welcome to bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: the world's biggest economies, china and the us, agree a joint approach to climate change at the cop26 summit in glasgow. the united states and china have no shortage of differences but on climate, on climate, cooperation is the only way to get this job done. migrants on the belarus border continue to suffer as they try to enter poland. russia is accused of manipulating the situation for its own ends. sobbing there were three people right there. the us teenager accused of shooting three people during a black lives matter

protest last year breaks down as he gives evidence. and more than 4 million people have shared a post on instagram in the belief that for each share, a tree would be planted. but was it all it claimed to be? we'll be hearing from the man behind the trend. hello. welcome to the programme. in an unexpected move, the world's two biggest producers of greenhouse gases, the us and china, have agreed to cooperate more closely on climate issues over the next decade. the countries issued a joint statement at the cop26 conference in glasgow, pledging to help keep alive the hope of limiting global temperature rises this century to 1.5 degrees celsius. but they didn't say whether they'd back a draft international agreement calling on all nations to reconvene next year with tougher

carbon cutting targets. our science editor david shukman has the latest. can the world agree to slow down the release of the gases heating the planet? can it do what it takes to reduce the melting of the polar ice? and will this be enough to limit the rise of the sea? with the conference now entering its final days, delegates are trying to find common ground, and the uk, as host, has come up with a draft of a possible agreement. seven pages of text, welcomed as a first step by some, but criticised by many. the words are almost meek and mild in many places, and i think, you know, the world is on fire. we've seen the australian wildfires, we've seen koalas being burnt alive. we need to make sure that we've got power and proactive commitments

on the table. any document like this is bound to be a compromise, so it calls for the first time for coal to be phased out — the dirtiest fossil fuel — but doesn't give a date. it pushes for 1.5 degrees celsius to be the limit of global warming, but currently, no—one is on course to achieve that, and it urges countries to update their climate plans not in 2025, but far sooner, in fact next year, but there is no obligation. it needs to be really clear. there's no room for ambiguities and fudges. i see in this latest text, there's a lot of "urging" and "calling for", that kind of soft language, and it will need to be sharpened up, otherwise it will be very difficult to claim that this summit has succeeded. so the prime minister has stepped in, briefly, but, faced with an uphill struggle, he's now trying to manage expectations. the cop26 summit here in glasgow is not going to fix it in one go.

we're not going to arrest climate change right here, right now, that isjust impossible, and i think everybody has got to be realistic about that, but there is the possibility that we will come away from this with the first genuine road map for a solution to anthropogenic climate change. and that possibility was given a boost when china's top negotiator made a surprise announcement of a joint climate plan with the united states. the world's two biggest polluters agreed to reduce methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas, a positive signal of cooperation. the united states and china have no shortage of differences, but on climate — on climate — cooperation is the only way to get this job done. we will soon see what that adds up to in this last phase of the talks,

where china is among industrial giants worried about brakes on its development. and others, like madagascar, victims of climate change, are desperate for this conference to get them help. daniel schrag is the director of the harvard university center for the environment. hejoins us live he joins us live now from cambridge in massachusetts.

that the impacts were foreign away— that the impacts were foreign away would _ that the impacts were foreign away would affect _ that the impacts were foreign away would affect other - that the impacts were foreign. away would affect other people and you — away would affect other people and you may— away would affect other people and you may feel— away would affect other people and you may feel them, - away would affect other people and you may feel them, that l away would affect other people. and you may feel them, that our children— and you may feel them, that our children or— and you may feel them, that our children or grandchildren - and you may feel them, that our children or grandchildren might. children or grandchildren might be affected~ _ children or grandchildren might be affected. i— children or grandchildren might be affected. i think— children or grandchildren might be affected. i think that - children or grandchildren might be affected. i think that that i be affected. i think that that has changed _ be affected. i think that that has changed.— be affected. i think that that has changed. extreme weather events around _ has changed. extreme weather events around the _ has changed. extreme weather events around the world - has changed. extreme weather events around the world have i events around the world have woken people up to the fact that this is here and now and it will get worse unless we do something. there is an urgency thatis something. there is an urgency that is greater than ever before. one thing that has to be on the agenda for china, the us and also for the rest of the world, the paris agreement and what is happening in glasgow continues to focus very much on national emissions. when is the uk going to get to zero? the us, china going to get to zero? we have to remember the climate system

cares about the world, about when the world gets to zero. because the climate system cares about cumulative emissions of everyone. as we are working to get to zero as the uk is working to get to zero, we need to bring other countries of the world with us. we can't forget that there are hundreds, there is more than 150 countries who are struggling even getting started reducing their emissions because they are still in poverty. we need to make sure that they take the steps that makes sense for those economies. simple things, adding low levels of wind and solar that are cheaper than coal and natural gas, and that is where we need some international finance and some real commitment. i hope we can work on that in the future. fik. work on that in the future. ok. we will leave _ work on that in the future. ok. we will leave it _ work on that in the future. ok. we will leave it there. - work on that in the future. ok. we will leave it there. thank you very much forjoining us. appreciated. let's get some of the day's other news. the us plane maker boeing has admitted liability for a crash two years ago in ethiopia of

one of its 737 max aircrafts. all 157 people on board were killed. in a submission to a court in chicago, boeing acknowledged that the plane was unsafe. the firm said it was committed to ensuring that the families of those who died were compensated. the un security council has expressed deep concern at the latest violence in myanmar between the ruling military and opposition groups. in a rare statement agreed by all its members, the security council called for an immediate end to fighting and urged the military authorities to exercise utmost restraint. a french court has sentenced a man who killed an 85—year—old jewish woman to life in prison. yacine mihoub was convicted of murdering mireille knoll in her paris apartment three years ago during a botched robbery that was motivated by anti—semitism. she was stabbed 11 times and her body set alight. a court in the us state of michigan has approved a settlement worth $626 million for residents of flint who were exposed to lead—contaminated water. authorities switched the city's water source to cut costs

in 2014, but the water was not treated to prevent contamination. the german chancellor angela merkel has told president putin that russia must stop what she called the "inhumane" exploitation of the migrant crisis on the border between poland and belarus. thousands of people have massed in the area wanting to cross into poland and enter the european union. poland's prime minister has accused belarus of "state terrorism" in its handling of the crisis. our correspondent nick beake sent this report. for those who'd hoped to find a new life safe in the european union, there's a grim realisation this could now be home — trapped between belarus and poland. the bbc was sent these pictures as journalists and, crucially, aid agencies are being kept away. it is very, very bad.

we managed to contact ilias, who was a scientist in iraq. he wants eu member poland to let them through. my message is, i want open the border to poland. why should poland open the border to you? one day, two day, three day, after, have died. you fear that people will die? yes. poland has been accused of pushing back migrants illegally. but it wants to highlight this — belarusian troops appearing to force migrants along the border, the polish accusing belarus of terrorism, masterminded by russia. and tonight, angela merkel appealed directly to moscow. translation: you are all following _ these disturbing images. i had russian president vladimir putin on the phone today and i asked him to take action with

president lukashenko because people are being used here. but russia has hit back, claiming the eu is provoking belarus. moscow released this footage which, it said, showed two bombers being sent to patrol its ally�*s airspace in a show of solidarity and strength, as international tensions rise from this border chaos. this huge forest, called bialowieza, is one of europe's oldest woodlands, but it's now the epicentre of the continent's newest migrant crisis. thousands have been trying to make their way from belarus, through these trees, to here in poland. and many more are set to follow, determined to take their chances in this wilderness, if it means reaching eu soil. because, in belarus's capital, minsk, more families were preparing to head to the border after being welcomed by president lukashenko's

regime, undeterred by the spiralling misery tonight in the makeshift camps that soon awaits them. nick beake, bbc news, on the poland—belarus border. in the us, a rust film crew member who witnessed the fatal on—set shooting of a cinematographer has filed a negligence suit against actor alec baldwin and the film's producers. in the lawsuit, chief lighting technician serge svetnoy accused the producers of rust of "negligent acts and omissions," stating "there was no reason for a live bullet "to be on set." halyna hutchins was shot and killed by baldwin during rehearsals for the western in new mexico. directorjoel souza was injured in the incident. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, a million dollars better off: we meet the teacher who's just won a unesco—backed global prize. the bombastic establishment outsider donald trump has

defied the pollsters to take the keys to the oval office. i feel great about the election results. i voted for him because i genuinely believe that he cares about the country. it's keeping - the candidate's name always in the - public eye that counts. success or failure depends not only on public display, j but on the local- campaign headquarters and the heavy routine workj of their women volunteers. berliners from both east and west linked hands and danced around their liberated territory. and with nobody to stop them, it wasn't long before the first attempts were made to destroy the structure itself. yasser arafat, who dominated the palestinian cause for so long, has died. palestinian authority has declared a state of mourning. after 17 years of discussion, the result was greeted with an outburst ofjoy, leaving ministers who long felt only grudgingly accepted among the ranks of clergy suddenly felt welcome.

this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: a surprise move as the world's biggest economies — china and the us — agree to a joint approach to climate change. migrants on the belarus border continue to suffer — as they try to enter poland. russia is accused of manipulating the situation for its own ends. a us teenager charged with shooting three people during civil unrest on the streets of wisconsin last year has taken the stand in his own defence. kyle rittenhouse broke down in tears, forcing a brief recess, as he described how he was "cornered" by several men and acted in self—defence. the teen has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.

i was cornered from in front of me with mr zelenskiy and there were... there were three people right there. what do you mean? our correspondent, peter bowes, has more detail. kyle rittenhouse had gone to the town of kenosha two days after the police shooting of jacob loko, a black man. that had prompted black lives matter protest that had gone on for about 48 hours. kyle rittenhouse says he went there to protect local property, specifically some car dealerships. he was armed. we had a semiautomatic rifle with him. he said that was for his own protection and see never

intended to use it, but during the course of events he said he felt threatened. he says he could hear people shouting out "get him! there is also videos that he had been shouting out "friendly, friendly, friendly". he says he was confronted by one of the two men he ended up shooting, one of the men threatened him after he hit him in the head with a skateboard and another pointed a gun at his face. as we have just seen, he broke down in tears while providing his testimony. the trial had to be put on hold for a short while. and then they came back and he was cross—examined by the prosecutor. and that led to the judge actually criticising the prosecution for the line of questioning and he said the prosecutor had doubted the sincerity of the tears that everyone had just witnessed while he was on the stand. and he also referred to a statement he had made in social media

that he wanted to be famous, this is kyle rittenhouse, and also reference to a photograph that prosecutors they showed him standing next to some extreme right—wing protagonist. the judge said that that scope of questioning was beyond the questioning that had been agreed and was allowed for that stage of the trial. peter, when does the trial go from here, there had been some suggestions that there might be claims of a mistrial, which means it goes no further for mr rittenhouse. yes. after that confrontation, if you like, between the judge and the prosecution it was the defence that made a call for a mistrial and the judge has yet to rule on that. so we don't know where that is going to go at the moment. it seems for now the trial will continue. kyle rittenhouse testifying on his own behalf. and that is a very unusual move for a defendant in a very serious case like this, it is seen by lawyers as being quite risky in legal terms, you don't know what is coming from the cross examination by the lawyer on the other side. but he has testified on his own behalf. he is the third defence witness.

and, for now, the trial continues. peter, we believe it there. thank very much. toxic foam has covered parts of the yamuna river flowing through india's capital, delhi. the influx comes as hindu devotees bathe themselves in the yamuna, a tributary of the ganges, to mark a religious festival to thank the sun for life on earth. the city government has blamed industrial waste and untreated pollutants from neighbouring haryana and uttar pradesh states for the pollution of the river. indian officials have long pledged to clean the yamuna but without success, and the coating of toxic foam across parts of the river has become an annual occurrence. now if you've been on social media over the last few days, you might have seen or potentially even posted yourself a picture of your pet, in the belief that by doing so the plant a tree company would do — as their name

suggests — plant a tree in response. more than four million instagram users attached the promise to a post of their pet, meaning that those behind the trend are on the hook for more than four million trees. but are they actually going to be planted? we're joined now by the man behind the account — zack sad—iwi, founder of the plant a tree company. no, they have not. they started here though. i've got one tree planted right here. why haven't there been 4 million trees planted? we simply had no clue it was happening. we made the post a week ago, the day after the new add yours sticker rolled—out and we posted it for like 5—10 minutes and we realised... so initially we thought it would be a fun way to plant maybe 50—100 trees, but instantly we realised it was getting pretty big. so we instantly deleted it. and didn't hear anything from it for a whole week, and then came monday and we saw

demi lovato had posted and i thought to myself, "can this really be my post?" and i checked it and it happened to be my post and i was pretty awestruck. we had no clue that it blew up. you say you are surprised, but this isnt�* the first this has happened to you, the same thing happened back in 2019, didn't it? are you referring to the australian wildfires? i'm referring to the pledge to plant a tree every time users shared a post. and the black lives matter movement as well. you have been involved in these viral trends before and not planted trees. yes. so we have been involved in viral trends and every single time we have donated enough that we promised. this time, though, we deleted the post 10 minutes in, and this new feature of instagram apparently doesn't leave once you delete it and it keeps spreading. so it was completely out of our control. we didn't mean for it

to get bigger at all. we didn't mean for it to get big at all. we had no clue it would. and a week later, it happened to be big. when you promised to donate money to the black lives matter movement a few years ago, did that happen, did you donate money? yes, we did. and now you're asking for money for planting these trees because you say you didn't expect it to take off in the way it did. what happens to people who give money for this campaign? oh, no—one has given me money. i am not asking for money. the money is going directly to trees for the future. and they are actually planting the trees. all the money is going to them. they are a legit organisation and a lover they do. that is why we chose them. we started an instagram fundraiser. basically, yes. will you be doing this again? doing what? doing one of these posts to encourage people to share photos or share a post in order to plant a tree or for some

other campaign? you have seen how quickly this one took off. it's clearly good for you, good for a brand, good for a company. it's good to be involved with you on this front. actually, no. we're getting a lot of hate from this, even though it was completely out of our control. instagram made a statement that, yes, once it is instagram made a statement that, yes, once it's deleted, is still spreads. it was brand—new, the day i posted, the new feature came out the day before that. we had no clue. instagram made a statement that said after you poste it, i think some good came out of this. we have raised over $30,000 so far for trees. we're not touching me money. it is going directly to the organisation i mentioned, and hopefully the user to plant a lot of trees.

benin has welcomed the return —— benin has marked the return of twenty—six royal treasures that had been looted in the nineteenth century by french soldiers. president patrice talon welcomed the returned artefacts after signing an agreement in paris on tuesday. among the artworks are statues from the ancient kingdom of abomey, as well as the throne of king behanzin. benin is seeking the repatriation of five thousand artworks and artefacts. a heartwarming tale about a teacher who got a grand reward for good work. traditionally, an apple does the trick. but one teacher has picked up something more — a million dollar prize. keishia thorpe from the usa> this was the moment she found out she had just won the unesco—backed varkey foundation global teacher prize 2021 — for her work teaching low—income immigrants. she gave her reaction to the bbc a little earlier. it feels amazing and it really validates the work that

teachers put inside and outside the classroom every day. the students especially that i teach, immigrants and refugee students, arejust like myself. i was an immigrant student as well in the us and i can see much of them, their stories really resemble my story. and i can relate to my students. and because i'm able to relate to them and because i'm able to understand their struggles and know what their needs are it gives me a great opportunity to work with them inside and outside the classroom and also with their community, theirfamily, to create different opportunities for them and to make sure that they receive the resources they need to be successful individuals. and before we go, a rather �*grey neighborhood' in peru's capital city lima, has been given quite the makeover: perched atop lima's san cristobal hill, houses were painted an array of different colours to create the optical illusion of a large mural. but it's only truly visible

from a distance and takes the shape of the iconic chakana — a symbol of peru's ancestral history. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @rich preston temperatures fell back closer to average again in scotland and northern ireland on wednesday. but milder air is coming back and the warm autumn continues because this week so far, 17 on monday was the high temperature. 17 again on tuesday. wednesday saw 16 degrees and there is another push of milder air approaching from the atlantic around an area of low pressure, which is also going to bring the chance of rain and some windier conditions for a day and a night, anyway. this how we start thursday morning. you will be quite chilly across parts of southern scotland, northern ireland in northern england. we will see some clear spells overnight, also the far north of scotland, so there is a touch of ground frost possible. this area of rain in scotland weakening with the cloud as it pushes its way northwards again. for england and wales that will be a lot of cloud,

mist and murk to begin with, some fog patches, poor visibility, drizzly in places and we will see a spell of rain pushing through northern ireland, parts of wales, northwest england on toward self with scotland today is the day goes on with the fresh wind in the west. these are average speeds, some gusts of around a0 miles an hour developing on the western coasts by the end of the day. but with that, the milder air is coming back into belfast at 1a degrees. it will start to creep northwards across scotland once again with this area of rain. and as we go on through thursday night, there will be a few spells of rain running into northern ireland and scotland, northern england, wales and a few patches of rain just starting to push a little further east across england as we go into friday morning. it is a mild night, mild start to friday. let's take a look at that area of low pressure. looks to be working across scotland during friday but of course the weather from around it will be impacting all of the uk. the further south you are there

willjust be a few splashes here and there. closer to that low pressure system through northern ireland but especially central southern parts of scotland and england the chance of seeing the heavier downpours on friday for the early rain on the far north of mainland scotland the rest of the day looks dry. it's a blustery day across the uk again, it's another mild one. into the weekend this area of low pressure will move away quite quickly allowing high pressure to build in behind but that settles the weather down again. it will become mainly dry over the weekend, there will be a lot of cloud around, sunshine at a premium regardless though, we have a mild weekend on the way.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the united states and china have issued a rarejoint statement saying they will step up their efforts to tackle climate change. the world's two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases said accelerated action and greater cooperation in the next decade would be decisive. the polish prime minister has accused belarus of committing terrorism over its role in an escalating border row between the two countries. thousands of migrants are stuck at the border in freezing weather, attempting to enter poland. the european union has also accused belarus's leader of provoking the crisis. a us teenager accused of shooting three people during black lives matter protests in wisconsin last year has taken the stand in his own defence. kyle rittenhouse broke down in tears as he claimed he was cornered by several men and acted in self—defence. now on bbc news,

it's time for click.