after the death of a second woman in an alleged gang—rape. she was also from the badly marginalised dalit community. both killings have sparked national revulsion — but gender and caste—based violence continue to be endemic in the country. the sister of george floyd — the unarmed black man who was killed in police custody has broken her silence. latonya floys has been speaking to a british newspaper. she called on americans to vote, telling the uk's daily mirror that president trump "actively emboldens the far right". the european commission has started legal proceedings against britain over legislation that seeks to override parts of the brexit treaty. britain has a month to respond — and insists the legislation is necessary as a safety net to protect internal trade between parts of the uk — including northern ireland.

that's it for me, luis will be here at one o'clock. now on bbc news, it's newscast. so, chris, adam isn't here but you are. yeah, and it's great to be back, not least because usually when adam's on holiday, lots of stuff happens. and, actually, today, on thursday as we record, there's been rather a lot of news. there's been a lot of news and it's been a busy old week. we've had a slew of regulations, millions more people now living under limited lockdowns. unfortunately, still the spread of the disease, although a story today that it might be slowing a little bit. but also this week, the return of satire. yes. what did you say this show is called? the name, orthe nomine to the romans, little latin pun, is spitting image. spitting scrimmage? spitting image. spitting cribbage? it a sketch show with puppet caricatures of real people and it can be rather nasty. puppets? that is the very most moronic thing i've ever heard. my puppet is going to be

the best puppet and i love it. laughter. the return of spitting image, and a bit later on we'll be talking to the voice behind both of those characters who's been involved with creating the show. and for a blast of nostalgia, we've got katya back to talk brexit. we have! so welcome to a little bit of brexitcast, this week's newscast. newscast. newscast from the bbc. so, it's laura this week at westminster. and it's chris, glad to be back at westminster, sitting in for adam, who's away. so, there has been, this week, number one, lots of confusion about all the changing rules. but number two, a real expansion in the numbers of people who are living under tighter restrictions now. a quarter of the population is now living under tighter rules. huge brew ha—ha in westminster about that this week. the government having to manage backbench discontent. it's felt quite angsty at some times, hasn't it? yeah, angsty and, i guess inevitably, bitty because the government has said,

hasn't it, repeatedly, it doesn't want to institute, unless it has to, any kind of national whatever you want to call it, short of a lockdown or even a lockdown if things were to get that grim. but i suppose the inevitable reality of that is this patchwork of different measures that vary by geography and then seem to change every moment. someone was saying to me the other day that you know, the phrase over the summer was th wasn't it? but if there is a new normal, it lasts for about three days and then it changes again. and then it changes again and that's difficult for people and it's difficult, as well, for politicians to communicate. hmm. a bit more on that later. but first off, let's have a listen to matt hancock in the commons chamber today, when he was confirming the latest restrictions now covering liverpool and even more of the north—east of england. working with council leaders and the mayors, i am today extending these measures that have been in place in the north—east since the start of this week to the liverpool city region, warrington, hartlepool

and middlesbrough. we will provide £7 million of funding to local authorities in these areas to support them with their vital work. the rules across the liverpool city region, warrington, hartlepool and middlesbrough will be as follows: we recommend against all social mixing between people in different households. we will bring in regulations, as we have in the north—east, to prevent in law social mixing between people in different households in all settings, except outdoor public spaces, like parks and outdoor hospitality. even explaining it takes quite a while, doesn't it? it does, and it's just a lot of people. a lot of people and a lot of real limits on people's lives and it was interesting there to hear the health secretary saying, this has been in close consultation with the council leaders and mayors right around the country but i'm not sure everyone quite feels like that. let's talk to one of the mayors, andy preston, the mayor of middlesbrough, independent mayor. hi, andy. hello, hi. thanks for coming on. what do you make of this? well, it's a carry

on, isn't it? it's a palaver, it's a bit of a fiasco! it's the end of the day so i can laugh now but i was fuming and really angry this morning. listen, the first thing i should say is, you know what, matt hancock and the government have an exceptionally toughjob. it's pretty much impossible and criticising is easy. but, but... you are going to do it anyway. here it comes. yeah, here it comes, here it comes. listen, we are on top of covid here. we know all about it. we are not soft on it, we have dished out 180,000 free face masks. we've imposed measures. i've forced shops to get staff to wear them, i've forced cafes to get staff to wear them. we are on board, we are pushing for restrictions, but we need sensible, intelligent and compassionate restrictions. and while i accept we need to limit the ability of people to socialise at home, i get that, i see the data. a well run cafe for a socially

distanced coffee is of no risk to anybody but ceasing that, denying that human right, that piece of important humanity, will damage mental health and it's killing jobs. i mean, i could look to my left, several coffee shops, they are clinging on to life by their fingertips and this is going to push them over that edge. the repercussions are monstrous. how would you do it, though? you accept, you see the rise in cases, i'm sure you share the concerns of people about how this spread of the disease is on the rise again. what would your approach be? if it's not these restrictions, what would you do instead? so, we feared this was coming, we feared it for about a week. we went and put a proposal to government, it went as follows, and it was based, by the way, on expert advice from public health. and our specialist knowledge, we know our community, we know how it works, we know the health issues, the challenges and we can get stuff done. we proposed, yes, of course,

limit, for the time being, social interaction or socialising at home. but allow somebody to stand in the garden and have a coffee three metres from a friend or neighbour. allow someone to stand on the garden path while someone else stands at their doorstep. allow friends to meet for a socially distanced coffee in a coffee shop. all of these things are safe and sensible. we heard mr hancock they're talking about in consultation with mayors and local leaders. did you have mr hancock on the phone, were there conference calls and was it news to you when he stood up in the house of commons this morning and said what he said or had you been told in advance? well, i'm a mayorand i'm a local leader and i was on a phone call with another local leader from hartlepool and we were both staggered at that statement. neither of us or any of our teams have been consulted at any point, at any point. so, where that statement came

from, goodness knows. at any point during the whole pandemic, do you mean, or in the last few days has it looks like restrictions might be on the way back? well, there have been huge la rge—scale conference calls. well, not conference calls, messages from government via zoom that local leaders are allowed to sit in and watch and listen. i have not observed any two—way interaction at all, of any kind. maybe i've missed out, but we actually went to government and said, listen, based on our local knowledge, based on our understanding of the community, based on our wish to control the virus, we think you should do this. and if someone had come back and said, we've taken that on board but we've decided not to — that's fine. they haven't. we don't feel they've listen, we don't think they are interested, we think they are under pressure, of course, but they need to listen to local knowledge. but do you think it's helpful, then, for members of the public to hear you question whether the restrictions are really required ?

i have to do myjob, i have to stand up. if the government proposes... of course, it isn't law right now, it's a proposal to come in i think at the weekend. we don't even know. even since that was said this morning, we've not had a single piece of communication on anything. even since the announcement? so, you still don't know as we are talking on thursday evening whether or not this will be in force with the law with police forces and cleveland police out and about this weekend? no, not at all, i don't know that at all. i spoke to my ceo two hours ago and he doesn't know, either. we know what to expect, by the way, of course, we know what to expect but there's been no official communication or clarification of any points. and to be clear, andy, your views on what the government is, as you see it, imposing upon middlesbrough are clear but once those rules are the law, would you encourage local people to abide by them? absolutely. listen, i will stick to the letter and the spirit of the law and everyone else will, too. we will make sure that happens but before it becomes law i'm saying,

listen, you've got it wrong. i know you've not got much time, andy, because you've got a lot to be getting on with, trying to find out exactly what's going on butjust before we let you go, i mean it's been one of the running themes through this crisis, hasn't it? we've talked about it a lot on this programme and on the podcast about what seems like a pretty big disconnect between local leaders trying to make things work on the ground and national government. i mean, from your point of view, as an independent leader, rather than someone from one party or another, how would you characterise it? obviously, i don't know what's going on away from us. sure. but i'm frustrated, i'm disappointed. i get matt hancock is not going to call me or pop round for a socially distanced coffee in the garden and have a chat, right? realistically. laughter he might have been planning it until today, andy! you never know. he probably is there tonight with a crowbar or baseball bat or something. laughter. but seriously, i get he's busy and we are in a crisis and being the boss in a crisis is extraordinarily tough and it's

so easy to criticise. and i bit my tongue all the way along, all the way along i've been asking for tougher measures, more this, more that, face coverings in cafes, face coverings in shops, by the staff as well as customers, so i'm not light on covid. ijust wish that they could get a junior minister or senior civil servants to talk directly to us and listen. if you listen and don't agree, that's fine, that's their decision but they haven't come and listened. you just want to be brought into that conversation andy, thank you so much. i know it's a really busy time. come back another time and tell us how things are going. thank you. bye — bye. so, it will be interesting to see how that develops over the coming days. obviously a lot of concern in all sorts of different parts of the country. we found out more today, haven't we, about how the government is actually going to try and make this more straightforward, with a sort of traffic light system ? yes, this idea that as opposed to having effectively what seems like a different model for everywhere, to try and in the future, and this hasn't been announced yet but we know it's being discussed involving public health officials and politicians, of having a traffic light system or a tier system, where

you have three tiers representing three different gradations that parts of england might find themselves within. we've actually seen two variations of this, tier one and this is kind of worst—case scenario and then better case scenario but the point is... important to get that the right way round for people! but the idea being you would have tier one or the red light being the most significant restrictions. tier two, some restrictions, more than the rest of england but not as bad as tier one and then tier three of the green light or whatever it might be, being the most relaxed but still social distancing, still the rule of six. the idea being that we would all have perhaps a greater way of understanding what applies where we live because we would be in one of the three tiers. and at least that would be a kind of coherent rather than having to read the small print because we've seen even this week the prime minister himself got it all a bit mixed up, didn't he? in the north—east and other areas where extra tight

measures have been brought in, you should follow the guidance of local authorities but it's... —— you should follow the guidance of local authorities it's six in a home or six in hospitality but, as i understand it, not six outside. and the prime minister had to apologise quick smart for getting it wrong and to be completely crystal clear, unless you live in one of the areas of local lockdowns, the rule of six applies everywhere outdoors, indoors, everywhere. so so coronavirus clear the dominant here in westminster, but it's also time for a little bit of nostalgia. cadieux is with us, and if you're watching rather than listening or, she is still in possession of the must—have

items of 2819 which is brexit cast, we did something called a spy cast, we did something called a spy fall. why are we talking about brexit this week, what is happening? you could be forgiven for thinking that you wear because you know, these are the end stages of the negotiations, high—stakes, both sides saying they want a deal, but not any price. ——we decided it was called a spoffle. dominant thing at westminster. but it is also time for some nostalgia yes and katia is with us. if you're listening rather than watching, she is still in possession of one of the most have items of 2019, a brexit cast. we decided it was called a spoffle. a microphone cover. what is happening. i have to focus and not be too 2019. you would be forgiven for thinking you were, because these are the end stages of the negotiations. high stakes. both sides say they want a deal. we can say the reason

it is so hard, because it is about compromise and on big sticking points whether fishing rights or state aid or the governance of a whole trade and security deal, dispute mechanism, that is difficult for both sides and we have the row over the government's internal market bill. if you rememberthe eu said, we give you up until the end of september you need to remove the contentious parts of bill in the eu's bill, that would override part of the withdrawal agreement. otherwise... and today we heard from the commission president what the dot, dot, dot was. the problematic provisions have not been removed. therefore this morning the commission has decided to send a letter of formal notice to the uk government. this is the first step in an infringement procedure. ursula von der leyen there with her eu face covering i noticed that popped out of her pocket as she to send a letter of formal notice to the uk government. this is the first step in an infringement procedure. ursula von der leyen there with her eu face covering i noticed that popped out of her pocket as she walked from the microphone. when you hear of legal proceedings, the temptation is to go, ooh, intake of breath. but this stuff happens quite a lot. yes. i would say to be fair it is a big deal.

i mean. the commission does take proceedings against member states when it feels that they've broke on rules or regulations. of course, we are no longer a member state, since 31st january, but under the brexit withdrawal agreement there are provisions for legal proceedings like this to be started and for a period after brexit, we are still beholden, or have to respect rulings of the european court ofjustice. there is a very long and drawn out proceedings. i would argue it's quite a big deal. from the uk side we have heard a lot of dismissal of the deal, this happens all the time. but i think that we should put our eyes on what the commission hasn't done rather than what it has done. i think the reason it started these legal proceedings is because it said it would. it set the timeline. and this is aimed at much at other trade partners that the eu has, like japan for example, don't dare think you can break an agreement

with us, because this is what we will do, as much as at the uk. what the eu has not done is walk out of trade talks. and that would have been the really explosive reaction. exactly. and she said the uk's got a month to respond to this and in a months time we will be past the key european summit meeting in the middle of this month which is still the sort of hoped for focus that could actually be the timing of getting a deal done. there or thereabouts and just as the uk put that controversial legislation that infuriated the eu so much, on pause until after that moment, what does that mean? it means both sides say we've still got a window to get a deal done, the trade talks going on in brussels all week, the final day tomorrow, you're hearing conflicting things, there's a bit of chat like, ooh it might be looking quite good, we might be going into the tunnel where negotiations happen behind closed doors and everyone has to stay in the room until

they get a deal done. from the other end, i heard from another official, who said, i don't think we'll get there until the end of this month, but it doesn't really, well it sounds very dramatic and it does matter, this we are going to take you to court... maybe doesn't really shift it down a bit. it doesn't feel like a deal at the moment. katia, thank you so much. lovely to have you on as always and we will talk to you soon. bye. see you later. we have got to know plenty of characters during brexit and ursula von der leyen making a strong bid, a strong bid with that barnet to be a permanent member of the uk political cast and character, but there are plenty of other people in the cast as we were chatting about who are getting a good old fashioned treatment from the return of spitting image. it's going to be quite something isn't it? it will be. i really hope it's good. shall we have a look? let's have a peek. i wouldn't worry about some dumb tv show, boris. i mean, how are they going

to make us look stupid? can't be done. this is a private steam room, get out you fat bum. putin! come on! ooh! spitting image, because there's something funny about these people! well, if you were listening, rather than watching, you might be the lucky ones, because a caricature, but an image of borisjohnson and donald trump in a sauna together, with various other things going on, with quite small towels. so there we are. but one of the people who've created that and even with the voices, is a friend of the podcast. yeah. marvellous to have you on matt ford. and to see you taking on such a british tradition with aplomb. verve and elan and excellent impersonations. it's quite a brand to pick up and run with, isn't it? it's incredible, you know getting the chance to do something like this isjust

so big and getting to impersonate boris and trump on it isjust the most exciting thing. is that the best bit, doing the boris and trump voices? well trump's voice is the most... because the puppet is really grotesque and people will know that. and then obviously you're kind of voicing somebody who's a real person, but you're voicing the puppet of the person. so it is a kind of like... you're kind of a fictional character of a real person and then i've made it more ludicrous in the voice. you can do a trump impression where, it's beautiful to be here with lyra and kyra and the great people and... a great show and i know people over there in wales, they really love you great people. and all the things you would expect and i have made him more... urgh! a bit like eric cartman in south park... urgh and boris get over

here and kind of man, what's going on. that kind of whining thing and he kind of squeaks in there as well. the kind of noises that you can imagine him doing that i've never heard him doing. i really make his voice squeak sometimes. that is interesting the nature of the puppet being kind of so extreme gets your voice to a kind of different place as well. you end up thinking i've got to sound like that puppet looks like in a way. so then i do these squeaky noises, or go, mike, we can't trust these people they're sneaky! and i have never heard him actually sound like that. but then you go, it kind of makes sense that he would do that. i've got to do two of 'em just today! and make him even more... make him even more ludicrous. trump ultra. what about boris/trump, as some people might possibly say? yeah, well that kind of... obviously you know, as you well know... podcast yeah and tv of course, you start with the... the...

internet... and chris mason two great... very great podcast. some people have said about some of the biggest politicians on the stage they are beyond parody, but you're proving they're not and you need these big characters, who divide opinion and stand out, because that gives you something to work with in the way perhaps with someone like who is a bit more middle of road. managerial. people said david cameron was very hard to impersonate, because he was just a... an ordinary bloke. there weren't stand out characteristics that you could mock and exaggerate. yes, borisjohnson and trump are definitely easier ones to kind of kind the hook with. but i think with spitting image, it doesn't matter who you are, you can always be made more ludicrous and the puppets are such a big part of that. the puppets are like grotesque re—creation of these people. which over characters do you like, the priti patel one,

she has been dressed to look likea vampire. yeah, so she has kind of got vampire teeth. so roger law creates the caricatures and creates the puppets and he puts kind of different... gove with the nose as his pepper and his cheeks as the his testes, it's very... distinctive thing. we are a late—night programme, just to be clear. we like to think of ourselves as a family show, but we are on late. at least one of those not sure about the other one. we got the gist. priti patel as a vampire. ed sheeran kind of looks like a root vegetable. so he's kind of like... got like... aw! turnipy type head and chin. these are all. we work with the genius of roger law and he creates these caricatures as he sees fit. some of though, i think are perhaps harder to do though. i know you honestly told me earlier that you're finding it hard to get your head around

keir starmer. it's the whole cameron thing again. it's the whole cameron thing, if somebody seems to be very kind of, well their whole schtick is i'm competent and i'm sensible and i'm not going to show sort of rage or... and you're defining yourself against the more colourful characters, love or hate them, who are your opponents. exactly. so firstly, matt, are you doing the starmer voice in spitting image. yes, i'm doing keir starmer and yes he is a bit harder to do than you know people like boris and trump. because as you rightfully say, he is almost deliberately set against their style and their whole philosophy. so their big and bold and ludicrous and he is very single mindedly professional... i've a line for you. because we knew you would be having some difficulties, so chris thought he might have a bit of a help. how about this for a line for keir starmer? i'm a constructive leader of the opposition, but... well the thing with starmer i

think he sounds like... there is a slight blockage in his nose somewhere. maybe not a full nose block, but maybe just one nostril is blocked. he kind of has a... there is a blockage there, i agree with the prime minister on the issue, but we were always very clear. what was it you wanted me to say, i'm a what? i'm a constructive... you are kind of on the gist of it. i'm a constructive leader of the opposition, but... i guess that summed him up. we should have you writing on it. you summed him up ina sentence. probably better than me having some of our sketches. thanks for coming on, tell us when we can watch it. saturday night on brit box and it's on ten weeks and each episode drops every saturday on brit box. come back another time, it's always great to have you on and we hope it goes well and i'm sure we'll all be watching. thank you so much. nice to chat. what a joy in these times to talk to someone full ofjoy about what they're doing.

bouncing enthusiasm. describing the production process of new spitting image, which reminds me, so familiar, itjust feels like this programme, where everything always goes so seamlessly. exactly, everything choreographed perfectly. well next week choreography, adam will be back with us on the tv. the podcast will be back on tomorrow on bbc sounds, this programme on iplayer and every where you'd normally find it. thank you for watching and listening. bye— bye. we'll talk to you soon. bye. hello. september was a drier than average month across much of the uk, but as you know, it's october now, and here comes the rain, initially from this area of low pressure,

named storm alex by the weather service in france for impacts there, but nonetheless, parts of the uk are also going to see some very wet and windy weather from that during friday. particularly in england and wales, where it starts very wet in southern england and south wales. the rain moves northwards across the rest of wales, the midlands and east anglia during the day. it clears from parts of southern england, though, to further showers, and it's windy with those strong easterly winds gusting on the south coast, perhaps nearer 60 mph at times, especially the coast of southwest england, nearer70 mph in the channel islands. now, for scotland and northern ireland, well, there are a few showery bursts of rain in northwest scotland to the west of northern ireland to start the day. that will slowly fade, staying damp in shetland, but much of scotland and northern ireland, sunny spells and a dry afternoon after a chilly start. a chilly start in northern england, a few fog patches around. cloud increasing from the south. the further south you are in northern england, you could see some rain edging in during the afternoon. highs of around 12—16 degrees — that will make for a warmer day

in northern scotland then we had on thursday. so, still some rain and brisk winds into england and wales overnight and into saturday morning. if anything, these northeasterly winds will start to strengthen a bit further as the night goes on. slightly chilly where we have some clear spells in scotland and northern ireland. so, as we go on through saturday, then, more rain to come, heavy at times in england and wales. it may clear from parts of southeast england and east anglia into the afternoon. rain heading from east to west across scotland, reaching in towards northern ireland saturday evening, saturday night. still very windy, particularly across parts of southwest england and into the channel islands. similar temperatures to what we see on friday. further rain overnight and into sunday, with low—pressure sitting right across the uk on sunday. there will be outbreaks of rain or showers, some heavy, around. still quite windy around this area of low pressure, and rain totals certainly mounting towards northeast scotland and, over several days, mounting across southwest england. that does bring the prospect of seeing some flooding where we are going to see

the heaviest rain and some travel disruption as well. so, a difficult few days to come, weather—wise. there are some met office weather warnings. check out all of those details online.

this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm lewis vaughan jones. the european union agrees immediate sanctions on a0 leaders in belarus responsible for the country's controversial election — but president lukashenko himself is not on the list. anger in india after the death of a second woman in a few days from an alleged gang rape. the rise in extremism is centre stage in the us presidential election. we report from portland — hearing from members of both far—right and far—left groups. the european union launches

legal action against the uk