this is bbc news with victoria derbyshire. here are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. special forces board an oil tanker and detain seven stowaways after a suspected hijacking off the isle of wight. this was a very efficient operation. it only took nine minutes from the word go to the stowaways being rounded up and identified. as half—term begins for many, ministers insist they won't change their mind on free school meal vouchers over the holidays — saying they're providing help through extra funding to local authorities. we have put in £63 million precisely to support councils to deliver, and i think that is the best way of doing this. a national curfew in spain,

as europe tries to stem the tide of a second wave of coronavirus infections spreading across the continent. and coming up this hour, what would you do if your mum was spreading harmful disinformation about coronavirus? we've been finding out. i think she is too far gone, to be honest. i'm never going to have a relationship with my mum again and that is why it is important that if, you know, someone else is coming to you and saying i'm starting to believe this stuff, nip it in the bud. good morning. a navy special forces unit has stormed an oil tanker off the isle of wight after a suspected hijacking. seven stowaways, thought to be nigerian nationals, have been

detained after they were reported to have threatened the crew. andy moore has the latest. late last night, and the tanker andromeda was back under the control of its crew after what the ministry of defence called a suspected hijacking. 16 members of the special boat squadron, based at nearby poole, were landed on the ship as night fell. defence secretary ben wallace said... what is good to see is the reaction from ourforces, the coordination between our agencies. number 10 would have been fully involved in what was going on, indeed. this is a good outcome for britain. the drama began yesterday morning as the ship prepared to enter the fawley oil refinery near southampton. seven stowaways — believed to be nigerians — are said to have become violent and made verbal threats to the crew.

they retreated to a safe place on board the ship. there are few official details from the ministry of defence, but it's understood several military helicopters landed heavily armed troops by rope onto the deck of the ship. faced with overwhelming force, the stowaways are said to have surrendered almost immediately. this was a very efficient operation. it only took nine minutes from the word go to the stowaways being rounded up and identified. and, of course, this reflects the training that both the fleet air arm crews and the sbs — the special boat service — undertake all the time. none of the 22 crew of the andromeda were injured in the incident. the seven stowaways have been detained. andy moore, bbc news. let's speak now to chris parry, former rear admiral and nato commander. can you give us some insight into what would have happened in the nine minutes it took four special forces

to ta ke minutes it took four special forces to take control of the vessel? good morning, yes, essentially, as you saw, this was a helicopter assault with the two navy wildcat helicopters which would have come in first to look through their electrooptics devices what was going on. they would have provided a distraction while the two navy merlin helicopters came in closer and essentially the sbs troops roped down from those helicopters onto the deck. they would have quickly ascertained where the stowaways were, isolated them and arrested them. simple as that, job done? that's how you want it to be, to tell you the truth. and everybody is safe which is the main thing. absolutely. in that sense, it is a perfect operation, nobody got hurt, the ship was retaken and it was not able to be a problem for the government or the local area any more. how often would special forces

be required to carry out an operation like this? it's a good question. the last time we had to do this was when the iranian tanker was seized off gibraltar on its way to syria but a year before that, december 20 18, four nigerians try to ta ke december 20 18, four nigerians try to take over a ship in the thames estuary and yet again knabl special forces were required to deal with the situation —— navy special forces. but we should not kid ourselves, this situation will only get worse in future as more people try to migrate by sea by any means to get from one place to the other. do you have any ideas how the stowaways might have got onto the vessel? i'm afraid to say that in many parts of the wider world and especially in nigeria, security in the port is not very good. i am also afraid that a lot of owners do not ta ke afraid that a lot of owners do not take responsibly for their ships. i don't know what it was in this case,

but they don't, and they can easily get on board. and these tankers are huge with vast numbers of spaces and passageways where you can hide. from what i can gather, i think these quys what i can gather, i think these guys came what i can gather, i think these guys came out as what i can gather, i think these guys came out as soon what i can gather, i think these guys came out as soon as the tanker was at sea. the crew knew that they we re was at sea. the crew knew that they were there and maybe had alerted authorities that they were on board. i think it was only when they approached the uk that it looked like they might be facing immigration services and they got shirty. and you very much for talking to us. chris parry. ministers are continuing to insist they will not fund school meal vouchers for children in england during half—term, despite calls for a rethink from some conservative mps. the government has come under pressure on the issue following a high—profile campaign by marcus rashford. scotland, wales and northern ireland have already introduced food voucher schemes. the health secretary, matt hancock, said the government was providing help through extra funding to local authorities.

we have put in £63 million, precisely to support councils to deliver and i think that is the best way of doing this, through the councils who, you know, we have been seeing over the last few days have been rolling out these programmes, who are there in local areas in the community and who are supporting people and trying to make sure that this gets to the people who need it most. so absolutely, we've put in that extra money. as you say, some people have estimated the cost at around £20 million so we put in £63 million. you know, my own local authority in suffolk has received over three quarters of a million in order to support people right across suffolk. that is the way we are delivering this, including, in addition, in these really difficult times, putting an extra £20 a week on to universal credit to make sure people who are in receipt of universal credit can get that

extra support that might be needed. hundreds of businesses, charities and some councils in england have pledged to help vulnerable children during the half—term. danjohnson spent the morning at a community centre that's doing just that. this is saint vincent's on the east side of leeds and this is just the food that was donated as of friday, so this will be backed up, packed up and sent out to children across leeds this week over half—term to make sure that they are fed, because the government is insisting it will not extend the free school meal vouchers that it extended over the summer to make sure that children were fed. let's have a chat with francesca, who is from leeds community foundation, and sheena, who was the manager here at saint vincent's. how important is this, sheena, this food, this support? so we are based in east leeds, as you've just said, and what we've done is met the needs of the community. a hungry child is a hungry child regardless of their background and circumstance.

how many are there? well, we are feeding about, i think at the peak of the summer we were feeding about 1500 meals a week. so there is a massive need just in this area alone. if you can do this, if people are so generous to donate this food and you can hand it out, does that not solve the problem? is the government right that it does not need to extend those vouchers? so this is the third year that we've done this, so the need isn't going away. it needs a longer term solution. the conservative mp tobias ellwood voted against extending free school meals vouchers over half—term but told us this morning that the government should look again at the issue. i am saying that clearly there is massive support, popularity for one particular tool in our tool box of support for welfare support, for that to continue. so i am saying absolutely, if that is the case, keeping national resolve together during this enduring emergency, then it would be wise for us to horizon plan for christmas and then

reconsider whether or not we should reintroduce that. that would be a sensible thing to do to bring people together. but i think many conservative mps were very unhappy on that wednesday evening when the scale of support that is now in place was completely glossed over, painting the conservatives as they did not care about support for children in schools and welfare provision and that is completely, i think that is irresponsible by labour. retailers will meet the welsh government today to clarify the ban on selling nonessential items in supermarkets. more than 60,000 people have signed a petition calling for the restrictions which have stopped people buying items like clothes and toys to be lifted. first minister mark drakeford has said the implementation of the rules may be tweaked, but the ban would not be reversed. 0ur wales correspondent tomos morgan sent this update. loads of pictures and videos on social media from disgruntled members of the public, going to shops like this one behind me and not able to buy things like toys,

baby clothes, children's clothes, normal clothes, books, cards, because aisles have been closed and items have been covered up. it has been done, the welsh government say, for two reasons. first of all, in fairness to smaller businesses that might only sell toys, for example, that have had to shut in this period, so in fairness to them, but also to limit the reason people might go out to the shop during this period which of course is another lockdown in wales. and the whole point of the lockdown is to stop people from mixing and potentially catching the virus so there is a valid restriction over coronavirus to do this. however, people are still disgruntled but last night the first minister told me that the rule would not be changed but they would be clarifying the situation with supermarkets later today. i have been sent this from katie who has had to message her local branch of tesco, can you explain why i was

told i cannot buy period pads as i'm sure they are essential to women, but i can buy alcohol? tesco replied, we understand how frustrating the changes will be for oui’ frustrating the changes will be for our welsh customers but we have been told by the welsh government not to sell these items for the duration of the firebreak lockdown. regards. a coronavirus test that provides results in just 12 minutes will be available at boots for £120. the nasal swab test will be available for travellers who require one before going abroad, or for people who want peace of mind before seeing vulnerable family members. customers won't need to be displaying symptoms to get the test, which will be available in more than 50 uk stores. with me now is our health correspondent michelle roberts. it is very expensive so how does it work? it involves going in and having a nasal swab, somebody taking a sample from quite high up in your nose, and there is a hand—held

machine they can use on the spot which is the difference, they don't have to send it to a lab, they can do it there and then and get a result in 12 minutes. the company says it is designed to give people peace of mind. if you have symptoms, you should not be using this test, you should not be using this test, you should not be using this test, you should be contacting the nhs in the normal way and self—isolating so you don't risk spreading the infection to others. this is purely for people with no symptoms who want to just check at this minute, do i have any signs of coronavirus? that does not mean to say that in a day 01’ does not mean to say that in a day or two days if you were tested again that you would get the all clear so it just gives you that you would get the all clear so itjust gives you a short snapshot of where you are at the moment and it also cannot be used to give you a certificate to go abroad on an aeroplane, you would have to have a different type of test. why is it so expensive? they say that it the cost of the technology and the time and the reagents. it is expensive,

particularly if you know that it only gives you an idea of whether you have it at that moment. but i suppose it highlights the covid haves and have—nots again, if you can haves and have—nots again, if you ca n afford haves and have—nots again, if you can afford it, you can go and have the test but otherwise not. thank you very much. for viewers in the uk, coming up at 11:30am today, we'll be answering your questions on the latest covid—19 restrictions. virologist dr chris smith from cambridge university will be here to answer your questions. you can get involved by sending your questions to yourquestions@bbc.co.uk or tweeting us using the hashtag bbc your questions. the headlines on bbc news... special forces board an oil tanker and detain seven stowaways after a suspected hijacking off the isle of wight. as half—term begins for many, ministers insist they won't change their mind on free school meal vouchers over the holidays, saying they're providing help through extra funding to local authorities.

a national curfew in spain, as europe tries to stem the tide of a second wave of coronavirus infections spreading across the continent. millions of people across europe have been waking up to life under new restrictions as governments battle to suppress a second wave of coronavirus infections. several countries across the continent have seen record numbers of people diagnosed with covid—19 over the last few days. the united states has also seen record numbers of new cases. but there is some good news from australia. mark lobel reports. restrictions now served in rome. no table service after 6pm. translation: sadly, this situation is what it is. we need to take this more seriously. if new closing times help us move forwards, we accept that. there is nothing else to do, sadly.

gyms, pools, cinemas must also close. madrid's plaza de santa ana deserted. barcelona, also barren. spain's second state of emergency is in full swing. a nationwide curfew, restricted movement between regions, and gatherings limited to six. translation: it's completely necessary because people downplay the pandemic. it's one thing in one community and another in another. i am so confused. as cases rise across europe, most notably in france, governments are acting fast where winter is yet to kick in, with vaccine trials ongoing. there has been a sudden escalation of cases beyond europe too. hello, north carolina! america's vice president mike pence out campaigning despite several

of his closest aides testing positive for coronavirus. with just eight days until election day, the handling of the pandemic remains a contested issue. coronavirus struck from china. but i can tell you, before the first documented case of community spread anywhere in america, president trump's leadership shone forth. we are breaking records for the number of people contracting a deadly virus, and this administration fails to take personal responsibility. in iran, a surge in cases is stretching intensive care, with state tv revealing patients being treated in hospital car parks. but in australia, after a severe lockdown that many found infuriating, the hotspot state of victoria on monday reported no cases or deaths over 2a hours. the kind of clear blue water many other countries are currently scrambling to reach.

mark lobel, bbc news. to get more on what's happening in europe let's go to our correspondents. in a moment, mark lowen in rome and nick beake in brussels, but first guy hedgecoe in madrid on the reaction to the curfew that's been imposed. it is very frustrating for spaniards, obviously they had such a strict lockdown back in the spring, one of the strictest in the world. and obviously people don't want to go back to that situation. prime minister pedro sanchez said the idea of the state of emergency that has been introduced is to avoid a total lockdown but nonetheless, we are seeing a lot of restrictions, the cu rfew, seeing a lot of restrictions, the curfew, likely to see restrictions of movement between regions. there isa of movement between regions. there is a great deal of frustration and obviously the big worry is the economy. the spanish economy is going to fall by around 13% this

year according to the imf and people who own bars and restaurants and other businesses are very worried about the economic impact. in shops, bars and restaurants, the number of people allowed inside art limited, timetables are limited and they have to close early, not being able to open beyond 11pm anywhere in the country. those restrictions are all in place but we could see further restrictions from regional governments in the coming data have been given the power to introduce new restrictions if they feel necessary. compared to the full national lockdown declared in march, italy was the first country in the world to impose a nationwide lockdown. many other countries use it as a model. these restrictions are looser, so for example restaurants, bars, cafes must stop taking table service at 6pm. they can continue takeaway service until midnight. gyms, pools, cinemas, theatres are closing. there is a maximum of four people

allowed at tables in restaurants and cafes and there is a strong recommendation to people only to move around if they need. it is not a curfew, it is not a prohibition on movement in the same way as back in march, because the italian prime minister has said it would be an economic catastrophe to impose a full national lockdown yet again. italy's economy is already forecast to shrink by 10% this year. and we've had the first protests of the pandemic against the measures where hundreds of protesters clashed with police in naples and rome over the last few days. so patience is wearing thin here. the prime minister is acutely aware of that and, for the moment, is not prepared to impose a full national lockdown, despite the soaring number of cases here. very similar picture in terms of what mark is saying there. it's not been quite as far as what they were doing earlier in the year, but for belgium, the numbers are worrying and so, in brussels where i'm talking

to you from this morning, there is an overnight curfew. all of the restaurants. you're not allowed to go in them if you want to eat food. you can go and order stuff and pick it up, but also gyms have been shutting. you have to wear a mask in public now whether or not you're actually inside a shop and the numbers are a real concern actually in terms of the number of people in hospital at the moment. the latest figure we get is 4800 and of those, 700 people are in intensive care. that is significant because we are told there are around 2000 intensive care beds for the whole of belgium. there has been a warning that potentially by the middle of november those beds could be taken or full if the number of cases continue at the rate we've seen over the past few weeks. france has called on countries in the middle east not to boycott its goods, after protests against president macron‘s defence of the right to show cartoons of the prophet muhammad. french products have been removed

from some shops in kuwait, jordan and qatar, while there've been small anti—french demonstrations in libya, gaza and northern syria. the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, has extended his visit to london until wednesday as brexit trade negotiations continue. meetings resumed last week after the uk walked away, saying that the eu was unwilling to compromise on key issues. but the sides are said to have made good progress on friday, prompting the extension. we'll have more on that in our business update. in england, hospitality businesses in areas under the toughest covid restrictions are facing closure if they don't serve food. those that can open can only sell alcohol with a substantial meal. but what counts as substantial? 0ne bar in manchester, which was placed under tier 3 rules last week, was told by police they could not serve a large slice of pizza as a meal. jonny heyes is the co—owner

of common — he also runs three other venues in manchester, two of which are currently closed under tier 3 rules. tell us what happened when the police arrived on friday. we opened up police arrived on friday. we opened upfor our police arrived on friday. we opened upforourfirst police arrived on friday. we opened up for our first day's trade under tier 3 restrictions and soon after, mid—afternoon, the police were obviously instructed to do the rounds and ensure that businesses we re rounds and ensure that businesses were complying with the new regulations and to try and make some sort of statement about what they considered to be a substantial meal. somewhere in the middle of the afternoon they came around and saw some people eating a slice of pizza outside and came in and said they did not feel that was a substantial meal and did not qualify and instructed us to stop selling slices. i know you don't have a bad

word to say about the police because you think they are trying to carry out theirjob to the best of their ability when it comes to restrictions but what did you say to them? at the time there is not a great deal you can say. like you said, ithink great deal you can say. like you said, i think the police are just trying to do their best in the situation, operating under the same very limited information that we have and the guidance is not clear at all. as to what a substantial meal is. is it based on cost, on calorific content, just based on some kind of off—the—cuffjudgment? they don't know any better than we do, but if the police come in and say we cannot serve slices, we are not ina say we cannot serve slices, we are not in a position to argue at the time. fair enough. but what happened on saturday? it was late on saturday night and obviously we put some social media posts out to inform customers what the situation was,

that the slice offering, which is a key pa rt that the slice offering, which is a key part of our business model, which is really popular, we did not wa nt to which is really popular, we did not want to disappoint customers so we did some social media around it and obviously that gained quite a lot of traction. i don't know if that came to the attention of the police but later that day they came in and the chief licensing officer came in and said that they had seen photographs of the slices and essentially felt that it was substantial enough to qualify as a substantial meal. it is pretty massive, it is a slice from a 22 inch pizza. i would say it is pretty substantial. it is almost farcical, the way you are having to describe this for us but this is really serious because it's about your livelihood and what you are able to do, running a bar and other

establishments, when you are under tier 3. yes, i think it is absolutely crucial, especially in greater manchester. we have been under a higher level of restriction for much longer than anywhere else in the country. we are already on the back foot in terms of our business position. and it isjust one knock after another and we are all having to operate in this new world. i think the onus is really put on us as an operator, we have a lot more regulation, checking people from the same household, serving substantial meals, being a covid secure environment. we have put in place all the regulations with screens, hand sanitiser, all the staff wearing masks, so we are incurring more costs but all the timei incurring more costs but all the time i trade is shrinking. i suppose thatis time i trade is shrinking. i suppose that is the real worry for us as a

business, that we are still allowed to open and we are still allowed to continue operating, but the level of virus that is out there, and the general kind of confusion around the regulations, is only serving to suppress trade. we are kind of getting into this zombie economy state in hospitality where we are allowed to open but there is not enough business there is nobody in the offices, coming out for lunch. there are no concerts, no football, the city centre is really very subdued and it is a little bit of a worry that we are looking at a slow and painful death of the hospitality sector. even with the change in the help the chancellor announced last week? i mean come is definitely an improvement but the worry is that the tiered system has been put in

place, and this is acknowledged by a lot of the scientific advisers, isn't going to be enough to bring the r number down. it is the virus thatis the r number down. it is the virus that is the problem, that is making people nervous about leaving the house or not wanting to go out and spend money so unless we can bring the numbers down and reduce the r number, i just feel the demand the numbers down and reduce the r number, ijust feel the demand will not be there. that is the real worry. do you know how in greater manchester you will get out of tier 3? what is the criteria? do you know? it is completely unclear. and asi know? it is completely unclear. and as i said before, if it doesn't bring the r number down, if tier 3 does not work, effectively what we are operating in is a one—way system. tier1 leads to tier 2 which inevitably leads to tier 3 and there

is no way of reversing that trend. we have been in tier 2 measures throughout the entire summer. and the virus has only gone in one direction. it seems that nationwide the levels of virus that put us into those restrictions in the first place back in august are just widely tolerated across the country so i can only really see that it is going in one direction. ijust fear that this tiered regional approach is in danger of falling between two stools, it will not give us the economic benefit of people coming out and spending money and potentially it will not give us the public health benefit either. or i can say to you is i wish you all the best, keep going as much as you can. we will. we are going to be out there doing our best and we will be fighting all the way until this is over. thank you very much for talking to us, appreciate it. jonny

heyes, co—owner of common and also i’u ns heyes, co—owner of common and also runs three other venues in manchester, two of which are currently closed. the government says, by the way, "we have been clear that under new tier 3 rules, pubs or bars will have to close unless they are able to operate as a restaurant serving substantive meals. the legislation sets out that a meal should be a table meal, such as the main lunch time or evening meal, ora main course." the scale of the impact of the lockdowns and coronavirus on the lives of 16 to 25—year—olds has been revealed in research by the london school of economics and exeter university. the study examines the effect on thejob prospects, education and mental health of young people. it demonstrates that deprived pupils have been worst hit. kashjones reports. i remember standing there and talking about how gcse exams were cancelled. my first reaction i think was disbelief. i think that moment when life for me really started to change. roberta has just started in year 12 at harris westminster sixth form. it's a selective school

in central london and it gives priority to bright but disadvantaged 16—year—olds. in her year group of pupils from every borough in london and 20 were privately educated. that break of six months did so much damage. usually i would just be able to sit for hours and be able to revise and really absorb it in my mind. now i get kind of restless after maybe one or two hours. and you've all come from different schools as well. yes. is there people in your classroom who had a good six—month period when they were getting the right access to materials? yes. i think coming into the school i didn't realise the disparity would be this big in the classroom. there are people who don't know anything and people who know almost the whole content. research given exclusively to panorama shows pupils in private schools were five times more likely to have had four online lessons or more on a day during lockdown than those in state schools. even though schools like this one are doing their best to make sure students don't miss out, four in ten pupils across the country still aren't getting

the same number of teaching hours as they did before lockdown. here staff are getting used to running lessons online. in the week before half—term one of year 13 caught covid and so the whole year group had to work remotely. kylie whiteley is one of the deputy head teachers. schools will still go on educating young people. that's what we are here to do. but we are not in the bedroom with them checking in on them, checking that they are ok. checking that there is somebody at home looking after them. we are not there for them to talk to when they are having moments where they feel really down. kooth is the uk's largest online mental health service for 11 to 24—year—olds. they've seen demand for counselling rise since the national lockdown, at times by more than half. adele is one of the councillors. they are really anxious about the pandemic, you know, and not being able to go to school. not being able to have that routine. usually they know where they are going.

theyjust haven't got that same life and they are unsure if they are going to get that back again. professor lee elliott major is part of a team researching the long—term impact of covid on 16 to 25—year—olds. we call it the covid generation. it's about young people growing up now and what are their prospects. i do wonder whether the younger generation will kind of start demanding some sort ofjustice, if you like. intergenerational justice about all this. i do think we need to have a fundamental reset of thinking on these issues because if you don't solve them now, they are going to store a bigger problems for future generations even more. this is the chance in many ways for us to address some of these inequalities in society. kash jones, bbc news. and panorama: has covid stolen my future? can been by viewers in the uk at 7.35pm on bbc one tonight and will be on the bbc iplayer.

kara has messaged on instagram saying i'm a third—year student at glasgow caledonian university. i have a real fear of leaving university because of the current jobs market. within my course, we get 20 days of industry engagement and work experience and at the momentjobs are few and far between, internships and placements included, so it's even more added stress of applying for those placements. it's applying for those placements. it's a scary thought to think about what will come after graduating to try to get a job. what would you do if your mum was spreading harmful disinformation about coronavirus on social media? sebastian's mum has become one of the leaders of britain's conspiracy community, collecting tens of thousands of followers with false claims, including denying coronavirus exists, blaming the symptoms of covid—19 on 5g radio waves and likening the nhs to nazi germany. sebastian is worried about his mum's impact on public health and reasoned debate.

and, closer to home, their relationship has broken down. he spoke exclusively to the bbc‘s specialist disinformation reporter, marianna spring, whojoins me now. marianna, why did sebastian speak out? he got in touch with us because he'd been watching as mum speak at large anti lockdown rallies in london and he decided he'd had enough, he was really concerned about the public health impact of the dangerous conspiracy theories she was spreading, and it's really important to differentiate between legitimate concerns about lockdown, the economy, mental health and every thing else, and these harmful conspiracy theories, the suggestion the pandemic isn't real, it's a hoax, caused by 5g and disinformation about vaccines, all of which have been promoted by his mum on her youtube and twitter account as well. and he explained a little bit to me about exactly why he got in touch.

what she's doing is dangerous. you nurses dancing on common fear... this is her five minutes of fame. you will stand trial for genocide. i don't want to be here talking about, you know. .. but it's something we've got to do before these ideas get bigger and more people fall down the same route that she's tried to take them down. you can only prevent it before it happens. that's his other big worry, the personal impact of these conspiracy theories have have damaged his relationship with his mum, and he wa nted relationship with his mum, and he wanted to speak out to help other people who might have lost loved ones in many ways to conspiracy theories and they are seeing in social media. i think she is too far gone to be helped. i'm never going to have a relationship with my mum again. and that's why it is important, you know, if someone else is coming to you and saying i'm starting to believe this stuff, nip it in the bud, because it takes a couple of years to completely lose somebody. when this is over in three or four year's time, and everything she says is forgotten in the global genocide hasn't happened, people will forget about it but the disaster that goes on within my family

and the relationships that she's losing now, that stuff stays forever. its really had an impact on him. how do you suggest we talk to members of ourfamily orfriends do you suggest we talk to members of our family or friends or colleagues evenif our family or friends or colleagues even if they are starting to believe dangerous conspiracy theories? as sebastien said there, he feels it's too late for his mum and he is trying to challenge her lots and failed in doing so now and they now communicate only by text message but he raised some points about how you can talk to someone who started to believe these theories. i spoke to a lot of psychologists and experts about this topic as well and the first thing is to address it as soon as possible. if someone starts talking to you about this stuff, try and understand where they're coming from, where they've seen it, and often the legitimate concern which is at the base of these theories, they've turned to. it's important to present them with facts, the correct

information, but sometimes that alone isn't enough and sebastien made an interesting point that often a canoe worth asking why? why would someone do this? how could they do it? even if i believe you, does this make much sense? it's important to try and stop the conversation on a mutual footing, not immediately say, this is rubbish, bonkers, you're wrong. sebastien says he's tried that but it hasn't worked. hopefully it will work for somebody else. thank you very much. you can watch this piece, the most watched piece on the bbc website right across the world and has been for many hours, so it's obviously capturing people's imagination. go to the bbc website to find it. a final confirmation vote on donald trump's choice for the vacant seat in the us supreme court will take place later today. amy coney barrett looks certain to take up the lifetime position on the court, despite fierce opposition from the democratic party. it will be mr trump's third appointment to the court, and comes just eight days before the us election.

0ur north america correspondent, peter bowes, reports. trick or treat time at the white house. an early celebration at the start of a pivotal week for donald trump. the president and first lady have returned to washington after a head few days of election rallies around the country. with joe biden still ahead in the opinion polls, mr trump is the underdog as he enters the final furlong of the campaign. but barring a political earthquake, he will start the week with a senate decision on the supreme court to celebrate. amy coney barrett is his third nominee for a seat on the country's highest court. a rare achievement for a president during his first term in office. the final vote will take place despite the objections of democrats were furious the process is being rushed through. what has been revealed is the supposed that republican principles are a farce. no principles at all and never was.

naked opportunism. a transparent, cynical last dig grab for power. and, of course, the continuation of their shameful lockstep subservience to president trump, the most unprincipled president in american history. but the democrats are powerless to change the course of history. judge barrett's appointment will cement a 6—3 conservative majority on the court and could have far—reaching implications for american life for a generation. some solace for republicans as they face the possibility of losing control of the senate under white house after the election. a lot of what we have done over the four years will be undone, sooner or later by the national election. we will not be able to do much about this. for a long time to come. one week after the election, the supreme court will consider a move in which republicans

and the white house are trying to strike down the affordable care act, the health reform law known as 0bamaca re. it could also be called upon to decide the election itself, if the result is very close and contested by donald trump. early voting turnout continues to shatter records in the us. in key battleground states, democrats could benefit significantly more than republicans if young people show up to the polls in large numbers. there are more than 23 million eligible gen z voters, those born after 1996, in the us. so will this year be the year of the young voter? nada tawfik went to the battleground state of pennsylvania to see how engaged the younger generation is. in the contest for pennsylvania, philadelphia and its suburbs will be key. democrats are counting on high turnout in this densely populated area to counter president trump's advantage

across republican red towns. lining up for the election are young voters who are leaning toward joe biden by an even larger margin than they did for barack 0bama in 2008, even though they're less excited by the former vice president. i'm not super enthusiastic. i prefer one candidate so much over another one and it is basically, this point for me, it's about getting trump out of office. i don't like trump, to put it bluntly. i want to get biden in, get trump out, make sure that's signed and sealed. we deserve a better candidate. he's going to do the things we need him to do now, but he's not going to do everything that we're going to need in the future. more than half of the nation's population are now millennials or younger. and for the first time in a presidential election they make up the same share of the electorate as baby boomers — and could even surpass them. that means they could wield significant political power if they turn out.

now it's election season and the next hero is you... there are numerous social media initiatives to get the group more engaged in the process. the poll hero project... and the poll hero project is something i'm very curious about. this one, poll hero, has signed up thousands of college and high school students as poll workers to overcome voting barriers caused by covid. it is so important that we participate as much as the boomers do, as much as our grandparents too. it makes all the difference. and i think, you know, it's about correcting this trend of voter — young people not participating. chanting: we demand a green new deal! activists hope that energy on the streets moves to the ballot box. young kids should not have to be scared of what their futures will look like. millennials and gen z are more educated than the boomer generation that has dominated politics and they have grown up with a different set of priorities. 0ur generation has just been, like, crisis after crisis after crisis. young people want, like, radical change to every factor

of our society, because none of it is working for us. 2020 could be their chance to finally have their say. nada tawfik, bbc news, in philadelphia. there has been an overwhelming vote in chile to re—write the country's constitution. it was drawn up 30 years ago under the former dictator augusto pinochet. a referendum was called after major anti—government protests last year. 0ur south america correspondent, katy watson reports. chileans were out on the street celebrating even before the results came in, so sure they were of a resounding "yes" vote. projecting onto a building was the word "rebirth" because this is how people feel. this referendum has said goodbye to a dictatorship era constitution and represents a new beginning that chileans say is more fitting for a modern democracy. translation: this is a foundation

for everything and we will keep going and fighting for this, always. when the results came in, president sebastian pinera said the people's voices had been heard but the hard work was still to come. translation: this plebiscite is not the end. it is the beginning of a path that we must all walk together to agree on a new constitution for chile. until now, the constitution has divided us. from today, we must all work together so that the new constitution is the great framework of unity, stability and future. this has been a turbulent year for chile, a country praised for its stability yet one that masks deep inequalities within society. mass anti—government protests that erupted a year ago called for better access to services, including health and education.

from the very beginning, protesters called for the constitution to be scrapped and replaced with one that would respect all chileans, notjust the privileged few. sunday was a day of hope, an historic moment for millions of chileans who waited in line to cast their vote. queus made longer because of social distancing in these times of coronavirus. translation: this is notjust any sunday, it is an historic sunday. today is the day that chile literally writes that it has awakened. this though is just the start. next april, chile will vote for the people who will work on the new constitution. and then a draft will be put to another referendum in 2022. it's a long process and one not everyone is convinced will be good for the chilean economy and stability. translation: there's a feeling that fixing the constitution could solve everything but i don't know,

i have doubts. chile now needs to forge a new future. nobody is under any illusions about how hard these next steps will be, but there's a real desire to fix this troubled country. katy watson, bbc news. we heard earlier about the new restrictions in parts of europe — well, the czech republic, after being praised for its swift response back in spring, now has the highest number of cases by the proportion of its population in europe and the second highest number of deaths in the world. fearing the country's health system could be soon overwhelmed, the czech army has built a field hospital in prague. from there, our correspondent rob cameron sent this report. these exhibition halls are usually where people come to check out the latest caravans or fitted kitchens, but they've been transformed into a 500 bed army field hospital to cope with the eventuality that the regular hospitals become

overwhelmed with covid patients. a few weeks ago, the authorities were saying this facility may not ever even be used. but the motto here is, hope for the best and prepare for the worst. it's primarily meant for convalescing patients, or those who are still infectious. the army built it injust over a week. there is no time at this moment to think about any emotions but i'm sure they are coming because it is a really unusual situation. i think since the first world war when this type of facility was deployed for the last time. but a short drive away and there is a surreal sense of normality in this city. the farmer's markets are in full swing and people are enjoying the autumn sunshine. i mean, it's like a general sickness, we believe. so like, a stronger flu. i mean, we've studied that intensively since march and it willjust spread over, and will stay with us we think.

we are young, we're not afraid of it. we are doing everything for our health, what we can. we have active lives. we eat properly and i think that is the good weapon for it. and it is precisely that attitude, so different from the spring, has so many health professionals worried. doctor maria bourne, qualified in the uk, and worked for 15 years in the nhs. she returned to her home country in february. it's really disappointing. i felt, was it two weeks ago — i don't know, i felt very angry because all of the effort from the springtime just seems to have gone down the drain. and the virus is still here and yeah, things have gone pretty badly since then. and they have only been made worse by a political scandal involving the health minister, pictured emerging from a restaurant when all of them should have been closed. in a sense, spring

was a dress rehearsal. this is the beginning of the covid crisis in this country, not the middle or the end. rob cameron, bbc news prague. the bbc has been following the story of 80—year—old paul harvey — the former music teacher living with dementia whose skills on the piano turned him into an internet sensation. using just four random notes, paul created a melody that inspired the bbc philharmonic to turn it into a full orchestral piece. and yesterday paul heard his creation come to life for the first time, as graham satchell reports. note plays. there is your four notes. he sings the notes. it started with just four notes. paul harvey, who's 80 and has dementia, improvised a tune that went viral online.

dad is, at heart, a performer and an entertainer and a musician and a pianist, and when he sits at the piano and either plays a classical piece or one of his own compositions, or improvises, it brings him back — it brings him back. and it's vitally important in his life. after paul's tune was played on radio 4's broadcasting house, the bbc‘s philharmonic orchestra was asked to get involved. it's a wonderfully nostalgic, romantic piece of music, and the fact that it was improvised, as well, just makes it more special, really, doesn't it? it reallyjust highlights the power of music, i suppose, doesn't it? and the importance of music to mental health.

dan has adapted paul's tune for full orchestra — individual parts were recorded locked down at home, the final version given its world premiere — again on broadcasting house. everyone involved wanted this moment to be the first airtime of four notes, paul's tune. piece plays.

wow, wow.

fantastic. i was just listening to a wonderful piece of music and then all of a sudden i say to myself, "i wrote that! i wrote that! " you wrote it on the spot. you didn'tjust write it, you improvised that! wow. i won't... i won't forget that. that was... that was very. . .very wonderfully special. incredibly moving. what a joyous piece of music. i mentioned the from tesco in wales has said it couldn't sell sanitary products because it said they not essential products. tesco have deleted that tweet and the welsh government have just tweeted, this is wrong, period products are essential, supermarkets can sell items which can be sold in pharmacies only selling essential items during firebreak. it is to discourage spending more time the necessary shops. it should not stop

you accessing items that you need. thank you for your company this morning. joanna gosling is with you next. now it's time for a look at the weather. hello there. the same area of low pressure that brought all the showers yesterday is still bringing sunshine and showers for today. we look well out into the atlantic and this curl of cloud here was actually ex—hurricane epsilon. that's been swept northwards and it has weakened, of course, but what's left of that old hurricane hasjoined forces with this area of low pressure which shouldn't get too close to the uk, but it will feed more bands of rain in from the atlantic followed by showers, and essentially keep the unsettled weather going, probably notjust into the middle of the week but continue to be unsettled right the way through the week. some spells of heavy rain. some stronger winds before temperatures start to rise later on. not just yet, though. still a cool feeling day. there will be some sunshine,

but we've still got some showers around and through the afternoon they are still across western scotland, northern england, some affecting eastern england but should be turning a bit drier in northern ireland and also across wales and the south—west with more in the way of sunshine. the wind is turning more to a west, north—westerly. blustery in their showers and temperatures today similar to where they were yesterday, so typically 11 or 12 degrees. a touch cooler than that in the north of scotland. a little bit milder than that in the far south of england. still some heavy showers around to end the day. through the evening i think those will tend to fade away. the winds will drop. skies will clear across eastern areas and then we've got this band of rain coming in from the atlantic around that area of low pressure into northern ireland, wales and the south—west later. but in eastern scotland, with the clearing skies, temperatures could be two or three degrees. a cold start but a bright start with some sunshine. this band of rain, though, will steadily work its way north and east was reaching the east coast of england around about lunchtime. never really making it into the afternoon across the far north—east of scotland. during the afternoon after the rain,

we've got sunshine and showers for northern ireland, wales and the south—west. similar temperatures to those of today. perhaps a little bit cooler than today in northern areas, with the rain moving in after that chilly start. that whether front takes the rain away. the area of low pressure doesn't really get any closer. still sits to the north—west of the uk but feeds in a very showery airstream on wednesday. sunshine and blustery showers. more rain is likely i think by thursday. still some rain around on friday but it should be telling milder particularly in the south—east.

this is bbc news. i'm joanna gosling. the headlines at 11... as half term begins for many, ministers insist they won't change their mind on free school meal vouchers over the holidays — saying they're providing help through extra funding to local authorities. we've put in £63 million precisely to support councils to deliver and i think that, you know, i think that's the best way of doing this. special forces board an oil tanker and detain seven stowaways after a suspected hijacking off the isle of wight. a covid test that can provide a result in 12 minutes will be available at boots — costing £120. young people, especially from deprived backgrounds, have had their earnings and job prospects hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.

and coming up this hour — britain's new cycling star. tayo gaygan hart wins one of the toughest cycle races in the world. ministers are continuing to insist they will not fund school meal vouchers for children in england during half—term — despite calls for a re—think from some conservative mps. the government has come under pressure on the issue following a high—profile campaign by marcus rashford. scotland, wales and northern ireland have already introduced food voucher schemes. the health secretary matt hancock said the government was providing help through extra funding to local authorities. we've put in £63 million

precisely to support councils to deliver and i think that, you know, i think that's the best way of doing this. through the councils who, you know, who we've been seeing over the last few days are rolling out these programmes, who are out there in local areas, in the community, and are supporting people and trying to make sure that this gets to the people who need it most, so absolutely, we've put in the extra money. as you say, some people have estimated the cost at about £20 million, so we have put in £63 million. my own local authority in suffolk has received over £750,000 in order to support people right across suffolk and so, you know, that's the way that we are delivering this, including, in addition, in these really difficult times, putting an extra £20 a week onto universal credit to make sure that people who are in receipt of universal credit can get that

extra support that might be needed. hundreds of businesses, charities and some councils in england have pledged to help vulnerable children during the half term — danjohnson spent the morning at a community centre in leeds that has promised support. this has promised support. is st vincent's on the east side this is st vincent's on the east side of leeds and this was just a fee that was donated on the side of friday so this will be backed up, packed up, and sent out to children across leeds over half term to make sure that they are fed because the government is insisting it will not extend the free school meal vouchers that are extended over the summer to make sure that children were fed. let's have a chat with francesca who is from leeds community foundation and sheena who is the manager here at saint vincent's. how important is this food and support? so we're based in leeds as you said and what we do is meet the need of the

community. a hungry child is an ongoing child regardless of the background and circumstance. many are there? we were feeding about the peak of summer about... meals a week so there is a massive need in this area alone. if you can do this and people are so generous to donate this food and you can hand it out does that not solve this problem is that the government doesn't need to do this? this is the third year that we have done this so the knee doesn't going way. it needs a long—term solution. —— the mead isn't going away. the conservative mp tobias ellwood voted against extending free school meals vouchers over half term but now says the government should look again at how welfare spending is spent. what i've learnt in the last three or four days or so is actually there's huge passion, desire, to actually see this system continue. there are many ways that we can provide welfare assistance, of which the free school meals provision is simply one of them.

it's tried, it's tested, its popular, it's been put in place before, and i'm now saying, given all the difficulties, the challenges we face in the winter that's approaching with the pandemic continuing, let's actually work together. let's recognise that if the national picture is such that they want to support this then it would be churlish not to recognise that this is an avenue worth pursuing. tobias ellwood, and we'll be talking more about that a little later. a navy special forces unit has stormed an oil tanker off the isle of wight after a suspected hijacking. seven stowaways — thought to be nigerian nationals — have been detained after they were reported to have threatened the crew. andy moore has the latest. late last night, and the tanker andromeda was back under the control of its crew after what the ministry of defence called a suspected hijacking. 16 members of the special boat squadron, based at nearby poole, were landed on the ship as night fell. defence secretary ben wallace said...

what is good to see is the reaction from ourforces, the coordination between our agencies. number 10 would have been fully involved in what was going on, indeed. this is a good outcome for britain. the drama began yesterday morning as the ship prepared to enter the fawley oil refinery near southampton. seven stowaways — believed to be nigerians — are said to have become violent and made verbal threats to the crew. they retreated to a safe place on board the ship. there are few official details from the ministry of defence, but it's understood several military helicopters landed heavily heavily—armed troops by rope onto the deck of the ship. faced with overwhelming force, the stowaways are said to have surrendered almost immediately. this was a very efficient operation. it only took nine minutes from the word go to the stowaways being rounded up and identified. and, of course, this reflects the training that both the fleet air arm crews and the sbs — the special boat service —

undertake all the time. none of the 22 crew of the andromeda were injured in the incident. the seven stowaways have been detained. andy moore, bbc news. millions of people across europe have been waking up to life under new restrictions as governments battle to suppress a second wave of coronavirus infections. several countries across the continent have seen record numbers of people diagnosed with covid—19 over the last few days. the united states has also seen record numbers of new cases. but there is some good news from australia. mark lobel reports. restrictions now served in rome. no table service after 6pm. translation: sadly, this situation is what it is. we need to take this more seriously. if new closing times help us move forwards, we accept that. there is nothing else to do, sadly.

gyms, pools, cinemas must also close. madrid's plaza de santa ana deserted. barcelona, also barren. spain's second state of emergency is in full swing. a nationwide curfew, restricted movement between regions, and gatherings limited to six. translation: it's completely necessary because people downplay the pandemic. it's one thing in one community and another in another. i am so confused. as cases rise across europe, most notably in france, governments are acting fast where winter is yet to kick in, with vaccine trials ongoing. there has been a sudden escalation of cases beyond europe too. hello north carolina! america's vice president mike pence out campaigning despite several of his

closest aides testing positive to coronavirus. with just eight days until election day, the handling of the pandemic remains a contested issue. coronavirus struck from china. but i can tell you, before the first documented case of community spread anywhere in america, president trump's leadership shone forth. we are breaking records for the number of people that are contracting a deadly virus, and this administration fails to take personal responsibility. in iran, a surge in cases is stretching intensive care, with state tv revealing patients being treated in hospital car parks. but in australia, after a severe lockdown that many found infuriating, the hotspot state of victoria on monday reported no cases or deaths over 2a hours. the kind of clear blue water many other countries are currently scrambling to reach.

mark lobel, bbc news. to get more on what's happening in europe let's go to our correspondents — in a moment, mark lowen in rome and nick beake in brussels, but first guy hedgecoe in madrid on the reaction to the curfew that's been imposed. well, i think it's very frustrating for spaniards. 0bviously, they had such a strict lockdown in the spring, one of the strictest in the world, and, i think, obviously people don't want to go back to that situation. the prime minister, pedro sanchez, has said the idea of this state of emergency that has been introduced is to avoid a total lockdown, but nonetheless we're

seeing a lot of restrictions. that curfew, we're likely to see restrictions of movement between regions, so there is a great deal of frustration and obviously the big worry here is the economy. the spanish economy is going to fall by about 13% this year, according to the imf. people who own bars and restaurants and other businesses are very worried about the economic impact. in shops, bars and restaurants, the number of people allowed inside them is limited, they're timetables are limited, and, obviously, they have to close early. those bars and restaurants now cannot open beyond 11 o'clock anywhere in the country. so those restrictions are all in place, but we could see further restrictions from regional governments in the coming days. they have been given the power to introduce new restrictions if they feel necessary. compared to the full national lockdown declared in march, italy was the first country in the world to impose a nationwide lockdown. many other countries used italy as a model. these restrictions are looser, so for example restaurants, bars, cafes must stop table service at 6pm. but they can continue takeaway

service until midnight. gyms, pools, cinemas, theatres are closing. there's a maximum of four people allowed at tables in restaurants and cafes and there is a strong recommendation to people only to move around if they need. it is not a curfew, it is not a prohibition on movement in the same way as back in march, because the italian prime minister has said it would be an economic catastrophe to impose a full national lockdown yet again. italy's economy is already forecast to shrink by 10% this year. and we've had the first protests of the pandemic against the measures where some hundreds of protesters clashed with police in naples and rome over the last few days. so patience is wearing thin here. the prime minister is acutely aware of that, and, forthe moment, he is not prepared to impose a full national lockdown, despite the soaring number of cases here. very similar picture in terms

of what mark's saying there, this not being quite as far as what they were doing earlier in the year, but for belgium, the numbers are worrying and so, for brussels where i'm talking to you from this morning, there is an overnight curfew. all of the restaurants, you're not allowed to go in them if you want to eat food. you can go and order stuff and pick it up, but also gyms have been shutting. you have to wear a mask in public now whether or not you're actually inside a shop and the numbers are of real concern, actually, in terms of the number of people in hospital at the moment. the latest figure we get is 4800 and of those, 700 people are in intensive care. that is significant, because we are told there are around 2000 intensive care beds for the whole of belgium. there has been a warning that potentially by the middle of november those beds could be taken or full if the number of cases continue at the rate we've seen over the past few weeks. a covid—19 test that provides results in just 12 minutes will be available at high street pharmacy boots. . .for £120.

the nasal swab test will be available for travellers who require one before going abroad, or for people who want peace of mind before seeing vulnerable family members. customers won't need to be displaying symptoms to get the test, which will be available in more than 50 uk stores. joining me now is sebjames, managing director of boots uk. welcome, good morning. good morning, joanna. so when will this be available? we are currently doing private testing for travellers to uae in ten stores really is a pilot and we are hoping to develop more testing over the next few weeks. how much demand you expect there to be? we just much demand you expect there to be? wejust don't much demand you expect there to be? we just don't know. as you know, boots has been involved in the nhs testing system for symptomatic patients and that is still where patients and that is still where patients should go if they are feeling covid symptoms and want to get their test from the nhs. we are very proud to do that and i'm very

grateful to my colleagues who have been extraordinarily resilient and ha rd been extraordinarily resilient and hard working and getting that going. 0bviously, hard working and getting that going. obviously, the prospect of an affordable mass testing situation is affordable mass testing situation is a great prize, but at £120 per test this is not that. i know that you have said that you think the price could come down if there is a lot of demand for it. what sort of scale are you looking out on that? we don't know yet is the answer, joanna, and that's one of the reasons why we put the price it will be hope is a very competitive price compared to other people on the market. we've calculated it based on how much it's market. we've calculated it based on how much its cost is to set this thing up. if volume is big we will definitely be able to bring the price down and as technology changes the cost of these tests will come down and we will immediately pass that onto our customers and patients. so, i mean, whatl that onto our customers and patients. so, i mean, what i was wondering how much could the test come down potentially for it to

become the mass, affordable programme that everybody wants to see? well, it's really had to speculate but if we could get what they are calling a lateral fluid test, one of these cassette tests working, that could be as little as five or £6 but i think we have a little whale way from one that we can feel really confident in yet. the situation about testing currently seems quite confusing. we saw a royal visit with the queen and prince william go—ahead where people coming into contact with them were tested and no masks were warm, while at the same time, if people are told to quarantine a negative test is not enough to get them out of continuing that quarantine for 1h days currently. how much reliance can someone put on a negative covid result? the like of which you are offering. yeah, i mean, these tests are reliable. the problem that this was a medical perspective as it takes... summary can be, can have covid, the virus, without showing positive on the tests because the

virus takes a while to become visible on these tests. not very long, but there is still a risk. i think that you can imagine the policymakers challenge is to try and reduce contacts of people who have covid as much as possible and sometimes they are playing it safe andi sometimes they are playing it safe and i understand why that should be. but what about vaccinations? boots obviously already offers flu vaccinations. what's the prospect of a coded vaccination through boots? well, we very keen to play a part of you can and certainly we have been in discussions with a number of parties, with the nhs and the department of health and social care to see how and where we could deploy our very deep expertise in this area help out. have you been preparing for that eventuality? yes. you can imagine that these are... when a vaccine becomes approved we will obviously want to, all of us, want

to mobilise extremely quickly, particularly to start protecting the elder and more vulnerable people in society. what sort of timeframe have you been working t. we don't know yet but if we read the press it looks like the next few weeks we should see some quite big developments in that space.|j should see some quite big developments in that space. i mean, obviously, we read the press, you are involved in actually preparing... so we know that but we're just wondering from your behind—the—scenes perspective, you thinking that boots may be able to offer the vaccination in few weeks? i think the vaccination is a great national enterprise. we are very much hoping we will be part of it but there is no question that it will need to be a joint effort between the nhs, hopefully is, and a number of other people to do what's going to be an incredibly complicated at scale and extremely rapid roll—out of a very big programme.

so, obviously the logistics behind that would have been considerable. so what sort of preparations have you been making. well, we are giving... as you can imagine, the complexity of it all, it's really thinking for every step of how the vaccine will be delivered. it was not very different to a flu jab where patients can just come not very different to a flu jab where patients canjust come in not very different to a flu jab where patients can just come in we can takea where patients can just come in we can take a few details and inject them. the covid vaccines are much more complex and much more complex transport requirements, they need to be kept at very cold temperatures some of them, and, again everything we are hearing is that the initial ones, at least, will be more than ones, at least, will be more than one dose so thinking through all of thatis one dose so thinking through all of that is the work that we and others have been doing. and, more generally, how is boots doing now in july, and, more generally, how is boots doing now injuly, a cut of 7% of the boots workforce was obviously announced, 4000 jobs going, sales have really dropped quite dramatically over three months, down 48%. what's the picture now? well, lockdown is not good for any

retailer is no question that we were extremely hard to hit along with all other retailers particularly apart from perhaps grocery stores when lockdown happened. i have been incredibly proud and amazed of the way in which our colleagues have responded to that, how they stepped forward to always be on the front line even though we are living through very difficult time is right across the nation and boots so, you know, we are doing 0k, across the nation and boots so, you know, we are doing ok, the answer, but we are very conscious that tomorrow's world is going to be very different to the world of yesterday and we, like everybody else, are going to need to adapt a great deal to be relevant to a post—covid consumer. said james, thanks very much joining consumer. said james, thanks very muchjoining us. consumer. said james, thanks very much joining us. thank you. as we've been reporting, ministers are continuing to insist they will not fund school meal vouchers for children in england during half—term — despite calls for a re—think from some conservative mps. the government has come under

pressure on the issue following a high—profile campaign by marcus rashford. scotland, wales and northern ireland have already introduced food voucher schemes. let's talk now to mike taylor who's the chairman of stalybridge celticjuniors football club in greater manchester. thank you very much forjoining us. welcome. tell us what you are offering kids. we are offering, the moment, we are offering any kids in our area a free school meal or packed lunch at the point of need, so anybody who would normally get a packed lunch at school, free school meal, or anybody who finds themselves in a position where they are in need, whether it's because of are in need, whether it's because of a job that's lost or hours that have been taken away from their parents at work, they can come here and they can takea at work, they can come here and they can take a packed lunch for your charge. what response of you had? it's been an unbelievable response. it's been an unbelievable response. it started on friday night when we had one of our coaches, he raised theissue,is had one of our coaches, he raised the issue, is there something we can get involved with? so we took on board, we put our message out on the

facebook and the update was message. we've been in touch with community leaders in the area who have... they have got a direct contact with people who need these packed lunches, so already this morning we've had preorders for 120 packed lunches as well as people coming up to our soccer school, the clubhouse here, where we can pick a free pack lunch all the way through the afternoon and it's been an unreal response. what do you think would happen to these kids if you weren't offering these packed lunches right now? i dread to think, really. it is sad, really. 0n now? i dread to think, really. it is sad, really. on saturday morning i woke up to an e—mail from sad, really. on saturday morning i woke up to an e—mailfrom a pen sad, really. on saturday morning i woke up to an e—mail from a pen who said she has got three girls and she needs help. i think it's a sad situation to be in that the parents feel that there is nothing else there, there's no other option there. it was not a basic necessity that we need food and, as a parent,

to have children and then not be able to feed them, it's awful. hopefully at least kids in thamesside can feel that that isn't a problem over the half term holidays. it was not obviously a very powerful coming together of a community when you can do something like this for people who need it. what do you think about marcus rashford and how he has galvanised this? well, it says a lot when you have got the blue half of manchester posted on facebook positive messages about a manchester united player. what he has done to raise the profile of this issue is unbelievable. and hopefully, it, you know, it shouldn't be an issue that we have to deal with. people should have food at any point. to need and meal and not have it, it shouldn't bea meal and not have it, it shouldn't be a pop problem at this stage.

you're not a politician, you were a local football club, you are you're not a politician, you were a localfootball club, you are helping localfootball club, you are helping local kids, but i wonder what you think about the way the government was not handling this because the government has been saying that they are handling it the way that they think is absolutely best to deliver support which is to give money, £63 million in all to councils in order for them to make sure that the kids that you're talking about get the support that they need. that's might. 0bviously, i'm nota politician, i'm just a volunteer at a football club at the end of the day but i listen to matt hancock this morning he did, he said about putting the money into the local councils. but, at the end of the day, it doesn't get filtered down at the point of me to the people who actually need the food. 0ver the point of me to the people who actually need the food. over half term, these kids... we know for a fa ct term, these kids... we know for a fact people have taken us up on the offer, people do need food, and, u nfortu nately, offer, people do need food, and, unfortunately, the money that's gone to the council that has been filtered down, it doesn't get to where it needs to be quick enough

and to have the vote last wednesday to say that they weren't going to give the free school meal vouchers, it was too late. the kids need food. now, this week, this is the problem now, where the money cannot filter down quick enough to exactly who needs it. i guess what you're giving to those kids, actually, is deeper than just giving them food because they know that their local football clu b they know that their local football club is giving them the support right now. how do you see it? exactly, well, we are in a strange position in greater manchester because we've been under, similar to atia to restriction for a couple of months now so people are finding themselves in a position where the pa rents themselves in a position where the parents may have lost a few shifts at work, that, the money that they would buy the food with. it shouldn't be a case of either having to choose are we going to heat the house are only going to feed the kids. i think now we've gone into tier 3, people are finding themselves in these real, very difficult positions where they have to make these choices and i think

it's only going to get worse as the winter goes on. mike, thank you very much forjoining us. mike taylor, chairman of stalybridge celtic genius football club in greater manchester. —— celtic juniors football club. australia has raised "serious concerns" with qatar after female passengers were reportedly subjected to invasive internal examinations as they tried to board a flight from doha to sydney. it follows the discovery of a newborn baby in a public toilet at hamad international airport. it's not yet been identified. australia's foreign minister had this to say about the incident. australia has taken this occurrence extremely seriously. we've taken it up directly with qatari authorities, we have been liaising with qatari authorities here in australia and in doha. we are awaiting the outcome of the from the qatari authorities. i understand enquiries are still

taking place with those people affected by this occurrence, and we also understand the matter has been reported to the australian federal police, and that will be a matter for the australian federal police. royal mail is looking to fill a record number of temporary seasonaljobs due to a surge in online shopping during the pandemic. it aims to hire 33,000 additional workers for the christmas period — two—thirds more than usual. royal mail says that a higher number of workers is needed to help sort christmas deliveries of letters, cards and parcels this year because many consumers are staying at home under covid—19 restrictions and shopping online. our business presenter ramzan karmali has more — is this hiring over the christmas period really down to the surge in online shopping? exactly, it is very therefore is to be announcing more jobs exactly, it is very therefore is to be announcing morejobs but exactly, it is very therefore is to be announcing more jobs but these are only temporary jobs. be announcing more jobs but these are only temporaryjobs. 0bviously it isa are only temporaryjobs. 0bviously it is a reflection of where royal mail sees its business. there was a

massive focus now on parcels and online shopping so it does look on the face of it that the letter is pa rt the face of it that the letter is part of its business isn't really making money for them, in fact, part of its business isn't really making money forthem, infact, i think, it's losing money for them at the moment so this is where the going to focus their attention. we can talk to stephen gibson now from slg economics. stephen, is that correct, is it just slg economics. stephen, is that correct, is itjust to our obsession with online shopping at the moment? is that while royal mail are going down so heavily this parcel route? well, the number of parcels has massively increased during the covid epidemic as people are shopping more online, so, certainly, we... royal mail has already seen an increase in its parcel volumes and, obviously, traditionally, christmas is the peak time for both letters and parcels that it's increasingly is 33,000 extra seasonal workers top of their existing 90,000 workforce of operational postmen and post—women. and we only heard from them last

week that they launch this parcel collect service which they'll charge up collect service which they'll charge up to 72p collect service which they'll charge er collect service which they'll charge up to 72p per parcel to collect from your home. it does seem like this is really the future for royal mail. does that mean... i mean, they can't walk away from the universal service, of course, can they, stephen? know. it is set out in legislation ending licence that they have to offer the six—day week universal service at a uniform price to every delivery point in the country. of course, there was an emergency interruption to that during the early months of the pandemic when they temporarily stopped saturday deliveries, however, they are now back to delivering six days a week letters and parcels. however, there is still a? about the long—term financial viability of that. as she said, they are making a loss and they have made are making a loss and they have made a loss for a number of years re ce ntly a loss for a number of years

recently and with letter volumes falling and continuing to fold they are very much pinning all their hopes on partial deliveries and that's why they have really sort of all search for the christmas search. and while they obviously are com pletely and while they obviously are completely separate company, the post of saying they're going to reduce the number of atms by 600. in agreement is coming to the end but with the bank of ireland, i understand. they are a major, very important pa rt of they are a major, very important part of the infrastructure and providing access to cash, particularly in remote villages where they do not have banks or other atms. so already the country over covid have lost about 3000 out of the 40 — over covid have lost about 3000 out of the 40 - 42,000 that over covid have lost about 3000 out of the 40 — 42,000 that are free to use across the country. this potentially is another 600 atms going. bank of ireland have pulled

out of the atm business in the uk and the post office will be, as i understand it, joining the link network, which is the largest network. but in the process of doing that, closing 600 of the branch atms. stephen gibson from slg economics, thank you very much. as half term begins for many, ministers insist they won't change their mind on free school meal vouchers over the holidays — saying they're providing help through extra funding to local authorities. we've put in £63 million precisely to support councils to deliver and i think that, you know, i think that's the best way of doing this. special forces board an oil tanker and detain seven stowaways after a suspected hijacking off the isle of wight. a covid test that can provide a result in 12 minutes will be available at boots — costing £120.

young people, especially from deprived backgrounds, have had their earnings and job prospects hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic. sport, and for a full round up from the bbc sport centre, here's olly foster. good morning. it's been a brilliant weekend for british sportsmen. let's start with lewis hamilton, who now holds the record for formula 1 race victories by himself, after having drawn level with michael schumacher a fortnight ago. he cruised to victory in the portuguese grand prix, taking the 92nd chequered flag of his career and he is now closing on schumacher‘s record of seven world titles. he won by a huge 25 seconds from his team—mate valterri bottas. he has got this natural talent, which is unquantifiable. it is very difficult for anyone to beat him. i mean, the people who have beaten him have usually... usually he has destroyed his team—mates, to be honest. nico rosberg did beat him but then

decided to give up the sport afterwards so that gives you some clue as to how tough it is to beat lewis hamilton. tao geoghegan hart described his victory as "bizarre" after he became only the fifth british rider to win one of cycling's grand tours. after three weeks racing in the giro d'italia, it all came down to a 10 mile time trial on the streets of milan. east londoner geoghegan hart, who rides for the ineos grenadiers, began the day level on time with australia's jai hindley but won by 39 seconds. hejoins bradley wiggins, chris froome, geraint thomas and simon yates as british grand tour winners. before him, only froome had won the giro d'italia. he is part of this new generation of young guys that are coming through, and they are racing more aggressively, they are racing more openly, and a bit of flair and a bit of panache. and so that has held him in really good stead. and the way he has managed himself through the entire race, it sort of became, "i might be able

to do this." and i think hejust kept going day by day and he did not get ahead of himself, put pressure on himself. he rode beautifully, he really did. leicester city are back up into the top four in the premier league after their first victory at arsenal in 47 years. leicester had lost their previous two matches in the league, butjamie vardy, who was returning after a calf injury, came off the bench to head the only goal of the game. he has a knack of scoring against the gunners, that his 11th goal in 12 appearances. i always like my strikers to be able to stretch the game and get in behind. he does that so well. like you say, he is up there for the ball to be squared and finish, so he is an incredible talent. obviously we would have loved to have started with him, but having been out with his calf, we needed to make sure we nurse him back in. the plan was a lwa ys nurse him back in. the plan was always to make sure we were in the game and then he can come in for 30

minutes to stretch the game for us. the england all—rounder ben stokes scored his highest t20 score yesterday. he brought up his century with a 6 as his rajasthan royals team beat the mumbai indians. he finished unbeaten on 107. he arrived late to the tournament having been in new zealand since august to be with his father who is seriously ill. he's been speaking to the tms does the ipl podcast about the 14 day quarantine that he had to go into on arrival. it's not the most enjoyable thing that you will ever have to do. said i would not wish it on my worst enemy. so i actually said... i said to my brother actually that obviously me and marlon samuels have got a bit of history, and he replied saying you were not even do that to marlon samuels? that's how tough it was.

england's women have retained the six nations without even playing. that's after scotland staged a fightback against france to salvage a draw. it finished 13—13, meaning that england win the title and they can complete back—to—back grand slams if they beat italy next sunday. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. all the build—up to this evening's premier league matches. but now it is time for your questions answered on the bbc news. with me to answer your questions on the latest covid—19 restrictions is virologist dr chris smith. welcome. good morning. we will start with a question from kevin. he asked is it safe to wear face visors instead of masks? a lot of shop staff are wearing them especially in the food shops, bakeries and

hairdressers, which do not cover the nose and mouth. what you think?|j hairdressers, which do not cover the nose and mouth. what you think? i am quite surprised about this really. covering your eyes is important to defend a person from infection with coronavirus because the virus can infect via the eyes. i can affect the tissue in the eyes and the eyes are connected to your nose. what washes out of your eyes to down your nose and can infect you by that route. that is why advisers are helpful. but they do not guard against what is going in through the main route of entry, which is your and mouth. really a face covering should include, notjust a visor, but also masking off your nose and mouth. the mass over the nose and mouth. the mass over the nose and mouth will also cut, cut down droplets that you spray out to infect other people. so much better would be a people work something over their nose and mouth. would they be unacceptable better than nothing alternative for people who are unable to wear masks, whether it is for medical, asthma, whatever the

reason? to be honest, they are doing two different things. a covering over the eyes is defending the wearer from what might go into the eyes. a covering over the nose and mouth is defending everybody else from what might come out of the wea rer‘s from what might come out of the wearer's nose from what might come out of the wea rer's nose and from what might come out of the wearer's nose and mouth. they are actually doing two totally different things. people are wearing them as though they are doing most of those things and they are not. you need to protect your eyes together with protection of your nose and mouth if you are trying to prevent yourself getting infected, butjust wearing a face visor is a bit like bolting your front face visor is a bit like bolting yourfront door face visor is a bit like bolting your front door but leaving all the windows open round the back of the house and a being surprised when you get burgled because the thieves will just go round the back. that is exactly what the germs will do if you have got a face visor on. they will go underneath and you will be for men. move onto other questions. it is interesting what you are saying because i'm sure there will be people watching thinking should more of us be wearing both? what do you think? as i say, it is horses for courses. the people reason are

being urged to wear face coverings over the nose and mouth is because when we have a respiratory infection like this new coronavirus, but also like this new coronavirus, but also like the flu, when you cough, sneeze, even just like the flu, when you cough, sneeze, evenjust breathe, talk, sing, your spring droplets from your airways where the virus is. those droplets will have virus particles in them and are going to be. if you cover your nose and mouth, you cut down the number of those droplets that are in the air around you and other people then cannot breathe them in. if everyone is doing that, you don't actually need a face visor because there is no virus being sprayed in yourface. because eve ryo ne sprayed in yourface. because everyone has covered the nose and mouth. it is really better if eve ryo ne cove rs mouth. it is really better if everyone covers their nose and mouth rather than goes round like they are going to stem their garden, to be honest with you. tony asks can you meet family members outside and a garden under tier 3? the government guidance is quite clear on this. and it does say if it is a private garden, then you should not be meeting yourfamily garden, then you should not be meeting your family members who you do not live with. in your household,

and your support for all, you can meet inside with those people, you can meet in your garden with those people, but other family members and friends not in a private garden. there are exceptions, and the rule of six applies in other venues such as parks, the countryside, forests. there are places where you can meet under the rule of six, but not any private garden under tier 3. under tier 2? under tier 2, bill of six applies outside, including in gardens at the moment. john asks what is the best way to sanitise or sterilise a reusable mask? can a microwave do it? these masks, if they are one that can be safely reused, the best way to clean them up reused, the best way to clean them up is to put them through the wash. if you do not want to put them through a whole wash cycle, just leave them in with your washing, then detergent in the sink with some warm water and a good rinse is good. the reason for that as it will

detach viruses that are struck they are, bacteria and other microbes, it will detach bits of you. when you put things on your face, there are lots of skin cells coming off all the time and they are perfect microbial food. that will mean that you could increase the growth of microbes on your masks. just putting it in the microwave is probably not going to work for a number of reasons. one, because of the way microwaves eat food and whatever else you put into them, they have and cold spots. those hotspots and cold spots are a long way from each other. maybe ten centimetres apart. there will be areas of the mass that would not get hot at all. there will be areas that got far too hot and it might damage the mask. probably not going to be a sensible way to do this. i would going to be a sensible way to do this. iwould put going to be a sensible way to do this. i would put them in some warm, soapy water, give them a good rinse and then try them out. and what if you do not do that? what you just described is gross when you think about it like that. what might be being stored up. ? everything you

are breathing out is being deposited inside that mask and if you think about the human body, over the course of a lifetime, sheds stones worth of dead skin. when you walk into a room and it is dusty, most of the dust you can see hovering in the air through the window as bits of you and the people you live with. it is dead skin and your believing that in and out. the same is true of your face, your shedding dead skin cells and spitting of dead skin from your nose and mouth all the time. that will be deposited on the inside of the mask together with the healthy helping of bacteria because the mouth has got mouth noise of microbes all over the inside surfaces of the mouth. that is all going inside that mask. so pretty quickly you have got the perfect ingredients for a bacterial banquet in there because it is damp, warm, moist, pots of dirt, dead bits of you, but some things to eat. i would be washing it out or throwing it away and buying another one.|j be washing it out or throwing it away and buying another one. i am learning so much from you this morning. patrick in newcastle, our

antibody test still happening and are they reliable? yes, there are antibody test but what we do not know is what they really mean. if you have got antibodies against this new coronavirus, that tells us that you have been exposed to the virus. what it does not tell us is when you we re what it does not tell us is when you were exposed, apart from probably in the recent past. we also do not know of the back of these antibody tests how long they will protect you for or even if they will protect you at all. we had a number of case reports come through now that show that people, despite having caught the new coronavirus within, in some cases just days or a month or so, have got it again. we had hoped that this would be the ultimate answer, it would tell us how many people and had it and that they had lasting immunity. unfortunately antibody tests have not done this and they area tests have not done this and they are a useful corroboration, at best, but they are by no means the gold standard answer here. as a result, we have moved away from relying on them to tell us who might or might not be vulnerable to catching

coronavirus. is there any point it out and getting one other than curiosity? it can be usefulto corroborate a history. if a person has had some symptoms, perhaps they've still was some grumbling symptoms, they regard themselves as in one of these grips with long covert. it can help to corroborate that history and confirm that you do appear to have been exposed, you are antibody positive. in terms of people thinking, shall i get one of those tests, that will put my mind at rest, i am a nude? we do not know for sure if you do have these antibodies that you are actually immune. we also do not know how long you will hang onto them for. a negative test is that l is for sure that you definitely have not had coronavirus. you could have had it, made some antibodies, lost them, and now test negative. in reality, you did actually have it but months ago. steve wa nts did actually have it but months ago. steve wants to know is the isolation period changing and becoming shorter? there has been quite a lot on this, hasn't there? going from potentially 14 days of isolation to seven days. with that tally with

what you know about the science? what we are learning at the moment, we are getting a pretty good idea now as to when a person is exposed to this virus what the incubation period is, then when they become infectious, how long they become infectious, how long they become infectious for and how long they need to isolate for. if you remember, originally we were telling people when you cat symptoms are you test positive, you should wait 70s or seven days and then you are free to go. that was increased to ten days. as we get more data, we could refine this down to ten days but at the moment i am not aware that is going to happen. why man am i right in thinking some countries do still have seven days? possibly. but we use in this country ten days because we find that we could still recover a positive signal from we find that we could still recover a positive signalfrom people we find that we could still recover a positive signal from people ten days out from the time that they either had a positive test or had symptoms. this is a great area, though, because just because you test positive, we are not actually detecting the virus when we do these

tests, we a re detecting the virus when we do these tests, we are not collecting virus from people and proving it is infectious, we are collecting virus and genetic information and proving we can do detect it. there is a chance that there could be tiny amounts of viable virus there at ten days, we do not know for sure. to be cautious rather than just copper seven, they have gone for ten at the moment. as we get more data on this, we may get better atjudging this and we can change these windows to make it a bit more person friendly and lifestyle friendly. anthony says, iam and lifestyle friendly. anthony says, i am going to an outdoor, private fireworks party on saturday ata private fireworks party on saturday at a farm under rule of six, which will be socially distanced, and i am setting off the fireworks there. is this against the restrictions? i thought the risk is lessened outdoors in the open air? it is certainly true that the risk of catching or passing on anything is much lower outside than inside. if anyone is going anywhere, i would be much happier to hear people are

getting together outside than inside. the rules are different depending on whether you are or tier 3as we depending on whether you are or tier 3 as we have already discussed. is this is a tier 2 area or tier1 area, then there is absolutely no problem with rule of six. i do not know if you judge a farm as a private garden or whether that would be regarded as the countryside. i think it is potentially the countryside, which means it is certainly allowed even in tier 3. they would have to check the rules as to whether this farm is a garden or the countryside. john asks if you are asymptomatic, can you still pass the virus on? absolutely. this is the virus on? absolutely. this is the thing that has been the big wake—up call to us. what studies in many countries have shown is that a very high fraction of people, it may be as high as two thirds of cases, have no symptoms despite catching and potentially being infectious for the coronavirus. what we do not yet know is how infectious you are. if you have very trivial symptoms, are you have very trivial symptoms, are

you trivially infectious? in other words, you not very good at passing on the to other people —— or on the country, still very infectious. because people do not have symptoms, they are very hard to study because we have not found them. this is why the source of studies that they are going to start doing with imperial couege going to start doing with imperial college from next year, these challenge studies, where they are going to infect young volunteers who are in otherwise good health with low doses of the virus next year and measure how they respond and how much virus is produced in the body, that may help to get some more of a handle on this kind of question. it is certainly the problem that because many people have no symptoms, it makes tracking down who has got it and who they therefore might be giving it to very much more difficult. yvonne wants to know how long the symptoms of non—covid last. the love we do not know. we know that some people are having symptoms months afterwards. at the moment, we are still in the data gathering phase. there are people who six

months ago were infected and are now saying they are beginning to feel better. equally, six months and there are people who still say they feel awful. as far as we can tell, it is not a short—term thing in some people and months is certainly a reasonable ballpark. obviously this is an area that we are still learning about and there was news on this last week in terms of who is more likely to get covid. it is women overfor more likely to get covid. it is women over for women more likely to get covid. it is women overfor women who more likely to get covid. it is women over for women who have more likely to get covid. it is women overfor women who have had more likely to get covid. it is women over for women who have had at least five symptoms of covid. why is it that this thing affects people so very differently? what we think is going on, obviously it is very early days, when you have the acute infection, the virus does something to put you into some kind of immune tailspin where you immune system goes out of control. it probably establishes some kind of chronic inflammatory state. because the

immune system can access all areas of your body, that's how it works, thatis of your body, that's how it works, that is why it becomes a multisystem problem. the immune system causes problems in the liver, kidneys, even the nervous system. people complain of mood changes, metabolic problems. there are even cases of people with symptoms and the metabolic profile of diabetes after this. it is probably an immune response. how long that immune response is going to last for and what the best way to rein it in and reset the system, thatis rein it in and reset the system, that is what we are trying to learn at the moment. it is so interesting to talk to you. thank you very much for your time this morning. thank you. goodbye. borisjohnson is visiting a hospital in berkshire this morning — let's listen in to what the prime minister has been saying. prime minister, you are here today to outline a new blueprint for

changing hospital food. why to outline a new blueprint for changing hospitalfood. why is to outline a new blueprint for changing hospital food. why is this so important to you? it is massively important for patients and staff that they should have hot and nutritious food available in the words and across the hospital is at all times of the day. i am very grateful to the team because that is what they are recommended. a series of eight recommendations for improving hospital food. it is therapeutic, beneficial for patients to have good quality food and food thatis to have good quality food and food that is nutritious and healthy as well. what we will be doing is making sure that in each of the 40 new hospitals that we are building, rebuilding like this one here in the reading, there will be kitchens and facilities on the words so that people can get hot toast at all team dumb at times of the day. away from one subject, there are accusations across the country that you have grossly misunderstood the public

mood over extending the free school meals scheme over the holidays. people are accusing you we are going to make sure that we have no children, no kids, no pupils in our country who go hungry this winter. certainly not as a result of any government in attention. we are focusing on that, as we have done, very, very hard over the last few months. we have given huge sums to local councils, to help them out, but also specific sums for helping with meals during what was a very disrupted period. we have now got kids back in school stuff that is the most important thing. we think that the best way of tackling holiday hunger, and it is an issue, people like marcus rashford, i totally salute and understand where he is coming from. this is something that we need to focus on. the issue of holiday hunger. but the way to

deal with it, we think, is by increasing the funds available for universal credit, we have put that up universal credit, we have put that up by universal credit, we have put that up by about £1000 a year. but also to put more into local councils. the funds we have already given, £63 million specifically to help deal with holiday hunger and with pressure on families. but also supporting organisations across the country that are dealing with the problem. we certainly recognise that there is an issue, we have been dealing with it continuously throughout the period of the pandemic, and we are going to continue to deal with it. just to repeat the point, we will make sure we will do everything in our power to make sure that no child goes hungry this winter during the holidays. that is obviously something that we care about very much. one of the issues is that we are in half—time holiday right now and lots of kids who do not have

access to food right now. in your absence of acting during this time, hundreds of cadres, restaurants, local councils are now pledging to feed children. marcus rashford has been coordinating that. do you think it is right for businesses to do what the government is not doing? have you spoken to marcus rashford? sign that i have not spoken to marcus rashford sincejune but i think what he is doing is terrific. we support the local councils and we fund the local councils and many of the organisations that are helping in this period. but we are also, as isaid, in this period. but we are also, as i said, uplifting universal credit, by £1000 and we think that is one of the best ways you can help families in this tough time. i totally understand the issue of holiday hunger. it is they are. we have to deal with it. the debate is how do you deal with it. we are very proud of the support we have given. i have said repeatedly throughout this crisis that the government will

support families and businesses, jobs and livelihoods across the country, we are going to continue to do that. i willjust repeat my single point, my most important point, we do not want to see children going hungry this winter, this christmas. certainly not as a result of any inattention by this government. you're not going to say that. that is the prime minister borisjohnson. i can discuss this with tulip siddiq who's the shadow children's minister. i hope you get your borisjohnson saying that the government does not wa nt to saying that the government does not want to see children going hungry in the holidays. he said they will do everything within their power to make sure that does not happen. how do you respond to that? this issue has become a politicalfootball for wa nt of has become a politicalfootball for want of a better phrase. i do not wa nt to want of a better phrase. i do not want to feel it any more. what i would say is that the prime minister is talking about not wanting

children to go hungry over christmas, but what about the children right now during half term who are going hungry? i am surprised that he does not think that is worthy of being addressed. in his own constituency, borisjohnson has 3272 children on free school meals. that is more than in my constituency. many of those children will be suffering from food poverty just this week during half term. i do not know why they are dithering on this and they do notjust make a u—turn now instead of waiting until christmas. we are about to face one of the toughest winters of our generation with the pandemic, the flu season, furlough scheme coming to an end, working parents twice as likely to be furloughed than anyone else who is working. the least we can do is feed children. in the nicest possible way, i really feel that if borisjohnson is going to make a that if borisjohnson is going to makea u—turn, that if borisjohnson is going to make a u—turn, maybe he should do it immediately so that children are fed. he was making the point that

universal credit has been increased by £1000, there is a lot of extra funding for councils, £63 million, the government is saying that as the way the support for the kids is being delivered. i used to be a counsellor and i dealt with the council budget and the swinging cuts to it when i was on the council. in the last ten years, there has been £16 billion cut from the local council budget by national government. they have now put in £10 million, so there is still £6 billion to be accounted for —— like they have put in £10 billion. i keep hearing local councils are better off making these decisions then maybe we should take a leaf out of the welsh government to giving money nationally, and letting local authorities have a say in how the food is distributed. in terms of universal credit, just to address that point, it is an old uplift of £20 per week which will then be away

next april. i am afraid all these arguments are flawed but also at the heart of this issue is the fact that they are children who are hungry. why doesn't the prime ministerjust swallow his pride, recognise that marcus rashford is onto something here, the opposition are right when they say that we need to do something right now, and just give the money to feed children this half term and christmas? it is not too late. he could announce it tonight. thank you very much forjoining us. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. it has a very unsettled week ahead. there will be some sunshine at times but we will find some showers and spells of rain. it will be pretty windy over the week ahead to another cool failing day—to—day. still some showers which could be heavy, particularly affecting western scotland, northern england, pushing into eastern and one for a while. it may turn drier in northern ireland and particularly

wales and the south—west. the ones turning more to a west north—westerly, blustery with those rest temperature similar to what we had yesterday, typically 11—12. still some heavy showers around to end the day. i think through evening though showers do tend to fade away and the winds will have some clearing skies. rain comes in off the atlantic into northern ireland, wales and the south—west. clear skies in eastern scotland, those of 2-3. that skies in eastern scotland, those of 2—3. that band of rain pushes eastwards during tomorrow and on wednesday will be followed by some sunshine and some blustery showers.

this is bbc news. the headlines... ministers insist they won't change their mind on free school meal vouchers over the half term holidays — the prime minister says they're providing help through extra funding to local authorities. the way to deal with it, we think, is by the funds available for universal credit we have put up by about 1000 per year. but also to put more into local councils. welsh ministers review the rules on sales of nonessential items — after confusion over what can and can't be sold — we'll have the government news conference shortly special forces board an oil tanker

and detain seven stowaways after a suspected hijacking off the isle of wight. a covid test that can provide a result in 12 minutes will be good afternoon. ministers are continuing to insist they will not fund school meal vouchers for children in england during half—term — despite calls for a re—think from some conservative mps. the government has come under pressure on the issue following a high—profile campaign by marcus rashford. scotland, wales and northern ireland have already introduced food voucher schemes.

let's be absolutely sure that we are going to make sure that we have no children, no goods, in a country that go hungry this winter, certainly not as a result of any government in attention as we have done over the last few months and we have given huge sums to local councils to help them out but also specific sums for helping with meals during what was a very disruptive period. we've now got kids back in school. that's the most important thing and so we think that the best way of tackling holiday hunger, and it is an issue, you know, people like marcus rashford who are working on it, i totally salute and understand where he's coming from. you know, this is something that we need to focus on, the issue of holiday hunger, but the way to deal with it, we think, is by increasing the funds available for universal credit, we have put up by about 1000

per year, but also to put more into local councils, so in addition to the funds we have already given, the 63 million specifically to help deal with holiday hunger and with pressure on families, but also supporting organisations across the country that are dealing with the problem, so we certainly recognise that there is an issue. we have been dealing with it continuously throughout the period of the pandemic and we are going to continue to deal with it and we will make sure that we will do everything in our power to make sure that no kid, no child, goes hungry this winter during the holidays. that's obviously something that we care about very much. one of the issues is that we are in at half term holiday right now and there will be plenty of children across the country who don't have access to the things you say because it takes time to apply for universal credit. in your absence of acting hundreds of

cafe is restaurants are now pledging to feed children, bash or marcus rashford he mentioned has been coordinating up. do you think it is right for businesses to do what the government should be doing and having spoken to marcus?” government should be doing and having spoken to marcus? i haven't spoken to makkah sincejune and i think what he is doing is terrific and we support the local councils and we support the local councils andindeed and we support the local councils and indeed refund the local councils and indeed refund the local councils and many of the organisations that are helping but we are also, as i said, uplifting universal credit by £1000 and we think that is one of the best ways you can help families this time. i totally understand the issue of holiday hunger. it is that. we have to deal with it. the issue, the debate, is how to deal with it and we're very proud of the support that we've given. i've said repeatedly throughout this crisis that the government will support families and businesses, jobs and livelihoods across the country. we are going to continue to do that and i'm going tojust repeat are going to continue to do that and i'm going to just repeat my single

point, my most important point. we don't want to see children going hungry this winter, this christmas, certainly not as a result of any intervention by this government. and you're not going to see that. hundreds of businesses, charities and some councils in england have pledged to help vulnerable children during the half term — danjohnson spent the morning at a community centre in leeds that has promised support. this is st vincent's on the east side of leeds, and this is just the food that was donated as of of friday, so this will be bagged up, packed up, and sent out to children across leeds this week over half term to make sure that they are fed, because the government is insisting that it will not extend the free school meal vouchers that it extended over the summer to make sure that children were fed. let's have a chat with francesca who is from leeds community foundation, and sheenagh, who's the manager here at saint vincent's. how important is this, sheenagh, this food and support? so, we're based in east leeds, as you'vejust said, and what w‘ve done is met the need of the community. a hungry child is a hungry

child regardless of the background and circumstance. and how many are there? well, we're feeding about... at the peak of the summer we were feeding about 1,500 meals a week, so there's a massive need just in this area alone. if you can do this, and people are so generous to donate this food and you can hand it out, does that not solve the problem? is the government not right that it doesn't need to extend those vouchers? so, this is the third year that we've done this, so the need isn't going away. it needs a longer—term solution. tesco has apologised after wrongly saying it can't sell tampons in wales. the row comes amid mounting anger over the welsh government's ban on ‘non—essential goods' during a 17—day firebreak lockdown. it's led to many exchanges on social media. in one, katie asks tesco, "can you explain why i was told today that i can't buy priod pads as i'm sure they are essential to women?"

in a tweet that has now been deleted, tesco responded by saying "we understand how frustrating these changes will be for our welsh customers. however, we have been told by the welsh government not to sell these items for the duration of the firebreak lockdown." the welsh government said on twitter: "this is wrong. period products are essential. supermarkets can still sell items that can be sold in pharmacies. only selling essiential items during firebreak is to discourage spending more time than necessary in shops. it should not stop you accessing items that you need." the health minister for wales vaughan gething is giving an update on the coronavirus ‘firebreak‘ lockdown. we will bring that to you live soon.

a coronavirus test that provides results in just 12 minutes will be available at high street pharmacy boots....for £120. the nasal swab test will be available in 50 stores today, and they'll be available to anyone, even if they're not showing symptoms. depending on demand, the launch may extend to 200 stores over the coming months. sebjames is the managing director of boots uk — he explained the upfront costs of the tests. we have put the price at what we haveis we have put the price at what we have is a very competitive price compared to other people on the market. we have calculated it up based on what it cost to set this thing up. if volume is big the price will come down and the cuts will come down and we will pass that onto our customers and patients. what i was wondering is how much could the costs co m e was wondering is how much could the costs come down, potentially, for it to become the mass, affordable programme everybody wants to see? well, it is really hard to speculate but if we can get what they are culling a lateral flow test, one of these conceptus working that could be as little as five or £6 but i think we have a little way away from one that we can feel really confident in yet. the situation around testing currently seems quite confusing. we saw a royal visit with the queen and prince of the william go—ahead where people coming into contact with them were tested and no

masks were worn while at the same time, if people are told to quarantine, a negative test is not enough to get them out of continuing that quarantine for 14 days currently. how much reliance can someone put on a negative covid result, they like of which you are offering? yeah, i mean, these test are reliable. the problem that that is from a medical perspective is it takes... , somebody can be, can have covid, the vibe is, without showing positive on the test because the virus takes a while to become visible on the test, not very long, but there is still a risk. i think that you can imagine the policymakers challenge is to try and reduce contacts of people who have covid as much as possible and sometimes they are playing it safe andi sometimes they are playing it safe and i understand why that should be. said james of boots.

good morning. a navy special forces unit has stormed an oil tanker off the isle of wight after a suspected hijacking. seven stowaways — thought to be nigerian nationals — have been detained after they were reported to have threatened the crew. andy moore has the latest. late last night, and the tanker andromeda was back under the control of its crew after what the ministry of defence called a suspected hijacking. 16 members of the special boat squadron, based at nearby poole, were landed on the ship as night fell. defence secretary ben wallace said... what is good to see is the reaction from ourforces, the coordination between our agencies. number 10 would have been fully involved in what was going on, indeed. this is a good outcome for britain. the drama began yesterday morning as the ship prepared to enter the fawley oil refinery near southampton. seven stowaways — believed to be nigerians — are said to have become violent

and made verbal threats to the crew. they retreated to a safe place on board the ship. there are few official details from the ministry of defence, but it's understood several military helicopters landed heavily—armed troops by rope onto the deck of the ship. faced with overwhelming force, the stowaways are said to have surrendered almost immediately. this was a very efficient operation. it only took nine minutes from the word go to the stowaways being rounded up and identified. and, of course, this reflects the training that both the fleet air arm crews and the sbs — the special boat service — undertake all the time. none of the 22 crew of the andromeda were injured in the incident. the seven stowaways have been detained. andy moore, bbc news. following record numbers of new cases of covid—19 across many european countries, new anti—coronavirus measures

are coming into place across the continent. new restrictions are coming in, especially where people socialise, such as gymnasiums, cinemas and bars and restaurants, while spain has introduced an overnight curfew. to get more on what's happening in europe let's go to our correspondents. first guy hedgecoe in madrid. well, i think it's very frustrating for spaniards. obviously, they had such a strict lockdown in the spring, one of the strictest in the world, and, i think, obviously people don't want to go back to that situation. the prime minister, pedro sanchez, has said the idea of this state of emergency that has been introduced is to avoid a total lockdown, but nonetheless we're seeing a lot of restrictions. that curfew, we're likely to see restrictions of movement between regions, so there is a great deal of frustration and obviously the big worry here is the economy.

the spanish economy is going to fall by about 13% this year, according to the imf. people who own bars and restaurants and other businesses are very worried about the economic impact. in shops, bars and restaurants, the number of people allowed inside them is limited, their timetables are limited, and, obviously, they have to close early. those bars and restaurants now cannot open beyond 11 o'clock anywhere in the country. so those restrictions are all in place, but we could see further restrictions from regional governments in the coming days. they have been given the power to introduce new restrictions if they feel necessary. the government has been insisting it won't budge over free school meal vouchers over the half term holidays — the prime minister says they're providing help through extra funding to local authorities. let's get reaction to that now. laura sandys is a former conservative mp and the founder of the charity food foundation — shejoins me now. welcome and thank you forjoining us. what do you think. if the government right to say the supporters another way is and therefore they don't need the voucher scheme? no, i don't, and i

think that the support is sporadic, it's different ‘s different in different parts of the country, but i actually feel that there's quite a lot of movement when it comes to tory backbenchers. there is this divergences across our different nations which i think will cause more of a problem, and i also, if one looks at the tories in scotland, they are actually proposing more radical solutions so i believe that they will start to move on this issue. whether they actually adopt the total free school meal proposition are they doing at some other way, i think they've got to step up and move on on this issue. there was a u—turn, sorry, they did a u—turn before on this in the summer holidays. how damaging do you think it would be to the government's authority to have basically gone through exactly the same row again and end up with the same row again and end up with the same result? well, i am sure none of

us would start from here, but the marcus rashford campaign has been incredibly effective but also very, very incredibly effective but also very, very grown incredibly effective but also very, very grown up and i think that they will find that the pressure will mount, that they are being asked by many tory mps, and some conservative and local councils are doing an amazing job, others are doing less, andi amazing job, others are doing less, and i think the pressure particularly as we come up to the christmas holidays will become sort of overwhelming. but the problem is, in many ways, as we are dealing with something which is the sellotape, the school holiday issue, but actually but we need a systemic change because we've had food poverty long before covid and, to be frank, we're only starting to emerge, in many ways. some of the people on lowest incomes are going to find their income is eroded, they are going to find that they lose jobs. this actually needs a much

bigger plan and it needs a long—term plan, notjust, bigger plan and it needs a long—term plan, not just, you bigger plan and it needs a long—term plan, notjust, you know, holiday free school meals. so we really do need to move on this in a systemic way, which is what marcus rashford and his campaign is pushing for. so, asa and his campaign is pushing for. so, as a former tory mp, what you think about the way the government's handling it. well, i think one might only just handling it. well, i think one might onlyjust quote one of the ministers, johnny mercer, who said that this hasn't been handled very well. i think that it is very difficult, it is a moving feast all the time but i think that the issue about child poverty and food poverty is absolutely crucial about both the levelling up agenda and ensuring that those communities, you know, but in many ways experience very low incomes, i used to represent a constituency where the average wage

was £16,500. every single shock to somebody‘s financial circumstances is absolutely significant when you are on those sorts of income so, i hope and i urge and actually expect the government to move on this issue but we need long term solution is not just short—term sellotape but we need long term solution is notjust short—term sellotape to hold this together. it's a big one. and, in the meantime, there are all sorts of local offerings for children this half term. i was talking earlier to a volunteer at a local football club which is giving out free school meals. actually, we're going to have to stop at that point because we are going straight to wales. the health minister for wales vaughan gething is giving an update on the coronavirus ‘firebreak‘ lockdown. i understand that there is some confusion whenever new rules to control the spread of coronavirus

introduced. i want to clear up some of that confusion today. i was very saddened to see this particular exchange on social media this morning, from a supermarket telling a woman she could not buy period products. this is simply wrong. it's an incorrect reading of both the regulations and the guidance and i'm very sorry that this woman was given this information. supermarkets are open and trading. as are many other shops, and are able to sell the wide range of everyday items that we all need. but there are some other items that won't be on sale for the next two weeks. these are items that other high street shops, which are currently closed, cannot sell at the moment. we face a very real public health emergency in wales. we have a two—week period in which we need to do everything we can to break the

cycle of transmission and do everything we can together to bring coronavirus under control. infections occur and are spread when people are in close contact with other people. in homes, in pubs, in shops. we've listened carefully to what people have been saying, so we will take action today so that retailers understand that our rules already allow people in acute need to buy the basics, which are essential to them over the next two weeks. but we also ask people to understand the very real crisis that we are facing at the moment in wales, and to please treat people working in our shops with the respect that they deserve. we are meeting retailers this afternoon to review the regulations and guidance to make sure that it is being

applied fairly and consistently. if there are anomalies we will look at whether the guidance needs to be revised or strengthened to make it clear that supermarkets have some discretion to sell to people who are in general genuine need. coronavirus is widely circulating in all parts of wales. cases have been rising in most local authority areas throughout october. in total there are now eight authority areas where there are rate is higher than 200 cases per 100,000 people. in blaenau gwent, cardiff, merthyr tydfil and rhondda cynon taff the rate of cases is now higher than 300 cases per 100,000 people. this is a now familiar slide which shows just how high and how fast cases are riding rising in wales. yesterday, public

health wales recorded a further one thousand and 58 cases of coronavirus. we have now recorded more than... cases of coronavirus since the start of the pandemic in march. very sadly on saturday they we re march. very sadly on saturday they were a further five deaths, making last week one of the deadliest since the peak of the pandemic, with more than 60 people dying as a result of the virus. public health wales will today report a further six people who have lost their lives. my thoughts continue to be with all those families who are mourning the loss of a loved one. sadly, we will see more deaths and more suffering before we are able to bring the virus under control and to see the end of the pandemic. the latest information that i have from our nhs shows that we have passed a

milestone of having more than 1000 coronavirus —related cases in our hospitals in wales. that's an 18% increase on the number of people in hospital from last sunday and the highest number... this number includes people with confirmed and suspected coronavirus and people who are recovering. the number of confirmed cases has risen to 616. that is the highest since the 24th of may and is up 26% on last sunday. we are moving very swiftly towards the april peak, the point at which the april peak, the point at which the nhs came very close to being overwhelmed. but, in the spring, we had already postponed all planned operations and appointments. if we carry on at this rate we will reach that same point within a matter of weeks. a number of people being treated in our critical care units

with coronavirus has also risen sharply since last week. there are 56 people in critical care with coronavirus. that is up 40%. overall, we have 172 people in critical care beds across wales. this is 20 more than the usual number of beds the nhs would have. the nhs has already started to increase care to call care capacity, and has planned to expand to 292 bedsif and has planned to expand to 292 beds if needed. but this type of expansion comes with real harms. the areas which are transformed tend to be theatres and recovery rooms. turning them into critical care areas means we need to bring staff in from other parts of the hospital and our ability to maintain surgery becomes even more squeezed and produced. that, in turn, has a direct impact on patient care and

people's lies. this is not an easy time for any of us in wales. for the next two weeks, we must all live with a new and very tough set of regulations. these place serious restrictions on our daily lives. the rules are here to protect all of us. they are here to help our nhs and they are in place to save lives. over the coming two weeks we are going to be asking extraordinary things from every single person in wales as we live with the firebreak. but, above all, we are asking for your help. this is not something that the government can do alone. it is only with your help that we will be able to break the cycle of transmission and resit the mounting hand that has been caused by the

virus. help our nhs to cope with their pandemic a normal winter pressures . their pandemic a normal winter pressures. help to save lives. thank you very much. i will now take questions from journalists and i will broadcast all questions live on our social media channel. first question comes from adrian masters in itv wales. of the press conference to the confusion and some of the criticism that you have received over the weekend for the list of essential and nonessential items. regardless of the rights and wrongs of the situation, do you accept that the row has knocked trust in the welsh government's handling of the regulations and that that could cause people to ignore what you are asking them to do?” that could cause people to ignore what you are asking them to do? i am genuinely concerned about the messaging over this weekend because it has taken us away from the reason why the firebreak has been introduced and it is important people trust in what the government is doing and why and the messages

we re is doing and why and the messages were getting from our national health service about the mounting levels of hand the coronavirus is causing. the weekend's messages have moved us away from the reality of the mounting death toll we are seeing and the fact that we will see more hand coming over the next two weeks. we publish the evidence paper last week that underpinned our choice to introduce a firebreak, we we re very choice to introduce a firebreak, we were very clear that we would see more hand coming and you won't see the impact of the firebreak until another few weeks after it ends. that means we can expect to live with greater harm for the next few weeks. the evidence of that in front of us being made real. what this government could not have done is in the face of that advice and the evidence of mounting hand to have chosen to do nothing and the package of measures we have put in place included the closure of nonessential retailers. one of the elements that makes up what we're trying do to

makes up what we're trying do to make up what we're trying to do to try and save lives and that is the message we'll need to reflect on and remember as we go about our choices and we got back the next few weeks. thank you, and ifly and we got back the next few weeks. thank you, and i fly could ask you about a different subject, could you concerned that bereavement is a reason for compassionate exemption to the rules. in other words, could somebody meet up with a family member with or without social distancing in order to provide support during bereavement? bereavement is a reasonable measure to undertake to travel, to see other people, but again, we asked people wherever possible to respect the rules on social distancing. what i wouldn't want to see is people gathering to support each other in circumstances where they have lost a loved one potentially end up being anything that spreads coronavirus with that much greater hand, and, as isaid adrian, with that much greater hand, and, as i said adrian, we havejust gone through one of the deadliest week since we came to the peak of the pandemic. i don't want to seek

further loss of life. that is why we have to change the rules, that is why the firebreak is in place, and while people support each other, support each other after a bereavement and like many people watching this i have gone through family bereavement myself as well and to make sure that support we provide each other doesn't need to further harm being caused. thank you, 18. we have now got dan davis from bbc wales. you have said that people who are in acute need of something should be able to bite a supermarket. that sounds like it could open up more confusion, more difficult conversations, if people are allowed to go to a shop and asked the staff if they really need something to sell it to them. instead of relying so heavily on discretion of supermarkets and their staff, isn't the easiest things to dojust to staff, isn't the easiest things to do just to change the rules and say, yes, you can open all your iles?

with respect and, the answer i have just given 18 from itv sets out that we have a package of rules to interrupted chains of transmission, to interrupt and reduce the harm that the virus is causing. if we simply end the rules we have on nonessential retail maugham mixing, the state her message will be less effective by giving more giving more people more reasons to leave the house, and if we do that we will see or we simply cannot change the rules in supermarkets because of the unfairness that will provide for smaller retailers who are already there and you will see the picture in ireland as you already know down where smaller retailers are complaining bitterly about the fact that the larger stores are selling items they have been prevented from doing so. if we essentially see nonessential retailers and opened up again we will have to revisit the public health advice we have got about the effectiveness of the

firebreak and i certainly don't want to be ina firebreak and i certainly don't want to be in a position where we have to go back on the choice we have made that the shortest possible intervention to make the maximum difference. we looked at a package of measures to keep wales say. that was the advice we had, that was the advice that we publish, and we have acted on that advice. if we want to unravel that now we will be in a very different place, a less effective measure, and that is not what this government is going to do. it is about how we make the rules we have effective, clear, consistently applied, and how we all act together to keep wales safe and to save lives. and ministers have been saying that another firebreak in the new year is possible, it cannot be ruled out. yesterday, the dipti economy minister said it was not likely, is he right? is it likely that we'll have another lockdown in the new year? none of us can say what is likely. what we are being really upfront with people about is that

the firebreak is necessary now with the firebreak is necessary now with the exponential rise in cases. the exponential rise in harm that we are seeing. we want have a national pattern for all of us to live our lives by to get to the end of the year. we will need to look at what is happening through that time, we will need to revise and look at where we are as we get there. i cannot give you a guarantee about the position we will see at christmas. that i certainly cannot forecast or get into a hypothetical a nswer forecast or get into a hypothetical answer about the new year. measures are possible for the future, but that depends on how successful we are in coming together as a nation to act in a way that means coronavirus is less likely to spread in the future, less likely to cause the harm, we have already seen the peak, but within this last week, more than 60 families mourning the loss of a loved one, that is what we all need to reflect on as we go about our business in the firebreak and beyond. thank you. i have now

got another dan. it is young dan bevan. i want to touch on something that adrian mentioned, that is trust. the welsh people have trusted the welsh government throughout this, even throughout some of the toughest measures anywhere in the uk. my question is why now do you not trust the welsh people supermarkets? we have looked at what has happened in the reality of where we are, the advice we have had about needing to reduce contacts, needing to close nonessential retailers, pa rt to close nonessential retailers, part of that package. this is not about trusting or not trusting, this is about an effective stay—at—home measure to make the firebreak effective and to do that in a way thatis effective and to do that in a way that is fair to all retailers. that is the choice that we have made, and i come back again to the fact that we are seeing mounting levels of harm, not just those we are seeing mounting levels of harm, notjust those people who have lost their lives over the last week,

dan, but as i said earlier when we talk about critical care beds, we are now about 13% over our normal capacity for critical care. nearly one in three beds are occupied by people being treated with coronavirus. this is not a game, this is something that we need to reflect on the seriousness of the position we are in and hardship and the difficulty are all going to have to lift through for the next two weeks will make a difference in saving lives. i do not think we could be clearer that is the point and the purpose that lies behind the rules we have in place. and i asked people to understand that and to support the change in rules that we all need to see. you talk about people being able to buy nonessential goods if there is a genuine need, i wonder if you could give us some examples of what a genuine need would look like. frankly, why should it be down to the government to decide why people might need something? it might be some very might need something? it might be some very sensitive issues that are at play, why should someone have to

go to someone who works in a supermarket and ask and disclose such sensitive material about themselves in order to buy something that has been deemed nonessential? these are the same categories of what is essential and nonessential is what we had in the first period with the first peak, so we have not introduced the new categories. there challenge is that if we do not have an understanding of what we think is essential, then we will have all retail open with greater opportunities for mixing and we will see her and continued at a different rate. we have got to take into account the really difficult choices and we are not choosing between a perfect answer and an imperfect answer, having to balance up all of the harms that are being caused as we look to notjust prevent further deaths from coronavirus but also if we do not arrest the increase in cases, we will see a rise in harm from non—coronavirus harm, as well. we will have to close up other parts

of our nhs. i do not think it is really a runner to have an effective firebreak but then to open up nonessential retail. that would unpick the whole approach we are taking. the point about discretion is we do recognise there have been exceptional circumstances, they have been well advertised and talked about examples of people who really do have a desperate need to buy individual items. it is about that and we can either have an approach where we do rely on people plus my common sense and ability to talk with retailers about what really is an emergency and to make sure that is provided rather than being deaf to the real concerns and complaints that a very small number of people would go through through this next two weeks. for the next majority of us, we will be able to manage for the next two weeks with a hardship, with the interruption that causes, to avoid the much greater hardship and greater interruption to people's lives and their ability to still see family and friends in the future. thank you, dan. now sky news. by

giving supermarkets discretion over the span, are you notjust adding to the span, are you notjust adding to the confusion around the rules? after all, how can i shot decide what is and is not a customer's acute need? what is and is not a customer's acute need ? surely what is and is not a customer's acute need? surely you are risking a repeat of situations like the one we had with tesco and customers not being able to buy sanitary products this morning? you'll like the two are entirely different things. let us not confuse what we are talking about. tesco banning the sales of sanitary products, they recognise they were wrong, they deleted their tweet and the apologise. they are very clear they got it wrong. we should just accept that that is what has happened and i'm glad that tesco have clarified the position now and that no one should be spreading misinformation that somehow the welsh government rules have prevented the sale of sanitary products during the firebreak. that simply is not true. if people really do need to go out and buy, in

exceptional circumstances, things that would otherwise be part of nonessential retail, as we have got to allow, and our role is already allowed, the provision of some of those exceptional circumstances to arise. it is not about whether i wa nt arise. it is not about whether i want a new toaster, it is about what is exceptional circumstances where that might be needed and required. we have already provided for that and that has always been within our roles in any event. it is a very different position to say do you really provide for that exceptional circumstance or do you simply open up circumstance or do you simply open up nonessential retail again and undermine the point and the purpose of the firebreak to be effective and to help us to save lives? on the issue of nonessential retail, some of those shops can still trade online, but what about those businesses that cannot? how is this fairto them? businesses that cannot? how is this fair to them? as we know, many independent retailers to already have an online offering and we have heard from lots of those in wales over the last few days who have gone out and talked about the fact that

they are trading successfully online. but the point here is we are reducing opportunities for people to see each other and have contact with each other. it is part of our very clear and very understandable stay—at—home message. to go out for things you really need as opposed to going out for things you want or would like to get. that is the point, too stay—at—home to keep yourself safe, keep your family, friends, community safe, and to help save lives. i do not think we could be any clearer than that. the point about the imperfection of some of the measures being taken, well, that is the world we are in. making choices to balance the harms that are taking place and to understand for all of us there is no perfect answer. every single choice comes with harm. it is about balancing those firms to make sure that we are keeping as many of us alive, maintaining as much nhs activity as possible, and that is really important to understand if we do not do this, it will notjust be we will

have more coronavirus cases in our hospital, it will affect the other ca re hospital, it will affect the other care that the nhs provides that is essential to keep people well and alive through winter, and that will maximise and increase further the harm already being caused. none of us should forget or lose sight of the fact that this is a public health emergency, lives are being lost. every day we are going to be reporting more lives lost, every week, i'm afraid for the next few weeks, we are likely to see an increase in the number of lives that have been lost. we are doing the right thing and acting with all the causes because i right thing and acting with all the causes because i am right thing and acting with all the causes because i am confident that because the choices we have made here in wales, we will save more lives. thank you. and i have the press association. are you and your collea g u es press association. are you and your colleagues accepting any responsibility about the problems with messaging and communication about the nonessential items either in how it was delivered or leaving it 24 race before lockdown to

actually announce that stores would be totally to police people's shopping? stores through all of the period of lockdown had known they have got to think about the items they are selling. the stores themselves had to think about this in the first period of lockdown. thatin in the first period of lockdown. that in itself is not new. of course we wa nt that in itself is not new. of course we want to learn from how we get to this point to make it effective moving forward. there was a conversation on thursday that i took pa rt conversation on thursday that i took part in with lesley griffith and major retailers, we have had a further conversation over the weekend within government listening to what people are saying, and we have arranged a meeting for later this afternoon. of course ministers ta ke this afternoon. of course ministers take responsibility for the measures we are putting in place. this is difficult, it is hard for people, it is hard for people to accept sometimes that the rules need to change and there is a significant intervention into lives. the government will of course continue to learn lessons about how we do our job effectively, communicating with

stakeholders, with the public, but not losing sight of the fact that this is a public health emergency, lives are being lost or interrupted, one in three nearly of our critical ca re one in three nearly of our critical care beds treating people with coronavirus. this is very, very serious stop it is for all of us to do the right thing to keep wales safe. on that earlier point about stores using their own discretion if they feel if they are necessary. can you spell out how people should be going a about that or will you leave that direction ambiguous? there is a conversation we are having with supermarkets and other view tell us about how to make that clear. a number of people have said that they could not go and explain why something was particularly important for them. these are going to be limited circumstances because much of the comet that we have seen over the weekend has actually been on the what if scenario that is unlikely to happen over the next two weeks. and

i think we do need to provide for that sort of set of exceptional circumstances and for people to be able to have a conversation discreetly with people in the store that they are visiting to understand what that need us. the danger is that if we say that if you do not have a perfect system, you cannot do anything at all, we will again lose sight of why the firebreak has been introduced. a package of measures to keep people safe and this is because we have chosen to act early to intervene before more harm is caused andi intervene before more harm is caused and i continue to say that is the right thing for this government to do, forany right thing for this government to do, for any responsible government to do. not to wait until much greater harm is cost. i actually think that when we get back to that public health message, most people will be much more understanding about the level of inconvenience we are living and to avoid a much greater inconvenience, the grief that people will suffer, if they too have to mourn the loss of a loved one, is indeed more than 60 families across wales have this week. thank

you, adam. mark smith from wales online. when can the public expect to know what roles they will have to adhere to from november nine on words when the firebreak lockdown ends? we are expecting over this week to engage with stakeholders, conversations taking place today, tomorrow and beyond, and we will expect to come together for the cabinet to agree a set of rules. we wa nt to cabinet to agree a set of rules. we want to be in a position to give people at least a week or so to understand what the new rules are that are going to be in place, but it is really important we have that conversation with stakeholders through this week, and then of course we need time before the firebreak ends for everyone to understand what the rules are. there is lots of learning about how we have come into the firebreak, to apply that, to understand that, and equally it means we have got to understand the advice we are being given by scientific advisers and the chief medical officer on what a sustainable set of rules will look

like to allow people to go about living their lives and being able to see more people in a different context, in a way that coronavirus does not take off again, because we have seen more than once that this isa have seen more than once that this is a highly infectious new virus, we do not have a cure for it, we do not have a vaccine for it, so what we do to prevent the virus spreading is essential if we are going to avoid the sort of scale of loss of life that we have already seen in the first peak. secondly, you mention briefly in your statement, what matters to those going into shops in only their underwear or those tearing down coverings preventing people from buying nonessential goods? i think that sort of irresponsible behaviour will not help any of us. there is real frustration from lots of people, people doing that need to look at what they are doing, and people giving them encouragement and a platform to do so, with a divisive

sort of political messaging, need to ta ke sort of political messaging, need to take a step back again. they also need to reflect on the fact that they are making life very difficult for our shop workers. they deserve to be treated with more respect. the next two weeks will be difficult for all of us. much more difficult for every single one of us in the country if we do not act together and if we do see a much greater loss of life than the one that we may still see even if we do all pull together. this really is about saving lives and i would ask eve ryo ne saving lives and i would ask everyone in the room, and everyone in wales, to play their part in making sure that we reduce the number of lives that are lost and more of us can look forward to a greater sense of freedom in the future when we get past coronavirus and still have as many friends and family to celebrate that you freedom with in the future. thank you. you

meeting this afternoon with the supermarkets. given that the took action based on guidance from your officials and believed, presumably, they were doing what they had been told to do, what are you going to be telling them to do differently this afternoon? we have had feedback from supermarkets and a range of other retailers over how the first weekend has gone. you have seen the well advertised example of where an individual store in a larger retailer has done something others have not done. there is learning from within retailers themselves and between them to make sure we do have a consistent application of what our role is provided and the guidance provides as well. that should mean greater clarity, notjust for businesses and their workers, but for the public as well. i do think that greater clarity and consistency will be helpful for all of us that greater clarity and consistency will be helpfulfor all of us in making sure we all understand what we can do. it is important to think about what we can do and think about what we are going to do to act together to reduce the loss of life that we will otherwise see in wales.

my that we will otherwise see in wales. my second question, you have sounded at times... we are leaving that news conference now. wales health minister vaughan gething, the line of questioning was triggered by a couple of tweets this morning. katie had tweeted tesco to see if they could explain today why she could not buy period pads as i am sure they are essential to women, but i can buy alcohol, it does not make sense. the response from tesco to that was we understand how frustrating these changes will be for our welsh customers, however we have been told by the welsh government not to sell these items for the duration of the firebreak lockdown. the tesco tweet has been deleted and vaughan gething there we re deleted and vaughan gething there were saying that he was saddened that the supermarket had told katie that the supermarket had told katie that she could not buy period products. he said it is wrong. of course the questioning was about what exactly is allowed to be bought

during this firebreak period, this 17 day firebreak period in wales. vaughan gething said the supermarkets can sell the wide range of everyday items we all need, but other items that shops that are closed cannot sell will not be sold. he said that there are two weeks to do everything they can to break the cycle of covert infections and the reasoning behind limiting what can be sold in supermarkets that may normally sell nonessential items is to prevent people going out to the shops as much as the maybe would like to do. he cited the example of a toaster and said he has to think about whether it is the essential circumstance of needing rather than wanting a toaster. meanwhile, the scotla nd wanting a toaster. meanwhile, the scotland briefing has been going on

with nicola sturgeon. one death from covid—19 and over 1000 positive tests have happened in the pass 24 are worse. let's listen to what she was saying. on friday republished a strategic framework for tackling covid. that framework included the proposed levels that will apply to different parts of the country depending on prevalence of the virus. over the weekend, we have discussed the framework with partners and considered for public health advice. discussions are continuing as discussions with local councils. there are likely to be some clarifications to the detail of the levels we set out on friday and we will publish a revised version ahead of the parliamentary debate that will take place tomorrow. we will keep the detail of the levels under ongoing review as the pandemic develops. we will also set out more detail ahead of tomorrow's debate on the factors that will guide decisions on which levels apply to different parts of the country.

assuming parliament agrees with the d raft assuming parliament agrees with the draft framework tomorrow, ministers will decide later in a week on advice from the national management tea m advice from the national management team and our chief advisers and in consultation with local councils what levels will initially apply and what levels will initially apply and what parts of the country from monday the 2nd of november. i would remind you that in broad terms, the current restrictions in place in the central belt are equivalent to the proposed level three and those in the rest of the country broadly equivalent to level two. for many places, there may be no immediate change. for an area to come down a level, we want to see a fall in the prevalence of the virus be sustained, not just seen prevalence of the virus be sustained, notjust seen on one or two days. that i think is important in giving business stability, but also giving people confidence that we are not going to take unnecessary risks when we start to lift restrictions. the next few days we will see some important decisions which will have an impact on all of us. i think it is important for

context, though, for all of us to remember, given how tough all of this is, that these decisions are one that scotland is facing in commonwealth countries across these islands across europe, and of course across the world. many countries are facing having to impose or be imposed tough restrictions, especially on hospitality as a second wave of covid takes hold. the purpose of adopting tough restrictions just over two weeks ago he was to try to curb the increase in covid cases that we were seeing before the virus ran further out of control. the daily figures, i have been reporting recently, as i indicated on friday, suggest that these restrictions are starting to have an effect. we do think that the increase in case numbers is slowing, but it is not yet in decline, which is why we cannot be complacent. but we should take encouragement from the daily numbers at the moment because they suggest that the sacrifice that everybody is making

are starting to work. once the new five levels approach is adopted, and once people get more familiar with it, which i know will take a bit of time, i hope people will be better able to understand on an ongoing basis the spread of covid in their particular area and also what measures are necessary to tackle it. hopefully that in turn will underline a key point, the best way of moving to a lower level of restrictions and of living more freely is to have a lower level of transmission of the virus. the best way, of course, we have of driving transmission lower and keeping it low is for all of us to stick to the rules that are in place at any given time. nicola sturgeon. the skill of the impacts of the lockdown... the scale of the impact of the lockdowns and coronavirus on the lives of 16 to 25 year olds has been revealed in research by the london school of economics

and exeter university. the study examines the effect on thejob prospects, education and mental health of young people. it demonstrates that deprived pupils have been worst hit. kashjones reports. i remember boris standing there and talking about how gcses and a—level exams were cancelled. my first reaction was, i think, disbelief. i think that moment when life, for me, really started to change. roberta's just started in year 12 it harris westminster sixth form. it's a selective school in central london, and it gives priority to bright but disadvantaged 16—year—olds. in her year group are pupils from every borough in london, and 20 were privately educated. that break of 6 months did so much damage. usually i'd be able to just be sitting for hours and be able to revise and reallyjust absorb it in my mind. now i get kind of restless after one or two hours. and they all come from different schools as well so is there people in your classroom that had, like, a good six—month period and were still getting access to materials? yes. i think, coming into this school, i didn't realise the disparity would be this big in the classroom. there are people that don't know

anything and there are people that know almost the whole content. research given exclusively to panorama shows pupils in private schools were five times more likely to have full online lessons at the than those in state schools. even though schools like this one were doing their best to make sure stu d e nts doing their best to make sure students do not miss out, following tents peoples across the country, are still not getting the same levels of teaching the did before lockdown. staff are getting used to running lessons online. in a week before lockdown, one of your 13, cobit and the whole group had to work remotely. this is one of the deputy head teachers. schools will still go on educating young people. that is what we are here to do. but we are not in the bedroom with them, checking in on them, check and they checking in on them, check and they checking their somebody at home looking after them, we are not there for them to talk to when they are having moments where they feel really down. this is the uk's

largest online mental health service for 11—24 —year—olds. they have seen demand for counselling rise since the lockdown, at times by more than half. adele is one of the councillors. the really anxious about the pandemic. and not being able to go to school, not being able to have that routine. usually they know where they are going. theyjust have not got that same life and they are unsure if they are going to get that back again. lee elliott major is part of a team researching the long—term impact of corvette on 16-25 long—term impact of corvette on 16—25 —year—olds. long—term impact of corvette on 16-25 -year-olds. we covet the covid generation. young people growing up now and their prospects. i do wonder where the younger generation will kind of start demanding some sort of justice, if you like, intergenerational justice about all of this. i do think we need a fundamental reset of thinking on theseissues fundamental reset of thinking on these issues because if you do not solve them now, they are going to store up bigger problems for future

generations even more. this is the chance in many ways for us to address some of these inequalities in society. and panorama: has covid stolen my future? is on at 7.35 pm on bbc one tonight and will be on the bbc iplayer a former paratrooper has jumped 200 feet from the helicopter into the sea without a parachute. he fell for about four seconds before hitting the water at about 80 mph. he was hoping to break records for the highest free jump from a helicopter and the highest jump highest free jump from a helicopter and the highestjump into water. in a moment, the bbc news at one with my colleague, simon mccoy. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. the fairly changeable conditions we will see in the uk this week is being driven by some massive temperature contrast across the usa and canada. we have seen

record—breaking cold, record—breaking cold, record—breaking snowfall across northern parts of the us. that is fighting it out with some very warm air towards the south. in between are very air towards the south. in between are very active jet stream which is charging across the atlantic and picking up areas of low pressure. as we go into the middle part of the week, this contains an remnants of hurricane. we can say when stat 100 mph but the good news is that straightaway to the north—west of us, but it will influence our weather and it will be some rather windy conditions at times, but nothing untoward. some heavy rain and rough seas in the west, but later in the week things will turn milder. when later in it would probably be more wrong than you will see at the moment. ever since the rest of the day, parts of scotland, northern england, one or challenge for the south. we finished the day we re for the south. we finished the day were some dry weather. radical fuel out there this evening, chapters in single figures. it this evening and overnight, starfish or not around to begin with, becoming fewer in number for a while before rain starts to arrive towards the south—west, south—west wales and also northern ireland. many northern and eastern areas, clear skies, ireland. many northern and eastern areas, clearskies, could be a ireland. many northern and eastern areas, clear skies, could be a touch of frost around into tuesday

morning. as we are going to tuesday, it is almost like you will see two different sides to the day. to the south and west, you will see some rain at times, some which will be heavy, bit of a blistering start. before sunshine and showers later. north and east, you will stop the sunshine but the remote bush and later in the day. brightest of all, for no state of scotland, orkney and shetland. but here we will see temperatures fairly similar to the rest of us, only around 10—14. temperatures fairly similar to the rest of us, only around 10—14 . as i say, you finish with sunshine and showers to the south and west. the rent then moves towards the north—east of scotland as we go into tuesday evening and overnight. then back to this area of low pressure, it is between us and i sling really but on the southern flank of it with winds coming along, we will see some pretty rough seas around the west on wednesday. to the west of ireland, could see some phenomenal waves we offshore. with those winds coming in from a south—westerly direction, it will be a mixture of sunshine and showers on wednesday. south and west they will be most frequent. some eastern areas will stay dry and bright but a fairly cold day in the

breeze when you see the showers are not. some longer spells of rain returning into thursday. even stronger ones, particularly for england and wales.

refusing to budge — the prime minister says he won't reverse his stance over free school meals during holidays. some tory mps join opposition claims he's scored an own—goal, in the face of a high—profile campaign by footballer marcus rashford. we will make sure, we will do everything in our power to make sure that no kid, no child goes hungry this winter during the holidays. why doesn't the prime minister just swallow his pride, recognise that marcus rashford is onto something here, that the opposition are right when they say that we need to do something right now? we'll be assessing the political row as half—term gets under way in england. also this lunchtime... the welsh government apologises over misinterpretation of its covid rules, saying period products are not affected. covid tests off the shelf —

boots says results take 12 minutes,