tonight at ten — evidence of growing confusion among the public about the latest covid restrictions. in the north—east of england, the new rules against households mixing indoors come into force later tonight but the prime minister was less than sure of the detail. you should follow the guidance of local authorities, but it's six in a home or six in hospitality, but as i understand it, not six outside. across the region — there's no shortage of signs that people are having difficulty keeping up with the changing rules. i'm worried i'm going to get told,

you shouldn't be doing that, because ididn't you shouldn't be doing that, because i didn't understand it. it'sjust very confusing about what to do. it's changing every single day. just trying to understand one rule, and then another one comes in. we'll have the latest from the north—east of england — and from wales — where the vast majority of the population will be under restrictions by the end of the week. also tonight... some 50 universities in the uk have now recorded cases of coronavirus — as students complain again about the authorities‘ handling of the crisis. heading for ohio. joe biden and donald trump are within hours of facing each other in the first us presidential debate. with a donald trump trailing in the polls, there is a huge amount at sta ke polls, there is a huge amount at stake as the two men go head—to—head for the first time. amnesty international suspends its work in india, accusing the government there of freezing its bank accounts in a witch hunt. and pressure mounts on the premier league to help out clubs in the lower divisions hit by the pandemic. and coming up in sport on bbc news, no british players are left in the french open, as heather watson becomes the sixth

to go out in the first round. good evening. there's evidence of growing confusion among the public about the new covid restrictions being put in place in the north—east of england and that confusion seems to extend to government ministers — and to borisjohnson himself. the prime minister apologised earlier today for failing to give an accurate answer about the new restrictions. he'd been asked to clarify them after one of his ministers said she could not provide an answer. so here's a reminder: these are the areas in the north—east of england where a new law banning households from mixing indoors, including in pubs and restaurants, will come into force from midnight tonight. people who break the rules here will be fined. our north of england correspondent fiona trott is in newcastle with the latest.

tonight they are getting ready to change their lives yet again about details of this new law have not yet been published. a complete list of the indoor venues that are included and what is excluded like informal childcare arrangements, all seven northeast councils asked for tougher measures in the first place but enforcing them will not be easy. hi, i'm just here from newcastle city council... just hours away from enforcing a new law. i see you've got your qr code. 25 council staff patrolling a whole city and trying to advise managers about details they haven't yet seen. it's not just staff who have questions, it's customers, too. just trying to understand one rule and then another one comes in and you're thinking, "oh, well". it'sjust very confusing about what to do. it's changing every single day. i don't think they know where it is themselves. that's all i've got to say!

and here's why he thinks politicians are confused... radio interviewer: can you just clarify something, can you still book an outside table at a restaurant or meet people in another household in a pub garden? sorry, i can't clarify that. no, i don't know the answer to that question but i'm sure they can find out the answer to that question. ijust don't have the details of those seven areas. if you can't give us the answer to that, how do you expect people to keep up—to—date with the latest rules when even you can't answer that question? about four hours later, the prime minister himself struggled to make it clear. you should follow the guidance of local authorities, but it's six in a home or six in hospitality, but as i understand it, not six outside. then, less than two hours later, an apology on social media and an explanation that you can't meet people from different households indoors and should avoid socialising outside.

here in newcastle, the council has described today's messaging as shambolic. the main issue has been brought about by the mixed messages given by central government in relation to the outdoor and indoor aspect, and what the interpretation is by premises, never mind the public. so, we've been trying to go out and give some guidance, which is often difficult when it's yet to be implemented and realised. from tomorrow, if i met friends here that i didn't live with or weren't in my support bubble, i would be breaking the law. now, if i came outside and socialised within a group of six, i wouldn't be, but it would be against government advice. it would be illegal to go to a private garden and socialise with other households, but up to six of us could go for a socially distanced walk. it's a lot to remember, and there's concern about getting fined for simply getting it wrong. it's making me a little bit anxious and worried, cos i'm worried that i will get told, "you're not allowed to be doing that",

when i didn't understand it. any information coming from the government, you need to properly scour it to understand it, even just doing anything, you need to properly think about if it's going to break any rules. even then, you can't really be sure. a city preparing for a new way of life, and knowing that any mistakes could put lives at risk. fiona trott, bbc news, newcastle. that was the pitch in the north—east of england. —— the picture. in wales, another half a million people will be subject to tighter restrictions from thursday. the health ministers for wales had already announced tougher measures for large parts of the south — including cardiff. but now he's included conwy, denbighshire, flintshire and wrexham from thursday — which means nearly 2.4 million people in wales will be under tighter restrictions by the end of the week. our wales correspondent hywel griffith is at the senedd in cardiff bay.

when these latest lockdowns come in on thursday evening it will mean three quarters of the welsh population are under those stricter measures, increasingly it is a question of what can be done to protect the remaining quarter? people living largely in rural areas of north and west wales. it is about trying to contain the transmission and ona trying to contain the transmission and on a day with so much confusion and on a day with so much confusion and consternation about what local lockdowns main it is worth reminding ourselves what the rules are. it means you cannot meet people indoors if they do not live in your household and people cannot travel in or out of local lockdown areas without a valid reason. at the senedd today, the first minister of wales said may be english local areas should adopt the same travel policy and he called on boris johnson to ban people leaving local lockdown areas in england and potentially stopping them from spreading the virus into wales. for

those worried about the tourism aspect in wales, they know that some people are already cancelling their bookings. thanks forjoining us. in northern ireland, the devolved government has announced a curfew for pubs and restaurants. they'll be banned from serving customers after 10:30pm — and will have to close their doors by iipm. the curfew will come into force from midnight tomorrow. the latest government figures show there were 7,143 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. that means the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week, is 6,087. and as new cases have climbed, so have daily hospital admissions, with 3a2 people being admitted on average each day over the past week. this number doesn't include scotland. 71 deaths were reported — of people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—i9 test.

that means on average in the past week 35 deaths were announced every day which takes the total number of deaths so far across the uk to 42,072. and our health editor hugh pym is here. can we talk about the figures in the rather startling number that we have now of new cases? it is a curious mixture of data that we have seen, more than 7000 daily reported cases, the highest since the start of the pandemic, but back in march and aprilfar pandemic, but back in march and april far fewer pandemic, but back in march and aprilfarfewer people pandemic, but back in march and april far fewer people were being tested and a lot of infections were not picked up. the number of deaths sadly is the highest sincejune, 7i, but the number of new hospital admissions with people very ill with covid—i9 has now fallen over four successive days in england and wales over successive days. people are watching closely to see if the new rule of six might have had an impact

but the thinking is we need a bit more data to see if there's any trend. what about the way that the government is explaining measures? how are people to read it?l government is explaining measures? how are people to read it? a lot of confusion in westminster and in the north—east about this new law preventing people meeting up with others in indoor venues, and we will see the same almost certainly introduced in merseyside, in the days ahead, so the messaging will have to be got right there. it has to be said, in the affected areas in wales, there is a legal ban on households mixing with others in pubs and restaurants and that seems to have been accepted with a lot less confusion. boris johnson to have been accepted with a lot less confusion. borisjohnson will have a press conference tomorrow with his chief advisers chris whitty and patrick vallance, we understand it would just be an update, but certainly a lot of questions over theissue certainly a lot of questions over the issue of messaging. thanks for joining us.

the latest estimate is that more than 50 universities have recorded cases of coronavirus. as we've been reporting, it's led to hundreds of first—time students being told to isolate in their new accommodation. there was even the possibility they might not be allowed to go home for christmas, but after discussions between university staff and ministers in england that possibility has been rejected. 0ur correspondent dan johnson reports. to make sure where students are facing real hardship... lockdown students have been looking for the way out of isolation but today they heard more of it could be the key to coming home at christmas. there may be a requirement for some students to self—isolate at the end of term, and we'll be working with the sector to ensure this will be possible, including ending in—person learning early. elizabeth and her manchester flatmates have been stuck in for ten days now. i don't think he made anything clearerfor us.

we just want some clarity, because we're being penalised massively for just trying to get an education. never mind christmas dinner... more immediate meals have been a struggle. i've been left totally abandoned here in isolation. even for someone like reece, in catered accommodation at the university of edinburgh. yet again today i've been left without food and it's now the evening. i've made constant phone calls to the university. i was forced to order a takeaway which might not sound like a big deal but when i'm paying £9,000 to live in this room and to get the food i've been promised, it's disheartening and very disappointing. teething problems, says the university, now promising to meet all dietary requirements. at central lancashire, the campus has come back to life, although numbers here are limited to 30%. and classrooms are being taught in. getting a lot of face—to—face, so it's not too bad. i know some other people don't get any at all, they're all online. if that were the case, i would have stayed at home.

but some are avoiding halls of residence, like rhys, who's instead commuting an hour each way. if i was at home online constantly, i wouldn't get the experience i should be getting. i wouldn't want to pay nine and a half grand for the course if i was just online all the time. cases have been limited here so far, but they are braced for more. i think semester two is where we're now looking, and that looks like being very difficult as well. so, these are definitely challenging circumstances. i think the only way you can deal with it is working closely with local experts in public health bodies, working with the student community and at the heart of all of this is as much communication as you can provide. the nus says students should be able to back out without paying fees and there are worries about more disruption and isolation. students are reporting other students' mental health concerns, so we are seeing that students are looking out for each other, which is really positive at this time. there are more students still to return and so many questions over the term ahead.

danjohnson, bbc news, preston. the number of people worldwide whose deaths have been linked to covid—i9, has passed one million. the figure was confirmed by john hopkins university in the us, which has been keeping a detailed count of global covid numbers. deaths in the us, brazil and india make up nearly half the total. the un secretary—general called it a ‘mind—numbing' figure. 0ur medical editor fergus walsh reports. every grave marks a life cut short, a mother, father, brother, sister lost to covid—i9. this is indonesia, but the impact of coronavirus since it emerged in china late last year has been truly global. these are the five countries which have recorded the most deaths with covid—i9. the united states is top with more than 200,000, followed by brazil, india, mexico and the united kingdom. many of those deaths, especially among the frail elderly, will have been at least partly due

to other underlying health problems. 33 million cases of coronavirus have been recorded, and we know the pandemic is accelerating, with 2 million new cases every week. but that is a gross underestimate because so many cases are simply never registered, in part because so many people have no symptoms. and that makes it really difficult to work out an accurate mortality rate for this disease. coronavirus can also leave people with chronic health problems, what's been dubbed long covid, affecting regions like the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain and nervous system. humanity‘s actually going into quite a dark zone right now. i mean, wejust have to look around the world. the virus is coming back with a vengeance into europe. it's still very active in the americas. it's also very active in the indian subcontinent.

it's picking up again in russia, in indonesia. this is a global, serious situation. every year, around 57 million people die globally from all causes. if we look at three other infectious diseases, tuberculosis, tb, a bacterial infection, it's largely a disease of poverty and is curable with antibiotics, and yet it kills around 1.5 million people a year. many of those are co—infected with hiv. flu, seasonal influenza, kills up to 650,000 people in a bad year, despite there being a vaccine. and measles, a highly contagious viral infection. it causes 140,000 deaths a year, most of them young children, yet it is entirely preventable by a vaccine. scientists are working flat out on coronavirus vaccines, but the world health organization has warned that the covid death toll

could hit 2 million before one is widely available. fergus walsh, bbc news. the prime minister says he wants to end what he called the ‘snooty‘ distinction between academic and vocational qualifications. speaking in exeter, he said the pandemic had already exposed the shortcomings in the labour market. the government is promising a ‘lifetime skills guarantee' with major changes to adult education in england aimed at preparing workers for a post—covid economy. 0ur chief political correspndent vicki young has the story. getting ready for a new challenge. things haven't always run smoothly for the government during this pandemic, and there are long—term issues too. the shortcomings of our labour market and our educational system have been painfully apparent. in areas like retail, jobs are going and may never return. workers will need different skills and the government wants

a more flexible system, especially for those who don't go to university. we have got to end the pointless, nonsensical gulf that has been fixed for generations, more than 100 years, between the so—called academic and the so—called practical varieties of education. further education colleges like this one in exeter will get more funding, and it's not just about school leavers. retraining could be needed at any time. paul lost his job a few months ago, but took a course and now works in a school. i think prior to having the qualification, i would have felt like i didn't have the right skill set for thatjob. but because i've been able to say that i've used my spare time to try and improve myself, it's a good way of putting your best foot forward in an interview. from april in england, adults who don't have an a—level or equivalent will be offered

a free college course. many are already being made redundant and they need help now. why are you telling them they have to wait until next april? this is about a package to support lifelong learning to deal with basic problems that the uk economy has had for a long time. labour has welcomed the plan, but says it follows years of cuts to further education. we've seen a massive reduction in the number of foundation degrees, the number of people doing hncs, the funding for further education. so this is about taking a step back up the mountain the government have failed to mount over the course of the last ten years. today was a rare chance for borisjohnson to talk about his policy agenda, something more positive than the day—to—day battle with coronavirus. but there's no escaping its impact. this shake—up of adult education and training is going to be needed far more urgently than ever because of the prospect of rising unemployment.

many will have to adapt to new ways of working far more quickly than anyone expected. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. in fact there's been new evidence today of shortages in the uk labour market. the migration advisory committee which works with the home office says bricklayers, welders and butchers are in such short supply and that businesses should be able to recruit them from abroad. the committee says senior care workers and nursing assistants shoud also be added to the list of occupations under which migrants can work in britain more easily. it also wants those working in social care to be paid more. tonight, us president donald trump and his democratic challenger joe biden will face off in the first televised head to head debate of the us presidential electoral campaign. tens of millions of us voters will tune in to watch the event from cleveland, ohio, in what will be the first of three debates. 0ur north america editorjon sopel

is in cleveland for us now. jon, a lot has happened in the past few days, do we have any sense of what the flashpoints in this debate will be? i thinkjoe biden would love the flashpoints to be the taxes of donald trump, how he only paid $750 in the whole year of his first year as president and also the debts he has got. he will want to talk about his handling of the coronavirus crisis and may be the thousands of american lives that could have been saved. donald trump will want to talk about law and order and the danger of lawlessness if joe talk about law and order and the danger of lawlessness ifjoe biden becomes president and cite his economic record before shutdown. i think you're right to point out the huge numbers who will watch this, because this inner senses the first opportunity that americans will have to ta ke opportunity that americans will have to take a closer look at either man, because people have been disengaged

from this campaign, it is very different from previous years. both have their own challenges, joe biden was very slow at the start, almost incoherent and the trump campaign have accused him of senility. he has to show he is on top of that and donald trump is trailing in the polls. both men may be in their 70s but it will not be genteel. we will talk again tomorrow, john sobel with the latest to the build—up to the presidential debate. and you can follow the first us presidential debate live in a special programme from 1.30am on the bbc news channel and on the bbc news website — or watch tomorrow on bbc iplayer. police and the owners of the manchester arena, the firm smg, have admitted that mistakes were made on the night of the terror attack there in 2017. a public inquiry into the incident was shown this footage of the attacker, salman abedi, exploring the venue four days before the attack. smg say this particular part of the arena was a public space

and that security responsibilities were shared with police. 22 people were killed when abedi detonated a bomb as fans were leaving a concert. the human rights organisation amnesty international says it's been forced to stop its operations in india after its bank accounts were frozen in what it called a government ‘witch hunt‘ and it claimed that other human rights organisations had also been targeted. the indian government claimed that amnesty had broken laws on foreign funding a charge the organisation has rejected. 0ur india correspondent yogita limaye has the story. in1930, india... a country born out of protest, the right to dissent has, through the decades, been fiercely upheld, treasured, defended. but continued crackdowns on basic freedoms by india‘s current government have led to questions about the state of democracy here.

now, global rights group, amnesty, says that repeated harassment by the government has forced it to stop operations in india. reprisals, it says, for its reports on human rights abuses. the kind of systematic stifling of dissent, crumbling of institutions, that has taken place, lack of any kind of independent accountability in the country, is extremely worrying. amnesty international india is in full compliance with all domestic legal requirements and international legal requirements as well. the government has rejected the claims, accusing the group of violating funding laws. amnesty has said it will approach the courts. it is notjust activists, people from the world of business, entertainment, even the media privately say that they fear speaking out against government policies or actions. an indication that the space for debate and disagreement, that has been at the very heart

of this chaotic, noisy democracy, is rapidly shrinking. mahua moitra is an opposition mp. there is something very fundamentally wrong with india if dissent automatically means that i'm setting myself up for some kind of vengeful act by the government. that is scary. none of this has affected the prime minister‘s popularity. he continues to enjoy strong support from large swathes of india. i spoke to a pro—government analyst. is that space for dissent in india today shrinking? i don‘t buy into that at all. ido not... i personally do not buy into that at all. if you look at the british newspapers, if you look at the news channels, not everybody is rooting for the government. in a vast and diverse country like india, the thriving of democracy has long been seen as a real achievement.

now, seen taking a worrying turn. yogita limaye, bbc news, mumbai. let‘s take a look at some of today‘s other news... the public prosecution service of northern ireland has stuck to its original decision and announced there won‘t be any further prosecutions of former soldiers over their actions on bloody sunday 48 years ago. it follows a review of the cases of 15 veterans. one man, soldier f, remains the only former serviceman to face legal action. 13 people were killed and 15 others wounded when the army opened fire on civil rights demonstrators in londonderry in january 1972. the uk and canada have imposed sanctions on the belarus president, alexander lu kashenko, and other senior figures accused of major human rights violations since the disputed election seven weeks ago. the penalties include a travel ban and asset freeze. mr lukashenko is the first head of state to be targeted under britain‘s new human rights sanctions regime which came

into force during the summer. the controversial internal market bill, which overrides part of the uk‘s brexit deal with the eu, has cleared the house of commons. mps voted by 340 to 256 in favour. ministers have defended powers contained in the legislation, which they admit breaks international law. the new bbc director—general tim davie has said he would be prepared to sack presenters who make major breaches of impartiality guidelines on social media. his comments come after criticism of presenters such as gary lineker who has courted controversy in the past for signalling his political views on twitter. responding to mr davie‘s comments mr lineker said: "i think only twitter can take people off twitter." premier league clubs have held talks about a possible bail out for the football league after plans for fans to return to football grounds were scrapped.

without the income, there is a real threat that many clubs could go out of business, but no agreement has been reached. there are nontheless signs this evening of a possible lifeline for the national league with talk of a grant from the government as our sports editor dan roan explains. business as usual for the champions. liverpool‘s perfect start to the season continuing, but off the field things are more complicated. the premier league is under mounting pressure to provide a quarter of a billion pound bailout for cash—strapped lower league clubs, after plans to reopen turnstiles next month were scrapped. today, the top flight discussed a rescue package for the first time, but without match day revenues, some of their clubs have financial concerns of their own and in the football league, they are increasingly desperate for a deal. the proportions in money are so extreme in their differences. if you look at man city yesterday, paying £65 million for a player, that would run league 2 for a season! but also, the government

could help, because i don‘t see how they can say, well, we will help culture and arts, but we won‘t help football. here in the national league, there has been even more anxiety. stockport county‘s players have been uncertain that the new season they have been training for will even begin. it affects not just the players, it is everyone around the football club, the local communities, it brings everyone together and, you know, that is what makes football so special. you take that away, you know, it is going to have such a detrimental effect. tonight, the national league received assurance from the government over a last—ditch support grant which should ensure that the season starts this weekend, but even at this level, the supporters that such clubs rely on will be missing. steeped in history, stockport county has been part of this community since 1883. but the new season will begin without any fans here. a major blow to both the club, but also the local economy. nearby businesses who used to benefit from match days

are bracing themselves for further losses. it is a loss to everybody, because you've got the community, you've got the cafes and everything where people go and eat and drink and everything, so it is a big blow to us all. unlike other sports, football has been told it is rich enough to largely look after itself, but agreement is proving elusive. despite a lifeline for the national league tonight, for other clubs, time is running out. dan roan, bbc news. during the all—out lockdown earlier this year many local authorities introduced restrictions on cars to help social distancing for pedestrians and to encourage cycling. now there are plans to make some of the changes permanent. but as our home editor mark easton reports, feelings are running high on both sides of the debate. in south norfolk, there‘s a power struggle going on. amid the strangeness of the pandemic, the motorcar is having its dominance challenged. so what‘s the situation here? they‘ve pedestrianised

the road due to the virus.