you are watching bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: optimism from health experts as a pill developed to treat severe coronavirus reports positive trial results that could halve the chances of dying. after the murder of sarah everard by a serving police officer, london's metropolitan police tries to regain the public trust. two new streams of lava pose a further threat of destruction as the lipoma volcano forces thousands to flee. —— la palma stop —— la palma. thousands to flee. -- la palma stop -- la palma.— thousands to flee. -- la palma stop -- la palma. nobody knows how much _ stop -- la palma. nobody knows how much lover _ stop -- la palma. nobody knows how much lover is _ stop -- la palma. nobody knows how much lover is going - stop -- la palma. nobody knows how much lover is going to - stop -- la palma. nobody knows how much lover is going to flow. how much lover is going to flow into the sea, there is no sign of descending anytime soon. the countdown _ of descending anytime soon. the countdown continues. just hours to go until the combination of

your�*s first mission to mercury. and it's back. the london marathon returns to the city streets on sunday for the first full—scale race in more than two years. hello, and welcome to the programme. they could be a breakthrough in the way we treat covid—19. interim trials treat covid—i9. interim trials suggest 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 antiviral medication for covid—i9. mike lobel reports. this is the first covid pill. trial results suggest it can cut hospitalisations or deaths by half.

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. pills were given to 775 elderly or medically at—risk patients within five days of them showing coronavirus symptoms. the data from a phase three trial showed 7.3% of patients on the drug were hospitalised, compared to 14.1% of those who did not take the tablets. eight patients who were given a placebo — or dummy pill — later died of covid, but there were no deaths in the group taking the pill. the trial was stopped early because the pill was so successful. the data still needs to be peer—reviewed. so how does it work? as coronavirus replicates itself inside your body, these antiviral pills trick it into using the drug, which then inserts errors into the virus�*s genetic code,

blocking the virus from replicating. there are existing intravenous treatments, but this is the first pill and, as long as it's taken early on, would offer an alternative at a third of a price — at $700 a treatment. accessibility is a problem with monoclonal antibody. for this one, it's a simple pill, so obviously a lot easier to administer it and a lot easier to administer as an outpatient as well. merck says it's making 10 million courses of the treatment by the end of the year, with 1.7 million of those already paid for by the us government. "game changer" is probably a bit of a stretch, but absolutely helps push us forward. and that's kind of how we see it is this moving back to a normal society, and this is just the next step. the us drug company is seeking emergency approval for the drug, which us authorities say is no substitute for

preventative vaccines. but this is an exciting development, as the first company to report trial results of a pill to treat covid as other companies also work on similar treatments. mark lobel, bbc news. well, let's speak now to epidemiologist and health economist doctor eric fogel ding, whojoins us from washington. —— feigl—ding. doctor feigl—ding, thank you forjoining us. took us three how this pill works? this pill is quite remarkable. it is not based on any spiked proteins like the vaccines are, it is agnostic to variants, because it targets the molecular machinery of the virus. it has lots of nonsense code. it completely corrupts the gino of the virus, so that it can't replicate. —— de genome. and that's the beauty. evenif genome. and that's the beauty. even if the virus mutates, it

can still be useful. people are talking about this, if we have another coronavirus pandemic in the future this still work about coronavirus, because it agnostic to variants. and that, i think, is what makes it a game changer.— i think, is what makes it a game changer. but this is not preventative, _ game changer. but this is not preventative, is _ game changer. but this is not preventative, is it? _ game changer. but this is not preventative, is it? this - game changer. but this is not preventative, is it? this is - preventative, is it? this is given to people when they have already been diagnosed with the disease? , , ., disease? right, this is not like a vaccine _ disease? right, this is not like a vaccine whatsoever. i disease? right, this is not l like a vaccine whatsoever. it is not preventing illness. you get this after you test positive. but this is not like the premises own which is for severe cases only. —— dexamethasone. and it is a pill, unlike intravenous antibodies, remdesevir, all of those are extremely invasive and needing to go to the clinic to get the treatment. this could theoretically be over—the—counter, although i don't think they will offer it over—the—counter anytime soon.

but the simplicity of the mass production is also much simpler. production is also much simpler-— production is also much simler. , ., ., simpler. tell us more about that. simpler. tell us more about that how — simpler. tell us more about that. how does _ simpler. tell us more about that. how does mass - simpler. tell us more about - that. how does mass production works, how much it is likely to cost? , ,, ., cost? so, the process for producing _ cost? so, the process for producing this _ cost? so, the process for producing this is - cost? so, the process for producing this is a - cost? so, the process for producing this is a very . producing this is a very conventional process. unlike monoclonal antibodies, which require these bioreactors, it is very tedious to produce monoclonal antibodies, but this one can be mass produced pretty conventionally, and they have already licensed it to a different generic drug makers in india, which should be able to set it up to mass—produce it very quickly. and, you know, the $700 price is obviously not low, but compared to remdesevir, which can be up to $3000, or monoclonal antibody treatments, which is also $3000, this is much, much cheaper, although it is still not nearly as cheap as a vaccine, of course, which i want to point out, this lowers risk by half, but the vaccine

lowers hospitalisation risk tenfold to 100 fold. so it is still orders of magnitude not as powerful as a vaccine. in the early — as powerful as a vaccine. in the early days of the vaccine rollout there were concerns around delivery, storage of vaccines, especially pfizer vaccines. 0bviously vaccines, especially pfizer vaccines. obviously a pill is much easier to transport. how might this impact covid rates across countries like africa, southeast asia?— southeast asia? you could transfer this _ southeast asia? you could transfer this pretty - southeast asia? you could transfer this pretty easily i transfer this pretty easily without the cold chain needed for the vaccines. without even the freezer chain needed. in many instances. and i think this could be one of those frontier offered drug pills that are used in many resource limited settings. costs allowing, of course. but again, for countries that don't have the vaccine available, this could be another stopgap. and

of course there are the vaccine resistant and vaccine diehard hesitant that we may not be able to convince them anytime soon, but hopefully, you know, if they get, if they contract the virus they will take this and it will save their lives, and it will save their lives, and saving lives right now is really the most important thing. really the most important thin. ., . , thing. doctor eric feigl-ding, thank you _ thing. doctor eric feigl-ding, thank you for _ thing. doctor eric feigl-ding, thank you for being _ thing. doctor eric feigl-ding, thank you for being with - thing. doctor eric feigl-ding, thank you for being with us. i thank you for being with us. appreciated. the metropolitan police here in london is trying to reassure women about their safety after a serving officer pleaded guilty to the rape, kidnap and murder of a woman who was working home alone in london. —— walking. the officer, wayne couzens, has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. it emerged he had used his police idea and handcuffs in the attack on sarah everard in the attack on sarah everard in march. daniel sandford reports. 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 this 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. 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. let's get some of the day's other stories. the former president of georgia has been arrested within hours of his return to his homeland after years in exile. he said he was returning from the ukraine on the eve of municipal elections to urge voters to abandon the governing georgian mainstream party. georgia's president, salome zourabichvili, has said she will not pardon him. the us supreme courtjudge has refused to block a requirement that all of new york city's public school teachers and employees

be vaccinated against covid—19. justice sonia sotomayor rejected a challenge by a group of four teachers and teaching assistants. and the coach of women's soccer team has been sacked over allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct towards players dating back several years. paul riley from liverpool lead north carolina courage to two league titles. he faces a string of allegations, including remarks made about a player's sexual orientation, by the athletic sports news website. riley denies any sexual misconduct. in the united states, texas now has the strictest anti—abortion law in the united states, with the procedure effectively banned after six weeks, a so—called "heartbeat bill". today we hear from michelle, who has chosen to get an abortion and is trying to navigate a new reality for women there, and we hearfrom kaylee, who says she has been flooded for cries for help since texas introduced its strict anti—abortion law. angelica casas met them both

and has the 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 of 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 disagree on ardently. but at the end of the day, the question we ask is, "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 go 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? this is bbc news: our main headlines: health experts express optimism as it till developed to treat coronavirus reports positive trial results that could halve the chances of dying. and after the murder of sarah everard by a serving police officer, london's metropolitan police tries to regain the public trust. red hot lover from a volcano on the spanish island of la palma continues to flow into the sea. many homes and crops have been destroyed and thousands of people forced to flee. the eruption began 11 days ago. our correspondent danjohnson is correspondent dan johnson is there. welcome to the newest part of la palma, a volcanic island extension that is growing all the time. all of this lover has

destroyed 1000 homes and forced thousands more to be abandoned. emily and august in other leaders to pack up ready to leave, fearful it is having their way. it leave, fearful it is having their way-— leave, fearful it is having theirwa . ., �* , ., their way. it won't stop. that is my one — their way. it won't stop. that is my one big _ their way. it won't stop. that is my one big fear, _ their way. it won't stop. that is my one big fear, that - their way. it won't stop. that is my one big fear, that we l their way. it won't stop. that i is my one big fear, that we are onlyjust seeing the beginning. and there is august in's mum and aunt, 96 and 97. they live through previous eruptions in 1949 through previous eruptions in 19119 and through previous eruptions in 1949 and 1971, but now they have had enough. this is much worse than the other eruptions, fried says. i will be much calmer when i reach the other island. ~ ., island. we are hopeful, we still have — island. we are hopeful, we still have the _ island. we are hopeful, we still have the house. - island. we are hopeful, we still have the house. hope| island. we are hopeful, we i still have the house. hope is always— still have the house. hope is always stronger than fear, but we hope — always stronger than fear, but we hope it will stay. i have so many— we hope it will stay. i have so many friends who lost their houses, _ many friends who lost their houses, and everything. round the clock. _ houses, and everything. round the clock, the _ houses, and everything. round the clock, the lover _ houses, and everything. round the clock, the lover keeps - the clock, the lover keeps flowing. new vents have opened up, threatening other villages. ash is continually crowding the skies —— lava. so janet's work

is never done, because this volcanic grit just is never done, because this volcanic gritjust keeps falling. volcanic grit 'ust keeps fallina. �* ,, �* volcanic grit 'ust keeps fallina. �* ,, ~ , volcanic grit 'ust keeps fallina. �* , ., falling. translation: it is not eas .we falling. translation: it is not easy. we never _ falling. translation: it is not easy. we never imagined - falling. translation: it is not easy. we never imagined this i easy. we never imagined this could happen. it is hard to see people without anywhere to live. 0n people without anywhere to live. on this island, we are a family. there is a huge exclusion zone being patrolled by the coast guard because, although that is mostly steam being given off when the lava hits the water, there is also the risk toxic gases are released as well. and nobody knows how much more lava is going to flow into the sea. there is no sign of this ending any time soon. fishermen like elian can only watch and wait. it is said the fish all swam awayjust 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 ever—flowing lava. danjohnson, bbc news, la palma. europe's first mission to mercury is completing its first flyby. the spacecraft will fly by the planet at high speeds, taking pictures of the planet and sending them back to earth as it does. it is moving too fast to go into orbit but will begin more detailed observations in four years the post time. i spoke to a planetary scientist who has been following this mission closely. emily, a very good closely. emily, a very 9°°d afternoon to you in closely. emily, a very good afternoon to you in la. what does this mission hope to achieve?— does this mission hope to achieve? this mission is a flagship — achieve? this mission is a flagship mission, - achieve? this mission is a flagship mission, huge . achieve? this mission is a i flagship mission, huge with a lot of plans to do science on mercury. they have only been two previous missions to mercury, one a long time ago, mariner ten, and then more recently a nasa mission. this one is designed to answer a lot of questions raised by the

messenger mission. irate of questions raised by the messenuer mission. ~ ., messenger mission. we mentioned in the introduction _ messenger mission. we mentioned in the introduction the _ in the introduction the spacecraft �*s shooting past mercury, it is not actually landing on the planet. what are we watching for in the coming hours? ~ ., hours? well, the main thing that this flyby _ hours? well, the main thing that this flyby is _ hours? well, the main thing that this flyby is supposed i hours? well, the main thing| that this flyby is supposed to accomplish is to alter the orbit, alter the trajectory of the spacecraft, as it goes around the sun. they would love to be able to enter orbit right now, because that is after all the goal of this mission, to orbit mercury for a couple of years and gather lots of science data. but it is very difficult to enter orbit of mercury. it is a very small planet and the gargantuan gravity of the sun is close by. they will have to pass by a total of five times before finally entering orbit in 2025. so all they really want to hear is that the spacecraft is healthy and safe and its trajectory is exactly what they want. but they will also be getting some science data from this encounter.— this encounter. you mentioned the aircraft _ this encounter. you mentioned the aircraft staying _ this encounter. you mentioned the aircraft staying healthy - the aircraft staying healthy and safe, this is obviously very close to the sun. how does the spacecraft protect itself from that incredible heat and that radiation?— that radiation? well, it carries a _ that radiation? well, it

carries a sunshield. - that radiation? well, it carries a sunshield. iti carries a sunshield. it actually has one side of the spacecraft that is designed to be pointed out that hot surface of the sun, and a lot of the other instruments and systems of the spacecraft hide underneath it like an umbrella. so that doesn't limit the directions that the spacecraft can point. 0nce directions that the spacecraft can point. once they are in orbit around mercury, their instruments are designed in order to be able to stare down at the surface of mercury. until then, a lot of the instruments are actually completely hidden inside the spacecraft right now, so a lot of them do not actually have a few out. but many of them don't need a field of view. there are things like magnetometers and dust counters and stuff that are activating just behind the flyby. are activating 'ust behind the fl b . ~ , , , are activating 'ust behind the flb. i, , flyby. why is this research so important? _ flyby. why is this research so important? it _ flyby. why is this research so important? it is _ flyby. why is this research so important? it is not - flyby. why is this research so important? it is not like - important? it is not like humans are planning to go and live on mercury anytime soon, is it? ., live on mercury anytime soon, is it? . , , is it? that is definitely true. humans do _ is it? that is definitely true. humans do not _ is it? that is definitely true. humans do not intend - is it? that is definitely true. humans do not intend to . is it? that is definitely true. i humans do not intend to land is it? that is definitely true. - humans do not intend to land or live on mercury. however, there is one interesting thing about mercury. there is water ice on the poles of mercury. it has impact craters that have dug deep holes at the polls and

because there is a hole at the poll, the sun doesn't shine at the bottom of the crater. so there is a resource there if humans didn't want to go. but this is mostly about scientific curiosity. it is about curiosity. it is about curiosity about mercury, about how it formed, about some very strange aspects of mercury like why its magnetic field is so offset, why its core is so big. a lot of these questions feed into a much bigger question, which is how did our solar system form in the first place. that does lead back to us, because it is, to answer the question of how we got here, about how our solar system generated an earth that can support life. in order to answer that question we need to look at both ends of the solar system, mercury, pluto and beyond and everything in between, to try to understand how we came into being. we will leave it there. _ how we came into being. we will leave it there. thank _ how we came into being. we will leave it there. thank you - how we came into being. we will leave it there. thank you for - leave it there. thank you for joining us. mr; leave it there. thank you for joining us— 0ne one of the uk's major sporting events is back, the london marathon. last year, covid restrictions meant only elite

runners took part on a closed circuit. spring 2019 — the old world. nostalgia? well, that london marathon is back this sunday, more or less. competitors will be covid tested, yes, and they'll start in staggered waves. but it's mass participation again. for the organisers it's not just safe — it's inspiring. 0utdoors is the best place to be, looking after your physical and mental health by taking exercise is the best thing to do for you, and it'sjust great to be here. seven times the champion here — david weir! david weir agrees. he was ready to retire after the paralympics, but can't resist the london marathon. he is back for yet more. i've just got this bug for it, and to, you know, get. on the start line in 2000 and still be here now is truly amazing. - and weir will win once again in london. so 40,000 will try to get to the traditional finishing line here on the mall.

another 40,000 will be competing wherever in the world life finds them, running the london marathon virtually. for example, in germany. hello, guys. my name is anas al masri, from palestine. i'm in training for the london marathon. he is part of the international refugee team. ifeel so happy, because this is my favourite sport. it's your favourite sport to run marathons, anas? favourite sport — marathons. i feel so happy, because... oh, my god. it's ok, it's good. well, sport is the world's language, isn't it? and more competitors than ever before, one way or another, one place or another, will be part of this london marathon. joe wilson, bbc news. and good luck to them. you can

reach me on twitter. i am @richpreston. thank you for watching. from me and the team, we will see you soon. 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 powerful jet stream. and you can see a low pressure anchored just to the north—west 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 south—east and some strong winds too. further north—west in the afternoon, it's going to be more of 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'll 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 south—western 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 is just a hint that, sometime later next week, things will settle down at least for a bit. bye— bye.

you're watching bbc news. i'm rich preston. provisional clinical trials of a new experimental drug for severe covid suggests 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. after the murder of sarah everard, the british prime minister has urged the public to trust the police despite the revelation her killer was a serving officer. borisjohnson said the government was examining how the criminaljustice system could be improved to better handle cases of violence against women. and the volcano that has been erupting for over a week on the spanish island of la palma is still spewing out two new streams of lava.