this is bbc news. the headlines at 8pm: another big rise in coronavirus infections as hospitals gear up for the next wave. 17,500 new cases of covid—19 were recorded today. tighter restrictions to control coronavirus are expected in the worst—affected areas of england next week. nottingham now has the highest rate of covid—19 cases in the country, moving above manchester, liverpool and knowsley. we'll speak to one of their mps. i think this was a blessing from god that i caught it. president trump claims he's no longer contagious but refuses to take part in next week's presidential debate after it's made virtual. the older brother of the manchester arena bomber

refuses to say why he won't co—operate with the public inquiry into the attack. 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. hello and welcome. almost 3,500 people with coronavirus are now being treated in hospitals in england. the number of patients being admitted has been doubling every fortnight since the start of september. hospitals that have been quiet over the summer are making preparations for a second wave. some are already dealing with large numbers of covid patients. it's all had a huge knock

on effect on other services. new figures reveal that more than 4 million people are currently waiting for routine operations on the nhs in england. half of them have been waiting at least four months. and more than 110,000 people in england have been waiting longer than a year. that's the highest figure since 2008. more than 20,000 cancer patients did begin treatment in august. but that's a drop of 5,000 on the same period last year. but there has been a considerable rise in the number of procedures like hip and knee replacements. 0ur health editor hugh pym has more. 8.00 in the morning, and the pressure‘s already on at the royal bournemouth hospital. 0k, next patient? any idea people are staying away from a&e is a distant memory. she has regularly self—harmed over the last couple of years. all the bays filled up overnight.

now comes the staff handover. so, she is a 24—year—old lady, again, known to the mental health team, who had a crisis last night. irrespective of covid, hospitals like this are facing up to the build—up of the usual winter pressures. here, they've seen some of their busiest ever days in the emergency department. dr farhad islam is a senior consultant here. he's seen an increase in patients needing mental health crisis care. it might be a call for help. it might be a psychiatric problem. it might be a self—harmed patient or person that's got mental problems, mental health problems. we're seeing the whole array of patients, but in amongst that, the rate of covid is increasing. covid case numbers are relatively low in the local area. i think the goal today was to try and clear another bay if possible. but at this meeting, they need to work out how to make space

while protecting other patients. we do need to get another bay empty, i completely agree. we are still seeing numbers of patients come in with non—covid related conditions, but we've got a small proportion of patients with covid and we are unable to mix those pathways, so we need to find a way to do that safely. this is our intensive care unit that we have ready to use for the second surge of covid. the intensive care beds are ready, and staff know only too well what could come their way. so, we are all still fairly raw from last time. we are very used to having family members on intensive care units and suddenly be told we can't see those family members and can't see all the work that goes into helping their loved ones. it's very difficult for the staff. and that anticipation of having to go back to that is quite traumatising for critical care staff. so can you just take me through what we're doing? we're actually going to be doing

a double ward refurb over here, which is the first time we've done this. elsewhere, they're preparing for the usual winter challenges, creating a frailty unit to help the recovery of elderly patients and their safe return home. you've been seen by our nursing team, and you've been seen by our surgical team. some patients, like christopher, are coming back in for non—urgent operations. i'm having a reconstructive surgery. christopher's ankle operation was postponed in march. he's pleased it's now about to be done, but the wait has been difficult. quite a lot of pain, i'm on quite a lot of heavy dose painkillers. it's difficult to walk, really. i put a lot more weight on my other leg. yeah, pretty tricky. i asked the chief executive how they were tackling the backlog of operations put off because of covid—i9. we've been going through all the long—waiters and really trying hard to get people who have been waiting longer. none of us want that for our friends and family. and none of our commissions want that. everybody wants to treat patients.

we know how awful it is when people have to wait a long time, so it's a top priority. during the first surge, much of their focus was on the sickest covid patients, but now there are other worries as well. if we see a flu season, if we see covid rising, how we balance that with keeping all the other patients who need to be treated in hospital coming through in a timely way, that's going to be the biggest challenge. it'll be tough for staff, some still exhausted from their efforts earlier in the year, but they all want people to know they're there and ready to help patients, whatever their needs. hugh pym, bbc news, bournemouth. we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30pm and 11:30pm this evening in the papers — our guests joining me tonight are the chief leader writer at the observer, sonia sodha,

and the deputy political editor at the daily express, sam lister. hope you can join hope you canjoin us hope you can join us for that. so, the latest government coronavirus data shows a significant rise in new infections. 17,540 were recorded in the latest 24—hour period, up from just over 14,000 yesterday. this means the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week is 14,520. hospital admissions jumped significantly on sunday. now, on average, 528 people are being admitted every day over the past week. this number doesn't include scotland. 77 deaths have been reported — that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—i9 test. it means on average in the past week, 56 deaths were announced every day, which takes the total number of deaths so far across the uk to 10,592. 0ur health correspondent

lauren moss is here. i know you have been looking at the figures for us and just talk us through the acceleration in cases of. like you mentioned, there's been a number of increase in the number of people testing positive for coronavirus in the last 2a hours, but what is very key and important to look at is the number of hospital admissions, because that gives us quoted clear indication of how the pandemic affecting people. if we just take england's figures alone, the numbers are up by 10% in today, and the total number being treated now is around 3000, so it is raising, but then if you put that into context, if we go back to the end of march, beginning of april, 3000 patients everything with a, the patients, were being admitted. it is important to note and bear in mind this is not widespread around the country, so northwest, the northeast, yorkshire in the midlands have far greater numbers of patients in hospital, around about a thousand patients being treated with coronavirus in the northwest,

london, there's around 300 figure or fewer than a hundred in the southwest. this is a very different picture across the country, but we know that cases are rising nationwide. and in the meantime, will these cases are rising, a track entry will these cases are rising, a track e ntry syste m will these cases are rising, a track entry system is not working as it should be. yes, and it's under a lot of pressure and focus right now in england. if we look at the week up to the 30th of september, chose the number of people testing positive is up number of people testing positive is up by number of people testing positive is up by about half, but what is key is the turnaround time for test results, and as we can see in this graph year, from july, those test results are people in those in person test results, when they have gone to a test centre, and had the test, they are getting the results within 2a hours. but since then, over the last six weeks, those number ten started tailing off and it's really declined and drops down, so it's really declined and drops down, so the figures for the last week show more than one third came back within 2a hours, this week, the data is around about a quarter. we know that more tests are being done,

that's true, but the results are taking longer to come back, and that could suggest that the programme is not keeping up with the demand of testing it is needing to do. and as we head towards winter and is we heard in hugh's report as well, if hospital admissions continue to rise, the turnaround of these results is import for the public and also nhs staff too, need to find out if they are covid positive or not. what do we know about how this virus is spreading is yellow data from public health -- data from public health england says the highest number of... household contacts, if they visited friends or relatives. quite to be expected. since ten august, people who have been tested positive and as about places they've been to an active do they have been doing two to seven days before feeling unwell, so to seven days before feeling unwell, so although that does not describe the most common source of infection, the most common source of infection, the information could indicate where transmission might be happening, so if we bear that in mind, eating out

is the most commonly reported activity, another common activity is shopping, and we go back to the eating out data presented to some council leaders today, it shows that out of under 30s testing positive, which is where we know a large number of the cases are, 41% had recently last week up into pubs, restau ra nts recently last week up into pubs, restaurants or cafes. but that does not tell us they picked up coronavirus there. it is just that is where they had been, but we know that covid can spread more widely in enclosed settings come over there is less opportunity for social distancing, and the state is going to be further analysed. remember that the government has stressed opportunities to keep the workplace open, schools open, so that leaves little wiggle room on what they can close. we will hear about that in a moment. lauren maas, thank you for those health figures. —— lauren

moss. the government will outline new measures for england within days. it's thought a system of alert levels will be announced. in the worst affected areas, it would mean pubs and restaurants could be forced to close. much of the north of england is expected to come under even tighter restrictions next week. 0ur deputy political editor vicki young has been looking at the likely details. all eyes are on the numbers, and they are going in the wrong direction. coronavirus cases are rising, fast in some places, hospital beds are filling up, and businesses are going bust. as the data floods in, the problems are obvious. now ministers must decide what to do about it. there's real concern about cities like liverpool and manchester. and an argument about whether socialising in bars and restaurants is fuelling the rise in cases. we're currently considering what steps we should take. 0bviously taking the advice of our scientific and medical advisers. 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.

the government is proposing local covid alert levels for england made up of three tiers. if an area is in tier i, measures will include the rule of six and a 10pm curfew for pubs and restaurants. tier 2 is likely to mean no household mixing. tier 3 would trigger the toughest restrictions. no final decisions have been made, but extra curbs on the hospitality industry are being considered. ministers want to avoid more national restrictions. that's because some areas have very low numbers of covid cases. torridge in devon has recorded just 89 since the pandemic began. they want to keep as much of the economy open as possible. the government's gearing up for tighter restrictions in some areas, and mps and local leaders want to see more of the scientific evidence behind the decisions, especially when it comes to closing parts of the hospitality sector. as ministers mull over what to do, some of the details are leaking out and that's infuriated those

in the hardest—hit areas. you can't have an effective government, can you, if its comms strategy is announcement by media leak? we've said all along we want to have an open and meaningful dialogue with government. my message would be, first of all, talk to us more. we haven't been talked to at all apart from at a public— health level. secondly, let's check the facts and try to work with the science. when are new restrictions coming, prime minister? another big rise in cases today has given more weight to the argument that urgent action is needed. borisjohnson might not be able to delay until next week. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. nottingham now has the highest rate of new covid—i9 cases in the country. the city has moved above manchester, liverpool and knowsley, with 689 cases per 100,000 people in the week to 5 october. that's compared to 122 in the week to 28th september.

let's speak to the labour mp for nottingham north and the shadow health minister, alex norris. you were on the conference call with the health minister, edward argar, earlier today, briefed by the covid task force on the latest local covid—19 data. first of all, when it comes to nottingham, why do you think there has been this large increase in the cases in yourjurisdiction and your constituencies? what happened in nottingham has been exceptional and it's ordinary stop we have gone from basically below average in our case rate a couple of weeks ago, to now being the number one by infection rate, of course, having two big and very good universities plays a part for that, but we have got all those sort of risk factors around covid. we are younger, more diverse, we have got greater issues of deprivation, all the things we know tend to correlate with teacher's

mission of covid, so that's why we need to react to that. just picking up need to react to that. just picking up on the point about universities, are you saying that the student population, with the increase with the start of the academic year, that the start of the academic year, that the students i bring this in? that could be deemed potentially little unfair. i am not necessarily saying that. what i'm saying is younger but populations, as you said you previous feature, we are the youngest big—city in the country, so that tends to be a correlating factor and i think that is one the reasons, but it is less of what is happened but more about what we are going to do about it. you heard, i mentioned you were one of those briefed by the covid task force. have you had a better understanding 110w have you had a better understanding now as to what the potential new measures could be introduced from next week? no. it was not the most convincing call i have been part of. when pressed about nottingham, the advice that came back was, with not

decided yet, which is very hard to understand. i talked to local journalist and they're getting better briefings than we are. it has been absolutely chaotic and we are 110w been absolutely chaotic and we are now understanding that there are two beet restrictions, but then i could come into next week which, given we are top of the list now, seems extraordinary. did you have any, during a briefing, scientific evidence as to the ten o'clock cu rfew evidence as to the ten o'clock curfew in the evening for pubs and restau ra nts curfew in the evening for pubs and restaurants to curfew in the evening for pubs and restau ra nts to close ? curfew in the evening for pubs and restaurants to close? was there any indication as to why that specific time is beneficial? no, that remains am afraid the big question. we've been asking that question now a number of weeks. as a responsible opposition we support restrictions. we know that as infection rates increase, so will be restrictions, but there has to be in evidence behind them and they still cannot explain it to us. in the polymer

thatis explain it to us. in the polymer that is people are first ready bite and, therefore, their commitment is waning asa and, therefore, their commitment is waning as a result of the government, they have lost control of the virus due to their chaotic testing and tracing system collapse and now the feeling because the communication are unclear. they've got to get a grip and i cannot believe just before he came on, i saw a statement from the government about nottingham, the first time i've seen that, and they said, we support the local authorities. in your previous feature, you have the local counsel mike leader saying they have not spoken to him. they will spring and the restrictions we are asking them to bring in —— the local council leader. what kind of restrictions do you want to see? we know councillor david mellor is cautious about introducing extra restrictions. what are you hoping to see? is it the kind of inter—household restrictions or the

curbing of facilities, of places where you can go out and eat and drink? what we are saying we want is the curbing of the mixing of households. again, on your previous report, it talked about that being the presumed sigel biggest place of contact, the transfer for those who have coronavirus, so we think that would be proportionate. we are asking people to do that immediately. the one thing about nottingham, we have got the best nightlife, i believe, in the country, and i'm really worried about tomorrow night and saturday night, were normally friday and saturday are bustling. we don't want people to try and have one last chance at that, and that's like doing things in the way the government have is so hard for us to miss or damaging, so we are trying to get out of those researches by suggesting people ourselves, but we don't have the legal backing to enforce those. so why is sir keir starmer only now agreeing to back this 10pm curfew if, as you say, we have got a weekend coming up and

this could potentially be the last hurrah for many people, taking they will squeeze in a good night out before the restrictions come enforce ? before the restrictions come enforce? we sent the route that we don't have the access to the scientific advice that the government have —— we have said throughout. when the government have brought restrictions forward, it is very ha rd to brought restrictions forward, it is very hard to poke holes in it, to say, we think it should be a rule of six, aprilfive, say, we think it should be a rule of six, april five, that's say, we think it should be a rule of six, aprilfive, that's not very responsive. we sent to the government, we really support those restrictions but we want... we want to understand that there effective and there is a good scientific basis for them, we've said that, we've been saying that for many weeks, if you go back to front ministers questions, —— financer —— prime minister's questions, circular starmer was saying that. thank you, alex, for the time being.

and just a reminder you can use the postcode finder on the bbc news website to find out what the restrictions are in yourarea. donald trump is claiming he's no longer contagious after contracting coronavirus, but he is refusing to take part in next week's us presidential debate if it's held virtually. 0rganisers say the second debate of the campaign will go ahead, but with the president and democratic contenderjoe biden each in a separate location. 0ur north america editor jon sopel has more. never before has a vp debate been so important, and there's a reason for that. with both presidential candidates well into their 70s, the old phrase about the number two being only a heartbeat away from the oval office has never seemed more relevant. in the debate between mike pence and kamala harris, covid was centre stage, although divided by plexiglass. the american people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any

presidential administration in the history of our country. but i want the american people to know that from the very first day, president donald trump has put the health of america first. whatever the vice president is claiming the administration has done, clearly it hasn't worked. but when you say what the american people have done over these last eight months hasn't worked, that's a great disservice to the sacrifices the american people have made. this debate had none of the histrionics and shouting of last week, in what felt like a 0—0 draw. to be honest, the most exciting bit came when a very black fly landed in mike pence's very white hair and stayed there. president trump and i stand with you. it ended with this trail—ahead. the second presidential debate is next week on october 15th — a town hall style debate in miami. we hope you willjoin us then. but this morning, the independent commission that runs the presidential debates ruled that next week's encounter

should be virtual. the president's reaction — a furious "i‘ no, i'm not going to waste my time on a virtual debate. that's not what debating's all about. you sit behind a computer and do a debate — it's ridiculous. and then they cut you off whenever they want. joe biden, who's agreed to a virtual debate, was today throwing up his hands. we don't know what the president's going to do — he changes his mind every second. for me to comment on that now would be irresponsible. i think i'm going to follow the commission recommendations. if he goes off and he's going to have a rally, i'll... i don't know what i'll do. the strategy of the president pre—illness had been to change the subject away from the pandemic. now he seems to be embracing it as a gift. i think this was a blessing from god that i caught it. with donald trump trailing in all the polls, he needs the debates much more thanjoe biden as a way of resetting the race. if he goes ahead with his threat of not taking part in a virtual

debate next week, no one will be more pleased thanjoe biden. he has far more to lose and very much less to gain. jon sopel, bbc news, at the white house. five met police officers have been placed under disciplinary investigation by the independent office for police conduct after they stopped and handcuffed the british athlete bianca williams and her partner in northwest london injuly. the investigation will cover claims including that officers breached police standards of professional behaviour relating to use of force, duties and responsibilities, authority, respect and courtesy. 0ur correspondent helena wilkinson is with me. just remind us what happened. as you say, this happened in 6.1. —— happened in july. —— happened injuly. bionca williams and her partner and baby were in a car in northwest london. police said they work trolling the area because there had been an increase in youth violence. it happened after that,

the couple, you can see those pictures there, they were stopped by officers from the metropolitan police. they were taken out of that car, they were handcuffed, both of them, and searched in front of their son. after that incident, bionca williams claimed the metropolitan police had racially profiled them —— bianca williams. after that, the met police did apologise, not for the stop and search itself, they did not see anything or did not find anything wrong with that search, but for the distress that was caused. after that, a referral was made by the met police to the police watchdog, the independent 0ffice the met police to the police watchdog, the independent office for police conduct, and they have done a big investigation for their talked to witnesses commode looked at body cam footage to determine the events, the sequence of events, so what we have heard from them is that they are going to investigate five of those seven met police officers who we re those seven met police officers who were involved in that stop and

search injuly of this year, and he kind of things they will be looking at, one in particular, if the couple retreated less favourably because of their race. they will also look at why their car was followed, whether the force used against them was lawful, necessary, reasonable and proportionate. and one other thing, from the seven points that they are going to look at, why their baby son was added to the met database of children known to police, so that investigation is going to go on, five met police officers have been told now that they are under investigation for misconduct and it will be the outcome of that that will be the outcome of that that will determine whether any of those officers face disciplinary proceedings or not. any reaction from the metropolitan police since that has been announced? yes, they have responded, and what they have said ina have responded, and what they have said in a statement is, if any failings are proven, the vet says,

they would only mount to minor breaches of the standards of professional heavier they go on to say this would not be at the level of misconduct and soak suitable for reflective practice. the metros on to say, and points out, none of the officers have been suspended or subject to restricted duties. they are fully cooperating and, again, going on to reiterate the serving of these notices on those five offices are not necessarily meaning misconduct proceedings follow, but five officers have been told that they are under investigation in connection with that stop and search in the summer of or bianca williams, the british sprinter, and her partner were stopped, searched, arrested, nothing was found, no one was arrested, they were on their way. helena, thank you for talking us way. helena, thank you for talking us through that. helena wilkinson. prince william and sir david

attenborough have joined forces to launch what they hope will become the "nobel prize for environmentalism". the earthshot prize is being described as the most prestigious global environment award in history, offering £50 million to projects that aim to repair the planet. sir david attenborough: ours is a world of wonder. prince william and sir david have joined forces with the dizzyingly ambitious goal of repairing the planet. their plan is that the new prize will find 50 "earthshots" — 50 solutions — to the world's gravest environmental problems over the next ten years. the earthshot prize is the most prestigious global environmental prize there's ever been. it's a hugely ambitious target, but i do think that positivity and finding ways through this is better than saying, you know, it's all doom and gloom, we are all going to perish. i think we've got to harness our ingenuity and our ability to invent some of this out.

kensington palace says the earthshot prize will make five awards of £1 million each, 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. it isn't just about the money. earthshot is backed by companies, environmental organisations and celebrities, who will help nurture and scale up ideas so they can be applied worldwide. sir david says action is needed right now. time is short. i am well aware, on my travels and in the environment, i've seen problems that are right now. and they are building. i mean, we really have to be getting onto it as fast as we can. here we are, right on the coast. prince william told the bbc today he now sees championing environmental action as a central

part of his public role. you can hear all the ducks, the geese, all the birds, all the way along the coastline here. and the earthshot prize is at the very heart of that. a way, he hopes, of uniting the world behind the effort to find new ways to protect our planet. justin rowlatt, bbc news. much more on that on our website. i will be back shortly. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello there. clearing skies this evening for england and wales. you may be able to get a view of the meteor shower, but further north, the weather is turning again. as the wind picks up overnight, we blow in cloud and rain into scotland and northern ireland, eventually pushing down into northern england and north wales by the end of the night, by which time it's going to be quite chilly. ahead of that, with the clearer skies, colder than last night. could be five or 6 degrees. maybe a touch colder than that even in the glens of scotland where, after the overnight rain,

tomorrow, we're going to see sunshine and showers for scotland, northern ireland, chasing in behind this band of cloud and rain as it moves its way southwards, arriving in southern england in the afternoon. the rain could be rather heavy. the showers following, though, will be heavy in the northwest, where the winds are strongest. may well be some hail and thunder in there, too, and typical temperatures are only 11 degrees in the afternoon, a touch higher than that ahead of that rain in the southeast. over the weekend, a chilly wind — at least on saturday. there will be some sunshine and some showers as well. goodbye. hello, this is bbc news with kasia madera. the headlines... another big rise in coronavirus infections as hospitals gear up for the next wave. 17,500 new cases of covid—19 were recorded today. tighter restrictions to control coronavirus are expected in the worst—affected areas

of england next week. nottingham now has the highest rate of covid—19 cases in the country, moving above manchester, liverpool and knowsley. i think this was a blessing from god that i caught it. president trump claims he's no longer contagious, but refuses to take part in next week's presidential debate after it's made virtual. the older brother of the manchester arena bomber refuses to say why he won't co—operate with the public inquiry into the attack. 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. local councils in england are to receive 30 million pounds to fund measures including covid marshals, to ensure the public and businesses follow coronavirus rules. a further 30 million pounds in government funding will be split

between police forces in england and wales to aid enforcement. sunderland has some of the highest infection rates in england at 291 per 100,000. the average area in england has 68. they've been under restrictions where households cannot mix inside since 28th september, and the city is now preparing itself for even tighter restrictions next week. a group of marshals there have been patrolling town for the past three weeks. we can now speak to one of them, amanda eaton. and i'm alsojoined by sharon appleby from sunderland business improvement district, who co—funded the marshals. thank you very much for your time. what is it like, amanda, being a covid marshall? it's really nice to do, get outta your comfort zone.

when you say really to do, describe the kind of things that you do. trying to encourage people to put masks on, really, and we seen a different day by day. we're asking less and less people every day if they can just post masks on —— put masks on. are you finding that people are responding to that in a positive fashion? yes, very much so, but we do get the odd people not wanting to just put a mask on, but we see dave id —— that's the kind of thing you want to see by funding these marshals was blue about three weeks ago before

the marshal started two we've seen around 70% of people wearing masks. we are definitely into the mid—90% of amanda, given the kind of role that you've been doing already, given the tightening of restrictions that were potentially going to hear next week, do you think your role will be complicated somewhat?” do you think your role will be complicated somewhat? i don't think so, because a lot of people are abiding by putting masks on. i think we see that people with exemptions, even wearing shields for that protection, a lot of people out there are trying to stop the spread. sunderland has already been under

restrictions where household can't mix inside. is that something you can impact on? do you see household mixing within environments? not inside shopping centres. we do see couege inside shopping centres. we do see college students in the large groups outside and we just encourage them inside the college and their bubble isn't the same outside, so we just try to remind them they can't be in any large groups or like that. the couege any large groups or like that. the college and the school, they were the first always have the mass gone as soon as they see us. we just have to remind them for the large group sometimes. sharon, is that the willingness of people to actually go go ahead with this to see someone like amanda approaching them, but at expensive. describe how you allocate

the resources. it is actually funded by the businesses within the city centre, which actually does include the local authorities. so we have three priorities, one of which is around city. it's directly into that category about having a healthy and safe place to be, and clearly read didn't foresee this since the beginning of year that we do have money allocated. we are also getting help from the ccg at the moment, and are now in discussions with the new fund thatjust are now in discussions with the new fund that just has are now in discussions with the new fund thatjust has been launched. so you are looking actively to get an allocation? absolutely, we work closely with the local authorities on all the covid actions. we work them with him —— worked with them really closely and we have done an awful lot of things that marshals are just one additional measures we put into make sure that people

within the city centre are confident about coming in and they feel safe when they are there. do you always have the kind of reaction where people give you a cheeky smile or has there been moments where it's just been really unpleasant?” has there been moments where it's just been really unpleasant? i have been politely asking... somebody may say, just real aggressiveness. just swearing and whatnot. we're not going to turn up the scene and just being nasty to people. we are there to do being nasty to people. we are there todoa being nasty to people. we are there to do a kindness and help with the infection, and just drying her very best. it certainly eight really sounds like you're trying your very best. it must be hard when people are unwilling to co—operate.

best. it must be hard when people are unwilling to co-operate. just even though we can't see them, you just think of the people that we are helping and that are thanking us day by day. sharon, when it comes to these new measures that we're expecting to hear, do you think there is enough clarity? what are you hoping to hear and what can you expect to hear? i don't want to second—guess anything at the moment. we haven't been able to predict so far what's going on. i am considering what's going to happen, we have 122 businesses in our city ce ntre we have 122 businesses in our city centre that employed 2700 people, so lam centre that employed 2700 people, so i am really concerned about the impact that any further restrictions might have. but we don't know which tier we might have. but we don't know which tierwe are even might have. but we don't know which tier we are even and yet, so we aren't sure which set of restrictions we will get. in that case, sharon appleby and amanda

eaton, a coven marshall. thank you so much for your time, and amanda, good luck and i hope you get a lot more cheeky grins and response —— covid marshall. the older brother of the manchester arena bomber has refused to say why he won't co—operate with the public inquiry into the attack. 22 people were killed in may 2017 when salman abedi detonated a suicide bomb at the concert venue. his older brother ismail is still living in manchester. 0ur north of england correspondent judith moritz has this report. ismail abedi was once happy to be seen on social media toting a gun in libya, but since his younger brother detonated a suicide bomb at manchester arena, he's been keeping a lower profile. ismail, bbc news, can i ask you a few questions please? that is until we tracked him down in the city, not far from the public inquiry which he is refusing to co—operate with. ismail abedi, the brother of the killers, has been required

by the inquiry legal team to answer a series of questions relating to what might in general terms be described as the issue of radicalisation. to date, he has declined to answer those questions on the basis that he maintains that his answers may tend to incriminate him. in the days and hours before he exploded his bomb, salman abedi was recorded on cctv using his mobile phone. he received text messages from his brother, hashem, who has since been convicted of the murders. at the same time, hashem texted blessings to ismail abedi, a text the inquiry says may be innocent but wants to explore along with islamic state group videos found on his phone in 2015. ismail was arrested on the day after the attack and released without charge. in his possessions, police found a bank card which his brothers had used whilst preparing the bomb. ismail, bbc news, can i ask you a few questions, please? who's this? it's bbc news. no. can i ask you a few questions

about the arena attack, please? no, you can't, sorry. why won't you help the inquiry, ismail? why won't you speak to the inquiry? did you know what your brothers were doing, ismail? when we caught up with him, it was clear he's not prepared to talk. did you speak to them at the time of the attack? don't you have a moral obligation to speak to them, ismail? at each of the inquests for the london bridge and westminster bridge terror attacks, relatives of those responsible for the murders gave evidence. the manchester arena public inquiry has asked salman abedi's parents and younger sister, jomana, to give statements and continues to press his brother ismail for answers, saying the family has a moral obligation to provide information. i'm representing seven of the bereaved families... lawyers for the relatives of those who died say there must be maximum clarity from public officials on one hand and from those closest to the abedi brothers on the other. if, on either side, if there is a lack of openness and transparency, then it's much more difficult

for the public inquiry to achieve its ends of delivering truth and justice to the families. and ultimately trying to prevent an outrage of this kind happening again. 22 people were murdered in the bombing, the youngest a child of eight. the public inquiry has been described as a search for the truth about the atrocity which claimed their lives. judith moritz, bbc news, manchester. easyjet is warning it could report a loss of as much as 845 million pounds for the financial year, its first ever annual loss, as the pandemic continues to weigh on air travel. it comes as five greek islands have been added to the quarantine exemption list. arrivals in england from lesbos, sa ntorini, serifos, tinos and zakynthos will no longer have to self—isolate for 1h days, from 4am on saturday. nina nanji reports.

this morning from easyjet underlines just how tough life is in the aviation industry right now. with a air travel at very low levels because of the coronavirus pandemic, most european airlines are losing money. easyjet is now predicting its first—ever annual loss in its 25 year history. 0ver first—ever annual loss in its 25 year history. over the peak summer months, the airline was still able to operate at 38% capacity. but it expects to fly at just 25% of normal capacity for the rest of this year and into 2021. quarantine measures for arrivals from abroad introduced by the government to control the spread of the virus have kept travel subdued. five great islands have been added to the safe travel list —— greek islands. even after those changes, there is still only a handful of places that travellers can visit without encountering restrictions. easyjet has taken steps to shore up its finances and cut costs. it's boss is urging the

government to do more to support them through the winter, another key period for the industry with the school half term and christmas holidays. airline bosses are also calling for an airport testing regime for covid—19 to shorten the 14 regime for covid—19 to shorten the 1a day quarantine period. this week, ministers said that they are looking at ways to reduce the quarantine with the report due in early november. that's something that will be closely watched by the industry and by holiday—makers. but for easyj et, and by holiday—makers. but for easyjet, as for most other carriers right now, they are navigating through some very it stormy skies. nina nanji, bbc news. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here'sjohn watson. many thanks indeed. two hugely important matches for scotland and northern ireland, with their chances of qualifying for next summer's european championships in the balance. scotland haven't qualified for a major tournament since the world cup back in 1998,

but beat israel and beat either norway or serbia next month, they'll quyalify for euro 2020. same applies for northern ireland, they trail bosnia. they could play the republic of ireland. if both can reach their respective finals. i would say there's nothing at stake in this one, but that's never the case when england and wales face each other. they're playing at wembley, and england are 1—0 up thanks to a goalfrom dominic calvert—lewin. he had a brilliant start so far. mesut 0zil has been left out of arsenal's europa league squad for the forthcoming campaign. the midfielder‘s future at the club remains uncertain after being persistently left out of the side by manager mikel arteta. the german hasn't played for the club since march. new £115 million signing

thomas partey has been included in the 25—man squad before their first group b fixture against rapid vienna on october 22nd. before arriving at roland garros for this year's french open, nadia podoroska hadn't even faced a top 20 player, let alone beaten one. but, having seen off world number three elina svitolina, today, she had a chance to become the first qualifier to make the final of a grand slam in the modern era. to do that, she'd have to beat one of the break—out stars of the tournament, iga swiatek, in the semi final. patrick gearey reports. so much is strange this french open, but perhaps nothing is more unlikely than the story of nadia podoroska. behind these steps is a meandering journey of thousands of miles from rosario, argentina through battles with body and money. two or three years ago, i had too many injuries. i drop my ranking and eight months i was out of the tour.

and then, i did not have money to start playing the tournament and it was a very tough moment for me. all but one of her grand slams had ended in the anonymity of qualifying, but she broke through, stunning in the quarterfinal. no qualifier has ever made it this far this event, but that is where it got complicated. 0pponent iga swiatek is ranked 54th in the world but clearly hurtling higher. nadia podoroska said she didn't want to wake from her french open dream, but the iga swiatek forehand was a brutal grooming alarm call. the polish woman isjust 19 and has a teenager's disregard for the speed limit. those rockets clocked 80 mph. she had already left some on how up in the dust. nadia podoroska was left little choice but to load the catapult. the girl from rosario had never won two matches on the women's tour before this event,

but her spirit remained unbroken. nadia podoroska smashed back even when the match was long—lost. iga swiatek eased into her first grand slam final. hard to believe it will be her last, while nadia podoroska will go home with nearly £a00,000 after a strange fortnight in france. patrick gearey, bbc news. so, swiatek through. and she will face the australian open champion sofia kenin in the final. kenin beat petra kvitova in straight sets in her semi final. the american kenin took the first set 6—4 and the second 7—5 to reach her second grand slam final and had to save ten break—points against two—time wimbledon winner kvitova. the final is on saturday. that's all the sport for now. john, as always, many thanks. the fbi says it's charging six people involved in a plot

to overthrow michigan's state government and kidnap the governor, gretchen whitmer. the fbi said the alleged conspirators surveyed ms whitmer‘s holiday home and considered kidnapping her to a remote location in wisconsin to stand trial for treason ahead of november's election. several members are accused of talking about murdering "tyrants" or "taking" a sitting governor. the district attorney said the plot was at an advanced stage. money had already been pooled to buy arms and explosives. members of this conspiracy on two occasions conducted coordinated surveillance on the governor's vacation home. fox and croft according to the complaint discussed detonating explosive devices to divert police to the area of the home. fox inspected the underside of a michigan highway bridge for places to seat and explosive. in the last hour michigan's democratic governor,

gretchen whitmer, said president trump's rhetoric has emboldened militia groups across america. just last week, the president of the united states stood before the american people and refused to condemn white supremacists and hate groups like these two michigan militia groups. "stand back and stand by," he told them. "stand back and stand by." hate groups hold be president's words not as a rebuke but as a rallying cry, as a cultural action. extraordinary story. a police operation's been launched, targeting poachers coming to north yorkshire. the county is one of the worst affected in the country, with hundreds of incidents recorded every year and autumn is peak season. poachers use dogs to chase and kill hares and deer. police say it's cruel, it's damaging farmland, and intimidating rural communities. 0ur social affairs correspondent emma glasbey has spent a day with the police rural task force.

sunday morning, we've been tracking a car known to police as possibly being involved in poaching. you're the driver, right? it's your vehicle, you're the front seat passenger? the car is from the northumberland area. it's been seen in the humberside police force area and then near helmsley. there are dogs inside. the men claim they travelled here to walk them. police are not convinced. poaching's a crime. do you not understand that poaching's a crime? no firm evidence, so the men will get a letter warning they could face arrest if there is a next time. it was clear they'd been up to no good. the two occupants were from the northumberland area. they had lurcher dogs in the back of the vehicle, their trousers and boots were all covered in mud. it was clear they'd probably been poaching with the dogs. they clearly denied that, they clearly said they were walking dogs on public foot paths.

they agreed in the humberside area, but said the air was fresher in that area than it was up here. poachers use dogs to chase deer, foxes, badgers but mostly hares. right now, its peak season. police say 80% of all poaching incidents in north yorkshire take place between september and february. it happens on open farmland like this when the crops have been harvested, and the poachers are pretty determined they will travel long distances to get here. more suspected poachers on farmland near bedale. many farmers are now in rural watch schemes with police, using whatsapp to message officers as soon as they spot something. cows coming across our fields, animals been pulled down and harmed, and that's the soul destroying thing. don't get me wrong, farmers don't like a lot of vermin on their land, but we can control it in our own way and do it the right way. but for dogs to pull animals down isn't really a humane way of doing it.

as most people continue their sunday lie in, no such luck for the north yorkshire police rural task force. we had a report of five poachers on land, five lads with dogs right on the border between north yorkshire and durham. catching poachers in the act can be hard, especially in a county as vast as this with all its small lanes, but it's a priority for north yorkshire police. it's the anti—social behaviour of our rural communities. people are still fine in social behaviour in towns, but in the rural communities, people are isolated and they really, really can feel it. people go through damaging crops, leaving half butchered deer. people get scared. it's people's land, it's people's livelihoods. it is a clash. poachers are defiant. they believe it's a way of life, but it is a crime. the poachers may keep coming back, but so will the police patrols. emma glasbey, bbc look north, north yorkshire. coronavirus restrictions have made

many aspects of life harder, not least dating. but one couple have defied the odds and managed to find love in lockdown. sultan akhtar and aisha rosalie had their islamic wedding ceremony injuly, four months after meeting. they've been speaking to bbc asian network's anisa kadri about finding love during a pandemic. so, we met on muzmatch, which is a muslim dating app. we knew we liked each other pretty much straightaway, and lockdown happened exactly seven days after we met and we were just destroyed. it made things moving quite quickly, i guess, because we started panicking and things started getting restricted. we pretty much had most of our dates in service stations because we were meeting during the prime of lockdown, like when it was at its worst. and there was no restaurants, there

was no cafes, there was nothing. we couldn't go to cinema. we were literally meeting halfway. he was near leeds and i was in london, so we were driving a long way, halfway to meet each other in a service station where we would just eat and then pray outside and then eat, and that's pretty much all we did for whole day. it was pretty good because as far as islamic rules go, we should try and keep everything as moderate and as public as possible, especially in the initial stages. so, it was a good reason for us to go into public places and keep everything as halal as possible. so, what's the toughest thing about finding love during lockdown, then? definitely not being able to see each other in person for sure was the most difficult part. yeah, it was really hard. yeah, for like a good month when the restrictions were really, really strong, we couldn't see each other. so, you met and then four months later, you had your islamic ceremony, or nikha. do you think muslims are more inclined to marry more quickly? yes, us being muslim, we are definitely more inclined to move things relatively faster. we're not really into the casual dating kind of scene. in islam, we look for marriage.

we don't date because it's easy to fall into haram, like things that we shouldn't be doing. so, we look for marriage, and that was what we were looking for when we were on the app. you are from different backgrounds. how's that been navigating that through lockdown? yeah, it's been quite difficult, but we've made the most of it and we did have a bit of resistance from both sides. but it's been good. 0ur families are being quite patient with us and they've been quite trusting in our decision, and yeah, everyone seems to be really good. i've started a youtube channel since i became muslim, just documenting myjourneys as a new muslim, coming into the religion, things i've been finding out, things i've been learning about. also our relationship, my very british culture mixed with your british— pakistani culture. yeah, there are some issues along the way, but we work through them. so, you've spoken about some of the difficulties there coming from different backgrounds. i imagine you're probably learning a lot from each other as well.

yeah. yeah, definitely. she speaks urdu. there you go, that's what she knows. she's learning urdu and she's also taking lessons in arabic. it's actually quite amazing, and now i'm trying to read a bit more so my english will improve. love and lockdown, isn't that brilliant. that was bbc asian network's anisa kadri speaking to sultan akhtar and aisha rosalie. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello there. clearing skies this evening for england and wales. you may be able to get a view of the meteor shower, but further north, the weather is turning again. as the wind picks up overnight, we blow in cloud and rain into scotland and northern ireland, eventually pushing down into northern england and north wales by the end of the night, by which time it's going to be quite chilly. ahead of that, with the clearer skies, colder than last night. could be five or six degrees. maybe a touch colder than that even in the glens of scotland where,

after the overnight rain, tomorrow, we're going to see sunshine and showers for scotland, northern ireland, chasing in behind this band of cloud and rain as it moves its way southwards, arriving in southern england in the afternoon. the rain could be rather heavy. the showers following, though, will be heavy in the northwest, where the winds are strongest. may well be some hail and thunder in there, too, and typical temperatures are only 11 degrees in the afternoon, a touch higher than that ahead of that rain in the southeast. over the weekend, a chilly wind — at least on saturday. there will be some sunshine and some showers as well. goodbye.

this is bbc news. a home—grown terror plot to kidnap the governor of michigan. the fbi say they have arrested six men who were planning to snatch gretchen whitmer ahead of the november election. the democratic governor faced pushback for the lockdown she had imposed in michigan this summer. the district attorney said the threat was real and in its final stages. when i put my hand on the bible and took the oath of office 22 months ago, i knew this job would be hard, but i'll be honest — i never could've imagined anything like this. president trump refuses to take part in any virtual debate next week with joe biden. but he wants two further debates before the country votes. also in the programme: