shaimaa khalil, bbc news, sydney. the headlines on bbc news.strictions in england — lancashire moves into the highest alert category, but there's still stalemate over greater manchester. french police say samuel paty — the history teacher who was beheaded in a suspected islamist attack — had been threatened for several days. in new zealand jacinda ardern is re elected with a landslide victory — she was widely praised for her handling of the coronavirus pandemic. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's gavin. it's been a busy day, gavin. two local derbies. we were hoping for drama in the merseyside derby and it didn't disappoint. everton came from behind twice to draw 2—2 at goodison park. but liverpool were left bemused by a late var decision that denied them victory. patrick gearey was watching. goodison park is one of the places on merseyside three are allowed to meet your neighbours. in the league, everton started this derby ahead. sadia manny scored for liverpool after just two minutes sadia manny scored for liverpo

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, sydney.uestions in the us senate for the third day of her nomination hearing. her likely confirmation will mean a 6—3 conservative majority on the court. the life—time appointment is being challenged by democrats saying that the court vacancy should be filled by whoever wins the election. republicans are pushing for a full senate vote before the november presidential election. in wednesday's hearings, judge barrett attempted to reassure democratic senators, worried about her alleged hostility to president obama's affordable care act. well, as i said yesterday, what i can say is that i certainly have no agenda, i'm not on a mission, i'm not hostile to the aca at all. and if i were on the court and if a case involving the aca came before me, i would approach it with an open mind — just like i do every case — and go through the process that we've discussed. as early voting begins in the us presidential election, campaigners in the state of georgia say a historic problem has reappeared. it's call

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, sydney. the headlines on bbc news.ecorded in the uk in the past 2a hours, with the number of covid—linked deaths rising to 150. millions of people are now living with tighter coronavirus restrictions in england. lancashire moves into the highest alert category, but there's still a stalemate over greater manchester. french police say samuel paty the history teacher who was beheaded in a suspected islamist attack had been threatened for several days. a loophole which can allow drivers to escape punishment for taking photos or playing games on their phones is to be closed. the department for transport is consulting on updating laws so that phone calls and texting are not the only functions banned when behind the wheel. 0ur transport correspondent, tom burridge, reports. it is dangerous, but a lot of drivers do it. in fact, new research found that on 765 journeys, phones were used 662 times. only 38 of those were on hands—free. but the law right now means that only phoning or texting at the wheel is illegal. someone taking

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, sydney.fences after a cannabis factory, spread across three floors, was discovered in a former nightclub in coventry. the national crime agency raided the property on trinity street on thursday. they discovered around a thousand cannabis plants with a street value of over a million pounds, one of the largest hauls the agency has ever seen. officers also found growing equipment valued at about £150,000. survivors of the hatfield rail crash and those who lost loved ones have marked its 20th anniversary at a service today. four passengers were killed when an express train derailed near the hertfordshire town. capacity at the annual memorial was limited to 30 people because of covid—19 restrictions. the graffiti artist banksy has confirmed a piece of art that appeared in nottingham was created by him. the work, outside a beauty salon, shows a girl hula—hooping with a bicycle tyre. it went up on tuesday, next to a bicycle that is missing its back wheel. amind speculation, a protective screen was f

jacinda ardern. 0ur correspondent, shaimaa khalil, joins us from sydney in australia.tem, and being able to form potentially a government on her own rather than having to rely on coalition partners, how much, though, is it a victory for her style of victory no leadership because she is rather different from the leader of the opposition? absolutely, and i think there has been a lot that has been said during the campaigning, during the presidential debate, betweenjacinda ardern and the leader of the oppositionjudith ardern and the leader of the opposition judith collins ardern and the leader of the oppositionjudith collins about ardern and the leader of the opposition judith collins about the style of leadership. jacinda ardern campaigned on compassion, steering the country through very difficult times. remember, she has led the country through the christchurch terrorist attacks, through the volcanic eruptions at the end of 2019, and through the coronavirus pandemic and new zealand's success in containing the virus has put a co mforta bly in containing the virus has put

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, sydney. to come: thousands flee their homes with no idea of when they will return as the ceasefire falters in azerbaijan. indira gandhi, ruler of the world's largest democracy, died today. only yesterday, she'd spoken of dying in the service of her country and said, "i would be proud of it. every drop of my blood will contribute to the growth of this nation." after 46 years of unhappiness, these two countries have concluded a chapter of history. no more suspicion, no more fear, no more uncertainty of what each day might bring. booster ignition and lift—off of discovery with a crew of six astronaut heroes and one american legend. enjoying the show is right. this is beautiful. a milestone in human history. born today, this girl in india is the 7 billionth person on the planet. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: with one week to go until the us election, campaigning is intensifying for donald trump and his rival joe biden. violence and looting breakout in philadelphia is protesting start af

shaimaa khalil reports.stroke of midnight, there were at restaurants, bars, pubs, popping champagne, so the very fa ct pubs, popping champagne, so the very fact that people take for granted being able to go out and meet friends and actually have a night out again. remember. this is been one of the longest and strictest lockdowns, not just in one of the longest and strictest lockdowns, notjust in victoria, not just in australia, but in the world. under 12 days of everything being closed and people almost been confined to their homes with no reasons to leave. and that a five km radius away from their homes, all of thatis radius away from their homes, all of that is now easing. philadelphia has put a curfew in place tonight after experiencing more protests and looting — following yet another fatal police shooting of a black man. walter wallace died on monday after two police officers shot him, while responding to a call reporting a man with a knife. walter wallace's family say he was suffering a mental health c

our correspondent shaimaa khalil joins us from sydney in australia. this result is not unexpected. nail biting, edge of your seat election. this was in an election where jacinda ardern had a comfortable lead in the polls, her labour party was about 15 points ahead of the national party, even before the votes were counted. the victory of the labour party was expected. the big question of the night was how big the victory was going to be and how big was the margin. more than 70% of the results have not been counted and labour is that 49%, which means they have 64 seats in parliament, which is a co mforta ble seats in parliament, which is a comfortable majority. they need 61 to form a majority government, so they do have the numbers with most of the votes counted. we heard from the national leader saying this was a tough fight, a tough campaign. she congratulated jacinda ardern on her performance, what she described as an outstanding result. it is an impressive result by anybody‘s standard. the challenge now will be this transfer from a tumultuous first term, her personality, her kind

shaimaa khalil reports. let's keep moving! a big victory in tough times.ardern was going to get a second term. the question was how big she was going to win. and by anyone's standards, this was a remarkable night for her and her party. labour now has enough seats in parliament to form a majority government without a coalition. an unprecedented achievement in new zealand politics since 1996. we will not take your support for granted. i can promise you, we will be a party that governs every new zealander. the opposition national party leader judith collins conceded it was a tough battle and promised her party would be a robust opposition. three years will be gone in a blink of an eye. and i say to everybody. we will be back. things are going to be different for the young and charismatic leader. despite her popularity, this promises to be a difficult second term, with new zealand now in recession for the first time in 11 years. the labour party has been criticised for not having a clear covid—i9 economic recovery plan. and miss ardern made it a point to addre

shaimaa khalil has more on this.ding to health officials. you remember new zealand was celebrating being covid free for 100 days earlier in the year after that strict lockdown and the restrictions having eased but then in august another outbreak hit auckland, the biggest the country has seen, 180 cases linked to that very cluster and then auckland went into lockdown. now jacinda ardern and then auckland went into lockdown. nowjacinda ardern has said she is confident this cluster is now almost completely illuminated, about 95% eliminated and that is why they are easing those restrictions which means there will be no 100 people limit on gatherings for example, no social distancing required at bars and restau ra nts, distancing required at bars and restaurants, things going back to normal at a crucial time because this is happening just over a week ahead of a general election. much more on the pandemic on the bbc news website. a court in the greek capital athens, has ruled that the far—right neo—nazi party, golden dawn,

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, sydney.ia, normally a republican stronghold but one which they believe could switch allegiance. trump has been in wisconsin and nebraska. in the georgian hot springs town where franklin roosevelt once took treatment for polio, and democrat, joe biden, pledged to heal the country's wounds. anger and suspicion are growing. and our wounds are getting deeper. and many wonder has it gone too far? that we have passed a point of no return. as —— has the heart of this nation turned to stone? i don't think so. two socially distanced rallies here are being seen as a sign of confidence on the part of the biden team. not since bill clinton back in 1982 has georgia supported a democrat in a presidential election. but polls put the two candidates neck and neck. little social distancing in evidence here by comparison and many at this trump rally were also without masks. donald trump is looking to defend the midwestern states of michigan and wisconsin, states he narrowly won four years ago, and despite trail

shaimaa khalil, bbc news, sydney.h carol, who's at a rather spooky tower of london this morning. good morning. good morning. i can tell you it is a chilly start to the day if you haven't yet ventured out. look at my view. the tower of london in all its magnificence and splendour. i will have more ghost stories through the morning. yesterday we were at hampton court palace and we were actually talking about the ghost of anne boleyn and catherine howard. they were executed in here. more about that through the morning. it is 2 degrees in northern —— north east scotland at the moment. for many of us today the forecast is going to be one of some rain, some showers and also blustery winds and some big waves as well out towards the west. we are starting off with clear skies in central and eastern areas. there are showers already. as we go through the day some of those will be blown eastwards on the blustery winds. a better chance of seeing some dry conditions in the east. through the afternoon some of those showers will merg

confidence a second wave of infections in the city has been almost eliminated. 0ur correspondent shaimaa khalilcally no restrictions, and that is after ten consecutive days of no community transition of covid—19. the last six community cases from that outbreak that happened back in august have recovered, according to health officials. now, you remember, new zealand was celebrating being covid free for 100 days earlier in the year after that strict lockdown and the restrictions having eased, but then in august, another outbreak hit 0akland. the biggest the country has ever seen. 180 cases linked to that very cluster. and then 0akland went into lockdown. now, jacinda ardern has said that this cluster is now almost all completely eliminated, but 95% eliminated. about 95% eliminated. and that is why they are eating those restrictions, which means there will be no 100—people limit on gatherings, for example. no social distancing required in bars, in restaurants. so, things going back to normal at a crucial time, of course. because this is happening just over a week ahead of a general election. thank

the virus controlled but there were 800 lives lost in melbourne. 0ur australia correspondent shaimaa khalilgrateful for even being able to come to our favourite re sta u ra nt able to come to our favourite restaurant and our neighbourhood pub. this was unimaginable just a few weeks ago, customers flooding into shops that have been closed since august. what an exciting day to be able to open up to our melbourne customers and we have really been awaiting this day for very long, so a big day for us. but getting he has not been easy. this was one of the world's longest and strictest lockdowns. it devastated the local economy but has been credited for containing the virus. it is not clear when people will be able to travel freely to and from victoria, at the premier here says the real test will be what happens with case numbers now that things are opening up. victoria was the epicentre of australia's second wave and it will be a while before things get back to normal. for now, people are enjoying the simple pleasures are enjoying the simple pleasures are used to take for granted. —— they used to

shaimaa khalil in sydney gave us more details. are a couple of other flights arriving from new zealand to sydney from qantas and jetstar. and, yes, the flight was almost full. this was the first time that this so—called travel bubble or corridor, has been actually activated between new zealand and australia. it has been in the works for quite some time. it is limited, in many ways. one is that it is a one—way travel bubble. so, new zealanders can come to australia, but not the other way round. jacinda ardern, when this was announced about a week ago, said that it was still unsafe for new zealand to open its borders to australia and australians. but those coming from new zealand can arrive here in new south wales where i am or, in the northern territory, and officials here are hoping that this could expand to other states, too. the big thing, of course, is that they are not required to quarantine, unlike any other passengers that are coming into australia. they are required to quarantine for two weeks at their own expense. what the