this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. a pill developed to treat severe coronavirus has reported positive trial results. it could halve the chances of dying or being admitted to hospital. scientists say the scale of deforestation in northern brazil risks turning the amazon into something more like savannah. after the murder of sarah everard by a serving police officer, london's metropolitan police tries to regain the public�*s trust. president biden visits capitol hill in an attempt to persuade democrats to support his $1 trillion infrastructure bill. and there are just hours to go until the culmination of europe's first mission to mercury.

he though. hello. there could be a breakthrough in the way we treat covid—19. interim trials suggest that a new experimental drug for severe covid cuts the risk of hospitalisation or death by about half. if authorised by regulators, the new drug which comes in the form of a pill would be the first oral antiviral medication for covid—19. our health correspondent james reed has more. on the surface, these are very positive results, and they've come through much earlier than we were expecting. so the way that these trials work, you give half the people in the trial this medication, you give the other half a placebo — or dummy — pill, and you compare what the outcomes are. and in this case, 7% of people in the trial that were given this medication that had covid or had just been infected with covid

ended up going into hospital. in the placebo arms — they hadn't had this medication — it was twice that, it was 14%. so that's where you get that really positive result — it cuts hospitalisations by half. and also, when you look at something else which they weren't really expecting in this trial, i don't think, which is deaths, there were eight deaths in the placebo arm, zero deaths from the group that had taken this pill. so overall, on the surface, very, very positive news. since we started covering covid, both of us, 18 months ago, that phrase "game—changer" from scientists has been used again and again — when we had the first vaccines and so on. but there are very eminent scientists using that again today, very, very positive about these results. anthony fauci, who is the top diseases expert in the united states, gave his reaction. the news of the efficacy of this particular antiviral is obviously very good news. the company, when they briefed us last night, had mentioned that they will be submitting their data to the fda imminently. the data are impressive.

it's interesting, what's happened here, actually. you don't often see this. so the regulators and this independent scientific body in the states have actually told merck, the drug company, "you have to stop this trial," not because there was anything wrong, but because it was so positive, because, as i said, you've got half of this group that weren't given this pill. and ethically, you can't keep going with this trial if you've worked out that it's quite protective of people, because there's half of the people that aren't protected. so they've actually said, "stop this." merck, instead, the drug company, are going for this emergency use authorisation, say they're going to go through with that in the states within two weeks. so then we've got to wait for the fda, the regulator, to approve it. but it could be a matter of weeks, couple of months or so, before we can actually start to see this being used. james reed, our health correspondent there. a study by reseachers in brazil say the scale of deforestation in northern brazil risks turning the amazon into more savannah—like terrain.

the scientists found that excessive logging combined with climate change could cause extreme heat in the country's north, threatening the lives of nearly 12 million people, who will be at high risk of heat—related illnesses within the next century. the amazon rain forest is the single largest remaining tropical rain forest in the world. it is home to about 3 million species of plants and animals and around 1 million indigenous people, whose lives are being increasingly threatened by climate change and deforestation. i'm joined now by dr paulo nobre, one of the lead authors of the study. thanks forjoining us. thanks for joining us. just thanks forjoining us. just tell us more about what your study has found. ., ~' ,, more about what your study has found. ., ~ ,, , found. thank you. yes, we were t in: to found. thank you. yes, we were trying to gauge _ found. thank you. yes, we were trying to gauge the _ found. thank you. yes, we were trying to gauge the impact - found. thank you. yes, we were trying to gauge the impact of. trying to gauge the impact of climate change and deforestation on heat waves. we have seen heat waves coming out of climate change everywhere around the globe, so what we did was we did a study, a controlled study, in which we ran our model with climate change and we

rented again with only removing the forest and turn it into savannah and then a third time in which we had both events together. and what we discovered is that the local effect of the forest is indeed larger than the climate change that is so widespread dominating. the number of daysin widespread dominating. the number of days in which the highest temperature exceeds the limit in which our bodies support the heat increases in such a way, all the population that lives in the region can be affected, because, different from covid, there is no vaccine against heat. you have the heat and you have to survive living in that

condition of extreme, increased extreme heat, in the region. 50 condition of extreme, increased extreme heat, in the region. so why does taking — extreme heat, in the region. so why does taking down _ extreme heat, in the region. so why does taking down trees _ extreme heat, in the region. so why does taking down trees make - extreme heat, in the region. so why does taking down trees make the i extreme heat, in the region. so why i does taking down trees make the land hotter? it is does taking down trees make the land hotter? , , , _, does taking down trees make the land hotter? , , , ., hotter? it is because you have the fundamental _ hotter? it is because you have the fundamental diminishing - hotter? it is because you have the fundamental diminishing of - hotter? it is because you have the i fundamental diminishing of rainfall. the forest and tribute by bring the water inland, evaporating, raining and evacuating. when we take the forest out, the rain does not happen anymore, so it turns into heat, so thatis anymore, so it turns into heat, so that is where the course of this extreme heat occurs, because we halt the hydrological cycle. find extreme heat occurs, because we halt the hydrological cycle.— the hydrological cycle. and how . uickl the hydrological cycle. and how quickly are _ the hydrological cycle. and how quickly are these _ the hydrological cycle. and how quickly are these changes? - the hydrological cycle. and how quickly are these changes? and the hydrological cycle. and how i quickly are these changes? and at what rate does itjust start to become more and more dangerous? we are obviously seeing change globally on a scale that has shocked people already. we on a scale that has shocked people

alread . ~ ., on a scale that has shocked people alread . ~ . ., ., , on a scale that has shocked people alread .~ . ., ., , , already. we are already seeing the forest die. we _ already. we are already seeing the forest die. we see _ already. we are already seeing the forest die. we see wolves - already. we are already seeing the forest die. we see wolves that - already. we are already seeing the forest die. we see wolves that are | forest die. we see wolves that are not there. we anticipate that in a couple of decades, we must see an enormous, significant increase in the number of heat waves merging from the amazon.— the number of heat waves merging from the amazon. what do you think should now — from the amazon. what do you think should now happen _ from the amazon. what do you think should now happen to _ from the amazon. what do you think should now happen to try _ from the amazon. what do you think should now happen to try to - from the amazon. what do you think should now happen to try to stop - should now happen to try to stop this? i mean, this is something that has been long discussed, hasn't it, protecting the amazon? what bu like to see? we protecting the amazon? what bu like to see? ~ ., ., ., to see? we have to zero deforestation _ to see? we have to zero deforestation and - to see? we have to zero deforestation and then l to see? we have to zero - deforestation and then replant, to see? we have to zero _ deforestation and then replant, we have to grow the forest again to keep it healthy, to give it the ambient services the forest normally provides. idr ambient services the forest normally rovides. , ., ., ambient services the forest normally rovides. ., ., ., ~ ambient services the forest normally rovides. , ., ., ., provides. dr paulo nobre, thank you ve much provides. dr paulo nobre, thank you very much indeed _ provides. dr paulo nobre, thank you very much indeed for— provides. dr paulo nobre, thank you very much indeed for your _ provides. dr paulo nobre, thank you very much indeed for your time - very much indeed for your time today. red hot lava from a volcano corrupting on the spanish island of

lipoma continues to flow into the sea. sending out vast clouds of steam and toxic gases. any homes and crops have been destroyed and thousands of people forced to flee since the eruption began 11 days ago. our correspondence danjohnson ago. our correspondence dan johnson is ago. our correspondence danjohnson is in lipoma. that volcano is still really active, and there is fresh lava flowing from the vents. a ban hasjust gone past with loudspeakers, warning that the wind has changed and people should go home and keep their windows closed, and this relentless disruption is notjust affecting daily life here and people's livelihoods, it has actually changed the lay of the land. welcome to the newest part of la palma — a volcanic island extension that's growing all the time. and all this lava has destroyed 900 homes and forced thousands more to be abandoned. emily and augustine are the latest

to pack up, ready to leave, fearful it's heading their way. it won't stop. that's my one big fear, we are only just seeing the beginning. and there's augustine's mum and his aunt — 96 and 97. they've both lived through two previous eruptions — 19119 and 1971 — but now, they've had enough. "this is much worse than the other eruptions," she says. "i'll be much calmer when i've reached the other island." everything's horrible. i mean, we are still lucky. we have the house — i mean, hope is always stronger than fear, and we hope we'll stay. i have so many friends who lost their houses and everything. around the clock, the lava keeps flowing, and new vents have opened up, threatening other villages. ash is continually clouding these skies. so janet's work is never done, because this volcanic grit just keeps falling. translation: it's not easy. we never imagined this could happen.

it's hard to see people without anywhere to live. on this island, we are family. there's a huge exclusion zone being controlled there's a huge exclusion zone being patrolled by the coast guard because, although that's mostly steam being given off when the lava hits the water, there's also the risk that toxic gases are released as well. and nobody knows how much more lava is going to flow into the sea. there's no sign of this ending any time soon. la palma's fishermen can only watch and wait. it's said the fish all swam away just before the eruption. translation: we don't know what the future will be like - because there are fewer fish. i don't see a future here if they don't help us. do you think you'll leave la palma? si. others are adapting to this strange new way of life, dominated by the deep rumbling of the volcano and the unpredictable threat of its everflowing lava. danjohnson, bbc news, la palma.

president biden has been on capitol hill today as democrats held talks for a second day about whether they have the votes to pass his $1 trillion infrastructure bill. progressive democrats are withholding their support until a deal is reached with moderates in the party on a much larger $3.5 trillion social policy bill. president biden said that they were going to get it done. i'm telling you, we're going to get this done. it doesn't matter when. it doesn't matter whether it's in six minutes, six days or six weeks. we're going to it done. we're going to get it done. in the uk, the military will begin delivering petrol to garages across the country from monday, to help tackle the ongoing fuel crisis. around 200 servicemen and women are receiving training, because of a lack of tanker drivers which has caused queues at petrol stations.

our political correspondent, damian grammaticas, has the latest from westminster. these drivers, 100 of them are actually drivers, as you say, will begin on monday. and as well as that, what we've actually heard is that the government is going to make immediately 300 visas available for foreign drivers to be brought in by haulage companies to start pretty much straightaway to help as well. now, the government may be with this hoping to send a signal that it is trying to do everything it can to tackle the situation. these drivers have taken time to be trained up and will then be helping. but the danger in this is that critics, who say there's a driver shortage because thousands of drivers left after brexit and then it took time to train up more, will now point to the fact that the government is bringing in drivers from overseas and putting the army on the streets in response to this crisis. london's metropolitan police is trying to reassure women after a serving police officer pleaded guilty this week to the rape, kidnap and murder of a woman walking home alone in london.

the officer, wayne couzens, will spend the rest of his life in prison. in court, it emerged he'd used his warrant card and handcuffs in the attack on sarah everard. daniel sandford has more. wayne couzens, the police officer turned killer who has so damaged public trust, today beginning the life sentence in prison from which he will never be released. his abduction, rape and murder of sarah everard, using his police warrant card and handcuffs, risks undermining confidence in officers right across the uk. i think it's very important that people should have confidence in policing and what the police do. and i do, let me stress that. but what i want to do is to use this moment to make sure that we deal with what i think is a huge and justified feeling, by millions of people up and down the country, and i'm afraid overwhelmingly women, that their complaints and their anxieties are not taken seriously enough by the police. the wider problem is illustrated

by a whatsapp group in which wayne couzens swapped misogynistic messages with officers from the metropolitan police, the civil nuclear constabulary and the norfolk constabulary. all are being investigated for gross misconduct. two of the met officers face a criminal investigation for allegedly sending grossly offensive messages. i am so sorry. couzens's horrific crimes have left the head of london's police force, dame cressida dick, in a precarious position. her force had failed to link wayne couzens to at least two incidents of indecent exposure, one before he joined the force and one just three days before he killed sarah everard. women who now feel concerned when stopped by officers are being advised to ask to speak to the control room on the police radio, and, if still concerned, just run, but labour want to hear more on what the police will be doing. what we need right now is clear communication to women, who are particularly concerned not about what they have to do

differently but what the police are going to do to reassure them about the way that they're going to police the situation. she's ready to take action, to do the right thing. and while the force has been celebrating 100 years of women in policing, some former officers have said misogyny, contempt for women, is widespread, and people are afraid to report it. there are some people who challenge, and they become marginalised, and they become almost like the pariahs of the team. that needs to stop. that's why i talk about, there needs to be the support network, and those officers need to be actively encouraged to come forward. the confidence issues go far beyond the capital. the force in manchester has been repeatedly criticised for how it handles domestic abuse. young women in the city today said they have lost trust in the police. they're there to keep you safe, and the idea that they're not and they're doing quite the opposite's quite scary, i feel. i don't feel like i could go to the police now. i feel like we have to

kind of stand together, rather than go to the police. we have to kind of have back—up from other means. the senior officer who will lead the national effort to address those concerns said this is a watershed moment. i think this is a marked moment in society, to stand and look at ourselves about the level of violence against women and girls. i think this is a tide that has turned and a tide that we can look at notjust in policing but across society. and the case of sarah everard, murdered by a police officer as she walked home, might also be the moment when forces have to address the toxic attitudes that some men in their ranks hold towards women. daniel sandford, bbc news, at new scotland yard. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: more on europe's first mission to mercury, which is due to reach its final destination in the next few hours.

in all russia's turmoil, it has never quite come to this. president yeltsin said the day would decide the nation's destiny. the nightmare that so many people have feared for so long is playing out its final act here. russians are killing russians in front of a grandstand audience. it was his humility which produced affection from catholics throughout the world, but his departure is a tragedy for the catholic church. this man, israel's right—winger ariel sharon, visited _ the religious compound and that started the trouble. _ he wants israel alone to have sovereignty over the holy- sites, an idea that's- unthinkable to palestinians. after 45 years of division, germany is one. in berlin, a million germans celebrate the rebirth of europe's biggest and richest nation.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: a pill developed to treat severe coronavirus has reported positive trial results. it could halve the chances of dying or being admitted to hospital. scientists say the scale of deforestation in northern brazil risks turning the amazon into something more like savannah. texas now has the strictest anti—abortion law in the us, with the procedure effectively banned after six weeks. today, we hearfrom michelle, who has chosen to get an abortion and tries to navigate a new reality for women there. and we hearfrom makayla, who says she's been flooded with cries for help since texas introduced a strict anti—abortion law. angelica casas met them both and has this story from san antonio.

someone's coming over right now because they're a little scared about the aftercare for their abortion because they've never had an abortion, they don't know anybody who's had an abortion. makayla helps people in texas access abortions. how have you been doing? how has accessing abortion right now been for you? i feel a little stressed, but very relieved. i'm here picking up, like, my care package, so i feel a little bit more safe, especially because you're more knowledgeable in sexual health. everybody needs to have a plan in place right now. a controversial new law in texas is now the strictest in the country. it made everything so much more intense and so much worse. we want to see an end to. elective abortion in our state from the moment a fertilisation, that moment the new human - being is created. it's crazy, to think about how we had access to safe abortions and now that's taken away from us. it is nearly impossible to get an abortion in texas.

the texas law bans abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy. it also allows anyone who helps - a woman get an abortion to be sued. people are panicking a lot right now about possibly being pregnant, because they don't know what that's going to do, they don't know what that access is going to look like if they are pregnant. me and my partner came to a mutual agreement, where we honestly thought it was the best to get an abortion. one, two, three... abortion! 2021 has seen the most abortion restrictions enacted nationwide since the roe v wade decision in 1973. the law passed in texas, called sb8, is the most severe yet. this is a controversial issue. it's one that people i disagree on ardently. but at the end of the day, the question we ask is, i "what is the pre—born child? what is in the mother's womb? is it a human being worthy of legal

protection and inherent _ with moral value and dignity?" and if so, that's what we're fighting for. - that's why we're fighting to end abortion. - the demand for makayla's help has increased exponentially since the law went into effect. this person says they're going to have to move to oklahoma because of the new law. this person was six weeks and one day, and they said, "i want more information on travelling expenses, because i have to go out of state." her biggest challenge, though, is to help people access abortion care in texas before it's too late. "i was sexually assaulted and i'm terrified of being pregnant, especially with the new abortion law. please help me." when i was 18, i had gotten pregnant and needed to access an abortion and had a lot of trouble. people helped me access an abortion, and i owe the rest of my life to my abortions. i know what opportunities abortion can give to people, so why notjust spend the rest

of my life doing it? the former president of georgia has been arrested just hours after he returned to his homeland. he posted this video on social media early on friday, pulling on voters to oppose the governing party in forthcoming elections. in 2018, mr saakashvili, who's recently been living in ukraine, was sentenced in his absence to three years in prison, for giving a presidential pardon to three officials who had beenjailed for murder. with the latest, here's our correspondent in the georgian capital tbilisi, rayhan demytrie. the georgian prime minister announced at a special briefing that the country's third president has been detained and taken to prison. he left georgia at the end of his second presidential term, back in 2013, and resided in he was tried in absentia and sentenced for abuse of

power while in office. early on friday, he posted on his facebook page a video claiming that he was backin page a video claiming that he was back in georgia. he said in that video that he came on the eve of a very important municipal elections here, to encourage georgians to vote against the governing georgian dream party. throughout the day, georgian officials kept denying that the former president has indeed crossed the georgian state border. however, in the evening, the creditor came out and confirmed that the president, former president, was arrested. june four his arrest, he posted another video, once again asking his supporters to go out and vote in the musical elections on saturday and then come out in large groups on sunday to celebrate, as he said, his party's victory. rayhan

demytrie there. europe's first mission to mercury is expected to reach its destination in just a few hours' time. the bepi colombo spacecraft will fly by the planet at high speeds, taking pictures of the planet and sending them back to earth as it does. it's moving too fast to go into orbit but will begin more detailed observations in four years' time. professor david rothery is one of the lead science investigators on the mission and will be one of the first to examine the images after they are beamed back from the probe. he explained what they are hoping to achieve with the mission. we hope to answer some of the mysteries. we had a wonderful mission to mercury that nasa sent called messenger stop and it showed us we don't understand the planet. we have reform related to science questions we want to answer. we won't answer them from the flyby. the flyby is just whizzing past the planet, too fast to stop, and we don't have many of our science equipment going, and until we get

into orbit and separate committee can't fully function, but when we get there, it is a weird plant because it is made of the wrong stuff. it has got to little rock into much iron. too many volatile elements. there been explosive volcanic erections. it is rich in sulphur and chlorine —— volcanic eruptions will until we can understand things better from eruptions will until we can understand things betterfrom orbit, it is a planet that is going to continue to mystify us. professor david rothery. sounds fascinating, doesn't it? some pictures to share with you now from australia's northern territories of a filming mission which went slightly wrong. this drone was being used to get footage of crocodiles, but one of them decided to take a bite. in case you missed it, here it is again in slow motion. there you go. amazingly, the drone kept filming, but when it was recovered,

it had suffered quite a bit of damage. there is a lesson — don't get close to crocodiles. i'm on twitter. thanks very much for watching. more rain and wind on the way. it is autumn, after all, but for some of us, saturday may end up being a bit of a write—off. and in fact, over the next few days, the weather will remain very unsettled, spells of heavy rain, gales at times and even the possibility of some travel disruption. and the atlantic is looking a lot more vigorous in its weather patterns in the last few days. we're seeing low pressures forming, propelled by a powerfuljet stream. and you can see a low pressure anchored just to the northwest of the uk, another one to the south forming, and that's the one that's going to bring the particularly wet spell of weather on saturday. so through the early hours, we're already expecting some rain across western areas of the uk. but ahead of that, there is plenty

of clear, dry weather. so eastern and central areas may actually wake up to some sunshine. that sunshine may even last until mid—morning or perhaps early afternoon in the extreme east, but very quickly, those clouds will increase and we've got some particularly wet weather there for the south and the southeast, and some strong winds too. further northwest in the afternoon, it's going to be a mixed bag. so for belfast and glasgow, i think some sunny spells certainly in the forecast. so here's saturday night. that low pressure and its extensive rain front moves out of the way, and then the weather opens up a little bitjust in time for the marathons on sunday. so for the london marathon, expect some sunshine, the marathon in belfast as well. nowhere will be completely dry. in fact, showers are expected on sunday with a keen westerly breeze, but at least we're not going to have that really prolonged rain. now, the temperatures both

on saturday and sunday will be around the mid—teens, not that it will feel like it because of the strength of the wind and also the prolonged rain. and then on monday, the next area of low pressure heads our way. so early on monday, there could be some sunshine around, but certainly by monday afternoon and evening, we'll start to see the next area of wet weather approaching southwestern parts of the uk. so a very unsettled spell of weather over the next few days — quite typical for october, really. here's the summary. you can see a lot of rain shower icons there, temperatures mostly in the mid—teens. there's just a hint that sometime later next week, things will settle down at least for a bit. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines. interim trials of a new experimental drug for severe covid suggest it cuts the risk of hospitalisation or death by about half. if authorised by regulators, the new drug which is a pill would be the first oral antiviral medication for covid 19. scientists have warned that the scale of deforestation risks turning the amazon into terrain more like savannah with deadly consequences for people in northern brazil. president biden has been trying to persuade democrats to support his one trillion dollar infrastructure bill. he went to capitol hill for a private meeting with lawmakers, saying they'd get a deal done at some point. europe's first mission to mercury is expected to reach its destination in the next few hours. the bepi colombo spacecraft will fly by the planet at high speeds taking pictures of the planet.