hello, i'm ros atkins, this is outside source. boris johnson's former chief adviser has delivered a relentless attack on the uk government's handling of the covid crisis senior of the covid crisis ministers, officials, senior advisers senior ministers, officials, senior advisers like me failed disastrously short of the standards that the public is the right to expect. dominic cummings told mps thousands of lives were needlessly lost in the pandemic — and much of the blame falls on those in charge. i think the secretary of state for health should have been fired for at least 15, 20 things, including lying to everybody on multiple occasions. belarusian president luckashenka remains defiant —

also in the programme — the belarusian president accuses the west of trying to strangle his country — in his first coments since he diverted an eu passenger flight in order to seize an opposition journalist. 0ur issues have changed their methods of attacking the state. and we're in the polish city of gdansk where manchester united are chasing their first major trophy in four years an extraordinary day in the story of the pandemic in the uk. borisjohnson�*s former top aide dominic cummings has given hours of evidence to a parliamentary committee about the government's handling of covid—i9. and he didn't hold back in his criticisms — of himself, of the prime minister and many others too. in the next few minutes we will work through all the key

moments of his testimonty. before we do. rob watson, political correspondent. rob, you can explain to our viewers around the world what a moment this was. it around the world what a moment this was. . , around the world what a moment this was. ., , ., around the world what a moment this was. ., ., .,, ., , around the world what a moment this was. .,, ., .,, ., , ., , was. it was an astonishing hours. the breadth _ was. it was an astonishing hours. the breadth of _ was. it was an astonishing hours. the breadth of dominic— was. it was an astonishing hours. | the breadth of dominic cummings critique and this is the first account of deep inside the government, you cannot get much deeper that dominic cummings. wade this unfolded which is profoundly unflattering to the british system in key politicians, including the prime minister. people will question just what kind of a witness mr cummings is and what his motives were. but i think that is why it is so striking. it is the first account from deep inside the government. staying with us in helping us assess this testimony, let us remind ourselves the dominic cummings is

answering questions as part of the lessons learned process on response to the pandemic and mr cummings was a centralfigure in government. here he is pictured with borisjohnson in 2019. he is a part of the prime minister's inner circle which led to an election victory that year and to brexit withdrawal deal as well. he was also the chief adviser to the prime minister when the pandemic hit in march of last year. however, in november, with the pandemic still ongoing, he quit and here he is leaving downing street for the last time. a lot to work through for the last seven hours of testimony, here is some questioning the eligibility of many of those in charge of making decisions earlier, including himself. is completely crackers, crack is the borisjohnson was in there and the last election being jeremy corbyn. early in his evidence — he took aim in particular at health secretary, matt hancock — repeatedly. mr cummings accused him of a cover

up over the shortages of medical equipment for frontline staff and for failing to set up an adequate testing system. the secretary of state for health should have been fired at least 1520 things, including lying to everybody, on multiple occasions in meeting and the cabinet room and publicly. a spokesman for matt hancock has issued a statement rejecting mrcummings' claims. at all times throughout this pandemic the secretary of state for health and everyone in the department has worked incredibly hard in unprecedented circumstances to protect the nhs and save lives. the health secretary will continue to work closely with the prime minister to deliver the vaccine rollout, tackle the risks posed by variants and support the nhs and social care sector to recover from this pandemic. mr hancock is expected to lead a press conference at downing street on thursday. borisjohnson has hit back at some of the allegations. this was in parliament.

she s he described it as the new sign —— swine flu. many people inside number ten, yvette the prime minister sharing meetings and just telling everyone it's swine flu. that is not the clip i was intending to play you. rob, someone is not telling the truth here. we have opposing statements from dominic cummings from the health secretary and the prime minister. . he is makin: and the prime minister. . he is making two — and the prime minister. . he is making two charges _ and the prime minister. . he is making two charges against. and the prime minister. . he: 3 making two charges against both men. number one, they cannot really claim that they were following the science, certainly in the latter part of the covid—i9 crisis because the science was saying that you should go for a second lockdown and more specifically, about mr hancock, we get a little bit into that in british politics and out of the crisis was handled that he

essentially accuses the health secretary of not being truthful either with other colleagues in government were not being truthful with the public over the sort of preparations and readiness that the uk health system in dealing with for example, people in homes for the elderly or in supplying ppe. next there's the issue of why there was a delay to implementing a second lockdown in the autumn. here's mr cummings' recollection of his conversation with the prime minister on that. isaid to i said to him, the whole lesson of what happened before is that by delaying, the lockdown came later, it had to be more severe, it had to last longer and the economic destruction is even worse anyway. and we will have killed god knows how many thousands of people in the meantime for covid—i9. there are

lessons from the past but the prime minister decided no. he also said he heard the prime minister say at the end of october that he would rather see "bodies pile high" than have another lockdown. something mrjohnson has denied. and he said mrjohnson had accused him and others of pushing him into making the decision to go into the first lockdown. his argument after that happened was, literally, ishould've his argument after that happened was, literally, i should've been the mayor ofjaws was, literally, i should've been the mayor of jaws and was, literally, i should've been the mayor ofjaws and kept the beaches open. that is what he said on many of the occasions. injuly or september, for goodness, we were thinking as we did the first locked knows the right thing to do. his argument was we should not have done the first lockdown and i'm not going to make the same mistake again. does dominic cummings _ to make the same mistake again. does dominic cummings alleging the boris johnson should have been the mayor

from the moviejaws and kept the shops open. tens of thousands of people died that did not need to. there is no excuse to delaying that because a lot of the reasons as to why that happened is still in place now. look at the debate about variance. this has to be honestly explained. borisjohnson said earlier he did not accept mr cummings' accusations, insisting the government had tried to minimise the loss of life at every stage. the handling of this pandemic has been _ the handling of this pandemic has been one — the handling of this pandemic has been one of the most difficult things— been one of the most difficult things this country is to do for a long _ things this country is to do for a long time — things this country is to do for a long time and know the decisions have _ long time and know the decisions have been— long time and know the decisions have been easy to go into a lockdown is a traumatic thing for a country into deal— is a traumatic thing for a country into deal with the pandemic on the scale _ into deal with the pandemic on the scale has _ into deal with the pandemic on the scale has been appallingly difficult and we _ scale has been appallingly difficult and we had every stage, have tried to minimise — and we had every stage, have tried to minimise loss of life to save

lives _ to minimise loss of life to save lives and — to minimise loss of life to save lives and protect the nhs we have followed _ lives and protect the nhs we have followed the best scientific advice that we _ followed the best scientific advice that we can, mr speaker. 0ur uk political correspondent rob watsonjoins me now. it is interesting that many people are surrounded on the ideas of the second and third lockdown than they were on the first ring so much was unknown. ., , �* were on the first ring so much was unknown. . , �* ., , ., unknown. that is right. i'm glad you brou:ht it unknown. that is right. i'm glad you brought it up _ unknown. that is right. i'm glad you brought it up in _ unknown. that is right. i'm glad you brought it up in that _ unknown. that is right. i'm glad you brought it up in that way _ unknown. that is right. i'm glad you brought it up in that way because i unknown. that is right. i'm glad you brought it up in that way because if| brought it up in that way because if i had to talk about the critique of the machinery of government in the uk, i would say that two parts to it. the first was the first stage of covid—i9 were essentially, he was targeting the entire machinery of the uk despite the fact that we are fifth richest country in the world with a reputation for incredibly sophisticated government, officials, experts, scientists and health officials all failed to spot it. that is part one of the critique and he said at that point, even if you had someone as smart as bill gates, they probably would not have done any different because they were

getting flooded fights. and this is the bid which really stings, particularly at mrjohnson because he is essentially singles we heard there, johnson been in the science took a different view, he was basically anti—lockdown and that is why he made the amazingly controversial charge that mrjohnson himself. he even said, not cabinet orany himself. he even said, not cabinet or any advisers is responsible for the delay in lockdown which he said that there are tens of thousands of needless deaths. inevitably mr cummings' conduct itself came up. during the first lockdown there was huge controversy about a trip that he made with his family from london to county durham. here's our deputy political editor vicky young. we'd all been told to stay at home, but dominic cummings didn't. he in fact travelled

to his parents' home in durham. before setting off, he was seen rushing out of downing street after discovering his wife had covid. weeks later, in the rose garden at downing street, he was forced to explain. i was worried that if my wife and i were both seriously ill, possibly hospitalised, there was nobody in london that we could reasonably ask to look after our child and expose themselves to covid. but today he revealed another version of events. my wife called saying, "there's a gang of people outside saying they're going to break into the house and kill everybody inside." so it was actually repeated security threats which prompted the move to durham. but when the story erupted, mr cummings decided not to mention that. now, at this point i madejust a terrible, terrible, terrible mistake, which i'm extremely sorry about. so i ended up giving the whole rose garden thing where what i said was true, but we left out a kind of crucial part of it all. and just the whole thing was a complete disaster,

and the truth is, it undermined public confidence in the whole thing. the most bizarre part of mr cummings�*s original story was the now infamous drive to barnard castle to test his eyesight after being ill with covid. if i was going to make up a story, i'd have come up with a hell of a lot better story than that one, right? you were testing your eyesight with your wife and child in the car with you? it didn't seem crazy at the time. obviously i wish i had never heard of barnard castle and i wish i'd never gone, and i wish the whole nightmare had never happened. after his evidence today, it's his colleague still in government who will be having nightmares. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. the man who said brexit would create 350m pounds a week we saw they were able to write out a number of political storms, how do we assess this when? number of political storms, how do we assess this when? is number of political storms, how do we assess this when?— number of political storms, how do we assess this when? is the kind of indictment that _ we assess this when? is the kind of indictment that if _ we assess this when? is the kind of indictment that if we _ we assess this when? is the kind of indictment that if we just _ we assess this when? is the kind of indictment that if we just finish - indictment that if we just finish off any normal government prime minister, the evidence suggests that

borisjohnson may minister, the evidence suggests that boris johnson may write this minister, the evidence suggests that borisjohnson may write this one out as well. for two reasons, really. the first is this is a profoundly polarised country where people have made up their minds about boris johnson and about 50% of the country think borisjohnson, they love them for brexit and also that of other things and many think he is an incompetent buffoon. but as my old grandma used to say to me, it's not how you start, it's how you finish. what i mean by that is people tend to remember the moment the success in the vaccine programmes and 30 million of us, rather than how it began. that was with some of dominic cummings said and will come to that story twice but next, we turn to

belarus. to belarus now where president alexander lukashenko has spoken for the first time since he ordered the hijacking of a passenger plane on sunday. that ryanair flight was rerouted to the belarussian capital minsk in order for an opposition journalist to be arrested. that prompted extensive criticism from the west. president lukashenko says it's gone too far. as we predicted, our ill wishes are home and abroad have changed their methods of attacking the state. they have crossed many and crossed boundaries of common sense and human morality. in the speech lukashenko also repeated the unproven claim of a bomb threat on the diverted plane. you'll remember the plane was travelling from athens to the lithuanian capital vilnius — see the route here — when the crew was told by belarus air traffic control to divert to minsk because of

a potential bomb threat. a militaryjet was also sent to order it to land. lukashenko said: "the information about the bomb came from abroad, from switzerland. and athens, vilnius and minsk had got the message at the same time." swiss authorities have denied given any warning — and athens and vilnius have not backed up recieving any message. again no evidence of mr lukashenko's claims. and of course it's a remarkable coincidence that the warning that no—one else will confirm was issued for a plane carrying someone mr lukashenka dearly wanted in custody. lithuania's prime minister is unconvinced. it's so complicated for anyone to believe and rule of law, institutions and western democracy to believe in anything that he is saying. i think they will invent whatever they need to try and shelter their wrongdoings. the west only sees one

explanation here — that the plane was diverted to in order to detain the journalist ramon pratasevich. his girlfriend was travelling with him —— she's sofia sapega, a 23 year old russian national — she was also detained. in a moment, we'll look at what we know has happened to them since their arrests — but we've now heard from the man who was sitting next to mr pratasevich on the plane when secret service agents arrived. an officer came up to him, looked at him and said you are roman, come with me. and then i realise that is why they are taking down the plane. so eyewitnesses say mr pratasevich was the reason for the diversion. and both he and sofia sapega are in custody. authorities have released this video of sofia sapega — it appears to be recorded under duress — and she says she edits a news channel on the app telegram — though she isn't known to have played any role in belarus' protests. her mother says her daughter had

simply showed up in the wrong place at the wrong time . a similar video of roman protasevich was released on monday. in it he says he has been �*planning riots�*. his family say he was forced to record it and that it looks like he's been beaten. his mother is pleading with the international community to save him. yes, it is just one journalist, yes, it isjust onejournalist, a single person. but please, stand up and help. i begged you because they will kill him. they will kill him. the context here is that president lukashenko is under pressure. he's been in power since belarus' independence from the soviet union— that's 27 years. and after widespread crticism of last year's election — which he won — opposition protests began. huge ones. the state responded by arresting thousands of people — there are multiple allegations of beatings and torture. many of them are still in detention. as well as that independent media in

belarus is under constant pressure. roman pratasevich was part of that — he founded an opposition social media channel on the secure messaging app telegram. and in 2019 he moved to poland where nexta is based. its other co—founder told the bbc about their work together. all

western countries have responded with sanctions, an avoidance of belarussian airspace — and limits on eu airspace for belarus' airlines. sarah rainsford in moscow has been looked at the reaction to this inside belarus. they obviously don't like it here to judge by the reaction. it is been a very forceful response in terms of words from the ministry here. they will respond with parallel sanctions on the west and the west will not like this. and they clearly are not happy but in isolation, it is becoming the reality of life here in belarus and so this is a country that many people talk about is kind of balancing between east and west, russia and the eu, europe. but after the events, it has been tilting much more heavily towards russia and it's very dependent on russia. alexander has said, if the west wants to break off relations with us, that is no skin off our nose, but will have a very forceful cooperation with russia instead.

and this entire story has to be seen in the context of russia — russia's relationship with belarus — and with the west. look at this map — you can see why. belarus is a buffer between russia and eu and nato countries. and president putin has supported mr lukeshenko throughout — here they are together injune. but as belarus becomes more isolated, does that create issues for moscow? here's steve rosenberg. well, if you look at media reaction to the speech today, as always the case of belarus, it differs greatly depending on whether you look at state media for the proposition media. they have been all about promoting the narrative that the west is waging a hybrid war, as he put it. and where the tv channels were showing comments from an identified social media users all praising his rhetoric and supporting

him while he was standing up to the west. but then if you look at the proposition media, the reaction cannot be more different. the speech is seen as a sign that things are likely to get even more difficult for the belarusian opposition and the independent media and the protesters. and it is also the speech was seen as a message to russia that he wants us to continue supporting belarus as the implied russia, may be the west next target. is impossible for an independent media to operate freely in belarus knowing what people think? belarus susended knowing what people think? belarus suspended under _ knowing what people think? belarus suspended under immense - knowing what people think? belarus suspended under immense pressure knowing what people think? belarus . suspended under immense pressure for a long time but especially since the start of the protest last year. just last week for example, one of the most popular news websites was shut down and many of its staff were arrested and we aren't even talking

about a staunchly anti—government website. it was fairly moderate but even that was enough for the government to find it and see it as an enemy. this is why the case is so significant because he was one of those journalists who is trying to create an alternative voice, an alternative to state media, which is basically all behind him. so it is hard to do this in belarus. and a cyclone near the border with west bengal, we have these pictures from the region in coastal areas being lashed with winds of up to 240

km an hour you can see how about the rain is as well. 0ver km an hour you can see how about the rain is as well. over one half million people have had to evacuate from their homes. let's hear from some of them. i from their homes. let's hear from some of them-— from their homes. let's hear from some of them. . , , . some of them. i have never seen such a storm in the — some of them. i have never seen such a storm in the last _ some of them. i have never seen such a storm in the last 30, _ some of them. i have never seen such a storm in the last 30, 40 _ some of them. i have never seen such a storm in the last 30, 40 years. - some of them. i have never seen such a storm in the last 30, 40 years. it. a storm in the last 30, 40 years. it is likely the water may go all the way to the district of the building, crossing the main road for the first time. no idea what will happen after that. irate time. no idea what will happen after that. ~ ., time. no idea what will happen after that. ~ . , ., _ time. no idea what will happen after that. . , ., _ ,,, that. we are seriously very upset. we have seen _ that. we are seriously very upset. we have seen such _ that. we are seriously very upset. we have seen such a _ that. we are seriously very upset. we have seen such a gush - that. we are seriously very upset. we have seen such a gush of - that. we are seriously very upset. | we have seen such a gush of water for the _ we have seen such a gush of water for the first — we have seen such a gush of water for the first time and we are very scared _ for the first time and we are very scared about what will happen with all the _ scared about what will happen with all the local residents. but make the other— all the local residents. but make the other story is the farmers and indie _ the other story is the farmers and indie are — the other story is the farmers and india are holding mass protests to india are holding mass protest to trade india are holding mass protest trade and india are holding mass protests tr: trade and overturn reforms that would deregulate the agricultural market. this is held in several cities and villages, both in and around delhi and punjab and other

states as well. and this is one states as well. and this is one state capital. farmers at several places hosted black flags on houses on wednesday. and they burned effigies and raised slogans against the government of india. but the police had urged people not to hold gatherings in view of the covid—i9 situation in the ongoing lockdown. at about 12 political parties, including congress had extended their support to the farmers protest. farmers had given a call for nationwide clarity to mark six months of their protest. tens of thousands of farmers have been camping on the borders of delhi. demanding repealing of the tree farm laws by the government of india last

year. the government has been maintaining that these laws are beneficial for the farmers were as the farmers that this will ruin their livelihoods. various meetings have been held between the government and the former leaders with both the parties sticking to the respective stands. in the next half of the programme, we will differfrom the in the next half of the programme, we will differ from the bbc health editor and we will also be in westminster as we try and unpick the political ramifications of the seven—hour testimony.

hello there. so far this month has been pretty disappointing. it's been cool and a wet for many of us but there are some improvements on the horizon. the last few days of may are looking warmer and drier. not completely dry but certainly drier than what we've been experiencing of late. we've had a few showers across northern and eastern areas. these will fade away the first part of the night. many places will be dry throughout the night although there will be a legacy a cloud across scotland and england and a few mist patches too. temperatures not falling much below to the 7 degrees. still some cloud across the very far south air. we start tomorrow on a dry sunny notes for many. early cloud across scotland in northern england,

that should melt away and we should see good amount of sunshine. the odd shower likely of a higher ground across northern and eastern areas but most places will be dry and it will be warm. 20 celsius finally across the south. warm in the north but this weather front opening figure in our brexit warm in the north but this weather front opening figure in our britain rain to northern ireland and western fringe of the britain moving through the course of the night. further east it should stay dry and that will be building cloud. slightly milder night across the board, six to 11 degrees. heading into friday, we have this building area of high pressure, the weather front and the west which will be moving into it, it will get squeezed out by the area of high pressure which will continue to build but it will be quite grey, quite damp across and western areas on friday morning and slashes on friday morning and splashes of rain around which will tend to ease down and it will turn drier, probably the best of the search across northern and eastern areas that we could see the odd shower

around on the heavy side. many places will say dry in temperatures a degree or so down on thursday because we will have more cloud around. for the weekend, it looks like high pressure will dominate, mainly dry and it will feel warm it's well with light winds. saturday looks good. a lot of cloud across western areas, fairweather cloud building up but most places will be dry and lengthy spells of sunshine to an temperatures responding because 20 degrees to the central belt of scotland, 20 or 21 across seven in southeast england. it could be warmer heading onto the bank holiday weekend with sunday, looking really warm and below 20 celsius across southern areas. if few showers on the bank holiday monday.

hello, i'm ros atkins. this is 0utside source. boris johnson's former chief adviser has delivered a relentless attack on the uk government's handling of the covid crisis. senior of the covid crisis. ministers and senior officials, senior ministers and senior officials, senior advisers like me fail disastrously short of the standards that the public has a right to expect. dominic cummings told mps thousands of lives were needlessly lost in the pandemic — and much of the blame falls on those in charge. i think that the secretary of state for health should've been fired for at least 15, 20 things, including lying to everybody and multiple occasions. a dutch court brings a landmark ruling against the oil giant shell, saying the company must

cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030. former south african president, jacob zuma appears in court facing charges of corruption and fraud. and we'll talk to an astronomer about this once in a decade show, a super blood moon. must continue to talk about boris johnson and his former top aide, dominic cummings. borisjohnson's former top aide dominic cummings has given hours of evidence to a parliamentary committee about the government's handling of covid—i9. 0ur health editor hugh pym looks now at what we learnt from dominic cummings about the scientific and health assessments that were available to the prime minister through the crisis. some will contest it, but today's drastic evidence shines new light on the government's handling of the biggest peacetime crisis in modern times. dominic cummings' account

of the first covid wave in 2020 is highly critical of ministers and officials. british people back from wuhan in china were quarantined in late january, but until the end of february, he said, there was no attempt to get on a war footing. some key players even took skiing holidays. all this as italian hospitals were being overrun with seriously ill covid patients. mr cummings argues there should have been a lockdown by early march. but big sporting events like the cheltenham racing festival went ahead. he said experts thought closing sports events would mean people went to pubs instead, but this was completely wrong. now is the time for everyone to stop nonessential contact with others. by march the 16th, he says, there had been a big change in thinking, with the start of restrictions, though a full lockdown was delayed another week. but a medical expert on one of the main advisory groups says

none of the options were clear—cut. really urgent action needed to be taken, but that was very difficult, ithink, for the politicians to balance all the different inputs they were getting from the scientist on one hand and from those who really felt that this was going to be very damaging to the economy on the other. mr cummings slams the lack of preparation, including shortages of ppe. he alleges even with virus cases surging, there were no urgent plans to secure more supplies. by september, the second wave of the virus was developing. mr cummings says action should have been taken then. the testing system was coming close to being overwhelmed, and he claims the prime minister rejected the idea of a short circuit breaker lockdown in england. some experts agree that was a mistake. there was a lot of arguments in favour of taking early action in the autumn, in september, when we could see that

cases were rising again and we didn't have vaccines. people had been able to travel, and we had reimported infection back into the country, people moving around. we should have done something earlier. the number of uk deaths is one of the highest of leading industrialised nations. mr cummings said mistakes had been made, and he was sorry for his part in them. adrian hamer died with covid on boxing day aged 55. his widow, lisa, says today's developments provide no comfort. mistakes have been made. people need to be accountable for their actions. and they need to take accountability. they all need to take accountability and learn, because if this ever happens again, god help us. more chances to learn will come with a public inquiry next year. others will give their version of events. some may well differ from those of mr cummings. hugh pym, bbc news. a dutch court has brought a landmark

ruling against the oil giant shell, ordering it to drastically cut its greenhouse emissions by the end of the decade. the case was brought by climate activists and it's thought to be the first time judges anywhere have ordered a company to make such a reduction. the court in the hague ruled that shell must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030, from 2019 levels. shell had been targeting a 20% reduction by 2030. anna holigan was in the hague for the verdict. it is historic. you can hear some of the chairs behind me. the court case thatjust the chairs behind me. the court case that just ended the chairs behind me. the court case thatjust ended with this verdict from thejudges. the district thatjust ended with this verdict from the judges. the district court found that shell must reduce its omissions and they said that they can and they must add this is historic and the first time a court like it has ruled that a company has a responsibility. the group you can see behind me here, they are those that brought this case, friends of

the earth of netherlands, six other ngos plus more than 17,000 that citizens and they argued that shell, the multinational oil giant, wasn't violating humid rights by continuing to use these fossil fuels this like the impact he was having on the environment and the judges today have ruled that shell must reduce its omissions. i've been speaking to she“ its omissions. i've been speaking to shell the last few days and they've been telling me they are making efforts and they don't believe the court is the right place for this but there is no doubt this verdict could set off many more around the world as campaigners see their battle to protect the planet can also take place in courts just like this. shell has said it will appeal the verdict. roger harrabin, our energy and environment analyst. always good to have you on. help us talk about this. hagar always good to have you on. help us talk about this.— talk about this. how significant is it? it talk about this. how significant is it? it could _ talk about this. how significant is it? it could be _ talk about this. how significant is it? it could be immense. - talk about this. how significant is it? it could be immense. two - it? it could be immense. two scenarios, one is clearly shell are

going to appeal and i'm not surprised about that. i don't think anybody would be. if they appeal committee if they lose the appeal, then every fossil fuel company in then every fossil fuel company in the world will know that depending where they are based, the courts could go after them. they could try to dictate their own climate policies. in this case, shell does have its plans for emissions cuts, they are nowhere near as stringent as they should be if michael was going to be a line with a contraction of emissions throughout the whole economy. but that wasn't the whole economy. but that wasn't the way the un works. the un works by individual country saying we will cut 45%, 50%, whatever it is by 2030, and then determining what sort of a burden the sector should play. it doesn't play evenly across all sectors so in the uk for instance, we are the carbon icing electricity first. that's been the main

priority. in this case, this meant specific targets, that is very unusual, and it would be, it will send a mass of alarm bells around the world to other companies but then the second scenario is that there shell appeal, which they will, and when their appeal, that obviously has a much lesser effect. but even so, i think if you're sitting in the boardroom of any fuel company and the western world, you would be looking at that and thinking how long is it before this is coming to us? what happens next? what should we be doing? it will be a massive shot across. this i what should we be doing? it will be a massive shot across.— a massive shot across. as i listen to ou a massive shot across. as i listen to you come _ a massive shot across. as i listen to you come thinking _ a massive shot across. as i listen to you come thinking let's - a massive shot across. as i listen | to you come thinking let's imagine shell loses its appeal. they are a multibillion—dollar company which operates all around the world. to what degree to this core even enforce this kind of order? the order only _ enforce this kind of order? the order only refers _ enforce this kind of order? tue order only refers to enforce this kind of order? tte order only refers to holland. enforce this kind of order? "tte order only refers to holland. i'm not quite sure how that was spread

out across their great multinational empire. what exactly would be considered to be, that has to be clarified actually, but the fact that even in one jurisdiction this is happening will frighten other companies into wondering are they going to face the same district restrictions. it will send a message to governments too. they have to buck up their ideas if a group of judges are going to make a judgment like this, there is obviously something going on, really major in civil society, that politicians are probably aware of, but it will never imagine that anything like this would happen. my point of view is this is a really remarkable verdict. i think possibly it is likely to be overturned, but even so it is a pretty extraordinary thing. we shall see. pretty extraordinary thing. we shall see- roger. — pretty extraordinary thing. we shall see. roger, thank _ pretty extraordinary thing. we shall see. roger, thank you _ pretty extraordinary thing. we shall see. roger, thank you very - pretty extraordinary thing. we shall see. roger, thank you very much. l

we bring you the biggest storage from all around the world on 0utside source. —— the biggest stories from all around the world. lets turn to south africa. the former presidentjacob zuma has pleaded not guilty on charges of corruption. he's accused of 16 counts of corruption, racketeering, fraud and money laundering. he was deputy president at the time of the alleged offences. this was in court. mrzuma, could i ask you to stand please? you have followed the charges that have been put to you now from the indictment, am i correct? how do you plead to them? i plead not guilty. mr zuma was first charged with corruption in 2005 the charges relate to a $2.5 billion dollar arms deal in the late nineties. it involved buying new fighterjets, helicopters, submarines and warships. and included several european countries. he's accused of accepting $34,000 annually from a french arms company. that was in exchange for protecting them from scrutiny. other charges have include racketeering,

corruption, fraud, tax evasion and money laundering. there was no trial and those charges were then dropped in april 2009. in may of that year, he became president. but the charges followed him throughout his presidency. in 2017, the supreme court ruled he should face these charges of corruption. in february 2018, jacob zuma resigned as president. and two months later he was charged again with corruption. and since the mr zuma has been accused of delaying the trial. here's his son speaking to the bbc. he's been innocent from day one and he's been ready for the case from day one. the people should not be saying he's been delaying his day in court. he was merely exercising his constitutional rights which he fought for and if his constititional rights are denied,

i mean what was the use of him fighting for the liberaton of this country? so he must exercise the very same rights he was fighting for. well the trial was delayed again today untiljuly. mr zuma wants the the chief prosecutor to be withdrawn from the case. here's his lawyer. effects and circumstances that. gave me a reasonable impression that mr downer has conducted himself i in this case in a manner that lacks . the independence and impartiality that is necessary— for a lawful prosecution. nomsa maseko is in pietermaritzburg where the trial was due to be held. hundreds of supporters dressed in attire outside of court. and military veterans, also outside court here supporting the former president.

inside the courtroom, former friends and acquaintances inside with them and acquaintances inside with them and support of the president, saying that they believe this is a political witchhunt against them and that they think he will not get a free trial. we hurryjust a few hours ago the former president pleading not guilty and counts of fraud, corruption, racketeering against him. there is also another plea though that he is making and that he wants the lead prosecutor in the case to recuse himself. accusing the case to recuse himself. accusing the prosecutor of political interference and prosecutorial bias. we'll talk about dominic cummings again. that turned the first. fans are gearing up for the europa league final between man united and the spanish side villareal. kick off in 30 minutes' time. let's bring in 0lly foster. i'm assuming united are the favourites?

olly foster. i'm assuming united are the favourites?— the favourites? they are the strong favourites. kick-off— the favourites? they are the strong favourites. kick-off 15 _ the favourites? they are the strong favourites. kick-off 15 minutes' - favourites. kick—off 15 minutes' time now. here are the baltic shores of north poland. huge favourites, man united but by theirfans of north poland. huge favourites, man united but by their fans from all football fans have been starved of life above 12 months now. a club of life above 12 months now. a club of this size, they have been starved of this size, they have been starved of trophies, four years is that when this competition underjose maria. they find steady progress under 0le gunnar solskjaer, one of the former star strikers, finishing six in the first half season. and third runner—up behind manchester city. but no trophies to show for his two and half seasons in charge. —— i jose mourinho. now win your way. be villareal. every manager and unai eme who is a specialist in the second—tier competition. he's won it three times with sevilla in a row, not arsenal out to boot in the

semifinals, he might have another tactical masters that 0le gunnar solskjaer will have to tweak his team for. but united, they have gone all guns blazing. they are feeling are really attacking team.- all guns blazing. they are feeling are really attacking team. thank you ve much are really attacking team. thank you very much indeed. _ are really attacking team. thank you very much indeed. 50 _ are really attacking team. thank you very much indeed. 50 minutes - are really attacking team. thank you very much indeed. 50 minutes till. very much indeed. 50 minutes till kick follow that are bbc world news and the bbc news channel. that's 15 minutes. stay with us on 0utside source — still to come... we'll find out about the once in a decade, super—blood moon that is dazzling people around the world. dozens of people have been declared missing, after a boat they were travelling in sank in a river in nigeria's northwest kebbi state. the passengers who are made up of mainly women and children, were travelling from neighbouring niger state on wednesday morning when the boat capsized. the authorities in kebbi state told the bbc that divers and emergency workers are trying to save others. but correspondents say it's unlikely that many more survivors will be found. the bbc�*s chris ewokor reports

from the nigerian capital, abuja. what we know now is that there has been rescues, search and rescue operations going on at the location of the accident. so far, 22 people have been rescued, while 5 bodies have also been recovered. there are fears that many other passengers may sunk with the boat or may be carried away by water currents. boat mishaps, especially on the river niger, is frequent. the river niger is the major river in the western part of nigeria connecting the northwest down to the middle belt and then a lot of people, because of the poor situation of the road in nigeria, many of the communities and residents there prefer to travel by boat because they find it easier.

probably cheaper too. but in this case, there have been a lot of accidents, like two weeks ago, 28 people died after a boat capsized. 0n the same river niger, a boat was said to be carrying 100 people. about 55 people were rescued. seven people were declared missing up till now. in today's incident, the boat was also said to be carrying 168 people. this is 0utside source live from the bbc newsroom. 0ur lead story is? boris johnson's former chief adviser has said tens of thousands of live's were lost unnecessarily because of the government's �*disastrous�* handling of the pandemic. dominic cummings told mps the uk had been too slow to go into lockdown,

8 people have been killed in a shooting in california. police say the attacker opened fire at a rail yard near sanjose's main airport on wednesday morning. they said the suspect is now dead. in the uk — two retired police officers and an ex—solicitor , accused of altering police statements after the hillsborough disaster, have been acquitted. they were accused of trying to minimize the blame on south yorkshire police in the aftermath of the 1989 disaster, something they all denied. let's get back to dominic cummings. one of the key allegations that mr cummings has made is that the government pursued a �*herd immunity�* policy early into the pandemic. herd immunity is the point at which a population is protected from a disease — either by enough people being vaccinated or by people having developed antibodies by having the disease.

and there was some evidence that that was the policy. this is the chief scientific adviser, sir patrick vallance, in march last year. not to suppress it completely. also because most people, the vast majority of people, get a mild illness, to build up some degree of herd immunity as well so that more people are immune to this disease and we reduce the transmission at the same time protecting those who are most vulnerable from it. that was march 13. then by march 15 — the official line changed. here's the health secretary speaking to the bbc. herd immunity is not our policy. it is not our goal. our goal is to protect life. dominic cummings disputes that. and ahead of his testimony he posted 64 messages on twitter — claiming the govnment was unprepared and changed its mind about how it would respond to the outbreak. and today he told mps that there appeared to be no alternative strategy. you will either have herd immunity

by september after a single peak, or you will have herd immunity by january with a second peak. those are the only two options that we have. that was the whole logic of all of the discussions in january and february and early march. political correspondent, damian grammaticas. if i've understood this right, the reason the argument about herd immunity matter so much as it plays into the discussion about whether borisjohnson brought in the lockdown too late in that first wave. , �* lockdown too late in that first wave. , ~ ., , lockdown too late in that first wave. , ~ . , lockdown too late in that first wave. , ~ ., , wave. yes. and that is exactly one ofthe wave. yes. and that is exactly one of the sensual _ wave. yes. and that is exactly one of the sensual contentions - wave. yes. and that is exactly one of the sensual contentions that - of the sensual contentions that dominic cummings makes and this was a pretty dramatic day. —— contingent. he was the right headman to the prime minister, a partnership that goes back years. he helped restate this country and deliver the brexit referendum, brought into downing street. —— right hand man.

he was there to assist boris johnson. they fell out spectacularly at the end of last year. here he was in parliament, somebody say plunging the knife and others would say he was delivering his view of what had happened in the side there when those decisions were made and on this issue, what dominic cummings was trying to say was that there was a sort of fixation on a policy that had been designed to prevent a flu pandemic that simply wasn't up to scratch here and is dawning realisation that the problem was much more serious. but at the same time, he was also very critical of the prime minister borisjohnson saying that he believed this was just scare stories and that earlier entered the early part of march he was discussing with senior cabinet officials possibly even going on tv to say going to parties like chickenpox and used to doing all days and get infected to build up

this amenity and mr cummings contention is that he was very nervous about this because he thought a disaster was looming stop quite briefly if you could, it is worth pointing out that he's been skating about a prime minister. who skating about a prime minister. who we work very — skating about a prime minister. who we work very hard to get elected. they fell out. they fell out by the autumn, so november dominic cummings left downing street and he says in his testimony today was that by that stage he had a faith in the prime minister being up to the job and he actually said that by november time come 0ctober, actually said that by november time come october, november, he was working behind—the—scenes to block what the prime minister was doing because he thought it was going to cost lives without that was particularly about bringing in a new lockdown at the end of the year as cases rose again in this country. he said the prime minister, even though he got sick with covid and stuff them in a hospital desperately ill, still regrets of the first lockdown

and didn't want to bring in a second one, and ultimately they parted company. one, and ultimately they parted coman . ., ~' one, and ultimately they parted coman . . ~ one, and ultimately they parted coman . ., ~ y one, and ultimately they parted coman. ., ~' , . lets turn to a story that's dominating social media today, the super blood moon. you might have been lucky enough to see it. the view was best from country's on the pacific rim. this was australia. astronomers are calling it a once in a decade show. and these are pictures from hong kong — where thousands we have some by pictures now from athens. super moons occur when the moon is closest to the earth in it's orbit. ryan french is an astronomer... these live with me from norfolk. did you have a chance of staying in? thanks for having me. this one fortunately wasn't visible here in the united kingdom. —— unfortunately. it was visible in countries like australia and america, so here we didn't get a

chance to see the blood moon, the moon or eclipse but will still get a chance to see the supermodel later this evening after sunset. who; chance to see the supermodel later this evening after sunset.— this evening after sunset. why it is so secial this evening after sunset. why it is so special to _ this evening after sunset. why it is so special to astronomers - this evening after sunset. why it is so special to astronomers like - this evening after sunset. why it is | so special to astronomers like you? yes. and eclipse happens we have this alignment of the sign and the earth and the moon. there are two types of eclipses. we have a solar eclipse which is when the moon passesin eclipse which is when the moon passes in between the earth and the sun and blocks out the sunlight or in this case a lunar eclipse where the moon passes into the earth's shadow, so normally in a full moon in a super moon the moon is so bright because it is receiving all of this light from the sun. in the case of a lunar eclipse, passes into the shadow of the earth and most of the shadow of the earth and most of the light from the sun is blocked with the exception of a thin sliver of light, which makes its way through the earth atmosphere bending to reach the moon. the reason why the moon appears red and a lunar clothes like this is if you imagine you're sitting on the moon looking back towards the earth, the sun

behind you would see this and read a realm around the earth, which essentially is you watching every subset and sunrise at the same time. it gives that that reddish glow. very beautiful event during a super moon like this when the moon is about 14% larger and 30% brighter than usual. t’m about 14% larger and 30% brighter than usual. �* , , ., �* , than usual. i'm sure you're very ha - than usual. i'm sure you're very happy there _ than usual. i'm sure you're very happy there but _ than usual. i'm sure you're very happy there but if _ than usual. i'm sure you're very happy there but if you - than usual. i'm sure you're very happy there but if you could - than usual. i'm sure you're very - happy there but if you could choose to be anywhere else to watch it, where would you choose? definitely as ou where would you choose? definitely as you say. — where would you choose? definitely as you say. the _ where would you choose? definitely as you say, the pacific _ where would you choose? definitely as you say, the pacific rim - where would you choose? definitely as you say, the pacific rim and - where would you choose? definitely as you say, the pacific rim and the l as you say, the pacific rim and the east coast of australia. they would've got the best show. great to talk to you- — would've got the best show. great to talk to you. thank _ would've got the best show. great to talk to you. thank you _ would've got the best show. great to talk to you. thank you very _ would've got the best show. great to talk to you. thank you very much. i talk to you. thank you very much. perhaps some you are watching in australia. we are all veryjealous. thank you very much indeed for watching. despite us putting a lot of time into the dominant coming story was still haven't really touched on a whole range of other things that he said but that we can get copies of coverage to the bbc news app and bbc news website which you will find@bbc.com. i will see you will find@bbc.com. i will see you tomorrow. all the best.

it's hello there. so far this month has been pretty disappointing. it's been cool and wet for many of us but there are some improvements on the horizon. the last few days of may are looking warmer and drier. not completely dry but certainly drier than what we've been experiencing of late. we had a few showers across northern and eastern areas. these will fade away the first part of the night. many places will be dry throughout the night although there will be a legacy of cloud across scotland and england and mist patches. temperatures not falling much below four to 7 degrees. still some cloud across the very far south air. we start tomorrow on dry sunny notes for many. early cloud across scotland in northern england, that should melt away and we should see good amount of sunshine.

the odd shower likely over higher ground across northern and eastern areas but most places will be dry and it will be warm. 20 celsius finally across the south. warm in the north but this weather front opening. rain to northern ireland and western fringes of britain moving through the course of the night. further east it should stay dry and that will be building cloud. slightly milder night across the board, six to 11 degrees. heading to friday, we have this building area of high pressure, the weather front in the west which will be moving into it, it will get squeezed out by the area of high pressure which will continue to build but it will be quite grey, quite damp across and western areas on friday morning and rain around which will tend to ease down and it will turn drier, probably the best of the sun across northern and eastern areas that we could see the odd shower around on the heavy side, many places will say dry in temperatures a degree or so down on thursday because we will have more cloud around.

for the weekend, it looks like high pressure will dominate, mainly dry and it will feel warm with high winds. saturday looks good. a lot of cloud across western areas, cloud building up but most places will be dry and let the spells of sunshine to an temperatures responding to 20 degrees to the central belt of scotland, 20 or 21 across southeast england. it could be warmer heading onto the bank holiday weekend with sunday, looking really warm and below 20 celsius across southern areas. a few showers on the bank holiday monday.

this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines at eight: dominic cummings gives explosive evidence to parliament, claiming the government's initial response to the pandemic was inadequate and complacent, with terrible consequences. he also criticised the delay to an inquiry into the pandemic. senior ministers, senior officials, senior advisers like me fell disastrously short of the standards that the public has a right to expect. when the public needed us most, the government failed. mr cummings accuses matt hancock of "criminal. disgraceful behaviour" over testing targets. i think that the secretary of state for health should have been fired for at least 15, 20 things, including lying to everybody, in multiple occasions.

the government rejected the claims about the health secretary,