Athletes take to the waves. It is one year late and has been beset by problems, but the olympics are finally formally starting in toyko. The Opening Ceremony injapan� s National Stadium will be three and a half hours long but has been described as sombre reflecting the mood of a nation which is having to host the biggest Sporting Event in the world during a pandemic. Our Sports Correspondent Natalie pirks is inside the Olympic Stadium. We canjoin we can join her there. Talk us throu~h we can join her there. Talk us through whats we can join her there. Talk us through whats happened we can join her there. Talk us through whats happened so l we can join her there. Talk us i through whats happened so far. We can join her there. Talk us through whats happened so far. He joined me at the moment during the parade of nations. Apologies for the fact i am quite dark but we are not allowed by the authorities to turn any lights on. Parade of nations is when all the athletes from all the countries walk through and get their moment to take selfies and wave at the cloud but of course this time around there is no crowd here. Great britain have just come out and we just miss them. It was about four minutes ago and they respected social distancing quite well and normally would have been the whole team, 375 british athletes. Because of the times we are in, not all the athletes are matching so it is more than 11,000 coming to the games and only around 5000 doing this parade of nations. Argentina tried to get the party started. They were singing like below me, loving life, no social distancing going on at all. But they were welcomed into the stadium by the japanese organisers here who were bowing and Clapping And Dancing and trying to really make this as much a part of the section as possible because as you said earlier on it was a very sombre beginning indeed. This Opening Ceremony would have been incredibly difficult, wouldnt it, Pre Pandemic . Let me tell you, this was certainly no Queen Skydiving into the stadium after speaking to james bond. It had none of that about it but it was, of course, meant to reflect the times the world is living right now and actually i think it was quite beautiful. When they raise the japanese flag and sang the japanese and then you could hear a pin sang the japanese and then you could heara Pin Drop sang the japanese and then you could hear a Pin Drop and there were goose bumps. It really was quite a beautiful Moment And Everything is being done very respectfully and beautifully so far. What is going on behind me with this parade of nations will actually take around two hours and it takes a long time for the 207 countries and the nations to come out. After that they will be fireworks, we are told. We already had a few fireworks earlier but we will be having some more. Then we will have a speech and the games will be officially declared open by the Japanese Emperor and the Ioc President Thomas Bach said the olympic athletes down there as sending a resounding message of hope to ourfragile world sending a resounding message of hope to our fragile world in the Opening Ceremony is highlighting themes of resilience, solidarity and unity. Of course, right at the very end of all this we will see the traditional lighting of the olympic cauldron. Thats on top of Mount Fuji that is behind my left shoulder. I dont if you can see any of that but the moment when they declare the games is open that flame will burn, traditionally, for the rest of the games. We have got 18 days after this of back to back sport. Most sport, more events than we have ever had before. And i think that this hopefully is the moment that the japanese public will start to get behind these games because because of the fact we have no spectators in here we could hear protests outside. We are not really sure how many there were but then that noisy minority. Certainly there may be A Hundred or more. We had come are people out there filming so hopefully will be able to show you a bit of that later on but there were also members of the public outside that wanted to see what was going on. It is almost like a party they have paid for and they havent been allowed into anything as journalist he we can all feel a sense of remorse for them, really, that this should have been The Greatest Show On Earth for them, could have been absolutely amazing for them but because of whats gone on theyve had to really dial down this traditional curtain raiser. Thank ou ve traditional curtain raiser. Thank you very much. Traditional curtain raiser. Thank you very much, natalie. Mariko 0i, is near the Olympic Stadium for us. She describes the atmosphere around her as the ceremony is under way. Of course, it was delayed because of the pandemic, and as weve been reporting there have been a lot of controversies. You can probably hear some protesters around us. Also, security was really tight. We saw a lot of Police Officers from outside tokyo, though of lot of them have actually been asking people not to stand on their bicycles so it is still very peaceful here in tokyo. But earlier i was just outside the Olympic Stadium and near the Olympic Museum and thats where several hundred people were actually gathering waiting for the Opening Ceremony and, i have to say, there wasnt that much social distancing happening so it was a bit worrying, but some people are definitely getting excited. Others, of course, are reluctantly, i guess, accepting the fact that the games and now under way. Mariko, what are people here injapan hoping the legacy of these games will be . Thats a big question, lucy, because of course the japanese government spent an enormous amount of money. Some say 25 Billion in preparation for the games and yet i guess the benefits of hosting the olympics, Global The Benefits of hosting the olympics global prestige, national pride, the promise of tourism dollars, none of that is happening. An overwhelming majority of the japanese public have been against the games until a couple of months ago. Now stilljust over 50 of them still dont think it should go ahead. Of course, there have been a lot of controversies surrounding the Opening Ceremony that is taking place behind me as we speak. Of course, we had the Creative Director being dismissed just 2a hours ago for his pastjokes about the holocaust. We also had that composer of the music for the Opening Ceremony having to step down after apologising for abusing a classmate with disabilities and if you look back a couple of years the organising committees own president had to also step down because of sexist remarks that he made, so theres been a lot of criticism towards the organising committee, and, you know, if you ask the japanese public a lot of people, i think its fair to say that they just want the games to go ahead safely and as smoothly as possibly. But, of course, with the rising number of covid cases inside the Olympic Village as well as in the rest of tokyo it is a very worrying start to the Opening Ceremony. A High Courtjudge has ruled there should be a new investigation into whether state agencies could have prevented the 0magh Bombing in 1998. The attack, which was carried out by the dissident republican group the real ira, was the worst single atrocity of the conflict in Northern Ireland resulting in the deaths of 29 people. In 2013, the government said it would not hold a public inquiry. 0ur Correspondent Danjohnson is in 0magh and he explained what todays ruling would mean. This will mean that they will have to be some form of new investigation. This is the Memorial Park that stands in 0magh in memory of the 29 people who died that day in August 1998 just yards from where that Car Bomb exploded in this review has come about through the families challenging the uks Decision Ruling judgment not to conduct a public enquiry. Thats something theyve been for because they have been questioned so many years over the sharing of information running up to the make that bomb exploded. There was intelligence, Mobile Phone tracking information, listening in on some Mobile Phone conversations between the people who are alleged to have planted the bomb so the question has been if that information had been coordinated because the bombing have been prevented or could the people you carried it out have been prosecuted and in his Ruling Today at the High Courtjudge said i am satisfied that certain grounds give rise to plausible allegations that there was a real prospect of preventing the 0magh Bombing. He said any investigation will have to look specifically at the issue of whether a more proactive campaign of disruption, especially coordinated back, North And South of the border, had a real prospect of preventing the bombing and where that without the bombing and where that without the benefit of a highlight the potential advantages of taking a much more aggressive approach to or suspected terrorists outweigh the possible disadvantages inherent in such an approach. It does not have to be a public enquiry that is carried out by the Uk Government will now have to conduct some form of further investigation to reveal more evidence about what intelligence data was at the time and this presumably will be welcomed by victims families who are due to speak raise shortly. We have had a response from the northern Ireland Secretary of state who said he wanted to put on record his deep regret that the families have had to wait so long to find out what happened that day. He says they deserve answers and he has the greatest respect for their patience, grace and determination. The government recognises that The Court has set out that there are plausible allegations that there was a real prospect of preventing the 0magh Bombing. He says the Uk Government will take time to consider the Judges Statement and all its recommendations carefully but certainly this is not the end in terms of investigating the circumstances around the 0magh Bombing. Even though the british woman wants to end all prosecutions and investigations dating back to the trouble is because 0magh happened after the good Friday Agreement in the summer of 1998 they could now be further investigation of the circumstances running up to the worst single atrocity of the entire troubles. Michael gallagher, whose Son Aiden was killed in the blast said the families felt vindicated by the ruling. Its just seems unreal that were here 23 years after the event i dont think the enormity of this has sunk in, that a senior High Courtjudge has said that there are serious concerns and issues around the preventability. So, you know, we would just call on the government not to delay the suffering that we have already been through over the past 23 years. Do not go into an appeal process. Work with the families and move forward because we are not the terrorists here. We actually supported the government. We support the police, we support the Intelligence Service and weve asked the government to work with us but, you know, that was not the case and we are here. Thousands of people in the Food Supply Chain in england, who are told to self isolate by the nhs tracing app, are now allowed to carry on working as long as they test negative for covid. A Government Scheme has begun which means staff at 15 Supermarket Depots are now able to take a daily test instead. And other key sectors will be able to join the scheme next week. Simon browning reports. Empty shelves, gaps in food supply. Industry has blamed the problem on the amount of critical Food Sector workers being pinged and they wanted action. Last night, the government intervened. Now, Supermarket Depot workers and Food Manufacturers will be exempt from Self Isolating rules. Workers, regardless of vaccination status, will be able to do daily covid testing, instead of isolating. Its expected 10,000 workers will qualify. New Daily Testing Measures are beginning at 15 Supermarket Depots, followed by 150 more next week. Supermarket Store Staff are not included. Industry has broadly welcomed the changes. I think any intervention is welcome. I think we were all feeling in the Food Industry in particular, that something needed to happen, something needed to change. So any change, any improvement is welcome. Weve got to see the devil in the detail here. It has been highlighted that only certain companies are on the list. So whos on the list . Who has been identified . It is notjust the Food Sector that wants exemptions for isolating staff. The government is offering a limited number of exclusions for 16 critical industries, such as energy, the nuclear industry, medicines and water supply. Those Government Departments will agree with these key businesses, people, in, for instance, the Water Industry or nuclear power industry, agree with them the job roles that should be included in this and youll have quite an expedited system where, if they want somebody to come off isolation, theyll simply provide the name and that will be agreed. But unions say with three weeks until Self Isolation rules change, these sectors are presented with difficulties because they expect some workers will qualify for exemption and others wont. In a power station, in telecommunications, in critical defence infrastructure, these are all interdependent occupations. And just listing named individuals, which seems to be at the core of this proposal, wont work. As businesses across the country adapt, the government maintains the app is doing itsjob and is needed to stem the rising tide of coronavirus infections. Simon browning, bbc news. Lets talk to our political correspondentjonathan blake. Lots of voices saying that this doesnt go far enough. How is the government responding to that . Theyre sticking to their message now saying that the app remains crucial in limiting the number of coronavirus cases to a manageable of acceptable level given that legal restrictions in england have been lifted and there are still a lot of adults that havent had both vaccinations yet and that is why we have seen in both cases here for the Food Industry where up to 10,000 workers will be exempted from isolation getting daily test whether they have isolated or not and in 15 other critical sectors the government is redoing the minimum that it can to keep Essential Services going but that does not mean that we are going to not going to see though the sex of of the economy whether there are large numbers of people not able to go to go to work because they have been pinged by the app contacted by Test And Trace on the government knows that cases are going to be the gulps of the number of people isolating is going to come up. That is going to be a very difficult three weeks ahead and probably longer but certainly up until Mid August when the rules change on all fully vaccinated adults can be exempt from isolation. In vaccinated adults can be exempt from isolation. , isolation. In that Rule Change, i soke to isolation. In that Rule Change, i spoke to a isolation. In that Rule Change, i spoke to a member isolation. In that Rule Change, i spoke to a member of isolation. In that Rule Change, i spoke to a member of uk isolation. In that Rule Change, i spoke to a member of Uk Hospitality earlier and he said there have been real problems in hospitality which have been widely reported on. He says the issue for them is that once the Rule Change comes in a Mid August it wont make much of a difference because two thirds of their workforce is under the age of 35 and not above vaccinated. Yes. 35 and not above vaccinated. Yes, and that is 35 and not above vaccinated. Yes, and that is a 35 and not above vaccinated. Yes, and that is a crucial 35 and not above vaccinated. Yes, and that is a crucial factor 35 and not above vaccinated. 1 1 and that is a crucial factor because just because the rules change, as you pointed out there and as the Hospitality Sector particularly is pointing out it doesnt mean that all adults will be fully vaccinated. It doesnt mean that theyll have had the required time after their second job is to be able to be exempt from isolation, to be fully protected by the vaccine so the pressure on certain sectors is going to go on. Meanwhile, the Furlough Scheme has come to an end. The financial support the businesses have been able to draw on during the earlier stages of the pandemic is not there so they were going to be huge strains in place for some time yet. As i say, thats why the pressure on the government will continue but its a balancing act, really, between having been able to lift restrictions and then ask economy to continue and open up but trying to keep cases of the pandemic at a sensible level so some tricky times ahead, definitely, for the government and i am sure we will see more pressure on them to either bring that date forward or provide further exemptions to other parts of the economy. fist further exemptions to other parts of the economy the economy. At the government resnonded the economy. At the government resnonded at the economy. At the government responded at all the economy. At the government responded at all to the economy. At the government responded at all to the the economy. At the government responded at all to the oxford. Responded at all to the Oxford University Research today On Isolation in schools and the examination of the difference with Daily Testing . The figures indicated that 1. 6 of those who self isolated caught the virus versus 1. 5 of those who protested daily. I mean, presumably, they look specifically at schools but i could be rolled out across all sectors. Versus 1. 5 of those who were tested daily. I dont think i will pay direct response to my role in the Government Response but i think it will be factored in. They will be taken on the balance of risk the people to self isolate which they are not fully vaccinated but as some are not fully vaccinated but as some are arguing and some of the scientific evidence points to testing People Day to day can be as effective, perhaps, or perhaps even more effective than people isolating in terms of limiting the spread of the virus but that is not where the government is going at this point and its not showing any sign at the moment of widening these exemptions to other parts of the economy beyond the absolute critical list of sectors that weve seen published Last Night and that various industries are responding to today. There is concern that it is unworkable among some, particularly in the transport sector, and an evening individuals and having to request people isolate specifically on a case by Case Basis Isjust going to make things too difficult. So it will be that more people are going to isolate. It will be that more people have the virus in the days and weeks ahead and things are going to get significantly more difficult than they already are. Thank you very much. Jonathan blake, our political correspondent. The Scottish Government has confirmed that some essential staff working in critical areas, who are close contacts for covid cases, will no longer be required to self isolate. People working in a range of sectors including health and social care, transport and the provision of food supplies, can apply for an exemption. They will only be granted for employees who agree not to self isolate. They must be double vaccinated and have had their second dose at least two weeks previously. A negative Pcr Test and daily lateral Flow Tests will also be required. As we were just discussing. Daily lateral Flow Tests for pupils may be just as effective as class bubbles to control transmission of covid in schools according to a study by Oxford University. More than A Million children in england were forced to stay away from school last week for covid related reasons. 0ur health correspondent, Naomi Grimley has more. The isolating of bubbles in schools has caused no end of frustration in this pandemic. Last thursday, for example, more than A Million State School pupils in england did not attend class for covid 19 related reasons. Of those, more than 900,000 were Self Isolating, due to a possible contact with a case. But a new study by Oxford University suggests that if daily lateral Flow Testing is done in school over seven days, its just as good at preventing transmission as isolating pupils at home. What we see here is that for people in schools and colleges, the chance of getting infected with covid 19 when there has been a case in the School Or College is low, less than 2 , one in 50. I am really confident that what this study shows us Daily Testing of contacts is a safe thing to do in schools and colleges. The researchers believe daily Contact Testing like this can help reduce school absences. But can schools cope with this kind of intensive testing done on site . It very difficult. Weve made it work before. Im sure with the help of my Support Staff we can make it work again, but we need to know exactly what is expected of us and we need to know as soon as possible. But we need clarity, we need consistency, we need our kids in school and the staff to be able to teach them. Some experts worry whether lateral Flow Tests will detect enough positive cases, especially when infections are running high. But government advisers say the research is a breakthrough, considering how much learning has already been disrupted. Naomi grimley, bbc news. Figures out today show that the prevalence of Covid Infections in england has risen to1 in 75 people in the week to july the 17th. Thats up from 1 in 95 the week before. The Office For National Statistics estimates there were more than 740 Thousand people in england with the virus last week. Earlier i spoke to linda bauld, professor of Public Health at the University Of Edinburgh and got her reaction to that. Is worrying but we knew this would happen. This is actually the week before any of those changes happen with the easing of restrictions that it showed us what occurred due to the easing subsequent from the middle of may and what we are seeing is a rapid rise of infection in the community and there is a large reservoir, still, of the community who are able to pick up this virus and transfer it without the protection of vaccination and i keep hearing a couple of things. We know that the link is weakened in terms of the connection between covid 19 and positive cases going into Hospital And Mortality but it is still there and other indicators have been rising as well, just because there are so many people infected in the community. The final point i would make on that as we are seeing up here in scotland and i would suspect elsewhere in the uk that because there is so much infection and the vaccines are not 100 protective we are actually seeing an increase in the proportion of older, vulnerable adults in hospital with covid 19 and that is something we all wish to avoid. So, how do you read where we are in terms of the number of cases, the impact of those cases, which you have already talked somewhat about in terms of health but also the impact in terms of practicality and on society and on Well Being and where we should be going forward . Because, obviously, we can bring into that picture that Study Today by Oxford University On Isolation in schools and identifying that actually Daily Testing is just as effective as having large numbers of people isolating. 0n the first one, governments around the uk are making decisions and what theyre doing is balancing not only the direct harms of this virus but the other harms of the long period of restrictions, mental health, social and economic impacts and that is why you are seeing slightly different decisions by different governments around different parts of the country and that is for the policymakers to decide but i guess the point is that the virus has by no means gone away and is causing deaths every day still, now, in the uk. 0n the school study, this is really important research and the first thing i want to emphasises how difficult it is to do this kind of research, Randomising The Schools and encouraging young people to participate in the results are very encouraging and i think provide an example of Real World Experimental Research which can give us guidance of the other Harms Ijust mentioned. And one of the other harms is the loss of face to Face Learning and what this trial suggests it has weaknesses as all studies do but what it suggests is that the alternative of regular Daily Testing for at least seven days instead of isolation of contacts could be a viable way forward for schools. It will now be discussed by governments. I would suspect this may provide a model as we look ahead to schools we starting later this year. Why limited to schools, though . Why not wider society . There are other studies under way. I suppose, first of all, the government has already made that decision for some categories of employees that they wont have to self isolate if they have had the vaccines and participate in testing, which is good and we are seeing that in practice but there are other discussions going on in Community And Workplace settings to look at exactly this issue but i think we cannot continue in the future where actually the risk of picking up covid 19 if you are the contact of a positive case is definitely there but you can see from the numbers in this trial was not huge so we have to find other than models to allow us to, were almost going to have to use Self Isolation with the person who has definitely tested positive for the virus, as we would for other aspects of Public Health but it is the question asked around the contacts and i think we should look very seriously at research like this. Professor, thank you very much. Wejust got some we just got some new figures through from public Health England on the number of people hospitalised with covid. Public Health England says 1000 988 people were admitted to hospital with the delta variant. They say of the most hospitalised people 970 were unvaccinated wethers. Had received both doses of the vaccine from public Health England says in total 600, 6392 people have been out goal and picked. Hospitalised with a delta variant. 0nly picked. Hospitalised with a delta variant. Only 8 were fully vaccinated. The governments plans to end the extra universal Credit Payment would be the biggest overnight reduction in the basic rate of Social Security since the creation of the Welfare State thats according to thejoseph rowntree foundation. The government introduced a 20 pounds a Week Uplift to the basic entitlement at the start of the pandemic, but thats due to come to an end in october. 0ur political Correspondent Nick Eardley has this report. For many families, the pandemic has been a time of unprecedented challenges. The government added £20 a week to universal Credit Payments last march. It was a big increase, but it was temporary, and the uplift is due to come to an end in october. Im anthony. Im a father of two. I became redundantjust before the Lockdown Due to ill health. Anthony says the end of the extra money will mean some tough choices. For us as a household, we are going to be left with the question of food versus fuel, or fuel versus clothes, you know, just the basic necessities. There are many households which have grown to rely on the Uplift Money as a source ofjust functioning. The number of universal credit claimants has almost doubled during the pandemic, and some are worried that taking away the extra money could have a big impact. At the End Of A Year thats probably the worst many people will have seen since the war, were going to be hitting families right as we go into the winter. What were going to find is that there are millions of families who are going to go hungry this winter, who are not going to be able to put the heating on. The uplift costs a lot though £6 billion a year. In here, the treasury, the government is trying to bring spending down after the unprecedented Emergency Measures of the pandemic. Ministers say the £20 a Week Extra was always due to come to an end. A Government Spokesperson said. Some mps are worried, though, including many conservatives, and they intend to put pressure on the government for a rethink. Nick eardley, bbc news. Now its time for a look at the weather with ben rich hello. The heat is now beginning to ebb away. Cooler weather on the way for the weekend. For some, there will be some heavy, thundery downpours but further North And West you are actually there is still a lot of dry weather in the forecast. The rest of the afternoon, still this Met Office and the extreme heat warning. Most of the best sunny spells with the Odd Thunderstorm through the rest of the day but sunny spells of ripping down to the south and a Cooler Day for most places. High temperatures once again at three this evening into Light Heavy Thundery Rain Will Drift Up Light Heavy Thundery Rain Will Drift Up from the south affecting southern england, the wales, the midlands, east anglia. Low cloud again for north East Coast but western scotland, Northern Ireland we hold onto some sunshine and some warmth with highs of 26 degrees. Looking ahead to sunday, a lot of dry weather abound, especially towards the north west. More thunderstorms in the and east