our scientists are deeply concerned about this variant. it may well be more transmissible and the current vaccines that we have may well be less effective. vaccines that we have may well be less effective. the united nations says the deaths of 27 people , who drowned trying to cross from france to england on wednesday , could have been avoided if more legal routes were provided. australia sends troops to the solomon islands after two days of unrest that is threatening to topple the government. beijing hopes for a successful winter olympics — despite a coronavirus surge, and allegations of chinese human rights abuses. after seven decades of excavation work, egypt celebrates the public re—opening of its ancient "path of god."

hello and welcome to the programme. scientists have expressed alarm about a new coronavirus variant which has emerged in south africa, describing it as the worst they've seen so far. the new variant has 32 mutations — far more than any previous strains. as a result, the uk government has announced that flights from six african nations are to be suspended— and anyone arriving from these countries will need to go into quarantine from sunday. from what we do know there's a significant number of mutations, perhaps double the number of mutations that we have seen in the delta variant. and that would suggest that it may well be more transmissible and the current vaccines that we have may well be less effective. i'm joined now by our news reporter mark lobel.

what reaction has there been so far? all countries were cleared from the uk travel medallist three weeks ago but it was kept as a preventative measure and indeed it is being used as a six country travel ban. that has been caused by the finding of 59 confirmed cases of this variant in south africa plus another four cases in botswana and one in hong kong. this is the most heavily mutated variant so far of coronavirus and there are concerns about how fast it can spread and also how fast it can spread and also how effective vaccines are against it. both of those are unknown at the moment so the uk has banned travel from six african countries. that show you which ones they are. south africa, botswana, namibia, lesotho, s martini and

zimbabwe. we are waiting to find out if other countries are going to follow suit and ban travel from those countries but as far as the uk travel rules are concerned there is a flight ban now in place until the hotel quarantine system is up and running and anyone who has recently arrived from any of those countries is being advised to take pcr test and anyone who arrives before sunday at 4am is asked to quarantine at home for ten days and to take pcr days in the second and day of their return but from 4am on sunday, when the countries which will now be on the red list, people coming back from those countries will have to quarantine in a hotel for ten days and entry at that point will only be allowed for people who are uk and irish nationals and customers with uk residency rights. everyone else will not be allowed to travel from those countries as they fit those categories. it from those countries as they fit those categories.- fit those categories. it will obviously _ fit those categories. it will obviously have _ fit those categories. it will obviously have quite - fit those categories. it will obviously have quite an i fit those categories. it will - obviously have quite an impact on those travellers. has there

been much reaction?- on those travellers. has there been much reaction? many people are booked — been much reaction? many people are booked flights _ been much reaction? many people are booked flights to _ been much reaction? many people are booked flights to south - are booked flights to south africa or any of these other countries. british airways has released a statement saying that they will be contacting affected customers with information about their flight and advising them to monitor the latest travel advice and the latest travel advice and the latest travel advice and the latest flight information. the consumer group which says passengers will be entitled to a full refund but accommodation may be more difficult and will depend on local providers but it warned in a statement that this is worrying news and a reminder that travel is not back to normal. the pandemic continues to disrupt travel plans often with very little notice and it is vital that travellers choose holiday providers with good flexible working policies in case the trip cannot go ahead. now, one of the government's key advisers during this pandemic professor niall ferguson, has called this move prudent in response to this lack of

knowledge about the new variant which is causing concern. south african scientists say it may take around six or eight weeks to analyse it properly but there is displeasure in south africa that these borders have been put up again with short notice with south african scientists saying they could do with more support and help spotting new variants plus point to the fact that two thirds of the elder generation in south africa have been vaccinated. but there was a question about how we got here as well. a campaigner at global justice now has criticised the uk from, in his words, preventing low and middle income countries from having equitable access to covert vaccines. he said we have created the conditions for this variant to emerge. it was entirely avoidable. well, the point there was that he is saying countries have been calling for a while for world leaders to waive intellectual property on coronavirus vaccines, tests and treatments, warning that if they didn't and

didn't spread around the world quickly enough there would be super variants are merging. it is worth pointing out that the uk as part of the kovacs scheme which has sent many millions of vaccines to poorer parts of the world. and a south scientists say that it is likely this variant was produced inside someone with a compromised immune systems are something like hiv and they kept getting a persistent covert infection which allowed this covert variant to continue to mutate dozens and dozens of times but aside from the blame game what you have is a british scientist calling this new variant horrific. you have another telling the bbc that it is the worst variant that they have ever seen so the british government which is clearly concerned, even though there has not been a single case in the uk detected, wanting to protect, they say, the progress that they have made with rolling out the vaccine across the country. rolling out the vaccine across the country-— rolling out the vaccine across the count . ., ~ . the country. thank you so much for the update _ the country. thank you so much for the update on _ the country. thank you so much for the update on that _ the country. thank you so much for the update on that very - for the update on that very worrying development on that ongoing story.

the united nations says the shocking deaths of 27 people, who drowned in the english channel on wednesday, could have been avoided. the un refugee agency warned that closing off legal routes to people applying for asylum would lead to more dangerous attempts to reach safe countries. earlier, britain and france called for stronger international coordination on human trafficking. our europe correspondent nick beake has been inside a makeshift camp near dunkirk to hear about their journey. beside an abandoned train track in northern france, families desperate to resume their own journey to the uk, despite the horror of the past 2a hours. for now, more than 500 people call this camp home. among them, new arrivals, this family from iraq. their family has grown in the three years they've been on the road, trudging through more than half a dozen countries to get here.

romania, after hungary, after france, after the uk. but tonight, all six will sleep in this tent, and every night, until they risk the english channel. would you still be prepared to try and get a boat to the united kingdom? "we cannot survive here," she tells us. "we will freeze. we have to go to the uk." and you say you have travelled through lots of countries, including germany. now you're in france. why do you want to try and reach the united kingdom? "it's much betterforfamilies in the uk," she says, "and for keeping families together." this corner of northern france has witnessed these scenes and heard these sort of stories for more than 20 years now. it feels like a conveyor belt of misery, and this is a new generation,

willing to risk everything to try and make it to the united kingdom. we meet a group of afghan men who say they fled the taliban this summer. this man wants to get to britain so his wife can follow, along with his three daughters, who can then continue their studies. have you tried to cross already on a boat? yeah, two times. and what happened? the boat was broken - in the sea, so the police came and took us out. we were all in the water. yeah, we nearly died. he then reveals he had briefly met two of those who died yesterday. i said to him, "0k, - good luck to go, and i'm not going with you." they said bye— bye. did it look like they were hopeful? i'm very sorry. the deaths of so many of their fellow travellers has numbed many here,

but it's not changed where they want to go. nick beake, bbc news, dunkirk. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. the german chancellor, angela merkel, has said the european union needs to be united in dealing with what she called the weaponisation of migrants against poland. speaking alongside the polish prime minister, she said germany fully supported poland's stance, adding that where possible the migrants should be repatriated. the european union accuses belarus of manufacturing the crisis on its borders with eu members. reports from russia say 52 people are now known to have died in a siberian coal mine where a fire broke out, trapping dozens underground. some of the victims were rescuers. about 50 people were injured, with some in critical condition. rescue efforts had to be suspended because of the risk of explosion from high levels of methane gas. a study in bangladesh has warned that the country

is heading for a health disaster — because of a 50% drop in the effectiveness of widely used antibiotics. the report said there had been a surge in prescribing the medicines because of the false belief — that they could kill off the covid—i9 virus. australian peacekeepers have arrived overnight in the solomon islands — after the country's prime minister appealed for help quelling violent unrest that threatened to topple his government.several buildings were burnt down in honiara, when over a thousand rioters stormed the chinatown district. unrest broke out on wednesday, when protesters besieged the parliament, calling for the pm's resignation. gina kekea is a local

journalist in honiara — she told me what the scene is like in chinatown. for us in honiara, chinatown has been burnt down. but i think inside of honiara, that's where all the mayhem is taking place, and it's still happening now as we speak. people are still continuing to burn down shops, despite some of the areas in the central part of honiara being secured, because mainly people from the western side of honiara have come out, as well, and are trying to protect the city. so, that's what's happening. currently, as we understand, 23 officers from the australian defence force arrived last night, and we are expecting more troops to arrive today. this morning, we thought that things would quieten down a bit, but they did not. we had information that there is still burning and looting

in the eastern side of honiara, where most of the demonstrations are taking place now. opposition, though, to its closer ties to china, as opposed to taiwan isn't exactly new — so what actually triggered these latest protest? the latest protests — actually, last week, there was a reconciliation ceremony held by the people of malaita province — they are the ones who were not in with the government on the switch. so they did have a reconciliation ceremony last week, and unfortunately, only two of the national members of parliament — mainly two from the opposition side — were able to join them at the reconciliation ceremony whilst the rest of the other members of parliament from malaita joined them in that ceremony. and following parliament resuming sitting this week,

that's when they decided they would come down to parliament and make the protests there. so that's really what happened. they felt that the members are not listening to them, so they came into the city and tried to make them listen to them, and also asking the prime ministers to step down because they've been talking about and raising issues, but they felt that they were not being listened to. police in turkey's largest city, istanbul, have fired tear gas and rubber bullets to break up a protest by thousands of women against gender—based violence. the demonstrators marched to taksim square, in the city centre, where clashes broke out with security forces. there were smaller demonstrations in other turkish cities. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme. egypts puts on an elaborate ceremony to mark the reopening of the ancient path of god in luxor.

president kennedy was shot down and died almost immediately. the murder ofjohn kennedy is a disaster for the whole free world. he caught the imagination of the world — the first of a new generation of leaders. margaret thatcher is resigning as leader of the conservative party and prime minister. before leaving number ten to see the queen, she told her cabinet, "it's a funny old world." angela merkel is germany's first woman chancellor, easily securing the majority she needed. attempts to fly a hot air - balloon had to be abandoned after a few minutes, but nobody seemed i to mind very much. as one local comic put it, "it's not hot air- we need, it's hard cash." cuba has declared nine days of mourning following the death of fidel castro at the age of 90. castro developed close ties with the soviet union in the 1960s — it was an alliance that

brought the world to the brink of nuclear war with the cuban missile crisis. this is newsday on the bbc. 0ur headlines: britain has banned arrivals from six african countries amid warnings over a rapidly—spreading new coronavirus variant. the united nations says the deaths of 27 people, who drowned trying to cross the english channel on wednesday, could have been avoided if more legal routes were provided. let's stay with our main story now about the new coronavirus variant. john nkengasong, the director of the africa centres for disease control and prevention, gave me the latest details about the variant.

we know that this variant has a lot more mutations. it has already had seven mutations that we observed during the delta, beta, and alpha variants. in addition to that, it has a whole series of permutations, a total of about 50 mutations. some of those can be predicted — and the key word here is "predicted" — to be associated with increased transmissibility. for now, it is still under investigation. i'm very pleased with the fact that the government of south africa has made it public with its findings, and we have to continue to be patient so that we understand three things — what is the effect of this variant on their ability to diagnose the virus, what is the effect of this mutation on the ability to respond, and what is the ability of this new variant with respect to efficacy of vaccines and tra nsmissibility?

these are all unknown questions we need to address now. you mentioned vaccine, and i think that's what a lot of people will be wondering, how effective they are and whether there are any differences between different brands of vaccines. yes, absolutely. if we look at the mutants, or the variants that have occurred so far, we know that the delta has had the most effect on breakthrough for vaccines. so, as we speak today, we truly really don't know — remember, this is all happening quickly, the first cases were diagnosed on identified around 23 november, and today is 25 november. we must recognise and appreciate the efforts of the government of south africa and these researchers in making available such findings very quickly. so, it means we still have to follow up the transmission

patterns and the dynamics of the epidemic, or the evolution of the pandemic over the next couple weeks in order to be able to establish the effect on vaccine effectiveness and also diagnosis, and the severity of the disease. we also have to keep that in mind, any increase in transmission actually leads to increase in the severity of the disease. with just a few months to go to the winter olympics, china is holding test events for ski and snowboard cross. but despite repeated calls from the olympic committee not to politicise the event — some countries are considering boycotting the games in light of china's human rights violations and the recent concerns over the wellbeing of chinese tennis star, peng shuai. 0ur china correspondent, stephen mcdonnell, has been to the venue, to see how the country is getting ready for the olympics despite all the controversies. the way to see if you're ready

to host the olympics is with test events. and beijing is holding them right now. beijing wants spectators at the games and has already tried this out at the sliding centre. but tennis star peng shuai sent shock waves through the preparation process when she accused a former government leader of sexual abuse. there's also the recent coronavirus outbreak, straining this country's zero—covid strategy. precautions are high at olympic venues. so, i'm getting off a dedicated media bus here, just to show you that we're part of a, kind of, media bubble, quite separate from the athletes�* bubble. here you have to have your facemask on, and this is the media hotel. so i come up here, this is checking my temperature... that says i'm 0k. these are the various health checks and some hand sanitiser. we can only talk to the athletes remotely. we're told there's been a lot of covid testing. just had to do pcr

tests on arrival, then on arriving at the hotel — and every day from there onwards. but if that's what we have to do to not quarantine, then so be it. the games will be held in a freezing, mostly dry area. a mountain of snowmaking is required. but this can make for quick dynamic runs. speed, ithink, will be key, and that's the difficult bit. so yeah, it'll be challenging, for sure, to try and get the most out of the track, anyway _ the athletes we spoke to said these sites will make for high—quality competition. and the drive to win in february is already taking its toll. in the mountains outside beijing, the test events

are infull swing. games organisers will be hoping — despite the coronavirus headaches, despite the alleged human rights abuses, despite the allegations from a former chinese 0lympian, a tennis star, at that, involving a senior government official — that they can still produce a memorable winter olympics. for everyone here, the clock is now ticking. stephen mcdonnell, bbc news. a ceremony has taken place in the egyptian city of luxor to mark the public opening of the 3,000—year—old avenue of sphinxes. the three—kilometre—long walkway connects the temples of karnak and luxor. the ceremony incorporates elements of the ancient festival which travelled the route each year, as nickjohnson reports after more than seven decades of excavation work, egypt celebrates the public

reopening of its ancient path of god. nearly three kilometres long, the highway connects the temples of karnak and luxor in the southern nile city. the sandstone—paved path is flanked on each side by hundreds of ram—headed sphinx statues, dating back more than 3,000 years, which were buried beneath the desert for centuries before they were uncovered and restored. the ancient road has been opened by egypt's president abdul fattah al—sisi, who hopes this will give a much—needed boost to the country's tourism industry. two million egyptians are employed in tourism, which generates more than 10% of the country's income. but tourists have been kept away in recent years, largely due to a decade of political turmoil, as well as the coronavirus pandemic. but with a procession of mummified pharaohs through the streets of cairo earlier this year and another museum opening plan for the coming months, egypt's government says it

hopes this evening's spectacle in luxor will cement the country's reputation as the world's open—air museum. nickjohnson, bbc news. it's thanksgiving — and people in new york have been enjoying the macy's thanksgiving day parade. the 95—year—old tradition was scaled back last year due to covid restrictions. the oversized helium balloons are back, featuring a variety of colourful characters including snoopy and papa smurf. baby yoda was a new balloon for 2021. but he was not the only first—timer — pokemon characters pikachu and eevee also made their debut as a pair. americans could enjoy the event if they weren't in new york, of course.

we are having a great time on thanksgiving day and it is great _ thanksgiving day and it is great to _ thanksgiving day and it is great to say people on the street_ great to say people on the street again. everyone here in new_ street again. everyone here in new york_ street again. everyone here in new york stick together and take — new york stick together and take care of ourselves and each other_ take care of ourselves and each other so— take care of ourselves and each other so we feel good. it take care of ourselves and each other so we feel good.- other so we feel good. it feels aood to other so we feel good. it feels good to be _ other so we feel good. it feels good to be able _ other so we feel good. it feels good to be able to _ other so we feel good. it feels good to be able to congregate j good to be able to congregate again — good to be able to congregate again. everybody _ good to be able to congregate again. everybody together. i good to be able to congregate l again. everybody together. that is the _ again. everybody together. that is the hest— again. everybody together. that is the best part _ again. everybody together. that is the best part of— again. everybody together. that is the best part of it— again. everybody together. that is the best part of it is— again. everybody together. that is the best part of it is that - is the best part of it is that we can_ is the best part of it is that we can get— is the best part of it is that we can get together - is the best part of it is that we can get together as - is the best part of it is that we can get together as a l is the best part of it is that - we can get together as a group again. _ we can get together as a group again. it — we can get together as a group again. it was— we can get together as a group again. it was agreed _ we can get together as a group again. it was agreed to - we can get together as a group again. it was agreed to make l again. it was agreed to make bleak— again. it was agreed to make bleak thanksgiving _ again. it was agreed to make bleak thanksgiving last - again. it was agreed to make bleak thanksgiving last year. j bleak thanksgiving last year. happy — bleak thanksgiving last year. happy thanksgiving - bleak thanksgiving last year. happy thanksgiving to - bleak thanksgiving last year. happy thanksgiving to all- bleak thanksgiving last year. happy thanksgiving to all ofi happy thanksgiving to all of you celebrating. thank you so much for watching and stay with bbc world news if you can.

strong went cold weather and sleet and snow ever higher ground. providing morning we've got cloud and patchy rain across much of england and wales which pushes south—eastwards. we are left with sunshine and blustery showers from the north and across the north of scotland those showers will merge into longer spells. those showers will merge into longerspells. heavy those showers will merge into longer spells. heavy snow. sleet and snow across parts of northern ireland with many rain showers further south. it is going to feel chilly. 7—ii showers further south. it is going to feel chilly. 7—11 but when you add on the wind it will feel a little colder than that foot of the winds will be a real feature of the weather and we have an amber warning enforce with gusts of 65—75 mph particularly later on friday and overnight into saturday morning. to the overnight period this area of sleet and snow and rain at low levels pushes its way southwards and

eastwards followed by more wintry showers from the north. 0vernight temperatures, most of our towns and cities above freezing much colder than that in the countryside. as the storm just pushes out towards the south—east we start to draw in these strong cold northerly we head through to saturday morning. gusts are quite wide, 30 or a0 mph and around the coast 50, 60 or even a little bit higher than that. there is a bit perhaps some sleet and snow over the highest ground pushing eastwards. more of those wintry showers coming in across scotland, too. something across scotland, too. something a little bit way of a central and western areas and it is turning colder. temperatures for— nine degrees but when you add on the effects of that it will feel sub—0 for many of us do it today on saturday so cold, windy with wintry showers, too. heading into sunday, as the storms that declare to the east, things will settle down a little bit so not quite as windy on sunday but still more of those wintry showers packing and across the higher the east coast of

winning the england two. dry weather but it will feel cold throughout the weekend.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines _

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and _ this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all- this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the - this is bbc news. we'll have l the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the