tonight at ten — the prime minister confirms that almost all of england's coronavirus restrictions will be lifted next monday — despite a surge in cases. masks and social distancing will no longer be a legal requirement — though face coverings will still be encouraged in places like public transport. but predictions there could be up to 2,000 people admitted to hospital and up to 200 deaths every day within weeks. i cannot say this powerfully or emphatically enough. this pandemic is not over. scientists say they're expecting this third covid wave to peak in the middle of august. also tonight... england's manager gareth

southgate says the racist abuse directed at his players after their euro 2020 defeat last night was unforgivable. it's just not what we stand for. i think we've been a beacon of light in bringing people together and in people being able to relate to the national team. why google�*s boss says the model of a free and open internet is under attack. and in cuba, the biggest protests in decades against the island's communist government as thousands call forfreedom, democracy, and covid vaccines. and coming up in the sport, on the bbc news channel, former winner zachjohnson is the latest to withdraw from this week's open championship due to a positive covid test.

good evening. the prime minister has confirmed that almost all of the coronavirus restrictions that have been in place in england for the past 16 months will be lifted in a week's time onjuly 19th. that's despite a surge in new cases across the uk. from next monday, the requirement for social distancing will stop. people will no longer be legally required to wear face coverings, though they'll be expected to keep them on in crowded indoor spaces like public transport. restrictions on socialising, weddings and funerals will go. nightclubs and big events can reopen but some sort of vaccine certificates will be encouraged. the advice to work from home where possible is ending with a gradual return to the workplace. the latest wave of coronavirus is expected to peak in august. but as england opens up — the latest predictions suggest there could be up to 200 deaths a day and up to 2,000 people admitted to hospital every day.

here's our health editor, hugh pym. for those in england wondering how things will be different from next monday, there was a change of tone from the government today. masks and face coverings will be expected in certain places, like crowded public transport, even as legal restrictions are lifted onjuly 19th, with the key message being caution. this pandemic is not over. this disease, coronavirus, continues to carry risks for you and your family. we cannot simply revert instantly from monday the 19th ofjuly to life as it was before covid. scientists and modellers predict the current wave of infections will reach a peak in august. there could be between 1,000 and 2,000 daily hospital admissions and between 100 and 200 deaths each day. but all that depends on a certain amount of continued caution by the public.

for example, mask wearing in some crowded indoor spaces. can you spell out some of the risks involved with opening up onjuly 19th in england, for example to the nhs? if behaviour returns to pre—pandemic levels immediately, that would be a very big rise. if we go slowly and cautiously, that would be less of a rise, but we can't escape the fact that any increase like that will be associated with an increase in hospitalisations and sadly with deaths, as well. those hospital numbers could be around half the peak seen injanuary and covid patients now tend to be younger and need less time in hospital, but leading doctors are concerned about the mounting pressure. not only are we managing the backlog from last year, we're also trying to do normal activity but we're also seeing a rise in admissions with patients with covid. as health care professionals we are really worried

about what is going to happen over the coming weeks. labour had this response to the changes. we all want to ease restrictions, but with infection rates still going up at the rate they're going up, this plan is still reckless, i'm afraid. we need a safe way of coming through this. there were mixed views from the people we spoke to in derby. i think it's a good idea because i think the country have really been very patient. coronavirus is still very much around. i will still keep my mask on. i think we should lift the restrictions. - i think they should let - people live how they live, instead of keeping people as prisoners, mate. - with more walk in vaccination centres open like this one in southampton at the weekend, national and local officials feel they have to reach out more to younger adults. that's because take—up of first doses has fallen and it's not down to supply issues.

it was fairly consistent during june but since the end of the month, measured by the seven day rolling average, it's more than halved. government scientists have made it clear that in their view there is no ideal date for easing restrictions and delaying would not mean a different outcome. hugh pym, bbc news. 0ur deputy political editor vicki young is at westminster. restrictions being lifted this time next week but the tone is very different this week. you next week but the tone is very different this week. you would be exectinu different this week. you would be expecting boris — different this week. you would be expecting boris johnson - different this week. you would be expecting boris johnson to - different this week. you would be expecting boris johnson to be - expecting borisjohnson to be celebrating those new freedoms but far from celebrating those new freedoms but farfrom it, he really today very much focused on the risks and urging everyone to be cautious and to take it slowly. labour sees a contradiction and they say if you know that these restrictions would keep case numbers and therefore hospitalisations down, why don't you keep them in place? they say it is like putting the country in a car without a seat belt, but the government thinks this is about personal responsibility and that after all these months we all know what we need to do to keep safe

whether that is meeting outside or wearing masks in a crowded indoor space, so they are relying on expectations and they are talking about recommending things and encouraging things. the problem is, they are relying on people behaving in a certain way and they cannot be sure that is going to happen which means there is great uncertainty about what will happen in the coming weeks. . ., ., , let's take a brief look at the latest covid restrictions across the other three nations. wales still has no date for ending covid restrictions. the welsh government's next review on regulations is due on wednesday but it says face masks will remain mandatory in some settings including public transport, and in health and social care settings. ministers are still deciding whether masks will continue to be law in shops. the scottish government will confirm tomorrow whether the country can move to level zero on monday. further covid restrictions could be lifted on august 9th.

but some measures, such as the wearing of face masks, will remain in place. in northern ireland, some covid rules are due to be relaxed from july 26th meaning theatres and concert halls can reopen, face coverings will not have to be worn in places of worship and restrictions on social gatherings at people's homes will be eased, too. the changes will need to be agreed by ministers at stormont. the latest official figures show another six deaths were recorded in the last 2a hours — and 34,471 new infections in the last 24 hours — and 34,471 new infections across the uk. on average there were 32,500 new cases per day in the past week. 42,000 people had a first dose of the vaccine in the last 24—hours. nearly 46 million people have had theirfirstjab — just over 87% of uk adults. more than 107,000 people had their second jab, so close to 35 million — or 66% of all adults — are fully vaccinated.

the business community in england been eagerly awaiting a return to normal trading. but there's still trepidation about their responsibility to keep staff and customers safe, as colletta smith reports. i'm just really excited to get the atmosphere and the buzz. the doors of the blind pig have been closed for 16 months. it wasn't possible forjulie to open under the current rules. just to have people back in here again... but they're getting the place in shipshape again because, from next week, you won't need a mask in here and you won't need to socially distance. every time i walked in the door, my heart'sjust sank and the trepidation of not knowing if, next month, it would have to go. talking to my accountant, it's been a very close shave. so how do things look for you as a business and financially over the next few months and years?

from starting off with no debts, no loans for anything, we now have years of debts that we've got to pay back. it's my baby. and just to see it back to life again... and the atmosphere when a bands playing and everybody�*s enjoying the music, dancing, to have that back and to give that back to people again, i can't wait. now that the government are leaving it up to business owners and customers to decide whether or not to wear one of these, each venue and each shop is going to start to look very different on the inside, each applying slightly different rules. down the road in hebden bridge, this flower shop is hoping customers keep masks on. and it's for a simple reason... it's been quite difficult, obviously, with the boss being off with covid. i've had a lot of responsibility put onto my shoulders. if one of us gets covid now, we're another staff member down and that's not what we need.

college student asha has been brought in to help out for the next few weeks. it puts us in quite a vulnerable position. obviously, we're still susceptible to covid—19. but throughout lockdown, we've been the ones that have been working in the cafes, because obviously our wages are the cheapest, so it's kind of weighing up how much you want to keep your family safe and how much you actually want that stable income. in order not to lose any more money, some businesses are desperate to remove restrictions and others need them in place longer. customers will be navigating that divide. colletta smith, bbc news, in the calder valley. the england manager gareth southgate says the racist abuse aimed at three players after england's defeat by italy last night is "unforgivable". the prime minister said those responsible should crawl back under the rock they came from. tonight, one of the players targeted, marcus rashford, said he will never apologise for who he is.

and another england player, tyrone mings, has accused the home secretary priti patel of pretending to be disgusted by the racist abuse, having previously described taking the knee as "gesture politics". 0ur sports editor dan roan reports. and it's luke shaw! it had all started so well. having waited more than half a century for their first major final, england took the lead afterjust two minutes. but then suffered the cruelty of an all—too—familiar fate against italy. losing once again on penalties. a tournament that had lit up the summer, ending in tears. as the team left their hotel this morning the manager was left to reflect on what might have been. the fact that we've had, you know, the first signs of some consistency, semi final, final, has to be a step in the right direction. it's not, ultimately, where we wanted to get to and when you are so close

that is even more painful of course. you know, it feels like your stomach has been ripped out this morning. but last night was excruciating for english football in other ways. chaotic scenes outside wembley as dozens of ticketless fans forced their way through security barriers and into the stadium. police making 49 arrests with 19 officers injured in the mayhem. today, the fa launched a review. we apologise to any fans who were affected by that and from our point of view as well we apologise to any of our staff and stewards who had to deal with that. it was clearly unacceptable. a massive occasion for wembley and for the fa. how on earth could this have happened? we will investigate fully. there was no evidence in advance that anything like this was going to happen in this way. but clearly crowds started gathering on wembley way and there were lots of public order events there that spilled over into people trying to force their way into the stadium. 0ne former premier league player inside wembley told us the situation was so serious, he decided to leave

before the match began. there was fighting going on, there was arguments. and then we were basically in a position where i couldn't move. i was literally trapped like that. i was at the stage where, safety first here. i'm going to get myself out of here because this is dangerous. but football's night of shame didn't stop there. rashford has missed! the three england players who missed penalties, marcus rashford, jadon sancho and bukayo saka, all subject to online racist abuse. for some of them to be abused is unforgivable, really. we've got to make sure that we are there and aligned with their clubs and making sure that we look after those boys, absolutely. this morning, the fa's president, the duke of cambridge, said he was sickened by what he called "abhorrent behaviour." "it must stop now," he added. borisjohnson said he hoped those responsible would crawl back under the rock from which they had emerged.

but labour leader sir keir starmer today claimed the prime minister failed to show leadership by not initially condemning fans who booed england's taking of the knee before warm up matches. downing street insists he always supported the players�* right to protest and did criticise the booing, asking fans to cheer. tonight tyrone mings accused priti patel of stoking the fire. today, a mural dedicated to rashford was defaced. the police are investigating what they called "racially motivated vandalism." marcus rashford apologised tonight for his penalty miss but he said he would never apologise for what he is. it's unacceptable. as long as they are performing and scoring and getting results, then of course, we are all england, we are all behind you. but the minute that doesn't happen, the abuse comes out. but the last month has still been overwhelmingly positive for england, who can look forward to the future with renewed confidence.

football can be a cruel, cruel game at times. and i've been on the end of it, and unfortunately these boys will feel so hurt, so angry, so disappointed. and it will hurt them for a while. but when you look at the whole picture, they should feel very proud of what they've given us. how are you feeling today? upset. their euros dream over, the hurt continues for england. but the sense is that these players are heading in the right direction. this was a reminder that while the team proved a unifying force, the issues of hooliganism and racism have not gone away, but after a historic campaign that they will never forget, historic campaign that they will neverforget, southgate historic campaign that they will never forget, southgate and historic campaign that they will neverforget, southgate and his players can plan for the world cup next year with renewed belief that finally they are contenders again.

well very different scenes in italy where fans were celebrating their victory on the streets of rome today — their first european title in more than 50 years. the italian team arrived back to a hero's welcome. large crowds gathered in the italian capital to watch the team captain, giorgio chiellini, show off the trophy. as well as being guests of honour of the president and prime minister, the squad delighted fans by taking an impromptu bus ride through the city. thousands have taken to the streets of cuba in the largest mass demonstratations for over 25 years. public protests on this scale are very rare in the communist—controlled state, and reflect growing anger over hunger, high prices and the government's handling of the pandemic. us president, joe biden, called on the cuban regime to "listen to their people". the cuban president said us sanctions were to blame. 0ur north america editor jon sopel reports. libertad! "libertad", the crowd

in havana shouts, orfreedom. but while many cubans feel this in their hearts, it's extremely rare for protesters to take to the streets to give vent to their anger in this one—party communist state. translation: we are here because of the repression of the people, - they are starving us to death. havana is collapsing. we have no house, nothing, but they have the money to build hotels and they have us starving. and shouting "down with the dictatorship," as many of the protesters did, can come with a heavy price. but a toxic cocktail of economic collapse, a faltering response to the pandemic and lack of civil liberties has emboldened these people. and the response of the president? blame your over mighty neighbourjust 90 miles to the north, the united states. translation: there will be - a revolutionary response so we call upon all the revolutionaries in the country, all the communists, to take to the streets of any of the places where these

provocations are going to take place. for decades cuba was a flashpoint in the cold war between the us and the soviet union. archive report: the familiar - communist brainwashing technique is displayed in propaganda books constantly spewed out _ as required reading. nearly sparking a nuclear confrontation between the superpowers. in this period, hundreds of thousands of cubans fled to the us and to miami. and it was no surprise that last night the exiled community was out in force to support their countrymen. support that has come from the american president, too. i don't think we have seen anything like this protest in a long, long time, if, quite frankly, ever. the united states stands firmly with the people of cuba as they assert their universal rights, and we call on the government of cuba to refrain from violence, and their attempts to silence the voice of the people of cuba. this is being watched incredibly closely by the white house.

sanctions that were intensified in the trump era have not been relaxed byjoe biden. what needs to be weighed is whether this is just a spasmodic outburst or the start of a cuban spring and something much more fundamental. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. france is to introduce compulsory vaccination for hundreds of thousands of health workers, following a sharp rise in the number of covid cases caused by the delta variant. from september 15th they won't be allowed to go to work and won't get paid if they are not vaccinated. president macron also said that from next month people wantinig to go to bars, cafes and shopping centres or travel on planes and long distance trains will have to carry a health pass showing they've either been vaccinated or have had a recent negative test. it comes amid signs that the uptake of the vaccination programme has been slowing with around 40% of the population fully vaccinated.

south africa has deployed soldiers to tackle unrest — triggered by the jailing of former presidentjacob zuma. shops were looted and buildings were set on fire today as mr zuma challenged his sentence at a hearing in court. the boss of the search engine google says the model of a free and open internet is under attack. sundar pichai says many countries are restricting the flow of information and the western model, free from political censorship, is often taken for granted. google is under huge pressure from regulators around the world for its approach to privacy, data — and tax. 0ur media editor, amol rajan, reports from silicon valley in california. for the past two decades, one californian company, more than any other, has designed and built the internet with a dominance in digital advertising. now google isjourneying into the unknown with two big bets...

unimaginably powerful quantum computers and, above all, artificial intelligence. i viewed it as the most profound technology that humanity will ever, you know, develop and work on, and we have to make sure we do it in a way that we can harness it to society's benefit. sundar pichai is the man leading google into this new era. be it health care, be it education, be it how we manufacture things and how we consume information. if you think about fire or electricity or the internet, it's like that but i think even more profound. born of humble roots in tamil nadu in south—east india, sundar pichai trained as an engineer. he moved to the us to pursue his dream and joined google's founders, larry page and sergey brin, when the company was just six years old in 2004. now, he's the boss of both google and its parent company alphabet, which includes youtube. and he faces unrelenting scrutiny from us lawmakers to, most recently, at the g7 and g20 summits,

where tax was in focus. historically, has google paid enough tax in the right places? we are one of the world's largest taxpayers. if you look at on an average over the past decade, we have paid over 20% in taxes. we do pay the majority of our share of taxes in the us, where we originate and where our products are developed. i think there are good conversations, and we support the global 0ecd conversations figuring out what is the right way to allocate taxes. and this is beyond a single company to solve. you've got two teenagers, i understand. what's your policy on screen time for kids? i think this generation needs to learn to adapt to technology. it's going to be a big part of their lives, so i've encouraged them to develop boundaries on their own, but i've approached it as a journey of personal responsibility. how worried are you that, today, the internet seems to be splitting into different domains, where we have a kind of californian internet and increasingly a chinese one, and the chinese one might

be in the ascendant? the free and open internet has been a tremendous force for good, and i think we take it for granted a bit. but i do think the model is being attacked. and so i think it's something we take for granted, but i hope we can stand up, particularly in countries with strong democratic traditions and values. sundar pichai is clear, it's up to democracies, as much as any tech giant to shape our digital future. amol rajan, bbc news, in silicon valley. torrential downpours have caused flooding in towns and cites across the south of england causing major disruption on roads and trains. in london, there was thunder, lightning and flash floods with drains struggling to deal with the downpour, and major roads almost submerged. the fire brigade took more than 1000 calls within just a couple of hours with north west and south west london worst affected. and in dorset cars became stranded after attempting

to drive through floodwater, which completely submberged several stretches of road in poole and bournemouth. back to england's loss to italy in last night's euro 2020 final. a record audience watched the game peaking at almost 31 million viewers — the most viewed television event since the funeral of princess diana. ed thomas has been speaking to one community in 0ldham about what the tournament has meant to them. it was somejourney... ..with the absolute highs... england! ..and the lows. so what's left now the party's over? it were fun. it was a good day, it was a good night. it was enjoyable, weren't it? it was really enjoyable. all of the community spirit was from the football. - covid, we couldn't do anything. the football's lifted everyone's spirits. i so it doesn't feel like a loss? no, not at all. they played their hearts out

and they're an inspiration to all these young kids. watching it out with all your friends and neighbours and enjoying the game together, like a community should do. this was lymeside in 0ldham last night. and imagine this repeated across england. moments ofjoy... how do you feel? good. ..that mean more than just football. very proud. very, very proud. we come from normal backgrounds, just like a lot of the players do. they do a lot more for our communities than some of the councils and governments do around here. they've fed the kids for the past year, with the school meal stuff, and they've kept their spirits high. it's brought us all back together. when you hear that marcus rashford has woken up to racism and abuse on social media... it's horrible, isn't it? there's no place for racism in football, communities, anywhere. there's no place for it, ever. this was a time some will neverforget. and now a new generation of fans...

i'm proud, very, very proud of them. ..have been inspired. 0ptimistic now about this team. an england fan, optimistic? yeah. i'm trying to get optimistic. i'm trying to think with this team now, we've got a young team, young players, quality players as well. hopefullyjust no more years of hurt, which will be nice. to lose is hard to take... ..but maybe something special has also been gained. three lions should be very proud for how far they got us. not everyone got in the final, did they? we did. we just didn't happen to win it. ed thomas, bbc news, 0ldham, england. that's it from us — good night. we've seen some really torrential

downpour is in the last few hours. a diminishing number of showers as we go through the night and tomorrow. forthe short—term, still some around. but gradually, it's easing away. just lingering in southern areas. 0vernight, underthose lingering in southern areas. 0vernight, under those clear skies developing in some areas, 12—14. quite a lot of local i will materialise. —— low cloud. best of the sunshine through the morning, but still a few showers around and the cloud will bubble up to bring a couple of slow—moving downpours. they will be as numerous as today. there should be longer spells of sunshine in between, that low cloud back to the coast. 21—23 the high.

this is bbc news, the headlines. the cuban opposition says dozens of activists have been arrested since sunday, when thousands of people joined the biggest protests in decades against the island's communist government. president miguel diaz—canel blamed the united states for the unrest. south africa's governing anc party has warned that continuing violent demonstrations will have a devastating economic impact on the country. troops have been deployed to protect property, as protestors blocked roads, set buildings on fire and looted shops. the us general scott miller has been given a send—off at a ceremony in the afghan capital, kabul. nato's afghanistan operation is officially ending at the end of august, despite a deterioration in the security situation. wildfires are raging across western united states — where millions have been hit by another heatwave. firefighters say conditions are so harsh water is evaporating before it hits the ground.