Scotland’s leader has defended the ban on nonessential travel between the country and the northwest English city of Manchester after its mayor lambasted the decision and called for compensation.

Families of 96 Liverpool soccer fans who died in a stadium overcrowding disaster in 1989 slammed a British judge’s decision to end the trial of two former police officers and an ex-lawyer on charges of perverting the course of justice.

Scotland’s leader has told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that a second Scottish independence referendum is “a matter of when, not if,” after her party won its fourth straight parliamentary election.

The Scottish National Party has won its fourth straight parliamentary election on Saturday and insisted it will push on with another referendum on Scotland’s independence from the U.K. even though it just failed to secure a majority.

FILE - In this Friday, Oct. 23, 2020 file photo, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson walks from 10 Downing Street to a meeting with his ministers at the Foreign Office, in London. Less than a year after winning a landslide election victory, Johnson is facing multiple crises with few political friends. Johnson himself spent a week in hospital with the virus in April, some of it on oxygen in intensive care. “Our constituents have been some of the hardest hit by this virus, with many losing jobs, businesses, and livelihoods,” said group leader Jake Berry, demanding a road-map out of coronavirus restrictions and a jobs plan for the north. Even supportive lawmakers say Johnson’s government needs to show it cares about issues that matter to millions of people.

(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)LONDON – The British government on Wednesday put another 1.4 million people into England’s tightest coronavirus restrictions, but faced growing criticism that its piecemeal approach to curbing the outbreak is sowing division and confusion. Jarvis said local authorities had struck a deal with the British government on financial support to accompany the area measures. Instead, it has adopted a three-tier system for England, with areas classed as medium, high or very high virus risk. The measures have caused tension between Johnson’s Conservative government and local authorities in northern England, which has the country’s highest infection rates. Wednesday’s announcement about South Yorkshire means 7.3 million people, or 13% of England’s population, have been placed under the toughest restrictions — all of them in the north.

Virus cases are surging across Europe and many U.S. states, but responses by leaders are miles apart, with officials in Ireland, France and elsewhere imposing curfews and restricting gatherings even as some U.S. governors resist mask mandates or more aggressive measures. Oklahoma health officials reported a record high of 821 people hospitalized Tuesday with the virus or under investigation for the infection. Mahoney, himself, cast the deciding vote against a city mask mandate early this month. Late Monday, he also reversed course on a local measure, mandating that city residents wear masks when they're in close proximity to people other than family members. Associated Press writers Adam Causey in Oklahoma City, Dave Kolpack in Fargo, North Dakota, and Jill Lawless and Sylvia Hui in London contributed to this story.

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham speaks to the media outside Bridgewater Hall, following last-ditch talks with the Prime Minister aimed at securing additional financial support for his consent on new coronavirus restrictions, in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020. But he stressed that not acting would put lives and the health care system in Manchester at risk. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has been fighting for more financial support for workers and businesses affected by the restrictions in his region of almost 3 million people. At a minute past midnight on Friday, Greater Manchester will join the Liverpool and Lancashire regions of northwest England which have been placed in Tier 3, the highest level. Instead it has adopted a three-tier system for England, with areas classed as medium, high or very high virus risk.

Hospitality workers protest in Parliament Square in London, Monday, Oct. 19, 2020. Hospitality workers are demonstrating outside Parliament against tougher coronavirus restrictions and the amount of financial support given by the government to the industry. Wales' First Minister Mark Drakeford said Monday administration was backing a short, sharp “firebreak” to slow the spread of COVID-19. “We’ve got a great industry with lots of heart, and nobody works in the hospitality industry to get rich. We do it because we love what we’re doing — and there’s so many people who depend on it,” he said.

John Ambrose, a guide with the Beatles-themed Fab4 Taxi Tours, wears a face mask as he walks past a statue of the Beatles in Liverpool, England, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020. Now, the coronavirus is putting Liverpool's hard-won revival in jeopardy, and raising tensions between the north of England and the wealthier south. Now, the coronavirus is putting the city’s hard-won revival in jeopardy, and raising tensions between the north of England and the wealthier south. However, Liverpudlians retained their mistrust of London politicians, and the virus pandemic has brought it to the surface. Authorities in northern England agree on the need to act.

The government is negotiating with the leaders of Manchester, Lancashire and other communities in northern England about moving into the top risk tier, which would require the closure of many businesses. The opposition Labour Party’s spokesman on health issues, Jonathan Ashworth, described the measures as inadequate to stem the exponential growth of the virus. Hancock said discussions were continuing with Greater Manchester and Lancashire about moving those communities into the government’s highest risk tier. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham once again rejected government pressure to accept the higher risk rating without further financial support. “They are willing to sacrifice jobs and businesses here to try and save them elsewhere,″ a visibly furious Burnham said.

“In some parts of the country, the number of cases are rising very fast and we are taking that very seriously." In many areas of northern England, it's not clear the local restrictions have worked — in some areas, the number of new infections is 10 times higher than when the localized virus restrictions were announced. Unions are demanding that the government accompanies any lockdown changes with a financial support package to prevent mass unemployment. A national program that has helped keep a lid on unemployment is due to halt at the end of October. ___Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

“We are doing that data again but we anticipate it will be far higher due to local restrictions, the national constraints on events, working from home and the curfew,” she said. The programme will be replaced by the less generous Jobs Support Scheme, which will see the government pay up to 22% of wages for workers who come back from Nov. 1. Many workers on furlough returned to their jobs when the sector reopened in early July after months of lockdown. But Nicholls said around 900,000 hospitality workers remain on furlough and urged the government to do more to ensure that most of them remain in their jobs through winter. That would push unemployment towards the 3 million mark, a level the U.K. has not seen since the early 1990s.