this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. boris johnson's former chief adviser delivers a relentless attack on his handling of the covid crisis, describing the prime minister as unfit for his job. when the public needed us most, the government failed, and i'd like to say to all the families of those who died unnecessarily how sorry i am for the mistakes that were made and for my own mistakes at that. tens of thousands of people died who didn't need to die. a landmark ruling against the oil giant shell by a dutch court ordering it to make big reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. and we look at the difficult relationship president biden is facing in his dealings with china.

hello, and welcome. here in the uk, the country has been rocked by startling testimony from prime minister borisjohnson�*s former chief adviser. dominic cummings told members of parliament tens of thousands of people died needlessly from coronavirus because of disastrous failings by the government. he described borisjohnson as unfit for thejob and said he heard the prime minister say he'd rather see "bodies pile high" than order a third lockdown. britain has been one of the countries worst hit by the pandemic. the bbc�*s political editor laura kuenssberg reports. reality or revenge?

delving back into troubled recent history, dominic cummings�* day to give his version of events. a verdict of failure and an apology for his part. senior ministers, senior officials, senior advisers like me failed disastrously short of the standards that the public has a right to expect. when the public needed us most, the government failed, and i'd like to say to all the families of those who died unnecessarily, how sorry i am for the mistakes that were made and for my own mistakes at that. he described the original expectation, a peak in early summer, protecting the most vulnerable. but as flaws in the numbers emerged, how rapidly plans were sketched out on white boards to accelerate to lockdown. showing if nothing changed, the nhs would collapsed and the poignant line, who do we not save?

and a prime minister unwilling to take the disease seriously. in february, the prime minister regarded this as just a scare story. if we have the prime minister chairing cobra meetings and he just tells everyone, "it's swine flu, don't worry about it, i'm going to get chris whitty to inject me live on tv with coronavirus so everyone realises it's nothing to be frightened of." that would not help actually serious planning. only halfway through... i first called the prime ministerto answer... ..the prime minister had to defend the claims next door. the handling of this pandemic has been one of the most difficult - things this country has had to do for a very long time and none i of the decisions have been easy. to go into a lockdown is a traumatic thing for a country. _ mr cummings' real vitriol was saved for the health secretary, who may notjust be able to run away from a long list of accusations. i think that the secretary of state for health should've been fired for at least 15, 20 things, including lying

to everybody on multiple occasions in meeting after meeting in the cabinet room and publicly. whether he claimed misleading on testing, on ppe and putting people in care homes in danger. the government rhetoric was we put a shield around care homes and blah, blah, blah. it was complete nonsense. quite the opposite of putting a shield around them, we sent people with covid back to the care homes. the health secretary's team has rejected his claims. but then there were accusations that the prime minister wouldn't listen to mr cummings all the top scientists to bring back lockdown to save lives in the autumn, as covid began to take hold again and cases rose. 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. surely we've got to learn the lessons from the past? the prime minister decided, no, and said, basically we're just going to hit and hope. did you hear him say, let the bodies pile high in their thousands? i heard that in the

prime minister's study. the pm's denied that, but was blasted by the man who helped him into number ten. fundamentally, i regarded him as unfit for thejob, and i was trying to create a structure around him to try and stop what i thought were extremely bad decisions. the relationship between dominic cummings and borisjohnson is bitter and broken, so there's no surprise the former aide didn't hold back today. but whatever his motivations, dominic cummings was borisjohnson�*s most senior adviser during the country's worst crisis in many decades. so his evidence can'tjust be brushed off as irrelevant. but after hours, for those who lost family, for those who've suffered, perhaps this most important verdict. tens of thousands of people died who didn't need to die. for the first time, someone who was involved in making the decisions during this crisis has come to that conclusion in public. a claim the government's always disputed or tried to ignore, but one day will have

to answer in full. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. our political correspondent rob watson has more on why today's testimony was so significant. it was an astonishing seven hours, astonishing because of the breadth, if you like, of dominic cummings' critique. and because of course this is the first account of deep inside the government — i mean, you couldn't get much deeper than dominic cummings — of exactly how the covid crisis unfolded. of course, in a way that's profoundly unflattering to the british system and of course to several key politicians, including the prime minister. now, people will of course question just what kind of a witness mr cummings is and what his motives were, but i think that's why it's so striking. it is this first account from deep, deep inside the government. environmental campaigners have welcomed a landmark ruling by a dutch court ordered which the oil giant shell to make big reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. the court ruled that the oil giant

has a legal duty to do more to tackle climate change. the decision is only binding in the netherlands, but it could influence judges elsewhere. anna holligan reports. "a violation of human rights" was how the climate campaigners described shell's ongoing investment in fossil fuels. cheering. the dutch branch of friends of the earth, along with six other groups and more than 17,000 dutch citizens, brought the case to court, arguing that the oil giant's transition to clean energy wasn't going far or fast enough. the judge agreed the corporation had to be more ambitious in reducing its carbon footprint and delivered a precedent—setting verdict. translation: the court orders i royal dutch shell to reduce its c02

output and those of its suppliers and buyers by the end of 2030 by a net of 45% based on 2019 levels. this is the first time thatjudges have compelled a company to emit less carbon dioxide by changing its policy. this is an historical day. it's for the first time in history that a judge has decided that the large polluter royal dutch shell should stop causing dangerous climate change. this will have an enormous impact, not only on shell itself, but on major polluters throughout the netherlands and globally. in response to the judgement, shell acknowledged that urgent action is needed on climate change. translation: we are working hard to become a netzero - energy company by 2050. thousands of people in shell. are working on that every day.

we're investing billions in that, and although we're moving - in the right direction, _ we're being asked to speed this up. i've been speaking to shell over the last few days, and they've been telling me they are making efforts. 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 that their battle to protect the planet can also take place in courts just like this. energy executives globally were watching, too, conscious that if shell can be legally obliged to change, so could they. anna holligan, bbc news, at the district court in the hague. let's discuss what this might mean both in the netherlands and internationally. i'm joined now by michael burger, head of the sabin center for climate change law at columbia law school. thank you very much forjoining us here in bbc news. let me ask you

first of all in terms of shell in the netherlands, how certificate is this case potentially? this the netherlands, how certificate is this case potentially?— this case potentially? this is a ground-breaking _ this case potentially? this is a ground-breaking case, - this case potentially? this is a ground-breaking case, there i this case potentially? this is a | ground-breaking case, there is this case potentially? this is a - ground-breaking case, there is no ground—breaking case, there is no question about it. as mentioned during the earlier footage, this question about it. as mentioned during the earlierfootage, this is a decision from a lower court in the netherlands applying dutch law to a dutch company, and in that sense, the impact is immediately limited to the impact is immediately limited to the netherlands and to shell. but at the netherlands and to shell. but at the same time, there are activists, environmental organisations and governments around the world that are watching this case, they have been watching this case, and they are seeing the outcome and they may well decide to pursue similar action in their own courtrooms.— in their own courtrooms. that's an interesting — in their own courtrooms. that's an interesting question, _ in their own courtrooms. that's an interesting question, it _ in their own courtrooms. that's an interesting question, it is - in their own courtrooms. that's an interesting question, it is said - interesting question, it is said about being a lower court as well because reasonably it will be surprising given the kind of commercial implications for shell that it would not appeal a decision like this. what are its prospects of being able to do that, of actually getting permission to even do that,

because as it is a precedent—setting case, but the really have to be confirmed by a higher court ultimately. i confirmed by a higher court ultimately-— confirmed by a higher court ultimately. confirmed by a higher court ultimatel . ., ., ,, ., ultimately. i do assume that it would be an — ultimately. i do assume that it would be an appeal— ultimately. i do assume that it would be an appeal of - ultimately. i do assume that it would be an appeal of this - ultimately. i do assume that it - would be an appeal of this decision. we did see a similar case in the netherlands before with a case filed against the government going through to the supreme court of the netherlands and i think that there is a lot riding on this case. the president is very persuasive, and shell probably does not want to just let it stand. shell probably does not want to 'ust let it stand. �* , ., ., let it stand. briefly, for other companies — let it stand. briefly, for other companies looking _ let it stand. briefly, for other companies looking at - let it stand. briefly, for other companies looking at this, i let it stand. briefly, for other| companies looking at this, do let it stand. briefly, for other - companies looking at this, do you think it will alter their behaviour in case this turns to be something that has legal legs internationally? that's quite possible. you know, it will be... i think there'll be many people watching closely to see how fossil fuel companies around the world respond to this case. you know, they will decide to wait and see what happens on appeal or they may decide to get out ahead of the

legal curve, as it were, and start increasing their ambition and the rapidity of their own greenhouse gas emissions now.— rapidity of their own greenhouse gas emissions now. professor, thank you ve much emissions now. professor, thank you very much for— emissions now. professor, thank you very much for giving _ emissions now. professor, thank you very much for giving us _ emissions now. professor, thank you very much for giving us your - very much for giving us your analysis of this case. and i hope the professor will carry on listening and you will carry on watching because in a few minutes it was about of the case in another part of the world on environmental law. let's get some of the day's other news. president biden has ordered the us intelligence agencies to deliver a report on the origins of covid—i9 within 90 days. some reports in the us media have been suggesting there's growing evidence that the virus could have emerged from a laboratory in wuhan rather than from contact with animals. dozens of villages along india's bengal coast have been hit by a severe cyclone. thousands of homes have been destroyed, and at least two people have been killed. the president of belarus has accused his critics of trying to "strangle" his country in his first public comments since a ryanair plane was forced to land in the capital and an opposition journalist

onboard was arrested. alexander lukashenko accused the west of waging a hybrid war against him. sarah rainsford reports from minsk. in minsk, appearances are deceiving. this is a country in deep political turmoil. we were heading to meet a woman just plunged into the heart of it. she asked to meet in the open on the edge of town because anna's daughter is now in a kgb prison, arrested with her opposition activist boyfriend when their flight over europe was diverted by force to belarus. the last anna heard from sofia was a text message. itjust said, "mum." the next was a video confession taped by her interrogators. it seems clear it was done under duress. anna is still reeling. translation: we are in such a state i that we keep saying to each other, i

"this can't be happening." we don't believe it's happening to us, to our daughter. anna says sofia wasn't even part of the protests that swept belarus last year, as minsk turned red and white with crowds calling for president lukashenko to go. nine months on, everything has changed here. the mass arrest of opposition supporters and people's own fear have cleared the streets of protesters. but alexander lukashenko is still very much in power, and today he made a defiant address to the nation from right here in the country's parliament. he called new sanctions over the diverted plane a western plot to try to topple him. translation: our ill-wishers have i changed their methods of attack. i they've crossed many red lines and the boundaries of common sense and human decency. they've moved from plotting riots

here to strangling us. it's no surprise many belarusians are keeping their heads down these days. as a new summer begins, very different from the last. sarah rainsford, bbc news, minsk. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, and three years after his death, a treasure trove of the personal papers of professor stephen hawking will be preserved at an archive at cambridge. music. in the biggest international sporting spectacle ever seen, up to 30 million people have taken part in sponsored athletics events to aid famine relief in africa. the first of what the makers of star wars hope will be thousands of queues started forming at 7am. taunting which led to scuffles, scuffles to fighting, fighting to full—scale riot,

as the liverpool fans broke out of their area and into the juventus enclosure. the belgian police had lost control. the whole world will mourn - the tragic death of mr nehru today. he was the father of the indian - people from the day of independence. the oprah winfrey show comes to an end after 25 years and more than a500 episodes. the chat show has made her one of the richest people on the planet. geri halliwell, otherwise known as ginger spice, has announced she's left the spice girls. argh, i don't believe it! she's the one with the bounce, the go, girl power. not geri, why? this is bbc news. the latest headlines — boris johnson's former chief adviser delivers a relentless attack on his handling of the covid crisis. a landmark ruling against the oil

giant shell by a dutch court, ordering it to make big reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. president biden has inherited a contentious us—china relationship, with clashes over trade, technology, human rights and the pandemic. while beijing is calling for a reset, the biden administration has largely maintained donald trump's tough line. the bbc�*s zhaoyin feng looks into how biden is going to deal with china. music. us president biden's long—standing relationship with the chinese leader xijinping is no secret. they go back to when they were both vice presidents. given this history, you'd expect biden to quickly reverse former president trump's tough approach to china, but that hasn't happened. so, why is biden holding firm? one of the reasons is china's

human rights record. jeffrey oh is a hong kong activist in washington, dc. president biden has spoken a lot about how he thinks human rights should be a cornerstone of us foreign policy. but then they also have to balance between that and other factors. one of those factors is trade. trump's trade war tried to change china unfair trade practices, but it hurt us farmers likejohn. you know, when former president trump pulled the rug from underneath american farmers, closing the door between china and united states, they didn't add any other countries to make up the difference. and i think that was a big mistake. china couldn't feel further away from this farm in the middle of virginia, but the relations between the us and china have real impacts here. well, these would probably end up in china. despite signing the first phase of the us—china

trade deal last year, some tariffs are still in place. if we don't do more of a formalised agreement between china and the united states, i think the long—term effects could be devastating. biden has made clear that his administration sees china neither as a friend nor an enemy, but as the most serious competitor to the us. bonnie glaser is an asia policy analyst. i think china should - recognise we are inherently in a period of competition i in the us—china relationship. we don't want to go to war. us—china relations could be biden's biggest foreign—policy challenge. competition is likely to define this relationship for many years to come. zhaoyin feng, bbc news, washington. a federal court in melbourne is due to rule in a landmark class—action case brought by eight teenagers and a nun that seeks to stop the expansion

of australia's coal production. the young people behind the case are organisers behind australia's school strike 4 climate campaign, which marched in sydney last week. the suit targets the planned expansion of a coal mine in new south wales. let's get more from our correspondent shaimaa khalil. what is the background of this case? the background is these eight young people, these eight students have presented a class action to the federal court in melbourne asking them effectively to stop the environment minister from approving on extension of a coal mine in new south wales known as the victory extension project. their argument is that the australian environment minister has a duty of care towards young people, towards the next generation, to protect them from the harmful and devastating effects of climate change. and by approving this extension, she'll be in violation of that duty of care.

their argument goes on to say that this extension will contribute about 100 million tonnes of emissions in the next 25 years because of their argument is about intergenerational equity in climate change, which means that whatever projects are put in place right now will be harmful for them in the future as adults. now, we are still waiting for a ruling on this. it will come in the next hour or so, but if approved and if thejudge agrees next hour or so, but if approved and if the judge agrees with those eight young people and their litigation adviser, the non—sister bridget arthur and they will be a lemma early because it will mean that this makes it difficult then for other coal projects to be extended in the future. coal pro'ects to be extended in the future. , ., , ., future. coal is a hugely important exort for future. coal is a hugely important export for australia _ future. coal is a hugely important export for australia possible - export for australia possible economy. how concerned if the federal government and indeed the state government in new south wales about this potentially? we state government in new south wales about this potentially?— about this potentially? we have not really heard — about this potentially? we have not really heard unofficial _ about this potentially? we have not really heard unofficial reaction - about this potentially? we have not really heard unofficial reaction to i really heard unofficial reaction to all of this. i think the australian

environment minister was approached. she did not comment with a case to ongoing but if you said cameco is hugely important in australia as it is one of the biggest exporters of coal if not the biggest exporter of coal if not the biggest exporter of coalin coal if not the biggest exporter of coal in the world and this goes into the heart of domestic politics here in australia. prime minister is have risen and fallen with their approach to the fossil fuels. this is the basis of the country's wealth. this conservative government, scott morrison's government has won elections based on the support for the fossil fuel industry and the basis of their argument is that this creates jobs this contributes to the economy which needs to recover after the covid—19 pandemic. we will have to wait and see now which arguments will prevail at least in this particular case that is now in front of the melbourne federal court. thank you very much. here in britain, there is a push under way to preserve the scientific papers and personal possessions

of professor stephen hawking. the objects include childhood letters, scripts from his tv appearances as well as his ground—breaking research into black holes. our science correspondent pallab ghosh has more. there is nothing like a eureka moment of discovering that no one knew before... he was the world's most inspiring scientist. his research, photographs and letters are his legacy to the world, and they're to be saved for the nation. ah, here he is, yeah. 0h, brilliant. his son, tim, sees many of them for the first time, including a letter that his father wrote to his dad when he was just six. "dear, father. once upon a time, some pirates were loading some treasure..." i think it shows a sort of tenderness in his relationship with his father. you know, he had a very loving relationship with his dad, as i did when i was at the age

he was when he wrote the letter. here he is as a student. motor neurone disease went on to debilitate his body, but not his mind. this is his most important scientific paper on black holes, which have such strong gravity that not even light can escape. in a covering letter to a leading journal, he writes immodestly, "the result reported is rather sensational. life feel it's necessary to publish something as soon as possible." his script from the simpsons is an important part of the collection. he had an enormous sense of humour. that comes out through interviews that people will have seen - through that kind of- characterisation, willing to be in the simpsons, - for a little fun to be taken. if what that did was help to. communicate about science. the contents about stephen hawking's office will be transferred to the science museum in london. most iconic of all is his wheelchair, a symbol of the physical challenges he faced and also

the strength and determination he had to overcome them. the eventual aim is to reconstruct his entire office. there are very few scientific spaces that survive, so actually having stephen's office is wonderful because he is extraordinary, but it sends a big, powerful message about the prestige of science as well. future generations will now be able to learn about the life and work of a man who inspired us with his brilliance, courage and humanity. pallab ghosh, bbc news. stargazers around the world on wednesday night have been treated to a special sight — a huge supermoon, also called a flower moon, in the night sky. it is the closest full moon to the earth of the year, making it look much bigger and brighter than normal. in some areas of the southern hemisphere, the supermoon coincided with a lunar eclipse, the first time that has happened in almost six years.

hello. it feels like it's been a while since i've been able to say this, but on thursday, most parts of the country will be dry. it's been one of those months, hasn't it? notjust dry, it should feel a little bit warmer, and that's after quite a chilly start. even though temperatures in single figures for most, rural parts of southern england, wales, northern ireland could drop down to 1—2 celsius at first light. so, there could be a touch of frost around. dry and sunny here. a bit more in the way of low cloud and mistiness across parts of scotland and eastern england, but that will break up. although it will stay grey in shetland through the day. sunshine turning hazy across western areas later. maybe a few spots of rain in west cornwall, fermanagh, and an isolated shower down eastern parts of england and eastern scotland. but the vast majority dry, and temperatures in the mid to high teens. now, into the evening and overnight, we will see the return of some wet weather, particularly in the west.

a lot of low clowd with that. quite a murky start to friday morning, but notice the temperatures, double figures for some. coolest where we've got the clearest skies towards the east of the country. and it's here where high pressure is building in as we go into friday. and what that does — stops that weather front moving much further eastwards and it will decay in situ. damp and drizzly, quite murky across western areas to begin with. brightening up a touch, but there'll still be some rain and drizzle around into the afternoon. eastern areas favoured for the cloud breaking up, some sunshine, particularly in the north east of scotland, away from some coasts that is. and temperatures are down a little bit on thursday, but if you get some sunshine, it should still feel quite pleasant. but the temperatures will be on the rise further as we go into the weekend, and there will be more sunshine developing. we will start saturday fairly cloudy, especially in the west. still one or two light drizzly showers. isolated shower further east, most will be dry, increasing amounts of sunshine through eastern areas. and by this stage, a few more spots will be getting to 20 degrees. parts of southern england and western and northern scotland are best favoured for that. into sunday, though, after some

morning mist and fog patches, bluer skies for most. it will be a sunny day, little bit of fairweather cloud and some hazy sunshine out towards the north and the west. but by this stage, could be hitting 22 degrees in parts of scotland, maybe up to around 22—23 in the south east of england. but with the sunshine out, the warmth, you may be tempted towards the coast, but our recent chilly spell has had an impact of sea surface temperatures. be brave. temperatures for some only about 8—9 degrees. then, as we go into bank holiday monday, well, it's high pressure and the warmth and sunshine lasts in the south. there's a chance of a return of some rain in scotland and northern ireland. bye for now.

this is bbc news. the headlines... the british prime minister's former chief adviser says tens of thousands of people died needlessly from coronavirus, because of disastrous failings by the government. in a parliamentary public hearing, dominic cummings described boris johnson as unfit for the job. judges in the netherlands tell royal dutch shell it has a legal duty to do more to tackle climate change. it will force the oil giant to comply with targets to meet co2 emissions. the president of belarus has gone on the offensive, following international condemnation of the arrest of a dissident journalist. alexander lukashenko says he acted in line with international law over the forced diversion of a passenger plane. several people have been killed and others wounded after a gunman opened fire in a rail yard in sanjose, california. the perpetrator is also dead.