pallab ghosh, bbc news.ome secretary priti patel has denied claims made by the former downing street adviser dominic cummings that the government pursued a strategy of herd immunity during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. in a series of tweets last night, mr cummings described the government's handling of the crisis as a "disaster", and claimed that "lives and money" were needlessly lost. our political correspondent greg dawson told us mr cummings is due to face questions on the issue from mps on wednesday. he of course was the prime minister's chief adviser at that time. now, via a series of tweets, he is giving an indication of what he's going to tell those mps. he is making the claim that the government's official plan was this policy of herd immunity via infection, effectively letting the virus spread throughout the population to boost immunity levels. he says the government only abandoned that idea when it was warned by scientists of the consequences. now mr cummings in his tweets describes

pallab ghosh, bbc news.loved children's book the very hungry caterpillar, has died at the age of 91. first published in 1969, the book has sold more than 50 million copies and been translated into more than 66 languages. carle also wrote the very popular brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?, the grouchy ladybug and the very busy spider. he died at his studio in massachusetts on sunday. in football, the spanish team villarreal have won the europa league after beating manchester united in one of the most extraordinary penalty shoot—out in football history. the match, which was played in the polish city of gdansk, finished 1—1 after extra time. all 20 outfield players converted their penalties in the longest shoot—out in a final of any uefa competition. in an increasingly tense stadium it was then down to the goalkeepers. the villarreal goalkeeper scored with his penalty, and then saved his manchester united counterpart, david de gea's effort. it gave villarreal a first major trophy in their history and saw

pallab ghosh, bbc news. the europa league after beating manchester united in one of the most extraordinary penalty shoot—outs in football history. the match, which was played in the polish city of gdansk, finished 1—1 after extra time. all 20 outfield players converted their penalties in the longest shoot—out in a final of any uefa competition. in an increasingly tense stadium, it was then down to the goalkeepers. the villarreal goalkeeper scored with his penalty, then saved united counterpart david de gea's effort. it gave villarreal a first major trophy in their history and saw former arsenal boss unai emery lift the europa league for a fourth time. the result left man united's fans hugely disappointed. let's hear from some of them. i just think for the best of 120 minutes, we were the better side. we could have scored more, but when it went to penalties, i thought we'd lose sooner than we did because we've not got great penalty takers on the pitch. we didn't offer as much as we should have going forward.

pallab ghosh, bbc news.nwhile, a senior minister has rejected a claim from dominic cummings — who used to be boris johnson's top advisor — that the original government plan was to allow most of the population to develop "herd immunity" to the virus. mr cummings is due to appear before mps this week. here's our political correspondent damian grammaticus. late last year, and out of downing street. dominic cummings had been boris johnson's closest aide. now he is spilling his stories, even if they damage his former boss. the events he wants to highlight? last march, and how the prime minister handled the start of the pandemic. in spain and italy, covid was spreading fast, lockdowns being brought in. in the uk, lockdowns came ten days later. mr cummings says mr johnson's strategy was different, to try for herd immunity, letting people build natural resistance. he tweeted today:. he says it only changed when officials... and he adds:. in march of last year, the government's behavioural scientists did talk about c

pallab ghosh, bbc news.eal have won the europa league after beating manchester united in one of the most extraordinary penalty shoot—outs in football history. the match, which was played in the polish city of gdansk finished one—all, after extra time. all 20 outfield players converted their penalties in the longest shootout in a final of any uefa competition. in an increasingly tense stadium, villarreal goalkeeper geronimo rulli then blasted home his effort and then denied his manchester united counterpart, de gea it gave villarreal a first major trophy in their history and saw former arsenal boss unai emery lift the europa league for an unprecedented fourth time. the result left manchester united's fans hugely disappointed at their failure to win the trophy. here's what some had to say. i just think for the best of 120 minutes, we were the better side. we could have scored more but, i mean, when it went to penalties, i thought we'd lose sooner than we did because we've not got great penalty takers on the pi

pallab ghosh, bbc news. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @benmboulos. hello there.han what we've been used to this month so far. there are some subtle changes overnight. we've got a weak weather front pushing into western areas. that's going to bring the thicker cloud to many, but also outbreaks of rain across the west, initially for northern ireland, and then that rain will spill its way a eastwards through the night across western scotland in towards western england and also western wales. there'll some mistiness and murkiness around, too. but the further east you are, although there will be more cloud around, it should tend to stay dry here. those temperatures no lower than around 8—11 degrees for most, so milder than last night. so, here we go — here's the pressure chart for friday, then. we've got this weak weather front across western areas pushing into high pressure, so that's always going to weaken it. so, it looks like the rain out west will slowly peter out through the course of the day, but could stay rather grey, damp and misty here. further north and ea

here's 0ur science correspondent pallab ghosh.rochdale in greater manchester, people are actively coming forward to receive their vaccinations. the latest research shows that the jabs are effective in reducing the chances of infection from the variant that came from india, and experts think that the vaccines are also stopping serious illness. of the 3,000 or so identified cases of the variant, there have only been 31 hospital admissions and just six deaths. fortunately, we are not seeing much, so this is a good thing but of course it means the data will come through more slowly. we're watching that very carefully, so the data, there's a technical briefing the public can access on the gov.uk website which shows that up to the 19th of may we had only had six deaths. they are obviously very sad for those individuals, but the vast majority of these are people who had not been vaccinated. research shows that the first dose of the pfizer or astrazeneca jab is 33% effective at stopping infection against the variant that came from india,

pallab ghosh, bbc news.h the date for the 2022 ceremony being pushed back by a month, because of delays in releasing films due to the pandemic. this year's ceremony was held at various locations including union station in los angeles. but next year's will be held at its usual location, the dolby theatre in la. organisers also said that films released on streaming services would again qualify for consideration. the event will take place on march 27th. the postponement also avoids potential scheduling clashes with the super bowl and winter olympics, hello there. we saw plenty of sunshine today, and it felt much warmer across the board than what we've been used to this month so far. there are some subtle changes overnight. we've got a weak weather front pushing into western areas. that's going to bring the thicker cloud to many, but also outbreaks of rain across the west, initially for northern ireland, and then that rain will spill its way eastwards through the night across western scotland in towards western

pallab ghosh, bbc news. have appreciated. stargazers around the world 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. we will leave you with those pictures. you are watching bbc news. thanks so much for your company. 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

pallab ghosh, bbc news.le a senior minister has rejected a claim from borisjohnson�*s former senior advisor that the original government plan for coronavirus was to allow most of the population to develop �*herd immunity�* to it... it comes ahead of an appearance by dominic cummings before mps this week. here's our political correspondent damian grammaticus. late last year and out of downing street. dominic cummings had been boris johnson's closest aide. now, he's spilling his stories, even if they damage his former boss. the events he wants to highlight, last march and how the prime minister handled the start of the pandemic. in spain and italy, covid was spreading fast, lockdowns being brought in. in the uk, lockdowns came ten days later. mr cummings said borisjohnson�*s strategy was different, to try for herd immunity, letting people build natural resistance. he tweeted today... "herd immunity wasn't a secret strategy, it was the official strategy." he says, "it only changed when officials understood herd

pallab ghosh, bbc news.nal of the europa league tonight in gdansk in poland.

pallab ghosh, bbc news.pecial 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 h

pallab ghosh, bbc news.secretary priti patel has denied claims made by the former downing street adviser dominic cummings, that the government pursued a strategy of herd immunity during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. in a series of tweets last night mr cummings described the government's handling of the crisis as a "disaster", and claimed that "lives and money" were needlessly lost. this is not the first time we have heard this claim. how has it come about now?— about now? this comes ahead of dominic cummings' _ about now? this comes ahead of dominic cummings' appearance l about now? this comes ahead of- dominic cummings' appearance before mps in parliament on wednesday when he will be asked about the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic when it first began. he of course was the prime minister's chief adviser at that time. via a series of tweets, he is giving an indication of what he's going to tell those mps. he is making the claim that the government's official plan was this pol

pallab ghosh, bbc news. the news on the success of vaccines is good, the government is still being dogged by questions about its handling of the pandemic when it started. did it consider achieving herd immunity by allowing people to catch the virus? 0ur political correspondent greg dawson is here. why is this blowing up now? principally because of dominic cummings, the former chief adviser to the prime minister. he is due to give evidence in parliament next week about the government's early stage handling of the pandemic. via his twitter feed he says the government official plan was herd immunity, in other words to let the virus spread freely throughout the population in order to boost immunity levels. number ten have flatly denied this. this morning the home secretary priti patel said the only plan was to protect lives and save the nhs. before he left downing street, dominic cummings was a man whosejudgment was street, dominic cummings was a man whose judgment was trusted by boris johnson and it looks like

pallab ghosh, bbc news. ireland correspondent emma vardy is in belfast for us. this case really highlights just how much trouble one tweet can get you into. dr christianjessen posted his comments on twitter back in december 2019, alluding to the unfounded rumours that mrs foster was having an affair, and his post got a lot of views. thejudge here at an affair, and his post got a lot of views. the judge here at belfast high court said today it was an outrageous libel that involved trashing the relationship that was most important to mrs foster, and awarded a very substantial sum of damages. there were some aggravating factors in this case, one that dr christian jessen never factors in this case, one that dr christianjessen never apologised christian jessen never apologised but christianjessen never apologised but also the fact that for a long time he ignored the proceedings and later claimed he didn�*t know the case was going ahead, which the judge today said he found to be false and misleading. dr christian

pallab ghosh, bbc news. football, and manchester united have been in action against villareal in the final of the europa league tonight in gdansk in poland. 2000 united fans travelled to the match, despite covid protocols making travel to poland far from straightforward. 0lly foster has been watching the play. manchester united fans are used to european jaunts, but the journey to gdansk has been like no other. covid tests to get in, quarantine on return. i was considering cancelling because i thought there might not be any of this, and no fun or anything. i'm so glad i didn't cancel. tests and everything have cost well over £300, and my ticket was 34 quid and the flight was 189. united subsidised the flight by 200 quid. everyone was tested on the flight. you know, everyone was going to be covid—free, so we were actually- pretty comfortable in the end. though it's not the top prize in europe, united hadn't won a trophy for four years, so even without the challenges to get here, this felt big. standing in thei

pallab ghosh, bbc news. that's it. good night. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are rosa prince, who's the editor of the house — parliament's "in—house" magazine, and george eaton — senior online editor at the new statesman. does before we hear from them, let's burn you up—to—date with the printed pages. they are literally hot off the press. the daily telegraph writes that matt hancock is facing mounting pressure after admitting that he allowed people to be discharged from hospital into care homes without being tested for covid. the metro adds that the health secretary dodged claims that he lied to borisjohnson about care home residents who were sent back from hospital without tests. the guardian reports that he defended himself by claiming it "wasn't possible" to test all care home residents before they were discharged — because the testing capacity was not yet available. the i writes that fears over covid variants could threaten the end of lockdown happening on the

pallab ghosh, bbc news.by eric carle. it�*s the story of a ravenous caterpillar that becomes... ah! he's a beautiful... . . butterfly! eric carle�*s children�*s classic, and more than 40 million copies have been sold. and he pushed his way out! what's he going to be? we sell him every day - of our lives in the book shop. it's the days of the week, - it's the food that everyone knows, it's the interactivity. you want to put your fingers in that hole. i it just works on every single level. it's the perfect children's book. it had begun as a story about a worm, but eric carle, an american graphic designer, was advised to switch species. his friends saw, in the gentle world of his children�*s books, a reaction to the traumas of his own childhood in wartime germany. he went to school, and the school told him that the next day they would bejoining the german army. and he went home, told his parents that. they sensibly locked him in the cellar the next morning. most of his comrades were killed. you can imagine just

here's our science correspondent pallab ghosh.

the largest ever distribution map of dark matter in the universe, as our science correspondent pallab ghosh to see the universe as it really is, filled with a mysterious substance, called dark matter. it can't be seen, but this instrument can detect dark matter by the way it distorts starlight. this is a map of matter in the universe. and that's allowed astronomers to produce this map of how it's spread across the expanse of space. it's an element of, you know, unveiling mystery. something you couldn't see before, and suddenly, it's there, and you think, "wow." so what is dark matter, and where is it in space? well, let's start off with our own sun. it's one of 100 billion stars that make up our galaxy, the milky way, which, in turn, is one of countless others throughout the universe. dark matter permeates space, with galaxies like tiny gems on a tangled cosmic web. the bright areas are where dark matter is most concentrated, and it's here that galaxies form, but the map is not what astronomers expected. the matter should be slightly more clumped together. instead, it's smoother than predic

well we're joined now by our science correspondent, pallab ghosh.g up to 39, you will be offered preferentially, thatis you will be offered preferentially, that is the key word, another vaccine. in other words, that is the key word, another vaccine. in otherwords, pfizer or moderna rather than oxford astrazeneca. if moderna rather than oxford astrazeneca.— moderna rather than oxford astrazeneca. , . , ,, , astrazeneca. if they have supplies of pfizer and _ astrazeneca. if they have supplies of pfizer and moderna, _ astrazeneca. if they have supplies of pfizer and moderna, you - astrazeneca. if they have supplies of pfizer and moderna, you will. astrazeneca. if they have supplies of pfizer and moderna, you will bej of pfizer and moderna, you will be offered that, but what is really important is that astrazeneca vaccine is absolutely safe for the vast majority of people. if people are offered the astrazeneca vaccine, they should accept it because having that vaccine is far safer than running the risk of covid, even though infection rates are falling.