the globe. "the end of coal is in sight." that's the word from the government here, in the uk where world powers have been meeting at the cop 26 climate conference. it comes afterr more than a0 countries promised to phase out coal in the coming decades. poland, vietnam and chile are among the fast—growing economies which now say they'll reduce their coal use. but as our science correspondent rebecca morelle reports, other big users of coal such china and the us haven't signed up to the deal. a dinosaur on the loose at the united nations, but with a message for humanity. listen up, people, i know a thing or two about extinction. going extinct is a bad thing... if we want to save our planet and ourselves, we'll need to stop climate change, but to do that fossil fuels will have to become a thing of the past. today at the climate conference, the talk is all about energy, and top of the list is phasing out coal. this fossil fuel is the biggest single contributor to climate change, and more than a0 countries have now committed to move away from it. i do believe that the end of coal is in sight. i do believe we are getting to a point where we consign coal power to history. the agreement includes coal—reliant countries like poland and south korea, but missing are the us, india and most significantly china, where half of the world's coal is burned. it has the biggest transition, the biggest challenges and needs to really drive a structural change in its energy system. today's precedent and movement really increases the pressure for them to come up with those solutions sooner than later. moving away from coal is the future aim, but what's happening to greenhouse gas emissions now? since the 1990s, carbon dioxide levels have been mainly rising, but during the pandemic, when the world shut down, they fell sharply. this year, though, they've increased rapidly again, to almost the same amount. behind those numbers is really a big rebound in coal in particular, so probably what is happening here is that the stimulus packages to go out of covid, because they have stimulated the current economy, which is a fossil fuel economy. but if we are to get to net zero emissions, what do we do about oil and gas? they've been filling some of the gaps behind coal, but some countries like costa rica and denmark are setting a date to end their use, and other nations at cop26 are expected to do the same. but the clock is ticking for decisions about our energy future. scientists are clear — our reliance on fossil fuels needs to end fast. rebecca morelle, bbc news, glasgow. it's youth empowerment day at cop26 on friday, and young people participating in the conference have highlighted that more needs to be done to ensure the voices of youth across the world are taken seriously. leading activist greta thunberg who is expected to take to the streets of glasgow to demand action on climate change from leaders and politicians has criticised the summit. she tweeted: joinging me live now isjimena ojeda, 27 years old and an environmental scientist and activist from peru. she's currently working on organic agriculture and as an environmental educator. world leaders have had their two days. do you think they have done enough, do you think they have listened to the voices of young people? well, thank you _ voices of young people? well, thank you very _ voices of young people? well, thank you very much - voices of young people? well, thank you very much for - voices of young people? well, | thank you very much for having me, mr president. it is a pleasure to be here. ask your question, are you know... it is hard not to criticise when she says, we have been here before, i think there are some very good ideas. ithink i think there are some very good ideas. i think there will is there. however, the only way that it is there. however, the only way thatitis is there. however, the only way that it is going to work as if we all work together, you know? governments, private sectors, civil society, all hands are needed with our leaders, there is not much that we can achieve, and the goals that have been set are ambitious, and we need to get there, there is just no other way. and we need to get there, there isjust no other way.— isjust no other way. there is this phrase — isjust no other way. there is this phrase that _ isjust no other way. there is this phrase that has - isjust no other way. there is this phrase that has been - is just no other way. there is i this phrase that has been used, "youthwashing", which is politicians acting like they listen to young people, acting like a cow, but not necessarily taking action. do you agree with that analysis? it taking action. do you agree with that analysis?- with that analysis? it is something _ with that analysis? it is something that - with that analysis? it is something that we - with that analysis? it is something that we see | with that analysis? it is. something that we see a with that analysis? it is - something that we see a lot, just bring youth, give them a picture, give them a seat and let them speak. many of my colleagues feel this a lot. it depends where you are out, it depends where you are out, it depends where you are out, it depends where you are sitting. there are some places where we are heard, thankfully my organisation is one of them, however, i do think when it comes to government and politicians, it isn't the case, i am afraid, i wouldn't put it any other way.— i am afraid, i wouldn't put it an otherwa . ., ., ., , any other way. you are a member ofthe any other way. you are a member of the youth _ any other way. you are a member of the youth eco- _ any other way. you are a member of the youth eco- zone _ any other way. you are a member of the youth eco- zone in - any other way. you are a member of the youth eco- zone in peru. i of the youth eco— zone in peru. what are some of the particular climate change concerns in your home country?— home country? welcome as you know, home country? welcome as you know. we _ home country? welcome as you know, we have _ home country? welcome as you know, we have a _ home country? welcome as you know, we have a large - know, we have a large percentage of the amazonia and a huge value of diversity, but there isjust so much illegal deforestation, illegal mining, and all these things affect greatly to our climate. not too long ago, in may, we had a thunderstorm in lima, but has not happened ever here. so we are living it, we are seeing it, we have the droughts, we have the mud sliding from the huge big cranes, and our current sea level rises just going insane. so i think we have all the resources that we need, we are a country very rich in resources, we are dreaming them and it is horrible. but i hope the world that has been presented by our delegation over there, by our previous environmental minister, has some sort of impact and we start to get better. �* ., , better. and on the bigger ulobal better. and on the bigger global scale, _ better. and on the bigger global scale, what - better. and on the bigger i global scale, what element better. and on the bigger - global scale, what element of climate change concerns you the most, and do you think enough is being done to tackle it? that is a tough one. well, i think one of the big ones to me, sea level rising, is that we are just me, sea level rising, is that we arejust going me, sea level rising, is that we are just going to cc disappear. i have seen the change over the years. it is so noticeable, and it worries me a lot. ocean acidification is coming to levels we have never seen before. the ecosystems there have been destroyed, and i do not think we are doing enough. it is rough and we talk about fossilfuels and enough. it is rough and we talk about fossil fuels and stuff, because everything that we used to take, technology and the laptop that i connect with to talk to you, you know, it comes from it. but there are ways to restore it, everything we're doing, we are definitely not doing, we are definitely not doing enough, and the un has proven that if we continue this way we are not going to make it, we're not going to stay below 1.5, it, we're not going to stay belowi.5, it it, we're not going to stay below 1.5, it is not going to happen. so we definitely to do more, and this is where the big companies and to be governments need to step up. fik. companies and to be governments need to step via-— companies and to be governments need to step up— need to step up. 0k. joining us from lima. _ need to step up. 0k. joining us from lima, thanks _ need to step up. 0k. joining us from lima, thanks very - need to step up. 0k. joining us from lima, thanks very much l need to step up. 0k. joining us. from lima, thanks very much for coming on the programme. nice to see you. coming on the programme. nice to see vom— let's turn to coronavirus, and a warning from the world health organization that europe is once again at the epicentre of the pandemic. the who says europe could face another 500,000 deaths before the end of winter if the outbreak isn't brought under control. the continent has recorded a 55% rise in cases over the past four weeks, despite the availability of vaccines. courtney bembridge has this report. a pill that can stop covid in its tracks — it's been the goal of scientists since the pandemic began. now there is molnupiravir, and it's likely to be the first of many antiviral treatments. anne—marie tested positive for coronavirus on tuesday and has just started a five—day course of molnupiravir as part of a trial in liverpool. she's had cancer, and so is more vulnerable to covid. it's absolutely a life—and—death situation. i do have a family that i need to think about, and i need to be here for them. and if this gives me the opportunity to be around for my son's wedding and everything else, then so be it. when coronavirus infects cells, it makes multiple copies of itself. molnupiravir, originally designed to treat flu, introduces errors in the virus�*s genetic code, which hampers its ability to spread. it's over a year since the clinical research facility at royal liverpool university hospital began testing if we stay on this trajectory we could see another half a million covid—19 deaths in europe and central asia by the first of february next year. several european countries on our ringing back some restrictions, including mandatory face coverings, limits on nonessential shops, and encouraging people to work remotely. courtney bembridge, bbc news. the uk has become the first country in the world to approve an anti—viral pill against coronavirus. in trials, the drug was shown to cut the chances of dying or being hospitalised in half. british authorities have bought enough supplies to treat nearly 500,000 people. here's our medical editor, fergus walsh. a pill that can stop covid in its tracks — it's been the goal of scientists since the pandemic began. now there is molnupiravir, and it's likely to be the first of many antiviral treatments. anne—marie tested positive for coronavirus on tuesday and has just started a five—day course of molnupiravir as part of a trial in liverpool. she's had cancer, and so is more vulnerable to covid. it's absolutely a life—and—death situation. i do have a family that i need to think about, and i need to be here for them. and if this gives me the opportunity to be around for my son's wedding and everything else, then so be it. when coronavirus infects cells, it makes multiple copies of itself. molnupiravir, originally designed to treat flu, introduces errors in the virus�*s genetic code, which hampers its ability to spread. it's over a year since the clinical research facility at royal liverpool university hospital began testing molnupiravir on patients. global trials have shown it halves the chances of dying or being hospitalised with covid. to have a drug like this, to have an antiviral that's potent, that's able to be taken orally, is a very important moment and does mark a milestone in our discovery of effective medicines against covid. the uk has ordered 480,000 courses of molnupiravir, with the first doses expected to arrive here later this month. it's being approved for people with at least one risk factor for covid, such as being over 60, obese or having heart disease. it's most effective when given within five days of symptoms appearing. the cost of the drug hasn't been revealed, but in the us it's £500 per patient. the uk was the first country in the world to authorise the pfizer and astrazeneca vaccines, and now regulators here have again led the way by approving molnupiravir. it will be months before doctors know how effective it is outside trials. but antivirals look set to play a key role in keeping covid patients out of hospital. fergus walsh, bbc news. in east africa, in ethiopia, tigrayan forces have warned they'll march on the country's capital, addis abbaba, to prevent what they call a genocide being carried out by federal forces against the northern tigrayan people. it comes on the one year anniversary of the start of the war there. the tigray people's liberation front or tplf have taken two towns in recent days, prompting the country's prime minister to warn the capital's residents to take up arms. samuel getachew is a journalist in addis ababa and gave us this update. there has been lines of people heading to local government officers to register their weapons. they think that the government has told them that they need to protect themselves if the tplf comes to addis ababa and attacks them, abuses them, they haven't come yet, but from what we have heard, the government is ready to defend the capital. addis ababa is notjust the capital of ethiopian, it is also the diplomatic capital of the continent. it hosts the most diplomatic embassies in the continent. so it is an important city, and ethiopian out, as was said by the state department spokesperson in washington, dc, it is one of the most important nations in africa. you know, it needs to be protected. it needs the protection that it deserves. but how much that protection is going to be intact is an open debate. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, defending the earth — nasa says it will test a new system that could deflect asteroids. 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. at polling booths throughout the country, they voted on a historic day for australia. as the results came in, it was clear — the monarchy would survive. of the american hostages, there was no sign — - they are being held somewhere inside the compound — - and student leaders have threatened that, should i the americans attempt. rescue, they will all die. this mission has surpassed all expectations. voyager one is now the most distant man—made object anywhere in the universe, and itjust seems to 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 world news, the latest headlines: more than a0 countries pledge to end the use of coal, but major producers, including the us, india and china are not signed up to the agreement. let's stay with that. a short time ago i asked craig hart, executive director of pace university's energy and climate center and a non—resident seniorfellow at the atlantic council global energy center what he made of the deal. it puts us on the right track but it's only a start and it's clearly not enough. there is a couple of, first of all, this only covers the power sector and as you've already indicated there are a number of countries that need to be really ceasing coal youth in order to make this meaningfulfrom the this meaningful from the perspective of a climate change advancing. perspective of a climate change advancinu. ,, ., perspective of a climate change advancing-— advancing. us, india, china not sinned advancing. us, india, china not signed up _ advancing. us, india, china not signed up to — advancing. us, india, china not signed up to the _ advancing. us, india, china not signed up to the agreement, i advancing. us, india, china not signed up to the agreement, is| signed up to the agreement, is there a hope that they might get on board in months and years to come? in get on board in months and years to come?— get on board in months and years to come? in the us, the us has been — years to come? in the us, the us has been closing _ years to come? in the us, the us has been closing coal- years to come? in the us, the | us has been closing coal plants simply because they aren't economic and probably won't be permitting any new plants, and one of the provisions is to cease permitting knew what they call unabated coal, so in the us case, it is more about domestic politics not being able to sign on, but that has been happening and by the 2030 period we will have closed in the us about two—thirds of our plant. china and india, are a much greater concern in terms of new growth because they are rapidly expanding their power sector still and coal remains a big part of it. in china's case, at least 50% of their power sector is still coal—based and even though they have said they won't be financing new plants overseas, the ones that are in the pipeline will probably be built and they are still committed to coal as a reserve fuel and plan to build coal plants at least through the next ten years, so with china it is a concern, india it is a concern but also australia is not part of this and the fact that the us is not part of this is actually more relevant from the perspective of of, we produce coal and export it, and so the us and australia will still be in the coal game as a producer of the fuel. here in the uk, the government's facing fresh claims of corruption and sleaze after lobbying its mps to vote in favour of a parliamentary rule change that would've opened the door for one of its members to appeal a suspension. owen paterson was accused of an egregious breach of parliamentary rules by lobbying for companies who paid him salaries of thousands of pounds a month. but after an intense backlash, owen paterson has now resigned, raising further questions over borisjohnson's handling of wrongdoing by his party members. our political editor laura kuenssberg reports. can you take a step back? a different kind of protest. a different kind of attack to green activists busy in westminster today. come down here. sleaze is the accusation against the government, corruption the claim. a former minister has now quit as an mp after he was found to have lobbied the government more than a dozen times for companies who paid him thousands of pounds. standing down, owen paterson said... the ayes to the right, 250... but downing street had tried to save him. ..the noes to the left, 232. tories last night voted to tear up the rules he broke. but listen to the atmosphere in the air. jeering. order. what have you done to this place? dozens of conservatives, outraged, stayed away. but number 10 had backed to overhaul the system that monitors behaviour that would have saved him. the immediate backlash was bruising, nearly all of the front pages damning. the internet alive with claims of sleaze, political immediately sharpening attacks. many tories, too, were appalled. so by mid—morning, ministers were back in the commons ditching the idea, and in effect, ditching owen patterson too. last night's vote has created a certain amount of controversy. it is important that standards in this house are done on a cross—party basis. while there is a very strong feeling on both sides of the house that there is a need for an appeals process, there is equally a strong feeling that this should not be based on a single case or applied retrospectively. in other words, changing the rules that mr patterson broke is off for now. but the opposition says it is a wider pattern. corrupt, i mean there is no other word for it, i'm afraid. and often in a situation like this you have a prime minister who is trying to lead on public standards. what you have got with this prime minister is a prime minister who is leading his troops through the sewer. and so it is a complete mess of their own making. it's a very strong accusation to say this is corrupt. well, it is corrupt because there was a clear finding after due process. the attempt to protect owen patterson has backfired — spectacularly so. it has stirred questions again about the prime minister's attitude to obeying the rules, doubts about downing street's politicaljudgement, and it has done the reputation of this place no favours at all. borisjohnson says he's sorry to see mr patterson go, but outraged at how the prime minister tried to use parliament will take time to fade. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. the us space agency, nasa, has unveiled a system it hopes it might use to protect the earth from asteroids. in what's being described as the first planetary defence test mission, a satellite will be launched into space, and crashed into a pair of asteroids, to try and change their course. the bbc�*s tim allman has the story. space is vast and full of wonder. countless stars, cou ntless pla nets and countless lumps of rocks streaking through the cosmos. earth has always been a potential target, exposed and vulnerable — until now. this is a computer simulation of dart, the double asteroid redirection test, which could be our first line of defence if one of those lumps of rock comes heading our way. nature has given us a set up where we have an asteroid, a nearby asteroid, approaching close to earth, so that we can observe from earth—based observatories, but this is a test. and this is how the test will work. astronomers have long been aware of a pair of asteroids called didymos and dimorphos. some time late next year, dart will target them, smash into them, trying to alter their course. these asteroids are of no danger to us but others might well be. if there was an asteroid that was a threat to the earth, what you would want to do this technique many years in advance, decades in advance such that you would just give this asteroid a small nudge which would add up to a big change to its future position and then the asteroid and the earth wouldn't be on a collision course. of course, earth has not always been so lucky. around 65 million years ago a large asteroid crashed into our planet, killing off the dinosaurs. it has happened before, it could happen again. but dart may come to the rescue. tim allman, bbc news. let me leave you with these live pictures from the spanish island of la palma. this is the volcano that started erupting on september 19, but it is still spewing out lover and ash as you can see. more than 2000 buildings have been destroyed and many thousands of people have been forced to leave. experts say it is impossible to predict how long the eruption will continue but some say there are positive signs that activity is slowing. hello there. after the rather chilly conditions of the last few days, things are going to feel a little bit different as we head towards the weekend. some milder weather in the forecast, but with that, quite a lot of cloud feeding in from the west. and for some of us through the weekend there is some wet and windy weather on the way. this warm front has been working its way southwards and eastwards, introducing more in the way of cloud, but also introducing a westerly wind, so that is bringing a milderfeel. a milder start to friday for many. the coldest conditions down towards the south and the east where the skies have remained clear. and that's where we will see the best of any sunshine through the morning. for many other places there is going to be a lot of cloud. that cloud, at times, producing some spots of light rain and drizzle. especially over high ground in western scotland. we will hold onto a little bit of brightness at times across eastern scotland, north—east england, parts of east wales, the midlands, and down towards the south—east. and the temperatures a little higher than they have been. double digits for almost all of us. 10—13 degrees at best. as we head through friday night, bonfire night of course, expect mild conditions, a lot of cloud, some spots of rain and drizzle, and then through the early hours of saturday, some heavier rain starting to push in towards the western side of scotland. there will be quite a mild start to the weekend. seven, eight, nine, 10 degrees. but for saturday, while high pressure will hold on down towards the south, low pressure is pushing close to the north of the uk, and this frontal system here will bring some outbreaks of quite heavy rain southwards and eastwards across scotland, and northern ireland. some of that rain eventually getting down into north—west england and north wales. ahead of that, southern and eastern parts of england largely dry, but quite cloudy. brightening up eventually up towards the north—west where it will also be turning very windy. but we stick with that milder theme —12—14 degrees. now through saturday night as this area of low pressure passes close to northern scotland, notice the white lines, the isobars squeezing together. there will be a swathe of really strong winds. quite widely it will be windy, but wind gusts could get up to 70 mph or even a touch more in the most exposed spots in northern scotland. but for sunday, we can expect more in the way of sunshine. showers continuing in the far north where we keep a fairly brisk breeze. it will feel a little cooler by this stage, but still top temperatures of 10—13 degrees. this is bbc news. the headlines: at cop26, a major step towards eliminating the use of coal, one of the most harmful energy sources — but most of the big polluters are not on board. the host nation says 46 countries had signed up to end coal use. the ethiopian government has said it will continue its fight against tigrayan rebel forces, despite growing international calls for a ceasefire. the government says it's on the brink of victory, but tigrayan forces have been advancing towards the capital and seizing key towns in recent days. the world health organization has described the current surge of coronavirus cases in the wider europe region as a warning shot for the entire world. europe saw almost 1.8 million new cases last week alone. the who says europe is again becoming what it called the epicentre of the pandemic.