this is bbc news — the headlines at four: union leaders say nurses are likely to take their first ever national strike action before christmas. downing street says the prime minister believes "abusive" text messages sent by the cabinet minister gavin williamson were "unacceptable". in a keynote speech to party members, the lib dem leader sir ed davey reiterates his call for a general election, saying the current government, "does not have a shred of credibility left". the united nations�* annual climate change summit has begun in egypt — with a warning that a year of extreme weather must be a wake—up call for the planet. and coming up at 4:30 — with the us mid term elections around the corner, barbara plett usher explores the impact of a new battle facing america, driven by conservative christian

pastors and politicians good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. nurses are likely to take their first ever national strike action according to their union. the royal college of nursing is still counting ballot papers returned by its 300,000 members but says those counted so far suggest support for strike action, possibly before christmas. the rcn wants a 5% pay increase above the rate of inflation. nurses working in accident & emergency and critical care would be exempted from striking to maintain services. the government said nurses should "carefully consider" the impact on patients.

and as our health editor hugh pym reports, other health workers could also soon be staging industrial action. possible strike action is already looming in parts of the nhs in scotland. members of two unions, including ambulance staff at the gmb, have voted for walk—outs. though they have called for talks with members. gmb members have voted to reject that pay offer, so we are currently making plans for over 4,000 gmb members working in all roles across the nhs and the ambulance service to take action, possibly this side of christmas. so what we are doing is urging the cabinet minister to come back to the table with a vastly improved offer. pay rises lower than inflation over several years and workforce shortages are reasons given by the royal college of nursing for the strength of feeling which led to the ballot of their members. detailed results of the voting, including turnout, will be formally

announced within days. there have been a series of ballots among the rcn's 300,000 members at individual work places. the general secretary pat cullen said the signs are that across the uk members have spoken very clearly in favour of strike action. the rcn said any strikes would affect planned nhs treatment and appointments, but not emergency care. in england and wales, there have been pay awards of £1,400 this year. the scottish government has offered just over £2,200. there has been no formal offer yet in northern ireland. the department of health covering england said the recommendations of the independent pay review body have been followed, and unions should think hard before taking action, which might affect patients. in the last hour, downing street has said the prime minister believes abusive text messages sent by the minister gavin williamson to the former chief whip, wendy morton are "unacceptable". a source from number ten has told

the bbc that the first time rishi sunak saw the exchange was in this morning's newspapers. wendy morton's complaint is being investigated. with the background, here's our political correspondent david wallace—lockhart. sir gavin williamson was sacked from the cabinet by boris johnson last year. rishi sunak made him a minister again this month, the very same day the prime minister promised... integrity, professionalism, and accountability... but was now know that rishi sunak was aware that sir gavin was the subject of an official complaint made by the former chief whip, wendy morton. shortly after the death of the queen, gavin williamson texted miss morton to accuse her of rigging the process for allocating spaces at her majesty's funeral to punish certain mps. he called this "absolutely disgusting". she replied, saying that was not the case. in one of a number of texts sir gavin sent featuring expletives, he warned her,

"there is a price for everything". many more messages were exchanged. this morning, gavin williamson's departmental boss said sir gavin regretted the messages he sent. that's not acceptable, he shouldn't have said it, he has said he regrets doing so. what is the consequence for him? he has given some context that this was at the time of heightened frustration, it was, remember him as a backbencher to the chief whip. so if you're in a bad mood it's ok to talk like that to a colleague? this is not acceptable. however, there is this complaints process ongoing and it was not the case that the prime minister had seen this exchange. but a former cabinet colleague of gavin williamson suggested the prime minister doesn't have time for these kind of scandals. the texts he sent to the chief whip were unacceptable and i think- rishi sunak doesn't _ have the bandwidth for this kind of negative publicity. labour are questioning the prime minister's judgment. what it says is that rishi sunak was making decisions simply

in his own narrow short—term interest as far as the conservative party leadership was concerned, not the national interest. rishi sunak had already faced criticism for reappointing suella braverman as home secretary, shortly after she sent official documents from her personal e—mail. today's revelation prompt more questions about the team the prime minister has assembled. the liberal democrat leader sir ed davey has reiterated his call for a general election, saying that the current government "does not have a shred of credibility left". in a speech to activists in london, after his party's conference had to be cancelled because of the queen's death, the lib dem leader also set out plans to help home—owners with mortgage payments. and he had this message for rishi sunak. this is the guy who two years ago was telling us all to eat out to help out. well, our message to the conservatives is this — help out by

clearing out! rishi sunak, your government does not have a shred of credibility left. it does not have a shred of legitimacy left and if you had a shred of integrity left, you would call a general election now. but whenever that election comes, the liberal democrats will be ready, we are the party that will end this chaos, the party that understands the challenges people are facing, we will show that we are the party that

cares, the party that has a plan, the party that offers a fair deal and that is why we will win! the united nations cop27 climate conference got underway this morning in egypt with the outgoing chairman — britain's alok sharma — telling delegates that �*inaction' will only defer climate catastrophe and asking �*how many more wake up calls does the world actually need?". the prime minister rishi sunak is flying in today along with other world leaders for the 12 day conference. our environment editorjustin rowlatt looks now at some of the issues on the agenda. it has been a year of record—breaking temperatures and climate—related disasters around the world. but africa has been hit particularly hard. huge floods displaced more than a million people in nigeria last month. cyclones ripped through

madagascar earlier this year. while another year of low rainfall pushed parts of somalia and elsewhere in east africa even closer to famine. it's easy to see why egypt says this should be a cop — a climate conference — for africa. take a look at historic emissions. developed countries in places like europe and america got rich burning fossilfuels. lots of nations in asia, notably china, are now doing the same. but take a look at africa's share. it is tiny, less than 8% of the total. and that's the issue. developing nations say we didn't cause the climate problem, so why should we pay to fix it? egypt is saying it's time for the rich world to come good on its promise of 100 billion a year to help finance developing countries to move away from fossil fuels and adapt to the changing climate. and there will be some new demands, too. remember the terrible floods in pakistan this summer? well, the developing world is also

asking for cash to help with the loss and damage climate—related disasters like this are already causing. there's a lot of money for war, for instance, you know, in the system always when it's needed. 20 years there was a war next door. it was costing $300 million a day. so, no, i don't think it's an impossible ask. last week, the head of the un warned of a crisis of trust if there isn't progress on the issue. but with a war in europe and soaring food and energy prices, wealthy countries warn they already have lots of calls on their cash. they don't want to sign up to an open—ended commitment that could end up costing hundreds of billions of dollars. the us climate envoy, john kerry, told the bbc the world's focus should remain on trying to cut emissions to minimise future climate change.

we have an enormous challenge ahead of us to stop the damage from happening, and lots of countries are contributing to that damage today, including in the developing world. so we have to move faster to get off coal. we have to move faster to reduce fossil fuel consumption. so there is real potential for conflict and disagreement at the conference. the last cop ended on a high note, with ambitious pledges from many nations. this year is about implementing those pledges, and that is a much more ambitious task. in short, don't expect any big breakthroughs in egypt. justin rowlatt, bbc news. matt mcgrath is at the cop27 summit with the latest. i asked him for the latest developments. .- i asked him for the latest develoments. . . i asked him for the latest develoments. . u, . ., developments. . the conference have ado ted an developments. . the conference have adopted an agenda _ developments. . the conference have

adopted an agenda that _ developments. . the conference have adopted an agenda that is _ developments. . the conference have adopted an agenda that is a _ developments. . the conference have adopted an agenda that is a critical. adopted an agenda that is a critical piece of earth, this question about loss and damage about the damages that have been impacted on developing countries by rising temperatures, that is on the agenda and that is seen as a significant step for developing countries. the world leaders are coming here, about 120 are coming in here, but not the leaders of china, india, japan, australia, or canada. rishi sunak is coming tomorrow and will make a statement and obviously be making his announcements at that point. but we are expecting things from him and from other leaders to show that they're committed to this process, committed to the battle against climate change and they're not too distracted with other issues in the world. ., . ., , , ., world. how much of this is about makin: world. how much of this is about making new _ world. how much of this is about making new promises _ world. how much of this is about making new promises on - world. how much of this is about making new promises on climate change and how much about making sure that people keep to the existing previous promises they have already made and don't do any

backsliding?— already made and don't do any backsliding? already made and don't do any backslidin: ? . , ,, . ~ , backsliding? yeah, rishi sunak is talkinu backsliding? yeah, rishi sunak is talking about _ backsliding? yeah, rishi sunak is talking about backsliding - backsliding? yeah, rishi sunak is talking about backsliding and - backsliding? yeah, rishi sunak is talking about backsliding and a i backsliding? yeah, rishi sunak is| talking about backsliding and a lot of people here are talking about backsliding. last year in glasgow, all the countries who attended agreed they would put new plans on the table by the end of the year to cut carbon and go beyond what they had promised and only 25 of them have done that. it is the same with other promises, particularly on the one hundred billion that has not been delivered this year. so there is a lot of i suppose sarcastic views on the promises that people have made. but the egyptian authorities and the government are keen to get some new stuff from the governments that come here and they will be pushing hard to get some new commitments. the crucial us midterm elections, which will decide who controls congress,

are just a couple of days away. president biden and former president 0bama have taken to the stage together at a campaign rally in pennsylvania. mr biden urged the cheering crowd in his home state to back the democrats' john fetterman for the senate. he said the elections would shape the country for decades to come. this isn't a referendum, this year, it's a choice, a choice between two vastly different visions of america, vastly different. maybe it's in our blood, butjohn and i believe that all... it's all about fighting for working and middle class people. the way i've said, from the beginning of my cam... my objective, when i ran for president, was to build an economy from the bottom up and the middle out. it's a fundamental shift, compared to the ozian, mega, maga, republican trickle down economics. booing. no, really. a fair economy that gives working people a fair shot.

that's on the ballot. fundamental rights are on the ballot. truth and facts and logic and reason... applause. ..and basic decency are on the ballot. democracy itself is on the ballot. the stakes are high. speaking at a rally in pennsylvania, in support fo the republican candidate, donald trump stressed the importance of defeating the democrats on tuesday. there's only one choice to end this madness, and it is indeed madness. if you support the decline and fall of america, then you must vote for the radical left democrats. if you want to stop the destruction of our country and save the american dream, then this tuesday, you must vote republican in a giant red wave.

the headlines on bbc news: union leaders say nurses are likely to take their first ever national strike action before christmas. a senior government minister has denied that rishi sunak knew details of bullying allegations against sir gavin williamson before he gave him a job. in a keynote speech to party members, the lib dem leader sir ed davey reiterates his call for a general election, saying the current government, "does not have a shred of credibility left". sport and time for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. arsenal have gone back to the top of the premier league after beating chelsea 1—0 at stamford bridge. having fallen behind manchester city on goal difference after their dramatic victory yesterday, they needed just gabriel's second half goal to beat their london rivals. the defender tapping in after a bukayo saka's corner

found its way through to him. seven games unbeaten now for arsenal,who are three points clear, while a second straight league defeat for chelsea leaves them 7th. that one of five premier league matches today. unai emery had a spectacular start to his aston villa career. they were 2—0 ahead in 11 minutes against manchester united. and eventually won 3—1. an injury time own goal from aaron cresswell gave crystal palace at 2—1 win at west ham. while newcastle are third after a 4—1 win at southampton. the team they've replaced, spurs, kick off shortly against liverpool. the pressure continues to mount on rangers manager giovanni van bronckhorst — as they fell seven points behind leaders celtic in the scottish premiership. that's after they were beaten 2—1 by stjohnstone — james brown with a stunning strike to put the home side ahead. stjohnstone then doubled their lead through nicky clark. rangers got one back late on,

but it wasn't enough. it's the first time stjohnstone have beaten rangers since december 2017. in the other game, hearts lead motherwell 2—0. wrexham are into the second round of the fa cup after a comfortable 3—0 win against fellow national league side 0ld ham athletic. sam dalby gave the dragons the lead before a double from paul mullin, including this instinctive header from a throw in just after the hour mark, to round off an assured performance from phil parkinson's side. two other games today which you can follow on the bbc sport website. arsenal have gone three points clear at the top of the wsl, winning 4—0 at leicester. frida maanum put the gunners ahead after 13 minutes, caitlin foord and stephanie—elise catley added two more to put them 3—0 up at half time. stina blackstenius added a fourth just after the break. arsenal have won all six of their league games so far this season.

manchester city and aston villa have also both won today. city beat reading thanks to two own goals by emma mitchell. while manchester united and chelsea, who started the day behind arsenal just on goal difference, meet in the late game. england have been beaten by argentina at home for the first time since 2006. in what will be england's opening match of next year's world cup, the pumas won by 30 points to 29 at twickenham. england led at half time but argentina capitalised on this error to put themselves back in front, santiago carreras the man going over, with nobody unable to catch him. the visitors had just 37% possession but scored two opportunist tries from them, similar to howjack van poortvliet touched down here within a minute of coming on to bring england back to within 3 points, but ultimately they couldn't get in front. eddiejones's side will playjapan next weekend before games against new zealand and south africa wrap up their autumn matches.

after they suffered a shock 13—run defeat by the netherlands. that means england's semi final will be against india, who were already through before they thrashed zimbabwe by 71 runs. rohit sharma's side secured top spot in group two, scoring 186 for 5 with suryakumar yadav getting a brilliant 61 not out off 25 balls, to add to kl rahul�*s 51. zimbabwe were bowled out for 115 in reply. pakistan will face new zealand in the final four after a nervy five—wicket win over bangladesh. they were chasing 128 to win, and made hard work of it in adelaide, but mohammad haris' 31 off 18 balls proved vital.

england are through to the semi—finals of the wheelchair world cup. england scored 18 tries in in a 104-12 cup. england scored 18 tries in in a 104—12 win in front of another record crowd for the sport. the hosts are top of their group and beat australia in their opening game. today saw that record attendance up to 3,268. in the men's competition, samoa have beaten tonga. they will now play england in the semi—finals. a repeat of their opening group game of the tournament. that is all the sport for now. an aeroplane has crashed into lake victoria in tanzania while attempting to land at a nearby airport with the country's state broadcaster reporting that at least three people have died.

the owners of the plane say 26 people have been rescued so far, the police chief said 43 people were on board. the aircraft, which had departed from dar es salaam, crashed into lake victoria due to storms and heavy rains, according to state media. our correspondent mayeni jones is monitoring all the developments. news of the crash started trickling in on social media around 10am tanzanian time. 43 people were on board, including 39 passengers. the airline said they were 38 adult and one infant on board the plane. they're blaming bad weather for the emergency landing. 0ne witness told state television that they saw the aircraft aiming for the airport, missing and crash—landing into the lake. a rescue operation is under way. video footage and pictures from the scene show boats full of rescue workers surrounding the aircraft. little of it is visible above water

and they're taking people out and trying to rescue people who are on board. the authorities say they're in touch with the pilots, which suggests they are still alive, helping rescue workers with their operation. there has already been a lot of reaction to the crash. the president has released a statement, sending her condolences, saying they will do everything they can to support the investigation and the rescue. there have been statements echoing similar sentiments from the head of african union and the head of the regional bloc. precision aircraft that is involved is the biggest private aviation carrier in tanzania. it has been active since 1993 and it partly owned by kenya airlines. it said it has set up information desks in the area to provide help and information for any family member of those affected.

with the social media network twitter being a source of controversy lately, some users are moving to a new app — mastodon. it's been around since 2016 but it's seen a rise in users over the last few weeks. its creator eugen rochko says they've gained 230,000 new users since elon musk took over twitter. let's find out more from the technologyjournalist, chris stokel—walker. thank you for being with us. first, what is mastodon?— what is mastodon? mastodon is a similar social _ what is mastodon? mastodon is a similar social network _ what is mastodon? mastodon is a similar social network to - what is mastodon? mastodon is a similar social network to twitter. | similar social network to twitter. in the same way you post short messages on twitter, you post what are called toots on mastodon. it is

an app that is named after an extinct mammoth. so short form text messages that you share with your followers. they can be then distributed to other people. the idea is that you build up a community much in the same way as you do with twitter. figs community much in the same way as you do with twitter.— you do with twitter. as we have said, a you do with twitter. as we have said. a lot _ you do with twitter. as we have said. a lot of— you do with twitter. as we have said, a lot of people _ you do with twitter. as we have said, a lot of people are - you do with twitter. as we have said, a lot of people are leaving twitter, what are the pros and cons of mastodon? {line twitter, what are the pros and cons of mastodon?— twitter, what are the pros and cons of mastodon? one of the pros is that mastodon is — of mastodon? one of the pros is that mastodon is not _ of mastodon? one of the pros is that mastodon is not owned _ of mastodon? one of the pros is that mastodon is not owned by _ of mastodon? one of the pros is that mastodon is not owned by elon - of mastodon? one of the pros is that| mastodon is not owned by elon musk. they are concerned about the future direction of twitter and some of the desipsings that have been made —— decisions that have been made. the cons, sadly, there are a few. it is not as intuitive or as easy as twitter, in part because of the fact it is what is called open source software, it is geeky and it has been developed by those with it knowledge and you need a bit of that to do it. you sign up, you have to

do what is called picking a server. that is really parent, important because you have to trust that server, because they will hold your private information, your password, your user name, but it doesn't matter that much, because although you pick one server, you can still share anything with the world. it is like picking a gmail account, rather than picking a specific web—site. it sounds complicated for me! how is it moderated? people now have concerns, or more concerns about twitter with elon musk in charge. is mastodon better in terms of the way it is moderated and policed?- better in terms of the way it is moderated and policed? yes, in the last week, moderated and policed? yes, in the last week. we _ moderated and policed? yes, in the last week, we have _ moderated and policed? yes, in the last week, we have seen _ moderated and policed? yes, in the last week, we have seen twitter - last week, we have seen twitter making change, including large

numbers of layoffs, that we don't know the impact of. mastodon depends on which server you pick, if you're think about this, you may want to choose one carefully. essentially, each server owner and that could be you or me or a big corporation, they decide op the rules that people have to adhere to on their servers. then from there you can connect into the rest of the world in what is called the fed verse, the fed rated universe. the fed verse, the fed rated universe-— the fed verse, the fed rated universe. , ., ., ., universe. there is not op mastodon, what else is — universe. there is not op mastodon, what else is there _ universe. there is not op mastodon, what else is there if _ universe. there is not op mastodon, what else is there if you _ universe. there is not op mastodon, what else is there if you want - universe. there is not op mastodon, what else is there if you want to - universe. there is not op mastodon, what else is there if you want to go l what else is there if you want to go somewhere else.— somewhere else. there are a a laundry list _ somewhere else. there are a a laundry list of _ somewhere else. there are a a laundry list of options - somewhere else. there are a a laundry list of options to - somewhere else. there are a a laundry list of options to pick l laundry list of options to pick from. an app called wt social that is building up a head of steam, but not as much as mastodon. mastodon seems to be the one that people have picked. forthose seems to be the one that people have picked. for those that are not

necessarily unhappy around what is happening with twitter, but want a different direction, donald trump has his own social network, based op mastodon. there are others such as text versions, video versions. you can use any social media platform. but some might even go back to facebook! which most people abandoned years ago. do facebook! which most people abandoned years ago.- facebook! which most people abandoned years ago. do you think --eole will abandoned years ago. do you think people will go _ abandoned years ago. do you think people will go back _ abandoned years ago. do you think people will go back to _ abandoned years ago. do you think people will go back to twitter - abandoned years ago. do you think people will go back to twitter once | people will go back to twitter once the fuss dies down?— people will go back to twitter once the fuss dies down? yes, we are in the fuss dies down? yes, we are in the middle — the fuss dies down? yes, we are in the middle of _ the fuss dies down? yes, we are in the middle of a _ the fuss dies down? yes, we are in the middle of a storm _ the fuss dies down? yes, we are in the middle of a storm and - the fuss dies down? yes, we are in the middle of a storm and actually| the middle of a storm and actually once things start to settle down, elon musk will realise he can't go on as he is doing. but bear in mind you will probably come back to twitter in a few weeks.- you will probably come back to twitter in a few weeks. thank you. fascinating _ twitter in a few weeks. thank you. fascinating stuff. _ twitter in a few weeks. thank you. fascinating stuff. toots, _ twitter in a few weeks. thank you. fascinating stuff. toots, not - fascinating stuff. toots, not tweets! now the weather. hello,

although we have had our drier moments, it has been unsettled this week. some heavy rain fall. that continues into the start of the new week. by midweek high pressure will build. sunshine will be limited, but we will notice it is will be very mild. low pressure in control for this afternoon and into the evening and overnight, with blustery showers, longer spells of rain, spreading from the south. the winds touching gale force in south we are areas. temperatures down to seven to ten degrees. for monday, a windier day. very windy in the south—west. spells of rain moving north. a blustery day. up to 60mph in more exposed south western areas. temperatures 12 to 15 degrees.

hello, this is bbc news with me, ben brown. the headlines: union leaders say nurses are likely to take their first—ever national strike action before christmas. downing street says the prime minister believes "abusive" text messages sent by the cabinet minister gavin williamson were "unacceptable". in a keynote speech to party members, the lib dem leader sir ed davey reiterates his call for a general election, saying the current government "does not have a shred of credibility left." now on bbc news, america: faith on the front line. this country belongs to god almighty! a powerful minority is on the rise with a particular vision of america. ., ., , ., america. you cannot separate god from politics- _ america. you cannot separate god from politics. you _ america. you cannot separate god from politics. you cannot - america. you cannot separate god from politics. you cannot take - america. you cannot separate god from politics. you cannot take him out of our— from politics. you cannot take him out of our government. _ from politics. you cannot take him out of our government. it - from politics. you cannot take him out of our government. it is - from politics. you cannot take him out of our government. it is one i from politics. you cannot take himj out of our government. it is one of the oldest and most influential

currents in us politics