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. and in half an hour here on bbc news, the settlers' billionaire backer — an investigation into russian oligarch roman abramovich, who controls companies that have donated tens of millions of pounds to a settler organisation operating in occupied eastjerusalem. 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. is it 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 had envisaged their first few weeks at university.

it was not the experience we were expecting and we are 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, charlotte. rosie, in the corner. move in 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. -- they didn't mention work, did they? dr anthony seldon is the vice chancellor of the university of buckingham. the university of buckingham is in a rural campus, in the bow of the river, very green, very spaced out. the lectures at backing them are online but we are able to offer some

seminars and teaching experiences face to face and quite a lot of socially distanced student freshers‘ week activities. the university of buckingham students at the moment, we are able rethink to get a good experience and online for those abroad and in the uk we didn‘t want to, he chose not to come here.” don‘t know if you had me chatting to those students in manchester. 0ne don‘t know if you had me chatting to those students in manchester. one of them saying, having been through the whole debacle of a—levels and everything else, they are not getting the same university experience. do you think at the university should be contemplating refunding some fees, or at least doing something to compensate students? my heart goes out, everyone‘s heart goes out to those students, particularly if they are freshers and they had a terrible

final year at school without all those a—levels and final year closure, no closure at all, and then looking forward so much to carry up to university and having freshers‘ week and being back in the swim of social life. this is cruel. —— de swing. i don‘t think there are any good solutions. it is second best solution is all around. i do think, you can call me biased, but i think university is a fantastic choice for young people. they were saying, those students, they wanted to go ahead with university and they wa nted ahead with university and they wanted to have whatever social experiences they are able to. they are much more resilient. there is a risk that if we carry on, some groups taking political capital out of this to hit the government all

the offence had to be government, it is not really helping. you need to put students first. some universities have offered some money back. glasgow, anecdotally some verses are leaving halls of residence in saying this is not for them. why should you be paying tuition fees and accommodation as well? 0ther tuition fees and accommodation as well? other lawyers are saying it is a breach of human rights. it is a bit of a mess, isn‘t it? a breach of human rights. it is a bit of a mess, isn't it? it is a terrible mess, heartbreaking all round. the students cannot have that liberty and experience and had to go home, of course it is right accommodations these should be refunded to them. universities are falling backwards. the university of buckingham, like all the others, to provide a really rich, high quality online experience if that is all that we can safely offer within government guidelines. we are going

to get through this. covid will pass andi to get through this. covid will pass and i think it is important to remember there is a risk that we can just be panicking ourselves into a knee jerk response by people pouring in and saying, this is absolutely deplorable. the vast majority of stu d e nts deplorable. the vast majority of students do not have covid. universities have covid safe social and teaching environments. i think we need to be calm about this and considered and cool and work together and not be hacking chunks of each other for political purposes. that is what is so unfair. evenif purposes. that is what is so unfair. even if students develop coronavirus, they are least likely to become seriously ill. 0ne coronavirus, they are least likely to become seriously ill. one final thought, we were speaking to george freeman, conservative mp for mid norfolk. he talked about how universities are profitable organisations and you are in a

commercial market. he talked about if there are to be refunds to students, perhaps it should come from vice chancellors. the headlines had been pretty bad, haven‘t they? in terms of the hundreds of thousands of pounds that chancellors and vice chancellors get paid. do you think that should be looked at in terms of the university experience students are having, others should make sacrifices as well? i did cut my pay as vice chancellor. i do leave as vice chancellor. i do leave as vice chancellor after my five years at the university of buckingham next week. we should be looking all—round at making cuts. universities are a business, there is nothing to be ashamed of about that. if suddenly we lose revenue from students, it is a big hit on us. maybe government has to come in because it is a more vulnerable universities who will be

suffering. everybody has to pull in their belts. getting it into perspective and talking as a historian, universities have never had such a bad time as this was that this is the biggest crisis and the country has never had such a big domestic crisis as this. i think we will bejudged at domestic crisis as this. i think we will be judged at how well we‘ll pulling together here, working together about putting the interests of stu d e nts together about putting the interests of students first. we‘ve been hearing the view from students — but what are the legal regulations around putting a community in lockdown? joining me now is the human rights barrister — adam wagner. interesting. the leader of the scottish labour party brought this up scottish labour party brought this up yesterday. believing there had been a breach of human rights. is that your position as well? can you

hear me? yes, i can. i think there is potentially something unlawful going on here. from what i have seen, i do not think the local authority has explained at all what authority has explained at all what authority it believes it is acting under in authorising the imprisonment of hundreds, if not thousands, of students in our halls. ido thousands, of students in our halls. i do not think there is a legal authority that allows them to sub delegate that to private security firms at the university. i do not think they have notified the stu d e nts think they have notified the students or the public of the authority they are using, which would mean, even if they were trying to use the regulations which allow local authorities to impose local lockdown is, i am not sure they are complying with those rules and i am very worried about this. local authorities can in certain circumstances closed down premises? yes, they can. that is quite different to being... i will explain

how it works. they had to give notice to the premises and make the public aware of the same notice. they had to explain appeal rights and say in the notice exactly what authority a legal provision they are using. it is one thing to shut something down, quite another to say nobody can leave and allow private security staff to enforce that and i am concerned that the university is falsely imprisoning these students because they don‘t have lawful authority to hold them. if you deny authority to hold them. if you deny a student has met right to go to the pub, is that a breach of human rights? —— a student‘s right. pub, is that a breach of human rights? -- a student's right. very few authorities can lawfully imprison people. holding someone in a student hall without letting them leave and having private security is imprisonment. it is detention

potentially without lawful authority. by saying they cannot go to the pub, i am not talking about that. i am talking about not letting people leave the place they are living. at the moment i cannot see what the possible legal authority for allowing that to happen is. there are separate questions about saying to students, we don‘t want you to go to the pub, we don‘t want you to go to the pub, we don‘t want you to go to the pub, we don‘t want you to leave your student accommodation, except for emergency reasons, except to get essential supplies. that is different. this is detaining them in student blocks and thatis detaining them in student blocks and that is the big worry. in a word, is it just that is the big worry. in a word, is itjust an academic debate you are having internally in your head or are you representing people? are people keen to take you one, to fight yes? i have onlyjust been thinking about it today. i am not representing anyone in particular. i

do think there are some very worrying legal ramifications as to what manchester metropolitan and other universities are doing they should urgently consult lawyers, as should urgently consult lawyers, as should students. thank you for joining us. we did approach manchester city council and manchester city council and manchester metropolitan university for a statement. we are still waiting for a reply. 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.

sport, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. here‘s sarah. i‘m going to have to start by talking about var. there was an injury time penalty awarded by the video referee to give newcastle a 1-1 video referee to give newcastle a 1—1 draw against tottenham. totte n ha m 1—1 draw against tottenham. tottenham dominated the game and went ahead but then, a handball decision was given against eric dyer, as he jumped decision was given against eric dyer, as hejumped to block an andy carroll header. then callum wilson scored from the spot to get a point for steve bruce‘s side late on in the match. jay mourinho would not be drawn on the handball. —— jose.

the match. jay mourinho would not be drawn on the handball. ——jose. it is not for me to comment. a fantastic performance. we deserved the points clearly so we lost the points. two wins out of three for leeds united in the premier league after they beat shefield united 1-0. i thought the shape of the team was good. we know how leeds play, high energy, high tempo. it was a really quick game. when it opens up you had to ta ke quick game. when it opens up you had to take your chances and we had not and we ultimately get punished by a fantastic ball and a great header. two more games to come. much of the day numeric table have all of the

highlights and talking points later. -- motdz. in the women‘s fa cup — a shock upset as everton have beaten the league winners chelsea 2—1 in their quarter—final. came from a goal down to make the semi—finals. manchester city are 2 nil up against leicester and a penalty has just giving them a place in the semifinals. rangers continued their unbeaten start to the scottish premiership season with a 5—1 demolition of motherwell. rangers were 3—0 up by half—time at fir park with james tavernier scoring twice from the penalty spot. cedric ittens also found the net twice after the break to ensure rangers will remain top of the table regardless of today‘s other results,

celtic are two—up at home to hibs early in the first half. valterri bottas won the russian grand prix. hamilton started from pole position but was given a ten second penalty for doing practice sta rts second penalty for doing practice starts in the wrong place before the race. that condemned him to finishing third. the gap between second and first place is now 44 points. the french open is underway. andy murray plays stan warinka later on and johanna konta takes on coco gauff. dan evans is currently in action playing japan‘s kei nishikori.

the japanese player has gone through to the second round. the french man won the road world championships in italy today. he is the first french world champion for 23 years. peacock was the highest placed briton in a0 second place. that‘s all the sport for now. more now on the coronavirus restrictions in the uk. the latest figures for britain have just come out. britain recording 5693 new cases of coronavirus on sunday. that is down from 60a2 a day

earlier. 17 deaths over the past 2a alice for those testing positive within 28 days. 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. the first minister of

wales mark drakeford says figures in those areas have deteriorated over the weekend. there is household transmission, people not being careful enough about observing simple things like social distancing, not behaving in ways which allows the virus to spread. there are some working patterns, people working, living in one local authority and working on another and the virus being spread in that way as well. there is nothing unique about these three areas. numbers are being driven by the same combination of factors we have seen in other parts of south wales. if it is people moving around for work, that will be able to continue to happen under these local restrictions. it well. it is very important we reinforce the message. people can travel for work. when you travel for work, that is what you are meant to be doing. do not use

the opportunity to socialise, mix with others, go out doing things which brings him into contact with lots more people. it is persuading people, the fewer people you meet, the less you travel, the safer you and others will be and we need to keep hammering that message home. people will be able to cross boundaries only for those purposes, please. have you any idea as a government as to whether people are actually self isolating when they need to? yes, we do. our ttp teams are contacting those people. the picture is mixed, that‘s why we announced a £500 help to people on low incomes, so they don‘t face the pressure to go into acting and money when they know they may be suffering from coronavirus. —— into work and earn money. although there are

pressures on individual lives which can make it different, as a government we want to try to help them as much as we can to self—isolate when they are asked to and therefore reduce the risk to others. 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. president trump has picked a conservative judge — amy coney barrett — as his nominee to fill the supreme court seat left vacant by the death of the liberaljudge, ruth bader ginsburg. mr trump said senate confirmation of judge barrett‘s appointment should be swift and straightforward. but the nomination has been condemned by democrats who say the president is trying to force through a judge who would help to destroy public healthcare

and abortion rights. mr trump‘s presidential rival, joe biden, has urged the senate not to vote on the choice until after november‘s election. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with darren bett. following the sunshine today it will turn cold quickly and the clearer skies. 0vernight the winds will continue to drop in east anglia and the south—east by them it will stay cloudy. much milder in northern ireland than it was last night. it was the coldest september night on record. 9 degrees in belfast. in the west cou ntry record. 9 degrees in belfast. in the west country there is a risk of a touch of frost and short lived mist and fog patches as well. rain in northern ireland and western scotland. head of the