and thoroughly wash their hands. also on the programme... police question the hollywood actor alec baldwin after a woman dies and a man is injured when he fires a prop gun on the set of his new film. the queen is resting at windsor castle after her overnight stay in hospital on wednesday for medical tests. and a special report on the schools still struggling to help pupils catch up after the disruption of covid. and coming up on the bbc news channel... heartache for ireland's cricketers — knocked out of the t20 world cup before the super 12s stage — by the lowest ranked side in the tournament. good evening, and welcome to the bbc news at six. scientists advising the uk government say plans for the reintroduction of stricter coronavirus measures should be ready for "rapid deployment". they say early intervention, like asking more people to work from home, could have the greatest impact on preventing viral spread and reducing the need for more stringent and longer—lasting measures. new figures from the office for national statistics, suggest that 1.1 million people were infected across the uk last week, the highest number since january. currently there are more than 1,000 hospital admissions a day. borisjohnson says the situation is under constant review, but there are no plans to implement tighter rules, and he's recommending those who are eligible to get their boosterjabs. with more, here's our health editor, hugh pym. winter is approaching, the virus is spreading. calls from experts for more widespread mask—wearing in england, more working from home and vaccine passports are growing, what the government has branded plan b. but borisjohnson said today he wasn't yet ready to activate the plan. we keep all measures under constant review. we'll do whatever we have to do to protect the public, but the numbers that we're seeing at the moment are fully in line with what we expected in the autumn and winter plan. and what we want people to do is to come forward and get their jabs. but cases in major european countries like italy are much lower than in the uk, and members of the expert sage committee, according to papers released today, note they have tougher restrictions, including proof of vaccine and testing status. sage says early intervention may reduce the need for tougher measures in future. one member of a government advisory committee, not sage, says plan b or something similar is needed very soon. 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. so something's got to be done to communicate with the public and encourage them and, if necessary, i guess, i suppose requires them to do some of these things if we're going to stop getting into a really bad mess again. the latest infection survey by the office for national statistics shows that last week in england, one in 55 people had the virus. that was an increase. in wales at one in a5, and northern ireland at one in 130, the trend was said to be uncertain. in scotland, one in 90 had the virus. that was down on the previous week. this map shows in more detail varying infection rates around the uk. the lighter colours show the lowest rates, the darkest colours the highest, including north west england and parts of south wales. covid case increases have been largely driven so far by infections among schoolchildren, though vaccinations of under—16s have only been under way for a month. data for england last week from the 0ns reveals that the sharpest rises in case rates were among children, but there were slight increases recorded, as well, amongst some older age groups. vaccines boost our immunity and l protect us from dangerous viruses. a new government campaign has been launched urging people of all ages who haven't had a jan to get one and those eligible to get a booster. and that's been thrown into sharper focus by the latest hospital admission figures, up nearly 20% week on week. sage experts say it's unlikely they'll go higher than the peak injanuary, but planning for possible new measures should begin now. hugh pym, bbc news. let's take a look at the latest figures now on coronavirus, which show that there were 49,298 new infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. that means on average in the past week there were 47,415 cases per day. the number of people in hospital with covid has increased to 8,238. there were 180 more deaths recorded — that's people who have died within 28 days of a positive test. that takes the average number of deaths over the past seven days to 135. 0n vaccinations, 86.3% of people aged 12 and over have now received a first dose. and just over 79% have had two doses of the vaccine. 0ur health editor hugh pym joins us now. the debate over plan b has gone up a gear today — are the government advisers saying now is the time to implement it? they are saying they have reached that point, start implementing the measures? ., , , measures? live, not quite, but these exert measures? live, not quite, but these expert members _ measures? live, not quite, but these expert members of— measures? live, not quite, but these expert members of the _ measures? live, not quite, but these expert members of the sage - measures? live, not quite, but these i expert members of the sage committee are saying _ expert members of the sage committee are saying serious measures need to take place _ are saying serious measures need to take place in case plan b needs to be cemented very soon —— clive. it is up _ be cemented very soon —— clive. it is up to— be cemented very soon —— clive. it is up to ministers to decide, if cases— is up to ministers to decide, if cases are _ is up to ministers to decide, if cases are going to come down significantly, you do need to intervene now, but it is really up to the _ intervene now, but it is really up to the government. of course in scotland. — to the government. of course in scotland, wales and northern ireland there are _ scotland, wales and northern ireland there are already restrictions like compulsory mask wearing in certain settings, _ compulsory mask wearing in certain settings, and experts do say in other— settings, and experts do say in other european countries with much lower_ other european countries with much lower rates— other european countries with much lower rates of infection, compared to england, they do have some of these _ to england, they do have some of these restrictions as well, so some pretty— these restrictions as well, so some pretty strong hints there, but the prime _ pretty strong hints there, but the prime minister has made clear they are sticking to the policy of rolling _ are sticking to the policy of rolling out vaccinations, and i think— rolling out vaccinations, and i think case _ rolling out vaccinations, and i think case rates in the next few weeks — think case rates in the next few weeks wiii— think case rates in the next few weeks will be watched very closely. many— weeks will be watched very closely. many thanks, hugh pym. the hollywood actor alec baldwin says there are no words to convey his shock and sadness after he shot two people with a gun being used as a prop on the set of his new film. halyna hutchins, who was the film's director of photography, died, and the director, joel souza, was injured. detectives have questioned mr baldwin, but say no one has been arrested. sophie long has more from los angeles. halyna hutchins described herself as a restless dreamer and adrenaline junkie. the 42—year—old was considered by her peers to be an exceptionally talented cinematographer. i exceptionally talented cinematographer. exceptionally talented cinemato . ra - her. ., ., cinematographer. i met her at a film festival and — cinematographer. i met her at a film festival and within _ cinematographer. i met her at a film festival and within just _ cinematographer. i met her at a film festival and within just a _ cinematographer. i met her at a film festival and within just a few - festival and within just a few moments of talking to her i felt she had such— moments of talking to her i felt she had such a — moments of talking to her i felt she had such a strong vibe, such a sense of a commitment to art, and sort of the integrity— of a commitment to art, and sort of the integrity of wanting to make cinema. — the integrity of wanting to make cinema, that i wanted to work with her. ,, . , cinema, that i wanted to work with her. ,, ., , ., cinema, that i wanted to work with her, ,, ., , ., , cinema, that i wanted to work with her. ,, ., , ., ., ., her. she was on set at the bonanza creek ranch _ her. she was on set at the bonanza creek ranch in _ her. she was on set at the bonanza creek ranch in new _ her. she was on set at the bonanza creek ranch in new mexico - her. she was on set at the bonanza creek ranch in new mexico when i her. she was on set at the bonanza i creek ranch in new mexico when the shootings and debts depicted on the 19th century western they were filming became all too real. —— deaths. police said that alec baldwin, the star of the movie movie rust discharged a gun using blanks. she died on the way to hospital from her injuries. directorjoel souza was also seriously hurt. in a statement, alec baldwin said... there are no words the incident has rocked hollywood, with many of those in the film will destroy now morning one of the rising stars and infuriated this could happen on set. it comes just days after a nationwide strike was averted after a tentative deal between producers and site workers that included an upgrading of safety standards. this is not the first time someone has been fatally shot during filming. nearly 20 years ago, brandon lee died after being shot by a prop gun on the set of the crawl. now people are demanding to know how it could have happened again —— the crow. it could have happened again -- the crow. ~ , ., ., it could have happened again -- the crow. ~ y., ., , ., it could have happened again -- the crow. ~ ., ~ crow. when you do shoot a blank you can be injured- _ crow. when you do shoot a blank you can be injured. often _ crow. when you do shoot a blank you can be injured. often what _ crow. when you do shoot a blank you can be injured. often what comes - crow. when you do shoot a blank youj can be injured. often what comes out can be injured. often what comes out of the muzzle when you discharge the weapon with blank ammunition, sometimes a cotton ward, and that coming out at a very high velocity to an individual close by can cause significant damage, and in some cases can cause death. than cases can cause death. an investigation _ cases can cause death. an investigation into what happened here is still in its early stages. what we do know is that something went terribly, tragically wrong. sophie long, bbc news, hollywood. the queen is said to be in good spirits as she continues to rest at windsor castle, following her overnight stay in hospital on wednesday for medical tests. it's thought she'll continue to carry out light duties. aged 95, she missed a two—day trip to northern ireland this week on medical grounds. 0ur royal correspondent nick witchell has the very latest. windsor, wednesday afternoon. a convoy of royal vehicles moving under police escort in the direction of london. was this the convoy taking the queen to hospital? at around the same time, at windsor castle itself, a very small royal standard was said to be flying, its presence giving weight to the palace's claim that the queen was resting at the castle. but that was not the case. in fact, the queen was here, at the private king edward vii hospital in central london. the palace clearly hoped her visit would go unnoticed. it did, until last night when the sun led with the story that she'd spent the night in hospital. the palace was forced to issue the statement. buckingham palace insists that, like any citizen, the queen is entitled to privacy of medical issues. the palace will therefore say nothing about the nature of the investigations ordered by her doctors. i think this is a matter of concern rather than alarm. had this been a procedure or an operation, then they would have put out a medical bulletin, but this trip to hospital is sort of somewhere in between, so i think the initial intention of being just to do this covertly, but it came out in the open, and now we all know about it. less than 24 hours before the queen's hospital visit, she was hosting a reception for global business leaders at windsor castle. she appeared to be relaxed and on good form, but the inescapable reality is her age — she's 95. the queen's advisors have a difficult balancing act at several levels. first of all, they must balance the queen's instinctive wish to do as much as possible against the realities of her age. and they must also balance the concerns of millions of people for her well—being against her wish that medical matters should remain as private as possible. for now, we have to rely on what the palace says, which is that the queen has resumed the relentless and unseen work which goes with her role. she is, the palace says, continuing with light duties and remains determined to attend the cop26 summit in glasgow at the end of this month. nicholas witchell, bbc news, buckingham palace. england's care watchdog is warning that many people will be left without the help they need this winter unless staff shortages are addressed. the care quality commission says exhausted care workers are leaving for otherjobs. the government has announced extra money to help address the problem, which the regulator says is also having serious knock—on effects on nhs services. 0ur social affairs editor, alison holt, reports from one hospital feeling the impact of the problems in the care sector. another new arrival at northampton general hospital, one of more than 400 people who emergency services will see during the day, a number that keeps rising. and according to the regulator, one of the signs of the huge pressure on the health and care system. it's five in the afternoon, and accident and emergency has been packed all day. they're also seeing an increase in the number of people arriving with covid. 0n the wards, when one patient moves out, there's just enough time to clean the bed before a phone call confirms the next is on the way. yeah, then i'll work on a room for... many are elderly, and with more community support might not have ended up here. 0n the assessment area, extremely busy. we are faced with the pressures of really not having many beds at the moment. if a patient has a decision to admit, we will allocate that patient here, and then as soon as the bed is empty, the bed is full. but in this 690—bed hospital, there are 116 people who have been here for more than three weeks — many stuck because a shortage of care staff means home—care companies and care homes can't take them. there's always that tipping point — when a patient is medically fit, they need to be able to go home, because while they're with us, after that time, they're surrounded by very poorly people. i mean, obviously, we are under a lot of pressure today with multiple ambulances queueing up out the front door... for the hospital's boss and the chief executive of the council which has to find and pay for a lot of social care, the problem is acute, with both searching for marginal gains that might get people home more quickly. maybe some of the voluntary sector might be able to help us, or the fire service we've been talking to... we've seen, sincejuly, probably about 2500 hours' less care provided, you know, each week, and that's 150 people who may not be getting some help in the homes, which we really want to be able to do. we are keeping patients safe, we do do that at all times. but do we always manage to give everybody the experience that they want and deserve and need? i would say that's a real challenge at the moment. i need...help. i need help — we both do. and this is the reality for families of not having enough care staff. melvin has a rare brain condition, and for most of the time since the nhs sent him home injune, his wife dorothy has coped alone. i'm on my knees — i'm on my knees with exhaustion. we're left here with nobody, there is no care package, no accessibility to services. we feel completely and utterly isolated — and scared. the government says, to ease these pressures, it's putting £162 million into recruiting and keeping more care staff. alison holt, bbc news. our top story this evening: scientists warn the government — be ready to act fast and early to stop another covid surge. football's expanding carbon footprint, but how can the game help tackle climate change? coming up in sportsday on the bbc news channel, scotland's women kick off a big weekend or the home nations as they try to qualify for the 2023 football world cup. there's renewed pressure from education unions and charities for the government to put money behind a longer term plan to help schools in england recover from the pandemic. earlier this year, the ggovernment�*s education recovery commissioner, sir kevan collins, resigned in protest, saying the £3.1 billion pounds earmarked was inadequate. today, the department for education promised it will spend millions of pounds on more devices for disadvantaged pupils. here's our education editor, branwen jeffreys. this was once a coal town. but ashington's pit closed in the 1980s. the rail line had already gone. it's been hard to build hope around education, and the pandemic has set back children in the north east even further. years, i think we're talking years. we're not talking about covid catch—up that will happen in the autumn term. good morning! are you all right this morning? schools are an anchor for the families supporting parents who see the effect on children. they seem to be more irritable in the classroom. like, theirtempers seem to be more high and they're not engaging properly. and they're not even working nicely as a group anymore. in the youngest pupils, speaking and language have suffered in isolation. they want to feed children a rich diet of education. but parents isolated in the pandemic have struggled, so teachers are having to help toilet—train pupils. we have some children who are still in nappies, are still in pull—ups, not just in our early—years setting, in our key stage 1 setting as well, and that's highly unusual. i have five units, i am adding two more. how many have i got altogether, harley? in maths, primary pupils in the north east fell behind by more than five months last year. government cash has paid for some tutoring here and help with the transition to secondary. excellent, so the power is? two... and the variable is? perfect, well done. | many year sevens came to summer schools — part of a huge effort already by schools to help get children back on track with their learning. but the worry is that without a sustained effort over many years, they won't have quite the same chances as the richest bits of the country. the catch—up funding so far has helped with their laptops, and for year 11, the school day has been made longer. with school putting, like, an extra lesson on, half an hour after school, that's helping us catch up. it has definitely had a big impact on our grades, and our marks that we are going to get, because we obviously missed half of year ten. ashington is due to get a rail line, newjobs are on the horizon — but it's the long term recovery of schools that will make its future. branwenjeffreys, bbc news, ashington. the man accused of murdering the mp sir david amess will face trial in march next year. ali harbi ali, who is 25, is also charged with the preparation of terrorist acts. earlier, a two—minute silence was held in leigh—on—sea in essex, close to where sir david was killed at his constituency surgery last friday. a 24—year—old man has been arrested by detectives investigating the manchester arena attack. the man was arrested on suspicion of engaging in the preparation of acts of terrorism. 0ur correspondentjudith moritz joins us now. judith, what more do we know about this? ~ ~ ., ., , ., this? well, we know that this man, 24, was arrested _ this? well, we know that this man, 24, was arrested at _ this? well, we know that this man, 24, was arrested at manchester - 24, was arrested at manchester airport earlier today on his way back into the uk, having left the country in april 2017, which is a month before the attack. he is now in custody, and as you say, he is being questioned on suspicion of engaging in preparation for acts of terrorism and helping others to do the same. we know he is from the fallowfield area of manchester, which is the same area of the city as the abedi family, and you may remember there was criticism that the bomber�*s product has been able to leave the country, in defiance of a court order demanding he gives evidence to the public inquiry. there has been speculation as to where he is. i can tell you that the man arrested today is not ismail abedi. greater manchester police say that four years after the attack, they are continuing to pursue lines of investigation relating to it. judith, thank you. judith moritz live in manchester. the green party of england and wales is gathering for its annual conference in birmingham, with a plan for a payment of £320 to every household in the uk to pay for what it describes as "spiralling energy bills". the party's co—leaders say the money would come from a windfall tax on all landlords of private rented properties. here's our political correspondent ione wells. our new co—leaders — carla denyer and adrian ramsay! it's an opportune moment for the greens — a record number of councillors, their sister party in scotland's coalition government, and the uk gearing up to host the un's cop26 climate summit. rising energy bills have all parties talking about the need to move away from relying on fossilfuels, and the party's co—leaders have a proposal to help households with bills that would cost £9 billion. we are calling on the government to extend winter fuel payments with a one—off payment of £320 to every household to get us all through this winter. it's a costed proposal to be funded from a one—off 1% land—value tax on residential landlord properties. but there's still only one green mp on parliament's green benches. 0ften, it's more radical green groups, like extinction rebellion and insulate britain, making headlines — who the new leaders have actively distanced themselves from. why is it that the party has struggled to make similar cut—through? what we've seen in 2015, we got 1.1 million votes, which is more votes than we got in every previous general election added together. but because of our electoral system, we still only got one seat. but now we're really stepped up in terms of professionalism and organisation, we've got that foundation of councillors around the country. the new leaders are adamant they want to be seen as a party, not a pressure group. but with every major party now trumpeting green policies, standing out as a key challenge. ione wells, bbc news, birmingham. it's been a busy week of action in european football this week, including the new europa conference league. and the expansion is set to continue with plans for a bigger champions league announced earlier this year all of which means more flights and more emissions so is the global game doing enough to counter global warming. katie gornall reports. football is a global game, and it's growing all the time. in europe, new tournaments are popping up, existing ones expanding, while big games are being held further and further afield. but at a time when everyone is being urged to help tackle climate change, is football playing its part? dinked in towards robson—kanu, taylor's available, what a turn, what a goal! tottenham's hal robson—kanu scored one of the greatest goals in european championship history. now the wales striker runs a vegan drinks company. he has strong views on where he thinks football is failing. that desire for growth is beginning to spill over into greed. it's an interesting position for them to take, and probably not one which is aligned with fans first, planet first, climate first approach. this season, uefa introduced a new third tier competition — the europa conference league, increasing the number of group games across all three of their club competitions by 20%. and that's not all — in the 24—25 season, the champions league is expanding from 96 group matches to 180. more games means more air travel. we are in this journey, but of course our plan is to increase our commitment. we cannot have only the climate focus in our area, because we also need to link also our impact in the civil society and impact in economical activities. here in london, tottenham hotspur are about to play ns mura in the europa conference league. for this tiny slovenian club, it's a whole new experience. so the small clubs like mura, they can only win, and they can show the world we are here. it's huge for us on a financial scale, but also emotionally for me, it's massive. combating climate change is not a fight that can be fought alone. football's authorities say they'll do more to reduce the expanding carbon footprint but that won't involve playing less. katie gornall, bbc news. the singer—songwriter ed sheeran is to become the latest star to read a cbeebies bedtime story when he makes his debut next week. hello! my name's ed. when i was little, i had a stutter. and that means when i spoke, sometimes the words got a bit stuck on the way out. and it made me feel different, cos, you know, i'd be in school and the teacher would ask a question that i would know the answer to, and i would put my hand in the air, and then when it came to my turn to answer, i couldn't get the words out. and i used to worry that i'd never be able to speak without stuttering. but now i sing and i talk to people all the time... ed sheeran there. ben has the weather details. not quite bedtime for us in the studio, but if you are heading to bed, not too bad, a decent day with sunshine today but areas of cloud, which as you can see from the earliest radar picture, have been producing some showers, and we will keep cloud feeding in from the west through this evening and tonight. the best of any clear skies up towards the north—east of scotland, allowing temperatures to drop down to minus two celsius in some places, so a touch of frost, milder further west. the weekend weather summary looks like this, it will be turning increasingly mild, windy with some rain at times, but not all the time. the rain will come courtesy of this frontal system pushing in from the west, but moving quite slowly, to where you are closest to this area of high pressure across england and wales, tomorrow should be largely dry, some drizzle in the west, murky over the hills, sunny spells in eastern england. eastern scotland should see some sunshine, but rain moving in through the day to northern ireland and western scotland, where it will also be quite windy. gusts of 50 mph or more in the far west of scotland, but those winds coming up from the south, bringing milderair, slightly higher temperatures, 13 or 14 degrees. mild steel into the second half of the weekend, orange colours being scooped up from the south, so higher temperatures on sunday. some showers in the west, some heavy and thundery, but sunshine here and there, a windy day, but a mild day too with highs of 14 or 15. that's it, so goodbye from me. now on bbc one, let'sjoin our news teams where you are. hello and i'm lizzie greenwood—hughes, welcome to the weekend and welcome to sportsday — here's what's coming up. heartache for ireland's cricketers — knocked out of the t20 world cup before the super 12's stage. england begin their super 12's campaign tomorrow — hoping to become the first team in history to hold both limited overs world titles. and its world cup qualifying time for the women's national football sides tonight scotland and wales are in action. lots to come then, but let's start at the t20 world cup where it's been a disappointing day for ireland. they've failed to reach the super 12's — the main draw in the tournament — beaten to it by namibia, the lowest ranked side there — who pulled—off a shock 8 wicket win in sharjah to go through. drew savage was watching the action for us. for the action for us. namibian cricket does not get the action for us. any better than this. through to the get any better than this. through to the super 12 for the first time. a day for ireland to forget. they'd begun well enough — paul stirling and kevin 0'brien had the scoreboard moving nicely, against the side ranked 19th in the world. but things slowed down dramatically for ireland after the powerplay, stirling out for 38.