ca re families with loved ones in their care homes and they look forward to such visits. we fully understand and recognise the inconvenience caused. we also recognise there is high transmission rates in the community and we know coronavirus effects the elderly and the effect can be quite significantly higher compared with the under age —— is back at the younger age group. it is about protecting them. everybody‘s role is important. isn't one size fits all too clumsy? if you are meeting people outside and at some distance, the risk is small. it is about how a visit can safely take place.

visiting a resident in the care home, you have to be symptom—free. various precautions are taking place. it is important for the care homes to ensure a safe visit takes place and there is accountability for these visits. what we do not one is to find ourselves in a position where the infection has been introduced into a care home and several other individuals have been affected as a result of that. thank you forjoining on bbc news. security forces in belarus are preparing for more demonstrations against president alexander lukashenko, whose re—election last month is disputed by the opposition and has led to weekly protests. this morning the french president emmanuel macron said mr lukashenko must step down. the belarusian foreign minister has accused western countries of trying to sow anarchy. a short while ago our correspondent in minskjonah fisher sent us the latest. so this is just before the demonstration is due to start.

if we come over here, this is how the authorities try and stop it happening. these guys are from the security forces, the masked guys, and they are basically picking up people who are hanging around and look like they might be going to take part in demonstrations. this will be the seventh weekend of demonstrations here in belarus, we are expecting another large turnout. sunday is typically the day in which very large crowds gather here, all calling for president lukashenko, the man who has run this country for the last 26 years, to step down and it is now, what, seven weeks of demonstrations on the streets here since that disputed election in early august. what you saw just there was an attempt to intimidate people not to come. we'lljust have to see whether people turn out again. early indications seem to show that

swiss voters have voted convincingly to keep their free movement of people agreement with the european union. the proposal to end the agreement came from the right wing swiss people's party, who argued that immigration from europe was to blame for a rising population, and placed an unsustainable burden on public services, and the environment. early estimates show around 63% of the voters however wanted to maintain freedom of movement. ballots are still being counted, and final results are due later today. sir david attenborough has visited kensington palace for a private viewing of his new documentary with the duke of cambridge. prince william and the broadcaster sat together to watch the programme "a life on our planet". sir david has been speaking to bbc breakfast. i've been making television programmes, and certainly for the last 20 or 30 years i've ended each of them by saying, "look,

the world is in peril, look, we're damaging it, and it's all our, humanity's, fault. " and very little has happened. and yet suddenly within the last five years, maybe, suddenly it's as though people have woken up. and it's young people, really, young people who have shaken our consciences, and not before time. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren. following the sunshine today, it will turn cold quickly this evening under clear skies. 0vernight the winds will continue to drop in east anglia and the south east there it will stay cloudy. more cloud coming into western scotland and northern ireland but much milder in northern ireland, it was the coldest september night on record. ahead of

the advancing cloud, there is a risk ofa the advancing cloud, there is a risk of a touch of frost and shortly lived mist and fog patches as well. rain heading into northern ireland. it will head eastwards in the afternoon into wales and western parts of england. ahead of the cloud and patchy rain is sunshine. with the atlantic breeze, it will be warmer, particularly noticeable in the east of england where temperatures could reach 19 degrees. later in the week it does turn cooler and, at the same time, the more unsettled.