you're watching bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: more than a0 countries pledge to end the use of coal, but major producers, including the us, india and china, are not signed up to the agreement. a year on from the start of the war in ethiopia, the government claims to be on the brink of victory — but tigrayan fighters are advancing towards the capital. the world health organization warns that europe is once again at the epicentre of the covid pandemic. and the uk becomes the first country in the world to approve an anti—viral pill against coronavirus.

the end of coal is in sight. that's the word from the government here in the uk, where world powers have been meeting at the cop26 climate conference. it comes after more than a0 countries promised to phase out coal in the coming decades. poland, vietnam and chile are among the fast—growing economies which now say they'll reduce their coal use. but as our science correspondent rebecca morelle reports, other big users of coal such china and the us haven't signed up to the deal. a dinosaur on the loose at the united nations, but with a message for humanity. listen up, people, i know a thing or two about extinction. going extinct is a bad thing... if we want to save our planet and ourselves, we'll need to stop climate change,

but to do that fossil fuels will have to become a thing of the past. today at the climate conference, the talk is all about energy, and top of the list is phasing out coal. this fossil fuel is the biggest single contributor to climate change, and more than a0 countries have now committed to move away from it. i do believe that the end of coal is in sight. i do believe we are getting to a point where we consign coal power to history. the agreement includes coal—reliant countries like poland and south korea, but missing are the us, india and most significantly china, where half of the world's coal is burned. it has the biggest transition, the biggest challenges and needs to really drive a structural change in its energy system. today's precedent and movement really increases the pressure for them to come up with those solutions sooner than later. moving away from coal is the future aim, but what's happening to greenhouse gas emissions now? since the 1990s, carbon dioxide levels have been mainly rising, but during the pandemic,

when the world shut down, they fell sharply. this year, though, they've increased rapidly again, to almost the same amount. behind those numbers is really a big rebound in coal in particular, so probably what is happening here is that the stimulus packages to go out of covid, because they have stimulated the current economy, which is a fossil fuel economy. but if we are to get to net zero emissions, what do we do about oil and gas? they've been filling some of the gaps behind coal, but some countries like costa rica and denmark are setting a date to end their use, and other nations at cop26 are expected to do the same. but the clock is ticking for decisions about our energy future. scientists are clear — our reliance on fossil fuels needs to end fast. rebecca morelle, bbc news, glasgow. well, we can discuss this now with nikos tsafos. he's chair of energy

and geopolitics at the center for strategic and international studies, based in washington dc. thank you for being with us. this is a big agreement, but america isn't part of it. does that undermine the deal somehow? what message does that sound to the world? the message. _ sound to the world? the message. i _ sound to the world? the message, i think, - sound to the world? the message, i think, from | sound to the world? tue: message, i think, from the sound to the world? tte: message, ithink, from the us, message, i think, from the us, is quite clear. which is that the politics of phasing out: very tricky. they are very tricky here and they are very tricky here and they are very tricky in other parts of the world, and frankly there is not yet a consensus in the country to set a date for phasing out coal, and that is what prevents the president and the delegation of the us to make that commitment. but it is also a challenge every other country faces as well. so the united states is not alone, but its absence from this list of signatories is noticeable. the list of signatories _ signatories is noticeable. the list of signatories is long, including countries from the developed and developing world. whether any countries you are surprised to see on that list?

i was very pleasantly surprised to see indonesia signing on to this pledge, with a caveat, but still, i was very surprised to see vietnam, one of the fastest growing economies and cold uses in south east asia signing onto this pledge. i was surprised to see ukraine and the philippines and even botswana, there are a lot of surprises on that list. still, when you tally it up, just over 10% of the world's coal consumption. so we not there yet but it is a good list that countries like those are willing to stand up and say, the right conditions, i too can do this. ., ., , ., do this. how does the agreement work in practice? _ do this. how does the agreement work in practice? what _ do this. how does the agreement work in practice? what are - work in practice? what are countries actually signing up to? ., ., , ., countries actually signing up to? ., ., . to? now not up to much. there is no specific — to? now not up to much. there is no specific actions _ to? now not up to much. there is no specific actions they - is no specific actions they have to take. what it is, above all, is a consensus around certain key pillars. 0ne, all, is a consensus around certain key pillars. one, that

we have to scale up, renewable energy, if we want to phase out coal. two commit such precise dates, the 2030s for advanced economies and the 20a0s for emerging economies, for phasing out coal. it sets up, crucially, number three, a commitment to stop will new coal, because that is one of the changes we can make today, putting aside the phasing out of existing systems, and number four, very importantly, it says if we are going to phase out coal we have to look after the workers and the communities where coal now exists, because otherwise we're not going to a just transition. great, we will leave it there. nikos tsafos in washington, dc, thanks for being with us. leading activist greta thunberg has slammed progress being made in glasgow, tweeting:

let's turn to coronavirus, and a warning from the world health organization that europe is once again at the epicentre of the pandemic. the who says europe could face another 500,000 deaths before the end of winter if the outbreak isn't brought under control. the continent has recorded a 55% rise in cases over the past four weeks, despite the availability of vaccines. courtney bembridge has this report. romania's hospitals are at breaking point as the country struggles to deal with a fourth wave of rotavirus infections. more than 3000 romanians have died with covid—i9 over the past week. most of them unvaccinated. the country has the second lowest vaccination rate in the european union,

just over one third of the aduu just over one third of the adult population has had to doses. the rate of vaccination has slowed across the continent in recent months. the world health organization says people have become complacent. european countries have the capacity, they have the vaccine access, they have the money, they have the systems in place that they can enact. many other regions don't necessarily have those capacitors that capacity is in place. so i think it is a warning shot for the world, to see what is happening in europe despite the availability of vaccination.— despite the availability of vaccination. infections are u - ri . ht vaccination. infections are upright across _ vaccination. infections are upright across europe. - vaccination. infections are - upright across europe. germany had a record number of cases this week. in the netherlands, hospitalisations were up almost one third, and latvia, that the waimea and estonia are recording some of the highest daily figures. —— lithuania. tt we stay on this trajectory we could see another half a million covid—i9 deaths in europe and central asia by the first of february next year.

several european countries on our ringing back some restrictions, including mandatory face coverings, limits on nonessential shops, and encouraging people to work remotely. connie bembridge, bbc news. the uk has become the first country in the world to approve an anti—viral pill against coronavirus. in trials, the drug was shown to cut the chances of dying or being hospitalised in half. british authorities have bought enough supplies to treat nearly 500,000 people. here's our medical editor, fergus walsh. a pill that can stop covid in its tracks — it's been the goal of scientists since the pandemic began. now there is molnupiravir, and it's likely to be the first of many antiviral treatments. anne—marie tested positive for coronavirus on tuesday and has just started a five—day course of molnupiravir as part of a trial in liverpool. she's had cancer, and so is more vulnerable to covid. it's absolutely

a life—and—death situation. i do have a family that i need to think about, and i need to be here for them. and if this gives me the opportunity to be around for my son's wedding and everything else, then so be it. when coronavirus infects cells, it makes multiple copies of itself. molnupiravir, originally designed to treat flu, introduces errors in the virus�*s genetic code, which hampers its ability to spread. it's over a year since the clinical research facility at royal liverpool university hospital began testing molnupiravir on patients. global trials have shown it halves the chances of dying or being hospitalised with covid. to have a drug like this, to have an antiviral that's potent, that's able to be taken orally, is a very important moment and does mark a milestone in our discovery of effective medicines against covid. the uk has ordered a80,000 courses of molnupiravir, with the first doses

expected to arrive here later this month. it's being approved for people with at least one risk factor for covid, such as being over 60, obese or having heart disease. it's most effective when given within five days of symptoms appearing. the cost of the drug hasn't been revealed, but in the us it's £500 per patient. the uk was the first country in the world to authorise the pfizer and astrazeneca vaccines, and now regulators here have again led the way by approving molnupiravir. it will be months before doctors know how effective it is outside trials. but antivirals look set to play a key role in keeping covid patients out of hospital. fergus walsh, bbc news.

in east africa, in ethiopia, tigrayan forces have warned they'll march on the country's capital, addis abbaba, to prevent what they call a genocide being carried out by federal forces against the northern tigrayan people. it comes on the one year anniversary of the start of the war there. the tigray people's liberation front or tplf have taken two towns in recent days, prompting the country's prime minister to warn the capital's residents to take up arms. samuel getachew is a journalist in addis ababa and gave us this update. there has been lines of people heading to local government officers to register their weapons. they think that the government has told them that they need to protect themselves if bt plf comes to addis ababa

and attacks them, abuses them, they haven't come yet, but from what we have heard, the government is ready to defend the capital. addis ababa is not just the capital of ethiopian, it is also the diplomatic capital of the continent. it hosts the most diplomatic embassies in the continent. so it is an important city, and ethiopian out, as was said by the state department spokesperson in washington, dc, it is one of the most important nations in africa. you know, it needs to be protected. which needs to be protected. which needs the protection that it deserves. but how much that protection is going to be intact is an open debate. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, defending the earth — nasa says it will test a new system that could deflect asteroids.

the israeli prime minister, yitzhak rabin, the architect of the middle east peace process, has been assassinated. a 27—year—old jewish man has been arrested and an extremistjewish organisation has claimed responsibility for the killing. at polling booths throughout the country, they voted on a historic day for australia. as the results came in, it was clear — the monarchy would survive. of the american hostages, there was no sign — - they are being held somewhere inside the compound — - and student leaders have threatened that, should i the americans attempt. rescue, they will all die. this mission has surpassed all expectations. voyager one is now the most distant man—made object anywhere in the universe, and itjust seems to keep on going. tonight, we prove once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines: more than a0 countries pledge to end the use of coal, but major producers, including the us, india and china, are not signed up to the agreement. let's stay with that. craig hart is executive director of pace university's energy and climate center and a non—resident senior fellow at the atlantic council global energy center. hejoins us live from new york now. what do you make of this deal? thank you for having me on. it puts us on the right track but it is only a start and it is clearly not enough. there is a couple of first of all, this only covers the power set and

as you have already indicated, there's a number of countries that need to be ceasing coal use in order to make this meaningfulfrom the use in order to make this meaningful from the perspective of stopping climate change advancing. of stopping climate change advancing-— of stopping climate change advancing. of stopping climate change advancinu. ,, ., ., ., advancing. us, india, china not sinned advancing. us, india, china not signed up _ advancing. us, india, china not signed up to — advancing. us, india, china not signed up to the _ advancing. us, india, china not signed up to the agreement. is| signed up to the agreement. is there a high they might get on board in months and years to come? in board in months and years to come? ,, ,, ., , come? in the us, the us has been closing _ come? in the us, the us has been closing coal _ come? in the us, the us has been closing coal plants - been closing coal plants because they are not economics and probably will not be opening a new powerplant and unabated kyle so in the us case, —— coal. it is about domestic objects not being able to sign on but that has been happening and by 2030, we would have close to those of our plans stop china and india are of greater concern. ——

two—thirds of our plans. they are expanding their power sector and coal remains a big part of it. in china, at least 50% is coal —based and even though they say they will not be financing new plants overseas, the ones in the pipeline will probably be built and still use coal as a reserve and still use coal as a reserve and continue building for ten years. when china and india is concerned but also australia is not part of this and the fact that the us is not part of this is actually more relevant from the perspective that we produce coal and export it so the us and australia will still be in the coal game as a producer of the coal game as a producer of the fuel. tess the coal game as a producer of the fuel. �* , ., , the fuel. as part of this agreement, _ the fuel. as part of this agreement, wealthy . the fuel. as part of this - agreement, wealthy countries promised to phase out fuel in

the 2030's developing countries get an extra decade — are those timescales realistic? get an extra decade - are those timescales realistic?— timescales realistic? much de-ends timescales realistic? much depends on _ timescales realistic? much depends on the _ timescales realistic? much depends on the effort - timescales realistic? much depends on the effort put| timescales realistic? much i depends on the effort put in, particularly the transition support for workers and communities and set is. that will be crucial to making this work. a lot of comes down to jobs and keeping communities dependent upon coal and other fossil fuels, dependent upon coal and other fossilfuels, keeping those communities, you know, vibrant, evenin communities, you know, vibrant, even in an energy transition. a lot of this depends on the effort put in. it is a track, a way to move things along but much of it depends on what we do with this track. we much of it depends on what we do with this track.— do with this track. we will leave it there. _ do with this track. we will leave it there. thank - do with this track. we will leave it there. thank you | do with this track. we will. leave it there. thank you very much for making the time for us. . ~' much for making the time for us. . ~ , ., here in the uk, the government's facing fresh claims of corruption and sleaze after lobbying its mps to vote in favour of a parliamentary rule change that would've

opened the door for one of its members to appeal a suspension. owen paterson was accused of an egregious breach of parliamentary rules by lobbying for companies who paid him salaries of thousands of pounds a month. but after an intense backlash, owen paterson has now resigned, raising further questions over borisjohnson's handling of wrongdoing by his party members. our political editor laura kuenssberg reports. can you take a step back? a different kind of protest. a different kind of attack to green activists busy in westminster today. come down here. sleaze is the accusation against the government, corruption the claim. a former minister has now quit as an mp after he was found to have lobbied the government more than a dozen times for companies who paid him thousands of pounds. standing down, owen paterson said...

the ayes to the right, 250... but downing street had tried to save him. ..the noes to the left, 232. tories last night voted to tear up the rules he broke. but listen to the atmosphere in the air. jeering. order. what have you done to this place? dozens of conservatives, outraged, stayed away. but number 10 had backed to overhaul the system that monitors behaviour that would have saved him. the immediate backlash was bruising, nearly all of the front pages damning. the internet alive with claims of sleaze, political immediately sharpening attacks. many tories, too, were appalled. so by mid—morning, ministers were back in the commons

ditching the idea, and in effect, ditching owen patterson too. last night's vote has created a certain amount of controversy. it is important that standards in this house are done on a cross—party basis. while there is a very strong feeling on both sides of the house that there is a need for an appeals process, there is equally a strong feeling that this should not be based on a single case or applied retrospectively. in other words, changing the rules that mr patterson broke is off for now. but the opposition says it is a wider pattern. corrupt, i mean there is no other word for it, i'm afraid. and often in a situation like this you have a prime minister who is trying to lead on public standards. what you have got with this prime minister is a prime minister who is leading his troops through the sewer. and so it is a complete mess of their own making. it's a very strong accusation

to say this is corrupt. well, it is corrupt because there was a clear finding after due process. the attempt to protect owen patterson has backfired — spectacularly so. it has stirred questions again about the prime minister's attitude to obeying the rules, doubts about downing street's politicaljudgement, and it has done the reputation of this place no favours at all. borisjohnson says he's sorry to see mr patterson go, but outraged at how the prime minister tried to use parliament will take time to fade. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. let's get some of the day's other news: portugal's president has announced plans to dissolve parliament and call a snap election injanuary. marcelo rebelo de sousa made a televised address after portugal's national assembly rejected the government's draft budget for next year, for the first time in more than a0 years. tourists in the mexican

resort of cancun had to run for cover after a shootout between rival gangs. it happened in a beach area near a popular large hotel, causing panic among guests. local authorities say two suspected drug dealers have been killed. new york mayor—elect eric adams says he would take his first three paychecks in bitcoin, and signaled his intention to make the city the "center of the cryptocurrency industry" after he takes office in january. miami mayor francis suarez has also tweeted that he would take his first paycheck in bitcoin the us space agency, nasa, has unveiled a system it hopes might use to protect the earth from asteroids. it hopes it might use to protect the earth from asteroids. in what's being described as the first planetary defence test mission, a satellite will be launched into space and crashed into a pair of asteroids, to try and change their course. the bbc�*s tim allman

has the story. spaceis space is vast and full of wonder. countless stars, cou ntless wonder. countless stars, countless planners and cou ntless pla nners a nd cou ntless countless planners and countless numbers of rocks streaking through the cosmos. earth has i was been a potential target, exposed and vulnerable, until now. this is a computer simulation of dart, the double asteroid redirection test, which could be a first line of defence is one of those clumps of rock come heading our way. tt clumps of rock come heading our wa . . , clumps of rock come heading our wa , ., , , clumps of rock come heading our wa . . , , ., , , way. it has given us a set up where we — way. it has given us a set up where we have _ way. it has given us a set up where we have an _ way. it has given us a set up where we have an asteroid l way. it has given us a set up i where we have an asteroid that is approaching close to earth so that we can observe from our earth based observatories but this is a test.— this is a test. and this is how the test will _ this is a test. and this is how the test will buy. _ this is a test. and this is how. the test will buy. astronomers have long been aware of a pair of astronauts called didymos

dimorphos. dart we'll target them and tried to alter their cause. they are of no danger to us but others might well be. tt there was an asteroid that was a threat to the earth, we would want this technique decades in advance such that we would give this asteroid a small large which would add up to a big change to its trajectory. qt change to its tra'ectory. of course, change to its trajectory. of course, oath is not always been so lucky. 65 billion years ago a large asteroid killed off the dinosaurs. it could happen again. but dart may come to the rescue. tim allman, bbc news. a reminder of our top stories, more than a0 countries assigned to a pledge to and use of golf but india, china and the us have not signed up to the agreement. —— the use of coal. you can find coverage of the

conference and analysis on our website. thank you for being with us, bye—bye. hello there. after the rather chilly conditions of the last few days, things are going to feel a little bit different as we head towards the weekend. some milder weather in the forecast, but with that, quite a lot of cloud feeding in from the west. and for some of us through the weekend there is some wet and windy weather on the way. this warm front has been working its way southwards and eastwards, introducing more in the way of cloud, but also introducing a westerly wind, so that is bringing a milderfeel. a milder start to friday for many. the coldest conditions down towards the south and the east where the skies have remained clear. and that's where we will see the best of any sunshine through the morning. for many other places there is going to be a lot of cloud. that cloud, at times, producing some spots of light rain and drizzle.

especially over high ground in western scotland. we will hold onto a little bit of brightness at times across eastern scotland, north—east england, parts of east wales, the midlands, and down towards the south—east. and the temperatures a little higher than they have been. double digits for almost all of us. 10—13 degrees at best. as we head through friday night, bonfire night of course, expect mild conditions, a lot of cloud, some spots of rain and drizzle, and then through the early hours of saturday, some heavier rain starting to push in towards the western side of scotland. there will be quite a mild start to the weekend. seven, eight, nine, 10 degrees. but for saturday, while high pressure will hold on down towards the south, low pressure is pushing close to the north of the uk, and this frontal system here will bring some outbreaks of quite heavy rain southwards and eastwards across scotland, and northern ireland. some of that rain eventually getting down into north—west england and north wales. ahead of that, southern and eastern parts of england largely dry, but quite cloudy. brightening up eventually up towards the north—west where it will also be turning very windy.

but we stick with that milder theme — i2—ia degrees. now through saturday night as this area of low pressure passes close to northern scotland, notice the white lines, the isobars squeezing together. there will be a swathe of really strong winds. quite widely it will be windy, but wind gusts could get up to 70 mph or even a touch more in the most exposed spots in northern scotland. but for sunday, we can expect more in the way of sunshine. showers continuing in the far north where we keep a fairly brisk breeze. it will feel a little cooler by this stage, but still top temperatures of 10—13 degrees.

this is bbc news. the headlines: britain says the cop26 meeting has taken a major step towards eliminating the use of coal, one of the most harmful energy sources, but most of the big polluters are not on board. the host nation says a6 countries had signed up to end coal use. the ethiopian government has said it will continue its fight against tigrayan rebel forces, despite growing international calls for a ceasefire. the government says it's on the brink of victory, but tigrayan forces have been advancing towards the capital and seizing key towns in recent days. the world health organization has described the current surge of coronavirus cases in the wider europe region as a warning shot for the entire world. europe saw almost 1.8 million new cases last week alone the who says europe is again becoming what it called the epicentre of the pandemic. a new study suggests that cervical cancer has been

virtually eradicated in young women because of the hpv vaccine programme.