——highs of 15—17 celsius.

tonight at ten... questions about twitter�*s future direction as the world's richest man finally seals the deal. the billionaire elon musk has made a career out of grandiose business ventures. how will he shape his new acquisition? elon likes these profound challenges of humanity, like going to space, or, like, completely changing the carbon emissions systems and transportation and energy, and now he's trying to fix the problems in social media. donald trump says that twitter is now in safe hands, but a new committee will decide whether he will be allowed back onto twitter. we'll be asking whether mr musk�*s belief in absolute free speech might lead to fewer restrictions

on misinformation and abuse. also on the programme... after months of political deadlock at stormont, a snap election is called in northern ireland but no date is given. you have shown absolutely no remorse, and it appears that you are in complete denial. a murder sentence is televised for the first time in england and wales. jemma mitchell is given life for the killing and decapitation of her friend. and the rock'n�*roll legend with a scandalous private life. jerry lee lewis dies at the age of 87. coming up and support on the bbc news channel, a blow for ireland's hopes of qualifying for the quarterfinals of the rugby league world cup as they are beaten by new zealand.

good evening. the social media platform twitter is now in the hands good evening. the social media platform twitter is now in the hands of the world's richest person, with questions over whether its new owner will loosen regulations covering hate speech and misinformation. elon musk completed the takeover which is worth more than £38 billion and swiftly began making changes at the company. a number of top executives have reportedly been fired. on sealing the deal, mr musk tweeted, let the good times roll. he has said previously that he believes in what he calls absolute free speech, and today donald trump, who is banned from the platform, said twitter was back in sane hands. but this evening elon musk also announced the setting up of a new council with "widely diverse viewpoints" to moderate twitter posts. this report is from our technology editor, zoe kleinman. elon musk — to his many fans, one of the most innovative and influential people in the world.

he is certainly the richest. he made his money with paypal and is now the boss of the electric car firm tesla. he also owns rocket maker spacex and his starlink satellite network provides internet access round the world. and now he adds to his portfolio twitter, the small but mighty social network. "let that sink in," he said, walking into twitter hq carrying, yes, a sink. elon musk is a prolific tweeter, with more than 110 million followers. he is now calling himself chief twit. "the bird is freed," he tweeted, followed later by, "let the good times roll." he has promised to form a moderation council. nothing will be decided before it meets, he said. it is not known when that will be. musk has a strong views about free speech. if he starts to see that a certain

type of free speech environment, eg, one where anything goes, might become a hellscape, as he said, and that might see people leave, in which case advertisers who are paying to be on the site might get concerned, because there will be fewer eyeballs looking at their ads. all of this matters because twitter has become the place all of this matters because twitter has become a place where world leaders, opinion formers and politicians come to share their views. it is a kind of direct line between the decision makers and us, those they represent. elon musk thinks we need a digital town square, a community space for public discussion, and twitter, he argues, is it. several top execs have already been sacked, and for those who remain, they need to know musk means business. i suspect they will want to get some degree of certainty that elon musk isn't going to be running it like he runs his twitter account. his twitter account is full of memes and jokes. people want a degree of seriousness. they consider this a really important product in the world. there is lots of speculation about whether musk�*s takeover will mean the return of the most

high—profile person on twitter�*s banned list, former us president donald trump. one for the moderation counsel, but some investors are known to be keen. i know everybody hates donald trump, including me, but free speech is about many things we don't like, and many things he says might actually be really harmful to donald trump, so i think this era of letting people on the platform is exactly why we need to protect speech. speaking to fox news, donald trump of course had his own view. he wished elon musk lots of luck but said twitter couldn't succeed without him. zoe kleinman, bbc news. our north america technology reporterjames clayton joins us from outside twitter�*s headquarters now. any indication of how twitter might change, james?

well, he has tweeted saying that there is going to be a new council full of diverse voices, and they will decide whether donald trump is allowed back onto the platform. that is very different to what elon musk said just a few months ago, when he said just a few months ago, when he said that he would be allowed onto the platform, now he's saying someone else is going to decide, it is all a little bit confusing. and i think what this really speaks to is that elon musk knows that twitter�*s revenue, in this place behind me, is almost entirely dependent on advertising dollars, and if adverts or advertisers don't want to put their ads next to hate speech and disinformation, he knows that, so he can say all of these things before he owns twitter, but when he actually has decided that he is going to buy twitter, he's now going to go, well, actually i need to make money, i need to make sure investors are happy. that's what we're seeing. so, in the short—term i don't think you're going to see that much of a change, it is still possible that donald trump is allowed back, but people who are worried that twitter

was suddenly going to become a health skate, everything we are hearing from elon musk at the moment would suggest that that is not going to become the case.— to become the case. thank you very much, to become the case. thank you very much. james _ to become the case. thank you very much, james clayton _ to become the case. thank you very much, james clayton reporting. - the northern ireland secretary has said voters in northern ireland will be going to the polls for the second time in 12 months to vote yet again for members of the stormont assembly. after a midnight deadline to break months of gridlock passed, chris heaton—harris said an election must be held within 12 weeks, although he did not give a date. in may, the nationalist party sinn fein for the first time won the biggest number of seats in the devolved parliament. but the largest unionist party, the dup, refused tojoin the power—sharing executive which means the government cannot function. the dup believes northern ireland's place in the uk is being undermined by the post—brexit trade deal signed by borisjohnson. that deal known as the protocol sets out the trading arrangements between great britain and northern ireland. goods being transported to northern ireland from the mainland

are subject to checks. our ireland correspondent emma vardy reports. political paralysis, on the horizon for some time, now set in. political paralysis, on the horizon for some time, has now drawn in. as the midnight deadline came and went, civil servants, not ministers any more, are running northern ireland. today, the secretary of state said he would now call an election but left doubt over a date. i have limited options ahead of me. i am under a legal duty to call an election within 12 weeks. i've had lots and lots of talks with all the parties and will continue to do so. there was the option to legislate to delay this moment — how does calling an election help solve any of the problems for northern ireland that got us here? nearly all the parties who've been saying this won't help the situation actually signed up to the rules that make this situation happen. why call it now? because i'm legally bound to do so.

and those rules state it must be held within 12 weeks. alongside carol singers, voters are now expecting campaigning politicians on their doorstep in the run—up to christmas, but beyond that, no—one really thinks there is any greater prospect of power—sharing coming back. the dup maintains they will only go back into government if major changes are made to the brexit arrangements. i'm ready to fight an election. if the secretary of state wants to hold an election, then he should tell us and we will prepare for that election. but if not, then let's focus on what really needs to be done, which is to find a solution that restores northern ireland's place within the united kingdom and removes the protocol and the harm it's doing to our relationship with the rest of the uk. we need an assembly and executive up and running. we need to have one functioning to serve the people well, to get them through these tough times. but we're all left this evening

wondering what's going to happen next and what actually is the motivation behind what the secretary of state has done this evening. for many families, it means facing the cost of living crisis with political leaders absent. not having a government means the ability to help people through this is severely limited. we are struggling, not even week to week but day to day, trying to put food on our table. james manages a community hub in belfast. he says families are increasingly dependent on the voluntary services here, and that he's in the same boat. you know, i used to run a food hub from my house, over covid. and i'm now, there are times that i'm having to go to a food programme and say, listen, we're really struggling. yourself? ourself, and as a manager, it's humiliating. another election, james believes, provides no new answers. i don't believe that the people who are there really want stormont to work. and with patients facing the longest waiting lists in the uk, doctors are warning the health

service is a major casualty of this crisis. what will this winter look like for health care workers if there is no functioning government? we already know that it's really, really difficult, even with the government. we just cannot cope with the demand that's there at the moment. six months ago, we should have had an executive and a budget, not only a budget but a multi—year budget which would have allowed us to do things vastly differently and we would have seen those changes. now, there's lots and lots of plans that are there. the fragility of power—sharing means stormont has only functioned for two of the last six years. today marks a return to stagnation northern ireland has faced all too often before. previously the secretary of state had been crystal—clear that he was going to call an election at one minute past midnight. today he looked like he wanted to buy a

little bit more time. the fact remains, the power to change the northern ireland protocol does not live here, that is dependent on negotiations between the british covenant and the eu, and the dup will go into any election arguing that they have strong support from their voters. that they have strong support from theirvoters. out that they have strong support from their voters. out of government until their demands are met. so, we could end up on the other side of another polling day in the same place, with no clear idea of what happens next. emma vardy reporting, thank you. in a legal first, the sentencing of a murderer has been televised and broadcast live in england and wales. an old baileyjudge gave jemma mitchell life in prison with a minimum term of 3a years for killing herfriend from church and then dumping her decapitated body in devon. thejudge described her as extremely devious. helena wilkinson reports. this isjemma mitchell on her way to mee kuen chong's house. hours later, she murders her and puts her body in the big blue suitcase. miss chong, also known as deborah, was friends with the former osteopath.

both devout christians, they met through the church, but they fell out over money. mitchell is the first murderer and first woman in england and wales to have her sentence televised, in a rule change allowing people to seejustice being delivered. the enormity of your crime is profoundly shocking. even more so given your apparent religious devotion as well as the fact that deborah chong was a good friend to you and had shown you great kindness. mitchell kept miss chong's body for two weeks. she then drove over 200 miles away to salcombe in devon. charlotte rollings was with family on holiday when they found the headless body. it was the body of a lady. and initially, ithought maybe she'd slipped over,

but then on closer look, her hand was left on her skirt and it was so white, you knew that she wasn't alive. mitchell became the prime suspect and was arrested. jemma, at this moment, i'm arresting you on suspicion of murder. _ today, in a victim impact statement read to court, deborah chong's sister amy chong said... mitchell will serve at least 3a years in prison for what was a chilling and calculated murder of herfriend. helena wilkinson, bbc news. a man who broke into the california home of the us house speaker nancy pelosi and attacked her husband is reported to have shouted, "where's nancy?" the politician was in washington dc at the time.

a 42—year—old man has been charged with attempted murder. paul pelosi, who's 82, is being treated in hospital. our north america editor, sarah smith, is in washington for us tonight. this was a brutal assault. police say the intruder attacked ketamine with a —— he attacked paul pelosi with a —— he attacked paul pelosi with a —— he attacked paul pelosi with a hammer while he said he was looking for nancy pelosi. it comes on the same day that us intelligence services are now warning of the rising threat that they see coming from violent political extremism in america. police say the intruder used a hammer to smash glass doors and break into the pelosi home, shouting, where is nancy? this appears to be a targeted attack. he tried to tie up paul pelosi to wait for his wife to come home. she was in washington at the time. police arrived at the attack was happening. our officers observed mr pelosi and the suspect both holding a hammer.

the suspect pulled the hammer away from mr pelosi and violently assaulted him with it. 82-year-old paul pelosi — assaulted him with it. 82-year-old paul pelosi is _ assaulted him with it. 82-year-old paul pelosi is in _ assaulted him with it. 82-year-old paul pelosi is in hospital _ paul pelosi is in hospital undergoing brain surgery. the suspect will be charged with attempted homicide. nancy! oh, nancy! during the attack on the capitol on january the 6th last year, rioters were specifically searching for nancy pelosi. she had been evacuated from the building by police. latershe been evacuated from the building by police. later she blamed donald trump for inciting the riots and putting politicians in danger. it shouldn't be that not only is the president of the united states inciting an interaction, but keeps fanning the flame, endangering the security of members of congress. president biden says he is praying for mr pelosi's recovery. republican leaders have also condemned the attack. violent political threats and attacks have increased

alarmingly in america in the last few years. some senior politicians are now worried that it won't be long before one of them is killed. sarah smith, bbc news, washington. covid infections remain fairly stable across the uk, but other viruses such as flu and norovirus are increasing, according to the latest figures. our medical editor fergus walsh explains more. there are some encouraging signs that the current wave of covid may be levelling off. the ons estimates that two million people in the uk had the infection in the week to the 17th october. that's unchanged from the previous week and represents around one in 30 people. but what matters is how many of those are getting seriously ill with covid. the most up—to—date figures for hospital admissions are from england and they show these are falling, and are well below levels seen in previous omicron waves, plus most patients in hospital with covid will have been admitted with another condition.

that fall in covid cases in hospital is likely to be due in part to vaccinations. more than ten million people have had their covid booster, which increases immunity. in all, 26 million people are eligible. but there's also a concern about flu. if we look at hospital admissions forflu in england, they were very low in the past two winters — the lines across the bottom there — because there was almost no flu circulating. this winter's flu season has started early and is already causing an impact, that small red line you can see there. admission rates are highest among the under—fives. in a bad winter, like 2017, you can see that flu caused a big spike in admissions, so people are being urged to have their flu vaccine. 33 million are eligible. every winter, of course, there are many viruses to contend with.

as well as covid and flu, there are increasing cases of rsv, respiratory syncytial virus, which can cause chest infections, especially in young children, and norovirus, which triggers vomiting and diarrhoea. all of these have the potential to put added pressure on the nhs. meanwhile, in china, dozens of cities, including wuhan, where coronavirus was first recorded, have gone back into lockdown as the country pursues its zero—covid policy. reeta. fergus walsh, thank you. now, part of the job for politicians and prime ministers is regular photo opportunities — and rishi sunak chose croydon university hospital for his first outing as pm to talk about tackling the covid backlog and supporting the nhs. but as he found, not everything can be controlled. in—patient catherine poole, who is 77, took him to task over an issue of great importance to her: how do you do, ma'am, i'm rishi. yeah, hello. how has your day been?

ok, thank you. yeah? did you come in this morning? no. no, you came...? monday. and they've looked after you really nicely? yeah, they always do. yeah. it's a pity you don't pay them more. well, we are trying. we are trying. no, you're not trying, you need to try harder. right, i will take that away. no, but they are a very nice team here, aren't they? they are, but it's important because they do very hard work. they do do very good work, yes. so you need to look after them. that's what i'm going to be doing. well, thank you for letting me know that. nice to see you, i hope you get home. students could be forced to drop out of university if the shortage of housing in some cities isn't addressed, the national union of students has told the bbc. it says there's been a failure to plan for the bumper numbers getting places. our education editor branwenjeffreys reports. waiting all night until morning, students in durham desperate for flats for next year. student lets are limited in this historic city.

but it's notjust a problem in durham. across the pennines, melody is a final year student in manchester. weeks into term, and she's still sofa surfing. i literally don't have a place to live right now. currently, i am crashing with friends. it's probably, like, my only option, because i'm just not able to find a place in manchester at the moment. what makes it so difficult to get a flat? because there's multiple people going for the same places. they said, "can you pay 12 months now?" and i was like "no!" like, i can't pay 12 months of rent now. i couldn't even ask that from my parents, if that makes sense. there are record numbers of students — in several cities, not enough affordable housing. our advice service is flooded with kind of requests about housing, and providers for students are offering far fewer flats to rent this year compared to previous years, which is quite telling of the situation. it's also about cost.

student maintenance loans have gone up a little bit this year, but nowhere near the cost of living, and for most students, their biggest bill is rent. this busy lettings agency now only has more expensive flats, aimed at the young professional market. now there's not the availability for this year. if they're coming in for the next years, we have the properties on the market for them, but right now, we have nothing for students for this year. the rising cost of living is students' biggest concern, and housing is part of that. scotland may extend a freeze on rents. in england, the national union of students wants action. the universities really need to take a look at their huge focus on increasing student intake. it's going up exponentially and the fact is, there's not enough accommodation provided for students. it's not easy to find quick fixes for housing problems, which could leave some students struggling next year, too. branwen jeffreys,

bbc news, manchester. as winter approaches and worries about energy costs rise, two communities in the west highlands of scotland are having very different experiences of the cost of living crisis. in one, energy bills are well above the uk average, while in the other, a hydroelectric scheme has led to no increase at all. as part of our series looking at how energy costs are affecting different regions, our scotland editorjames cook has visted glenelg and knoydart. winter is coming, and in the highlands, they're worried. energy bills here are way above the uk average, and rising. life in rural scotland does bring great rewards. just look at the scenery, for a start. but it also comes with great challenges, and many people here will tell you those challenges

are now intensifying. this community ferry hops to and fro between glenelg on the mainland and the isle of skye. but the cost of diesel to run it has jumped 70% in the past year. how difficult is that, as a business? well, it is difficult because we always run on really quite tight margins here. and we're still expected, as a social enterprise business, to meet rising costs, with very small profit margins. it does make me really nervous as to how we might be able to continue in the way that we are. at the heart of glenelg village is the hall, but it's not cheap to maintain, especially when the electricity bill has soared from £800 a quarter to more than £a,000. there's a church group. there's indoor bowls, indoor football, kids' youth club. they're going to have to look, "can we run our club, can we not run our club?"

so if we increase our prices, there's no way that we can run the hall at the costs that are currently given. all right, rhona? in the glenelg inn, energy is not the only worry. brexit, and a lack of affordable housing, have made staff hard to find, and inflation is pushing up the price of supplies. i really love this business, but it is becoming much more challenging for me. i'm a bit scared about going into next year. i'm scared about the staffing issue, the prices, the power prices, obviously. sail south, though, and it's a brighter picture. this is the knoydart peninsula, accessible only by boat or a two day hike. that means it's not on the national grid. power here comes from this hydro scheme. run by a community project called knoydart renewables. if it wasn't for knoydart

renewables, the population, which is about 120, with all the businesses, which are paying all the taxes they're paying, wouldn't be sustainable economically. we would probably have 20 or 30 people living here, with tumbleweed blowing down the streets. and you're effectively insulated from this energy emergency that everyone else is facing. the energy emergency has no effect on us, in terms of electricity production. in the local brewery, they see the hydro as a blessing. we're not going to be receiving the same price hikes that grid—based consumers are. so for you, how important is this hydro scheme to keep you going? it's critical, really is. so we know we'll be able to keep the lights on and keep the beer coming. and that sense of confidence is shared throughout this community. there's more people here. there's more new businesses. there's triple the amount of kids in the school than there was when i was there. and there's room for development. so i'm building a house right now, and it means that i know that

i will be able to have power, which is obviously very important. optimism, yes, but it's confined to this rare corner of the country without an energy crisis. james cook, bbc news, knoydart. the rock'n�*roll legend jerry lee lewis has died at the age of 87. famous for his flamboyant showmanship, his songs included whole lotta shakin�* going on and great balls of fire. he was one of the pioneers who created rock'n�*roll in 1950s america. but his career was also marked by scandal, addiction and violence. david sillito looks back at his eventful life. # come on over, baby, whole lotta shakin�* goin�* on... if you ever wondered why rock and roll was called the devil's music, jerry lee lewis is your answer. it was his piano playing that got him expelled from bible college.

rock and roll was his escape from god—fearing southern poverty. if you want to be a hillbilly, you can if you want to, but i would hate to put myself in that position. i'm rock and roll. his family had mortgaged their house to buy young jerry a piano. he started out performing on the back of a truck before hitting the big time as part of sun records' roster of rock and roll stars. # goodness, gracious, great balls of fire! # i laughed at love cos i thought it was funny # but you came along and you moved me, honey # i've changed my mind... and then it all came crashing down. were you there, mrs lewis? i was there, but i. wasn't at the shows. on tour in britain, he announced his new wife, myra gale, his 13—year—old cousin. there was outrage, but he continued to perform.

when were you married? well, we leave personal questions out of this. # i ain't fakin�*, i got a whole lot of shakin�* going on... his life — there were seven marriages — was was a barely believable catalogue of death, drugs, violence, guns and burning cadillacs. i preached pretty heavy. i was like,"man, i really can't be what i am, there's too many good—looking women out there". so i had to do my rock and roll thing, and i'm still doing it. what's your problem? his roots were god and gospel, but after a life like this, he probably had a good idea where he was going. jerry lee lewis, who's died at the age of 87. time for a look at the weather. here's nick miller.

it's all about the weekend, of course. it really is a case of more of the same this weekend. a