this is bbc news — the headlines at seven: a call for coronavirus vaccines to be available for all, as leaders from the world's biggest economies meet for an online summit hosted by saudi arabia. in the uk, an alternative to a covid vaccine for people with weakened immune systems enters its final stage of trials. boris johnson faces questions about whether he tried to tone down an independent report which said home secretary priti patel broke the ministerial code by bullying staff. none of us want to see bullying or poor practices within the workplace, and the home secretary has been clear that she would never want to do that intentionally. the government is to change how it invests in big spending projects, to ensure the north of england gets a fair share of the cash. and coming up, an investigation

into the growth of private baby scanning companies — with some questioning the quality of the service. good evening, and welcome to bbc news. the annual 620 summit has opened with a call for coronavirus vaccines to be made available to everyone around the world. saudi arabia is hosting the annual summit which is being held virtually online because of the pandemic. borisjohnson is expected to call on countries to be more ambitious in their efforts to tackle coronavirus. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet reports. a thoroughly modern moment.

many families have to meet like this these days. even the powerful 620 family. the 84—year—old saudi king presiding. everyone at their own table this year. every country struggling with the impact of the deadly pandemic. it's this summit‘s top issue. shall i take the mask off? the world's wealthiest under pressure to help the poorest. at the beginning there was a big race between the different countries to secure ppe, equipment, medication, etc. the 620 role is definitely to make sure that everybody is safe. we cannot be safe unless everybody is safe. from 10 downing street, a ten—point plan for a green revolution. that future will only be possible if the world's leading economies

drive forward more ambitious action more quickly to prevent further catastrophic climate change. a virtual summit robs leaders of those face—to—face moments which can make all the difference. it also steals the kingdom's chance to shine on a world stage. a stage also casting a harsh light on issues not on the 620 agenda. so a light was shone on the streets of paris. on three saudi women in saudi jails. human rights groups are calling for their release and many others'. and here, another light show. 0n stones three centuries old. this is the town where the saudi kingdom was born. leaders, brought together as they keep their distance. lyse doucet, bbc news, riyadh. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages 6fx at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers.

our guests joining me tonight are the broadcaster penny smith and the sun's chief sports reporter martin lipton. the latest government figures show there were 19,875 new coronavirus infections recorded across the uk in the latest 24—hour period. that means that the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week is now 21,290. 1,729 people have been admitted to hospital on average each day over the week to last saturday. and 341 deaths were reported — that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. it means on average in the past week, 409 deaths were announced every day. it takes the total number of deaths so far across the uk to 54,626. a possible alternative to a covid vaccine is entering

its final stage of trials. it's being developed for people with weakened immune systems who cannot be vaccinated. 5,000 patients from around the world are taking part in the study, and trials involving 1,000 uk participants begin in manchester today. professor anna maria 6eretti is professor of virology at the university of liverpool, and explained how this injection differs from a vaccine. this is a cocktail of two antibodies that can work by blocking the virus from entering inside the body, inside the human cells. so they can block infection in those who have never been exposed to the virus, and they gain this protection in case they are exposed. they can also work at a second level, which is by preventing progression of an infection which has already become established. the trial which has been announced, this large phase three trial, that tested the ability of this cocktail of antibodies

to block the infection, to prevent the infection in those who had never experienced the infection before but are exposed to it. as you mentioned, it will target specifically a certain patient population, so those that are potentially vulnerable to the consequences of an infection with the coronavirus, because they have risk factors. but at the same time, they have circumstances that mean that they would be less suitable for a vaccine, perhaps they may not be expected to make an effective response to a vaccine, as in the case of people with defects in the immune system, perhaps the immune system has been weakened by treatment, as in the case of transplant recipients, for example, or patients with cancer. the prime minister is facing further criticism for his decision to stand by the home secretary, priti patel, despite an independent report that found

she had bullied staff. it comes amid claims he tried to ‘tone down‘ the report that said she had broken the ministerial code. number 10 has rejected the claims and insisted the conclusions — made by sir alex allan — were entirely his own. 0ur political correspondent leila nathoo reports. she holds one of the top jobs in government. priti patel is still in her post, despite an independent report into how she treated her staff concluding that some of her behaviour had amounted to bullying. yesterday she gave this apology. i'm here to give an unreserved apology today. i'm sorry if i've upset people in any way whatsoever. that was completely unintentional. borisjohnson decided to overrule his adviser on ministerial standards, sir alex allan, who found the home secretary had broken the code governing ministers' behaviour. priti patel wasn't sacked and instead sir alex resigned. ultimately the decision was the prime minister's but it's attracted criticism.

the system depends on the prime minister standing up for standards in public life and for taking action when his or her ministers breach those standards. for the first time as far as i can remember, we have a prime minister who doesn't seem willing to stand up for high standards in public life. after having the report on his desk here for some time, in the end borisjohnson rejected its findings. a source has told the bbc that in the summer there were discussions between the prime minister and sir alex allan about the challenges the report posed. another whitehall source said sir alex had resisted pressure to make it more palatable. downing street said the prime minister spoke to sir alex allan to further his understanding of the report, but that sir alex's conclusions were entirely his own. there has been an investigation and the prime minister has made his judgment. he is the arbiter of the ministerial code and he has determined, having reviewed the evidence, that the home secretary

did not breach the code. labour is calling for the prime minister and home secretary to answer questions in the commons on what happened, but it's clear that downing street considers the matter closed, even though plenty of others don't. leila nathoo, bbc news, westminster. the prime minister has insisted he does not want to undermine devolution — after reportedly saying earlier this week it had been a disaster in scotland. borisjohnson told the virtual scottish tory conference he wanted policies which show how devolution can work for scotland, and accused the snp of making it work against the rest of the uk. just because i've criticised the performance of devolution doesn't mean i want to oppose devolution as a concept in itself. of course not. i'm a former mayor of london and i know how effective devolved powers can be, for example in making transport greener or tackling crime. devolution should be used not by politicians as a wall to sequester,

to break away an area of the uk from the rest. it should be used as a step to pass power to local communities and businesses to make their lives better. a deal has been reached between the uk and canada allowing both nations to carry on trading under the same terms as the current european union arrangement. the agreement covers annual trade between the two countries worth around £20 billion — equal to about 1.5% of total uk trade. talks are expected to begin next year which the government hopes will lead to an enhanced deal. just hours before scheduled peace talks in qatar between the us secretary of state and the taliban, a barrage of rockets has hit residential areas of the afghan capital, kabul, killing at least eight people and injuring more than 30. the islamic state group said it was behind the attack and had targeted 6overnment buildings and foreign embassies. it comes just days after the trump

administration announced plans to withdraw 2000 troops from afghanistan. secunder kemani reports. it should have been an ordinary day at school. instead, panic and fear, as these children run for safety. cctv cameras captured the moment the rockets landed outside this popular bakery. translation: i was having breakfast when the rockets landed. 0ne hit a van belonging to a bakery. at least three people were wounded. they have been taken to hospital. a local resident filmed the rockets being fired from the street. this was the pick—up truck the attackers used. how they managed to get it inside the city is a major cause for concern. violence has been flaring across the

city in recent weeks, despite ongoing but slow—moving peace talks in doha. us secretary of state mike pompeo arrived there today to meet both afghan and taliban officials. some progress on initial issues seems to have been made but they haven't even begun discussing a ceasefire or power—sharing arrangement. in spite of the violence, us troops are being withdrawn from here. the new american president might look for another way forward but the fear is the bloodshed is only going to get worse. secunder kermani, bbc news. the government has confirmed it will make major changes to the way it assesses the value of big spending projects — a move which would benefit northern england and other regions. the chancellor, rishi sunak, said the changes were part of the government's "levelling up" agenda. they'll be announced in the spending review next week, as our business correspondent katy austin reports. major public projects like new transport links can provide a tangible, long lasting boost to the economy. historically some areas feel

they haven't had their fair share. this business in hull says that better connections to other cities like york would really help. i feel that the north has often served second fiddle to the south. i appreciate it's where the capital is, where a lot of businesses are. but the playing field is getting more and more lopsided. it needs to be levelled. the question looms of how to put the public finances back on a sustainable footing after the huge cost of coronavirus, but the government still wants to be talking about investing, too, across the whole of the uk. next week in the spending review the chancellor, rishi sunak, is expected to announce tens of billions of pounds for infrastructure, including road improvements. the delayed national infrastructure strategy will be published, covering flagship programmes such as fibre broadband and investment in green projects. the rules the treasury uses to assess the value for money of big investments will change in an effort

to remove a long—standing bias towards london and the south—east and focus on the possible regional benefits of schemes. and, to replace money previously allocated to poorer regions by the eu, a fund will be unveiled targeted at areas including coastal communities and former industrial heartlands. an independent 6roup representing business and civic leaders across the north of england welcomed the plans, saying that projects like transport were crucial to improve productivity and prosperity. we will not close the north—south divide if we don't build the full high—speed north network, meaning hs2 on the east and west of the country and a new line across the pennines. labour's shadow chancellor anneliese dodds called for the spending review to set the country on the right path, saying that communities didn't want more empty rhetoric. katy austin, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news...

the annual 620 summit — hosted online by saudi arabia — opens with a call from king salman for coronavirus vaccines to be made available to everyone. a possible alternative to a covid—19 vaccine, for people without fully functioning immune systems, begins its final stage of trials. boris johnson faces renewed criticism for his decision to stand by the home secretary, priti patel, despite a report that found she had bullied staff. the government says mortgage lenders have agreed not to ask for an expensive fire risk survey when homeowners are putting their flats on the market — as long as the building doesn't have cladding. thousands of property sales have been held up by the requirement to obtain a survey, following the 6renfell tower fire. the government's also making available 700 thousand pounds to train more surveyors. we have got to tackle this issue where thousands of homeowners are finding themselves unable to sell or remortgage their properties. a terrible situation. so today we have reached agreement with the lenders

and with the surveyors to say that the ews1 form is not required unless your building has cladding. that means that 450,000 homeowners will now have the certainty that they need, and in addition to that, we are funding 2000 more professionals to go out and do the assessments that are required, helping many thousands more homeowners to get a certainty that they need to be able to move on with their lives. a driver crashed into a house and then carried on driving with the front door embedded in the car's windscreen and roof in west yorkshire late last night. this is how the emergency services found the car after the crash in dewsbury. police say the audi collided with another vehicle, before crashing into the front porch of the house. the motorist was taken to hospital with head injuries. police say they will be speaking to the driver, who is not thought to be seriously hurt. the owner of a small car

business has started legal action against 6oogle, complaining the tech giant has failed to remove damaging fake reviews about his company. richard boatright claims the posts have damaged his business, but 6oogle says it monitors content and obeys local laws. angus crawford reports. bad reviews can break a business. the hardest thing is, it was an invisible aggressor. they are anonymous, behind fake names, so you don't really know what to do. you feel quite helpless. "described as perfect and fully working but when we went to look at it the clutch was completely shot." 0ne—star reviews, completely fabricated. fake names. 6oogle will not take them down.

keeping his car sales business going during covid has been hard, made even more stressful by the stream of bogus reviews, which 6oogle still refuses to take down. it is the same response every time, that it doesn't contravene their policies, they're very sorry and they're going to leave it there. we provided them with firm information which shows that these reviews are completely fake, fabricated, that the people that supposedly are leaving them don't exist, and they're not interested whatsoever. 6oogle users post 20 million reviews each day. well, they can bring a business to its knees, if you have a mass attack, somebody using multiple 6oogle accounts to attack a business, then it destroys their reputation in a matter of hours. the company told us the vast majority of reviews are helpful, relevant and authentic,

and insists it monitors closely for content that violates their policies 24/7. we know that bad reviews can destroy a business. but what about all the good ones? are they everything they appear to be? imagine for a moment you want to get out of your time—share. you might come to this business. welcome, from the time—share termination team uk. we found 5—star 6oogle reviews from many customers, but are they really? that picture is actually of a government minister in tanzania. how about david ? no, he didn't write that one either. never heard of them! time to give them a call. some of them have never heard of you. there is no evidence the company has

done anything wrong, and it says it has now launched an investigation. as for richard, in his fight against fakes, he is now taking legal action against 6oogle. a final attempt to set the record straight. angus crawford, bbc news. wales ended its nationalfirebreak almost two weeks ago, but tourist hotspots are still being hit hard by tough restrictions across the border. it's been estimated that more than half of businesses that rely on tourism have remained closed because people are not travelling from england. tomos morgan reports. november in north—west wales, and the famous weather has already kicked in. wales finished its firebreak almost two weeks ago, but even in the rain, it still feels eerie on the streets of aberdovey — just like a lockdown is still in place. it's never been so quiet for this time of year in all of the 13 years

peter holt has run his cafe. does it feel a little bit like a ghost town at the moment here? it's nice for the locals. the locals absolutely love it. but as a business, we need the people, yes. people need to come. well, we feel a bit safer. i know we can travel anywhere in wales, but i don't think people want to do that either. after the first lockdown, tourist hotspots across wales saw record numbers visiting with fewer people wanting to go abroad for the holidays. but areas like aberdovey, according to the welsh tourism alliance, are 80—90% reliant on visitors coming from england, so a lockdown over the border has a significant impact on businesses. from the celtic manor resort outside newport to zipworld and its adventure attractions in snowdonia, to the famous italian—style village of portmeiron, some of the tourist hotspots have remained closed during this period.

it's estimated by the welsh tourism alliance that more than 50% of businesses in the sector have remained closed in wales as the lockdown in england goes on. the restaurant is closed, the bar is closed, 26 bedrooms have closed, for half the week. some, like this hotel on the outskirts of aberystwyth, have closed the majority of their operations and decided to only partially reopen half of their 26 rooms, three days a week, until the end of the month. we based our decision purely on the lockdown in england. it's a major part of our business coming in. how long can you keep going, do you think, in this kind of state of in and out, partially open... well, we couldn't. i don't think any business can. it definitely needs unification now. it's a shame now that the two governments, and scotland and northern ireland as well, are not working together so that we can get on the same song sheet, you know.

people tend to forget that this virus is the same virus in england is in wales and scotland and northern ireland. in response, a spokesperson from the welsh government said: a response from the authorities in westminster said: whether or not the lockdown in england will finish on december 2nd will have a knock—on effect on much of wales' economy, and with the prospect of another lockdown early in the new year here in wales, what this industry really needs now is some assurances so they can get off to a flying start in 2021. tomos morgan, bbc news.

the prime minister's pledge to ban gas boilers from new homes by 2023 has been withdrawn. it first appeared on the government website earlier this week, as part of borisjohnson‘s 10—point climate plan. but it later disappeared with downing street claiming a "mix—up" and said it plans to set out further details in due course. 0ur energy and environment analyst roger harrabin reports. normally, it's planes, cars and industry that get the blame for the emissions that are boosting climate change. but gas central heating also plays a role. that is why the government is committed to improving insulation standards on new—build homes. heat pumps are one answer, taking warmth from the ground to create low carbon heating. but they only work well if the standard of insulation is high, so this week, the government announced a goal. by 2023, to implement a standard for new homes with low carbon heating and world leading levels

of energy efficiency. now that date has mysteriously disappeared. builders didn't like the idea of new standards in just three years. but the government's critics say it will have to face up to industry if it really means to tackle climate change. a satellite that's considered critical for understanding the effects of climate change has been launched into space. sentinel—6 took off on board a spacex rocket from a launch pad in california. on board a spacex rocket it will measure oceans and lakes and become the primary means of tracking global sea level rises. data from the satellite will also reveal how huge masses of water are moving around the globe. sentinel—6 was developed jointly by the european and us space agencies. rolf densing is director of operations for the european space agency. he explained the importance of the satellite.

there is increasing sea level, this has consequences the coastal areas, and these consequences will be better, more precisely mapped with sentinel—6 than ever before. 0bviously sentinel—6 than ever before. obviously the height of dikes will have to be re—evaluated, major cities like amsterdam, new york, tokyo a re cities like amsterdam, new york, tokyo are in concern by the increase of sea levels and we need to protect millions of people from these effects. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. it's going to be colder tonight across many parts of the country, a lot colder than it was last night. big differences across the uk, the northern areas it felt cold today in the wind, there's been heavy, blustery showers, further south we've had pancake cloud and it's been much milder. between those two air masses there is a weather front.

it's still producing rain and drizzle, not much, is heading slowly southwards. to the north of that we have the cooler air and that will follow to many parts of the uk. the weather front is taking this patchy rain and drizzle and thick cloud down into southern england, that will keep temperatures up here, but clearer skies elsewhere, some showers continuing to the north—west and still windy in northern scotland, that they be close to freezing in eastern scotland, north—east england and northern ireland, where the winds are a little later. the winds will ease down during sunday. cloud still across southern england, most of the rain and drizzle heading into the channel. after a sunny morning in wales and the west midlands it may cloud over through the afternoon, sunshine elsewhere, more showers particularly in the north and west of scotland, not as windy as today, but the aira of scotland, not as windy as today, but the air a bit cooler, so for many temperatures around eight to ten. those temperatures will fall quickly where we have a clearer skies in eastern scotland and north—east england during tomorrow evening, more showers continuing for a good part of the night. we need to

look to the west to see where the weather is coming from early next week, because we are drawing on atla ntic week, because we are drawing on atlantic winds, south—westerly winds again, and some weather fronts are moving in. a stuff research areas, this is where they will be the best of the early sunshine on monday. it will turn to cloud from the west. a bit of rain and drizzle, most of the waning drizzle coming into northern scotla nd waning drizzle coming into northern scotland and northern ireland. the south—westerly winds, temperatures lifting through the day. it tuesday, the rain is still stuck across scotla nd the rain is still stuck across scotland and across northern ireland. for many parts of england and wales it will be dry and brighter the further east you go, with sunshine as well. southerly winds, those temperatures continuing to rise up to around 12 or 13 degrees. changes later on the week, the weather front bringing the week heads into england and wales, then pressure builds from the atlantic behind that, later in the week. for

the early part of the week there is more rain around, especially in scotla nd more rain around, especially in scotland and northern ireland, that pushes into england and wales, that high pressure means it gets colder, there may well be frost and some fog as well. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: a call for coronavirus vaccines to be available for all as leaders from the world's biggest economies meet for an online summit hosted by saudi arabia. in the uk, an alternative to a covid vaccine for people with weakened immune systems enters its final stage of trials. boris johnson faces questions about whether he tried to tone down an independent report which said home secretary priti patel broke the ministerial code by bullying staff. the government is to change how it invests in big spending projects, to ensure the north of england gets a fair share of the cash.

now on bbc news, hundreds of thousands of ultrasound scans of babies are now carried out by private companies. some services diagnose problems while others sell souvenir images and videos. but the profession of those scanning women is unregulated, leading some to question the quality of services. rianna croxford investigates the growth of private baby scanning studios. at first, i was doing them every two weeks. it's an industry that's thriving. having the reassurance from private scans has literally got me through. many women say they help, but is there a risk of false reassurance? that's what i specifically paid for, to check for ectopic and they got it so wrong. we investigate concerns about how scanning studios operate... to embark on a scan of a woman who's been bleeding is appalling. ..go inside a company whatsapp group which reviews scans... i knew something was wrong straightaway. i didn't know what to do.