welcome to bbc news, i'm rich preston. elon musk completes his $41; billion takeover of twitter. it's believed his first move was to fire the social media company's senior mangement. america's special envoy on climate change warns the world could still limit global warming to just above pre—industrial levels, but only if countries increase their efforts immediately. if we get more countries directly engaged in changing their plans to more rapidly kill the emissions, to more rapidly transition, it is plausible. but as the un warns there's no credible pathway to keep the rise in global temperatures below a key threshold, we report from the arctic circle, which is warming more

quickly than anywhere else. president putin warns the coming decade will be the most dangerous and unpredictable since the end of the second world war. and prince harry announces the title and publication date for his memoir, promising a "raw and unflinchingly honest" account of his life as a senior member of the royal family. in the past hour, elon musk has completed his $41; billion deal to buy twitter, after months of legal battles. earlier this year, mr musk attempted to back out of the purchase. but he announced it would go ahead shortly before the dispute was due to go to court. the tesla boss has said he wanted to acquire

twitter to help humanity, rather than make money. let's go live to san francisco now and talk to our north america tech correspondent james clayton. this correspondent james clayton. has taken a while bu has this has taken a while but he has finally done it.— has finally done it. that's what's being _ has finally done it. that's what's being reported. i has finally done it. that's what's being reported. ll has finally done it. that's - what's being reported. i have approached twitter and they haven't confirmed it yet, but multiple sources are saying the deal is now complete, twitter investors are saying the deal is now complete. so we can be pretty confident elon musk is now the owner of twitter. a remarkable deal that was on and off again, then it was on again. we didn't know what was going on. right up to the last second, people were still thinking, look, elon musk is erratic and capricious, could he back out again? it does now appear that is not the case, and that elon musk owns twitter lock, stock and barrel, and that could have huge

ramifications for the company. among these rumours and reports, stories about several executives being fired, what do we know about that?— executives being fired, what do we know about that? yeah, parag aaarwal, we know about that? yeah, parag agarwal. the _ we know about that? yeah, parag agarwal, the chief _ we know about that? yeah, parag agarwal, the chief executive - we know about that? yeah, parag agarwal, the chief executive of i agarwal, the chief executive of twitter, fell out with a elon musk in april. elon musk in private messages said he didn't think parag agarwal got it and was the right leaderfor think parag agarwal got it and was the right leader for the platform. so not totally surprising that parag agarwal is going to be kicked out of twitter, very much expected, but it does show a complete culture shift in twitter. the us right will love it, because they believe parag agarwal and his predecessorjack dorsey were curtailing free speech and trampling over the rights of conservatives, so they will love that. and really, twitter is now elon musk�*s, i doubt he will call himself chief executive, he doesn't like that title, but in all but name, twitter is now an almost

completely by elon musk. he said he wants to buy twitter to help humanity, what do you read into that? i help humanity, what do you read into that? ~ , into that? i think he genuinely believes twitter _ into that? i think he genuinely believes twitter has _ into that? i think he genuinely believes twitter has a - into that? i think he genuinely believes twitter has a global. believes twitter has a global role. it has a role in breaking news. people talk to each other on twitter. it's a global town hall. that's the way he describes it. it has immense value and can do good in the world. he clearly does love twitter. he has used it for a long time, over 110 million followers. he clearly thinks twitter has a lot to give. it's funny, because he is saying publicly that he doesn't care about the money, he hasjust procured a lot of money from private investors, i'm sure he wasn't telling them, oh, i don't care about the money. he has also talked about how twitter might become this app for everything and will expand massively. that doesn't quite

make sense when you look at his other public proclamations. so there is a lot we still don't know about what elon musk has in store for twitter. but it does appear that the top executive team is being shown the door. , . , executive team is being shown the door. , ., , ., ~ _, after the news broke, i asked the washington post's silicon valley correspondent elizabeth dwoskin about what twitter may look like under elon musk. i think we should be prepared for donald trump returning to the platform. i would expect that to happen any day. he's not someone who is a very collaborative decision—maker. he wants to make his choices and have sole control. whereas before, twitter was ruled by consensus, i think it is going to be less so now. i think we could see more hate speech on the platform. musk has promised that

won't be the case. he said today, i'm not turning twitter into a hellscape or something like that, but the reality is a lot of people who have broken the rules of twitter around hate speech and misinformation and bullying, those people are cheering his ownership and have gained massive numbers of new followers just since musk announced he was going to buy twitter in april. so a lot of clues as to how the platform might change. i don't think he wants to drive people away from twitter, and if it became so toxic, then people would start leaving because it wouldn't be a place of public debate. that is going to be the tension going forward. $41; billion, reportedly worth, what does this mean for the value of twitter and its value for its shareholders? i'm glad you asked, because we have a scoop that twitter was planning to make drastic cuts to its workforce right before elon bought the company.

so we know twitter has always had an outsize influence on the world but the revenues have never supported it, compared to facebook or google. so the company was dealing with much lower revenue projections than they expected the 2022, they planned mass lay—offs and other big cuts, and then elon musk came in with a hostile takeover and they were saved by the bell. they didn't have to go through with those painful decisions because he bought it at a very high valuation. yeah, this question going forward, he's going to turn twitter into a private company, so we'll know less about the finances going forward, but it's a fascinating question. he claims he will make twitter way more profitable than before, and yet all the methods i have seen him suggest are not methods that have made twitter profitable in the past, so we will see. the united nations says there's no credible way of limiting the rise in global warming to one of the key thresholds agreed at the paris climate talks in 2015.

a new report says governments around the world have been "woefully inadequate" in their actions to keep the increase below 1.5 degrees celsius. as leaders prepare to gather for cop27, the global climate conference taking place this year in egypt, new british prime minister rishi sunak has decided not to attend. downing street says he has "other pressing domestic commitments". the us climate envoy john kerry told the bbc in order to achieve the climate goals, all countries had to work together urgently. if we get more countries directly engaged in changing their plans to more rapidly kill the emissions, to more rapidly transition, it is plausible that we can hold it, very close to that 1.5 or close to it. one place where the impact of climate change is increasingly evident is the norwegian archipelago of svalbard in the arctic circle.

it's warming more quickly than any other place on earth. from there, nick beake sent this special report. venture deep into the arctic circle and you find svalbard. there is no place quite like it. and here, a struggle for survival. climate change is on fast forward. polar explorer hilda wants to show us how her world is disappearing. soon, an incredible sight, but one framed with sadness. to survive as a polar bear now, i think you have to be super good at hunting, because the main source of food, the seals, they are diminishing and the ice that both the seal and the polar bears are dependent on are diminishing. it's getting less and less ice. this norwegian archipelago is warming six times faster than the global average. there is much less ice here to reflect heat and more

exposed ocean to absorb it. these beluga whales, they are swimming in water that is much hotter than it used to be, and all wildlife here in svalbard is having to adapt to this hotter world. you can hear them now. it's hotter in the water and it's hotter in the air, too. melting here raises sea levels and affects weather patterns across the globe. in what is the northernmost settlement in the world, it's life on the edge. houses are being moved and rebuilt. new barriers installed to stop more avalanches triggered by the thawing ground. wherever i look around us, i see change. and leading polar scientist kim holliman tells us the war in ukraine is now undermining the effort to understand climate change.

the official exchange with russian institutions is not possible at this time. half of the arctic is russian coastline, and if we are unable to share knowledge and data, it will hamper our ability to understand what is happening. we need each other in order to do good science. svalbard attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year, putting further strain on this fragile environment. but the authorities claim they are moving towards renewable energy. now, we are in one of the two production sites we have here, eight kilometres in the mine. this is svalbard and norway's last coalmine, which we are told is due to close. it makes me sad.

it was a mining town, and now it is coming to an end, it's more and more of a tourist town. but just a fortnight after our visit, the state—owned company announces it is delaying the closure. why? it says europe's energy crisis now makes the mine a more profitable operation. if they can't give up fossil fuels in the fastest warming place on earth, what hope for the rest? the un says we face a climate emergency. the alarm is sounding, we ignore it at our peril. nick beake, bbc news, in the arctic circle. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: prince harry announces the title and publication date for his much—anitcipated memoir. indira gandhi, ruler

of the world's largest democracy, died today. only yesterday, she had spoken of dying in the service of her country and said, i would be proud of it, every drop of my blood will contribute to the growth of this nation. after 46 years of unhappiness, these two countries have concluded a chapter of history. no more suspicion, no more fear, no more uncertainty. of what each day might bring. booster ignition, and lift—off of discovery with the crew of six astronaut heroes and one american legend. well, enjoying the show is right — this is beautiful. a milestone in human history. born today, this girl in india is the seven billionth person on the planet.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines. elon musk has completed his $41; billion takeover of twitter. it's believed his first move was to fire the social media company's senior mangement. the un warns there's no credible way of limiting the rise in global warming. a new report talks of "woefully inadequate" action by the world's governments. president putin has warned that the coming decade will be the "most dangerous and unpredictable" since the end of the second world war. speaking in moscow, he defended russia's actions in ukraine and claimed the russian economy had survived the worst of the sanctions imposed on it by the west. he went on to accuse the former uk prime minister liz truss of being "a girl out of her mind" to talk about the use of nuclear weapons.

our russia editor steve rosenberg reports from moscow. applause. his war in ukraine has not gone according to plan. but more than eight months in, from vladimir putin, there were no regrets, no remorse. he blamed the west for the conflict and made only passing reference to the human cost of his invasion. translation: of course, - there has been a price to pay, primarily the losses connected to the special military operation. i'm always thinking about that. there are economic costs, too. but there are enormous gains. without any doubt, what's happening now will ultimately benefit russia and its future. it will strengthen our sovereignty. strength is what the kremlin leader is trying to project. this week, he oversaw massive exercises by russia's

strategic nuclear forces. a clear message to the west — don't mess with moscow. president putin was reminded he'd once said that in a nuclear war, russians would go to heaven and the enemy to hell. "we're in no rush to go to heaven, are we?" he asks. there is a long pause. "your silence is worrying me," he says. translation: i paused on purpose, so that - you'd be worried. vladimir putin rejected western accusations he's been engaged in nuclear sabre—rattling. russia, he claimed, had nothing to gain from a nuclear strike on ukraine. but the fact remains that on the day of the invasion, he'd issued a very public warning — any country that gets in russia's way, he said, would face consequences the like of which they'd never experienced in history. and the warnings continue.

according to russian official nuclear doctrine, russia would launch a strategic nuclear strike against the united states and all the nato countries as soon as we witness the launch of western missiles, no matter how armed they are, against our territories. and then, the whole planet will die. moscow may be hoping nuclear rhetoric will scare the west into reducing support for ukraine. it hasn't so far. bell tolls. protests in iran seem to be escalating despite a violent response by the country's security forces. thousands have turned out to mark a0 days since the death of 22—year—old mahsa amini, who died in police custody after being arrested for not wearing a hijab properly. the protests have grown to be a wider rejection

of the hardline government of iran, with protesters setting fire to public buildings. our analysis editor ros atkins looks at the roots of the crisis. once more, protests are sweeping iran. once more, they're facing a crackdown. but the violence directed at protesters can't hide that something extraordinary is happening. yesterday, thousands gathered at the grave of a young woman who died last month, after being in custody. and this is a movement now driven by iranian women. bbc persian�*s rana rahimpour has been covering the protests since they began. six weeks on and many iranian women are already living a different life. they refuse to wear the headscarf when they go out in public and they continue to fight. this is tehran in may. every woman has their head covered. this is tehran this week. not wearing a headscarf is illegal for iranian women. more and more women, though,

are ignoring that, something that was unthinkable weeks ago. chanting. and every night, people still open their windows and chant, "death to the dictator" — a message they're aiming at iran's supreme leader. these protests were sparked by the death of mahsa amini. she was 22. she's buried in saqez — in the north—west of iran — and with wednesday marking a0 days since her death, security forces tried to block access to the city, but the protesters would not be denied. i have never been as hopeful as i am today. woman, life, freedom. jin, jiyan, azadi. and all of these protests and acts of defiance come at a cost. videos on social media, verified by the bbc, show people being beaten by security officials. here, we see women without headscarves, defying police.

in this video, security forces gathered at a girls' school in tehran on monday. one of them shouts, "we have permission — beat them, beat them all." nationwide, one human rights group estimates that more than 13,000 people have been arrested and that at least 250 people have been killed, including children. and if we go back to 1979, ayatollah khomeini founded iran's islamic republic, and these protests are a direct challenge to the islamic laws that date back to then. listen to this bbc report at the time. there is undoubtedly genuine concern over exactly what is meant by an islamic republic. the most widely expressed fear is that it could well lead to the kind of repressive religious dictatorship that denies iran the freedoms the revolution is supposed to have brought. women had the freedom to dress as they chose before 1979, but that changed, and some want

that freedom back. it's unclear where these protests are heading, but what's clear is that the relationship between the iranian government and its society is completely broken down, and there is no going back from this point on. the authorities insist all of this must stop. but there's no going back for this mother, whose son died in custody. she recently took off her hijab, declaring that the religion it stood for was killing people. one woman's death has become about many women's lives. they say there's no going back to how they used to live. ros atkins, bbc news. a long—awaited memoir by prince harry is due to be published in the new year. his publisher penguin random house says the book will be titled spare, and will give the story of his life, including the death of his mother in 1997 and his decision to give up royal duties and move to the us.

earlier, i spoke to royal commentator and former private secretary richard berthelsen about what he expects from the book after its release in january. we have had speculation for quite a long time, and we finally have a date. i think the title is raising a spectre for a lot of people that there's going to be an examination of the ongoing tension perhaps with his brother, prince william, now the prince of wales, over the fact that prince harry was a spare, and he was concerned that he was ultimately being pushed off the stage, once the new generation, william's children, grew up and came into royal duties. it raises that concept, and the use of the word spare conjures up a phrase often used, not well known in north america, but surprising and concerning to people, who may have a degree of empathy with him in the american audience, the feeling that he

was seen as the spare. it suggests an examination of some of these issues, which suggests the book is going to be a bit of a troublesome publication for the royal family in the new year. i am glad you mentioned that, that was my next question. how will the royal household be feeling about this? probably a little uneasy. we don't know exactly what went on behind the castle and palace walls during the mourning period for the late queen, and how much rapprochement there was between the members of the royal family, harry and meghan, and the rest of the family. and whether he talked to them. we don't have that information. but it's unlikely they have a copy of the book. the king in many ways is off to a very strong start, but there's a lot of issues coming up. the new reign is a bit unstable in the americas, where the monarchy is under a lot of question in the realms and the caribbean, even in canada to some extent.

so a continuation of the soap opera and drama that existed in the last few years, particularly with the oprah interview and the ongoing allegations and innuendos innuendos across the atlantic, it's certainly not going to be helpful to getting this reign off to a good start. being devil's advocate, prince harry moved to the us with his wife to keep out of the limelight. if you want to keep out of the limelight, you don't write a book. no, and you don't go to the extent of this provocative title and this very alluring view, looking straight into the eyes of the viewer on the front cover. the fact is, the duke and duchess of sussex have to retain a big position in the media. maybe they need a degree of conflict or being the enfant terrible of the royal family, the ones that there has been some damage done to, to retain a position in american celebrity culture, and it is to keep their name front and centre, to tell their story and perhaps settle some scores, which will

not be happy reading at buckingham palace. hundreds of argentinian fans of the k—pop superstarjin have set up camp outside a stadium in buenos aires where he's due to make a guest appearance on saturday. jin from the south korean boy band bts will give the first ever live performance of his solo single, the astronaut, during a concert by the british band coldplay. it's expected to be his last public performance before being called up for two years' mandatory military service in south korea. elon musk has completed his $44 billion deal to buy twitter. the company's chief executive, parag agrawal, is reported to be among a number of senior figures who've been fired. earlier this year, mr musk attempted to back out of the purchase. but he announced he would go ahead with the deal shortly before the dispute was due to go to court. you can reach me on twitter —

i'm @richpreston. hello. with 18 degrees in edinburgh on thursday, 21 in london, it doesn't feel like the last few days of october out there, it will stay very mild into the weekend, often windy and there will be further rain at times, with low pressure anchored to the west of the uk and around it spinning through towards us these weather fronts to give these spells of rain but also drier, sunnier moments at times, too. all the while, the air coming from a long way south of us, although temperatures take a little bit of a step backwards during friday, they will head back up again during saturday. starting with a lot of rain across western parts on friday morning, some strong winds, too, gales in places, a lot of standing water spraying northern ireland, the heavy rain runs into western scotland, there could be some flooding and disruption.

we'll all see a spell of rain in the morning, not much across east anglia and the south—east, compared with elsewhere. look how far away from the far north of scotland and northern isles, just about gone into the afternoon to allow much drier, brighter picture with just a few showers around. these will bring gusts north wales northwards, 50mph or so, in fact, into the far north of scotland for a time in the afternoon, 60mph gusts and temperatures widely in the mid to upper teens. there will still be a few spots in the east and the south—east of england, and it will get to around 20 celsius. largely fine on friday evening, though we are waiting for the next weather system to move on up from the south as we go into saturday morning. so some outbreaks of rain pushing into parts of england and wales at this stage, a little bit cooler, as we start off on saturday, with some spots towards north—east england and eastern scotland down into single figures. so, cloud and outbreaks of rain pushing steadily further north during saturday, so into northern ireland, reaching into southern scotland, northern scotland staying largely dry, still some sunny spells. largely fine and bright and sunny across east anglia and south—east england, and temperatures getting

back into the low 20s. so what will be a blustery day and a windy part two of the weekend on sunday, with further weather fronts coming our way. looks to be more showery on sunday, most of the showers will push in across northern and western areas, some of them could well be heavy and thundery, the spells of sunshine in between tend to move through quite quickly on the strong wind, and again, temperatures well above where we might expect them to be at this time of year. now, next week, low pressure stays close by. wet and windy at times, you will notice a gradual decrease in temperature.

this is bbc news, the headlines... elon musk has completed his $44 billion acquisition of twitter. a federal court had given the billionaire a 24—hour deadline to complete the on—off deal. it's believed his first move was to fire the social media company's senior mangement — who he had accused of misleading him. the un says there's now no credible way of limiting the rise in global warming to one of the key thresholds agreed at the paris climate talks in 2015. a new pre—cop27 report says governments around the world have been "woefully inadequate" in their actions. president putin has issued a warning that the coming decade will be the "most dangerous and unpredictable" since the end of

the second world war. he denied he had any intention of using nuclear weapons in ukraine — and accused the west now on bbc news, we are england: trouble at sea. it's been described as an ecological catastrophe that wiped out marine life across much of the north east and north yorkshire coastline. we've seen crabs completely decimated. something catastrophic had gone wrong with the ecosystem. it's dying. in fact it's not dying, we're murdering it. i