This is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. Tighter coronavirus restrictions are expected early next week for parts of england that could result in the closure of bars and restaurants. As new coronavirus restrictions hit scotlands hospitality sector, theres concern it could sound the death knell for some businesses. A sharp increase in covid 19 cases in countries across Europe Germany calls the rise worrying. In brussels, cafes and bars have been ordered to close this morning for at least a month. The two us Vice President ial candidates clash over Climate Change and health care and coronavirus during a televised debate
in salt lake city. The American People have witnessed the greatest failure of any president ial administration in the history of our country. If a vaccine emerges during the Trump Administration, i think it is unconscionable. And senator, i ask you, stop playing politics with peoples lives. The bbc sees evidence that livestock from the uk is being shipped to the middle east for slaughter in abattoirs described as dreadful and terrifying. British airways bids farewell to its last boeing 7a7 jumbo jets four years earlier than planned, due to the pandemic. Hello and welcome if youre watching in the uk or around the world and stay with us for the latest news
and analysis from here and across the globe. Uk ministers are expected to tighten the coronavirus restrictions in parts of england on monday as they struggle to contain the surge in new infections. Pubs and restaurants could be forced to close in the worst affected areas in another blow to the hard pressed hospitality sector. There could also be a ban on overnight stays away from home in some areas. The government is also likely to introduce a three tier system for local lockdowns where different parts of the country would be placed in different categories. It comes as significant new measures are introduced in Central Scotland, with pubs and restaurants closing in the central belt for more than two weeks. In germany, there has been a sharp rise in new infections. Its risen by a058 in the last 2a hours. Its the highest recorded number since april. Brussels is closing all bars
and cafes for at least a month. Only restaurants serving meals at tables will remain open. Italy has made it mandatory to wear face masks in outdoor spaces across the country in an attempt to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Ourfirst report comes from andy moore. It now looks almost certain that there will be new restrictions in the north of england. Manchester will very likely be affected. What hasnt been resolved is what form they will take and where they will be imposed. Options include the closure of pubs and restaurants and possibly a ban on overnight stays away from home. There is also likely to be a simpler, more easily understood system of restrictions where areas are put into a certain tier according to the level of infection. Cities in the north and the midlands have some of the highest coronavirus rates in the whole of the country. Liverpool has 552 cases per 100,000 people. Manchester has 542 cases per 100,000. And nottingham 497. In many of these places, local restrictions are already in force. These local restrictions that have been put in place in much of the north of england really havent been very effective. You can see rates are still going up, still going up very rapidly. We need to take much more stringent measures, notjust in the north of england, actually. I think we need to do it countrywide, and bring the epidemic back under control. Across the country, the number of covid deaths is rising. So too are the figures for admissions to hospitals. There is a serious risk the nhs will become overwhelmed in very short order. The increase in numbers of coronavirus cases is hard to compare from earlier this year, because of course we are testing far more. But the number of people
being admitted to hospital is directly comparable from earlier this year. And its on a very serious trajectory upwards. In scotland, new restrictions will come into force tomorrow evening. There will be no drinking inside bars and restaurants for over a fortnight. In the central belt, including glasgow and edinburgh, licensed premises will have to shut to all but takeaway services. There will be Financial Support for the Hospitality Industry in scotland, but the details are not clear. In england too, the treasury is looking at how to offer help to pubs and restaurants if tighter restrictions are imposed. Andy moore, bbc news. Lets get more on this from our Political Correspondentjess parker. It is not a question of if there will be restrictions in certain parts of england, but rather what they will be. Is anyone telling you more about how those might look, will be Something Like the central belt of scotland, where the restrictions being brought in from
tomorrow are much tighter . Its important to stress at this stage that we cant be sure exactly what will happen over the coming days. We do know ministers are worried about what we are seeing in terms of hospital admissions. They are looking at the data and over the coming days, it does now seem very likely that there will be further restrictions in some parts of england. Whether that might be pub closures, restaurant closures or a ban on overnight stays. These things we re ban on overnight stays. These things were put to the communities secretary robertjenrick this morning. He was remaining pretty tight lipped. We are currently considering what steps we should take, taking the advice of our scientific and medical advisors and a decision will be made shortly, but im not able to tell you exactly whats going to happen right now. But we will continue to take a proportionate and localised response, which i think is the right thing to do because the variations
in the number of cases are very significant in england, from over 550 in manchester per 100,000, to as low as 19 in cornwall, dorset and herefordshire. So a localised but proportionate response has to be the way forward. Jess, is the government saying anything more about targeted Financial Support or furlough for sectors that might be affected by tougher measures . Not publicly, but what we understand from treasury sources is that they are looking at further possible support for the hospitality sector in areas which could see further restrictions. It was only very recently that rishi sunak, the chancellor, announced his winter economy plan, the move from the furlough scheme to a new wage subsidy scheme, a less generous scheme, as ministers try and get people back into work, but they said they only wanted to supportjobs described as viable. But not long after he announced that plan, here we are with the possibility of a
further package of support. I think there will be a lot of pressure on there will be a lot of pressure on the treasury to come up with support for hard pressed sectors like hospitality, not least from local regional leaders and mayors who are voicing their concerns notjust about the way these measures are being communicated, but also what is going to happen to local businesses in those areas if there have to be further restrictions. Talk to us also about the announcement of a further inquiry by a number of pulmonary committees into the governments handling of coronavirus so far parliamentary committees. Various groups have been calling for this. It will not report until the spring. Is that going to be a bit too late to make any findings useful . Well, we dont know how long this virus is going to be with us. Something we have heard from ministers recently in terms of their strategy is that they want to suppress the virus and keep the economy going as much as possible and then wait for the cavalry to
come over the hill in terms of treatments or a vaccine. But a vaccine is not a certainty. There are hopes, but you have to ask questions about how many people that vaccine would be available to in the short to medium term. So discussions about the governments handling of coronavirus and examinations of it will go on for some time to come. Jess parker at westminster. Let me read a few of your comments on this issue. And even norwich says, cant understand why english covid restrictions are not expected until next week. We know numbers take much longer to come down than they are currently increasing. Another one from paul, who says pubs and clubs need a wake up call. It doesnt matter if they keep within the guidelines, they still supply as much alcohol as possible, which results in pecs ands shambolic behaviour. They cannot wash their hands on their customers the moment they leave junk. But another one says sadly, the problem is not in the bars and restaurants, it is in
the bars and restaurants, it is in the streets. It may be time to think the streets. It may be time to think the unthinkable and introduce a law of Riotous Assembly and then quarantine the offenders for a fortnight. If you want to send me any comments on this or any other stories, you can do that on twitter. Use the hashtag bbc your questions. Lets get more from kate nicholls, the chief executive of uk hospitality. We know what is happening in scotland. We are speculating about what is going to happen in parts of england next week. How worried are you for the hospitality sector right now, with this further period of restrictions on the possibility that they could be extended . We are extremely worried because the sector is still in a fragile state. One in five of our premises across the uk has not yet opened since the first lockdown, let alone the second. So
there has to be a question mark over their future. We still have 900,000 people whose jobs are fully supported by furlough, which comes to an end in october, and a further 400,000 who were on part time furlough. What we have seen of the past two weeks since the restrictions, and the kev have been in place is that our premises have seen in place is that our premises have seen revenues drop in place is that our premises have seen revenues drop since the cu rfew seen revenues drop since the curfew has been in place. Revenues have dropped to 20 . 40 is the maximum they are achieving. This is not a sustainable situation for our sector. It is vital that we have additional Government Support if we are to be forced to close as a result of the coronavirus. So would you be looking for a clear and immediate announcement that a further restrictions are announced on monday that impact the hospitality sector, he would be wanting a clear announcement on Financial Support . Absolutely. It is
imperative that it comes at the same time. If it can come before, that is even better so that our businesses can plan. There is a lot of anxiety. 80 of hospitality is small, family run or independent businesses. 3. 2 Million People depend on hospitality for their livelihood, so we need to alleviate that anxiety as soon as possible so that businesses can plan carefully, make informed decisions and that we dont have knee jerk reactions. If we have sector specific decisions, we must have sector specific support that is meaningful and if we are moving into certain parts facing a lockdown liking much, we need a full furlough as we had in march to help businesses survive in the longer term, otherwise it will impact on the recovery in april. This isjust one point of view, but would you accept that restrictions for the hospitality sector are part of the
a nswer to hospitality sector are part of the answer to the rising number of coronavirus cases . I read out a couple of comments from viewers which you may have heard before i came to you. One person suggested that bars and restaurants are very much part of the problem. Another took a different view, saying it is actually how people behave once they get out on the street. What are your thoughts on that . What is clear that when our businesses reopened on the 4th ofjuly, when our businesses reopened on the 4th of july, they when our businesses reopened on the 4th ofjuly, they had put in place the most stringent and covid secure protocols in the world to make sure our customers were safe. We worked really ha rd. Our customers were safe. We worked really hard. 0ur capacity was cut to make sure we had social distancing. Everybody was seated. There were very low levels of background music, no entertainment, hand sanitiser is, ventilation, hygiene measures put in place and crucially, we monitor the environment within which people are socialising. So we are proud of the fa ct socialising. So we are proud of the fact that over the two months that we we re fact that over the two months that we were open, we were not contributing to increases in cases. You cant say that definitively, can you, that that wasnt contributing to increases in cases . There is no evidence, and the cases remained flat. Levels of infection remained flat. Levels of infection remained flat throughout july and flat. Levels of infection remained flat throughoutjuly and august. They have increased over september and if there is evidence that we caused any infections, we would take that seriously. But the evidence from Public Health england suggests that people who have tested positive have been in hospitality, but they have been in hospitality, but they have also been socialising with friends and family. They have been out ina friends and family. They have been out in a community, they have been at work and they have been shopping, all at the same levels as hospitality. 0bviously, all at the same levels as hospitality. Obviously, we are looking at a serious Public Health situation. If we are told to close, we will abide by that. We need to make sure the Government Support follows that to protect businesses who, through no fault of their own, are having to close and make people redundant. We need to make sure we
dont exacerbate a Public Health crisis through an economic crisis while we have millions of people whose jobs are lost in hospitality alone, let alone our wider supply chain and we have persistent economic scarring across communities asa economic scarring across communities as a result. That is what we want to avoid. We must leave it there, but i suspect we may well be having more conversations next week about this. Kate nichols, the chief executive of uk hospitality. And if youre in the uk and would like to find out what the rules are in your local area, you can use the bbcs online tool. Just type your postcode in to find out what the restrictions are for you. Countries across europe are reintroducing restrictions after sharp increase in covid 19 cases. Germanys Health Minister has said the worsening situation in europe poses a risk for germany. The country has seen its cases rise by over 4,000, the worst since april. Jenny hill has the
latest from berlin. Rather fortuitously, the Health Minister planned a press conference this morning to update journalists on the general corona situation. His basic view is that the authorities are concerned. They say the situation is still under control, the numbers are still relatively low, but they are worried that germany is going to squander the advantage it managed to achieve over the last few months in getting the initial outbreak under control. We have seen these new numbers today, representing a sharp increase on the previous day, with over 4,000 new cases. So we are starting to see some restrictions gradually come into play. Yesterday, members of germanys 16 states decided that people who live in so called hotspots, high risk areas where the number of cases exceeds 50 per 100,000 inhabitants, will no longer be able to go and stay overnight as tourists in Hotels Anywhere
else in the country. The authorities have an eye on the autumn holidays coming up here. Here in berlin, there are restrictions on the sale of alcohol after a certain time of night. There are restrictions on the numbers of people who can gather at night. That is because the authorities are really concerned about where these new increases are coming from and they are pretty certain that this is to do with people gathering they say they are not seeing infections coming from places like hairdressers or Public Transport, not many infections breaking out in schools. The real problem seems to be when people get together for a religious gathering orfor a big party either inside or outside, where they are not observing social distancing or Wearing Masks and theyre not ventilating the room. So the authorities are really trying to crack down on that as the real source of the problem at the moment. But they are concerned. The Health Minister this morning described this as a character test for german society. All bars and cafes in brussels will be closed from thursday the decision follows a sharp rise in Coronavirus Infections. Drinking alcohol outdoors
will also be banned. But restaurants serving meals at tables will remain open. 0ur correspondent gavin lee has the latest from brussels. It came very late yesterday afternoon, it was very sudden and unexpected. This is not a federal government thing for the whole country, but the Regional Government. As a side issue here, the Regional Government has announced this but almost all of the members, the ministers of the Regional Government, made the announcement from self isolation because one minister tested positive for covid 19, so only the Health Minister at the moment can be out and about in public. What they have said is as of 7am this morning, bars and cafes will be closed for at least a month. Why . The reason is, brussels, according to the regional president , is the second worst hit city for covid 19 in the whole of europe, second only to madrid. One in seven people tested is testing positive
in this city for covid 19. The scene around us at the moment, usually at this time of the morning, even in this weather, there would be a few people out under the canvas, in the chairs, but the bars and cafes are closed. There is a lot of confusion. We heard from a lot of people overnight saying they have got a bar, can they quickly change it into a restaurant . But as we understand it, it is businesses that are registered as cafes and bars that have to stay closed. And the reason, well, is the pressure on hospitals at the moment. They are trying to keep the pressure down. Some of the hospitals are now moving patients out of brussels into nearby towns because, although they are not at capacity yet, they are worried about the speed people are coming in, and they believe in two or three weeks, they will risk collapse. So this is a step away from a complete lockdown and they are hoping this will work. The us Vice President , mike pence, and his democratic challenger, Kamala Harris, have taken part in their only debate ahead of the next months election. The candidates clashed over the economy and foreign policy, healthcare and racialjustice. Ms harris criticised the Trump Administrations coronavirus
response as the greatest failure in president ial history, while mr pence accused her of undermining confidence in an eventual vaccine. 0ur correspondent nada tawfik watched the debate. With the chaotic president ial debate still on the minds of americans, Vice President mike pence and senator Kamala Harris walked on stage eager to reset the tone. Over the course of 90 minutes, they delivered a far more substantive discussion that was civil, but not without fire. Mr Vice President , im speaking. I have to weigh in. Straight away, the coronavirus that has affected millions of americans, including President Trump and his white house, dominated the discussion, their divisions going beyond the glass barriers that separated them on stage. The American People have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any president ial administration in the history of our country. And here are the facts. 210,000 dead people in our country in just the last several months. Over 7 Million People who have contracted this disease. And heres the thing. 0njanuary 28th, the Vice President and the president were informed about the nature of this pandemic. And they knew what was happening and they didnt tell you. Senator Kamala Harris said the Trump Campaign should forfeit its right to re election, based on its response. But the Vice President , as head of the Coronavirus Task force, said their efforts saved lives, including by restricting travel from china in late january. What i want the American People to know, from the very first day President Donald Trump has put the health of america first. Before there were more than five cases in the united states, all people who had returned from china, President Donald Trump
did what no other american president had ever done, and that was, he suspended all travel from china, the second largest economy in the world. Now, senator joe biden opposed that decision. He said it was xenophobic. This was perhaps the most important Vice President ial debate in history, touching on everything from Racial Justice to the Supreme Court to foreign policy. The only moment of levity, a fly that landed in the wrong spot at the wrong time. This debate may not change the course of the campaign, but it is a reminder to voters ofjust how much is at stake in this election. Nada tawfik, bbc news, salt lake city, utah. And we will shortly be joined by amy pope, the former adviser to barack 0bama. We will also be getting more on that Vice President ial debate at
1. 30 bst on the new channel. When we will be showing highlights from the contest between the Vice President ial candidates mike pence and Kamala Harris. A couple of pieces of breaking news to bring to you which tell us more about the impact of coronavirus on other health care services. We are hearing that a e attendances at hospitals in england continue to be below the levels of a year ago according to the latest figures from nhs england. A total of 1. 7 million attendances were recorded in september, down 20 from september last year. So nhs england said the fall is likely to be a result of the covid 19 response, suggesting that people are still staying away from a e departments because of the coronavirus outbreak. In a similar vein, the number of people having to wait more than 18 weeks to start hospital treatment in england stood at 1. 96 million hospital treatment in england stood at1. 96 million in hospital treatment in england stood
at 1. 96 million in august this year, around three times as much as the numberfour august around three times as much as the number four august 2019. It is the second highest total for any calendar month since current records began in 2007. So the number of people having to wait more than 18 weeks to start hospital treatment in england stood at 1. 96 million in august this year, three times the numberfour August August this year, three times the number four august 2019, which august this year, three times the numberfour august 2019, which is why Health Experts are again appealing for people to follow measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus because they are concerned about the nhs being overwhelmed and they are concerned about people not being able to access other types of health care. British airways is saying farewell to its iconic boeing 747s today. Earlier the airlines final two jumbo jets made their last take off
from london heathrow. The reduction in International Travel because of the pandemic caused the airline to pull the planes from service four years earlier than scheduled. 0ur transport correspondent tom burridge was following the action from heathrow. Were still recovering from it, the adrenalines still pumping. But really sad, the 747s are noticeably absent from bas fleet at heathrow this morning. They rolled down the tarmac within the last hour. We can show you those incredible images. Atrocious conditions, it has to be said, but we had it covered from every angle and it was a real moment. A lot of staff came out to cheer and wave as the planes flew off because these 747s, the original jumbo jets, they really were a massive part of the fleet for British Airways for decades, the original plane in 1969 really shook things up in the world of aviation. And this morning really was the end of an era. A queen of the skies. The uniforms and the food changed. The cabin has been fine tuned for passenger comfort. But the 747 was a glamour glider for decades. Its big, but by no means slow. Full, it could weigh 400 tonnes. The original was made in 1969. Man, how they are going to get that thing in the air . Ba once flew 57 of them. Now their last two are leaving heathrow. In here are the bunks where you can get a rest if we have more than two crew. Captain al bridger will pilot this one into retirement. The 747s departure from the fleet is earlier than planned because of the pandemic. The first thing you notice when you look out of the window is, you are looking down on people, which is really weird compared to any other aircraft youve flown. Its almost sad when a beautiful aircraft can still fly, but its off to its final resting place. It will be an emotional moment
lifting off of that last time. Good morning, bbc breakfast, and welcome on board this final British Airways 747 flight from london heathrow. Julie welcomed a listers and royalty on board. No need to go to a gym either you become very attached to a huge chunk of metal that takes you around the world. Its glamorous, its iconic and you do actually fall in love. The stretched upper deck is new to ba. In its day, the double deck was novel. Its like a private jet up here its still pretty cool today. I know somebody whose grandma boarded a 747 and thought she was still in the departure lounge because it was so big. She didnt realise and was asking when they were going to be boarding. 71 metres from the front to a place passengers didnt see near the tail. At the back of the plane, up a flight of stairs is where on long haul flights, the crew can get some rest. In seat 1a, you are further forward than the pilot. The cockpit is up there. But the amazing views out of the window didnt come cheap in first class. Its incredible to think that the boeing 747 has been with us for around half a century. Suddenly, you could carry around 400 people from heathrow to jfk, new york, in about six hours. It was a wow moment. And it changed the way we travel. Millions of miles, millions of jumbo jet memories. This morning, its over and out for the ba 747 era. The airfield behind me is really quiet by heathrow standards, you have got the two runways there and you can see one plane coming in, a ba flight but because of the pandemic, there are nowhere near as many
flights taking off, normally it would be every 40 seconds, planes coming in and out of this, one of the busiest airfields in the world in normal times and that is why the 747 has been prematurely retired from the fleet. It was quite a poignant moment this morning because it is an aircraft that is really loved, notjust by the company, but by anybody connected to aviation worldwide. The end of an era with tom burridge. The duke of cambridge and Sir David Attenborough have launched an ambitious nobel style environmental award, with a £50 million prize fund to recognise and celebrate ideas and technologies that can target the climate crisis. Prince william said his earthshot prize was to recognise what organisers called amazing people with brilliant innovative projects to help save the planet. Justin rowlatt has more. Here we are, right on the coast,
so weve got the marshland. Its becoming clear that protecting the environment is the issue that will define Prince Williams public role from now on. You can hear the ducks, geese, all the birds all the way along the coastline here. This year, Prince William and a global alliance. Socialists hes joined forces with Sir David Attenborough, no less, to launch what the pair intend will literally be a world changing prize. A global prize. The idea, the prince says, is to inject some positivity into the debate. The idea, the prince says, is to inject some positivity into the debate. We very much felt that what was needed and what was missing at the moment was very much a case of harnessing peoples optimism and hope. Theres been a lot of negativity and pessimism and i think its such a big scale topic that people themselves dont know, you know, if i recycle my plastic every day, actually, how much of a big difference am i making . Kensington palace says the earthshot prize will make five awards
of £1 million every year for ten years. Prince william and sir david say they are looking for ideas that will transform our approach to five key issues fixing the climate, building a waste free world, restoring nature, cleaning our air and reviving our oceans. But higher temperatures mean a lot more than longer summers. These are bold ambitions and the time for action is now, Sir David Attenborough told the today programme. Suddenly, we actually see the writing on the wall. Suddenly, we can actually see coral reef dying. Suddenly, we can see that forests are disappearing. Suddenly, there are real dangers that there may be a Tipping Point in which the ice caps of the north pole begin to melt, which its doing already. The aim of earthshot is to find ways to, the organisers say, repair the planet. The hope is, the prize will attract new ideas that can bring about real change. Today, the prince will be announcing more celebrity supporters, as well as the companies, charities and other organisations
that will be backing the price. Justin rowlatt, bbc news. Hello this is bbc news. The headlines. Tighter coronavirus restrictions are expected early next week for parts of england, that could result in the closure of bars and restaurants. As new coronavirus restrictions hit scotlands hospitality sector, theres concern it could sound the death knell for a number of businesses. Theres been a sharp increase in covid 19 cases in countries across europe. Germany calls the rise worrying. In brussells, cafes and bars have been ordered to close for at least a month. The two us Vice President ial candidates have clashed over coronavirus, Climate Change and health care, during a televised debate in salt lake city. And British Airways bids farewell
to its last boeing 747 jumbo jets, four years earlier than planned, due to the pandemic. The us Vice President , mike pence, and his democratic challenger, Kamala Harris, have taken part in their only debate ahead of next months election. The candidates clashed over the economy and foreign policy, health care and racialjustice. Ms harris criticised the Trump Administrations Coronavirus Response as the greatest failure in president ial history, while mr pence accused her of undermining confidence in an eventual vaccine. 0ur correspondent nada tawfik watched the debate. Ability we dont have this package
to show you. Apologies. Joining us now is amy pope, former us deputy Homeland Security advisor to democratic president barack 0bama. Thank you forjoining us. What was striking was the different tone from the president ial debate, it was much more traditional, with some civility. Yes, and i think really the American People needed to see that, last weeks debate was a debacle and not the kind of behaviour we expect from our leaders and really, it could have undermined confidence in both candidates so it was refreshing to see a return to a good old fashioned, was refreshing to see a return to a good old fashioned, maybe was refreshing to see a return to a good old fashioned, maybe even boring sometimes debate style. And on the subject of coronavirus, and we heard kemal harris and we created it in the introduction, say that the Trump Administrations handling of this had been one of the greatest failures in president ial history, but you know, she did not push too hard, did she, she did not talk about president johns own
diagnosis, how he has been acting andi diagnosis, how he has been acting and i think they have been saying in the last few days. Was that a mistake . Iam the last few days. Was that a mistake . I am not so sure that it was. The record stands for itself. This president , from the very beginning, has failed to take some very basic measures that we would expect any administration to take. Regardless of whether they are a democrat or republican. What she is trying to show is that this is not just about the stunt moments. This is about a way of managing a crisis and afailure is about a way of managing a crisis and a failure to meet basic requirements in doing so. And although mike pence and Kamala Harris, much has been discussed about the possibility of them running for president themselves next time around, or indeed the possibility of having to step in during the next term, whichever man becomes president next, they would not be drawn on that but how did they show themselves in terms of that particular angle, that
particular viewpoint . Lots of people have been thinking, Kamala Harris would be a natural successor tojoe biden if he wins as president and mike pence, could he have to take over from donald trump mike pence, could he have to take overfrom donald trump if he mike pence, could he have to take over from donald trump if he was to win another term . Actually, i think that both were a credit to the president ial candidate. In the case of mike pence, he demonstrates that he isa of mike pence, he demonstrates that he is a more reasonable politician. He understands more of what is at sta ke he understands more of what is at stake and he is less likely to take some of the publicity risks and stu nts that some of the publicity risks and stunts that we have seen the president take. I think that will reassure many middle of the road voters. Likewise, ithink reassure many middle of the road voters. Likewise, i think Kamala Harris demonstrated that she brings a lot of the energy that many voters have been looking for. She is younger. She has diverse experience. She is an incredible orator and prosecutor, frankly. I think that will reassure voters who are thinking about voting for vice
president biden, that there is some real energy being brought to the ticket and this is notjust same old, same old washington. For voters who might be undecided, did this make any difference . And also, for people who are confirmed either republicans or democrats, well this debate have encouraged them to get out and vote . It may encourage people who are otherwise so discouraged by what they have seen to date. People who felt that there was no reason to vote because what different is it going to make . I think these are much more reassuring candidates both. I think the conversation was much more about the policy issues that matter. I think thatis policy issues that matter. I think that is helpful in terms of getting people out to vote. But whether that really changes anybodys mind, i mean, ithink really changes anybodys mind, i mean, i think that is really debatable. The fact that the fly on mike pences hair drew almost as
much online social Media Attention as anything they had to say suggests that this was not so much about changing peoples policy views on the candidates. Yes, i resisted mentioning the fly or trying to draw any metaphors from it thank you for joining us. The white house has released a new video of President Trump. Standing outside the oval office, and not wearing a mask, trump says his infection was a blessing from god. More now from nomia iqbal in washington. President trump has been in this defiant mood since he left walter reed hospital. He always wants to show that he is a man of strength, and in charge. We had not seen him for about two days in public but we have certainly heard from him in the last 24 hours. He tweeted more than 100 times. Now this video has come out of him outside the oval office,
in which he talks about surviving the virus, and he says, the virus was a blessing in disguise. He even talks about regneron, an experimental drug that he has been taking, and he suggested it is effectively a cure and that he wants all americans to have it for free. I want everybody to be given the same treatment as your president , because i feel great. I feel like, perfect. I think this was a blessing from god that i caught it, this was a blessing in disguise. I caught it, i heard about this drug, i said, let me take it. It was my suggestion, i said, let me take it, and it was incredible, the way it works, incredible. And i think if i didnt catch it, we would be looking at that like a number of other drugs but it really did a fantasticjob. I want to get for you what i got and im going to make it free. You are not going to pay for it. It was not your fault it happened, it was chinas fault and china
is going to pay a big price. Regeneron is an experimental drug and outside the clinical trials, it has only been tried on about ten people. It has not even been approved by the federal regulators. You know, even his medical team, his doctors, have not backed his comments. Also, he is on quite a few experimental drugs, including a heavy steroid. We are unclear as to why he thinks regeneron is the drug that has made him better. Also in the video, he attacked china. He blamed china for the virus and said they would pay the price, and this is of course a distraction from the fact that he has mismanaged the pandemic. His critics say that right from the start, he did not take it seriously. And the figures speak for themselves, it has resulted
in the deaths of more than 211,000 people and affected more than 7. 5 Million People here in the us. Confusing lines coming out of the white house on the future of us troops in afghanistan. First of all, President Trumps National Security adviser Robert Obrien said around 2,500 Service Personnel would leave, early next year thats around half of the current us force there. But a little later, mr trump said all troops should be home by christmas. Heres Secunder Kermani in islamabad on what the view is now. Well, this tweet from President Trump certainly came as a shock, as his tweets often do. In it, he said that the small number of remaining us troops in afghanistan should be home by christmas. Now, its not immediately clear whether this was just a kind of throwaway political statement aimed at pleasing his base, or whether this is an actual change in policy and those troops will indeed be withdrawn much earlier than anyone expected. It would seem logistically difficult to achieve that, and certainly thered be a real
concern about what its implications would be for the afghan government, which is facing daily attacks by the taliban. It would certainly seem to undermine their position in the ongoing peace negotiations between afghan political leaders and the taliban. And as you say, this tweet from President Trump came just a short while after this statement from the National Security adviser talking about us troop numbers being withdrawn, or going down to around 2,500 early next year, and is not really clear what the reason for this discrepancy is. As a reminder, the us and the taliban signed an agreement in february, stating that all american troops would be withdrawn from afghanistan by next may if the taliban begin talks with other afghan political figures, and if they live up to certain assurances on counterterrorism. Now, talks between the taliban and a government led delegation have begun quite recently, but progress is going slow. We understand there is still significant concern in American Military circles about the talibans
links with alqaeda. But what we can see from these two statements, whichever of them ends up being true, and well get more clarity on that as the day goes on, it certainly seems clear that from the Trump Administrations perspective, troops will be coming out from afghanistan fairly soon. Ifjoe biden were to be elected, some analysts suggest that the process might be slowed down a bit because there is concern that a speedy withdrawal could play into the talibans hands. The bbc has seen Video Evidence that shows livestock from the uk is being shipped to the middle east and slaughtered. Investigators tracked consignments of cattle over the summer via spanish fattening farms and ports. Practises at one lebanese abattoir, where a british bullock was filmed in august, were described by Charity Workers as dreadful and terrifying. The government has said it is committed to improving Animal Welfare. Jon ironmonger has this exclusive story. And a warning that you may find some of the images in this film distressing from the start. A slaughterhouse in lebanon in august. Cattle are strung up by the legs, still conscious, and stabbed with knives. The practices are typical in this part of the world. The cattle are not. Ear tags on this dead bullock reveal it is from the uk, far beyond any protection from europe. Charities have gathered first time Video Evidence that british livestock is being exported via spanish fattening farms and ports for slaughter in third countries, where International Standards are ignored. On a truck in cartagena injuly, investigators filmed another bullock from the uk. It is loaded onto a ship headed for libya. I have worked in Animal Welfare for 20 years and the footage from slaughterhouses in the middle east is the worst thing i have ever seen. It is absolutely desperate and i
cant imagine a crueller way to treat an animal. It is just awful. There is pain and suffering for long periods of time. Livestock carriers take at least five days to sail from spain to libya or lebanon. In 2016, when this footage was filmed, a landmark study found poor welfare and stifling hot, cramped conditions were commonplace on long sea journeys. The cattle on this ship to israel are crowding around an empty drinker. After many years of legal challenges and protests, exports of live animals have been declining in britain. The port of ramsgate is the main departure point for livestock exports from england and scotland. Shipments of uk calves, for years fiercely resisted here, have very recently been suspended but they continue unabated from ports in ireland. Campaigners say that without a ban, new trade routes will soon open up. Male calves are low value by products of the dairy industry. Last year, 16,500 were sold to spain by the uk for fattening. Many fall sick en route. Like this one, filmed outside a facility in catalonia injune. It has been left untreated. Charity workers later called a vet to shoot the animal. This video footage is stomach churning. It is such a wake up call. The government has a manifesto commitment to restrict excessive Long Distance transportation. I think they need to act on it so that one day very soon, we see an end to live export for slaughter or fattening. Animals exported from the uk are still protected by eu rules requiring vet checks and placing limits on journey times or stocking densities. Brexit presents an opportunity to go further and ministers have promised to consult on a possible ban. The National Farmers union said the trade was important and that they would seek to maintain it. John ironmonger, bbc news. We can speak now to gabriel paun from the Global Charity animals international. It was involved in the undercover filming. Thank you forjoining us. Those images from that lebanese abattoir are absolutely horrific and the report about what was going on there equally so. How prevalent are those kinds of practices when animals are being slaughtered in lebanon . I would say with a hand on my heart that this is business as usual stop we have been involved in investigations in the police and north africa, including lebanon, since 2012. In the middle east and north africa. Regardless if it is in authorised slaughterhouses or other industries, even having animal is killed in a butchers shop on the streets, it is a very common practice. This is no accident, it is business as usual. There is no difference in how they treat animals
exported by the uk or other countries in the european union. What is important to understand is that these are countries, in north africa and the middle east, including in the gulf, with no love for animals. 0nce including in the gulf, with no love for animals. Once the animal leaves the uk, the situation is out of their control. We are dealing there with workers which are not trained and not properly equipped. And a huge amount of unnecessary suffering for those animals. The key phrase i think you mentioned was once the animal leaves the uk, it is out of their control. Does the answer therefore live, while the animal is still in the uk, must measures be taken or a new measures be taken to ensure that the suffering does not happen further down the chain by banning live exports, for slaughter, for example . Im afraid that is what
is required as a Political Action to end this. We have been looking at this trade for too many as from all around the world to these countries, and there is no way to improve it, onceit and there is no way to improve it, once it is longer than eight hours, the journey is out of control, you cant speak about Animal Rights and welfare, it is out of the question. In ouropinion, i welfare, it is out of the question. In our opinion, i think, i welfare, it is out of the question. In our opinion, ithink, i know welfare, it is out of the question. In our opinion, i think, i know the countries need to feed themselves but i think if a country wants our animals, i think we should speak about keeping their value in exporting countries. In this case, the uk. We should keep the interest and added value in the uk, and not export meat, unless it is already refrigerated or frozen. Export meat, unless it is already refrigerated orfrozen. There are countries which are already going for this option, they are trying but there are still some significant
number of million of animals being exported alive. There is no way to improve this trade. It has got to end. Thank you forjoining us. With over 6. 5 million total covid 19 cases, india is the worlds second worst hit country behind the united states. 0ver100,000 people have died from the virus. Things are particularly bad in the city of pune, in western india, which has one of the highest number of active cases in the country. 0ur Marathi Service correspondent, mayuresh konnur, reports from pune. The unending battle against grown rice. This is the situation inside the coronavirus hospital in pune which is reporting one of the highest case numbers in india. 0ver 400 patients are currently been treated here. Right now, iam standing in the command centre of
this covid jumbo hospital, doctors keeping an eye on the covid wards with the help of cctv footage. For cities hospitals like these were built in cities like mumbai and delhi which are also the worst affected cities in the country, way backin affected cities in the country, way back in may and june. But pune received this partially open facility just recently, received this partially open facilityjust recently, in august. This facility was supposed to have 800 beds, but nearly two months after it was open, it has 600. The council says they have enough beds but are struggling with staff. Translation this facility will be at full strength soon. We have a shortage of medical staff. Last week, we brought in nurses from carragher and hyderabad on special flights. From kerala. Carragher and hyderabad on special flights. From kerala. Pune registered its first coronavirus case on the 9th of march, and then a sudden surge in new cases from june, followed by pressure on intensive ca re followed by pressure on intensive care beds. Translation we started
searching for beds at 11am, and went to four or five hospitals until late evening. Most of them did not have beds available. Some had them but not with oxygen supplies. Both my uncle and aunt were so ill they could not sit upright in a car. On the 11th of september, shejhar tried to find two beds for his aunt and uncle. They both eventually got admitted but his uncle later died. Pune claims it is testing more pavilion than any other city in the country which is why we see the highest number of positive cases. The government is heavily relying on private hospitals for critical beds, but the state Health Minister says they are not cooperating. Translation macro the government has said it will acquire 80 of private beds but the administration is not able to get those beds. We asked all private hospitals but if they have 100 beds, they are giving us only
510. As 100 beds, they are giving us only 5 10. As life returns to normal after months of lockdown, many are afraid. Patients from six neighbouring districts come to pune, simply because they dont have enough hospitals. But that is not the story of pune alone. It is the story of an entire country. Here in the uk, its been a bumper yearfor bats but not in a good way. Wildlife groups are reporting a record season for the number of baby bats being rescued after falling out of their roosts. John maguire reports. As the sun sets over the lakes at brockholes nature reserve near preston, it is time for daily exercise. To be more specific, flight training. These are common pipistrelle bats. Where have you come from . 19 of them were rescued when they fell out of their roost in a house and were too young to fend for themselves. They have been hand reared by Lorna Bennett of the Lancashire Wildlife trust batmum. They have been in care and hand fed and then learning to eat meal worms. They are now learning to fly and actually catch the insects. So initially they have to learn how to navigate within this open space and then they have to learn how to manoeuvre to actually try to catch prey. The polytunnel at the reserve provides enough space for the young pups to test their sonar and to stretch and to strengthen their wings. Much like learning, you know, we would learn to walk, they need to learn to fly. The only way is to do it. I cant teach them by any other means. So, yeah, you can see now they are able to navigate, they are able to test surfaces and they are bouncing off and crash landing. Youre picking them up and they go again. And then they progress to now really going so fast that, you know, you wouldnt be able to catch them if you tried. So that shows they are nearly ready to leave now, and go into the wild. It has been an extremely busy year for rescued bats. One theory is severe changes in the weather caused havoc
during the birthing season. I dealt with 63 bats that fell out of a roost on one of the hottest days of the year. Actually, in the morning it was quite cool. By lunchtime, the temperatures had risen so much that the females decided they would leave, and they went to probably a cooler roost. It still wasnt cool enough for the babies, but they cant fly, so they ended up trying to get outside to get a bit cooler and ended up falling down to the ground. So we did manage to get them all back, and the females came back that night to collect them, which is what we expected to happen. And these bat fans are keen to remind us of the good the tiny mammals do. Take a common pipistrelle, that will eat up to 3000 midges in a night, a horrible pest that we dont really like having around ourselves. 3000 midges equates to a third of their body weight, which is quite impressive. That is the equivalent of me eating 254 quarter pounder burgers, so they seriously hoover up the food and do us a great favour in that instance. After weeks of feeding up and then training, they are ready for release from their plastic bat cave, to rejoin a colony back in the wild. John maguire, bbc news, preston. Youre watching bbc news. Now its time for a look at the weather with carol. Hello again. After a pretty wet start to the day for many parts of the country, this afternoon is looking drier and brighter. We will also see some sunny spells but there will still be some showers and some of them will be sharp and potentially thundery, particularly so in the north and also parts of the west. What has been happening today is we have watched the first band of rain clearing to the north sea and then we have a second band which has been sinking south, clearing just after lunch. Behind it, a lot of dry weather and some sunny spells and the showers i mentioned in the north and west. It should brighten up across devon and cornwall, the isles of scilly,
wales and also through the midlands. More cloud hanging around east anglia and some showers dotted across north west england and Northern Ireland and scotland. In between, we should still see some bright and sunny skies. Temperatures ranging from 10 17 degrees. In the south, we get temperatures a bit above average for the time of year. Heading through the evening and overnight, clear skies in southern areas. It will be a colder night than the one just gone. A new weather front bringing rain across scotland, Northern Ireland, into Northern England and north wales with a good packet of showers following on behind. Some clear skies in the north. It will be cooler in rural areas than temperatures are suggesting. Tomorrow we start dry in southern areas and then the weather front continues its journey pushing steadily southwards through the course of the day with the cloud building ahead of it. Behind it, we are back into that cocktail of bright spells and sunshine and showers. Once again, some of the showers
could be on the sharp side. Where we see green, that gives you a rough indication. Temperatures 9 15, so down a touch on what we are looking at today. For saturday, the wind is still a north westerly. It is still blowing in a fair few showers across Northern Areas and eastern areas, down through the irish sea, and some could clip north west england, wales, getting down in the direction of the isle of wight. There will be some dry weather and sunshine as well but feeling cool in north westerly wind. Temperatures between 9 12, maybe 13. As we head into sunday, it is a straight northerly coming our way so that is going to feel much colder. It is going to be a drier day for many, with just a few showers but wet again on monday. This is bbc news, im martine croxall. The headlines at 11 tighter coronavirus restrictions are expected early next week for parts of england, that could result in the closure of bars and restaurants. We are trying to take a localised approach. We are trying to agree a greater consistency to the rules so they are easier to understand. We are also trying to work on slightly broader canvases of regions or cities and counties, to avoid differences in peoples daily lives if they drive over the border between one place or another. As new coronavirus restrictions hit scotlands hospitality sector, theres concern it could sound the death knell for some businesses. A sharp increase in covid 19 cases in countries across Europe Germany calls the rise worrying. In brussels, cafes and bars have
been ordered to close this morning for at least a month. Nhs waiting times in england hit a 12 year high, with over 100,000 people having routine operations delayed for more than a year. The two us Vice President ial candidates clash over Climate Change and health care and coronavirus during a televised debate in salt lake city. British airways bids farewell to its last boeing 747 jumbo jets, four years earlier than planned due to the pandemic. Welcome to bbc news, good to have you with us. Coronavirus restrictions in parts of england are expected to be
tightened on monday. Its thought ministers will make changes as they struggle to contain the surge in new infections. Pubs and restaurants could be forced to close in the worst affected areas in another blow to the ha rd pressed hospitality sector. There could also be a ban on overnight stays away from home in some areas. The government is also likely to introduce a three tier system for local lockdowns where different parts of the country would be placed in different categories. It comes as significant new measures are introduced in Central Scotland, with pubs and restaurants closing in the central belt for more than two weeks. Doctors say the measures are needed because there is, once again, a real danger that the nhs will be unable to cope and deliver the other Services Patients need. Latest official numbers show that yesterday the number of uk cases rose by 14,162. A further 70 deaths were reported within 28 days of a covid 19 positive test. This report is from andy moore. It now looks almost certain there will be new restrictions in the north of england. Manchester will very likely be affected. What hasnt been resolved is what form they will take and where they will be imposed. Options include the closure of pubs and restaurants and possibly a ban on overnight stays away from home. There is also likely to be a simpler, more easily understood system of restrictions where areas are put into a certain tier according to the level of infection. Cities in the north and the midlands have some of the highest coronavirus rates in the whole of the country. Liverpool has 552 cases per 100,000 people. Manchester has 542 cases per 100,000. And nottingham 497. In many of these places, local restrictions are already in force. These local restrictions that have been put in place in much of the north of england really havent been very effective. You can see rates are still going up, still going up very rapidly. We need to take much more stringent measures, notjust in the north of england, actually. I think we need to do it countrywide, and bring the epidemic back under control. Across the country, the number of covid deaths is rising. So too are the figures for admissions to hospitals. There is a serious risk the nhs will become overwhelmed in very short order. The increase in numbers of coronavirus cases is hard to compare from earlier this year, because of course we are testing far more. But the number of people being admitted to hospital is directly comparable from earlier this year. And its on a very serious trajectory upwards. In scotland, new restrictions will come into force tomorrow evening. There will be no drinking inside bars and restaurants for over a fortnight. In the central belt, including glasgow and edinburgh, licensed premises will have to shut to all but takeaway services. There will be Financial Support for the Hospitality Industry in scotland, but the details are not clear. In england too, the treasury is looking at how to offer help to pubs and restaurants if tighter restrictions are imposed. Andy moore, bbc news. Our Political Correspondent jess parker is at westminster. No doubt things are going to get tighter, but at the moment we are just waiting to hear. Yes, and i think it is important to be honest that we do not know exactly what decisions the government is going to make and exactly where they will apply. What we do know is they are looking at tightening up some rules in some areas of england where rates remain worryingly high and as you have been saying, it is potentially things like pub closures, potentially things like banning overnight stays. What we know as well, the governments priority, or one of its priorities, it absolutely schools open so i do not think we are looking at anything in terms of school closures. They will remain
open, that is an absolute priority in terms of the children s education. I think we will learn more over the coming days. The indication seems to be that we could hear more from monday, early next week. Lets have a listen to what the Community Secretary had to say on this this morning. We are currently considering what steps we should take, taking the advice of our scientific and medical advisors and a decision will be made shortly, but im not able to tell you exactly whats going to happen right now. But we will continue to take a proportionate and localised response, which i think is the right thing to do because the variations in the number of cases are very significant in england, from over 550 in manchester per 100,000, to as low as 19 in cornwall, dorset and herefordshire. So a localised but proportionate response has to be the way forward. Now, my understanding is that this
tier system that ministers are looking at as a way of trying to simplify the messaging around that, thatis simplify the messaging around that, that is being referred to as the local covid alert level, when you could see different restrictions depending on what level your local area is in. They could be further restrictions, we know that the treasury is looking at what support it might offer to for example the hospitality sector and it was not very long ago at all that rishi sunak, the chancellor, announced his winter economy plan, but as we have seen so winter economy plan, but as we have seen so often with covid, things have moved very fast and are now looks like the treasury under a lot of pressure to come up possibly with further plans in order to support be particularly ha rd hit sectors further plans in order to support be particularly hard hit sectors of the economy. Jess, for the moment, thank you very much. We have the latest nhs england test and trace figures which show that
51,475 people tested positive for coronavirus for the first time in england between the 24th of september and the 30th of september. That is a 56 increase compared to the previous week. A 56 rise in the week ending the 30th of september. Lets take a look at the restrictions that will come in to effect in scotland tomorrow. Pubs and bars will be ordered to stop serving alcohol inside and venues inside scotlands central belt will have to shut their doors completely. The new rules will apply from 6pm tomorrow, for an initial period of 16 days. In the central belt, affecting more than 3 Million People, all licensed premises, except hotels bars for residents, will have to close indoors and outdoors, although takeaways will be permitted. In other parts of scotland, pubs and restaurants will be able to open for limited hours, but can only serve alcohol outdoors. The first minister admitted the new rules would be disruptive to many businesses and would be
unwelcome to many people. Rules on face coverings are being tightened too in the coming weeks they must be worn indoors in all communal settings like workplace corridors and canteens. Scotlands National Clinical director, professorjason leitch, says the restrictions will be a short, sharp shock aimed at bringing down the r number, which is currently around 1. 5 in scotland. The science is never exact in these restrictions. It simply cant be. The virus is only nine months old. The theory here is that if we get the prevalence down, if we get our r rate down, it is about one and a half now in scotland, our doubling time is nine days, so 1000 cases today is 2000 cases in nine days, is 4000 cases in three weeks. So we have got to do something. We have got to do something quickly and the evidence paper we published yesterday as the advisers illustrates that, so id commend it to people to read and 16 days is a bit of a short,
sharp shock and i regret it. I dont want to have to do it. I feel for these hospitality owners and it gets that prevalence down as quickly as we can and then we can reset and hopefully the prevalence will then stay low and we can have schools and hospitality and higher education. That was cottons National Clinical director. Scotlands National Clinical director. The Scottish Chambers of commerce has warned the measures will sound the death knell for businesses across the hospitality sector. James rusk owns three bars in glasgow and was forced to close one due to the virus. He explained earlier why he was in favour of a more balanced approach to deal with the spread. This last round of restrictions is a real kick for our teams and collea g u es real kick for our teams and colleagues in the wider community. For all intents and purposes we can call it what we like, we can call it a circuit breaker, we can dress it up, it is a second lockdown. We have defined a balance through this and i believe the balance on this
particular round is way off. Clearly not im clearly not an epidemiologist and do not claim to be, but i am a Business Owner with responsible it is to employees, customers, suppliers and so many are trying to navigate our way through this. I definitely do not think it isa this. I definitely do not think it is a one shoe fits all, and i think it is up to us as Business Owners to make sure that we are taking the guidelines that the government has set down and we do implement them and we have to slow down the frenetic activity within our establishments, but i do not think we can have a blanket everyone who is out for dinner gets drunk and spreads covid. The number of people having to wait more than 18 weeks to start hospital treatment in england is around three
times higher than just over a year ago thats according to the latest figures from nhs england. The figures also show that the number of people attending accident and emergency at hospitals in england is a fifth lower than this time last year. A total of 1. 7 million attendances were recorded in september 2020, down 20 from 2. 1 million in the previous year. Im joined by our Health Correspondent, catherine burns. Tell us about these figures and why they are important. Lets go through some of these figures. If you look at waiting times for things like routine surgery, 4. 2 Million People are on that waiting lists now and about half of them have been on it for more than 18 weeks. More than 100,000 people have been on it for over one year. That is the highest numberfor over one year. That is the highest number for more than 12 years. Another thing to look at that is important is a cancer. So, for example, these figures are for august, about 20,000 people in england started their Cancer Treatment this august. That is a drop of 5000 compared to the year before. So why is this important in the Bigger Picture . This is really
all a way for us to look at how the nhs in england is doing right now. There are few points to take away, one is that in comparison to the height the pandemic, it is improving. The nhs is very keen to stress this. Government spokesman has pointed out that right now they are doing more than 1 has pointed out that right now they are doing more than1 million routines and operations a week commencing more than three times the number of patients compared to april for routine surgery. So obviously we are improving, but there are things to think about here. These figures are for august. This is when generally the nhs is not under so much pressure in the summer and covid figures were very low. Right now that picture has changed a lot, so now that picture has changed a lot, so lets look at where we are right now. Hospitaladmissions, so lets look at where we are right now. Hospital admissions, right so lets look at where we are right now. Hospitaladmissions, right now, if you look at hospitals across england, about 3 of the beds are taken by Covid Patients. But we know that if you look at admissions, this is much lower than in april when we we re is much lower than in april when we were looking at 3000 people a day coming in at. Right now it is closer to 500. But in august, it was closer
to 500. But in august, it was closer to 50. So we see the pressure the system was under in august and really we are in a very different picture now. And there is also that backlog of operations that were put on hold that have got to be caught up on hold that have got to be caught up with at some point. Absolutely. Tell us about how covid related deaths compared with deaths because of flu or where flu is recorded or pneumonia. This is new data that is, this morning, one of those things where see people saying that covid is not as deadly as flu or pneumonia. Actually, if you look at england and wales in 2020, there have been nearly three times as many covid deaths as flu and pneumonia. So to give you some of these figures, from january to august, 48,168 deaths due to covid. Then in comparison, 14,013 from flu and pneumonia mix together. Actually, if you just take flu, there were 394
deaths. It has been a really low for getting present at the years, but still it is interesting data. It is, thank you. Lots to mull over. Im joined by rob martinez, who has been waiting for a year to have both his knees replaced and was originally set to have the operation in march before it was cancelled. Thank you very much forjoining us. Tell us what happens to the knock off on off of your operation. Ive beenin off on off of your operation. Ive been in significant pain for two and half years now and i was due to have my first Knee Replacement in april this year which got cancelled in march because of the pandemic. I have since been in significant pain and no medication or steroid injections are helping, the only fix will be the operation. I actually have a replacement date through it for my first knee operation on the 27th of october, which is onlyjust over a couple of weeks away. However, because of this second wave thatis however, because of this second wave that is kicking off now, i am seriously anxious and concerned that it could get cancelled for the second time this year. How confident are you though that they are trying to get through the backlog and there are more operations taking place we are more operations taking place we are told than the spring, particularly at the height of the pandemic . Yes, ive had this myself. I realise it is a massive backlog out there and i do think they are trying, but i think what should be happening is we should be using the likes of private hospitals to help clear out some of this backlog, because it is going to take years. Bearing in mind, i have actually got two it needs to be replaced and we are not even that quite yet with my first one, do not know how many yea rs later first one, do not know how many years later it will be before i get my second knee done. It is like my whole life on hold at the moment. My second knee done. It is like my whole life on hold at the momentm italy, you in extraordinary pain, but what are the other effects having to wait like this are having
on your life and well being . M having to wait like this are having on your life and wellbeing . It is affecting me physically, mentally and im now suffering with a second condition which i expected was going to happen to me sooner or later and im now being treated for anxiety. I think it isjust im now being treated for anxiety. I think it is just so much uncertainty around all this and to be honest, this has really been harder to cope with. I have had some really bad, dark days with the pain, but if it had not have been for the Arthritis Charity who i contacted about a year ago, they have massively helped me andi ago, they have massively helped me and i would encourage anyone to bring the helpline number if they are suffering from arthritis, because they are a great godsend to because they are a great godsend to be honest. You gave evidence earlier in the airto be honest. You gave evidence earlier in the air to the house of Commons Health and social Care Select Committee about your experience must cut earlier in the yet. How important was it that they recognised the difficulties that people like you are facing . They
didnt listen and took it on board are my recommendations and they were very sorry and apologetic about the delay and someone should not express this kind of delay, bearing in mind it isa this kind of delay, bearing in mind it is a year since i was put on the waiting list. They didnt listen to the comments i made about using nightingale hospitals or private hospitals to clear out some of the backlog, but i have not heard that this it is actually happening yet, i would like to know if it is, but they do not know. Rob, we really hope you manage to stick to that date of the forthcoming operation, thank you very much for talking to us. And just to let you know that at 3 30pm on the bbc news channel, well answer your questions on the Contact Tracing app. Joining us will be our Technology CorrespondentRory Cellan Jones and isobel braithwaite, from University College london. Send your questions using the hashtag bbcyourquestions or email them using yourquestions bbc. Co. Uk. The us Vice President ,
mike pence and his democratic challenger, Kamala Harris, have taken part in their only debate ahead of the next months election. The candidates clashed over the economy and foreign policy, health care and racialjustice. Ms harris criticised the Trump Administrations Coronavirus Response as the greatest failure in president ial history, while mr pence accused her of undermining confidence in an eventual vaccine. Our correspondent nada tawfik watched the debate. With the chaotic president ial debate still on the minds of americans, Vice President mike pence and senator Kamala Harris walked on stage eager to reset the tone. Over the course of 90 minutes, they delivered a far more substantive discussion that was civil, but not without fire. Mr Vice President , im speaking. I have to weigh in. Straight away, the coronavirus that has affected millions of americans, including President Trump and his white house, dominated the discussion, their divisions going beyond the glass barriers that
separated them on stage. The American People have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any president ial administration in the history of our country. And here are the facts. 210,000 dead people in our country in just the last several months. Over 7 Million People who have contracted this disease. And heres the thing. 0njanuary 28th, the Vice President and the president were informed about the nature of this pandemic. And they knew what was happening and they didnt tell you. Senator Kamala Harris said the Trump Campaign should forfeit its right to re election, based on its response. But the Vice President , as head of the Coronavirus Task force, said their efforts saved lives, including by restricting travel from china in late january. What i want the American People to know, from the very first day President Donald Trump has put
the health of america first. Before there were more than five cases in the united states, all people who had returned from china, President Donald Trump did what no other american president had ever done, and that was, he suspended all travel from china, the second largest economy in the world. Now, senator joe biden opposed that decision. He said it was xenophobic. This was perhaps the most important Vice President ial debate in history, touching on everything from Racial Justice to the Supreme Court to foreign policy. The only moment of levity, a fly that landed in the wrong spot at the wrong time. This debate may not change the course of the campaign, but it is a reminder to voters ofjust how much is at stake in this election. Nada tawfik, bbc news, salt lake city, utah. Joining me now is drjonathan parker, senior lecturer in american politics at keele university. Welcome, what did you make of this debate . Lets start with the tone of it, because the last one between the two president ial candidates was roundly criticised. Yes, everyones relief it went back to normal. It was not entirely simple, president p did doa was not entirely simple, president p did do a lot of interrupting and began that way, but Kamala Harris was able to deal with that effectively and he did not carry on. So they had a debate when they talked about issues at. How deeply did they talk about some of them are, theyre . Did they talk about some of them are, they re . Because did they talk about some of them are, theyre . Because politicians are, theyre . Because politicians are so are, theyre . Because politicians are so deft at avoiding things they really do not want to talk about. Yes, and that was part of the back to normal. Both politicians were avoiding answering questions and to be honest, the moderation did not really prep them very hard. Kamala harris probably could have landed a better blow, couldnt she, in talking about the fact the white
house itself is now a covid 19 at centre . Why do you think she pulled away from that . Yes, it looked like away from that . Yes, it looked like a conscious decision by the Biden Campaign to play safe. She is known asa campaign to play safe. She is known as a very campaign to play safe. She is known as a very good debater. She tends to bea as a very good debater. She tends to be a bit. Her performance can go up and down, so a dangerous tactic, so they played it safe and she did not press as hard as she might have. How important was it for them to chalk up important was it for them to chalk upa win, important was it for them to chalk up a win, though, in the biden camp, where you think when the polls about . They did not need a win, they just needed Vice President pence not to win, that is why they played it safe. How likely is it do you think that undecided voters would have been swayed one way of the other from this debate, because it is the only chance they are going to get to see the Vice President ial candidates in action potentially . Vice president ial debates usually have very little impact on the elections themselves. Most people do not care too much about the Vice President s. It isa too much about the Vice President s. It is a little different this year, but none the less there are plenty
of undecided voters out there and President Trump has a lot of passion one way or the other, so i do not think this will help much with that. In terms of this discussion with race discrimination, how well did mike pence cope with the fact that he was up against a black american politician who cannot speak from her own experience . Again, the visuals we re own experience . Again, the visuals were quite jarring and Kamala Harris has lots of experience in this area and she pressed him quite forcefully, but again pence is not President Trump. He did it very gracefully and was not as nasty and did not launch a lot of personal attacks. He was on the defensive, but he handled it much better than president cut dead. In terms of where they are looking to, how far into the future where these two candidates really setting their sights, because it would not be at all surprising i suppose if both of them fancied a president ial bid of their own . Yes, this was their
audition for the president ial, next president ial race. Kamala harris, we do not know ifjoe biden will run for a second term if he wins and she would be the presumed frontrunner president. Vice president pence would be the same. Thank you very much for talking to us today. And you can see more from that debate at 1. 30pm here on the bbc news channel, when we will be showing highlights from the contest between the Vice President ial candidates mike pence and Kamala Harris. Meanwhile President Trump has described being infected with covid 19 as a blessing from god. The president s doctors say he has displayed no coronavirus symptoms for the past 24 hours. And in a video message, mr trump said he said he wanted all americans to have access to the treatments he was given, free of charge. I want everybody to be given the same treatment as your president , because i feel great. I feel like, perfect. So i think this was a blessing from god that i caught it. This was a blessing in disguise. I caught it, i heard about this drug, i said, let me take it, it was my suggestion, i said, let me take it, and it was incredible the way it worked, incredible. More now on the planned tightening of restrictions on parts of england following rising infection rates across many parts of the country with medical leaders warning that the nhs is at risk. Liverpool, manchester and Newcastle Upon Tyne have the highest infection rates in the country. Lets speak now to Steve Rotheram whos the metro mayer for the liverpool city region. How did you hear about the forthcoming restriction is we can expect to hear on monday . Probably like many of you and that was by the immediate. You cannot have an effective government if its strategy
is an effective government if its strategy is an announcement effective government if its strategy is an announcement by media leak. We have said all along we want to have an open and meaningful dialogue with government and i just asked them an open and meaningful dialogue with government and ijust asked them to speak to areas where potentially they could be facing even more stringent lockdown measures. We have talked to you before and you have said consistently that you think the governments approach is incorrect, that they should be taking advice from regional leaders like you. What then would you want to see in place if not what you have got, and what you might be getting . The reason i have said what i did say previously, including on this programme, is because we need a far more sophisticated approach. We need to understand what the science is saying in our individual areas and then choose from a menu of restrictions that will have the desired effect. We all believe that this is our last stab at this, that the public are getting fatigued by Different Things happening in
Different Things happening in different areas, there is confusion. The only way to ensure that we can alleviate some of the misunderstandings that currently exist is for us to be saying the same thing and you can only do that by working together. You said a lot of interesting things that. You want a more sophisticated approach with a menu of options. Based on what you are facing at this moment, what would you have that you have not got from that menu . We wont know because the science has to back it up, that is what im saying. It is not figure in the air time at. But knowing what is happening in your area, when you look at infection rates, the number of people who are being tested and then their contacts are being traced and the number of people who are dying, what would you choose to put in place now . This is not a homogenous group, it is not an
individual sector or segment of the demographic that this has happened to. We need to understand the science so that we can interrogate what is actually happening. I will give you two example, in liverpool, which is obviously the city centre, there is a Large University population, students, and we have seen a population, students, and we have seen a huge increase as there. But to literally just seen a huge increase as there. But to literallyjust down the road in a mostly, when they do not have a huge student population, we have seen equally high numbers, so we think that we know what the causation of the spike in liverpool is, but we need to better understand what is happening and the Science Behind what is happening in knowsley so we can take that sophisticated approach. It is not a one size fits all, we need to take this locally, because we get better results than National Policies or national d i ktats National Policies or national diktats when you engage with local people. But you have said that it is
already confusing and that there are too many different rules in place for people to understand and you said people are getting fatigued by its. How local a restriction would you be content with . What i have said is this implication. I absolutely support 100 that we need to simplify it, but also, it is the approach to it, so it is not necessarily the restrictions themselves, but again, what we did when we had local spikes in liverpool for instance is at liverpool for instance is at Liverpool City Council went with a different approach and knocked on doors and communities rather than have a court sent out trying to connect with people a call centre. The call centres are only having 6 success rate, so there are different restrictions and that is something you can only do in a local areas with the intelligence on the ground. We have heard from
government today that what theyre trying to do is create larger, more regional decisions so that people who have to travel from one town or city to another are not to face with different rules in different places. That would seem to be at odds with what you want. Know it is not, it is exactly consistent with what ive just said, that is that it is not necessarily the individual restrictions, it is the package, it is the way that you approach those things that can work more locally. For instance, i willjust give you what happened in liverpool when they had a spike. They had local people on the grounds, local communities, bame communities, who had people from those communities trying to engage with those communities. That is the way to do it. National governments cannot continue to say we believe that this is in your best interests without any scientific evidence, that has got to work on the ground. Liverpool city region metro may, thank you again for joining us. The government has agreed to settle a lawsuit over how it selected an it contract for coronavirus testing. British Company Diagnostics ai claimed it lost out to a european rival ugentec, despite spotting some positive coronavirus cases its rival missed. The bbc understands that the settlement will cost the government up to £2 million. Our correspondent, lucy manning, joins me now from central london. Just give us the background to this story . The lighthouse labs for the big mega lab setup to try and deal with the massive increase in covid testing, dealing with tens of thousands a day. Two companies were trying to bed for the contract to analyse to interpret the test to see whether they are positive or negative. A british company, diagnostics ai, lost that and claims in court papers it decided to sue the government
over the decision, saying it was unfairand over the decision, saying it was unfair and unlawful. It said over the decision, saying it was unfairand unlawful. It said in court papers as rival i got some of it wrong, but they dispute that and that it wasnt a live trial using patients, there wasnt any Public Health risk. There were supposed to bea health risk. There were supposed to be a battle in court over this and it would mean that the accuracy of the testing at those labs was going to be made public. The government decided that they didnt want to have this court battle, potentially because they feel there are other things they need to do it. Theyve had to pay out a settlement, compensation, agree to settle this case and pay most of the legal costs. We understand that this bill can come to £2 million, so they have to pay out for the contract the first time and then they have to pay the same amount of money and legal costs the second time. How does Artificial Intelligence work to automate these disease tests . Diagnostics ai and the other use a Computer Software programme which means they can look at the programme them to see whether results are correct or not. There is dispute about whether there were some wrong or right ones to stop you gentex are very clear, saying they provide two and that the other was misleading. The department of health said they com pletely the department of health said they completely refute this inaccurate claim about the accuracy of results and that it is actually a commercial dispute about the software, not about the accuracy. What it does do is it shines another light on the Testing Process that has been so heavily criticised with delays, Contact Tracing being lost and now
question marks over this contract that was awarded. How much more do you know about the settlement . That was awarded. How much more do you know about the settlement7m was supposed to go to a court case where there would have been expert witnesses, all of this would have been heard. The government decided that they wanted to settle it. We know the contract was about £1. 5 million. Around that. They are going to have to pay the amount of that contract and then legal fees on top of that. Its public money and it is £2 million the government are having to pay out, but it seems they would prefer to pay out, but it seems they would p refer to to pay out, but it seems they would prefer to do that than fighting this out in court. They havent admitted any wrongdoing, is important to say, on either side. Countries across europe are reintroducing restrictions after sharp increase in covid 19 cases. Germanys Health Minister has said the worsening situation in europe poses a risk for germany. The country has seen its cases rise by over 4,000 the worst since april. Jenny hill has the latest from berlin. Rather fortuitously, the Health Minister planned a press conference this morning to update journalists on the general corona situation. His basic view is that the authorities are concerned. They say the situation is still under control, the numbers are still relatively low, but they are worried that germany is going to squander the advantage it managed to achieve over the last few months in getting the initial outbreak under control. We have seen these new numbers today, representing a sharp increase on the previous day, with over 4,000 new cases. So we are starting to see some restrictions gradually come into play. Yesterday, members of germanys 16 states decided that people who live in so called hotspots, high risk areas where the number of cases exceeds 50 per 100,000 inhabitants, will no longer be able to go and stay overnight
as tourists in Hotels Anywhere else in the country. The authorities have an eye on the autumn holidays coming up here. Here in berlin, there are restrictions on the sale of alcohol after a certain time of night. There are restrictions on the numbers of people who can gather at night. That is because the authorities are really concerned about where these new increases are coming from and they are pretty certain that this is to do with people gathering they say they are not seeing infections coming from places like hairdressers or Public Transport, not many infections breaking out in schools. The real problem seems to be when people get together for a religious gathering orfor a big party either inside or outside, where they are not observing social distancing or Wearing Masks and theyre not ventilating the room. So the authorities are really trying to crack down on that as the real source of the problem at the moment. But they are concerned. The Health Minister this morning described this as a character test for german society. Before the pandemic accident and Emergency Departments in england saw more than two million patients a month. That figure plummeted during the height of the crisis to fewer than 900,000. Figures just released reveal the number of a e attendances in september went back up to around 1. 7 million. With Emergency Departments having to deal with a rise in both covid and other cases, the Royal College of emergency medicine says it has significant concerns about the situation. It warns that crowding remains a major threat to patient and staff safety. Our Health Correspondent mark norman and cameraman Andrew Marshall have spent 12 hours filming a shift in the a e at east surrey hospital in redhill to see how staff there are coping. A e staff have a challenge, how to deal with rising numbers of patients, identify who might be covid positive, keep other patients by this free, keep staff safe and,
of course, treat patients quickly. It helps that at 7am the shift sta rts it helps that at 7am the shift starts with the news the department hasnt been busy over night. Were walking into a good department, patients moved on very quickly. All bedding in the right place, which is a big thing. A really good start to the day. While it might look like a pre pandemic a e, since the start of the crisis this department has been in large, reconfigured and staff are now having to deal with new challenges, not least social distancing. When youre with a patient sometimes it can be difficult. But as much as possible we will keep our distance. It is important we keep that within the hospital. It is really quite a challenge, actually. We are at the front door of the hospital, the ambulances come through there. They are expecting five in the next 50 minutes and staff are trained to assess what sort of patients theyve got and where they may have to go here in the emergency department. The first issue, could the patient possibly have covid . The first issue, could the patient possibly have covid . If they might, they are set to what are called hot areas. My job here is to get very quick snapshot of what is happening for the patient here and now, so i can makea for the patient here and now, so i can make a very quick decision about where to put the patient, whether we put them into area that is called and a sort of clean area or whether we move them to hot area, because we dont want to put vulnerable patients and the wrong areas. At a 12 hour day shift on false patients continue to arrive. Some will need admission. Alison has broken her ankle while on a walking holiday. This is the tibia. At the bottom there is a fracture here. She has fractured that thereto. Already by two oclock we have had 23 patients that need to divert to the medical team. In other words, they have in
common to a e, been sorted out and sent home, theyve stayed in the system . Sent home, theyve stayed in the system . Yes, they need more special treatment, investigations, perhaps a bed. I would love us to be able to routinely test all our staff, because i hardly think this is the only answer. If we dont know where the virus is out there, its very difficult to control it and contain it. The department of health have told us the nhs staff with symptoms can told us the nhs staff with symptoms ca n a ccess told us the nhs staff with symptoms can access priority testing to ensure they have consistent access. As one ship leaves, another begins any department that functions 365 days a year, whether there is a Global Pandemic or not one shift. More now on planned restrictions in
england. We heard a short while ago from littles metro mayor. Lets get the view from leeds. Judith blake is the view from leeds. Judith blake is the leader of the citys council. Thank you forjoining us. What extra measures do you expect to hear that the government wants to introduce that will affect your city . The difficulty is that we have the league to the times, the telegraph last night and woke up this morning to the announcement about the tier system. We understood that the tier system. We understood that the tier system was being considered, but we havent been involved in producing what those tears are like, so we dont actually know at the moment in leeds what tier the government will be expecting us to go into. But obviously we know that they are considering, in the red areas, the
top two, if you like, closure of bars, pubs, restaurants across the piece. We are really seeking urgent discussions with government to understand what they are expecting, to understand why there has been a delay in the announcements next monday, which gives the weekend. Where people can go out they please. And just understand if there is going to be a time restriction on this. Most importantly, whether there is going to be inadequate business compensation package. Our hospitality businesses across the city are on their knees and across West Yorkshire we have over 1000 businesses that we need to be considering support for. We have so many questions and we want to get into dialogue with government, most importantly to see whether it will work, because our major concern is
that we are seeing an increase in cases across our city, but also across the northern north. We give out restrictions for many weeks. You and other local government leaders have said repeatedly you want local authorities to be more involved in the planning and decision making. If you had a chance, what would you say to Central Government . How would you affect what they are trying to bring in . Weve been saying for some time now, we have just in . Weve been saying for some time now, we havejust written in . Weve been saying for some time now, we have just written again to matt hancock to say that along with any restrictions they bring in, they need to work with us to increase the local capacity so that we have a properfunctioning local capacity so that we have a proper functioning testing, trace capacity at a local level so we know exactly where the virus is and more capacity to help people self isolate when they are asked to do so. These are the real basics of what we think
will actually help to stem the increase in the infections. That work has to continue alongside any restrictions. We are actually seeing the infections rising in household settings, rather than in the hospitality sector at the moment. Our major concern is that if the government are forcing us to bring more restrictions and in terms of closing public venues, that will force social activity underground into peoples houses, which will actually contribute to increasing the spread of the virus rather than the spread of the virus rather than the intention, of course, which is to reduce it. Judith blake from leeds city council, thank you for your time. The headlines on bbc news. Tighter coronavirus restrictions are expected early next week for parts of england, that could result in the closure of bars and restaurants. As new coronavirus restrictions hit scotlands hospitality sector theres concern it could sound the death knell for a number of businesses. Theres been a sharp increase in covid 19 cases in countries across Europe Germany calls the rise worrying in brussels cafes and bars have been ordered to close for at least a month. As weve been hearing, last night the us Vice President , mike pence and his democratic challenger, Kamala Harris took part in their only debate ahead of the next months election. The candidates clashed over the economy and foreign policy, health care and racialjustice, and of course coronavirus. The debate fuelled conspiracy theories on social media and online, and here to discuss that is our specialist disinformation reporter marianna spring. There is a lock to keep you busy at the moment, isnt there . A lot. What conspiracy theories or rumours spread on social media . As we might have expected, a lot of the conversation online focus on how President Trump tested positive for coronavirus and look for clues on what was said by pence are by Kamala Harris about froms illness. A lot of people shared photos of pences i because it was very red and thought this might be coronavirus. He is yet to confirm that. It seems at the moment those claims are unsubstantiated. Nevertheless, that when mega viral and was used to fuel conspiracy theories about trump actually being very ill. When he appears to have recovered eye. On the other side of things, Kamala Harris reiterated a claim thats been shared widely on social media that trump had called the pandemic a
hoax. That is actually untrue, he said lots of things about the pandemic and spread a lot of misinformation, but is actually called the pandemic the democrat was my hoax and used as a way of saying they were criticising him for his handling, rather than describing it asa handling, rather than describing it as a hoax. Nonetheless, that was picked up by a lot of pro democrat and anti trump groups. Kamala harris has found herself often a target of conspiracy theories online, especially from right leaning pages in the same thing happened again yesterday, a number of memes circulating that questioned her heritage. An indian born mother and jamaican born father, identifying as both a black women and up Indian Heritage but these memes frequently try to called into question. What are your top tips for spotting disinformation in the lead up to the us election . I think when there is an election the first hot tip would be to think about bias. There is a political background and most bogey shading links to affirm their bias. Think about why something has been shared. Also think about how something makes you feel, if it makes you feel angry or react strongly, are content to be misleading. Just pause and think before you share. Ask yourself where the information has come from. Thank you very much. We all need to know that, especiallyjournalists. British airways is saying farewell to its iconic boeing 747s this morning, earlier the airlines final two jumbo jets made their last take off from london heathrow. The reduction in International Travel because of the pandemic caused the airline to pull the planes from service four years earlier than scheduled. Our transport correspondent, tom burridge, was following the action from heathrow. Were still recovering from it, the adrenalines still pumping. But really sad, the 747s are noticeably absent from bas fleet at heathrow this morning. They rolled down the tarmac within the last hour. We can show you those incredible images. Atrocious conditions, it has to be said, but we had it covered from every angle and it was a real moment. A lot of staff came out to cheer and wave as the planes flew off because these 747s, the original jumbo jets, they really were a massive part of the fleet for British Airways for decades, the original plane in 1969 really shook things up in the world of aviation. And this morning really was the end of an era. A queen of the skies. The uniforms and the food changed. The cabin has been fine tuned for passenger comfort. But the 747 was a glamour glider for decades. Its big, but by no means slow. Full, it could weigh 400 tonnes. The original was made in 1969. Man, how they are going to get that thing in the air . Ba once flew 57 of them. Now their last two are leaving heathrow. In here are the bunks where you can get a rest if we have more than two crew. Captain al bridger will pilot this one into retirement. The 747s departure from the fleet is earlier than planned because of the pandemic. The first thing you notice when you look out of the window is, you are looking down on people, which is really weird compared to any other aircraft youve flown. Its almost sad when a beautiful aircraft can still fly, but its off to its final resting place. It will be an emotional moment lifting off of that last time. Good morning, bbc breakfast, and welcome on board this final British Airways 747 flight from london heathrow. Julie welcomed a listers
and royalty on board. No need to go to a gym either you become very attached to a huge chunk of metal that takes you around the world. Its glamorous, its iconic and you do actually fall in love. The stretched upper deck is new to ba. In its day, the double deck was novel. Its like a private jet up here its still pretty cool today. I know somebody whose grandma boarded a 747 and thought she was still in the departure lounge because it was so big. She didnt realise and was asking when they were going to be boarding. 71 metres from the front to a place passengers didnt see near the tail. At the back of the plane, up a flight of stairs is where on long haul flights, the crew can get some rest. In seat 1a, you are further forward than the pilot. The cockpit is up there. But the amazing views out of the window didnt come cheap in first class. Its incredible to think that the boeing 747 has been with us for around half a century. Suddenly, you could carry around 400 people from heathrow to jfk, new york, in about six hours. It was a wow moment. And it changed the way we travel. Millions of miles, millions of jumbo jet memories. This morning, its over and out for the ba 747 era. The airfield behind me is really quiet by heathrow standards, you have got the two runways there and you can see one plane coming in, a ba flight but because of the pandemic, there are nowhere near as many flights taking off, normally it would be every 40 seconds, planes coming in and out of this, one of the busiest airfields
in the world in normal times and that is why the 747 has been prematurely retired from the fleet. It was quite a poignant moment this morning because it is an aircraft that is really loved, notjust by the company, but by anybody connected to aviation worldwide. The duke of cambridge and Sir David Attenborough have launched an ambitious nobel style environmental award, with a 50 Million Pound prize fund, to recognise and celebrate ideas and technologies that can target the climate crisis. Prince william said his earthshot prize was to recognise what organisers called amazing people with brilliant innovative projects to help save the planet. Justin rowlatt reports here we are, right on the coast, so weve got the marshland. Its becoming clear that protecting the environment is the issue that will define Prince Williams public role from now on. You can hear the ducks, geese, all the birds all the way along
the coastline here. This year, Prince William and a global alliance. Hes joined forces with Sir David Attenborough, no less, to launch what the pair intend will literally be a world changing prize. A global prize. The idea, the prince says, is to inject some positivity into the debate. We very much felt that what was needed and what was missing at the moment was very much a case of harnessing peoples optimism and hope. Theres been a lot of negativity and pessimism and i think its such a big scale topic that people themselves dont know, you know, if i recycle my plastic every day, actually, how much of a big difference am i making . Kensington palace says the earthshot prize will make five awards of £1 million every year for ten years. Prince william and sir david say they are looking for ideas that will transform our approach to five key issues fixing the climate, building a waste free world, restoring nature, cleaning our air and reviving our oceans. But higher temperatures mean a lot more than longer summers. These are bold ambitions and the time for action is now, Sir David Attenborough told the today programme. Suddenly, we actually see the writing on the wall. Suddenly, we can actually see coral reef dying. Suddenly, we can see that forests are disappearing. Suddenly, there are real dangers that there may be a Tipping Point in which the ice caps of the north pole begin to melt, which its doing already. The aim of earthshot is to find ways to, the organisers say, repair the planet. The hope is, the prize will attract new ideas that can bring about real change. Today, the prince will be announcing more celebrity supporters, as well as the companies, charities and other organisations that will be backing the price. Prize. Justin rowlatt, bbc news. And you can listen to Prince William and Sir David Attenborough speak with the Bbcs Nick Robinson about the launch of the earthshot prize in a bbc news special via the bbc sounds app. Now its time for a look at the weather with carol. Hello again. After a pretty wet start to the day for many parts of the country, this afternoon is looking drier and brighter. We will also see some sunny spells but there will still be some showers and some of them will be sharp and potentially thundery, particularly so in the north and also parts of the west. What has been happening today is we have watched the first band of rain clearing to the north sea and then we have a second band which has been sinking south, clearing just after lunch. Behind it, a lot of dry weather and some sunny spells and the showers i mentioned in the north and west. It should brighten up across devon and cornwall, the isles of scilly, wales and also through the midlands. More cloud hanging around east anglia and some showers dotted
across north west england and Northern Ireland and scotland. In between, we should still see some bright and sunny skies. Temperatures ranging from 10 17 degrees. In the south, we get temperatures a bit above average for the time of year. Heading through the evening and overnight, clear skies in southern areas. It will be a colder night than the one just gone. A new weather front bringing rain across scotland, Northern Ireland, into Northern England and north wales with a good packet of showers following on behind. Some clear skies in the north. It will be cooler in rural areas than temperatures are suggesting. Tomorrow we start dry in southern areas and then the weather front continues its journey pushing steadily southwards through the course of the day with the cloud building ahead of it. Behind it, we are back into that cocktail of bright spells and sunshine and showers. Once again, some of the showers could be on the sharp side. Where we see green, that gives you a rough indication. Temperatures 9 15, so down a touch on what we are looking at today. For saturday, the wind is still a north westerly. It is still blowing in a fair few showers across Northern Areas and eastern areas, down through the irish sea, and some could clip north west england, wales, getting down in the direction of the isle of wight. There will be some dry weather and sunshine as well but feeling cool in north westerly wind. Temperatures between 9 12, maybe 13. As we head into sunday, it is a straight northerly coming our way so that is going to feel much colder. It is going to be a drier day for many, with just a few showers but wet again on monday. This is bbc news, im martine croxall. The headlines at midday nhs waiting times in england hit a 12 year high, with over 100,000 people having routine treatment and surgery delayed for more than a year. Test and trace figures in england hit their lowest weekly level, with 69 of close contacts of people who tested positive for covid 19 being reached. Tighter coronavirus restrictions are expected early next week for parts of england that could result in the closure of bars and restaurants. We are trying to take a localised approach. We are trying to agree a greater consistency to the rules so they are easier to understand. We are also trying to work on slightly broader canvases of regions or cities and counties, to avoid differences in peoples daily lives if they drive over the border between one place or another. As new coronavirus restrictions hit scotlands hospitality sector, theres concern it could sound the death knell for some businesses. The two us Vice President ial candidates clash over Climate Change and health care and coronavirus during a televised debate in salt lake city. British airways bids farewell to its last boeing 747 jumbo jets, four years earlier than planned due to the pandemic. Hello, welcome to bbc news. Only two in three people could be contacted by nhs test and trace in england after their close
contacts had become infected by coronavirus. Thats the lowest since the programme was launched in may. Latest figures show 69 of people could be reached by test and trace staff in the last week of september. 51,000 new people tested positive in the same week, a rise of 56 on the previous week. It comes as pubs and restaurants could be closed in the worst affected areas in england from monday, under a range of tighter restrictions being considered by ministers. The government is also likely to introduce a three tier system for local lockdowns where different parts of the country would be placed in different categories. Significant new measures are introduced in Central Scotland from today, with pubs and restaurants closing in the central belt for more than two weeks. Doctors leaders say the measures are needed because there is once again a real danger that the nhs will be unable to cope and deliver the other Services Patients need. It comes as a waiting times for routine treatments are at their longest first 12 years. Latest official numbers show that, yesterday, the number of uk cases rose by 14,162. A further 70 deaths were reported within 28 days of a covid 19 positive test. This report from andy moore. It now looks almost certain there will be new restrictions in the north of england. Manchester will very likely be affected. What hasnt been resolved is what form they will take and where they will be imposed. Options include the closure of pubs and restaurants and possibly a ban on overnight stays away from home. There is also likely to be a simpler, more easily understood system of restrictions where areas are put into a certain tier according to the level of infection. Cities in the north and the midlands have some of the highest coronavirus rates in the whole of the country. Liverpool has 552 cases per 100,000 people. Manchester has 542 cases per 100,000. And nottingham 497. In many of these places, local restrictions are already in force. These local restrictions that have been put in place in much of the north of england really havent been very effective. You can see rates are still going up, still going up very rapidly. We need to take much more stringent measures, notjust in the north of england, actually. I think we need to do it countrywide, and bring the epidemic back under control. Across the country, the number of covid deaths is rising. So too are the figures for admissions to hospitals. There is a serious risk the nhs will become overwhelmed in very short order. The increase in numbers of coronavirus cases is hard to compare from earlier this year, because of course we are testing far more. But the number of people being admitted to hospital is directly comparable from earlier this year. And its on a very serious trajectory upwards. In scotland, new restrictions will come into force tomorrow evening. There will be no drinking inside bars and restaurants for over a fortnight. In the central belt, including glasgow and edinburgh, licensed premises will have to shut to all but takeaway services. There will be Financial Support for the Hospitality Industry in scotland, but the details are not clear. In england too, the treasury is looking at how to offer help to pubs and restaurants if tighter restrictions are imposed. Andy moore, bbc news. Our Political CorrespondentJessica Parker says more details are expected in the coming days. We do not actually know exactly what decisions the government is going to make and exactly where they will apply, but what we do know is they are looking at tightening up some rules in some areas of england where rates remain stubbornly worryingly high. And as you have been saying, it is potentially things like pub
closures, potentially things like banning overnight stays. What we know as well, the governments priority, one of its priorities, is to absolutely keep schools open, so ido to absolutely keep schools open, so i do not think we are looking at anything in terms of school closures. They will remain open, thatis closures. They will remain open, that is an absolute priority in terms of childrens education. But i think we will learn more over the coming days. The indications seem to be that we could hear more from monday, early next week. Lepers like to have a listen to what the Community Secretary had to say on this this morning. Lets have a listen. We are currently considering what steps we should take, obviously taken the advice of our scientific and medical advisors and a decision will be made shortly, but im not able to give you right now exactly what is going to happen, but we will continue to take a proportionate and a localised response, which i think is the right thing to do, because there are variations in the numbers of cases, i think over 550 in
manchester per hundred thousand to as low as 19 in cornwall, dorset and herefordshire at. So in localised but proportionate response has to be the way forward. My understanding is that this tiered system that ministers are looking at is a way of trying to simplify the messaging around that, that is being referred to as the local covid alert level where, as we have been hearing, you could see different types of restrictions depending on what alert level your local area is in. In terms of areas where there could be further restrictions, we know that the treasury is looking at what support it might offer to for example the hospitality sector and look, it was not very long ago at all that rishi sunak, the chancellor, announced his winter economy plan, says we have seen so often with covid, things have moved very fast and it now looks like the treasury and a lot of pressure to come up possibly with further plans in order to support the particularly
hard hit in order to support the particularly ha rd hit sectors of in order to support the particularly hard hit sectors of the economy. Jessica parker in westminster at. The number of people having to wait more than 18 weeks to start hospital treatment in england is around three times higher thanjust over a year ago thats according to the latest figures from nhs england. The data also shows that the number of people attending accident and emergency at hospitals in england is a fifth lower than this time last year. A total of 1. 7 million attendances were recorded in september 2020, down 20 from 2. 1 million in the previous year. Nhs england said the fall is likely to be a result of the covid 19 response, suggesting that people are still staying away from a e because of coronavirus. Earlier our Health Correspondent, cath burns, talked me through some of new numbers. If you look at waiting times for things like routine surgery, 4. 2 Million People are on that waiting list now and about half of them have been on it for more than 18 weeks. More than 100,000 people have been on it for over one year, that is the
highest number for more than 12 yea rs. Highest number for more than 12 years. Another thing to look at that is important is cancer. So, for example, these figures are for august, about 20,000 people in england started their Cancer Treatment this august. That is a dropped of 5000 compared to the year before. Why is this important on the Bigger Picture . This really is a way for us to look at how the nhs in england is doing right now. There area england is doing right now. There are a few points to take away, one is that in comparison to the height of the pandemic, it is improving, the nhs is very keen to stress there is. A government spokesman has pointed out that right now they are doing more than 1 pointed out that right now they are doing more than1 million routine operations and appointments a week, they are seeing more than three times the number of patients compared to april of patients compared to april of patients compared to april for routine surgery, so compared to april for routine surgery, so obviously we are improving, but there are some things to think about. These figures are for august, this is when generally the nhs is not under so much pressure in the summer and also covid figures were very low. Right now, that picture has changed a lot,
so now, that picture has changed a lot, so lets look at where we are right now. Hospitaladmissions, so lets look at where we are right now. Hospital admissions, right so lets look at where we are right now. Hospitaladmissions, right now, if you look at hospitals across england, about 3 of the beds are taken by Covid Patients. But we know that if you look at admissions, this is much lower than in april when we we re is much lower than in april when we were looking at 3000 people a day coming in at. Right now it is closer to 500. But in august, it was closer to 500. But in august, it was closer to 50. So we see the pressure at the system was under in august and really we are in a very different picture now. And there is also that backlog of operations that were put on hold that have got to be caught up on hold that have got to be caught up with at some point. Absolutely. Tell us about how covid related deaths compared with deaths because of flu or where flu is recorded or you moan near its record . Yes, there is new data out this morning. Pneumonia is recorded. You here that covid is not a deadly as flu or pneumonia, but there have been
nearly three times as many covid death than it flu or pneumonia. From january to august, 48,168 deaths due toa january to august, 48,168 deaths due to a covid 19, and in comparison, 14,013 from flu and pneumonia are mixed together. Actually, if you just take flu, there are 394 deaths. This is actually. It has been a really low for a year in comparison to other years, but still, to some interesting data. Our Health Correspondent. Lets take a look at the restrictions that will come in to effect in scotland tomorrow. Pubs and bars will be ordered to stop serving alcohol inside, and venues inside scotlands central belt will have to shut their doors completely. The new rules will apply from 6pm tomorrow, for an initial period of 16 days. In the central belt, affecting more than three Million People, all licensed premises, except hotel bars for residents, will have to close indoors and outdoors, although takeaways will be permitted. In other parts of scotland, pubs and restaurants will be able to open for limited hours,
but can only serve alcohol outdoors. The first minister admitted the new rules would be disruptive to many businesses and would be unwelcome to many people. Rules on face coverings are being tightened too in the coming weeks they must be worn indoors in all communal settings like workplace corridors and canteens. Scotlands National Clinical director, professorjason leitch, says the restrictions will be a short, sharp shock aimed at bringing down the r number, which is currently around 1. 5 in scotland. The science is never exact in these restrictions. It simply cant be. The virus is only nine months old. The theory here is that if we get the prevalence down, if we get our r rate down, it is about one and a half now in scotland, our doubling time is nine days, so 1000 cases today is 2000 cases in nine days, is 4000 cases in three weeks. So we have got to do something. We have got to do something quickly and the evidence paper we published yesterday as the advisers illustrates that, so id commend it to people to read and 16 days is a bit of a short,
sharp shock and i regret it. I dont want to have to do it. I feel for these hospitality owners and it gets that prevalence down as quickly as we can and then we can reset and hopefully the prevalence will then stay low and we can have schools and hospitality and higher education. Scotlands National Clinical director. And just to let you know that at 3. 30pm on the bbc news channel, well answer your questions on the Contact Tracing app. Joining us will be our Technology CorrespondentRory Cellan Jones and isobel braithwaite, from University College london. Send your questions using the hashtag bbcyourquestions or email them using yourquestions bbc. Co. Uk. And if you would like to find out what the rules are in yourlocalarea, you can use the bbcs online tool. Just type your postcode
in to find out what the restrictions are for you. Thats all at bbc. Co. Uk news. Of course, we could expect some changes in the next few days. You are watching bbc news. And, well have continued coverage of the days stories here on the bbc news channel. The headlines on bbc news nhs waiting times in england hit a 12 year high, with over a hundred thousand people having routine treatment and surgery delayed for more than a year. The latest nhs test and trace figures in england show the proportion of close contacts of infected people who were reached was down to 69 the lowest since the programme was launched. Tighter coronavirus restrictions are expected early next week for parts of england, that could result in the closure of bars and restaurants. Sport and for a full round up,
from the bbc sport centre. Thank you very much indeed. Its a big night of International Football and scotland and Northern Ireland have been waiting since before lock down to renew their bid to reach the european championships, which were pushed back until next summer. Scotland have a play off semi final against israel, but they will be missing 3 key players, after southamptons stuart armstrong, tested positive for coronavirus. Whats more, teamates Kieran Tierney and ryan christie, have been identified as close contacts, and so must, self isolate for 14 days, so they will also miss tonights match, and the Nations League games next week too. There is no reason it cannot infiltrate a football camp, no matter how good your protocols are in place, you have to try and protect people as much as possible. Everyone who is involved has a negative test and we look forward to the game, the ones that are left. No such problems, for Northern Ireland also have a vital euro play off, semi final this evening. They will be hoping to draw on their experience, of 4 years ago in france, when they qualified for their first major tournament in 30 years. If they win tonight, and the republic of ireland beat slovakia, then they will play each other, for a place at next years euro finals. Some game that will be. As for england and wales they play each other in a friendly at wembley tonight, and Gareth Southgates got a big call to make over his goalkeeper. Jordan pickfords been his number one for a while now, but hes not been in the greatest of form for his club side everton so far this season in fact hes dropped a couple of clangers. So there is a chance now that hell be replaced by burnleys nick pope. Isa is a very tight call, i always go back to the fact thatjordans performances have been excellent, im not oblivious to what has happened to him at everton, but there can be lots of factors within
individuals performances at their clu bs individuals performances at their clubs and we have got to try and help them to be in their best possible form when they are with us. Despite not feeling great physically, novak djokovic, Pablo Carreno busta. Djokovic, got off a stuttering start losing the first set to the spaniard and there were questions, over whether he might be suffering with an injury which had troubled him in the warm up. But he looked more like his old self for the rest of the match, winning three sets in a row, to set up a semi with stefanos tsitsipas. Thats all the sport for now. Ill have more for you in the next hour. Figures released by nhs test and trace in the last hour show that testing turnaround times in england are slowing and only two thirds of positive covid 19 cases were transferred to system. Im joined by the bbcs head
of statistics, robert cuffe. Theyre taking longer to come back, why is that . About a quarter of people who went to a walk in centre ora people who went to a walk in centre or a drive through got their test back within 24 hours, and to be fair, most did get back the next day, but that figure of a quarter, thatis day, but that figure of a quarter, that is down on last week and down on the height of 90 injuly. It is the most important number, because the most important number, because the thing that the modelling said that had the biggest impact in test and chasing is that people who tested high slate and the people who live with them do that too, that has the biggest effect on consequences, and if people do not know the results there is not much they can do about it. There was also that it glitch over the weekend that affected the Contact Tracing up and we ended up with a huge number of extra cases that were all that reported at once. Thankfully, that does not affect people finding out about the results. Those results we re about the results. Those results were sent out to people, just not
through to the Contact Tracing system. U nfortu nately, through to the Contact Tracing system. Unfortunately, this glitch was only discovered on friday and these testing figures go up to wednesday. So they are not included in the system yet, but Contact Tracing broadly the figures are pretty similar and we have seen rises in demand and they have held kind of constant. If there is an outbreak, they get almost everybody, all contacts are reached. If it is people in the community, they get to about two thirds of the contacts who do not live with there. Those figures have been pretty steady throughout the epidemic, the issue as there is not much sign of improvement as we are heading into the autumn and winter. We are also seeing more people testing positive for covid 19 for the fewest time. Extreme and that means, testing positive for the first time at. For the first time. Were not talking about reinfection here, it is if someone about reinfection here, it is if someone gets sick with covid they can be tested a couple of times during the course of their illness. These figures refer to the people who were becoming covid infected for the first time. It is pretty
consistent piece coming from lots of different organisations that is or confirm the case are going up by about half in a week or going up by two weeks. That is not the big number we were all scared by when sir Patrick Vallance mention at a couple of weeks ago, but still extending doubling every fortnight does leave you in a pretty unhappy place, maybe not a threes, but certainly before christmas. And that is why theres so much discussion of what measures take. Thank you. The us Vice President , mike pence and his democratic challenger, Kamala Harris have taken part in their only debate ahead of the next months election. The candidates clashed over the economy and foreign policy, health care and racialjustice. Ms harris criticised the Trump Administrations Coronavirus Response as the greatest failure in president ial history, while mr pence accused her of undermining confidence in an eventual vaccine. Our north america correspondent nada tawfik reports. With the chaotic president ial debate
still on the minds of americans, Vice President mike pence and senator Kamala Harris walked on stage eager to reset the tone. Over the course of 90 minutes, they delivered a far more substantive discussion that was civil, but not without fire. This is important. Mr Vice President , im speaking. I have to weigh in. Straight away, the coronavirus that has infected millions of americans, including President Trump and his white house, dominated the discussion, their divisions going beyond the glass barriers that separated them on stage. The American People have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any president ial administration in the history of our country. And here are the facts. 210,000 dead people in our country in just the last several months. Over 7 Million People who have contracted this disease. And heres the thing. 0njanuary 28th, the Vice President and the president were informed
about the nature of this pandemic. And they knew what was happening and they didnt tell you. Senator Kamala Harris said the Trump Campaign should forfeit its right to re election, based on its response. But the Vice President , as head of the Coronavirus Task force, said their efforts saved lives, including by restricting travel from china in late january. What i want the American People to know, from the very first day, President Donald Trump has put the health of america first. Before there were more than five cases in the united states, all people who had returned from china, President Donald Trump did what no other american president had ever done, and that was, he suspended all travel from china, the second largest economy in the world. Now, senator joe biden opposed that decision. He said it was xenophobic. Both nominees throughout got in punches, whilst staying on message, such as this
exchange over vaccines. If the Public Health professionals, if doctor fauci, if the doctors tell us that we should take it, i will be the first in line to take it. Absolutely. But if Donald Trump Tells us that we should take it, im not taking it. The fact that you continue to undermine Public Confidence in a vaccine, if a vaccine emerges during the Trump Administration, i think is unconscionable. Senator, i just ask you, stop playing politics with peoples lives. Mike pence repeatedly challenged Kamala Harris on her own progressive record and redirected the conversation to the economy. This was perhaps the most important Vice President ial debate in history, touching on everything from Racial Justice to the Supreme Court to foreign policy. The only moment of levity, a fly that landed in the wrong spot at the wrong time. This debate may not change the course of the campaign, but it is a reminder to voters
ofjust how much is at stake in this election. And nada joins us now from salt lake city. Certainly not the fireworks resort between shot and biden recently. Yes, absolutely. Ithink between shot and biden recently. Yes, absolutely. I think the consensus across the political spectrum is that this was really a return to the traditional debates that have been the custom here in this country, certainly that last president ial debate was not the norm. Really, the rule of thumb is that Vice President ial nominees get through this, the one and only debate, unscathed, and that is what really both of these nominees did. There were polished, well prepared, they avoided any of their embarrassing sound bites. Even dodging questions from the moderator that did not really go to their campaigns message. Certainly, this was a look at the future of the democratic republican parties,
because with both president ial candidates in their 70s and with the health of president curran now in the spotlight because of his can deliver coinfection with coronavirus, these two had to go on show they were prepared to be president if needed to take office. President trump. They will be breathing a sigh of relief that there were no major mistakes, no necessarily memorable moments, but definitely a straight performance from both. What the American Media saying about who won, if anyone did . Yes, i think the consensus here speaking to voters, also cross media, is that there was no clear winner, but both candidates did well for their principles on the ticket. You look at Kamala Harris, she really stuck to hitting the Trump Administration on their handling of the coronavirus going back to that time and time again, another memorable moment was when she brought up health care and the Affordable Care act is something
that the majority of americans do support. She really told americans right into the camera that they are coming for you, referring to americans with pre existing conditions who could lose their health care. Respeaking back to the American People on that issue. Vice president mike pence on the other hand, he is looking to not only defend President Trump, but to secure defend President Trump, but to secure his political future and so he really did stick to the issues that his base cared about most including the Supreme Court. For the moment, thank you very much. And you can see more from that debate at 1. 30pm here on the bbc news channel, when we will be showing highlights from the contest between the Vice President ial candidates mike pence and Kamala Harris. More now on the planned tightening of restrictions in parts of england follows rising infection rates across much of the country, with medical leaders warning the nhs is at risk of becoming overwhelmed. Nottingham is amongst one the cities that has the highest infection rates in the country. Councillor david mellen is labour leader of is labour leader of nottingham city council. How concerned are you, not so much about restrictions, but what is going to happen in the weekend leading up to them . Im very concerned. We have known about this a dramatic increase in numbers in nottingham since the beginning of the week. We expected the government to support us in putting restrictions are in today or tomorrow at. The fact that they are going to leave it till next monday or wednesday is a very worrying for us in nottingham and that is why we have gone ahead of the government, both myself and my colleague the chair of the county council, leader of the county council, to say that we are advising people to stay mixing only with their own households in their own support bubbles now, but that is not impossible without Government Support to. What is your thinking then about how people might choose
to behave this weekend . then about how people might choose to behave this weekend . I think yourselves and other media are covering less and saying that if the restrictions are not coming in till next monday at the earliest, then it is almost like a last chance for people to party and it to go out in a way that will not be helpful to the spread of the virus. Im very worried that people will see this as a last opportunity and therefore behave in a way that is not the sensible weight that we are asking people to behave. When we do get these new restrictions, what is your message to the government . The message to the government . The message would be first talk to us more. We have not been talked to at all apart from a to Public Health level. Secondly, lets check the fa cts level. Secondly, lets check the facts and work with the science. It does seem that although im asking for restrictions, the further restrictions on the north of the country do not seem to have been
dramatic in their working, if not making the situation, making it no change, and cases are going up in some places. So my message would be lets think about this, act decisively and in partnership. What do you think people need to hear . Because as we sit here reporting what is happening in other parts of the country, other parts of notjust england but other parts of the uk, it isa england but other parts of the uk, it is a very mixed picture. How clear a re it is a very mixed picture. How clear are people in nottingham about what they are meant to be doing . |j what they are meant to be doing . think people are confused, because there have been Different Things it said. Ithink there have been Different Things it said. I think what people need to hear is that this virus has not gone away at. Hospital beds in nottingham are filling up with Covid Patients and that even if you mind not get this disease very badly because of your age, this disease very badly because of yourage, might this disease very badly because of your age, might not get this disease, but i living alongside people in the community that might be frail, it might be from a the ame
background, might have Underlying Health conditions, and you need to protect them as well as yourselves, we need to Work Together on this and think about everybody, not about getting it mildly ourselves on being fine. Bame background. Some people get it bad enough they will end up in hospital or worse. You mentioned you want to know the Science Behind some of these decisions backstop what you mean by that . Is the science being ignored or is it being overly interpreted and used it too forcefully in places . It does not seem to be consistency. Although the lockdown restrictions worked earlier this yearin restrictions worked earlier this year in nottingham, we have had under a National Average levels of infection up until a fortnight ago, are we sure what is going to work in this Current Situation where schools are back, universities are back, where people are going to pubs and
restau ra nts. Where people are going to pubs and restaurants. I think we need to be clear what is going to work, rather than just trying Different Things out. What is your view of this idea ofa out. What is your view of this idea of a three tier system where there would be Different Levels like red, amber, green for different parts of the country . I think that is probably sensible, but they need to be large areas. I agree with the leader of the county council here in nottinghamshire that we will have similar guidelines going out from the two council is because people move, they do notjust to stay in the area where they live, they moved for work or study, the move for school, they move it for leisure therefore, the transmission of the disease is surely affected by people moving around at. We have very good Public Transport in nottingham and people using trams and buses and although these might be part of the places where people are passing the virus on. And these might be the places where people are passing it
on. Thank you. Hello again. It has been a pretty wet start to the day, particularly so across england and wales. As we go through this afternoon, the rain should all clear and behind it, we are looking at a brighter afternoon with some sunny spells. Also a fair few showers and some of those in the north and west could be sharp and thundery. We will hang on to more cloud which could produce a shower in east anglia. Temperatures reaching from ten in the north to 17 in the south. Through this evening and overnight, under clear skies in southern areas, it is going to be a colder night than the one just gone. We have rain coming in across Northern Ireland, scotland, into Northern England and north wales by the night, with a rash of showers following on behind. A cool night under clear skies in parts of scotland as well. Through tomorrow, the weather front continues to journey southwards, bringing more cloud ahead of it as it does so. Behind that, once again, a mixture of bright spells, sunny skies and showers, with the potential for some of the showers in the west to be
heavy and feeling a bit cooler. Hello, this is bbc news. The headlines. Nhs waiting times in england hit a 12 year high with over 100,000 people having routine treatment and surgery delayed for more than a year. The latest nhs test and trace figures in england show the proportion of close contacts of infected people who were reached
was down to 69 the lowest since the programme was launched. Tighter coronavirus restrictions are expected early next week for parts of england, that could result in the closure of bars and restaurants. Theres been a sharp increase in covid 19 cases in countries across Europe Germany calls the rise worrying in brussells cafes and bars have been ordered to close for at least a month. Brussels. Prince william and Sir David Attenborough have joined forces to launch what they hope will become the nobel prize for environmentalism. And British Airways bids farewell to its last boeing 747 jumbo jets four years earlier than planned due to the pandemic. Countries across europe are reintroducing restrictions after a sharp increase in covid 19 cases. Lets take a look at some numbers. France reported over 18,000 new infections over 24 hours yesterday
a new all time daily high, and almost double of tuesdays tally of more than 10,400. The Czech Republic has 5,335 new cases its highest one day tally since the pandemic started poland also has new numbers 4,280 in the past 24 hours. Theres been a surge in cases there around 2,000 or more since the start of october. To austria 1,209 new cases in the past 24 hours the highest daily figure since the start of the outbreak. So, new restrictions coming into force in many countries. Italy for example, has made it mandatory to wear face masks in outdoor spaces people must also wear masks indoors everywhere except in private homes. Mark lowen in rome has more. Italy has, for now, largely avoided the worst of the spike in infections that other countries in europe are seeing. But cases here are rising,
too. They are at the same level now as they were in the middle of april. In order to combat it, the Italian Government has introduced new measures, the latest of which is to require mandatory mask waiting outside across the country. The one exception is if youre in a very isolated place, for example, on the beach, where you are required to have the mask with you but not necessarily to wind it if you are a long way away from other people. The government is even recommending that if you are indoors in your own home, that you wear a mask when you are mixing with people not from your household. The fine for breaking the mandatory mass waiting outside is up to 1000 euros task mask. Italy was the first country in the west to be overwhelmed by coronavirus when it first hit and italians were somewhat frightened into obedience and compliance. Mask waiting has been very scrupulous here right across the country. Theres not been that kind of anti mask waiting movement
we have seen in other places. But the rise in cases italy is experiencing at the moment shows actually is not immune to the increase in infections and the government is hoping that the new measures on mask waiting will help this country buck the trend of the new wave of infections that other countries in europe are seeing. Meanwhile, germanys Health Minister has said the rise in cases in europe poses a risk for germany. The country has seen its cases rise by over 4,000 the worst since april. Jenny hill has the latest from berlin. Rather fortuitously, the Health Minister planned a press conference this morning to update journalists on the general corona situation. His basic view is that the authorities are concerned. They say the situation is still under control, the numbers are still relatively low, but they are worried that germany is going to squander the advantage it managed to achieve over the last few months in getting the initial outbreak under control. We have seen these new numbers today, representing a sharp increase on the previous day, with over 4,000 new cases. So we are starting to see some restrictions gradually come into play. Yesterday, members of germanys 16 states decided that people who live in so called hotspots, high risk areas where the number of cases exceeds 50 per 100,000 inhabitants, will no longer be able to go and stay overnight as tourists in Hotels Anywhere else in the country. The authorities have an eye on the autumn holidays coming up here. Here in berlin, there are restrictions on the sale of alcohol after a certain time of night. There are restrictions on the numbers of people who can gather at night. That is because the authorities are really concerned about where these new increases are coming from and they are pretty certain that this is to do with people gathering they say they are not seeing infections coming from places like hairdressers or Public Transport, not many infections breaking out in schools. The real problem seems to be
when people get together for a religious gathering orfor a big party either inside or outside, where they are not observing social distancing or Wearing Masks and theyre not ventilating the room. So the authorities are really trying to crack down on that as the real source of the problem at the moment. But they are concerned. The Health Minister this morning described this as a character test for german society. The bbc has seen Video Evidence that shows livestock from the uk is being shipped to the middle east and slaughtered. Investigators tracked consignments of cattle over the summer via spanish fattening farms and ports. Practises at one lebanese abattoir, where a british bullock was filmed in august, were described by Charity Workers as dreadful and terrifying. The government has said it is committed to improving Animal Welfare. Jon ironmonger has this exclusive story. And a warning that you may find some of the images in this film
distressing from the start. A slaughterhouse in lebanon in august. Cattle are strung up by the legs, still conscious, and stabbed with knives. The practices are typical in this part of the world. The cattle are not. Ear tags on this dead bullock reveal it is from the uk, far beyond any protection from europe. Charities have gathered first time Video Evidence that british livestock is being exported via spanish fattening farms and ports for slaughter in third countries, where International Standards are ignored. On a truck in cartagena injuly, investigators filmed another bullock from the uk. It is loaded onto a ship headed for libya. I have worked in Animal Welfare for 20 years and the footage from slaughterhouses in the middle east is the worst thing i have ever seen. It is absolutely desperate and i cant imagine a crueller way to treat an animal. It is just awful. There is pain and suffering for long periods of time. Livestock carriers take at least five days to sail from spain to libya or lebanon. In 2016, when this footage was filmed, a landmark study found poor welfare and stifling hot, cramped conditions were commonplace on long sea journeys. The cattle on this ship to israel are crowding around an empty drinker. After many years of legal challenges and protests, exports of live animals have been declining in britain. The port of ramsgate is the main departure point for livestock exports from england and scotland. Shipments of uk calves, for years fiercely resisted here, have very recently been suspended but they continue unabated from ports in ireland. Campaigners say that without a ban, new trade routes will soon open up. Male calves are low value by products of the dairy industry. Last year, 16,500 were sold to spain by the uk for fattening. Many fall sick en route. Like this one, filmed outside a facility in catalonia injune. It has been left untreated. Charity workers later called a vet to shoot the animal. This video footage is stomach churning. It is such a wake up call. The government has a manifesto commitment to restrict excessive Long Distance transportation. I think they need to act on it so that one day very soon, we see an end to live export for slaughter or fattening. Animals exported from the uk are still protected by eu rules requiring vet checks and placing limits on journey times or stocking densities. Brexit presents an opportunity to go further and ministers have promised to consult on a possible ban. The National Farmers union said the trade was important and that they would seek to maintain it. John ironmonger, bbc news. The labour leader sir keir starmer has expressed his concern about the latest rise in Coronavirus Infection rates. Speaking during a visit to a farm in wiltshire, he said restrictions need to be looked at again. Everybody is really concerned about the rise in infection rates. There is deep concern across the country. What we have seen is lots of local areas with added restrictions. In 19 of the 28 80s have been restrictions for two months the infection rate is still 19 for two months the infection rate is still 19 of the 20 areas. The government must accept the argument that trace and isolate needs to be under local control. Local has been asking for this for months, but u nless asking for this for months, but unless that is fixed, we will struggle to get control over this virus. The headlines on bbc news. Nhs waiting times in england hit a 12 year high with over 100,000 people having routine operations delayed for more than a year. The latest nhs test and trace figures in england show the proportion of close contacts of infected people who were reached was down to 69 the lowest since the programme was launched. Tighter coronavirus restrictions
are expected early next week for parts of england, that could result in the closure of bars and restaurants. Romance fraud, where victims are scammed out of thousands of pounds by criminals using Online Dating sites, has increased by more than 25 over the last year. Police fear scams are on the rise because more people have been looking for Online Connections during lockdown. Graham satchell has been to meet one victim, who lost her lifes savings. It can happen to absolutely anybody. And they are so clever. They are so manipulative. They know how to pull every single string, how to emotionally blackmail you, because that was what was happening the whole way through. The daughter in particular. It was just emotional blackmail. Lisa went on an Online Dating site after her husband left her. She met somebody who claimed to be a sailor in the royal navy, stationed in the middle east. We were e mailing constantly through the day. Id always wake up to a lovely poem from him. Obviously time difference, he was up earlier than me. All part of reeling me in. It was after weeks and weeks of constant e mailing that the first request for money came. The man, who called himself rob, said his bank account had been hacked and frozen, his daughter had become ill in dubai, could lisa pay for the treatment . I was very reluctant to do that to start with, because i didnt want to pay out money, but it then became a very much like, she is dying,
she is dying, she needs to be treated, if she doesnt get treated she is going to die, she needs an operation. So the first operation wasjust over £5,000. Over the next few months lisa sent more money until eventually she told a friend what was happening, who called the police. A female officer came to see her. I gave her some photos that he had sent to me. And she went back to her office and literally within half an hour she was back on to me. Are you on facebook . Yes. Go and look at this profile. They were the photos. They were all the photos. Completely innocent sailor. The minute obviously i saw that, that was. No more denial. That was what happened. How much money did you send them altogether . £63,000. Such a huge amount of money . It was everything i had. And more. Shame, stupidity. Total embarrassment. My stepson, at that time, was 16. They knew that i was talking to somebody in the royal navy. The first thing he said to me was, dont give him any money. I remember that so clearly. Dont give him any money. There has been a significant rise
in so called romance fraud in lockdown as people have been unable to meet in person. In the last year it has gone up by more than a quarter. The average loss in each case, £10,000. Police say this is a sophisticated crime. 70 of it originates overseas, often with organised teams of people researching potential victims. What we often see is that the rapport building can take a long period of time. Sometimes many months. It is about trust and hope and friendship. And when that is destroyed its not just financial damage, actually, its devastating emotional damage as well that we see. Lisa has been told she wont get any of her money back and says if there is one lesson from her experience it is this. Dont give them any money. It doesnt matter how bad they make you feel, dont give them any money. Ive still got my parents to tell. Ive still got my step children to tell. Ive kept it from them because i am so ashamed. I obviously have to tell them now. This is not about anything other than trying to stop anyone else getting into the situation ive got myself into. Lisa has now told the rest of her family and is determined that no one else should have to go through what she has been through. Graham satchell, bbc news. Breaking news from Chester Crown court were a former football coach and serial paedophile has been sentenced to four Years Imprisonment for a nine Sexual Offences against two boys. This is in addition to the 31 year sentence that he is already serving after he was convicted of 50
child Sexual Offences. The 66 year old former Crewe Alexandra coach and Manchester City scout, also known as richard jones, had pleaded guilty to these new nine Sexual Offences at the end ofjuly, so Sexual Offences at the end ofjuly, so he now receives a further four yea rs so he now receives a further four years in prison. The duke of cambridge and Sir David Attenborough have launched an ambitious nobel style environmental award, with a £50million prize fund, to recognise and celebrate ideas and technologies that can target the climate crisis. Prince william said his earthshot prize was to recognise what organisers called amazing people with brilliant innovative projects to help save the planet. Justin rowlatt has more. Here we are, right on the coast, so weve got the marshland. Its becoming clear that protecting the environment is the issue that will define Prince Williams public role from now on. You can hear the ducks, geese, all the birds all the way along the coastline here. This year, Prince William and a global alliance. Hes joined forces with Sir David Attenborough, no less, to launch what the pair intend will literally be a world changing prize. A global prize. The idea, the prince says, is to inject some positivity into the debate. We very much felt that what was needed and what was missing at the moment was very much a case of harnessing peoples optimism and hope. Theres been a lot of negativity and pessimism and i think its such a big scale topic that people themselves dont know, you know, if i recycle my plastic every day, actually, how much of a big difference am i making . Kensington palace says the earthshot prize will make five awards of £1 million every year for ten years. Prince william and sir david say they are looking for ideas that will transform our approach to five key issues fixing the climate, building a waste free world, restoring nature, cleaning our air
and reviving our oceans. But higher temperatures mean a lot more than longer summers. These are bold ambitions and the time for action is now, Sir David Attenborough told the today programme. Suddenly, we actually see the writing on the wall. Suddenly, we can actually see coral reef dying. Suddenly, we can see that forests are disappearing. Suddenly, there are real dangers that there may be a Tipping Point in which the ice caps of the north pole begin to melt, which its doing already. The aim of earthshot is to find ways to, the organisers say, repair the planet. The hope is, the prize will attract new ideas that can bring about real change. Today, the prince will be announcing more celebrity supporters, as well as the companies, charities and other organisations that will be backing the prize. Justin rowlatt, bbc news. And you can listen to Prince William and Sir David Attenborough speak
with the Bbcs Nick Robinson about the launch of the earthshot prize in a bbc news special via the bbc sounds app. The american poet louise gluck has been awarded this years nobel prize in literature. Announcing the award, swedens Nobel Academy praised the work of the 77 year old for its austere beauty and unmistakable poetic voice. Shes the First American writer to win the prize for 27 years. British airways is saying farewell to its iconic boeing 747s today. Earlier the airlines final two jumbo jets made their last take off from london heathrow. The reduction in International Travel because of the pandemic caused the airline to pull the planes from service four years earlier than scheduled. Our transport correspondent, tom burridge, was following the action from heathrow. Were still recovering from it, the adrenalines still pumping. But really sad, the 747s are noticeably absent from bas fleet at heathrow this morning. They rolled down the tarmac within the last hour. We can show you those incredible images. Atrocious conditions, it has to be said, but we had it covered from every angle and it was a real moment. A lot of staff came out to cheer and wave as the planes flew off because these 747s, the original jumbo jets, they really were a massive part of the fleet for British Airways for decades, the original plane in 1969 really shook things up in the world of aviation. And this morning really was the end of an era. A queen of the skies. The uniforms and the food changed. The cabin has been fine tuned for passenger comfort. But the 747 was a glamour glider for decades. Its big, but by no means slow. Full, it could weigh 400 tonnes. The original was made in 1969. Man, how they are going to get that thing in the air . Ba once flew 57 of them. Now their last two are leaving heathrow. In here are the bunks where you can get a rest if we have more than two crew. Captain al bridger will pilot this one into retirement. The 747s departure from the fleet is earlier than planned because of the pandemic. The first thing you notice when you look out of the window is, you are looking down on people, which is really weird compared to any other aircraft youve flown. Its almost sad when a beautiful aircraft can still fly, but its off to its final resting place. It will be an emotional moment lifting off of that last time. Good morning, bbc breakfast, and welcome on board this final British Airways 747 flight from london heathrow. Julie welcomed a listers and royalty on board. No need to go to a gym either
you become very attached to a huge chunk of metal that takes you around the world. Its glamorous, its iconic and you do actually fall in love. The stretched upper deck is new to ba. In its day, the double deck was novel. Its like a private jet up here its still pretty cool today. I know somebody whose grandma boarded a 747 and thought she was still in the departure lounge because it was so big. She didnt realise and was asking when they were going to be boarding. 71 metres from the front to a place passengers didnt see near the tail. At the back of the plane, up a flight of stairs is where on long haul flights, the crew can get some rest. In seat 1a, you are further forward than the pilot. The cockpit is up there. But the amazing views out of the window didnt come cheap in first class. Its incredible to think that the boeing 747 has been with us for around half a century. Suddenly, you could carry around 400 people from heathrow to jfk, new york, in about six hours. It was a wow moment. And it changed the way we travel. Millions of miles, millions of jumbo jet memories. This morning, its over and out for the ba 747 era. The airfield behind me is really quiet by heathrow standards, you have got the two runways there and you can see one plane coming in, a ba flight but because of the pandemic, there are nowhere near as many flights taking off, normally it would be every 40 seconds, planes coming in and out of this, one of the busiest airfields in the world in normal times and that is why the 747 has been
prematurely retired from the fleet. It was quite a poignant moment this morning because it is an aircraft that is really loved, notjust by the company, but by anybody connected to aviation worldwide. Hello again. Some clear skies following by the evening and also if your showers which will continue for a few hours yet. Otherwise we will see wetter weather coming in from the north west overnight. Some rain heading to scotland, Northern Ireland, as the wind picks up into the far north of england and wales by the end of the night. I had a bit, some clear skies. May be able to see the meteor shower during the evening. By the end of the night will be a lot colder. Tomorrow we have a shower is coming in from the
north west into scotland, Northern Ireland. Some of them heavy hail and thunder. Following this band of rain and cloud moves down across wales, the midlands and into southern england in the afternoon, by which point the rain could be steadier and heavier. Stronger went on friday and colder air moving down, with typical temperatures of 11 13 c. Stronger wind. Tighter restrictions are expected next week in england for areas with the highest Coronavirus Infection rates. Its thought pubs and restaurants could be forced to close in an effort to drive numbers down. Its much too complicated. We dont know what theyre going to do next, do we . Itsjust one big mess. Well be speaking to the owner of a chain of bars about the potential impact of more restrictions on their business. Also this lunchtime. People waiting over a year for hospital treatment in england hit a 12 year high, as fears grow about the pressure of coronavirus on the nhs. If this gets out of control, which it is and were at that Tipping Point right now, this isnt a joke, this isnt scaremongering. I dont come from an organisation that does scaremongering