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what the - british regulator says, but also the world _ british regulator says, but also the world heatth— british regulator says, but also the world health organization. - british regulator says, but also the world health organization. plans. british regulator says, but also the world health organization. plans to overhaul the — world health organization. plans to overhaul the criminal _ world health organization. plans to overhaul the criminaljustice - world health organization. plans to i overhaul the criminaljustice system and england and wales path in the commons with the bid government majority. and mamma mia, will we go again — how british theatres are hoping to attract audiences after the pandemic. hello and welcome to bbc news. from the likelihood of a so—called dirty bomb attack by terrorists to the threat posed by russia, borisjohnson has been outlining britain's foreign and defence policy priorities after brexit. it follows a year—long review which sees the uk shifting its focus towards the east, to countries like india, japan and australia. so, where does that leave the decades long relationship with the eu? here's our diplomatic correspondent james landale. a warning, his report contains some flash photography. for years, britain's place in the world was defined by its relationship with the european union and the united states. but brexit changed that. now the government's promising a new approach to foreign affairs. one the prime minister said would keep people safe at home. for us, there are no far away countries of which we know little. global britain is not a reflection of old obligations, still less a vainglorious gesture, but a necessity for the safety and prosperity of the british people in the decades ahead. one new idea is for britain to focus more on the indo pacific, boosting ties with growing economies like india, where borisjohnson will travel next month. new partnerships with regional groups of south—east asian countries and membership of a trans—pacific free trade agreement and the new aircraft carrier hms elizabeth visiting the region later this year. to hold joint operations with allies, and show britain can project force overseas. but will it be enough? there will be some questions, i think, about the details. what will this actually mean for uk presence on the ground, for the resources it is willing to deploy in the region and to some extent, how much it is willing to listen to demand signals from the region as well? but what will this mean for britain's relationship with china? the report says the uk should pursue a positive relationship with beijing on trade and climate change, but still says it presents a systemic challenge to britain. china represents the generational threat and the reason _ for that is that the idea that chinaj will become more like us as it got richer or as its economy matured is clearly for the birds. _ the question for any new foreign policy is not what people at the foreign office think, but whether it changes people's lives. will this new focus on asia make people safer and more prosperous or will it neglect britain's interests closer to home? the report insists britain's commitment to euro atlantic security is unequivocal with nato at its heart but there is little about cooperation with europe on regional threats. like russia, which after the salisbury poison attack, the report says remains the most acute threat to britain's security. the review rightly identifies russia as the number one threat that we face, both at home and abroad, but there was no strategy to work with our european partners to try to deal with that challenge, there was no strategy to repair our defences at home. to help tackle new threats there will be a white house—style situation room near downing street, and a new counter—terrorism operation centre and the cap on britain's stockpile of nuclear warheads will be lifted because of what the report says is the evolving security environment. an old school weapon for what's supposed to be a new strategy. and james landale is here. the government portraying this as a radical shift as britain's place in the world. is that how most people are seeing it?— are seeing it? governments have their hyperboles _ are seeing it? governments have their hyperboles when _ are seeing it? governments have their hyperboles when they - are seeing it? governments havel their hyperboles when they launch their hyperboles when they launch the documents. there are certainly new elements. britain's relationship has been tied to its relationship to the european union and the united states and the trans atlantic bridge. that is changing and the government �*s general in the looking for new things, new ways of approaching foreign policy, looking for new areas and partners and trying to find out how we make it more agile, a bit more edgy, a bit more agile, a bit more edgy, a bit more focused on uk national interests. actually, what's quite interesting about this is it's remarkably flexible. that's what's missing. there isn't that much sense of where the prime minister and the government wants britain to be in ten or 15 years, it's essentially saying the world is complicated, we need to be resilient, self—contained, we need to have new alliances. we shouldn'tjust rely on alliances. we shouldn'tjust rely on all international structures. when all international structures. when it comes to _ all international structures. when it comes to the _ all international structures. when it comes to the relationship - all international structures. when it comes to the relationship with l it comes to the relationship with china, we're going to stand up to china, we're going to stand up to china, we're going to stand up to china, we're going to call them out. us has described the attack on weed teachers as genocide —— on uighurs. this is the dial—in month much of the world is wrestling with. one hand, the brits are saying we need to be robust with hong kong, but equally, if you want to have a deal on cutting climate change in the uk later on this year, you have to deal with the chinese. they're the biggest emitters, but also the biggest emitters, but also the biggest investors in renewable technology. though that was a balance and that's a balance that's going to have to be made every day. standing up to russia as well, just on the nuclear weapons issue, they're going to increase, they say, they're going to increase, they say, the number of nuclear wars. do we know how many we have at the moment and by how much we're going to increase? �* , ., ., ., ., increase? there's a huge amount of extreme judgment _ increase? there's a huge amount of extreme judgment vagueness. - increase? there's a huge amount of extreme judgment vagueness. this | increase? there's a huge amount of. extreme judgment vagueness. this is extremejudgment vagueness. this is designed to confuse and create uncertainty with our our opponents. they listed the cap on how much warheads... they take a long time to make. the question is this, if you talk to some military and scientists insiders, they say actually what's going on, this isjust a reflection of the fact that britain at the moment is transferring it nuclear deterrent to one set of some marines to another. —— sub marines. you and “p to another. —— sub marines. you and up having two cars outside and your drive, and that's what's happening here with some of these warheads. this is a process of transition rather than some grand new policy play saying right, there are new threats out there so we need more of these weapons. threats out there so we need more of these weapons-— threats out there so we need more of these weapons. james, thank you very much. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. hope you can join hope you canjoin me. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight arejessica elgot, deputy political editor of the guardian and katy balls, deputy political editor of the spectator. the duke of edinburgh has left hospital in central london after receiving treatment for an infection and surgery for a pre—existing heart condition. prince philip, who's 99, spent a month in hospital and has now returned to windsor to be reunited with the queen. the prince of wales said he was thrilled with the news. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. shielded by a screen, a patient, evidently in a wheelchair, was brought out from the king edward vii hospital to a waiting vehicle. moments later, the vehicle left with the duke of edinburgh safely aboard. as the car drove away, photographers caught sight of him sitting in the rear of the vehicle. little has been said by the palace about the reasons for his hospital stay other than he had been suffering from an infection and an unspecified pre—existing heart condition. but the treatment, evidently having been successful, he was on his way to be reunited with the queen at windsor. for the royalfamily, it was welcome news. the prince of wales was visiting a vaccination clinic at finsbury park mosque in north london when the news about his father was confirmed. very good news. i am thrilled. and had he had a chance to speak to his father? the queen has continued with her official programme throughout her husband's day in hospital, marking commonwealth day among other things, as well as coping with the fallout from the us television interview given by the sussexes. gayle, you spoke with the couple over the weekend. let's break some news. what did they say? on that, the aftermath of the sussex interview, one of meghan�*s friends, a us breakfast tv presenter has been sharing with her viewers what the couple told her at the weekend. i did actually call them to see how they were feeling, and it is true that harry has talked to his brother and his father too. the word i was given was that those conversations were not productive, but they are glad that they have at least started the conversation. fanfare. here the family's focus is firmly on the duke of edinburgh. in less than 90 days it will be his 100th birthday, and it will be a matter of reassurance to his family that his four weeks in hospital are now over and that doctors have decided he is well enough to return home. nicholas witchell, bbc news. so, the duke of edinburgh is now back at windsor castle in berkshire, where he and the queen have spent the most recent lockdown. 0ur correspondent helena wilkinson has been there and gave us this update. the duke of edinburgh right back here at windsor castle at around 1115 this morning. he came through the a rear entrance to the castle. the palace telling us in terms of how he is, he's used that phrase in good spirits, but as nick mentioned, when the duke left the hospital, he had to be transferred in a wheelchair, and there is no doubt that here at windsor, he will be kept a close eye on by medical staff here at the castle as he continues his rest, his recovery from what was a very long stay in hospital, such a long stay can take a toll on anyone. in particular, somebody of the duke's age, 99 years old. but of course, relief too for the queen. they have been separated for 28 nights, and the queen as we heard has been dealing with tricky family matters, matters which she would have sought guidance from the duke in normal circumstances. i think comfort for the queen that her husband is back by her side this evening. husband is back by her side this evenina. ., husband is back by her side this evenina. . . ,, ,., ., evening. helena wilkinson at windsor. the european medicines regulator said today it's "firmly convinced" that the benefits of the astrazeneca's vaccine continue to outweigh any risks — that's despite several countries suspending the jabs due to safety concerns over blood clots. there's no evidence of any link between the vaccine and a very small number of blood clotting incidents. today, sweden and latvia suspended their use of the vaccine, while investigations continue. here's our medical editor fergus walsh. this vaccine saves lives, of that there is no doubt. and yet in the middle of a pandemic, with thousands dying every day in europe from covid... germany, france, italy, more than a dozen eu countries have temporarily suspended using the astrazeneca jab. why? the concern is blood clots. astrazeneca says there have been 37 incidents of blood clots in the uk and eu, but that is following 17 million jabs. in germany, seven rare clots in the brain and three deaths have been recorded. the european medicines agency is investigating each case, but says the overall rate of clots is no higher than you would expect in the general population. at present, there is no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions. they have not come up in the clinical trials and they are not listed as known or expected side effects with this vaccine. germany's health ministry said it won't be responsible to keep using the astrazeneca vaccine without a re—evaluation, but the eu safety regulator says the suspension is unnecessary. we are still firmly convinced that the benefits of the astrazeneca vaccine in preventing covid—19, with its associated risks of hospitalisation and death, outweigh the risk of these side effects. take up of covid vaccines here is among the highest in the world. and scientists hope public confidence will not be undermined. i think it's very important that people don't worry at the moment, i mean this, this is being sorted out, it's being looked into, but at the moment, there doesn't appear to be any signal that would make us feel concerned about risk of clotting. i would be much more worried about not being vaccinated than being vaccinated. the european medicines agency also publish its safety review on thursday. if it gives the astrazeneca jab the all clear, france has said it will start reusing it immediately. but the fear is the pause may increase vaccine hesitancy, and that alone could cost lives. fergus walsh, bbc news. speaking in the last few minutes, the health secretary, matt hancock, called on people to "get the jab" as soon as the opportunity presents. the astrazeneca jab is it safe. we know that over 10 million people have had it in this country, and that's what the british regulator says, but also the world health organization and even the european regulator. now, we keep the effects of these vaccines under the review all the time and we know that the oxford astrazeneca vaccine is a 0xford astrazeneca vaccine is a saving lives in the uk right now, so if you get the call, get the jab. the latest coronavirus figures show there were 5,294 new cases recorded in the latest 24—hour period, which means on average, the number of new cases reported per day in the last week is 5,689. the number of patients in hospital with covid continues to fall — now down to 7,281. there were 110 deaths reported, that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test, which means on average, 128 people died every day in the last week from coronavirus, taking the total to 125,690. 386,685 people have had their first dose of a covid vaccine in the latest 24—hour period, which means a total of more than 24.8 million people have now had their firstjab, meaning just over 47% of the adult population has now received their first vaccination. and more than 1.6 million people have had both doses of the vaccine. those of the latest figures on that. but this evening, two cases of a new coronavirus strain first reported in the philippines have been found in england. public health england said the variant contains a number of notable mutations, including a specific protein that vaccines may not be as effective against. public health england said one of the cases was linked to international travel and the other is still being investigated, but did not confirm where either had been found. we'll have more on this in the next 20 minutes or so. 18 minutes past eight p:m.. 0ur headlines... borisjohnson unveils a new vision for the uk's place in the world — less europe, more asia. the duke of edinburgh returns to windsor four weeks after going into hospital for an infection and undergoing a heart procedure. the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill clears its passage in parliament. it will now go to second reading with a majority of 96 votes. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's tulsen. we're always on together. i fantastic, betterfor we're always on together. i fantastic, better for seeing you. we're always on together. i fantastic, betterforseeing you. it was a ruthless display. unlike the first two matches, today's games are behind closed doors. patrick gearey reports. and then they disappeared. there were 60,000 here on sunday, now there were none. things change fast on planet pandemic. not as fast as matt would. in cricket's shortest form, it hopes to be quick. india, three down. speed is one thing in haste is another. the captain said run. but the boss isn't always right. maybe coley felt guilty. if so, this was an irresistible apology. that's not accounting for the remarkable reach ofjos reach of jos buttler. reach ofjos buttler. in this series, batting second meant finishing first, and there was no reversing that logic here. in this mood, jos buttler looks indestructible. too late to apologise this time, and a series that will finish in front of no one is led by england 2—1. rachel blackmore said she's an example to both men and women that anything can be achieved, as she became the first femalejockey to win the champion hurdle at cheltenham. the victory came on the opening day of the festival, as the irish jockey guided home the 11—10 favourite honeysuckle for trainer henry de bromhead. blackmore has a leading chance when