this is bbc news, i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 7. after days of queuing at the pumps, the army will begin delivering fuel to petrol stations across the uk from monday. i appreciate how frustrating it has been, how infuriating it has been for people, the situation is stabilising, but it's a problem that has been driven really by demand, not by supply. an american private equity firm is set to take over morrisons, the uk's fourth largest supermarket group. the home secretary says police must "raise the bar", by taking the harassment of women more seriously. this is the scene live in washington at one of more than 600 abortion

rights rallies being held across the united states, as people protest against recent efforts by states to restrict restrict abortion access. the queen officially opens the sixth session of the scottish parliament at holyrood. two new streams of lava pose a further threat of destruction as the la palma volcano forces more to flee. and coming up in sportsday, all the latest premier league action, as everton hold manchester united to a 1—1 draw at old trafford. good evening. the situation at petrol pumps across much of britain, across much of britain seems to be getting better.

figures from the petrol retailers association show more than two thirds of sites they contacted now have plenty of fuel. however, some filling stations in london and the south east remain dry. the military is due to help out, beginning deliveries to petrol stations from monday. our business correspondent, katy austin has the very latest. there were more queues to fill up again this morning. this was in south—east london. this is the first time i'm queuing up because my boy normally gets it for me, but today, oh, my gosh. it's like christmas came early. these drivers in newcastle weren't having issues. no problems at all, ijust put £100 in. a few days ago it was hard, but i think it's picking up. l the body representing independent forecourts says availability across the country has improved. it thinks about two thirds of sites

now have petrol and diesel, while16% have run dry, but it's labelled the situation in london and the south—east as critical. all deliveries must now go i to london and the south—east and to the independent forecourts, which make up 65% of all- forecourts in the uk. 200 military personnel, including 100 drivers, have been called in to help boost supplies. they are being trained and will start on monday. the first big amount will really be working through this weekend, deploying on monday probably on their own more and then by the end of the week, another 60 to 70 will come online. amid a shortage of hgv drivers across the economy, 5,000 visas for foreign workers had already been announced, lasting until christmas eve. that includes 300 fuel tanker drivers. now we know they will be able to start immediately and the length of time they can stay for has been extended until the end of march.

4,700 of the visas are for food lorry drivers, and they will not be able to start until later this month, but their length of stay has also been extended up to the end of february. ministers insist the fuel situation will continue to improve if people only buy what they need. even when supply levels return to normal, motorists are being told they should expect to pay more at the pump as wholesale prices rise. we will go live to manchester. the front doors of the venue where boris johnson is being awaited. he is due to arrive shortly because the conservative party conference will be kicking off this weekend in earnest. from sunday into monday as well. we have actually got chris mason standing by for us. chris, we are waiting prime minister boris

johnson to arrive. the backdrop isn't the best for him with the fuel crisis, a shortage of hgv drivers, he has a lot on his plate?- he has a lot on his plate? good evenin: , he has a lot on his plate? good evening. we — he has a lot on his plate? good evening, we are _ he has a lot on his plate? good evening, we are here _ he has a lot on his plate? good evening, we are here in - evening, we are here in the mancunian drizzle awaiting the arrival of the prime minister, he has spent the afternoon across the pennines, the other end of the moto—mack keeping half an ion the gate within the secure compound of the conference, the main conference hotel and to the manchester central conference venue just off to the right. there is quite a lot in his entry, around that first business of petrol and the shortages we are seeing in particular in the south—east of england. the prime minister said it's not a shortage. there is not a lack of supply. it's effectively too much demand, too many people wanting petrol at the

same time leading to the backlog and queue. in the broader sense, the prime minister's outlook and the current outlook on the current situation is that they say this is symptomatic of an economic transition that is a result of are positive associated with brexit because their argument is the uk is shifting from what they see as a low—wage, high immigration economy, to a higher wage, low—wage, high immigration economy, to a higherwage, lower low—wage, high immigration economy, to a higher wage, lower immigration economy, which will ensure that people for instance working in the haulage industry are able to earn more, even if at the moment, that means there is this issue around lorry drivers and not being enough of them. the government says it's cranking the leather for now so that more lorry gyros can come into the uk but don't want to do that in the long—term or what sir keir starmer was advocating at their conference in brighton last week. effectively

allowing up to 100,000 drivers to meet demand, because that is the shortages far as the haulage industry is concerned. that is their pitch, but as you say, among all of that as i keep an eye on that get to see if the security guards are about to open it, it doesn't look like it, are the other issues around the cost of living. inflation in prices going on, energy prices going up alongside various energy companies going belly up various energy companies going belly up and there is real concern, more broadly in society but amongst conservatives as well, around that cost of living crisis as critics label it, and what that might mean as we head towards the winter when the rhetoric from the government is all about levelling up and the reality for lots of people is that bills are going up.— reality for lots of people is that bills are going up. going back to those visas. _ bills are going up. going back to those visas, initially, _ bills are going up. going back to those visas, initially, they - bills are going up. going back to those visas, initially, they were | those visas, initially, they were meant to last or expire at the end

of christmas. has much been made of the u—turn or extension as to which those visas can be held? the u-turn or extension as to which those visas can be held?— those visas can be held? there has and the government _ those visas can be held? there has and the government has _ those visas can be held? there has and the government has had - those visas can be held? there has and the government has had to - those visas can be held? there has. and the government has had to shift and the government has had to shift and it has had to move away from positions its previously said it did not to get to, for instance bringing in the military and these relaxation of the visas. a colleague notices that oliver dowden the party chairman has made an appearance in the entrance to the midland hotel. he is likely to part of the greeting party for the prime minister which suggests, fingers crossed, he's not that far away. you learn in moments like this that when advisers talk about something being imminent, imminent becomes the most elastic word in the english language and imminent might mean this evening, rather than in the next ten minutes. as you probably noticed, the rain has gotjust as you probably noticed, the rain has got just that little as you probably noticed, the rain has gotjust that little bit heavier since we have been talking. but to head back to your question around the whole question of visas, there is no doubt people have spotted, not

least the labour party, that the government has had to move to a position it did not want to get to as far as being more liberal, the main gates are now opening, i'm going to interrupt myself because the gates are being held open by the yellow fluorescent jacketed security guards, which suggests we should in a moment see the prime ministerial motorcade, once the tram to eccles has trundled pastjust to my left. it would appear any moment we will see the prime minister who has managed the journey from leeds to manchester on the motorway rather quicker than most commuters manage it most days of the week. any moment, we should see the prime minister arriving to effectively officially mark the opening of this conservative party conference. he marks its opening with his arrival, the formal opening comes tomorrow afternoon then we count down to the moment the prime minister gives his

big conference speech on wednesday lunchtime. the police motorcycle out riders just arriving in the entrance as well, which should mean within the next few seconds we will see athlete of cars, probably three cars, prime minister usually in the middle car, as he arrives. police officers just walking into the middle of the road presumably to stop any other traffic that might stand in the way of the prime ministerial motorcade. it's funny how excited we get about a couple of people getting out of car and walking into a hotel but here comes another motorcycle outrider, i can just see. very shortly, we should have that moment of the prime minister arriving and one or two questions to be shouted. what should i shout? might shout about petrol because that's still a concern for a huge number of people and whether the government is actually in control. they can make the big picture about an economy in transition and the high wage economy and all the rest of it, but that can

seem quite thin if you find yourself looking for petrol you need to get to work. here comes the motorcade arriving into the forecourt of the midland hotel. a couple of range arriving as you may be to see. just pulling up alongside his security team and i suspect in the next moment or so we will see the prime minister and possibly his wife stepping out of the car. here we come, the doors open, a few short steps away. are you in control of the petrol situation, prime minister? ayo? i5 the petrol situation, prime minister? ayo?— the petrol situation, prime minister? ayo? the petrol situation, prime minister?a o? , , minister? ayo? is the country in crisis? are _ minister? ayo? is the country in crisis? are you _ minister? ayo? is the country in crisis? are you sure _ minister? ayo? is the country in crisis? are you sure we - minister? ayo? is the country in crisis? are you sure we won't i minister? ayo? is the country in | crisis? are you sure we won't run out of petrol? — crisis? are you sure we won't run out of petrol? have _ crisis? are you sure we won't run out of petrol? have you - crisis? are you sure we won't run out of petrol? have you had - crisis? are you sure we won't run out of petrol? have you had to i crisis? are you sure we won't run - out of petrol? have you had to queue for etrol, out of petrol? have you had to queue for petrol. sir? _ out of petrol? have you had to queue for petrol, sir? with _ out of petrol? have you had to queue for petrol, sir? with oliver _ out of petrol? have you had to queue for petrol, sir? with oliver dowden . for petrol, sir? with oliver dowden the conservative _ for petrol, sir? with oliver dowden the conservative party _ for petrol, sir? with oliver dowden the conservative party chairman i for petrol, sir? with oliver dowdenl the conservative party chairman and then he sweeps to the midland hotel. as the rain continues to tumble down, the prime minister is here, it

feels like the conservative party conference is under way. i feels like the conservative party conference is under way.- feels like the conservative party conference is under way. i know that mancunian root _ conference is under way. i know that mancunian root drizzle _ conference is under way. i know that mancunian root drizzle very - conference is under way. i know that mancunian root drizzle very well - mancunian root drizzle very well having spent two years in altrincham. get in the dry and thank you very much. thank you. love the hair. that was chris mason doing a sterling job. the supermarket chain, morrisons, has been bought at auction by a us private equity firm. if approved by shareholders clayton, dubilierand rice, which is advised by the former tesco boss, sir terry leahy, will pay almost 7 billion pounds. retail analyst told us this is a big business big opportunities. it became an acquisition target. there is certainly space in the uk

food market for changes, we have seen that asda has changed ownership, the investments this the investments this business is making, cdr, who are the, was by a big business in the uk where they think they can make a big difference, invest in it and hopefully get greater returns than has been the case over the last few years. there has probably never been a tougher time to buy a supermarket in some ways because we are seeing a lot of inflation and there will be pressure on consumers and so it will be as cut—throat as ever in the marketplace. but also there are still opportunities, we are starting to shop differently as we come out of the pandemic. we are certainly looking for lots more convenient shopping and this business is already owning 900 forecourts so you can certainly see morrisons a smaller store formats alongside petrol stations and also there needs to be more investment in online, morrisons have already got a relationship with ocado and amazon, but as we come out of the pandemic, we're doing less big drops in—store, there is a huge change in consumer behaviour that perhaps the new owners can do more with.

and bring morrisons into a new space for the future shopper. the home secretary has said police must "raise the bar" by taking the harassment of women more seriously. priti patel said crimes such as indecent exposure and verbal abuse should not be taken lightly. she said women should feel confident to call out such offences. ministers have promised reform to the criminaljustice system, after the murder of sarah everard by a serving police officer. simonjones reports. the death of sarah everard prompted an outpouring of public grief. now the government says it's determined her murder will bring about permanent change in how society deals with violence against women and girls. the prime minister says there are too few prosecutions and convictions for sexual violence. the time from report to referral, from referral to court proceedings, from court proceedings to the conclusion, all three

of those segments, is far too long. and what you're seeing is the whole system snarled up with evidential problems, with data issues, mobile phones disclosure, all that kind of stuff, and it's a nightmare for the women concerned. wayne couzens kidnapped, raped and murdered sarah everard. he then dumped her body in woodland in kent. cars registered to him had previously been linked to two allegations of indecent exposure, but he wasn't identified as a potential sex offender. it's claimed couzens also used a whatsapp group to swap misogynistic messages with officers from the metropolitan police, the civil nuclear constabulary and the norfolk constabulary. we've also got to address the issues going on within the police force, and you'll have seen this stuff about the officers on the whatsapp group. we've got to come down very hard on them.

the home secretary says the police must "raise the bar," by taking harassment and flashing more seriously. priti patel told the telegraph, they should not be considered low—level crimes. the met says it's putting more officers in places where people feel unsafe. we're absolutely committed to tackling violence against women and girls. that is going to be our focus. it is one of our priorities. so you will see us out on patrol in hot spots. but there are calls for more scrutiny of the police themselves. this has been going on for many, l many years and i'm rather tiredl of hearing police forces say "we are going to learn- lessons from some tragedy." the lessons don't seem to be - learned, and the lessons are that women's suffering of this kind of stuff has to stop. _ and women up and down. the country are saying that. and you have to listen, and police forces are not doing that. - and so it has to be listened - at a lower level, and i'm sorry that means resourcing and that means more police available and more _ money put into policing. and into the court system. but we also have to have much better processes of training police _ and those in the justice system.

opposition politicians accused the government of starving the police and courts of resources, but there's a growing consensus that the death of sarah everard must act as a watershed moment. simon jones, bbc news. the queen has been addressing msps at holyrood, to mark the opening of the sixth session of the scottish parliament. this will be the snp's fourth consecutive term in government, following their election victory in may. alexandra mackenzie has the story. the queen was joined at holyrood by the duke and duchess of rothesay. they were greeted by party leaders, including the first minister. msps looked on as the mace and the crown of scotland were placed in the chamber, symbolising the challenges of this parliamentary term.

marking this new session does indeed bring a sense of beginning and renewal. the scottish parliament has been at the heart of scotland's response to the pandemic, with people across this country looking to you for leadership and stewardship. due to the pandemic, much of the music was recorded around the country. here in plockton... and this group of asylum—seeking and refugee musicians in nicola sturgeon�*s glasgow constituency. we are a nation proud to call itself simply home for everyone who chooses to live here. and it is indeed fitting that the growing diversity of modern scotland is now reflected more clearly in this new parliament. the queen spoke of fond memories of time spent in scotland with her late husband, the duke of edinburgh. she also said it was a moment

to look to a new generation. alexandra mackenzie, bbc news. the government's latest coronavirus figures show there were 30,301 new infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period, which means on average there were 34,855 new cases recorded per day in the last week. 121 deaths were reported, that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. on average in the past week, 114 deaths were announced every day. the latest figures on those being treated in hospital and percentage of people vaccinated, haven't yet been made available. some charities have warned that many

vulnerable people are still waiting for a third dose of a covid vaccine. officials recommended the jabs for eligible patients a month ago but kidney care uk and blood cancer uk say the rollout has gone "badly wrong". nhs england say all those affected should be offered the injection by the end of next week. there could be a breakthrough in the way we treat covid—19. interim trials suggest a new, experimental drug could cut the risk of hospitalisation, or death by about half. if authorised by regulators, the treatment will be the first oral, antiviral medication for covid 19. oral, antiviral medication for covid—19. mark 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 unvaccinated, elderly or medically at risk volunteers within five days of them showing coronaviruses 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 didn't 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. but 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.

it completely corrupts the genome of the virus so it can't replicate, and that's the beauty. and then, even if the virus mutates, it could be still useful. people are now talking about this, that if we have another coronavirus pandemic in the future, this drug will still work for that coronavirus. because it is agnostic to variants. there are existing clinic—based intravenous treatments which are even more effective, but this appears to be the first pill to treat covid, and as long as it's taken early on could offer an alternative at roughly a third of the price — at $700 per treatment. accessibility is a problem i with a monoclonal antibody. for this one, it's a simple pill so obviously a lot easier- to administer and a lot easier to administer as an— outpatient as well. merck hopes 10 million courses of the treatment will be available by the end of the year. it has agreed to supply the us with close to 2 million,

and to license the drug to several india—based generic drug makers, which could supply it to low and middle—income countries. for countries that don't have the vaccine available, this could be another stopgap. the us authorities say the drug is no substitute for preventative vaccines, but this is an exciting development — as the us drug company seeks emergency approval within weeks as the first company to report trial results of an effective and relatively cheap pill to treat covid. as others companies also work on similar treatments. mark lobel, bbc news. two nhs doctors who've made a name for themselves on tik tok have been encouraging teenagers to get their coronavirus vaccines at a pop—up vaccination centre in east london. the pair have been using social media to educate young people about the jab, as tarah welsh reports.

hi, guys. i am a 28—year—old a&e emergency doctor working in london. i'm an nhs surgeon with 4.3 million followers on tiktok. that's really weird for me to say. they are social media superstars, but doctors by day. and the nhs is hoping they can help target young londoners. have you been vaccinated? i have. both? yes, double jabbed. i saw how devastating covid can be for patients and their families so i thought it was my duty to explain to people, no, i have been there and seen it, because most people haven't seen anyone who got very ill from covid. they haven't been on the wards and seen people struggling to breathe. you tell them, no, this is real. this may seem highly unusual but the uptake of the vaccine has been lower for younger people,

so the nhs says it's had to think of different ways to get that group through the doors of these vaccination centres. the time has come... the nhs hopes these doctors will help reassure youngsters who may be hesitant because of concerns around side effects and fertility. there's lots of good evidence to suggest there not any significant long—term side effects and with regards to fertility we have got real world data, in addition to the science, which support there's no impact on fertility. we know that covid itself can have a huge impact on fertility. a lot of misinformation is online, though, and the social media giant tiktok has partnered with the nhs to try and counter some of it. we have strict rules. read misinformation. we have a dedicated covid hub with information from the nhsj and the world health organisation, so anybody searching for covid - information on tiktoki will be directed there. across england, more

than three quarters of 18 than three quarters of 18 to 29—year—olds have had their first dose of the vaccine. these doctors hope to get those numbers up. abortion rights are being held across all 50 states in america today, protests being held and looking at the effects are rather impacts of recent decisions, particularly one of the most discussed one in texas has led many to believe the national legislation will be diluted, leading to fewer rights for women. that's the streets of washington, dc where protesters are marching to the supreme court. let's take a look at the latest weather forecast.

it has been wet across many parts of the uk. in northern ireland, there has been sunshine, showers heading into night. this is the rain that has come through, what has been happening this afternoon. we have seen rain mounting particularly to the south—east and east of england, very difficult travel conditions tomorrow. there will be showers around, it's looking like it will be very blustery. that has been the other part of the story. strong wind in coastal south—east england. overnight, we will see the wind strength and in northern scotland, especially the northern isles and later into the first part of sunday morning in shetland with gusts around 60—70. overnight the rain clears away. shower across most eastern parts. for the london marathon tomorrow, looking like plenty of sunshine. only a few showers later in the afternoon. bulk

of the day looking dry. there will be a stiff breeze, not necessarily wanting to run into. this is how sunday looks for the rest of us. dry weather to the east, showers in the west, the movement is from west to east during the day. it could be heavy and thundery, big gaps in between, the showers move quickly on the wind, average speeds, just around 35—45. rather cool with sunshine and the longer spell of rain pushing back to the northern isles later in the afternoon. strong winds will ease a little. sunday night into monday morning, very similar. showers come most in the west, but a few more widely across southern england going into monday morning. not quite as cool as monday, monday will be another day of sunshine and showers. most frequent in the west, some further east, some later in the day, ahead of this area of rain, and where the

system advancing. something to play for, it looks like it will bring more wet and windy weather and especially to england and wales on tuesday. gales around that, especially impacting wales and south—west england, we will keep you updated. heavy rain moving through, heavy showers, looks like scotland and northern ireland will miss most of this, could see some rain which pushes towards the east of scotland. a lot in the detail but what will happen on tuesday we know it's likely there will be more wet and windy weather. that's your forecast. hello this is bbc news. i'm lu kwesa i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines... after days of queuing at the pumps, retailers say there's an improvement an improvement nationwide, although fuel supplies remain critical in london

and southeast england. an american private equity firm is set to take over morrisons, the uk's fourth largest supermarket group. the home secretary says police must "raise the bar" by taking the harassment of women more seriously. the queen officially opens the sixth session of the scottish parliament at holyrood and speaks of her "deep and abiding affection" for scotland. sportsday will be coming up shortly. before that, though, we continue our countdown to cop26. hello, i'mjustin rowlatt, the bbc�*s new climate editor, and this is countdown to the cop26 global finance summit. a series of programmes from around the world, looking at the issues and challenges

of climate change. as nations prepare to gather in glasgow this november to discuss