this is bbc news, our top stories. 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. a fresh election for the northern ireland assembly is likely to be called in december, after the latest efforts to form a new governing executive end in failure. 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. and around the globe.

elon musk has completed his $41; billion deal 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. earlier, i spoke with our north america tech correspondent james clayton about the deal. twitter haven't confirmed it yet, but multiple 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? yeah, parag agrawal, the chief executive of twitter, fell out with elon musk in april. elon musk in private messages said he didn't think parag agrawal got it and was the right leader for the platform. so not totally surprising that parag agrawal 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 agrawal 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 twitter is now run almost completely by elon musk. he said he wants to buy twitter to help humanity, what do you read into that? i think he genuinely 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's 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 has just 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 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. 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, the 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. let's get some of the day's other news. one person has died in a mass stabbing in the northern italian city of milan. several others were injured, including a football player for arsenal and monza, pablo mari. he's recovering in hospital. police have arrested a man who they say has psychiatric problems. officials have ruled out terrorism. shares in amazon have tumbled after it issued a gloomy financial update. its sales rose by 15% in the last quarter, but amazon has predicted weaker growth to come as consumers tighten spending because of the cost of living. space probes have witnessed a big impact crater

being formed on mars — the largest ever recorded in the solar system — as it happened. researchers calculate the falling space rock was about the size of a van. it dug out a 150m—wide bowl, hurling debris in all directions for up to 20 miles. 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. and newsjust coming in, south korea's yonhap news agency is reporting that north korea has fired a ballistic missile off its east coast — we'll brng you more on this as we get it. tensions are rising on the korean peninsula, analysts say it is the worst for many years. stay with us on bbc news, still to come. why schools in britain

that ban pupils from wearing their afro hair in certain styles are likely to be breaking the law. 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.

born today, this girl in india is the seven billionth person on the planet. 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. fresh elections look likely to be called in northern ireland, following a day of negotiations after the deadline has passed for political parties in stormont to form a new executive, almost six months

after they were first elected. procedures are currently being blocked by the democratic unionist party, which objects to the nothern ireland protocol. our ireland correspondent chris page has this report. eight months have passed since northern ireland last had a functioning devolved government. at the start of another deadline day, the democratic unionist party made clear the stormont shutdown wouldn't be ending. i have the backing of the people of northern ireland who voted for the dup, and gave us the mandate that we have to take the position that we hold. that's the backing that matters to me. and, if we need to, we will go back to the people, and we will seek to refresh and renew our mandate. the other four main parties in the assembly want power—sharing to be restored immediately. as things stand, michelle o'neill of sinn fein is in line to be first minister. in a special recall meeting, she accused the dup

of holding most voters to ransom. jeffrey donaldson and the dup are in a perpetual stand—off with the public, the majority of whom they do not speakfor, or indeed represent. they stood for election, yet failed to show up. this is his mess, and a failure of leadership by him and his party. as expected, the dup blocked a process to put in place a speaker. therefore, we can. proceed no further. the political system in northern ireland is different to almost everywhere else. it's based on the good friday peace agreement, signed in 1998 after a long conflict. a majority of unionists and irish nationalists must agree to share power for a devolved government to be formed. the dup says it will notjoin a coalition until the brexit trade border in the irish sea is scrapped. in belfast city centre, people don't seem to like the idea of going to the polls in december.

waste of time. waste of time? yes. because, if the dup don't partake, why have an election? the cost of living is a disgrace. so, definitely things need to be changed. would you be enthusiastic about voting again? no, not one bit. in the past, deadlines here have been known to come and go with little consequence. but, it doesn't feel as if it will be like that this time. it's all but inevitable that, as autumn turns into winter, the ballot box will beckon. 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 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.

british schools that try to ban pupils from wearing their afro hair in certain styles are likely to be breaking the law. that's according to new guidance published by the equality and human rights commission. it says students should not be "unfairly singled out" because of their hair and chosen style. community affairs correspondent adina campbell has the story. the teacher basically said that it was disgusting, . it wasn't school policy, - and i needed to take it out. we're notjust speaking about what we may typically perceive as a large afro, we're also speaking about protective styles that are often related to communities of african and caribbean heritage. why should i have to cut my hair when people can have their hair all the way down to their hips? just some of the experiences often heard by women with afro—textured hair. and for ruby williams, her story has been one of the most high—profile cases. she was repeatedly sent home by her teachers because her natural hair wasn't considered to be a reasonable size or length. i was sitting in a lesson and a teacher came and took me out and took me into a changing

room in the school and, with her own hair bands, tried to twist the bunches to make them smaller and to make them into buns. and at the time, in my head, i was looking in the mirror and i knew, obviously, this is wrong, i'm not meant to be getting my hair touched by a teacher. this isn't her role. ruby and her family successfully took legal action against her school in east london, funded by the equality and human rights commission. and today, the watchdog has published new guidance, which says people with afro hair should not be prevented from wearing natural hairstyles and, if they are, it's likely to be unlawful. we hope school leaders, if they're going to develop policies, to really think about how those policies might affect different groups of children and young people. at the moment, this is only guidance, but it is being seen by hair equality campaigners as a significant step forward. black people are disproportionately impacted

by hair discrimination at school and in the workplace, according to the equality and human rights commission, and the long—lasting impact, in many cases, can be devastating. i was having to go into my exams and then being escorted from the premises literally just because of my hair being out. there was one point, i was sitting doing an exam and, through the door, i could see two teachers waiting for me, to speak to me about the fact that my hair was out. the government says it provided guidance to schools last year to help them adhere to the equality act, with regards to pupils�* appearance and the needs of different cultures, races and religions. ruby's school did not accept any liability in her case, but she hopes today's new advice will better protect girls and boys like her. adina campbell, bbc news. a reminder of our top story. elon musk has completed his $41;

billion deal to buy twitter. 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 $41; billion acquisition of twitter. a federal court had given the billionnaire 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