african countries will be banned from arriving in britain later today. the move comes amid worrying warnings about a new covid variant emerging in the region. experts have described the variant b.1.1.529 as the worst they have seen so far, and with no cases confirmed in the uk the government hope that they'll be able to prevent the spread in the lead up to christmas. so far — only 59 confirmed cases have been identified in south africa, hong kong and botswana. consumer watchdog which have responded to the travel ban with a stark reminder that travel is not back to normal and that the pandemic continues to disrupt passengers�* travel plans, often with very little notice. whilst more study needs to be done there are fears that the vaccines could be less effective against this new strain. our medical editor fergus walsh has the latest. from what we do know there's a significant number of mutations, perhaps double the number of mutations that we have seen in the delta variant. and that would suggest that it may well be more transmissible and the current vaccines that we have may well be less effective.> so much to get into here, let's talk to colin furness, epidemiologist at the university of toronto. how worried should we be? it how worried should we be? it is too early to _ how worried should we be? it is too early to say. _ how worried should we be? it 3 too early to say. immunisation rates in south africa are quite low. about a0%. so variant could do very well and they're not necessarily do well elsewhere. it is too early to say. the number of mutations is worrisome in terms of vaccine invasion but we just don't know. is it going to be more violent? i think it will be prudent but wejust violent? i think it will be prudent but we just don't know. do we know if it is more transmissible?- do we know if it is more transmissible? ., ., , ~ transmissible? no. not yet. we will see very — transmissible? no. not yet. we will see very shortly. _ transmissible? no. not yet. we will see very shortly. delta - will see very shortly. delta was recognised as being more transmissible because it was so obvious, so clear that it was out competing other variants were going to weeks at these to be able to see if that happens and we will know soon. the big auestion and we will know soon. the big question is _ and we will know soon. the big question is whether _ and we will know soon. the big question is whether this - and we will know soon. the big question is whether this is - and we will know soon. the big question is whether this is so l question is whether this is so different and far advance in terms of its mutation that it can effectively evade the vaccines currently out there and in the arms of evil across the world. do we know anything about that? is there any sense it is less effective or the jobs are less effective against this variant are not? you make your immune system and the vaccines rely upon recognising the virus and the more changes it makes, the less easy it is to recognise. so that is the biggest thing. it is not clear to me that these mutations would necessarily be more transmissible or more very than to a dangerous but certainly the bigger worry for me would be immune evasionjust the bigger worry for me would be immune evasion just because of change. if that is the case, what sort of end scenario are you looking at? worse case scenario at this stage? we would have _ scenario at this stage? we would have to _ scenario at this stage? - would have to take our best guess is what the level would be. it is very unlikely that it would be wholly vaccine evading. they will be somewhat less effective are not ineffective. that is an important consideration. so many tighter restrictions and it is tough to take travel restrictions. people find their way around the matter of fascia madman. that is difficult. controlling borders in traffic and testing people and ensuring people are vaccinated, ensuring vaccinations are real, that is something we should do. thank ou. we something we should do. thank yom we are _ something we should do. thank you. we are going _ something we should do. thank you. we are going to _ something we should do. thank you. we are going to be - something we should do. thank you. we are going to be talking | you. we are going to be talking about travel bans that are naming into force in the business section 25 minutes' time. britain's prime minister has written to the french president asking him to "take back" people who cross the channel to the uk, as part of a returns agreement. boris johnson set out five steps to "move further and faster" to avoid a repeat of wednesday's tragedy, where 27 people died. our europe correspondent nick beake has been inside a makeshift camp near dunkirk to hear about the migra nts' journey. beside an abandoned train track in northern france, families desperate to resume their own journey to the uk, despite the horror of the past 2a hours. for now, more than 500 people call this camp home. among them, new arrivals, this family from iraq. their family has grown in the three years they've been on the road, trudging through more than half a dozen countries to get here. romania, after hungary, after france, after the uk. but tonight, all six will sleep in this tent, and every night, until they risk the english channel. would you still be prepared to try and get a boat to the united kingdom? "we cannot survive here," she tells us. "we will freeze. we have to go to the uk." and you say you have travelled through lots of countries, including germany. now you're in france. why do you want to try and reach the united kingdom? "it's much betterforfamilies in the uk," she says, "and for keeping families together." this corner of northern france has witnessed these scenes and heard these sort of stories for more than 20 years now. it feels like a conveyor belt of misery, and this is a new generation, willing to risk everything to try and make it to the united kingdom. we meet a group of afghan men who say they fled the taliban this summer. this man wants to get to britain so his wife can follow, along with his three daughters, who can then continue their studies. have you tried to cross already on a boat? yeah, two times. and what happened? the boat was broken - in the sea, so the police came and took us out. we were all in the water. yeah, we nearly died. he then reveals he had briefly met two of those who died yesterday. i said to him, "0k, - good luck to go, and i'm not going with you." they said bye— bye. did it look like they were hopeful? i'm very sorry. the deaths of so many of their fellow travellers has numbed many here, but it's not changed where they want to go. nick beake, bbc news, dunkirk. let 5 get some of the day 5 other news. rioting is continuing for a third day in the solomon islands where international peacekeepers have been deployed. reports say thousands of people — some with knives — converged on the chinatown district of honiara. the demonstrators want the prime minister to resign, accusing him of neglecting some islands and being too close to china. the director and two other managers at a coal mine in western siberia have been arrested in connection with russia's deadliest mining accident in years. three days of mourning are being observed for more than fifty people killed at the mine. turkish police have fired tear gas to break up a protest by thousands of women in istanbul. the demonstrators condemned the government's decision to withdraw from an international accord which aims to reduce violence against women. amazon workers in 20 countries — including the us, uk, and several in the eu — are planning protests and work stoppages on black friday. the shopping—centric day is among amazon's busiest all year. it is backed by a coalition of labour groups, trade unions, grassroots campaigns and non—profit—making organisations in individual countries. with just a few months to go to the winter olympics, china is holding test events for ski and snowboard cross. but despite repeated calls from the olympic committee not to politicise the event — some countries are considering boycotting the games in light of china's human rights violations and the recent concerns over the wellbeing of chinese tennis star, peng shuai. 0ur china correspondent, stephen mcdonnell, has been to the venue, to see how the country is getting ready for the olympics despite all the controversies. the way to see if you're ready to host the olympics is with test events. and beijing is holding them right now. beijing wants spectators at the games and has already tried this out at the sliding centre. but tennis star peng shuai sent shock waves through the preparation process when she accused a former government leader of sexual abuse. there's also the recent coronavirus outbreak, straining this country's zero—covid strategy. precautions are high at olympic venues. so, i'm getting off a dedicated media bus here, just to show you that we're part of a, kind of, media bubble, quite separate from the athletes' bubble. here you have to have your facemask on, and this is the media hotel. so i come up here, this is checking my temperature... that says i'm 0k. these are the various health checks and some hand sanitiser. and we're in. we can only talk to the athletes remotely. we're told there's been a lot of covid testing. just had to do pcr tests on arrival, then on arriving at the hotel — and every day from there onwards. but if that's what we have to do to not quarantine, then so be it. the games will be held in a freezing, mostly dry area. a mountain of snowmaking is required. but this can make for quick dynamic runs. speed, ithink, will be key, and that's the difficult bit. so yeah, it'll be challenging, for sure, to try and get the most out of the track, anyway _ the athletes we spoke to said these sites will make for high—quality competition. and the drive to win in february is already taking its toll. in the mountains outside beijing, the test events are infull swing. games organisers will be hoping — despite the coronavirus headaches, despite the alleged human rights abuses, despite the allegations from a former chinese 0lympian, a tennis star, at that, involving a senior government official — that they can still produce a memorable winter olympics. for everyone here, the clock is now ticking. stephen mcdonnell, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: president kennedy was shot down and died almost immediately. the murder ofjohn kennedy is a disaster for the whole free world. he caught the imagination of the world — the first of a new generation of leaders. margaret thatcher is resigning as leader of the conservative party and prime minister. before leaving number ten to see the queen, she told her cabinet, "it's a funny old world." angela merkel is germany's first woman chancellor, easily securing the majority she needed. attempts to fly a hot air - balloon had to be abandoned after a few minutes, but nobody seemed i to mind very much. as one local comic put it, "it's not hot air- we need, it's hard cash." cuba has declared nine days of mourning following the death of fidel castro at the age of 90. castro developed close ties with the soviet union in the 19605 — it was an alliance that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war with the cuban missile crisis. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the uk bans travellers from six african countries over concerns about a rapidly—spreading new coronavirus variant. borisjohnson calls on france to "take back" all migrants who cross to the uk — before there are any further deaths. well, if you haven t guessed ? sister sledge, david bowie, madonna ? all three were produced by the brilliant musician nile rodgers. he 5 also responsible for many of the hits from diana ross, duran duran, inxs, daft punk?and he co—founded the 70s band chic. he's decided to auction most of his guitars ? along with cars and other personal possessions to raise money for his foundation which mentors hundreds of talented teenagers around the world. 0ur media editor amol rajan has caught up with him in london. so this guitar, i remember playing this on madonna, on... likea virgin? no, on a song called dress you up in my love. # gonna dress you up in my love! # all over... # dress you up in my love. # all over, all over... i had already laid down the rhythm guitar part on the new telecaster, so i always try and marry two types of guitars that are similar but... subtly different. correcto! subtly different, is that a signature nile rodgers technique, is that your thing? that's a signature technique, i do it all the time. obviously this is before she becomes some mega best selling super global icon. did you honestly have a sense early on that she was going to be someone who had that magic dust? insta ntly. # oh, yeah, dress you up in my love, all over, all over... # the guitar called the hitmaker is an unusually sounding strat. it doesn't sound like any other stratocaster on the planet. after a while you get afraid that something is going to happen to your guitar because it's the only one that sounds like that, so what i did was i went to fender and i said, can you make me a replica of my guitar that's exactly the same? if you like the hitmaker you will love this because it really does sound very, very very close. not the same but almost. # freak out! now, don't drop this. i won't! how do you feel auctioning all this stuff, all this musical history, all this creative energy? let me put it to you like this. there is 162 more of these things. and they're all amazing and they all have great stories. why would you get rid of them? if this all works out the way i expect it to work out, that means i could help hundreds more kids. right now we have, we are family foundation, we have at least 400 or 500 kids we are working with, we come up with new programmes every year but these things cost a lot of money, to put on the workshops that we do, to find the mentors that we find, to have the kids travel from countries far and wide, from every continent... it costs money. yeah. # freak out! # come on, freak out! nile rodgers talking to our media editor amol rajan. and that auction takes place at christie's in new york on 16 december. marine biologists in australia have observed a vast coral spawning event on the great barrier reef, sparking hopes the natural wonder can recoverfrom damage caused by climate change. scientists recorded the birth of billions of coral larvae on the reef. the spawning event only happens once a year over two to three days. it's a welcome sign after large parts of the reef were badly bleached last year due to rising temperatures. gareth phillips is a marine biologist who monitored the coral spawning event, hejoins me from cairns, australia,you witnessed this just a few hours ago — how has it affected you? this is that genetic material drifting up to the surface of the water. and once they hit the water. and once they hit the surface of the water the sperm and egg are released to find different individual sperm and egg and that is where the babies are made so to speak. 0ur events like this able to tip the balance back in favour of coral creation rather than disruption? is it too late to say the barrier reef or not? is say the barrier reef or not? is definitely in not and that has been indicated over the last 18 months or so. the institute of marine science as a long—term monitoring programme which is the long term monitoring and it came out earlier this year showing that an increase in coral cover over the last 12 or 18 months. coral spawning is just one of those many ecological functions that can assist it. but the critical part is that we need the reef to have time from these big events to give an opportunity for different mechanisms to actually work and take effect and this is what it is shown in the last 18 months. they can be significantly greater than that is what we are starting to see and seeing the coral spawn is just another verification that it is not too late and we can look after the great barrier reef and taking it back to its original levels. it reef and taking it back to its original levels.— original levels. it is good to have good _ original levels. it is good to have good news _ original levels. it is good to have good news on - original levels. it is good to have good news on the - have good news on the programme. thank you. time for all the latest sports news. this is your update from the bbc sport centre. manchester united are set to appoint an interim manager. the german has previously managed other teams. a football reporter has more. i think ithinka i think a lot of people on the outside of manchester united would argue that this is exactly the kind of appointment the club should have made when jose mourinho was sacked in 2018. the feeling is that he can get a hold of the first team and give it a little bit of direction but at the same time get an overview of the club and then helping whoever comes in as the full—time manager which is still expected to be an appointment that united make next summer. colorado rappers played. there was just one goal in the game in the 90th minute. the former australian captain has announced he is taking an indefinite breakfrom cricket. he stood down as captain last week when it emerged he had been investigated by cricket australia for sending sexually explicit text to a female colleague four years ago. it was thought he would still play in the fourth of a series against england which starts on eighth but as manchester released the statement confirming he is stepping away for a mental health break. we are concerned for his and his wife's well and will be making no further comment at this time. a 3—way tie for lead going into the second round of the women's open. the joint leaders who shot a three under par round. the shot of the day was this effort from a south african. a hole in one at the par three eighths she is four off the lead. what a shot there. finally manchester united have identified the man the one to be the interim manager then someone should have told eric cantona. the former captain took to social media for this.— media for this. hello, my friends- _ media for this. hello, my friends. i— media for this. hello, my friends. i would - media for this. hello, my friends. i would like - media for this. hello, my friends. i would like to i media for this. hello, my | friends. i would like to tell you dot—mac i will tell you season. you dot-mac i will tell you season-— you dot-mac i will tell you season. ., ., season. you can get all the latest sports _ season. you can get all the latest sports news - season. you can get all the latest sports news at - season. you can get all the latest sports news at our . latest sports news at our website. we will see you next time. there is plenty more in the travel ban. reach me on twitter. hello. the first named storm of the season is approaching, and it's set to bring us some fairly disruptive weather over the next couple of days. storm arwen, as named by the met office, will be developing particularly later friday into saturday, bringing not only widespread gales, some sleet and snow mainly over the high ground in the north — and it is likely to cause a bit of disruption because of that combination of the strong winds, the cold weather, and the sleet and snow we'll see over the higher ground. so for friday morning, then, we've got the cloud and patchy rain across much of england and wales, which pushes its way southeastwards. then we're left with sunshine and blustery showers in from the north — and across the north of scotland, those showers will merge into longer spells of fairly heavy snow over the higher ground, some sleet and snow, too, across parts of northern ireland. mainly rain showers further south — it will feel chilly, about 7—11 celsius — but when you add on the wind—chill, it will feel colder than that. the winds will be a real future of the weather. we've got an amber warning in force for eastern scotland and northeast england, could see gusts between about 65—70 mph here, particularly later on friday and overnight into saturday morning. so through the overnight period, then, this area of sleet and snow, and rain at low levels pushes its way southwards and eastwards, followed by more wintry showers packing in from the north. 0vernight temperatures for most of our cities above freezing, but colder than that in the countryside. so, as this storm arwen pushes just out towards the southeast, we'll start to draw in these strong, cold northerly winds as we head through into saturday morning — gusts, infact, quite widely 30—110 mph, around the coast, 50—60, or even a little bit higher than that. so we've got this area of rain, perhaps some sleet and snow over the highest ground, pushing eastwards across parts of eastern england on saturday. more of those wintry showers coming in across scotland, too. something a little bit drier for central and western areas, and it is turning colder — so temperatures about 4—9 celsius, but when you add on the effect of that wind—chill, it will feel subzero for many of us through the day on saturday. so, cold and windy with wintry showers, too. heading into sunday, as storm arwen starts to clear to the east, things will settle down a little bit — so not quite as windy on sunday, but still more of those wintry showers packing in across the higher ground of the north of scotland, down the east coast of england, too. and quite a bit of dry weather elsewhere — but it certainly will feel cold throughout the weekend. this is bbc news with the latest business headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. red list alert. shares of travel firms sink as the new covid variant in africa raises fears of a global clamp—down. black friday blues. shoppers will be out in force — but bargains could be thin on the ground. gas pressure rising.