Hello and welcome to the programme. The richest person on earth has decided that earth itself is not enough. Earlier todayjezz bezos blasted into space, accompanied by both the oldest and youngest ever astronauts. The amazon founder was launched from the texan desert on a rocket developed by his own firm, blue origin. The craft travelled at nearly three times the speed of sound, reaching a height of nearly a hundred kilometres above the planet on a flight that lasted little over ten minutes. The bbc s sophie long begins our coverage. Boarding his 60 foot suborbital rocket. He was not nervous, he said, just excited. This was notjust about realising a lifelong dream, but expanding his ever growing empire beyond the grip of gravity. With him on this first fully autonomous flight, three other civilians. His brother, mark, 18 year old dutch student oliver daemen, and 82 year old trailblazing aviator wally funk. One of mercury 13, a group of women who went through astral testing and training
response if russia invades ukraine. zoo tiger attack, police shoot and kill an endangered tiger after a man reaches into its cage. what s happening? i m being attacked by a tiger. truck driver s 110 year sentence reduced. colorado governor shortened sentence to ten years following nationwide outrage. violence against women act, why lawmakers haven t fully reauthorized a landmark law since it expired in 2013. american ingenuity, how a group of young people came up with the idea of saving the planet pi feeding the hungry. and a return trip to atlanta to visit the airport s piano man. garrett: good evening, everyone. thank you for joining us. i m major garrett in for norah. we begin tonight with covid cases soaring. it was exactly two years to the day that the world learned of an unknown virus causing flu-like symptoms in china. now the omicron variant of that coronavirus is fueling another global wave of infection. the u.s. record nearly half a million new cases in a sing
the people of north shropshire have been represented by a conservative mp in the house of commons for the past two centuries. this thursday, voters there will be electing a new member of parliament in a parliamentary by election caused by the resignation of owen paterson, who broke parliamentary rules on lobbying. our political correspondent alex forsyth has been talking to people in the constituency. in north shropshire are they not necessarily used to this attention, but this constituency has been thrown into sharp focus. it is the centre of a clinical contest thatis centre of a clinical contest that is particularly crucial for the conservatives. their candidate is trying to hold a seat that has been tory for decades, but for which he is having to fight. decades, but for which he is having to fight. there are lots of distractions having to fight. there are lots of distractions nationally - having to fight. there are lots of distractions nationally but l of distractions n
if you ve watched any big international tv dramas of the past few years, chances are the uk could well have played a role in bringing the story to the screen. the industry here is enjoying something of a golden age. a record £4 billion was spent making tv shows in the uk in the past year, almost double the figure before the pandemic. here s our media correspondent david sillito. i do suppose if i were forced to take a wife, you would be the least objectionable option. is that meant to be a complement? bridgerton. outlander. thank you for returning lady bolton safely. ..game of thrones all made in the uk. this is bad wolf in cardiff, just one of a number of new studios to have opened up in south wales. the tv industry is absolutely booming at the moment. there has been a fourfold increase in drama production in the uk over the last seven or eight years, which means that if you tot it all up, spending has gone from around £400 million in 2013 to 4 billion a tenfold increase