hello and welcome. 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 met her at a film festival, and within just a few moments of talking to her, i felt like she had such a strong vibe, such a sense of commitment to art, and like the sort of integrity of wanting to make cinema, that i wanted to work with her. she was on set at the bonanza creek ranch in new mexico when the shootings and deaths depicted on the 19th century western they were filming became all too real. police said that alec baldwin, the star and co—producer of the movie rust, discharged a prop gun carrying blanks. halyna hutchins was airlifted to hospital, but she died from her injuries. directorjoel souza was also seriously hurt. in a statement, alec baldwin said... the incident has rocked hollywood, with many of those in the film industry now mourning one of their rising stars and infuriated this could happen on set. and it comes just days after a nationwide strike was averted after a tentative deal between producers and set workers that included an upgrading of safety standards. inaudible nearly 20 years ago, brandon lee died after being shot by a prop gun on the set of the crow. now people are demanding to know how it could have happened again. there are instances when you do shoot a blank that you can be injured. often, what comes out of the muzzle after you've discharged the weapon that has blank ammunition is sometimes a cotton wad, and that coming out at a very high velocity to an individual that's really close by can cause significant damage, and in some cases can cause death. an investigation into what happened here is still in its early stages. what we do know is something went terribly, tragically wrong. sophie long, bbc news, hollywood. she has the very latest from la. well, local media here in los angeles are now reporting thatjust hours before halyna hutchins was shot and killed, six camera crew workers walked off the rust set in new mexico in protest at working conditions. sources say they were complaining about long hours and pay, with one person saying there was a serious lack of safety meetings onset and that corners were being cut. it's also emerged that the cinematographer herself had been advocating for safer working conditions for her team. now, santa fe county sheriff says this is an open and active investigation and that no one has been arrested or charged. i'm joined now by from los angeles by kevin williams, prop department supervisor at the ucla school of theater, film & television. thank you so much for speaking to us. this is a terrible time for anyone in the film industry, but to put this into perspective, it's not unique but it's very unusual. yes. unique but it's very unusual. yes, it definitely _ unique but it's very unusual. yes, it definitely is _ unique but it's very unusual. yes, it definitely is a _ unique but it's very unusual. yes, it definitely is a gut _ unique but it's very unusual. yes, it definitely is a gut punch, - unique but it's very unusual. yes it definitely is a gut punch, and it's rippling across the industry right now. a lot of conversations happening behind the scenes. you know, if you quantify the number of projects on film and tv. where they have fire happening in the number of accidents that are reported, you can see it's relatively minuscule. after the early �*90s incident with brandon lee, i think a lot of measures were put in place and they have been able to maintain a certain level of safety onset. however, i would be remiss in not talking about the working conditions again because crew members are often put under duress to make questionable choices that go against their instincts and professional standards. in the interest of making sure they keep the job they have and will get the next job the job they have and will get the nextjob because they don't want to be somebody difficult to work at with. f . be somebody difficult to work at with. j ., ., . , ., with. they're all freelancers who all defend on _ with. they're all freelancers who all defend on their— with. they're all freelancers who all defend on their reputation, . with. they're all freelancers who l all defend on their reputation, and word of mouth can be very damaging and the industry. let's talk about the specifics of this. we use the term blanks when we talk about filming on a film or television set or the theatre, and it's a bit of a misnomer. that doesn't mean it hasn't got the potential to do real home, potentially life—threatening harm. home, potentially life-threatening harm. , ., , home, potentially life-threatening harm. , ., . ., harm. yes, that is correct, and when i am working — harm. yes, that is correct, and when i am working with _ harm. yes, that is correct, and when i am working with both _ harm. yes, that is correct, and when i am working with both seasoned - i am working with both seasoned professional actors, as well as the young actors, one of the things i make sure to impart on them is any weapon, whether real or fake, make sure to impart on them is any weapon, whether real orfake, has the probability of causing leasehold damage — and — lethal damage. it starts with trending sessions, and on a film set for a feature film such as rust, you may not always have those opportunities to have those rehearsal moments with the performers and the director, and it sounds like maybe some of that stuff... corners were being cut. but it's a very real problem that we need to look at, and it's not a unique her circumstances. you mentioned _ unique her circumstances. you mentioned to _ unique her circumstances. you mentioned to our _ unique her circumstances. you mentioned to our producer ahead of this interview two cases. one in 1984, an actor was playing around with a gun and aimed it at his temple, press the trigger, and fractured his skull. then the brandon lee thing. the interesting thing about brandon lee is it seems to have been something left over from a previous use that had been launched, and then when it was reloaded for this particular bit, that thing effectively created a projectile that went straight through his stomach and killed him. it's really interesting. i don't know all the friends it's behind the brandon lee incident, but there's a few different types of prop guns we use in entertainment. one of which are guns that are specifically manufactured with smaller diameter barrels and cylinders to only accept a blank rounds, so you cannot chamber a live round into a prop gun. there are circumstances again where it's looking more is more that on the set of rust, it might have been a firearm that was missed loaded. . . r' been a firearm that was missed loaded. ., ., ,~' , ., been a firearm that was missed loaded. ., ., ,~' i. ., been a firearm that was missed loaded. ., ., i. ., .,, loaded. can i ask you one last question? _ loaded. can i ask you one last question? i — loaded. can i ask you one last question? i think _ loaded. can i ask you one last question? i think a _ loaded. can i ask you one last question? i think a lot - loaded. can i ask you one last question? i think a lot of- loaded. can i ask you one last i question? i think a lot of people will be asking. in an age when we have such sophisticated affects and the ability to create things that aren't there as if they really were, why do we even still need to be using firearms onset? it’s why do we even still need to be using firearms onset?— why do we even still need to be using firearms onset? it's a good cuestion. using firearms onset? it's a good question- the — using firearms onset? it's a good question. the technology - using firearms onset? it's a good question. the technology is - using firearms onset? it's a good| question. the technology is there and for all intents and purposes, it doesn't take too long. but sometimes i think it's artistic requests based on directors that might be looking for a certain effect on camera. as you get into more period films, i get more complicated to achieve those films. it's hard to say. its case by case, i would argue, but i think for now, prop guns are probably here to stay, and hopefully this will shine a spotlight on working conditions. i this will shine a spotlight on working conditions.- this will shine a spotlight on working conditions. i think we will find out a lot _ working conditions. i think we will find out a lot more _ working conditions. i think we will find out a lot more about - working conditions. i think we will find out a lot more about what - working conditions. i think we will| find out a lot more about what was going on in that set. kevin williams, thank you so much for giving us your valuable expertise. really great to have your insight. thanks for having me. let's get some of the day's other news. the un says its flights to mek�*ele in ethiopia's tigray region have been suspended after one of its planes had to abort its landing, on the same morning as a military air strike was carried out on the city. the ethiopian government said its planes had been targeting a training centre used by tigrayan rebels. the tigray people's liberation front said the city's university had been hit. hospital sources said 11 civilians were injured. european union leaders have given angela merkel a standing ovation at the end of her 107th — and probably last — eu summit. the european council president said a summit without angela was like rome without the vatican or paris without the eiffel tower. the new austrian chancellor said the loss of someone so influential in shaping europe would clearly leave a hole. looks like they even gave her a gift. the us supreme court has agreed to hear a challenge to the near—total abortion ban in texas, but the court deferred a decision on suspending the law while the case is being heard. the challenge has been brought by the biden administration and abortion providers. scientists advising the government here in the uk say plans for the reintroduction of stricter coronavirus measures should be ready for "rapid deployment". new figures suggest that 1.1 million people were infected across the uk last week, the highest number since january, and a figure much higher than other countries in western europe. prime minister borisjohnson says the situation is under constant review, but there are no plans to implement tighter rules. here's our health editor, hugh pym. if the new government campaign in a bigger post to urge people who haven't had a gym to get one. — a jab. there have been growing calls from expert for what's been branded plan b — wider mask wearing and vaccine passports. 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 require 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 45, 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. covid hospital admissions arising 26% week on week. saved experts say it's unlikely to go higher, but possible measures planning should begin now. eu leaders have threatened further action against belarus over its migration policies. the european commission president, ursula von der leyen, accused belarus of state—sponsored people—smuggling for helping migrants into the eu through its neighbouring countries, poland, latvia and lithuania. 0ur correspondent paul adams has been following the journey of one group of migrants. trapped in the forest in poland on the eu's eastern frontier, a group of syrians, exhausted and afraid. "we're absolutely shattered," the voice says. "we've been walking since four in the morning." but how do they get here? two weeks earlier, theirjourney starts with a tearful farewell in northern iraq. an optimistic selfie at the airport in irbil. "we're leaving for belarus," says idris. we went to irbil ourselves. the city is full of travel agents catering for would—be migrants. the first step — a visa. murat isn't doing anything illegal, but he still doesn't want to be identified. if you have passports, i will send it to the belarus tourism companies, and they send us invitations. so, when people come to you, you know they're not going to belarus for a holiday. of course. you know they're going to europe. yeah. by now, idris and his friends have reached the belarusian capital, minsk. the airport is jammed with people making the same journey. the group has been told to go to a hotel and wait for instructions. are you worried about the journey? translation: of course we are. we are crossing the border illegally. we don't know what will happen. we can't trust anyone — not even our smugglers. in may, the president of belarus, alexander lukashenko, threatened to flood the eu with drugs and migrants — revenge, it seems, for eu sanctions. soon, thousands were crossing into lithuania. we went there to see the border. the guards here still catching dozens of migrants every day. lithuania says belarus is actively helping them to cross illegally. in some places, the border is little more than a gap in the forest. we can see some belarusian border guards coming right now. until the crisis began, there was a regular communication between the two sides, but after president lukashenko threatened to allow migrants into the eu, all of that cooperation stopped, and people started to flood across this border. but thousands of migrants are now in detention. this, for some, is where hopes and dreams come to an abrupt end. they can apply for asylum, but most won't get it. poland... after several days of silence, idris and his friends are back in touch, heading further into poland. he couldn't film the moment but says belarusian soldiers loaded 50 migrants into a truck, took them to the border, and showed them the way. out of the forest and into the eu, in cars arranged by smugglers. with the help of belarus and at a cost of $7,000 each, idris and his friends have made it. they'll apply for asylum and see what happens next. paul adams, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come... the queen is resting at windsor castle after the revelation she'd stayed for tests in hospital on wednesday night. a historic moment that many of his victims have waited forfor 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 a plane 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 bbc news. the latest headlines... the hollywood actor alec baldwin says he's heartbroken after he shot and killed a cinematographer with a prop gun on a film set in new mexico. scientists advising the uk government say stricter covid measures should be made ready for �*rapid deployment�*, but the prime minister borisjohnson insists plan b for england isn�*t needed yet. queen elizabeth 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 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 this 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. when the international climate change conference, cop26, begins in a week on sunday in glasgow, rising sea levels will be one of the many issues on the agenda. now a radical scheme in norfolk in eastern england is gaining attention after millions of tonnes of sand were moved to protect two coastal villages and a gas terminal back in 2019. the project seems to have successfully slowed the erosion of the nearby coast. with more, here�*s our science correspondent, rebecca morelle. this might look like fun at the norfolk seaside, but this jetski is doing a vitaljob. equipped with hi—tech kit, it�*s measuring exactly how much sand lies beneath the waves. in 2019, in a radical experiment, millions of tonnes of sand were shifted to bacton, creating a vast dune stretching for four miles. the hope was it would protect this — the bacton gas terminal, at risk of falling into the sea. when the sand was placed two years ago, it raised the beach to here, seven metres up the cliff, and it gently sloped down to the sea. since then, several big storms have hit, and now you have this, a drop carved out by the waves. but the sand that was down here has moved into the shallows, creating a sand bar, and it�*s this that�*s breaking the energy of the waves, protecting the coast. we�*ve had a number of storms, and of course some quite severe ones, so without the sand, the waves would have made it all the way up to the cliffs, they would have caused the erosion of the cliffs and would have threatened the terminal. the sand meant that the waves never even got there. the local community has also been watching the sand closely. by the tide mark on the wall, it was waist height, really. graham french�*s cafe has flooded twice in the last 15 years. we've had storms, but nothing like the size of wave that we used to get, as the beach profile has changed now, and we definitely feel a lot safer now. with climate change leading to more extreme weather and sea level rise, many coastal communities are desperate for solutions. usually, sea defences are concrete, but scientists say we should work with the elements, rather than against them. in a way, making space for water, so allowing natural processes - to come back in places where we can do this, i think that's _ the attitude we need to have, - and that we're not going to be able to keep building sea walls. and defend, defend, defend. this sand hasn�*t come cheap. it cost £20 million — mostly paid for by the gas terminal�*s operators. the natural barrier should last for about 15 years, but what happens after that will be one of many difficult decisions about the future of our coastlines. rebecca morelle, bbc news, bacton. et�*s bring you the live pictures now from la palma in the spanish canary islands. red—hot lava is continuing to flow from the volcano destroying land and buildings in its path towards atlantic ocean. recently three stray dogs were saved. that�*s bbc news. hello. the weather has thrown just about everything at us over the last week or so. heavy rain, squally winds, bit of snow over the high ground in scotland. so what does the weekend have in store? actually, a return to milder conditions, some brisk winds and some rain at times courtesy of this frontal system that you can see pushing in from the west. but it is moving quite slowly, it�*s running up against high pressure. will still be a fair amount of dry weather around through saturday and where skies have been clear a really chilly start across parts of eastern scotland and eastern england. that is where we will see the rest of the sunshine, more cloud further west, odd spot of drizzle and then our weather front bringing persistent rain quite slowly eastward across northern ireland and into western scotland. it�*ll be breezy or windy wherever you are particularly windy in the west of scotland with wind gusts in excess of 50 miles in exposed places. but feeling relatively mild, 12, 13 or 14. as we head through saturday night, there will be a lot of cloud, we�*ll see outbreaks of rain moving very slowly eastward through scotland, hanging on a cross parts of northern ireland and getting into northwest england, parts of wales in the southwest as well but a much milder start to sunday morning. and our frontal system will continue to trudge its way eastwards through the day and really, i think this weather front is going to break up into showers so it won�*t be raining all the time. but we are going to see some even milder weather if anything spreading northwards across the uk. so, this is sunday�*s forecast — we will see a lot of cloud to start off, some outbreaks of rain tending to break up into showers with some developing, too. a brisk wind once again but because that wind is coming from the south, it is going to feel really quite mild with temperatures getting to 14 or 15, maybe 16 in one or two places. but what about the coming week? we are going to see further frontal systems pushing in from the west. a potential warm weather front could become quite slow moving out towards the north and west of the uk. a bit of uncertainty about that, but we can certainly see quite a lot of rain and some northern and western areas. but there is some mild weather to come as well with brisk south—westerly winds. the further south you are, the better chance you have a staying dry at least for a few days. here, temperatures could climb all the way to 18 . hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are benedicte paviot who is the uk correspondent at france 24 and the chair of reporters without borders uk advisory board and joe mayes who is the uk politics reporter at bloomberg. let�*s take a look at tomorrow�*s front pages, starting with... the i reports on the pressure being exerted on the government by its scientific advisory group, to bring in so—called �*plan b�* measures in order to ease covid numbers. a push from rishi sunakfor people to get their boosterjabs is the times�* top story. the ft says the government has recalled a policy aide to her old job running the vaccination programme. the fatal incident on the set of alec baldwin�*s latest film is the mirror�*s top story. it says the actor asked why he had a loaded gun, after he shot and killed halyna hutchins. the telegraph has an interview with foreign secretary liz truss, who says the uk should become less reliant on china. and the mail questions why the queen�*s hospital admission