welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore — i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... a stark warning from the world health organization — the pandemic will last longer because of the unequal distribution of vaccines. brazil's president should face criminal charges over his handling of the pandemic — so says a parliamentary inquiry — but he dismisses the findings. joe biden�*s nominee to be american ambassador in beijing takes a tough line on china at his senate confirmation hearing. the prc�*s genocide in xinjang, its abuses in tibet, its smothering of hong kong's autonomy and freedom is and its

bullying of taiwan are unjust, and must stop. and salvation from the skies — a mission to rescue dogs trapped by lava on the spanish island of la palma. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's eight in the morning in singapore, and 1am in london where the world health organization has told the bbc it believes the coronavirus pandemic will go on for a year longer than it needs to because of the unequal distribution of vaccines. it comes as a group of charities have criticised the uk and canada for themselves using doses from covax 7 the global programme to ensure vaccines are distributed fairly. naomi grimley reports.

it's the question we all keep asking — when will this pandemic end? not as soon as it could is the answer from the world health organization because of uneven vaccine distribution across the world. there have been plenty of summits about vaccine donations to poorer countries, but the exasperation of who officials is clear to see. we need a stock take, the 620 will meet at the end of october, we need them to say, "where are we with those commitments?" and i can tell you today, you are not on track. you need to really speed it up, or you know what, this pandemic is going to go on for a year longer than it needs to. covax was the international programme set up to ensure all countries — both rich and poor — could get enough vaccines to cover at least 20% of their population. but it hasn't worked out as planned. the vast majority of vaccine doses administered have been in richer countries. africa especially has

been left behind. a new analysis from a group of charities called the people's vaccine alliance shows the huge gap between what the world's richest countries have promised to give the poorest versus the number of doses delivered so far. the uk and canada have been singled out for a particular criticism, as both countries acquired some vaccines from covax for their own populations, even though they had their own supplies. on the one hand, every country thatjoined the covax facility was entitled to obtain vaccines, but these two countries obtained many, many doses through bilateral agreements that could best be characterised as hoarding. so the idea that they would then double—dip and take more vaccines from the covax initiative really is morally indefensible. the uk has stressed it helped kick—start covax and was one of its most generous financial supporters. the canadian government told us

it's now stopped procuring vaccines from covax. as it became clear that the supply that we had secured through our bilateral deals with different companies, like astrazeneca, pfizer and moderna would be sufficient for the canadian population, we then pivoted the doses that we had procured from covax to be donated back to covax, so that they could be redistributed to developing countries that needed those doses. the latest warning from the world health organization is that the pandemic will continue deep into 2022. it's urging pharmaceutical companies and wealthy nations to make sure low—income countries are now prioritised in the queue for life—saving vaccines. naomi grimley, bbc news. turning to brazil now, where presidentjair bolsonaro has blasted a parliamentary report saying he should face criminal charges for his

handling of brazil's covid pandemic. mr bolsonaro said the results of the six—month inquiry produced "nothing but hatred and rancour". he's been accused of failing to control the virus that has killed more than 600,000 brazilians. the bbc�*s katy watson is in brasilia and sent this report. despite these bold predictions despite these bold predictions covid—19 wreaked havoc in brazil. there is no normalfor the hundreds of thousands of families who lost loved ones. some technical difficulties there, for us. we do hope to bring you those details, that report, from katie watson, a little later in the programme.

moving onto other stories now. britain's health secretary has warned that there could be up to be 100,000 new covid cases a day this winter. sajid javid urged those who are unvaccinated to getjabbed. and he advised everyone to start wearing face masks in crowded settings. but he fell short of calling for mandatory face coverings, and a return to working from home — the so—called "plan b". more now from our health editor hugh pym. queues of ambulances waiting to hand over patients at some hospitals tell their own story — the nhs under intensifying pressure, coping with a range of health conditions, and all that before winter has started to bite. and today, the health secretary struck a more downbeat note, with a warning about the outlook for covid cases. they could go yet as high as 100,000 a day. we are also seeing greater pressure on the nhs. across the uk, we are now approaching 1,000

hospitalisations per day. health leaders say, with those covid numbers adding to the existing strain on hospitals, intervention is needed now, in the shape of the government's plan b, setting out tougher measures which could be implemented. when you have the combination of winter pressures, covid pressures and the backlog, put all of that together, you've got a perfect storm, and that's why we need to do everything we can to reduce the pressure, and that's why we need plan b now. the government says it will introduce plan b if there is unsustainable pressure on the nhs in england, with steps like making face coverings mandatory in some settings, asking people to work from home and introducing vaccine passports. in northern ireland, face coverings remain a legal requirement in crowded indoor spaces. it's the same for masks in wales. proof of vaccination at nightclubs is needed and people are encouraged to work from home. scotland's strategy, similarly, includes vaccine passports and face masks in schools

and some other settings. ministers say the strategy in england for now is to focus on the continued roll—out of vaccines, boosterjabs and first and second doses for those who haven't already had them. but the big unknown is whether that can happen fast enough to help slow any future spread of the virus. here, gareth is getting a third dose. he's eligible because he is undergoing treatment for cancer and his immune system has been compromised. i feel great, actually. ifeel a lot more confident going forward. i am a great believer in the vaccination programme. sajid javid ruled out plan b for now, but he warned that, if people didn't come forward forjabs, the government might have to step in. am i saying that, if we don't do our bit, get vaccinated, you know, all those behavioural changes that we can make, that we are more likely to face restrictions as we head into winter? i am saying that.

i think we've been really clear that we've all got a role to play. he also announced deals to secure two new treatments for covid patients, which would be available for the nhs if approved by regulators, but that could be a few months away. in the meantime, the virus threat is still looming. hugh pym, bbc news. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. at least 46 people have died and several are missing after floods caused by unseasonal heavy rain hit the northern indian state of uttarakhand. the impact has been devastating — fields of crops have been destroyed, roads blocked, and bridges have been washed away. the indian airforce has been called in to help the rescue effort. across the border in nepal, rescuers have been making desperate attempts to reach a village in the west of the country, where around 60 people have been marooned by flood waters for two days.

31 people have been reported dead after days of heavy rains across the country. experts in the us state of florida are investigating whether suspected human remains found in a park belong to brian laundrie. he's the boyfriend of a young woman found murdered in wyoming last month. gabby petito, who kept a popular travel blog, went missing weeks earlier while on a road trip with brian laundrie. presidentjoe biden�*s nominee to be us ambassador to china, nicholas burns, has taken a tough line on china at his senate confirmation hearing in washington, saying "genocide in xinjiang," "abuses in tibet and bullying of taiwan must stop." mr burns is a long—time diplomat who previously served as us ambassador to nato and greece. here's some of what he had to say.

prc�*s genocide in xinjiang, its abuses in tibet, its smothering of hong kong's autonomy and freedoms and its bullying of taiwan are unjust and must stop. beijing's recent actions against taiwan are especially objectionable. nicholas burns. well, human rights campaigners are calling for a boycott of next yea r�*s beijing winter olympics over the alleged human right violations in china. protests were held in greece where the traditional torch lighting ceremony was held ahead of february's covid—restricted games. but campaigners say that even a toned—down winter olympics should not be free from protests and boycotts over issues such as uighur rights and tibet and hong kong. william nee is a campaigner with the chinese human rights defenders group. he recently left hong kong and he says visiting dignitaries to the games will only provide beijing with the credibility it wants.

well, i think there are a lot of people who are calling for a boycott, and i totally understand that. my organisation is calling fred diplomatic boycott, and here is the reason, china can put on a good olympics. we know that. they are good at the logistics, they will have good venues, but what is happening right now is a human rights crisis. as he mentioned, in xinjiang, they are up to 1,000,000 people who are detained, many of those people are in re—education camps, some have now been sentenced to long prison terms, ten or 15 years, and this is particularly affecting intellectual uighur muslims, the poets, the artists, the businesspeople, people who have no connection whatsoever to terrorism. down in hong kong, we have seen the national security law enacted, which is just eviscerating rights. the detention of people who put on that human square vigil. so what this means is

the chinese government are going to use the olympics to solidify their power and to milk it for everything it's worth in terms of gaining international recognition and gaining honour and glory. so that is why we are saying for countries not to send their ambassadors or other delegations and to not give china the opportunity to politicise the olympics, which we agree shouldn't be politcised in general. william, we have already heard from ioc president thomas park who stressed that the games must be respected as politically neutral ground. what you are suggesting would politicise this event. so, you know, how did those two viewpoints get reconciled? and how effective do you think a diplomatic boycott might be? i understand the point that it should be politically neutral, and that makes a lot of sense, but all we have to do is look

back to the 2008 olympics, and the 2014 youth olympics that took place in china where you had people's liberation army soldiers goose—stepping the chinese flag into the stadium and the communist party leaders, including the president looking down on this. this is the type of thing that we are going to see, so it's really kind of impossible to have a politically neutral event when you have a country that is using the games in such a way, the games is about solidarity, peace, people coming from different regions, and china is not going to allow people to come and who are outside spectators and are only going to limits ticket sales to people who are already residing in the country. they are saying that this is happening for covid reasons, which does make sense, but i think there is a way to have spectators come in in a way that respects the right to life and right

to health with covid. william nee on that story for us. thank you forjoining us on newsday. still to come on the programme... the growing danger women face in nightclubs — we talk to one of the victims of "spiking". a historic moment that many of his victims have waited for for decades. the former dictator in the dock — older, slimmer. and as he sat down, obedient enough. dawn, and as the sun breaks through the piercing chill of night on the plain outside, it lights up a biblicalfamine now in the 20th century. the depressing conclusion, in argentina today it is actually cheaper to paper your walls with money. we've had controversies - in the past with great britain,

but as good friends we have always found _ a good and lasting solution. concorde bows out in style after almost three decades in service. an aircraft that has enthralled its many admirers for so long taxis home one last time. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. the headlines... a stark covid warning from the world health organisation — the pandemic will last longer because of the unequal distribution of vaccines. brazil's president should face criminal charges over his handling of the pandemic — so says a parliamentary inquiry — but he dismisses the findings.

police forces in the uk have been asked to look urgently into the problem of women being spiked by needles in nightclubs. more than 100,000 people have signed a petition calling for compulsory searches at nightclubs after a number of reported spikings by needle. and groups from more than 30 universities around the uk havejoined an online campaign calling for the boycott of nightclubs. our correspondent jo black reports. after covid, it was supposed to be the freshers' week they never had. but on this night out at a club in nottingham, second—year university student sarah buckle became so unwell, she ended up in hospital. out of nowhere, i seemed to just stop communicating. i couldn't talk. it was as if someone had just turned a switch. the 19—year—old believes she was the victim of an injection spiking. i was almost screaming out for help and then almost going unconscious and coming back round and choking, and they could just tell

immediately, wait, it's not that she's had too much to drink, something's really, really wrong. i have no memory of anything. i think my earliest memory will have been around 9am. my hand was throbbing and a bruise was starting to develop. posts on social media talk of similar incidents, and now a petition calling for compulsory searches at nightclubs has been signed by more than 130,000 people. and groups from more than 30 universities around the uk havejoined a campaign calling for a boycott of nightclubs at the end of this month. the problem of people having their drinks spiked in night—time venues has been reported for many years, but now there are new fears about the rise of injection spiking. however, only a small number of police forces across the uk say they've had reports of this happening. despite this, young people we spoke to today in nottingham said they were worried. i won't go out. i won't. it's too worrying. you shouldn't have in the back

of your thought, "is someone going to stab me with a needle and spike my drink?", or anything like that. so, yeah, it's really concerning. it's one thing to worry- about your drink being spiked, but having stuff injected - into you that you don't know what it is, anything i could happen to you. it's terrifying. the home secretary, priti patel, has now asked police forces for an urgent update on this issue. and today, at the home affairs select committee, questions about the scale of the problem. do you think police forces are taking this seriously enough? every chief constable takes this as top priority. violence against women in general. sarah says it will be a long time before she can enjoy another night out, but she hopes her story will be a warning to others. if you feel unwell slightly, orjust think you've had a bit too much to drink, go home, and if you think something more sinister might have happened, do not be afraid to contact the police. jo black, bbc news, nottingham.

such a troubling report. the united states says it's time to engage in a sustained dialogue with north korea with the goal of achieving a complete denuclearisation of the korean peninsula. the us ambassador to the united nations, linda thomas—greenfield, repeated washington had no hostile intent towards pyongyang and was willing to meet north korean officials without any pre—conditions. she also condemned pyongyang's latest missile test as the security council met to discuss the issue. each new advancement of the dpr test of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programmes destabilises the region and threatens international peace and security. the united states calls on the dprk to refrain from further provocations, and engage in sustained and substantive dialogue. nikolas cruz, the man who shot dead 17 people

at a school in parkland, florida, three years ago, has pleaded guilty to murder and the attempted murder of 17 others who were injured. the 23—year—old apologised to the victims and theirfamilies in court. prosecutors have described the killings — one of the deadliest school shootings in us history — as cold, calculated and premeditated. they are seeking the death penalty. he does not deserve life in prison. life in prison is a life. he deserves nothing more than the death penalty. i'm just looking forjustice here, and justice for us is, you know, we want him dead, we want him forgotten. i don't ever want to hear this kid's name again. miami herald crime reporter david ovaal explained the process involved to get to a potential death penalty in the state of florida. the likelihood that nikolas was

going to be found not guilty by reason of insanity was pretty much nonexistent so him pleading not guilty today by some a bit of an edge that when he's at the sentencing phase of the trial his lawyers can argue that he had the trial his lawyers can argue that he had remorse, he had contrition, he went out and pleaded guilty and accepted responsibility for this heinous act. but, yes, absolutely. the thrust of the penalty phase next year will be all the mitigating factors. he was born to a crack cocaine addicted mother, he was adopted, he had all of these mental health issues and all of this tumultuous life and upbringing as a youth, and so, all of that will be laid out for thejurors in the hopes thatjust one, that is all you need, just one, will vote for life and if it is not unanimous, then he will get life in prison and if not, they

agree unanimously, 12—0, then he will be sentenced to death. the son of shah rukh khan, one of bollywood's biggest stars, is appealing to the high courts after his plea for bail was rejected for a second time. the 23—year—old aryan khan was arrested earlier this month by the narcotics control bureau for allegedly doing recreational drugs on a rave cruise ship off the coast of mumbai. he's been charged under laws "related to possession, consumption and sale of illegal substances" — which he denies. for now, he remains injudicialjail. on wednesday, we had a report on the volcano that's been erupting on the island of la palma, in the canary islands. at the end of that piece we heard about an ongoing mission to feed three dogs who had been stranded by the lava, using drones. well, a rescue mission was planned, but now the canines are nowhere

to be seen. danjohnson has been following the story, and has the latest. all life has been caught in this eruption and these three got left behind, trapped by lava. they have been fed by a drone and are now looking to the skies for rescue. and here it is — the flying retriever, a snare from the air coming to lure the pups in and lift them up, up and away. very, very, very good. we are positive. we are motivated and we are going to try, we're going try, ok? this sort of rescue mission can only be considered because of the fact human life has been so successfully protected here so far, but that doesn't mean that this eruption is without any risk. so, scientific teams are busy monitoring every aspect of the volcano, its lava and its gases,

the silent, unseen, airborne threat. anna is here from manchester. i am starting my second year of my phd, so i never imagined i would be able to come here and see a live volcano. so, it's incredible experience for me. really bad for people, of course. i'm really sad about all the loss, but for me, an amazing experience. pulling off this daring dog rescue is not easy and the canine airlift is currently on pause because they can't actually find them. i think we can do it, we can do it, ok? but like so many people here, this team is dedicated and determined. danjohnson, bbc news, la palma. and before we go, we leave you with a sculpture shushing the city that never sleeps.

the soft colussus, that's just under 25 metres titled "a water's soul", depicts a woman holding her fingers to her lips. that's all that we have for this are of newsday, thank you forjoining hello. thursday is going to feel chilly — especially when we contrast it with the temperatures we had at the start of the week, when we were getting daytime highs in the high teens, even the low 20s. and it will feel all the more cold because we'll pick up a keen northerly wind. the cold air plunging in behind this weather front, sinking south overnight. ahead of it, some heavy rain which will pull off into the continent. and then, through thursday daytime, we open the floodgates for cold air to sweep all the way south through the uk. we'll start the day with some cloud and rain to the south, the weather front pulling away, making way for lots of sunshine come the afternoon — but there will be some showers to the northwest, and they will be wintry across the hills and mountains of scotland. the wind a notable feature, gales possible

down the north sea coast. these are the temperatures that you'd see on the thermometer — but, factor in the wind, those temperatures along the north sea coast will feel more like 11—5 celsius. we continue with showers streaming into the north and west as we move overnight thursday and into friday. quite a chilly night, as well — in sheltered eastern spots, there could be a patchy frost with sitting in quite cold air, but the strength of the wind will protect many from actually seeing bits of frost. through thursday daytime — sorry, friday daytime, though, the winds will start to ease back a little as a ridge of high pressure builds in from the atlantic. still some showersjust managing to sneak into the top of that ridge, a bit of cloud under it, as well — perhaps not the faultless blue skies of thursday, but it should just feel a little bit milder because the wind won't be quite as cutting. but, for things to really become milder, we need to get to the weekend, and it's all about the change in wind direction. as we say goodbye to this ridge of high pressure,

it pushes away to the east and we start to pick up a south—westerly. for saturday, i think, actually, a lot of fine weather across the uk. there'll be some cloud closing in to the west, and we will see some rain for northern ireland by the end of the day. but the temperatures lifting up, we should hit the mid—teens, but it will feel so much warmer because we're moving back into a more atlantic airstream. sunday, greater chance of some showers just about anywhere across the uk — sheltered eastern areas favoured for the driest and brightest weather. temperatures possibly up to 15—16 to the south.