this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. talks with the uk's regional leaders over tighter coronavirus restrictions continue, says the foreign secretary — as he accuses manchester's mayor of holding the government over a barrel. we can't have a situation where andy burnham is effectively saying unless you give us what we want to be will not do the right thing in terms of following the new rules which will protect the very people of manchester that he is elected to represent. "damaging to public health" — a warning from british scientists as the standoff between regional leaders and ministers over covid restrictions intensifies. it comes as more than half of england's population will be living under high or very high alert restrictions from midnight tonight. the number of coronavirus infections in europe overtakes those

in the united states and india — as countries introduce new measures to tackle the pandemic. and in the us election campaign — joe biden accuses his rival donald trump of panicking in his handling of the coronavirus pandemic as the pair take part in separate tv events. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world — and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. i'm annita mcveigh. tensions between the uk government and regional leaders over local coronavirus restrictions is growing, as a member of sage warns that the continuing row is a

"very dangerous route to go on". director of the wellcome trust, drjeremy farrar, told the bbc... "what we don't want now is a fragmentation or confusion — one area or region or city pitched against another. i think that would be very, very damaging." the comments come after the mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham, rejected plans to move to the highest risk category — which would force bars, pubs and gyms to close — saying, "the north is fed up of being pushed around". foreign secretary dominic raab responded by accusing mr burnham of "trying to hold the government over a barrel over money and politics, when we need to take action." meanwhile, from midnight tomorrow, more than half of england's population will be under further restrictions, as london, essex, york and other towns and cities — move into the high alert tier. it means they'll no longer be able to mix indoors with other households. from six o'clock tonight, pubs and restaurants in northern ireland are to close for the next four weeks. and bbc news has been told that a limited "circuit—breaker lockdown" for wales

could be announced in the next few days, to curb the rise in covid cases. the welsh government say no decisions have been made. nick eardley has our first report on the growing row between government and local leaders. fighting coronavirus has never been easy but, as the virus spreads and cases rise, the government's lockdown plans are coming under real pressure. it wants greater manchester to face the strictest measures, closing pubs and banning households mixing in most places, to try and get covid under control, but mayor andy burnham is furious, saying the government's plans are flawed, and don't offer enough support for local people, whose work place might be forced to close. this was his message to the government yesterday. greater manchester, the liverpool city region, and lancashire are being set up as the canaries in the coal mine for an experimental

regional lockdown strategy, as an attempt to prevent the expense of what is truly needed. this is an important moment. greater manchester will stand firm. many conservative politicians in the regions are unhappy too. this morning, there will be more talks to try and reach agreement. the final decision is one for ministers but they desperately want local support. all the while uncertainty for people and businesses over what happens next. and some scientists are worried about political division. i think we have got to come together as a country. this fragmentation and, frankly, making this either a north—south or a party political issue, that is a very, very dangerous route to go on. if you look at the countries that have controlled this well to date — china, singapore, vietnam, korea, germany, new zealand — they have had a national consensus about the way forward, and what we do not want now is a fragmentation,

confusion, one area or city or region pitched against another. i think that would be very, very damaging to public health and the country's ability to respond. talks are also continuing in lancashire, like here in burnley, which could soon face the toughest tier of restrictions. local politicians are considering whether to agree to a package of support being offered by the government. this evening at 6pm, northern ireland will go further, introducing a circuit—breaker — closing pubs and restaurants for four weeks except for takeaway, alcohol sales are being banned after 8pm in shops, schools will be closed for a fortnight from monday. from tonight, wales introduces new restrictions too, telling people from covid hotspots elsewhere in the uk to stay away. and today, in london, is the last day that households can mix indoors before a ban comes in at midnight. millions of us are facing significant restrictions on our lives once again, and there may be more to come.

nick eardley, bbc news. our political correspondent, helen catt, gave me this update. what there appears to be at the moment is a stand—off between authorities in greater manchester and the government, over whether they will move into the very high tier of restrictions. largely, it comes down to the impact on the economy that leaders in manchester say this is trying out a regional lockdown strategy but without putting the necessary money behind it to make sure that the damage to the economy isn't too great. they are not convinced that it would work. the government is saying there is a support package on offer, and that greater manchester needs to move. why this is important is because it could impact on whether this tier system actually works. dominic raab, speaking to us earlier, said

the scientific advisers had told the government that if they can implement this tier system fully, then they can stave off a national lockdown, but to implement it fully, they need local leaders onside. where are the talks at? we are not entirely sure, to be honest, as to where they are this morning. sir richard leese, the leader of manchester city council said that there are not currently any talks in the frame. we had a meeting yesterday with representatives from the government in the morning. we agreed to have another meeting later in the day. that has been postponed. it has not been rearranged yet. so at the moment there are no meetings in the diary between us and the government and, as i understand it, there were meetings due to take place in other parts of the north that were postponed as well. so we are in a bit of a vacuum at the moment in terms of any sort of meaningful discussion with government, and that's not

a situation we want to be in. that is really interesting, isn't it, because not only is there disagreement over the substance of the talks but about the actual status of the talks, whether they are going on or not. so, in all of that, is there any possibility or sign of agreement between the two sides? at the moment they both seem to be digging in. the question is, ultimately, the government could choose to impose restrictions on greater manchester, so we could just say you're going to have to go into tier—3, and certain restrictions would automatically come in like the closing of pubs and bars, but it doesn't want to do that because of the reason i stated earlier, that it may not go far enough to actually do what they hope with the tier system and stop the virus spreading. dominic raab was speaking to us earlier. he said it is up to greater manchester to move. if manchester and andy burnham is pulling up the drawbridge and saying we will not proceed unless more money is coming in,

i don't think that is an appropriate way to proceed. we have put in a very generous package of support. obviously those higher risk areas affected will get more support for testing, tracing, forjobs and businesses. that's right. we support all that. but we cannot have a situation where andy burnham is effectively saying unless you give us what we what we will not do the right thing in terms of following the new rules, which will protect the people of manchester he is elected to represent. there seems to be a circular argument going on with andy burnham saying the government seems happy to introduce restrictions in his region that they don't want to roll out across the rest of england, and you have got ministers saying, andy burnham appears to be objecting to restrictions that labour would be keen to roll out, because labour backs a 2—3 week short, national lockdown. a limited "circuit—brea ker" lockdown is being considered for wales. first minister mark drakeford has suggested this would be the "most effective way" to control the virus.

dr chris williams is the incident director of public health wales. thank you for talking to us today. would you support this so—called circuit—breaker looked would you support this so—called circuit—brea ker looked on, would you support this so—called circuit—breaker looked on, do you think it would be effective?” circuit—breaker looked on, do you think it would be effective? i think a brief period where we get down transmission to reduce the overall numbers and growth would be helpful to reduce pressures on the system and intermediate pressure is on the nhs. i know there was government is considering this at the moment and we are waiting to hear what the plan would be, but it has been used, lockdowns have been used elsewhere to reduce transmission for either a long period or a short period. something similar to what northern ireland is doing as of this evening is possibly the sort of thing being considered in wales. lots of people will wonder, if you have this so—called circuit—brea ker for a few

weeks, what do you do on a public—health level in that time to ensure that once you come out of that circuit—brea ker, the ensure that once you come out of that circuit—breaker, the cases simply don't begin to rise again? there's a couple of things. one is it can reduce the overall numbers, so it can reduce the overall numbers, so that the sheer number of cases to contact so that the sheer number of cases to co nta ct ra ce so that the sheer number of cases to contact race and go to hospital etc can be reduced for a period. that allows some space to refocus and increase efforts in test and trace and other measures that we are putting in. particularly we can try and focus on cases that give rise to more than one case and try and focus on the larger spreading events. the second thing, as a message, what we are trying to do is to get people to avoid socialising with people outside their household, particularly indoors, and the additional closing of hospitality venues etc this. there is nothing in

particular about a pub or restaurant per se, it is the fact that people from households, not the same household, mix in those places.“ from households, not the same household, mix in those places. if a circuit—breaker household, mix in those places. if a circuit—brea ker is to household, mix in those places. if a circuit—breaker is to be introduced in the coming days, part of that being effective would be the ban on people travelling into wales from coronavirus hotspots in england, taking effect as well, because you don't want to introduce a circuit—breaker don't want to introduce a circuit—brea ker and then that particular band doesn't work. how do you think in reality that will be policed effectively to make sure that there isn't transmission into wales from those areas, from that direction? policy on how we implement travel bans and those kind of measures are really the provision of measures are really the provision of the welsh government. we can only advise on the effect of things and what might work. there are two important things. one is preventing travel between areas in different

parts of the uk and the world will help prevent seeding of infections into areas where it can then start to spread and then the second part of this is that, within every area, we need to try and stop the spread by preventing contact between households, particularly in doors. we have been talking today about the disagreement between various regional leaders in england and london about what to do in those areas and we know the welsh first minister mark drakeford had asked borisjohnson to minister mark drakeford had asked boris johnson to make minister mark drakeford had asked borisjohnson to make it official that people in england, in coronavirus hotspots shouldn't travel to wales, he didn't, and so mark drakeford travel to wales, he didn't, and so mark dra keford has travel to wales, he didn't, and so mark drakeford has taken these measures himself. i just mark drakeford has taken these measures himself. ijust want mark drakeford has taken these measures himself. i just want to mark drakeford has taken these measures himself. ijust want to get your sense of how difficult or conversely easy it has been to work with public—health colleagues in various parts of the uk. we have a good working relationship with

collea g u es good working relationship with colleagues in england and northern ireland and scotland and the republic. we have daily meetings with them to review the situation across the uk. i know that there are political discussions. that is not my area. what is really important is to have, ideally, a national consensus that everybody knows what the important things are to event the important things are to event the spread of this virus and the scientific evidence is becoming clearer on what that is and everyone just needs to consider that evidence. doctor chris williams from public health wales, interesting to talk to you. thank you very much. the two rivals in next month's us presidential election, donald trump and democratic nominee joe biden, took part in separate, but simultaneously televised events overnight, in place of the second presidential debate. both were asked about the coronavirus and criticised each other‘s response to the pandemic. our north america correspondent david willis reports.

it was a prime—time split screen showdown, the presidential candidates competing for eyeballs in duelling debates — a stark reminder of how strange this entire campaign has been and when it came down to the pivotal issue of the day, a virus that is claimed more than 215,000 american lives, the two men seemed to occupy, not just rival channels, but competing orbits. he said he didn't tell anybody because he was afraid americans would panic. americans don't panic. he panicked. the president insisted america has turned a corner on the coronavirus. many people are catching it, getting the disease that was sent to us by china and should not have been allowed to happen. for his part, joe biden pledged to take a vaccine once one becomes available and urged

others to do the same. if the body of scientists say that this is what is ready to be done and it has been tested, gone through phases, yes, i would take it, i would encourage people to take it. under questioning, president trump was called upon to denounce qanon, the false conspiracy theory that democrats are part of a global paedophile ring. he declined. i know nothing about qanon. i do know they are very much against paedophilia. the president was also pressed on claims that he owes hundreds of millions of dollars to foreign creditors. more than anything else, the duelling debates emphasise the contrast in styles between the two candidates. with fewer undecided voters now than four years ago, their impact on the outcome may be limited. a second face—to—face debate is due to take place in nashville, next week. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. the headlines on bbc news... talks with the uk's regional leaders over tighter coronavirus restrictions continue, says the foreign secretary — as he accuses manchester's mayor

of holding the government over a barrel. "damaging to public health" — a warning from british scientists as the standoff between regional leaders and ministers over covid restrictions intensifies. it comes as more than half of england's population will be living under high or very high alert restrictions from midnight tonight. the number of coronavirus infections in europe has now overtaken those in india and the united states. as european countries battle this resurgence, catalonia in north—eastern spain has toughened its restrictions, closing some bars and restaurants. there are new restrictions, too, in poland and ireland. half of the population in england is caught up in tighter regional restrictions, while france reported more than 30,000 new cases on thursday — its highest ever daily figure. gareth barlow reports. from the heart of europe, a stark warning. we are quickly running out of time. everyone needs to do

what is necessary to avoid the devastating health, social and economic effects of a generalised lockdown. as cases climb in france, britain, italy and germany, governments are introducing more measures to curb the spread of the virus. night—time curfews in nine french cities, school closures in italy's hotspots, the hospitality sector shut down in the netherlands. the full search continues to unfold in europe with exponential increases in daily cases and matching percentage increases in daily deaths. the evolving situation in europe raises great concern. daily numbers of cases are up. hospital admissions are up. and covid—i9 is now the fifth leading cause of deaths. in the czech republic,

which currently has the highest infection rate in europe, this situation facing hospitals like this is so grave, temporary units are being built, and requested being made to send patients to germany. meanwhile, as millions of people in london prepare for more restrictions this weekend, regional leaders in northern england are pushing back against tighter measures. they are asking us to gamble our residents' jobs, homes and businesses and a large chunk of our economy on a strategy that their own experts tell them might not work. we would never sign up for that. the disagreement in the uk highlights the challenge facing mainland europe, a bloc with open borders between countries, all of whom are tackling

the pandemic in different ways. this situation is getting more and more worrisome. and strong action is needed. most of all what is important, good cooperation and discipline and the commission has been working hard to support the member states in the fight against the virus in the health dimension. europe was one of the regions worst hit at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. now, more than six months on, in hospitals, cities and in the corridors of power, the recurrent nightmare has returned — a second wave just as serious as the first. gareth barlow, bbc news. the uk foreign secretary dominic raab has said there is still "a deal to be done" with the eu on trade, as the prime minister is due to set out whether talks should continue. last month, boris johnson said both sides should prepare for no—deal if an agreement was not in place by 15th october. chief negotiator lord frost said the uk was "disappointed" with the bloc‘s position that the uk

should lay out its proposals before further trade talks go ahead. the first flight from new zealand to australia under a so—called "travel bubble" has landed in sydney. about 90% of tickets were sold with the plane carrying around 300 passengers. shaimaa khalil in sydney gave us more details. it is the flight coming in from new zealand, air new zealand, to sydney, it arrived a little earlier. there are a couple of other flights arriving from new zealand to sydney from qantas and jetstar. and, yes, the flight was almost full. this was the first time that this so—called travel bubble or corridor, has been actually activated between new zealand and australia. it has been in the works for quite some time. it is limited, in many ways. one is that it is a one—way travel bubble. so, new zealanders can come to australia, but not the other way round. jacinda ardern, when this was announced about a week ago, said that it was still unsafe

for new zealand to open its borders to australia and australians. but those coming from new zealand can arrive here in new south wales where i am or, in the northern territory, and officials here are hoping that this could expand to other states, too. the big thing, of course, is that they are not required to quarantine, unlike any other passengers that are coming into australia. they are required to quarantine for two weeks at their own expense. what they are required to do, though, upon return to new zealand, is that they are required to pay for their own hotel quarantine so, yes, it is a sign that things are getting better. it is seen as a small but significant step for australia, which closed its borders early march to everyone coming from overseas. still a long way to go, but you can almost sense, because the flights are so full, that people have missed travelling, and have missed travelling in this direction.

republican senators have said they will summon twitter ceo jack dorsey to answer questions next week, after the social media company blocked two new york post articles alleging corruption againstjoe biden‘s son, hunter. on wednesday, twitter prevented people from posting links to a new york post story, warning those trying to click it that the link was "potentially unsafe". twitter chief jack dorsey then tweeted that twitter‘s communications were ‘not great‘, and later explained that the company took action because the story contained "hacked materials". republican senators have reacted furiously with senator ted cruz saying that the twitter ban amounted to electoral interference. lindsey graham andi to electoral interference. lindsey graham and i have discussed this at length and the committee today will be issuing a subpoena to the ceo of twitter to testify before the senate judiciary committee next friday, to come before this committee of the

american people and explain why twitter is abusing their corporate power to silence the press and to cover up power to silence the press and to cover up allegations of corruption and let me be clear, i don't know if these newer york post stories are true or not, those are questions that should be answered. our technology reporter chris fox says twitter is not the only social media company forced into u—turns ahead of the us election. quite often social media companies have policies and enact them then realise that's not the right thing to do, twitter is not the first company to do such a u—turn, facebook have done several in the la st facebook have done several in the last few months. they said they would never ban political advertising but in the run—up to the election we have seen it make several concessions. it will now stop political advertising in the seven days before, not accepting any new advertising and that time so u—turns are not that uncommon. when

you run a social media platform you have to have policies in place and sometimes you apply them and then go, oh, actually that didn't work and we need to change the policy before this happens again, and that's what twitter has done here. some news coming in. the information —— information commissioner in the uk has said it has fined british airways £20 million, its biggest such penalty to date, for failing to protect the personal and financial details of more than 400,000 of its customers. the information commissioner's office is quoted as saying the failure to act was unacceptable and it affected hundreds of thousands of people which may have caused some anxiety and distress as a result. this was a cyber attack on the airline in 2018. the information commissioner fining british airways £20 million over that incident in 2018, for failing to protect the personal and financial details of more than

400,000 of its customers. health inspectors in the uk have raised concerns about the millions of people who could have missed out on care as a result of the covid—19 pandemic. since it started, gp surgeries have offered 26 million fewer appointments compared to last year, according to nhs figures. the care quality commission is warning that the number of "lost" appointments could mean cancer diagnosis has been delayed while other long—term conditions may have worsened. as we've been reporting, parts of the uk are seeing a new round of restrictions. ruth cottle is a new mum and is receiving cancer treatment. she says she's worried about social isolation and the impact that further measures could have on her cancer care. earlier she told me she'd been looking forward to a more normal routine after finishing chemotherapy. i'm doing pretty well, actually, thank you. i've just finished chemotherapy and the side effects, and was starting to look forward to more

of a normal life again before i have more treatment coming up in november. i mentioned your little girl was born on the 1st of february, before lockdown. i wondered if you have managed to have a chance to get to any new parent and baby groups, all of the things that a new parent would normally do. we managed to go to a couple of classes for 2—3 weeks back at the start of march, which was lovely to get out and meet some new mums and other babies. since then we have not been able to do anything outside of our home. we have done some online classes, but we haven't been able to get out to meet new people, because of the different restrictions. for both baby without me. presumably you have been shielding. i was lucky i started chemotherapy after shielding finished but i had greater restrictions that i needed to adhere to. i wasn't able to go inside places, although i was able to go out for walks and meet friends in the park

and stay two metres apart a lot of the time. great that you were able to do that, but what has been the impact of not being able to get to those classes you normally would have done if we were not in midst of this pandemic, both for you and your baby? yes, absolutely. i was expecting to be able to meet new mums, and was conscious that it is an isolating time, having a baby, and i wanted to get out and meet new people, new babies, and learn how the babies are developing and how they are doing, so it has been quite isolating to not have that level of support. doing video calls is not the same as being able to get out there, and i'm conscious that some of these baby classes are great for my daughter's development. how can we make sure that she is still developing as she should do, given that we had to do things more within the home instead. how are you feeling about london moving into the higher level of restrictions,

especially as we head into winter? i'm really worried, to be honest. i'm worried in terms of the rise in cases, making sure that myself and my baby stay safe and that my treatment goes ahead, with coronavirus restrictions but i was hoping to get out and see friends a lot more, especially as we are getting into autumn and winter and we don't always have the best weather to be be able to go into parks these days, so isolation, and getting that contact and that mental strength and support from other people is key for me as a new mum and as a cancer patient, so i'm looking at, how can i still get that level of support even though it is not face—to—face in someone's home, so what can i do online, what support and services are available for me, within social media and instagram, to still get that community feel that is so important as a new mum and as a cancer patient.

how has it been out and about in terms of other people, and respecting social distancing and so on? most people would look at you, a young woman with a small baby and not think that you would be in a vulnerable group. absolutely. at times it has been quite scary. i need to keep two metres away from people even when the restrictions have changed to one metre plus, and people do not expect me to be that vulnerable, and it is quite worrying, because if i was to get anything at any point, my treatment would be delayed for a couple of weeks at least to allow me to recover from that, and what is the long—term impact on my health? i want to be able to continue my treatment plan as the doctors have set it out, and it is a worrying time to be able to go out and try and maintain our normal life as much as we can within a global pandemic and, as you say, people don't expect me to be

one of those vulnerable people, and sometimes i have to say something if people get a bit close, but it is a very difficult situation all round, really. hello, this is bbc news with me, annita mcveigh. the headlines... just before that, breaking news from oui’ just before that, breaking news from our radio lancashire political reporter mike stephenson, who says he understands a deal has been agreed for lancashire to enter tier three coronavirus restrictions. that would be the second area after the liverpool region two and tier three coronavirus restrictions, the highest level of restrictions, mike stephenson says an announcement is expected around 11 o'clock this morning bst, any more detail on that, we will bring heu, we will try

to get hold of mike, he is probably rather busy at the moment, but we will try to get hold of him as soon as we can. the headline —— headlines... talks with the uk's regional leaders over tighter coronavirus restrictions continue, says the foreign secretary, as he accuses manchester's mayor of holding the government over a barrel. "damaging to public health" — a warning from british scientists as the standoff between regional leaders and ministers over covid restrictions intensifies. leaders and ministers over covid it comes as more than half of england's population will be living under high or very high alert restrictions from midnight tonight. the number of coronavirus infections in europe overtakes those in the united states and india, as countries introduce new measures to tackle the pandemic. and in the us election campaign, joe biden accuses his rival donald trump of panicking in his handling of the coronavirus pandemic as the pair take part in separate tv events. cruise passengers say they have been waiting more than six

months for refunds for cancelled holidays. 0ne couple who contacted the bbc say they are owed more than £10,000. the consumer group which? says these are not isolated cases and is calling on the competition and markets authority to investigate how cruise companies have handled claims. 0ur consumer affairs correspondent sarah corker reports. when the world went into lockdown, the cruise industry came to an abrupt halt. months on from the height of the pandemic, some cruise customers like margaret from wigan are still waiting for refunds for holiday company planet cruise. they said 90 days at the beginning, which i thought was bad but i thought under the circumstances, and saying that the whole of the year's business was, so up to 90 days, i was quite happy. and then started ringing and the answer was, "0h, we've got lots of people in front of you. there's thousands waiting for refunds." margaret is owed more than £1,300.

she booked a north america cruise to celebrate her golden wedding anniversary. she was not surprised it was cancelled, but did not expect it to be such a battle to get her money back. i have worked hard for my money, so it is not like, you know, i have got lots of money. it is the money that is my money that i have worked for and i think i have every right to have it back after waiting so long. the uk cruise industry supports over 80,000 jobs and every year, it generates an estimated £10 billion for the uk economy. many of the major cruise lines have cancelled their itineraries until 2021. and under consumer law, if your package holiday, like a cruise, is cancelled by your provider, you are supposed to get your money back within 14 days. but there are long delays. i think, firstly, we would like to apologise for people having to wait so long for refunds which normally would only take a couple of weeks, but the main reason for it is simply the sheer scale of the number of cancellations caused by covid—19.

at the same time, many companies have laid off staff, put on furlough, so they have a many less people dealing with, making those refunds, but still, people have been very patient because in some cases, they have been waiting for months. peter from gloucestershire also had his trip cancelled by planet cruise. he is still owed more than £10,000 for his trip around canada and north america. because this was a sort of a unique holiday, there is no way i wanted any form of voucher. they initially stated the cruise element would be a 60—day time period and the rest would be 90 days. well, those timetables have been more than doubled. and we are still waiting. planet cruise has apologised and said:

but margaret is losing patience. every week, for months, it has been the same thing — "there are lots in the queue", you know? "you'lljust have to bide your time" type of thing. no! she has now been waiting for more than 170 days and counting. sarah corker, bbc news. just coming in on the afp news agency, we are hearing the finnish prime minister has left the eu summit to self—isolate. she has been tweeting, i understand, and i think we can show you that, you can see the translation, i left the european council mission as a precautionary measure and has left the swedish prime minister to represent the finnish and of the meeting, so scandinavian prime minister is helping each other out. finnish

prime minister sanna marin leaving the eu summit to self—isolate as a precautionary measure, she says, no more details on the circumstances which have made herfeel she needed to leave the summit, but we will bring you more on that when we have it. as covid—19 continues to exert pressure all over europe, one country stands out for having taken a different approach. sweden never locked down during the early stages of the pandemic, and still hasn't. we have talked about sweden on a number of occasions. its death rates from coronavirus are similar to many other countries but are significantly higher than its neighbours, norway and finland. ros atkins has been taking a look at the detail. sweden's approach to covid—19 has again been demanding attention. in late september the who tells us, we must recognise that sweden at the moment has avoided the increase that has been seen in some of western europe, we would be very keen on hearing more from the swedish

approach. but what is it? many countries went into lockdown in march, sweden did not, instead pursued voluntary social distancing, encouraging working from home, avoiding public transport, table service impulse, and battered bite rested on the assumption that people feel like this. we in sweden trusty authorities, if the authorities say stay at home and work from home, please, we do that. they did not have to say, you need to go on a lockdown. sweden's focus has been on people voluntarily managing contacts, and key to that is the super spider. it is thought most covid infections are spread by up to 20% of people who have eight, and they said sweden understood this. we need to eliminate super spreader is, thatis need to eliminate super spreader is, that is what sweden did. the only

intervention they did was to say that max gatherings were 50. we need to look at how the numbers compare. sweden's total deaths per capita is higher than most european nations, when it comes to the total cases per capita, both norway and the uk have lower figures than sweden, but spain and france have higher. sweden has so and france have higher. sweden has so far avoided and also in search budget infection rate is higher than norway and germany and writing, it is not a created success story. there are other issues. some critics argue it is all anjudged plan to achieve herd immunity, something thatis achieve herd immunity, something that is strongly denied. sweden's approach has relied on thousands of third rouble people shielding and sweden acknowledges it failed to properly protect care homes at the start of the pandemic. at the man who divides sweden's approach thinks it will work in the long—term.

translation: we have always had the same recommendations and general advice. i think it creates a sense of security and a long—term perspective and is easier to follow. at the heart of sweden's approaches the idea of the social contract, it requires trust between people and national decision—makers. there is nothing to show sweden is definitely getting it right, but the emphasis on trust and consensus fields releva nt as on trust and consensus fields relevant as european governments once again change the rules by which people are living. the uk retailerjohn lewis is set for a big shake up. the 91 year—old partnership, which includes the supermarket waitrose, has seen a slump in profits and has been forced to cancel the staff bonus for the first time since 1953. as more shoppers moved online during the pandemic, john lewis is now looking to offer more virtual services to reach new customers. but it's also banking on a range of new services to deliver growth, from renting furniture to becoming a residential landlord. in her first broadcast interview,

the chairman, sharon white, has been speaking to our business correspondent emma simpson. it's an ambitious plan which will see the partnership, john lewis and waitrose, return to sustainable profits, £400 million by yearfive, and it's all about adapting to the way in which customers are now wanting to shop, and the first two years are really focused on improving the core business and making retail, bothjohn lewis and waitrose, even more exciting for our customers to shop in. so, for waitrose, we are really investing very significantly in digital and in our home delivery, we've got a new partnership with deliveroo, and today we're announcing that's going to be significantly expanded. we're really going to be doubling down on customer and on affordable quality, so i think you'll see some different ranges and different styling, and i think you'll also see as extending the opportunities for customers to shop

with us sustainably. and it is a five year plan, so in the longer term there are some pretty unconventional ideas in here. talk me through them? so financial services, we are already in, in a small way, but we can see big opportunity to expand in an ethical way, given the trust in the brand. we are already a landlord with a number of our stores today, so we're looking how we can expand housing to be even more important to the community. and outdoor living, again, both brands are quite active but in quite a small way. and, for me, we're an employee—owned business, we are not a conventional business, and retail margins are compressing, so over the longer term, if we want, if i as chairman want to be able to invest in my partners and invest back into customers, we've got to find new sources of growth that our customers love

that are going to provide more sustainable profitability for us, and as you'll see we're expecting that by 2030 about 40% of our profits will come from outside retail, allowing us to pay our partners better, allowing us to invest even more in our customers. doesjohn lewis need to be more diverse? i think there is definitely more for us to do, both in terms of appealing to more diverse customers, more diverse communities. we have a partnership that's founded on equality and humanity, i think we've done a greatjob so far but there's definitely more we can do to be even more welcoming and embracing of different cultures. sharon white talking to emma simpson. a british company has cut the price of medical cannabis, meaning it's now cheaper than illegal street cannabis.

despite the government allowing prescriptions, they're only given rarely on the nhs — that's because of the high cost. guidelines saying they should only be offered when all other options have been exhausted, and the fact that some of the products don't have a licence. private prescriptions can cost hundreds of pounds, meaning they're too expensive for most patients. but that's now set to change. chris hemmings reports. i started using cannabis around about 2007, i was getting lots of nausea from anxiety, not going out at all, i woke up one morning and panic attacks treated and i came across cannabis, basically, took a couple of puffs and within minutes the nausea i had been getting completely vanished. since december last year, leigh has been treating his anxiety with medicinal cannabis oil. he went to the nhs but was told it was unlikely he would get a prescription, so went private —

meaning, like many others, he had to foot the bill. the first product i received from canada cost £300, that lasted about a month, it was just so expensive, really expensive, and at the time i was on benefits, i was on zero—hours contracts, and it was a nightmare trying afford it. for most people, that meant black market cannabis is more affordable, but never british company has produced a product cheaper than getting it from dealersm cost £80 and lasts for two months, on the black market i was paying up to £70 a week. so what has happened that means leigh and others can get this in legal, medicinalform cheaper than ever? until now, medical cannabis distributed in the uk came from various companies are different steps along the supply a british company, emmac, is now the

first in the uk at every stage of the process, removing those additional costs. the co—founder is ed mcdermott. we have taken a vertically integrated approach, meaning we control cultivation, processing, manufacturing and distribution, essentially cutting out middlemen. unfortunately it is still a private market, not publicly funded, so price is a significant part of that. by bringing the price down and allowing a supply chain to work efficiently and create cost savings, we can pass that on. they grow the flower in portugal and extract the thc in spain, then it is exported to the north—east and turned into medical cannabis oil. dr michael platt is a consultant pain specialist for the nhs but also works for sapphire medical clinic, the first medical cannabis clinic approved by the care quality commission. there are many patients who have had to give it up because it was too expensive, so although it is 0ked

for nhs use, a lot of nhs bodies cannot afford it so they have not been able to access it, and patients are in a lot of pain because of that. there is no doubt that in the last couple of months, our number of patients has increased quite dramatically and i think it is the realisation that price has come down so much, right down from well over £1000 a month to about £120 to £150 a month, depending on the medication. if i could sum it up in the freedom to move on with my life, not have to worry about the police, and the safety of buying it off doctors and using something to a pharmaceutical standard, it is massively life changing. with more than half of england's population soon to be

living under high or very high alert restrictions, there are calls for greater financial support for those who will be affected. the labour mayor for greater manchester, andy burnham wants more help before putting the region into tier 3. the former labour prime minister gordon brown has also called for a stronger financial package. look at it this way, we have health advice from the experts which the government is not fully following, we need to have consented there will be lockdown is breakers because it depends on people obeying the instructions, so as i government you have to be one step ahead and go for the maximum possible consensus. but i think the blockage to be sold, i said two weeks ago that the chancellor's package of economic measures is insufficient. you cannot increase health restraints on people, telling people they cannot do things, while lessening the economic support for people losing theirjobs. that is exactly what the chancellor hasn't done at the very time we are requesting people not to

do things and denying the chance of jobs, we are reducing economic support. if i was borisjohnson, he should because at the chancellor, telling him his economic recovery package will not work, it has had to be changed in the last few days, get it to bring a new economic recovery package, i think you could build content about that. you cannot have people to lose theirjobs and pay them far less than you were in the last few months. 100 days in intensive care, 2 heart attacks and vivid hallucinations, writer and biographer ray connolly has finally been able to return home after being hospitalised with coronavirus. the 79—year—old was told by the doctors that he had set a hospital record for the number of days he spent on the ward, with his family being warned three times he was so weak if his heart stopped they would make no attempt to resusitate him. iam very i am very pleased to say that he joins us now, you are most welcome,

very good to see you, i bet you have never been so glad to be back home? it is fantastic. i had to say that i never felt any pain while i was in hospital, all those months, there was no pain to read, and i didn't realise how ill i had been, to be honest, until i got home and i read all the detail. the vice that was certainly a blessing. and when you realise how critical things had been, did you think, gosh, i and incredibly lucky? yes, and i was also upset because my wife had been planning to see me all these months andi planning to see me all these months and i had never really realised what strain she was under, as i am so lucky, i can't believe how lucky i am. iwas lucky, i can't believe how lucky i am. i was so close. and i say look,

but obviously the incredible efforts of the doctors, nurses, all the people at the hospital he kept you a life —— and i say luck. you must feel such gratitude towards?|j life —— and i say luck. you must feel such gratitude towards? i had somebody by my side all the time, i was never left alone, maybe two minutes, then i would call and somebody would come. the truth is that for at least three months i was unconscious and didn't know. lots of things were being turned to me all the time, they were probing me, turning me over, sometimes it took seven people to turn the over and i had no idea. i didn't know anything from before when i went into hospital and when i came out, i came out ina hospital and when i came out, i came out in a coma —— i came out of the coma in late july, out in a coma —— i came out of the coma in latejuly, i was completely lost to the world. months but i had

all these endless streams and i was living in another world completely. that must feel incredibly surreal to wa ke that must feel incredibly surreal to wake up and realise that the world was continuing around you and for three months you were totally unaware. to go back to the beginning, you saw the virus emerging china, making its progression around the world and you decided very early to make efforts to protect yourself and your wife and family, yet you still got the virus. now you are at the other end, how do you feel about that several months of such a strange existent?” still wonder how i got it. i went to the supermarket three times, i went toa the supermarket three times, i went to a do—it—yourself place once, went to a do—it—yourself place once, went toa to a do—it—yourself place once, went to a garden centre once, and in those five times somehow i cortege,

no idea. i could not get a mask appetite, i had a big scarf wrapped around me. then got it. —— i could not get a mask at the time. i live ten minutes from a big london teaching hospital which probably helped save me too. and i am very sick, we have a four story house so i have been running up and down stairs for 50 years, it probably made a difference. —— and i very fit. in terms of your day to day life, what are the continuing impacts, the things that are still different about how you are living now compared to before you got the virus? i am not driving yet and i can only walk about 100 yards up and down the street. it takes forever to get up the stairs. and i get very

tired easily, i have a croaky voice, as you can hear, my hairfell out quite a lot, i think it is growing back, please god, the vanity is still there! but i am just so lucky. people say, how do you feel? great, actually, to wake up and be home, get on with my work, i wrote a piece for the daily mail last week, i am working on a novel, i am back to work. but my body is telling me it has not happened, and the physio says just keep giving the exercises, keep walking. i cannot tell whether this will be forever, whether i will get better or worse, i have no idea. as we talk more and more about sage and the longer lasting effects of

the virus, your story is one of great encouragement to people? —— as we talk more and more about long covid. i get cross about it people demonstrating about people trying to save their lives. it is a terrible disease to get. there are things you can do to help yourself, i did, but it didn't work. but, yeah. you alluded to it briefly about conversations with your wife when you came from hospital, what has she said from her perspective, how difficult it was noted be able to see you and talk to you and be with you in the way that she wanted —— not to be able. i didn't really know until i got home how bad it was for her, it was terrible for her. the hospital would call her every night when i was really, really on the edge, he is still hanging on, then

she would have to fill my three children and tell them what had happened and write to them, she b e—mails, they are very upsetting, to be honest. thank you so much, ray connolly, great to talk to you. you are watching bbc news. geeta guru—murthy will be with you next to ta ke guru—murthy will be with you next to take you through until 1pm, but sarah keith—lucas has the weather first. the weather is not changing in a hurry very much over the next few days, because we've got to big slow—moving area of high pressure driving things. that's sitting up towards the north of the uk. fairly light winds around, but we're still drawing in this north—easterly breeze coming in off the north—east, and that's bringing a fair amount of cloud out there today for many others, although it's predominantly a dry picture. there will be one or two scattered showers around, but i think the showers are fewer than we've seen over recent days. there'll be the best of the brightness breaking through across more western parts of the uk through the day. so, a today mixed picture out there,

the areas most prone to sea showers are through parts of east anglia, lincolnshire, to the midlands into wales as well, also one or two showers for certain parts of northern ireland, and for scotland, the cloud thick enough for some drizzly showers in the east. best of the brightness across the west of scotland and also to parts of north—west england, down towards the south—west as well, we should see a picture of brightness breaking through. 11 to 14 degrees typically through the afternoon hours, and then into this evening and overnight the largely dry theme continues, the clouds bringing one or two drizzly showers here and there, but there will be quite a lot of cloud around tonight, so temperatures won't quite as low as last night. for most of us, we are looking at around about four to 7 degrees first thing tomorrow morning. so, to start off your weekend, then, bit of a chilly start but looking mainly dry, fairly cloudy, on the cool side but not too much of a breeze around, so a great weekend for getting out and enjoying the autumn colours. so quite a cloudy, grey sort of picture but there will be some sunshine breaking through, particularly for most southern and western parts of england and wales, i think, through the day on saturday. perhaps a bit of thicker cloud for scotland bringing a few

scattered showers here and there, and temperatures between about nine 13 degrees. heading on on to sunday, then, pretty similar once again. we've still got that high pressure bringing a largely dry theme. quite a cloudy picture for most, particularly across parts of scotland and northern ireland. could be some rain moving in from the west later on in the afternoon, but there'll be some sunshine, especially further south across england and wales. only about eight to 14 degrees also on sunday. and then as we head through into next week, it's going to be all change as high pressure moves away, opening the doors for this area of low pressure to move on. more isobars on the map as well, and that means after this weekend, which is mostly dry and settled, the outlook through into next week is a return to something more unsettled, some wet and windy autumn weather is set to return. bye for now.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 11... lancashire agrees a deal to enter the highest level restrictions — as the government accuses manchester's mayor of holding the government over a barrel. we can't have a situation where andy burnham is effectively saying unless you give us what we want to be will not do the right thing in terms of following the new rules which will protect the very people of manchester that he is elected to represent. "damaging to public health" — a warning from british scientists as the standoff between regional leaders and ministers over covid restrictions intensifies. new coronavirus restrictions for pubs and hotels in northern ireland come into force later, while some travel bans are introduced in wales. british airways is fined £20 million for a cyber attack that affected more than 400,000 customers — the biggest penalty ever handed out by the data watchdog

and in the us election campaign — joe biden accuses his rival donald trump of panicking in his handling of the coronavirus pandemic as the pair take part in separate tv events. in the last half an hour, the bbc has learnt that a deal has been agreed to move lancashire into the "very high" alert tier. the strictest alert level means those living in lancashirejoin the liverpool city region in not being able to mix with other households indoors or outdoors in hospitality venues or private gardens. pubs which aren't serving food will also close. it comes as the mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham, rejected plans for his area to move to the highest risk category,

saying "the north is fed up of being pushed around". foreign secretary dominic raab responded by accusing mr burnham of "trying to hold the government over a barrel over money and politics when actually we need to take action." other regions moving through the tiers include london, essex and york, which will move from medium to high alert from midnight. people will no longer be able to mix indoors with other households. from six o'clock tonight, pubs and restaurants in northern ireland will close for the next four weeks. and bbc news has been told that a limited "circuit—breaker lockdown" for wales could be announced in the next few days, to curb the rise in covid cases. the welsh government say no decisions have been made. 0ur political correspondent helen catt is at westminster.

eddie looking like it is going to be announced in lancashire which is a tory led council. —— a deal. announced in lancashire which is a tory led council. -- a deal. talks picked up against this morning and we descend at an agreement has now been reached. we made them feel that it does not include closing gyms, leisure centres and hairdressers. there is a slight difference now with liverpool which is currently in the only place in that highest tier of covid alert level in england which did close gyms and leisure centres as part of its agreement with the government so we are hearing there that lancashire perhaps now has reached a deal and we should be hearing the details of that pretty shortly. the situation with greater manchester, though, does seem to have hit a bit of a stand—off. we saw yesterday from andy burnham and other leaders in manchester that their displeasure at what the government has on offer saying that they absolutely will not be taking it up. andy burnham's line is that they have been told by the deputy chief medical officer that there is no guarantee that

putting in all these restrictions would actually work and so thatis just too much of a gamble to take with the manchester economy without there being more financial support so, there is discussion seem to have hit a stand—off. earlier, sir richard, who is the leader of manchester city council, said there we re manchester city council, said there were no talks planned for today. we had a meeting yesterday with the representatives on the government and we agreed to have another meeting later in the day but that has been postponed and at the moment there are no meetings in the diary between us in government and as i understand it they were meeting is due to take place in other parts of the north that well postponed as well so we are in a bit of a vacuum at the moment in terms of any sort of meaningful discussion with government and that is not a situation we want to be in.

...the the government says there is about. what the leaders and jesus is saying is that the existing schemes which offerjust saying is that the existing schemes which offer just two saying is that the existing schemes which offerjust two thirds of someone's salary aren't doing enough. dominic lab said it is leaders manchester who lead dell might need to move. if they are just pulling up the drawbridge and saying we don't want to proceed unless more money is coming and i don't think thatis money is coming and i don't think that is the appropriate way to proceed. we have put in a very generous package of support. obviously those areas more affected will get more support for testing and tracing, jobs in

...the the government is claiming that the north is divided and only interested in getting what it can for its own region. the government says that but the layered of manchester is says that is not the case in a united in wanting an 80% furlough scheme. meanwhile the bbc‘s blood of one of radio four has been told that meanwhile he thinks they should just be a standardised system for moving up that he is in therefore you would move, avoid this sort of negotiation completely. thank you very much indeed. as a deal is agreed for lancashire to move to the highest alert level letters us remind you of what the new covid alert levels in england actually mean. until yesterday, most areas were on the ‘medium alert level‘, where the rule of 6 and the 10pm hospitality curfew apply. the ‘high level‘ of restrictions mean no household mixing indoors, and the rule of 6 applying outdoors.

the most severe alert level is ‘very high‘ — meaning no mixing of households indoors or outdoors — that includes homes, private gardens and hospitality venues. people are allowed to meet in groups of six or less in certain outdoor public spaces, such as parks. "substantial meals", and people are advised not to travel in and out of the area. mike stevens is bbc radio lancashire‘s political reporter. mike, what details do you have about what this deal might look like? we understand that the group of lancashire council leaders, 15 council leaders from across the county, were originally told that this would contain a support package of around £12 million. they asked for more money, they said that would work out at £8 per person in lancashire for the four—week period that these restrictions would be in place. they said that is not enough to support livelihoods, to support lives here in the county, and we understand now that they have negotiated a package of £42 million

for the county, plus extra support on top for a local and test and tray system. as well as that, we understand that there will be a specific ministerial team which will be sent off to deal with the pandemic here in lancashire. the prime minister spoke to council leaders this morning just after ten o‘clock. we understand he didn‘t ta ke o‘clock. we understand he didn‘t take any questions but he thanked council leaders for their hard work. he recognised how difficult it was to come to a consensus, particularly ina part to come to a consensus, particularly in a part of a country like lancashire where different parts of the county and different objectives and he reminded, reiterated, council leaders of the seriousness of the situation. i understand that an announcement, an initial announcement, an initial announcement will be made in the next few minutes and then these restrictions will come into full for midnight tonight. what does the money from that the councils negotiate actually support so obviously people centrally claim for thejob support obviously people centrally claim for the job support scheme in fellow.

this is money to support businesses that are forced to close and swell as other people throughout the cou nty as other people throughout the county that are affected as a result of this. i have spoken to some local mps this morning he say that the detail will be really important with this. it is important to say here that this package has been negotiated between council chief executives, council leaders, and government officials. mps are being briefed on what is going on along the way. this is a process that has been going on for about a week now. but a loss of mps and business leaders across lancashire are very keen now to get the detail of the support package and to properly scrutinise it. —— a lot of mps. support package and to properly scrutinise it. -- a lot of mps. if things like gyms are kept open but pub closes the consensus that that would be enough? i think that is one of the things that all council leaders were united on from the start. they felt that the rate of transmission in gyms and in leisure centres and other facilities was low compared to the rate of transmission in other venues such as hospitality

venues in other venues such as hospitality venues and they felt that the benefits of keeping gyms injannah or leisure centre is open, the physical and mental health benefits of doing that would outweigh the benefits of closing them so that was a sticking point in the negotiations right from the start. i know that officials across lancashire are pleased that the government, in their words, have conceded to that and have allowed gyms to stay open. just very quickly, obviously lancashire is tory lead. politically does it sort of feel like the government is, at least, trying to do deals where it can along political lines? well, even though lancashire county council is tory led we have a strange structure of government here in lancashire. so the county council looks at the most of the county. we do have two unitary authorities as well which are both labour run and then borough and district councils which sit under the county council. a large number of which are also labour run. so in terms of the individuals who are negotiating this deal with the

government, the majority were actually labour politicians, only a small number, a handful conservative politicians, and it doesn‘t actually seen that from the start this was necessarily along party lines. at the start of these negotiations, regardless of political persuasion, it‘s the first time that i‘ve known when every part of lancashire has been united in one goal. along the way there were discrepancies, for example, i know in the around blackpool there were particular concerns about what forcing pubs and bars to close would do to the leisure, the tourism industry that. but bit by bit throughout the negotiations the council leaders worked together regardless of political persuasion to come to this agreement. i am aware today that some council leaders, some politicians, and not happy with the support package. they think that there was room for more money to be invested but by the sounds of it, particularly the conservative

politicians here in lancashire are pleased because, like i say, they we re pleased because, like i say, they were expecting around about £12 million for lancashire and now they are being told they are going to get £43 million. mike stevens there. thank you very much. we are waiting across the official confirmation of all this from the uk government. we can speak now to... karina jadhav is the owner of the menagerie restaurant in manchester, which would be affected by any alert changes in the greater manchester area — shejoins me now. you are under tier 2 as i understand it more obviously the government wanting to move greater manchester into tier 3. how have you been affected by all these changes so far? well, for us, bt has do not look particularly different to the local lockdown that was placed in manchester prior to them being implemented. we have had a 10p mkv since the middle of september. that the tears do not look particularly different, a tenant pm curfew. that

is when we saw the drop in customer confidence and people going out. if anything, we spent a lot of time and money ensuring it is a very safe environment and in lots of other places where the flow of traffic on the flow of people social distancing isn't as well—controlled. the flow of people social distancing isn't as well-controlled. so who actually is still coming? because i know there is a big student population in manchester too, and what will happen if you go into tier 3? will you manage? if we going to tier3 3? will you manage? if we going to tier 3 this restaurant will still stay open. the big change for us is that people will be very confused, i think. i think that is something the government do not take into consideration when changing the message, communicating differently with people. so, when the 10pm curfew was announced we saw a lot of cancellations and people requesting deposits be refunded, and thenjust slowly as the weeks have gone on and bt has been introduced and people felt more and more confusing people haven't been able to travel into the city, we have seen a reduction in

sales, a reduction in trade. so for us we would stay open but i really don't believe that we would be able to sustain that because i don't think people will be coming out to restaurants because the message almost feels like don't go out to restaurants because we are closing bars and pubs as well, it's not safe, so it would almost be better if they put across a support package if they put across a support package if they put across a support package if they feel like hospitality needs to be closed down, the support needs to be closed down, the support needs to be closed down, the support needs to be there. if you are just taking, then, a small proportion of trade, would you be eligible to claim any support at all? would you have to lay off all you know put some of your staff onto some sort of support scheme? staff at the moment since end of october could go back to furlough or stay on flex to fellow but as of the 1st of november it really isn't feasible. a newjob support scheme that comes into place won't cover their overheads, 60% of what they usually taking. know, people have rents and rents and leases and bills that are in line

with what their earnings were, and what we are going to see is people being forced to leave property basically because there is not funding in place to support people in treatmentjobs. funding in place to support people in treatment jobs. ——. funding in place to support people in treatmentjobs. ——. into profit or poverty. we were never eligible for grant because we are a medium—sized business were 60 people working for us and the number of square units we out we haven't seen that financial support anyway we have just had to take on more debt, basically, to try and keep our doors open and get to the period of time. why collect when you see people obviously get two thirds instead of 80% for those people that need some sort of support. can you give me any idea what those sorts of numbers look like? how much of a shortfall will people be facing each month or each week? i usually have to act as a reference for people when they are renting an apartment, for example, and a lot of our team live in rented accommodation, so when they are renting an apartment, which most people have done a year or so or two

years ago, that is based on their income. their income is drastically reduced and obviously they still have rent to pay and then beyond that things like cars or, you know, mobile phone bills, that is all in line with what their income was so when their income drops they can't afford to maintain that lifestyle and it's not, you know, an extravagant lifestyle by any means because it is people working on the minimum wage working very long hours and have the income that they get. when you see the andy burnham the mayor and the government into different places, who do feel a speaking viewandy is saying they need to be most pop of the insane look, you know, it‘s expensive, we can‘t obviously put endless amounts of financial support out.” can‘t obviously put endless amounts of financial support out. i think it is pretty unanimous in the city that we all feel like andy burnham is speaking for those and i think it is very easy for somebody that doesn't know what poverty feels like it or isn't facing it or seeing it on the streets to say that there is just not in the city that we all feel like andy burnham is speaking for those and i think it is very easy

for somebody that doesn't know what poverty feels like it or isn't facing it or seeing it on the streets to say that there is just not enough financial don't have enough hours and can't afford to pay their bills when we go from there? what do i do? that was an owner of a restau ra nt what do i do? that was an owner of a restaurant in manchester. many thanks indeed. and wherever you are across the uk, if you want to check the rules in your area now — you can search by postcode — that‘s on our website — bbc.co.uk/news, or via the bbc news app. the rules are, obviously, influx of it is worth keeping up—to—date and we hope to have all the details there for you. the headlines on bbc news... lancashire agrees a deal to enter the highest alert level restrictions — as the government accuses manchester‘s mayor of holding the government over a barrel. "damaging to public health" — a warning from british scientists as the standoff between regional leaders and ministers over covid restrictions intensifies. new coronavirus restrictions for pubs and hotels in northern ireland come into force

later, while some travel bans are introduced in wales.. the two rivals in next month‘s us presidential election, donald trump and democratic nominee joe biden, took part in separate, but simultaneously televised events overnight, in place of the second presidential debate. both were asked about the coronavirus and criticised each other‘s response to the pandemic. 0ur north america correspondent david willis reports. it was a prime—time split—screen showdown, the presidential candidates competing for eyeballs in duelling debates — a stark reminder of how strange this entire campaign has been. and when it came down to the pivotal issue of the day, a virus that has claimed more than 215,000 american lives, the two men seemed to occupy, not just rival channels, but competing orbits. he said he didn‘t tell anybody

because he was afraid americans would panic. americans don‘t panic. he panicked. the president insisting america has turned the corner on the coronavirus. many people are catching it, many people are getting this disease that was sent to us by china, and it should not have been allowed to happen. for his part, joe biden pledged to take a vaccine once one becomes available and said he‘d urge others to do the same. if the body of scientists say that this is what is ready to be done and it has been tested, they‘ve gone through the three phases, yes, i would take it, and i would encourage people to take it. under sharp questioning, president trump was called upon to denounce qanon, the false conspiracy theory that democrats are part of a global paedophile ring. he declined. i know nothing about it. i do know they are very much against paedophilia. the president was also pressed on claims that he owes hundreds of millions of dollars to foreign creditors. more than anything else, the duelling debates emphasise

the contrast in styles between the two candidates. with fewer undecided voters now than four years ago, their impact on the outcome may be limited. a second face—to—face debate is due to take place in nashville, next week. david willis, bbc news. british airways have been fined £20 million after a data breach which affected more than 400,000 customers. investigators found the airline should have identified the security weaknesses which enabled the cyber attack to take place in 2018. the carrier did not detect the hack for more than two months. our technology correspondent rory cellan—jones is with me now. this looks like it is a very big fine. 400,000 customers were

diverted thought they were on the bt website but ended up on a malicious website but ended up on a malicious website which stole their data including credit card details, a lot of those people had to change their credit cards, a lot of disruption to people‘s lives, overall and incredibly serious breach and last year the information commissioner which was the regulator he had talked about imposing a fine of £183 million. now, that has come way down to 20 million, which is still a record. but the regulator has made it clear that it has taken into account the impact of covid on the airline. it says is part of the regulatory process the ico considered both representations from ba and the economic impact of covid—19 on the business before they set theirfind. covid—19 on the business before they set their find. and they point was that they thought that the company at the time could have or should have been able to do more to protect data? yes, absolutely. this was one of the worst data breaches to hit consumers that we have seen, really. the fact that so much data was

shared inadvertently with these hackers. ba, just in the last few minutes, has come out with a statement saying we alerted customers as soon as we became aware of the criminal attack on our systems in 2018 and are sorry we fell short of our customer expectations. they say, also, they are pleased that the regulator has accepted that they have cooperated with the investigation and they have shored up their defences since this attack. our technology correspondent, thank you very much indeed. with more than half of england‘s population soon to be living under high or very high alert restrictions — there are calls for greater financial support for those who will be affected. the labour mayor for greater manchester, andy burnham wants more help before putting the region into tier 3. the former labour prime minister gordon brown has also called for a stronger financial package.

look at it this way. we‘ve got health advice from the experts, which the government is not fully following. we‘ve got to have consent if there‘s going to be lockdowns or if there is going to be circuit breakers because it depends on people obeying the instructions, so you‘ve got, as a government, to be one step ahead of this and you‘ve got to go for the maximum consensus possible. but, you know what, the blockage, i think, that has got to be solved is, i said two weeks ago that the chancellor‘s package of economic measures was insufficient. you can‘t increase the health restrictions on people, telling them they can‘t do certain things, and then lessen the economic support if people lose theirjobs. but that‘s exactly what the chancellor‘s done, at the very time that we‘re increasing the requirements on people not to do things and denying people the chance ofjobs, we‘re reducing the economic suppport. now, if i was borisjohnson, again, you‘ve got to be one step ahead. what he should be doing is calling the chancellor this morning, telling him that his economic recovery package

is not going to work — indeed it‘s had to be changed in one respect in the last few days — get him to bring a new economic recovery package, and i think you could build consent around that. you can‘t ask people to lose theirjobs and then pay them far less than you were paying in the last few months. former prime minister, of course, there, gordon brown. let‘s get more on lancashire moving to tier 3 the highest covid alert level in england. geoff driver is the conservative leader of lancashire county council. like everywhere else, pubs and bars will close but we have nature that we have sufficient measures in place to monitor gyms and leisure centres and at this stage they won‘t be closing but obviously we had got to keep checking on them. we have been getting additional help for local test to tracing and perhaps the most significant thing, in addition to

the £12 million that we get from the £8 per head that goes to our tier 3 local authorities, we have negotiated a package of 30 million to help us introduce measures that will help the businesses that are suffering perhaps just as importantly the people who are employed in those businesses. we have seen from one of the government‘s sage advisers, professor graham medley, he said that even the toughest measures, this tier 3, might not be enough to stop the rise in infections. how long can lancashire afford to give it before things have to get even stricter? there is absolutely no doubt that what you have just said is correct and we recognise that for the last few days whilst we have beenin the last few days whilst we have been in the negotiations. indeed, our own directors of public health have told us if we don‘t get to grips with the virus in three weeks‘ time the admissions to hospitals in lancashire will be at the height

that they were when the peak was at its height in april and march. and if we leave it for a couple of weeks after that, admissions to hospital will be double. so, we clearly have to ta ke will be double. so, we clearly have to take more measures than we are doing closing pubs and bars, and we are doing that, and we will make sure that the regulations are enforced to stop this infection as best we can. when you say two weeks after that the hospitality... has been doubled —— the hospital admissions have been doubled. when exactly admissions have been doubled. when exa ctly d o admissions have been doubled. when exactly do you mean? from three weeks on if we don‘t make these regulations work. in current terms of keeping pubs and things open. just looking at some of the numbers. burnley has got 581 cases per 100,000. blackpool and darwin burnley has got 581 cases per 100,000. blackpooland darwin 400...

and so on. really big numbers. is it safe to give any of these places open? it is if we make sure they are sticking to the covid restrictions. i think we need to accept that the gyms and the leisure centres are a significant contributions to people‘s not only the physical health and well—being but also the mental health and well—being so we think we can handle that. as i‘ve said, we have got to introduce measures to make sure we get the infection under control. i‘m sure the cmo would say and our own director of public health would say that the main source of infection, spread of the infection, is in households and in social mixing within households. so, that‘s the area that we really have to get to get grips within the few weeks. but it is impossible to police, isn‘t it, that? how we‘re going to stop people doing that? you are right. it is not very easy to police it when people are in their own homes and mixing households. but if we can get

the message across and we really need to work on that to make sure that the public are aware, this is a really, really serious matter and sadly too many people have been acting as if the virus is over and there is nothing to worry about. at there is nothing to worry about. at the present time, the infection rate certainly in lancashire and i get another part of the country, the major problem is in younger age groups, but when we look at the graphs of infections it is now spreading into the older age groups as well, and of course that is exactly where we have the serious health problems because people who are more elderly are more susceptible not only to catching the disease but to being rather ill when they do catch it. have you been given a support figure as well? is not going to be enough? we have seen andy burnham basically saying that it is just not good enough for the government to only support people up to two thirds, especially people on the very lowest incomes, rather than

the very lowest incomes, rather than the 80% of fellow. yes, and i am not entirely happy with the way it is presented, but the argument it is presented, but the argument it is presented, we have done exactly the same. a lot of the people who are employed in the pubs and bars are on minimum wage, and if they are only going to be paid two thirds of the minimum wage it is going to put them in serious financial difficulties, but in lancashire, all the districts and the county council and the two unitary councils, we are going to work together to make sure we can mitigate against that as much as we possibly can. how can you? just to be clear, the amount of money that you have been given, what is that actually fall? in essence, it is for what is needed, and the big advantage... we are actually being given a ministerial team to help us work through exactly how best to use that money to mitigate against the worst impacts that people are inevitably going to suffer. and

sorry, forgive me if this is not perfect, but is that the case then that if people lose theirjobs or can only claim for part of the work that they were having, that they would claim to the central source of government pots of money, which might only given two thirds and then that they would come to the council to claim any topic that they may need but they would need to prove justification for it? that my? yes, they will get the fellow funds in they will get the fellow funds in the business grants that have been agreed by the chancellor right across the board and then we will have that extra pot of money wired by week and then top it up when it is needed. —— whereby we can then top it up when it is needed. are you satisfied that that is enough to make up the difference between the two thirds in the 80%? time will tell, won‘t it. two thirds in the 80%? time will tell, won't it. well, you must have calculations. it is a really good start and hopefully will. the local authorities, all 15 of us, i determined to work together to use

our own resources wherever we can to mitigate against the effects. our own resources wherever we can to mitigate against the effectsm our own resources wherever we can to mitigate against the effects. is it vital that you wanted 50 million 42 million? originally we wanted the 50 million? originally we wanted the 50 million because that was the money left in the bank from the original business support grants that the chancellor of the exchequer announced right at the beginning of the pandemic and i can understand why government doesn‘t want to use start earmarking certain funds like that so that off the table very quick during the discussions and then we had to be negotiating for as much as we could to replace it and, yes, as you say, we haven‘t quite got to the 50 million but we are a lot nearer than when we started. we have seen scientists criticise the political divisions, the north—south division, the approach to this. he was right on this? is it rishi sunak and boris johnson saying was right on this? is it rishi sunak and borisjohnson saying that they cannot support every job, and borisjohnson saying that they cannot support everyjob, but they can‘t continue with the sort of generous funding that they did in

spring? generous funding that they did in s . generous funding that they did in spring? 0pposite andy burnham saying that you cannot impose these incredible restrictions and let people fall through the floor financially? i don't think there is a simple answer to that question. it is not a question of right or wrong because quite understandably andy burnham is looking at it from a different point of view from the chancellor and the prime minister. where i stand at the present time, we are in the middle of the health crisis and we always have to balance the effect on livelihoods with the effect on lives. and however unpalatable it is, there is no easy decision to be making, but however unpalatable it is, at this moment in time, the concentration has to be on health because when we get through the crisis, we can get people‘s jobs back, but we can‘t bring them back to life, and it‘s an absolute stark fa ct to life, and it‘s an absolute stark fact that where we are at the

moment, our hospitals are going to be overrun if we don‘t sort it out and so therefore there is not only the impact of covid, but there is the impact of covid, but there is the knock—on effect of people not being able to have surgery or medication for other quite often babysit various matters. and that, whether we like it or not, that is exactly where we are. —— for other quite often very serious matters. what is the logic of the government giving two thirds of people centrally and then giving you a top 7 why centrally and then giving you a top ‘t centrally and then giving you a top ey centrally and then giving you a top up? why don‘t theyjust give eve ryo ne up? why don‘t theyjust give everyone 80%? you are a conservative. you are asking the wrong chap that question. i can only work on the new bases in the negotiations we have done and the deal we have arrived at with the government but if you want to know why the government don‘t do something blanket across the piece, i‘m afraid you‘ll have to ask them. i can‘t answer that. i‘m afraid you‘ll have to ask them. i can't answer that. that was the conservative leader of lancashire cou nty conservative leader of lancashire county council. many thanks indeed, much appreciated.

good morning. the premier league returns tomorrow after the international break. manchester united travel to newcastle off the back of their chastening 6—1 defeat to tottenham almost a fortnight ago. the form and fitness of captain harry maguire will be a concern. he was sent off in england‘s defeat to denmark on wednesday night and he also picked up a knock which means he‘s a doubt for tomorrow. and away from the pitch, he is also appealing against a suspended prison sentence following an incident in mykonos this summer. when harry is part of the england tea m when harry is part of the england team that beat number one ranked belgium, that is just a team that beat number one ranked belgium, that isjust a normal day, and then you get the headlines when you get the sending off. that is just football for you. there‘s so many ups and downs, we have got to deal with it individually and as a group. harry has got great resilience and i know he will bounce

back. i know he wants to play, he wa nts to back. i know he wants to play, he wants to just work his way out of the last couple of games that he has been criticised. it‘s the domestic transfer deadline day, the window shuts at five o‘clock. liverpool midfielder harry wilson has secured a season—long loan move to cardiff. the 23—year—old wales international was being chased by a number of championship sides, including derby county, where he‘d previously had a loan spell. it‘s the challenge cup final tomorrow between leeds rhinos and salford red devils. the rugby football league chairman simon johnson has defended the decision to stage the match at wembley, even though it will be played behind closed doors. in the programme notes for tomorrow‘s match, he says that the game remains in a "vulnerable state" with fans locked out and that, "if, by following government guidance, we end up risking the survival of our clubs and the future sustainability of our game, we must look to government to help to sustain us". they have already received

a 16 million pound loan. as expected, the rugby union world champions south africa have pulled out of the rugby championship, just 15 days before it‘s due to start. it‘s over what they call player welfare concerns, with travel complications and differing quarantine rules for their overseas—based players. the springboks haven‘t played since they won their third world cup injapan almost a year ago. the rugby championship will go ahead later this month with just the hosts australia, argentina and new zealand. england‘s world cup winning captain eoin morgan will take over as captain of the kolkata knight riders in the indian premier league. he‘s replacing dinesh karthik, who wants to focus on his batting. the team are fourth in the ipl table and face second—placed mumbai indians later today. the games are being played in the uae. olympic champion adam peaty returns to competition this weekend, at the international swimming league in budapest. he‘s one of 36 britons involved in the event — the first since the covid—19

pandemic wrecked the sporting calendar and led to the postponement of the tokyo 0lymic games. they‘re all in a six—week bubble, and new father peaty says that‘s a challenge, but neccessary. a challenge, but necessary. it is difficult, i won‘t lie. i did cry when i had to say goodbye. i had the matilda soundtrack on in the background. it is tough but this is myjob. if i was in the army i would still have to go away, if i had a career i would still have to go away. it is tough for any family for the father to leave straightaway but this is my career. i get a really good preparation into the olympics, and in ten months, nine months it will be now, so it will come round a lot faster than we think. there is coverage of the international swimming league on the

bbc. all events featuring peaty‘s team, london roar, as well as the semi—finals and finals will be live on the bbc sport website, app and the bbc iplayer. right now on the website, that‘s where you can follow the headlines from 14 premier league news conferences today, ahead of the weekend. that‘s bbc.co.uk/sport. i will have an update for you a little bit later. just wanted to let you know the bbc understands that north—east councils have been given a weak‘s north—east councils have been given a wea k‘s reprieve north—east councils have been given a weak‘s reprieve before the possibility of going into tier three. this morning there were a meeting with government representatives and the situation will be reviewed in a week. well, lancashire it looks like is going into tier three. we can speak to chris green, the conservative mp for

bolton west, who resigned as a ministerial aide over the restrictions saying the attempted cu re restrictions saying the attempted cure is worse than the disease. he joins me now. what do you make of this move to put lancashire into tier three, agreed by all the councils? the local council leaders have an insight into what is going on locally but i know in bolton our experience was that we had it tougher, having had three weeks of an economic lockdown. that means the closure of beauticians, pubs, clubs and restaurants. tier three is mild in comparison. the lockdown in bolton didn‘t work, the lockdown in greater manchester hasn‘t worked, so i don‘t know how hopeful this tier three option is in terms of it actually having the impact we would want. what have the numbers done in bolton since the restrictions came

in? bolton, when we are hoping to get bolton out of the local lockdown, the figures were under 20 per 100,000. it‘s approaching 300 per 100,000. it‘s approaching 300 per 100000 and we are in the local lockdown at the moment. it is hardly seeming to be a recipe for success, that even when our pubs, restau ra nts, that even when our pubs, restaurants, cafes, beauticians were closed the figures were going up and up. what is your recipe then, if you think restrictions will not solve this? i think the first thing to do is to communicate with people. get more information and get more evidence out where for example. there is better medical treatment and support for people because, from six months ago when the pandemic happened we didn‘t really understand it. we understand it far better now. we also have to appreciate society has changed. people are far more

co mforta ble has changed. people are far more comfortable with sanitising, keeping socially distant and everything else. we also have to look at the science we are presented with, and some of it isn‘t the kind of as rigorous in a sense that we would like. so we had a graph that shows the rate of positive tests in march, april, may. at the peak of that, if we had as many tests as we are doing today, it would have been 100,000 if not far more, 100,000 positive tests per day. at the moment we are in london 20,000 positive tests per day, so we are not in that sense comparing like for like in terms of the science. so what we need to do is understand what is really going on, understand the health impact that the lockdown is a having. in bolton 20,000 fewer people have had the referral from a bolton 20,000 fewer people have had the referralfrom a gp bolton 20,000 fewer people have had the referral from a gp to a hospital. we can just think of the

cancer, heart disease, all those other serious conditions that are not being treated, not being looked at. that is having an impact now and it will have an impact for months and years to come. are you saying there should be no restrictions at all? no, i'm not saying that. i'm saying you can have a certain level of restrictions but the fundamental thing, society understands covid, understands the impact the restrictions are having. society is better place now to make decisions for itself. we know that sage scientists have said they don‘t think the government is going even far enough. you are a conservative mp, we have seen the government saying there has got to be a package of restrictions. you are really going against many people in your own party and a massive scientific consensus. i love sage, or the

secretary for health, to publish analysis of the health impact lockdown has had. we know about 3 million people have not had the cancer screening they should have had. can you tell me what impact thatis had. can you tell me what impact that is going to have? have you seen that is going to have? have you seen that report? can sage get that report? what about heart disease and hip replacements? i want the british people to look at both sets of data and say this is the covid side, this is the broader health side, this is the hundreds of billions of pounds on the economy side, this is the devastating impact on business. bolton has already been through a tough lockdown than tier three. the country has had closure of schools, universities, public transport, the closure of so many businesses. that didn‘t work? thank you, sage, very

much for that. chris green, many thanks indeed. a limited ‘circuit—breaker‘ lockdown is being considered for wales. first minister mark drakeford has suggested this would be the "most effective way" to control the virus. let‘s talk about this more with councillor veronica gay, deputy leader of the independent alliance group at flintshire county council, and john griffiths, labour member of the senedd for newport east. thanks very much indeed for your time. when you look at the map, it is easy to see why you might be concerned about people moving across from england to wales, but people might also feel that it is an unfair restriction on movements. veronica, what is your view? it's a very confusing situation when boundaries of countries go between the middle of countries go between the middle of communities. how do you really expect people to carry on their lives as best they can? the

restrictions are so confusing. you can‘t go to the church, which obviously is affecting a lot of people, you can‘t get to the local hospital or do not grow your closest hospital. your gps are also in another country. so it is difficult and it is confusing. i think this sort of standard message of as you say sanitise, wash your hands, keep your space, those things, local people are doing that as well as they possibly can but it effects them when they need services and the services are not there. because you are interconnected. can you give me an example of what sort ofjourneys people need to do and how far the distance is? to get to your local hospital two miles away, less than two miles away is in england but you would have to go further into wales

to get to hospital at wrexham. again, not the place go. the distance is there. the gp services, there isn‘t any in the locality. about 90% of my residents are registered with gp practices in england because wales just cannot do it. we haven‘t got any. england because wales just cannot do it. we haven't got any. so you think there shouldn‘t be a restriction on movement like this? but then you say if you want to go to your local church which is the latest thing i‘m trying to resolve, we can‘t go to church. across the road on the english side, and in theory residents here cannot go outside the boundaries. john griffiths, what do you say to that? i think public health has to come first. as a memberof the health has to come first. as a member of the senate, the postbag i get is very supported of the

restrictions —— as a member of the senedd. i think they understand public health must come first and this is a public health emergency. there are always difficulties around the detail and that is constantly being reviewed and fine tuned, but on the general principle, people understand the first minister mark drakeford here in wales is trying to keep people safe and people is about that. do you think it is going to be listened to, this new set of restrictions, if it comes in? we haven‘t heard any confirmation or detail yet from mark drakeford but do you think people will do as requested? as you say, we don't know what will happen or if there will be a so—called circuit breaker introduced so we will have to see. up introduced so we will have to see. up until now there is always a small minority that don't respect the restrictions but overall compliance has been good. people tell me they

are obeying the rules, they are doing what is required of them, and they expect everyone else to do the same, and they do understand that really it's only a small minority that are not observing what is required of them. obviously we have to look at enforcement and make sure as many people as possible are compliant. veronica gay, we are seeing lots of local, regional differences in views. isn‘t it better for everybody to pull in the same direction? because it gets confusing. it does get confusing. to defend my residents, we are complying, we really are. we have a simple thing of a shop on one side of the road to the other and they don‘t go because it is in a different country. they are trying very ha rd to different country. they are trying very hard to comply. they fully

understand the implications of the health issues. like myself, i haven‘t seen my family since february. and does affect your wellbeing as well. wellbeing has got to come in there somewhere. but yes, we all have to go along with it. i think both sides of the argument are all trying their best. as i say, i‘m not... counsellor, so i can see both sides. it is trying very hard to get this right for ink all, to save businesses because they need to be saved as well, but also to keep the population as safe as we possibly can, including me. i look at it in a selfish way. we all need to watch ourselves, we all want to keep going, but we do need our businesses to support us as well so it‘s a fine

line. i‘m glad i have not got to make those decisions because they are extremely hard to do. they are indeed. john, if i can bring you in... we can sit in the background and say you should have done this, you should have done that, but this is very new and i don‘t think anyone should point fingers at anybody trying their best because they have alljust got to go for it and do what we can. we are hearing lots of different voices on the health and financial front. if we do see a full circuit breaker lockdown, whatever you want to call it, a clamp—down on restrictions in wales, what effect will that have, john? because many people are saying that delays any further rise in infections once you open up again. if we do see that lockdown, and we don't know yet whether we will or not, i think it will buy more time. that's really important because we are learning

more and more about the virus, we are developing better treatments and getting closer to a vaccine. we are easing pressure on the national health service and on the front line. so if we can buy more time through something like a circuit breaker, i think that is very valuable. we have got to remember that if we keep the virus under control, that is of huge public health benefit but it also benefits the other aspects of this crisis. it protects people's livelihoods because the sooner we get the virus under control, the more we can get back to the economy operating as normal and we can also restore the other vital nhs treatments for cancer and stroke which are so vital. controlling the virus is vital. controlling the virus is vital to all of that and that's why it is so important, and it may be that a circuit breaker would buy more time and help on that front. 0k, we will have to leave it there.

thank you both very much indeed, to veronica and john. the mayor of liverpool is questioning why liverpool has got its gyms and leisure centre closed but lancashire has got its open. he‘s very unhappy saying the liverpool city region has demanded immediate clarification on why lancashire gyms are allowed to stay open and liverpool‘s close. the different details obviously in all of these different packages are being negotiated. we know that lancashire has got a conservative cou nty lancashire has got a conservative county council but it does have labour city councils within it and all have signed up to the deal in lancashire. liverpool of course had

had these tougher restrictions put in place already. the type of restrictions and the financial deal given are varied with the government effectively in negotiations with different regions now. but that response from liverpool city mayor, who has been one of the key critics of the government‘s current policy and the lack of financial support being given to areas and people in the toughest areas of restriction. men from black african, black caribbean and bangladeshi ethnic backgrounds have had significantly higher rates of death involving covid—19 than all other ethnic groups in england and wales, with rates exceeding 250 deaths per 100,000 people, according to updated figures from the office for national statistics. previous analysis from the 0ns had combined pakistani and bangladeshi groups, but new estimates show the latter group had a significantly higher risk of covid—19 mortality. males of white ethnic background continued to have the lowest rate at 106.8 deaths per 100,000, lower than all other ethnic

groups apart from chinese. dr carter singh is an nhs gp in nottinghamshire. he‘s just been awarded an mbe for his services to health care and helping ethnic minority groups — hejoins me now. thanks very much for your time. what do you make of the latest data? is it confirming what we knew or giving more nuance to it? i think it is confirming what we already know. i am saddened but not surprised. we know the pandemic has shone a spotlight into the already existing inequalities in healthcare and in our broader communities at large in the bame community. and do we know why? can you still hear me? do we know more about the reasons for these differences in the mortality rates ? these differences in the mortality rates? we need to separate them into

medical or physiological versus non—physiological. we know that bame community tend to have higher prevalences of conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, respiratory problems, which can make them more likely to contract and develop complications from covid, but the larger psychosocial, economic determinants of health are the key factors here. so for example overcrowding, multi—generational living, perhaps working in sectors which have higher front facing public roles which makes it more likely to contract covid. and also perhaps a disproportionate availability of infection control or ppe availability for bame communities, are factors such as bame communities being less likely to approach line managers to discuss their concerns. it is a multifactor

broad—based aspect rather than just a single cause. and just looking at the details, it says men and women from indian mixed ethnicity communities were up to 75% more likely to die from covid—19 than their white counterparts. again, is that broken down for different socioeconomic backgrounds and jobs? for example we know there are a lot of asian doctors in the nhs and nursing too. we know that about 1496 of the population at large is bame but 40% of the workforce of the nhs is from bame backgrounds. when you look at the senior strategic decision—making, policy—making, board decision—making, policy—making, boa rd level decision—making, policy—making, board level composition, you will see that it is disproportionately under representing bame communities so we have to look at it from a strategic point of view and see whether the lack of ethnic diversity in the upper echelons of

decision—making also influences whether risk mitigation filters down to the shop floor level. ok, many thanks indeed. dr carter singh. much appreciated. let‘s catch up with the weather. we know there is a lot of cloud around so count yourself lucky if you are seeing sunshine today. where there are breaks in the cloud, it‘s on the call side for the time of year. where the cloud is thickest there are outbreaks of rain. even though it is high pressure, it is far enough away to bring cloud on the north—easterly breeze, bringing showers as well. the breeze direction is why things are quite cool that the moment. we are most likely to see these showers and drizzle through the middle and is pushing into wales and northern ireland as we go on through the rest of the day. parts of northern england will brighten up, with the best of the sunshine across southern

england, western fringes of scotland seeing the light rain and drizzle. into tonight, we keep a lot of cloud around. where we are most likely to get breaks, the further west you are in scotland, south wales, south—west england, and it is here we get the lowest temperatures with some spots close to freezing as we go into the morning. from all of this cloud as we start the day tomorrow, there will be like breaks of rain and drizzle possible just about anywhere. most likely in the afternoon to be affecting parts of eastern scotland and northern england. so only a limited amount of sunny spells coming through this cloud tomorrow, and temperatures up to 13 degrees with a few spots in southern england reaching 14. saturday evening is still looking quite damp in parts of scotland and northern england. still an area of thicker cloud from the east midlands

to north east england. some sunny spells coming through, but as we end some day we are likely to see outbreaks of rain pushing towards northern ireland and north—west scotland. sunday looking like a cooler day. next week temperatures do go upa cooler day. next week temperatures do go up a few degrees, but there is a trade—off. we will see rain coming in and the wind is picking up as well. rain initially on monday affecting parts of scotland and northern ireland becoming more widespread as we go through the week, and some of the rain will be quite heavy at times too, accompanied by some pretty brisk winds.

this is bbc news. the headlines... lancashire agrees a deal to enter the highest alert level restrictions — but gyms will stay open and there‘s a significant increase in financial support. we‘ve negotiated a package of 30 million to help us introduce measures that will help the businesses that are suffering. liverpool‘s mayor reacts angrily, demanding to know why his gyms had to close, and there‘s still no deal with manchester. new coronavirus restrictions for pubs and hotels in northern ireland come into force later, while some travel bans are introduced in wales. british airways is fined £20 million pounds for a cyber attack that affected more than 400,000 customers — the biggest penalty ever handed out by the data watchdog.

and in the us election campaign — joe biden accuses his rival donald trump of panicking in his handling of the coronavirus pandemic as the pair take part in separate tv events. lancashire will move into tier 3 of lockdown restrictions, after agreeing a deal with the government. the "very high" alert level means that those living in lancashire join the liverpool city region in not being able to mix with other households indoors or outdoors in hospitality venues or private gardens. pubs which aren‘t serving food will also close. it comes as the mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham, rejected plans for his area to move to the highest risk category, saying "the north is fed up of being pushed around". foreign secretary dominic raab responded by accusing mr burnham of "trying to hold the government

over a barrel over money and politics when actually we need to take action." other regions moving through the tiers include london, essex and york, which will move from medium to high alert from midnight. people will no longer be able to mix indoors with other households. from six o‘clock tonight, pubs and restaurants in northern ireland will close for the next four weeks. and bbc news has been told that a limited "circuit—breaker lockdown" for wales could be announced in the next few days, to curb the rise in covid cases. the welsh government say no decisions have been made. let‘s get more now on lancashire moving to tier 3, the highest covid alert level in england. earlier i spoke to geoff driver, conservative leader of lancashire county council, about the deal that‘s been agreed with the government. like everybody else in tier 3, pubs

and bars will close, but we managed to convince the government that we have got sufficient measures in place to monitor pubs and leisure gyms and leisure centres obviously they won't be closing. we are getting additional help for local test and tracing and perhaps the most significant thing in additional to the £12 million that we get from the 8p per head that goes to all tier3 the 8p per head that goes to all tier 3 local authorities we have negotiated a package of 30 million to help us introduce measures that will help the businesses that are suffering and perhaps just importantly the people who are employed in those businesses. we've seen from one of the governments sage advisor is professor graham medley, he has said that even the toughest measures, tier 3, might not be enough to stop the rise in infections. how long can lancashire afford to give it before things have to get even stricter? there is absolutely no doubt that what you have just said is correct and we

recognise that for the last few days whilst we have been in the negotiations. indeed, our own directors of public health told us if we don't get to grips with the virus, in three weeks' time, the admission to hospitals in lancashire will be at the height that they were when the peak was at its height in april and march. and if we leave it for a couple of weeks after that, admissions to hospital will be doubled. so we clearly have to take more measures than we are doing closing pubs and bars, and we are doing that, and we will make sure that the regulations are enforced to stop this infection as best we can. when you say two weeks after that hospital admissions will be doubled, deeming from me now from sales of three weeks on if no change is going to happen? from three weeks on if we don't make these changes work. and in terms of keeping gyms and leisure centre is open, then, just looking

at some of the numbers and some of the big lancashire population centres. burnley has got 581 cases per 100,000, blackburn with darwen 451 per 100000 and so on. really, really big numbers. is it safe to keep any of these places open. really big numbers. is it safe to keep any of these places openm really big numbers. is it safe to keep any of these places open. it is if we make sure that they are sticking to the covid restrictions. i think we need to accept that the gyms and the leisure centres are a significant contribution to people's, not only their physical health and well— being but also people's, not only their physical health and well—being but also their mental health and well—being, so we think we can handle that, but, as i've said, we've got to introduce measures to make sure we get the infection under control, and i'm sure the cmo would say and our own directors of public health are saying that the main source of infection, spread of the infection, is in households and in social mixing within households, that's the area that we really have to get to grips with in the next few weeks.

that is geoff driver, leader of lancashire county council speaking to me in the last few minutes. now, we have had an interview with boris johnson the prime minister talking about covid but also talking about brexit and he has warned that the uk should get ready for a new deal style brexit, and australia‘s type situation, saying that the eu have refused to negotiate. let‘s listening now to the prime minister. the out state we will totally clear that we wanted nothing more complicated than a canada style relationship based on friendship and free trade. tojudge by relationship based on friendship and free trade. to judge by the latest eu summit in brussels that won‘t work for our eu partners. they want the continued ability to control our legislative freedom, our fisheries, ina way legislative freedom, our fisheries, in a way that is completely unacceptable

in a way that is completely u na cce pta ble to in a way that is completely unacceptable to an independent country, and since we have only ten weeks until the end of the transition period on january weeks until the end of the transition period onjanuary the 1st, transition period onjanuary the ist, i transition period onjanuary the 1st, i have to make a judgment about the likely outcome and to get us already. and given that they have refused to negotiate seriously for much of the last few months and given that this summit appears explicitly to rule out a canada style deal, i have concluded that we should get ready from january the 1st with arrangements that are more like australia‘s, based on simple principles of global free trade. and we can do it, because we always knew that there would be change on january the 1st, whatever type of relationship we had, and so now is the time for our businesses to get ready and for our holiest to get ready, for our travellers to get ready, for our travellers to get ready, and of course we are willing to discuss the practicalities with our friends to discuss the practicalities with ourfriends —— to discuss the practicalities with our friends —— for or want to get ready. and of course we are willing to discuss the practically

practicalities with our friends on issues such as aviation, nuclear and so on. it is clear from the summit that after 45 years of membership the eu are not willing, unless there are some fundamental change in approach, to offer this country the same terms as canada. and so with high heights and with complete confidence we will prepare to embrace the alternative and we will prosper mightily as an independent free trading nation controlling our own borders, ourfisheries, and setting our own laws. and, in the meantime, the government will, of course, be focusing on tackling covid and building back better so that 2021 is a year of recovery and renewal. thank you very much. just a few questions for you now prime minister. you said that you would walk away from talks about trade deals with the eu if there wasn‘t significant progress by now. that doesn‘t sound like what you are

doing. can you just clarify why you are not walking away. well, as far asi are not walking away. well, as far as i can see they have abandoned the idea of a free—trade deal. there doesn‘t seem to be any progress coming from brussels so what we‘re saying to them is only, come here, come to us, if there are some fundamental change of approach, otherwise we are more than happy to talk about, you know, the practicalities that i described on the social security issues, road haulage and so on but unless there is fundamental change of approach we are going to go for the australia solution and we should do it with great confidence, as i said, hi hats, confidence, because we can do it. there was always going to be change on january the 1st but it. there was always going to be change onjanuary the 1st but it is becoming clear that the eu didn‘t not want to do the kind of canada‘s deal that, you know, we originally asked for, and it does seem curious that after 45 years of membership, our membership, they can offer canada terms they won‘t offer us. but they are saying they have got to

come to you with some fresh ideas about negotiations. are you saying you are walking away or you are not walking away? if there is a fundamental change of approach of course we are always willing to listen but, it didn‘t seem particularly encouraging from the summit in brussels yesterday and today. covid-19, are you willing to impose restrictions on places like greater manchester without the buy in of local leaders. i'd much rather that we were able to do things with the help, support, the leadership, of local authorities, and, look, the help, support, the leadership, of localauthorities, and, look, i pay tribute to liverpool city region, to lancashire, that came on board today with the tiering system, in london you have seen the mayor come on board as well, and that‘s very, very important, because, clearly, if you‘ re very, very important, because, clearly, if you‘re going to enforce these measures, if you‘re going to do proper local testing and tracing, if you‘re going to get a local

buying and compliance, local leadership is crucial and we want to work with local leaders, but, i have to say paul, i am concerned about what is happening in manchester, where clearly the levels of infection are rising steeply, the levels of hospitalisation are rising steeply and we do need to see action and you say i would not much rather not employ those things i would much rather that we are able to work out something together with local authorities within the year in manchester but it is up to local leaders to show the kind of leadership that we have seen in liverpool, in lancashire, and in london. lastly on this you say it is up london. lastly on this you say it is up to local leaders that you could break the stalemate by offering them the money that they want which is similarto the money that they want which is similar to the financial assistance during the first national lockdown. why don‘t you think that is a reasonable set or request? 0r why don‘t you think that is a reasonable set or request? or as they say, other local leaders have come forward and joined in the

tailing system, shown the kind of leadership that i think is necessary and this is about saving lives. this is about us joining together locally and nationally to get the r down to make these regional restrictions, this steering system work, and to save lives, and i think, you know, everybody in greater manchester and all the areas which are still finding it difficult should think about it. prime minister, thank you. that was the prime minister in an interview that has just come into us. listening to that was our political correspondentjonathan blake. people will want to know if this is a real position of where there are or is there an element of bluff obviously on all size because there is no potentially time to resolve this and get a deal. —— still potentially time. and brexit the prime minister said

the uk was getting ready for an australia style relationship in terms of trade... this is the first time the borisjohnson had responded publicly to that conclusion from eu leaders of the last couple of days who have been meeting at a summit in brussels to decide, in part, their position on the state of play of those negotiations about the uk‘s future relationship with the eu after the end of this year. and, just to remind you, borisjohnson had said that if it wasn‘t apparent at this point that a deal was in the offing, then the uk would walk away. he‘s not quite doing that. he is, though, saying to the eu, it‘s your move. his assessment of the summit over the last couple of days was that the eu appears to have ruled out the arrangement at the uk once, which is a deal very much along the lines at the one that the eu has with canada. he says now is the time for our businesses to get ready, of course we are willing to discuss the practicalities of the eu, but it was

clear he said that after that summary the eu was not willing to offer terms that the uk would accept. he did, though, hold out the possibility and the prospect of further discussion, saying if there was a fundamental shift in the eu‘s position, he was always willing to listen. so, after yesterday, the eu effectively said to the uk, a deal can be done here, but it‘s up to you to move. today, the uk has said the eu we are still willing to do a deal but it is up to you to move. so what you have now is a stand—off. where this will go next i can‘t say the moment but i would remember, i would step like stress, but neither side at this point is where they want to be because the eu and the uk have said throughout their preferred option is a free trade agreement and is to reach a deal. that remains a possibility today albeit a slightly similar one or slimmer one given what boris johnson similar one or slimmer one given what borisjohnson has perhaps just said. the prime minister has already

got a lot on his plate has and he dealing with covid, as have all the eu leaders. you mentioned fisheries. if that source of the issue along with state aids this is really going to break a deal given that fishing isa to break a deal given that fishing is a very small proportion of our national income, as important as it is? it is coming down to two key areas, fisheries as you mention, the uk wants to be to sell fish caught by uk fishermen in uk waters into the european union. in return for that, the eu is arguing that vessels from its member states should be allowed to fish in uk waters to an extent. there is no agreement on that issue. there is also no agreement on the issue of state aid. the amount of financial support that the government can give to businesses. the eu once the uk to agree to something like the rule is that it has in order that there is what it calls a level playing field and that uk companies don‘t in their eyes have an unfair advantage, but the uk would argue that it doesn‘t

need to and shouldn‘t have to agree to anything like eu rules on that. that‘s is one of the advantages it sees to being a separate sovereign state outside the eu. those are the sticking points, but whether there was will come down to being deal brea kers was will come down to being deal breakers or whether a deal will be done with standing those areas and there will be continued talks after there will be continued talks after the end of this year, we will have to wait and see. jonathan blake, thanks very much indeed. watching it all is our reality check correspondent, chris morris watching every time yvonne brexit in the last few months. 0ur reality check correspondent, chris morris is here. you believe they are getting ready foran you believe they are getting ready for an ideal? they have been getting ready for no deal for a long time so

it is not something completely new but they are ratcheting the level up a little. intensify talks. there are some public diplomacy going on here. angela merkel also said last night at the eu summit that we have asked the united kingdom to remain open to compromise an agreement can be reached. importantly, she also said that this of course means willing to will need to make compromises. i think both sides know a deal can be done and both of you know deep down they need to give a great bit of ground for that to happen at the moment we are seeing some sort of public to—and—fro. what we don‘t know entirely is exactly what is going on behind—the—scenes because there are clearly substantial disagreement on some co re substantial disagreement on some core issues but we have seen that in previous negotiations and there have eventually been overcome in one way or another and i think the question now for both sides is are they prepared to move from their fairly intense positions within the context on both sides of the channel of having a massive amount of time and

attention given to covid and economic consequences of that. and you risk further disruption from a no deal acrimonious split at the end of the air. when the government to businesses and travellers get ready for a no deal, watch and it will be giving? well, one of the interesting things as deal or no deal quite a lot is going to change at the end of this year anyway because the uk is leaving the eu single market in the customs union so that means there will be a lot of changes at uk borders come what may sue a lot of businesses have said that they have been told before to get ready for no deal, some businesses spend substantial amounts of money in previous reincarnations of no deal. they spent substantial amounts of money stockpiling things are changing the way to produce things about money or money was wasted so people have been quite hesitant to get ready for no deal again, a different sort of no deal this time

just in case they waste more money ata time just in case they waste more money at a time when they are already under massive economic pressure so yes businesses need to get me for something that the complaint i hear from business leaders consistently as we still don‘t know exactly what it is that we have to get ready for is if there is one word from many business they are saying just gives clarity and so far, for neither side, they don‘t have that. clarity and so far, for neither side, they don't have that. you might be able to answer that down like this but if we can put it on a scale of change in pressure that the business is a wonder, kobe is obviously huge. how does brexit compare with that now? —— covid is obviously huge. for companies that trade with europe substantially so. companies are trade in goods with europe that need to rely on supply chains coming across, a lot of it coming between dover and calais against what they call a short straights in the english channel channel than absolutely so. if ta riffs channel than absolutely so. if tariffs were put on goods because there was no deal for example that can be mission—critical for there was no deal for example that can be mission—criticalfor parts of the car industry and other industries will be the same. parts

of agriculture would suffer greatly. so for some parts of the economy it would be a very, very serious thing. and that means jobs? would be a very, very serious thing. and that meansjobs? 0r would be a very, very serious thing. and that meansjobs? or it would be a very, very serious thing. and that means jobs? or it could meanjobs. and that means jobs? or it could mean jobs. obviously i and that means jobs? or it could meanjobs. obviously i can‘t speak for how companies would react but certainly there are companies in the long term he thought that their businesses were not viable in the current form because of the imposition of tariffs. because of sustained difficulties between the uk and the eu it could meanjobs. we know that things are going to change at the end of this year and some people will gain in some people will lose. just exactly, new games and by what amount? if there is a ideal? because some people want to know deal, they prefer the no real option? the people who want no deal, if you like, the hardline brexiteer say that this is a chance was to break the completely but they are going to be breaking free into a pretty uncertain world especially with all the damage being done by covid and that is the danger. chris morris. thank you very much indeed.

let‘s move back to covid and ijust wa nt to let‘s move back to covid and ijust want to update you on the latest statistics that we are getting in from the office of national statistics. there has been an average of 27,900 new cases of coded daily in toulouse in private houses. that is up substantially from an estimated 17,200 cases per day for the period from september the 25th of october one. —— new cases of covid per day. they are saying that the rate of new infections has continued to rise, gone up by 10,000 a day, these figures do not include people staying in hospitals, care homes, and other institutional settings that is confirming certainly the trend of increase in covid across england. well, the wales first minister mark drakeford is giving an they uncovered restrictions in wales. let‘s

listening. i have to tell you that we face a very serious situation in wales. u nless we very serious situation in wales. unless we are able to get coronavirus back under control there isa coronavirus back under control there is a real risk that our nhs will be overwhelmed and if that happens than even larger numbers of people will die asa even larger numbers of people will die as a consequence. none of us wa nt to die as a consequence. none of us want to see that. there are no easy to bring the virus back under control. 0nce to bring the virus back under control. once again, we will all have to act together to bring the levels down and to keep them down over the winter ahead. here in the welsh government, we are looking very carefully at introducing a time—limited firebreak, also known

sometimes as a circuit breaker, of the type recommended by sage, the uk's the type recommended by sage, the uk‘s expert scientific advisory group, and by our own advisers here in wales. this will be a short, sharp shock to the virus which could turn back the clock, slowing down its spread and buying us more time and vital capacity in the health service. firebreak would also, however, mean a short, sharp shock to all our lives. we would all have to all our lives. we would all have to stay at home once again to save those lives, but this time, it would be four weeks and not four months. we are considering a two or three week firebreak. the shorter the the measures will have to pay. a successful firebreak would reset the

virus at a lower level. together with a new set of national rules for the whole of wales after the firebreak period is over, we would have slowed the virus down and up, we think, to get us through to christmas. now, these are incredibly difficult decisions and we have not yet come to a final conclusion about whether a firebreak is the best way to act. ministers here will be meeting throughout the weekend to discuss this further and we will report the outcome of those decisions to you on monday. let me say again that we are considering all this because the situation is so serious that we have no option but to look at new and different ways to keep wales and to keep you safe

doing nothing is not the option. he speaks welsh. i will turn out to ta ke speaks welsh. i will turn out to take some questions and as usual all the answers will be broadcast live on our own social media channels. sorry about that, we are going to pull away from might generate fed but just to say pull away from might generate fed butjust to say he is making a very important statement that that wales is considering a two to three—week firebreak and he says the shorter the period the sharper the restrictions, the sharper measures that are needed. that will reset the numbers and we will look at new rules after coming out of that firebreak, hopefully to slow down the virus and get wales through to christmas. is that they have not yet decided, they will decide at the weekend of a and there is just no option other than to take a new and different way to keep everybody safe. doing nothing is not an option, he said. let‘s get more on the latest coronavirus infection statistics

for england just released by the office for the bbc‘s head of statistics robert cuffejoins us. just explain what the numbers are and what they mean. the office for national statistics estimate that around 300,000 people in homes in england have the virus in in homes in england in recent weeks and that number is by half the number acquitted a week ago. that figure of going up by half in a week, doubling the flu every fortnight is a familiar to end, we saw it in a number of people going into hospital and the number of deaths in the uk released this week we pay attention toa number of released this week we pay attention to a number of infections because it tells what is probably going to happen next with people going into hospital and with people dying and also we pay attention to this evidence in particularfrom the office of national statistics because it is a survey that goes out into the community and its swabs people around them so it is not telling us whether there are people coming forward for more tests of

molecular testing system, it skips all of that and tells us what is going on with the virus. is there any sort of a regional breakdown? we have seen this big north—south divide is this a national england survey? it tells the story we have kinda been hearing a lot over recent weeks, 330 thousand people or thereabouts. that is about six in every thousand people in england overall. if you go to the north—west it is much higher, it is about 15 out of every thousand instead of six and it is similar in the north—east or in yorkshire and the humber, it is kind of around 1% there, ten in a thousand but they do say even if you look at the areas like the south—east where the infection rate have been much lower throughout the epidemic they are saying light is there too so it is a question of the rates are higher in some part of the country but it is going everywhere. we often ask where are we compared with where we were in the spring. is

it possible to put another measure or? we get ink up to those areas that they are close to where we were around i will say so i would say certainly not where we were in the weeks coming up to lock down or immediately after when we sell probably around 100,000 new infections every day, but they are estimating around 27,000 new infections each day in homes in england so that‘s may be a quarter —ish of what we think the people of but it is very hard to know exactly where the peak will because he didn‘t have the survey at the time and of course testing was so constrained that then it is very ha rd to constrained that then it is very hard to make apples to apples comparisons. —— may be a quarter of what we think the peak was. we have also had further analysis on bame communities which is confirming what you said before that some groups are much higher risk. just tell us what

you have said for that? this analysis moves things on a bit. as i said, we knew in the past that people from asian communities, from black african and black caribbean communities. more likely to die with a virus. it should be said it is not telling us whether they are more likely to catch it over the most acceptable. this is looking at the overall population risk that those risks are higher in ethnic minorities and what this analysis adds a little bit more detail on what might or might not be explaining it. if you adjust for age, if you arejust explaining it. if you adjust for age, if you are just four where people live, because ethnic minority communities are more likely to live in towns or cities where the virus spreads faster, and if you adjust for some measures of health and wealth, the numbers shift around a little bit, but they still remain. so it was not clear that‘s notjust a simple difference between ethnicities that can be explained away with readily available information. that difference is something that has, that is, still very much a part of the numbers that

describe coronavirus. so even when your factor describe coronavirus. so even when yourfactor in more describe coronavirus. so even when your factor in more front line working a housing being more crowded there is still a high risk? yes, and it has to be said you are not able to measure all these factors perfectly so it could be the case that if you are able to measure exactly someone‘s underlying health condition that could explain some more of the differences, but to be and is these differences are persistence and despite a loss of a nalyses to persistence and despite a loss of analyses to try and adjust for these things and we do know from other data sources for example that people from south asian communities, the infection rate and positivity rates we have been seeing in those communities are much higher then four people, then for white ethnic groups, people in the uk, so we have some indications of what of explaining these things, but it is most likely a mixture of someone‘s likelihood of getting infected, the underlying health that makes them more susceptible, and then, to be honest, it doesn‘t make that much difference to what action and individual takes, because the only

thing you can do is try not to get infected. you know, to take sensible precautions in order to reduce your risk of catching it, irrespective of whether it is because you are more likely to get very sick of you that you are not. southern england seeing the best of the sunny spells with temperatures below average for the time of year. a lot of cloud across the uk overnight. still damp and drizzly in places. clear spells in most western parts of scotland, south wales and south—west england. this is where some spots may end up close to freezing as we go into the morning but most under cloud well above

freezing. with the cloud there will be patchy rain and drizzle, most likely in the afternoon for parts of scotla nd likely in the afternoon for parts of scotland and northern england. 0nly limited sunny spells coming through all of this cloud. light winds and temperatures no change on saturday. if anything, sunday looks a little bit cooler. that is your forecast. hello this is bbc news. the headlines: lancashire agrees a deal to enter the highest alert level restrictions — but gyms will stay open and there‘s a significant increase in financial support. liverpool‘s mayor reacts angrily demanding to know why his gyms had to close and there‘s still no deal with manchester. new coronavirus restrictions for pubs and hotels in northern ireland come into force later, while some travel bans are introduced in wales. borisjohnson says britain is preparing for a no—deal brexit

unless the eu fundamentally changes its approach to the deadlocked talks. british airways is fined 20—million pounds for a cyber attack that affected more than 400,000 customers — the biggest penalty ever handed out by the data watchdog. and in the us election campaign, joe biden accuses his rival donald trump of panicking in his handling of the coronavirus pandemic as the pair take part in separate tv debates. the two rivals in next month‘s us presidential election, donald trump and democratic nominee joe biden, took part in separate, but simultaneously televised events overnight, in place of the second presidential debate. both were asked about the coronavirus and criticised each other‘s response to the pandemic. 0ur north america correspondent david willis reports. it was a prime—time split—screen showdown, the presidential candidates competing for eyeballs in duelling debates — a stark reminder of how strange this entire campaign has been.

and when it came down to the pivotal issue of the day, a virus that has claimed more than 215,000 american lives, the two men seemed to occupy, not just rival channels but competing orbits. he said he didn‘t tell anybody because he was afraid americans would panic. americans don‘t panic. he panicked. the president insisting america has turned the corner on the coronavirus. many people are catching it, many people are getting this disease that was sent to us by china, and it should not have been allowed to happen. for his part, joe biden pledged to take a vaccine once one becomes available and said he‘d urge others to do the same. if the body of scientists say that this is what is ready to be done and it has been tested, they‘ve gone through the three phases, yes, i would take it, and i would encourage people to take it. under sharp questioning, president trump was called upon to denounce qanon, the false conspiracy theory that democrats are part of a global paedophile ring. he declined.

i know nothing about it. i do know they are very much against paedophilia. the president was also pressed on claims that he owes hundreds of millions of dollars to foreign creditors. more than anything else, the duelling debates emphasise the contrast in styles between the two candidates. with fewer undecided voters now than four years ago, their impact on the outcome may be limited. a second face—to—face debate is due to take place in nashville, next week. david willis, bbc news. as covid—19 continues to exert pressure all over europe, one country stands out for having taken a different approach. sweden never locked down during the early stages of the pandemic, and still hasn‘t. its death rates from coronavirus are similar to many other countries but are significantly higher than its neighbours, norway and finland. ros atkins has been taking a look at the detail. sweden‘s approach to covid—19 has again been demanding our attention.

in late september, the who told us, "we must recognise that sweden at the moment has avoided the increase that‘s been seen in some of western europe. we will be very keen on hearing more from the swedish approach." well, what is the swedish approach? put simply, many countries went into lockdown in march. sweden didn‘t. instead, it pursued voluntary social distancing. it encouraged a range of things — working from home, avoiding public transport, table service in bars — and that advice rested on the assumption that people feel like this. we in sweden trust the authorities. and if the authorities say, "stay at home, please, and work from home," we do that. so they didn‘t need to say, "you have to go on a lockdown. sweden‘s focus has been on people voluntarily managing their contacts with others, and relevant to that is the role of the super—spreader. it‘s thought most covid infections are transmitted by around ten to 20% of people who have it. this epidemiologist says

sweden understood this. a full lockdown would be too much. you need to you need to look at these super—spreaders and limit them, and that‘s basically what sweden did. the most visible... 0r actually the only really intervention they did was to say that your max gatherings were 50. so that‘s sweden‘s approach, and how we assess it, well, we need to look at how the numbers compare. first, sweden‘s total deaths per capita is higher than most major european nations. second, when it comes to the total numbers of cases per capita, both norway and the uk have lower figures than sweden, but spain and france have higher. and third, while sweden‘s avoided so far an awesome surge, its infection rate is higher than norway and germany and it‘s rising. this definitely isn‘t a clear—cut success story. and there are other issues, too. some critics argue the whole thing is actually a misjudged plan to achieve herd immunity, something that‘s strongly denied. also, sweden‘s approach has relied on thousands of vulnerable people shielding.

and sweden acknowledges it failed to properly protect care homes at the start of the pandemic. but the man who devised sweden‘s approach thinks, in the long term, it will work. translation: in parts, we in sweden have always had the same regulations in place, the same recommendations and general advice, and they still apply. and i think it creates a sense of security and a long—term perspective, and then it‘s easier to follow. and at the heart of sweden‘s approach is the idea of the social contract that requires trust between people and national decision—makers. there‘s nothing in the data to show sweden is definitely getting it right, but this emphasis on trust and consensus feels relevant as european governments once again change the rules by which people are living. british airways have been fined 20 million pounds after a data breach which affected more than 400,000 customers. investigators found the airline should have identified the security weaknesses which enabled the cyber

attack to take place in 2018. the carrier did not detect the hack for more than two months. john lewis is set for a big shake up. the 91—year—old partnership, which includes waitrose, has seen a slump in profits and has been forced to cancel the staff bonus for the first time since 1953. as more shoppers moved online during the pandemic, john lewis is now looking to offer more virtual services to reach new customers. but it‘s also banking on a range of new services to deliver growth, from renting furniture to becoming a residential landlord. in her first broadcast interview, the chairman, sharon white, has been speaking to our business correspondent emma simpson. it‘s an ambitious plan which will see the partnership, john lewis and waitrose, return to sustainable profits, £400 million by yearfive, and it‘s all about adapting to the way in which customers are now wanting to shop, and the first two years are really focused on improving the core business and making retail, bothjohn lewis and waitrose,

even more exciting for our customers to shop in. so, for waitrose, we are really investing very significantly in digital and in our home delivery, we‘ve got a new partnership with deliveroo, and today we‘re announcing that‘s going to be significantly expanded. we‘re really going to be doubling down on customer and on affordable quality, so i think you‘ll see some different ranges and different styling, and i think you‘ll also see as extending the opportunities for customers to shop with us sustainably. and it is a five—year plan, so in the longer term there are some pretty unconventional ideas in here. talk me through them. so financial services, we are already in, in a small way, but we can see big opportunity to expand in an ethical way, given the trust in the brand.

we are already a landlord with a number of our stores today, so we‘re looking how we can expand housing to be even more important to the community. and outdoor living, again, both brands are quite active but in quite a small way. and, for me, we‘re an employee—owned business, we are not a conventional business, and retail margins are compressing, so over the longer term, if we want, if i as chairman want to be able to invest in my partners and invest back into customers, we‘ve got to find new sources of growth that our customers love that are going to provide more sustainable profitability for us, and as you‘ll see we‘re expecting that by 2030 about 40% of our profits will come from outside retail, allowing us to pay our partners better, allowing us to invest even more in our customers. doesjohn lewis need to be more diverse? i think there is definitely more for us to do, both in terms

of appealing to more diverse customers, more diverse communities. we have a partnership that‘s founded on equality and humanity, i think we‘ve done a greatjob so far but there‘s definitely more we can do to be even more welcoming and embracing of different cultures. sharon white there, the new chairman ofjohn lewis. 0n brexit we heard the borisjohnson interview saying get rid —— ready for a no deal potentially. we are hearing ursula von der leyen is saying on brexit the eu continues to work for a deal but not at any price, and that is planned are negotiation team will go to london next week to intensify these negotiations. i think michel barnier is doing that on monday so it is expected to be quite an intense period of talks next week.

both sides warning no deal is still very much an option. health inspectors in the uk have raised concerns about the millions of people who could have missed out on care as a result of the covid—19 pandemic. since it started, gp surgeries have offered 26 million fewer appointments compared to last year, according to nhs figures. the care quality commission is warning that the number of "lost" appointments could mean cancer diagnosis has been delayed while other long—term conditions may have worsened. the owner of a venue in west london could face a fine of up to £10,000 after police broke up a wedding reception with more than 100 guests. the met released this body—worn camera footage from the tudor rose in southall on tuesday. only 15 guests are currently allowed under coronavirus restrictions. the headlines on bbc news... borisjohnson says britain

is preparing for a no—deal brexit unless the eu fundamentally changes its approach to the deadlocked negotiations. lancashire agrees a deal to enter the highest alert level restrictions — but gyms will stay open and there‘s a significant increase in financial support. liverpool‘s mayor reacts angrily demanding to know why his gyms had to close and there‘s still no deal with manchester. you‘ve been sending in your questions on the new restrictions around the country. lots of variations of course, changing all the time. earlier my colleague, annita mcveigh answered some of them, in your questions answered.

and now on the news channel, it‘s time for your questions answered. millions of people in london, essex, york and other areas face tougher tier two measures for midnight, meaning half of england‘s population will be living under high or very high alert restrictions, restrictions coming in northern ireland as well, wales is considering further measures, as it scotland. you have been sending a lot of questions about the new rules. to answer some of those we are joined by professor clare wenham. assistant professor of global health policy at the london school of economics, and professor jonathan ball, professor of molecular virology at the university of nottingham. thank you both forjoining us today. we had so many questions being sent in for this discussion. tony, "i don‘t live with my dad but regularly see him any restaurant all—purpose, can i still do this in london?" the guidance on this is you should not be meeting anyone outside your household or bubble in a pub or restaurant, so unless your father is part of your support bubble, it makes no difference if he‘s your father, friend or stranger, you should try to limit your contact

with anybody in hospitality and stay home as much as possible. so outside is the only option? absolutely, and why not try outside for a bit if it might make a difference? check the weather forecast and try outside if possible, obviously we do not know the ages of those concerned but hopefully there is still that option remaining. w verity asks, "will my relatives in london, soon—to—be tier two, be able to come and visit me and will check, tier one?" it is tier two now, that has come in. a very interesting question, jonathan? what you have to remember is the rules, the tiers, apply to you and the place you visit, so if you are in a higher level of tier then the rules that apply to that tier apply to you.

in terms of visiting somebody in a different area between tiers one and two, that's no problem but you can only meet outdoors, unless part of a support bubble. so if you are travelling from an area with higher restrictions to one with lower, you should really carry the higher level of restrictions with you, as it were, in terms of your behaviour and where you meet someone and so on? yes, you inherit those restrictions, for want of a better word, and the reason is that it's an acknowledgement that because you live in a higher risk area, there is an increased chance that you might be infected and you have to take that extra care. clare, it is not work the opposite way, if you‘re going from an area of restrictions to higher, you have to adopt stricter measures? yes, it is based on where you are

living or where you are going to, whichever is highest, so you should follow that guidance. you should not be travelling outside of a higher level tier unless it is for work or education. which leads us onto the next question. sue harrington says, "can i travel from tier two to tier one, for example from london to norwich and back?" you are only meant to be travelling from a higher risk to a lower risk tier if for work, educational or caring responsibilities. you shouldn‘t be doing it for holiday reasons. sue, it‘s very much depends on the reason for your travel. martin says, "my wife and i live in solihull, we want our three young grandchildren from london to visit us during half term, is that allowed?" there is a degree of exemption

for children under 13 so these so—called childcare bubbles, but it has to be for childcare rather than as a social visit, so unless there is locally available childcare then you should not really be moving between households. if you need the children looked after while you work or go to hospital, for example. so very specific circumstances is what you‘re saying? yes, and it also applies only to children, i think it is aged under 13, so unfortunately the older children, you have to treat them as if they are adults and they should not be mixing across households. so it is all about avoiding socialising. kate says, "i live in a london borough on my own and have a support bubble with my daughter

who lives in surrey. can i still meet her in her house?" yes, so for the purpose of support bubbles it is fine to travel between tiers. that is one of the exemptions allowed. it is all about that support bubble, they still have special exemptions? absolutely. guatam in bromley says, "i don‘t understand the measures in my borough of bromley as we live in the border of kent, can we mix in pubs in kent?" unfortunately not, so if you are in a tier two area, and you would have to tell me what tiers they are in, if you visit a tier two area or are living in one, then socialising between households is simply not allowed and therefore even if you see your friend

by accident in a pub, while you might be able to say hello from a safe distance from two metres you certainly then cannot sit at the same table and start socialising. there is a little bit of repetition on these questions, but everybody has their own individual circumstances, they are just trying to figure out how it applies to their daily lives and what they might ideally want to do, so it highlights the difficulty, the complexity and confusion about what people can do. selena had this question, "do the new london restrictions mean i can‘t visit my mum in kent?" so i think that she‘s going from an area of higher—level restrictions to one with lower. that is similar to the last one, which is you are not able to go and meet indoors or stay overnight with someone in tier one if you are in a tier two zone, like in bromley.

you might able to meet them outdoors within the rule of six but you cannot meet them in their house in that instance. it is keeping out of households, no mixing. michelle in brent says, i work saturdays and sometimes in data as a hairdresser and have either my parents also step in to my house to look after my children. —— saturdays and sometimes sundays. will they still be able to do that? it depends on the age of the children. there is exemption. if you need to get childcare, so that you can go to work, that is fine, those arrangements are fine, but only if the children are not able to be independent and look after themselves. if they are 13 or less, you can provide that child support bubble, but otherwise, unfortunately not. is that the official delineation between a child that requires childcare support and one who doesn‘t? some people might say my

ten—year—old is really independent, and another might say my 14—year—old needs someone around to supervise. it highlights some of the problems around trying to interpret this, which is why enforcing the law is quite tricky and we do not see too much law enforcement. we need to ask what the guidance is trying to do, it is trying to minimise mixing indoors because that is the highest risk. therefore, wherever we can find a way to make arrangements in our life that avoid that, that will always be what the health authorities would wish you to do, but there has to be an acceptance that sometimes it is not possible. avoiding that social contact, the very stuff of life, but it needs to be reduced to get the virus cases down. stuart in west london says, "what happens to children whose parents are separated? can children still stay over

if it is a mother or father‘s weekend to have the children?" as i understand it, the tiers do not affect separated parents and children living between two parents living separately in separate houses, so that should be exempt under the guidance. we will try to squeeze more in, ruth in enfield asks, "will the new london restrictions apply to all london boroughs? borisjohnson said tier two was for areas where cases are over 100 per 100,000. in enfield we have 85, below the national average, so why are we being put in tier two? we saw something very similar in leicester and nottinghamshire, where i live, and there is always a problem of how do you enforce, they are not artificial boundaries, but as far as the virus

is concerned, they are. if two areas are in close proximity, unfortunately it makes sense to have the higher alert level simply because the virus will move very quickly if people are not as aware and socially distancing as much as they should. it is very difficult to try to make it too fragmented without the risk of increased transmission in those areas. fragmentation. that is the key point. luke in east london says, "if my partner and i live alone in separate houses, can we stay with each other? what happens to the bubble methodology?" that methodology is still in existence. we are not meant to be mixing with people outside of our house unless they form part of a support bubble, so if you and your partner are in a support bubble and within different houses, you can still meet indoors and outdoors. that is all we have time for. thank

you for getting through a lot of questions today. professorjonathan ball, professor of molecular virology at the university of nottingham. lots of questions about travelling between areas with different levels of restrictions. if you are going from an area with a higher level of restrictions to one which does not have such a high level, well, ask yourself, do you really need to make thatjourney? and, if you do, you need to carry with you the kind of behaviour you should be adopted in that area with a higher number of cases. i hope we have managed to make that clear and answer a lot of your questions. some wetter, windier weather comes

our way next week but until then it is relatively settled. count yourself lucky if you are seeing sunshine today. where there are brea ks sunshine today. where there are breaks in the cloud, it is on the call side for the time of year. where the cloud is thickest there are outbreaks of rain. the high pressure is far enough away to bring in some cloud on this north—easterly breeze, bringing in showers as well. the breeze direction is why things are quite cool at the moment. we are most likely to see the showers through parts of northern england, the midlands, pushing into wales, some into northern ireland as we go through the rest of the day. parts of northern england will brighten up but the best of the sunshine is across southern england, western fringes of scotland, northern and eastern scotland seeing drizzle. into tonight, we keep a lot of cloud around. where we are most likely to get some breaks we will get the lowest temperatures, so some spots may end up close to freezing going into the morning but most of us in

the range of around four to eight celsius. in all of this cloud tomorrow there will be outbreaks of light rain or drizzle possible just about anywhere, most likely into the afternoon affecting parts of northern and eastern scotland and northern and eastern scotland and northern england. also running into cornwall and devon. limited sunny spells tomorrow, and temperatures still around nine to 13 degrees, just a few spots in southern england reaching 14. this is how saturday evening is looking, still damp in parts of scotland and northern england. still an area of thicker cloud in the midlands towards north—west england as we start sunday which could have light rain associated with it. north and south of that some sunny spells coming through, but as we end sunday we are likely to see rain pushing towards northern ireland and north—west scotland. sunday looking like a cooler day, but next week temperatures do go up a few degrees. there is a trade—off because as low pressure takes over we will see rain

and wind. rain initially on monday affecting of scotland and northern ireland becoming more widespread as we go through the week, and some of the rain will be quite heavy at times too, accompanied by pretty brisk winds.

lancashire becomes the second region in england after liverpool to be put in the highest alert level of coronavirus restrictions. it means pub closures and bans on households mixing indoors and in most outdoor venues. but, unlike in liverpool, gyms won‘t close. if we don‘t get to grips with the virus, in three weeks‘ time, the admissions to hospital in lancashire will be at the height that they were at the peak when it was at its height. it comes as the government criticises the mayor of greater manchester for continuing to resist efforts to impose the toughest measures there. also this lunchtime... borisjohnson says the uk must prepare for a "no—deal" trade relationship with the european union at the end of the year.