this is bbc news with the latest headlines. the mayor of greater manchester accuses boris johnson of exaggerating the spread of coronavirus in the area in a bid to persuade local leaders to accept tougher restrictions, as he calls for increased financial support. anywhere could end up in tier three this winter. in fact, i would say places are likely to end up in tier three. therefore, it is everyone‘s concern to protect the lowest paid in our community. the earlier we have the restrictions, in those areas where there is high incidence, the better for the economy of those areas, because we stop the infection spreading in a way which will do further damage to the economy. vigils and rallies are being held across france in a show of solidarity with the teaching profession, following the killing of a teacher on

friday. britain's high streets under threat as a record number of shops close over the first six months of this year. and coming up in half an hour we take a look back at the week in parliament. good afternoon. the labour mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham, has accused borisjohnson of exaggerating the severity of coronavirus in the region, as the row continues over whether to put the area into the highest tier of restrictions. speaking on the andrew marr programme, mr burnham once again called for greater financial support if further restrictions are imposed. the cabinet office minister, michael gove, accused him of inconsistency in his approach. here's our political

correspondent, jonathan blake. for months, people in greater manchester have been living with tighter restrictions than many parts of england. but there is uncertainty about what more they might have to endure. the region's labour—elected mayor argues pub and bar closures, which would come with putting the region into the very high covid alert level, may not make much difference and the government isn't offering enough support. what we need, andrew, is a fair financial framework if the government are going to insist on tier 3. at the moment, they are doing side deals with individual councils. that is not good enough for me. let's remember, the places they are trying to close in tier 3, pubs, bookies, gyms, these are places where people are on low wages. what we are saying is, you cannot take away their place of work and not give them support. mr burnham accused the government of exaggerating the rise of coronavirus in greater manchester. ministers argue neighbouring lancashire and liverpool have accepted restrictions along with financial

support. they say the mayor's position is inconsistent. the fundamental incoherence in the position of andy burnham is that on the one hand, as i say, he says, actually, the virus is not spreading at a rate that merits these restrictions. and then he is saying, but actually, i will have them if i have the money. if you were being truly, truly concerned about public health, then he would say, let's have these restrictions. the other thing is, the earlier we have the restrictions, in those areas where there is high instance, the better for the economy of those areas, because we stop the infection spreading in a way which will do further damage to the economy as well as to public health. this row is not as simple as labour versus the tories or local versus national government. conservative mps representing parts of the region are also resisting further restrictions. manchester is pretty

united. certainly the members of parliament of both parties, the council leaders of both parties, and the mayor of greater manchester, have been resisting a move to tier 3. on the basis that we simply haven't been given the evidence that it would be effective. talks between number 10 and the mayor of greater manchester continue. both say coronavirus case levels are concerning. the right response will prove difficult. jonathan blake, bbc news. our health correspondent, dominic hughes, has been looking at the figures around coronavirus cases in greater manchester. we know that the latest data shows that infection rates in the city of manchester itself are actually falling. across greater manchester which includes another nine boroughs, for example here in salford, those rates are rising slightly. so it is a mixed picture but it's still way off areas like derry,

nottingham and liverpool. but the key thing really isn't the infection rate. the key thing is, who is getting ill and how badly they are falling ill with the virus. for example we know that if lots of otherwise fit and well students in their 20s fall ill, that doesn't have a massive impact on the health service. but if people with underlying health conditions or older people start to fall ill, that really does. last week, it was reported that in liverpool, around 95% of their intensive care beds were full with covid patients. andy burnham said this morning in greater manchester, just 64 beds were full compared to more than 200 at the height of the pandemic in april. so, leaders in greater manchester are saying yes, there is a serious situation here but perhaps not serious enough to warrant the kind of economic hit and also the impact on people's health, particularly their mental health, of moving to the very high level that tier 3 would entail.

we saw jonathan bla ke‘s we sanonathan blake's report about the continuing row between andy burnham and the government. let's catch up with the latest developments. this isn't subsiding, is it? you might know, the row continues. the two sides are talking again, andy burnham said this morning it was due to have a call with the premise‘s senior advisor. so we will see what comes of that. meanwhile, in an attempt to up the a nte meanwhile, in an attempt to up the ante on the government, mr burnham has written to the prime minister and the party leaders at westminster calling for an urgent debate and vote in an attempt to create a cross— party vote in an attempt to create a cross—party consensus and break the impasse, as he puts it, over the possible introduction of new restrictions in greater manchester. i doubt very much that that is going to happen because it would need the government to make time in parliament or perhaps labour could possibly engineer a debate which would not necessarily result in a binding vote, but you can see what he is trying to do here. it's to push the issue at a national level and make the argument that the government should change its

approach and provide more financial support across the board for areas facing higher restrictions. support across the board for areas facing higher restrictionsm support across the board for areas facing higher restrictions. it is interesting because it's notjust a government opposition issue either. you have some tory mps united with andy burnham. where does labour stand on this, as he is a former labour cabinet minister? yes, this is an issue which crosses many fault lines, not just national is an issue which crosses many fault lines, notjust national versus local government, conservative versus labour, north versus south as well. many conservative mps representing constituencies in greater manchester as you suggest are in agreement with mr burnham that tier 3 restrictions are either not needed or if they are to be brought in, further financial support is necessary. labour's position is, as we hear, keir starmer set out earlier in the week, in short, time—limited, tightening of restrictions at a national level in england is needed to slow the spread of the virus, during which time it perhaps the test and tray

system could be level to more efficiently keep the virus under control and perhaps the situation would improve, but as we heard, rachel reeves, the shadow cabinet minister pressed on andrew marr this morning, the circuit breaker routine may have to be repeated time and again to keep the virus under control. could the governmentjust impose this? michael gove said this this morning and the premise is headed earlier this week. he said if there is no agreement, he may need to intervene and impose restrictions, which the government can do. it would create a very difficult and awkward situation politically though, leaving the people of greater manchester perhaps wondering who, whose orders they we re wondering who, whose orders they were following, who they should be listening to and arguments about how those rules would be enforced or not, which is why we saw the police intervening earlier in the week, so it's a political headache that both sides want to avoid. jonathan, thank you very much. a record number of shops have closed

on britain's high streets during the first six months of this year as the coronarivus lockdown hit many stores hard. according to research more than 11,000 chain store outlets have closed their doors as katy austin reports. the way we shop was already changing before the pandemic. 0nline sales rising, many physical stores struggling. those trends have accelerated. researchers who track retail and leisure sites, and services like bank branches, found that over 11,000 chain outlets closed in great britain since january, only about 5000 opened. that adds up to a net decline of 6000, about twice as many as the similar period last year. the total could end up higher. 0utlets that have not yet reopened after lockdown weren't counted, nor independents. according to the research, where there have been openings they've tended to be in categories like grocery and value retail,

local tradespeople setting up shop and also takeaways. 0ne retail expert told me the way we use town centres has changed for good. i think what's happening to our streets, and it's been happening for a while, is we do not need as much space dedicated to retail, as people are shopping more online. so our high streets really need to be more about work, rest and play, and just not about shopping, but about eating, about working and about services. recently local high streets have benefited from people working from home more. however, the big picture is that retailers and hospitality chains are expected to cut more stores and thousands ofjobs to survive. katy austin, bbc news. thousands will gather in cities across france in a few hours to remember the teacher who was killed near his school on friday. the death of samuel paty has horrified the country. mr paty was apparently targeted

for showing cartoons of the prophet mohammed to his pupils during a lesson on freedom of speech. the attacker, a refugee of chechen origin, had been waiting outside the school and had asked pupils to identify his victim. he was later shot dead by police. from paris, lucy williamson has more. samuel paty was a 47—year—old teacher of history and geography who decided to use two cartoons of muhammad as part of a class on freedom of speech. investigators say it sparked a social media campaign by one outraged parent and there had been threats against the school. translation: now the priority for us is to look after the children because i think it was very hard for them and it still is. translation: memories are going to come back. he is going to say, "my teacher is not there", and apparently there are photographs going round of the scene. i hope they don't see those because i think they are already going to be affected

by this for life. flowers mark the places where lives are shattered. in france, that list has grown a little longer this week. conflans now remembered alongside paris, nice and all the other places where hatred of french values has left blood on the country's streets. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. we can show you some pictures of people gathering there. this is the place to let republic in paris. after the killings, 1.5 million people gathered at the time. there we re people gathered at the time. there were muslims, christians, taking pa rt were muslims, christians, taking part in the act

of solidarity after the charlie hebdo shootings. that looks like a few thousand there at the moment. there is a lockdown cu rfew the moment. there is a lockdown curfew in paris at the moment from 9pm till 6am. but no restriction on people using public transport. so these are the images from paris and i think we can show you some images from toulouse as well. again, eve ryo ne from toulouse as well. again, everyone it seems in face masks there because of the pandemic, but gathering here in toulouse, which of course is no stranger to terror activities as well. recently, a few yea rs activities as well. recently, a few years ago, where government went on the rampage in toulouse. we will follow those rallies around the country. there are several other cities taking part as well. bordeaux among them as well. note, lille and

toulouse. millions of europeans face tough new coronavirus restrictions as governments step up their efforts to slow the surge in infections. it comes after the world health organization reported a ali—percent rise in european cases over one week. aruna iyengar has more. last orders in lyon. and a nightcap in paris. these cities, along with seven others in france, are now under a 9pm to 6am curfew, after virus cases have surged. many are not happy at the hit businesses are having to take. translation: this measure is quite unfair. the sectors affected are the ones worst hit since the start of the pandemic. it shows a serious lack of consultation with the workers' unions. elsewhere in europe, there is a partial lockdown in poland, after the country recorded over 8,000 cases in one day. here in warsaw, and in half the country,

there are new restrictions. secondary schools have shut, weddings are banned. cyprus has hit a new peak of over 200 daily infections. and in italy, the northern region of lombardy, worst hit by the first wave in february, has ordered all bars to shut at midnight. in germany, it is a similar message — stay at home. translation: meet far fewer people whether outdoors or at home. give up any travel that is not necessary, any celebration that is not necessary. please stay at home, in your place of residence as much as possible. the netherlands too has had tough restrictions imposed after a surge in cases. however, that did not stop the dutch royal family from taking a trip to greece. it didn't go down well with the dutch public. the family returned after a day. in a statement, king willem

alexander and queen maxima said they had been affected by the intense criticism. a convicted killer, who helped stop a terror attack near london bridge last november, is to be considered for parole ten months early. steven gallant was on day release when he intervened to end usman khan's attack, which left two people dead. daniela relph reports. running from fishmongers' hall, where he had just killed two people, this was usman khan on london bridge. in the group pursuing him was steven gallant, himself a convicted murderer out on licence for the day. he was one of the group to wrestle the attacker to the ground before khan was shot dead by armed police. steven gallant had been working with jack merritt, one of the victims, on a prisoner rehabilitation programme. his courage that day, and his behaviour injail mean he will now be considered for parole ten months early. the ministry ofjustice said

the decision had been made in recognition of his exceptionally brave action at fishmongers' hall, which helped save people's lives despite the tremendous risk to his own. steven gallant‘s case is likely to come before the parole board next year. daniela relph, bbc news. and now on the bbc news channel, it's time for your questions answered. you've been sending in your questions on the new coronavirus restrictions around the country. to help us answer some of your questions, i'm joined by paul hunter, professor of medicine at the university of east anglia. cani can i start, if i may,

there is confusion in manchester, the mayor of greater manchester trading figures... what is the latest data? it is difficult to be sure at the local level like in greater manchester because in the past, a lot of these figures used to be published quite regularly on a daily basis, but it is now much more difficult to follow what is happening locally. i believe that there is some evidence that case numbers may be going down in manchester but i'm not hundred percent sure of that. what i can say is that this very rapid increase in cases that we saw towards the end of september does seem to be slowing somewhat. there is a problem though and that was the glitch from about a couple of weeks ago which meant that it was quite difficult to be absolutely sure of what the figures

we re absolutely sure of what the figures were doing for a period of a week or so. were doing for a period of a week or so. but on balance, it looks as though case numbers across the country are declining, or at least the increase is slowing down and maybe in some areas, declining. lets move on to viewers questions. this one says, living in a tier 2 area, cani one says, living in a tier 2 area, can i add a group of ten to 15 teenagers meet up in a park, acknowledging the fact that we all go to the same school? sadly, no. you have to still follow the rule of six and although it may seem odd that you can be mixing with a dozen 01’ more that you can be mixing with a dozen or more people at school or at work, as soon as you are outside of that environment, you have to stick to the maximum number of six people whether indoors or outdoors. the reason for that is that actually,

when you are outside of the classroom, it's very difficult for the police or anybody to know if there are eight of you in the group if you are actually from the same class or whether they are from different schools even. if they stuck to six friends and stood two or three metres apart, that would be acceptable? if you are in a group of six and socialising, you can continue to socially distance and thatis continue to socially distance and that is acceptable, up to a maximum of six. let's go to richard. my granddaughter is a key worker at tesco. can i still look after my great grandchild? i'm 72 years old, i have slight respiratory problems. i live near somerleyton near

lowestoft. so that is a tier1 area, so the lowest risk. there is a number of issues here. one is whether you are part of the same support bubble, but to be part of that, either your daughter would have to be a single adult in a household or you would have to be the single adult in the household. there is something called a childcare bubble and if you are needed to support another child under 13, then, yes. you can still continue to do that. how does he do that? do you just declare that? well, you make an agreement with the mother or father of the child concerned that you will be caring for that child and only you. so you can't, if you have two sets of children and grandchildren,

you can't be in the same bubble for both of them. but you can if it's one pa rent of them. but you can if it's one parent and you don't change that bubble. and that's the way i understand it. so, forgive me. could one grandparent be in a bubble with one grandparent be in a bubble with one set of grandchildren and the other grandparent be looking after the same bubble for different grandchildren and yet be living together? that's a difficult one. my guess is that no you can't, but i'm not 100% sure on that. the advice isn't totally clear. what is clear isn't totally clear. what is clear is that if you are a parent of a child, you can have a childcare bubble with one other household, so for example, if my son wanted my wife and or eye to care for his

baby, wee codes, either me or my wife, could support our grandson but they couldn't then ask for help from their other grandmother. right. when these are first announced, it said this was to help clarify the system but my goodness, it does get complicated. the basic rules are very straightforward. it's about all the other difficult, real life situations that people find themselves in where the difficulties arise. but the thing is, life isn't black or white, is it? for millions of people. let's to lender. i am 73, my husband is 72. he is disabled after a stroke, we live in a tier 2 area. can we visit my daughter and family who also live in the same area and can she visit

me? if she is needed to care for you or your husband, then that is a different issue and she may well still be able to do that. what you can't do is mix socially indoors, but you can mix in the garden. now, from the information we have got, it looks like neither would be able to form a support bubble because both households seem to have two parents but it if her daughter is a single mother with children, then she can form a support bubble and they can still meet in each other‘s house. up to six. 0k, several more here. peter says, can i go on holiday next week to bournemouth as planned? i live in birmingham. birmingham is a high—risk area, it is in tier

2. bournemouth is currently in tier 1. so at the moment, the answer to that is yes, unless birmingham moves up to tier 3. what i would say is that the restrictions that he is under about not socialising indoors with people, still apply because he comes from birmingham. he can't go to bournemouth and then think, all right, i'm in bournemouth now, i can now go and mix socially with friends from bournemouth in their homes or indeedin from bournemouth in their homes or indeed in restaurants and bars. with that proviso, he can still do that at the moment. wendy says can my mobile hairdresser come to my home? she is in a high—risk area of essex. asi she is in a high—risk area of essex. as i understand it at the moment, i think the answer to that is yes, providing that, and that

is presumably because her hairdresser is carrying out a business. it is not a friend coming round. you are allowed to go into people's homes if it is for the purpose of work or to carry on your business. however, the hairdresser must follow guidance on, guidance for people working or delivering to other peoples homes which is on the government website, but provided the hairdresser is doing that, that is ok. for people still flying, travelling, this is from andrew. i am flying into gatwick airport today, planning to stay at my mother's flat with her and her husband. until the 23rd of october, before flying out to germany. at the moment, it's fine, as paul is in tier 1. but if the area goes into tier 2 would have to go to area goes into tier 2 would have to gotoa area goes into tier 2 would have to go to a hotel? this is an interesting one because i think

the rules, as they are presented, don't seem to take account of this issue that people might be already doing things, living with people or visiting people in the rules change. personally, and this is a personal view, my view is that if you are actually already doing that and the restrictions are increased back home, then i can't see any real value in terms of controlling the disease of you moving out, because if you are infected and you are going to be at risk of spreading the infection, then probably, the boat has sailed depending on how far you are. so at the moment, my view, which may or may not be correct, is that you wouldn't need to move out. don't say that paul. we want you to be correct on everything. let's go

for the last one. and says that we live in york which is now tier 2. i walk my daughter's dog daily. children are at school during the day. can i enter the house to collect the dog under the current restrictions as long as they are not there? absolutely. the restrictions are about socialising indoors with people. so going into an empty house does not in any way break the rules. clearly, if you are, particularly if you are unwell, and it may not be a goodidea you are unwell, and it may not be a good idea to go into the house and also you should still practice good hygiene when you are in other people's house, but at the moment, there is no problem with going to pick up the dog from your daughter's house. that is brilliant, thank you. and good to focus on the fact that the restrictions referred to socialising. professor paul hunter, from the university of east anglia.

thank you for your time. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. hello. there's a bit of brightness around in places today but for the most part, it is going to stay cloudy and where that cloud is at its thickest, it will produce some spots of light rain here and there. this is how the forecast looks for the rest of the day. you can see extensive cloud across the map, one or two spots of rain but equally there will be some breaks in the cloud and some brighter spells, even a bit of sunshine. the wind will be light but it is going to be cool, particularly across northern areas, seven or 8 degrees in northern scotland, 13—15 across southern england and south wales. through this evening and tonight, thicker cloud will bring outbreaks of rain across northern ireland and up into scotland, north—west england as well. further south and east, staying predominantly dry with some clear spells. lowest temperatures across the far east and the final. further west, pretty mild

and it is going to turn very unsettled for the start of the new working week. we will see some outbreaks of heavy rain, particularly towards the north—west and it will turn increasingly windy. the mayor of greater manchester accuses boris johnson of exaggerating the spread of coronavirus in the area in a bid to persuade local leaders to accept tougher restrictions — as he calls for increased financial support. anywhere could end up in tier three this winter. in fact, i would say places are likely to end up in tier three. therefore, it is everyone's concern to protect the lowest paid in our community. the earlier we have the restrictions, in those areas where there is high incidence, the better for the economy of those areas, because we stop the infection spreading in a way which will do