this is bbc news with the latest headlines: more pressure on the government as thousands of doctors back the footballer marcus rashford's campaign for free school meals during the school holidays. after a public backlash, the welsh government says it will review its ban on supermarkets selling nonessential items the country's two—week lockdown. spain's government announces a new state of emergency as it tackles the virus — a national curfew from from 11pm a national curfew from 11pm until 6 in the morning is due to come in from sunday. ministers consider reducing the 1a days isolation period for those in contact with people who have the virus. the new well—being hubs designed to help nhs staff cope

with the stress of battling covid, as fears grow of a mental health crisis amongst health workers. and after seven months, ballet dancers return to the stage with socially distanced tutus at birmingham repertory theatre. good afternoon. if you have just joined if you havejustjoined us, welcome to bbc news. a government minister has defended the decision not to extend free school meals to disadvantaged children over the school holidays. this is in england. brandon lewis said providing support through local councils was "the right way" to help struggling families brandon lewis said providing support through local during the pandemic. pressure is mounting on the government from many sides, including more than 2,000 doctors

who have signed a letter saying england should follow scotland, wales and northern ireland in further funding meals outside of term time. here's our political correspondent, jessica parker. castle beach cafe in falmouth, cornwall, and owner fiona has said she will make free lunch bags this half term for any child who would normally get a free school meal. she says she's angry at the government's spending priorities. i know the country's under pressure, everybody‘s under pressure, but we're a wealthy country and if we've got hungry children, i think it's obscene, frankly. under scrutiny, ministers insist they are providing support for low—income families, billions extra in welfare and over £60 million via local councils, and congratulate organisations and congratulated organisations and businesses who are stepping in to help feed children this half term. i think it's complementary to what we are doing as a government. we are supportive of that, we support local authorities to do it, that's what the £63 million

is there for and it's notjust £63 million, it is on top of the hundreds of millions we have put into local authorities to support those most in need. so no u—turn, no change in a word? i think we have the package in place, so people have the support they need during school holiday. estimates suggest a food voucher scheme like the one which ran over summer could cost around £20 million for half term. in scotland and wales, provision has already been extended until easter. for england, labour says cash distributed by councils might miss some families. not every council has stepped up, which means it becomes a postcode lottery for some children so some children will benefit from sitting and living in a council where they have decided to prioritise free school meals, but other councils, for various reasons, might decide that money needs to go elsewhere. labour is promising to push for another vote on the issue before christmas and some conservative mps

also want a rethink. if there is another vote brought by labour in the next few weeks in parliament, will you rebel against the government next time? yes, if there is another vote that says we need to bring the concession back for the christmas holidays, i will vote for that. 0n the pitch last night, marcus rashford, who won a government u—turn in the summer. campaigning against child poverty, he's built up momentum again. where that leads, it's still playing out. jessica parker, bbc news. with me now is our political correspondent, jessica parker. how do you gauge the mood at the moment among conservative backbenchers on this issue? because ina backbenchers on this issue? because in a sense they might have thought it had been parked by the debate and vote just a few days ago, but it seems to have gathered fresh momentum. i think some of them are frustrated by what they maybe think was a fairly predictable situation because of course we had back in the summer because of course we had back in the summer when because of course we had back in the summer when marcus because of course we had back in the summer when marcus rashford campaigned for free school meals or a voucher system to be extended over the holidays and here we are again,

he is campaigning again and the labour party obviously called this vote on wednesday. and the labour party say they don't get at this time they're going to campaign in the run—up to christmas. time they're going to campaign in the run-up to christmas. exactly, they're going to try to get a vote again, soi they're going to try to get a vote again, so i think some conservative mps are frustrated because they think they should have been more forward planning. the government are saying they have got a plan, extra money for councils who know their local area is best, they say, and further welfare support. some conservatives, pretty much calling for a u—turn. he conservatives, pretty much calling fora u—turn. he is conservatives, pretty much calling for a u—turn. he is saying if there isa for a u—turn. he is saying if there is a vote that labour will try and secure in the coming weeks, he will rebel against the government to keep provision during the christmas holidays and i think that will be an interesting pinch point if it happens because how many conservative mps are going to want to, given what has happened in the last few days, go through the lobbies, go to gain against the idea of extending a free school meal provision over the christmas holiday? presumably bailed are therefore hoping that the government will resolve this before it gets anywhere near another vote. the government's options are quite limited ina government's options are quite limited in a sense that they have a

release date this position. yes, it was interesting. brandon lewis was asked, no u—turn? and he didn't flat out say no, he said there is a package of support that we have. 0ne conservative mp i've been speaking to today was suggesting a possible workaround, this is doing the rounds, which is that it could they give more money to local councils and say, this is the best way to do it, but we understand we need to give more resource to councils going forward. look, i'm sure people have varying views on this debate, but conservative mps feel they are to some extent at odds with the wider public mood and marcus rashford does once again seem to have captured people's imagination. jessica parker, thank you very much. the welsh government has said a ban on very much. supermarkets selling non—essential items during the country's two—week lockdown is to be reviewed later this week. more than a4,000 people have signed a petition to be allowed to buy items such as clothes and electrical goods. ministers had said they wanted to be fair to retailers ordered to close. health minister,

vaughan gething, says the welsh government's approach aims to ensure the country's lockdown will remain short. to have an effective firebreak, we do need to reduce opportunities for people to go out and mix. and that is why we have this clarity in terms of what is essential and what not. almost all of the retailers, where people would like to go into shops, have an online offering as well. so even if you go to an entirely different retailer, there are a lot of stores that do this in any event. and online retail is permissible because it doesn't involve mixing. so we haven't cut down people's opportunity to buy goods in any form, it's about the in person activity that matters. that is vaughan gething there. let's speak to sara jones from the welsh retail consortium. thank you for being with us or bbc news. what you make the announcement with this review? well, it is welcome news. as you will know, we weren't supportive of this decision to bring these regulations in, purely because we knew it was going to impact our front line staff the ha rd est, to impact our front line staff the hardest, so it is good news that the welsh government is looking to review the regulations and of course we will work closely with officials

and ministers to do what we can to try to ensure the message gets back to public health, rather than as computed and confused issue that has come about from these regulations. do you understand what motivated this? the idea that the welsh government was saying, look, supermarkets are allowed to open because they sell food and essential items. lots of retailers who sell other stuff that you can also find in supermarkets are forced to close. effectively, they are being penalised and they could potentially be watching these big stores kind of rea p be watching these big stores kind of reap the benefit. yes, well, there are two answers to that. the verses we don't believe nonessential stores should have been shot in the first place. there is no health evidence that suggests this policy is going to have impact on lowering the r number, given the investment retailers have made and their safety measures. the second one is this isn't just a supermarket measures. the second one is this isn'tjust a supermarket issue, u nfortu nately isn'tjust a supermarket issue, unfortunately the rhetoric is all about supermarkets at the moment, but it is actually very many small convenience stores, small garden centres who are all getting hit by this policy as well because they are

also essential retailers, so we have to look at this in the round the fa ct to look at this in the round the fact they shouldn't just be a focus on large business and supermarkets. are you worried, though, that in the supermarkets it is the staff that might take the flak, if you like, from customers who, i don't know, someone comes in from customers who, i don't know, someone comes in and says, i desperately need to buy some clothes for my kid because he has torn yet another pair of trousers and all the rest of it. and they are told, sorry, we are not allowed to sell you this. it ends up becoming a confrontation at the shop floor level? absolutely and that is exactly the point that we made on thursday. but we thought this policy was going to end up being confusing, it was going to lack clarity is the people who are going to bear the brunt of this are going to be a hard working retail staff. these people have put themselves on the front line right throughout this pandemic, showing ensuring that people have the necessary goods and services to buy in our stores and that is our concern all the way through this and we hope that it is something we can resolve through a constructive conversation with the welsh government of the forthcoming days.

we have got this period, i think i'm right of insane, of 17 days of closures. vaughan gething was saying in the interview he gave earlier that if this doesn't achieve what is hoped for, you may be your members and other people living in wales, whether in retail or not, may say something similar again in the new year. how worried are you about the potential impact on retail? well, huge because quite clearly we are entering into a really important pa rt entering into a really important part of the year for our retailers. 0ne fifth of all sales are accounted for in the run—up to christmas, so it is absolutely vital we can stay open after the 9th of november, give our retailers the best possible opportunity. any further firebreak in the new year, of course, is going to be devastating for our industry and other industries like hospitality and tourism, on which wales relies so greatly for employment, so again we're going to have to work very closely with the welsh government on this. if there is going to be any further firebreak at there needs to be the necessary support package in place to ensure that our businesses are viable in

2021. finally, briefly, your message, please, no more surprises? absolutely. a message would be keep working constructively together and let's collaborate for the good of the nation. sara jones, welsh retail consortium, thank you so much for being with us. thank you. spain's prime minister has announced a new state of emergency across the country in an attempt to control the spread of coronavirus. regions will be given powers to take their own decisions i'm joined now by our correspondent in madrid, guy hedgecoe. you updated us on what was expected this morning, guy hedgecoe, and again at lunchtime. what now has the prime ministers announced? well, he has confirmed the use of the state of emergency. it is the same legal mechanism that he used earlier in the year for that very strict

lockdown that the country had, but he has said that this time round, it is not going to be a strict, full lockdown for the country, that what he is doing is putting it, as you say, putting a certain amount of power in the hands of spain's i7 regional administrations for them to decide what is appropriate and what is not. he wants to see that curfew introduced across the country, between 11 — 6am. that has been a concern, late per night parties have been a big concern for the spanish government when it comes contagion. also, he wants to see restrictions on movement between one region and another. that has been another major problem when it comes to infections. he also said that this state of emergency will last through until may of next year, so i think that came as something of a surprise, the fa ct came as something of a surprise, the fact there was going to be such a long term state of emergency. presumably, making that announcement he must be pretty confident that he has got the political backing in the

parliament in madrid to actually get this through because he has had one confrontation already with the regional government in madrid, he has got the opposition party saying we don't like this because of the economic damage and we should be allowed to do things that are strictly at a regional level, so he must be quite confident to say, look, this will be a state of emergency and it is going to last for six months? yes, that's right. i mean, he has acknowledged that he can only introduce the state of emergency for two weeks initially, then after that he has to go to parliament to get approval for an extension and obviously this is a very long extension. now, as you pointed out there, earlier in the year when he was... he extended the state of emergency during a lockdown every two weeks and he did it a very gradual way, and then it became increasingly vitriolic, the political debate, as he tried to persuade parliament to be extended again and again. clearly, he wants

to avoid doing that this time, but pedro sanchez does seem to be confident he can get support from parliament. he says he has spoken to opposition leader of the popular party already today, had a very cordial conversation with him, but we still don't know for sure whether the other parties will back this. big political risks, then, as obviously the health in spain. guy hedgecoe, thank you very much. there could be a reduction in the length of time people have to self—isolate, if they've been in contact with someone who's tested positive for covid—i9. the government has confirmed it's looking at the period of self—isolatio, amid criticism of the test and trace programme. writing in the sunday telegraph, the conservative mp sir bernard jenkin said a "vacuum of leadership" in test and trace is affecting how far people comply with it. catherine burns reports. right to the back of the throat, both sides by your tonsils. at the minute, if you have been in contact with someone with coronavirus you need

to self—isolate for two weeks, but now confirmation that time might be shortened. there is no decision, i'm not here to make an announcement this morning. the teams are looking at this. as we are learning more about the virus and how we can manage and live with the virus, and obviously we are always assessing these. the test and trace system is not fast enough. latest figures show 15% of people tested are getting results within 2a hours. it's not getting hold of enough people. tracers are reaching about 60% of close contacts of people who have had a positive test. and now its boss, dido harding, is being criticised by a senior tory backbencher. i do mean this as kindly as possible, she has been a tremendous asset, but the test and trace capability clearly needs to move up several gears and it's what leadership does, not who it is, that really matters.

a study by king's college london found just 11% of people who had been in close contact with a positive case, and so needed to isolate for two weeks, actually fully stuck to it. the key question, though, is would it be safe to cut the time people are being asked to self—isolate for? within the 14 day period, the first seven or eight days are probably those period of most likely to become infected and therefore the use of testing could be used if someone is negative at that point to reduce the need for them to do the full 14 days isolation. for now, this isjust an idea that's being looked at. the rules haven't changed and people are still being asked to self—isolate for two weeks. catherine burns, bbc news. let me bring you the latest figures we have had from the government in scotland. it says there have been

1303 new cases reported in the last 24 1303 new cases reported in the last 2a hours. 0ne death has been registered, that will be someone who has tested positive for coronavirus in the last 28 days and has now died. that is now the accepted measure all parts of the uk are using. there are 1016 people in hospital as of yesterday, who has recently confirmed covid—19, that is 31 up on friday. 86 people are in intensive care, that is too up in 24—hour is. the top us infectious disease specialist has contradicted president trump's claim that the country has turned a corner on the pandemic. anthony fauci said infections were still rising sharply, and although a vaccine could be ready as early as december, mass vaccination of an entire country will take longer. the question is, once you have a safe and effective vaccine or more than one,

how can you get it to the people who need it as quickly as possible? so the amount of doses that will be available in december will not certainly be enough to vaccinate everybody. you'll have to wait several months into 2021, but what will happen is that there's been a prioritisation set so that individuals such as health care workers will very likely get first shot at it, as will then likely people who are in the category of being at an increased risk for complications. that could start by the end of this year, the beginning — january, february, march — of next year, but when you talk about vaccinating a substantial proportion of the population so that you can have a significant impact on the dynamics of the outbreak, that very likely will not be until the second or third quarter of the year. anthony fauci they are talking to

andrew marr on sunday morning. lloyds bank has asked its employees, who are currently working from home, to continue doing so until spring at the earliest. the bank said the decision was in line with government guidance. lloyds has 65,000 staff, about two thirds of whom are currently working remotely. lee kun—hee, the chairman of the south korean tech giant, samsung electronics, has died aged 78. mr lee helped transform his family's small noodle trading business into the world's largest producer of smartphones and memory chips. with an estimated net worth of £16 billion, he was south korea's richest person. he had spent more than six years in hospital, following a heart attack. that was in 2014. the number killed in a suicide bomb attack in the afghan capital kabul, on saturday, has risen to 2a — most of the dead were students

at a private education centre. the islamic state group has said it carried out the attack in the predominately shia muslim neighbourhood. the un has described the bombing as a callous and senseless war crime. secunder kermani reports. the alley outside the tuition centre was packed when the suicide bomber struck. fear, panic and shock amongst the students. like this 18—year—old, many were preparing for their university entrance exam next year. translation: i was walking towards the centre when there was a huge bang. i fell unconscious. when i woke up, i saw my classmates and friends wounded and lying on the ground. everyone was crying. this was the scene today. the suicide bomber was approaching the entrance when he was challenged by a guard and blew himself up. most of the residents of this area belong to afghanistan's shia minority, and they've been repeatedly targeted in brutal attacks like this by the islamic state group. two years ago, more than a0 students were killed in another suicide bombing on a tuition

centre not farfrom here. is is much less powerful than the taliban, but it's carried out dozens of deadly attacks in recent years. there's also been an upsurge in fighting between the afghan government and the taliban in recent weeks, despite the start of peace talks. is are not part of those discussions, which in any case seem to be making little progress. for now, whether it's through suicide attacks, roadside bombs or being caught in the crossfire, ordinary afghans are dying while simply trying to live their everyday lives. secunder kermani, bbc news, kabul. more than 300,000 visitors flock to cambridge's world famous botanical gardens each year, but the pandemic has led its conservationist curators down a more creative path. for the first time in its history, its entire plant collection has been made available to view online, meaning researchers, horticulturalists and the public can

all now access information about their rare species, from home. here's our science correspondent, richard westcott. more than 8,000 species, collected over 250 years, from all over the world. with a surprise around every corner. these tiny little flowers may not be too showy, but they think this is the first plant species to ever flower on earth. so this is a really rare specimen! for the first time in its history, the cambridge botanic garden has put its entire collection online. sam, this is like the first data base? 1881 — fantastic entries here for the garden. and we move onto the modern database you have set up now. yep, so that would have been, they originally would have done everything by hand. yep, so that would have been, they originally would have done everything by hand. the idea of keeping a record of what was going into the garden,

essentially, that book in front of you is now digital. let's suppose i search for a family i know and love, you can find out how many species we have got, what they are, where we got them from, did we get them from another garden or did we get them from the wild? you can find out what their conservation status is, are they threatened in the wild or not? anyone in the world can see what we have got. and so they can see our images, they can see our information, and by being visible, by being open, we are hoping to encourage more people to use it. anyone can access the portal which is on their website, but academics and experts and other botanic gardens all over the world are also encouraged to order seeds and leaves that they would like to study. there is something interesting going on here. angie, you are the assistant curator and preparing a sample. a scientist has gone on to the portal and would like to study something. chilis?

yes, they need some seeds from this chilli. and what would they use these seeds for, what kind of studies would they do? from the seeds they can either extract molecules like dna or rna, and they can use the seeds to grow plants in experiments. the portal isn't about giving people gardening tips, it's more scientific than that. but it is a window on one of the most interesting natural collections in the country. richard westcott, bbc news, the botanic garden in cambridge. it's been seven months, but ballet dancers have returned to the stage at birmingham rep theatre as doors opened to the public once again. there's hand sanitiser, temperature checks, and even socially distanced tutus to keep everyone safe, as ben sidwell reports. no, i haven't made that bit up. excited, very excited. really excited, so glad to be back, back to the theatre.

it feels very liberating to be out and doing something normal. the arts is a real go—to thing for me, and it'sjust so wonderful to see it back. it's been 220 days since the birmingham repertory theatre opened its doors to an audience. it's incredible, actually. we're sort of amazed we're here. there's something just so horrible about a completely empty theatre. there's nothing so dead as an empty theatre and it's been like that for seven months so to have life in it, it's a wonderful feeling, actually. the birmingham royal ballet's five socially distanced shows sold out in a matter of hours. usually able to hold almost 900, each performance will be watched by fewer than 150 people. so excited. there's been so many ups and downs along the way. we followed the same model that the professional sports world

was approved by government to do. so, our artists came back, working and divided into bubbles. included in the 80—minute performance, the world premiere of a new ballet, lazuli sky, inspired by ideas of social distancing and with costumes to keep dancers apart on stage. it was absolutely lovely. we've really missed it, we've really missed being in live theatre. it's extremely moving being there. i found it a little overwhelming how few audience members there were. when you go back in and you can see that it can work, i don't understand why it hasn't, why it can't go back to normal like this everywhere. a ballet for the moment to mark a return to theatre. ben sidwell, bbc news. from the balls of your feet to the ballroom. the race for strictly come dancing's glitterball trophy begun last night with the first live show of the new series. stringent measures have been

put in place to ensure everyone involved is safe, including a socially distanced audience. but despite the new rules, the show‘s hoping it can preserve the old sparkle. andy moore reports. hello and welcome to strictly come dancing, and our first live show of 2020. the sequins and razzamatazz are still there, but coronavirus has forced some changes to the show‘s winning formula. the small audience were chosen from front line nhs workers. the dances won the normal praise and criticism. what a way to open the show, with all that glitz and glamour. it was all very flat—footed, i am afraid, and very stiff of hip, darling. the arms are totally wild. very tight, very restricted. former home secretaryjacqui smith chose a political theme for her performance. when you consider theresa may, darling, and her dancing,

i think you are ten times better than that. so well done. the show‘s professional dancers will all have to live on their own for the duration of the show so that they can form a coronavirus bubble with their celebrity partners. one half of the couple will be living on their own, at least one half, and in some cases they are both living on their own — and in the other half, they can remain with their household. eastenders' maisie smith wowed the judges with her samba, while boxer nicola adams showed some fancy footwork as one half of strictly‘s first same—sex couple. i was very curious — how will it all happen, how will it work? and you haven't disappointed me. but the best came last, as the singer hrvy got the highest score of the night for this energeticjive.

this season may be shorter, with fewer celebrities because of covid, but the magic is still there. andy moore, bbc news. fantastic stuff! now it's time for a look at the weather with nick miller. hello, some sunshine around today, but heavy showers as well, particularly into the south and west of the uk, some with hail and thunder. gusty winds as well, plenty more showers to come into tonight as well, merging at times with western scotland into longer, heavier downpours. there will be some to the east, avoid most of the showers and stay dry with clearer weather here, we will see some of the lower temperatures going into monday morning. low pressure close by, tomorrow morning will be another day of sunshine and showers. these initially into the west, but notice how they do track east during the day. again, the chance of seeing some hail and thunder, but not a wash—out. there will be some sunny spells before and after the showers, still with those fairly gusty winds as well.

average speeds, we'll be getting the gusts around 30 to a0 miles per hour, especially as those showers move through. temperatures around 10 to 1a degrees across the uk, turning milder to the south later in the week but a fairly wet and at times windy week to come. goodbye. hello, this is bbc news with shaun ley. the headlines: more pressure on the government as thousands of doctors back