this is bbc news. i'm victoria valentine with the latest headlines, for viewers in the uk and around the world. the german chancellor, olaf scholz, is in beijing, marking the first visit by a european leader since the start of the covid—19 pandemic. pakistan's former prime minister imran khan is recovering in hospital, after surviving a gun attack during a protest march. the bbc hears evidence that albanian drug gangs are involved in transporting people to the uk, after a huge spike in the number of albanians arriving in boats this year.

the suburbs around tehran are being drained of people. locals in this neighbourhood have said 70% of the community has orally left and many of those living here now are thinking of joining them. here now are thinking ofjoining them. twitter staff are bracing themselves, after the company said it will tell them today whether they will be laid off, following the takeover by elon musk. and wakanda forever — the long—awaited sequel to the oscar winning film — black panther — has had its european premiere in london. hello and welcome to the programme. the german chancellor, olaf scholz, is in beijing, on a trip that's sparked

controversy in germany and elsewhere in europe. he's the first western leader to have gone to china in over three years, and his visit comes as relations between beijing and the west have started to sour. tom brada has the latest. receiving the red carpet treatment in beijing, chancellor olaf scholz is in china for a whistle—stop tour. travelling with several german business leaders, the chancellor commands no exception when it comes to china's strict covid rules. he cannot stay overnight, so will be in and out again on the very same day. regardless, china is welcoming the first visit from a european leader in more than three years. translation: we hope that chancellor scholz's first visit | to china is a success. china and germany are all—round strategic partners. that partnership was first established 50 years ago, when the then chancellor willy brandt established diplomatic

channels with beijing. that same year, richard nixon met with chairman mao, becoming the first us president to ever visit mainland china. their meeting was a turning point for china and the west, and germany has been a major beneficiary. china has been germany's biggest trading partner china saved the german economy a couple of times when we faced a crisis, like the financial crisis — everyone was in trouble but daimler sold more s—class mercedes than ever but critics say he is making the exact mistakes of translation: pragmatic. cooperation between china and germany is a matterfor the two sovereign countries. the united states should not attack it without reason and has no right to

meddle and interfere. china and its 1.4 billion citizens wield immense economic power. to scholz's calculation, it is worth keeping president xi close, even if it draws criticism from germany's traditional allies. tom brada, bbc news. we can speak now to andrew small in berlin. he's a senior fellow at the germany marshall fund in berlin. this is a nonpartisan american public policy think tank. andrew, thank you so much for joining me. andrew, thank you so much forjoining me. what is it that germany seeks to achieve here? well, of the chancellor really has a couple of goals with this visit. first of all, i think it

is understood to be critical to have these leader level communications. xijinping has communications. xi jinping has consolidated communications. xijinping has consolidated his power so come pensively in the chinese system that these face—to—face meetings, which have not been possible for a long time, are essential to be able to convey messages on a few of the most important priorities on the german side. this is going to include the questions of china's relationship with russia, taiwan, human rights ahead of the cop, and i think the sense is not all of these messages filter up the system, so even on the kind of tougher messages that he will want to convey on a couple of these issues, it is essential to be able to speak to xi jinping in person. but as we see from the composition of the group that has gone out with him, there is still this view that germany, facing a difficult set of economic conditions, should still be deepening economic ties with china in certain areas. the chancellor has talked about reducing risky dependencies in china in some

areas, but if you look at the group that has gone out with him, it is a lot of the companies on the german side that have actually been expanding their investment ties with germany, with china, which is precisely the moment in which others say they should not be repeating the mistakes they made with russia. that said, they made with russia. that said. isn't — they made with russia. that said, isn't it? _ they made with russia. that said, isn't it? just _ they made with russia. that said, isn't it? just how- they made with russia. that said, isn't it? just how widely held is that view within germany, you are in berlin talking to us at the moment, that they should be a deepening of the ties with china? i that they should be a deepening of the ties with china?— of the ties with china? i think this is the _ of the ties with china? i think this is the thing, _ of the ties with china? i think this is the thing, this - of the ties with china? i think this is the thing, this is - of the ties with china? i think this is the thing, this is not . this is the thing, this is not just criticism coming from germany's allies or from the united states. the polling suggests that a recent decision to give a share in a hamburg port toa to give a share in a hamburg port to a chinese company was opposed by nearly 70% of the german public. there has been some criticism from other members think it is understood that this visit, although there were also questions about the timing so soon after party congress, it could have looked like a

political endorsement of xi jinping, ithink political endorsement of xi jinping, i think there was an understanding was important to convey some of these messages to the chinese leader. but i think the wider view in germany even among a lot of the other parts of the business community, some of the people who are notjoining the delegation, this particular group of ceos that is perhaps the most exposed to china, is that this is a time to be rebalancing his economics minister has been proposing measures that would see kind of a paring back of the investment guarantees and things that germany had provided to some of these countries for their operations possibly looking at outbound investment screening to assess whether this posed unacceptable risks for the german economy. i would say this position that the chancellor is taking at the moment is somewhat at odds with other members of his coalition, and even with the german public right now. and even with the german public riaht now. , �* right now. interesting. andrew, ou right now. interesting. andrew, you mentioned _ right now. interesting. andrew, you mentioned in _ right now. interesting. andrew, you mentioned in your- right now. interesting. andrew, you mentioned in your briefing l you mentioned in your briefing notes before the show that you believe china wants to peel

away allies from the united states. can we explore that? if thatis states. can we explore that? if that is the case, why stop with germany?— that is the case, why stop with german ? ~ . , ~ germany? when train is thinking about relations _ germany? when train is thinking about relations with _ germany? when train is thinking about relations with the - germany? when train is thinking about relations with the united l about relations with the united states, it is notjust about the bilateral peace of theirs. the leveraged that the united states has is its alliance system, and under the biden administration, the approach the united states has been taking has been very much to try and build coalitions to deal with china. we have seen that at the g7, at nato, we have seen the sorts of coordination efforts that have taken place on the us side. on china's part, they want to break that coalition. they want to at least minimise the degree of alignment that the most important us partners have with us strategy, when it comes to china. in germany is critical on this. this isn'tjust a security contest between the united states and china. the most important dimensions of the us china rivalry, the system rivalry that even olaf scholz has talked about is

actually on the technological and economic side and there is no country more important on the technological and economic side in europe than germany in this regard. now olaf scholz and his office have tried to coordinate with the white house before this was to peace and his top foreign policy adviser to washington ahead of the visit to make sure that these messages were not out of line. but from china's perspective, i think they do see the economic needs that it appears the chancellor also thinks that germany has on china is a bit of an opportunity to poke at that alliance and maybe create some space. that alliance and maybe create some space-— some space. very interesting. thank you _ some space. very interesting. thank you for _ some space. very interesting. thank you for your _ some space. very interesting. thank you for your time. - let's get some of the day's other news. president zelensky has accused the kremlin of "energy terrorism", to compensate for the failure of russian troops to gain significant ground on the front line. ukraine's president said that 4.5 million people were without power, as winter sets in. in recent weeks, russia has carried out large—scale missile and drone attacks on ukrainian power facilities. king charles is to host a reception at buckingham

palace later, as part of preparations for the cop—27 climate conference in egypt. it was announced last month that the monarch would not be travelling to the summit, following discussions with liz truss, who was the british prime minister at the time. donald trump has dropped one of his strongest hints yet that he may run for the white house again. he told a crowd in iowa, that he will "very, very, of representatives, has been discharged from hospital, after he was attacked with a hammer during a break at their home in san francisco. the suspect had intended to tie up nancy pelosi and break her kneecaps.

feta music. ok. let's talk about what is going on at the in pakistan. —— fade the music. imran khan, the former prime minister of pakistan, is recovering in hospital after being shot in the leg at a rally. the pakistan government has condemned the shooting, but a senior aide to mr khan has accused it of being behind the attack. the us, britain, canada, and saudi arabia are among several countries which have condemned the assassination attempt. from pakistan, our correspondent samira hussain reports. music. thursday's protest march started like all the others, and then this happened. rapid gunfire. footage, shared on social media, confirmed by the bbc, shows a conscious imran khan with a bandage on his right leg being taken to hospital. here, you can see a man with a gun. he was eventually caught. in a leaked video of his statement to police, he said he wanted to kill mr khan. the current prime minister condemned the attack and has

called for an investigation. pakistan's president is calling it an assassination attempt. but leaders from mr khan's political party released a statement on his behalf, accusing the country's prime minister, home minister and director of pakistan's powerful intelligence agency of being behind the attack, saying they must be removed from office. just two days ago, we were with the former prime minister at one of his protest rallies, where he says the government is against him. i am a democrat. democrats always go to the people. at the moment, the establishment is against us. the entire political parties, all of them are against us. he accuses the current government of a conspiracy that led to his ousting back in april. ..imran khan! cheering. since losing his position as prime minister, his popularity has grown, and it's why he's pushing for fresh elections

he believes he can win. i have been in politics for 26 years. never in pakistan's history has a party had so much public support as now, and all along this route, you will see. it's never happened in pakistan. these demonstrations are a pressure tactic chanting. fresh momentum to his campaign. samira hussain, bbc news, islamabad. the bbc has heard evidence that albanian drug gangs are using the migrant camps of northern france as a recruitment ground, offering to pay the passage of those prepared to work in the uk drugs industry on arrival.

albanians account for almost a third of the 38,000 people arriving in small boats so far this year, according to uk government figures. lucy willaimson has been speaking to people in albania, france, and the uk. for each boat, each migrant, there can be many smugglers. albanian fixers, uk guarantors, kurdish criminal gangs. one man who paid for a place on a kurdish boat this summer says he was approached by recruiters for the uk drugs trade in a dunkirk migrant camp. translation: dunkirk migrant camp. tuna/mom- dunkirk migrant camp. translation: , ., ' translation: they offered me lots of things — translation: they offered me lots of things to _ translation: they offered me lots of things to pay _ translation: they offered me lots of things to pay for - translation: they offered me lots of things to pay for the - lots of things to pay for the journey, to give me a job, but i wasn't interested. they asked me four or five times. this i wasn't interested. they asked me four or five times.— me four or five times. this is where the — me four or five times. this is where the albanian - me four or five times. this is where the albanian migrant l where the albanian migrant trail begins. small towns like this marked by absence. the shuttered houses and empty

cafes, leftovers of an exodus that spiked this year. as the price of crossing to the uk has dropped, the suburbs around tehran are being drained of people. locals in this neighbourhood so 70% of the community has already left, and many of those living here now i thinking ofjoining them. adverts on albanian social media promise easy passage for about £3000, with middlemen on hand to arrange transport from brussels, paris or dunkirk. we contacted some of them, posing as an albanian client. within half an hour, we had two offers for crossings, different options for payment, and advice on claiming asylum in the uk. this system is one reason uk police say the networks are hard to break.— hard to break. whereas in dru . s, hard to break. whereas in drugs, firearms, - hard to break. whereas in drugs, firearms, you - hard to break. whereas in l drugs, firearms, you would hard to break. whereas in - drugs, firearms, you would see a hierarchical structure with aching pain at the top, we

don't see that with organised immigration crime. we see close associations, loose networks across that migration route. french officials say that albanians are acting as middlemen for the iraqi kurdish gangs that still control most boat crossings from france. this woman's son crossed from dunkirk last month, without the help of fixers, or even of the money to pay the smugglers. a relative in england acted as guarantor, she said, and got her son across. his younger brother, just ia years old, is also already planning his own trip. each successful crossing and invisible thread that tugs at the mind of albanians back home. lucy williamson, bbc news, dunkirk. stay with us on bbc news. still to come — we'll be taking you to the nation of

wakanda, as the black panther sequel has its premiere in london. the israeli prime minister, yitzhak rabin, the architect of the middle east peace process, has been assassinated. a 27—year—old jewish man has been arrested, and an extremistjewish organisation has claimed responsibility for the killing. on a historic day for australia. as the results came in, it was clear — the monarchy would survive. rescue, they will all die. keep on going. tonight, we prove once more that the true strength of our nation comes not

from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the german chancellor, olaf scholz, is in beijing, marking the first visit by a european leader pakistan's former prime minister, imran khan, is recovering in hospital after surviving a gun attack during a protest march. twitter says it will tell staff later on friday, whether they will be laid off following the firm's takeover by elon musk. in an internal email, the social network said the cuts were "an effort to place twitter "on a healthy path".

we can now speak to washington post technology reporter taylor lorenz, shejoins us from los angeles. you've spent the whole day speaking to your sources at twitter. thank you so much forjoining us on the programme. what have they been saying to you? it's been absolute chaos. slackers basically gone silent because nobody knows what to say and people have sort of refrain from telling anyone anything over e—mail. but layoffs have already begun and people at the uk office have been notified of their redundancies and already even people here in los angeles have seen access to their work e—mail and slack cut—off, even though layoffs were not supposed to begin until 9am tomorrow. 50 supposed to begin until 9am tomorrow— supposed to begin until 9am tomorrow. , ., , tomorrow. so this is all ready under way? _ tomorrow. so this is all ready under way? yes, _ tomorrow. so this is all ready under way? yes, it's - tomorrow. so this is all ready under way? yes, it's already | under way? yes, it's already beaun, under way? yes, it's already begun, unfortunately. - under way? yes, it's already

begun, unfortunately. what| under way? yes, it's already i begun, unfortunately. what is the move _ begun, unfortunately. what is the move within _ begun, unfortunately. what is the move within -- _ begun, unfortunately. what is the move within -- moved - begun, unfortunately. what is i the move within -- moved within the move within —— moved within the move within —— moved within the company, how do the people you have been talking to describe the work culture within the firm? welcome the work culture _ within the firm? welcome the work culture within _ within the firm? welcome the work culture within the - within the firm? welcome the work culture within the firm i work culture within the firm has traditionally been pretty positive and collaborative, people who work at twitter really love the creativity and scrapping us. it has been a really good place to work stop they have great perks that come with a lot of tech company jobs. unlike facebook or google, twitter never really scaled that huge. it is still a pretty small company. however, in the past week since elon took over it a stake in houston, office morale has dropped and people are uncertain about the future, not getting communication from the company, and pulling all nighters. use of photos of twitter stuff sleeping on the floor just trying to twitter stuff sleeping on the floorjust trying to prove their worth to elon. is floorjust trying to prove their worth to elon. is there a concern about _ their worth to elon. is there a concern about people - their worth to elon. is there a concern about people who - concern about people who want to say about being a dissenting voice to elon musk?—

voice to elon musk? well, i don't think— voice to elon musk? well, i don't think any _ voice to elon musk? well, i don't think any dissenting l don't think any dissenting voices to elon musk are going to stay. that's the whole thing. elon has basically eliminated anyone who questions him. he is surrounded by a team of yes—men. he has brought over a demo of his closest confidence, from close personal friends to senior tesla staffers to come advise on this move. and i don't think that, you know, he is really interested in hearing from anyone. he is the boss, his coming in, and he will make the changes that he feels unnecessary.- changes that he feels unnecessa . ., ., unnecessary. so therefore what direction do _ unnecessary. so therefore what direction do you _ unnecessary. so therefore what direction do you think _ unnecessary. so therefore what direction do you think twitter. direction do you think twitter is heading in?— is heading in? well, it's hard to sa , is heading in? well, it's hard to say. elon _ is heading in? well, it's hard to say, elon just _ is heading in? well, it's hard to say, elon just spent - is heading in? well, it's hard to say, elon just spent 344 l to say, elon just spent $aa billion on this deal. it is in his financial interest to keep the company alive, but is hard to kind of square that with some of what's happening. i mean, yes, reducing head count is a great cost cutting measure, but they have also complete this goal by goal of

these innovative products. twitter was already fledgling, there is a very small group of people that post on it frequently and elon has already started a liaise —— alienating those people, use or high—profile celebrities and screenwriters leaving, journals like myself questioning the utility of the platform going forward. and i don't think people really trust elon to get it together because he doesn't seem to take it seriously, he is on twitter starting fights with congresswoman alexander —— alexander rowe kasiano cortes. it doesn't engender a lot of confidence. a lot of big companies like jam have only fled the platform.— companies like jam have only fled the platform. thank you so much for your— fled the platform. thank you so much for your time. _ fled the platform. thank you so much for your time. taylor - much for your time. taylor lorenz. — much for your time. taylor lorenz, thank _ much for your time. taylor lorenz, thank you. - much for your time. taylor | lorenz, thank you. thanks. let's check in with all the sport. hello, i'm chetan pathak with your sports news. we start with the europa league and the final round of group

games. manchester united missed the opportunity to go straight into the last 16, despite a 1—0 win at real sociedad. teenager alejandro garnacho scored the only goal of the game, and was able to celebrate alongside his idol cristiano ronaldo. but united needed to win by two goals or more to finish ahead of their opponents in the group. so erik ten hag had to settle for second place with his side facing a potentially tricky knockout—round play—off in february. we would always be number one. when we are not we are disappointed about it. but finally you have to say we went tonight, it was a great sheet. from the chances we have to score more goals. but, finally, it is what it is. both australia and new zealand can take a significant step towards qualifying for the semifinals of the t20 world cup on friday, if they beat afghanistan and ireland, respectively. meanwhile, in the other group,

pakistan kept alive their hopes of reaching the last four by beating south africa pakistan had to win this one to stay in the competition, and iftikhar ahmed and shadab khan both hit half—centuries as they made 185 for nine from their 20 overs. when play resumed, they needed 73 from the last five overs, pakistan winning by 33 runs via the dls method. the long—awaited sequel to the oscar winning film black panther has had its european premiere in london. the marvel studios movie paid tribute to black panther�*s original lead actor chadwick boseman, who died of colon cancer in 2020. our correspondent steffan powell was on the black—carpet in the west end. you can really feel — you can probably hear it as well — the energy

and the excitement here about finally returning to the screen four years after the last one. but there's also a sense of sadness and mourning it's something i was speaking to one of the stars yeah, it's still needed. to see my story reflected back still gives me a rush of exhilaration, to be seen. so i have a feeling we could do with more. and like we were hearing there from michaela, this is an important film for the marvel studio, because it speaks to an audience that other simply cannot do.

it does look good, doesn't it? you can reach me on twitter — i'm @vvalentinenews. all your business is coming up soon. —— news. hello. it's been a wet start to november and, as a result of half a month's worth of rain across some south—eastern areas, still flood warnings are in force. but it looks like a window of drier weather for the day ahead before we look to storm martin out in the atlantic, which is going to throw and even ahead of that, there are still, through the remainder of the night, a few heavy, thundery downpours to contend with, in southern areas in particular, and gusty winds as well, so lots of spray and standing water on the roads if you're out in the next few hours — those gusts up to 50—60 mph — but high pressure's building in

and the showers will dampen for many. it's a cold start this morning. a touch of frost across northern areas, grass frost in the south and even a little bit of fog because the winds are falling lighter here. so, what's left of that showery rain scoots away very quickly. we've got a weak weather front introducing showers in the north—west, perhaps some patchy fog to clear away, possibly through the central belt, one or two patches elsewhere but otherwise, it does look like the driest, brightest day of the week with some good spells of sunshine coming through and lighter winds generally. io—ia celsius is just around the average for this time of year. but that window of drier weather doesn't last. we've got, behind me, gathering some more rain and that moves in through friday night and saturday — some quite heavy bursts of rain for a time — and then it slows progress down as it reaches southern and eastern areas. brighter skies certainly following, with one or two showers. ii—ia — on a par with those of friday. but to say that weather front could become slow—moving once again across southern

and eastern areas. the ground saturated, we still have flood warnings in force. and it's bonfire night, so it could be that we have quite a lot of cloud in eastern areas, showers and blustery winds elsewhere, but some clear spells around, as well. but there's uncertainties, as i say, through the forecast, through the latter part of the weekend, given the amount of rain that could fall in southern and eastern areas, and also because of the fetch from that storm, we could have some really large waves saturday night into sunday around the western coast — 5 or 6 metre waves, potentially. lots of blustery showers, heavy and thundery, rolling in behind our weather front. a distinctly unsettled—looking picture. you can find out more about the warnings and the flood warnings online.

this is bbc news with the latest business headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the longest recession since records began. a bleak forecast from the bank of england sends the pound tumbling again. and its governor warns britain's credibility with investors needs rebuilding. it was very apparent to me that the uk's position, the uk's standing had been damaged, and that we all, particularly i and others, have to roll our sleeves up and demonstrate that uk policy—making is back in action. also coming up — the world's factory no more? germany's chancellor is in beijing seeking deeper trade ties — as pressure

grows to reduce economic reliance on china. plus — rising prices — falling ratings. can president biden win the argument on the us economy