shooting he was involved in on a film set. baldwin fired a prop gun that was supposed to be loaded with blanks, but killed one person and injured another. scientists advising the government say stricter covid measures should be made ready for �*rapid deployment�* — but the prime minister insists plan b for england isn't needed yet. buckingham palace has confrmed that queen elizabeth spent a night in hospital in london earlier this week, after undergoing what are said to be �*preliminary medical checks�*. the european union has accused belarus of recruiting migrants in the middle east and pushing them into europe. eu leaders said they will take further action against minsk over the issue. at ten o'clock we will be here with a full round up of the days news. first, it's time for newscast.

newscasters, we've got an upgrade this week, because adam is on his holidays, so we have got fergus on for thursday. hi, fergus. hi, adam, hi, laura, how are you doing? you said "hi, adam", and he's not here! did i? i'm so used to it. i'm happy with my anonymity even when adam's not here. i think, having seized the reins, it's time for a rebrand. newscast has been around long enough. it is now news cats. thank god, i thought you were going to say we were being axed already. we live with that fear every week. news cats, because if you heard last night with newscast, which i was presenting, the star of the show was a cat and if you're watching the tv version, you can see a lovely picture of him with some focused eyes. my powers of description might leave me here for podcast listeners. i would say it is a substantial, grey looking cat. it is a blue persian, isn't it? anyway, jessie, the owner,

was on the pod, trying to work out why she couldn't getjabs for him with supply issues. plus the fact that the pet explosion of lockdown means that the demand for vets is much higher than it was. but i was thinking, laura, we have you on the pod for all the many reasons of having a political editor on newscast for your expertise and yet i'm talking to you about cats and you are a dog person. i am a dog person. i don't dislike cats, because i don't want people on my back saying that i'm mean, but i am definitely a dog person. you know that. i love dogs. it is a well—known fact. i trust dogs. fergus, where are you on the cat/dog continuum? i love them both. there is a bbc answer! no, i do, but i had a lovely cat who died during the first lockdown and i miss him terribly. what was he called? merlin. rest in peace, merlin. we were thinking about pets

of newscast and animals that might watch or listen to us if we're left on in the background. lindsay hoyle is a big fan of pets, isn't he? he is. i always do my research before coming on the air. he has a turtle called maggie. political themed name. he has a parrot called something. boris. and a terrier called betty named after one of his predecessors as speaker. he has actually, and i will this on the record, as we lay down the gauntlet, he told me he would come on the podcast, on newscast, with boris the parrot. well, there you go. i have said it, so it has to happen. lindsay and boris, you are welcome whenever you want to come. and with that invite, welcome to newscast. newscast. newscast from the bbc. hello, it's chris, seizing adam's seat. and it is laura, next to chris in adam's normal seat.

it is nice, we did this a month ago. it was great. and in $46, new broadcasting house, it's fergus. hi, everyone. and with us, we havejeremy hunt, the chair of the health and social select committee, former health secretary. hi, jeremy. evening. we have plenty to get into on all things covert, ——covid but we can't help you about the big cat/ dog continual dilemma of our high—minded introduction. where do you fall in this weighty debate? you know, i am not going to sit on the fence on this one. - i am an out and out dog person. yes! and i can tell you, we even have a lockdown puppy. . my youngest is seven and i'mjust thinking, why did i wait seven years before getting poppy, she is called, - because she has been an absolute smash hit with the kids, _ although she has managed to tear up two carpets in the living _ room and the bedroom, both fitted carpets. - both put in only 18 months ago.

and still forgiven? always forgiven with a puppy. she's terrific. what kind of puppy? she's a yellow labrador. oh, that is canine aristocracy, you can't do better than that. that is fitting for a former cabinet minister. i know you don't have i advertising on the bbc. andrex. other forms of toilet paper are also available. we turn to our political editor for analysis and we get it on the full range of topics. let's talk about one of the big stories of the last couple of days, covid and the case numbers. fergus, talk us through where we are. all the numbers are going the wrong way, to put it simply. the warning signs are flashing orange. cases were 52,000, the highest for three months, up 18% in a week.

deaths up 10% and hospital admissions up 15%. but i have got to put a bit of context into this because, if you track back to january, the real big peak injanuary, before we had the effect of the vaccines, back then, hospital admissions and deaths absolutely mirrored, they lagged a few weeks but they absolutely mirrored and matched the rise in cases. but now, it's very different. so although we have 50,000 cases per day, the hospital admissions are fewerthan1,000. it's still a lot, but back injanuary, we were getting 4,000 admissions a day. back then, we went into a lockdown and now it feels much more normal out there. and on deaths, the protective effect of the vaccines is even stronger

because although we are running at about an average of maybe 120, 130 deaths per day, which is obviously far too many, nonetheless, back injanuary, it was well over 1,000 deaths a day. so the really extraordinary thing about the vaccines is, nobody predicted that our vaccines would be so protective, giving over 90% protection for the first five months against severe disease. now, we have got the issue which we can do boosters and the rest of it, but the thing to hold on to is, if you have had two doses of vaccine, then you have got a very strong protection against severe covid, although as you get older and if you have underlying conditions, then you do have potential waning immunity, especially on infection. so that is the broad picture.

so things are not as good as they should be and remember, we are going into winter. we haven't had the impact of flu yet, and other viruses. it was cold today, it's getting colder. we know that in winter, we will be huddling indoors. to be where we are now in late october, it's not in a great place for where we may end up in a few months' time. sojeremy, you were listening to all of that. ok, the numbers are going in the wrong direction. but the numbers are still going all in the wrong direction. your committee's report last week warned clearly against government hesitation, government reluctance to bring back restrictions. the political debate has already turned on to whether the government should be much more aggressive, like even bring back a few restrictions to get a handle on this. what is your honest view about how worried people should be and how urgent the situation is becoming? or are you relaxed, as some in the government are,

about getting on with it? well, it is a genuinely difficult decision. - i don't envy sajid| javid on this one. i think the heart of this - is the growth in schoolchildren getting the virus. i'm getting reports from my- children's schools and my friends' children's schools that this is where the real— growth is happening. and to address this, _ we have got to deal with the slow take—up of vaccines amongst 12 to 15—year—olds and _ of the booster jab. there are still around a third. of the people who are eligible for boosterjabs and teenage jabs who haven't taken them up. - and that to me seems to be far more important than the issue of masks i and people inadvertently catching it on the tube or wherever. _ that is where i would be focusing my efforts. - jeremy, what about when we look at the rest of the uk and england is the outlier? elsewhere in the uk, the nations have kept various

mitigating measures. england hasn't. now, yes, there are those who point to wales, where they have mitigating issues and they also have an issue with a climbing number of cases. but what is the downside of having those if they are not massively restricting our liberty, for example with face coverings? there is no big downside _ and we should follow the injunction that if you are in a crowded place, you should wear a mask. - it is not an injunction if the government says it is up to you. well, the government- is advising people to do that. sajid javid is advising people to do that. i and i think mps should also be doing that. - i was about to say, you and your pals on the tory benches, i don't know what you were doing personally, but day after day this week, mps have been packed into the house of commons, all sitting there, mask—free. they are not mandated to do so, but if they are meant to be setting an example, they haven't been, have they?

well, theresa may and i have been among the two who have been - regularly wearing masks. maybe that's why i. didn't become leader. too much of a minorityl on public health issues. but i do think we should be setting | an example and that is why i think| sajid javid was right to say that. i did notice today after he said that that the front bench - were wearing masks, and i think that is going to— change going forward. let's bring in another voice into our conversation because we can broaden out from just the picture here in wales and elsewhere in the uk, with dr maria van kerkhove, the world health organization's technical lead for covid—19. hello. hello! thanks forjoining us. i know you are going to talk to us about the whole issue, the huge global issue around the sharing of vaccines and getting vaccines to countries that are in desperate need for them. but i wonder if you have any

reflections on the conversation you have been listening to around appropriate mitigation measures around, for instance, face coverings, when a country like england is seeing a spike in cases? well, i do, actually. reflecting on the conversation, i was eavesdropping on the conversation you were just having, i don't quite see why we wouldn't continue to recommend the use of masks, especially when we know they work, the use of distance, ventilation, hand hygiene and disinfection and avoiding crowds when we know that these are proven effective measures to save lives. at the same time as increasing vaccination, absolutely. this is a challenge worldwide but even in countries that have high coverage levels, these are frankly simple measures that could be used. when you are in the exponential growth, you are in it. that sounds obvious, but you are already in the mad rush of it. you want to prevent that from happening.

i realise that is massively challenging given that we are 21 months into a global pandemic, but these are simple measures that can be used and they work. so our recommendation is to continue to wear a mask, continue to distance, avoid crowded spaces while we get vaccination coverage up. maria, on the point of getting vaccination coverage up, - you have heard us talking about jabs for 12 to 15—year—olds and booster i jabs in the uk to more i than 30 million people. now, you're hearing that - and in some parts of the world in the lowest income countries, it is about two in 100 people, . 2% of populations who have had even a single dose of vaccine. _ should countries like the uk be boosting and vaccinating 12 - to 15—year—olds when there is so much vaccine - inequity globally? i think you have answered that

question just as you have asked it. we have massive amounts of vaccine inequity. we have people around the world who are dying because they have not received their first and second dose, people who are over the age of 60, people who have underlying conditions are front—line workers around the world. this is a no—brainer. we are in effect allowing this to happen, because we know that vaccines save lives. vaccines, including against the delta variant, are incredibly effective at saving lives, but they have to reach those people who are most in need. our advice on boosters is very clear. we have called for a moratorium on boosters until at least the end of the year so that the first and second dose can be in the arms of the people who need it in every single country, as opposed to starting to boost starting to add vaccine to people who are already protected. of course, that is not covering people who are immunocompromised.

there are people who need that third dose, but... globally, this is a global pandemic and we need global solutions. we cannot only protect one population. this isn't a criticism of any one country. i know my words could potentially be used against one particular country, but this is a global pandemic and the fact that we are seeing variants, we are seeing widespread circulation and far too many hot spots around the world, variants of the virus evolving. we have the potential for the virus to evade the vaccines that are so effective. so why would we give people more doses who are already well protected when we haven't protected those who are most at risk in much of the world? what would you say, though, to some of our listeners and viewers and indeed some of our politicians in the uk who will think,

actually, in brass tacks, protecting the health of your own population comes first? what would you say to them in that situation? in the uk, think what we've already committed to — 100 million vaccines going to the developed world. the uk's contributed significantly to the covax programme, but ultimately, actually, the health of the domestic population is the priority? i understand where they're coming from. i understand wanting to protect your population, but in the global connected world that we live in and in the fact that people are moving around, the amount of increasing social mobility and social mixing around the world is massive. over the summer months in the northern hemisphere, the virus moves in people and the virus will continue to evolve. so if you only protect your population, it's a false sense of security because the virus will continue to evolve. but we also have to recognise that the decisions to continue to add doses to those in your own population have an impact on supply. they have an impact on production. and by implication, do you think actually that could end up prolonging the pandemic in a way?

and how long does the world health organization now expect this to last? well, it is certainly prolonging the pandemic. i don't think there should be any ambiguity in my answer in that. if we are boosting some in some countries and not allowing the vaccine to reach those who need it most, their first and second dose, it's prolonging the pandemic. this pandemic will last as long as we allow it to. and, you know, we're thinking into 2022, at least till the end of 2022. and then we have to see what happens as the pandemic evolves. we're still very much in the middle of this. i know people are ready to be over with it, but we can't will it to be over. you actually have to take the measures and it's vaccination and these additional measures. just to be really clear, and i know you're short of time, butjust to be really, really clear, the decisions of politicians like borisjohnson and others in countries to continue to up the vaccine uptake in their domestic populations,

that's going to make this thing last longer for everyone, everywhere? it will, unfortunately, and so what we need is, and we're very grateful for the donations from the uk, we're very grateful for donations of vaccines, donations of funds and a commitment towards vaccine equity. thank you, dr maria. we really appreciate you coming on the programme. thank you so much for having me. thank you. so interesting. it really is, isn't it? and jeremy hunt, you were listening to that. it's quite stark, isn't it, what dr maria von kerkhove saying there, that a consequence of an understandable domestic desire to crack on with a booster program, the kind of opportunity cost of that is vaccines not going overseas, but crucially, not only do people potentially miss out on a vaccine, but you allow maybe new variants to develop and the whole thing, the whole pandemic

to last even longer. well, she made a very powerful argument, but i think it's also l important to remember. what is actually happening on the nhs front line today. and they are incredibly worried about the risel in the number of daily cases. it is not the case that that is not feeding through into increased l hospital admissions. and you have a system that is under the most extraordinary pressure, i to the extent that doctorsl are talking about burnout, they're leaving. they're going part—time. and it's a really, - really serious situation. so i think, in that context, the government has got. a responsibility to do everything it can to suppress _ the growth of the virus. and i think the uk has given nine million doses so far, or certainly end of august, and has pledged 100 million. i mean, it's a bit of a drop in the ocean, really, when you think of the global population of eight billion. yes, i think that's the issue, there is a gap and the uk.

has actually done more than many countries. . and then, when you lookj at the contribution of our scientists in developing i the astrazeneca vaccine, the treatments like dexamethasone, i mean, we've made a phenomenal. contribution. some people in america have saidl that there's no country that's made more contribution globally than the uk to fighting - the pandemic. but take what we do, - take what america is doing, take what the eu is doing, . take what countries like japan and australia are doing, put them all together. i do they add up to a plan that is going to crack- this problem in africa, in india, in a very, - very vulnerable part of the world? i'm afraid they don't. i and i do think that is a big, big i part of the jigsaw that's missing. and, you know, when we think about the nhs, - yes, that is worrying. but we need a global solution because, in the end, - it'll come back and bite us here. jeremy, returning to the picture domestically, i guess the big question that everyone�*s asking right now is how worried or whether we should be worried about what might lie ahead.

and no one can be certain what's around the corner. but you've done very big jobs in the health arena at westminster — your current one, your previous one as health secretary. where do you anticipate this is going and how much should we prepare for in england and elsewhere around the uk if the governments there decide to, where we end up kind of going backwards restrictions—wise and loads more liberties are taken off us again? well, i'll look into my crystal| ball, chris, on one condition, that you never hold me accountable for what i'm about to say, - and you don't invite me back in a month's time and say, l "this is what you said". we won't play you the clip. as long as the bbc promises never to blame me. - this is what i feel at the moment. but these things do change. i think that we are not going to go back into another lockdown. - i'm not sure that actually, people would accept another lockdown, i even if the government wanted it. but i don't see at the moment anyi sign of the exponential growth that

caused us such worry a year ago. |what i am really worried about is, j sort of, take the worst nhs winter - crisis that i had to deal with, - which was 2017—18, when we had a big flu outbreak as well. | i think we could see something far worse than the worst winter crisis. and we could see on top of that big interruptions in regular nhs - treatment for cancer care, for people who need hipsl and knees replaced as well. and that would be very, very bad for all of us. i butjeremy, just quickly, i mean, you've just done a really big piece of work and basically said that the government was too slow. do you have a kind of haunting feeling that they mightjust be too slow to act again, even if all it is is bringing back masks or even if all it is is really trying to put the foot down on the booster program? are you haunted by that?

i am worried about. where we're at now. i thought that sajid javid's tone at the press conference - yesterday was right. and i think the big lesson is, - act early and then you don't end up having to do so much as if you leave it too late _ we were too late - on the first lockdown. so right now, i do think we need |to be thinking what can be done| right now to increase capacityj in the nhs, because we know there's going to be a lot more demand for beds, | ease pressure on a&es. but i think top of my list would be actually the teenage _ vaccine programme, then- the booster vaccine programme. those seem to be the areas that really need turbocharging. - jeremy, thank you so much for coming on the podcast, we appreciate it. pleasure. what was so interesting about this, fergus, jeremy mentioned there was a real significant change in tone, i thought, from the health secretary yesterday. you know, for months, whenever ministers have been asked about this publicly and pretty much privately as well, saying, "no, it's fine, vaccine

programme's amazing. of course, it's going to be bumpy. we've got to be careful. but it's kind of ok". yesterday, sajid javid was standing up saying, "by the way, guys, you need to start taking care again". yeah. and you need to think about meeting outdoors. you need to think about wearing masks outside, in crowded places. but the trouble is, the tone does come from the top often. and if you see row upon row of government benches with people crammed together in the commons and they're not wearing masks, i wonder what message that sends. certainly when i'm travelling on the train and the tube, i'm in the minority now wearing a mask. and jeremy hunt was saying about his priority being getting those booster doses and doses in the 12 to 15—year—olds. the number one thing for me would be to persuade the five million adults who haven't had a single jab, you know, especially those over

the age of 60 who for one reason or another have not had a vaccine, because if you look at the figures, something like 94%, 95% of the over—805 have had bothjabs. so you're talking about 6% haven't had that. but they make up two thirds of that age group who are in hospital with covid. so, you know, it's extraordinarily disproportionate. if you haven't been immunised, your risks if you get covid of getting severely ill. so somehow, it's persuading people who are unvaccinated to have their jab. and don't forget the biggest measure of all, which is to encourage working from home, which we know has a very big impact, has an economic impact as well. but that is another lever that can be pulled. and they're not pulling it yet.

but of course, if you do work at home, then lucky you, because you've got the chance to spend more time with your pets and more time to get your pets to listen to the podcast or to watch newscast on the tv. and let's end the programme where we began and remind our lovely newscasters, please do send us pictures of your pets listening to the podcast or watching the programme. and i can't quite believe that those words have actuallyjust come out of my mouth. our email address is newscast@bbc.co.uk. pictures of fido are very, very welcome. i think that's sorted out next thursday's programme, hasn't it? that's the first 25 minutes of the pod sorted in a week's time. fergus, great to have you on. that's a hat trick of newscasts. i know, you wait weeks for one to come along like buses. and then three come along at once. there we are. thank you for watching and listening. we'll talk to you soon. bye bye. pet pic promo! newscast. newscast from the bbc.

good evening. the weather has thrown a little bit of everything at us this week, some wet weather, some squally winds, some mild conditions, some chilly conditions. today has been one of the quieter days of the week, with sunshine in some places, but a lot of cloud in others. and that cloud, as you can see from the earlier satellite and radar picture, has been producing some showers. and we will keep a lot of cloud as we head through this evening and tonight. it could turn a bit misty and murky over hills in the west and more generally down towards the south. still some spots of rain and drizzle. where we have clear skies for any length of time, particularly in north east scotland, temperatures will drop away, maybe all the way down to —2 celsius with a touch of frost. but despite a chilly start to saturday for some,

the weekend generally speaking will be mild and quite windy, with some rain at times courtesy of this frontal system moving its way quite slowly in from the west. it will be making slow progress. it's running up against this area of high pressure, and that will keep things largely dry across the bulk of england and wales. a few spots of drizzle in the west, quite a lot of cloud around. the best of any sunshine in the east. southern and eastern parts of scotland will see some sunny spells as well, but for northern ireland and western scotland, slowly but surely this rain will creep its way in. some of that rain will be heavy, accompanied by strong southerly winds. now, those are the average wind speeds. we could see gusts in western scotland of 50 mph or more. but because the winds are coming up from the south, it is going to feel a bit milder, 12—14 degrees. we move through saturday night, our weather front staggering a little further eastwards, rain through northern ireland into western scotland. eventually some of that rain will get down into england and wales overnight and into the first part of sunday. what we will also see on sunday is some even milder air being scooped up from the south. notice the orange colours here on the chart. so, certainly a mild—feeling

day on sunday. quite a lot of cloud around and some showers, some of which will be heavy, possibly thundery in the west. some sunny spells as well, but confirmation of another windy day and another pretty mild one. temperatures in parts of north east scotland could get to 15—16 degrees. similar values further south through northern ireland and parts of england and wales. we look ahead to next week, it stays relatively mild. there will be some outbreaks of rain at times. some of that rain heavy and persistent, particularly up towards the north and the west.

from home could be crucial. if we try to rely simply and solely on the vaccine programme to bring things under control this winter, we stand a really high risk of getting into serious trouble. but borisjohnson says high infection rates were predicted, and there's no need for more restrictions. the numbers we are seeing at the moment are fully in line with what we expected in the autumn and winter plan. what we want people to do is to come forward and get theirjabs. he says all covid measures are under constant review. also tonight...

the actor alec baldwin says he's shocked and saddened