Plus, the radio play made under a duvet
   
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By Andrew McFarlane

 
 

Tighter lockdown for swathe of northern England

 
 
Generic image depicting people eating a meal in a home

Some people who went to bed looking forward to meeting friends or relatives this weekend may have woken to find out such a visit has been banned. Since midnight, people from separate households have been barred from meeting in homes or gardens in Greater Manchester and parts of east Lancashire and West Yorkshire. Health Secretary Matt Hancock says the spread is "largely due to households meeting and not abiding to social distancing". Labour has welcomed the move but criticised the government's handling of the announcement, with leader Sir Keir Starmer describing the delivery of news affecting millions of people in a post-9pm tweet as "a new low for the government's communications during this crisis".

Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, backs the decision, pointing out: "We have gone from a falling rate of cases in nearly all of our boroughs last week to a rising rate in nine out of 10, affecting communities across a much wider geography." But the Conservative MP for Hazel Grove in Stockport, William Wragg, argues Greater Manchester is "not one homogeneous area" and that treating all 10 boroughs equally is "not the right approach". Miqdaad Versi, spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, says the restrictions are likely to have a "large impact" on families celebrating Eid. "Unclear why such short notice provided but important that this message is cascaded as quickly as possible," he says in a tweet.

 
 
 

Meanwhile, elsewhere...

 
 

The ban on people from different households meeting at homes will also apply in Leicester, which has been subject to local lockdown since 4 July. However, pubs, cafes and restaurants in the city are to be allowed to reopen from Monday and the borough of Oadby and Wigston is moving completely out of local lockdown completely.

And in Wales, where outdoor meetings have been restricted to just two households since early June, restrictions are being eased from Monday to allow groups of up to 30 from multiple households to meet. It's part of a package of measures to be announced by First Minister Mark Drakeford, including allowing children under 11 to mix without social distancing and the reopening of indoor bowling alleys, auction houses and bingo halls.

 
 
 

No delay to election, Trump told

 
 

Like so many of Donald Trump's comments, his suggestion that November's US presidential elections could be delayed until people could "properly, securely and safely" vote was floated via Twitter. It was a reference to Mr Trump's claims - supported by little in the way of evidence - that increased postal voting could leave polling susceptible to fraud. He later claimed he did not want a delay but said he did not want a "crooked" poll. In any case, he does not have the power to shift the election date, and Republican leaders in both the Senate and Congress - which is partially controlled by the Democrats - are already ruling it out. As Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell told Kentucky radio station WNKY: "Never in the history of this country, through wars, depressions and the Civil War, have we ever not had a federally scheduled election on time. We will find a way to do that again this November 3rd."

 
 
 
 

The radio play made under a duvet

 

The story of how Bird in the Sky, a new BBC Radio 4 docu-drama, was performed, directed and recorded from home, with its radio workshops still shut, is one of skill, inventiveness - and a large dose of perseverance. The run-through has only just started, but in the hot broom cupboard somewhere in the French Alps, actress Julianna Jennings' computer is already starting to overheat and to hum its discontent.

"Er… Julianna?" winces Keith Graham, the technical producer from his sitting room in London. "Your mic is picking up your whirring computer, I'm afraid. Can you open the door for a bit and let it cool down?" Julianna's flushed face backs away from the Zoom camera as she squeezes out of her claustrophobic closet to let in some air. Her mic's pop shield, which she made herself from a pair of old stockings, a sieve and a hanger, judders a little as she spits out a swear word.

 
 
 
 
 
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Emma Jane Kirby

BBC Radio 4

 
 
 
 
 

What the papers say

 
 
Composite image showing Mirror and Times front pages

"North in lockdown 2," is the Daily Mirror's headline. It sums up how people from different households in a large area of northern England have been banned from meeting in homes. According to the Times, four million people are affected. The i describes the move as a "surprise", saying it came after local infection rates climbed. Meanwhile, the Daily Express reports the results of a study indicating tens of thousands of dementia cases could be prevented each year by "simple lifestyle changes". As the Daily Mail puts it: "You really can beat dementia." Some 40% of UK cases could be avoided or delayed by "eating less, exercising more and cutting out alcohol and cigarettes", it adds. Read the review.

 
 
 

Daily digest

 
 
   

Climate change Impact on UK increasing, says Met Office

 
   

Coronavirus 'Chancellor must protect' jobs of those shielding

 
   

Bafta Stars prepare for virtual TV Awards

 
   

Influencers Kylie and Kendall Jenner endorsed 'knock-off' Apple goods

 
 
 

If you watch one thing today

Matty with some of the cards he's received
Celebrity lockdown letters lift boy with cancer
 
 
 
 

If you listen to one thing today

A social distancing pavement sticker outside a KFC restaurant
KFC's warts-and-all chicken welfare report
 
 
 
 

If you read one thing today

Grace Wilding and Alfie Archer
You finally got abroad, but was it worth it?
 
 
 
 

Need something different?

 
 

A flood of people have started streaming video shows from home during lockdown, and we look at the tech it takes to make yourself a star. Newsbeat has a remarkable interview with Creeper guitarist Ian Miles, who explains how he worked on the band's new album from a psychiatric ward after being sectioned. And, as it's Friday, you can test your knowledge in our quiz of the week's news.

 
 
 

On this day

 
 
   

1991 The US and Soviet Union sign an agreement to reduce their stockpiles of nuclear warheads by about a third.

 
 
 

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