this is bbc news. the headlines: pubs and restaurants could be forced to close in england, as tighter restrictions to control coronavirus are expected next week. it's too much complicating. we don't know what we're going to do next. it's just one know what we're going to do next. it'sjust one big mess. people waiting over a year for hospital treatment in england hit a 12—year high as fears grow about the pressure of coronavirus on the nhs. it's announced that the next us presidential debate will be held virtually, but mr trump refuses to participate, saying, "i'm not going to waste my time." british airways bids farewell to its last boeing 7a7 jumbo jets — four years earlier than planned due to the pandemic. and prince william says he wants

to bring optimism and positivity to efforts to solve climate change — as he launches a new environmental award with sir david attenborough. a further tightening of coronavirus restrictions in parts of england from early next week is being considered by the government is latest figures show an increase in infections. the bbc understands that pubs and restaurants could be closed in the worst affected areas, from monday. there could also be a ban on overnight stays away from home and a three—tier system for local lockdowns

could be brought in, where different parts of the country would be placed in different categories. significant new measures are in place in central scotland, with pubs and restaurants closing for more than two weeks. additional restrictions are in place in the derry city and strabane local authority area, which has one of the highest infection rates in the uk, and where there's been a big increase in cases. latest figures show only 69% of people in england could be reached by test and trace staff in the last week of september. more than four million patients in england are now waiting for routine procedures — nearly half of whom have been on the list longer than the target time of 18 weeks. this is leeds where new rules of some sort are expected. new regulations are coming for parts of england where there are a lot of cases, but precisely where, when and how severe they will be is not yet clear. there's too much complicating. we don't know what they're going to do next. it'sjust one big mess.

well, if it's going to get rid of this virus again, then, you know, we're going to have to put up with all this. people are losing theirjobs, but is that our life? kill the economy, literally, stop everything. and the leader of the council here says... we're really seeking urgent discussions with government to understand what they are expecting, to understand why there has been a delay in the announcements until next monday — which gives the weekend where people can go out as they please — and just understand if there is going to be a time restriction on this. trundle along the m62 to liverpool where, again, there are lots of cases and, again, lots of questions from local leaders. you can't have an effective government if its comms strategy is announcement by media leak so we've said all along we want to have an open and meaningful dialogue with government

and i'd just ask them to speak to areas where potentially they could be facing even more stringent lockdown measures. here's an insight into how concerned the government is. a health minister worrying about intensive units being overwhelmed. but ministers are vague about precisely what they're planning. we'll continue to take a proportionate and a localised response, which i think is the right thing to do because the variations in the number of cases are very significant in england, from, ithink, over550 in manchester per 100,000 to as low as 19 in cornwall, dorset and herefordshire. so a localised but proportionate response has to be the way forward. the government wants to make this patchwork of different rules easier for us to understand and put everywhere in england in three different tiers. precisely how it's described isn't clear, but tier one might be the loosest restrictions,

such as the rule of six, tier two one step up from that, and tier three, a more significant set of restrictions. there is still debate going on privately about precisely how this system might work. so, yet again, it is decision time here at westminster with a growing clamour that adds up to a simple demand — tell us what's happening. chris mason, bbc news. medical leaders are warning that the nhs may not be able to cope if people don't abide by the local lockdown restrictions. the latest figures show that the number of people waiting over a year for hospital treatment in england has hit a 12—year high and three times as many people were waiting more than 18 weeks to start hospital treatment in august compared to last year. 0ur health correspondent lauren moss reports. it is another stark warning about what could lie ahead. coronavirus hospital admissions are still far below what they were in april, but medical leaders are concerned about the recent increase with 3,000

patients currently being treated. we are at that tipping point right now. this isn't a joke, this isn't scaremongering. i don't come from an organisation that does scaremongering. we care about people, we care about our patients, we want to do the best for them and to keep doing the best for them through what was always going to be a difficult winter. let's not make it a spectacularly difficult winter. latest figures show there have been three times as many deaths related to covid—19 compared with flu this year and the impact of the pandemic is still being felt across the health service. more than 100,000 people have been waiting longer than one year for routine operations like hip and knee replacements in england, the largest number in 12 years. almost 170,000 urgent cancer referrals were made in august, a large increase on april and may but still 30,000 fewer than last year. 20,000 patients began cancer treatments, again up on the number in the spring, but still one fifth lower

than august 2019. rob has been waiting for a joint knee replacement since last october. he has been told surgery will go ahead later this month, but he is still concerned it might not happen. it has affected me physically, mentally and i'm now suffering with a second condition, which i expected would happen to me sooner or later. i am now being treated for anxiety. it's just so much uncertainty around all this, and to be honest, this has really been hard to cope with. i've had some really bad, dark days with the pain. nhs england says more than a million routine appointments and operations are taking place every week, and 85% of cancer treatments continued during the pandemic, but there are concerns about the future. people with cancerjust can't afford to have this happen to their treatment again. they're already experiencing huge stress and strain through the disruption they're already seeing, so we are really urging the government to put the appropriate plans in place

to ensure that cancer treatment will continue during the winter pressures and as covid cases start to rise again. according to the test and trace system in england, there was a 56% increase in the number of people testing positive for coronavirus between the 24th and 30th of september. butjust a quarter tested at in—person sites got their results back in 2a hours and a third have not referred to the contact tracing system by the end of that period. nightingale hospitals are on standby if covid admissions rise. with overfour million people waiting for routine treatment in england, the nhs says it's vital clearing the backlog isn'tjeopardised by a second wave spiralling out of control. lauren moss, bbc news. in northern ireland, there's been a big increase in cases in the derry city and strabane local authority area. 0ur ireland correspondent emma vardy has the details. derry and strabane now has the highest rate in the uk

and medical experts here say that they were seeing clusters arising from social gatherings and then, more recently, have seen a majority of cases happening — or lots of those cases happening — in hospitality settings. it's important to say this is a border area, lots of cross—border travel is the norm, and the neighbouring county to derry and strabane — donegal in the republic of ireland — has also had higher rates of the virus than other parts of ireland, too. so a number of new restrictions have come on in derry and strabane in the last few days. currently there at the moment, pubs, restaurants and cafes can be take away only or outdoor dining, museums and attractions closed in that area, and across northern ireland at the moment the rule is no mixing of households in private homes. similarly, next door in donegal, tighter restrictions there have been imposed by the irish government including asking people not to travel into or out of the county unnecessarily. we are expecting a new announcement from the stormont executive

here later on today. we're hearing that may be toughening up on fines, toughening up on ways to enforce restrictions. ministers say they are very worried about the big jumps in numbers in some areas recently, particularly as we are also seen hospital admission is increasing, too. the r number in scotland — the average number of people each person with covid—19 passes the virus — could now be as high as 1.6. speaking at the start of first minister's questions at the scottish parliament, nicola sturgeon said the rising number of cases was why the scottish government had announced new measures including closing pubs and bars early to try to tackle the virus. just to let you know that at 3:30 on the bbc news channel, we'll answer your questions on the contact tracing app. joining us will be our technology correspondent rory cellan—jones and isobel braithwaite, from university college london so send your questions using the hashtag #bbcyourquestions or e—mail them using yourquestions@bbc. co. uk.

president trump has said he won't take part in a virtual presidential debate — that is, one held over a video link, rather than face to face. the proposal had been aimed at protecting the health and safety of all involved, following president trump testing positive for coronavirus. but mr trump told fox news it wasn't acceptable and that he planned to hold a rally instead. live now to washington and our correspondent gary 0'donoghue. does this mean that the second presidential debate is off? does this mean that the second presidential debate is offlm does this mean that the second presidential debate is off? it looks like it at the moment. the president says he's not going to waste his time taking part in it. he said he didn't like the idea that the moderator, who he thinks is a critic and an opponent of his, doesn't like the idea of him being able to cut him off if he is virtual and that he will hold a rally that night instead

in florida. that's pretty much a categorical view. it's interesting that the commission that arranges these debates is an independent body that announced this before appearing to consult either of the campaigns about it. thejoe biden campaign, joe biden said he was looking forward to addressing the american people etc, and previously he said he would go ahead with the debate in its originalform if he would go ahead with the debate in its original form if the scientists said it was safe. i think really the only real thing that has changed, of course, and it's a huge thing, is the fact that since that last debate, the president has been diagnosed with covid. is this unprecedented? diagnosed with covid. is this unprecedented 7 have any diagnosed with covid. is this unprecedented? have any of these debates ever been called off? called off, i don't think so. for those historically minded, the first—ever presidential debate between nixon andjfk presidential debate between nixon and jfk was actually virtual, believe it or not. one was in california, one was in new york and the moderator somewhere else, so

it's not unprecedented even in those days but i think nowadays this would be something that the president wouldn't go for. there will be a third debate, that is still up for grabs, so in a sense, the american people will potentially get the chance to see these two face—to—face in the same venue. it may be that next week's one goes by the wayside. last night was the vice presidential debate. what has been the reaction to that? pretty flat, to be honest. there's been a lot of fluff online about the great fly that landed on mike pence's head for 2.5 minutes but no real blows. both of them dodged some of the difficult questions. no one expects presidential debates to change very much. last night's has the potential for more impact given the situation but i think it will be soon

forgotten. the headlines on bbc news... pubs and restaurants could be forced to close in england, as tighter restrictions to control coronavirus are expected next week. people waiting over a year for hospital treatment in england hit a 12—year high — as fears grow about the pressure of coronavirus on the nhs. it's announced that the next us presidential debate will be held virtually — but mr trump refuses to participate, saying, "i'm not going to waste my time." british airways has waved its last two boeing 7117 jumbo jets out of its base at heathrow. the original version of the aircraft has been flying for more half a century. the airline's entire fleet of the jets has been retired four years earlier than scheduled, because of the pandemic‘s effect

on international travel. 0ur transport correspondent tom burridge watched the last flight take off. the queen of the skies on a final departure. it was over and out for the british airways 7117 era. julie, cabin crew, we will bring you in. how are you feeling? so tearful, sorry. really sad to see her go. such a shame about the weather, but amazing. absolutely incredible, sorry. a glamour glider through the decades. the original version launched in the ‘60s and defied all the odds. how are they ever going to get that thing in the air? julie welcomed a—listers and royalty on board. no need to go to a gym either. you become very attached to a huge chunk of metal that takes you around the world. and it is glamorous, it is iconic. and you do actually fall in love.

the stretched upper deck is new to ba. in its day, the double deck was novel. it's like a private jet up here. it's still pretty cool today. i know somebody whose grandma boarded a 7117 and thought she was still in the departure lounge because it wasjust so big. she didn't realise and she kept saying, "when are we boarding?" the dress code changed and the food got better, but there were millions of miles and millions of 7117 memories. everyone knows the jumbo. it was borne out of the moon landing age 50 years ago and it has been with us ever since. you can recognise it. you just see it when you get to the airport. it stands out and it is iconic and customers, colleagues and everyone who has had anything to do with the jumbo just loves it. the captain at the controls as the plane taxied out one last time. rain and tears. a short trip to south wales

for one, the other to gloucestershire — a fond goodbye. tom burridge, bbc news, at heathrow. the former football coach barry bennell has been sentenced to an additional four years in jail for sexually abusing two boys in the 1980s. bennell, who coached youth teams at crewe, manchester city and stoke, pleaded guilty to abusing the boys when they were aged between 11 and 1a. the sentence will be served after a 30 yearjail term bennell received in 2018 for abusing 12 other boys. he'll also have to serve an extra year on licence when and if he's released. homeless charities are calling on the prime minister not to allow night—shelters to be opened in england this winter. they claim the shelters can't be operated in a covid—secure way. they want to see funding similar to that which housed many homeless people in hotels, back in march. the bbc has seen video evidence that shows livestock from the uk is being shipped to the middle east and

slaughtered. investigators tracked consignments of cattle over the summer via spanish fattening farms and ports. practises at one lebanese abattoir, where a british bullock was filmed in august, were described by charity workers as "dreadful and terrifying". the government has said it is committed to improving animal welfare. jon ironmonger has this exclusive story. and a warning that you may find some of the images in this film distressing from the start. a slaughterhouse in lebanon, cattle are strung up by the legs and stabbed with knives. the practices are typical in this part of the world, the cattle or not. it is from the uk, far beyond any protection from europe. charities have gathered first time visit video evidence that livestock is being imported for slaughter in third countries where

international standards are ignored. 0na international standards are ignored. on a truck in cartagena injuly, investigators found another bullock from the uk. it is being shipped to libya. i work in animal welfare for 20 years and it is the worst footage i've ever seen. it's absolutely desperate and i can't imagine a more cruel way to treat an animal. it's just awful, there is pain, suffering for long periods of time. livestock carrier take at least five days to sailfrom spain to libya or lebanon. in 2016 when this footage was filmed, a landmark study found poor welfare and stifling hot cramped conditions were commonplace on long sea journeys. the cattle on the ship to israel are crowding around an empty drinker. after years of legal challenges and protests, exports of live animals have been declining in britain. the port of ramsgate is the main departure point for livestock

exports from england and scotland. shipments of uk calves fiercely resisted here for years have recently been suspended but continue unabated from ports in ireland and campaigners say that without a ban, new trade routes will soon open up. male calves are low value by—products of the dairy industry. last year, 16,500 were sold to spain by the uk for fattening. many fell sick on route like this one, filmed outside a facility in catalonia in june. it has been left untreated. charity workers later called a vet to shoot the animal. this footage is stomach churning and such a wake—up call. the government has a manifesto commitment to restrict excessive long—distance transportation. i think they need to act on it so one day very soon we see and end to live export for slaughter or fattening. animal export is still protected by eu rules requiring vet checks and

placing limits on density and journey times. brexit represents an opportunity to go further and ministers have promised to consult ona ministers have promised to consult on a possible ban. the national farmers' union said the trade was important and that they would seek to maintain it. the duke of cambridge and sir david attenborough have joined forces to launch the biggest—ever environmental prize, worth £50 million. the earthshot prize will aim to find 50 solutions to the world's gravest environmental problems by 2030. 0ur chief environment correspondent justin rowlatt reports. public figures don't get much higher profile than prince william and sir david attenborough. last year, they launched the british antarctic survey‘s new ship together. may god bless her and all those who sail in her. now they have joined forces to launch an initiative they hope will literally change the world. ours is a world of wonder.

their new earthshot prize aims to find 50 solutions to the world's gravest environmental problems over the next ten years. we very much felt that what was needed and what was missing at the moment was very much a case of harnessing people's optimism and hope. there's been a lot of negativity and pessimism, and i think it's such a big—scale topic that people themselves don't know, if i recycle my plastic every single day, actually how much ofa big difference am i making? kensington palace says the earthshot prize will make five awards of £1 million every year for ten years. prince william and sir david say they are looking for ideas that will transform our approach to five key issues — fixing the climate, building a waste—free world, restoring nature, cleaning our air and reviving our oceans. but higher temperatures mean a lot more than longer summers. sir david acknowledges that these are bold ambitions,

but he says the time for action is now. i do know that if you help the natural world, the word becomes a better place for everybody. 0rdinary people worldwide are beginning to realise that greed does not actually lead to joy. we are right on the coast. it is becoming clear that protecting the environment is the issue that will define prince william's public role from now on. can you can hear the ducks and geese and birds all along the coastline here ? he says he hopes the earthshot prize will help repair the planet, no less. the idea is that it will call forth new and innovative ways to bring real change. the prince told the bbc today that he has taken inspiration from his father, prince charles, and now regards championing environmental action

as one of his key responsibilities. justin rowlatt, bbc news. you can hear prince william talking about the launch of the earthshot prize in a bbc news special, and there's a further interview with sir david attenborough in the new podcast, what planet are we 0n? both are available now on the bbc sounds app. it's been a bumper yearfor bats — but not in a good way. wildlife groups are reporting a record season for the number of baby bats being rescued after falling out of their roosts. extremes of hot and cold weather during the birthing season is thought to be behind the rise. john maguire reports now from lancashire on a novel way to prepare the pups for a return to the wild. as the sun sets over the lakes at brockholes nature reserve near preston, it is time for daily exercise. to be more specific, flight training. these are common pipistrelle bats. where have you come from? 19 of them were rescued when they fell out of their roost in a house and were too young

to fend for themselves. they have been hand—reared by lorna bennett of the lancashire wildlife trust — batmum. they have been in care and hand fed and then learning to eat meal worms. they are now learning to fly and actually catch the insects. so initially they have to learn how to navigate within this open space and then they have to learn how to manoeuvre to actually try to catch prey. the polytunnel at the reserve provides enough space for the young pups to test their sonar and to stretch and to strengthen their wings. much like learning, you know, we would learn to walk, they need to learn to fly. the only way is to do it. i can't teach them by any other means. so, yeah, you can see now they are able to navigate, they are able to test surfaces and they are bouncing off and crash landing. you're picking them up and they go again. and then they progress to now really going so fast that, you know, you wouldn't be able to catch them if you tried.

so that shows they are nearly ready to leave now, and go into the wild. it has been an extremely busy year for rescued bats. one theory being severe changes in the weather caused havoc during the birthing season. i dealt with 63 bats that fell out of a roost on one of the hottest days of the year. actually, in the morning it was quite cool. by lunchtime, the temperatures had risen so much that the females decided they would leave, they went to probably a cooler roost. it still wasn't cool enough for the babies, but they can't fly, so they ended up trying to get outside to get a bit cooler and ended up falling down to the ground. so we did manage to get them all back and the females came back that night to collect them, which is what we expected to happen. and these bat fans are keen to remind us of the good these tiny mammals do. take a common pipistrelle, that will eat up to 3,000 midges in a night, horrible pests that we don't really like having around ourselves. 3,000 midges equates to a third of their body weight, which is quite impressive. that is the equivalent of me eating 254 quarter—pounder burgers, so they seriously hoover up the food and do us a great favour in that instance.

after weeks of feeding up and then training, they're ready for release from their plastic bat cave to rejoin a colony back in the wild. john maguire, bbc news, preston. let's go back to the earthshot prize, the £50 million environmental prize lunch today by the duke of cambridge and its david attenborough. i'mjoined cambridge and its david attenborough. i'm joined by colin butfield, director of the charity wwf. apart from the very big names involved in launching this project, how is it unique from other climate funds? one of the really exciting things about the earthshot prize is rather than being focused on technology, this is about people anywhere with great ideas enabling them to accelerate them so it could bea them to accelerate them so it could

be a community that come up with a really clever way of solving a particular environmental problem, a great innovation, a city that does something different and it works the whole way across the world, covering most of the big environmental problems and challenges we're facing so problems and challenges we're facing so it's a real kind of accelerator for people that have got great ideas, that are proven to a certain degree, and this enables them to go much further, much faster so we're really excited about it. what is the wwfinvolvement? wwf has been working with the duke of cambridge's foundation for the last few years, advising on certain aspects but also we will be one of the nominating partners so there's going to be a lot of organisations around the world that help reach out and try and find people and communities and ideas that should be nominated for it, and where needed provide scientific expertise to advise and evaluate the different projects. so this is taking place over a decade. at the end of that decade, what difference do you want these projects you have made? there are

two categories, there will be 50 winners and we really hope they will have been given a huge incentive to ta ke have been given a huge incentive to take the great ideas and initiatives and make them even bigger. but more than that, one of the really exciting things is that change in attitude. we all know the scale of big environmental challenges we've got, we have lost huge numbers of wildlife populations and we know the seriousness of climate change. in this decade, we now have to get on and tackle it and we have the ingenuity to do it so as well as the winners themselves, hopefully engineering that spirit of optimism and can—do attitude which is what we are going to need to solve the problems and repair the planet. and it's an intriguing name, earthshot, but i understand it was inspired by president kennedy's moonshot programme. that's right, the duke was saying he has always been inspired by that and it's hard to remember back now but at the time he announced that, human beings had put announced that, human beings had put a satellite into space, that was it,

so a satellite into space, that was it, so to say in a decade will put a man on the moon, it's that sort of leap forward so we can say now we've got renewable energy but what if we only had renewable energy in the decade? we've got some ways of cleaning up waste, but what if we made a world free of waste? it's that sort of bold decision and idea that we choose as human beings to put the best of ingenuity behind something and we can achieve great things, and that was the ambition behind the moonshot idea. i think applying it to fixing the planet now is entirely appropriate, just the right sort of attitude towards it, bold ambition. and from what you say, you want to get nuts simple a scientist involved but ordinary people. that's absolutely right. technological innovation will be part of it but that's only a small part. i think all of us involved in the prize really hope that when you look back on it over a decade, they will have been communities that came up with new ways of running micro—kits in a

rural community or managing fresh water. there will be cities and companies and individuals that have really got a clever idea and just need to help to get into next level and scale up and that's what we really wa nt, and scale up and that's what we really want, for it to come from all ranges of society and all over the globe, the price council team from every continent on earth —— prize. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello again. the cloud and dampier weather is moving into the north sea. a few showers moving in. we will see wetter weather coming in from the north west overnight, rain heading to scotland, northern ireland as the wind picks up, down into the far north of england and north wales

overnight. clear skies and you may be able to see the meteor shower in the evening. colder this evening, temperatures five or 6 degrees. tomorrow we have showers coming in from the north—west and into scotland, some are heavy with hail and thunder. it follows this band of rain moving down into softening and in the afternoon, by which point the rain could be heavier. a stronger wind on friday and cool air moving down with temperatures typically only 11 to 13 celsius. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... pubs and restaurants could be forced to close in england, as tighter restrictions to control coronavirus are expected next week. the number of people waiting over a yearfor hospital treatment in england

hit a 12—year high, as fears grow about the pressure of coronavirus on the nhs. it's announced that the next us presidential debate will be held virtually, but mr trump refuses to participate, saying, "i'm not going to waste my time." british airways bids farewell to its last boeing 7117 jumbo jets — four years earlier than planned — due to the pandemic. sport now, and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. we've a big evening ahead for the home nations in international football. scotland and northern ireland renew their bids to reach the next year's european championships, which were postponed this summer due to coronavirus. scotland will have a play—off semi final against israel, but they will be missing three key players after southampton's stuart armstrong tested positive for coronavirus. what's more, teamates kieran tierney and ryan christie have been identified as close contacts, and so must self—isolate for 1h days, so they will also miss tonight's match,

and the nations league games next week, too. there is no reason why it can't infiltrate a football camp, no matter how secure your bubble is. and the protocols and everything that we put in place is there to try and protect people as much as possible. everyone else who is involved has got a negative test and we look forward to the game, the ones that are left. and northern ireland also have a vital euro play—off, semi—final this evening. they will be hoping to draw on their experience, of 4 years ago in france, when they qualified for their first major tournament in 30 years. if they win tonight, and the republic of ireland beat slovakia, then they will play each other for a place at next year's euro finals. as for england and wales, they play each other in a friendly at wembley tonight, and gareth southgate's got a big

call to make over his goalkeeper. the england manager has confirmed jordan pickford is set to miss out, so either burnley‘s nick pope or manchester united's dean henderson will start. jordan pickford's been his number one for a while now, but he's not been in the greatest of form for his club side everton so far this season — in fact, he's dropped a couple of clangers. it isa it is a very tight call. i always go back to the fact thatjordan's performances with us have been excellent and i am not oblivious to what has happened to him at everton. but they can be lots of factors within individuals' performances at their clubs and we have got to try and help them be in their best possible form when they are with us. that's all the sport for now. let's get more on our main story this afternoon. we know the prospect of more local restrictions in england is an issue that many of you have been asking about online. lots of you are asking whether we can expect to hear an announcement from the prime minister soon on changes to lockdown rules.

many of you are wondering whether certain business may be forced to close — pubs, local shops and hairdressers, for example — and whether travel could be restricted even further. there's also interest in whether the measures being taken in some parts of scotland from tomorrow could be replicated in all or parts of england. i'm joined by our health correspondent, catherine burns. we'll turn to some of the queries we've been asked in a moment. but first let's look at some of the latest official data that tells us how things have been changing over the past few weeks in regards to the nhs and the government's test & trace system. nhs england waiting times, and they give us a snapshot of how the nhs is doing. we're looking at two different things, how it is doing usually and how it is recovering from the pandemic before we get into this second set of cases. figures for here. if we look in august when the figures happened, there were 11.2 million people on the waiting list

for routine surgery and treatment. and just nearly half of them have waited longer than 18 weeks. to give you context, just over 100,000 people have been on a waiting list for over a year, the highest number in12 for over a year, the highest number in 12 years. for over a year, the highest number in12 years. a for over a year, the highest number in 12 years. a really specific illustration for you. this august there were about 276,000 people for routine operations, we are talking about knee and hip operations. that was august last year. in august this year, it had fallen to about 156,000. a drop of around 120,000 people. patients not getting the surgery people. patients not getting the surgery they need. but there is another comparison. back to august this year, 156,000 people who had the operations. if we compare that to the peak of the pandemic, april, then there were only around 41,000 people having that surgery. you can see, we are not acting normal, not

by any stretch, but there is a big improvement on the start of the pandemic. —— not back to normal. what do we know about what could be coming in terms of restrictions? we have been talking about a lot about a three tier system and we will hear about that next week. it will be officially called a local covid alert. they will be three rangers andi alert. they will be three rangers and i will simplify things. tier one will essentially be where the country is at an tier two will be whether our hire can delete my cases and tier three is where they are higher still. —— where there are higher still. —— where there are higher cases. the reason we think is because the government are bouncing up because the government are bouncing up so much. there are health implications but there is also the economy and the other health

implications we are talking about, the nhs waiting times, people waiting for cancer treatment, as well as the mental health impact of lockdown. a lot to balance up here. why does the government announce a lockdown before it begins? surely there's evidence that doing so undermines its efficacy. we hear this every time and we hear there will be a few days in between a lockdown being announced and the fear is people will go out and do the things they are about to be banned from doing. the reason is logistics. take an example of a restau ra nt logistics. take an example of a restaurant and someone owns a restau ra nt, restaurant and someone owns a restaurant, if you say to them you have to shut at 6pm tonight, they will have food in the fridges and staff to pay, stock they need to move and clean. it is about getting people ready in time, really. is there evidence that the return of schools and universities saw a surge in positive cases? yes, there is. if you look, really,

at our covid trajectory, there was lockdown and the cases went down, and then slowly as we started to open up in july, and then slowly as we started to open up injuly, cases rose, but it was quite slow. then it sharpened up in august, which is when universities and schools started to go back. we have seen all of these pictures of students and they are testing positive, the interesting thing is that one university is saying that 90% of the positive coronavirus saying that 90% of the positive coro navi rus tests saying that 90% of the positive coronavirus tests there do not have any symptoms. fascinating. what about rapid testing? could it help? it could massively help. the problem in this country is that rapid testing has not been proven and tested enough. you tend to have a payoff with these things. the faster the test, the payoff is there with accuracy. we are still waiting. what

we have had where we have been told we have had where we have been told we may have this three tier system, but we have already got lots of different restrictions in place everywhere and people are finding it tricky to understand the different restrictions. is there way for the government to make it easier? this is the criticism that always comes in. this is a good chance for us to plug the bbc website here. it is the best tool. it is the most helpful thing i have found in the last few weeks! you put the postcode in and you get the liver lockdown restrictions in your area. the three tier system would be the point of it. -- tier system would be the point of it. —— you get the local lockdown restrictions in your area. people stick to rules when they are easy and simple and when things are shifting and changing, it is harder to keep up with them. that's the hopi. ok. thanks so much. -- that the hope here.

sir keir starmer has said his party will not vote down the 10pm closing time for pubs and restaurants next week. the labour leader's instead calling for the policy to be reformed 0ur political correspondent jess parker is at westminster. there were some expectations raised that the labour party might end up joining conservative rebels who are deeply unhappy with the 10p mkv for pubs and restaurants in england and potentially a vote down the measure next week if they had the numbers. -- mbm next week if they had the numbers. —— mbm curfew. there are lots of mps who do not like the curfew policy and were pushing for some sort of twea k to and were pushing for some sort of tweak to it so that may be people had more drinking up time and did not have to leave the venue at ten o'clock and sir keir starmer at prime minister is questions again this week was called for the evidence behind the policy and what we have heard today from the labour leader is that actually the party will not bejoining leader is that actually the party will not be joining conservative rebels to vote down the policy suite. there is growing concern

about the curfew and lots of examples of everybody coming out of venues at the same time and causing a problem with the way people are exiting. we need this reform and there is a smarter way of doing this stop in wales they have a different setup working much, much better. it needs to be reformed. the votes next week isa needs to be reformed. the votes next week is a take it or leave it vote and therefore if you vote down the current arrangement, they will be no restrictions in place. that is not what we want so we will not be voting down the restrictions in place. we will say, reform the ten o'clock curfew and shows the evidence and do it in a much smarter way. it takes the pressure of the government in that now conservative rebels are very unlikely to get the numbers together to actually straight down vote against the measure. mps from all parties have been invited to a call with the health minister earlier today from

the north and the midlands. they have been presented with some analysis about the impact that hospitality is having on infection rates and it comes amid a lot of discussion as to whether early next week we could hear further announcements from the government about potential new restrictions in parts of england. just to let you know that at half past three on the bbc news channel, we'll answer your questions on the contact tracing app. joining us will be our technology correspondent rory cellan—jones and isobel braithwaite from university college london. send your questions using the hashtag #bbcyourquestions or email them using yourquestions@bbc.co.uk let's return to the us presidential election. last night was the turn of the vice—presidential candidates to show off their credentials. the current holder of the post, mike pence, and the democrats' kamala harris held their one and only debate ahead of the next month's vote. they clashed over the economy,

health care and racialjustice, but inevitably it was coronavirus which dominated the debate. with me is patrick murray, the director of the monmouth university polling institute and clare malone — a pollster and senior political writer for fivethirtyeight.com. good to talk to you both. thank you for joining good to talk to you both. thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. i wa nt to forjoining us here on bbc news. i want to ask you both the same question. what were the standout moments of the debate for you? well, we will put aside the ply which was —— the fly. i think what i saw there was really interesting that there we re was really interesting that there were two audiences out there that responded to mike pence talking over the moderator and kamala harris, that did not play well with suburban women who the president is trying to win back. i think that was a key

moment there throughout the entire debate. claire? i think moment there throughout the entire debate. claire? ithink that moment there throughout the entire debate. claire? i think that mike pence's non—cancer to the question as to whether or not he would help speed along a peaceful transfer of power in the hypothetical instance of trump losing was a kind of alarming thing to a lot of us and there was no follow—up question. for many reporters covering the selection, joe biden is leading by quite a large margin now and if trump loses and there is not a clarity coming out of the white house about leaving, that is something that worries a lot of people here. given it has been a summer with people here. given it has been a summerwitha people here. given it has been a summer with a lot of civil unrest in the us. it had been said that given joe biden's lead in the polls, what won it needed to do is just stay steady if you like and not rock the boat. —— what kamala harris needed to do. yes, one thing is how it will

play with the voters, persuadable voters. herjob was to come out there and be steady, look presidential in her way, because obviously we are looking at these candidates as potentially stepping into that role, more so in this election than ever. i think he ticked all of those boxes. mussolini selection than ever, claire, because of the ages —— more so in this election. this was the under 65 portion of the debate and i think particularly because president trump is sick with covid—19 and we do not have frequent updates about his medical status and there was a story breaking a few minutes ago that the staff at the medical facility were asked to sign nondisclosure agreements a few months ago. many people are paying attention to the vice presidential candidates and

particularly kamala harris giving she is a senator and had a long period saving in california government. she probably passed that test for a lot of viewers about being able to step into the role. 0ur washington correspondence said a little earlier that he felt the debate was a little bit flat. do you agree? yes, it was not... it lacked the energy of the presidential debate last week and seemed that the vice president, mike pence, was somewhat just on vice president, mike pence, was somewhatjust on one note there. having said that, as i said, everything there is pointing to a good sign forjoe biden, who is already ahead in the polls as we have discussed. it does not change the dynamic at all. i think that is what we are looking at in the end. what has been the reaction in the state to the debate? fewer people

watch vice presidential debates and it is not the headline event trump versus it is not the headline event trump versus biden is. the flash polls la st versus biden is. the flash polls last night said that kamala harris has won the reaction, but that splits the line along who people are voting for. i think it while it was obviously a debate, and it was a calming debate, there has been chat about the fact there were not follow—ups to the questions and it was a typical obfuscating debate and there were a lot of questions left on the table 04 mike pence and kamala harris people scratching their heads for the answer. a more muted response than the debate we had a couple of weeks ago.|j muted response than the debate we had a couple of weeks ago. i wonder, that said, given the fact that the

second presidential debate is now in doubt because it is virtual and the president has said he won't take part, i wonder if the vice presidential debate might come to be seen as more important in retrospect. i do not think so. when all is said and done, these two did thejob all is said and done, these two did the job they needed to do, which was to, they and represent the top of their ticket. i do not think anybody will go back and say, because we might not have a second debate, i will take a second look at the ice presidential debate. first presidential debate. first presidential debate. first presidential debate may be the one that has set this election on its course for the remaining few weeks. very interesting and thank you both very much indeed. patrick murray and claire malone, thank you much indeed. ruth davidson has accused nicola sturgeon of misleading the scottish parliament over a meeting about allegations

of sexual misconduct by the former first minister alex salmond. at first minister's questions, ms davidson, the conservative leader in the parliament, said it was beyond belief that nicola sturgeon hadn't remembered a meeting in which she was first told of the allegations against mr salmond. for more, let's speak to our scotland correspondent james shaw. we should probably give some context about this. it was back in 2018 that allegations of sexual misconduct first emerged against alex salmond, the former first minister of scotland, to civil servants claiming sexual misconduct. he strenuously denied those claims. he took the scottish government to court and the scottish government to court and the scottish government to court and the scottish government had to admit that the process had been procedurally unfair. alex salmond then faced criminal charges where he was acquitted of all those charges in march this year. in that whole completed process, the aspect of it that with davidson, the leader of

the conservatives in the scottish parliament, was interested in, was when did nickel staging first know about these allegations. she had told the parliament that it was at the start of april in 2018, but it has since emerged that it was three days earlier at the end of march. —— when did nicola sturgeon first know. a critical one according to ruth davidson and she said she could not understand why nicola sturgeon had gotten this critical detail and this was nicola sturgeon's response. there is something seared in my memory and it is actually the meeting that took place some three days later when alex salmond himself sat in my own home and gave me the details of the complaints that had been made against him and also gave me his response to aspects of those complaints. that is what is seared in my memory. i think most reasonable people would understand that. forgive me, presiding officer, if that has somehow overwritten in my mind a much more fleeting

opportunistic meeting that took took place a few days earlier, that isjust how it is. ruth davidson came back with a series allegation about nicola sturgeon's behaviour. series allegation about nicola stu rgeon's behaviour. —— series allegation about nicola sturgeon's behaviour. —— a serious allegation. —— a serious allegation. you have to ask why. why did the first minister mislead parliament by omitting the fact that this meeting ever happened? why did it take a government staff are being questioned under oath in a court of law for it even to come out? a meeting in her first ministerial office regarding a former first minister and a civil service investigation never recorded, never minuted. when the ministerial code is clear that all such meetings conducted without an official present must passed back for the facts to be recorded. her defence is that she has only ever acted as head of the snp. isn't the sudden memory loss suddenly because she didn't want evidence of her involvement as first minister to come to light?

why does all of this matter? well, what is important is the protocols around these investigations into ministers orformer around these investigations into ministers or former first ministers and the first minister should not be involved in any of them. that is why it may matter whether or not nicola sturgeon had this meeting, this prior meeting in the scottish parliament, apparently, in the first minister's office. where does it go from here? it depends on what happens on the committee of the parliament looking into this whole mess, this whole controversy. it will hear evidence from nicola staging herself in person, from mr salmond as well, and also from nicola sturgeon's salmond as well, and also from nicola stu rgeon's husband, salmond as well, and also from nicola sturgeon's husband, the chief executive of the party, the snp, of which she is the elected leader. 0n all of that, on the evidence they give in the coming weeks and months, a lot will depend. the timeline they are looking at undoubtedly is scottish elections in may of 2020,

will all of this play into the elections in a few months' time? thank you very much. homeless charities are calling on the prime minister not to allow night—shelters to be opened in england this winter. they claim the shelters can't be operated in a covid—secure way. they want to see funding similar to that which housed many homeless people in hotels back in march. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello there. there has been some milder weather today across more southern parts of the uk. but over the next few days as we head into the weekend, it is going to feel colder. we have lower temperatures day and night and probably blowing in some showers as well. the reason for the colder air is higher pressure out to the west and the atlantic and a north to north—westerly airflow bringing down the colder air all the way from iceland. these are the temperatures by this evening. still 15 or 16 degrees. the cloudy damp weather moving out

into the english channel and a few showers following in from the north—west. now, yesterday evening was the peak of the meteor shower, but we had a lot of cloud coming in. this evening, particularly across england and wales we will find some clearer skies. the cloud moving away from southern england and from east anglia as well, but for scotland and northern ireland, we have more cloud coming in from the north—west. the breeze picking up and that will bring in some outbreaks of rain that will push down into the far north of england and north wales by the end of the night. ahead of it some clearer skies. a lot colder than it was last night, temperatures could be down to five or 6 degrees and possibly lower than that in the scottish glens as the rain clears away and we get the showers following on. lots of showers for scotland and northern ireland, too, the showers heavy with some hail and thunder. and that band of rain moves down through the midlands, away from wales and into southern england in the afternoon. the rain could be a little heavy as well. we are drawing down a west to north—westerly breeze, strongest in the north—west of the uk, where we are seeing the most frequent showers.

but it will be a colder day on friday. could make 15 towards the south and south—east of england, but otherwise it's about 11 to 13 degrees. over the weekend, we start with some cold north to north—westerly winds. this high pressure trying to build in from the atlantic will lessen the winds for the second half of the weekend. certainly a chilly feel out and about on saturday. some sunshine and showers, most of the showers in the north and west of the uk. drier and sunnier for many eastern parts of england until later in the day. temperatures typically 12 or 13 degrees and feeling colder in the wind. the second half of the weekend, the strongest winds will be down the north sea coasts of england and scotland and this is where we will see most of any showers. elsewhere it will be generally dry and there will be sunshine at times. winds lighter as you head further west, but after a chilly start, temperatures are still 12 or 13.

this is bbc news. i'm reeta chakrabarti. the headlines: as tighter restrictions to control coronavirus are expected in the worst—affected areas of england next week, local leaders demand more details of potential plans to close pubs and restaurants. it's too much complicating. we don't know what we're going to do next. it'sjust one big mess. people waiting over a year for hospital treatment in england hit a 12—year high as fears grow about the pressure of coronavirus on the nhs. it's announced that the next us presidential debate will be held virtually, but mr trump refuses to participate, saying, "i'm not going to waste my time." british airways bids farewell to its last boeing 747 jumbo jets — four years earlier than planned due to the pandemic. and prince william says he wants

to bring optimism and positivity to efforts to solve climate change as he launches a new environmental award with sir david attenborough. leaders in parts of northern england have held talks with ministers, and strongly criticised the government for a lack of consultation on new coronavirus restrictions which are expected to be introduced within days. the bbc understands that pubs and restaurants could be closed in the worst affected areas from monday. there could also be a ban on overnight stays away from home. and a three—tier system for local lockdowns could be brought in, where different parts of the country would be placed in different categories.

significant new measures are in place in central scotland, with pubs and restaurants closing for more than two weeks. additional restrictions are in place in the derry city and strabane local authority area, which has one of the highest infection rates in the uk, and where there's been a big increase in cases. latest figures show only 69% of people in england could be reached by test and trace staff in the last week of september. more than four million patients in england are now waiting for routine procedures — nearly half of whom have been on the list longer than the target time of 18 weeks. the first of our reports comes from chris mason. this is leeds where new rules of some sort are expected. new regulations are coming for parts of england where there are a lot of cases, but precisely where, when and how severe they will be is not yet clear. there's too much complicating. we don't know what they're going to do next.

it'sjust one big mess. well, if it's going to get rid of this virus again, then, you know, we're going to have to put up with all this. people are losing theirjobs, but that's our life. kill the economy, literally, stop everything. and the leader of the council here says... we're really seeking urgent discussions with government to understand what they are expecting, to understand why there has been a delay in the announcements until next monday — which gives the weekend where people can go out as they please — and just understand if there is going to be a time restriction on this. trundle along the m62 to liverpool where, again, there are lots of cases and, again, lots of questions from local leaders. you can't have an effective government if its comms strategy is announcement by media leak so we've said all along we want to have an open and meaningful dialogue

with government and i'd just ask them to speak to areas where potentially they could be facing even more stringent lockdown measures. here's an insight into how concerned the government is. a health minister worrying about intensive units being overwhelmed. but ministers are vague about precisely what they're planning. we'll continue to take a proportionate and a localised response, which i think is the right thing to do because the variations in the number of cases are very significant in england, from, ithink, over550 in manchester per 100,000 to as low as 19 in cornwall, dorset and herefordshire, so a localised but proportionate response has to be the way forward. the government wants to make this patchwork of different rules easier for us to understand and put everywhere in england in three different tiers. precisely how it's described isn't clear, but tier one might be

the loosest restrictions, such as the rule of six, tier two one step up from that, and tier three, a more significant set of restrictions. there is still debate going on privately about precisely how this system might work. so, yet again, it is decision time here at westminster with a growing clamour that adds up to a simple demand — tell us what's happening. chris mason, bbc news. medical leaders are warning that the nhs may not be able to cope if people don't abide by the local lockdown restrictions. the latest figures show that the number of people waiting over a year for hospital treatment in england has hit a 12—year high — and three times as many people were waiting more than 18 weeks to start hospital treatment in august compared to last year. 0ur health correspondent lauren moss reports it is another stark warning about what could lie ahead. coronavirus hospital admissions are still far below

what they were in april, but medical leaders are concerned about the recent increase with 3,000 patients currently being treated. we are at that tipping point right now. this isn't a joke, this isn't scaremongering. i don't come from an organisation that does scaremongering. we care about people, we care about our patients, we want to do the best for them and to keep doing the best for them through what was always going to be a difficult winter. let's not make it a spectacularly difficult winter. latest figures show there have been three times as many deaths related to covid—19 compared with flu this year and the impact of the pandemic is still being felt across the health service. more than 100,000 people have been waiting longer than one year for routine operations like hip and knee replacements in england, the largest number in 12 years. almost 170,000 urgent cancer referrals were made in august, a large increase on april and may but still 30,000 fewer than the same time last year. 20,000 patients began cancer treatments, again up

on the number in the spring, but still one fifth lower than august 2019. rob has been waiting for a joint knee replacement since last october. he has been told surgery will go ahead later this month, but he is still concerned it might not happen. it has affected me physically, mentally and i'm now suffering with a second condition, which i expected would happen to me sooner or later. i am now being treated for anxiety. it's just so much uncertainty around all this, and to be honest, this has really been hard to cope with. i've had some really bad, dark days with the pain. nhs england says more than1 million routine appointments and operations are taking place every week, and 85% of cancer treatments continued during the pandemic, but there are concerns about the future. people with cancerjust can't afford to have this happen to their treatment again. they're already experiencing huge stress and strain through the disruption they're already seeing, so we are really urging the government to put the appropriate plans in place

to ensure that cancer treatment will continue during the winter pressures and as covid cases start to rise again. according to the test and trace system in england, there was a 56% increase in the number of people testing positive for coronavirus between the 24th and 30th of september. butjust a quarter tested at in—person sites got their results back in 24 hours and a third have not referred to the contact tracing system by the end of that period. nightingale hospitals are on standby if covid admissions rise. with overfour million people waiting for routine treatment in england, the nhs says it's vital clearing the backlog isn'tjeopardised by a second wave spiralling out of control. lauren moss, bbc news. in northern ireland, there's been a big increase in cases in the derry city and strabane local authority area.

0ur ireland correspondent emma vardy has the details. derry and strabane now has the highest rate in the uk and medical experts here say that they were seeing clusters arising from social gatherings and then, more recently, have seen a majority of cases happening — or lots of those cases happening — in hospitality settings. it's important to say this is a border area, lots of cross—border travel is the norm, and the neighbouring county to derry and strabane — donegal in the republic of ireland — has also had higher rates of the virus than other parts of ireland, too. so a number of new restrictions have come in in derry and strabane in the last few days. currently there at the moment, pubs, restaurants and cafes can be take away only or outdoor dining. museums and attractions closed in that area, and across northern ireland at the moment, the rule is no mixing of households in private homes. similarly, next door in donegal, tighter restrictions there have been imposed by the irish government including asking people not to travel into or out of the county unnecessarily.

we are expecting a new announcement from the stormont executive here later on today. we're hearing that may be toughening up on fines, toughening up on ways to enforce restrictions. ministers say they are very worried about the big jumps in numbers in some areas recently, particularly as we are also seen hospital admission is increasing, too. the r number in scotland — the average number of people each person with covid—19 passes the virus — could now be as high as 1.6. speaking at the start of first minister's questions at the scottish parliament, nicola sturgeon said the rising number of cases was why the scottish government had announced new measures including closing pubs and bars early — to try to tackle the virus. local leaders are asking for more detail of plans of possible pubs and restaurants closures in the worst—affected areas of england. meanwhile, sir keir starmer has said his party will not vote down the 10pm closing time for pubs and restaurants next week. instead, he'll call

for the policy to be reformed. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blake is at westminster. labour is not going to vote down the 10pm closing time, it will go through. what is he calling for? and prime minister's questions yesterday, labour leader keir starmer was pressing boris johnson to present evidence that the 10pm cu rfew to present evidence that the 10pm curfew on pubs, restaurants and other licensed premises was working because there is a suspicion that that measure, among many labour mps and some conservatives and the wider public i'm sure, is necessarily the most effective way of slowing the spread of the virus. that led to suggestions that labour might withdraw its support for that and when the house of commons comes to vote and give its approval to that measure next week, might possibly vote against it. but today the labour leader has said that is not what labour is going to do. up until this point he has pursued what he calls a policy of constructive

opposition, backing the government's measures to slow the spread of the virus almost on a sort of point of principle regardless of what they are, but he has said in this case, whilst the 10pm curfew may possibly, should possibly be allowed to remain, it does need to be changed and modified. we've had this meeting, a virtual meeting, between local leaders and government ministers about the possible closures next week and this has come amid frustration from some local authority leaders in the north of england about lack of consultation. two big questions at the moment, whether the restrictions in england at national or local level are working and if they are not, what is going to replace that system of targeted local lockdown is? this afternoon, mps from the midlands and north of england have been invited to ta ke

north of england have been invited to take part in a briefing with the health minister and the chief medical officer for england. they we re medical officer for england. they were presented with some preliminary evidence or suggestions about the effectiveness of the 10pm curfew, suggesting that it could well be responsible for a significant proportion of the transmission of corona—mac. that may be an attempt by the government to demonstrate that the 10pm curfew is effective and is necessary, whether it will be enough to sway the minds of those labour mps representing the constituency most adversely affected by the extra restrictions in place, we'll have to see but downing street is certainly saying today that the spread of covid is down to people mixing and hospitality venues and so it doesn't seem to be moving away from that particular measure as an effective one and one we are likely

to see here to stay for the foreseeable future and it may well form the baseline to that three tier approach we are expecting could be announced and implemented next week. alice wiseman is the director of public health for gateshead, shejoins me now. good afternoon. tell us first of all, what is the situation with regard to covid—19 numbers in gateshead? we continued to see an increase over the last couple of weeks, since the restrictions came m, weeks, since the restrictions came in, so as i sit here today we think the rate is about 225 per 100,000 of the rate is about 225 per 100,000 of the population. however, when we have stripped out the cases who are aged under 25 years, actually we have seen very early days, but encouraging signs of more of a

levelling off, definitely a slowing in the rapid rise that we saw earlier in september. whilst it is too early to comment in relation to whether it definitely is having an impact, we do think that the north east has generally been affected by an influx of young people into our universities and that's potentially skewing the general population spread that we are seeing. so that will account for the rise in cases. i think what will puzzle people is why the introduction of local restrictions hasn't had a dampening effect on those numbers. when you ta ke effect on those numbers. when you take out that student population, we are seeing, it's too early days to be for sure, but we are seeing a slowing increase in the numbers and the reason i'm saying is to take out those numbers because actually we've got lots of young people living in very large accommodation with lots of people in it so once you get the virus ina of people in it so once you get the virus in a setting like that, it will spread quickly, so taking those

lower numbers out, i am encouraged to think that the restrictions that we implemented on the 17th of september are slowly starting to have an impact. what about members of the public, are they confused? because we hear repeatedly from people that they simply don't know what's going on. i think that's understandable. we've already said, we first introduced the regulations on the 17th of september and there was an amendment on the 21st, there was an amendment on the 21st, there was an amendment on the 21st, there was a following amendment on the 29th. we find it difficult working in the field day in, day out to understand the speed of these changes and i think what we need to ask for is a period of stability, a period of consistency. i think members of the population in gateshead, the area i work for, actually are starting to get a grip of the messaging and the things we are asking them to do, so what we wa nt to are asking them to do, so what we want to do is to have a little bit more time to understand the impact that these restrictions have had on the spread before we make any

further changes, which will no doubt confuse people further. just to let you know that at 3:30 on the bbc news channel, we'll answer your questions on the contact tracing app. joining us will be our technology correspondent rory cellan—jones and isobel braithwaite, from university college london send your questions using the hashtag #bbcyourquestions or e—mail them using yourquestions@bbc. co. uk. let's go back to westminster and news of who will be the new downing street press secretary. 0ur deputy political editor vicki young has the details. remained as again, why is this important? then tell us who it is —— remind. it's important because this personal be fronting for the government potentially daily at press co nfe re nces . government potentially daily at press conferences. the idea is they

will be televised press conferences similarto will be televised press conferences similar to what we see in the white house and the government want to introduce those probably as soon as next month. the person who is going to be the face for the government is alegra stratton. she's a former katmai guardian journalist and alegra stratton. she's a former katmai guardianjournalist and has most recently been for chancellor rishi sunak. she knows her stuff and will be beaming into people's living rooms every day once they get this up rooms every day once they get this up and running and the government wa nts to up and running and the government wants to do this because they want to get their message out there directly to viewers. it's quite a controversial idea, some would say, because it won't be an elected minister. they do insist there will still be ministers, cabinet ministers fielding questions at other times, but as for a daily briefing, it will be allegra stratton taking questions as far as we know from journalists. we don't know whether it will follow the same pattern as those press conferences

that have taken place during the covid pandemic were members of the public could ask questions so we have to wait to see what the format is going to be and exactly when they are going to start. to be clear, is this a political appointment? this is why it is different from the daily lobby briefings that we hear from when we hear the prime minister's official spokesperson. yes, and to explain to people what happens every day, sometimes twice a day, is that politicaljournalists, at the moment dialling in, not in a room any more, dial in and ask questions of the prime minister's official spokesperson. that is a civil service role and that person is appointed normally because they have a rapport with the prime minister but this is something that hasn't been tried before in this country. it's a different kind of appointment and the fact that it is televised makes it different too. we

don't know who will be able to go to these briefings, this is assuming with everything being covid secure in the workplace, whether it will be in the workplace, whether it will be in the workplace, whether it will be in the workplace or via zoom which has been happening with some of the prime minister's press conferences, we don't know if there will be a limit on the number of press conferences, some of the so—called lobby briefings go on for up to an hour. i'm not sure that will be top viewing if it is to be that!” remember your own name being floated asa remember your own name being floated as a potential name. we are happy to have you with us still! president trump has said he won't take part in a virtual presidential debate — that is, one held over a video link, rather than face to face. the proposal had been aimed at protecting the health and safety of all involved following president trump testing positive for coronavirus. but mr trump told fox news it wasn't acceptable and that he planned to hold a rally instead. a little earlier i spoke

to our washington correspondent, gary 0'donoghue, and asked if trump's comments meant the second debate was off the cards. it looks like it at the moment. the president says he's not going to waste his time taking part in it. he said he didn't like the idea that the moderator, who he thinks is a critic and an opponent of his, doesn't like the idea of him being able to cut him off if he is virtual and that he will hold a rally that night instead in florida. that's pretty much a categorical view. it's interesting that the commission that arranges these debates is an independent body that announced this before appearing to consult either of the campaigns about it. the biden campaign said it's happy with the situation, joe biden said he was looking forward to addressing the american people, etc, and previously he said he would go ahead with the debate in its originalform if

the scientists said it was safe. i think really the only real thing that has changed, of course, and it's a huge thing, is the fact that since that last debate, the president has been diagnosed with covid. is this unprecedented ? have any of these debates ever been called off? called off, i don't think so. for those historically minded, the first—ever presidential debate between nixon and jfk was actually virtual, believe it or not. one was in california, one was in new york and the moderator somewhere else, so it's not unprecedented even in those days, but i think nowadays this would be something that the president wouldn't go for. there will be a third debate, that is still up for grabs, so in a sense, the american people will potentially get the chance to see these two face—to—face in the same venue. it mayjust be next week's one goes by the wayside. last night was the vice—presidential debate.

what has been the reaction to that? pretty flat, to be honest. there's been a lot of fluff online about the great fly that landed on mike pence's head for two and a half minutes, but no real blows. both of them dodged some of the difficult questions. no one really expects those vice—presidential debates to change very much. last night's has the potential for more impact given the situation but i think it will be soon forgotten. british airways has waved its last two boeing 747 jumbo jets out of its base at heathrow. the original version of the aircraft has been flying for more half a century. the airline's entire fleet of the jets has been retired four years earlier than scheduled, because of the pandemic‘s effect on international travel. 0ur transport correspondent tom burridge watched the last flight take off.

the queen of the skies on a final departure. it was over and out for the british airways 747 era. julie, cabin crew, we will bring you in. how are you feeling? so tearful. sorry. really sad to see her go. such a shame about the weather, but amazing. absolutely incredible. sorry. a glamour glider through the decades. the original version launched in the ‘60s and defied all the odds. how are they ever going to get that thing in the air? julie welcomed a—listers and royalty on board. no need to go to a gym either. you become very attached to a huge chunk of metal that takes you around the world. and it is glamorous, it is iconic. old newsreel: the stretched upper

deck is new to ba... in its day, the double deck was novel. it's like a private jet up here. it's still pretty cool today. i know somebody whose grandma boarded a 747 and thought she was still in the departure lounge because it wasjust so big. she didn't realise and she kept saying, "when are we boarding?" the dress code changed, the food got better, but there were millions of miles and millions of 747 memories. i think everyone knows the jumbo. it was borne out of the moon landing age 50 years ago and it has been with us ever since. you can recognise it. you just see it when you get to the airport. it stands out, it's iconic, and customers, colleagues and anyone who has had anything to do with the jumbo just loves it. the captain at the controls as the plane taxied out one last time. rain and tears. a short trip to south wales for one, the other to gloucestershire — a fond goodbye. tom burridge, bbc news at heathrow.

the duke of cambridge and sir david attenborough have joined forces to launch the biggest ever environmental prize, worth £50 million. the earthshot prize will aim to find 50 solutions to the world's gravest environmental problems by 2030. 0ur chief environment correspondent justin rowlatt reports. public figures don't get much higher profile than prince william and sir david attenborough. last year, they launched the british antarctic survey‘s new ship together. may god bless her and all those who sail in her. now they have joined forces to launch an initiative they hope will literally change the world. ours is a world of wonder. their new earthshot prize aims to find 50 solutions to the world's gravest environmental problems over the next ten years. we very much felt that

what was needed and what was missing at the moment was very much a case of harnessing people's optimism and hope. there's been a lot of negativity and pessimism, and i think it's such a big—scale topic that people themselves don't know, if i recycle my plastic every single day, actually how much ofa big difference am i making? kensington palace says the earthshot prize will make five awards of £1 million every year for ten years. prince william and sir david say they are looking for ideas that will transform our approach to five key issues — fixing the climate, building a waste—free world, restoring nature, cleaning our air and reviving our oceans. sir david: but higher temperatures mean a lot more than longer summers. sir david acknowledges that these are bold ambitions, but he says the time for action is now. i do know that if you help the natural world, the word becomes a better place for everybody. 0rdinary people worldwide are beginning to realise that greed does not actually lead to joy.

we are right on the coast. it is becoming clear that protecting the environment is the issue that will define prince william's public role from now on. can hear the ducks and geese and birds all along the coastline here. he says he hopes the earthshot prize will help repair the planet, no less. the idea is that it will call forth new and innovative ways to bring real change. the prince told the bbc today that he has taken inspiration from his father, prince charles, and now regards championing environmental action as one of his key responsibilities. justin rowlatt, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello.

the cloud and damper weather is moving into the north sea. we will see wetter weather coming in from the northwest overnight, rain heading to scotland, northern ireland as the wind picks up, down into the far north of england and north wales overnight. clearer skies and you may be able to see the meteor shower in the evening. colder this evening, temperatures five or six degrees. tomorrow we have showers coming in from the northwest and into scotland, some are heavy with hail and thunder. it follows this band of rain moving down into softening and in the afternoon, by which point the rain could be heavier. a stronger wind on friday and cooler air moving down with temperatures typically only 11 to 13 celsius.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... as tighter restrictions to control coronavirus are expected in the worst—affected areas of england next week, local leaders demand more details of potential plans to close pubs and restaurants. people waiting over a year

for hospital treatment in england hit a 12—year high, as fears grow about the pressure of coronavirus on the nhs it's announced that the next us presidential debate will be held virtually — but mr trump refuses to participate, saying "i'm not going to waste my time." the former itv news editor, allegra stratton, is to be the prime minister's spokeswoman for televised briefings. british airways bids farewell to its last boeing 747 jumbo jets — four years earlier than planned — due to the pandemic. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's gavin. good afternoon. we've a big evening ahead for the home nations in international football. scotland and northern ireland renew their bids to reach the next year's european championships, which were postponed this summer due to coronavirus. scotland will have a play—off semi final against israel, but they will be missing three key players after southampton's stuart armstrong tested positive for coronavirus. what's more, teamates kieran tierney

and ryan christie have been identified as close contacts, and so must self—isolate for 14 days, so they will also miss tonight's match, and the nations league games next week, too. there is no reason why it can't infiltrate a football camp, no matter how secure your bubble is. and the protocols and everything that we put in place is there to try and protect people as much as possible. everyone else who is involved has got a negative test and we look forward to the game, the ones that are left. and northern ireland also have a vital euro play—off, a semi—final this evening against bosnia and herzegovina. they will be hoping to draw on their experience, of 4 years ago in france, when they qualified for their first major tournament in 30 years. if they win tonight and the republic of ireland beat slovakia, then they will play each other for a place at next year's euro finals. as for england and wales, they play each other in a friendly at wembley tonight, and gareth southgate's got a big call to make over his goalkeeper.

the england manager has confirmed jordan pickford is set to miss out, so either burnley‘s nick pope or manchester united's dean henderson will start. jordan pickford's been his number one for a while now, but he's not been in the greatest of form for his club side everton so far this season — in fact, he's dropped a couple of clangers. it is a very tight call. i always go back to the fact that jordan's performances with us have been excellent and i am not oblivious to what has happened to him at everton. but there can be lots of factors within individuals' performances at their clubs and we have got to try and help them be in their best possible form when they are with us. message when they are with us. is ill has been let out of arsenal's message is ill has been let out of arsenal's europa league club and his future has been uncertain after

being left out of the side persistently. the germany international has not played for arsenal since march. the new signing has been included in the 25 man squad before their first group b fixture against rapid vienna on 0ctober fixture against rapid vienna on october 22. here are the french open semifinals game. winner will be playing in the final. the man in charge of world of x, sebastien cao, says athlete should have the right to ta ke says athlete should have the right to take any on the olympic podium. he was speaking during a tour of the new national stadium in tokyo where the games will take place next year. the olympic charter says that no racial, religious or political propaganda can take place, but can

insist it is a personal choice. they wa nt to insist it is a personal choice. they want to reflect the world they live in and that is, for me, perfectly acceptable. as long as it is done with respect, complete respect for other competitors. that's all the sport for now. with me to answer you questions is our technology correspondent rory cellan—jones and isobel braithwaite, from university college london. good afternoon tea both. can i kick off, please come up with a question from kenneth sykes from doncaster. i would like to ask you both this question. my wife and daughter have both had messages on the same possible exposure to covid—19, but

no instructions accompanying it. what does this mean? this is something that has been coming up a lot for a lot of people not only in the uk but internationally, these messages about possible exposure seem to be a function of the apple and google framework and so they don't necessarily mean that you have had close contact in the way the uk is defining that, the roughly 15 minutes within two metres of somebody. it means that people, if they are not getting a notification through the app itself, they do not need to worry about that notification and do not need to isolate less within the app there is a notification telling them to self—isolate. a notification telling them to self-isolate. said they do not need to self—isolate with a message with a message like that? they should follow what the app is saying.” should stress that this is an

annoying problem that you can actually safely ignore. it is partly to do with this underlying framework and is effectively showing the workings of the app. they're trying to fix it. they should be a fix within a week or two. the important message is that anything you need to do will be within the app. 0penly out and if you not see anything in the app, you are fine. —— open the app. a political correspond got one yesterday and put it on twitter and it was very obvious because it was a big red blob in the screen telling him to self—isolate. big red blob in the screen telling him to self-isolate. it is very obvious. rory, can i put to this from michelle doherty, who has contacted us from cumbria and says, asa contacted us from cumbria and says, as a pandemic, i am contacted us from cumbria and says, as a pandemic, iam in contacted us from cumbria and says, as a pandemic, i am in the thick of covid. 0ver as a pandemic, i am in the thick of covid. over the past couple of weeks i have seen an increase in positive cases and i have been in numerous houses with the new cases with the

new nhs app and not once did tell me i was with these people. track & trace has contacted these people so ido trace has contacted these people so i do not think the app has worked properly because it does not know i ama properly because it does not know i am a medic wearing ppe. if you install the app, it then measures your proximity over the days to other people with the app. it only triggers alerts if those people if you days later register a positive test for covid. if you are visiting people who are already known to have covid, there is no way the app will send an alert because that is not what it is designed to do. it is to tell you about things you don't know rather than things you do. the other point is that health workers in general are being told, especially if wearing ppe, they should turn off the bluetooth contact tracing at that period. 0n the bus to and fro

work they should have it on, but if they are wearing ppe, probably not. useful. a question from john in london who asks, if i download the artand london who asks, if i download the art and then i am advised to self—isolate and do not. reason, will be assisting my prosecution? to my knowledge, no. the way the app determines that you have been exposed, it does not rely on a central database of people's phones and the contacts the phone has had the way that the apple and google model works is privacy preserving. it would not be able to use in a prosecution as far as i am aware. rory, i want to ask you about an article you have got on the bbc news website today about jobs where article you have got on the bbc news website today aboutjobs where some people are being asked to turn off the app. tell us more about that. of

confusion lots here. a big pharmaceutical giant said it had told some workers in labs and factories to turn off the app while on site. now i am hearing over the last day or so a lot of teachers have been told to do so. this is probably not the right advice according to the department of health. they want people to use it at work unless there are particular circumstances. for instance, if teachers go to school and put their phones in a locker and then go off to teach, they should have it turned off because you do not want that phone being next over phones in the locker room registering contact when it has not happened. but apart from that, there are a few reasons why people at work should not be encouraged to use the app. another reason is if you are in a supermarket and behind a plexiglass screen, you might want it off. the

general principle is that it might be better for you to at least have the alert that you had been in contact with somebody rather than not have it. those alerts will only be triggered in a school, for instance, if a teacher registers positive and alerts the app. i have heard disturbing cases today of one teacher doing that and they told me that their colleagues were ordered by the management of the school to ignore it and delete the app. write 0k. an anxious —— right, 0k. anxious message. alison says she checked into her local cafe at the weekend using the nhs app and then it said she had to self—isolate for nine days. she received no notification message via the app and her partner has the app too, but he has not received any information. is she

meant to feel assured by an algorithm that tells me to stay at home for nine days? why not 14 days as the guidance says? the guidance says it should be a total of 14 days from the point of exposure, the point you are likely to have come into contact with somebody infectious at that time. if the app is telling her that it is nine days or self isolation, that probably suggests to me that wherever and whenever that exposure was that exposed that, it was probably five days before. that means five days have elapsed and nine more are needed, taking her to the 14 days. i can't be sure in this specific instance, but unless she has only been to the cafe, i think it would more likely be a different contact way that exposure happen. rory, simon in wiltshire says that he was advised by the covid app to get a test after reporting symptoms. this was on friday the 2nd of october,

nearly a week ago. he could not get a driving slot until the saturday morning and he says he is still waiting for his results. this was at 6pm on monday. if you tests positive, which he doubts fortu nately, positive, which he doubts fortunately, the ideal 48—hour window has already passed and then he asks rhetorically, what is the point of this shambles? this is a wider question, not simply about the act but why covid —— but the track & trace programme. the point of the app at the beginning, the people who advised its building, often expert epidemiologists, they said it was about speed and alerting people the moment they know they have got condition. that has got to happen fast and the quicker you can get to the people who they may have infected, the more likely you are to break the chain. he is right to be

worried, but that is not about the app, it is about the wider track & trace programme. thank you. belinda allen writes in, saying that the nhs covid app does not work on older phones. can this be rectified? she has no desire to update her phone.” can sympathise with that. as i understand it, the reason that it only works on phones it does is to do with the way that the apple and google api is set up, meaning it basically cannot work with older phones as they do not have capabilities required for the way the app works and it is a problem being experienced in lots of other countries using the same framework. unfortunately, unless we switch to a different type of app, i do not think that is very likely. i cannot see that and how they would manage to do that. it is not a choice of

the uk's app developers or of the nhs, sol the uk's app developers or of the nhs, so i suppose it is a difficult situation for people whose phone is not able to operate it. but i would say that people are protected by more people around them having the app. it is notjust about protecting ourselves, but by using the app if we can, we are helping project others around us who do not have those phones. it is also a reason why the contact tracing system is important, so people can be reached regardless of the phone they have. that is really useful. rory, claire from solihull asks, what does a genuine covid notification from the nhs app look like and what information does it give you? likely as we were discussing early about those alerts that pop up and disappear, those are not genuine ones. it will be inside the app and you will have to open the app and

the green pulsing radar signal that uc generally will turn to red with a number of days —— that you see. that will be the common alert you will get and it will be pretty obvious. great, thank you. angie in doncaster asks, the nhs app advises to self—isolate for ten days from the day of the test results but the nhs website states that ten days and sta rts website states that ten days and starts from the first day of symptoms. this is possibly an echo of the previous question. the correct advice is that the ten days should start from symptoms, assuming the person is well again by that io—day point. if they still have a temperature, they should continue to self—isolate and temperature, they should continue to self— isolate and seek temperature, they should continue to self—isolate and seek medical help through!!! or self—isolate and seek medical help through 111 or their gp. i think i

am not sure whether the app is advising that on the basis of test results date, but the correct advice is, as! results date, but the correct advice is, as i understand it, based on the symptoms on the set. finally, a question from elaine and sam brecon who say they have downloaded the app, but it would appear that bluetooth needs to be continually turned on. is this not a security issue? this whole technology behind the app is about bluetooth, that is how it detects distance between people. yes, iam how it detects distance between people. yes, i am afraid it does need to be turned on if the app is working. if you are worried, you can turnit working. if you are worried, you can turn it off when you are not outside, when you are not around other people. i do not think there is an appreciable security risk, certainly not to do with the app. there are stories of people plus microphones being sent things they do not want when they are outward bluetooth, but to be frank, most people these days have bluetooth on

most of the time because it makes things like these wireless headphones work. so a lot of people will have bluetooth on all of the time. indeed. many thanks to you both. thank you both. a couple during lockdown has managed to find love. a couple had their islamic wedding ceremony injuly, four months after meeting. they have been speaking to the bbc asian network about finding love during the pandemic. we met on a muslim

dating app and we knew we liked each other pretty much straightaway. lockdown happened exactly seven days after we met. it made things move quickly because we started panicking and things started getting restricted. we had most validated in service stations because we were meeting during the prime of lockdown —— we had most of our dates. there was no restaurants or cafes or anything, we met halfway. we were driving along way to meet each other ina driving along way to meet each other in a service station where we would just eat and then pray outside and then eat. that was pretty much all we did for the whole day. it was pretty good because as far as islamic rules go, you should keep everything as moderate as possible. it was a good reason for us to go to public places and keep everything as

halal as possible. what is the toughest thing about finding love during lockdown? not seeing you your in—person. for a good during lockdown? not seeing you your in—person. fora good month, there we re in—person. fora good month, there were restrictions that were really strong and we could not see each other. you met, and then four months later, you had your islamic ceremonial. do you think muslims are more inclined to marry more quickly? being muslim, will definitely more inclined to move things relatively fa st inclined to move things relatively fast and we are not into the casual dating scene. we do not date in much islam. we look for marriage. that is what we were looking for. what has it been like navigating the different backgrounds? quite difficult. we made the most of it and we did have difficulties from both sides. 0ur families have been

trusting and patient with us. everyone seems to be really good.” started a youtube channel since becoming muslim documenting my experience. things i have been finding out and our relationship, it is my british culture mixed with your british pakistani culture. there were some issues along the way, but we went through them. you've spoken about some of the difficulties from your backgrounds, you are probably learning a lot from each other as well. yeah! they you go. she is learning urdu, which is also quite amazing. i'm trying to read a bit more arabic. it's been a bumper yearfor bats — but not in a good way.

wildlife groups are reporting a record season for the number of baby bats being rescued after falling out of their roosts. extremes of hot and cold weather during the birthing season is thought to be behind the rise. john maguire reports now from lancashire on a novel way to prepare the pups for a return to the wild. as the sun sets over the lakes at brockholes nature reserve near preston, it is time for daily exercise. to be more specific, flight training. these are common pipistrelle bats. where have you come from? 19 of them were rescued when they fell out of their roost in a house and were too young to fend for themselves. they have been hand—reared by lorna bennett of the lancashire wildlife trust — batmum. they have been in care and hand fed and then learning to eat meal worms. they are now learning to fly and actually catch the insects. so initially they have to learn how to navigate within this open space and then they have to learn how to manoeuvre to actually try to catch prey. the polytunnel at the reserve

provides enough space for the young pups to test their sonar and to stretch and to strengthen their wings. much like learning, you know, we would learn to walk, they need to learn to fly. the only way is to do it. i can't teach them by any other means. so, yeah, you can see now they are able to navigate, they are able to test surfaces and they are bouncing off and crash landing. you're picking them up and they go again. and then they progress to now really going so fast that, you know, you wouldn't be able to catch them if you tried. so that shows they are nearly ready to leave now, and go into the wild. it has been an extremely busy year for rescued bats. one theory being severe changes in the weather caused havoc during the birthing season. i dealt with 63 bats that fell out of a roost on one of the hottest days of the year. actually, in the morning it was quite cool. by lunchtime, the temperatures had risen so much that the females decided they would leave, they went to probably a cooler roost. it still wasn't cool enough

for the babies, but they can't fly, so they ended up trying to get outside to get a bit cooler and ended up falling down to the ground. so we did manage to get them all back and the females came back that night to collect them, which is what we expected to happen. and these bat fans are keen to remind us of the good these tiny mammals do. take a common pipistrelle, that will eat up to 3,000 midges in a night, horrible pests that we don't really like having around ourselves. 3,000 midges equates to a third of their body weight, which is quite impressive. that is the equivalent of me eating 254 quarter—pounder burgers, so they seriously hoover up the food and do us a great favour in that instance. after weeks of feeding up and then training, they're ready for release from their plastic bat cave to rejoin a colony back in the wild. john maguire, bbc news, preston. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello there. there has been some milder weather today across more southern parts of the uk. but over the next few days as we head into the weekend, it is going to feel colder.

we have lower temperatures day and night and probably blowing in some showers as well. the reason for the colder air is higher pressure out to the west and the atlantic and a north to north—westerly airflow bringing down the colder air all the way from iceland. these are the temperatures by this evening. still 15 or 16 degrees. the cloudy damp weather moving out into the english channel and a few showers following in from the north—west. now, yesterday evening was the peak of the meteor shower, but we had a lot of cloud coming in. this evening, particularly across england and wales we will find some clearer skies. the cloud moving away from southern england and from east anglia as well, but for scotland and northern ireland, we have more cloud coming in from the north—west. the breeze picking up and that will bring in some outbreaks of rain that will push down into the far north of england and north wales by the end of the night. ahead of it some clearer skies. a lot colder than it was last night, temperatures could be down to five or 6 degrees and possibly lower than that in the scottish glens as the rain clears away and we get

the showers following on. lots of showers for scotland and northern ireland, some sunshine, too, the showers heavy with some hail and thunder. and that band of rain moves down through the midlands, away from wales and into southern england in the afternoon. the rain could be a little heavy as well. we are drawing down a west to north—westerly breeze, strongest in the north—west of the uk, where we are seeing the most frequent showers. but it will be a colder day on friday. could make 15 towards the south and south—east of england, but otherwise it's about 11 to 13 degrees. over the weekend, we start with some cold north to north—westerly winds. this high pressure trying to build in from the atlantic will lessen the winds for the second half of the weekend. certainly a chilly feel out and about on saturday. some sunshine and showers, most of the showers in the north and west of the uk. drier and sunnier for many eastern parts of england until later in the day. temperatures typically 12 or 13 degrees and feeling colder in the wind. the second half of the weekend, the strongest winds will be down the north sea coasts of england and scotland and this

is where we will see most of any showers. elsewhere it will be generally dry and there will be sunshine at times. winds lighter as you head further west, but after a chilly start, temperatures are still 12 or 13.

this is bbc news. the headlines: as tighter restrictions to control coronavirus are expected in the worst—affected areas of england next week, local leaders demand more details of potential plans to close pubs and restaurants. we've said all along, we want to have an open and meaningful dialogue with the government. i've asked them to speak to areas where, potentially, they could be facing more stringent lockdown measures. people waiting over a year for hospital treatment in england hit a 12—year high, as fears grow about the pressure of coronavirus on the nhs. donald trump has refused to take part in a virtual presidential debate — minutes after the organisers said next thursday's event

would be held online. british airways bids farewell to its last boeing 747 jumbo jets, four years earlier than planned, due to the pandemic. and prince william says he wants to bring optimism and positivity to efforts to solve climate change, as he launches a new environmental award with sir david attenborough. a further tightening of coronavirus restrictions in parts of england from early next week is being considered by the government as the latest figures show an increase in infections. the bbc understands that pubs and restaurants could be closed in the worst affected

areas, from monday. there could also be a ban on overnight stays away from home. and a three—tier system for local lockdowns could be brought in, where different parts of the country would be placed in different categories. significant new measures are in place in central scotland, with pubs and restaurants closing for more than two weeks. additional restrictions are in place in the derry city and strabane local authority area, which has one of the highest infection rates in the uk, and where there's been a big increase in cases. latest figures show only 69% of people in england could be reached by test and trace staff in the last week of september. more than four million patients in england are now waiting for routine procedures, nearly half of whom have been on the list longer than the target time of 18 weeks. the first of our reports comes from chris mason. this is leeds where new rules

of some sort are expected. new regulations are coming for parts of england where there are a lot of cases, but precisely where, when and how severe they will be is not yet clear. there's too much complicating. we don't know what they're going to do next. it'sjust one big mess. well, if it's going to get rid of this virus again, then, you know, we're going to have to put up with all this. people are losing theirjobs, but that's our life. kill the economy, literally, stop everything. and the leader of the council here says... we're really seeking urgent discussions with government to understand what they are expecting, to understand why there has been a delay in the announcements until next monday — which gives the weekend where people can go out as they please — and just understand if there is going to be a time restriction on this.

trundle along the m62 to liverpool where, again, there are lots of cases and, again, lots of questions from local leaders. you can't have an effective government if its comms strategy is announcement by media leak so we've said all along we want to have an open and meaningful dialogue with government and i'd just ask them to speak to areas where potentially they could be facing even more stringent lockdown measures. here's an insight into how concerned the government is. a health minister worrying about intensive units being overwhelmed. but ministers are vague about precisely what they're planning. we'll continue to take a proportionate and a localised response, which i think is the right thing to do because the variations in the number of cases are very significant in england, from, ithink, over550 in manchester per 100,000 to as low as 19 in cornwall,

dorset and herefordshire, so a localised but proportionate response has to be the way forward. the government wants to make this patchwork of different rules easier for us to understand and put everywhere in england in three different tiers. precisely how it's described isn't clear, but tier one might be the loosest restrictions, such as the rule of six, tier two one step up from that, and tier three, a more significant set of restrictions. there is still debate going on privately about precisely how this system might work. so, yet again, it is decision time here at westminster with a growing clamour that adds up to a simple demand — tell us what's happening. chris mason, bbc news. medical leaders are warning that the nhs may not be able to cope if people don't abide by the local lockdown restrictions. the latest figures show that the number of people waiting

over a year for hospital treatment in england has hit a 12—year high and three times as many people were waiting more than 18 weeks to start hospital treatment in august compared to last year. our health correspondent lauren moss reports it is another stark warning about what could lie ahead. coronavirus hospital admissions are still far below what they were in april, but medical leaders are concerned about the recent increase with 3,000 patients currently being treated. we are at that tipping point right now. this isn't a joke, this isn't scaremongering. i don't come from an organisation that does scaremongering. we care about people, we care about our patients, we want to do the best for them and to keep doing the best for them through what was always going to be a difficult winter. let's not make it a spectacularly difficult winter. latest figures show there have been three times as many deaths related to covid—19 compared with flu this year and the impact of the pandemic is still being felt across the health service.

more than 100,000 people have been waiting longer than one year for routine operations like hip and knee replacements in england, the largest number in 12 years. almost 170,000 urgent cancer referrals were made in august, a large increase on april and may but still 30,000 fewer than the same time last year. 20,000 patients began cancer treatments, again up on the number in the spring, but still one fifth lower than august 2019. rob has been waiting for a joint knee replacement since last october. he has been told surgery will go ahead later this month, but he is still concerned it might not happen. it has affected me physically, mentally and i'm now suffering with a second condition, which i expected would happen to me sooner or later. i am now being treated for anxiety. it's just so much uncertainty around all this, and to be honest, this has really been hard to cope with. i've had some really bad, dark days with the pain. nhs england says more

than one million routine appointments and operations are taking place every week, and 85% of cancer treatments continued during the pandemic, but there are concerns about the future. people with cancerjust can't afford to have this happen to their treatment again. they're already experiencing huge stress and strain through the disruption they're already seeing, so we are really urging the government to put the appropriate plans in place to ensure that cancer treatment will continue during the winter pressures and as covid cases start to rise again. according to the test and trace system in england, there was a 56% increase in the number of people testing positive for coronavirus between the 24th and 30th of september. butjust a quarter tested at in—person sites got their results back in 24 hours and a third have not referred to the contact tracing system by the end of that period. nightingale hospitals are on standby if covid admissions rise. with overfour million

people waiting for routine treatment in england, the nhs says it's vital clearing the backlog isn'tjeopardised by a second wave spiralling out of control. lauren moss, bbc news. and the government has just published the latest figures for covid—19 and is. 17,540 new cases of coronavirus have been reported. that co m pa res to coronavirus have been reported. that compares to 14,162 yesterday. that is an increase of more than 3000 cases. the uk government is saying 17,540 new cases of coronavirus and 77 deaths reported as well. in northern ireland, there's been a big increase in cases in the derry city and strabane local authority area. 0ur ireland correspondent emma

vardy has the details. derry and strabane now has the highest rate in the uk and medical experts here say that they were seeing clusters arising from social gatherings and then, more recently, have seen a majority of cases happening — or lots of those cases happening — in hospitality settings. it's important to say this is a border area, lots of cross—border travel is the norm, and the neighbouring county to derry and strabane — donegal in the republic of ireland — has also had higher rates of the virus than other parts of ireland, too. so a number of new restrictions have come in in derry and strabane in the last few days. currently there at the moment, pubs, restaurants and cafes can be take away only or outdoor dining. museums and attractions closed in that area, and across northern ireland at the moment, the rule is no mixing of households in private homes. similarly, next door in donegal, tighter restrictions there have been imposed by the irish government including asking people not to travel into or out

of the county unnecessarily. we are expecting a new announcement from the stormont executive here later on today. we're hearing that may be toughening up on fines, toughening up on ways to enforce restrictions. ministers say they are very worried about the big jumps in numbers in some areas recently, particularly as we are also seen hospital admission is increasing, too. news just newsjust in from news just in from another correspondent based there, he says that people based in northern ireland caught breaching coronavirus regulations will face a minimum fine of £200. it is understood that ministers have signed off proposals brought by the justice minister. let's put that into context. at present penalties are £60 but can

rise to £960 for repeat offenders. to repeat that, people in northern ireland caught breaching coronavirus regulations will face a minimum fine of £200. that is an increase on the present cost. the r number in scotland — the average number of people each person with covid—19 passes the virus onto — could now be as high as 1.6. speaking at the start of first minister's questions at the scottish parliament, nicola sturgeon said the rising number of cases was why the scottish government had announced new measures including closing pubs and bars early to try to tackle the virus. local leaders are asking for more detail of plans of possible pub a nd restau ra nt closures in the worst—affected areas of england. meanwhile sir keir starmer has said his party will not vote down the 10pm closing time for pubs and restaurants next week. instead, he'll call for the policy to be reformed. 0ur political correspondent

jonathan blake is at westminster. jonathan, am i being unkind ifi jonathan, am i being unkind if i say this is a u—turn from the labour leader? perhaps a little unkind. there were questions yesterday on how hard the labour leader pressed the prayer prime minister on how well the restrictions are working. he might be moving to a position where labour would vote against it when they were asked to approve the measure in the house of commons next week. but today he has clarified his position, saying he does not want to vote it down. 0therwise position, saying he does not want to vote it down. otherwise there would be no restrictions in place. so far, the labour party have supported all of the government's restrictions. there is growing concern about the 10pm curfew and lots of examples of everybody coming out of venues

at the same time and causing a problem with the way people are exiting. we need this reform. there is a smarter way of doing this. in wales they have got different setup which is working much better. it needs to be reformed. there is a vote next week but the problem with the vote next week is that it is an up, down, take it or leave it vote and therefore if you vote down current arrangements, there won't be any arrangements in place. that's not what we want so we won't be voting down the restrictions in place but we will be saying to the government, reform the 10pm curfew, show us the evidence and do it in a much smarter way. jonathan, what more can you tell us about the rationale behind curfew? there are two big questions for the government at the moment. the ministers are pushed on both from the local authority leaders, in parts of northern england and from the labour party and others here at westminster. they are asking what is the evidence that restrictions already in place are working. and if

they are not working well enough, or they are not working well enough, or they are not working well enough, or they are too confusing, what are you going to replace them with? the government has gone some way to addressing the first question with a meeting for mps representing constituencies in the midlands and the north of england, led by the health ministers and the chief medical officer for england, where mps were presented with some evidence, albeit limited, that exposure to coronavirus does happen toa exposure to coronavirus does happen to a significant extent in hospitality settings. downing street said that in a briefing to reporters at lunchtime as well. that is an attempt to provide some reassurance was some evidence that the 10pm cu rfew was some evidence that the 10pm curfew is based on some sort of scientific methodology. as for where that curfew will stand when we expect new restrictions and renewed framework at a national level across

england to be announced next week, we will have to see. it seems like the three tier system is what the government is moving towards. the rule of six and 10pm curfew as a baseline at tier one and further restrictions being imposed region by region or at a national level beyond that. nothing confirmed or decided at this stage. the headlines on bbc news... as tighter restrictions to control coronavirus are expected in the worst—affected areas of england next week — local leaders demand more details of potential plans to close people waiting over a year for hospital treatment in england hit a 12—year high — as fears grow about the pressure of coronavirus on the nhs it's announced that the next us presidential debate will be held virtually — but mr trump refuses to participate, saying "i'm not going to waste my time"

president trump has said he won't take part in a virtual presidential debate, that is, one held over a video link, rather than face to face. the proposal had been aimed at protecting the health and safety of all involved, following president trump testing positive for coronavirus. but mr trump told fox news it wasn't acceptable and that he planned to hold a rally instead. live now to washington and our correspondent gary 0'donoghue. presumably, nobody can make the president to take part? no, his campaign and the former vice president public campaign agreed to these debates some time ago. they agreed to the format of these debates. this was a unilateral

decision by an independent body. it sprang this one on everyone this morning. that it would take next week's debate virtual. the only criteria which has changed is the president's coronavirus positive taxed. they made some changes to the vice presidential debate last night but that was still in person even though the candidates were separated by 12 feet and had glass between them. but the president said it is a waste of his time. he said he will be cut off by a moderator as well. at this stage, it doesn't look like he will show up next week. have there been virtual debates before? weirdly, the first time they were televised debates in 1960 between richard nixon and john f kennedy, the third one in that series was

actually version —— virtual. before the days of zuma and all these online platforms, there was a virtual one in the past. generally speaking, since then, they have all been face—to—face. the dynamics of that are, obviously, been face—to—face. the dynamics of thatare, obviously, much been face—to—face. the dynamics of that are, obviously, much more desirable. you mention the vice presidential debate which did go ahead last night. what's been the reaction to that? not a lot, is the honest truth. the vice presidential debates don't tend to get a lot of attention. there was a bit more focus this time because of the nature of the situation. but i don't think there were any show stopping moments. both candidates of avoided a few difficult questions. there was

no big ding dong. the star of the show turned out to be a fly that landed in mike pence's heart for a few minutes. there will be polling about it later on. —— mike pence's. the former football coach barry bennell has been sentenced to an additional four years in jail for sexually abusing two boys in the 1980s. bennell, who coached youth teams at crewe, manchester city and stoke, pleaded guilty to abusing the boys when they were aged between 11 and 14. the sentence will be served after a 30 yearjail term bennell received in 2018 for abusing 12 other boys. he'll also have to serve an extra year on licence when and if he's released. a former bbc and itvjournalist, allegra stratton, has been appointed as downing street's new press secretary. she'll lead the new televised briefings being planned by number ten.

0ur deputy political editor vicki young has more details. there will be televised press conferences, quite similar to what we see in the white house and government want to introduce those as soon as next month. the person who will be the face for the government is allegra stratton. she is a former guardian journalist, she used to work for the bbc, itn and is most recently been working for rishi sunak, the chancellor. she is very much someone who knows her stuff. she will be beaming into people's living rooms every day, once they get this up and running and the government wants to do this because what they want to get their message out there, directly to viewers. it's quite a controversial idea, some would say, because it won't be an elected minister. they do insist there will still be ministers, and cabinet ministers fielding questions

at other times, but as for daily briefing, it will be allegra stratton taking questions, as far as we know, from journalists. we don't know if it will follow the same patterns as press conferences which have taken place during the covid pandemic where members of the public could ask questions, too. we'll have to wait and see what the format is going to be and exactly when they are to start. the duke of cambridge and sir david attenborough have joined forces to launch the biggest ever environmental prize, worth 50 million pounds. the "earthshot prize" will aim to find 50 solutions to the world's gravest environmental problems by 2030. 0ur chief environment correspondent justin rowlatt reports. public figures don't get much higher profile than david attenborough and prince william. now theyjoined

forces to launch an initiative they hope will change the world. ours is a world of wonder... hope will change the world. ours is a world of wonder. .. they the new prize will find solutions to the gravest environmental problems over the next ten years. we found that what was missing at the moment is harnessing people's optimism and hope. there's been a lot of negativity and pessimism. it's such a big scale topic. people don't know if recycling their plastic everyday makes a big difference. kensington palace says there will be an award of £5 million every year for ten yea rs. of £5 million every year for ten years. this will focus on five key

issues. fixing the climate, restoring nature, providing our oceans, restoring nature, providing our ocea ns, clea n restoring nature, providing our oceans, clean ourair... restoring nature, providing our oceans, clean our air... sir david acknowledges these are bold ambitions. he says the time for action is now. if you help the natural world, the world becomes a better place for everybody. 0rdinary people worldwide are beginning to realise that greed does not actually lead to joy. here we are, right on the coast, so we've got the marshland... it's becoming clear that protecting the environment is the issue that will define prince william's public role from now on. you can hear the ducks, geese, all the birds all the way along the coastline here. he says he hopes the prize will help

prepare the planet. he said it will call for new and innovative ways to bring real change. he said he has taken inspiration from his father, prince charles and now regards championing environmental action as one of his key responsibilities. you can hear prince william talking about the launch of the earthshot prize in a bbc news special , and there's a further interview with sir david attenborough in the new podcast, "‘what planet are we 0n?‘ . both are available now on the bbc sounds app. let's remind you of the latest coronavirus figures. in the past 24 hours 17,540 new positive cases have been recorded. a further 77 deaths of people with the virus have been confirmed, bringing the overall death toll across the uk to 42,515. we will take a look at those numbers

ina minute. we will take a look at those numbers in a minute. we know the prospect of local restrictions is an issue that many of you have been asking about online. lots of you are trying to establish if we can expect to hear an announcement from the prime minister soon on changes to lockdown rules. many of you are also wondering whether certain businesses will be forced to close, pubs or local hairdressers for example. and whether local travel restrictions could be tightened. there is also questions about whether leisure is taking part in scotland could be replicated in england. 0ur health correspondent will answer some of these queries. let's start with the latest figures on coronavirus infections and deaths. can you put in context around those? the figures by themselves are quite stark.

17,540 new cases. there are 3412 patients in hospital. to compare that to a month ago, there were not quite 800 people in hospital a month ago. for example, 442 people are so sick with coronavirus that they are on ventilators. a month ago, the figure was 79. there is a steady pattern of increase. we have had a statement from public health england talking about a definite and sustained increase in admissions. the trend is clear and concerning. this is the kind of thing we have been seeing for a while. it is backing up everything we are hearing, but it is not positive news. what impact is this having on nhs waiting times? because we've also had figures on that today. it's important to say those figures are from august, but they are still very important. 0ne from august, but they are still very important. one of the things we measure is routine surgeries. how long the people waiting for things

like knee and hip replacements? in august, there were 4.2 million people in england on the waiting list. nearly half of them have been waiting for more than 18 weeks. just over 100,000 have been on the waiting list for more than a year. let's give it a little bit more context. if we look, in august last year how many routine surgeries happened. 275,000 267. that's people getting these hip and knee replacements. this august it has fallen 255,000. that is of almost hundred and 25,000 people. i give you another figure to give it in a more positive contact. again let's use the figure of this august about hundred and 50,000 people having the surgery. in april it was closer to 41,000. we are not well used to be. we are not anywhere near the but

we've also come a long way since the start of the pandemic. the challenge now, is that the nhs will have to deal with the backlog. it will have to deal with the surge in cases at the same time. it won't be an easy task. the september figures will be the ones to watch. figures coming thick and fast today. we have also had figures on testing trace. the one figure that one surprise people after everything i just said one figure that one surprise people after everything ijust said is that there has been a 56% increase for people testing positive in the last week. it is interesting to see how long it takes for these tests to turn around. the week before these figures, 38% of people who had gone to driving or walking test centres we re to driving or walking test centres were getting their test results within 24 are less. in the most recent week that had fallen to 26%. we are talking to our political correspondent about the possible introduction of more restrictions.

but we are getting a lot of questions about that from viewers. briefly, what can you tell us about that, that you know? i imagine it will be very similar to what jonathan said. officially, we're not seeing certain. we've had mps saying they've been to a meeting with the health minister. they're expecting new measures to be announced on monday to kick in next wednesday. one of our viewers called anthea has asked us, why doesn't the government announced a lockdown before it begins? surely there is evidence that doing so undermines its efficacy. and he has got a good point here. it's human nature. if someone says, in two two days' time you are not allowed to do this, you wa nt to you are not allowed to do this, you want to do it. but it comes down to logistics. people can't stop their lives. let's take the example of a restau ra nt. lives. let's take the example of a restaurant. you can't say to a restau ra nt, restaurant. you can't say to a restaurant, you've got to close at

6pm tonight. they will have food in theirfridges and 6pm tonight. they will have food in their fridges and staff to pay. it carl says is there evidence that the return to schools and universities saw a rise caused a rise in cases? the picture has been growing slowly sincejuly the picture has been growing slowly since july and at the picture has been growing slowly sincejuly and at the end of august thatis sincejuly and at the end of august that is when it started to increase more sharply which is obviously one schools and universities did start go back. so if we take when university, newcastle. more than a thousand students have tested positive then the last week and that is at the student body of 28,000. the interesting thing with students is because a lot of them are so young many of them are asymptomatic. and a final question and i suppose universities might feed into this question from ken, it seems that rates are higher in the north than the south of england, why is that?

there is a simple answer but it is a good question. one theory is that london was hit so hard in the first wave that people, maybe there is more immunity and people are more fearful. another theory is that when we came out of lockdown injuly actually cases in the north of england hadn't really dipped to low enough level so it's been easy for them to build up and another theory is that a lot ofjobs in the north don't tend to be as office—based as people would be in the city of london so they can't work from home and we have to go out and get to work. we'll let you get back to your statistics and figures. good to talk to you. after a long hot summer when many restrictions were loosened and life began to feel almost back to normal, across europe there is a now a sharp rise in coronavirus cases. the rates are different in each country, as are the plans to deal with it, but the trend is the same.

the worst figures are from the czech republic, a small country, but it now has the highest infection rate in europe, at 327 cases per 100,000. wednesday saw a record number of infections, which the prime minister has warned would mean the country is heading into a danger zone. cases in the uk are now doubling every week, so the government is considering a further tightening of restrictions for millions of people to try and slow the rate. and officials in germany say they are worried after cases rose by almost a third in one day. our europe correspondent, gavin lee, reports. a sudden end for the bars of brussels. curtains drawn for the next month. it's the cafe culture here that's been blamed for creating contamination hotspots, according to regional officials. the announcement 24 hours ago has caught people by surprise here. it's coffee in the street for the police. restaurants are still allowed to be open, which has caused real confusion for those

somewhere in between. the phone is ringing all the time because people are asking, are you open or are you not? everything is not clear for us and for customers so we have to say yes, for the moment we are open and we welcome you to eat at the tables. but for tomorrow when the day after, we don't know. elisa manages a cafe by the main square and she thinks she can stay open providing they only serve meals. but the streets are so quiet now, she's not sure for how long. we are going to see at the end of the week how it goes and if there are more tourists which is already complicated because not a lot of people are in the streets. it's kind of a trial. the coronavirus situation in brussels is stark. officials say one out of every seven people are testing positive for coronavirus and it's putting pressure on the health system. hospitals are having to send patients outside of the city. and ultimately, the reason for such

caution and the police checking the cafes and bars are closed is because they say this is the least drastic step to prevent complete lockdown. elsewhere in europe, new restrictions are also being enforced. in italy it is now mandatory to wear face masks on the streets and outdoor spaces. germany has recorded the highest number of coronavirus cases in a single day since april. and across central scotland, pubs and restaurants will close from tomorrow. the world health organization has warned that many are suffering pandemic fatigue. eu leaders are urging people not to be complacent if there's a chance of things around. gavin lee, bbc news, brussels. let's return to our main story this hour, that a further tightening of coronavirus restrictions in parts of england from early next week is being considered by the government as the latest figures show an increase in infections. it's thought pubs and restaurants could be ordered to close in some areas next week after downing street said new data suggested there was "significant" transmission

taking place in hospitality venues. more than seven thousand scientists and medical practitioners around the world have signed an open letter calling for people who are less vulnerable to the effects of covid—19 to be allowed to return to a normal life. 50,000 members of the public have also backed the great barrington declaration, which was co—written by professor sunetra gupta, an epidemiologist at oxford university. we'll talk to professor gupta in just a moment, but first we are joined by paul hunter who's a professor of medicine at the university of east anglia. thank you forjoining us. i wonder where you stand on local lockdown is and what you to people who say the number of people going into hospital and the number of people dying is much lower in the spring and it would be an overreaction to increase

restrictions? i think we are seeing hospitals in parts of the north are starting to fill up and starting to struggle with the number of cases. sadly, we've also seen that many of the local lockdown is at the moment don't seem to have actually made that much of a difference in terms of reversing the epidemic. given that we are now moving into winter, things are likely to get worse as we move towards christmas. so it is not looking good at the moment.” move towards christmas. so it is not looking good at the moment. i wonder why you think it is ok then for infections to rise? the simple fact is that you cannot stem the flow of this pathogen through the population. so you can stop it for a while but it will return. so what

you have to ask yourself is what these restrictions are achieving? for the time being they are bringing cases down and that could be a good thing if the cases indeed lead to death, but it's not solving the problem. we are here on a journey and there is a destination which is and there is a destination which is a point where the risk is low enough and permanently low enough for everyone to resume their normal lives. so if that is where we are going the question is, is the best way to get there by repeatedly locking down or introducing these restrictions which we know have a devastating effect on the lives of the young and the disadvantaged? so what we are suggesting is something different. we are saying, one thing we know about this virus is that it doesn't cause deaths in a particular

sector of society. so why not allow that sector to resume normal activities to build up the very immunity that will then protect vulnerable people and in the meantime focus our efforts on protecting the vulnerable.” meantime focus our efforts on protecting the vulnerable. i am sorry to interrupt but when you talk about vulnerable people, what do you mean and how can you protect them? we are talking about people who are at risk of death and severe disease from infection and we do have fortunately from a very detailed and forensic analysis that many people have done, we do have a good idea of who is at risk of death and disease and we know the age risk goes up

with age. it's very clear that people over a certain age and particularly those who have vulnerabilities and at a high risk. so those are the people we know are at high risk and probably know how to shield because if they are in ca re to shield because if they are in care homes it goes without saying that we must step up our control of infection in care homes and also in hospitals where most of the infections which led to death were required. so those are the two obvious low hanging fruit. are you effectively saying there is a price to pay in some people dying because it will have less of an impact ultimately on more people's lives?

that is the general principle that public health strategy has to consider but rather than putting it orframing it in consider but rather than putting it or framing it in the context of coronavirus itself, we should recognise that overall we do have to optimise our health care and our public health and general strategies for the greatest good of everyone and therefore we have to factor in the enormous costs of lockdown into our thinking when we decide what the best thing is to do. but what the declaration proposes is actually a better and more optimistic situation where because of this peculiar kind of characteristic of this virus, that it has very little damage to

younger people, we can capitalise on that and create a situation where we minimise deaths by shielding those who are vulnerable for a finite period of time until such immunity has built up in the population as to allow them to permanently resume normal life. i would like to pick up some of those points with paul hunter. how sympathetic are you to the argument of the greatest good and that we should protect vulnerable but let the rest of the population acquire immunity?” certainly think we should protect the vulnerable and one of the disappointing things has been the lack of real public discussion or discussion from ministers about how we should be protecting our most vulnerable. that is absolutely and i totally agree on that. where i

differfrom her is totally agree on that. where i differ from her is that this concept that we are going to get herd immunity here is a myth. we do know that coronavirus immunity lasts a very short time, possibly as much as two years, probably close to the six months and we are already seeing infections occurring in people who have recovered within about four and a half months. so we are not going to see any really good herd immunity. the other issue is the concept currently that the young don't really have anything to worry about with coronavirus and that has not yet really been proven. we are beginning to hear about things like along coronavirus which we don't properly understand yet. we don't know how long it's going to last and

we don't know how life changing it is. but there is certainly increasing evidence that young people can suffer long—term consequences after coronavirus. it's too early to say for certain how common and how severe that will be. but we don't really want to get another six months down the line and say, we've got a really big public health problem from young people who had coronavirus and haven't really recovered. actually, that could be more severe in terms of the overall public health than the sadly high number of cases of deaths. one final thing is, the concept that if we've got very high transmission of coronavirus in the community that you could actually protect the most vulnerable is an incredibly suspect statement because look at sweden.

sweden has one of the highest death rates the head of population in the world. it's about 17 times greater than the death rate in norway. ten times greater than the death rate in finland and five times greater than the death rate in denmark. so yes i agree to protect the vulnerable, but ido agree to protect the vulnerable, but i do not think the suggestion you could let it run free in the young and everything would be ok i think it's just not terrible. thank you both. you have both given us a lot to think about. we are very grateful to think about. we are very grateful to both of you for your time. the headlines on bbc news: the uk records seventeen and a half thousand new cases of covid—19, as tighter restrictions to control

coronavirus are expected in the worst—affected areas of england next week,local leaders aer demanding more details of potential plans to close pubs and restaurants. people waiting over a year for hospital treatment in england hit a 12—year high as fears grow about the pressure of coronavirus on the nhs. donald trump has refused to take part in a virtual presidential debate, minutes after the organisers said next thursday's event would be held online. ruth davidson has accused nicola sturgeon of misleading the scottish parliament over a meeting about allegations of sexual misconduct by the former first minister, alex salmond. at first minister's questions, ms davidson, the conservative leader in the parliament, said it was beyond belief that nicola sturgeon hadn't remembered a meeting in which she was first told of the allegations against mr salmond. our scotland correspondent

james shaw has more. we should give a bit of context about this. it was back in 2018 that allegations of sexual misconduct first emerged against alex salmond, the former first minister of scotland. two civil servants claiming sexual misconduct and he denied those claims. it took the scottish government to court and the scottish government to court and the scottish government to court and the scottish government had to admit that its process had been procedurally unfair after that. mr salmond faced criminal charges but was acquitted on all those charges in march this year. in that whole complicated process the aspect of it that ruth davidson the leader of the conservatives in the scottish parliament was interested in was when did nicola sturgeon first know about these allegations? she told the parliament it was at the start of april and 2018 but it has since emerged that it was actually three days earlier at the end of march. it seems a small detail but a really

critical when according to ruth davidson and she said she couldn't understand why nicola sturgeon had forgotten this critical detail. this was a response. there is something seared on my memory and it is actually the meeting that took place some three days later when alex salmond himself sat in my own home and gave me the details of the complaints that had been made against him and also gave me his response to aspects of those complaints. that is what is seared in my memory and i think most reasonable people would understand that. you will forgive me if that has somehow overwritten in my mind a much more fleeting opportunistic meeting that took place a few days earlier, then that is just how it is. ruth davidson really wasn't buying any of that. she came back very strongly and was saying it was a really serious allegation about

nicola sturgeon's behaviour. you have to ask why the first minister misled parliament by omitting the fa ct misled parliament by omitting the fact that this meeting ever took place. why did it take government staff are being questioned under oath ina staff are being questioned under oath in a court of law for it even to come out. the meeting in her first ministerial office regarding a former first minister and the civil service investigation never recorded, never minuted. the code is clear that all such meetings must be passed back for the facts to be recorded. her defence is that she has only ever acted as head of the snp. isn't this ascendant memory loss because she didn't want her involvement as first minister coming to light. why does all this matter? well, what is important is the protocols around these investigations into ministers of formerfirst ministers investigations into ministers of former first ministers and the first minister should not be involved in any way in them. that is why it may matter. whether or not nicola

sturgeon had this prior meeting in the scottish parliament apparently in the first minister's office. weight go from here? it depends on what happens with the committee of the parliament which is looking into this whole mess and this whole controversy. it's going to hear evidence from nicola sturgeon we expect and from alex salmond as well and also from nicola sturgeon's husband who is the chief executive of the party of which she is the elected leader. and on the evidence they give in the coming months, a lot will depend. and the timeline they are looking at undoubtedly is scottish elections in may of 2020. we'll play into those elections? british airways has waved its last two boeing 747 jumbo jets out of its base at heathrow. the original version of the aircraft has been flying for more half a century.

the airline's entire fleet of the jets has been retired four years earlier than scheduled, because of the pandemic‘s effect on international travel. our transport correspondent, tom burridge, watched the last flight take off. the queen of the skies on a final departure. it was over and out for the british airways 747 era. julie, cabin crew, we will bring you in. how are you feeling? so tearful. sorry. really sad to see her go. such a shame about the weather, but amazing. absolutely incredible. sorry. a glamour glider through the decades. the original version launched in the ‘60s and defied all the odds. how are they ever going to get that thing in the air? julie welcomed a—listers and royalty on board. no need to go to a gym either.

you become very attached to a huge chunk of metal that takes you around the world. and it is glamorous, it is iconic. and you do actually fall in love. old newsreel: the stretched upper deck is new to ba... in its day, the double deck was novel. it's like a private jet up here. it's still pretty cool today. i know somebody whose grandma boarded a 747 and thought she was still in the departure lounge because it wasjust so big. she didn't realise and she kept saying, "when are we boarding?" the dress code changed, the food got better, but there were millions of miles and millions of 747 memories. i think everyone knows the jumbo. it was borne out of the moon landing age 50 years ago and it has been with us ever since. you can recognise it. you just see it when you get to the airport. it stands out, it's iconic, and customers, colleagues and anyone who has had anything to do with the jumbo just loves it. the captain at the controls as

the plane taxied out one last time. rain and tears. a short trip to south wales for one, the other to gloucestershire — a fond goodbye. tom burridge, bbc news at heathrow. hundreds of erotic drawings by one of britain's leading painters of the mid twentieth century, duncan grant, have been found under a bed. the pictures, mostly of male sexual encounters, have now been given to charleston, the farmhouse in east sussex where grant lived and worked. it was believed that the collection, thought to be worth around two million pounds, had been destroyed, but i've been hearing about its rediscovery and significance. my name is dr darren clarke and i'm the head of collections,

research and exhibitions for the charleston trust. the charleston trust looks after charleston farmhouse, which was the former home of the bloomsbury artists vanessa bell and duncan grant. this is duncan grant's mum, ethel. you think that everything has been said or written about the bloomsbury group but they are continually surprising us. what we have here are 422 works on paper by duncan grant. this collection was given by duncan grant to a friend. for a long time everybody thought it had been destroyed. because of its homosexual nature and because they were illegal images it was thought that his friends' family had destroyed them on his death. but luckily they were saved and they were given to another friend and another friend and another friend and eventually they came down to the person who has given them to charleston. why did you decide to give them to charleston? i've been wondering who i might pass them on to and i thought this could go on for centuries if we don't kind of stop it. did you ever take them

out from under the bed and show them to people? occasionally, yes. some friends would come round for dinner and the subject would go vaguely towards bloomsbury and i would say, well i don't know if you know about this but i've got all these erotic drawings and would you like to see them. and so i would haul them out and show them a few. there were hundreds so one got the gist quite quickly. they need to come out of the closet now and be considered and looked at and thought about. i mean, they are a serious collection. absolutely beautiful. i think it's a really significant discovery. a lot of talk about bloomsbury and its relationships and its fluid relationships and the different amount of partners people could have. but it's never really been visualised in any way and this gives it visual context. this is his passion,

this is what he was interested in. and that gives it a legitimacy, that gives a different context for grant and his life and the stories that we can tell at charleston and for different people and the different voices that we can bring to charleston. now, it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello there. there has been some milder weather today across more southern parts of the uk. but over the next few days as we head into the weekend, it is going to feel colder. we have lower temperatures day and night and probably blowing in some showers as well. the reason for the cold air is higher pressure out to the west in the atlantic and a north to northwesterly airflow bringing down the colder air all the way from iceland. these are the temperatures by this evening. still 15 or 16 degrees. the cloudy damp weather moving out into the english channel and a few showers following in from the north—west. now, yesterday evening was the peak of the meteor shower, but we had a lot of cloud coming in.

this evening, particularly across england and wales we will find some clearer skies. the cloud moving away from southern england and east anglia as well, but for scotland and northern ireland, we have more cloud coming in from the north—west. the breeze picking up and that will bring in some outbreaks of rain that will push down into the far north of england and north wales by the end of the night. ahead of it some clearer skies. a lot colder than it was last night, temperatures could be down to five or 6 degrees and possibly lower than that in the scottish glens as the rain clears away and we get the showers following on. lots of showers for scotland and northern ireland, too, the showers heavy with some hail and thunder. and that band of rain moves down through the midlands, away from wales and into southern england in the afternoon. the rain could be a little heavy as well. we are drawing down a north to north—westerly breeze, strongest in the north—west of the uk, where we are seeing the most frequent showers. but it will be a colder day on friday. could make 15 towards the south and south—east of england, but otherwise it's about 11 to 13 degrees. over the weekend, we sought

was in cold we start with some cold north to north—westerly winds. this high pressure trying to build in from the atlantic will lessen the winds for the second half of the weekend. certainly a chilly feel out and about on saturday. some sunshine and showers, most of the showers in the north and west of the uk. drier and sunnier for many eastern parts of england until later in the day. they typically 12 or 13 degrees and feeling colder in the wind. the second half of the weekend, the strongest winds will be down the north sea coasts of england and scotland and this is where we will see most of any showers. elsewhere it will be generally dry and they will be sunshine at times. winds later as you head further west, but after a chilly start, temperatures are still 12 or 13.

this is bbc news i'm rebecca jones. the headlines at 5pm. the uk records 17 and a half thousand new cases of covid—19 — as tighter restrictions to control coronavirus are expected in the worst—affected areas of england next week — local leaders want more details of those potential plans. we've said all along, we want to have an open and meaningful dialogue with the government. i've asked them to speak to areas where, potentially, they could be facing more stringent lockdown measures. people waiting over a year for hospital treatment in england hit a 12—year high — as fears grow about the pressure of coronavirus on the nhs donald trump has refused to take part in a virtual presidential debate — minutes after the organisers said