wales goes into lockdown — announcing a "short, sharp" shock from friday to act as a "firebreak" on covid—19. people are told to stay at home, all non—essential retail will close, and pubs, bars and restaurants will be restricted to takeaway service. we know that if we do not act now, it will continue to accelerate and there is a very real risk that our nhs would be overwhelmed. i'm glad it's come in sooner rather than later. yes, it's going to take a temporary hit but a temporary hit is better than losing your life. we'll be getting the latest reaction live from cardiff. also this lunchtime... talks resume over the introduction of tougher covid measures in manchester — as the city's mayor demands more financial support. a tightening of restrictions across europe. many countries reintroducing

rules eased after earlier lockdowns. making a splash — the swimmers braving winter waters to help scientists in the battle against dementia. and coming up on bbc news, more criticism of var, particularly after the merseyside derby which saw a goal controversially ruled out and no punishment for pickford's tackle on van dijk. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. the welsh government has announced it is introducing a short national lockdown. what they're calling a "firebreak" will begin at 6pm on friday evening and will run until the 9th of november. people in wales will be asked to stay at home and all non—essential

retail will close. pubs, bars and restaurants will be restricted to takeaway service only and households cannot mix in any location. the first minister mark drakeford said the objective was to "break the chain of infection". our wales correspondent tomos morgan has the details. as autumn turns to winter, there's a sense of deja vu in wales today, as the prospect of another national lockdown becomes a reality. we know that, if we do not act now, it will continue to accelerate and there is a very real risk that our nhs would be overwhelmed. over the weekend, the cabinet of the welsh government met to continue our discussions about a time—limited firebreak, a short, sharp shock to turn back the clock, slow down the virus and give us more time. we met again this morning and we have now reached the difficult decision to introduce a two—week firebreak,

starting at 6pm on friday this week. so, from 6pm on friday until monday the 9th of november, the welsh public have been told they must stay at home as much as possible. there will be no mixing with any other households, indoors or outdoors. and they can only go outside for exercise. nonessential retail shops will close, as well as leisure facilities and gyms, as well as hospitality businesses, bars and restaurants, with the exception of takeaways. and there will be a £300 million business support scheme, with up to £5,000 available per business. cardiff, as well as the majority of wales, has been under local lockdown measures for some time, meaning that it is banned by law to leave or enter an area under these measures. but with virus cases continuing to rise across the country here, today's announcement wasn't unexpected and will have a wider impact on the

welsh public. the idea of going back into lockdown is a bit worrying for me. i'm diabetic, sol have to shield, so that's going to mean another few weeks or months inside. the first lockdown, people didn't really know what they were in for, but i think we all know what it means this time around. just don't know how much more people can take with not being with their families. i think it was always going to be coming anyway and i'm glad it's coming sooner rather than later. yes, it's going to take a temporary hit but a temporary hit is better than losing your life. the firebreaker is an idea of the first minister has been in favour of as an action to mitigate the spread for some time, following its suggestion by sage, the scientists that advise the government across the uk, a few weeks ago. if you just have the circuit breaker and then you lift things, then all that will happen is that infections will rise again and you will yo—yo in and out of restrictions,

so i think the really important question is not only to talk about the short—term restrictions, but how will you reset things? how will you make things different to keep the infections down? mark drakeford has suggested there could be a new national set of rules following this firebreaker, but if this short lockdown fails to mitigate the spread of the virus, for how long could wales be under stringent measures heading into winter? and tomosjoins me now from cardiff. what about schools? that has been a main sticking point, really, for the discussions between the cabinet here over the past weekend, really. what we re over the past weekend, really. what were they going to do on schools and childcare? the sticking point was to do with high schools. i think there was already decision in place, really, following the guidance that was made a couple of months ago when it came to the transmission with under 11 is, that there was a reduced risk of transmission is. so primaries will be reopening after the first week, which is half term

in wales here. childcare will carry on as normal over the half—time —— half term period, and special schools will open as normal. after the break, it is only a year seven oi’ the break, it is only a year seven or eight that will go back to high school, the rest of them will carry on with online learning before reopening at the end of this firebreak period. universities will continue as usual, but students will have to remain at home, in halls of residence, or wherever they now reside. there has been a mixed response from opposition parties. the conservatives in wales have said the welsh labour government's decision is the wrong one and they should have persisted with local lockdown measures. plaid cymru supported the idea of a firebreak, but they are asking what will be the measures after we come out of this firebreak, and it is something that many people will be wondering, especially if the virus numbers do not go the way the welsh government predicts and expects them to go. thank you very much. no more money, no increase in restrictions — that's basically the message from the mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham,

as talks resume over government proposals to put the city into the highest alert level. he wants the government to reintroduce the 80% furlough scheme used previously in the pandemic to support the low—paid affected by tier three closures. the government accuse him of putting people's lives at risk. dan johnson reports. this is a city that has been on the edge for days now, people no new restrictions are coming, but they are still not clear exactly when or what they will mean. if they want to put it into tier 3, they need to make sure they provide the money, the 80% fellow for the people and businesses so they don't collapse. for me, i think we should keep it as it is, get the economy back up and running. absolutely massive must for me, definitely. you don't want extra restrictions? no way. i'm from australia and they have had really tough restrictions, my family are still in lockdown over there. their cases are down to zero at the minute. ithink cases are down to zero at the minute. i think if we take a leaf out of their book, we could do

the same. talks over the weekend were described as constructive, but there are still no agreement, and everyday adds to the risk. we have seen hospitals like salford, for example, reaching almost 100% icu capacity. 0ver reaching almost 100% icu capacity. over 70% icu capacity in manchester, bolton and other hospitals within the region. that is a serious situation, and it demands action. this week, preferably today. local politicians know the seriousness of the situation and one greater manchester mp, yasmin qureshi, announced on social media that she was admitted to hospital over the weekend after testing positive. here isa weekend after testing positive. here is a business that may have to close under tighter restrictions. soft play centres were shut down in lancashire last week, but allowed to stay open in liverpool. my little boy is to wander half, and lockdown has been awful anyway. —— is two and a half. these places have started to

open, he is brilliant because it is really clea n open, he is brilliant because it is really clean and fabulous. for him, it is about the social interaction. it's incredibly difficult for business anyway, we already have to operate a 50% capacity, which is 50% of our income. there is no additional help for that and then they are talking about closing us down. 0ur they are talking about closing us down. our staff are on low incomes and they want to give us two thirds of their income, rather than the furloughed 80%, which was already a struggle. we need more financial help. making the sums add up for workers that are out of a job has been a real sticking point so far. ifa been a real sticking point so far. if a business like this has to close, how much support will there be for the stuff? that is what politicians have not been able to agree on the act. this battle over tiers has got everyone talking. andy burnham says he does not relish a stand—off with the government, but other city regions like sheffield are also on the brink, watching how this plays out. danjohnson, bbc news, manchester. 0ur political correspondent iain watson is in westminster.

is this all about money? it is certainly partly about money. andy burnham, the mayoral greater manchester, would say it is about more than that, it is about supporting people that would be hit by the toughest restrictions in england and he wants to see greater financial support for those that would be effectively losing perhaps up would be effectively losing perhaps up to would be effectively losing perhaps uptoa would be effectively losing perhaps up to a third of their wages. but in order to grease the wheels of a deal, certainly more money is being made available by the government. a local authority like liverpool city region or lancashire, when they go into these higher rates of restrictions, they get some money, mostly for track and trace, helping the clinically vulnerable. but both lancashire and liverpool were given £30 million more for so—called business support. significantly, the government sailing greater manchester would get no less generous terms on a per capita basis, per head of the population, which could mean about £60 million or £70 million might be available for greater manchester if

they accept greater restrictions. but andy burnham has made it very clear that he will not roll over, in his words, the first sign of a cheque. there was also discussion in south yorkshire as well. they say that the government is pressing them for a rapid agreement, but they are not going to be bounced into agreeing to going to be bounced into agreeing to going into tier 3 at this stage. i think these difficult negotiations which the government have is partly a consequence of this local and regional approach which boris johnson has taken. that means you have to get into lots and lots of protracted negotiations, rather than having a full—scale, nationwide lockdown, such as wales. iain, thank you very much. schools in northern ireland are closed for two weeks from today as new restrictions come into force. meanwhile, in the south, the irish government is set to tighten coronavirus restrictions — including shutting down most of the retail sector for several weeks. ministers are meeting in dublin this afternoon, with an announcement expected this evening. 0ur ireland correspondent chris page has more.

schools weren't meant to be still and silent this week, but half term has come unexpectedly early. a—level students at the belfast model school for girls didn't want an extended break. the less time that we have in school, i suppose, is a wee bit worrying, you know? we won't have face—to—face contact with our teachers for learning and things like that, which i know myself and a lot of my classmates really benefit from. i'm quite worried for exams that we have coming up, just because we won't be able to be in class with our teachers probably as much, with the way things are going at the minute, and it's hard to learn online. me, i like to have things explained to me, it'sjust easier when you're face—to—face with the teacher. though pupils do say some good has come out of the turbulence of 2020. it makes you grateful for the time you have whenever you are in school and it makes you appreciate things more and, like, time spent with your friends and actually being in the environment of the classroom. in my opinion, it's helped me a lot with my mental health and, like, helped me get in...

it'sjust helped me to be more grateful for a lot of things and help me understand, like, to be more aware of some stuff. if there's another school shutdown, the online teaching is ready to go. we have to be ready, because we don't know, as we find outjust recently, when we might have to close again. we just need to be there for the students because the most important thing is promoting their well— being, their resilience and, indeed, extending their learning in whatever capacity we can. what have been the most difficult things about the last few months and have there been positives? i think the most challenging thing for us was ensuring that we had our environment that was welcoming for staff and students, but was safe. our students have had to develop more independence and resilience in their learning and that is always going to be a life skill they can carry forward. 0ne one of the ways in which education is different in northern ireland is that the vast majority of pupils in their last year of primary school sit a series of exam papers, the transfer test, to decide who gets into grammar school. the tests have been postponed

for about two months. they're due to take place in january. but parents and teachers of the children going through that selection process are particularly worried about the impact of all the covid disruption. certainly, if this break was to continue beyond two weeks, i think the pressures that would be brought to bear would be enormous, to try to say do we really make a change for this year, because it isjust, you know, it's proving to be impossible to provide those children with the level of education that they would require. the pandemic pressures in schools include quarantined classes, self—isolating staff and broken routines. teachers, pupils and families are hoping for a brighter picture when they return. chris page, bbc news, belfast. the government in scotland have blamed a delay in releasing covid test results over the weekend on a uk government—run testing lab in glasgow. the uk government says this is "categorically untrue". scotland editor sarah smith is in glasgow now. what has gone wrong? well, there has been a degree of confusion about

exactly what has gone wrong and whose fault it is. but you can see there is clearly a problem if you look at the numbers. 0n there is clearly a problem if you look at the numbers. on sunday, 316 positive tests were reported. compare that with today. 993, over 1000 on saturday. so it does look like that sunday figure was artificially low. nicola sturgeon said it was due to a processing delay within the uk government lab system, and that the uk government responded by saying that was categorically untrue, there was no problem with processing capacity at the glasgow laboratory. what seems to have happened is that over 600 tests were re—routed from glasgow to other uk labs to be tested there, the uk government say that is com pletely the uk government say that is completely routine. well, she was doing her daily briefing at lunchtime, as she does every weekday, she said she didn't want to get into a war of words. she didn't wa nt to get into a war of words. she didn't want to have a spat, she wanted to be clear that the system is working, that people should have confidence in it. while there have

been intermittent problems and frustrations, she says the scottish and uk governments are working together to get everything up and running properly. she also gave a glimpse of what might be coming later this week, when she said they might announce the strategic framework which include three tiers like in england. a range of new restrictions have been brought in across europe. in belgium, cafes and bars are closed for a month and a curfew has been imposed. italy has tightened rules around hospitality and, in france, more than 60,000 new cases were confirmed over the weekend. richard galpin reports. here in belgium, a few people ventured into restaurants yesterday evening for a final meal out before all restaurants, cafes and bars close down for the next four weeks, with a curfew imposed imposed from midnight until 5.00am. the staff and the manager here are distraught. translation: we don't feel considered and it hurts my heart.

i'm so sorry, but i can't take it any more. the aim of this shutdown is to stop the rapid rise in infections, which has already left more than 10,000 people dead in this country. it was italy which was the hardest hit european country in the first wave of the virus. now, once again, it is facing a surge in new cases — almost 12,000 daily infections recorded at the weekend. this man in milan saying cases had gone up from around 100 a day to more than 600 or 700, and the cold weather could make it even worse. so now new restrictions are coming in, including mayors getting powers to close public areas after 9.00pm and the opening times of bars and restaurants changing. translation: these measures will allow us to face this new wave

of the virus that is hitting not just italy, but the whole of europe. we cannot waste time. we have to act using all the possible measures to avoid a new total lockdown. the country cannot afford a new stop that would end up seriously harming our economy. france, like italy, is also facing record numbers of new cases. nine major cities, including paris, are already under a night—time curfew for at least a month. people breaking this face fines. such is the pressure on health systems in european countries now as winter approaches, that the military in the czech republic is being brought in to set up a field hospital in the capital, prague. it's due to be up and running next week, with a capacity of 500 beds — a stark sign of the battle ahead this winter in europe. richard galpin, bbc news.

the time is 1:18pm. our top story this lunchtime... wales is to go into lockdown, announcing a "short, sharp" shock to act as a "firebreak" on covid—19. the home secretary says she will look into calls for a public inquiry into the birmingham pub bombings. coming up on bbc news, chris froome's building up to his last race with ineos grenadiers as he aims to win his third vuelta a espana. the brit has recovered after an horrific crash in france last year. the leaders of the uk's anglican churches have written a rare joint letter to warn that the government's new brexit legislation could set a "disastrous precedent". the archbishops of canterbury and york, as well as the heads of the scottish episcopal church, the church in wales and the church of ireland, said the internal markets bill could profoundly affect the future of their countries. it comes as the government's brexit trade negotiator, lord frost, continues talks on the phone today,

after michel barnier cancelled plans to travel to london. but, as our reality check correspondent chris morris explains, deal or no deal — major changes are coming to the uk's relationship with the eu. as the rhetoric heats up, it's worth remembering that a trade deal is still possible. but also that any deal that might emerge in the next few weeks isn't going to produce the frictionless trade we have now. once the uk leaves the eu's single market and the customs union, there will be big changes at british borders with the eu — come what may. among other things, deal or no deal, businesses that trade with the eu are going to have to fill in import and export declarations. there will also be substantial checks taking place at the border on the trade in food, plants and animals. the uk says it will phase in some of this new border bureaucracy over six months. but the eu isn't doing that. don't forget, roughly 10,000 lorries pass through dover every day, with about 6,000 more using the channel tunnel. any big delay could

lead to gridlock. so the government has made plans to divert freight to other ports around the countryjust in case. the uk will, in the government's words, take back control of its borders by implementing a new immigration policy, ending free movement to and from the eu. but that will come at an economic cost for companies that trade with europe. and there will be very little in a deal done now that will help the uk's substantial trade in services with the eu. so, given that any deal finalised in the next few weeks would be pretty thin, some brexit supporters argue that it's not worth compromising on anything important to get it done. better to leave with no deal, they argue, and get on with it. but a majority of businesses think that would be a disaster. more than three—quarters of 648 companies surveyed last month by the confederation of british industries say a deal is essential. business groups in germany, france and italy have said much the same thing. and there are still several reasons

why a basic deal would make sense for both sides. it would make sure tariffs, or taxes, are not suddenly imposed on the trade in goods. for the car industry, for example, that's absolutely critical. a trade deal would make it much more likely that the eu would recognise uk data and financial services rules. and both will be really important in the future. finally, a deal would be a good basis for further talks which will be necessary — a platform on which both sides can build. no deal, on the other hand, could lead — at least in the short term — to a period of bitter recrimination. the government says its ready for that. but, with every country in europe consumed by the covid crisis, it could be an extra headache they could all do without. to get a deal done, though, everyone involved still needs to compromise. chris, thank you very much. french police have raided the homes of dozens of suspected islamic the home secretary, priti patel, has agreed to look into calls for a public inquiry

into the birmingham pub bombings — which killed 21 people in 197a. last year, an inquestjury found the victims were unlawfully killed, but didn't establish who was responsible. our midlands correspondent, phil mackie reports. sirens wail. it's 46 years since bombs were set off in two busy pubs in birmingham city centre. the carnage caused at the mulberry bush and the tavern in the town left 21 dead and more than 200 others hurt, many with life—changing injuries. nearly five decades later, it's not known exactly who was to blame. announcing that she would consider a public inquiry, the home secretary priti patel said... stop and read and what it says... at one of two memorials for the attacks, not far from where her sister maxine died, julie hambleton welcomed the news. it will open a door to a level of information that could provide a catalyst to then give

our loved ones what they deserve, to help them to maybe rest in peace, which is truth, and accountability. ——justice and accountability. six men who were jailed for the attacks later had their convictions quashed. although an inquest last year revealed the names of an ira cell believed to be responsible, there is little hope for a criminal prosecution. for the families and their supporters, this is a real breakthrough. they think that momentum is with them now and they will finally get those answers that they've been waiting for for such a long time. this does remain the single biggest unsolved crime in recent british history. 46 years ago, but there are still families and friends of the victims who have not received justice and what this potential inquiry gives is the prospect of, at last, thatjustice being done. here they are, our heroes. just last week, the supporters arrived in westminster after walking just last week, these supporters

arrived in westminster after walking from birmingham to raise money for the campaign. what an absolute legend, look. the families are desperate to keep the case in the public eye, so their loved ones are not forgotten. phil mackie, bbc news, birmingham. french police have raided the homes of dozens of suspected islamic radicals following the killing of a teacher who showed controversial cartoons of prophet muhammad to his pupils. over the weekend vigils were held in memory of teacher samuel paty. some of those being questioned today are believed to have posted messages of support for the killer who was shot dead by police after the attack. the navy says it has launched an investigation after reports that an officer turned up "unfit for duty" for work on board a nuclear submarine. let's get more from our defence correspondent jonathan beale. what has gone on here? well, what's gone on shouldn't have gone on at all. this is, remember, a nuclear submarine armed with

trident nuclear armed missiles. this particular officer was the duty weapons engineer, he had been on shore. suspicion was he'd been drinking. he came on duty for his watch and the crew smelt the signs of alcohol consumption, raised the alert and he was immediately removed from command, from his role being in charge of those nuclear weapons and sent home. the defence secretary ben wallace has been here on salisbury plain talking to british soldiers. he said he would raise this matter with the first sea lord but he made clear there were checks and balances on these nuclear submarines and, in this case, it worked. as soon as the suspicions were raised, that particular officer was removed from command. it isn't the only thing that has gone wrong on this trip. it has been in kings bay in georgia, in the us, where they load up the trident missiles. there have been, since that incident occurred about a month ago, an outbreak of covid

among the crew, with reports and suggestions in some newspapers that they have broken de covid restriction and visited bars and, remember, this same submarine, hms vigilant, three years ago, was in another scandal where some of the crew we re another scandal where some of the crew were seen to be taking class a drugs and the captain was removed for having a relationship with a female member of the crew, so this has not been great for the royal navy, it shouldn't happen on a nuclear armed submarine, it is embarrassing, but the cheques did work. jonathan, thank you very much. scientists trying to find a cure for dementia have made a promising discovery in a group of cold water swimmers at a lido in london. the researchers from cambridge university found the swimmers produced a protein associated with hibernation which could delay the disease. our correspondent justin rowlatt explains. i'm here beside my favourite pool, parliament hill lido in london. "lie—do", "lee—do"? it depends how you want to go. but the link, bizarrely, between cold water and dementia is hibernation, and a latent hibernation ability that all human beings appear to

retain. now, i discovered this because i swam here, i was talking to other swimmers and they said there's this doctor who is coming down and taking blood from us and testing for some protein that may be associated with dementia. i was really curious about this. and, back in february, before the covid restrictions, we made this film. the idea of going for a swim on a cold winter morning like this may not seem very appealing. especially when you know that the water temperature is just seven celsius. is just seven centigrade. but here goes! it certainly is refreshing. your whole body kind of screams in shock. but if you just stay here for a few seconds, you do begin to get used to it, and then you can begin to get some lengths in. and it now seems a chilly dip

may offer more than just an exhilarating thrill. scientists have discovered that being very cold can actually protect your brain... six years ago, bbc radio reported a study that showed that cold mice develop more of a protein associated with hibernation. the study found they can protect against, and even repair the damage dementia does. the obvious next step was to see if humans develop the protein, too. which is where this place, hampstead heath lido, comes in. well, we're from the north, so we can handle it! one lido swimmer heard the radio interview. ijust had the idea that we have the cold water people here, that regularly get cold. can we translate that through to that kind of environment? dozens of volunteers agreed to be tested by the scientist leading the study. we compared you to a bunch of people doing tai chi, who didn't get cold.

and none of them got increased levels of this protein. but many of you did. she's here to give them the results. you are the first sort of non—patient cohorts to show that cold water swimming raises this protective protein. which is pretty cool. professor mallucci is now trying to find a drug that stimulates the production of the protein in humans and to see if it really does help delay dementia. if you slowed the progress of dementia by even a couple of years, in a whole population, that would have an enormous impact, economically and health—wise. these cold proteins are a very promising line of research. but she warns it is still early days. sadly, there are no guarantees that this will lead to a successful dementia treatment. justin rowlatt, bbc news, london.